Enchanted

/ still a dreamer

Enchanted, entranced …. swept away … by such a lovely piece of music by Mike Rowland, who I am just now discovering. Entitled “Magic Moment,” the added visuals, (by truus 1949), are just that – simply magical, a reminder of such moments – so often in our lives and not noticed, or just a star’s breath ahead of us – and a reminder of how beautiful we actually are. Watch and summon your own true beauty. Feel the magic always in our lives if we just let ourselves be.

 

Summer Reading – Light

/ still a dreamer

Have you ever found that no matter what book you pick up it still isn’t really the one you want to read right now?

I’ve started 3 books recently, and although each one is excellent, it isn’t the one I really want to read right now. Too dramatic, too wrenching, too informational, too … too … too. So maybe it’s time for summer reading … light. (Or if one wants to be on the current bandwagon of slang – lite.) I see summer reading lists all over the place, and the recommendations tend to be towards lighter, faster reads – lots of mysteries and less demanding stories written to entertain. Who am I to buck a current trend?

So I turned to my Library Book Sale haul to look for “light”, and selected this – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. I had rented the movie, and it was entertaining. I see there are a few others up there that won’t drain my very soul, so maybe this is the way to go for the rest of the summer. We shall see. And if in need of a fast moving mystery, the library’s only a 1/2 mile walk away.  What have you found for your summer reading?

Ice Cream Challenge Results

/ still a dreamer / 1 Comment

And the winner in the chocolate category is ….. drum roll, please …. Friendly’s  Classic Chocolate!

Late last September I entertained a moment of frivolity and decided to pursue my own personal ice cream taste challenge, based on a link a friend had sent me where brands had been rated, first chocolate, then vanilla. Recently, I was asked whatever happened to that? I did take the challenge – tough as it was, consuming chocolate ice cream – I just never posted the results. So here we have them.

Although I never did get down to Trader Joe’s to sample their chocolate, and I did have to substitute Blue Bunny for Blue Bell, I still sampled the site’s top ranked flavors. Being a huge Haagen Dazs fan, I was pretty sure that it would rank tops on my personal list, but it did not. Indeed, the Friendly’s Classic Chocolate was the best in my book, too! Creamy, chocolate-y and quite yummy!

As for vanilla … I did try Haagen Dazs, (not exactly for the first time!),  Blue Bunny and Friendly’s Vanilla. I’ve had Breyer’s in the past and there’s so much air, it’s soup in a short time. Friendly’s? Can’t really compare to their chocolate.  But my vanilla fave, and I wasn’t surprised, is Haagen Dazs. So rich, creamy and vanilla-sweet.

Someday I hope to sample Trader Joe’s, and I will continue in my research, sampling both flavors because …. well, it’s ice cream, and it’s there! Happy summer scooping!!

Building Your World on Your Dreams

/ still a dreamer

Morning by Maxfield Parrish

“Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.”

– James Allen from “Visions and Ideals,” As A Man Thinketh

Forgetting What We Read Late at Night ….

/ still a dreamer

When I woke up the other morning and looked at the book on my night stand, I remembered I had read it the night before. But I was having a hard time remembering exactly what I had read. I had that sinking feeling that I was going to be re-reading a bunch of pages again. Sound familiar?

Sometimes in our busy lives, that most precious of times – reading time – gets put off to the very end of the day when we have the least energy. We’re so tired that even a good book can put us to sleep. What’s worse than realizing that we have  no clue as to what we read the night before?

This happens not just to me but to other women I know, as well. It’s rather discouraging. And the book I’m in now – which is fabulous – will not be the first book I start again from the beginning because I know I’ve missed too much from late night reading.

Yesterday, I thought of a solution. What if women friends, (OK – it could be guy friends, too), opened their homes – when they were out and busy with errands for a while – to other friends who needed a couple hours just to read? Outrageous, right? For example, I’m going to be gone for half a day. I give my friend my key, leave fixings for coffee or tea on the counter, maybe a snack, and she comes in with her book and actually reads! Chances are excellent that this is what will happen, because who feels obliged to clean anyone else’s house, answer their phone, or run their laundry? No one! It’s clear, guilt-free sailing!

Yes, we’re talking stolen hours … maybe once a week, or even at odd intervals … for the sheer joy of reading uninterrupted. Who wouldn’t do that for a friend?