"Safe Haven" by Nicholas Sparks

Maybe I've missed the boat somehow, but I just found out that Nicholas Sparks' newest book will be released in bookstores nationwide on September 14th!  "Safe Haven" sounds like a great love story, as is usual with Sparks' novels. 

I first got into Nicholas Sparks' books last summer. In fact, it was around this time last year that I decided to jump on the NS bandwagon.  All of my closest girl friends and female family members were completely smitten with Sparks' writing, and I didn't understand all of the fuss. I hate feeling out of the loop, so I spent my July 4th holiday weekend reading, then later watching, the super popular Nights in Rodanthe. I was hopelessly hooked!  Hopelessly hooked led to feverishly hooked, and by the end of the summer, I had read every single Nicholas Sparks novel, cried buckets of tears, and  diagnosed myself temporarily with every form of terminal illness that NS's characters suffered from - because there's almost always at least one important character that's sick and dying. I watched all of the movies, too - which, i.m.o., are nowhere as near as good as the books (I think most Nicholas Sparks fans will agree - just too much detail in the books to be covered in a screenplay!)  The movies were fun too, though - my favorite was the Notebook, followed by A Walk to Remember (which was a completely disgusting snotty nosed sobfest of an experience! Ugh... how heartbreaking!) 
I'll never forget my summer with Nicholas Sparks. There's just something cozy, calming, and heart warming about his writing - it's easy to understand, it flows well, and the books never take more than a few days to read.  I also love that his novels are set in N.C. - always so summery and romantic!  In celebration of finding out the news that his newest novel will be coming out in just two short months, along with the anniversary of my discovering the world of Nicholas Sparks, I present:

Steph's Nicholas Sparks Top 10

10. The Last Song (movie)

9. A Walk to Remember

8. Nights in Rodanthe

7. The Last Song

6. The Guardian

5. The Lucky One

4. Dear John

3. The Choice

2. The Wedding

1. The Notebook

So...any other Nicholas Sparks junkies out there?

P.S. Today, I'm linking up at Buzz on by Thursday, hosted by The Two Savvy Sisters and Fashionably Organized - Check their blogs out to get the rules, then play along and meet lots of new bloggers!

Friday Free-Write (#5)

First things first on this Fabulous Friday... I would like to thank Brittany over @ Unexpected Surprises for featuring my blog in Spotlight Thursday! I now have lots of lovely new followers - most of which I've started following, too. Thanks to everyone who left those super sweet wedding anniversary wishes!

I'm sure you're wondering - how was the anniversary? Both of us had a great day, an even better evening. After Todd finished teaching for the day and I finished torturing myself at the gym, we exchanged gifts at home. I bought a nice sweater/shirt/tie combo from Banana Republic for Todd, which he loved. When I picked it out, I had the early fall conference he is presenting at in mind, and that is what he says he plans to wear it for (just what I thought!) The sweater is made of silk and linen, so it's very lightweight and won't be too heavy layered over the dress shirt this fall. I took a major chance with the tie - it's a microstriped peachy burnt orange - but he will look fab in it. I think he likes everything from BR, regardless of what it looks like.

What did I get? Well, for starters, Dear John on DVD because HELLO! There's an alternate ending included in the bonus features, as well as deleted scenes - all of which I'm dying to see, because there were parts missing in the movie that i thought really made the book amazing. Todd also spoiled me with Diamond stud earrings from Cornwell Jewelers, a local jewelry store that really pulls out all the stops. They remind me of a local version of a Tiffany & Co, because they use unique packaging that makes you just want to stare at the gift for hours before even opening it. I appreciate all of the special little details! And I appreciate Cornwell's Royal Purple gift boxes trimmed with a big Purple/silver organza bow. Which comes inside a royal purple gift bag stuffed with royal purple tissue paper. So classy! We had a terrific Dinner at Abrio's Brick Oven. Their dinner - and dinner rolls - are soooo good. Both of us had seafood/pasta, but had absolutely no room for dessert (I'm going to start ordering dessert first!) It's hard to believe that we're already working on the 5th year of marriage :)

Soooo... the weekend is here. Is anyone excited for a little book by Stephenie Meyer to come out tomorrow? You know... the Eclipse Novella that's supposed to tide us Twilight fanatics over... I will definitely be picking up the Short Second Life of Bree Tanner tomorrow. And I'm going to push Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool off to the side - ok, maybe off into the trash, because it has been a sucky read thus far - and read all about Bree Tanner this weekend! And our pool will finally be open - so I'll be tanning my vampire-white skin while reading vampire tales! Maybe I'll go really crazy, and while i'm tanning my vampire skin/reading vampire books, I'll listen to Vampire Weekend on my iPod! YAY for the weekend.

The sign painting continues... I just finished up one for myself last night, and I dearly love it - it looks amazing, and although it's hanging in the oddest of places (our bathroom wall, for we have zero space anywhere else), I just want to keep staring at it. (I love the pretty script font!) I know I can paint the Marshall logo, but i wanted to give another a try. The OU Bobcats logo was a huge success! I'm currently working on an Ohio State sign and it's almost impossible... very, very difficult. Not my favorite thing. Which stinks, because I live in Buckeye country, where a lot of people may possibly want a custom sign... I keep telling myself It'll get easier! I'm giving the Duke Logo and others a shot as requests come in. I'm planning to paint more WV state scenic signs, and some whimsical designs with everyone's favorite inspirational words, too. And then? Perhaps an Etsy store! All I know is, I went to Lowes and bought a ton of boards, had them chopped in to pieces, and now there are a bunch of sign-sized boards laying around the apartment with my signature chocolate brown base coat on them. I have work to do. I'll keep you posted!

MONDAY is the first day of a new Hallmark Card Contest! I have my design all worked up - I'm going to introduce Diego to the HFB on Facebook first thing Monday morning, and I cannot wait! More contest blogging on Monday. :) Again, for those of you who love drawing, designing, photoshopping, and photography - you need to enter Hallmark Card Contests! It's Fantastic FUN, I'm telling you!

Have a terrific weekend, everyone! I have to work through the afternoon, but it's ok - I feel either a Starbucks Iced Mocha or a "love it"-sized Chocolate Devotion from Cold Stone Creamery coming on once the work day is done! OOH! And Todd & I are giong to kick off our summer movie marathon by going to see Splice tonight (which is sure to gross and freak me out!)

Yep, it's gonna be a terrific weekend!!!