SPRINGING FORWARD....

CATCHING UP: MARCH 2013

I can’t believe that almost another year has gone by since I’ve posted on my blog. I’m not what you would call a serious blogger. It was never my intention to blog on a daily basis, but I thought I could do better than once a year. With that said, I will try to get you up to speed with what’s been happening in the Rehal World.

We had that great trip to Vegas in April. In June, we did a day trip to Vermont for my nephew Kevin’s graduation party. It was a nice informal family gathering at my brother Andy’s home in Brattleboro.

I DO: OUR YEAR OF WEDDINGS

My niece Kerri got married in June. The reception was held at a country club in Beverly. It was the first of three weddings we had the pleasure of attending in 2012.

Kevin and Angela were married on September 8^th, 2012 at the Groveland Fairways in Groveland. It was a beautiful day. The monsoon held out until after the ceremony. The reception was a party atmosphere. No amount of rain was allowed to ruin their day.

The following weekend, my friend Jo’s son got married in Topsfield. Dick and I weren’t able to make it to the church, but we enjoyed the reception at the Topsfield Commons. We did a lot of dancing. The “girls” danced like no one was watching. It was nice to celebrate three happy events in one month.

WRITING UPDATE: CAROUSEL KISSES-SWEET VIOLETS

A Kindle version of CAROUSEL KISSES is now available online through Amazon.

Information is also on the book’s site, www.carouselkisses.blogspot.com and my site, www.luvs2write.com and I post updated info on Facebook and Twitter.

I am working on an ebook called One Date Wonders. It is a series of vignettes about the woes of dating. The stories are short, somewhat funny, fictionalized versions of true experiences. I am looking for more material. If you have a story you would like to share about a bad date, please contact me at lrehal@me.com. I don’t use real names and I embellish a lot.

I am still working on SWEET VIOLETS and hope to do more with it this year. Maybe an ebook. More to follow on that.

I recently had a story, Photography – Then and Now, published on Clever Magazine, an online magazine. www.clevermag.com 

MY WRITING GROUP:  NORTH SHORE SCRIBES

I am so proud of this amazing group of talented writers. In May, we will celebrate five years as a writing group. During that time, we have helped one another attain personal writing goals and accomplishments through encouragement, support, and the sharing of ideas. Some of us have self-published our books, others have entered and won contests or been published in other venues. We have all grown as writers.

You can visit us at www.northshorescribes.wordpress.com. Please stop by and see what’s new. We appreciate your comments.

DISNEY TRIP: October 2012

We had a great week in Disney in October. Stayed at the Beach Club Villas. Really enjoyed the Food & Wine Festival. Michelle and her family and Scott and his were there on this trip. We had fun in the Magic Kingdom and in Epcot with the grandkids.

My brother Rick and Lori were there for a few of the days as well and we spent some time at Hollywood Studios and on the Boardwalk together. I went to American Idol with them and watched the show. We always like to go to this.

We are looking forward to our next trip in May of this year. It looks like it could be full of magical happenings.

OTHER HAPPENINGS IN THE REHAL WORLD:

We spent another wonderful few days in North Conway in February. This year we went up on Valentine’s Day. We stayed at the Suites at Eastern Slopes again. We did some shopping at the outlet stores, had lunch at Horsefeathers and tried Jonathan’s this trip. We had a nice visit and dinner with our friend Bill at The Lobster Trap. Our Valentine’s Day dinner at the White Mountain Hotel was a disappointment, but the wine and the piano player were good. We drove home in a blinding snowstorm.

Dick, Gina and I went to my nephew Jeremy’s musical concert the other night. He did a solo on the clarinet. Looking forward to his dancing debut in April in Jersey Boys at his school.

Dick went to Libby’s science fair at her school last week. I was not able to make it this year, but was told she did a great project on rocks. I’m going to talk to her about doing one on stones (gemstones) for next year. 

So far, we have weathered the storms of this winter without too much trouble. We never lost our power, even in the big storm, Nemo. I think we were extremely lucky, considering the problems of so many others in this horrible season.

I was happy to turn the clocks ahead last night in anticipation of spring. We are looking forward to Dick’s birthday next week, St. Patrick’s Day, Disney in May and October and my niece Jessie’s wedding in November.

My friend Santo told me that, in Italy, the number 13 is considered lucky. I’m hoping that is a sign that 2013 will be a good year.

Thanks for reading my blog. I will try not to let so much time go by before the next one. Please stop by again.

May you all have a wonderful spring and rest of 2013!!

Lina

IT'S BEEN A WHILE!

Caesars Palace 

I just realized it has been almost a year since my last blog update so I will get right to it, beginning with our recent trip to Las Vegas.

