Been Busy...

I recently purchased some prints from Tula Pink's new line called Prince Charming. So cute!



I also purchased a few prints from Anna Maria Horner's new line called louLOUthi. I am really loving this line. Especially the Totem fabric. The scale is huge, but so pretty!



These are the 2 lines I have been cutting and sewing all week. I have tons of photos to edit and items to list. The longer I wait, the more daunting it becomes. I need to carve out a block of time and just DO IT.

Review: What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I just finished reading What Happened to Goodbye, and I must say it's typical Sarah Dessen. Only this time it's a little boring. Nothing exciting happened at all. It just sort of rolls along.



The protagonist, Mclean, while likable, wasn't very deep. Since her parent's divorce, she has lived with her father, which means moving to a new town every 6 months due to his work. Mclean manages to reinvent herself in every new town. She can be whatever and whoever she chooses - she even has a different name with every move. It seems like it would take a lot of work to pull off a new persona with every new town. Her dad doesn't even notice that Mclean is a different person in each new place. And she doesn't get along with her mother, and feels that she doesn't fit in with her mother's life since the divorce (she remarried and has a set of twins). Mclean seems to have no problem packing up and leaving everything behind - she doesn't even make a point of telling her current set of friends goodbye.



In the latest move, Mclean becomes known as Mclean before she has a chance to become a new persona. So she finally decides to just be herself. Dave, the boy next door (literally) was flat and uninteresting. Even though everyone told us how different he was, he didn't display any qualities that would make him likable as boyfriend material. Sadly, Dave and Mclean didn't have chemistry, and there were no 'wow' moments between them.



I liked the new friends that Mclean made. They were an interesting lot, even if they weren't fleshed out at all.



Towards the end of the book, Mclean's lifestyle catches up with her and she is forced to realize why she has been hiding behind the varied versions of herself. It's all resolved quite quickly and with only the very slightest amount of teenage angst.



Another reviewer, Joy Kim, summed this up perfectly: "The good thing about Sarah Dessen is that you always know exactly what you're getting when you pick up one of her books. The bad thing is that you always know exactly what you're getting when you pick up one of her books."



View all my reviews

Freebie Friday IS GONE

Freebie Friday is this little snap wallet/card case. It's really cute and perfect for either your credit cards or business cards.

As always, just be the first person to leave a comment on this post, then email your shipping address to me at PinkLadyDesignsATcharter.net

Finally! The Last Day of The School Year...

The snow days this past winter really did a great job in ruining the beginning of 'summer'. The kids last day of school was supposed to be May 20, but it's today instead. It will be a short summer this year. The next school year starts on August 15. Crazy.

And don't get me started on the 9 month school schedule (or 9 1/2 month school schedule in our case.) In this day and age there is absolutely no need for a school schedule that revolves around farming. My kids have never planted in the spring, worked the farm all summer, and then started school after the last harvest. Sorry, but year round school seems to make more sense to me.

We don't really have any plans for a vacation this summer. It's always so darn hot when we go anywhere, we spend most of our time at the hotel pool... And gas is expensive again. I remember 3 summers ago when gas was so high, we spent more money on gas than we did on hotels. That's pretty sad.

I don't know if my daughter will be up for too much activity/excitement. She has mono (mononucleosis) which is just the funnest thing ever for a 13 year old! Not. She's doing pretty good now. She still sleeps 13 hours a day. The not feeling good and running a slight fever comes and goes depending on how much sleep she gets. And she missed the last month of school. The teachers sent all of her work home, so I had the joy of basically home-schooling her. More fun. She didn't have to do any finals, so her grades aren't as good as they could have been.

Memorial Day Weekend Sale and Sunday Freebie

Memorial Day Weekend Sale going on. Blog readers will receive 20% off their entire purchase in my Etsy shop by using the coupon code SAVE20

Sunday's Freebie is this little zipper pouch. I used Anna Maria Horner Good Folks fabrics. Pouch measures 3.5 inches x 5.5 inches. Just be the first person to comment on this post, then contact me at PinkLadyDesignsATcharter.net with your mailing address and I will ship this out to you asap.

Weekend Sale and Another Freebie IS GONE

Memorial Day Weekend Sale going on. Blog readers will receive 20% off their entire purchase in my Etsy shop by using the coupon code SAVE20

Freebie is gone. Thank you. - Today's Freebie is this little zipper pouch. I used Anna Maria Horner Good Folks fabrics. Pouch measures 3.5 inches x 5.5 inches. Just be the first person to comment on this post, then contact me at PinkLadyDesignsATcharter.net with your mailing address and I will ship this out to you asap.

