Favorite Picture of the Week

I took this picture of the mountains in the background with snow on them in February. These mountains are only about a 45 minute drive from me. That was the week that I had snow in my neighborhood too.

Product Review: Paperless Post

These days we pretty much do everything online. Most people always have their phones or laptop with them and have access to the internet 24/7. So it's really no big surprise that we can also get online invitations, thank you notes, and greetings through email now. Being able to send out wedding invitations, birthday invitations and thank you notes without having to buy all the supplies and assemble them at home and then hit the post office to mail them out is really convenient. So when I was contacted about doing a review of the Paperless Post online invitations, I was more than happy to do it and be able to pass along this helpful website to my readers. 

Some of the kids birthday invitations are super cute. Here's just 2 of them but they have a lot more on their site. They have cards for just about any occasion you can think of.

They have a lot of different card designs to choose from and then you can customize them. Each card will cost you a number of coins which you purchase to make sending the cards easier. The number of coins needed for each card is listed with the different cards. Then you can add the name of the recipient, email address and send them to anyone you like. Here's a little info about the coins...

As you can see the coins are very affordable and each card will only cost you a few coins each. When you pick a card, you can click on, "Preview the experience" and see the animation for the card you picked. You'll get to see what your recipient will see when they open the card. You can also make a card and set it to be sent at a scheduled date. I made a Halloween card and added a few things like a liner color for the envelope and a border color for the card. I also picked a custom stamp for the virtual envelope. The card started at 2 coins and with my changes it only brought it up to 7 coins per recipient.

This is what the front of the card looks like that I picked. I changed the color of the envelope liner.

So that it now looks like this.

I picked a spooky stamp for the envelope since the virtual card will be for Halloween.

And I chose a dark border for the card since it's a Halloween card. 

There are so many interesting ways to customize these cards to really make them your own. I plan on customizing more cards and sending them out. I also sent out that first card at the the top, "This is a cheesy card..." to my brother because I thought it was fun. 

Sending out greeting cards, thank you notes, or invitations just got a lot easier.

Disclosure: I was given a free product in exchange for an honest review but all opinions are my own. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of Rat Logic.*

*Picture courtesy of Rat Logic.*

*Picture courtesy of Rat Logic.*

Apartment Life #75

This is a new weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 20 years that we've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

This was a hell of a week. So much happened. 

Two of the drug dealers in my courtyard were evicted in the past 2 weeks. The latest one just this week. The apartment was in his girlfriends name and she moved out last week after getting an eviction letter. The manager found out that the boyfriend was staying in the apartment when he's not on the lease so she had the constable remove him from the apartment while he was there serving someone else a 24 hour notice. 

The guy came out of the apartment and 9 other people followed him out. All of the other people were homeless/crackheads that hang out around the drug apartments. 

Then the other night another neighbor knocked on my door asking Ken if we got a 30 day eviction notice because they got one and have to be out by April 16th. We didn't get one but I think they got one because of the loud parties and because an older lady that lives in this courtyard accused their younger son who is 16 years old and on house arrest of offering to have sex with her for money. And she's telling everyone who will listen that he said that. I don't know if he actually did that but who knows. But they got a 30 day no cause which you cannot fight. So that's 4 neighbors in my courtyard that are being evicted or have been in the past month. Now if only we get quiet people in here.

Then on Tuesday the woman who had been standing in her doorway naked last week got into a fight with her boyfriend and the police were called. I got some of the argument recorded. You can't really see much but you can sure hear her. She kept hitting him while they were outside and the manager saw it.

And before they took it outside they were arguing inside...


Apparently she had a few thousand dollars in cash and he had put it in his pocket and tried to leave with it. When she was arrested a little while later, he tried to take the envelope of money from one of the cops and they wouldn't give it to him.

The police showed up a few minutes after they were arguing outside and arrested her for domestic assault. I took a picture of the police car from my bedroom window.

The police wanted to go inside their apartment but they wouldn't give the cops the keys to the security door (That they just had installed the day before) so they couldn't get in. They said they would need a warrant to get inside. 

The police sure tried all of the windows and the door several times before they gave up and walked back out to the car they had her handcuffed in and then they left. The apartment manager saw most of what happened and she said they are getting a 30 day no cause eviction notice. So that was my week, how was yours? 

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Review: Law & Disorder by Liv Arnold

Book Description

Lawyer Juliet Jackson has come head to head with Sergeant Jesse Burns on numerous occasions in court. He is provoking. Pigheaded. Punch-worthy. They don't get along. Not one little bit. The unfortunate fact he's also her next-door neighbor brings her loathing off the charts. But when Juliet's caught locked outside her home in nothing but a skimpy towel, she must swallow her pride and turn to Jesse for help. She doesn't expect the explosive chemistry between them and can't help but wonder if Jesse's as demanding in the bedroom as he is in the courtroom.