VIVA LAS VEGAS: April 2012

Our Vegas vacation was a wonderful mix of fun, excitement and new experiences. We marveled at the changes since our visit in 2006. The City Center area was in the groundbreaking stages then. The old smaller casinos have been torn down and replaced by pricey hotels and high end retail stores. The Aria, Vdara, and Cosmopolitan tower over the infamous Strip between the Monte Carlo, where we stayed, and the Bellagio. I thought I had entered Heaven when I stepped off an escalator and saw Harry Winston, Cartier and Tiffany’s. Gucci, Dior, Chanel, Prada, Louis Vuitton and jewelry stores of the rich. You know how I love bling. Fascinated by the glitz and glitter that is Las Vegas, I took over 600 pictures and did a lot of window-shopping.

We enjoyed perfect weather, (mid 80’s) most of the week, had a lovely spaghetti and meatball supper on Easter Sunday at D. Vino at the Monte Carlo, went to Dueling Pianos at New York New York and danced at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill at Harrah’s. 

We hotel hopped from Planet Hollywood to Harrah’s. 

I played slot machines from MGM to the Wynn and browsed the Miracle Mile Shops where I was finally able to buy a pretty bronze bangle bracelet at the Landau Store for $19.95. 

That was a miracle!

Friday the 13^th was the last full day of our vacation and the evening of the highlight of our trip, the long awaited Elton John concert, The Million Dollar Piano, at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

Elton John’s performance was outstanding. He came out wrapped in a gold sequined cape and sparkly silver shoes. The red drapes at the back of the stage opened up to a huge screen that showed videos that were synchronized to the music. Videos also played on the side panels of the piano. He touched a button and an aquarium appeared across the whole piano screen. He played one hit after another for close to two hours. It was the best concert either of us had ever seen.

We loved the Monte Carlo. It’s in a good location, has some great restaurants, a friendly staff and free tram to the Aria and Bellagio.

Some of what happens in Vegas should be shared. Hope you enjoyed my mini tour.

WRITING UPDATE:  

CAROUSEL KISSES and SWEET VIOLETS

My book signing event for CAROUSEL KISSES was a huge success! We shared memories, had lemonade, penny candy and lots of fun. Thank you to all my family and friends who stopped by.

CAROUSEL KISSES is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Nobel.

Information is also available on the book’s site, www.carouselkisses.blogspot.com and my site, www.luvs2write.com and I post updated info on Facebook and Twitter.

I hope to go Kindle with CAROUSEL KISSES and also to move ahead with SWEET VIOLETS this year. More to follow on that.

MY WRITING GROUP:  NORTH SHORE SCRIBES

Later this month, we will celebrate our fourth year! I am so proud of this wonderful group of talented writers. Together, we have helped one another attain personal writing goals through encouragement, support, the sharing of ideas and friendship.

You can visit us at www.northshorescribes.wordpress.com. Please stop by and see what’s new. We appreciate your comments.

DISNEY TRIP: October 2011

We had a great week in Disney in October. Stayed at the Boardwalk. Really enjoyed the Food & Wine Festival. Went to the Princess breakfast in Norway at Epcot with Gina and Katie and Chef Mickey’s. I’m not sure which one of us gets more excited over seeing Mickey, Katie or me. Just love that mouse! Donald is probably my next favorite character. He’s so darn cute.

We did the Princess experience at the Boutique.  It’s such a beautiful concept and one of those “gotta do it” things, but it’s also, in my opinion, probably the biggest rip off in all of Disney. If you can bring your own princess dress, it will save you a few bucks. You pay around $60 for the makeover, which includes hair, make-up and nails. But, the dress is only the beginning. They have to have the shoes and the pocketbook and the gloves and the wand and the tiara. It just grows and grows and can go way over $200 by the time you are through. I suggest taking your own pictures because the royal photographer will cost you more. Expect the princess to turn back into a typical child moments after the royal event. In that heat, the shoes will hurt, the gloves will have to come off, the dress will itch and need to be taken off and sooner or later, the tiara will create a headache or your princess will want to go in the pool and her hair becomes a mass of sticky hairspray and glitter that will take you a week to wash out.

But, we had fun. My brother Rick and Lori spent a few days there as well and we spent some time at Hollywood Studios and on the Boardwalk together. I went to American Idol with them and watched the show.

Katie and I had a Katie and Mimi night that was great. We had pizza at the Beach Club and walked back over to the Boardwalk and watched the jugglers.

We are looking forward to our next magical trip in October of this year. 

