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Pennies Make Dimes
Two Gals Gabbin’
About books, movies, cooking, and advice
Decorating, shopping, and gettin’ the best price
Life, love and raising kids
Along with do-hickeys, what-cha-ma-call-its, and thing-a-ma-jigs
We’re just two Texas gals
Straight from the sticks
The only things we won’t gab about
Are religion and politics!
“Pennies make dimes—and dimes make dollars”
SUSAN: One of the many things we Gabbin’ Girls have in common is that we both love a bargain. We’ll go to just about any length to sniff one out. And it only makes sense. Our mantra is: Why pay a dollar for something when you can get the same results for a fraction of the cost?
To save money, you need to be familiar with your brand names. That goes for clothes, makeup, or hair products. You could lose out on a great sale if you don’t. Another thing to do is to check stores regularly that carry them. You never know when they’re going to run a sale, markdown, or have a clearance sale.
When I stopped coloring my hair, my beautician recommended I use shampoo for gray hair to keep it from looking dull and yellow. After some research, I came across Generic Value Products Conditioning Shampoo. They compare it to Clairol Shimmer Lights.6.99/16 oz or 10.99/33.8 oz. You can order online, or if you’re lucky, you can catch it on sale at the store. Clairol Shimmer Lights is 12.99/16 oz or 21.99/31.5 oz. The generic brand does everything I want, and I save money!
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to pamper themselves every once in a while. Dr. Teal’s products are great and don’t cost an arm and a leg. Walmart carries a line in several scents (Lavender, Milk and Rose, Milk and Honey, Vitamin C and Citrus and others). They range in price from around 5.00-10.00 for a 32 oz bottle, and I love them! I’ve also given them for gifts.
Walmart Makeup Haul https://youtu.be/xNtaFAHzML0
Mud Mask Review https://youtu.be/Jl1VeZXcWaE
Everyday Look https://youtu.be/79uCQrYc5es
Monday Blues https://youtu.be/TH3-ald40jQ
Listed above are some of the posts from Carrie Amanda’s YouTube channel. My daughter does Beauty on a Budget tutorials on makeup application, price comparisons, and tells you where you can buy for less. She haunts Family Dollar, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree and keeps her viewers informed on all the latest there and at Walmart.
ANN: YAS! The Gabbin’ Gals love a bargain!! Many years ago, I joined an online survey site where I shared my opinions about products and services. You may want to give one a try. Just search the internet for ‘survey sites.’ You can earn cash by answering questions or trying products. They once sent me a bottle of liquid makeup to try for a month. I’d never used a liquid. I’d been using Merle Norman cream foundation for years. The bottle of test makeup I received was in a Clinique bottle. After a month, I was hooked. I loved it. At the end of the test period, I answered the final questions and imagine how surprised I was to find out I’d been testing a new product by Cover Girl! I’ve been using it ever since. Merle Norman liquid cost about $40 bucks a bottle, the Cover Girl cost about $7. Talk about a bargain!
Another product I strongly endorse is also a shampoo. I may have mentioned it before. Suave Sheer Color Radiance. It only costs $2-$3 per bottle and it lathers as good or better than most expensive brands. However, I may give Susan’s recommendation a try.
These are just a few ways to save money and look good while you’re doing it. I’m sure you all have “finds” of your own. Please feel free to share with us. We’d love to hear them.
Bookcovers
I’d appreciate your opinion as to which book cover you like the best. Pay no attention to the watermarks on some of them. These are just sample layouts. Once I decide on a cover, the designer will remove all those and scale everything as it should be.
If you don’t like any of them…tell me. If you like the background but not the couple or vice-versa…let me know. I’m really looking for honest input. A designer can play around with color, shading, fonts, etc.
Keep in mind the characters are mid-thirties.
Left to right is: Heart/pink stripe/color-splash/jukebox
Thank you so much for your help!
New Releases by Shiela Stewart
Thanks to Shiela Stewart for sharing two new releases in her Passion Series. Be sure and check them out. The blurbs sound interesting!
Discovery in Passion: Book 1:
Wanting to start fresh, Cassie Evans relocates to the small town of Passion where she moves into the home of her dreams, complete with dreamy next-door neighbor, artist, and handyman Thomas Healy. The only problem is, the house she bought just might be haunted.
Thomas Healy lives a life of solitude and that suits him just fine. Then Cassie Evans moves in next door and begins to turn his peaceful life upside down. He tries to ignore her, but ignoring a woman as beautiful as Cassie isn’t so easy, especially when she shows up at your door, naked, begging for you to paint her. Thomas’ first mistake was to agree to it, his second was to take Cassie to bed, now she’s all he can think about.
