Cinnamon Toast?

So, sunshine has decided to arrive on this little island. And it even brought along it's friend- warmth! I have been enjoying our new deck extremely during the afternoons& early evenings. How? By sitting outside& snuggling with Penny. When your summers are as short as Cape Breton summers, you certainly learn to spend as much of it outside as possible!

Is that not a thing of beauty? It's so nice to have a carpenter for a boyfriend. I say build it& then like magic, it's built! I should really be sure to thank him yet again for this particular build. I have been putting it to very good use by sitting outside& reading.. which brings me to my next subject. I needed a new book. I happened to be in Shoppers when I realized this& so a quick look around their little book section showed a very cute cover ..and yes, I do pretty much always judge my books by their covers! The book is called Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World. The font is cute& the graphic is a toaster. I know, right?! I was sold. I bought it on the spot& headed home, book in hand, to enjoy some quality deck& puppy time before heading out for a run!

Imagine my surprise when I opened the book& realized it was based in Nova Scotia! Even better? The author, Janet Cameron, was born in Nova Scotia. Granted, she now lives in Dublin, which is arguably much more exciting than here. Still, how fun! Except..

This is going to sound mean, but once I realized it was a novel written by a former Nova Scotian about Nova Scotia things, I cringed on the inside. I avoid 'local' books like the plague as they are usually either about a topic I find boring or are boring to read (local authors ..feel free to help change my perception! Send some Nova Scotia books/ author suggestions my way!). I changed into my comfiest Lulu Lemon clothes and prepared a snack for Penn& I to enjoy (what, you don't share snacks with your dog?!) while we lazed in the sunshine. I opened the book with a cautiously optimistic mind. On the bright side, I could always lend it to someone who cared about coal mining, local music& arts or whatever else this book was suddenly likely to be about.

I was more than pleasantly surprised. I only had enough time to get to pg 49 before we had to head out, but I was so enthralled I had a hard time putting the book down. I'm definitely someone that when they get into a book, they need to finish it yesterday. This is an absolutely fabulous book! Everyone should make a point to read this ..even if you aren't from Nova Scotia. I feel like finally, a novel that is very well-written and such a good story from my province. Sure, it's based here but it isn't about the local history, economy or any of those things I feel like I should be reading during school, not leisure! I can't wait for our very sunny, warm weekend to sit outside& thoroughly enjoy the rest of this book. If you read& like a good, real world story than this book is for you! The characters are so real.

And now, I have to go shower the sweat from my body& snuggle that pretty red puppy! And maybe eat some cinnamon toast because ..hello, delicious. Let me know if you have any great summer reads I should put on my list, especially if they are Nova Scotia authors.

Challenges

I have a long history of failing at photography challenges. I've failed Project 365, 30 day Photo Fun, 100 Strangers, Friday Snaps& basically everything else I attempt to do. With that in mind, let me present to you my newest challenge. Click it Up A Notch posted it& asked if people wanted to try the challenge with her. I said no in the comments but then today it was raining& so I was bored.

I looked ahead at the 'themes' after day 1 with the immediate response to the second theme being that I will never do that. Hmm ..probably not the best initial reaction but whatever. Maybe I'll surprise myself (and all of you)& actually finish this! I mean, it's only 30 days. I already have 1 day done. Only 29 left. I can do it!

So there we have it. Thirty whole days of topics that I need to take photos of. Anyone else want to try this out? It should be interesting ..to say the least. Are you good at sticking with things? If yes, leave me a comment with a tip on how you manage to complete things that take days& days of your life. If you can't complete 'challenges', feel free to let me know so I stop feeling so alone ;) Either way, take up the challenge& try!

So day 1 (today) is a self-portrait. In honor of this, I managed to do absolutely nothing with myself& look like a big dirtbag! It's pretty awesome. Seriously. I set up my tripod& sat on my bed with my dog (who is whining less today. Sanity? RESTORED!), in the hopes seeing his cute little face would be enough to satisfy you. Then I took a book called 'Horse and Rider' and used that cover up my face. I think it took about 25 shots to get one worth posting. I'm not the best at tripod shots yet ..but I'm trying. That's half the battle, right?

Black& White Wednesday
I learned
Creatively You

Click the links to check out other entries!

Yes. It is black& white. Honestly, at this point, is that shocking anyone? I also did a few in color to see which I preferred ..clearly, no color won. It always wins. Doesn't my dog look thrilled? This is actually how we bond lots. He sits close to me& I basically ignore him except for the occasional scratch or belly rub. It's his favorite thing because my bed is comfy& he doesn't really like to be touched.

