Mug Shot: St. Andrews State Park Mug

 

So this is the second sea turtle themed mug I have. I got in in Saint Andrews, Florida which is home to (apparently) the largest pod of dolphins in the world--as well as a really cool State Park. 

Anyway, the mug. I'm really enjoying this style of mug. I have four of them now. This one has a two-tonedm blue and green glaze which is very marine-like. I kind of wish it had a dolphin instead of a sea turtle, since we saw dolphins there and didn't see turtles, but what can you do? I enjoyed the park and am glad to have a souvenir from my visit. 

Mug Shot: Tie Dye Mug

So this is a cute mug I picked up during my recent Florida trip. I like it because it's giving serious sixties vibes. Also, it's unbreakable, so perfect for the summer and for drinking tea and/or coffee out of doors. 

I've also fallen down the tie-dye rabbit hole on Youtube. My seven-year-old grandson loves tie-dye, so I foresee a lot more interesting craft projects in my future...
 

Mug Shot: Donut Hole Mug

So I picked up this mug during a recent trip to Florida. It's a nice mug. It's shaped like your standard diner mug, which I always like. But it's bigger than most of them. And I like the cobalt blue glaze, and the donuts were pretty good, too. 

And yep, sorry. That's pretty much all I have to say about that!

 

Mug Shot: Amy's Ice Creams

 

This is a fairly average mug. It's a great size, it's sturdy but not too heavy, it's colorful. Amy's ice cream is a local-ish chain. I think it's mostly (or only?) in Texas. I've been hitting it up a lot this summer, since they have a branch near where I charge my car and it's hot. 

The ice cream is good. They only ever have a few flavors at a time, and most of those are pretty standard flavors--although their drinks and combos do elevate the flavors. But I'm a weird ice cream flavor aficionado, so I go more for the unusual flavors offered by places like Salt & Straw or Jenni's. 

But Amy's has FRIENDLY staff and a small-town feel, and this mug. Which, when you turn it around, offers this message: 

KEEP AUSTIN KIND.

I think we all need a lot more kindness.

Mug Shot: Dog Mug

 

This is just a good reminder. I'm currently dogless myself--but we won't talk about that. My grandson has a new puppy, and that's a much happier topic--although, since I've only spent a couple of hours with the newbie, I don't have much to report back on. Yes, it's another Frenchie and obviously he's adorable. And for my grandson, the timing was perfect, he was missing his last dog so much. 

For me, it's still too soon. I'm still mourning my own pups AND my late grandpup, and haven't reached the stage where I'm open to another. Also, given the recent die-off among my cousins, I'm not sure how kind it would be to form a bond with a dog who might outlive me. Yes, I said it. 

When my sister broke the news about our cousin, two of my four siblings were attending "celebrations of life" for someone else. That's a lot of death...which was not what this post was supposed to be about. 

Anyway, puppies are cute and we should all try and be better people. lol!

Mug Shot: Poolside Mug

 

This is another thrift store find. I couldn't resist the pool vibes. Does anything say summer more than a pool? I don't think so. My son just had a pool put in (no, this is not his pool) and we've all been enjoying it very much. 

I grew up with a pool in my backyard, but in my adult life, pools have been hit or miss. We're just not stable people. But I love swimming (Pisces girl over here) and I look forward to making it more of a habit...one of these days. 

It's actually funny, but I don't think I write a lot of pool scenes.  I can't understand why. But here's a teeny excerpt from Sea Change, which at least mentions a pool in passing (literally). And hey, there's a cool pool on the cover!

It was late afternoon when they returned to the ship, still early enough that they had time for a pre-dinner cocktail on deck after they’d changed into their evening wear.

Cara sipped her virgin margarita and leaned on the rail, sighing sadly as she watched Avalon sink slowly into the sunset and out of sight. “I’d love to come back here, sometime,” she said wistfully.

Liam smiled at her. “Well, let’s plan to. Maybe this Summer we can sneak away for a long weekend.”

“Yeah,” she agreed softly. “Maybe.” That’s if they were still even speaking by then.