When their blossoming love is overshadowed by a ghostly haunting, the curious Cassie launches an investigation into the life and death of her home’s previous owner, uncovering a mystery and attracting the attention of a killer. Where will Cassie’s discovery lead her, to the love of her life or to death itself?
Escape in Passion:
Victor Davis is a man trying to escape the tragedy of his past. Several months ago, a bullet that was meant for him killed his girlfriend by mistake. Now struggling to move on, Victor’s taken over as the chief of police of Passion. Vic knows everyone in Passion, so naturally he can’t help but notice when beautiful stranger, Julia Wilson moves into the small town.
Mysterious and alluring, Julia came to Passion with one thing on her mind, avenging the death of her sister. Desperate to find the truth, and keeping her true identity a secret, Julia enters into an affair with the one man she thinks might be able to give her answers—Victor Davis.
Lust and love run rampant when Victor and Julia enter into a torrid romance. But Julia’s deception turns dangerous and secrets from Victor’s past soon threaten their fragile relationship. Murder, kidnapping, and an escape that you’ll never forget.
Shiela Stewart is a paranormal suspense author with a writing history that stems back to her youth. Always a dreamer, wondering if her stories would ever reach an audience, she was finally published in 2006 and hasn’t stopped since. It is rare to find a stand-alone book as she prefers series stories. Her longest running series to date is her Darkness series, which is a vampire romance.
To find out more about Shiela and her books, visit her website, and follow her on social media.
Website: https://www.shielastewart.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shiela.stewart
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShielaSue
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.ca/shielastewart/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shielasstewart/
Everybody’s Gone Surfin’
About books, movies, cooking, and advice
Decorating, shopping, and gettin’ the best price
Life, love and raising kids
Along with do-hickeys, what-cha-ma-call-its, and thing-a-ma-jigs
We’re just two Texas gals
Straight from the sticks
The only things we won’t gab about
Are religion and politics!
ANN: During this time of quarantine and social distancing, you may find yourself surfing the internet more and more. If that’s the case, then today’s blog is for you.
We’ve included some great sites that will make you laugh, cry, update your wardrobe and redecorate your house! Be sure and check them out.
One of my favorites is: https://www.sadanduseless.com/
They refer to themselves as “The Most Depressive Humor Site on The Internet”, claiming it is their sad attempt at humor. You’ll find a selection of funny pictures…everything from ‘Baby Pooping Faces’ to ‘Cats in Citrus Hats.’ It is definitely worth checking out if you need a belly laugh.
If you’re over fifty, then you’re sure to find a blog at https://passionfruitpawsandpeonies.com/lifestyle-and-fashion-blogs-for-women-over-50/ to interest you. They have selections from every day to outrageous.
For the career-minded woman, check out https://www.careergirldaily.com/ They blog about everything from time management to how to accessorize with jewelry.
If some daily inspiration is what you need, then visit https://brenebrown.com/blog/ where she shares real conversations, ordinary moments, and inspiration. If you don’t know who Brené Brown is, then you’ve been living under a rock!
Brené has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, and her latest book, Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadership.
She hosts Unlocking Us podcast, and her TED talk – The Power of Vulnerability – is one of the top five most popular TED talks in the world with over 45 million views. She is also the first researcher to have a filmed lecture on Netflix. The Call to Courage special debuted on the streaming service on April 19, 2019.
Brené lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Steve. They have two children, Ellen and Charlie.
In the mood for some home/DIY inspiration? Here are three sites you might enjoy.
https://www.addicted2decorating.com
https://www.younghouselove.com/
https://www.thriftydecorchick.com/
Susan:
https://seandietrich.com/blog-2/
Every morning when I log on to my computer, one of the first things I do is check my email and read my daily post from Sean of the South. Sean’s humor and his insight on humanity (especially the kind you see in the south never fails to touch me. I start out laughing and end up with tears in my eyes. He makes me appreciate life. Sean Dietrick is a columnist, novelist, and podcast host, known for his commentary on life in the American South. Check him out. You’ll be glad you did.
ANN: I LUV (I sang that in opera for effect) Sean of the South! I depend on his blogs to keep my tear ducts cleaned out. Susan recommended I follow him and I’m so thankful she did. His daily posts are a bright spot in my day!!
https://refashionista.net/
My daughter told me about Jillian’s blog several years ago, and I love it. On each blog, she takes a garment and refashions it step by step, giving you photos and tips. It’s filled with tips and how-tos for a more stylish and creative life. She’s my kind of girl!
From refashion and up-cycle tutorials on how to re-purpose even the ugliest of thrift store clothes, to thrift style inspiration, to home DIY projects, to an occasional post on how to live your best thrifty life, it’s all here!
