Book Review: You Know You Love Me, a Gossip Girl Novel by Cecily von Ziegesar

You Know You Love Me by Cecily von Ziegesar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book 2....book 2, book 2, book 2.

This book right here....and I finished it tonight at a party....wow.

First off, Blair wants to desperately lose her virginity to her boyfriend, Nate, and had tried everything to do it, but they kept getting interrupted-once in book one with the announcement of Serena coming back to town, and also because of her mother's announcement of getting married to Cyrus Rose on her birthday. Yeah Blair was mad as hell-it was her birthday, not their day-and she wanted to sleep with Nate so bad, until she saw him kissing Jenny-oh, I'm sorry, not Jenny Jennifer-and couldn't believe it. Because ONCE AGAIN, Blair keeps seeing herself in a movie starring her and as Serena said in the show, she's the only one watching it and Serena has to be the one to wake her up. Oh and also she went to Yale and screwed up her interview, and kissed her interviewee on the cheek.

Secondly, Serena and Dan...WHY THE HELL AREN'T Y'ALL GETTING TOGETHER?? Dan, the tortured soul, has a huge crush on Serena, and thought she was perfect for the part of Natasha in Vanessa's film. But no, thanks to Vanessa, she choose someone else instead of Serena. And the trip to Brown? Dan why the hell did you go anyway? To be with Serena, even when she invited Nate and his stoner friends to come with y'all? And then you had that panic attack during your interview and walked out....good lord, boy, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?? And then you and Vanessa got together, even though that's nice.

And then Serena and Blair made up in the bathroom and now they're friends...but for how long? Hopefully for good this time.

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Book Review: Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar

Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Once upon a time, back when I was in the tenth/eleventh grade, I picked up a book that looked interesting to me called Gossip Girl, called Nothing Can Keep Us Together and I absolutely loved it-loved it enough that I wanted to buy the whole entire book series and read it all. Fast Forward to now and I picked this book up again, starting with the first book, and I fell in love with it all over again after starting to watch the show on Netflix again. So if you're here for the first time and never ever heard of this book, then lemme tell you what's it's about.

It's about a group of people who lives on the Upper East Side of NYC and goes to the schools of Constance Billard, St. Judes and Riverside Prep who's lives are being watched and read about on a gossip site called Gossip Girl-and yeah it's like the show, but it's totally, totally different and the same at the same time.

For one, Blair and Nate are together, but once Serena van der Woodsen comes back from boarding school, everything changes. Nate tells Blair that he and Serena slept together, and then Blair made him promise NEVER to speak to Serena ever again. Yeah right, Blair, like that's gonna happen. The Chuck and Jenny thing happened as well at the Kiss on the Lips party, and Serena and Dan saved her.

Oh yeah, remember Dan and Jenny Humphries? Yeah, they're in the book too-Jenny is the lame ninth grader who wants to be in with the older kids, and Dan's still lonely boy, but all except he has hair, smokes a lot, and drinks a bunch of coffee, and yes, he's a tortured soul in the book. Oh and Vanessa's in the book too, but she's a clean shaven girl who actually goes to Constance and wants to be a film director in the books (and also in the show).

I also came up with a silly little rhyme each time I saw Chuck Bass (in the books and on TV):

If you wanna punch Chuck Bass in the face, clap your hands
If you wanna punch Chuck Bass in the face, clap your hands
If you really hate Chuck and you really wanna show it
Punch Chuck Bass in the face

….needs a little work but it rhymes...right??

I love this book and I truly do recommend this book series so much.


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Mini University Haul

Hey y'all!

So I decided to do a very long (and very overdue) book and school/uni haul, because tomorrow is my last and final day of freedom before I head off to my first day of classes on Monday. So for this blog post I decided to haul (well, a mini haul) of what I'm taking to school Monday (and to tell you the truth, I'm nervous about it!)

Lily Pulitzer Light Pascha Pink Aquadesiac, $30

Like most girls, I needed a new Agenda, and thanks to my school's bookstore, I FINALLY brought a Lily agenda, and I fell in love with it the moment it arrived on my doorstep. I just HAD to look through it and saw all the colorful things in it, and knew that I was going to love it SO MUCH and I do-I still do. I'm so glad that I snapped it up at my school's bookstore because I wasn't going to go to school with a lame agenda. 

Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Low-Top (unisex shoe)-$35, actually got mine for $25

My new shoes for the year-I needed some new ones and I'm glad I got these. And these are Water-Proof (I think they're the Weather ones where your feet are protected by anything?) and I just love the color. Now the problem is, which shoelace do I want on there-the green or the white, to make it awesome? And on top of that I'm on the hunt for some blue ones to represent school/NYG. 

Kate Spade New York Strike Gold (set of 6) Pens-$25

Yeah, this is self-explainetory...I just wanted some Kate Spade pens to take to school with me. And I have been eying these for a LONG time. 

Jansport Hatchet Backpack-$60

Just like the Kate Spade pens...I needed a new backpack, and I wasn't gonna show up in a really old backpack that was decorated with bands I don't even listen to that much anymore, and including a huge messed up Heartagram (I was a huge HIM fan back then when I saw "Wings of a Butterfly". And I had a thing for Ville Valo (still do).)

