From L.A. to LA

Having it All

2012-01-27T09:31:00.001-06:00

I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
Kate Reddy has it all. She's a high powered hedge fund manager always flying overseas, except she still has time to spend with her children, and plan their birthday parties, and bake for school bake sales. Except the image Kate presents the world, isn't quite the reality.

Seeing the previews for the movie, I didn't have a strong desire to see it. I just thought the whole movie looked cheesy. But I thought instead as a book, it could work. And while I did work, I wasn't really a fan of the message the book seemed to portray.

I wanted the book to be a woman who has a hard time juggling everything, but by the end figures it out. Instead it almost seemed to say you can have the high powered career, or you can spend time with your children, but you can't have both. Throughout the book Kate tries hard to manage being the mom she wants to be, as well as the career she always wanted, but instead winds up almost failing at both. The message that you need to pick one path or the other wasn't something I enjoyed, because in the future I'm hoping to find a way to manage both.

With these negatives, I still did enjoy the book. I thought there were a lot of cute scenes with Kate and her children. I enjoy the somewhat of a twist that occurs with her job close to the end. And I loved the fact that it's in England.

But while I enjoyed the story and the characters, again the message the book presents didn't work for me. It had potential to be something great, but it just didn't work for me.

3/5

The Path to the Dress: The Decision

2012-01-26T17:09:00.000-06:00

Last week I went shopping with the boy's mom and sister to finally decide on a dress. We were around 3 hours or so and I'm guessing I tried on around 30 or 40 dresses. In case you were worried I won't be showing you every single one of those. But by the end of our time we had narrowed it down to at least 4 top contenders.
If you remember, this one is similar in shape to one of the favorite the first day I had gone shopping. What was interesting about this dress is that's it's more silver than white. Against all the other dresses it looked very noticeable, but on it's a little more subtle. And while it isn't the clearest picture, here's another shot where you can see some of the bead work closer up.
The next dress fit almost everything I was looking for in a dress. It had a big ballgown type feel. And it was really simple which I liked. Looking back at the pictures now though, the dress doesn't scream out to me.
This dress was really similar to the next dress, which I still think is pretty amazing looking at the pictures.
It's hard to tell in the picture, but there's quite a bit of bead work in the front. Although it is a little easier to see on the train, which had to be my favorite part of the dress.
But while I really did like this option, I kept going back to my favorite dress from our first day of shopping. (There's also the fact that the one above was discontinued so I'd need to buy the display dress. Whereas this next one is still in production.)
This one had a nice train as well, and while it is quite as long it would be a little more manageable. (Plus I came into shopping not wanting a huge train.) And with buttons trailing down the back it had a few pretty details of its own.
So yes, after 6 months of waiting, I went back to the same dress, and officially sent my order it. You would hope that if I still love the dress after 6 months, I'll still love it by the time my wedding gets here. And while it isn't the reason I picked it, part of me likes the fact that my mom at least saw a picture of me wearing the dress I chose. So here's one more picture of me wearing the dress, but back from August, which would have been the dress my mom had seen.
How long and how many shopping trips did it take before you decided on a dress?

Non-gagement Photos

2012-01-25T17:09:00.004-06:00

The boy and I aren't taking engagement photos. But are you really that surprised by that considering this is what he tries to do to all our photos.
But even so it was a surprise to me. "We have to take engagement photos," I told him, "We need them for our save the dates." So what did the boy do, he googled save-the-dates. "I found hundreds of different save-the-dates that don't include photos. It doesn't look like they're required."

So basically I lost that fight. After having the same discussion for several weeks we did at least come to a compromise. The boy agreed to take a single photo that we could use. Basically he wanted me to find a single pose, and make that one photo work. Which meant we could have a photo on our STDs, but no photoshoot.

Since we're not taking an engagement shoot the rest of this post is pretty ridiculous, but even so I thought it would be fun to share inspiration for the photoshot that could have been.

First I'd want to take photos at LSU which is where the boy and I met, something similar to Mrs. Cheeseburger's own engagement shoot at Penn State, where she met her husband.

sourceAs for the places we'd use, the first picture I shared of the boy and I was taken at a football game at Tiger Stadium, the same place as this.

sourceSeriously, how amazing would it be to take photos on the field like this couple, or even instead at Alex Box Stadium. (Sadly it doesn't look like anyways taken photos on the field there, or at least none that I can find. So you'll have to settle of this photo I took of the field itself.)
I'd also love to go back and take photos inside the classroom where we first met. Mrs. Sunbeam had a similar idea, except she took photos the morning of her wedding and this is at their high school instead.

sourceFor one final photo, we're back at LSU on the quad outside the library.

sourceThe boy and I used to spend our time between classes sitting on those benches talking, and it doesn't hurt that it's an awfully pretty location either.

Are you taking engagement photos, or are you like us instead? And if you could take an engagement photo session anywhere, where would you choose?

Hey Mr. DJ

2012-01-24T17:10:00.000-06:00

Last week I went to drop off our deposit with our DJ. While I've never been to their location before, I knew basically where it was. Plus I had google maps on my phone, so I couldn't get too lost. I got to the right location and easily found 121, except I was trying to find 122. I spent around 15 minutes looking, and even asked someone standing outside for help, although they didn't know either. Of course I soon realized that 122 would not be next to 121, it would be across the street. Yes, I basically forgot that even and odd addresses are on opposite sides of the street.

Now that that's out of the way, you might be curious as to why we booked a DJ over a band. It's mainly because I wanted to make sure that we're able to play Backstreet Boys as well as Tupac's California Love. I'm not saying that there aren't bands out there who could pull both off, but I'm not sure we could afford them.

As for selecting a DJ, I knew I wanted someone who had worked at my venue before. I would imagine a new DJ could figure it out, but I just felt more comfortable with someone who knew what to expect, so I used the list of DJs provided by our venue.

I contacted about 5 and heard back from 3, the first almost immediately, which is saying something for Sunday night. But what I basically received was a bunch of attachments to fill out requesting songs, and a note that music selections are due a week before the event. But no actual communication, or pricing quote, or anything personal.

The second e-mail I received did ask me questions and was then able to answer my questions. Although when I asked how they normally did cocktail hour (since it's outside of the reception hall), I was told it had been a while since they had done wedding there, but they should be able to figure something else. They gave me a limited time only price, except coincidentally the day it expired I received an e-mail saying it had been extended.

The third DJ, called me and when I didn't answer left a voicemail and followed up with an e-mail. They were easy to get in touch with and answered all my questions. (As for cocktail hour, he knew they moved and reused the speakers from the ceremony.) Basically they were the friendliest, and seemed to know my venue which is why I chose them.

All 3 DJs on the surface were really similar. Each one has an online music request, as well as a customized timeline to created. The DJ I booked from each would probably be quite similar. But it was really the customer service I received that was the deciding factor. (Although maybe it should have been how easy it was to find their location, since obviously that was an issue for me!)

What did you decide on the band/DJ debate? And how did you make a decision between the various options?

Monday Movie Review

2012-01-23T16:46:00.000-06:00

Haywire
Again this one was better than I expected it to. Although like last week, the man candy helped that a bit. Channing Tatum and Ewan Mcgregor weren't in it that much, but they were there enough to make an impact.

One thing that made this movie stand out, was that the fighting felt real. There was no fighting on wire, or slow motion, it just felt like an actual fight. Parts of it did feel a bit like an MMA fight, which isn't that surprising considering the star is an MMA fighter.

Overall it isn't a movie I'm dying to watch again, but I'd still be willing to watch it if I say it playing on tv. If you're going to see an action movie anyways, you could definitely do a lot worse than this one.

American as Apple Pie

2012-01-20T10:15:00.001-06:00

A Good American by Alex George
In 1904 Frederick Meisenheimer flees Germany with his wife from her disapproving parents, their destination: America. But when they find a boat set to sail to New Orleans instead of New York, they figure both are new, right? The two of them settle in Missouri, and what fallows is the story of their family over the next hundred years. We live through WWI with the Meisenheimers, WWII, the Korean War, all the way through to the 21 century.

I wound up really enjoying this. I want to say I was a bit surprised, except from its summary I was expecting to enjoy it, so it doesn't quite fit. I loved all the history throughout, and that it took place in the South. I do read a lot of historical fiction, and while quite a bit takes place in the South, I've haven't really read any that takes place in the early 1900s.

Speaking of the early 1900s, I loved those parts of the books. Part of me does wish the book was longer so that way there could be more of a focus of that time period specifically. Also since there was so much time, and so many different characters, it was hard to really get to know all of them. Yes, there were a few a really loved, and some I understand, but part of me wanted more from the book. At 400 hundred pages the book is by no means short, but I wish it was longer because I would have loved to have read more and kept reading this family's story. I do think this is a book you'll be hearing more about soon, and I do feel privileged to have discovered this book so early.

5/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.

Quilted Thoughts

2012-01-19T16:45:00.000-06:00

When I flew back to California last November, I knew it was likely that I would need to attend my mom's funeral, but I still didn't really believe. I packed in a hurry, but surprisingly everything I needed made its way to my suitcase. (Except for a pair of heels, which the boy was able to bring with him when he flew back a few days afterwards.) But in my hurry to pack, I didn't think about the fact that I might want to leave room so I could bring things back to Louisiana with me.
Even without much room, there was one thing I wanted to be sure I brought back with me, even if it meant I'd have to leave other items in California for now. I few years ago my mom made me a t-shirt quilt out of all my old soccer shirt. I had a mild freak-out when I couldn't find it the immediately, but tracked it down gave it about half of my suitcase. (Thankfully the boy filled up most of his suitcase with my belongings as well.)

The quilt has shirts from as far back as 6th grade and up through college. Part of it is even in honor of my teenage crush on England's Michael Owen.
But bringing back the quilt reminded me of another project my mom and I had discussed. Last year I showed my mom Mrs. French Fries' post about sewing napkins and turning them into a quilt, which she loved. "I would do this for you, if you wanted," she told me. Except I remembered Mrs. Cardigan's post ranting about how awful it was sewing napkins. And I don't sew, so I would basically be making a lot of work for other people.

Mrs. French Fries' Napkin QuiltDid I want the quilt and the napkins then? Not necessarily. Do I want them now? Again not really. Except I want to have the opportunity to want them. I want to be able to say to my mom, "Thank you for offering, but I'm not sure cloth napkins fit into 'my vision.'" So again, like everything else in this situation, it just sucks that things worked out the way they did.

Did you loose wedding related project due to circumstances out of your control? And what are your thoughts on a napkin quilt?

Living Room Love

2012-01-18T17:11:00.001-06:00

It's been a while since I've really posted about our house, the reason being it hasn't really changed much. Which unfortunately means, yes our bathroom is still half-painted. But on a good note, we've slowly been working towards updating our living room. It isn't complete yet, but at this point it basically looks like a completely different room, so I thought now would be a good time to share. In case you don't remember, this is what our living room looked like previously.
Every piece of furniture you can see here (minus the tv and tv stand, which you can barely see, so I stand by that statement) was a hand-me-down, which means free. No it wasn't something we would have made a point to buy, but it worked, and again it was free. But it had been long enough, where we were more than able upgrade, and our living room currently has almost 100% completely different. This is the same room with the same basic view point now, again from the front door.
It looks like a completely new room, doesn't it? To start with we moved the tv to the completely opposite corner, which really opens the room. The rug is new, and purchased from Home Depot. The couch is also brand new. The couch is actually somewhat of an optical illusion, because it isn't leather, instead it's actually microfiber. Here's a closer picture of the couch, but to be honest you really can't tell it's not leather unless you feel it.
Here you can see the curtains, which haven't yet been upgraded and were left by the previous owner. At this point I'm not really sure what I want to do window treatment wise. Also in the picture above you might be able to tell how much room is behind the couch. The room is kind of awkwardly shaped which made it difficult to find a good configuration. But with the carpet and couch, which kind of sectioned off the main space and made somewhat of a welcoming hallway or entryway.
I could see this area being somewhat a problem if we used the front door (which is basically where the photo was shot) except we also enter through the carport door, so it really isn't an issue. From here you can see our new bookshelf that was a gift from the boy's parents for Christmas, which is currently home to the "F" from my MOH. The painting you can see here (as well as the one over the fireplace) were both Christmas presents from the boy's parents last year.
It still isn't complete. We want to add some time of floor lamp behind the couch to use as a reading light, and the boy also wants to add some type of desk. But for now, we're both completely in love with our new living room.!

On Display, On Display

2012-01-17T16:28:00.000-06:00

Maybe it's a little early to be posting about what to do with the dress after the wedding, especially since I've yet to actually buy a dress. But even so, here we are. There are options that are fairly mainstream. You could preserve the dress and keep it in a box. You could sell the dress. Or you could take inspiration from real housewife Adrienne Maloof and display your dress.

sourceSeriously how awesome is this? I remember seeing it in the background during an episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and thinking it was amazing. This isn't the scene I remember, and it's obviously a styled photo shoot, but it just looks so natural. I would absolutely love to be able to display my own dress this way. It's a perfect way to save and preserve your dress, but without leaving it up in the attic where it's never actually seen.

Except I'm not sure I could actually pull it off. First I don't think there's a wall big enough in our house where it would fit. Second even if we had the room, I don't think our house is grand enough for this to work. Maybe you have to be a Maloof to pull it off, but I'd still love to find a way to make it work.

Although if you really want to keep your wedding on display there are other ways beside the traditional picture, to do it. I also love Mrs. Cola's shadow boxes.

sourceNo it isn't grand as grand as Adrienne's dress, but it is a little more practical, and I great way to preserve all the hard work you went to to pull off all of your various projects.

If you've already had your wedding, what mementos, if any, are you currently using to decorate your house? And do you think you could pull off displaying a wedding dress?

Monday Movie Review

2012-01-16T16:49:00.000-06:00

Contraband
To be honest, I actually wanted to see this. But that might have been more due to Mark Wahlberg than the actual plot. Except I wound up really enjoy the movie. It had me on the edge of my seat quite often, and to be honest made me want to close my eyes at parts because I didn't want to believe what was actually happening.

So basically this was a surprising good movie. I wouldn't necessary want to watch it again, but I'd feel more than comfortable encouraging others to go see this one.

In My Mailbox (33)

2012-01-15T08:13:00.000-06:00

It's Sunday so once again I'm linking up with The Story Siren's In My Mailbox!
From The Story Siren
Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber
Sphinx's Princess by Esther Friesner
Stork by Wendy Delsol
Last week Kristi, of The Story Siren, posted some books for donation. There were several other books I had requested and was hoping to pick up, but by the time the e-mail was sent they had already been reserved. But I'm more than excited I was able to request any, and I'm awfully excited to read each one.

Won
Bunheads by Sophie Flack
I won this one from a giveaway at Elle Lit. (One of the only other Louisiana book bloggers I've found, but if there's more out there please say hello!) I can't help but think of Center Stage when I think of this book, and if it lives up to that comparison I think I'll love it.

Borrowed From a Friend
I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
I haven't seen the movie yet for this, but to be honest I think the movie looks awfully cheesy. But I think that even if the movie looks cheesy the book has to be good otherwise they never would have thought to adapt it. I have heard it's a British book which makes me excited because I seem to always love books based out of England.

Definitely an awesome book week for me, and I'm hoping it was just as awesome for you! So what's in your mailbox this week? And any suggestions for which ones of these I should pick up to read first?

Tx2+Sx2

2012-01-14T09:50:00.000-06:00

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
I'm not completely sure how to review this movie. Yes I did enjoy it overall, but to be honest didn't really understand it. I think the boy was ready to kill me while watching it because I wouldn't stop asking him questions. Of course asking didn't help me out, because he really only told me to keep watching. Even once the movie was over he did explain a little, but I still think there were parts I didn't completely get.

But even though I was confused I still enjoyed the experience. I liked the 70's feel of it all. And the acting was great as well. It is different than a lot of other movies playing right now, and it is something you'll where you'll need to think throughout. I do think we'll be hearing quite a bit more from this movie through the awards season, and for that reason I think it's one you may want to see now.

It's Cookie Time

2012-01-13T09:18:00.000-06:00

The Christmas Cookie Club
Each year Marnie hosts 11 other friend for a Christmas cookie club. There are rules about how many cookies they need to make (13 dozen- 1 for each member and 1 for charity), what types of cookies they can make (no chocolate chip cookies), and how they must be packaged (creatively, of course). Some women have participated every year of its existence. Others are only able to attend for a few years before moving on. The woman ages span several decades, difference finances, married, single, widowed, and divorced. Some are suffering due to affairs, others are involved in affairs. Some are dealing with death, whereas others have newborn babies, but they're all still friends.

The book takes place over a single night, obviously the night of the cookie party. Each chapter focuses on a different member and tells their story and the basic defining issue they're going through. In a way its format reminded me a lot of Joy for Beginners. For that reason I have some of the same likes and dislikes as I did then. I enjoyed reading each woman's story. But because of the way it was written, I had a hard time keeping track of all the woman. Each time a specific woman was mentioned I had to thumb through the chapters to see if I had read hers yet, and if I had, what her story was.

