Lazy W Marie

goldfinch (book review & event photos)

February 7, 2015

Hello, happy Literary Saturday to you! I’m so glad you’re here. How about we discuss a new-ish piece of fiction and look at some happy, yummy photos, too? Okay? Cool.

Last night our famous little Oklahoma book club, Dinner Club With a Reading Problem, convened at hostess Kerri’s house to eat a delicious array of salads (lovely idea, Kerri!) and share our thoughts on Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. A couple of months ago Tracy’s husband Pete suggested we read it, and I am so glad he did. I gave it a five-star review on Goodreads, despite some character weariness there just past the halfway point (I’ll explain soon).

The story is centered around the life and coming of age of a boy and his questionable possession of this famous 17th-century painting.

About the book, and my personal thoughts:

Published in 2013, Goldfinch is no longer a new release, but it is a Pulitzer prize winner, widespread bestseller, and totally worth your time. The writing is taut and elegant, descriptive no matter the scene or character (i.e., lots of details whether you want them or not), and the story is complex and interesting to say the least. Reading it opened my eyes to a whole segment of world culture that is foreign to me. It’s definitely unique among other novels and, though pleasurable, is a challenge to read.Challenge is good. I’m not alone in that opinion; take a glance at this article which claims that only 44% of readers who purchased Goldfinch online actually finished it. Wow! That’s less than half! (You’re welcome for summarizing that math for you. Excuse me while I dust off my shoulders.)

At around 800 pages it is a long book, certainly, and I agree it pushes the reader through a few dry spells; but it also boasts refreshing time leaps and luscious, sensual immersion into the moment over and over again. I am a sucker for well developed, believable, yet slightly fantasized characters, and this hefty book delivers many times over. A few of the main settings are almost as well developed as characters in their own right, particularly Hobie’s antique furniture shop and Manhattan apartment home. It grew to be so beautiful in my mind that now I almost feel like I have lived there in the past but had my memory gently smudged. That is writing well done.

I want to address the late-story character weariness only to warn you of it and encourage you to not let it keep you from finishing the book or enjoying it. I mean that. Surely other people feel differently than me about this, but just in case you and I are page-turning soul sisters, please know this going in: A guy named Boris is likely to really get on your nerves. He will make you almost crazy, and at some point while reading you will consciously hope (while gritting your teeth) that the actor who plays Boris in the movie is unreasonably good looking, so as to distract you from his decompository character. He’s really awful, okay? Boris will make you temporarily hate all Russian people, which is not your nature. And he will cause you to take new and more passionate stands against all kinds of drug use. Which will become time consuming and irrational on your part. Please, friend, read the book and don’t let Boris steal this pleasure from you. It’s worth it in the end.*

Okay, besides that, it’s all really great. Truly.

On that note, reports that the novel is being adapted into a screenplay is exciting. I like the actress playing the female lead, though knowing her identity ahead of reading did limit my imagination a little. That’s okay, but I’ll refrain from spilling all those beans in case you’d like to read the book blind before seeing the movie. Which of course is a policy I always strongly endorse.

I’d love to mention one more thing I deeply admired about Goldfinch. Written as a first person narrative with the main character being an adolescent boy growing eventually into an adult man, I find it fascinating that a female author could write so convincingly. That’s not meant to sound sexist; it’s just a genuine compliment to Tartt’s ability to shape her own voice. And the voice was age-appropriate, too, grasping believable details along the way. The things a teenager would notice, the teenager narrator noticed. The things an adult would notice, the adult narrator noticed. And so on. I loved it completely and wonder if Tartt writes this way naturally or has cracked a code somewhere along the way. It really amplified the pleasure of reading for me.

Okay, let’s hear from some of the other book club girls:

Goldfinch, Donna Tartt — Mysti took the time to write notes and conversation starters for the group. These are excellent thoughts! I wish we could have a second dinner to focus on them a bit more.

Melissa and I basically agreed on the book, as we are wont to do. She expressed a similar frustration with Boris and felt the same way I did about the main characters’ love story. Or lack thereof. She said that, although the book was laboriously long, she often found herself thinking about it while not reading. The characters became real to her, and isn’t this one of the best compliments a writer can receive?

