Tynga of Tynga’s Reviews is hosting a weekly meme to show the books we purchase during the week.This week I purchased:

-The Shoemaker’s Wife
by Adriana Trigiani

This is my first time reading Trigiani, so I’m excited to read this.

-Emma
by Jane Austen

I’m a huge Pride as Prejudice fan but have never read Emma, so I’m excited to get started!

What have you added to your bookshelf?

-LC

Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts
Pages: 306

First Line: Grief came in waves, hard and choppy, buffeting and breaking the heart.

The Bride quartet series follows four best friends – Mackensie, Emma, Laurel, and Parker – through their love stories. When they played wedding day as children, they never dreamed they would one day own a successful wedding business named Vows. Happy Ever After follows Parker Brown, the ring leader of the four friends.

Parker Brown is extremely organized, prompt, and always put together, so when she falls for her brother’s friend and mechanic, Malcolm Kavanaugh, she is caught off guard. Parker has become very good at making others happy, but struggles when it comes to her own happiness and romance. She has a hard time figuring out Mal because he is not exactly an open book, but Parker figures out how to peel back the layers. Malcolm realizes that Parker has made him a better person and is the one he wants to spend his life with. At times their relationship is aggravating, and at others it’s amusing. This is a beautiful and honest love story of two people taking a risk and betting on love.

I was reluctant to start this book as I did not want this series to end. You fall in love with the characters and will feel like the girls could  be your friends.  If you have never thought about being a wedding planner, you will after reading the Bride Quartet. If you’re a hopeless romantic, you will love reading this feel-good series.

Peace, Love, and Books,
-LC

I’m linking up with The Vintage Apple for “Oh, How Pinteresting!”

Happy Wednesday, and Happy Pinning!

“It’s Monday! What are you reading?” is a weekly meme hosted by book journey.

Post the books you completed last week, and what you are reading this week.

Book completed last week:
Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts (book 3 in the bride quartet)

What I am currently reading:
Happily Ever After by Nora Roberts (book 4 in the bride quartet)
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

What are you reading this week?

Fall is our favorite time of year, and what better way to celebrate the season than by baking some fresh chocolate chip pumpkin bread?  I saw this recipe via pinterest from Taste of Home. It turned out great and was a big hit with our families! It makes a lot of batter, so be mindful.

Instead of using chocolate chips, I used dark chocolate chips, and I used sea salt instead of regular salt. The directions say to bake the bread for 60 minutes but because I used smaller pans, mine only took 45. The mini muffins baked for 15 minutes and the large muffins baked for 20 minutes.

This recipe made all of this plus two more small loaves that are not pictured.

The following directions are not my own. They are from Taste of Home.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt (I used sea salt)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups canned pumpkin (I used organic)
• 1-1/2 cups canola oil
• 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.
• Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves (16 slices each).

-LC

We are back from our anniversary trip – a cruise to the Bahamas and Co Co Cay! We had such a nice and relaxing trip! The food was incredible and the Caribbean was as beautiful as I remember it! I must say that I am happy to be back home though! The boat was starting to feel a little too claustrophobic. Here are a few pictures from our trip!

Waterfalls in Atlantis

Inside our ship

This photo was taken from the iphone app, Photosynth.

A water spout in the Caribbean!

Our towel monkey, Marvin.

I love the clear blue water!

Formal night

Atlantis from our ship

-LC

It’s hard to believe that we were in Europe nearly a year ago. Our honeymoon was an amazing experience. Ryan and I love to travel and going to Europe has always been a dream of mine. The architecture is breathtaking and the culture, fascinating. I am slightly obsessed with the royal family, so we were in a constant hunt for Princess Catherine and of course H.R.H. Queen Elizabeth! Unfortunately we had no luck as we did not run into them as planned.

“Mind the gap, please,” as you view a few pictures from our trip! I hope you enjoy!

Big Ben and Parliament

Buckingham Palace

Piccadilly

Westminister Abbey- probably my favorite place we went in all of London. It was breathtaking. I loved reading about all of the history and thinking about all the royals who have married there and are buried in the Cathedral itself.

Tower Bridge

Stonehenge is about 2 hours outside of London! It was definitely worth the trip. The countryside is beautiful and worth seeing.

We loved the Louvre! I could have spent a week in there.

Notre Dame

I had to snag Ryan’s jacket because Paris was much colder than London!

The eiffel tower was much larger than I had anticipated.