Book lovers visit Nashville during the Southern Festival of books

in , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Saturday, September 13, 2014

Fall is rapidly approaching folks and I for one am happy to see that one of my favorite times of year officially starts in 11 days.  Fall is a fun season, full of great outdoor events and festivals. 

You can find all sorts of festivals to attend- everything from sports and family fun to beer and wine festivals, just head to Google and type in your zip code and festivals.  We were looking for a family event,  when I discovered a unique festival coming to Nashville, TN. in October; a book festival. Yes! A book festival! 

We are a family of avid readers, so how I didn’t know about this festival, which has been held in Nashville since 1989 is beyond me.  Better late than never as the saying goes! I knew I had to extend a warm, southern style invitation to all of you to come visit us in Nashville and check out this festival!



About the Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the written word:


poster Southern Festival of books in #Nashville,TN.
Source

Humanities Tennessee's Southern Festival of Books was first held in Nashville on the second full weekend in October in 1989, and has been held annually on the same weekend since then. It is one of the first book festivals of its kind, a true celebration of the written word, and has inspired hundreds of similar book festivals throughout the nation and beyond. 
The festival is free and open to the public. No advance registration or tickets are required. All seating is on a first-come basis.
The dates and times for 2014 Southern Festival of Books are:
Friday, October 10, 2014: 12:00 noon - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 11, 2014: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 12, 2014: 12:00  noon - 5:00 p.m.
To learn more about the Southern Festival of books go here.

This festival isn’t just for adults; there are lots of fun activities for the kids! They will have an opportunity to meet renowned children’s and young adult authors, see favorite book characters, and listen to musicians and storytellers too.
To learn more about the events for children and young adults, including a list of attending authors, go here. 

Fall is a wonderful time to visit Nashville. The heat and humidity of summer are a quickly fading memory and Nashville welcomes you with classic southern charm and hospitality. Plus, by this time of October, you’ll get to see all the pretty fall leaves.
Pretty Fall Leaves #Nashville,TN.

Ready to come to this Festival? You’ll want to check out their handy Plan Your Visit page, which gives you full directions, hotel accommodations suggestions and more. 

Whether you can make it to Nashville or not, I want to wish you and yours a happy, fun fall season. Head on over to Google and find out what is happening in your neighborhood and get out there and have fun!
Please share in comments: Is there a fall fair, festival or event you can’t wait to attend this year?
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Dinner made easy with BrylaneHome Deep Dish Lasagna/Roaster pan

in , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Tuesday, September 09, 2014

Thanks to my sponsor, BrylaneHome, for supplying a free Deep dish Lasagna/Roaster pan to help me write this post today. My love of cooking a family style dinner and my opinions are 100% my own.


Even though it’s officially still summer, we got a much needed break from the heat and humidity last week in the form of glorious rain. This rainy day was the perfect time for me to try out my new deep dish Lasagna/Roaster pan from Brylane Home.

Stainless steel deep dish Lasagna Pan/Roaster #BrylaneHome


I didn’t have the needed time or ingredients to make my homemade sauce for Lasagna, so I opted instead to make a family favorite- my Sunday Roast Chicken. I couldn’t wait to give this Stainless Steel beauty of a pan a try.

I really like that this set comes with a removable footed rack for roasting and look how deep it is! Four inches deep insures you won’t have any bubble overs and allows you plenty of room to make a large family style meal.  The plastic lid and heavy duty spatula make this a perfect set for community functions and family events too.  Just cook, cover and go.

I lightly oiled the rack and sides of the pan to start. Then I lined up my veggies on the rack. The veggies stayed in place nicely on the rack.


Roaster rack lined with carrots,onions,parsnips #BrylaneHome

I could have easily doubled this recipe to feed a family of 8 to 10, that’s how big this pan is!


Next, I seasoned my chicken and veggies, added some aromatic herbs and was ready for the true test of any Roaster: How well and evenly does it cook?


Sunday Chicken Dinner ready to go in oven #BrylaneHome


The house was full of the heavenly scent of my Sunday Roast Chicken and my family kept visiting the kitchen to ask when dinner would be done.  After a final check of my chicken’s temperature and a quick fork check of the veggies, I am happy to report that the BrylaneHome Deep Dish Lasagna/Roaster pan performed perfectly! 

