UPCOMING EVENTS, ETC.

I am eager to start working on this site for Bloggiesta, even though I have until late September.  So, of course, I had to do a couple of “cosmetic” things, like changing the theme, header, and background.

Instead of fussing over these technical issues, I should focus more on my reading, which includes some print books on my nightstand that I am reading, a bit at a time.  I’ve been working on America’s Queen and Home for a while.

I’m almost finished with Home!  I might even have a review up by the end of the day.

I could also do a little housework, but no…scratch that!  There is plenty of time…later.

So…many things to ponder, which means that I will waste some time trying to decide.  Do you find that trying to choose what to do next leads to fewer things accomplished?

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FINITO! – BLOGGIESTA HAS ENDED….

Well, the weekend and Bloggiesta are over!  I accomplished quite a few things, but then I started early.  I added to my original list…and finished all but the Twitter chat, which I always seem to forget because of the time difference.

I think I’ll stop adding it to my list, since I really don’t get Twitter chatting…lol.

Here are my tasks, crossed out, FINITO!

Enjoy your week….

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• do two mini challenges – How to Choose Which Bloggers to Follow (Date with a Book); and Blogroll Overhaul, by Bay State Reader’s Advisory (Laurie). Done!
• change or fix one thing on your sidebar – Removed one widget – Done!
•   add a page (about me, contact, policy, etc) – Added Author’s Blog Links on a separate page
• change one thing on your layout and/or look Changed Blog Header, Blog Button, Theme & Background – Done!
• Clean up any broken links: Went all the way back to 2013, moving forward, correcting and editing.  Whew! – Done!
  
• Update Favorite Authors Page for 2016 – Done!
•   comment on other Bloggiesta partipants blogs – an ongoing process!
•  Create new logo for Weekly Updates – Done!
•   participate in at least one Twitter chat- Not done!  I’m going to stop adding this one to my lists, as I seldom do it.
  

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WEEKLY UPDATES: HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

Today’s temperature is in the 80s, but by Monday, we’ll be in the triple digits again.  Yikes!

It’s not as if we’re not used to it…it’s like this every year, and our long hot summers are a legend.

Reading has been better this week, with three books read and reviewed, and all of them were review books from NetGalley and Vine.  I spent too much time on my second book this week, so it’s a good thing that the other two were compelling page turners.

Bloggiesta has begun for today and tomorrow, but I’ve been working on my blog since Monday.  Yes, I tend to get impatient and start early.

I’m loving my Netflix shows, and I’m on Season III of Revenge.  I also plan to start watching Season IV of Orange Is the New Black.

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there….and for everyone else, have a wonderful week!  Here’s some coffee to get us going today.

 

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LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:

It’s Time!  Mini-Bloggiesta-June 18-19

Tuesday Sparks:  Excerpting “Death at Breakfast”

Tuesday Potpourri:  Caffeinated Tidbits

Hump Day Reading:  Current, Past, & Future

Bookish Thursday #18:  Serendipitous Moments

Bloggiesta:  Behind the Scenes

Bookish Friday:  Excerpting “The Exit”

Weekend Potpourri:  Pondering My Obsessions

Review:  The Girls (e-book), by Emma Cline – (NetGalley – 6/14)

Review:  Tuesday Nights in 1980, by Molly Prentiss – (Amazon Vine)

Review:  All the Missing Girls (e-book), by Megan Miranda – (NetGalley – 6/28)

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INCOMING BOOKS: (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)

Two review books came in my mailbox from Amazon Vine…and I purchased a book at Barnes & Noble.

The Perfect Girl, by Gilly MacMillan (Amazon Vine)

 

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The Beauty of the End, by Debbie Howells (Amazon Vine)

 

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Confess, by Colleen Hoover (Purchase)

 

 

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WHAT’S UP NEXT? (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)

Currently Reading:  Beach Blues, by Joanne DeMaio (Review Book from Author)

 

 

 

 

And maybe one or two of these:

Friction (e-book), by Sandra Brown

 

 

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Flight Patterns (e-book), by Karen White

 

 

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That’s it for my week…what did yours look like?  Grab something caffeinated or icy cold…and let’s chat.  Here are some nachos and a margarita, to honor Bloggiesta! 

 

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BLOGGIESTA: BEHIND THE SCENES

Bloggiesta does not officially start until Saturday, but typically, I couldn’t wait.  Definitely eager.