One thing I loved about this book was each chapter started with a cookie recipe. Of course if it was for example, Rosie's chapter, the cookie was the one she brought to the party. Each time I read a new cookie I thought about making it myself, and there's definitely some I'd love to try.

Another aspect I loved was that in between chapters there was a small history of a given ingredient. For example, they're be a page or two about vanilla, where it would describe how humans first started using it and how that changed over the years. It wasn't expecting this in the book, but I love this type of thing and I was glad to read the small glimpses of history.

I was a little skeptical starting this book in January. I had originally wanted to read this for Christmas, but didn't quite make it. Although to be honest it didn't really matter. Yes, the book does have somewhat of a warm-fuzzy feel to it. But I think if the book was renamed to only The Cookie Club, it would fit just as well. Overall it was a fun book, and I'm glad I found time to read it.

4.5/5

Something Old

2012-01-12T16:54:00.001-06:00

Back in October when my parents came out to visit my mom brought me something she was hoping I could you for the wedding. After reading this post, where I lamented that I probably would be able to use forget-me-not as a bouquet flower, my mom went out and found a vintage hankie on etsy with forget-me-nots so that I could still have them on my wedding day.
The shop she purchased it from is Cush, and while it isn't the exact same hankie (which makes sense since it is vintage), this listing is the most similar to what my mom purchased.
Except the flowers were purple, and forget-me-nots are blue. (Although it isn't really an issue since I'm planning on doing blue and purple anyways so it works completely.) I had assumed that my mom had somehow mixed up the description, because they couldn't actually be forget-me-nots on the handkerchief. It's only now, that I've gone to the etsy shop itself to see that the handkerchief is described as followed.

"This very pretty hankie features purple and lavender Forget-Me-Nots at each corner. A flower associated with love and friendship, it's perfect for a bride, maid of honor, or best friend. This hankie is made of gossimer white cotton with a pale pink woven border edged in delicate pink needle lace. Approx. 13 x 13."

So it is actually a forget-me-not, just one that's been colored purple.
It was only as I started writing this that I made the connection that one of the last things my mom gave me was a forget-me-not. It's a little poignant, isn't it?
While I know I want to use the handkerchief and have it with me on the day I get married, I'm not completely sure the best way to do so. I think the obvious answer would be to use to to wrap my bouquet. But at this point I'm still undecided. If anyone has a brilliant idea as the best way to use this handkerchief I'd love to hear it.

Makin' White Squares

2012-01-11T16:38:00.000-06:00

As you've probably noticed throughout the football season I've made desserts quite often for LSU games. So with the BCS National Title game this past Monday I knew I wanted to make something then as well. Although making desserts didn't quite help the game go out way... but I guess that's all that needs to be said about that.

Back to desserts. I wanted to do something fairly easy. And I knew I'd have to make it on Sunday since the game was Monday night. So I decided to make white squares. You've probably heard it called puppy chow or muddie buddies or trash or monkey munch. Obviously it goes by several different names, but I decided to bring half to work where a co-worker officially named it "white squares." It's not something my mom ever made growing up. But I do remember other moms making it, and loving it, although I had no idea how to really make it.

I decided to follow this recipe, mainly because I liked that it added vanilla, which is something I hadn't seen anywhere else. Although I did make at least one change. It's surprisingly a simple recipe, but just in case you need a step by step guide...

Ingredients
9 cups (1 box) Chex (I actually wound up using an organic version, so anything similar works
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar (The original recipe called for 1 1/2. Obviously, I upped it.)

Directions
Place cereal in a large bowl and set aside.
In a medium microwavable bowl, add chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter.
Microwave on High for 1 minute and stir. Microwave 30 seconds longer and stir mixture until smooth. Stir in vanilla. (I think I could have heated mine a little bit longer. Once I started added it to the cereal I didn't think it would be enough. But it wound up working perfectly, so maybe I'm just over thinking)
Pour sauce over cereal and stir until evenly coated. (I wound up having a hard time stirring it with a spoon, so basically mixed it with my hands getting them all nice and chocolate-y)
Add half of the mixture into a large plastic bag. Add half of the powdered sugar. Shake to coat. Repeat with second half. I completely forgot to pick up large ziplock, but wound up adding it back into the cereal bag which worked fine. I didn't quite split the cereal in half, which just meant some was more coated than other.)
Spread on waxed/parchment paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.
It really is SO easy to make. And more than that it's additively delicious.

Did you enjoy white square growing up? If so, what did you call them?

Digital Digital Get Down

2012-01-10T16:43:00.002-06:00

First it pain me using an NSYNC song as a title her, since I'm a Backstreet girl all the way. But it fit with what I was thinking and now that I've thought of it I can't get it out of my head. But now that you realize where my allegiance lies...

With out STD's officially order it was time for me to start tracking down addresses. (What? You don't remember me posting our final STD? That's because it hasn't happened yet. :D) Anyways you could always do the easy way and call people up, or facebook them, or e-mail them. That would get you exactly what you needed. Except you would them have to retype them up again to get them all into a spreadsheet so they'd be easy to use.

Or you could use the other way, and force your guests to do the work. :D Enter google docs... Basically I referenced this post by Ms. Fondue and this post by Mrs. Pashmina. Although honestly it's so easy you could basically do it without instruction. All you're really doing is going to "Forms" to create something resembling this.
I realize that image is ridiculously small, but if you click on it, it will get large enough so you can actually read it. I then went and applied a theme so that way it looked pretty when I e-mailed it outAlthough I later realized that even though I made it look pretty people only see if they veiw it out of gmail. It comes to you as a standard looking form within your e-mail, but if you click on the link provided it opens it in a new window where you can see the background.

From there when people enter their information and hit submit, google collects it all in a spreadsheet. I was originally planning on screenshot of the empty spreadsheet as well, but only 2 hours after hitting send I've already had 7 different people respond. Hopefully this pace holds up!

The one catch with this process is that you at least need an e-mail address. I was able to get quite a bit from facebook stalking, but it looks like for the rest might require a phone call or two.

How did you go about collecting mailing address for your invitations? And which side of the Backstreet/NSYNC battle are you on?

Louisiana Saturday Day

2012-01-09T16:57:00.001-06:00

This past Saturday for the big Saints football game the boy and I went out to the Londoner. (Now this wasn't the BIG game, which is tonight where LSU plays for a national championship. But considering the Saints won their first playoff game it is possible there could be a BIG Saints game in the future as well.) I think the Londoner is slowly becoming one of our favorite restaurants. The boy loves it because he can play pool there and not deal with cigarette smoke, since because it's an actual restaurant it's non-smoking. Me, I'm just a fan of the food. I do love the Will & Kate wedding photo wall though.

To start with the boy and I split the same chicken, brie, & spinach sandwiches that we had the first time we were there. The boy got the Tower of London burger with cheddar, bacon, and fried egg, which is actually the same thing he's had every single time.
I decided to change things up and went with the Shepard's Pie.
While I did enjoy it, I have to admit it's probably my least favorite thing I've eaten there. Not to say it was bad, but just my other choices have been better. My favorite so far is probably their steak and ale pie, which is of course the one thing I don't have a picture of.

As I mentioned to start with the Saints won, so they'll be advancing to the next round of playoffs next week. But more importantly, tonight again is LSU's championship game! Hopefully both teams can continue to win and Louisiana can win both a BSC and a Superbowl championship in the same year. Wouldn't that be something?

Geaux Tigers! And let's throw in a Who Dat, for the Saints as well!

In My Mailbox (32)

2012-01-08T08:13:00.001-06:00

It's been a few weeks since I've been able to join in, but I'm excited to be back and participating in The Story Siren's In My Mailbox.
From Goodreads
Don't Put Me In, Coach by Mark Titus
One of my favorite things about the goodreads giveaways is the chance to pick up books that look interesting, but that I'd probably wouldn't go out and buy. This book is one of those for me. It's written by a former Ohio State basketball player and chronicles his story of sitting the bench at a winning Division I university. What makes his story interesting is that even though he didn't play, he's one of the "winningest" players. This is due to the fact that you only need a year of college to go pro, so that's all the best players play, and they don't play that many college games. While this is supposed to be an inside like on his experience, it's also supposed to be humorous. Again it's something I'm sure I'll enjoy, but on my own probably never would have picked up.

A Good American by Alex George
Then there are those books that you probably would have gotten to anyway, but through a giveaway and an ARC you're able to read it sooner. This one is a historical fiction. It takes place in the earlier 1900s and is about 2 immigrants who settle in Mississippi. I have read about this time period before, but nothing from that time that takes place in the South. I think this one sounds really interesting, and I'm hoping it lives up to expectations.

That's it for me this week. What did you find in your mailbox? And which of the two options, getting a chance to read something you never would have or something you'd pick up eventually, would you prefer to have sent to you?

Brighton to London

2012-01-06T09:30:00.001-06:00

One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner
One morning on the train from Brighton to London a man has a heart attack and almost instantly passes away. What we, as a reader, then experience are the seven days that follow from the point of view of the random observer, his wife, and her best friend.

Going into this book I knew it dealt with death and coincidentally have had to experience it firsthand recently I wasn't sure how I would feel reading it. But I think that if I had read it in a different mind set, I wouldn't quite have felt the connection I did. I couldn't help by identify with Karen as she's dealing with her husband's death and having to plan his funeral. I won't say it's anywhere near the exact same situation, but in a way it was comforting to read about someone else going through such a similar situation.

Reading this book now, instead of year ago made it a difference experience for me. There's things I would have enjoyed regardless, for example that the book is without a doubt British a place I always love reading about, but I can't help but wonder how I would have felt about this book with a different point of view. For that reason, it was a great book for me, but it's hard to say how I'd feel if I hadn't been able to connect with the story so easily.

4.5/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.

Back to the Holidays

2012-01-05T17:08:00.000-06:00

I know I'm about two weeks late here, but I wanted to at least both something about Christmas before it was already in July or so. We spent the Christmas morning at the boy's sister's house where the kids tore into their presents.
For dinner, I contributed a few items that are being old favorites, mashed potatoes, Bacon-wrapped, parmesan-stuffed dates, and lemon bars.
And for fun decided to try out something new with a berry crumble.
I used this recipe except added raspberries to the mix. I was actually really surprised at how it turned out. I wasn't completely sure about it when I pulled it out of the oven, but it actually impressed me a little. And I do apologize that the picture is so zoomed in, you can barely tell what you're looking at. I tried to be artistic, but didn't quite succeed.

Since I know you're curious I figured it'd be fun to share a few of my favorite Christmas gift. The boy gave me a Disney princess ornament he'd purchased at Disney World.
It's a little hard to see, but inside are Belle, Aurora, and Cinderella.

The boy's sister gave me cookbook called I heart Sugar
With chapters titled "Yummy," "Scrumptious," "Crunchy," and "Gooey," there's several things inside I can't wait to make.

The boy's parents gifted me an organizer for my k-cups.
And both his mom and sister also added several flavors to my collection.
Out of all my new flavors I was expecting to like the pumpkin spice best. But while I do like it, it isn't my favorite. (It's a little too spice-y and not enough pumpkin-y for my taste.) Instead I'm loving the apple cider the best, which I didn't expect since I'm not a fan of actual apple juice and it's not even coffee.

It was a good Christmas. Although now that I'm older and not living at home, as I said last year, it's almost lost a bit of magic. I still do enjoy it though, and think that when I have children of my own, it'll bring some of the magic back.

Did you have a good Christmas? What were some of your favorite gifts received?

Dress Regret

2012-01-04T17:14:00.000-06:00

I don't think this is going to be the dress post you were thinking. And to be honest I've gone back and forth a lot over whether I wanted to post this or not. But I can't stop thinking about it, so hopefully writing it down will help me process it all a little better. And today's actually my mom's birthday, so in a way it almost fitting that my post today is about her.

If you remember back in August I posted about going dress shopping with my bridesmaids. At the time I felt a little guilty that my mom wasn't there because I know she wanted to be. We did send her photos throughout the day so she could be feel included, but I still think she was disappointed that she wasn't there for that first shopping trip. I didn't buy anything or even really make a concrete decision then because I knew that in October my mom would be in Louisiana, and that way she would be there to help me make my decision.

October arrived and my parents came out around my birthday for a visit. Except my mom wasn't feeling well most of the trip. The day that we were supposed to go shopping my mom did get up and tell me she was up for heading out, just to give her some time before we got ready. Except I was going through my own little mental freak-out about shopping, and making a decision, and everything else wedding related. I figured since my mom would probably be miserable most of the time we were out and we probably wouldn't be able to stay out that long, it didn't really make sense to go. I made the decision that we would be staying home, but told my mom not to worry because she would soon would be feeling better and we could go shopping when I was home back in California for Thanksgiving.

But that's not what happened. My mom's funeral was the day before Thanksgiving, and we never got to have our wedding dress shopping trip. Yes, my mom saw the picture I had sent her, but she never go to actually see me in a wedding dress. And the day we were supposed to go shopping she was willing to "suck it up" to make it happen, and I basically veto-d out only chance to go shopping for a wedding dress. Yes, I realize the situation isn't that simple, and going back I would obviously change things. But I still feel guilty about the way situation turned out.

I still don't have a dress and haven't gone shopping since then. You would think that after this I would have learned some type of lesson and gone out immediately to buy a dress, except it's had the opposite effect and I'm dreading the whole thing. I know it has to be done, but I kind of wish there was some way to magically have the perfect dress picked out and ordered for me and be finished with it all.

Photographer... Check

2012-01-03T16:23:00.002-06:00

This post is actually a long time coming, but officially we have our photographer, and actually have had since the end of October. I actually found her suggested on the Weddingbee boards, and she was in fact even a featured vendor on the Weddingbee blog.

SourceWhich brings us to the name, our photography will be provided by Sabree Hill Photography. We met for the first time back in August, and coincidentally she's "From L.A. to LA" as well.

SourceConsidering the quality of her work, and the price of her packages, she's an amazing deal compared to so many of the other photographers I researched.

SourceHer main packages include an edited CD of high resolution images, which you then have the rights to use, which is something important to me, because how else will I be able to share all the amazing images here?

SourceShe also includes an upgraded package with a full album. I realize that the photographer's album is something that a lot of people pass on. But I love my professional Bat Mitzvah album, and I can't imagine not having something similar for my wedding as well.

SourceIt seems silly now, but initially one of my requirements from a photographer was having a blog where I could easily see pictures from a variety our weddings throughout the year. Except Sabree Hill doesn't have a blog, and as crazy as it may sound I thought about finding someone else for that reason alone. I guess just because I'm a little obsessed with blogging doesn't meant that everybody associated with my wedding needs to be as well.

SourceDid you wind up reconsidering your priorities when booking a photographer? And because why not, here's a few final photos to get you excited for what ours will hopefully look like.

Source

Source

SourceAll photos in the post taken by Sabree Hill Photography.

Last Day at Disney World

2012-01-02T16:37:00.001-06:00

For the last day of our Disney World vacation we made it to the fourth and final park, Disney's Hollywood Studios. We started off by picking up fast passes for the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and then went to wait to watch the next showing of Beauty and the Beast-Live on Stage.

While waiting the boy's niece was chosen as the cutest girl who would be watching the show (or just at the right place at the right time) and asked to participate in the play. Which meant we all had VIP seats and at the end of the show she was brought to the front of the stage to accept a rose from Belle and the Prince.
The gave her a certificate to commemorate the occasion and she got to keep the rose. My inner 4-year-old couldn't help but be a little jealous since I never got to take part in any Disney show. Hopefully this will be something she remembers and looks back on fondly when she's older.
As for the rest of the day as you've come to expect, here's a list of everything we managed to fit in.

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage
Jake of Jake & the Neverland Pirates
The Great Movie Ride
Handy Manny
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Star Tours
From there the boy and I headed off by ourselves to go to dinner at Epcot.
I had hoped to eat in France, but since they were completely full we wound up at Tokyo Dining in Japan, eating sushi for the second time the trip.
I choose what I believe was called the Fuji Bento, which came with miso & rice. Everything we had was really good and more than that it was priced about what it would have cost for us back home. Definitely several steps above the sushi we had at the hotel a few days earlier.

After dinner we stopped in America to pick up dessert.
Not only is this a funnel cake, but it's a pumpkin spice funnel cake. Talk about a perfect American dessert, right?

And that's the end of the picture, since we flew back to Louisiana the following day. But in case you couldn't tell it was all a lot of fun, and I'm glad I got to relive the trip with all of you! Hopefully we'll be able to go back again, although I imagine the next time we do the boy and I will have children of their own. Yikes!

Since this is again me pouting, were you ever randomly chosen to partake in a show like the boy's niece? Let me know so I can try at at least live vicariously through you as well!