Cooking time was the same as my other Roaster at one and half hours and the chicken turned out moist and tender, while the veggies were done just the way my family likes them.


Doesn’t this look good? I’ll be sharing my Sunday Roast Chicken recipe soon!


Perfect Sunday Chicken from BrylaneHome #Roaster #dinner


Our Sunday dinner was a success and now that fall’s cooler temperatures are drawing near, I’m sure I will be putting my new deep dish roaster/pan to good use. My family has already said they can’t wait for a deep dish version of my Lasagna.

 If you are in the mood to start fall cooking again and need a good deep dish pan, I invite you to check out the deep dish Lasagna/Roaster pan from Brylane Home which is currently on sale. While there, be sure to request a catalog. 


Please share in comments: What is your favorite fall  dinner recipe?

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Dark Hope: Book One of the Archangel Prophecies Review #DarkHopeBook

in , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Thursday, September 04, 2014


By Tera Kinsman

Dark Hope by Monica McGurk is a YA fiction book about Hope Carmichael, a teenager who was abducted as a child. Her father had raised her in a religious, overprotective environment, until she was 15. Hope’s mother gained custody, and she finally has a chance to be a normal teenager in Atlanta, Georgia.



Dark Hope #YA



At school, Hope makes her first real friend, Michael. He’s every girl’s dream, and Hope can’t believe he even noticed her. But there is more to him than meets the eye, and strange things begin to happen to Hope. She is dragged into an ancient conflict, centered on her.

Hope is the Bearer of the Key, the one destined to open the Gate of Heaven and unleash the fury of the Fallen Ones, a fate worse than Armageddon, unless Michael and Hope find a way to stop them.


I actually found myself liking this book. It wasn’t what I would’ve normally picked out for myself, especially considering the length of my TBR (to be read) list. I thought it would be overdone, another cheesy gothic romance. But the plot was actually exciting, and it opened my eyes to the sinister and disturbing underworld of human trafficking, which plays a major role in the events of the story. 

The romance isn’t insta-love or any of the other usual YA themes. While Michael and Hope quickly fall into “like” with each other, their relationship is complicated. Hope is never sure whether she can really trust Michael, or if she is just a pawn in a battle much bigger than herself. She wants to be close to him, to pretend like they’re just friends (or more than friends) back in Atlanta, but her own inner voice, and that of her Guardian Angel, Henri, keeps her doubting. 

Dark Hope is the first of a trilogy, so I think it will be interesting to see how their relationship changes in the next books.

A portion of the profits from the book will be donated to organizations to combat human trafficking, especially sexual trafficking of minors, which is super cool. 

To learn more about Monica McGurk, please visit her website  or follow her on her social channels.

Monica’s Twitter
Monica’s Pinterest
Monica’s Facebook
Please share in comments: What is your favorite YA book?


Disclosure: I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own. Our thanks to Clever Girls for sponsoring this post today. While we received a copy of Dark Hope and compensation, all opinions are 100% our own.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
"  




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Slap ‘Appy- Free Clean Master phone boost

in , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Tuesday, September 02, 2014

Hello September! I’m so glad you are here because that means one of my favorite seasons is approaching.  Fall!  I adore fall and all that this season provides us. 


Fall Flowers

  • Mums and colorful leaves
  • Pies and casseroles
  • Football and bonfires
  • Boots and sweaters

Fall is a stellar season for so many happy out- door activities and is also a good time to clean.  Wait, did I just pop the pretty fall bubble by mentioning cleaning? 

Yes, I did. House, car, deck, porch, it’s that wonderful time of year again to get your house in order before the Holidays. Before I start sharing those kind of cleaning tips, let’s start with something that is with you no matter the season and could probably use a good cleaning right now- your smartphone.

We are an Android home, so most all the apps I share here will be Android friendly. Such is the case for this amazing cleaning tool- The Clean Master Phone Boost. My husband downloaded and installed it on my phone when he got tired of hearing me say my phone was running slow again. 


Clean Master Phone Boost App

About Clean Master App:
“Simple, fast and accurate, Clean Master is the world’s most downloaded Android cleaner, speed boost and antivirus app, designed to help you reclaim storage, boost memory, enhance speed, and secure your device against malicious apps and vulnerabilities”.


Running Clean Master is super easy and quick. Every time I unlock my home screen their a little percentage icon that shows if I need to give my phone a quick cleaning. If the percentage is up over 50%, I just click the broom and the Clean Master app does the rest.


