I’ve always been a little interested by psychics and have gone twice in my life. Both times the psychics had been referred by friends and both of my experiences were incredible. They told me things about my past and present that were very reliable, which led me to believe the things that they told me about my future. Most of what I can remember that they told me came true.

One of the psychics that I really liked also did phone readings. My mom called her and got an incredibly accurate reading over the phone. That was the first time that I got the idea that online psychics might just be legitimate. Fast forward 2 years and a friend approached me about an online psychic network with which she works. I was very skeptical and actually blew it off for a month. But circumstances collided and I found myself wondering if it might just be worth trying.

I did a lot of searching around the AskNow.com website. They make it very clear that it is for “entertainment purposes” only, but I know that’s because it is required by law that they not make any claims that would lure people into something unsuspectingly. I used one of the package deals that give me X number of minutes (right now they have 15 minutes for $10). I read through all of the bios of the psychics listed as well as the reviews and eventually chose one.

I was nervous when I called. It felt strange. The process was easy enough, and I was connected with the psychic of my choice quickly. There wasn’t any wasting minutes having me tell myself about her or her telling herself about me. We got right to it. She asked only my first name and my birthdate.

While I won’t go into everything that she told me because some of it was very personal, I have to say that 80% of it was very accurate. 10% I didn’t feel was accurate and the other 10% I can’t verify other way. It was definitely as legitimate a reading as the ones that I have had in person. Here are some things that she said to me, and I wonder if she said the exact same things to everyone else if they would feel that their reading was also at least 80% accurate:

• My daughters are intelligent and healthy with bright futures
• My children have guardian angels watching over them
• My mom is a strong, hard-working woman with too much stress in her life right now
• My sister and I took different paths but are both happy with where we are
• My husband fell in love with me the first time that he saw me and we are soul mates
• Some of our friends are jealous of our marriage because of how good it is
• In general my life is incredibly positive and the only thing negative comes from some of the people around me but they are outweighed by the number of positive friends that I have

I think everything she said above is true about my life. If she said the exact same things to you, would it also be true? If not, maybe she was pretty accurate and it is worth calling yourself. If so, maybe I should be more skeptical?

I have to say that I relayed ALL of the things that she said to me to my mother, my husband, and one of my closest friends. Across the board they agreed that pretty much everything she said was true (even if they personally are not into such a thing). Two of the three even decided that they want to now call themselves.

Who can say whether online psychics are real, legitimate, etc? I can say that my experience with the online psychic (via phone) was as real and legitimate to me as the readings that I have had done in person. So if you are the least bit interested in having a reading done, it’s worth it to try the package deal from AskNow.com because they really do try to create a good experience for their customers with psychics that they believe to be the real thing–and just might be!

I have a new book series to love and it is The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. People who know me know that I am an avid YA reader but try to dabble in a little bit of everything (see my full reading list). I read at least 50 books a year and love to lose myself in them. My friend Carol had been raving about The Mortal Instruments series and dropped a stack of them off for me with instructions to read as soon as possible. I dropped everything else I was reading and dove in. I was not disappointed!

The issue of how many Mortal Instruments books there are and what order to read them in is a little confusing because The Infernal Devices series comes into play as well. Essentially Clare wrote The Mortal Instruments 1, 2, and 3 as a series (City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass). You should start with those. She’s now writing 3 more in that series as well as a prequel-type series (Infernal Devices). Only 1 of each of those is written. So you can pretty much read Infernal Devices 1 (Clockwork Angel) anytime and Infernal Devices 2 (Clockwork Prince) will be out in December. I actually read Clockwork Angel before reading the 3 main Mortal Instruments Books, but you could read it after book 3 or 4 if you wanted to.

So what is the series about and why do I love it so much? The books are essentially a mix of young adult and fantasy. You’ll find a whole world of characters, some recognizable and some completely new. There’s a little romance but the books hint of even more than what you will find within them (you’ll have to search the web for the “extras”!). You do need to read into the first book a few chapters before you really get a feel for the world and start to get addicted to it. There are an unbelievable number of twists and turns that will leave you wanting book after book (even when you get as far as you can go!).

