CSL

Crazy Stupid Love
To start with I wound up loving this movie! It's not really a surprise given the cast and the awesome reviews, but I was a little taken a back at home much I enjoyed. Obviously given the title it's a bit romantic, and it's quite a bit dramatic as well. But what I wasn't expecting was how funny it would be too. Honestly I feel like I laugh harder during this movie than any other one I've seen recently. After the movie ended I started looking forward to the next time I seen the movie. There is fairly big twist near the end, at least I didn't see it coming, and I'm curious to see my thought of the movie when I watch it again and know what to expect. If you haven't seen it yet, I'm definitely recommending it and think it could easily be one of my favorite movies of the summer!

Ducky-Wucky

Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle
To be honest I bought this book mainly due to its title. I thought is was pretty adorable and figured there had to be a cute story inside. Don't get me wrong, I had actually heard of the book before, and had read a review on another blog (Unfortunately, I don't remember whose) so I wasn't going in completely blind.

Carly is about her sophomore year of high school, except this year she won't be alone because her little sister, Anna, will also be starting as a freshmen. Except over the summer Anna's body has changed and she's become hot overnight. Carly isn't sure if she's jealous of her, instead she's busy figuring out just who she is an who just wants to be. She doesn't want to conform and be like every other girl at her school, but if you're rebelling and acting different, just to say you're different than everyone else what does that make you? And how do these changes impact the relationship between the two sisters.

It actually took me a while to get into this one. The first half most of the girls just felt fake to me, but I think that's probably the point, since neither one really knew who they really were. I'm not sure what the changing point was for me. Maybe it's because there was more action at the end or because I finally started the care for the girls, but by the close I was a little sorry to see it be over.

The book definitely explores the ups and downs of having a sister. But even with the downs, reading it made me wish I had a sister. It also brought me right back to all the angst-y high school feelings, which isn't necessarily a good thing, but definitely part of made the book itself.

I am glad I let myself be swayed be the cutest cover, and am glad I stuck with it after being disappointed at first. I wound up being a big fan of the story, and while this is the first I've read by Lauren Myracle, I'm definitely up for reading more of her books.

4.5/5

From Egypt to Rome

First before I get to my review (which I really think you should read because I loved this book!), just wanted to send out a friendly announcement that Book Blogger Appreciation Week 2012 has been announced for September 12 - 16. Last year I wound up on the long list for best historical fiction blog, which I thought was impressive since I wasn't a huge part of the book blogging community. But in the past year I've gotten so much more involved in the community and read some many more book blogs, I'm excited for the festivities to start! So if BBAW is something new to you I highly recommend you check it you, but now... onto the review!

Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
Obviously I've heard of Cleopatra, Mark Antony, and Julius Caesar. But in truth I don't know that much about them. Surprising I think I learned far more about them from this book than I knew before, and this book actually about any of the three of them.

Instead it tells the story of Cleopatra Selene, the daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Within the first few pages both of her parents are dead, and Selene and her brothers are taken as prisoners to Rome to be raised in the household of the Roman Emperor.

I really enjoyed reading Selene's story and almost more so loved the history. Being that this is historical fiction, I have to wonder just how much is based on actual fact. Obviously given when these event occurred (about 40 B.C.E) we don't have a lot of concrete information. But while I'm not a scholar and don't know how much is the truth, it felt real to me and I very mush so enjoyed reading and learning what ancient Rome was potential like.

I don't want to say I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed the book, because I was expecting to love it based on the subject matter. I am happy I finally had a chance to read it and am now looking forward to sequel's release this fall, and would also love to read Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran to read about Selene from another author's perspective as well.

5/5

30 Days of Books - Day 1

I'm sure by now you've seen the various 30 day memes floating around blog-land. I've always wanted to do one, but I never found one that just felt "right" to me. At least till now. Through The Bibliophile, who found it at Chimneys and Magic is the 30 Day Book Meme. It doesn't look like Chimneys and Magic actually created it, but it's where I found the list, so credit is going to her. Here's the official prompt.