My Review

Juliet and Jesse have been at odds in the courtroom on more than one case. They don't like each other at all. He's a cop and she's a lawyer and the book opens to him on the witness stand while she cross examines him and she doesn't like anything he says. 

At home after a shower and wrapped in a towel Juliet gets locked out of her house because of her dog. She falls down into a shrub when she tries to get through a window that won't budge. Her towel falls down and that's when Jesse shows up from work to go to his house next door, he gets a little surprise. They didn't get along but Jesse offers to help get her door open. 

Once inside the sparks fly and they find themselves drawn to one another as one thing leads to another. 

This was a really short story/novella of just 24 pages. I would have liked it more if there had a little more story to it but it was a fun little romp. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I received this book free from NetGalley but all opinions and thoughts are my own. 

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received:

2 books that I won in blog contests.
A sample of Loreal Infallible foundation.

I tried the foundation but it wasn't as full coverage as the foundation that I use. Plus it was more yellow undertone while the one I like has a pink undertone to it. I will say that it felt light on my skin though.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Ipsy Glam Bag

Ipsy is a monthly subscription box that sends you 5 sample size makeup or beauty products. You can customize what they send you by filling out the personal surveys. I've been more into makeup products lately and decided to try another subscription box. I love the bright pink package they send it in. There's no mistaking who that's from when you see it in your mailbox. These bags are $10 each.

I have one extra product, the Huda Beauty eyeshadow palette because I took advantage of the add-ons you can add to your bag each month. This add-on was $12 but it's my first product from Huda Beauty so it was so worth it to me. It came with beautiful eyeshadow colors. 

What was in my bag?

Tarte Maneater Voluptuous Mascara

Foxybae Flaminglow Leave In Conditioner

Lottie London Shimmer Squad Highlighter

IBY Beauty Eyeshadow 

SLMISSGLAM SS62 Short Shadow Brush

I looked up the eyeshadow palette that I got for $12 and it's going for $27 or more everywhere else so I am happy I got it. The colors are so pretty and they blend so nicely. 

That leave in conditioner smells so good. I've used it a few times and love how soft it leaves my hair. I cut my hair a few months ago but it's grown out a little and is back to where I can sit on it again. I have a lot of hair but this tube of conditioner will last me a little while. 

I don't usually use highlighter because I didn't have one that I liked...until now. This highlighter is so pretty but a little goes a long way. I don't want to be flagging planes down with the light reflecting off my cheek bones. 

I can always use another mascara. I remember back when I was in high school, a tube of mascara would last me 6 months. Now I'm lucky if a tube will last 2 month before it dries out and I have to open a new one. I sometimes think manufacturers do this shit on purpose so we spend more money on makeup. Well, I guess it worked. 

I can always use another eyeshadow brush and this has a cute pink handle. 

The small eyeshadow they sent me is a really cute purple and it's a shimmery color which is really pretty. 

I'm pretty happy with all the products they sent me. I'm loving this subscription box so far.

Have you ever subscribed to Ipsy?

Favorite Picture of the Week

I was looking on my street and noticed for the first time just how many big rocks there are. When the city came through and 'beautified' our street, they decided to put in a bunch of rocks, boulders really and I think it's funny. I understand desert landscaping but there's an awful lot of big rocks on one street. These rocks are on the corner directly across the street from me.

These rocks are at the beginning of the hiking trail where I walk Falcor, right up against the sound wall to the freeway.

That's a good size boulder.

These rocks are right beside the green metal bench. And that's Falcor by the bench.

These rocks are across the street from the green metal bench.

Another good size boulder.

And here you have one of the green metal tree's that I've talked about before and in front of it are more rocks.

The people across the street liked the rocks so much that they added some to their yard. lol 

My grandson likes to climb on these rocks. Like I said, there's a lot of rocks on just my street. I wonder what the Beautification brain storm sounded like, "Hey Mike, let's just drop a shit ton of rocks on a few streets and call it a day." 

Review: The Naughty List by Jodi Redford

Book Description

Makin’ a list, and rocking it…twice.

Perpetual good girl Lacey McGuire has two Christmas wish lists. One suitable for public consumption…and a private one that’s too hot to handle. Right at the top: wild, wicked fantasies about her best buddies and business partners Ryan Hollister and Bram Colton.

