52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 9

Lover Unleashed is the 9th book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. It was released March 29th. I was utterly excited for it, that I pre-ordered it on Amazon. However, by April 3rd, I had the jitters. A bunch of my mates had read it already, and I was getting impatient. Who am I kidding? The book wasn't due to arrive until April 17th. There's no way I could wait that long. So I went ahead and got it on my Kindle!

April 17th arrived, and there was no Amazon box. I was ok, as I had already read it, but as much as I love my Kindle, I still wanted the actual book.

Thursday I went to check, and still no book. Ok, this is now 2 weeks late! I decided to give it one more day. If nothing arrived on Friday, I'd email Amazon and let them know it has disappeared.

Guess what showed up on Friday??????

Oh, and it gets better.

One of my mates introduced me to cafepress.com. They have a BDB shop. So I, of course, shopped. Don't tell Scott! Guess what came today?????

PJs!!!!!

Happiness is finally having a copy of Lover Unleashed and getting a pair of BDB pjs!


(Sshhhhhh.... don't tell Scott I have it on Kindle too)

Farewell Tour - Sunday Breakfast

Scott and I are not exactly big breakfast people. Well... maybe I should say Scott isn't. I'm often bugging him to go for breakfast. Sometimes he agrees.

Yesterday I wanted breakfast. Pancakes to be exact. But I wasn't in a mood for a Kempinski breakfast, and Scott didn't want Epidor. Besides Epidor doesn't have pancakes, so we decided to head to Africafe.

They make the best (and only) Zanzibar Chai Latte.

And for Ethan, a teddy bear pancake.

The perfect way to spend our last Sunday in Dar as a family.

Farewell Tour - Addis in Dar

If you were to ask me what my favourite restaurant in Dar is, I'd have to say Addis in Dar.

I had never had Ethiopian food until some mates took us there, many years ago. Since then, it has been a favourite of ours. It is also a place you either really love, or are not a fan of. Ethiopian food is made up of Wat (stew), injera (flatbread), grains and berbere (combination of spices). Like Indian food, it's meant to be shared and eaten with your hands. 

What's really cool, is the tables. You sit low.

Saturday night, Scott and I headed there. This weekend is our last weekend together in Dar. Next weekend we're house hunting in Lusaka, the weekend after that Scott's in Mozambique for a board meeting, and the following weekend he's officially relocated to Lusaka. 

As usual, we pigged out!

Thank you Addis for all the wonderful meals and memories. Any chance you'll open an Addis in Lusaka?

Ascend - Amanda Hocking

Ok, so I'm finally done with the Trylle Triology. Once I started the first one, I felt the need to finish them all. Good thing they were easy reads.

In the final instalment, you are able to see the complete change in Wendy. She is no longer the rebel. She has accepted her role as Princess, and even Queen. This part I enjoyed. It was nice to see her relationship with her mother. Wendy always believed she was unloved, and here we learn just how much Elora loved her.

Wendy also continues to fight for equality among her people, and even though this doesn't get resolved, you are left with a sense of belief. She will do everything she set out to do.

And if this were what the trilogy, or even Ascend was about, I'd probably have liked it more than I did. But, so sorry, I got annoyed. I really wanted to finish this, but it was difficult. I often had the incredible urge to throw my Kindle against the wall!

Did I ever tell you that I don't like Romeo and Juliet? Well I don't. And here's why. I just don't buy it! Asides from the fact that Romeo and Juliet are like 12, it's not real. Romeo meets Juliet at the party that he sneaks into to see Juliet's cousin as he's madly in love with her. Now suddenly he's in love with Juliet? And no, I have not gone off topic.

In the first 2 books, Wendy is in love with Finn. He's a tracker and doesn't believe they can be together. He doesn't fight for her. Very much like Gale in Catching Fire, he gives up. The night before her wedding to Tove, he goes to see her. He realises they can only have this one night. Since she wants more than one night, she turns him down. I respect that. Was really hoping to see them hook up, but again, this shows her growth.

What utterly irritates me, is a mere few days later, she jumps into bed with Loki, telling him they will only have that one night! Oh, and then she tells Finn she's in love with Loki! Hello.... Romeo?????

Maybe I'm bias. The troll thing still threw me off. Was hard to get into. Maybe if they were fairies I would've liked it better? Maybe? Maybe not?

Foto Friday - Symmetry

I have so many flower pictures from this past weekend. I'm sure everyone's tired of seeing them. And even though they make gorgeous symmetry pictures, I've decided to have a little more fun with this week's. 

Teeheeheee

Lushoto View

 Sunday, after the Easter Bunny made it's appearance, we drove up to this gorgeous hotel. There's a bit of a hike, and a gorgeous view. I just had to share more pictures.

The kids wanted to see if they could touch the clouds. We were oh so close!

Writer's Workshop

2.) The Royal Wedding… gift ideas.

The Royal wedding is tomorrow. Will I be running home after work to watch it? I'm still undecided. I have memories of my mother waking me up at 5am to watch the nuptials of Prince Charles and Lady Diana (she was a lady, only became a princess after she got married). My mom and I snuggled in her bed, and watch it together. Somehow I can't imagine snuggling with Ethan to watch. I don't think he's that interested.

This week Mama Kat has asked us to brainstorm some wedding gift ideas for the happy couple. After much thought, here are my suggestions:

1. A slip for Kate

How many of us remember that picture of Princess Di, with the sun behind her and her legs showing through her skirt? In case you've forgotten, here it is.

To ensure Kate does not have this happen to her, I think someone ought to send her a few slips.

2. Hats

We have all seen the lovely pictures of Kate and her hats. So why not add to her wardrobe with some outrageous ones?

3. A bajaj

If ever the Prince and Princess decide to come visit Dar, they would, of course, get the royal treatment with escorts everywhere. However, if they decide to escape, and want to get through Dar traffic, a bajaj would be useful.

4. His and her Masaai outfits

I really want to get a Masaai costume for Ethan before we go. And if I want to bring a little of Tanzania with us, why not give the happy couple one too? They could dress up next Halloween.

5. Disguise

With the paparazzi chasing them everywhere, I think they need a disguise.