There’s nothing I like better than thrifting, re-purposing, junking and checking out resale shops. If you’re like me, check it out.
ANN: I swear Susan and I are sisters from another Mister! I say a hardy Amen to re-purposing, junking, and thrifting.
https://www.grammarly.com/about
https://prowritingaid.com/
For those of you who write like me, getting a clean copy is invaluable. I’ve used both of the above sites. I pay for the one I use, but what’s great is they have free versions you can check out. You have a spellchecker, grammar checker, style editor. And all in one place. You can edit faster. Fix style issues. Eliminate Errors. It’s a great tool I use that allows me to spend more time crafting my story.
ANN: Great suggestions—not only for writers but these sites will help students with writing assignments, and folks who send out resumes.
Everybody Dies Famous in a Small Town
Two Gals Gabbin’
About books, movies, cooking, and advice
Decorating, shopping, and gettin’ the best price
Life, love and raising kids
Along with do-hickeys, what-cha-ma-call-its, and thing-a-ma-jigs
We’re just two Texas gals
Straight from the sticks
The only things we won’t gab about
Are religion and politics!
SUSAN: I grew up in the city. Every summer, we visited my grandparents, who lived in a small community. It was like The Andy Griffith show come to life. I loved it. My husband grew up in small towns. I always envied him. So, we jumped at the chance to raise our kids in that kind of atmosphere
Things happen here that never happen anywhere else. People will tell you hello and ask how you’re doing. And they aren’t just asking to be kind. They’ll call you by name, and they give you the benefit of the doubt, especially when your kids go to the same school, are on the same little league team, or play football together. If the mailman can’t deliver something to your nephew who lives out in the country, he’ll bring it to you instead.
Someone always knows what’s going on at your house. My cousin once came from out of town to visit, and when I got to work, my coworker wanted to know whose Harley was parked in my driveway before 8 a.m. If you get a delivery and you’re gone, your neighbor will sign for it. Of course, they’ll want to know what you ordered. If there’s a death in the family, they’ll bring food and ask whether you need anything. If they see someone at your house and know you’re not there, they’ll tell you about it. Whether you want to know or not.
At first, it was a little stifling, especially when you’re private people like my husband and me. But we learned to dodge the questions we didn’t want to answer and appreciate the fact that they really do care.
ANN: Unlike Susan, I grew up in a small town. A really, really, small town…population 312. At least, that was the count during my day. And although Brownsboro, Texas now has a whopping 1,253 residents, it’s still considered small.
During this COVID-19 situation, I’ve thought more about how I grew up, and because of that, the pandemic hasn’t been so hard on me. Staying home without much to do was a way of life. In the summer, we’d go out to play and stay until dark, only coming inside to eat dinner (which is now called lunch)
I loved the sound of our screen door slamming because it announced my daddy was home from work. I cherish the time spent sitting on the porch, peeling peaches or shelling peas hanging on every word of the stories my grandmother told.
I grew up without air conditioning, color TV, local movie theaters and restaurants. The social life in my hometown consisted of school and church activities such as Bible school and sporting events, along with the occasional school dance.
The most trouble we got into was turning on the lights at the football field, toilet-papering someone’s house, or spray-painting our year of graduation on the water tower. (Not me because I was afraid of heights)
We had a theater for a while, but it burned down—twice! Each summer, a big truck hauled in a roller-skating rink and set it up on a vacant lot. When it left, the medicine show took its place for a couple of weeks. Each night, they sold a magic elixir that was guaranteed to cure what ailed you. They also featured a magician and held talent contests for local folks. I entered one year, singing “Cross Over the Bridge” by Patti Page, and won third place!
I’m not sure that counted as my fifteen minutes of fame, but then again, to quote small-town girl Miranda Lambert, “everybody dies famous in a small town.”
**Do you have a favorite small-town memory you’d like to share? Leave it in the comments following this blog post.
To find out more about Susan and her books, visit: https://www.susanaroyal.com
FIVE ON FRIDAY with Lexi Revellian
Today, I welcome author/jewelry maker, Lexi Revellian. She has some great answers to the five questions she chose, so be sure and read all the way to the end! Also, check out her jewelry website. Talk about talent!! Whoa…her work is quite impressive.
Lexi’s new release, The Last Enforcer, is currently .99 cents in Ebook. The buy link is under the cover.
Cadence and her adoptive grandfather struggle to make ends meet in the medieval-style Outer City. One day while scavenging in the outlands, Cade’s life is saved by Xavier Drake, an arrogant enforcer from the high-tech Inner City. Later, when circumstances force her to take a job working for Inners, they meet again. She begins to think that maybe beneath his unforgiving exterior is a decent person.