It was formal night and Liam looked heart-stoppingly handsome in his rented tux; at least that’s what Cara assumed the problem was, the reason why, every time she looked at him, she felt an aching wrench in her chest. When it was time to go in to dinner he held out his arm and she hesitated only briefly before she took it. For once, her body seemed willing to cooperate with her need to be close to him. Probably just trying to stay warm, she thought. The breeze up on deck wasn’t exactly cold, but it sliced right through the chiffon of her wrap and she was more grateful than usual for the warmth Liam offered.

Cara glanced longingly at the pool as they passed it. It had been so long since she’d been swimming, since she’d submerged herself in water and felt it flow over her, felt it caressing her skin. Maybe later, after dinner when everyone was busy elsewhere, she’d sneak back up...or no. She couldn’t do that, could she? She and Liam had other plans for after dinner. Plans that still caused a jittery, frightened sensation in the pit of her stomach and left her wondering how she’d manage to eat even a bite of dinner.

 

SEA CHANGE

An Oberon Sequel Novella   

https://books2read.com/Sea-Change-Oberon

 

In this sequel to the Oberon series (and yes, you'll probably want to read that first) Cara and Liam are still trying to find their footing on the sometimes rocky road to happily ever after...

When the going gets tough...the tough go cruising?

Love is supposed to overcome any obstacles—that’s what Cara always thought. But when love alone is not enough to help her overcome the trauma in her past, she knows it’s time to get creative.

Surely a change of scenery would help. A week at sea—new faces, new places, a fresh start with no expectations—how could that be anything but fun? At least that’s what her boyfriend Liam thinks when he books them on a romantic cruise vacation along the California coast.

Cara’s not so sure. She thinks the trip is likely to be a lot of things—memorable, life altering, a turning point. Fun isn’t one of them.

But, with so much at stake, and a New Year fast approaching, there’s only one thing the two of them can agree on: they’re both willing to try just about anything to make love last.

Mug Shot: Fathers Day Mug

 

So, this is a mug I had made for my husband a verrrrry long time ago, when are kids were as pictured on the mug. It's faded considerably over the years. My daughter's skin was not yellow, her dress was pink, and my son was wearing a DARK green shirt. 

Crazy right? 

Oh, and also, the type in the picture below? Yeah, those were primary colors once upon a time. 

Speaking of my son, he's a dad himself now, and his son is SUCH a mini-me that I'm not always sure whose photo I'm looking at. 

Mug Shot: Wine Lover's Mug

 

Did we miss the fact that I had a book release recently? Or that the book (really books) in question are all about wine? No, probably not. Anyway, that's why I'm posting this now. 

The books are great. I don't say that lightly, like most authors I know, we tend to have a love/hate relationship with our books. Sometimes all we see are the flaws. But I'm happy with this one, and love the two books that come before it, so... Yay!

But this mug--how fun is this? And that's kind of me, I guess. Check out my Rhymes With Foreplay blog where every Wednesday I blog about what wine I'm drinking. 

And check out the POUR DECISIONS series while you're at it.

https://books2read.com/Pour-Decisions

Mug Shot: Paso Robles General Store

 

So last week I posted about my love for enamel camp mugs--especially the blue speckled kind, so this week's mug should not be a surprise. I mean...other than the fact that it's actually ceramic and DOESN'T (usually) get too hot to handle. 

This is (obviously) from Paso Robles, which is one of my favorite places that I've lived. It was like Oberon come to life--but with more wine. One of the houses we lived in there had been built for Frank and Jesse James' uncle. It backed onto an old growth forest, and was only three blocks from the downtown square. There was rumored to be a hidden tunnel in the basement, which we never did find. There were also FOUR fireplaces, two roof decks, a wraparound porch, a butler's pantry...GAH! I loved that house. Sadly, it was damaged in the earthquake that hit there twenty-something years ago and was rebuilt. Which is not the same at all.

I still miss that house. 

NEW RELEASE! Que Será, Syrah (PG Forte)

 

Que Será, Syrah

By PG Forte

https://books2read.com/Que-Sera-Syrah

They may be keeping secrets and telling lies, but a little white wine never hurt anyone.​

Allegra

It’s not every day that you inherit one-third of a winery. I should be on top of the world, floating on Cloud Wine, as they say. Instead, don’t you just know it? I’m about to make one of the biggest mistakes of my life. And that’s saying something. My family has always viewed me as something of a screw-up, not always fairly. But in this case? They’re not only dead right about me messing things up; they don’t even know the half of it. Yet.

