Secret Agent Mom

How to Love an American Man by Kristine Gasbarre has been on my to-read list for quite a while. The writer and the premise of the book is based on my hometown, so I was curious to see what this lovely woman had to say.

The book starts out with a very picturesque description of the passing away of her Grandfather, a male figure whom she looked up to ever since she can remember. She bases her desires for what she is looking for in a husband after this gentleman. As the events unfold, some time to relax, reset and refresh back at home is what she needs…and finds that her widowed Grandmother needs her just as much, if not more so. Through her time spent with her Grandma, she finds little antidotes that made a successful marriage for her grandparents.

Upon returning home and single, her parents urge her to reach out to contact a local doctor who is also single. There is some chemistry there. The book then walks you through their year long courtship and what Kristine learns through time spent with her Grandmother and her "hands on" learning at love.



It took me 4 chapters to finally get into the book. As soon as I got into it, I started to find the length at which this story moved to be too long winded. I was frustrated with how she let the doctor treat her and tug her feelings around. This doctor read as a narcissist, not someone whom you'd spend the rest of your life with. I also wished that more dialog between Kristine and Grandma happened so you really got to know Grandma through her own words and stories, not how Kristine read her Grandma to be in spending time with her.

It took 234 pages to finally get to this gem:

"…But that sets the bar for my behavior sky-high. I've learned from Grandma that if I want to be regarded as someone who's intelligent, respectable, and top-shelf, then that's exactly the person I need to be. I teach the world how to treat me by the way I treat myself, and the way I present myself."



Kristine seems to struggle with giving it all too soon physically while guarding her heart, or wearing her heart on her sleeve and keeping the chastity belt on. The end of the book leaves room for a sequel. If I happened upon the book, I would pick it up just to be nosy and see where the world leads Kristine and her love life. I really wanted to love this book, and it left me disappointed. It has been compared to Eat, Pray, Love…of which I loved the first part but couldn't get into the rest of it and quickly put it down. :/

I was sad to learn that Kristine had recently lost her Grandmother as well. I'm sure this book is even more dear to her heart with the passing of her Grandmother. I believe this book would be a great read for her female cousins on the same side of the family as well.

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I purchased Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer after reading a quote from a friend posted on social media. I can't remember what the quote said but it resonated with me. I ordered this book on a whim, and didn't really read what it was about until it showed up in the mail. It's a National Best Seller…has to be good right? The front cover reads:

"In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mr. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter…"

Whoah, that's some heavy shit man. Needless to say, this book quickly went to the book shelf and sat. For months. There was no way I could read this book while pregnant and my intuition was right. The only good thing about this book is that you know what to expect out of the ending. So no slaps in the face on that last hard left turn.



Chris lived a life after college that leaves me quite perplexed: WHY go into the Final Frontier with NO provisions, NO gear, NO maps, NO plan and NO back up plan?? It was entirely too much to wrap my head around why anyone would want to live a life as a transient vagabond, hitchhiking, never knowing where your next meal is, no where to shower…this does not appeal to me whatsoever. I don't care what kind of beautiful things you will see in your travels. Not for me.

The book was eventually turned into a movie of the same name. If you would like to read more about Chris AKA Alexander Supertramp, there's a website in his honor that shows the images found on his camera during his travels, bio info and other goodies.



It seems like most either fell in love with this story or had a huge dislike. The entire time I could only think of how his mother must feel…not know where your grown son is for YEARS and then out of the blue you get a visit from family stating your son is dead. And as a mother to a son myself, I pray hard that he does not feel the same calling to wonder the wilderness and risk life for some self discovery mission.

This book was a read that I could not put down, I just did not like how it made me feel at the end. I was extremely frustrated with his lack of commonsense and how close he was from not dying had a few tiny things fell into place differently.

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I have been on an autobiography kick lately! Trying to clear out my book shelf. The book thing is bending (Note: Do not buy cheap Wal-Mart book shelves…and then pack them to the hilt. Oops.)

I found Ricki Lake's book on the sale rack at TJ Maxx. I remember watching her talk show with my mom while growing up and I also watched Dancing with the Stars religiously and the season she was on was the last season I watched. I was really hoping she was going to win (She did not, Jr did…who was equally as good!)

The book starts out with her childhood. The things her mother would say to her were absolutely atrocious and did nothing to build up a budding child's confidence and self esteem. Add insult to injury, she goes on to explain how she was sexually abused by...

Read the rest of the post here: http://www.gabrielleorcutt.com/2015/10/20/never-say-never-by-ricki-lake/

…or think it's in the dryer and then open the door when finished and there are NO clothes in there! "Hey!! We have a clothes stealing gnome!" *face palm*

Every winter, without fail, I am left trying to find a solution for fixing my dry skin on my face. Most notably, my forehead, nose and chin. I'm a T-zone oily face so I need something that will moisturize without leaving me looking like I took a dip in the tub of Vaseline. 



Enter Instanatural's Vitamin C Moisturizer. It's virtually scentless, I was thinking it would smell like a chewable vitamin c. Not so. It leaves my skin feeling supple without the grease pit that makes my makeup slide off. There are no parabens, dyes or any other processed junk in it. I was using Pond's lotion because it was the only one I could find minus the parabens. But hated dipping my fingers into the jar. The Vitamin C moisturizer has a push pump dispenser, similar to popular drug store foundations. 

You can check out Instanaural's website (http://www.instanatural.com) to read more about this fabulous lotion that's great for face and body, and their other products.