Have You Ever Seen a Bear in Tighty Whiteys?

Thanks to the super sweet Dan over at Raincoast Books for brightening my day with a copy of Bear in Underwear by Todd Harris Goldman.

This very silly (and totally my style) book follows Bear and his wilderness pals as they frolick and play in the woods. When Bear stumbles upon a backpack, they discover a veritable smorgasboard of fun with a variety of undies.

Large and small, dorky and dirty, bear tries them all until he finds the perfect fit.

While Littlelicious is still a little too young to appreciate the full humor of the book (he doesn't even know what underwear is!), he had a good ole time repeating the names of the animals.

We'll keep it on the shelf for the upcoming years, but you bet I will be giggling my way through it repeatedly until then.

Oh, and did I mention the touch 'n feel tighty whiteys that Bear is sporting on the cover? *teehee*

Tweetle Dee Dee

Don't you just love those miraculous little Twitter apps that can analyze you down to your undies in about 20 seconds? Here's the lasted I've found, thx to @Unmarketing. It's called a "Wordle" and it tells you what I tweet most frequently. Hmm...I think I see a pattern here...

If you want to make your own Wordle, follow the yellow brick road:
1. Go to TweetStats
2. Analyze your account.
3. Click on "Tweet Cloud" at the top of the page.
4. Down at the bottom right, it says "Don't like the TweetCloud? Well then, go make a Wordle!" Click on the "no @'s" so it doesn't include usernames.
5. Customize, save, post, and let me know what your top 5 words are!

P.S. - for the life of me, I can't remember when I tweeted about chicken.

10 Steamy Reads for Valentine's Day

Whether you’re looking for guidance to rekindle a romance between the sheets, or if you can’t resist a sweeping love story, grab the nearest bag of chocolates and dive into these steamy reads.

1. A Little Bit Kinky by Dr. Natasha Valdez
Dr. Natasha comes to the rescue by helping you both get in touch with your kinky side – with instructions that are as simple as they are sizzling.

2. Cosmic Coupling by Starsky and Cox
A fun, fast-paced exploration of every ¬possible relationship between star signs, both straight and gay, from the authors’ unique sextrological perspective.

3. The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Audrey Niffenegger's innovative debut depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare's marriage and their passionate love for each other, as the story unfolds from both points of view. Clare and Henry attempt to live normal lives.

4. An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
Readers have been waiting with bated breath for the seventh volume in bestselling author Diana Gabaldon’s epic Outlander saga — a masterpiece of historical fiction featuring Jamie and Claire.

5. The Sexually Confident Wife by Shannon Ethridge
Maximize the sexual and emotional potential in your marriage! With down-to-earth wisdom based on the experiences of the thousands of women she’s counseled, Shannon Ethridge shows women how to create the healthy, exhilarating sex lives they (and their husbands) desire.

6. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
With humorous sagacity and consummate craft, García Márquez traces an exceptional half-century story of unrequited love.

7. The Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort
Famous for helping couples discover how sex can be playful, erotic, passionate, exhilarating, and most of all, pleasurable.

8. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
An extraordinary debut novel of love that survives the fires of hell and transcends the boundaries of time.

9. The End of the Alphabet by C.S. Richardson
In the tradition of romantic legend and fable, The End of the Alphabet is a lovingly rendered, richly nuanced treatise on the nature of true and enduring love.

10. Why Men Want Sex and Women Need Love by Allan and Barbara Pease
Will men and women ever see eye-to-eye about love and sex? This saucy guide reveals the top five things women want from men, what turns us on – and off, and what to do when the chemistry is wrong.

The Social Wizard of Oz

Blogger, and Facebook, and Twitter, oh my!

How does a person handle shooting content to all the must-be places online? I'm a busy chick. Family, career, and so very little time left for myself!

Happy to have found Posterous...if it can add even 2 minutes to my productive day, it will remain my friend.

Posted via email from literalicious's posterous

Top 10 Things for a Busy Day Off

Is it sad that I can't really remember what it feels like to take a real vacation day? Yeah, I had the week off during the holidays, but so did everybody and their brother.

Tomorrow I have a vacation day (the first of FIVE by the end of March!), and I'm not really sure what to do with myself. Well, not true I guess...I have a list of stuff to tackle:

1. Take the car in for maintenance. (Pretty happy I chose a Honda these days.)

2. While I wait for said car, start reading 1 of the 3 books from the Fall 2010 list that I downloaded to my eReader (ahh Sony, how I love taking 20 books with me everywhere I go).