Sherlock Impossible

2011-12-31T09:06:00.000-06:00

Sherlock Holmes A Game of Thrones
Too be honest I don't really have a lot to say about this. That's not to say it was bad or that I regret seeing it, because I enjoyed it and I thought it was fun. I wish Rachael McAdams had been in it more, but besides that I don't have any real complaints. I don't think you'd be disappointed if you say this, because it is a fun and well done movie, just nothing really to get excited about. Unless you're dying to see a movie in the theater and there's no other options you might want to wait on this.

Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol
See my review above? You can pretty much take it and apply it to this. Another fun movie, but again nothing special. Tom Cruise was good in the movie, and I was surprised at parts considering the preview mislead me a bit. But again, another movie that could probably wait to be seen.

Show Us Your... Wedding Advice

2011-12-30T09:17:00.000-06:00

I'm taking a break today from posting about our trip to Walt Disney World, although I will be continuing next year (aka next week!) to participate in Kelly's Korner's Show us Your Life.
The theme for today is wedding planning, which is convenient for me since I'm currently trying to plan our wedding for next September. If you go through my past post you'll probably notice that quite a bit of my inspiration comes from weddingbee. No surprise really, since I'm a bit obsessed with the site. So I thought for my post it would be fun to share some of my favorite weddingbee weddings.

My favorite types of weddings fall into two main categories. The first are weddings so opposite of what I have planned, that they're just fun to gush over. I don't see my wedding looking anything like these ones, which is most of the reason why they're so fun to gush over.

Source via Piknik StudioFirst is Mrs. Cherry Pie with her middle of nowhere Montana wedding. Isn't the view from the ceremony just absolutely amazing? Here wedding just reminds me of going camping growing up, and I think there would just be something almost magical about a wedding in the mountains.

Source via Photophil SteingardMrs. Sea Breeze and her destination wedding in Punta Cana, DR again looks breathtaking. Just how much fun would it be to spend the week of your wedding vacationing at some exotic location and lounging on the beach with your closest friends. Although I guess if I can't get married on a tropical island I'll just have to make it there some other way!

Source via Shawna Noel Photography Then there's the exact opposite end of the spectrum with Mrs. Mary Jane's courthouse wedding. Again it's not something I see for myself, but I think reading about her wedding captured my attention so much because it was so seemingly unique.

It would only make sense that if some of my favorite weddings are the exact opposite of what I'm trying to achieve, the other half represent just what I'm going for. So hopefully I can meet those goals and have a wedding similar to one of the following!

Source via Amanda Meyer PhotographyMrs. Ballet Flat is one of the few Louisiana weddingbee bloggers. I'm not completely sure how were going to be blending my California expectations of a wedding, with it actually in Louisiana, but I know we'll make it work. And I'd love to be able to incorporate some of the Louisiana traditions used by her.

Source via Leigh Miller Photography, Luna Photography, and Della Chen PhotographyMrs. Hot Cocoa always called her wedding "chewish," as in Chinese-Jewish, which I think you can see perfectly in this shot of the ceremony with both the chuppah and Chinese lanterns. I love how well she was able to blend both her and his backgrounds and I'm hoping we can do something similar with my Jewish heritage and the boy's Catholicism. And you can't look at that photo withing thinking it's absolutely stunning.

Source via The WiebnersThere's no real gimmick to immediately describe Mrs. Cupcake's wedding, but I love it just the same. I love her color scheme, I love her paper goods, but I think most of all I just love the feel of her day. Her wedding seems to have just the amount of formality I'm going for, and more than that, it just seems like they and all their guests had SO MUCH FUN that day which I'm hoping will be the feeling at our upcoming wedding.

Are you favorite weddings to read about online the most or least similar to the your own? And if you're here from Kelly's Korner, thanks for stopping by!

Disney World Vacation: Day 5

2011-12-29T16:20:00.000-06:00

For our 5th day on the trip we headed back to the parks, this time to Animal Kingdom.
We started the day off with a Kilimanjaro Safari seeing hippos,
giraffes,
elephants,
and rhinos, as well as a bunch of other different animals.
From here I'll once again take the shortcut and list out the rides and shows that we managed to fit in.

It's Tough to be a Bug
Festival of the Lion King
Dinosaur
Expedition Everest-Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
Finding Nemo-The Musical
And of course, stopped to meet Pocahontas and Meeko.
By this time (around 2 or 3 I think) we had been on most of the rides we wanted to ride, so we headed back to the Magic Kingdom to meet Cinderella,
Belle,
and Sleeping Beauty again.
The plan was then to ride a few of the Fantasyland rides we missed, except the lines were all SO much longer than when we had been there before we only managed Snow White's Scary Adventures. But we did manage to catch a show at the castle on the way out of the park.
But we still weren't finished then, because that night back at our hotel we had reservations at Luau Cove for dinner and a luau.
For our first course they served us pineapple-coconut bread, pineapple, and a salad with a believe a mango dressing.
The main course was bbq ribs, rice, mixed vegetables, & bbq chicken.
And the night ended with a chocolate mousse volcano, with raspberry lava, and a pineapple sauce.
Did I mention it was all you can eat and drink? Let's just say no one went to bed with an empty stomach that night. I'll be back tomorrow with our very last day.

If you've ever been on a Disney World vacation did you only go to one park each day, or did you wind up hopping between multiple parks on a day?

WDW Vacation: Days 3 & 4

2011-12-28T16:34:00.001-06:00

As you've probably noticed I've been recapping our trip to Walt Disney World in Florida. Except how could you not be in Orlando, and not visit the new Harry Potter World, right? So for our 3rd day we rented a car and drove to Universal Studios to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Islands of Adventure park.
We were able to quickly jump onto the Dragon Challenge which only had a 5 minute wait time. Except we weren't quite so lucky with Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. But the boy & I stuck in out, and waited the 90 minutes to ride. Once off, I made sure to pick up a glass of butterbeer and take the required photo.
Then picked up a chocolate frog at Honeydukes.
The rest of the park was nowhere near as crowded and again were able to quickly ride The Incredible Hulk Coaster, Doctor Doom's Fearfall, & The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. We ended the day back in Seuss Landing,
where we rode The Cat in the Hat and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish before heading home.

After running around parks for 3 days straight we decided to take it a little easy and started off with a character breakfast at the Yacht Club Resort.
Minnie, Donald, & Goofy joined us for breakfast, although I was busy filling my plate at the buffet with Goofy stopped by.
The rest of the day was spent shopping at Downtown Disney. I don't have too many pictures of this, so you'll have to make do with this one outside the lego store.
To end the day we went back to the hotel, where we picked up a sushi at the hotel.
Being that we were staying at the Polynesian, it was a Polynesian spin. It wasn't necessarily bad, just interesting. After all, when was the last time your California roll included pineapple?

Have you been to the new Harry Potter land yet? If not, do you plan on going? They are planing on building one in Southern California too, so I have a feeling the next time I visit Harry it won't be in Florida.

Disney Vacay Day 2 at Epcot

2011-12-27T17:17:00.001-06:00

For our second day of vacation we were off to Epcot. Since I grew up going to Disneyland, Magic Kingdom was much of the same to me, but Epcot was a completely new experience. The international showcase opened later than the actual park so the first half of the day was spent in Future World riding (or watching!) Living with the Land, Test Trek, Mission: SPACE, Journey Into Imagination With Figment, The Circle of Life, & Soarin'.

Then it was off to the World Showcase to travel the world! We met Pooh and Tigger in the UK,
and Princess Aurora in France.
I stopped for a quick photo in Morocco,
and picked up some limon gelato in Italy.
In Norway we were busy and rode the Maelstrom, met up with a troll,
and rendezvous-ed with a Norwegian Santa Claus.
Finally, in Mexico, we ran into Donald Duck.

By then it was time to head out, except on the way back to the hotel, we made a stop at the Magic Kingdom so we could watch the electrical light parade.
So that was our day at Epcot. Tomorrow though, you may be surprised with a slightly un-Disney Day.

And since we spent the day "traveling" at Epcot, if you could travel anywhere where we you go? (My choice again would be a tie, between Australia or Greece.)

Walt Disney World Vacation: Day 1

2011-12-26T16:47:00.001-06:00

As I mentioned last Friday, last week the boy and I were vacationing in Disney World with his family! After flying from New Orleans to Orlando, which was the boy's niece's & nephew's first plane on which they did surprisingly well,
we checked into our hotel room at the Polynesian resort, and left for dinner at Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club Resort where I had a roast beef sandwich
and split a fudge mud slide with the boy for dessert.
The following morning we were off to the Magic Kingdom, where we first ran over to Space Mountain and were greeted with only a 10 minute wait. Honestly, the day we chose to visit this park (Friday the 16th), was perfect because most rides didn't really have a wait. So to make things a little shorter here's a list of the rides I rode (what each person rode was a little different considering that we were with a 2-year-old who wasn't quite tall enough for all the "scary ride") and characters met.
Mad Tea Party (aka the teacups)
Space Mountain (x2)
Chip & Dale
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Jungle Cruise
Stich
Pirates of the Caribbean (x2)
Tomorrowland Speedway
Splash Mountain
It's a Small World
With Alice
& the White Rabbit
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (x2)
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Haunted Mansion
Minnie & Mickey

And maybe you noticed a little makeover in that last picture? Because yes, the boy's niece spent some time at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and came out transformed as Rapunzel!
I was originally planning on recapping both day 1 & 2 today, but it looks like this post has already been a little long. So you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to hear about Epcot. Until then, I hope you have a magical day!

And just for fun, what's your favorite ride at the Magical Kingdom? (I'd have to go with a tie between Space Mountain, Big Thunder, & Pirates.)

More Infernal Devices

2011-12-24T09:24:00.003-06:00

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think this one is my favorite so far out of the entire series (Infernal Devices & Mortal Instruments combined). I think the number one reason for this is that the love triangle just works. So often you read books where it's clear who she's going to pick or at least you have the clear favorite. But with Jem or Will, I want them both to wind up with Tessa. Jem is just so nice and selfless, and you want so badly to be happy. Whereas in this book we finally start to understand Will, and given his past he deserves happiness just as much.

At times Cassandra Clare's book feel a little predictable and copies of themselves. But this time it just felt new and unexpected. Of course there is the cliffhanger at the end. Not quite City of Fallen Angels level, but there just the same. With this one I can't wait to see how she wraps up this trilogy, and have to say if you haven't discovered these books yet, it's probably time to start.

5/5

Magical Updates

2011-12-23T09:51:00.002-06:00

You might have noticed that my posting and commenting the past week or so have been a little light, the reason being, last night I got home from Disney World! While it was my first time at Disney World, I have still been to Disneyland
and Disney Sea at the Tokyo Disney Resort.
But even so it was so much fun! I'll be back with stories of the trip next week, but until then here's one quick preview, a picture of the new Beauty & the Beast castle which opens next year with the Fantasyland expansion.
So until then, I hope everyone has a very happy holiday season!

Happy Hanukkah

2011-12-20T17:23:00.000-06:00

1984 - My 1st Hanukkah
1987 - My brother's first Hanukkah
2005 - Hanukkah with friends from college
2006 - First Hanukkah in Louisiana
2008 - Hanukkah with the boy

In My Mailbox (31)

2011-12-18T10:17:00.000-06:00

Another Sunday, another edition of The Story Siren's In My Mailbox. I have a small list today, but they're books I'm so excited about I can't wait to share!
Purchased
The Tea Rose By Jennifer Donnelly
I've actually read this one before and loved it (Here's my review!). But I borrowed it from a friend so I didn't have a copy of my own. After applying my B&N discount plus the actual clearance price it was only $1.60. A completely steal if you ask me, but I'm so excited that I now own all 3 books of the trilogy.

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
I'm pretty sure if you even follow YA books slightly you know exactly what this is. I wish it was the next in the mortal instruments series, instead of the infernal devices, but I'll take what I can get. I know there's at least 4 or 5 other people looking to borrow this after I finish so this one I will be reading shortly!

Do you have anything exciting in your mailbox this week?

Just Breathe

2011-12-16T09:06:00.001-06:00

Breathe by Abbi Glines
I think the best word to describe this one really is just cute. In it Sadie White spends her summer not life-guarding or any of the other normal teenage jobs, but instead as a housekeeper. Except it turns out the house it owned by Jax Stone the hottest teen sensation. In case you couldn't guess they fall in love, but what happens when the summer ends?

In a lot of ways this book reminded me of all the fan fiction I used to read back in high school. Except for the fact that Jax Stone isn't real, nor is he a Backstreet Boy. But like all those stories I used to love, the whole thing just seemed fake and over the top, and in some ways like a modern day fairytale that would never actually happen.

A lot of the dialogue didn't seem to work and just felt a little too formal. It was almost as if people were speaking the way you would write, instead of how you would speak. I would imagine that writing dialogue and getting it to flow and feel really isn't easy, but there were times that it just didn't work for me.

But even with the complaints I really liked Sadie, and Jax was the perfect rock star. As I started off with, it really is a cute book, and as long as you're not looking for something too substantial I think you'd have fun with this.

3.5/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.

Giving Thanks

2011-12-15T17:19:00.001-06:00

I feel like I've been saying this over & over, but I'm not sure what else to do, but I wanted to say thanks for everyone whose been reaching out. I know I have tons of e-mails, facebook messages, text messages, and everything else that I need to respond to, and while this doesn't replace that I still wanted to say something. (If I do owe you an e-mail I do plan on respond, at least eventually.) But I also wanted to spotlight a few friends who've reached out recently.

First my co-workers all bought me a plant. (It's a narcissus "paper white.") It was waiting for me on my desk the day I went back to work. At that point it hadn't yet bloomed and I was afraid I'd manage to kill it before that. But as you can see, we have flowers!

One of my favorite bloggers Amber, or to give a little history the first person to ever comment on one of my blog posts, sent me a cute little package full of Canadian candy. I was most excited for the Coffee Crisp, which I have had before, but was even better than I remember. And then there's the fact that this is the first time I've ever seen anything Erin Condren in person, since Amber used her sticker on the envelope.
I also received another package from Lisa, Amber, and Amber. Yes, it's the same Amber as above. In fact I'm pretty sure I meet both Lisa and the other Amber through Amber's blog as well. I'm so excited to curl up in my new matching PJs (actually a mild obsession of mine, I refuse to wear pajamas that don't match) with a cup of salted caramel hot chocolate.
Obviously I would do anything not to be in the situation I'm in and still have my mom here with me. But I do feel blessed to know that there's so many people out there who care, so again... thank you!!!

Officiant Down

2011-12-14T16:40:00.000-06:00

As in crossed off the list, not actually injured, because we've officially meet with our rabbi! To be honest I was extremely nervous going into the meeting. Not for any reason specifically, but because I get nervous going into any situation where I don't know 100% what to expect. Sometimes I think I probably have some type of mild social anxiety, but at least I'm able to push through it and things are never really as socially awkward as I make them out to be.

But to the actual meeting, it went really smoothly. I was a little worried, with reason this time, that the rabbi might have an issue with the boy being Catholic. Especially since there are really only 2 temples in Baton Rouge, and if the less religious one had an issue with it, than the more religious one probably would as well. Except I'm guessing considering the size of the Jewish population (especially versus the Catholic one) in the B.R. it's probably something that's come up before.

So with that a non-issue the rabbi penciled us in on his calendar, asked us a few standards questions, and that was it. He basically told us that we'd be in touch as we go closer to the date since at this point we're still about 9 months out.

But really such an easy meeting and really nothing to stress over. It's funny because it's something my mom kept bringing up as, "Make sure this gets done, because it may be hard to find a rabbi to marry you," and knowing how simple it was I really wish she could have been here to see.

Leaving the meeting we did have the chance to stop at the temple's store to pick up a new box of Hanukkah candles. Turns out leaving wax candles in an un-air-conditioned attic during a Louisiana summer will destroy them. But they would have melted anyways, right? Even so here's a picture of my favorite box of candles that I was hoping to have last...
Any one know what I can find a box of these candles? And did your first meeting with your officiant go smoother than expected?

Meatloaf Mishaps

2011-12-13T17:00:00.001-06:00

I remember talking to my mom almost two years ago after my grandfather passed away. She said she'd been craving comfort foods and decided to make one of her favorites, meatloaf. So it seemed only fitting that with my mom's own death I make meatloaf in a way, in her honor.

