Wednesday is LIBRARY DAY!

It's the last week of school here, for my girls and for my metal-smithing class. It's a little crazy!!!

I had my final today, which I'm sure will make my husband happy. I've been going into the shop almost every night for the last five days- Saturday, Sunday, Monday, NOT Tuesday, and Wednesday. I LOVED it, but Jake was feeling completely abandoned.

But I'm done for the summer, and sad about it. Sweet man. He was sad for me, but happy for himself. And I can't really be sad that he was missing me, ya know?

The girls have picnics and parties and early dismissal this week, so my car life has been kept revving.

All that to say, I have not read much this week. So this will be an incredibly short Library day post.
*****

Savor The Moment by Nora Roberts

From the book review: Set in the fun, fabulous and sometimes hectic world of wedding planning, follow the story of four friends and their struggles with life, love and family as they build their wedding planning company, VOWS.
Wedding baker Laurel McBane is surrounded by romance working at VOWS wedding planning company with her best friends Parker, Emma, and Mac. But she's too low-key to appreciate all the luxuries that their clients seem to long for. What she does appreciate is a strong, intelligent man, a man just like Parker's older brother Delaney, on whom she's had a mega-crush since childhood.

I ALWAYS hate admitting to anyone that I have read a romance novel. I don't know why, but it always sounds tawdry and lonely. Like only little old ladies or unmarried spinsters read them. But that can't be true, since Nora Roberts is a NY Times bestselling author. She's the only romance author I have continued to read- her characters are believable and rich. Her romances are fun and entertaining. Sometimes she tackles big issues, but mostly they're just really good stories.

I've read the first two of this series, and enjoyed them both, but I have to admit this third addition to the quartet just doesn't live up to the promise of the other two. I don't know why... The characters are believable and engaging. The situation is interesting.

Roberts seems to get a little too caught up in the practical details of being a pastry chef, and Laurel is a little bit too much like one of the other women- detailed and focused on the trees versus the whole forest.

I didn't hate the book, it just wasn't as good as many of the other books I've read by Nora Roberts.

500 Pendants & Lockets: Contemporary Interpretations of Classic Adornments

From Monsters&Critics site: One look at these breathtaking suspended neck ornaments, and it's clear why Lark's series of jewelry design books has become so wildly popular. Every pendant is a masterful work of art, whether it's symbolic and purposeful (amulets, talismans, and charms) or purely decorative. Juried by Mike Holmes and Elizabeth Shypertt, co-founders of the esteemed jewelry gallery Velvet da Vinci, this beautiful color collection includes pieces crafted from diverse materials and techniques (including forging, casting, forming, and stone setting). Fecund, Tricia Lachowiec's intricate construction of oxidized sterling silver, electroformed copper, enamel, and resin, is every bit as luscious as its title suggests. Seth Papac constructs a ghostly and atmospheric cityscape out of poplar wood, architectural siding, and building materials, as well as gold, silver, and elastic. Jane Adam's signature use of softly colored aluminum always astounds, and decidedly so in Flower Pendant with its multiple fronds of gracefully arching metal. Jewelers, metalsmiths, and collectors will all find inspiration in these one-of-a-kind works.

I LOVED this book. I want to buy this book. It was incredibly useful and inspiring. Unlike Lark's 500 Necklaces, this book focuses more on form, variety & beauty and less on how strange and arty the pendant can be pushed.