Clean Master app in action




This app is speedy quick! It shows me which files and apps are slowing up my phone (usually Instagram and photo gallery) and asks me if I want to remove junk files. 


Clean Master cleaning up app's


Yes, I do want to remove junk files, Clean Master, thanks for asking.


Clean Master cleaning up my smartphone

And just like that, my phone is clean again. You can clean your phone in less than 30 seconds, or do a more in-depth cleaning as time permits.

I highly recommend this app for your smartphone too. Head on over to Google Play and download your free copy today.


Please share in comments- what smartphone app do you use most often?

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Labor Day movie pick: Life of Crime with Jennifer Aniston

in , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Friday, August 29, 2014

It's the last Friday in August and Labor day weekend is on every body's mind, so let's kick off the long weekend with a giveaway! My thanks to Partnershub for  making this giveaway possible. As a host blogger, I receive no compensation or product for sharing this giveaway, just a bunch of happiness.

I have long been a fan of Jennifer Aniston. She won me over as Rachel on Friends and I even contemplated that famous haircut for a summer. Fast forward 20 years and Jennifer Aniston is still one of my favorite leading ladies and I find myself really liking her haircut again.

Opening in theaters today is Jennifer's newest movie: Life of Crime. After you read all about the movie, go to the bottom of this post to enter to win a $15 Fandango gift card.

About Life of Crime:

"When a pair of low-level criminals kidnap the wife of a corrupt real-estate developer, they get both more and less than they bargained for in Life of Crime, a dark caper comedy based on legendary author Elmore Leonard’s novel The Switch. Starring Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes, Yasmin bey, Mark Boone Junior, Isla Fisher, Will Forte and Tim Robbins, Life of Crime is packed with the outrageously eccentric characters, black comedy and unexpected twists that earned Leonard a reputation as one of America’s sharpest and funniest crime writers.
Mickey Dawson (Jennifer Aniston), the wife of crooked real-estate developer Frank Dawson (Tim Robbins), is kidnapped by two common criminals (Yasmin bey and Jon Hawkes), who intend to hold her for a $1 million ransom and extort her husband with inside information about his illegal business dealings. But Frank, who is holed up in the Bahamas with his mistress, decides he’d rather not get his wife back, setting off a sequence of double-crosses and plot twists that could only come from the mind of master storyteller Elmore Leonard."

I know Jennifer will sparkle in this dark comedy and I hope I can squeeze in a trip to the theater to see it. 

Now for some giveaway fun!

  Watch the action packed new trailer for Life Of Crime and then share your favorite part for a contest entry on the Rafflecopter form below!



Terms:

 Entering is easy with the Rafflecopter form below.  No purchase necessary to enter. Open to U.S. Residents 18+.  My WAHM Plan is not responsible for prize fulfillment. Giveaway not associated with Facebook. Each household is only eligible to win $15 Fandango Gift Card via blog reviews and giveaways. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Full terms and conditions listed on Rafflecopter form.

 Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Easy DIY Flea Deterrent

in , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Somehow our home and pets managed to get fleas this summer.  We are unsure where the original fleas came from because we have had indoor cats in our family for close to a decade and never had a flea problem. Regardless of how we got them, I had to make them go!  I started researching safe methods of killing fleas without harming cats, family and belongings. 

I read several stories of success using plain table salt.  The instructions sounded simple enough: Cover your carpet with table salt and leave it on for three days. The fleas eat the salt, which so severely dehydrates them that they die. You leave the salt on the floor for three days, then wait 24 hours and do the whole process again and supposedly, within two weeks’ time, your home is flea free. 


Our Princess Cat Dottie
Dottie

I liberally doused our carpeted rooms with salt, assuring my curious cats that this was for the greater good.  They were dubious at best.  

Six or seven hours into day one of Salt O’ the carpet and my oldest Cat Dottie, took to higher ground, refusing to walk on any salted/carpeted area. She would run at break neck speed from point A to point B and stayed on hardwood -tiled surfaces when at all possible. I felt so bad for her. 

My husband and kids didn’t care for the crunchy feel of salt between their toes either, so by day two, I vacuumed up the salt. We did see a small difference in the fleas, so I knew I’d have to come up with a better solution. That’s when I decided to combine the Carpet fresh product my cats and family don’t mind with salt to see how it worked.