Two and a half years ago I wrote this post where I made meatloaf. The following day my mom sent the this e-mail,

"This is the meatloaf I make: http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=636"

Except if you click on that link you'll see that website, Food Down Under, no longer exists. After some sleuthing I was able to find that recipe on an archived version of the site, so here is my mom's meatloaf recipe, that way next time it's a little easier to find.
72 Market Street Meatloaf
Ingredients:
1xMeatloaf:
3/4 cup Onion, minced
3/4 cup Green onion, minced
1/2 cup Celery, minced
1/2 cup Carrot, minced
1/4 cup Green pepper, minced
1/4 cup Red pepper, minced
2 tsp Garlic, minced
3 tbl Butter
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne or red pepper
1 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp White pepper
1/2 tsp Cumin, ground
1/2 tsp Nutmeg, ground
1/2 cup Half-n-half
1/2 cup Catsup
1 1/2lb Ground chuck or round
1/2lb Ground pork, lean
3 Eggs, beaten
3/4 cup Dry bread crumbs
Sauce:
4 Shallots, chopped
2 T Butter
1 Sprig thyme
1 Bay leaf
Dash crushed red pepper
1 c Dry white wine (apple juice)
1 c Veal or beef stock
1 c Chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Saute onion, green onion, celery, carrot, green and red peppers and garlic in butter until vegetables are soft and liquid is evaporated.
Set aside to cool. Combine salt, cayenne, black and white pepper, cumin, and nutmeg and add to the vegetable mixture. Stir in half-n-half, catsup, beef, pork, and bread crumbs. Mix well. Form into a loaf and place on a greased baking sheet or in a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350-degrees 45-50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Pour off excess fat. Slice and serve with sauce.
For sauce: Saute shallots in 1 T. butter with thyme, bay leaf, and black pepper. Add wine (or slightly less apple juice if you prefer not to cook with wine), and stocks. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Simmer until reduced by half and sauce thickens slightly. Stir in the remaining butter until melted.
Note: I sub olive oil for the butter in both the meatloaf and sauce for a lower fat version. The final butter added to the sauce is a trick to add a nice sheen to the sauce; I omit this step.

I made it without the sauce, which I believe is how my mom made it too. Although I might have to make the sauce to really know. And also when with only beef instead of a pork/beef mix. Now this would normally be the end of the post... except here's all the things that went wrong while making this happen.

I accidental chopped and cooked double the amount of vegetables needed. (This picture is all the extras that I didn't need.)

A minute or two after I put the meatloaf in the oven I realized I forgot the bread crumbs. I had to take it out, remix with the crumbs, reshape into a loaf, and put it back in the oven.
When the boy went to make a gravy he first dropped the pan his was going to use on his foot.
After he heated up a broth us use for the gravy her poured it into a bowl and instantly cracked the bowl.
Once he added the broth back into the roux, the gravy decided to break and basically failed.
After 50 minutes the loaf wasn't done so I gave it 10 more minutes. After that it still wasn't done so I gave it 10 more. It was only then I realized that the oven wasn't on. Turns out when I took it out to add the breadcrumbs I turned the oven off and never turned it back on.

But when the meatloaf and now reheated mashed potatoes were finally ready at 10pm, I was actually quite happy with it. The meatloaf was what I remember it to be. And while I would be more than happy to have it again soon, it might be a while before we attempt to make it again!

What's the worst cooking mishap you've ever had? Or on a lighter note, what's a comfort food you crave?

Breaking it Down

2011-12-12T16:55:00.000-06:00

Breaking Dawn: Part 1
So we've finally seen Breaking Dawn (part 1 of course... but don't you wish it was part 2?) The original plan was to see it opening weekend, but as you've probably seen that weekend didn't go quite as planned (and that's putting it mildly).

But I did live up to expectations and was it worth the wait? I would have to say yes, and more than that I think it's my favorite movie. I would say so far, but knowing what will take place it Part 2, I still think Part 1 will keep that honor.

Yes, the big honeymoon love scene could have been a little more, but even Kristen Steward and Robert Pattison have said that. I'm just hoping for some extras on the dvd!

My one complaint was that Breaking Dawn was actually filmed at our wedding venue, and yet I couldn't seem to find a scene to place there. I guess it's possible that all the scenes filmed there are in part 2, but I guess I'll have to wait a year to find out!

But basically, if you're a Twilight fan you've probably seen it already. And I have a feeling if you haven't yet, you'll probably be waiting till it comes out in dvd.

In My Mailbox (30)

2011-12-11T07:54:00.000-06:00

It's been a few weeks, so hopefully you all remember, but I'm participating in The Story Siren's In My Mailbox.
From Goodreads
Lonestar Angel Colleen Coble
This one is a romance novel I think with a religious spin, which is something I don't normally read. But the story, a kidnapped baby leading to a marriage on the rocks, seemed interesting, so I decided to give it a try.

Anathema by K.A. Tucker
As you can see the author sent me two bookmarks, both signed, and while you can see it, she signed the book as well. Both pluses in my opinion. As for the story it's a paranormal YA, that involves a curse and a dreamworld. I'm not completely sure how this one is going to go, but I'm definitely intrigued.

From My Mom
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
When I flew home for Thanksgiving I knew my mom was sick and in the hospital, but I still wasn't really expecting to attend her funeral. Taken by surprise I hadn't really planned on taking a lot back to Louisiana with me and didn't really have a lot of extra room in my suitcase, but I did grab this as I was leaving the house. I've been planning on reading the Outlander books for quite a while, so it's about time I picked the first up. I don't believe my mom actually ever read this, and while I'm curious as to when and where she picked this up, unfortunately I won't be able to ask her.

But moving on to a brighter note, what did you find in your mailbox this week?

Who is the Pink Carnation?

2011-12-10T09:35:00.000-06:00

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
My mom lent me this book to read several months ago. Except I didn't actually pick it up and start reading it until barely 24 hours before she passed. Which is too bad because I'd love to discuss it with her and thank her because I really enjoyed. (This really shouldn't have been a surprise, because in general my mom's been spot-on at recommending books. I'm sure there's quite a few, but the one that comes first to mind is The Mortal Instruments Series.)

But getting back to the book in question. While the book starts out with a modern day grad student researching the spy, the pink carnation, the majority of the book takes place in Napoleonic France. I've never read a book that takes place in Napoleonic France, at least not that I can remember, and was really excited to here. While I did wind up getting a feel for France at the time, I didn't necessary get to know the historical characters like Napoleon and Josephine. Yes, they made cameos, but this isn't the type of historical fiction I tend to read where the historical figure is the focus.

In a lot of ways the book is somewhat of a chick-lit meets historical fiction, which worked completely for me. I do think if you came in expecting only one or the other, you might be slightly taken aback. But for me it was a perfect combination!

I know this is the start to a series (I believe there's 8 books total now), and I'm definitely planning on reading the rest. My mom had actually already read and lent me the second, so hopefully I'll be following up with that one shortly!

5/5

More Pinning (Rolo Style)

2011-12-07T16:54:00.001-06:00

Remember last week when I shared my first recipe courtesy of pinterest? Well, here we go again!

Source: sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

Yes, I made the famous rolo cookies. I know of at least two bloggers who have made them already and I'm sure they're are a ton more. The recipe (rolos, 1 box devil's food cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup oil, powdered sugar) is so easy I won't be posting written out instructions. Instead here's a visual interpretation. (Of course if you really want the words the pin has the original post.)

Now back to words for a few finals comments. First I refrigerated the dough in between forming it into balls. It was recommended in the comments to keep the dough from being too sticky. It wasn't sticky at all, so I guess it worked.

Second this recipe is supposed to make 3 dozen. Except I only have 24 rolos so I was a little short. To use all the dough my rolo-to-dough ratio was probably a little off. I definitely think it would have been better with less cookie per rolos, but still was pretty impressed.

Have you made (or pinned) the rolo cookies? If not, I bet your on the way to doing it now, right?

Am I a Man... or Am I a Muppet

2011-12-05T17:15:00.001-06:00

The Muppets
We wound up seeing this movie together as a family about a week after my mom passed away, and to be honest, it was a pretty perfect choice. Yes, I think most of us shed a tear or two when Kermit sang The Rainbow Connection, but overall it was still a fun and uplifting choice.

About halfway through the movie the boy whispered to me, "I didn't expect there to be so much singing." I didn't expect it either, although it made sense. There wasn't really anything that I see being a classic (although the title of this post is from a song, so in a way at least one did stick with me).

Overall it wound up being a really fun & cute movie. It isn't my favorite muppet movie (that has to be A Muppet Christmas Carol), but I would be more than willing to watch it again.

Catching Up

2011-12-01T16:42:00.001-06:00

It's isn't a surprise that I haven't been blogging lately. Obviously I've had a few other things on my mind. But I miss blogging. (I also missing reading everyone else's blogs. But my reader is so full right now I'm just hoping to have it all read by ohh... the end of the year. And that seems optimistic.) But while I miss blogging, I'm not completely sure what to blog about. It's not that I have some form of writer's block, but more that some of the things I right about (book or movie reviews and such) seems silly or trivial considering. Except that's what I enjoy blogging about, and the only person that I really need to be considering is myself instead of what other people my thing. So I'm going to try to start blogging as normal, or at least my new normal.

Now that we're past that a few things I haven't had the chance to mention in the past few weeks...

I made my first recipe inspired by pinterest.

Source: kalynskitchen.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

So easy, especially considering I used a store bought pesto sauce. The recipe is attached to the pin, but basically it's just chicken baked in pesto with cheese added at the end. Here's how it turned out.
And one more on the plate, served over pasta with roasted carrots on the side.

And I had my first ever blogger meet-up!
Here's is me & Baker Girl of An Extended Vacation. We meet for lunch and had such a great time. Now I can officially say, I completely agree with all the bloggers who say that meeting up feels normal and as if you already know each other.

And on a more serious note, again I just wanted to thank everyone for reaching out to me. To save I've been completely surprised at some of the people who I've heard from would be an understatement. I still don't think I've processed exactly what's happened, but it is amazing to know I have so many people looking out for me.

In Memoriam

2011-11-28T09:02:00.001-06:00

My Mom
January 4, 1953 - November 19, 2011

Mommy,
I just wanted to thank you for inspiring me throughout my life. You fostered my love of gourmet food. I’m probably the only 7-year-old Girl Scout who asked that we serve a pear and gorgonzola salad at our end of the year party. You loved to garden and helped me plant my first ever herb garden at my home. You sewed my prom dress and every Halloween costume, and I had always assumed that you would be there to help me do the same. You remodeled almost every room of the house, and those that you hadn't yet, you had plans for. You’d also talked about flying out to Louisiana just for the weekend to complete redo our bathroom or help build a deck in the backyard.

You could do, fix, or create absolutely anything. You pretty much did everything for our family and nurtured us all whether it be through your amazing food or just your support.

I can’t believe you that you won’t be at my wedding, but know that while you won’t physically be there, you will still be there with all of us. Again, I can’t believe that my future children won’t actually get to meet you, but I will make sure that they will know you because you’ll be inspiring their lives as well.

I miss you and love you,

Love always,

~Shoshanah
My parents at their wedding
June 6, 1982
Our first family photo
May 3, 1987
One of our last photos together
February 5, 2011

We'd Like to Thank You... Edgar Hoover

2011-11-21T16:37:00.001-06:00

J. Edgar
I was looking forward to seeing this movie mainly because Leo was in it. The boy on the other hand was a fan of the fact it was directed by Clint Eastwood. Overall I think it was a good pick on our part.

I will admit that it was a bit confusing. The movie goes back and forth within several time periods. You can kind of tell based on whether Leo's in his old age make-up or not, but still the scenes all felt a bit out of order.

You definitely lose Leo in his character and even though I'm clearly on a first name basis with him, you really forget it was him in there.

I do think it was a good movie, but honestly I can't see myself sitting through to watch again. Although I do think that watching it a second time, would probably be a little less confusing.

Play or Get Played

2011-11-19T10:13:00.001-06:00

The Julian Game by Adele Griffin
This is the first book I've read where facebook really played a part. It's surprising on a way considering how facebook obsessed I can be, but it's also a sign of how quickly our world has changed with social media that contemporary books haven't quite caught in. In the story Raye decides to create a fake facebook account for fun at first, but then is lead into trying to take revenge on Julian one of the hottest boys in town.

Honestly reading this made me glad that I'm not in high school today. Part of me thinks it would be fun to have had facebook around back in high school. But what I didn't have to really deal with 10 years ago, was the thought that your actions in high school could stay with you and be online forever.

This was a really interesting story and unlike anything I've ever read. Although I have read books about bullying (Judy Blume's Blubber comes first to mind) it's nothing like the cyberbulling done in here. Throughout the book I really felt for Raye. While I didn't necessary approve of some of her decisions, and it's easy to see why same made them.

It's definitely a book I'm glad I had the chance to read, and honestly it surprised me a little by how much I enjoyed it.

4.5/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.

The City of ... Babies?

2011-11-18T09:24:00.001-06:00

Paris, Baby! by Kirsten Lobe
I really think that if I was happier reading this book I would have enjoyed it more. I was really hoping to read a happy glamorous story of a single mom, doing it all, while in Paris. Except it's a memoir and it's real life, and real life isn't always a pretty picture.

I was really hoping to read more about Paris in this. Yes, there is quite a bit of it in here, but I never seemed to really get a feel for the city. Also while the start of the book is in Paris, quite a bit of it is actually back in the US.

Time also seemed to jumped faster than I expected. Based on the way the story was written it would seem like no time had passed. Except then she'd mention her son, and he'd was almost 2, when it felt like he was only born a chapter or two ago.

Then there's the fact she flew home from Paris because of the worry her mother, who also had alzheimer's was dying. Not quite the fun happy book I was hoping for.

But there is a list of resources for visiting Paris with a baby in the back, which I thought was a nice touch. It's definitely a book with a lot of potential, but it didn't quite get there for me. Still though, I do believe that I would have enjoyed the book more if I was happier myself when I read it.

3/5

And just for fun... here's a picture of me, as a baby, in front of the Notre Dame, in Paris.

Checking In

2011-11-16T16:58:00.001-06:00

Today makes 3 and a half weeks that my mom's been in the hospital (all but one day in intensive care). In general, there's hasn't been a lot of change since I last wrote. She's still on oxygen, she's still on a ventilator, she's still heavily sedated. But we're still all hopeful that the doctors are able to come up with the right combination of drugs and medicine to get her lungs back to working. I did want to thank everyone for their kind words on my post last week. It has been kind of amazing to see people reach out on here, on facebook, in real life, and connecting with people I haven't talked to a lot recently. So I just wanted to say thank you to everyone and share a few high notes from the past few weeks.

Last week the boy called me on his way home from work asking if I wanted him to pick up anything for dinner. I told him that I wasn't really that hungry, but the one thing that sounded good was lasagna, except you couldn't really pick that up on the drive home. Not long after the boy called back to say he was stuck in traffic and would be late, except showed up at the house with a carryout box of lasagna and a bottle of wine.
I was also surprise by the flowers above sent to me at work by the boy's family. A few of my co-workers commented that they only wished they got along with their in-laws enough for flowers.
On another sweet note, my BBF/MOH/sistah and her boyfriend sent me the caramel apples above. Included was pecan caramel,
chocolate caramel,
peanut caramel,
and surprisingly what wound up being my favorite, cinnamon sugar caramel. (I was expecting it to be the chocolate caramel, but I think the difference in flavors from the cinnamon sugar did me in.)
So again, thank you to all! But as much as I've appreciate all of this, I only wish I was in a situation where it really wasn't needed. Still all I can really do is what and hope something good happens. And when it does I will be sure to let everyone know. But until then we're all just hoping & praying for the best.

H&K with NPH

2011-11-14T17:10:00.002-06:00

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
Talk about movie that's so ridiculous & over-the-top that it is completely amusing. I mean when else will you ever see a movie with 3-D pot smoke. And yes, we saw the movie in 3-D, although it wasn't really an option. Our theater was only showing 3-D viewing, which we were a little leery about at first. But given the amount of references throughout the movie about the fact it was in 3-D, I'm not sure how many places you could find it in 2-D. And honestly, the 3-D was good. Completely in your face & out there. Which wouldn't work for most movies, but it definitely does for this.

It's definitely been a while since I've seen either of the Harold & Kumar movies. So it may not be completely reliable, but I think this could easily be my favorite of the series. It's filled with jokes that you won't stop talking about, and I don't think there's another movie, especially a 3-D one, with an experience like this.

In My Mailbox (29)

2011-11-13T08:37:00.000-06:00

It's Sunday, and I'm participating in The Story Siren's In My Mailbox. So let's keep this intro short & sweet and get started!
From Goodreads
Both of these actually came signed, one even personalized, and I was going to post those pictures, but clearly forgot. Next time, maybe?

Breath by Abbi Glines
This is a YA about a girl who spends her summer at the beach, not hanging out, but instead working in one of the wealthy homes. Except it turns out the home is owned by the hottest teen rocker, and one guess from the cover as to what goes on. Sounds like a cute summer-y read, right?

The Julian Game by Adele Griffin
This sounds like the exact opposite type book. It is still YA, but it's about 2 girls who decide to sabotage one of their exes over facebook. Not quite cute, but does look like a lot of fun.

Borrowed from my mom
I was in California two weeks ago now, visiting my mom who was (and still is) in ICU. She had set these two books aside to mail to me, but since I was already there I flew back with them.

The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig
My mom actually lent me the first in this series (The Secret History of the Pink Carnation) about a month or two ago, although I've still yet to read it. I guess now that I have the second book in the series, I probably should get started on it!