DeLana, on the other hand, felt exactly the opposite way about Boris and Theo (Theo is the main character). She felt that of the two young men Boris exhibited the best attitude. They both made poor life decisions along the way and hurt plenty of people, but somehow (and I have to agree with this now that DeLana has illustrated her point) Boris the Very Unpleasant Russian was actually the sunnier of the two people, overall. Also, she points out, he managed to keep this disposition despite the fact that just like Theo he had lost his mother at a young age and lived with a neglectful and abusive father. So, attitude is everything? Maybe so. And big thanks to DeLana for shifting my view a little. Such is the beauty of book club!

Mysti came prepared with wonderful, insightful questions for the group, some of which we answered naturally. One of my favorite prompts was, “Would you read a 700 page sequel of this book, by this author?” LOL. By now you know that most of us found the novel to be long. What I have not fully described is how passionately most of the girls felt like it was just way too long. Like, to excess. DeLana even thought that most of the individual sentences were unreasonably long. On this I disagree, but to each her own, right? Another question Mysti posed was, “Why is art so important to the human soul?” How wonderful. I have been thinking about it a lot since we dismissed last night. The story, after all, is not only centered around a famous piece of art but is also framed by the world of art and furniture trade. Really fascinating stuff.

It’s worth mentioning here that of the nine women in our group lately only three of us finished the book to the last page. A few of the girls read a lot of the book. A couple of us explored the Cliff Notes. One of us (her name rhymes with Rexamie) is waiting for the movie. : )

And now for the salad-themed feast…

We enjoyed two different cold tortellini combinations, a crunchy oriental Ramen slaw, creamy macaroni salad, fresh broccoli salad with hard boiled eggs, marinated artichokes with capers and red onions and other wonderful things, made from scratch hummus, taco salad with French dressing and Doritos, a raw kale and mushroom mix, and several other fresh offerings. We feasted! Someone last night commented it was “summer on a plate,” and I couldn’t agree more.

Oh and several decadent desserts. Of course.

These grapes! Lightly dressed with some kind of magical cream cheese-sour cream mixture and elbowed up with pecan halves. I could totally go for some of these for breakfast! Yum to the max.

Doesn’t that all look amazing? As I’ve said many times before, we never leave book club events hungry. This coming Tuesday I’ll post the recipe for my salad contribution and maybe a few of the others if my friends are feeling generous. : )

Mysti and Seri modeling our club's t-shirt. Adorable!! xoxo — Mysti and Seri modeling our club’s t-shirt. Adorable!! xoxo

Thanks again for visiting me here for Literary Saturday! I hope your weekend is beautiful and nourishing in every way. Please share something you’ve been reading lately. Or maybe a salad idea? You can never collect enough book titles or recipes, after all.

“—if a painting really works down in your heart and changes the way you see, and think, and feel,
you don’t think, ‘oh, I love this picture because it’s universal.’
‘I love this painting because it speaks to all mankind.’
That’s not the reason anyone loves a piece of art.
It’s a secret whisper from an alleyway. Psst, you. Hey kid. Yes you.”
~Donna Tartt
XOXOXO

The Giver (book review)

October 29, 2014

Hello, Happy Wednesday! How about a little book review? It’s certainly been a while.

A couple of days ago I spent a few hours subbing in a seventh grade English class, and the work they were doing was Q & A for the short, sweet, impactful novel The Giver by Lois Lowry. I had forgotten to bring along my own book that day, and after my eyes got tired of crocheting this gray shawl you see the beginning of here, I decided to pick up the teacher’s hardback copy and read it for myself. It’s only 179 pages long and geared toward tweens, so I zipped right through it. (Normally I’m a studious and meditative, meaning pretty darn slow, reader.)

The Giver Lois Lowry — The Giver by Lois Lowry plus a new crochet project by yours truly.

Friends, it’s a great book for several reasons. Fellow bibliophiles in my life have recommended this to me before, but it just kept falling off my radar. Do you ever think that certain books cross your path at just the right moment, maybe just when you need them most or right when you are perfectly receptive to the message, whether you realize it or not? Such is the case with The Giver. I may have read it nearly a decade later than everyone else; but it sank directly into my heart in the most wonderful ways. And I had the pleasure of tossing around reactions with about eighty students, hearing what they thought and seeing the joy of reading in their faces. Jackpot.