DIY flea deterrent #salt #carpetfresh


This is a super simple DIY project.

  • Use at least 1/3 box of Carpet Fresh Pet Fresh to make room for salt.
  • Add regular table salt to fill the box of Carpet Fresh. I used a small kitchen funnel aligned to the holes on the top of Carpet Fresh box.
Add salt to carpet fresh #DIY flea deterrent


  • Shake well to mix ingredients.
  • Sprinkle the mix liberally on carpet and let sit for as long as you can. I aim for at least 30 minutes.
Shake on liberal amount of #DIY flea deterrent


  • Then vacuum up.


Vacuuming daily, or at least every other day is a major key to breaking the fleas’ life cycle, as is the salt. We are using this method in conjunction with Flea medicine recommended by our Vet to combat these little biters. The Vet warned us that this could be an ongoing battle all summer. But at least we aren’t getting bit and our cats seem to be doing better. 


Our little kitty Fiona
Fiona


Now if I could just get them not to be afraid of the vacuum!

Please share in comments: Has your cat or dog ever had fleas? What did you do to get rid of them?

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My Messy Patio Table Was No Match for Viva Vantage Paper Towels #VivaTowels #sponsored

in , , , , , , by Linda A Kinsman, Friday, August 22, 2014

Many thanks to Viva Vantage and Walmart for sponsoring today’s story and helping me clean up my messes!

My family and I love spending time out on our back deck. It’s so relaxing to sit back and enjoy nature at its unspoiled finest. It’s why we moved out to the country. One of the draw backs of country living is dirt. Lots of dirt and “gifts” show up on our deck from our cat, the birds we feed, a raccoon that makes a routine visit, even an opossum, who  has an affinity for the grease can on my husband’s grill. 


Somehow, a big portion of this dirt winds up on my patio table. It’s gross, folks! Yes, that is birdie poop and cat hair and mud and I don’t even know what else!

dirty patio table #cleanup #VivaTowels


I clean this glass top table at least once a week; more often if my daughters want to do homework here, or if company is coming. And every week, I use a big wad of my regular brand of paper towels. First, cleaning and scrubbing off all that nature gives, and then going back and cleaning off all the lint the paper towels left. It’s a chore I don’t look forward to. 


gross glass table #cleanup #VivaVantage


 That’s why I was so excited to learn about the new Viva Vantage paper towels. They are said to have “great scrubbing power for everyday messes”. After seeing how dirty my patio table was again, I knew it was time for me to break up with my old paper towels and give Viva Vantage a try. I headed to my local Walmart, where I was happy to discover Viva Vantage was on sale at a much lower price than my regular brand. Score one for the family budget!


#VivaVantage paper towels at #Walmart
Viva Vantage paper towels at a great low price at Walmart.

Armed with my new paper towel scrubbing team, I went outside to face the table too tough to tame.


#VivaVantage paper towels #cleanup
Viva Vantage ready to take on this table

I felt the Viva Vantage paper towel noticing all its ridges and stretchiness  and thought, I bet I’ll need at least 4 of these to tackle this mess; but for the sake of experimentation, I’m going to try them one at a time to really give them a test. 


I spritzed on my usual glass cleaner and allowed it to set for a minute. 


time to clean dirty table #VivaTowels


 Then I pulled off just one Viva Vantage paper towel.



One paper towel challenge #VivaTowels
One Viva Vantage paper towel versus gunk

And, to my amazement- it was all I needed. Look at how all the ridges and flex-weave  held on to all the cat hair, dirt and grime!  


Grime is off the table #VivaTowels



The Viva Vantage held up to my scrubbing (it only got a couple tiny holes) and it had plenty of absorbing power left. If I’d had the time, I could have taken this same paper towel and start wiping down my chair arms.  Instead I chose to stand back and admire my pretty, shiny clean table! 



shiny, clean table thanks to #VivaTowels
Thanks to Viva Vantage towels, my table shines!


Thanks Viva Vantage paper towels for tackling my messy patio table. I'm hooked on your cleaning power. 

If you are ready to break up with your old paper towels and give Viva Vantage a try; head on over to your local Walmart or visit Walmart.com.


Disclosure: Many thanks to Viva Towels and Walmart for sponsoring today’s post.  I did receive compensation as a thank you for sharing my thoughts on Viva Vantage paper towels. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." 


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