The books don’t try to push any particular agenda or morality down your throat when you read them. You take the characters for what they are, all flawed in their own way. If you don’t feel some kind of stir in your gut for the relationship between Jace and Clare, you have no business reading Young Adult books. Simon is like the boy next store who always gets overlooked but tries desperately to find his own way somehow. Magnus Bane is both hilarious at times and distinctly sad at savvy at others. I could go on and on.

If all of that isn’t enough to get you interested, the rights to the first movie have been picked up and it looks like that process is moving along smoothly. You don’t want to be that person who all of a sudden starts reading the books because everyone is talking about the movie. Get ahead of the curve and pick up The Mortal Instruments now. You can get the trilogy for just $19.79 in paperback on Amazon.

I’ve been an advocate of Amazon Prime for a long time because it saves me a lot of money in shipping. When they added streaming video, it was like icing on the case for me. The new announcement today has me ecstatic!

Amazon has announced a new agreement with Disney-ABC that will add “800 popular titles from ABC Studios, The Disney Channel, ABC Family, and Marvel.” Series will include Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Phineas & Ferb, Greek, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Amazon has been adding more titles as Netflix has been announcing more lost titles. Right now I use both and used to use Netflix more but can see myself using Amazon more in the future given how much Disney my family watches.

If you are interested in trying out Amazon Prime, you can get a free one-month trial, which includes the Instant Videos. It’s a great time to try it if you intend on using Amazon for holiday shopping anyway.

Amazon has updated their list of free Kindle books and some of the new ones have great reviews! Here are just a couple that we have our eye on.

The Oak Leaves (Maureen Lang) (rated 5 stars) “Two time periods—Regency England and contemporary Chicago—are woven together when Talie Ingram finds an old journal belonging to her great-great-great grandmother, Cosima Escott. Through Cosima’s entries, Talie learns that her family was once considered cursed with feebleminded offspring, the result of a genetic disorder (Fragile-X) that may have been passed down to Talie and her sister. Unwilling to face the implications their discovery might have on her own life, Talie tucks the journal back into secrecy, until she begins to see signs of developmental delay in her son.”

Finding Grace (Sarah Pawley) (rated 5 stars) “race is seventeen. She is bold, intelligent…and unmarried. In the eyes of her family and her mountain born neighbors, she is hopelessly willful. But she is determined to forge her own path, come what may. When her parents try to force her hand in marriage, she flees, seeking out her brother and his wife, who once watched over her. Settling down with them, she finds a new life…and possible romance with a handsome neighbor. But the past will come back to haunt her, possibly destroying the happiness she has worked so hard to find.”

Last Saturday I took my two daughters (ages 8 and 10) to see the new Smurfs Movie. I had been looking forward to it since I saw the previews last summer. I was always a Smurf fan as a kid and was excited at the thought that my kids might be Smurf fans, too.

The movie was a combination of live action and CGI. The premise of the story was that Gargamel had chased the Smurfs to New York, where they were hiding out with a pregnant couple. As usual, Gargamel was after the Smurfs because he wanted to capture their “essence” for his magic. Neil Patrick Harris played the husband and the counselor from Glee (whose name I never remember) played his wife.

Although there were a lot of Smurfs in the movie, the main characters included the most popular–Smurfette, Clumsy, Grouchy and Papa Smurf. They did throw in a lot of others in almost cameo-type roles (my favorite was “Narrator Smurf.”)

The story was simple and there were just enough jokes that appealed to the adults to take the movie from simply “nostalgic” to “enjoyable.” For kids, there was enough animation, adventure, and music to hold their attention. There was even a little bit of Smurf lore and trivia thrown in for “educational” purposes.

Everyone in my family enjoyed the movie, and I have a feeling that it will be added to our DVD collection this holiday season. My kids are even asking for Smurf shirts to wear to school. Who am I to say “no”? I may end up getting one for myself!

Whether or not you are a Harry Potter fan, you have to check out this video that has been circulating for a couple of years now. It’s absolutely infectious. My kids sing the song so much that even my husband is now singing it and I find myself getting it stuck in my head.