The Giver is part fantasy and part a telling of very simple, relatable human nature. It’s a unique coming of age story that explores societal functions in a way I have never before seen. The author manages to build pretty good characters and plot rapidly, succinctly, and with skill that leaves you wanting much more. (An update on that later.) She uses language artfully but doesn’t smother you with adjectives and prose. She paints pictures neatly, effectively, with great sensation. I loved every page. Do you know how sometimes a book hits all the best high points and only explores the most valuable depths? No dry spells of reading stuff you later decide was unnecessary? That is how The Giver works. Lowry could have made every chapter much more thorough (meaning, painstakingly detailed), but she seemed to know when to quit or when to pull back. It was was refreshing. So that is why I enjoyed it as a reader, and as a prospective writer I took lots of cues from her.

As for the message that landed with such timeliness in my heart, it’s about kids who have lived out their childhood and are on the brink of adulthood, the knife’s edge of what’s next and how do I fit into this society, the world at large? What’s my function now that bike riding and recreation and freedom have come to an end? Our oldest is on this exciting and possibility-rich precipice right now, so the connections dazzled me. I was close to tears a few times while reading.

The story also explores the power of choice making, the dangers and risks of individuality, and the beauty of it all. It drives home the horrible fallout of something they call “Sameness,” or what I think of as social homogenization. There is also some touching on hot-button issues like weather control and euthanasia, which I thought was interesting. Mostly, though, it’s about the people.

Another theme that weighs in is the immeasurable power of memory. Collective memory, really: the wealth of emotion and wisdom we all enjoy by keeping our past close at hand and living in ways that show we have learned from history, both immediate and distant. Collective memory is written as a painful but necessary element in the new society, an irreplaceable gift. But history and memory are carefully guarded, sequestered from the general public because feeling it all is so uncomfortable. They’ve forgotten how to cope with it. Then, together with physical sensation, the feeling of things seems to be the vehicle for experiencing Love. When a character actually tastes loss and grief, inconveniences scrubbed out by the new, pristine Sameness, he finally feels the depth of Love.

It’s amazing. I couldn’t stop thinking about the duality of hurt, the balance in life between pleasure and pain. About how it is so clearly the dark times that make us appreciate the light, and how absence makes the heart grow fonder, etcetera.

I also thought of Finding Nemo, which pops into my Mother Brain more often than I care to admit. Remember the part when Marlin confides that he just doesn’t want anything to happen to his son? And then Dory, in her simple wisdom, wants to know why on earth he would want that? Yep.

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest. ~Confucious

In fact, the word love in this new society has become so generalized that it is nearly obsolete. Now, of course, we mention this once in a while to each other, right? We joke about how we love Tex Mex and we love the color turquoise, but yes we also love our grandparents and best friends. And wow we really love coffee and books and amazing husbands. The word itself, at least in American English, is diluted to the point of needing context every time we use it. So the author’s point is driven home well. But she also prompts lots of thinking on how to help each other cope with pain and difficult memories. She makes it clear that it is leaning on each other that siphons off grief, and maybe she even meant to say that physical touch was a necessary ingredient.

I could talk about this book all day long and into the night and might even try to convince my book club, those ladies who haven’t read it yet, to snap it up so we can tackle it as a group. The Giver is so short but so deep and beautiful! Have you read it? What did you think?

What was your take on the Releasing ceremonies?
What did you think of age twelve as the time in life to choose your path, or have it chosen for you?
If society were to choose your career or vocation for you, what might be chosen, based on what people know/observe about you? And how happy would you be?
What did you think of physical touch as it related to pain relief and memory sharing?
How close do you think we are to Sameness in different parts of society now? What are the risks and rewards?
What did you think of the book’s ending??

Oh that’s right! The ending. I was stunned and felt a bit empty when I read the last page. Luckily a talkative little girl in class was happy to trade thoughts at the exact moment, so I didn’t go quite insane. She assured me that the author received such feedback for more story that she has since written this one volume into a series called The Quartet. I cannot wait to find those and soothe my curiosity.

And do you know what I discovered while poking around the internet for the author’s contact information? She is also the creator of the Goonie Bird books! Our youngest loved these in grade school. Very happy memories. So now Lois Lowry has touched my heart twice this week, once for each of my babies, now young women.

Okay, three cheers for sudden book finds and enlightening seventh grade days! Thanks for stopping in, friends. Have the best Wednesday ever.