The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato
This is another historical fiction that takes place in Venice in the 1600s. I don't believe I've read a historical fiction in Venice before, and from the looks of the summary, it sounds like something I'll really enjoy.

So, that's it for me this week. What did you find in your mailbox?

Thoughts & Prayers

2011-11-07T16:56:00.001-06:00

Growing up my mom did almost everything. She loved to cook, and practically spoiled me for life with her gourmet meals.

Via my mom's facebook
Roasted Salmon with potatoes & peasShe did all types of project around the house. She built our porch in the backyard, and the patio. She redid our bathrooms, and my bedroom.

Again via my mom's facebook
Her most recent project, the breakfast roomShe was always gardening and growing in our backyard.

Via my mom's flickr account
Blooming jasmine, apricot, plume, & pluot treesShe loved to sew and each year made sure to make a Halloween costume for my brother & I, and even made my prom dress.

Scanned family photo
I believe Halloween '88. My brother & I dressed up as Peter Pan & TinkerbelleShe was my girl scout troop leader and even spent a year as my soccer coach leading us to a first place finish.

And recently with my brother and I out of the house, she's started to get into canning.

again via facebook
Pluot KetchupWhen I had my bat mitzvah, again my mom did so much. She diy-ed my invites while I was away at sleep away camp. (I remember her sending me ribbons samples and asking me to send back the one I wanted to you.) We customized my ceremony, and she edited the whole think and got it printed out bound. She created the thank you cards, and the photo guestbook. She did the centerpieces and I think even my make-up.

Once the boy and I were engaged I knew there were projects I wanted to do, but would need my mom's help, the invitations being the big one. There were also items that my mom herself wanted to do. She didn't want to make the cake (although she did make my godmother's wedding pies for her wedding), but she did want to sew my veil.

...

Except my mom is currently in intensive care and has been for the past two weeks. She's battling a rare auto-immune design, dermatomyositis, that has infected her lungs. I was out in California last weekend and at that time, while my mom was suffering and needed oxygen she was at least awake and talking. Except at this point, all there is to do is wait and hope she gets better. It still doesn't feel real, and it's kind of crazy, but at this point we're all hoping and praying that my mom is able to get better and survive. So I'm not really sure how the end this post, except that any thoughts and prayers would of course be appreciated, and share one final picture from Christmas last year.

In My Mailbox (28)

2011-11-06T08:10:00.001-06:00

I actually meant to share these book last week, but I've had some things going on and haven't really had the chance to till today. So here's my edition to The Story Siren's In My Mailbox!
Purchased
Mistress Shakespeare by Karen Harper
Right now I have so many book in my TBR pile that I really didn't need a lot more, especially since at the rate I'm reading it will probably take me about a year to get through all my books. But the red dot on the spine meant the book was on sale for only $2, so purchased it was.

Honolulu by Alan Brennert
This book has actually been on my list of recommended books on goodreads, and seeing it bargained priced I couldn't pass it up. It's a historical fiction that takes place in the early 1900s in Hawaii. I've never read anything that takes place there, so I'm hoping to really enjoy this one.

Song of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
I loved Dray's first book on Cleopatra's Daughter and so I bought this one almost as soon as it can out. I can't wait to read it, and hopefully it lives up to the first.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
If you're into YA book blogging I know you recognize this. I've actually already read and reviewed it, and of course I loved it.

Royal Sisters by Jean Plaidy
I recently posted about my love for Jean Plaidy so this one shouldn't be a surprise. I actually have another Jean Plaidy book I haven't read (Courting Her Highness), and went to pick it up, but realized that if I did I would be reading them out of order since The Royal Sisters comes first in her Stuart Series. But now that I have it I can rest comfortably knowing I'll be reading them in chronological order.

So that's it for me this week. What's in your mailbox this Sunday?

Dare to Be Popular

2011-11-05T09:22:00.000-05:00

The Popularity Rules by Abby McDonald
Back in high school Kat's best friend Lauren dumped her to hang out with the popular crowd. Except 10 years later when they run into eachother, Lauren explains that it was because of the popularity rules that shes changed and offers to teach them to Kat in hopes to turn around her life.

Going into this I wasn't sure what to think. It felt a little like a YA plotline, except these were supposed to be 20-somethings. And now that I read the book, it IS basically a YA book for 20-something and it makes complete sense. Recently Jessica at Cover to Cover wrote a post asking, "Where Are All The Books For Twenty-Somethings?" While this isn't an entire genre it fits that niche perfectly. This books is Kat's journey towards finding her character, establishing a social life, and exploring and reevaluating friendship. There is a subplot that involves dating, but I wouldn't define that as a defining plotline.

I loved how each chapter began with one of the popularity rules, and each time I thought about how I could make use of it in my daily life. So often I read YA books, and think, "The would have been perfect for me back in high school," but being a 20-something this is perfect for me now.

The book was origonally published in the UK, and takes place in London. Based on this fact I was expecting, and looking forward to, a British type book. Except Kat and Lauren are American, and the book didn't neccessarily have a British feel towards it. My thought is that since I love reading books that feel British and I'm American the opposite is true for Brits. And since it was written initially there, that's the market for which it was written.

I'm definitely glad I read this and the book more than exceeded my expecatations. I am a little worrried that since this book is different than a lot of books currently out there, it may be difficult for it to find its niche. But here's to hoping it does!

4.5/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.

Just Next Door

2011-11-04T10:05:00.000-05:00

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
About halfway through this one I told myself that this wasn't quite in the same class as Perkins' other Anna and the French Kiss. That's not to say I wasn't enjoying it, because I was, just more that I hadn't completely fallen. But after I work my way through the second half I have to admit that well Anna is still my favorite, this one more than holds its own.

First to start with, what I wanted to know before I read the book, was about Anna & Etienne's cameos. I was expecting a one-liner similar to the way Emily Giffin does it. But they wound up being pretty important characters, and more than that I don't think you had to read the first to get it. I believe that if you picked up Lola first, you would really have no idea that Anna had her own book because she fit into the story so seamlessly.

Now it feels a little silly mentioning, mainly because it was written so well and felt so normal it doesn't need to be pointed out. But the fact that Lola was being raised by by two gay males felt completely ordinary, and not the least bit awkward. It did help that the story took place in San Francisco, but not once did any character really remark on the living situation or not feel at ease. It was just that these were Lola's parents with a typical parental relationship.

And then of course there's Lola. If there ever was a book that I wanted to see made as a movie this was it. Lola wants to be a costume designer, and some of the outfits shes where are so over the top and magical. There's one outfit, the final outfit actually, that I can somewhat picture in my head, but think is the number one reason this should be a movie.

I definitely think this is a perfect companion to Anna, but more than that stands perfectly on its own feet. If you haven't picked up anything by Stephanie Perkins yet, than really what are you waiting for?

5/5

A Novel of Nell Gwynn

2011-10-29T10:44:00.000-05:00

The Darling Stumpet by Gillian Bagwell
It's funny, just a few days ago I wrote how I first discovered King Charles II and her I am writing about him again. If you've never heard of Nell Gwynn before her story is truthfully a tale from rags to riches. As a teenager Nell was forced to start working at a whorehouse in order to survive. From their she was able to change her life course by selling oranges at a playhouse, and go on to be an actress on stage. As an actress she caught the eye of the King, and become of one of his favorite mistress, and even mother to his children. She may be the only one who litterally started as a street urchin and became a countesss.

In some ways I felt like I read the whole first half of the novel weighting for King Charles II to enter the picture. Except once he did, the story seemed to slow down. Looking back it makes sense. After all it is more exciting to read about someone's rise to the top, and by the end the center of Nell's life was well....

There are a few scenes that come off as a little graphic, but do make sense considering Nell's upbringing. I'm not completely sure some of them were completely neccessarily, but it does make sure to provide a stark contrast between the life Nell was living, and how it changed.

While I did enjoy the overall story, and how Nell and King Charles II were protrated, I didn't quite feel the connections with some of the minor characters. I wanted to get to know Nell's sons and friends more. And while I felt we got to know her sister, Rose, in the first few chapters, but the end of the novel I had almost lost my feel for Rose.

But even with my complaints I really enjoyed this and pretty much devoured it. I think Nell's story is in some ways a real life fairy tale, and if you've never heard of her or don't really know the story of King Charles II, I do think this would be a good place to start. As for the author, this was her debut novel, although she does have a new book coming out telling the story of another of King Charles II's mistresses, which I'd love to read as well.

4.5/5

One for One

2011-10-28T10:49:00.000-05:00

Start Something that Matters by Blake Mycoskie
I wasn't completely sure I wanted to read this one. And honestly when I found out I had won a copy and it was on its way to me, part of me regretted requesting it in the first. But surprising, the story has a happy ending because I was surprised by home much I enjoyed reading this.

Going into it I was hoping for more of a memoir, and there are parts that resemble one. For instance, Blake gives a lot of the back story on how he came up with Toms and the company's early history. But most of the book is meant to be inspirational, to help you not only start your own company but more from the title something that matter. Each chapter focuses on a core belief. There aren't that many, since the book isn't very long, but include topics such as facing your fears and finding your story, things that sound simple at first but just make a lot of sense.

As silly as it sounds, I love the dust jacket of the book. It feels almost leather-y and unlike any other book I've seen. (But not-so-coincidentally a bit like a shoe!) I love that they're donating a children's book for each book purchased. (I have of course assumed that you know of Toms already, but if not they're a shoe company that donates a pair of shoes for each pair purchased.)

Ending the book I couldn't help by feel inspired, and wanting to come up with a great idea to start something myself. Although honestly a lot of his principles could be applied more abstractly to other projects that you already do. As I mentioned initially, I tend not too read a lot of inspirational or entrepreneurial books, and while I'm not completely hooked, after reading this I'd be more willing to give similar books a chance.

4/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.

Bridal Beauty

2011-10-27T16:28:00.000-05:00

Recently I came home to discover that a I had received a package in the mail, which containded all of the following.
It's a bridal beauty box from my MOH! So cute, right? First there's a Disney Cinderella wedding card, which I had no idea they made but think it's an awesome idea. And well tons of fun stuff to play with, which I'm sure you can see most of it, but there's mascara that's supposed to grow your lashes, face mask, body butter, hair conditioning treatment, whitening strips, and obviously much more. There's even a cute little wedding coffee.

Although there were supposed to be two, one for me & the boy, but unfortunately one broke in transit. When I told the boy his response was that it wasn't a big deal, he would just drink out of the one that's left, although I haven't seen him drink out of a mug featuring a bride a groom yet.

It was such a cute package and such a great surprise! I'm definitely grateful that my sistah (as in godsister!) took the time the to send this all to me and was SOO excited to receive it, and can't wait to continue planning the wedding with her!

Did you receive and surprise packages leading up to the wedding? And do you have an recommendations as to which of the products I should start with first?

30 Days of Books - Day 14

2011-10-26T16:07:00.000-05:00

Day 14 – Favourite book of your favorite writer
Last week I shared how Jean Plaidy was currently my favorite author, and this week as a follow-up it's my favorite book written by her.
To start with this, Mary, Queen of France, was the first book of his I ever read. I read it my junior year of college a few months before I left to study abroad in France. But interestingly enough considering the title, Mary is a princess of England and that's where a large portion of the book takes place. Mary was the youngest brother of King Henry VIII, and after her short marriage to the King of France ended with his death she betrayed her brother by marrying the one she was actually in love with. But while this book does have a found place in my heart since it introduced me to Jean Plaidy, it isn't my favorite.
That honor would go to The Loves of Charles II, which I read a few months later during my senior year of college. What I loved about it was that I had never read anything about King Charles II, and by the end I knew so much about his life and reign. Of course, the book is technically made up of 3 novels that were first published individually. That's actually a complaint by some, since it means parts of his life are told 3 times. But I think reading so much about him only gave me the opportunity to learn, and what I did learn about him made me fall a little bit in love. For instance did you know he fathered more children than any other English monarch, except none of them were legitimate? And the first time one of his direct descendants has the chance to reign will be with Prince William. (Diana was descended from one of his mistresses.) Since then I've read several other books that take place during Charles II's reign, but this one remains my favorite out of both those books and Plaidy's.

Have you ever hear of King Charles II's? Or what's your favorite book by your favorite author?

Turning Two

2011-10-25T16:33:00.001-05:00

This past weekend was the boy's nephew's, aka my nephew-to-be's, 2nd birthday.
It was LSU themed, which made complete sense since it was on a Saturday just before the LSU-Auburn. We along with a few others stayed after the party to watch the game, which of course LSU won. And if you've been hear a while it shouldn't be a surprise that I'll be sharing our gifts, basically because I love being able to buy toys.
We wound up deciding on the Count & Crunch Cookie Monster, which is basically a cookie monster that counts the cookies you feed him. He wound up being one of the first toys rescued from his packaging, so at least for now Cookie Monster was a hit.

And of course, we picked up some books, which is what I really wanted to share.
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
This one is a classic and while I don't specifically remember reading it growing up I still know the story. So I guess I must have read it at some point, right? I love the author's other book The Little House (which I've blogged about before. So while Mike may not be my favorite book by her, I still think it's perfect for a little boy.
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
While this one may not necessarily be a classic, at least not yet, it's one of my favorites from growing up. I remember being in 4th grade and visiting my brother's 1st grade class as a guest to read the book to them. And again, not only do I love this book, but I love the other books the author's have written. If you remember a few months ago I even purchased Lane Smith's recent book for myself.

Overall it was a fun day, and I'm hoping he falls in love with these two books as much as I have. Have you read either one of these books? What books do you think you'd purchase for a 2-year-old boy?

All for One & One for All

2011-10-24T16:37:00.000-05:00

The Three Musketeers
It's been a while since I've seen a three musketeers movie. So long in fact, that this was the first time I truly got where the movie was historically. I read enough about this time period now that I knew of the kings mentioned, knew of the parents, and their offspring, so that was fun for me. Of course the movie wasn't completely historically accurate. Nor were the costumes, at least I don't think they were, but it was a lot of fun

We opted for the 2-D version, and I don't feel like we missed out. I think the boy enjoyed it, although made a point to say it wasn't his favorite version of the story. And while I don't really remember the other version I've seen, overall this felt almost "cute" so it's hard to say it's the best.

But I still think it was a fun movie. Not neccessarily one you need to rush out to the theaters to watch. But one that would be fun randomly to watch curled up on the couch.

Of course, there is the fact that the new Breaking Dawn trailer played before, and the trailer was absolutely amazing. I can't beleive I'm admitting this, but I started tearing up just watching the preview. Only about a month to go, and I really can't wait!!

In My Mailbox (27)

2011-10-23T08:51:00.000-05:00

I took last week off from In My Mailbox, but have no fear I'm back today! If you're new to IMM and want to know what it's all about, be sure to head over to The Story Siren for the details. But on to the books!
From Goodreads
Kings of Colorado by David E. Hilton
Both of these books are interesting selections that I probably wouldn't have picked up without winning them through a giveaway. This one is about a teen-aged boy whose sent away to reform school, which is a ranch in Colorado. I'm am a little skeptical on this one, but hopefully it surprises me.

One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner
This one is another interesting find. It's about what happens one morning commute waiting for a train, and how it impacts the lives of all those involved. From the looks of it, I have a feeling it'll be a good book-club-type-book, but I guess we'll see if that winds up being the case.

As I said before, it's definitely an interesting and surprising week for me, but hopefully yous was to. What's in your mailbox this week?

Amor Deliria Nervosa

2011-10-22T09:51:00.000-05:00

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
I had heard so many great things about this book and I was so excited to finally have a chance to read it. In case this one isn't yet on your radar, the idea behind it comes off a little cliched, it's a world where love is a disease and at 18 everyone is giving the cure to avoid any type of suffering.

While the idea behind the story may come off a little silly it definitely make for an interesting universe. You are able to follow the logic of how a society realizes all of the pain love can create, even though it seems a little far fetched. Throughout the book are bits and pieces of the propaganda used, and it was really interesting to see how the government was able to twist various ideas.

The book definitely reminds me of the Uglies series. There are quite a few differences between the two, but even so while reading the book I had to mentally stop myself several times from comparing the two.

And then of course there's the ending. Part of me is definitely glad I put off reading this one for a while, so that was I don't have to so long for the sequel. In some ways I can't believe this is the way the author chose to end it, but I do have to admit it's the perfect breaking point in the story.

I did wind up really enjoying this one, except I don't think it quite lived up to my expectations. I think I wanted so badly to fall head over hells with this that I forced the issue a little much. I still loved the book, am glad I read it, and can't wait for the sequel, but still part of me wishes I hadn't hyped it quite as much.

4.5/5

Here's a Story of a Lovely Lady

2011-10-21T09:53:00.001-05:00

Life is Not a Stage by Florence Henderson
This isn't a book a normally would have picked up on my own. But since I won a copy of the book, I was quite excited to read it. Not completely knowing what to expect this it, I wound up really pleasantly surprised.