Besides the fact they’re both poster boys for Hunks ’R’ Us, they’ve been there for her through thick, thin and the heartbreak of a cheating fiancé. So what if her boys will never know they star in her sexiest daydreams? In her fantasy world, her heart will never get trampled again.

Ry and Bram are pretty sure Lacey never meant to email a list of some of her raunchiest wants. Particularly the one that tightens their shorts—she wants a threesome. With them. Although they’ve loved her for years, they made a pact to keep Lacey off limits in order to protect their friendship. Now all bets are off. And the quest to give her all she wants—and more—is on.

Warning: This book contains a wickedly hot M/F/M ménage that will heat up the holidays. Friends steaming things up in a hot tub. Sexy shenanigans at a Christmas tree lot. And maybe even a glimpse of Santa…in a Speedo.

My Review

Bram, Ryan and Lacey all own a restaurant together. They all have feelings for each other but haven't acted on it because it would make things strange at work. The guys don't know that Lacey has feelings for them until she mistakenly emails her list of naughty desires to several people when she only meant to send it to her work email but Bram and Ry get a hold of it. Once they find out that she wants them as much as they want her, all bets are off and they decide to try and show her that they can be what she needs. 

They end up talking her into a fling with the two of them even though they hope that it will be a much longer relationship. They end up checking most of the things off her naughty list and it was fun watching the guys fall head over heels in love with her. They really care about her which was nice to see. She's not thinking that this will be anything but a fling so when the word, "love" gets thrown out there, she all hightailing it as far away from them as she can. 

This was a short, sexy romance that had me smiling because these two guys are hot! Whew boy are they hot and the only one they have eyes for is Lacey. I might be a little jealous. This book ends well and now I'm looking forward to more of this series. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

*Picture courtesy of Pippa and Neema*

"Paint me like one of your French girls."

*Picture courtesy of Rat Logic*

Apartment Life #74

This is a new weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 20 years that we've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

Last week there was a big fight in my courtyard between 3 of the neighbors and the police were called but only 1 person answered their door who had been involved. They told the police that the man who had hit her and her boyfriend took off and was walking in the neighborhood somewhere, so the police drove around the neighborhood for about an hour looking for him. We saw police driving up and down the street and in the alleys for a while. I don't know if they found him though because he hasn't come back around here for the past few days. 

The woman who had been hit by him decided to take herself to the hospital a few hours later to get her eye looked at after refusing the ambulance while the police were here. I took the picture from my bedroom window as one of the police cars drove by.

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Review: Strange Neighbors by Ashlyn Chase

Book Description

First in a feisty paranormal romance trilogy, shapeshifter-landlord Jason Falco's brownstone is occupied by the oddest of tenants: a gregarious werewolf, a vigilante vampire, two witches moonlighting as phone sex operators, and the beautiful all-too-human nurse he would desperately love to sweep off her feet.

There's never a dull moment when hunky all-star pitcher and shapeshifter Jason Falco invests in an old Boston brownstone apartment building full of supernatural creatures. But when Merry MacKenzie moves into the ground floor apartment, the playboy pitcher decides he might just be done playing the field...

Sexy Jason seems like the perfect fling, but newly independent nurse Merry's not sure she's ready to trust him with her heart...especially when the tabloids start trumpeting his playboy lifestyle.

Then pandemonium breaks loose and Merry and Jason will never get it together without a little help from the vampire who lives in the basement and the werewolf from upstairs.

My Review

Merry just moved into her new apartment and right away is attacked but a couple of guys come to her rescue. It turns out that the building she moved into not only has a hottie for a landlord but also witches, ghosts, a vampire and a werewolf. But Jason is hiding his own secret from everyone. Jason and Merry find themselves attracted to each other and start dating. 

A few things get thrown in their way but they pull through after a few hiccups. I really liked the other residents in the apartment building. It was fun getting to know all of them but it did seem like there was a lot going on in this story. The fact that this seemed more like Chad's story and trying to figure out who killed him more than it was about Jason and Merry's romance was a little irritating for me. 

Jason and Merry come across as a bit immature and their personalities just fell a little flat for me. But it did get a bit better because of all the interactions with the neighbors. Some of the other characters are great and I am looking forward to learning more about them. I usually really like this author's books but I didn't really care for Jason and Merry so this book didn't hit all the right spots for me.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received:

A sample of Skinceuticals face cream.
A sample of Vichy face cream.
2 samples of Dunkin Donuts Coffee.