Back and back and back…
~Lois Lowry, The Giver
XOXOXOXO

The Secret Life of bees (a very long & personal book review)

July 30, 2014

I finally read The Secret Life of Bees.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Maribeth loaned it to me a few years ago, around the time I first tried beekeeping in fact, but one of my friends in book club said it was about a motherless young girl, overall a bit sad, and yes my friend cried when she read it. At that time in life I was not ready for such material. My youngest had just left home under really painful circumstances, and I was about as lost as I had ever been. The flip side to motherless daughters, what people don’t talk about, is daughterless mothers. But that’s for another time. I wonder if this quote Maribeth often shared with me was layered with meaning? Did she know?

She liked to tell everybody that women made the best beekeepers ’cause they have a special ability built into them to love creatures that sting. It comes from years of loving children and husbands.

So I slipped this pretty little paperback on my shelf for a while, tucked among beekeeping manuals and eventually my Papa Joe’s apiary journal. Every so often I picked it up and tried nibbling at it, but a gentle warning light would pulse in my head and that still, small voice would whisper, Not yet. You’re not ready yet. So I reshelved it over and over.

Something has settled in my heart now, and it is good and strong. Not only am I ready for this material; I am primed for it. Emotionally, spiritually, and poetically, I am set to receive every syllable of a book just exactly like this. Don’t you love it when that happens? It’s thrilling. The synchronicity of reader and writer, across years and miles, sharing a wide ribbon of words.

Author Sue Monk Kidd uses all the lilting, mysterious beauty of an apiary to convey her ideas and messages. And I am thirsty for this right now. I am also knee deep in bee yard activities of my own, so it’s fun to read about them in between doing them.

She reminded me that the world was really one big bee yard, and the same rules worked fine in both places: Don’t be afraid, as no life-loving bee wants to sting you. Still, don’t be an idiot; wear long sleeves and long pants. Don’t swat. Don’t even think about swatting. If you feel angry, whistle. Anger agitates, while whistling melts a bee’s temper. Act like you know what you’re doing, even if you don’t. Above all, send the bees love. Every little thing wants to be loved.

Okay, enough about me. Let’s talk about this gorgeous novel. Another debut novel, but the way. How fun! I am always curious to read the first book a writer publishes. And when it is this extraordinary, I am floored.

The Secret Life of Bees reads like a smooth old cotton tablecloth, the kind printed with simple aqua and salmon flowers and spread on your great-grandmother’s kitchen table. It is set in the 1960’s, another wonderful if bittersweet ground-level view of the civil rights movement in the southern United States. I had assumed it was written closer to that decade, too, it is so unpretentious and calming. So removed from the present day. I was surprised to see that The Secret Life of Bees was actually published in 2002. So if it is not a vintage tablecloth, then it is a modern one from somewhere like Anthropologie, destined to become an heirloom for us all.

Kidd has crafted believable, touchable, lovely characters who braid themselves together and become something far more than the sum of their parts. They experience loss and cope with it both individually and as a family. They fall into roles and nurture each other. They explore unique, highly personalized spirituality and are keenly attentive to social bonds and struggles. But they don’t spend their days in turmoil; they seem to have learned how to dam the river, so to speak, and protect their hard won peace. They navigate Love in common, every day ways that broke my heart to read, like painting their house pink.

You know, some things don’t matter that much, Lily. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting another person’s heart- now, that matters.

Not all the characters are so lovely, of course, but Kidd writes those just as well. She boils the pain up in your belly when you read the unsavory parts, and with very few sentences she twists your heart and rattles your thoughts. You can scarcely appreciate the light without some dark, after all. And Lily, the main character, has quite an ocean of darkness against which to kick.

As I read this slim little treasure (302 smoothly written pages) I kept thinking of people in my heart who should read it. I thought of my husband’s sister, who is so immersed in grief over the loss of their mother last autumn and all the precipitating loss our family has experienced since then. Queenlessness is what we’re enduring, really:

The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness.

The inner dialogue we enjoy with Lily is so truthful and recognizable, I think anyone drowning in grief or just coming of age with some difficulty would at least take comfort in hearing it expressed in another person’s life. More importantly, though, the reader is taken on a simple, sensual journey that has very real healing powers. Kidd writes us into the moment, allowing us to feel the sweat of hard work, the pleasure of a meal prepared by someone who loves us, the relief of sleep and quiet. Since we’re in the south in the 1960’s there are no electronics to numb us. There is little driving around away from home to keep us from enjoying nature. There is the mostly the pink house, the honey house, the lawn, the forest, the river, the people, and the bees. Heaven.