Complicating my quest to redeem myself, earn my sisters’ respect, and help them turn our winery into a straight fire success, is my low-key relationship with Sheriff’s Deputy Clay Romero. Sure, there are risks involved in sleeping with the enemy, but ‘what’s meant to be will find a way,’ right? And whether Clay believes it or not, I know we’re fated. With a capital F.

Clay

We’re Capital F somethin’ all right; but I don’t think it’s fate. Ever since Legs (AKA Allegra Martinelli) blew back into town, I’ve been flirting with disaster. Literally. I doubt that woman’s ever met a rule that she didn’t want to at least bend. And, as luck would have it, it’s my job to try and stop her. I love my job, and I think I love her. But there’s not enough wine in Napa to convince me that I’ll be able to hang on to them both. 

Legs keeps likening us to Romeo and Juliet.  And as I keep trying to remind her; that kind of story tends not to end well. I’m sure there are exceptions, but are we gonna be one of them? I guess we’ll find out.

OR BUY THE SERIES:

POUR DECISIONS

https://books2read.com/Pour-Decisions

Meet the Martinelli sisters: Rosa, Bianca and Allegra. These partners in wine have just inherited a once-storied winery in the heart of Napa Valley. They’re living the dream, right?

Not so fast! Because, as it turns out, not everybody is happy for them. And that includes their Uncle Geno who’d assumed the property would come to him.

There are hoops to jump through, barrels to get over, and a mountain of regulations they'll have to scale. But these sisters are crushing it—and we don’t just mean the grapes. They’re making wine, falling in love, and working together to restore their inheritance to its former glory, one pour decision at a time.

Mug Shot: Probably Wine

I think we always knew I'd end up with at least one of these mugs, right? And given that it's an enamel camp mug that gets stupidly hot when you fill it with coffee or hot tea or cocoa or soup or oatmeal or whatever hot food/liquid you might actually want to drink while camping, I probably AM going to use it for wine ninety percent of the time. Or, some other cold liquid. Or ice cream.

I used to love camping. Haven't been in a REALLY long while, but I am romantically attached to enamel camp mugs. I LOVE the way they look and feel and hate that they get too hot to hold. So, yeah: WINE.

And, speaking of wine, Que Será, Syrah releases tomorrow!!

Que Será, Syrah

By PG Forte

https://books2read.com/Que-Sera-Syrah

They may be keeping secrets and telling lies, but a little white wine never hurt anyone.​

Allegra

It’s not every day that you inherit one-third of a winery. I should be on top of the world, floating on Cloud Wine, as they say. Instead, don’t you just know it? I’m about to make one of the biggest mistakes of my life. And that’s saying something. My family has always viewed me as something of a screw-up, not always fairly. But in this case? They’re not only dead right about me messing things up; they don’t even know the half of it. Yet.

Complicating my quest to redeem myself, earn my sisters’ respect, and help them turn our winery into a straight fire success, is my low-key relationship with Sheriff’s Deputy Clay Romero. Sure, there are risks involved in sleeping with the enemy, but ‘what’s meant to be will find a way,’ right? And whether Clay believes it or not, I know we’re fated. With a capital F.

Clay

We’re Capital F somethin’ all right; but I don’t think it’s fate. Ever since Legs (AKA Allegra Martinelli) blew back into town, I’ve been flirting with disaster. Literally. I doubt that woman’s ever met a rule that she didn’t want to at least bend. And, as luck would have it, it’s my job to try and stop her. I love my job, and I think I love her. But there’s not enough wine in Napa to convince me that I’ll be able to hang on to them both. 

Legs keeps likening us to Romeo and Juliet.  And as I keep trying to remind her; that kind of story tends not to end well. I’m sure there are exceptions, but are we gonna be one of them? I guess we’ll find out.

OR BUY THE SERIES:

POUR DECISIONS

https://books2read.com/Pour-Decisions

Meet the Martinelli sisters: Rosa, Bianca and Allegra. These partners in wine have just inherited a once-storied winery in the heart of Napa Valley. They’re living the dream, right?