The video is called “Potter Puppet Pals: The Mysterious Ticking Sound.” The plotline isn’t important. It’s the song that is really cool. If you are NOT an HP fan, you’ll get a kick out of the very end of the video. If you are a HP fan, just ignore that part. Check it out and tell me what you think. Watch it about 3 times and then tell me you don’t find yourself singing it when you least expect it! “Snape…Snape…Severus Snape…”

Ticket seller Goldstar is running a special today only where you can buy Regal Movie Tickets at a discounted rate. The Regal Entertainment Group Premier Movie Tickets are good for any movie at any time, including new releases, primetime, and weekends. The tickets can be used at any Regal Cinemas. United Artists Theatres, or Edwards Theatres nationwide.

Movie tickets usually range from about $9-11 depending on your location. You can get a 4-pack of these tickets TODAY ONLY for only $7.50 for each ticket. Buy them for yourself or put them aside as gifts because they never expire. They make great gifts for teachers, babysitters, etc.

Visit Goldstar and find the Regal Movie Ticket deal along with any other deals in your area. I’ve seen everything from museums to theatre tickets listed and some of them are even free (look for the COMP TICKETS in the event listing).

I will admit that Big Brother has been one of my guilty pleasures for the last 9 summers. I can remember watching it when I was pregnant with my first daughter and feeling too fat and hot to do much of anything. Over the years I have laughed and cried and just about thrown things at the television while watching it. I’ve even sworn off not only Big Brother and CBS but watching all reality shows over the outcomes of some of them.

And yet here I am anticipating another season. Even my daughter (now 10) has been asking when it will be on. Who knows what this season will bring? I know that I am ready to find out.

If you are interested in the Big Brother live feed, you can try it out through RealNetworks for free. Once the free trial is over, you can get the feed monthly or for the entire season. It does not cost anything to download!!

Check out a clip below about why you need the live feed!

While stumbling through Amazon one day, I came across Divergent by Veronica Roth. The star rating was 4.5/5 and the books listed in the “customers who bought this item also bought” were mainly books that I had read and liked. The price was right (only $10 for a hardcover), so I figured that I would give it a chance.

As an adult, very few books have made me stay up all night to finish them (Twilight, Harry Potter, maybe Vampire Academy?). I can now add Divergent to that list. It was similar to other books that I have read and yet unlike anything. Set in a dystopian Chicago with a female heroine at the center, it was reminiscent of Hunger Games. The teacher/student relationship was similar to Vampire Academy. But the underlying themes of people’s true natures and the source of discord in our country kept me thinking and guessing throughout.

The book was equal parts social commentary, romance, and adventure. I know that doesn’t even sound possible. The premise is that the main character Beatrice (Tris) must make a decision whether to stay with her family and live a life that she doesn’t think suits her or join another part of society and risk losing her family forever. Along the way she learns more about herself, her family, and her government than she bargained for.

Amazon lists Divergent as one of the “Best Books of the Year So Far” and I do not doubt it. I think it may end up being one of the hottest books of 2011. Summit has already optioned the movie rights and is rumored to be casting the movie, hoping it will become its next big franchise.

Did I mention that Divergent is only the first book in the Divergent Trilogy? It’s going to be a long wait!

News about the Hunger Games has been fast and furious lately with the filming of the first book beginning. It seems like everyone with a blog has written about whether Hunger Games is the “next Twilight” and how the fanbase will compare. But for those of us with young readers, the first question is whether The Hunger Games Trilogy is appropriate for them. The books are technically “Young Adult,” but that can include a really wide range.

I read all three of the books and have a daughter who is a pretty advanced reader for the age of 10. She’s read Harry Potter but I will not let her anywhere near Twilight. The Hunger Games falls somewhere in the middle. Although the reading level would not be too difficult, I am not sure about the subject matter. In fact, I’m actually less worried about the violence than the romance because my daughter isn’t really affected by “scary” stories or prone to violence in any way. Conversely, she is starting to hit that preteen “mooning” phase when it comes to celebrity boys and kids in her class are tossing around the word “boyfriend” more frequently. That’s the kind of subject matter that I do not want to expose her to yet.

I’m considering letting her read The Hunger Games trilogy once she turns 11 in December. That would give her plenty of time before the March release of the first Hunger Games movie.

What do you think? Is the Hunger Games appropriate reading for your kids? How old are they and what is your opinion? Are you a Hunger Games Fan yourself (I am!)?