3. Drink a tall vanilla bean latte (skim, no foam), and enjoy while it's hot.

4. Make an appearance at the gym. (Who art thou, stranger?)

5. Post-workout, see if the Superstore has any whole fryer chickens left that are on sale because frankly, we make a darn good chicken noodle soup at our house.

6. Glance at Blackberry email to see what I'm missing.

7. Take a long hot bubble bath and catch up on the latest issues of Chatelaine and Best Health.

8. Pop into the library to find a good book on potty training. Yeah, we're creeping up on that stage already. :-\

9. Cook something delicious for dinner (but not chicken noodle soup because there's already a batch in the fridge!).

10. Figure out what in the heck I should do on my next day off. (Maybe, nothing!? Because after all...LEISURE RULES!)

The Spice Necklace: Mango Chow Recipe

While it seems somewhat ill-timed that a book about sailing through the Caribbean be promoted during the horrific aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, I can honestly tell you that The Spice Necklace will bring people a warm-hearted picture of the land and people of the area. The descriptions of Ann’s travels, the people, and the foods she encounters are simply astounding, and will make readers want to plan their own Caribbean adventure.

I think you will love this recipe from the book, and I hope that you’ll take a peek at the author’s website at SpiceNecklace.com. Check out her photo galleries – they’re stunning!

Meandering from island to island by sailboat, Ann Vanderhoof takes readers along as she gathers nutmeg in Grenada, hunts crabs and freshwater crayfish in the mountains of Dominica, and obsesses about oregano-eating goats in the Dominican Republic. Along the way, she is befriended by a collection of unforgettable island characters who share with her their own delicious recipes.

mango chow

by Ann Vanderhoof, author of The Spice Necklace

This is probably the all-time favorite snack on Receta. It’s quick to make, requires only five ingredients, and can be adapted to whatever fruit is in season. The recipe is meant to be only a general guideline: “Make it to your taste,” the Trinis say.

2 unripe or half-ripe mangoes, peeled and sliced (see Tips, below)
¼ cup finely chopped chadon beni or cilantro
¼ to ½ Scotch bonnet or other finely chopped hot pepper (preferably red, for color)
2 tsp coarse kosher or sea salt
½ lime

1. Place mangoes in a serving bowl. Add some of each of the remaining ingredients and toss well.

2. Taste and adjust balance of hot/tart/salty/sweet by adding more of the ingredients as you please. Serve with toothpicks to accompany drinks.

Makes 4 to 6 snack-size servings.

Tips:
• While an authentic Trini chow uses completely unripe fruit, we like it with just a hint of sweetness and use mangoes that are about half ripe.

• Try the same technique with cucumbers, wedges of mandarin orange (the Trinis use a similar fruit called “portugals” in season), pomme cytheres (also called golden apples) or any half-ripe crisp fruit such as pineapple, guavas, or even unripe peaches or tart green apples.

Excerpted from The Spice Necklace by Ann Vanderhoof Copyright © 2009 by Ann Vanderhoof. Excerpted by permission of Doubleday Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved.

Photo © Steve Manley

And You're Rushing Headlong

I haven't done a meme in a long time, but this one was too fun to pass up. And it weirdly turned out interesting instead of just totally mismatched lines. (Well, mostly.) Wanna try it too? Let me know when you post your results!

Put your music player on shuffle, and write down the first line of the first twenty-one songs. Post the poem that results. The first line of the twenty-second song is the title.

And You’re Rushing Headlong

Flash! Aaaaah!
Ohhh, ohhh, Agnus. Agnus Dei.
Hey old friend, let’s look back,
Dear Celie, oh I love you.

Everytime we say goodbye I die a little.
Hey sister, whatcha gonna do?
A hand above the water, an angel reaching for the sky;
Sometimes I get to thinking I was back in the old days long ago.

When I’m bored, sittin’ in the corner
Wake up in the morning with a head like “What ya done?”
I’d sit alone and watch your light:
Another constellation dies

We can go out dancing;
Sun follows rain.
I’m undecided about you again;
Gotcha!
The nickel dropped when I was on my way beyond the rubicon.

Steve walks warily down the street.
Do you hear that playin’?
It’s getting late, have you seen my mates?
Been workin so hard, I’m punchin’ my card.