The family's pink house kept reminding me of my beloved folk art by Handsome, especially this adorable pink raccoon. And for the record I feel like we live in heaven too. These nine acres have grown into quite a peaceful retreat. xoxo — The family’s pink house kept reminding me of my beloved folk art by Handsome, especially this adorable pink raccoon. And for the record I feel like we live in heaven too. These nine acres have grown into quite a peaceful retreat. xoxo

Oh, the wall. Something else has captivated me and you’ll probably hear more from me about it soon. One of the characters has a special coping mechanism for her difficult emotions. She has built a crude rock wall and visits it at times of overwhelming pain. She writes her pains (prayers) on little slips of paper and inserts them into the crevices of the wall. I just love this. It touches on what I know to be true about journaling, and it is so simple. Several people close to my heart are in crippling pain right now, and I thought of them over and over, imagining them writing their pain into a rock wall and feeling better.

Unbelievably, the book also touches on lunar cycles, a topic near and dear to me. I will be expounding on this soon, too!

As long as people have been on this earth, the moon has been a mystery to us. Think about it. She is strong enough to pull the oceans, and when she dies away, she always come back again. My mama used to tell me Our Lady lived on the moon and that I should dance when her face was bright and hibernate when it was dark.

Isn’t that beautiful? And consistent with what we know about energy flow and the moon?

Well friends, I could basically retell the entire book to you. There’s so much more to it, and obviously it’s made a deep impression on me, and I want you to read it, so long as that still small voice in your own heart is not warning you away at the moment. When you are primed for some life instruction, a smooth serving of poetry, and a powerful boost in your belief in Love and all the miracles it can perform, read The Secret Life of Bees. Then consider diving into the world of beekeeping yourself. I dare you to not be tempted after reading Kidd’s seductive descriptions of the art.

This little beauty is about to turn 17. Will you please help me send her Love every chance you get?

When a bee flies, a soul will rise.
~Sue Monk Kidd
XOXOXOXO

Angel Food book release & review!

July 25, 2014

Usually when you read an author’s debut novel, it’s a complete mystery. Who is this new writer? What will she* write about? What will her style be? Will I groove her message, voice, tone, undercurrents, ending? Will I drag myself through this book, just hoping to accomplish another title? Or read the last page breathless, wanting more? Will I want to recommend it to my friends, or better yet… to my book club?

But what if you are already pretty well acquainted with the author? What if you have been reading her blog for a few years now, growing slowly addicted to the way she distills her thoughts and manipulates language so that it forms smoky genies of ideas in your head, rather than plainly telling you blunt things? (Sorry, King and Hemingway. She rises above your advice.) What if every time you read her blog posts, you wish they were longer? What if she has already seduced you a thousand times in small, short ways?

Well, then as soon as her first full length novel is available you read it. You gobble up every page and celebrate every literary wish fulfilled and savor every complex surprise she doles out.

My friend Brittany Tuttle, published many times over online and recently with Shebooks for her novella Stone and Spring, has just today released her debut novel Angel Food. I am over the moon excited for her! I loved this book. Not only because I love her, but that certainly doesn’t hurt.

I was lucky enough to read Angel Food several months ago, while Brittany was still editing it, and I literally could not put it down. I sat on the love seat in our front room on a weekday. It was snowing outside. I remember rising early to feed the animals and tidy up the house, then I sat down with a cup of coffee and started reading. Then all of a sudden it was afternoon and I hadn’t moved. I hadn’t eaten or ran a mile or anything, but the light had shifted and the house was dark. So I made some dinner for Handsome and went back to reading. I read all night and finished it in a hotel room the next day. I remember not wanting it to end, just like her blog posts.

Do you know this woman? You should. — Do you follow this woman’s writing? You should.

Angel Food is part science fiction, part family dramedy, part something I have never read before. It’s action-packed, sexy, hilarious, darkly fascinating, and just exactly the right amount of off-putting to keep you from blinking or breathing regularly. It has a thread of suggestive incest, but in a way that is actually delicious. (Shut up, you have to read it to know what I mean.) And how the characters handle this is so funny! Only really smart people can get away with this, and Brittany does.

Brittany crafts these incredible scenes. These bloody, violent, highly sexual, emotionally charged and laugh-out-loud funny scenes, the likes of which I have never read before. Do you know how some chefs have a knack for striking bizarre flavor combinations, but it works? It is suddenly the most wonderful thing that has ever touched your tongue? That. She does this with characters, dialogue, and surprise events. She folds together one element with another in ways that leave you shaking your head and wanting so much more.

