Still Picking up the Pennies

 In another post, I told you all about my love of getting mail. And what woman does not like makeup, beauty supplies. I love make-up but honestly, I am intimated by purchasing it. There are so many name brands, shades, and it is overwhelming. I get overwhelmed by purchasing makeup but still like it. In comes IPSY. IPSY is a beauty bag subscription. Each month I receive 5 deluxe size samples and a cute makeup bag. Sometimes there are full-size products and makeup brushes.  Here is what the January Bag looked like Each month you get a card explaining each product included in the bag.  I received two face masks, which I love using. A dark spot concealer, concealer, eyeliner, and a bronzer. I like that on the IPSY website, you can click the learn option to see a video showing how to use each product.  On the first of everyone month, the style of the beauty bag is announced. There is an option to pick one of the products or you can be surprised and not choose a product. T...

  Criminal psychologist Erin Larson's dreams of a successful career come to a screeching halt when she nearly loses her own life in a boating accident on Puget Sound and then learns that her mother tried to commit suicide. She leaves her job as a criminal psychologist to care for her mother in Montana. At least she is able to produce her podcast, which focuses on solving missing persons cold cases. Nathan Campbell's father was investigating such a case when he was shot, and now Nathan needs to enlist Erin's help to solve the case. She's good at what she does. The only problem? She's his ex. As the two dig deeper, it becomes clear that they, too, are being targeted--and that the answers to their questions are buried deep within the past Erin struggles to explain and longs to forget. The race is on for the truth in this gripping and complex tale of suspense, intrigue, and murder from  USA Today  bestselling author Elizabeth Goddard. My review:  I love getting new book...

  CIA analyst Brynn Taylor developed a new program to combat terrorism, and she invited members of foreign intelligence agencies to America to foster cooperation between countries. Now one of them, Egyptian spy Remon Riad, is missing. Jack Hudson has been working for the Strategic Neutralization and Protection Agency (SNAP) for almost nine years and takes the lead in hunting down the missing spy. But he isn't at all pleased to find out Brynn is involved. It's hard to trust a woman who's already betrayed you. Every lead they follow draws them dangerously deeper into an international plot. Kidnapping, murder, explosions, poisoning--the terrorists will do anything to accomplish their goal of causing a digital blackout that will blind a strategic US military communications center and throw the world into chaos. Can Brynn surrender control to a man who doesn't trust her? And can Jack ever get over what she did to him? The fate of the world--and their hearts--hangs in the bal...

   The Healing of Natalie Curtis by Jane Kirkpatrick Classically trained pianist and singer Natalie Curtis isolated herself for five years after a breakdown just before she was to debut with the New York Philharmonic. Guilt-ridden and songless, Natalie can't seem to recapture the joy music once brought her. In 1902, her brother invites her to join him in the West to search for healing. What she finds are songs she'd never before encountered--the haunting melodies, rhythms, and stories of Native Americans. But their music is under attack. The US government's Code of Offenses prohibits American's indigenous people from singing, dancing, or speaking their own languages as the powers that be insist on assimilation. Natalie makes it her mission not only to document these songs before they disappear but to appeal to President Teddy Roosevelt himself, who is the only man with the power to repeal the unjust law. Will she succeed and step into a new song . . . and a new future? ...

  Present Day. After tragedy plunges her into grief and unresolved anger, Sarah Ashby returns to her childhood home determined to finally follow her long-denied dream of running Old Depot Grocery alongside her mother and grandmother. But when she arrives, her mother, Rosemary, announces to her that the store is closing. Sarah and her grandmother, Glory Ann, make a pact to save the store, but Rosemary has worked her entire life to make sure her daughter never follows in her footsteps. She has her reasons--but she'll certainly never reveal the real one. 1965. Glory Ann confesses to her family that she's pregnant with her deceased fiancé's baby. Pressured into a marriage of convenience with a shopkeeper to preserve the family reputation, Glory Ann vows never to love again. But some promises are not as easily kept as she imagined. This dual-timeline story from Amanda Cox deftly explores the complexity of a mother-daughter dynamic, the way the secrets we keep shape our lives and...

Pasty Fest 2021 I very rarely take selfies and just about never post them but here is the most recent photo of me. I am on a mission of self-care, love, and acceptance. I have let my hair grow and used a curl enhancer on this day. Most everyone that reads my blog knows we are from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We chose to live here. Winters are long and severe. The natural beauty and nice people are unlike anywhere else. This past weekend my hubby and I set out to experience the Calumet Pasty Fest 2021. We have never actually attended before, which is amazing due to the enormous love he has for pasties. We had a free day (but the cost of the pasty we share). We were even given free bottles of water.  We made it but only the tail end of it. Most of the pasty vendors were sold out or only had frozen pasties for sale. We walked the length of 5th street, we were able to see the cars that were left from the car show.  I saw the old-style tray on the Corvette's window so I had t...

Five years in a New York state reformatory have left a blemish on Hazel's real name. So when she takes a job as Doctor Gilbert Watts's lady in attendance in 1898, she does so under an alias. In the presence of her quiet and pious employer, Hazel finds more than an income. She finds a friend and a hope that if she can set her tarnished past in order, she might have a future after all. As Gilbert becomes accustomed to the pleasant chatter of his new dental assistant, he can't help but sense something secretive about her. Perhaps there is more to this woman than meets the eye. Can the questions that loom between them ever be answered? Or will the deeds of days gone by forever rob the future of its possibilities? Rachel Fordham pens a tender tale of a soft-spoken man, a hardened woman, and the friends that stand by them as they work toward a common purpose--to expunge the record of someone society deemed beyond saving--and perhaps find love along the way. My Review: I loved thi...