Not so fast! Because, as it turns out, not everybody is happy for them. And that includes their Uncle Geno who’d assumed the property would come to him.

There are hoops to jump through, barrels to get over, and a mountain of regulations they'll have to scale. But these sisters are crushing it—and we don’t just mean the grapes. They’re making wine, falling in love, and working together to restore their inheritance to its former glory, one pour decision at a time.

Mug Shot: Textured Mug

 

This is currently one of my favorite mugs. It's the one I'm drinking out of right now, as I write this. I got is at the Dollar Store (!) of $1.25, but it's ADORABLE! It's very Whole Latte Love-esque. It's a very modern-meets-mud-cloth in a post-industrial, urban chic Coffee Haus vibe to it, which--to be honest-- sounds exactly  like Peet's Coffee, especially in it's original iteration on the corner of Vine and Walnut in Berkeley, CA. 

It has a dark (is it actually black? Or is it coffee colored--ie brown?) satin finish. The while lines are unglazed pottery, so it has a cool texture. 

NEW RELEASE! Gone With the Wine (Kelly Jamieson)

 

Gone With the Wine

Kelly Jamieson

https://books2read.com/u/38NroZ

Where there’s a wine, there’s a way.

Jansen

I’m trying to start over after a soul-crushing end to my hockey career and my marriage—so I buy a winery. I have no idea what I’m doing, but at least I have a reason to get out of bed in the morning. I hate asking for help, but when I meet the winemaker next door, I’m jacked to have an excuse to see her again. She’s gorgeous and full of life, with grape juice-stained hands, a sunburnt nose, and long legs in cut-off shorts. But Bianca’s not so eager to help a grumpy rich celebrity who thinks he can just buy a winery and become a winemaker.

Bianca

Holy crap, I’ve inherited part of the family winery. That should be a dream come true, but I left Napa to get away from my family baggage. I have no choice but to go home and help my sisters get through harvest season, but I’ll be making a quick exit back to my rising star wine career in Argentina. Meanwhile, our new neighbor is a tall, dark, and ripped temptation. He needs a winemaker, and I need a laboratory—so we make a business deal. But while we work together picking, crushing, and fermenting, the attraction between us is causing another chemical reaction. And with wine and with life, it’s not healthy to keep things bottled up…

OR BUY THE SERIES:

POUR DECISIONS

https://books2read.com/Pour-Decisions

Meet the Martinelli sisters: Rosa, Bianca and Allegra. These partners in wine have just inherited a once-storied winery in the heart of Napa Valley. They’re living the dream, right?

Not so fast! Because, as it turns out, not everybody is happy for them. And that includes their Uncle Geno who’d assumed the property would come to him.

There are hoops to jump through, barrels to get over, and a mountain of regulations they'll have to scale. But these sisters are crushing it—and we don’t just mean the grapes. They’re making wine, falling in love, and working together to restore their inheritance to its former glory, one pour decision at a time.

Mug Shot: Mother's Day Mug

 

Today's mug was a Mothers Day gift from my daughter way back when she was in Kindergarten. Her teacher collected a drawing from each kid in her class and had them made into mugs--or T shirts, as I recall. I guess we're not surprised that my daughter chose to make me a mug. lol

I know the images are small, and hard to see, but there are butterflies and birds in the sky at the top of the mug and frogs and fish in the water at the bottom. The frogs are especially masterfully rendered, in my opinion. 

Unfortunately, my daughter got hold of the idea that she couldn't draw shortly after this, so this--and a bunch of painted ceramic tiles--are the only examples I have to refute that conclusion. 

Anyway, Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers (and mother figures) out there. I wish you many happy memories!

Also, if you're interested I do have a free poetry collection all about Being Mom. You can find that here: https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/w0K512hM

Mug Shot: Galaxy Mug

 

So, several years ago, when I lived near my sister, she bought us matching coffee/tea/wine mugs in a rose gold or metallic Millennial pink shade. Although, obviously, the mug pictured here WAS NOT ONE OF THOSE.

But I digress...