So what did I learn? That I have to stick with something photography related to get the full payoff. I'm hoping in 30 days I'll have a successful post about how I finally finished something relating to taking pictures!

Halfpastwonderful.com!

It's up and running folks. My blog has it's very own domain. No more of the .blogspot nonsense ;D I am so incredibly excited.

For a little bit there I didn't think it would work. I couldn't figure out why the only custom domain I was allowed to have was the one that blogger wanted me to buy from them. Well, blogger ..sucks to be you. I bought mine from Godaddy.

Thank goodness for friends who teach you how to fix all your problems. It took a lot of effort on her part, but she helped me figure out how to make blogger work on my new domain. Thanks, Jaimie :D Without you I would be laying on my bed with a broken computer and a domain name I couldn't use. I was so frustrated and now I am excited. So .. here's my first post since getting that domain up& running. How is this going to change anything about my blogging?

I have no idea. Honestly. I just really wanted my own domain. I also really want a new comments section .. new layout .. and a book deal. But I always want a book deal. I'll settle for none of the above as long as at least a few people are enjoying my posts.

Afterall, I do have a domain name for the next 2yrs that I have to use!

Here is a little flower love!

In honor of my new domain name .. promises of more photos to come :)

Sunshine& news

Sun is shining. It's gorgeous out. I said I would be up early to get some sunglasses& head to the beach. I was up at 7.30AM but managed to so far only lay on the swing behind our garage. Oh well, I read a good book called A Field Full of Butterflies. It's about a lady who grew up in a gypsy world .. interesting and a good read on a sunny day. Any suggestions for other good reads?!

Not a beautiful cover.

I would suggest it if you want something light to read!

Now I'm off to get a pair of sunglasses. I already have them picked out. They are purple zebra print .. I don't even care that most people would think they are some kind of ugly! I love them& they are (hopefully) going to cost me $0 because I plan on purchasing them with my Shoppers Optimum points! Go me.

[via]

They sort of look like these.

But not really.

So that is all there is to say about today. Onto my news portion of this post. The news for today is that in a few short hours I will be the proud new owner of my very first domain. I am probably ridiculously excited considering how many people have domains and it really isn't that big of a deal but nonetheless. I still can't wait until simply typing in my new domain will bring you to my blog .. no more of the blogspot nonsense.

Well .. that's that! I hope the sun is shining and it's gorgeous where you are as well :) Enjoy this day folks!

Brilliant book ideas

So, I took a break from blogging for a few days. I am going to start writing extra blogs to post on days that I'm just too tired / busy / etc to actually write that day. I am so brilliant. I also owe you folks quite a few photos of the day. They are all taken ..they are just sitting on my camera waiting for me to upload& edit them. I will post them tonight, I promise! Probably after the Lakers game. Hello, playoffs! You are my favorite time.

So, my topic. Last night I went to dinner& a movie with Karli. We watched Arthur. The woman on it writes a book for kids about the statues in New York& it actually sucked. No one in the movie realized that though& they all thought it was great. So that got me to thinking -could I write a book? Or, at the very least, could I write enough of a basic outline for a book to include in a movie? Heck yes. And it will be way better than the one she wrote. So, now I'm going to include some awesome book ideas.

Other Options
Emo Allie spends her time divided between her boyfriend, being emo& seeing other boys. Ugh .. it's SO hard being a teenager today. Her boyfriend is great ..until she can find a better one. What will she chose?! Life as a 15yr old emo. It's tough.

Party Like a Rockstar
Mike is a guy. Mike wants to be a girl. He likes wearing party gowns, gloves and drinking champagne from those little flutes. He is moving to a new city& starting his new life as a woman. He just wants to be the next Grace Kelly -if he can get that darn sex change. Thankfully, he's androgynous. So he pulls off looking like a woman very easily. Maybe you'll see him on Top Model?!

Going Corporate
This is about a guy who has no skills. No education. He isn't even charming. He just has charisma. Which, unlike it's cousin karma, isn't a bitch. He enters the workforce and hilarity ensues. He types his memos in Comic Sans. He's sort of like Charlie Sheen ..only less psychotic.

Full Throttle Insanity
Suzie has found the guy she wants to spend the rest of her life. He finally proposes. What happens after she gets the ring on her finger? We have heard this story a million times. She's goes nuts. This time, however, it's told from the guy who was lucky enough to be her catch. Or so he thought until about 2 minutes ago. Oh the things an engagement will do.

Okay, so maybe these suck. Let's be real about one thing: making fake book covers? Possibly my new favorite hobby!! What creative book ideas do you have?! Please, feel free to create one yourself! Here's my template: