Cookbook Divas

I am addicted to collecting, and carrying, purses and tote bags shaped like houses. I meet lots of people because so many people stop to ask me about them!

Here are Late Night interviews with female movie stars who were famous in the 1980s and 1990s for action films, romantic comedies and thrillers. From “You've Got Mail” to “Speed,” from “Sleepless in Seattle” to “Practical Magic” and “Alien,” here are the stars who got interviewed by iconic late night host David Letterman.

There are so many amazing restaurants in Las Vegas, but I wanted to show you the ones I feel are particularly beautiful, magical, or transport me into a fantasy world! Usually they involve lots of color, faux flowers, and Instagrammable moments. Setting aside the deliciousness of the food, this list is for stunningly beautiful decor and magical atmospheres while you dine.

Here are upcoming crochet crafting books for the fall and winter 2025 season. Keep your hands busy on chilly nights while creating adorable amigurumi crochet figures and dolls, or take on larger projects like crocheted blankets.

Here are the new memoirs, autobiographies and biographies coming out in Fall 2025. These books feature celebrities, including actors, writers, sports stars, music stars and other stars. Dive into an intriguing biography during cozy fall and winter nights at home by the fireplace.

Thinking of starting a small independent bookstore? Here are videos encouraging you, giving you tips, sharing cautionary tales, and being real honest about the process, struggles and challenges. I've also included some books and resources in this list for aspirational bookshop owners.

I just discovered the Amelin Archive company. Their products are so beautiful! The packaging on their candles, designs on their notebooks and tumblers is gorgeous. They use a lot of florals with a modern touch.

Here are fun finds from Kate Spade's new collection for Summer 2025. I've included totes, crossbodies and clutches.

An espadrille is a style of sandal (whether high heeled, wedge, or flat) that uses coiled jute rope on the sole. They're distinctive, chic and classy, and here are some of my favorites this year!

A new lovely dress of the day (according to me) for us to peruse and ooh-and-aah over. I tend to prefer flowy and ruffly over preppy and modern.

Here are some beautifully packaged premium olive oils to choose from. They make fantastic host/hostess gifts, or birthday presents for the home cook in your life. Olive oil should be stored in a dark pantry to keep from spoiling. The fresher your olive oil, the better it tastes.

This company has the most gorgeous packaging of any candies out there! The candies come in little acrylic boxes. The company is doing better about having vegan and vegetarian-friendly candies. These are eminently giftable, and are sure to bring joy to the recipient. They come out with new over-the-top items every season.

Desserts with red, white and blue, stars and stripes themes. Bring these to a Fourth of July potluck and be the star of the party!

The 2025 lineup of new collector and some of the playline dolls from the Madame Alexander Doll Company. There are baby dolls, playline dolls, and collector dolls. There are pop culture dolls, fantasy dolls, storybook dolls, and dolls made to represent different cultures or historical figures.

Here are vintage retro paper dolls from television shows in the 1960s and 1970s. The costumes are usually pretty colorful, funky and sometimes wacky. I've tried to include actual vintage items, not reproductions made for laser printing or PDFs. Have fun with these vintage memories!

Here are the new Christmas-themed books coming out for babies and kids during the fall 2025 and winter 2025 publishing season and holidays. There are board books, picture books, sticker books, and chapter books full of festive delights. The books feature Santa, reindeer, snowmen, festive dogs and cats, elves, gingerbread people and other holiday themes.

Are there any Hallmark Keepsake Christmas ornament collectors here? Take a look at the newly released collectible Christmas ornaments for 2025. Many of them have the number 2025 etched or displayed on the ornament. Here are some of my favorites. There are snowmen, Santas, reindeer, some pop culture ornaments I wanted to show you, and traditional Christmas holiday themes.

Cute and sweet little plushies with a summertime theme. Jellycat uses the softest microfiber materials when they make their plushies. So cuddly!

Cute and soft plush toys featuring animals, foods, and sea creatures. These Apricot Lamb plushies are comparable with Jellycat. They mostly depict forest, barnyard or ocean creatures. The company also puts out quite a few food-themed plush toys.

