Q&A
January and our month devoted to the Wet Noodle Posse motto "Be good to yourself--Or Else" is ending, but that doesn't mean you can't be good to yourself for the rest of 2009.
How have you been good to yourself this month? How will you keep it up through the rest of this year?
Labels: be good to yourself
Read a Good Book Lately?
Can you imagine a life without books? I can’t. Nothing makes time fly like a good book. When I’m waiting for an appointment, I never have to worry about watching the clock if I have a book on hand. Books relax me. They teach me new things and take me to faraway places. They make me laugh and cry and cringe and sigh.
It’s all subjective. Right now I am reading
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. My sixteen year-old daughter and all of her friends are crazy about Edward Cullen. I wanted to see what all the hype was about so I finished
Twilight and moved on to the second book. I am almost finished with New Moon and I have to say it has been frustrating…waiting for Edward to pop back into the story…and it took way too long for him to arrive, IMO! I still have another 50 pages to go, but so far I’m giving this book a 6 out of 10. Despite the low score, I must admit, Stephanie Meyers did a good job of keeping me reading, turning the pages, eager to find out what the heck was going to happen. And isn’t that what it’s all about?
To be perfectly honest, I was never interested in reading books with vampires until I judged a contest and one of the entries happened to have a vampire protagonist. I loved the story! That experience taught me to never say never when it comes to what type of books I’ll read. Anything goes!
This year I plan to read a lot of Noodler books. I think I’ll try a little bit of everything…Trish Milburn’s
A Firefighter in the Family would be a good place to start. I’ve read most of Terry McLaughlin’s stories. I love her humor. I must read Diane Gaston’s
Mysterious Miss M, especially since that book happens to be on the Romantic Times list of 1001 books we must read before we die! My daughter and I love Stephanie Rowe’s young adult books. I think I will broaden my horizons with Jill Monroe’s hot and spicy
Primal Instincts.
The Bride Price by Anne Mallory looks good…Sebastien Deville has waited his whole life for revenge…what’s not to like? And after a hectic day, I think I’ll sit down and read Merrillee Wren’s
Mommy’s Hometown Hero. And if I read a little faster maybe I’ll finally get to read M. J. Fredrick’s
Hot Shot, Lee McKenzie’s
With This Ring, Maureen Hardegree’s
More Sweet Tea, Esri Rose’s
Bound to Love Her, Janet Mullany’s
Dedication, Dianna Love’s
Dead After Dark Anthology and Colleen Gleason’s
When Twilight Burns! And this list doesn’t include books by Sandy Blair, Tori Scott, Anna DeStefano, Jennie Lucas, and others. To be Continued…
How about you? Read any good books lately?Picture: Daughter Brittany readingLabels: be good to yourself, books, reading
Q&A Friday
Happy Friday, readers!
Our theme--Be Good to Yourself--is all around you if you look. Take your pick--books, songs, movies--the theme is there. Today, let's talk about movies that express the be good to yourself theme and its progenitor Carpe Diem--Live for the Day. Two I can think of are The Bucket List and Last Holiday. Both have protagonists who learn they don't have long to live, so they do the things they've always wanted to do.
What movies have you seen that fit the Be Good to Yourself theme? Why do they fit?
Labels: be good to yourself, carpe diem, movies
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!
At least this girl does! It's easy to have fun.
MUSIC: The most mundane chore can be fun if you have the right attitude. Ever fold laundry to the Rolling Stones or the Beatles? I can’t run on the treadmill without my ipod to get my body and mind inspired. Music makes me happy. Nothing cheers me faster than a great song!
A LITTLE HEALTHY COMPETITION: Helping your kids learn can be fun too! I’ve been helping my daughter learn new words every week in preparation for the SATs. We have about 50 index cards at this point, adding more every week. Every chance I get, I grab the stack of cards (keep them in the kitchen for easy access) and we race through them to see who can spit out the answer the fastest.
WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY? If you love to play a musical instrument but never find the time, make it a priority to play at least thirty minutes a week or a day. When you set aside a doable amount of time, it’s easier to make it happen and you feel so good afterward! Everybody should spend at least thirty minutes a day doing something they love, something they're passionate about that brings them joy. I have been playing the piano almost every morning for at least fifteen minutes. I have also been reading every night before bed in 2009 and I’m so glad I’ve carved out that time for myself. Spending thirty minutes a day doing a few things I love to do has made all the difference. I feel as if I’ve given myself a wonderful gift.
