Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner

Vera Bradley Baby Bag Winning Numbers:

Congrats to Mrs. Cox aka Erin and Stephanie. Both have contacted me. And both love the Green Cupcakes bag, I think I will box each color and then shuffle and put the mailing labels on. It will be a guessing game to who gets what!

 Epson 4-in-1 Printer Giveaway Random Number

Congrats to Andrea from Chocolate Fingerprints who won this fantastic Epson All In One. I hope you love it as much as we did!

Book Review: Revenge of the Spellmans

Grade: A+

Next Tuesday, March 10, Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz hits bookshelves everywhere. This is the third installment in a truly addictive series about a family of private detectives, namely one Isabel Spellman. Izzy could be considered the black sheep in her family. Despite her good intentions, things never really go the way she hopes and she frequently finds herself a bit in over her head, getting caught up in her own curiosity and sometimes letting normal people details escape her. And while you may not always be able to say you’ve “been there” when reading about her escapades, in spirit you have. I think we’ve all kind of felt like the black sheep of our lives at one point or another (or constantly).

And that’s one of the things I love about this series. You will find no unrealistically good looking, smart, savvy people who you could never dream of being. I hate those people. Talk about an ego suck. Like Stephanie Plum in Janet Evanovich’s Plum series, Izzy Spellman is a girl like you, even on your worst of days, who pulls through in spite of herself. Now, don’t get me wrong, in a lot of ways Izzy is one smart chick. She is a talented PI, in a family of talented PIs, and can usually sniff out a mystery with her nose plugged. It’s turning that curiosity off that’s usually the problem. Imagine being unable to stop yourself from reading that diary, following that car, running a background check on all your boyfriends (and all your family and friend’s significant others, too). She seems to lack an off switch, which makes the people around her crazy sometimes. But to be fair, I don’t think anyone in her family has an off switch either. It’s a family trait.

Anyway, in Revenge of the Spellmans Izzy is forced to endure court-ordered therapy, unemployment, a not so preferable living arrangement, a mountain of secrecy, mysterious blackmail letters, an unintelligible Irish bartender, oh and the guy she’s pretty sure she’s in love with but can’t quite bring herself to tell him? He has a girlfriend now, who despite all her best efforts, she can’t seem to dislike. Amidst all of this is the usual circle of mysteries, in which Lutz weaves the worlds biggest whose duping who and seriously whodunnit web of awesomeness. I actually never figured out any of the mysteries in this book before Lutz wanted me to and I’m GOOD at figuring plot lines out. It’s a talent.

I really cannot complain about this latest installment of Spellman goodness, except to say that, “Lisa, that kiss – and you know which kiss I speak of – was heart breaking. And I’m not sure I’m okay with it.” Oh, and, “I can’t wait for book four!”

Are you new to the Spellman series? You’ll want to start with book one, The Spellman Files (now in mass market paperback!), then move on quickly to Curse of the Spellmans (now in paperback), before finally devouring Revenge of the Spellmans (comes out in hardcover March 10).

If you are already a SpellmanAddict like me, have you gone to Lisa Lutz’s website yet? You can sign up for her quarterly newsletter here!

Dollar Savvy Cash Contest

Dollar Savvy is a great new money saving website from RDA that’s slogan declares “Find & Share Your Dollar Savvy Tips.” With the crumbling economy I know everyone around me is cutting corners in every way possible. So those little tips and tricks that others use can come in handy for us, well Dollar Savvy has got those for you.

Some of my favorite tips are:

If you don’t want your bathroom or kitchen to smell like a “meadow” or a “freshly baked apple pie,” (unless you’ve just baked one) but you do want to minimize or neutralize odor, make a homemade air freshener by combining 1 tablespoon baking soda with 1 tablespoon vinegar in a small misting spray bottle. When the foaming stops, add a cup of water. Shake well to combine, and spray as needed in kitchen or bath. (Make a fresh bottle every two weeks for best results.)

And

To keep grilled fish from drying out, wrap whole fish or fillets in strips of smoked bacon. The bacon also enhances the smoky aromas of grilled fish.

The second tip adds my two favorite things together. Fish and bacon. I’m in heaven just thinking about it! I will certainly be trying that soon. Dollar Savvy is running a fantastic cash giveaway for great tips just like those. All you have to do is answer their “Cool Cash Question” with your very own tip. See the contest guidelines below for more information and don’t forget to check out Dollar Savvy!

Contest Guidelines

1. Each Wednesday for eight consecutive weeks Get Dollar Savvy will pose a new question about ways to save money.
2. Send them your answer (100 words or less) by the following Monday. Plus make sure to fill out the entry form completely!
3. An editor at getdollarsavvy.com will choose 5 finalists from the week’s submissions based on uniqueness (50%), practicality (25%), and cost-savings potential (25%).
4. Beginning the following Wednesday, visitors to getdollarsavvy.com can vote on their favorite tip.
5. The tip that gets the most votes by the close of voting the following Tuesday wins $250!

For complete contest rules, information and schedule, click here