I was expecting to read quite a bit more about life filming The Brady Bunch, but now that I've read Florence's story I understand it. There are really only a chapter or two about the show, which really doesn't seem like a lot considering that's want she's know for. But what I had no idea about was how much else she had done, that while Mrs. Brady is her claim-to-fame it was in no way her big break.

Florence early on says she won't be talking much about her childhood, but even so she does paint the basic picture. Her mother was in her mid-twenties and her father almost fifty. Florence was the last of 10 children born in the mid-1930s after 20 years of her parents marriage. Her father was a poor tobacco farm and an alcoholic, and her mother left the family when Florence was around 10-years-old.

After high school she left her hometown in Indiana to move to New York hoping for her big break. It wasn't long after that she was cast chorus of a play, and went on to be a Broadway star staring in plays such as Oklahoma and The Sound of Music. She did start in a movie or two and helped to host The Today Show all before her time as Mrs. Brady.

Before reading this I had no idea of Florence's musical background, although I guess it shouldn't really have been a surprise. She does disclose of few "scandals" throughout the books pages, but if that's all you're looking for you're probably be disappointed. But overall it wound up being an enjoyable book, and I'm glad I was able to experience and would definitely recommend.

4.5/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.

30 Days of Books - Day 13

2011-10-20T16:29:00.000-05:00

Day 13 – Your favourite writer
If you go through my archives it shouldn't be a surprise as to who my current favorite author is, just by the number of reviews. And when I say current I mean by mean currently, I mean myself at this moment. I definitely don't mean writer whose writing currently since she's been dead for almost 20 years. To give you an idea of who I'm talking about here's a list of the reviews of the author's books from my oldest review to most recent.

The King's Confidante
For a Queen's Love
A Favorite of the Queen
The Murder in the Tower
The Three Crowns
Madonna of the Seven Hills
Light on Lucrzia

Any guesses? Or maybe by now you've just clicked over to one of the review to ruin the surprise? Either way the answer is Jean Plaidy. She published easily over 100 books starting in the 1940s until the early 1990s, a large portion of which were historical fiction. Unfortunatly most of them are currently out of print, although some have been republihsed recently which is how I stumbled onto her while I was in college.

Although while I say they are being republished, as far as I can see there aren't any plans in the near future to put out anymore. Hopefully this changes, but for now I'll be picking up the books that are currently in print that I haven't yet read, and at some point hope to start looking for older version of her books in used books stores.

Have you by chance read anything by Jean Plaidy? Or instead, who is your favorite author?

The Ides of Steel

2011-10-19T17:11:00.000-05:00

Real Steel
The boy really wanted to see this one, partly because he had heard it was actually based on the Rock Em Sock Em Robots toy, and honestly it really wasn't that bad. All the fighting scenes where you'd normally cringe and look away, weren't really gruesome because after all, do you really care if metal ripped apart?

The boy in the film was really cute and had some pretty adorable scenes. Overall, even though it's not the type of movie I would pick at first, I still really enjoyed it.

The Ides of March
How could you not want to see this movie? I mean Ryan Gosling? George Clooney? You'd be crazy not too!

The entire time watching this movie I kept waiting for and expecting the big twist. Except when it finally did come I was taken a bit by surprise.

Basically it is a political movie, and parts of it are a little slow. But others are almost heartbreaking. I wound up really enjoying this one, in some ways more than I had even expected. I thought Ryan was awesome in it, and could easily see him at least pulling off an Oscar nomination for it.

Both of these movies wound up being quite enjoyable, and really I think the big question is what you're in the mood to see. But either way, I don't think either one of them would disappoint you.

Lemon-y Goodness

2011-10-18T17:15:00.000-05:00

I know I've made lemon bars before, because I have the proof in a blog post. Except while I took pictures of the final product I didn't really post a recipe, so when I wanted to make some for a recent LSU game I didn't know where to start. Except that I loved the ones I made before and was hoping to recreate them. After a little google-ing I'm pretty sure this recipe from allrecipes.com was the one I used as an outline. And this time I made sure to photograph the process so the next time I know what to do!

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
Crust
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups flour
Filling
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Juice from 2 lemons
Zest from 1 lemon

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar.
A mixer would have probably been good for this, but to keep things easy I basically used a knife to cut the butter into the flour/sugar. It wasn't perfectly mixed at this time, but I'm pretty sure the point is to still have a few chunks of butter.
3. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden
The time is from the official recipe, except ours never really got "golden." I think I coooked it for close to 40 minutes. You can see that around the edges it was getting dark, but the bulk of it was still white-ish. I was a little afraid of under cooking it, till I realized the eating raw butter, flour, and sugar wouldn't really be a problem.
5. Meanwhile while the crust is baking whisk together remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs, lemon juice, & lemon zest.
The lemon zest was all my idea. I stuck with the zest from only one of the lemons afraid it would be too lemon-y, but I think you'd be safe to use both.
6. Pour the lemon juice over the baked crust...
and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
7. Let cool (I'm pretty sure I used the fridge to help this process since I was running late after it took almost forever for the crust to turn golden) and garnish with powdered sugar.
8. Cut into bite-sized squares and enjoy!
Seriously, these are ridiculously true. And despite my long-winded rambling they are almost amazingly easy. I actually thought about picking up a box mix for this, but with so few ingredients needed, these really are worth making them from scratch.

Are you a lemon bar fan? Have you ever made them and if so, do you have a favorite recipe?

Painting the Roses Red

2011-10-14T10:47:00.000-05:00

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
Despite my post's title, this book has nothing to do with Alice in Wonderland. I just thought it was be a fun intro. Instead the book is about Margaret Beaufort, mother to the first Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII. The book's actually been out for quite a while, and I didn't pick it up till it was out in paperback. I'm not completely sure why I waited so long to read it, especially since it's been over 2 years since I last read one of her books. Although I think part of it is that while in general I enjoy Gregory's books, most seem to miss a historical fact or two. But the reason why I finally picked it up, probably has a lot to do with the fact that her next book from this time period will be out shortly.

I've read quite a bit about the War of the Roses, so most of the events were familiar to me. And while I knew who Margaret Beaufort was, and knew she was famous for helping her son to the throne, I didn't know a lot about it. This is actually the first time I've read a book about her, and as far I know there aren't any others specifically about her.

While parts of Margaret's story are interesting, mainly the fact she gave birth to the future king at only 14, most of her life wasn't that exciting. Or at least if it was history has lost that to us. Margaret spends a lot of her times scheming and conspiring throughout the book without a lot else happening. I think because of this, the book's lack of action, a lot of people weren't a fan.

But overall I really enjoyed it, and might go as far as saying it's one of my favorite Gregory books. I think what's does it for me, is that while the historical events are known, so much of Marat's life was a mystery to me, and I love the experience of reading a historical book like this and feeling like I learned a lot throughout.

4.5/5

Roasted Polenta with Swiss Chard

2011-10-13T16:37:00.001-05:00

About 2 years ago Frozen Thursday used to be an almost weekly feature on From L.A. to LA, where I'd review various frozen meals. I did one this past June, but they're still pretty rare. Unless of course I come across something new and interesting that I want to share... and that's what we're doing today!
Amy's Roasted Polenta with Swiss Chard
I've honestly never seen a frozen meal like this before, which is why I was so excited to try it. And like normal Amy's didn't let me know. I was a little hesitant to eat frozen & microwaved swiss chard, but it turned out really good. (I do like chard in general, so I wasn't necessarily worried whether I would like chard, but more of it would taste like I'd expect.) The sauce which contained squash, tomatoes, and mushrooms was awesome.

My only complaint was really the polenta itself. That's not that it was bad, but more that it wasn't heated all throughout the middle. Amy's meals normally end up on the extra hot side, so for the last recommended 2-3 minutes, I went out 2:30. But I think with the extra time, it would have been almost picture.

And did I mention that somehow this is only 140 calories? It definitely didn't feel that small when I ate it, but with so few calories this has the potential to be a great snack.

I'd definitely buy this one again, although it still doesn't top my favorite Amy's lasagna. And no, this post was not sponsored. I just wanted to be able to remember this meal, and hopefully lead someone else to try it!

27

2011-10-10T16:24:00.001-05:00

Today is officially my 27th birthday! It's hard to believe right? It's just sounds so old, especially when I still feel 16 inside. Ha! I'm not completely sure what the plans are for the rest of the night, but my parents are visiting so maybe we'll be heading out to dinner shortly. But I guess a pretty laid back birthday. But yesterday morning...

The boy needed to go to the grocery store to pick up milk. I decided to stay home, and after what felt like forever he called me from the store to make sure there wasn't anything specificially we needed. I told him no, and when I asked what I taken so long his response was that he wanted a sandwich at Burger King and it had taken almost 30 minutes.

So later yesterday afternoon, the boy was going in and out of the house. He picked up Saturday's mail which was still in the mailbox, as well as a few other variouis things, and each time I stayed on my computer not looking back, until of course I the one time I did, and saw him standing there with this...
My birthday Keurig!!!

I told him it was a day early and he had to go hide it, but the surprise already gone, he left it for me on the kitchen table.

I'm SO excited for this though! I've been wanting one seemingly forever. I do have a single serving pod coffee maker, but I've had it since college, and I've used it so often that half the time it can't filter any coffee into my cup. Plus since since the one I have is out of style it's hard for me to find flavors, and I know there are TONS of Keurig flavors out there that I can't wait to try! The box actually comes with about 12 samples, but if you look on top of the box the boy bought me some French vanilla flavors too!

Do you have a Keurig? If so, what are your favorite k-cups?

And as I mentioned before that my parents are visiting this week, which means posting may be a little light. Although you might still see a few random posts from me!

In My Mailbox (26)

2011-10-09T08:45:00.001-05:00

It's Sunday, so once again I'm linking up to The Story Siren's In My Mailbox. I was lucky enough to win both of the following books through goodreads' first reads giveaway program. So let's get to it!
The Foremost Good Fortune by Susan Conley
This is a memoir, in case you couldn't tell from the cover. The first half seems to be about an American who moves to China with her husband and two sons on their experience adapting to their culture. Throughout the second half of the book she learns she has cancer, ands the story changes through the adaptations she must make in order to live with this disease. This probably isn't one I would have necessarily picked up on my own, but it does sound like an interesting premise.

Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie
This may surprise some of you, but I've never actually bought a pair of Toms shoes. I have heard of them, and know people who love them, but they've just never called out to me. I do love the idea that for every pair purchased one is donated, and even more love that for every copy of this book purchased a children's book will be donated to a child in need. I've heard great things about this one, and think it should be a really interesting experience.

Are you a fan of Toms shoes? And of course, what's in your mailbox this week?

What's the Date

2011-10-06T16:27:00.001-05:00

I know I've kept you waiting a while now, but here's my final post on STD inspiration (at least final until I change my mine, right?). But to recap, we went out the basic outline and I mentioned there would be a mini envelope on that card. Then last week I told you what wouldn't be inside the envelope. So let's end the suspense...

Most of your guesses were actually right, so it shouldn't be a surprise, but I was planning on doing mini-magnets! Of course there's lot of ways I could go with this.

One main picture,

Source: weddingpaperdivas.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

Or a montage of pictures,

Source: weddingpaperdivas.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

Text Only,

Source: etsy.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

or text with a graphic,

Source: magnetstreet.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

Or a photo with a graphic,

Source: magnetstreet.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

Or a photo with a calander,

Source: etsy.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

Or just a calender.

Source: etsy.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

Since we aren't doing engagement photos, I'm leaning towards not having a picture of us on the magnet. Obviously I have some older pictures of us I could use if necessary, but if I'm sending this out and hoping to make the fridge, I'd rather have something that looks a little more professional.

My favorite idea is a calender, especially since our wedding isn't on a Saturday, I think circling the actual day would make it easier to recognize, than it would be just a date on a card. Of course nothing actually ordered yet, but unless something crazy happens that's the direction were headed.

What are your thoughts on a Save The Date magnet? And out of these possible designs, which one is your favorite?

30 Days of Books - Day 12

2011-10-05T16:50:00.000-05:00

Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
When I started doing this "challenge" (maybe not a challenge to some since I'm not posting it everyday, but I am slowly answering all the prompts), I told my self I was never going to cop out. After all I could always be creative to come up with some type of answer, but I really am stumped with this one. I guess I'm not sure how you could fall out of love from a book.

Maybe the obvious answer is a book that you've reread where you didn't enjoy it as much the first time. Or one that you read and enjoyed, but something life changing occurred where you look back on it with a completely different perspective. But I just don't see how you could read something and love it, and not long after have your reviews completely change. I think it would be more of remembering something different maybe?

So basically, in case you couldn't guess, I'm not giving a book for this one. But I'm more than curious to hear if anyone can answer this one, or if I'm the only one who it doesn't quite make sense for.

Brunch & Football

2011-10-04T16:26:00.001-05:00

This past weekend the LSU game was on at 11:30 am. It's supposedly one of the earliest starts in Tiger Stadium history. I'm sure there were people out tailgating all night all, which we were not a part of. Instead with the game so early, we decided to go out for brunch.

We I decided on the Londoner. I've been waiting to try this restaurant out seemingly forever. If you remember, we tried to go there for the Women's World Cup final, but they were packed. We've planned on going before, but it seems each times things came up. But this time we made it happen!

Since we were planning on being there for a while we started with an appetizer. (Not very brunch-y, but very good.) You'll have to excuse the blurry and dark-ish photos to come, but I think you can get the idea.
So, to start with, the boy and I split chicken, brie, and spinach sandwiches. They were supposed to have a sun-dried tomato spread, but since the boy isn't a tomato fan we go it on the side for me. And yes, there were delicious.
And for my mail meal above I went with the corned beef hash. It's hard to tell from the photo above, but this dish was HUGE. I probably ate half of it and brought the rest home for leftovers. Although I could have probably eaten a little bit more I had to save room for dessert,
which was sticky toffee pudding. This was seriously amazing! While I didn't quite lick the plate, I did make sure to get every drop with my spoon. Seriously, I would probably go there again just to have this.

So overall, the Londoner definitely lived up to my expectations, and I'm sure we'll be going there again. And of course, LSU won as well, so hopefully we're on the way to another national title!

Monday Movie Review

2011-10-03T16:43:00.000-05:00

What's Your Number
I heard some awful review about this one, but I should have known, that critics just don't get chick flicks, because I really wound up enjoying it. First there's the eye candy. Obviously, at least from the poster, Chris Evans is there a lot, and he's half naked through quite a bit. Plus there's a few great cameos from Chris Pratt and Dave Annable.

I had hear the critics complain that some of the best scenes were in the previews. But I didn't quite find that to be the case. Instead there were several scenes I expected from the previews that didn't actually make the movie.

I won't say the boy loved it, but there were definitely a few jokes the really amused it. Obviously it's not going to be nominated for any Oscars, nor is it completely original, but it still is a really cute chick flick, that I would easily agree to watch again.

In My Mailbox (25)

2011-10-02T08:07:00.000-05:00

I only have one book to share this week for The Story Siren's In My Mailbox, but I'm actually excited about it because hopefully it means I can make a bigger dent in my ever growing reading pile.
From Goodreads
The Popularity Rules by Abby McDonald
I don't know much about this, besides the fact it's summary said it was on Glamour UK's must list. It's basic summary seems to be a girl who ten years after high school runs into the popular girls who agrees to teach her the popularity rules. It was originally published in the UK, so I'm hoping for a British chick lit, maybe similar to the shopoholic books? Either way I'm excited to read it!

Did you wind up with anything good in your mailbox this week? Of course, if the answer is no, it's a good excuse to work on your reading pile, right?

It's a Secret

2011-10-01T10:17:00.001-05:00

The Secret Room by Beth Kanell
Something about this books cover and summary really called out to me and reminded me of the books I read growing. I was hoping for the best with it, but I was a little skeptical thinking it was self-published. (I was actually mistaken there, since there is a publisher, but it's a small publishing house.) But hopeful going into it, I am excited to share that overall I really enjoyed this.

The main story arc is of Shawna and her next door neighbor, Thea, discovering a hidden room while mapping out Thea's house for a math project. Throughout the book the two girl investigate the history of the room and what it was actually used for. While the mystery of the room is important, I would say the book is more about these two middle school girls becoming friends, learning about themselves, and discovering secrets within their own families.

The book does seem to be targeted as YA, and while I can't necessarily put my finger on why, at times it felt more like a middle grade novel to me. That's not to say they're aren't mature themes, but I think it's more that the book took place within a small town in Vermont. I think what I'm feeling more than anything else is a result of the sheltered environment where the girls are living.

I did enjoy reading this book now, but I think I would have loved reading it being the same age as Shawna and Thea. I loved hearing the girl's learn about their history, and even more than that was excited reading all the math-y notes to it. The book was definitely a nice surprise, and I'm glad I had the chance to read this one.

4/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.