OTHER HAPPENINGS IN THE REHAL WORLD:

We did manage a long weekend in North Conway in February. We stayed at the Suites at Eastern Slopes again. We did some shopping at the outlet stores, had lunch at Horsefeathers and a wonderful dinner at the Stonehurst Manor, a new place for us.

We are looking forward to my nephew Kevin’s graduation party in Vermont, summer on the deck and maybe a quick trip to Kennebunkport and Kevin and Angela’s wedding in September. Can’t wait to take pictures!

Thanks for reading my blog. I will try not to let so much time go by before the next one. Please stop by again.

May you all have a wonderful summer!!

Lina

MY FIRST BOOK SIGNING!!

WRITING UPDATE: CAROUSEL KISSES

I am happy to announce my first book signing event for CAROUSEL KISSES!

SATURDAY, JUNE 4th, 2-4 P.M. AT BORDERSEXPRESS IN SWAMPSCOTT.

We’re going to make it a party with lemonade, penny candy and lots of fun. Hope you’ll stop by and share some of your memories from the good old days.

CAROUSEL KISSES is now available at Borders Express in Vinnin Square in Swampscott and online at Amazon and Barnes & Nobel.

I’m looking into making Carousel Kisses available on Kindle. More on this later.

Information is also available on the book’s site, www.carouselkisses.blogspot.com and my site, www.luvs2write.com and I post updated info on Facebook and Twitter.

MY WRITING GROUP: NORTH SHORE SCRIBES

I can hardly believe it! Today, we celebrated our third anniversary as a writing group with an awesome luncheon at the home of one of our members. You can visit us at www.northshorescribes.wordpress.com. Please stop by and wee what’s new. We appreciate your comments.

OTHER HAPPENINGS IN THE REHAL WORLD:

Disney trip was wonderful! We had a relaxing week, great weather and a lot of fun. The Flower Festival was going on at Epcot. Beautiful flowers and the butterfly exhibit. We went to dinner at Shula’s at the Dolphin Hotel and Il Mulino at the Swan. Dick enjoyed his walks around the Boardwalk and I got in some pool time and shopping at Downtown Disney. We hotel hopped one day and visited the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian. We took a lovely boat ride but got caught in a rain shower on the way back. Guess who was sitting by the open part and got soaked?

We buzzed through the Magic Kingdom. Rode the People Mover, saw the Carousel of Progress, had lunch at Tony’s and caught a little of the parade. We saw Davy Jones in concert in Epcot. Great show. As usual, we spent a lot of time at Epcot and ended our week with a late lunch in Germany.

We are looking forward to summer on the deck, which is just about ready. All we need now is good weather.

Thanks for reading my blog. Please stop by again.

May you all enjoy a wonderful summer!!

Lina

CAROUSEL KISSES LAUNCHED AT LAST!

WRITING UPDATE: CAROUSEL KISSES

I am happy to announce that my book, CAROUSEL KISSES, is finally out there and available for purchase! It’s been a long time coming and a lot of work, but the book is out. Now comes the marketing. Look for press releases in local papers and on Wicked Local online.

CAROUSEL KISSES is now online at Amazon and Barnes & Nobel. It is also available on many distribution lists, including Ingram, for bookstores and through me directly. I even have an estore through Amazon at CreateSpace. http://createspace.com/3559723 if you would like to find out more about the book. Chances are, if you are reading this, you know me and have heard a lot about my book already.

Information is also available on the book's site, www.carouselkisses.blogspot.com and my site, www.luvs2write.com and I post updated info on Facebook and Twitter.

I’m busy learning the ins and outs of the publishing world, a whole new thing to me. All this print on demand and ebook stuff can be a bit confusing, but I’m learning as I go. I’m thinking about making the book Kindle ready further down the road.

WHITE BIRCH BOOKS is a great bookstore in North Conway, New Hampshire. CAROUSEL KISSES is going to be available there. If you are in the North Conway area, please stop in and visit this awesome store. Check out their website: www.whitebirchbooks.com

If you have read my book and can spare a few minutes to go on Amazon.com and write a review, I would appreciate it so much.

Thank you to all who have bought my book already and to those who have been so supportive of my efforts to get this book published. Your comments and encouragement have been helpful and truly appreciated.

NORTH CONWAY: FEBRUARY 2011

In other Rehal news, Dick and I enjoyed another great weekend in North Conway in February. We stayed at the Suites at Eastern Slope Inn again and had the same unit in the Carriage House that we like so much. No Magical Express this time, but we still had fun.

We had lunch at Horsefeathers on Friday and met up with Angela and Kevin at The Moat that evening for a while. On Saturday, we hit the outlet stores as usual for a little shopping. That night, we had a lovely dinner with our good friends Bill and Jean Jones who live in the area. They introduced us to a new restaurant, The Black Cap, not far from where we were staying. I stopped in to visit my friends at the North Conway 5 and 10 Cent Store and showed them a copy of CAROUSEL KISSES. They are mentioned in the book. I am hoping they might carry it as well. I’ll let you know if/when I hear.