Xavier has problems of his own. To expiate his father’s crimes, he was compelled to undergo the brutal training to become an enforcer. Ten years on he discovers the truth about the events that destroyed his family and happy childhood and goes rogue. The City’s rulers decide to eliminate him.
Xavier is drawn to Cade…but can he survive attempts on his life, get revenge, and learn to trust again?
Social links and buy links
The Last Enforcer [link to come – not yet published]
LEXI REVELLIAN
I started writing in 2006, and have been unable to stop. In 2010 I self-published my third novel, Remix, a contemporary mystery/romance. Remix spent eight months in the UK Kindle top 100 – which was much easier to do then than now. This was followed by nine other books.
My day job is making jewelry and silver under my real name, Lexi Dick. I am a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, and as well as making an affordable range of items, I have made pieces for 10 Downing Street, Her Majesty the Queen and Lady Thatcher. I live and work in London.
FIVE ON FRIDAY
You open your front door and find a penguin wearing a cowboy hat. What does he say?
LEXI: “Ann Everett made me wear this hat! I know I look ridiculous. Can I take it off now?”
Then I think he would ask if I had any fish. I’d invite him in (I figure that if he can talk, he’s most likely house-trained) and offer him a choice of fish fingers or a tin of sardines. While he ate I’d ask where he learned to speak English, and if he had an agent. There could be money in a talking penguin…
ANN:That darn penguin! He’s always blaming his poor choice of fashion on me! If you pursue getting him an agent, I want in for my cut!! LOL
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
LEXI: Ooh. I like this question. What to choose…the ability to fly? Or better, teleportation, so I could zip to a Greek island for lunch, eat my sandwich on the beach and be back to work in the afternoon. I’m tempted to go for The Power to Persuade – just imagine how useful that would be, being able to persuade people to do what you want all the time. I could persuade Netflix to turn my books into films! But there’d be a downside. I’d feel obliged to use my new power for the good of humanity, and I have no desire to jet around the world having little chats with Kim Jong-un, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. I can’t think they’d be fun people to talk to, any of them, and I’d have to do a lot of research beforehand to know what to persuade them to do. It would be a full-time job.
So I’m going to be frivolous and have The Power to Make Things Work and Stop Working. You may think this sounds dull, but consider this: my computer and internet would always work perfectly, as would my car (I am the owner of a 25 year-old Nissan Micra of which I am very fond, but lately it has been feeling its age). If the boiler stopped working over Christmas, no need to pay a fortune to a plumber, assuming I could find one. And if someone was boorishly playing loud music, I could stop his sound system working with the power of my mind. Mwahahahah!
ANN: I like your answer! I think that would be a terrific power. I can see a lot of possibilities. Making the tailgater’s car stall. Having telemarketers lose their voices. Making cake and cookies healthy…stop them for having calories and migrating directly to my hips!
Name three songs on your playlist.
LEXI:I don’t listen to music while I write as it distracts me, but for each book I’ve written I have tracks which put me in the mood of the book. I listen to music while having a teabreak, playing War Mahjong and brooding about my characters. For The Last Enforcer the tracks were:
Toto: Hold the Line
Wodkah: The Last Butterfly
Timecop1983: On the Run
ANN: I also make a play list for my books, and I agree about them helping get you in the mood.
Do you have any family sayings? If so, what?
LEXI: When my daughter was small and I was running her about the place in my trusty Micra, if the windscreen was dirty I would squirt windscreen washer and use the wipers to clean it. As the wipers spread a haze across the glass she used to say in a lugubrious voice, “You made it worse.” It became a family joke. And it’s a saying I find myself using all the time, because one so often tries to make things better and ends up making them worse. In life, there is no CtrlZ.
The other family saying is my mother’s, which she came out with whenever I or my sister couldn’t find something. “Tidy up and you’ll come across it.” Exceedingly irritating – but true.
ANN: If you’re like me, I’ve included a lot of things in my books that have been said by my kids! Sometimes, they come up with great lines.
What’s the best advice you ever got?
LEXI: That would be from a lute-making friend who rented the workshop below mine. We were discussing the latest rent rise, and he said, “You know, we’re crazy to rent. We should buy workshops.” Light bulb moment. Within months I’d remortgaged my apartment and bought 800 square feet plus balcony in Hoxton, then very down-at-heel and a bit sinister after dark. Now it’s ultra trendy and expensive. Best buy ever.
ANN: That does sound like good advice. If you ever decide to close up shop, you can make a profit on the real estate!
Ann Everett, Best Selling Author
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{I hope you enjoy this sweet, short-story romance!}