I never thought I would go to my twenty year high school reunion, but I did. Last night, my husband and I traveled the five hours from Virginia Beach to the Baltimore area, fighting that I-95 traffic the whole way. (When will they ever stop with that construction?)  I graduated in 1991 and when my parents left the area a couple of years afterwards, I never visited the ole stomping grounds again. And while I thought I would be nervous to see everyone I hadn't seen in two decades, it ended up being a fantastic evening. Some hadn't changed at all, but many had and it was a blast.

I just started reading The Lantern for Carl's R.I.P. readalong at Stainless Steel Droppings. It's not too late to join, so head on over to his site to get a feel for the reading schedule. After Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, I see why The Lantern is compared to it. Provence, France is shaping up to have a beautifully haunting feel to it, much like Manderley did in Rebecca.

This week is going to be extremely busy. I head to Denver for four days in all day training sessions for my company. Since I've never visited Denver, I'm looking forward to it, but as usual when traveling for work, there's never any time to actually visit the city. I end up identifying it with how nice the hotel or airport is.

So that means I won't be on the blogosphere much, and I'm anticipating my Google Reader to be at 1000+ posts from everyone (yikes). I'll catch up next Friday with you all.

Moving. Well, sort of planning the move. Which includes trying to get my house in Florida rented out, since there's no house selling in this economy, boys and girls!

My husband got a promotion and we are moving from Florida back to Virginia! Yay! Back around family and friends we go, and since I work from home and only need an airport by me so I can fly out to wherever, that part is easy... It's the renting out of our house and then finding a house in Virginia that's a bit crazy. And then it's packing everything up and getting everything moved. Good gracious. I've moved a gazillion times in my life but this one feels tougher!

So, this is why I've been a slacker over the past month, especially the past week. Hopefully we can finalize everything, find the perfect renter for our house, and then find the perfect house for us in Virginia. Hopefully!

Thanks for sticking by me...

Natalie at Coffee and a Book Chick

Gorgeous Boston in the background...

This might be why I got the book Mockingjay on Tuesday, the big release day, and still haven't finished it...  I've been incredibly lazy while on vacation in Boston...

My parents-in-law run their yacht chartering business in Boston, Massachusetts, called Night Rider Charters of Boston (you can also click here to get to their Facebook page) and this was pretty much how I spent my time in Boston.  And yes, no excuses, right?  You would think that I would pop open the book and read while on their boat, enjoying Boston Harbor with weather in the 70s and not a cloud in the sky, but all I could do is marvel at everything I looked at:  the Boston skyline, the water, the boat...sigh...then I would fall asleep...

And not to mention that the North End of Boston (Boston's "Little Italy," but is never called Little Italy, it's always called the North End) was holding the annual celebration for St. Anthony's Feast.  All I can say is that if you haven't visited the North End, you must go!  I ate a rice ball (rice, cheese, and spinach -- deep fried and served with marinara sauce), a cannoli, a zeppole, gelato, oh...I could go on and on...!

Night Rider Charters of Boston

And here's more of a plug -- while you're enjoying all of the Italian food and culture in the North End, check out Night Rider Charters of Boston and schedule it for two or three hours to tour around Boston Harbor, go out further into the Atlantic and go whale watching, or anything else!  They host corporate functions/meetings/events, birthday parties, bachelor/bachelorette parties, and I can assure you that my father- and mother-in-law are fabulous and incredibly hospitable!

Okay, so here's my reading "to do" list -- Mockingjay, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict for the Crazy Book Tours, The Handmaid's Tale for the Classic Reads Read-Along, and what else?  Maybe host a read-along for one of my favorite books, The Historian?  I've got to catch up with Tedious and Brief to talk about scheduling this sometime in the next few months -- wouldn't that be fun?  Would you want to join that read along?

Happy Reading!
Coffee and a Book Chick

I don't win.  It's not in my nature.  I usually trip on my breakaway before the goal is scored, the team I want to win loses, and if I really want it to be a sunny day, I think of rain so I can get the opposite.

But things are going to change now because dagnabbit, the coolest chick *ever* at Bookgirl's Nightstand shot me an award for The Versatile Blogger, and I am excited to participate with this group of fantastic folks!  And the rule is that I tell you seven things about me.  Easy, right?  When put on the spot, I get all knackered at the idea of trying to figure out what would be interesting for you to know about me.  So here's what I got:

1. I believe that we can all pool our collective good energy and figure out what happened to Amelia Earhart, thus I am considering starting a blog to research it.  My brilliant husband put the idea into my head.  He's absolutely fabulous.
2. I have a dog named Roma and a cat named Puppy.  That's right, the cat's name is Puppy because my husband and I thought we were never "cat people" until a stray kitten showed up in 20 degree weather one night in North Florida and ordered us to open the door with his intense stare and loud mouth.  We thought we would just watch him for a little bit and lo and behold, the cat slowly became ours and the name that we jokingly started to call him has now fully stuck with him.  And, yes, he rules the house and our 60 pound dog is wonderfully gentle with Puppy the Cat and Puppy the Cat beats the heck out of Roma the Dog.
3. When I was a kid I saw Return of the Jedi 5 times and wanted to be a Jedi.  But then I also wanted to be an archaeologist because of Indiana Jones.
4. I initially became a vegan 3 years ago partly for health reasons, and partly because I really didn't like the process of how food eventually got to my plate -- I instantly lost 30 pounds and felt so amazing that I couldn't even believe it!  I've sort of become a little more lenient since my honeymoon in Italy last year and now consider myself a vegetarian, but feeling like I'm going to return to my vegan ways fairly soon.  And I've found some incredible recipes on Weekly Bite's site!  Who would have thought being a vegan or vegetarian would be so tasty!  I even was a guest blogger on it, which was a complete honor!
5. I am completely addicted to the iPhone App game called Angry Birds.  Do not download it.  You will stop reading for days on end just to spend hours trying to get your birds back from the pigs.
6. I was born in Manila and lived in Greece and Venezuela before moving to the States as a kid, and have visited almost all of the states in the US.  I love to travel.    Which means that I should tell you that my husband and I went to Rome and Southern Italy for our honeymoon last year and we felt like we should move there.
7. I went to college and got my degree in English and Creative Writing but somehow fell into the corporate business world.  But I've missed writing and that's why I'm in the book blogging world -- not only to write and write but most of all to meet all of you!

So many thanks to the fantastic blogging friends I continue to meet!  I love to support my friends in their enterprises and blogs and I thank you for all of the support you've given me!  Thanks for reading about me!

The rules require that I pass this on to fifteen bloggers!  And now I humbly pass the award on and introduce you all to ...

• Kathy at The Literary Amnesiac
• Stacy at A Novel Source
• Caitlin at Chaotic Compendiums
• Sara at Wordy Evidence of the Fact
• Nat at Book, Line, and Sinker
• Shannon at Giraffe Days
• The Bibliophile by the Sea
• Heather at Book Addiction
• Sara at Loving Books
• Alayne at The Crowded Leaf
• Jenn at Jenn's Bookshelves
• Whitney at She is Too Fond of Books
• The Avid Reader's Musing
• Jennifer at Girls Gone Reading
• A Desperate Reader

Happy Reading and Meeting Fellow Book Bloggers!

Coffee and a Book Chick

So surprising to me that a year and a half flew by since my last post, and oh my, the events that have unfolded. I got married, which was a flippin' achievement in and of itself, and now my life is caught up flying from one business meeting to another this year (literally, Southwest is my current favorite airline, strictly due to no bag charges and open seating.  Take that first classers!), and coming home to tend to the "kids." A dog and a cat, who have really not figured out just yet who actually runs the house. My husband and I try to reinforce (at least with each other) that we, the humans, lead this pack. Sadly, the two "kids" feel otherwise and remind us pretty frequently...

I've read so much and so often, that I almost don't know where to begin...I've become a slacker in my original goal of being regular with this site... So, I'll start with the most recent novel that took no more than 2 days to finish (or 2 airline flights, I should say) -- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson. Gentlemen, hear this: Do not be a dork and get swayed by the title, this is most definitely not a typical mystery book about a chick that fights crime. Who knew that a sophisticated suspense thriller set in freezing cold Sweden would be a creepy and twisted "delight" to page through on a ride from Florida to California? Here I was, flying from one gorgeous place to another, and I was stuck in the -6 degree weather of Stockholm and Hedestad, getting caught up in Mikael and Lisbeth's frightening and freaky moments?  Kind of reminded me when I lived in St. Cloud, Minnesota...Okay, I'll admit that I was a little worried that the elderly woman sitting next to me could read some of the pages, and be slightly disturbed by the kind of person I was. For the rest of the flight, my head was bent over and my hair covered the pages. So there!

What follows is a nerve-wracking, disgusting, uncomfortable trip through a magazine publisher/journalist's experience as he is initially found guilty of libel in Stockholm, is subsequently hired by an aging industry millionaire to track down his niece who disappeared 40 years before, and in the middle of this, just a short jaunt to a minimum security prison to serve out his sentence of 2 months.  Oh yeah, Lisbeth is the young and emotionally non-responsive chick who has a photographic memory and is a daggone good hacker.  The things she goes through...I cannot even hint as to what they are.  It's definitely not G-rated.

Originally written in Swedish, the English translation was done by Reg Keeland, and it is a masterpiece. That's right.  A freakin' masterpiece.  Here's why:  Not often does a translated novel work effectively to engage a reader's interest, and this one is absolutely fabulous. Some Swedish words remain, which flow and are interpreted by the reader easily (such as gaol for jail). It ultimately creates an authentic experience that you begin to wonder what Sweden is all about. I love to travel, but I will be honest in that I never once considered visiting Sweden. Quite the contrary now.  And I want to fight crime.

Here's what's sad: Stieg Larsson originally planned this to be a 10-book series. He managed to complete 3 of the first 10, delivered it to his publisher, and then died from a heart attack. Based on his background in always shedding light and exposing those who are corrupt in any way in Sweden, there have been several rumors that he was killed. No one really knows, of course.  But, I'll tell you what I do know...it's a flippin' shame that we won't be able to read any more novels from him.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo starts off a trilogy of a creepy and fantastic example of suspense writing at its absolute finest.  Lock the door.  Leave the lights on.