measuring time

hello lovely readers!

it's been a hectic few weeks. we survived our uk

trip! we had a lot of fun but i'm thinking the days of

all four of us trapped in a tiny motel/hotel room for

11 days may be in the past. the bubs are only getting

bigger and more rambunctious! i hid out in the lounge

most of the night in my pajamas with a book. haha!

i was able to spend my 38th birthday in london with

my bff eating and shopping! best birthday ever! it's been

so long since i've spent my birthday with friends, much

less my actual birthday with my bff. it was a real treat. 8)

i'm afraid i don't take many fotos during my london jaunts

anymore. i've taken so many fotos these last 15 years i've

been visiting. so here's just a few to share with you.

*we spent most of the time in the countryside

near the sea. the tide was out most mornings, and the

locals would come out with galoshes on and a bucket digging

sea snails (?) from the ground to eat!

*one of many english breakfasts i had while there.

i'm afraid to step on the scale since my return. i had lots

of pastries too! love the english bakeries. (at least i hate bacon,

so i didn't eat any of those. =) i tried black (blood) pudding for

the first time and really liked it. i think it's pig's blood? (it's the

black round patty on the plate.)

*i admired the beautiful stained glass windows at

london's natural history museum.

*munchkin especially enjoyed the dinosaur exhibits. here

he meets a real live moving t-rex.

*we also took the bubs to the Tower of London. there was a

period re-enactment outside the walls which was very entertaining.

finally, congratulations to bonnie for winning my original

bird with plum blossoms painting for the great movie poster she

made for the Fury Meets Mad Men contest! she describes the movie

poster in her own words:

I'm sure you can guess who everyone is, but at the forefront, we have Silver Phoenix and Zhong Ye; in the background, we have an image of Ai Ling (okay, I know her necklace isn't magical anymore, but…!) and Chen Yong on the ship. I wanted to feature both couples because unlike SP, Fury is very much about both couples. SP & ZY have a more tragic, immediate, grabbing story that looks best at the forefront.

i love it, bonnie! thank you so much!

i hope you enjoy the brush painting too. =D

and the runner up is eve with this "pitch":

Fury of the Phoenix: A Love Across Centuries and Worlds

eve's prize is two brush art cards of her choice!

thank you so much for those of you who entered this contest!

also, our reading challenge has been extended to 10/1!

LIBRARIANS and BLOGGERS! it's not too late to join and win

over 50 rad diverse middle grade and young adult novels!

check out the details here.

until next time!