Thursday, April 30, 2015

April Favorites ~ 2015

Taking a page from the countless beauty gurus on Youtube, this will be a new, monthly addition to the blog; where I will list all of the things that I have been loving, using or watching throughout the month of ____.


Below are my April favorites:


Where has this show been all my life?! And, more importantly, where have Leslie and Ben been all my life? That ship sailed WAY before I even made it to the second season (where Ben makes his grand entrance). I bought the first season in March and have been rapidly collecting/watching the rest ever since.


I read A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab at the tail end of March, but the change in month has not swayed my feelings toward this book at all. It was fantastic. I openly express my love for this author quite a bit, so when I discovered that she would be publishing another book — fantasy, set in a magical, multi-dimensional London — I could not wait to have it in my possession (it certainly did not disappoint). I kept coming back to it throughout April, flipping through its pages and revisiting some of my favorite parts. I also uploaded a review/discussion of the book on my BookTube channel, so if you would like to see that, click here.


I don't wear much jewelry, and when I do I tend to pick out a few of my favorite pieces and pair them with everything. Usually, it is my pocket watch necklace, but these two have made several appearances throughout the month. The Daisy necklace is from Deb, a shop that has recently gone out of business. The smaller, tree necklace is from Walmart.


I bought these boots about a year ago at Target and have only recently discovered just how much I love them. They are comfortable and cute; two things I look for most in footwear!


This has probably not been established here, on this blog, or anywhere online ever, but I have a slight obsession with nail polish. Now that spring has finally sprung (or as much as it will, in Ohio) I have taken a liking to the more pastel and vibrant of nail colors. These four are all from the brand Salon Perfect, which can easily be found at your local drug store, or wherever nail polishes are sold. Their names are as follows:

Haute Pink (though it definitely comes out as more of an orange on the nails)
Bermuda Baby
Lilacking Control
Perky Pink

(My absolute favorites have been the light pink and purple).


Usually I will go through phases of either not playing my DS at all or touching nothing else. In April, I rediscovered my love for Animal Crossing and it was all downhill from there. That game is the reason I did not do a lot of reading...


I have also recently rekindled my love for Better Home and Garden's wax cube warmers! These three floral/woodsy scents have been my favorite this last month; Country Sunflower, Lilac Breeze and Southern Spanish Moss.


For some reason (and I am not complaining, believe me), I have been watching the Harry Potter movies over and over again. Stressed out? Put in Harry Potter. Happy? Put in Harry Potter. Tired, sad, bored, going to bed, feeling nostalgic? Put in Harry Potter. And, out of all of them, the first one is the movie that I found myself gravitating toward the most.




What have you been loving this month?

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

What if?

Is it ridiculous to be as afraid as I am of those two, simple words? Fear is a tricky thing and, unfortunately, fear of the unknown is not something that can be squashed like a spider or avoided like heights or a clown. It is always there, looming in the back of your mind like a dark cloud; eating away at your resolve. What if I can't find another job? What if two employers offer me a position and I have to make a difficult/life-changing decision? What if he doesn't like me? What if I make a fool of myself? What if I try my hardest and still never amount to anything? On and on it goes until that dark cloud turns into a raging storm, brewing just beneath your skin. The only remedy is patience, which is something that I was never any good at...

What if I let everyone down? What if something doesn't work out? What if I say the wrong thing? What if I say that right thing but someone else is more qualified, more knowledgeable, prettier? The truth of the matter is, sitting here and trying to puzzle out the future does not give me any answers; it only results in a pounding headache.

So then why can't I let it go?

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday [April 28]


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they update their blog with a list of ten things that have to do with a predetermined topic.



This week's topic is: Top ten books that feature characters who _____.

Taking advantage of this open-ended topic, I have decided to list Ten Female Characters that Kick Some Serious Ass.






1. Tessa Gray, The Infernal Devices

2. Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Annebeth may not be the main character, but she is more than able to hold her own in a fight)

3. Ruby Daly, The Darkest Minds

4. Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games

5. Ingrid Waverly, The Dispossessed

6. Viola Eade, Chaos Walking

7. Linh Cinder, The Lunar Chronicles

8. Emma Bloom, Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children

9. Mackenzie Bishop, The Archived

10. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter (Again, not the main character, but she might as well be. Let's face it, Harry and Ron would be pretty useless without her)


What are some of your favorite kick-ass fictional female characters?

Teaser Tuesday [April 28]


Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jenn of A Daily Rhythm. All you have to do is grab your current read, open to a random page, and share two teaser sentences (that don't give too much away).


This week's teaser:

In a world turned upside down like this, where sweet little Dorothy Gale was evil, Glinda the Good was eviler, and most everyone else was either scheming or scrambling to stay out of the way, there were crazier things you could do than putting your trust in people who called themselves wicked.

The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy Must Die #2) by Danielle Paige