January 2, 2017

My Favorites of 2016!

Art, Music and Books...throw in some top quality tea and I am a happy gal. :)

Here are some of my favorite things from 2016:




This is my all time favorite tea. It is slightly sweet and smells divine. All around great black tea.



This album got a LOT of play time on my Ipod this year. I got to see them in concert too and it was amazing. Check out the songs "Mess Around" and "Trouble".


I got these beauties for Christmas and wow! Wireless and comfortable. They block out all sound except for what is playing and the sound quality is excellent. 



I loved this book! So funny and sweet. Fairly clean too which I like in a romance book. It is only 99 cents right now on Amazon!


This series is so much fun. The 5th book "Empire of Storms" came out this year along with the second book in her "Court of Thorn and Roses" series. They are both awesome. Thorn and Roses series is more geared towards adults as it has some steamier love scenes.  Sarah's writing is so engaging and she has a way of making you escape reality with her. If you are a fan of fantasy books with some romance thrown in and bad-ass heroines, you will love these.



This band has everything that is good about music. Transports you and creates a whole world of sound to explore. I absolutely love their newest album. "True Love Waits" might be my one of my favorite love song ever. Achingly beautiful.


Colleen is one of my favorite authors. Her sense of humor is off the charts funny and she uses lots of music references in her books too (which I love). Her books will make you laugh and cry and fall in love with the characters. She is amazing!


This is a new artist that I got to see play live this year. Don't let the album cover scare you...this music is downright beautiful (and clean). "Electric Love", "Past Lives" and "10,000 Emerald Pools" are my favorite songs but this whole album is stellar.

The title song to this album will make you cry. Another awesome album from one of my favorite bands. I am hoping to see them next year (for the second time) if they tour near me.
These were a really fun read. The final book in this YA series came out this year and wrapped up the stories really well. They are a spin off on classic fairy tales (Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Snow White) with a fantasy/futuristic cyber twist.


My husband Mark installed WiFi enabled plug ins and switches to the whole house this year, including my studio which sports about 20 different light fixtures. So needless to say it is a total thrill to be able to say "Alexa Turn on All Art Lights" and have my studio come to life! It is such a time saver. Not to mention all the other fun features.




And lastly, I wanted to share this art course I will be following in 2017 by one of my favorite artists, Tamara Laporte of Willowing Arts. Lifebook 2017 has some amazing artists participating and I can't wait to see what they have in store!