Day 01 – The best book you read last year
Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
Day 03 – Your favourite series
Day 04 – Favourite book of your favourite series
Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
Day 06 – A book that makes you sad
Day 07 – Most underrated book
Day 08 – Most overrated book
Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 10 – Favourite classic book
Day 11 – A book you hated
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favorite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote(s) from your favourite book(s)
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title(s)
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time

I have decided I'm going to try not to reuse books. Because my favorite book of all time could probably go under book that I've reread 3 or more times, favorite book I own, favorite romance book, etc... Although you're going to have to wait to find out just what that is since it's on Day 30. And I don't plan on posting these every single day, but will hopefully get through all 30 days. I think it's going to be fun, and hopefully you do too and decide to play along. So let's get started with...

Day 01 – The best book you read last year
Is it bad that I can't actually choose just one from last year? If I start this now I can only imagine how many books I'll be listing by the end, but there's a few that stand out that I can't decide between. Obviously I'm not alone with these choices since all are, or at least will be, movies. So my favorites for the last year (linking to each review) are...
One Day by David Nicholls
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 1 2 3
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

If you're going to be joining in on all 30 days, please let me know in the comments below. Or if you just want to answer one, what was the best book you read last year?

Curl it Up

I've been using my current hair gel forever, or really winter break senior year of college. That's when you know a hair products made an impact, when you know exactly when you started using it. I bought it on a whim, I figured with such a name I knew actually what it would do.
And sure enough, Curls Up, did exactly what it promised and held my curls throughout the day. (And just ignore the messy counter in the background. I'm sure it's no worse than yours, right?) It doesn't leave my hair hard or crunchy and yet yet manages to keep them throughout the day. Plus it smells a little bit like grapefruit.

So when I ran out recently I went to the drugstore to pick up some more as normal. Except I couldn't find any. I stopped looking and walked around the store hoping I would find it somewhere else, or when I got back it would magically appear. But still back in the hair product section, no Curls Up. I had my droid phone with me, so took it out to check the manufacturer to see if they carried anything else by them. After confirming it was made by FX, and reading everyone else rave reviews online (I guess I'm not the only one obsessed), but also complaints that others hadn't been able to find it either. I thought I was going to have to officially switch to a new hair gel, except...
I found it just with brand new packaging. You can see around it's neck there is a little tag with the old bottle on it, but obviously I didn't see it at first. I do like the new bottle, and thinks it makes it look a little more high class, but honestly I was just glad to had found it.

Anyone else use Curls Up or any other FX products? (And FYI, I have tried their Straighten Out as well, but wasn't a huge fan) Or what do you use in your hair?

And in case you were confused this post was all me. You would think if this was a sponsored post it wouldn't be about my difficulty finding it, right?

Photo Help

Later this week I'll be meeting with my first potential wedding photographer. I really hope it works out and we fall magically in love, mainly so I don't have to worry about it anymore and can move onto the next thing on my list. But of course, what I'm worried about is how do I know if it works out and if they're the one.

I do have the standard list of questions to ask from my wedding planning book (Ask about type of cameras, their back-up plan if they can't attend or instead if we have to cancel, their rates for additional time, the average length of time to wait to receive the pictures), and a few that are important to me (namely, are you ok with me posting the photos off the cd onto my blog?) but it still feels like I'm going to be forgetting something. Plus I want to ask the type of questions so that I feel 100% completely confident I'm making the right choice. I'm not completely sure there are questions to ensure that, but I'd like to try.

So hopefully you guys can help me out, and let me know what you think are the must ask questions for a photographer. Or maybe even make the decision for me?

C & A

Cowboys & Aliens
This wound up being another movie I really enjoyed. I think with the title and premise it could have come off as ridiculous or over the top, but it wasn't that at all. Instead it's basically just a Western where aliens just happen to invade. As crazy as it sounds the whole thing actually came off as believable. I'm awfully glad this movie got made, because I can imagine the person who first came up wit the idea was almost laughed at. And I do think it it had been done differently it would have been laughable, but I think it wound up as one of the better movies of the summer.