Glymm Box January Edition

I am super excited at how fast my January Glymm box came this month. I got a email January 13th and it arrived January 17th. I think this is the first time I ever received it so quickly considering I am in the same city (Montreal) that it ships from. So for me we started off on the right foot.


What I got in my Glymm box this month:

-Kaia Naturals- Juicy Bamboo Facial Cleaning Clothes. Full sized product is 30 clothes for $17.99 and my sample size was 1 cloth for $0.60
-Vasanti Csometics- BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator. Full sizes products is 120ml for $34.00 and my sample size was 12g for $3.40
-Anastasia Beverly Hills- Clear Brow Gel. Full size product is 0.28oz for $21.00 and my sample size is 0.085oz for $6.38
-Burt Bees- Nourshing Milk & Honey Body Lotion. Full size is 170g for $12.99 and my sample size was 2x 0.25oz for $1.08
-Cargo Cosmetics- Eye Pencil. I got a full size of this product for $16.00 for 2g.
-a card for a Free Lip Shine valued at $25 with a order.

This month my box totally paid for itself. I got almost $28 worth of samples and if I happen to get the Lip Shine then it will be bring box over $52.

I am very happy with the products I got to sample this month. They are all products that I am excited to try. As you can see the jelly belly beans were missing this month. I went on to their facebook page to see what happened and because they were a safety hazard they discontinued them but promised that there would be something new and exciting coming.

I will be placing an order with Glymm tomorrow because I have enough points to redem for something but I am not quite sure what I want to use them for.

Here are some pictures:

I love the postcards they use.  When I am done doing my posts for the box and product review posts I use these cards for bookmarks. They are the perfect size.This is another pretty card.

This is what I got in my box.

Check back next weekend when I will share my thoughts on the products.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Brand New Series In Books

I am always on the hunt for interesting and exciting books for Michael and I stumbled upon these on Friday. It sounds like a great series for Michael that I am thinking about getting them for him because I am sure he would enjoy these books.

Here is a description about the books:
Like any third-grade boy, Zeke Meeks has his share of problems. His little sister sings embarrassing princess songs around his friends. He has a deep, dark secret that no one can find out about. (Psst…he’s terrified of bugs!) And his biggest enemy is a tiny, evil girl with razor-sharp fingernails. It’s Zeke Meeks versus the world!

 Girls are ruining Zeke Meeks’ life. Not only is he surrounded by girls at home, he now has a new girl neighbor. She might be good at sports and video games, but when it comes down to it, she is still an awful girl

 Zeke Meeks thinks his teacher is crazy when he announces that no one can watch TV for an entire week. There is no way Zeke will survive without videogames or his favorite shows. Will he be bored enough to play with his sister? Study? Actually read for fun? Only time will tell

 Instead of playing at recess, Zeke Meeks’ classmates have been sitting around, staring at their boring Puppet Pals. Will Zeke join them, even though he has no interest in this playground craze?

Normally, Zeke Meeks wouldn’t care too much about the science fair, but he needs the prize money. If he doesn’t pay Grace Change fifty dollars, she’ll use her evil fingernails to rip his face off. Now if only he could find a project that doesn’t make the dog sick or clog up the pipes.

There is also a great website to go along with the books and its Capstone Kids .

Don’t they sound like the would be so much fun to read? If you go to the Capstone kids you can read a sample chapter of Zeke Meeks vs the putrid puppet pals. I just read it and I think this is right up Mihael’s alley.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Guest Post) Joel M. Andre

Today I am taking part in Partners In Crimes blog tour and I am honored to have Joel M. Andre stop by to guest post for me today. Thanks so much Joel for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this for me and my readers.

Most people who do a Google search on me will find an endless supply of
information. Over the years I have done a number of interviews and guest
posts promoting my books. However, around the time that my third Lauren
Bruni book, The Black Chronicles: Cry of the Fallen, I began to build a
website that focused on a variety of horror themed topics.

It was here that I would promote items like Brutal, Kill 4 Me and other
titles I have released and built a world of horror topics that interest
people. This created an online presence that left people interested in
learning more about me after they researched another topic. This has helped
me to reach a new audience. It has also helped me to avoid plenty of the
pitfalls other writers encountered.

Many writers who self-publish sit back after the book is published and
wait for people to find and buy it. They may get a fair number of sales
once people start finding it but there is no telling how long that could
take. It could be weeks or even months before the first sale.

Why not help people find your book faster so it starts selling faster?
Using SEO strategies is the answer. It isn’t that difficult and the first
step is done at the time you publish at Kindle Desktop Publishing or just
about any of the other places you can self-publish. Most places have a
field to enter carefully chosen keywords that will help bring your book up
in searches made by people looking for something related to your book’s
topic or storyline. To choose the best keywords, you can use such tools as
Google Keyword Tool. This will help you find the keywords relative to your
book that are actually used by people looking for something in the search
engines.