I started with the noticeable changes, like the new theme, header (above), and background.  Then I added a page, changed the sidebar…and from there, I started on the more tedious tasks that are not so noticeable.  Like correcting broken links.  I had a few because I had deleted some blogs…

I went back to the beginning of 2013 and moved forward.  All is much better now!  Hopefully I won’t find any others…

Meanwhile, I took a break from my blog tasks to rearrange some tablescapes and vignettes around the rooms.  I took some items from my Hall Tree and arranged them (below), with a few others from various spots….

 

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Here’s the Hall Tree….

 

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And the new little table is enjoying a couple of geese from other places….the new bench arrives today!

 

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Madeleine Hatter is having a cup of coffee….

 

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So…now I am off to try (once again) to engage with Tuesday Nights in 1980.  I don’t know why I’m having so much trouble!

 

 

What is your Hump Day like?  Enjoy….

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PULLING INTO THE FINISH LINE: SUCCESS!

Wow, what a productive week!  Did the rest of you enjoy it?  I know that I got an early start because I’m always very excited about this event.

Plus…I knew that other things would grab my attention toward the weekend.

Here’s what I accomplished.  Stop by and tell me how you did.

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• do two mini challenges – Reading Fever, Sidebar Help;
• Facing Edelweiss Fears, Shannon at River City. Done!
•   change or fix one thing on your sidebar-Removed four items from sidebar! Done!
  
•   add a page (about me, contact, policy, etc) – Added Favorite Blogs page and Favorite Authors page & two sub-pages; Done!
•   change one thing on your layout and/or look–Changed blog header and background-Done!
•   comment on other Bloggiesta partipants blogs Commenting is ongoing
  
•   participate in at least one Twitter chat
•   Changed header and profile picture on Curl up and Read Facebook Page
•   Created new blog button
•   Changed backgrounds on:  Serendipity and Potpourri blogs.
•   Changed the theme here, after much thought.  Done!
•   Went back to the beginning of the blog, checking for bad links & corrected them…or trashed the posts.  Done!
•  Changed the header at Interior Journey. Done!
•   Changed the header and background here…again!  Done!

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STARTING LINE: BLOGGIESTA, BEGIN!

It’s time to START!  This Bloggiesta goes from March 21-27.  As you can see below, I’ve made a head start on my tasks:

 

 

•   do two mini challenges – Reading Fever, Sidebar Help;
• Facing Edelweiss Fears, Shannon at River City. Done!
•   change or fix one thing on your sidebar-Removed four items from sidebar! Done!
  
•   add a page (about me, contact, policy, etc) – Added Favorite Blogs page and Favorite Authors page & two sub-pages; Done!
•   change one thing on your layout and/or look–Changed blog header and background-Done!
•   comment on other Bloggiesta partipants blogs Commenting is ongoing
  
•   participate in at least one Twitter chat
•   Changed header and profile picture on Curl up and Read Facebook Page
•   Created new blog button
•   Changed backgrounds on:  Serendipity and Potpourri blogs.
•   Changed the theme here, after much thought.  Done!
•   Went back to the beginning of the blog, checking for bad links & corrected them…or trashed the posts.  Done!
•  Changed the header at Interior Journey. Done!
•   Changed the header and background here…again!  Done!

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I hope to see you around the blogosphere!

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BLOGGIESTA SIGN-UP POST: IT’S TIME!

It’s that time again!  Here we are, starting our Spring Bloggiesta, a full-blown event from March 21-27.

I had to check out all SIX of my blogs this time (remember when I had eleven?), to see which one needed work.

Most of my blogs are tweaked on a regular basis, but this one hasn’t been for a while.  So I’m doing it!

Here are some tasks, which I will probably add to as we go along:

 

• do two mini challenges – Reading Fever, Sidebar Help;
• Facing Edelweiss Fears, Shannon at River City. Done!
•   change or fix one thing on your sidebar-Removed four items from sidebar! Done!
  
•   add a page (about me, contact, policy, etc) – Added Favorite Blogs page and Favorite Authors page & two sub-pages; Done!
•   change one thing on your layout and/or look–Changed blog header and background-Done!
•   comment on other Bloggiesta partipants blogs Commenting is ongoing
  
•   participate in at least one Twitter chat
•   Changed header and profile picture on Curl up and Read Facebook Page
•   Created new blog button
•   Changed backgrounds on:  Serendipity and Potpourri blogs.
•   Changed the theme here, after much thought – Done!
•    Went back to the beginning of the blog, checking for bad links & corrected them…or trashed the posts.  Done!
•  Changed the header at Interior Journey. Done!
•   Changed the header and background here…again!  Done!