Etsy Weekend Sale and Freebie Friday IS GONE

Memorial Day Weekend Sale starts today. Blog readers will receive 20% off their entire purchase in my Etsy shop by using the coupon code SAVE20


Freebie Friday has been claimed. Thank you - Freebie Friday - Up for grabs today is this mini zippered pouch constructed using Amy Butler's Ivory Lotus Pond and Yellow Full Moon Polka Dots fabrics. Measures 3.5 inches x 4.5 inches. Be the first person to leave a comment on this post, then contact me at PinkLadyDesignsATcharter.net with your mailing address so I can ship your item asap.

And the winner is...

Scotty McCreery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay for Scotty. He really deserved to win. I liked his voice from the beginning, but I started to wonder if he could sing anything other than "Baby lock the door..."

He got better and better as the season went on.

I feel good about Lauren coming in second. There for a while I wasn't even sure how she kept progressing to the next round. But she grew on me and she got better.

122 million votes? I could only get through a couple of times during an hour long period. I kept getting a busy signal. I guess that was a good thing, especially since Scotty won.

American Idol Finale

Scotty goes first and sings ”Gone” by Montgomery Gentry. Nice performance again.

Lauren chooses ”Flat on the Floor” by Carrie Underwood. You can tell her voice is not 100 percent.

George Strait (Who I really love) picks his own song ”Check Yes or No” for Scotty. Scotty sings it well but it doesn't seem like he is really into the song. Is he not feeling it?

Carrie Underwood picks "Maybe It Was Memphis" by Pam Tillis for Lauren. She sings it well.

Scotty gets to sing ”I Love You This Big” - which sounds suspiciously like "I Love You This Much" by Jimmy Wayne. Hmmmm, I wonder who wrote this new song? Scotty still doesn't seem that into the song. It was just okay.

Then Lauren sings ”Like My Mother Does”. What, is she going to dress and act like a teenager like her mother does? Oh, Lauren has to go into the audience to hug her crying mother. Milk it. It's a little over the top performance to me, as the camera keeps going back to show her crying mother. So this is the big moment of the night. The 2 contestants aren't on equal footing with those 2 songs.

The whole show went by pretty fast. No time for reflection or chatting. And it was all just weird. Did anyone else think it was weird? It feels like the whole Lauren lost her voice uproar an hour before showtime was a blatant attempt to get sympathy votes. Lauren looked sheepish during and after her performances. Scotty wasn't his usual smiling self. He was more reserved and seemed resigned to taking a backseat to Lauren. Could this have all been planned? I have to wonder.

Who do I think should win? James Durbin.
Who do I think WILL win? Scotty. Or Lauren. No, Scotty. Definitely Scotty. Be sure to tune in to tonight's result show to see just how wrong I am.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


4.5 Stars



I really enjoyed If I Stay, and I was looking forward to reading Adam's POV in Where She Went. I started reading and could not stop. I was about 88% finished when I was just overwhelmed and had to stop. My heart was breaking for Adam. It has taken me several weeks to have enough courage to pick up this book and finish it. I went over possible endings in my head. Did I want them back together, or would I be satisfied if they had 'closure' and walked away from each other? I was quite scared that I wouldn't like the outcome. Now I am glad that I took the break before finishing. The ending was emotional and very satisfying. If I Stay and Where She Went are definite must-reads for everyone.



View all my reviews

Good Riddance, Yummy Eye Candy, and Freebie Friday is GONE

It was waaaay past Haley's time to go home on American Idol. My goodness, her singing actually improved as the show progressed, but her attitude just continued to suck. Goodbye B*tch.

I actually feel bad for Scotty and Lauren. I am happy that they have made it to the Finale, but it will be heartbreaking for whoever loses. They are both so young!!

On a completely different subject, I found a bit of eye and ear candy for your viewing and listening pleasure. Who doesn't love Robert Pattinson??? Come on, you know you do!!





Freebie is GONE Continuing with my yummy eye candy theme, this week's Friday Freebie is this Robert Pattinson Zipper Pencil Pouch. It measures 3.75 inches x 9 inches. If you would like this pencil pouch just be the first to leave a comment here. Then be sure to send your mailing address to me at PinkLadyDesignsATcharter.net so I can ship your pouch.

Just Get To The Finale Already...