Now, this is just the first step and while important, does not go far
enough to help your book be found sooner. The next step in SEO is
backlinking. This means having other sites link to the page offering your
book. It is important that these links come from sites that are relevant to
the type of book you have or the topic of the book.

Another effective SEO strategy that is newer is social networking. This
involve such sites as Facebook, Twitter, Redgage and Google +. Millions of
people are on these sites regularly so if you are not using them to promote
your book, you are leaving sales and cash on the table. Create fan pages,
circles and whatever is the mode for a particular social site just for your
books and then start getting people to ‘Like’, ‘Follow’ and ‘Plus 1’ you.
It can go viral and help to boost sales and more talk about your book.

Of course, guest blogging and blog comments are another means of helping
people find and buy your book. This can be a more personal way as you can
tell a little about yourself and how you came to write the book, which is
often a great way to promote a book.

These can be a bit time consuming to do all on your own but there is a
company with the expertise to help you get it done right without costing an
arm and a leg. That company is Need An Article, where I am one of the staff
of writers who can help you get your book noticed sooner. You can check
them out at www.needanarticle.com or visit me online at www.joelmandre.info.

Joel’s newest book is:

About the book:
On a warm summer afternoon, in Northern Arizona, a double homicide stains the ground with blood. Detectives are called out to handle the investigation, each plagued with their own internal demons, and aren’t prepared for what they are about to find. Detective Lauren Bruni, faces a world of darkness and evil, as a demonic force begins to leash an attack on a small town. As the stakes begin to rise, so does the stunning truth, that not even Lauren can imagine. In a world where her life had started to fall apart, she must pick up the pieces and push forward in an effort to save those that she loves the most. Joel M. Andre takes the Horror genre and pushes the boundaries in a tale full of suspense, dark comedy and genuine horror.

To buy the paperback version of this book click here or to buy it on kindle click here.

About the Author
Joel M. Andre was born January 13, 1981. At a young age he was fascinated with the written word. It was at fourteen that Poe blew his mind, and Andre began to dabble with darker poetry. Between the years of 1999 and 2007, Joel was featured in various poetry anthologies and publications. In 2008 he released his first collection, “Pray the Rain Never Ends”. Knowing there was something deeper and darker inside of his soul, Joel decided to take a stab at commercialism. Releasing the dark, tongue in cheek, “A Death at the North Pole”, created a dark world that resulted from the death of Kris Kringle. Ultimately, it proved to be a tale of redemption. October of 2008 saw Joel release his second book, “Kill 4 Me.” This was a tale that found Casey Dwyer being haunted by a spirit through text messages, and instant messaging. It was far more brutal than anything he had released before. Taking some time off and doing a lot of soul searching, Joel took things in a new direction and dabbled in the Fantasy Genre with, “The Pentacle of Light”. This tale dealt with five major races battling for control of Earth, and the acceptance of their God. As times continue to change, so does the tales he has to tell. This October he will bring back Lauren Bruni in a prequel, and come 2011 there will be the next book in his Fantasy series “The Pentacle of Light”. Currently, he resides in Arizona.

Thanks again Joel for stopping by and doing this for us.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Two Funny videos I discovered today

One of my daily rituals is always to head to facebook before anything else to see what is going one with my friends. Usually they post something interesting or funny and this morning on facebook one of my friends posted this video:

I guess this can relate to any of us bloggers and I admit that I am guilty of saying a few things in this video. How about you?
Then my second thing to do online is to head into blogger and find out what fun and exciting things fellow bloggers are posting and  I saw this one this morning on tales of a ranting ginger

I am sure our significant others have said a few things this guy has said. I know mine has.

Enjoy everyone.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Review) Canal House Cooking Volume 7

Title: Canal House Cooking Volume 7 La Dolce Vita
Authors: Melissa Hamilton & christopher Hirsheimer
Pub Date: January 2012
Publisher: Canal House
Pages: 128

Source: I received a copy of this from Andrews McMeel Publishing for a honest and sincere review. Thank You Andrews McMeel for sending this.

About the book:
Welcome to the Canal House—our studio, workshop, dining room, office, kitchen, lair, lab, and atelier devoted to good ideas and good work relating to the world of food. We write, photograph, design, and paint, but in our hearts we both think of ourselves as cooks first.
How did we get here? Neither of us set out to make careers in the food world. Actually there wasn’t much of a “foodie” world when we both started. But our deep interests led us down paths that unfolded in front of us.

We had worked with each other as food editors in the magazine world. We traveled the globe in search of essential and authentic recipes, sliding into banquettes in famous restaurants, meeting big deal chefs, and even cooking in far-flung home kitchens. It was great and exciting. But our work took us both away from our families, our homes, and our gardens, away from what really matters, after all.

We live in little towns across the river from each other, one in New Jersey, the other in Pennsylvania. So we decided to join forces. We share similar backgrounds, having grown up in big families where food came first. In a time that seems like a million years ago now, our aproned grandmothers nurtured us with wholesome, comforting food—buttermilk pancakes drenched in salty butter and maple syrup. Our mothers were glamorous. They loved parties and cocktails and restaurants and brunch with Bloody Marys—food was exciting. Last night’s Chinese “takeout” would show up at breakfast reheated with two poached eggs on top. Both of us have deep food memories and large legacies to uphold.