Aurora's Palm Pals are little stuffed animals that fit in the palm of your hand. They're soft and cute and cuddly!

Laura Ashley came out with her China Rose pattern of blue and white floral kitchen accessories for romantic homes and cottages. It's a light blue on white pattern with trailing flowers.

I'm not sure I would do my entire kitchen in copper pieces, but I wanted to show you this amazing collection of housewares from Coppermill Kitchen. Besides pots and pans, they make candles in copper containers you can re-use later for jewelry; copper baking pans; barware; napkin rings; pitchers and pie servers.

Design ideas for a vintage style pink kitchen. We'll use some modern day appliances of course, and reproduction kitchen accessories. Here are our cute finds for cooks whose favorite color is pink! There are pink toasters, pink fridges, pink microwaves, pink towels, pink curtains, pink kitchen timers, and so many more cute products.

“White Christmas” was first recorded by Bing Crosby in 1941/1942. It became the best-selling song of all time (and held that record for many years). Here are various cover versions of the song, plus notes on the song's history.

The lyrics for this song about Saint Nicholas were written back in 1874, but it took a long time for the first recorded version (in 1949) to hit public consciousness. There have been many cover songs since, but modern Christmas albums by contemporary singers don't tend to cover this song. It's a bit unique. The lyrics often get changed in the part where children want certain toys.

Cocktail recipes with sparkling wine, bubbles or fizzy water in them. Books on aperitifs, Prosecco and Cava, champagne, sparkling wine and low alcohol beverages. Also some fizzy Mocktails books!

My cookbook flipthrough videos showing you the insides of cookbooks about baking and making desserts.

Here are the resources I use every day to find news and tips to share with my audience at CreatorInspiration.com. It's important to keep on top of what's going on in the content creation and social media sphere, so I watch a few videos every day to hone my creator skills.

I live near rainy Seattle, and we have long cold rainy winters to endure. In the evenings, we light a cozy fire, read books, put together puzzles, and do crafts while we watch television. Here are the new puzzles coming out for Fall/Winter 2025 that are tempting us! Pour a steaming hot mug of your favorite beverage, and challenge yourself with one of these jigsaw puzzles.

Cute and softly spooky little board books for babies about Halloween, monsters and autumn. Love how gently the spooky season is introduced!

I love spending dark, cold, and rainy autumn evenings cuddled up on the couch in front of my merrily blazing fireplace, watching Netflix and coloring in cozy adult coloring books. Here are some of my favorites coloring books for autumn!

Here are the food-related, food travel and cooking shows I'm enjoying this summer (June-August 2025). Some of the shows are new, some are old, and some are ongoing favorites.

Here are chic and colorful portable drink containers and ice chests you can bring with you to your tailgating party, the beach, a picnic or concert.

Host a chic summer party with cabana stripes accents!

If you love Christmas like I do, you might listen to Christmas podcasts occasionally (or often!) throughout the year. Here are some festive holiday podcasts I've enjoyed listening to. Some are about Christmas origins, others are about Christmas music, Christmas films, Christmas holiday traditions, holiday recipes and decorating tips.

Throw this party on December 1st as part of "31 Days of Christmas Parties. Invite five or six ladies (or two or three couples) over to a grownup gingerbread house and gingerbread people cookies decorating cocktail party. Or alternately, invite two or three other ladies to bring one or two of their children apiece. It's probably best if the children are over six years old, so they can actually help create the houses and hold still long enough to do so. Anyway, this is a good party to throw early in the month, so everyone can take their decorated gingerbread house home and display it all month long. You can decide if you want to provide pre-built gingerbread houses for your guests to decorate, or if you want to all work together to bake and assemble houses. The guests you invite should all have nearly the same skill level so that any professional decorators aren't bored by the amateurs' attempts (lol). Perhaps you will work together to bake and then decorate gingerbread people cookies, or you might provide pre-baked cookies for people to decorate and take home.