“I’m a Methodist and a Republican and I do not wish to see your bosom.” This is a spoken line late in the book, and let me assure you I peed my pants laughing. The inner dialog is just as fun and sharp, too. She develops each character with either desperation or aloofness or something else miraculous, and every single creation is perfect.

So those are my thoughts on a brand new piece of fiction hitting the shelves today. I hope you seek it out! I hope you spend a day or two completely immersing yourself in this bizarre science fiction family road trip. You will not regret it.

Angel Food by Brittany Tuttle: 5 stars. Rated R. Be sure to catch the author’s own clever synopsis right here. So funny. You’ll see a quote by me, too!

“It smells of syrup and sausage and the past.”
XOXOXOXO

*Or he, of course! But this is all about a girl-crush I have. Spoiler alert.

brand spankin new e-book by Refunk My Junk

July 24, 2014

Oh man I have something cool to share with you today.

But first, let me just say that I am lucky enough to be acquainted with some of the most fascinating people in Oklahoma. Well, I know lots of fascinating people all over this world! But our Great State happens to be home to some of the brightest and most creative people you will ever meet, and I know lots of them. For example… Allison Griffith.

Allison here at the farm, March 2012

I first met Allison here at the farm when Red Dirt Kelly gathered a bunch of us women bloggers to meet. Remember Humilspiration? At that time Allison was just preparing to take the leap from corporate banking and part-time blogging to full-time blogging and artistic furniture refinishing. Well, I was smitten. Her passion for her craft, her high energy with people, and her business savvy were together a completely stunning combination. Since then I have watched with a mix of awe and envy and she has built her business and grown her young family. (Shepherd, baby #2, is due soon, yay!) And today Refunk My Junk is a fixture in the blogging world and a happy gathering spot for regional DIY-ers. People travel to attend her workshops. I am so, so happy for her. xoxo

I am so, so happy for you too, gentle reader. Because Allison has just released her first E-book spilling all of her tips, secrets, and gems of advice for refinishing castoff furniture. It’s called The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Furniture Painting, which is pretty much a title after my own heart. *wink* I have already purchased and read it and am blown away.

Until now I thought surely I had already seen all the tips I needed for painting stuff, but I hadn’t. I certainly have never seen so much gritty information in one organized place, relayed with such an approachable, exciting vibe. Allison knows her stuff, and she shares it generously.

Do you have any itch to up-cycle flea market dressers or rehab old dining room tables, but maybe you wonder where to start or how to get those super trendy finishes? This book is the answer. Do you just want someone to encapsulate all the millions of tutorials out there, cut through the noise, and tell you what really helps? This book is for you.

This is one of my all time favorite looks for old wood, and Allison has it mastered. I cannot wait to try my hand at it using her advice.

If you have ever wanted to attend one of Allison’s workshops but just couldn’t get there yet, then start with her book. It’s a bargain at just $9.99, and it’s so smart and sweet. Download it and let the ideas and confidence start flowing.

She offers tips on everything from paint supplies and project planning to brush cleaning and when to walk away. She writes for real people, not just professionals (although professionals are giving glowing reviews of the book), people with other things to do and perhaps more enthusiasm than experience. In a word, she makes it all seem very accessible.

Allison was a vendor at Junk Hippy. Does it get any cooler than that? No. It does not.

Now for a really fun surprise. Allison has so generously offered to give away 5 copies of her e-book to my lucky readers! I am so thankful for this. If you’d like to receive a free download…

just comment here telling us about a project you’d love to tackle with some guidance.
Or tell us what you’ve already repainted.
Or spill the beans about your favorite thrift shop in Oklahoma City; now that would be good info.
Tweet this post.
Share it on Facebook.
Or copy this whole thing onto a paper airplane and send it across the ocean.

Just spread the word and let me know you did, because I am confident that The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Furniture Painting will be a fantastic help to people, not to mention fun. I’ll leave the circus tent open for one week and announce the 5 winners on Thursday, July 31st.

Congratulations for so many wonderful reasons, Allison. For your successful leap to full time creative businesswoman. For your beautiful family. For this new book release. You make Oklahoma very proud, and we wish you all the best!

If You Have Junk You Should Refunk It.
XOXOXOXO

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