We found our loft studio in an old redbrick warehouse downriver from where we live. A beautiful lazy canal runs alongside the building. One hundred years ago, mules plodding along the tow path hauled provision-ladened barges up and down the state. In warm weather, we provision-ladened barges up and down the state. In warm weather, we throw open the French doors and the voices of the people walking or or fishing below float up to us. We plant herbs in our window boxes and grow tomatoes in pots on our wrought-iron balcony. In the winter we build fires in the Franklin wood stove to keep cozy when its snowy and gray outside.

The Canal House has a simple galley kitchen. Two small “apartment-size” stoves sit snugly side by side against a white tiled wall. An old wooden carpenter’s worktable with a little sink at one end is our long counter and pots hang from a rack suspended above it. We have a dishwasher, but we find ourselves preferring to hand wash the dishes so we can look out of the tall window next to the sink and see the ducks swimming in the canal or watch the raindrops splashing into the water.

The town around us is a small American river town. A noon whistle still blows and church bells chime—no kidding! There is a drug store around the corner. Across the street is an old hardware store, and the best bar in the world is right down the alley.

And every day we cook. Starting the morning with coffee or cups of sweet milky tea, we tell each other what we made for dinner the night before. In the middle of the day we stop our work, set the table simply with paper napkins, and have lunch. So it came naturally to write down what we cook.

The Canal House Cooking series is a seasonal collection of our favorite recipes—home cooking by home cooks for home cooks. With a few exceptions, we use ingredients that are readily available and found in most markets in most towns throughout the United States. All the recipes are easy to prepare, all completely doable for the novice and experienced cook alike. We want to share with you as fellow cooks, our love of food and all its rituals. The everyday practice of simple cooking and the enjoyment of eating are two of the greatest pleasures in life.

This volume celebrates the bounty of fall and the festive holiday season with delicious Italian dishes, some classic, some reinterpreted Canal House style.

I always love when I get a new cookbook in the mail to review because that means a whole bunch of new recipes to try. We love trying new foods and some are a hit and some are a miss but its nice to try something new.

I love the cover of the book because it looks like its a fancy looking journal.

This is the first time that I heard about Canal House cookbooks and now I am really cuirous about them because if they are anything like this one I am sure I would enjoy it. Who doesn’t like to try something new every now and then?

This is cookbook number seven in the series and its based on a recent month long journey that Melissa and Christopher took in Tuscany.


I got to make a few recipes from the cookbooks so far and our favorites have been the Simple Tomato Sauce (you can use this with pasta and lasagne), Ragu Bolognese (which I modified a bit because there was some ingredients we didn’t like and we enjoyed it) and finally a delicious Apple Cake.

I think if you like trying new things or Italian cooking then this is the book for you. Interested in buying the book but would like to see a sample first, well then click on this. After seeing the sample I am sure your mouth will be watering.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
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Books I read this month (montly feature) January Edition

I recently read on someone’s blog that I follow (as soon as I can find the blogger I will link them to this post) that they made a monthly post about the books they read in the month. I really liked the idea so I thought that I would do the same thing.

Books I read in January:

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

It’s Monday! What are you reading? (meme) #3

One of my favorite bloggers Sheila from Book Journey is the host of this weekly meme. If you haven’t checked out Sheila’s blog yet then what are you waiting for. I love reading Sheila’s blog because she covers it all and I always end up walking away like I get to know Sheila a little more from her post. Hopefully this year I might actually get to meet her if she goes to NYC (HINT HINT Sheila).

I also just discovered recently that Sheila has partnered with Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and they come up with  a fun meme with a kidlit focus – anyone reading and reviewing books in children’s literature – it can be picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, you name it in the world of kidlit and it’s in!

So in case you are wondering what It’s Monday! What are you reading? is about well its a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!

Can you believe that we are into our third week of January? Where is the time going? I am a little late in getting this up today because of course its Monday and its my day to work in the school library. I love working in the library and have been thinking about going back to school perhaps in the fall to take a library science course. I would love to work in a school library.

The weather has changed very drastically here in Montreal. The past few days have been extremely cold with almost temps of -25. Its almost typical weather for us but a shock when its been above average temps. We got hit with a major snow fall last week and I hear there is more coming tomorrow along with freezing rain so that should be alot of fun….NOT!

Last week was a slow week in reading for me. I only read one book. Not sure what happened as I was on a roll but I think it was getting back into the swing of things and into a routine. Looking forward to getting the reading back into gear.

What I read this past week:

I managed to finish this up last week and I was almost going to give up because I was having a hard time but then I got to a point and was like a manic. I had to know what was going to happen. I really enjoyed this one. My review will be posted this week.
This is my current read:

I will begin this one tonight and I am excited as I love the cover.
This is what I read and whats on my agenda. I hope everyone has a good reading week.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.