I've received the face cream samples before and really liked them so every time I see they're available again I sign up for them. I don't drink coffee, I'm a tea drinker but Ken loves coffee and enjoyed these coffee samples.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Bite Me by C.C. Wood

Book Description

I had the perfect life; an awesome job in advertising, a gorgeous high rise apartment, and a flirtation with the guy down the hall. Then it all came crashing down. Two months later I was a cocktail waitress living in a tiny one bedroom apartment. I had also developed a serious ‘men suck’ attitude.

That all changed the night I met the beautiful and enigmatic Conner Savage. But there was just one little problem…he said he was a vampire. Figures a man that hot would be batshit crazy. Or so I thought. It didn't take me long to realize that Conner wasn't a nut job and that I was addicted to him. With every moment we spent together he drew me deeper into his world and the supernatural culture in which he lived.

Now I had a choice: the vampire I craved or a normal life. Couldn't be easier, right?

My Review

Donna is saved from a group of guys who were going to do god knows what to her. Her savior is a tall, dark and delicious hunk of vampire named Conner. Donna doesn't believe that he's a real vampire, just thinks that he believe's he is. Conner asks her out on a date later on and they start to get to know one another. He knows that she doesn't believe he's a vampire so he shows her enough to make her believe him.

Donna and Conner were so fun together and I liked seeing Donna's friends and how they acted with each other when they went out. We see a little bit of vampire politics when a female vampire causes trouble for Conner and he and Donna have to get more serious faster than they would have liked. 

I really didn't like Donna at times because she acts so immature and unaware even though she was attacked early in the story, she still walks around like nothing bad can or will happen to her. She's a bit of an idiot when she knows that she could be in danger from another vampire but wants to fight Conner about keeping her safe. But on the other hand she's smart in some ways. She used to work for an ad agency and caught her boss stealing money but got black balled because she had no proof and no one believed her. So she now works in a bar to make ends meet. 

While I liked the vampire story and Conner quite a lot, I didn't like Donna all that much. Her girlfriends were a little over the top and she acted dumb at times which irritated me. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

Last month we had a few days where it was super cloudy. So when I was outside, I snapped some pictures of the clouds. This storm cloud came right over us just a few minutes after I took the picture. We got a little rain from it.

Cloudy sunrise picture.

These clouds were over the mountains headed our way but we didn't get any rain from them.

This is my favorite kind of day. Light rain, dark clouds all over and no sunshine in sight. I love days like this. 

The clouds that rolled in that week were big and interesting. 

Review: Captured By the Vampire by Kellie McAllen

Book Description

When Zoë reveals proof of vampires to the world, has she sentenced the one she loves to death?

After years of being alone, Rowan is ready to end his immortal life. Weak from starvation and overcome by bloodlust, he attacks a human in public and is captured by police.

When Zoë discovers that the intriguing, new prisoner brought to the jail where she works is a dangerous vampire, she can’t resist revealing the evidence to the world. But as she gets to know him, she realizes he’s not the monster everyone thinks he is.

Rowan’s life finally has meaning again as more vampires come forward and he learns he’s not as alone as he thought. But his chances of release disappear when the world explodes at the discovery of vampires, and he knows he’ll die in prison.

There’s only one way Zoë can save the vampire she’s fallen in love with, but is she brave enough to give up everything for him?

This novella is the prequel to the Vampire Enforcement Agency series.

My Review

Rowan lost his mate a long time ago. He's been so lonely without her and is ready to die and turn to ash. That is until he comes across a car accident and his blood lust takes over. He's been starving himself, so when the police come and he's arrested, he's too weak to break himself free. 

Zoe is miserable, her mother is a drunk and her sister is a bit of a jerk. She works as a janitor at the police station and finds herself intrigued by Rowan. But when she does something dumb, she puts not only herself but Rowan's life in jeopardy. 

These two really needed each other. They came across each other at just the right time when they both needed someone and they fit together nicely. I really liked this prequel to the Vampire Enforcement Agency series, which I've never read but am intrigued enough to want to read more now. 

I liked seeing how the world found out about vampires and how the treaty between humans and vampires came about. It was a quick read but gave a lot of info for the series. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of Anisah Grace Hanna*

"No, our names aren't Yin and Yang. Why do you ask?"

*Picture courtesy of me*

"You're shirt would make a soft bed. I'll just be taking this with me."

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #73

You may have noticed the new picture for these posts. In case you were wondering, Ken painted the skull for me, and the playing card in his hat is a good symbol for Las Vegas with all the gambling here. 

This is a new weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 20 years that we've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

Back in August of 2017 my mailbox got bent and almost broken. 