What to do When Place Cards, Plus Ones, and Paying 2 Grand for a Cake Make You Miserable

2011-09-30T10:34:00.001-05:00

Planning Your Wedding Sucks by Joanne Kimes & Elena Donovan Mauer
It's funny, back before I was ever engaged I used to look longingly at the wedding section in the bookstore and think, "Someday I'll be able to buy them all!" Except now that I actually am engaged, I would rather avoid the whole situation and pretend that our wedding will somehow plan itself. I do have tons of magazines, and a book or two lent to me by past brides, as well as an official planner, but I figured I would finally live out my dream and pick up a wedding book.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting with this, perhaps some magical formula to get rid of all the stress. But sadly this wasn't that. But it does still give a brief overveiw of all the major aspects of the wedding. It isn't nearly as big as some of the wedding books out there, so as expected it isn't that detailed. There isn't a big list of various traditions by religion or a giant checklist, but the basics are there. I can't say this had anything profoundly new in it, but if you are starting from square one and have no clue on what to do, this could be a good starting point.

I did enjoy the pop culture references and it did feel up-to-date. For example, it suggested instead of a wedding website, why not just make a facebook page. Not something I would necessarily do, but I'm sure there's occasions where it's the perfect idea. Plus it swayed me a little seeing weddingbee in the reference section, and more than that according to the author's biography she's even written a guest post for the 'bee or two.

It really isn't a bad choice for a book, especially if you're looking for something brief and to the point. And for me, by reading it I could at least tell myself I was being somewhat productive for the wedding!

4/5

Let's Play Ball

2011-09-29T16:35:00.000-05:00

Moneyball
If you have any hesitation about seeing this movie because it's a "sports movie" you might want to reconsider. To start with there's Brad Pitt, and he's really good in it. The boy's comment was that while watching it, Brad fell so much into the role that he forgot who he was watching and thought of him as the character instead of the actor. I have to disagree a bit there, after all it's a little difficult to forgo who I'm staring at.

Plus if you're looking for more eye candy there's Chris Pratt, formerly of one of my favorite shows Everwood. Or if you're looking for more tv actors, there's Kerris Dorsey from Brothers & Sisters. She doesn't have a huge role, but she really shines whenever she's there. Plus she sings a song to her dad, aka Brad Pitt, that is great as well. I haven't downloaded it yet, but definitely plan on it. (And if you're curious about the song, you've probably heard it in an Old Navy commercial.)

As I started off with this, it isn't really a baseball movie. There is one big game scene, but most of the other baseball is a lot of highlights. And of course, there's a good amount of math in the movie. Or at least they allude to the math in the movie and show pictures a lot with tons of equations. They don't really get into the math, and while I would probably enjoyed more of it, if you're not a math person there really isn't that much.

If you have any hesitation seeing this one, I think you should take the chance on it. Worst case, even if you're not a huge fan of the story, there's a good amount of eye candy!

The Future Right-Now Mrs.?

2011-09-28T16:58:00.001-05:00

Remember a few weeks back how my MOH came to visit? Well after she left she sent us a thank you/housewarming present.
A giant F! Which is the boy's last name and my future last name. And with the F we now have a total of 5 items decorating the walls! And we've been hear almost 2 years... Obviously I'm not the best decorator.

I'm still not in love with the placement of the F. I don't really like the fact that's it's off-center. Except when I put it center it overlaps the picture. I could of course move the picture frame up, but it's already awfully close to the ceiling, and it took the boy close to 9 months to actually hang the picture. I'm not sure I can get him to move it anytime soon.

But this post isn't actually about the gift. (Although I do love it, thanks yo!) Instead it has to do with the fact she sent it from Restoration Hardware and must have addressed to both of us, because this past week we received a catalog in the mail addressed to... "Shoshanah F---." Yes, somehow they combined both of our names when addressing the catalog. Of course it isn't completely correct since I have a middle initial listed, which is instead the first initial of the boy's name. But still, it's the first time I've seen my name officially in print with the boy's last name instead of my own.

In a way it just feels odd, partially because it doesn't look that odd to me. I actually didn't notice the typo until a few days after it arrived when I was looking through it. It's hard to believe that a year from now this name (minus of course the wrong middle initial), will be correct on the mail we receive.

What are you thoughts on the name change debate? And what do you think I should do with the F? (It can be bolted to the wall if you absolutely hate it on the mantle, but for now it's there because it's the easiest place to put it.)

30 Days of Books - Day 11

2011-09-27T17:08:00.001-05:00

Day 11 – A book you hated
Part of me feels awful writing this one, becuase every book was written by an author that loved it, and just becuase I hated it doesn't mean someone else won't. But the book I'm sharing is one that still sticks out to me as one I really didn't enjoy, even though it's been almost 4 years since I've read it.
Gifted by Nikita Lalwani
It's funny going back to my goodreads profile seeing I gave it 2 stars with the following review.

"The first half of the book forever to get through. However, the final part read quite quickly, and was by far the most enjoyable part."

Looking back I must only be remember the first half and would probably now rate the book a 1 out of 5. My parents actually bought this book for me, back when they were in London (It was a UK edition, but I'm not sure if it's ever been published in the U.S.) since it's about a math prodigy, and at the time I was working towards my Masters in Math. It definitely should have been a book I'd enjoy, but it just didn't work for me.

I think a lot of that is because Rumi, the math prodigy, is so miserable for what I remember being the entire book. Her father forces her to study non-stop and sends her to the unniversity when she still a young teen. While there she tries to date guys, except for gets to tell them she isn't actually 18. But what stuck with me the most was her weird study habbits. Although I don't remember them exactly, it was something like chewing on pistachios shells, and the description of it all grossed me out a little.

Again, I do feel a little guilty calling this one out, since I'm sure there are people who loved it. So let me feel a little better, and tell me that there are books that you hated too.

Inside the 'vlope

2011-09-26T16:46:00.001-05:00

Last week I posted about the basic outline that I'm thinking about for out STDs, and mentioned that on the card itself there would be a mini-envelope, but kept quiet about what would be inside. And for the reveal... well instead let's talk about what won't be inside the envelope, but I love the idea so I'm sharing it anyways!

Source: weddingbee.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

Bookmarks!

I seriously love this idea and makes sense the the boy and I love to read. Except the boy always uses the receipt from a book purchase for a bookmark (and has got me doing the same), so we don't really use other bookmarks. Plus, there's the practicality of it. If you through it in a book, how likely is it that you'll lose it and hence the remember. It is a great idea in theory, but I don't think it would quite work for us. But since I still love it, here's another STD bookmark to lust over.

Source: etsy.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

And yes, I'm going to keep you waiting a little longer for the full idea. But let's say that a few of you in your comments on the last post had the right idea.

What are your thoughts for a bookmark STD? Do you love the idea, or are you of the opinion that there's a few practical issues with it?

In My Mailbox (24)

2011-09-25T08:23:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my 24 edition of In My Mailbox, hosted by The Story Siren. So let's get to the books, both of which I won through Goodreads.
The Secret Room by Beth Kanell
I normally try to avoid requesting self-published books but this is one that jumped out to me regardless of who it was published by. It's a YA book, where I girl finds a hidden room in her home, and uncovers the history behind in and its past. It reminded me of some of my favorite YA books growing up (specifically Time Windows by Kathryn Reiss if anyone remembers that one). I'm not completely sure what to expect with this, but I'm hoping it lives up to my expectations.

Life is Not a Stage by Florence Henderson with Joel Brokaw
I always enjoy reading memoir, and everytime I see a celebrity memoir I also think they'd be fun to read. But I never actually go out and buy celebrity memoirs, which is why I'm so excited to read Mrs. Brady's memmoir. I'm hoping this one sparks a live of celebrity memoirs, because there's a ton out there that I think I'd love.

Are you a fan of celebrity memoirs? Do you have a favorite you think I should read? And what's in your mailbox this week?

Back to Juliet

2011-09-24T10:10:00.000-05:00

Juliet by Anne Fortier
It was interesting reading this one so soon after Robin Maxwell's Oh, Juliet. Both are obviously retellings of Shakespeare's, and both allude to the fact the his version was not the first. Both attempt to tell the "real" story behind the tale, although while neither sets their story in Verona, Maxwell's is in Venice compared to this one in Siena.

While parts of this novel are historical, the majority of the story is a modern day Julie Jacobs. The American Julie discovers that her real name is in fact Guiletta Tolomei, and that her mother left clues in Sienna to help Julie learn the secrets of her past and break the curse on her family left over from the Middle Ages. Except part of discovering her past is learning the story of her ancestor also Guiletta Tolomei, the real Juliet.

In general, I'm not a huge fan of stories that alternate between the present and the past. I can't quite pinpoint why, but I think it's partly because I'd rather hear more of the historical aspect. I still enjoyed Julie's story and the mystery she's solving, but I wish the historical tale was as elaborated as hers.

Also while I seemed to get the love between the historical Guiletta and Romeo, I never felt the same connection between Guiletta and her "Romeo." Don't get me wrong, I still liked his character, but I never seemed to see them fall in love.

I did enjoy the stories of the Palio, I think partially because it's the only thing I really remember from when I went to Sienna back in high school. Not that we saw the actual race, but I remember standing in the courtyard in front of the church and hearing that there was an annual horse race here a little in disbelief.

Overall it is an enjoyable book that kept me guessing to the last pages. I did take me a while to get through it, but I think that's partly the way its written. (For me when alternating chapters change time periods so often, it often feel like a natural stop, or a place where I should be taking a reading break.) I do wish there was a little more of a historical story, but still think if you picked this one up it would be hard not to enjoy it.

4/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book from the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Origonal YA

2011-09-23T09:52:00.000-05:00

Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly
When I picked this book up I assumed I'd be reading a cute YA summer read. In a way the book completely meets those expectations, but that wouldn't quite be the whole story.

From the cover you would assume that this is a contemporary story. The summary does really nothing to tell you anything different. Even the author's biography just mentions the fact that she was in college when she wrote the book, but curiously never mentions what she is doing now. It's only when you look at the copyright date you see that this was actually written in 1942, and after some internet research is considered by some to be the first modern YA book.

The book never comes out and says when everything is taking place. But even if you started reading without knowing, it would probably hit you, when you realize Angie's date, Jack, takes her on a date to a soda shop, where teens are able to order beers without anyone bating an eye. There are no cells phone or internet, instead Angie and her still all wind up waiting by the one phone in the house hoping that their boys will call. Not quite what you expect to see in a modern YA book, so hopefully even though the book is marketed without mentioning the time period, as a reader you would figure it out.

There do seem to be a lot of people complaining that the book is slow and hard to understand because it was written for a different time period. But I didn't find that to be the case, probably because I read a lot of historical fiction. Except while the book is historical, it wouldn't be considered historical fiction since it was written about the 1940s in the 1940s. There are things as a reader that the author assumes we'd know and aren't explained, whereas if it was written for today's reader we'd probably be receiving a little more detail, nor are there any specific historical events that place the book in a specific year. After all to Daly it wasn't history, it was just her life.

What I loved about this book is that even though it was over 70 years ago it still fells current. I can relate to Angie's feeling towards Jack, her sisters, and her feelings on leaving for college. It interesting to see while some things have changed (for instance, Angie taking a train to go to college versus an airplane now) so much has stayed the same.

But while I liked Angie's personally and thoughts she didn't seem to say much. Throughout almost all of her dates with Jack she never seemed to actually talk to him. It isn't till the end of the novel, when finally there seems to be some conversation between the two. I do think part of this could be again when it was written, since in general girls weren't nearly as forward with guys as they are now.

The whole novel has an innocence about it. I don't just mean Angie herself, although she does come off as innocent. But more that looking back I know this story takes place on the brink of World War II. Except the story never once mentions that life is about it change for its characters. It isn't unusual considering a young woman in college in the early 1940s may not have known what was going in, and even if she did there's no way she could have known just what the war would bring. But I can't help but wonder and be worried about what happens for these characters. And if anything I only wish I had a little more closure and knew exactly what the future held for Angie and Jack.

4.5/5

30 Days of Books - Day 10

2011-09-22T17:04:00.000-05:00

Day 10 – Favourite classic book
I started coming up with possibilities on this one and was surprised that most of them were a little YA. Books like The Little House on the Prairie or The Wizard of Oz. Not really a surprise since I spent a lot of time reading when I was younger reading books more age appropriate, and I still read a lot of YA. Of course if I needed to pick a classic that wasn't YA-ish I probably could (Les Miserables is the first that comes to mind), but since that isn't anywhere in the prompt, YA it is.

Anyways, that was a bit of a long introduction as to way I feel my choice is a classic, even though some may not consider it to be. And that choice is...
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
I absolutely loved this book and read it over and over. I loved the movie version from the 90s. I loved the Shirley Temple version. I even read the original version Sara Crewe or What Happened at Miss Minchin's. (For those who haven't Sara Crewe is basically a short, 4 chapter version of the story that was written about 10 years prior to A Little Princess. It's the same basic story, just with a lot less details.)

What's funny is that while I loved this, I don't believe I've ever read any other of Burnett's books. I obviously know the story of The Secret Garden and love the movie, but never have sat down and read it. That definitely needs to go on my list of books that I need to read.

Have you read A Little Princess? Would you consider it to be a "classic"? And what's your favorite classic book?

STD-ing It

2011-09-21T16:23:00.000-05:00

Since it hasn't yet made the blog, I joined Pinterest! (If you still need an invite just let me know in the comments and I'll send you one.) But my main reason for joining had a lot to do with wedding inspiration. I've slowly been collecting ideas, and since it's the most pressing wanted to share my thoughts on a possible Save the Date.

Source: weddingbee.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

I love the way the text has a border in this but it's not a standard shape. This is from an actual invitation, but my thought is that this would be on card stock about postcard type size and be the main part of the STD with the actual text.

Source: weddingbee.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

I love the idea of keeping this basic shape and using on a variety of paper products similar to Mrs. Cupcake did in her invitation above.

On the card along with the words "Save the Date," our names, location, and the actual date, there would also be some type of mini envelope similar to the ones shown below.

Source: weddingbee.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

Source: veilsandvows.blogspot.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

Source: boards.weddingbee.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

Source: ohsobeautifulpaper.com via Shoshanah on Pinterest

As for inside the envelope... well you'll have a wait a while to find that out! But in the mean time, and guesses as to what I'm planning on hiding in the envelope?

My Fall TV Line-Up

2011-09-20T16:59:00.000-05:00

In some ways I've been dreading writing this. Not because I'm not looking forward to tv shows, but because there's so many I want to watch I'm not sure how I'm going to fit them all in. Of course we don't have a DVR which makes watching shows on at the same time a little difficult. But I'll survive.

All shows are Central time, since that's when I watch them, and if there's no premier date shown it's because it's already on.

Sunday
7-8pm: The Amazing Race 9/25
8-9pm: Desparate Housewives 9/25
9-10pm: Pan Am 9/25
9-10pm: Real Housewives of New Jersey
So RHONJ and Pan Am are on at the same time. But the Housewives season is about halfway over. The the plan is to switch during commericals and once RH ends I can watch Pan Am full time.

Monday
7-8pm: Terra Nova 9/26
8-9pm: Heart of Dixie 9/26
9-10pm: Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
The boy will probably be watching House and Castle this night, so depending on how I feel about Rachael Bilson's show and after RH ends, I might instead be watching those two with him.

Tuesday
7-8pm: Glee 9/20
7-9pm: The Biggest Loser 9/20
8-9pm: Ringer
9-10pm: Teen Mom/16 and Pregnant
Obviously this is a busy night for me. And I would also love to watch The New Girl as well as Parenthood. I don't know for sure, but assuming MTV keeps their current pattern 16 & Pregnant will premeier after Teen Mom ends. Although if it doesn't I could instead fit Parenthood into my schedule.

Wednesday
7-8pm: Survivor
7-9pm: X-Factor 9/21
9-10pm: Top Chef
A fairly calm night. Although I would love to be able to fit in Up All Night and Revenege. There's just scheduling conflicts for me though.

Thursday
8-9pm:Grey's Anatomy 9/22
How is it I only have 1 show on Thursday, but so many on others. Especially when Thursday used to be my top night of tv?

Are there any shows on my list you'll be watching? Or are there any others you think I should try to fit into my schedule?

Monday Movie Review

2011-09-19T16:43:00.000-05:00

Drive
This actually wound up being a really odd movie, but it had Ryan Gosling in it so at least it wasn't time completely wasted, right?

The movie starts off really really slow. There's not a lot of dialogue but there is somewhat of a romance between Ryan's and Carey Mulligan's character. Except again they don't really talk, and there's nothing anything close to kissing. Instead the only thing that stood out was a few montages, especially one I enjoyed that featured them driving in the L.A. river.

But the last third of the movie it does a complete 180. There's topless girls, lots of blood, but surprisingly, considering the movie name, not a lot of car chases. (Although the opening scene does have a good chase, that's about it.)