MY WRITING GROUP: NORTH SHORE SCRIBES

This wonderful group continues to flourish. We have seven members at present. It’s a phenomenal group of women writers. My good friend, Gail Lowe, (author of Former Things) attended one of our meetings as a guest author. You can visit us at www.northshorescribes.wordpress.com. Please stop by. We appreciate your comments. Bookmark the site and visit often.

OTHER HAPPENINGS IN THE REHAL WORLD:

Our next Disney trip is coming up in May. We are looking forward to some sunshine. This has been a terrible winter. I’m sick of snow. Can’t wait for spring.

Thanks for reading my blog. Please stop by again.

May you all enjoy a wonderful spring!!

Lina

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The trees are up. The lights are lit. The elves are busy at the North Pole. Santa is at the malls. I no sooner put away my summer clothes and it was time to drag out my Anna Lee dolls. I can’t believe Christmas is almost here. We’ll soon be toasting a new year. Winter is on its way.

We had some major bumps in the road between June of 2009 and May of 2010, but we managed to get through them. We had a great summer, a fantastic trip to Disney in October and a relaxing weekend in North Conway in December. We have a new grandson, a beautiful family and wonderful friends. We are truly blessed.

DISNEY: OCTOBER 2010

This trip was amazing! Two of our kids were there with their families. The whole Disney experience is different when seen through the eyes of children. Some of our grandkids have been to Disney before. This was Mason’s first trip and Katie’s second. I loved seeing the expressions on their faces when they met the characters.

We stayed at the Boardwalk Hotel this time, which worked out well for us. Gina, John and Katie were at the Dolphin, a five minute walk from us. Michelle, Clive and Mason were at Caribbean Beach, also close by. We all spent a lot of time in the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. The kids were great company for each other. They were both a little afraid of some of the rides. Katie did not like Snow White’s Scary Adventure. Mason wasn’t crazy about the Haunted Castle, but he went on Splash Mountain with his grandfather. Both kids loved It’s A Small World. How could they not?

Dick and I enjoyed a nice quiet dinner at Shula’s one night and a lovely Italian dinner at Il Mulino’s at the Swan. We spent a lot of time on the Boardwalk. The kids were fascinated with the magicians and jugglers. It was a magical trip, except the last night when Katie took a header out of her stroller on the way out of Hollywood Studios.

NORTH CONWAY: DECEMBER 2010

Dick and I enjoyed a relaxing weekend in North Conway in December. We stayed at the Suites at Eastern Slope Inn. Our unit was behind the inn near the railroad station. The Magical Express passed by our door. It was so close that I could wave to the people on board as they headed for the North Pole. I got a big kick out of watching the train go by and taking pictures of the children.

We had lunch at Horsefeathers, pizza one night at the Flatbread Company, the restaurant at the inn, and shopped the outlet stores. On Saturday night, we had a lovely dinner at the White Mountain Hotel, another one of our favorite places up north. I stopped in at Zeb’s and the North Conway 5 and 10 Cent Store and all the little shops in the center of town. We did a lot of shopping and eating.

WRITING UPDATE: CAROUSEL KISSES / SWEET VIOLETS

The news on Carousel Kisses is not good. I’ve run into some publishing problems and cannot tell you when my book will be available at this time. I will let you know as soon as possible. In the meantime, I am working on starting a publishing company of my own so that I can publish books myself as many authors do these days. I don’t know the fate of CAROUSEL KISSSES right now, but I can tell you that I am working on my next book, SWEET VIOLETS. I will keep you posted on what’s happening with the publishing company and both books. I hope to have some good news soon. I will update you through my website, www.luvs2write.com , the website/blog for the book, www.carouselkisses.blogspot.com , Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for your support.

MY WRITING GROUP: NORTH SHORE SCRIBES

This wonderful group continues to flourish. We have seven members at present. It’s a phenomenal group of women writers. My good friend, Gail Lowe, (author of Former Things) attended one of our meetings as a guest author. You can visit us at www.northshorescribes.wordpress.com. Please stop by. We appreciate your comments. Bookmark the site and visit often.

OTHER HAPPENINGS IN THE REHAL WORLD:

Dick and I will be celebrating our 11^th wedding anniversary in January. We have a special weekend in North Conway planned in February in honor of the occasion.

Thanks for reading my blog. Please stop by again.

May you all enjoy a wonderful holiday season and a happy, healthy new year in 2011!!

Lina