What do you love to do but never seem to have time for? Sing? Dance? Play the guitar?That's me in the picture when I was visiting New York City having fun. :)
Labels: be good to yourself, fun
Treat Yourself to a Luxurious Spa Day at Home
by Lee McKenzie
Anyone who knows me will laugh at the idea of me offering beauty advice. I am not a expert, I seldom wear makeup, and my bad hair days far outnumber the good ones. What I really love about spa treatments is the total sense of relaxation and well being—so it’s as much about what’s happening on the inside as it is about the outside.
I’d love to indulge myself every month or so but simply can’t afford it, so the next best thing is to treat myself to a spa day at home. This is a relaxing and refreshing alternative, and it can be done with simple, everyday ingredients like oatmeal, honey, yogurt and avocado, so it’s also affordable. Gotta love that!
Whether your spa day is solo or done with a spouse/sister/daughter/friend, I’m sure you’ll find it’s time well spent. On my websie I’ve posted a detailed outline of a possible spa day at home. Just
click here and scroll down to “Maggie’s Tips for a Spa Day Home.”
And here are a couple of great recipes for homemade spa goodies from
Spa Index.
Chocolate Facial Mask
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3
tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons cottage cheese
1/4 cup honey
3
teaspoons oatmeal
This is one of my favorites! Blend all the ingredients together and smooth the
mixture onto your face. Relax for ten 10 minutes, then wash off with warm water.
Your skin will be nice and soft, although be forewarned. You may find yourself
craving chocolate!
And did you know you can make your own pore cleaning strips? It's super easy, and so economical.
Strip it Off! Pore Cleaning Strips
1 tablespoon Knox unflavored gelatin
1-1/2 tablespoon milk
Mix the two ingredients and microwave for 10
seconds till slightly warm. Using a clean cosmetic brush or spatula, apply to
nose and chin area. Avoid delicate eye area. Rinse brush/spatula immediately.
Allow mixture on nose and chin to dry for 10 to 15 minutes. Mixture will dry to
form a stiff film. Peel off the film and be amazed!
Do you have any at-home spa tips or special little indulgences you’d like to share?
Until next time,
Lee
~ ~ ~
Lee McKenzie writes for Harlequin American Romance.
With This Ring (December ‘07) is available as an ebook from
eHarlequin.com and
Amazon.com (Kindle edition). Her next two books are a series set in beautiful San Francisco.
Labels: be good to yourself, Lee McKenzie, spa day at home
This Week on the Wet Noodle Posse
Our second week focusing on the WNP theme of Being Good to Yourself--Or Else promises to be enlightening. Here's what's scheduled:
Monday, January 12th: Lee McKenzie Have a Luxurious Spa Day at Home
Tuesday, January 13th: Delle Jacobs Guilt Free Writing
Wednesday, January 14th: Karen Potter Five Minutes of Peace
Thursday, January 15th: Dr. Debra Holland Monitoring Your Energy
Friday, January 16th: Q&A Topic: How Do You Reward Yourself for Achieving Your Writing Goals?
Labels: be good to yourself, Delle Jacobs, Dr. Debra Holland, energy, guilt free writing, Karen Potter, Lee McKenzie, peace
Be Good to Yourself--Or Else
Be Good to Yourself—Or Else, that’s the motto with which the Wet Noodle Posse began our web presence. After a year of blogging on writing and helping a lot of aspiring writers, we noodlers are going back to our roots.
This change means our blog posts will look a little bit like the e-zine articles we used to produce. We will, on occasion focus on writing, but we will also share recipes and tips and explore a wider range of topics. We’ll continue to share our new releases with you and answer your writing questions on Fridays as well as throw out a question of our own to start a discussion, sometimes writing-related, sometimes not.
So what does being good to yourself mean? It means using that gift certificate for a ritzy spa massage before it expires. It means taking a walk on a brisk winter day. It can even mean a hot bath and a good book after a hectic week with your four kids, two dogs and a parakeet. If you're a writer, it can mean sending a query to the agent of your dreams. In short, being good to yourself means making the most of your life. After all, it’s the only one you have.
Be good to yourself and join us for a year of living positively!
January: Be Good to Yourself—Or Else
February: Isn’t It Romantic?
March: March Madness
April: Spring Forward
May: Sisterhood
June: Father Knows Best
July: Summer Time and the Living Is Easy
August: All Creatures Great and Small
September: Free Falling
October: To Everything, Turn, Turn, Turn
November: Giving Thanks
December: Home for the Holidays
Labels: be good to yourself, new year
Can you imagine a life without books? I can’t. Nothing makes time fly like a good book. When I’m waiting for an appointment, I never have to worry about watching the clock if I have a book on hand. Books relax me. They teach me new things and take me to faraway places. They make me laugh and cry and cringe and sigh. 
Happy Friday, readers!
At least this girl does! It's easy to have fun.