She was definitely in her pink era, at the time, having also recently repainted/refurnished/remodeled her bedroom AND her home office (basically the entire upper story) utilizing A LOT of Farrow and Ball "Pink Ground" paint.

I've written about this before. It was amazing. But let's move on. At one point, during this time, she was at my house and she noticed my husband was using my pink mug and for reasons that I don't fully understand, she suddenly decided that, since he's a boy, he shouldn't have to use a pink mug, which, if you've seen even a small portion my mug collection, you'll realize that NO ONE in my household "has to" use ANY mug if they don't want to (because there are so damn many other options to choose from). 

HOWEVER, the upshot of this is that she bought my husband his own metallic, insulated, coffee/tea/wine mug (which, in his case, is really just a tea mug, since he doesn't drink coffee or wine), which is the mug shown below.  

NEW RELEASE! No Way, Rosé (Kate Davies)

No Way, Rosé

By Kate Davies

https://books2read.com/u/3JA8oP

Could this be a second chance worth savoring?

Rosa

Don’t get me wrong - I’m thrilled that Nonna left her winery to my sisters and me, but I’m terrified, too. With Allegra and Bianca both out of the country, the responsibility falls totally on me - and what if I’m not up to the challenge? Now my ex, Jake Wright, is offering to help out, but that’s terrifying in a different way. Working side by side is bringing all those old feelings back to the surface, and I’m falling for him all over again. But does our partnership have a future, or is heartbreak on the horizon?

Jake

I’ve been away from our hometown for ten long years. Now I’m back, and working with Rosa is both the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to me. We’re saving her family winery one day at a time - and giving in to the heat between us one night at a time, too. But I’m afraid this pairing has an expiration date…

OR BUY THE SERIES:

POUR DECISIONS

https://books2read.com/Pour-Decisions

Meet the Martinelli sisters: Rosa, Bianca and Allegra. These partners in wine have just inherited a once-storied winery in the heart of Napa Valley. They’re living the dream, right?

Not so fast! Because, as it turns out, not everybody is happy for them. And that includes their Uncle Geno who’d assumed the property would come to him.

There are hoops to jump through, barrels to get over, and a mountain of regulations they'll have to scale. But these sisters are crushing it—and we don’t just mean the grapes. They’re making wine, falling in love, and working together to restore their inheritance to its former glory, one pour decision at a time.

Mug Shot: Vacay Mug

 

Every day is a good day for a vacay, but today more than most since I'll be heading out on a trip in a couple of days. And yes, there will be beaches! 

I found this mug at Goodwill. I love the vintage look of it. It feels very eighties to me. Or maybe nineties? I don't know. Those were my Mommy Years. That whole period is rather a blur. ESPECIALLY from a fashion perspective.

Mug Shot: Squirrel Mug

 

So, funny thing about this mug. I don't know where it came from. My best guess is that it was left behind by a previous tenant in the last place we lived, and mistakenly packed and brought to Texas with us when we moved here. 

Which is ironic and annoying because space was at a premium when we were packing up, and I'd reluctantly let a lot of other mugs go. At least one of which I kind of regret. But anyhow...

This is kind of a cute mug. I suspect it's Japanese, given the flowers. And it's got a squirrel on it, which is ironic, as well. We have a LOT of squirrels where we live now. Gray, red, black, white--although I haven't seen the white ones in a while. My husband has befriended one of the squirrels who'd shown up to eat the birdseeds (that he originally was putting out for the birds). This squirrel (not the one in the picture) actually comes when he's called and would probably eat out of our hands if we were stupid enough to try it. We're not. 

Anyway, "bright eyed and bushy tailed" is probably as good a motto for your morning drink as anything, I guess. 

Mug Shot: Sorry, Not Sorry Mug

 

There's really not much to say about this mug (which was another Goodwill find). I like the size and the heft of it. I like the satiny, not quite matte finish, and the unglazed bottom. And, as for the message? t think that fits the mood of the day PERFECTLY. 

Mug Shot: Bling Mug

 

I bought this mug recently. No particular reason. I just liked it. It's cute, and blingy, and BIG. My only complaint is that I'm left-handed and this is very much a right-handed mug. Assuming you want to actually see the P. 

But such is life.

I'm not really a pink person, but this spoke to me.