My neighbor's son messed up the mailbox. Ken and I were so pissed off that day so we both went outside to take pictures of the mailbox and confront the neighbor about it. The woman next door who had 'customers' knocking on my window at 3 am looking to buy drugs had 3 kids. The oldest I believe was about 12. We have one of those centralized panel mailboxes that apartment complexes have.  (My mail box is #11 and her's was 12) Her mail box had been broken since she moved in and the post office is slow to fix anything.

 So Ken confronted her and asked her if she or someone else tried to pull, push or pry their mailbox. Her oldest son speaks up and says he was pulling on it and prying it trying to fix his mom's mailbox. Ken told him that in doing so he messed up our box which is right on top of theirs and she starts going on about how other boxes have been broken into that we should go look and see that other boxes are broken too that someone else probably did it even though her son just admitted that he did it. So we went and looked, took pictures. Nope, it's just hers and mine that are bent and messed up. We actually looked when taking the pictures and all the other boxes are flat against the face of the panel like mine used to be. Only mine and hers are sticking out crooked now. Thankfully she moved out soon after this happened that year.

You can see the little piece that's bent and about to come off under my mailbox.

My mailbox actually sticks out more than it should now. I can open and close it but I need both hands to push it in and hold it there while I turn the key in order to get it open or closed.

We made a complaint with the manager in the office and she told us there was nothing she could do because the mailboxes are property of the USPS so they have to fix it. 

It took days for me to get a confirmation from the post office and finally from my postal carrier that there was a work order put in and it would be fixed at some point. The bottom of the box has been pried out and it's really hard to open and close. Even though I've called so many times I've lost count to find out when it will be fixed and they tell me soon, but I won't hold my breath. It's now been over a year and it's still not fixed. The last time I called the post office they told me they'll get to it when they get to it because there's only one maintenance crew for all of Las Vegas and they are busy. I won't hold my breath. It's a good thing that I can open and close it at all because I doubt that the USPS maintenance crew will ever come out and look at it. The mailbox above mine won't even lock now so they don't use it, the person that lives next door to me has to have all of his mail delivered to the office now and pick it up with the manager. The maintenance crew hasn't come out to fix that mailbox either.

-----------

And this week the neighbor across from me that moved in about 2 weeks ago was fighting with her boyfriend. I look out the door and she is standing on her doorway...naked. She was putting her clothes on in the door way while she yelled at him and called him names and told him he was a stupid drunk that she's not marrying. I could not get my camera in time to catch any of it before they shut the door. 

A few minutes later I had to call 911 because they started fighting and she was yelling for someone to call 911 for her. But right before the police got here she took off, he went back inside and locked the door and then refused to answer it when they knocked. So the police left. She came back that night.

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Review: Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh

Book Description

Molly Webster has always followed the rules. After an ugly scandal tore apart her childhood and made her the focus of the media’s harsh spotlight, she vowed to live an ordinary life. No fame. No impropriety. No pain. Then she meets Zachary Fox, a tattooed bad boy rocker with a voice like whiskey and sin, and a touch that could become an addiction.

A one-night stand with the hottest rock star on the planet, that’s all it was meant to be…

Fox promises scorching heat and dangerous pleasure, coaxing Molly to extend their one-night stand into a one-month fling. After that, he’ll be gone forever, his life never again intersecting with her own. Sex and sin and sensual indulgence, all with an expiration date. No ties, no regrets. Too late, Molly realizes it isn’t only her body that’s become addicted to Fox, but her heart…

My Review

Molly and Fox both come into this having had bad childhood's that scarred them. I like a scarred character and like seeing them get past their problems. Fox is in a rock band and Molly is at a party with her sister, Thea and Fox sees Molly and is attracted to her. He seduces her and asks for a 1 month long fling. I found it a little hard to believe that with all the walls Molly had built up around herself and the fact that she was still a virgin that she agree's to a fling with him. 

She doesn't want anyone to know that they are seeing each other so no hand holding in public and she overreacts quite a bit at first. I get that she's not used to his lifestyle but I didn't like her attitude at first. She does mellow out which was nice though. There are a few arguments on both of their sides that could have been easily take care of if they had just talked. Communication is always the thing that causes problems in this kind of book. 

They quickly fall for each other and decide to take things for longer than a month but again, the communication or lack there of causes a few problems for them. I like Fox's band mates and how well they get along. We see what could be relationship's building in some of the band mates a well as with Molly's friends and sister. It'll be fun to see how that works out in future books. 

The one thing that did bother me was the amount of unnecessary sex in this book. I'm no prude but these two go at it like bunnies and it just seemed to be over done. I like how this ended and am looking forward to reading more in this series. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.