Adorn

Whoops.  I almost missed Music Monday.  Today's musical selection is Adorn by Miguel.  I have loved this song for such a long time.  Miguel is such a talented singer and I've enjoyed every single that he's released so far.

Before he released his first single a cousin of mine met him at a restaurant during a rehearsal dinner where he (my cousin) was a member of the wedding party.  This restaurant had a live band and an announcement or something was made acknowledging the couple.  Miguel was in the restaurant and ended up singing a couple of songs for the couple.  My cousin said that Miguel was a "cool dude" and I thought that was very nice of him to serenade the couple.

Anyway, here's this weeks song Adorn.

Happy Monday,

Cha Cha

The Clean Up Woman

Today is all about cleaning up for me.  I decided to try my hand at making homemade laundry detergent.  The 1/2 batch that I made actually filled the 3 laundry detergent bottles and 2 fabric softener bottles shown.  Of course I'm not as organized as other bloggers out there so I don't have my stuff in clear bottles that make good DIY photos.

SDC10748, a photo by Ms ChaCha on Flickr.

I don't know how well this will work out but if it works half as well as it smells then I'll not only be sharing this on my blog but I'll be saving a ton of money.

Anyhoo, back to the song of today.  In celebration of my day of cleaning I've chosen Betty Wrights Clean Up Woman.  Although Betty and I are talking about two totally different kinds of "cleaning up" this is a great song to clean to.

I Don't Care

Happy Monday.  My song for today is I Don't Care by Raheem Devaughn.  A couple of weeks ago I heard this song on the radio and it's stuck with me since then.  I play it on my ipod and I just have to dance.  I'm an excellent chair dancer you know.  Anyway turn up the volume and join me in singing loud and proud along to I Don't Care.

Family

Well tomorrow is Labor Day and while some people will celebrate then my family will get together today for a BBQ.  Since my family is so close any excuse will do for a simple meal or a huge gathering and today is no different.  In addition to the marathon quick clean that I'm about to do my mom and I will start seasoning the meat so we can throw it on the grill this afternoon.

No family is perfect.  We all have our own problems and ways but one thing is true for my family.  We may fuss and fight but we always have each others backs.

So with that in mind I'll prepare myself for the aunts and their "subtle" attempts to find out why I'm still single and I'll even try to refrain from rolling my eyes as they "suggest" ways that I can find a man.

Family, you gotta love em.

Let's try this again

It's hard to believe I haven't posted anything since November but it's true.  I can't really say that life got in the way or that I've been too busy to post.  My life has been at a standstill and I haven't had the inclination to move myself forward.  I distanced myself from friends and family and I did not want to do anything. Until now. :)

I've decided that now it's my time.  No more living through others or sitting on the sidelines watching my own life passing by.  No ma'am.  It's time to get a move on and be the woman that I've always wanted to be and do all of the things that I've always wanted to do.

Something that few people know about me is that I'm a closet writer.  So far I've started on two books with over 3k words written for the first book.  And I have notes and quasi outlines for three more books.  I never realized what "real" authors go through until I started on my writing journey.  The first book that I began writing will actually end up being the second book in a series of books.  My muse, as some people call it, has taken me all over the place and would not stick to the story in the order that I wanted the story to be told but I think this will turn out to be a great read in the end.  My goal for September is to submit my first book for publishing by the end of the month.  Hopefully putting this out there in cyberspace will help me push through to complete my goal.

I feel like a toast is in order so I'll raise my glass of sweet tea to us.  May we reach our goals and move forward towards our dreams.

What are your dreams and/or goals?

He Wants It All

Today I decided to add a video to my Groove section and I chose forever JONES song He Wants It All.  This song speaks to my spirit on so many levels that I can't even explain it.  When I feel like throwing myself a pity party and I listen to this song my whole attitude changes.  I feel like there's so much more for me to do for Him, to please Him that I don't have time for the small things that are bothering me.  I hope you click on the Groove tab, watch the video and enjoy the song.


Cha Cha

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Okay so technically we haven't even reached Thanksgiving yet but my mini me and I have already started our Christmas journey.  Our first project was making glittery Christmas ornaments from plain old clear glass ornaments.  I said it was our first project but she actually did all of them so I didn't get a chance to do a single one.  :(

I found this project randomly but once I saw it I thought that it was something that we'd definitely enjoy doing.  The first youtube video that I saw on this project made it seem simple but I really didn't want to spend money on the stamp ink and glitter that was recommended.  I am on a tight budget you know.  So I kept searching and found this youtube video and this one was right up my alley.