I'm not sure this movie is really going to work for most people. I don't see most guys enjoying the majority of the movie. Yes there are scenes toward the end, like one where someone's skull is completely crushed by another's foot, that they'd enjoy. But I don't know how many would be willing to sit through all the slow parts. And from the opposite point of view, the start could have been the first have of a good romantic movie. But some of the scenes towards the end were a little too gruesome for my taste.

I almost hate to say this, because again Ryan Gosling is in this, but I think this might be one you want to skip.

In My Mailbox (23)

2011-09-18T08:08:00.000-05:00

I'm linking up to The Story Siren's In My Mailbox. For more information on what it is and how it got started, you're more than welcome to visit The Story Siren.So my last trip to Borders. Still can't believe it. This was actually taken last weekend, except I already had last Sunday's post ready. All of these were marked down 70-90%, which means my receipt was under $20 and showed a savings of over $100. By this point there were out of a lot of books, but I still managed to find a few I was in love with. Now onto the books!
The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin
This was the first book I picked up in the store and I'm so happy they still had at least one in stock. I've been lusting this one for a while now and I'm so happy to finally be able to read it! It is a historical fiction about the wife of P. T. Barnum's General Tom Thumb. I'm assuming it will be similar to Water for Elephants at least with the circus aspect and I'm really hoping to love this one.

Four Kitchens by Lauren Shockey
This one actually jumped out at me as something my parents would really enjoy. I'm sure I'd enjoy it too, but they tend to read these food-memoir type books more. Of course the fact that one of the kitchens mentioned on the cover is Tel Aviv has a lot to do with why it caught my eye.

How to Eat a Small Country by Amy Finley
Another food-y type memoir, except with a reality tv spin. This was written by one of the winners of Food Network's The Next Food Network Star. There's only been 1 or 2 seasons I've watched by Amy's was one of them. The basic plot line of this seems to be that being a celebrity was everything Amy expected. So instead Amy quits her show and moves her family to France to find out what's really important to her.

Snow Day by Billy Coffey
So I went to the register to check out and was told, "If you buy 1 more book you get 15% off your entire purchase." This is the book that was closest to me at that time. Basically it means I spent $1.50 on this book and got $3 back, or I was paid $1.50 to buy this one. Of course it's not the best deal since I could have done this with a book I would probably enjoy more. But even though this book doesn't look like the type I normally read I might force myself to read it just to prove that it wasn't that bad of a decision.

The Darling Strumpet by Gillian Bagwell
I've seen this book several times and always thought about picking it up, but never actually followed through. It's a story of Nell Gwynn, one of Charles II's mistresses. Everything I've read about Charles II and his court I've enjoyed, so I'm hoping this will follow that trend.

Paris, Baby by Kristen Lobe
Yes, another memmior. This seems to be a mash-up of several other books I've previously read, but it's basically a memior of a single American girl who finds herself pregnant in Paris. Plus how cute is this cover?

Sweet Date of Basra by Jessica Jiji
This is another historical fiction that takes place in Iraq in the 1940s. I've never really read anything historical about Iraq but I'm more than curious to try this one out.

Secrets of a Jewish Mother by Gloria Kame, Lisa Wexler, and Jill Zarin
I probably would have picked this one up based only on the title. But the fact that it's written by Jill Zarin of Real Housewives of New York, meant this was an automatic yes. While Jill may not be my favorite housewife I'm still excited to read her book.

Definitely an excellent mailbox for me this week! Let me know if yours was as well.

Observations on Life from the Shallow End of the Pool

2011-09-17T09:13:00.000-05:00

You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl by Celia Rivenbark
I've never read anything be this author, but I've definitely noticed her books before. With previous titles as Stop Dressing Your Six-Your-Old Like a Skank and Bless Your Heart, Tramp, how could you not notice them? I think this book is officially considered to be a collection of humorous essay, but she reminds me so much of Jen Lancaster that I'm thinking it could also be considered a memoir. She does mention her family as well which helps the memoir classification, plus I don't currently have a "Humor" tag on my blog so I'm officially tagging this review as s memoir.

While their are a few essays on the author life, such as going to her daughter's science fair, most of what jumped out to me was her reflections on pop, specifically reality tv. It's probably because I'm a little reality tv obsessed, but I loved reading all her comments on the Duggars, Kate Goselin, and Toddles & Tiaras. However even though I read an ARC, and the official publication date was only August 16 parts of it feel a little dated. For example, when discussed Real Housewives of New Jersey she references Dina and Danielle, both of whom are no longer on the show. I understand that's a problem you accept when dealing with pop culture because it changes so quickly. I also see how in a few years it could be seen more as nostalgic, but now it comes off as dated to me.

Overall it was a really amusing book that I'm glad I had the chance to read. I don't think I would have actually gone out and bought this book if I hadn't won it. But now having read her work, I'm a little intrigued and would love to read her other books.

4/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.

Paris Hold the Key to Your Heart

2011-09-16T09:40:00.001-05:00

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Going into this I had heard nothing but positive reviews. I was a little skeptical, because really, how could a book actually be that good? But I am a little giddy to admit that the book didn't just meet my expectations is completely exceeded them.

Anna is not too happy when her father sends her off the boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school. Yes, she does understand that living in Paris has its benefits, but more of her is upset that she won't be able to spend her last year of high school with all her friends and her kind-of-sorta-boyfriend. Except Paris has a little magic of its own to sway her mind.

Obviously I have criticisms of the book, but honestly most of them could be considered positives in a different light. First, the book didn't read like Anna and her friends were in high school. Instead they reminded me a lot more of the feeling of college. I do think that a lot of that has to do with the circumstances, and going to boarding school in Paris is probably a lot more like my college experience than mine in high school. Also living halfway across the world from your parents would force you to grow up, which is why it makes sense everyone seemed so mature. And while it might have bothered me that everyone seemed more like college students than high school-ers, I have a feeling I would have enjoyed it a lot less if they came off as immature to me.

And then there's the dreamy Etienne St. Clair who almost comes off as too perfect and too good to be true. Except looking back Etienne definitely had his faults and his shortcomings. It's just that all of his hotness oozes of the pages, that you almost ignore the bad and almost can't imagine that someone as perfect as Etienne would exist in real life.

I can't believe I waited this long to read this. But in a way it's a good thing, because now I don't have to wait near as long for its companion novel, Lola and the Boy Next Door, which comes out later this fall. If you've been avoiding this one because you don't see how it can possibly live up to its hype, you need to give it a chance because I think you will be surprised.

5/5

Pioneer Woman Cookin'

2011-09-15T17:12:00.000-05:00

If you've been here for a while now it shouldn't be a surprise to hear that I'm a big fan of the Pioneer Woman. I've cooked her recipes before (I think more than once, but the only one I can find now is when I made her red pepper risotto. And I love her new Food Network show (at least the one time I remembered out of the three that have already aired. I'm just not used to regularly watching a show Saturday morning.) But moving on...

A few weeks ago Ree posted her recipe for peach whiskey barbecue chicken which I thought looked delicious. But not just delicious, it also looked relatively easy. I thought about blogging the cooking process, but if you wanted to see those picture obviously mine can't compare to hers, so here's my finished product still in the pot.
For the most part I follower her recipe. Except for the part where you're supposed to add a jar of BBQ sauce and a jar of peach preserves. I still did that, but looking at the pictures Ree's bottles were the same size, whereas I added 12 ounces of BBQ sauce and 18 of peach preserves. The sauce did come out a little sweet, but I'm thinking if they were equal amounts it would have tasted a little more in balance. But even with the sweetness I loved the sauce, and it worked perfect as a gravy over the mashed potatoes.
It was definitely another winning (and easy!) recipe and I'm glad I decided to make it. Next time though, I think it may be time for her signature cinnamon rolls, because they look completely mouth watering?

How you ever made a Pioneer Woman recipe? And have you been watching her TV show?

30 Days of Books - Day 9

2011-09-14T16:28:00.000-05:00

Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
I will admit that I'm a little leery of book recommendations at times. Not that I don't appreciated. But more that if someone makes a point to tell me to read a book, my initial thought is, "If it was really that good, I would have discovered it myself." Of course this isn't always true, and some of my favorite books were those I initially dismissed and wound up loving.

I have two books that fit this category perfectly. In both cases a friend of family member lent me the book and told me I would love it. Both times I didn't believe them, except both times I fell in love, not just with the book but the rest of the books in the series. I feel a little embarrassed now admitting it, because of how much I now love them, but the two books that best fir the description of a book I didn't think I'd enjoy are...
The City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
Are you surprised by my choices? How willing are you to take a book recommendation? And what books did you think you wouldn't like but ended up loving?

The Path to the Dress: Part 2

2011-09-13T17:17:00.000-05:00

Last week I posted about our not-so-nice dress shopping in the posh bridal salon. But the second stop of the day was instead to a bridal shop owned by a family friend. In hindsight we would have been fine if it was the only stop, but I thought the upscale shopping experience would be fun. Turns out, not so much. But on to the dresses...
Again, I didn't think to actually write down the names about these dresses for the blog. So you'll just have to make do with pretty pictures. I think you guys can handle that, right?
There are certain aspects of this one I really love. I think partialy because it looks like a historical Southern Belle dress. But there are others, like the beading, I'm not a huge fan of. I think it could probably be removed, but feel like the dress wouldn't quite look complete without it.
I was a big fan of this dress when I was trying it on. And still now, looking back I like the dress. But it's just not really the look I was going for, which makes it hard for me to fall in love with it.
Out of all the dresses I tried on this one was probably my favorite. Except due to my indecisiveness I'm still not sure. Going into shopping I didn't want a strapless dress, due mainly to principle than anything else since it just feel so overdone. But I think the straplessness works here. Although, while I have a feeling it could be changed if it was a huge issue, the dress has buttons on the back instead of a lace-up which I'd prefer. Again not a huge issue, especially since overall I love how I look in the dress. Right now I'm thinking it's the top contender, but at this point I'm still a little up in the air.

Did you have a difficult decision on finding THE DRESS? And please let me know if you have a favorite out of the dresses I've posted, or any suggestions on the type f dresses I should be looking for.

Monday Movie Review

2011-09-12T16:28:00.001-05:00

Warrior
In case you couldn't guess from the poster and the title this one wasn't quite my choice. But with some of the subplots I was at least interested and figured it couldn't be worse than the recent Conan.

As far as I know this is the first UFC movie. It follows two brothers, one a high school physics teacher and the other a marine war hero, both underdogs, who wind up fighting each other in the huge Sparta UFC championship.

So yes, there was a lot of fighting. And I cringed and hid my eyes through most of it. But besides the fighting it was actually a good movie, and I'm almost embarrassed to say even made me cry a little. So basically, not a movie I'm dying to see again, but all-in-all considering the subject, I enjoyed it.

P.S. And did I mention they showed The Hunger Games trailer during the previews? Seeing Katniss on the big screen was awesome, and I can't wait for the movie next March!

In My Mailbox (22)

2011-09-11T08:38:00.000-05:00

Yes it's Sunday, and I'm linking up to The Story Siren's In My Mailbox. I had an awesome week for books, and not only that but all of them were won. Also exciting to get not just a ton of books, but not have to spend money. So bring out the books!
From TeenReads.com
Death Cloud by Andrew Lane
This is a YA Sherlock Holmes book about the dectetive as a teen. I haven't heard much about it, but maybe because I don't read a lot of mystery. I do enjoy YA and historical fiction in general, so I think I might really enjoy this one.

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
This is another YA I don't know much about. But it's about a half-angel and has a gorgeous cover, so it has to be good right?

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
I am SO excited for this one. Honestly if the only book I had to share was this one I would feel incredibly lucky. In case you haven't heard about this one yet, it's a dystopian where love is treated as a disease. I've heard amazing things about this one, and expect to fall in love as well.

Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr
This is actually the third in a trilogy, so I'm thinking I should read the other two first? I'm a little reluctent to learn more about what this book itself is about for fear of ruining the first two. So if anyone out there has read these books, please let me know if the first two are worth tracking down.

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
I never actually saw this movie, and I'm still a little disapointed by that. Again, I have high hopes for this and once I finish hope to read the rest of the series.

From Goodreads
You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl by Celia Rivenbark
I've already started this one and so far I'm a fan. It reads a lot like Jen Lancaster, except each chapter is more of a separte amusing tale instead of a complete story. So far I'm definitely enjoying it and happy to have the chance to have read it.

Overall I'm still so excited for my books this week and can't wait to read them all. I'd love to know your thoughts on these (especially those I don't know much about), and want to know what books you've picked up this week.

Escape from Tibet

2011-09-10T10:31:00.001-05:00

Across Many Mountain by Yangzom Brauen
I've clearly heard of the "Free Tibet" movement, and growing up I remember seeing the Buddhist monks walking around Long Beach (coincidentally for me the Long Beach Buddhist temple is even visited in the book), but honestly I know very little about Tibet and its history. This is technically a memoir, but reading it you can't help but learn for more than you'd expect to, especially considering its genre.

The author, Yangzom Brauen, starts off telling us her grandmother's story of life as a nun in Tibet. About halfway through it shifts to her mother, who with her family left Tibet as a refugee at age six to go to India. The last few chapters are the author's own story of her childhood in Switzerland.

The book was hard for me to read. Not necessarily emotionally (although it had its moments), but more that it was detailed and slow to read. It does feel a little one-sided since we don't hear the Chinese point of view, but being that's it's a memoir it is expected. It paints a vivid picture of what living in Tibet in the early 20th century was like, and explains the basics of the "Free Tibet" movement and why it's needed. Included in the information I received from the publisher was a quote on the book from the Dalai Lama, which does give the book a certain credibility.

If you have even a slight curiosity about Tibet I would recommend this book. Going into the book, I didn't have a strong desire to learn more about their situation, but am definitely glad I stuck through the book, since I learned a lot. It isn't necessarily a quick read, but I think it's definitely one you'll remember.

4/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own.

It's a Blog, Not a Memior Part 4

2011-09-09T10:03:00.000-05:00

Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster
It's been a while (a little over a year) since I read the last Jen Lancaster book. But in a way it doesn't really matter because you could read this one even if you haven't read her other books. In some ways this book is a prequel, at least as much as a memoir can be considered a prequel. It's start when Jen, or Jeni as she goes by then, is 8 and ends a few years before the start of bitter. Each story or chapter i centered around an item of clothing. Except since I'm not really a clothing person, I kind of ignored that part and just enjoyed her hilarious story.

I did wind up enjoying this one, but I'm not quite sure if it's my favorite. Part of it might be because I don't completely remember the first 3, so it's hard to judge it against them. (I actually had to do a quick blog search to refresh my memory. It's a nice little blogging perk being able to recall your feelings on a book from 1 or 2 years ago.) My favorite parts of the books were while Jen was in college, but especially those dealing with her sorority, both while she's pledging and actually a member.

If you haven't read Jen Lancaster's books by now, you should probably make a point to pick one up. (Especially if you're a blogger, because her books definitely have the feel of a blog. Makes sense especially considering that's how she go her book deal.) Most often I'd tell you to start with their first book. And while I think that's still the best option, considering this one's a prequel you could probably read this one first and not really miss out.

4/5

30 Days of Books - Day 8

2011-09-08T16:43:00.000-05:00

Day 08 – Most overrated book
This one was difficult for me. Not in the sense that it was hard to come up with one, but more of what overrated means. In my mind an overrated book would be one that everyone else seems to love that I just couldn't get into. So by picking a book that I couldn't get into, but everybody else did, means I'm going to be upsetting someone. No offense to anyone if you loved this, but it just didn't do it for me. And the book I'm selecting is...
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I was just never really able to get into it. I think part of it is I was assigned to read the book and school, and I don't particularly like being told what to read. Also part of me would prefer just to enjoy a book without having to analyze it in depth. But even though I'm not a fan of this, if they do decide to make a movie (especially staring Leonardo Dicaprio as I've heard rumored) I will definitely be there.

Do you agree with my choice, or are you a huge fan of this one? And what book would you consider to be "most overrated"?

Repaying On It

2011-09-07T16:45:00.000-05:00

The Debt
To be honest I wasn't really looking forward to this one. But as awful as it sounds the main reason that I was willing to see it was that it's basically an Israeli movie. Its basic story is around three Israeli Mossad agents who are sent to the Soviet Union on a secret mission to capture a former high ranking Nazi. Except it doesn't go completely to plan, and years later the three of them are still dealing with the consequences of their actions.

Watching the movie part of me wondered if it would have made more sense for them to be speaking Hebrew instead of English. (After all when they spoke Russian it was actually Russian.) Except if it was actually in Hebrew it wouldn't quite have the same market. Plus this is actually a remake of an Israeli film, so the Hebrew version is out there. I did like the fact that aside for the 6 main characters, most of the actors were Israeli (at least judging by the names listed in the credits).

Overall the movie wasn't quite what I expected it to be, but I did enjoy it. Although I think that if this had been just a general spy movie, and I didn't have the Jewish connection, I probably would feel as strongly for it.