Sunday Synopsis: July 11, 2010

Another eventful week here at Tif Talks Books . . . well, offline anyways!!  The biggest news from this last week was that we threw a birthday bash for my daughter.  I love to go a little overboard for birthdays and holidays around my house . . . a lot of it spanning from growing up in a household that was more annoyed by them than anything else!  This time, I decided to go with a Pirate Pool Party . . . we pulled out the kiddie pool, hooked up the sprinklers and then the slip-and-slide for some water fun.  Then, I threw together a few lunch items . . . hot dogs made into pirate ships with personalized masts (click here for a similar idea that I did last fall for a pirate party), fish and bones (Goldfish and pretzels), and finally a side of jewels (fruit salad).  The best part of the food though was the cake.  I decided to go with something a little different than the usual birthday cake . . . dirt cake with buried treasure.  I took the recipe from Allrecipes and added an additional layer of M&M's for the buried treasure effect.  It was truly a huge hit!  In fact, I am so excited about its success that I could not help but share a picture of the final result for you right here!  Doesn't it look yummy?!?

I've got another big week ahead of me thanks to a quick trip to Chicago.  I'm hoping to have a bit of time to explore book-ish locations, so if you have some recommendations for me, please share!  However, when I get home from this trip, I am looking forward to some down-time, including a whole week of vacation time later in the month!  Woohoo!!

Before I sign off for the day, I do want to share what I did get posted this week . . .

• My Book Addiction
• Fairy Tale Fridays:  Johnny Appleseed

I've got a few things planned for this week, including a few that have already been written and scheduled, and are therefore guaranteed to be posted!!  I've noted these latter ones with an asterik (*).

• The Stand Read-A-Long Wrap-Up
• The Book Chook Cook Book, featuring Cooking With Kids!!!!!*
• Carrying on The Book Chook Cook Book Fun*
• Choose My Next Adventure
• Review:  Only in New York Darling! by Virginie Sommet
• Fairy Tale Fridays:  The Lion, The Hare, and The Hyena (An African Folktale)
• Sunday Synopsis:  July 18, 2010

I actually have been feeling very productive today, so it is possible that I will even get a bit more written before I go offline for the night.  Only time will tell . . .

And, if you haven't already signed up for my latest giveaway, be sure to check it out by reading my July 2010 edition of Literary Locals!  Only a few have gotten the correct answer for both questions so far!!

Wishing you all the best this week!