Anyone else ready for the AI Finale? At this point I'm really not much interested in who will win. What I can tell you is that Haley better not be there. I just knew it would come down to a boy/girl finale.

It seems they know Scotty will get a record deal regardless, so they are pushing Lauren as the front runner. If you have any doubts about this, re watch last night's show. Lauren could do no wrong. Maybe they think they have another Carrie Underwood on their hands. I am still waiting for 'Audition Lauren' to come back. What happened to that spunk and balls she had when singing with Steven Tyler? I just don't understand why she has no confidence in her ability to belt out a good song.

Scotty wasn't praised much at all. As soon as he said he was singing a Lonestar song, my husband and I both agreed we hoped it wasn't 'Amazed'. It was. Boo!! His version of “Are You Going to Kiss Me or Not” was boring. I can see why the judges wanted him to sing a good chorus on “She Believes in Me”, and Scotty does do a good job.

And seriously, both Jimmy Iovine and the judges picked horrible, horrible songs for Haley to sing. That right there should prove that they don't want her in the finale. “Rhiannon”??? Really? Terrible song choice. Also, 'You Oughta Know' was on last season's AI, did they forget that? Who wants to hear a screaming and scathing song about Dave Coulier? Oh, I loved the 'family friendly' lyrics on the theatre verse. That was sooo last year.

I remember last week I mentioned that no one had forgotten heir lyrics yet this season. Lauren missed her mark on a lyric. Haley tripped AND mumbled during the fast part of 'You Oughta Know". Now I am happy. Well, not quite happy. However, I WOULD be happy if my James was back.

More New Fabrics From Anna Maria Horner

Have you caught a glimpse of Anna Maria Horner's new fabric line lou-LOU-thi (Loulouthi?). So pretty!

Awww. AI Sucks. I Want James Back!!

In my eyes, James Durbin won American Idol. That dude rocks!!!

I was really pulling for James to at least be in the Finale. I am very surprised and upset. I got a little teary eyed. I really did not expect this.

James is so much better than everyone else. Lauren and Scotty are pretty good, but Haley sucks ass not just for her singing but also her bitchy attitude and insincerity. I have spent way too much time watching her reactions during eliminations. Sometimes she almost smirks. I have also seen her smiling during an elimination and that just pissed me off.

I really love James’ voice and I plan on following his career. I wish he was still on AI since I haven’t had my fill of him yet. Well, at least I have Itunes to get me by for a while until he releases some new music.

Tonight the remaining 3 Idol hopefuls are singing 3 songs each. We haven't seen anyone forget their lyrics this season. At least not yet... LOL

BTW, last week's Freebie Zipper Pouch is still up for grabs. Seems no one wants it. Hmmm.

Only 4 Remain

Was anyone sorry to see Jacob go last week? I thought it was well past his time.

Remaining on American Idol this week is 2 girls and 2 guys. Hmmm, I wonder how that happened?

Everyone gets a chance to sing 2 songs, which I like because you get more of a chance to hear what they are all about.

James - I still really love James. He almost (almost) can do no wrong. His first song tonight is Don't Stop Believing by Journey, which has been totally overused and overplayed on tv lately, but I still really enjoyed it. His second song is Love Potion Number 9 and he totally rocks it!!! Great performance.

Haley sings Earth Song by Michael Jackson. I have no idea what this song is, I've never heard it before. At least I don't think I have. Haley growls waaaay too much and I'm totally not liking this performance at all. (On a side note, her attitude sucked. She spends enough time looking at herself on the monitors to know that she is coming off looking like a bitch.) For her second song Haley does I Who Have Nothing and just like last week she totally blows me away. What great singing. For the second week in a row I am surprised by how much I like her second song.

Scotty sings Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning by Alan Jackson. I have never liked this song. Never. Still don't. Even though Scotty sang it very well, and you just KNOW he is going to have a huge career in country music. Scotty's second song is Young Blood, and while upbeat, I didn't really like the vocals. It was just okay.

Lauren sings Do It Anyway by Martina McBride. Again, I have issues with Martina McBride, but Lauren does a very good job singing this song. I still think she cut off her notes too soon. Maybe that's just me. Her second song is Trouble by Elvis Presley which she sings pretty good. She got into this song a little so that was nice to see.

Overall it was a pretty good show tonight. Entertaining at the very least.
Bottom 3? Egads, that's a tough one. I'll say Lauren, Haley, and Scotty. Going home? Haley. Maybe even Scotty. I do have this feeling that somehow someway it will be a boy/girl finale. Just sayin'.