Supplies needed:

Clear Glass Ornament (obviously)

Pledge

Fine Glitter

Disposable Cup

Funnel (trust me this is crucial)

- I made mine by rolling up a small piece of paper and secured it with double sided tape

Plain piece of paper to pour excess glitter onto


Instructions:

Remove ornament hanger thingy

Pour a generous amount of Pledge into ornament and
swish around until well coated 

Pour excess liquid into cup and allow ornament
to drain for a few seconds

Using the funnel pour a very generous amount of
glitter into the ornament

This is what it looks like before the inside is coated

Turn the ornament to coat the inside

Once the ornament is coated to your liking begin
to pour excess glitter onto paper

This is all that came out at first so I thought that it
took a lot of glitter for this ornaments but ...

She shook a little more and we got this.
And then ...

Finally all of the excess glitter was out

Viola

I wish that I could say that we got all of this right the first time that we did it but alas that was not the case.  What you saw above was actually our eighth ornament but we really had our process down by the third ornament.  Initially we didn't use a funnel or have any paper to catch glitter and we wasted a little glitter.  That didn't work for me because the packs of glitter that we bought were $5 and $6 a piece for six small bottles of glitter and I didn't want waste a single glit (In my mind that's the singular form of glitter.  Don't judge me).

Drying tray with finished hearts

Ornament dried and hook thingy reattached

Happy creating and crafting

Cha Cha

Watch out world ...

I've started to figure some things out. I found out how to add a widget that is linked to my Goodreads account and I also found out how to add an image that commemorates Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I've read how to change my header and I'll probably do that a little later.

I'm so excited. I feel like a real blogger now.

Hot Like Fire: The Taming and Liberation of Mariana

Cha Cha Can Review


My very first review on my blog.  Woo Hoo.  You wouldn't believe how many books I have in my own personal library so picking from so many books was really hard but I decided that my first review will be ....

Hot Like Fire: The Taming and Liberation of Mariana

Blurb: Samson Ahiga Madeira is the American Dream.  He has money like Midas, a mind like a steel trap, and a body like OH DAMN!!!   But for everything he does have, he doesn't have a woman that would tempt him to give it all up…the one whom would complete his whole life. While vacationing at a South Pacific resort, he literally stumbles across the path of his destiny. Mariana may have been the type of woman that Gaugin's canvases were made for, but to him she was simply the woman that he'd spent the last thirty odd years breathing for.

Mariana Alofe Semisi is an inferno waiting to happen.  Vacationing at the exotic resort as a treat for not making her ex the subject of a forensics show, she hopes to make peace with the woman she is and say good riddance to the woman she'll never be.   In the process she finds the one man that sees right through her serene disposition and her carefully-constructed don't-give-a-damns.  Regardless of swearing off of men, Mariana is drawn to Samson…then again Samson is not simply a man.   He is the only man.It's obvious that Samson and Mariana belong with each other regardless of the men that want her back and her own denials. 
It's also obvious that Samson plans on winning this battle of wills.  And it's just as obvious that for once, Mariana has found a contest that she doesn't mind losing.
***This is the first book in the Hot Like Fire (HLF) series by Jeanie Johnson & Jayha Leigh.***

   Mariana is a woman that has had the misfortune of having her heart broken one time too many.  Because of her most recent breakup her self esteem took a massive beating and this strong woman is truly broken.  In this story Mariana's journey takes her from insecure to liberated.  She goes from a shell of herself in the beginning to her true self towards the end all with the help of Samson and his love for her.

   Outwardly Samson seems to have it all.  He's good looking, has a great job, money and everything else that should make him happy.  But his life was missing something or better yet someone.  Mariana.  Although he's a true ALPHA (yep all caps) man throughout this book he shows that being alpha doesn't mean that he can't show his woman care, compassion and love.  Samson doesn't have many weaknesses but Mariana is definitely a weakness of his.  Despite his strength and masculinity Samson is quite vulnerable and he doesn't hide it from Mariana.

   These two people each with their own insecurities share a profound love and that love strengthens them.  *sigh* What more more can a girl ask for in a romance?

This book is available directly from Beautiful Trouble Publishing and also from All Romance Ebooks

Today is the day

Instead of moaning and groaning about my dislike of my blog design I've decided that I need to do something about it.  I've changed the layout a few times and I'm still not satisfied but you know what?  Who cares.  This is my own space and it doesn't have to be perfect, it can be a work in progress.  Now that I've made peace with my lack of blogger design skills I'm moving forward.  After all the name of my blog is Cha Cha can... so Cha Cha will begin her blogging adventure today.


Cha Cha