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I hope to see you around the blogosphere!

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BLOGGIESTA FINISH LINE

Here is the Bloggiesta Finish Line Post, with completed tasks below:

 

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❏  do two mini challenges – Done:  1) Bullet Journaling with Emily Reads; and Protect Your Privacy Online, from Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books.
❏  change or fix one thing on your sidebar – Done!  Removed and rearranged a few things on the sidebar.
❏  add a page (about me, contact, policy, etc) Done!  Added a separate page for reviewing, with policies and rating system as sub-pages; added a Favorite Authors page; Click the links for the new pages!
❏  change one thing on your layout and/or look Done – New header, background, new theme,  and blog button
❏  comment on other Bloggiesta partipants blogs – Have visited 14 sites already; ongoing.
❏  participate in at least one Twitter chat – finally!

*** Make some changes on other sites, like Rainy Days & Mondays, Serendipity, and An Interior Journey – Done!

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It was lots of fun, I got quite a bit accomplished, and I’m looking forward to the next event.

What was your weekend like?

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MINI-BLOGGIESTA SIGN-UP (& STARTING GATE)

 

It’s time to do some blog changing…a la Bloggiesta!  January 16-17.

Since I have SIX blogs, down from eleven or more at one point, I alternate which ones to recreate.  This time, it’s this blog, of course, since we’re here chatting about it.

Let’s get started with a To-Do List (below), that will have additions before the time is up.

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❏  do two mini challenges – Done:  1) Bullet Journaling with Emily Reads; and Protect Your Privacy Online, from Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books.
❏  change or fix one thing on your sidebar – Done!  Removed and rearranged a few things on the sidebar.
❏  add a page (about me, contact, policy, etc) Done!  Added a separate page for reviewing, with policies and rating system as sub-pages; added a Favorite Authors page; Click the links for the new pages!
❏  change one thing on your layout and/or look Done – New header, background, new theme,  and blog button
❏  comment on other Bloggiesta partipants blogs – Have visited 14 sites already; ongoing.
❏  participate in at least one Twitter chat – finally!

*** Make some changes on other sites, like Rainy Days & Mondays, Serendipity, and An Interior Journey – Done!

 

 

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Are you joining our festival?  Come on by and leave your links!  I will cross things off as I finish them.  Olay!

And I couldn’t stop myself!  I already started….just a little bit.  My bad.

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BLOG WHACKING: WHAT I DID WITH MY SURPLUS….

Wednesdays are a good day to curl up and consider my blog world.  I have been purging my home interiors, ridding myself of much of the book hoard….and someone posed the question of taking a look at my numerous blogs.  Just a thought.  Thanks, Patty, @Books, Thoughts, & a Few Adventures...LOL.

The fun I had with my HUGE number of blogs has diminished over time, although I don’t think I will ever have just one.  I do like my eclectic, quirky sites.  But I could examine a few of them.

So that’s what I did. 

After Bloggiesta finished, I especially zeroed in on my one remaining Blogger site, and an e-mail from Amazon Associates about major changes in widgets, links, etc., propelled me forward.  My only reason for remaining in that site was the advantage of those widgets.  So…without too much thought, but after examining my posts and changing links to any reviews on that site (there were only two!), I deleted it.

Yes, Story Corner went bye-bye earlier this week.  Even though it was my first blog.  And there was a little tug of sentimentality, but most of what I wrote there could easily be created elsewhere.

 

 

 

Next I took another look at my ten remaining sites, all on Word Press.  No, Chocolate & Mimosas is still a lot of fun, even though I don’t post there very often.  Snow Chronicles, my writing journal, is still functional.

So that left…Going out on a Limb.  Yes, I loved it for a while.  And when I pulled up the book review category, there were LOTS of reviews posted there.  Pages, in fact.  What to do?  Well, the only site that linked to them was this blog, Curl up and Read, and the reviews were all in 2010-2013.  So my ruthless decision?  Delete those pages on this blog, and keep only 2014-2015.  Everything I review is on Goodreads, anyway.

 

 

 

 

Done!  Now I need one of these, as a reward for the hard work:  LOL

 

 

 

I will be going to lunch with a friend later, and then we’re going to see the movie I’ll See You In My Dreams, with Blythe Danner, et. al.

 

 

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So that’s how my day is going so far….lots of grunt work, followed by a lovely reward.  What are you up to on this Hump Day?

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