Recommendations all over the place

So I don't like to get on my high horse about stuff but here are a few things I think are worth checking out.

My mother's best friend from high school wrote a book. Aside from the amazing writing of the book she also self-publlished it.
She was featured on the front page (lower fold) of a recent Sunday Boston Boston. I
t's called the "Lace Reader" and she writes under the name of Brunonia Barry.
My mother let me have her "advance readers copy" of this book. I've never been privy to this kind of experience. I honestly felt like I had the holy grail. This book is well done. She self-published it, did I say that already? That's a huge feat. It was finally purchased, at auction, by Harper Collins. This whole process takes a lot of time, patience and belief.
It's well placed.
It's a novel that takes you from your current reality back to that of your childhood experiences. It's validates (especially if you are from the North Shore) that your childhood does indeed matter and shapes all of your experiences. It makes you believe that a bad guy can have good guy characteristics and you can't always believe what you see. It reminds you not to trust what everyone has told you but to just trust someone.

So enough of that - when it comes out in July get the book - "The Lace Reader" by Brunonia Barry.


The other recommendation is, if you have kids near or (especially!!) if you have MY kids, go to ARTVARKS in Pembroke. It's an idea I swear to GOD I had last winter and someone else (thank God again) acted on. It's an arts & crafts studio where you bring the kids, make the mess and move on. We've gone twice now. The first time $32, today $77 but today was Lexi's b'day (she's 3) so we went hog wild (thanks to Grandpa & Karen). We built bears (6.95 per bear, 6 per outfit, 3 socks (honestly, just kill me)), we did spin art, sand art, marker art, blahety, blah.
I am jealous. I want to go with a bottle of wine and art myself until I'm silly in this place. No clean up, no worries. It's fantastic. I'd pay twice as much, you know, if I were rich or something. Anyway, just come, pick up the kids and go there.

BTW - Lexi's 3 today - anyone pick up on that? Soon she'll be asking for the keys....Life rolls on...