Kate Spade New York Make Mine a Double 16 oz mug-$18, got it for $9

Each time I see these mugs, I always wanted one...and now I have one and I love it-and it's PINK. It's gotta get washed, but I think I can use it at the coffee shop when I get the craving for coffee (not like Dan though). 

Staples 1"in Binders-$8 but buy three $6

I wanted to, mostly because I wanted something fun and not boring (though I need more) but I find these really cute and got them-the top one's for my Brit Lit class, and the other ones (they're both colorful llama ones) are gonna be my Spanish and Geo notebooks. I don't know what I'm going to do for my other two classes, but I'll figure it out. 

And that's it! What are you taking to Uni/College? Are you anxious like I am?

One More Week Before My College Life Begins.

(from Pintrest)

Hey y'all!

I know, you're expecting a book review instead of all these personal posts, but I felt like it because this week is the last week before I offically become a Georgia State Panther (I already am though) and my classes will begin...and I'm a bit terrified about it. I mean, sure I got almost everything I need (just need my textbooks, notebooks, agenda, pens, and a really cool bookbag) and I'll be fine, ready to crush my Junior year of college.

Oh Gersh HI BLOG

Hey y'all....

Haven't talked to y'all in what, two months? Two months. Good lord, it has been two months, mostly because I've been busy with getting into school, going to orientation, getting into classes and also about to deal with my financial issues and also..something that I'm finding really hard to say, but....

I have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes.

At first I got scared because when I heard the word diabetes, it meant that I had to stop eating what I loved and started eating healthier-which I thought it was, but it turned out I can still eat whatever I wanted, only that I had to eat in portions. I even cried on Sunday when I was trying to figure out what to eat and I had to go to the store and find something to eat for dinner.

I also feel like I should do one of those What I Eat in a Day posts like they do on YouTube, but with photos and maybe some recipes if I'm up to it.

Also I am finally going to be a junior in three weeks when school starts, and I think that'll shock me to the core-soon I'll be done with college and school and going into the workforce, getting a job, possibly living in downtown atlanta or in NYC or somewhere like that to write for magazines or even be in publishing or something like that. Because I love my home now, but living by myself, in a huge apartment? It'll take some time to get used to (and on top of that I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO DRIVE) but I think I can do it.

So that's all I have right now until I think of something else to write about in my next post (when I get a chance)

Book Review: Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So this book...it's actually pretty darn good. Even though people enjoyed the movie better than the book, but I must respectfully disagree with them-I think the book expands on the movie. Because there were things that I didn't even know that happened in the movie differ in the book. For example, I found out that Louis had a brother that went mad and died, and also Louis loved a girl named Babette, but when Louis burned the house down, he actually met up with her and couldn't even kill her, but tell her to be a homeowner to her home?

Did you know that when Louis, Claudia and Madeleine were dragged down by the Theaters des Vampires, that Lestat was actually there, wanting to talk to Louis? It shocked me when I read that because I thought Lestat died, but it turned out that something else happened to him to the point that he appeared and tried to tell them before the both of them [Claudia and Madeleine]died.

And another thing I didn't know-Louis and Armand actually traveled together. That part shocked me...and yes, I shipped them. I shipped them and in my head I said, 'OH THEY FAUWKIIINNNN' in my head (because in my head, they are, dammit) and I hope they're together in other books. If not I'll be so mad I swear ta gawd.....but all in all I loved the book and I would definally recommend it.

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Book Review: While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax

While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What do you get when an author put a fake historic apartment complex in Midtown Atlanta (my hometown!), put my favorite show in the title, and also make it very interesting, AND have a British Concierge that reminds me so much of Carson? Then you have While We Were Watching Downton Abbey, a book I never thought I'd actually like-I was expected to hate it, but instead I loved it. Every last bit of it.

So I guess I'll split this up between the three characters in the book:

Samantha Davis: Samantha Davis married young to her husband Jonathan Davis because of money troubles after what her father did to the firm. She can't cook, her mother in law hates her, and her siblings are a mess. Her sister Meredith was in New York visiting a friend and her brother Jackson was into a business that failed-in fact, he's been doing it so many times that Jonathan had to bail him out. But Samantha finally put her foot down, thanks to her mother in law, and threatened to cut the both of them off if Meredith didn't take the job at the Atlanta Preservaton Board and if Jackson didn't get a job and make money his own. Well Meredith got the job at the Atlanta Preservation Board, and Jackson....Jackson worked for Edward Parker on Private Butler. Samantha thought it was working just fine, until Jack pulled a stunt so bad that she thought that her friends and Edward didn't want to talk to her after what he did. But it turned out they cared for her, knowing that it wasn't her fault, and also that 'didn't talk till Thanksgiving and before Christmas' thing she went through with Jonathan and that brought them back together.

Claire Walker: So here's Claire Walker, your typical writer who's trying to come up with her next book while writing in her journal, talking to her daughter who's away in college, and making two best friends at the same time. She didn't write not one word till the last episode of season two of Downton Abbey-Claire tried to sleep, but the idea came full force, beating out the Highlanders and men in kilts, as she dreams about her friends and the concierge. And now she's writing the contemporary novel and also she sat in for a author that wasn't feeling well.

Brooke Mackenzie: Brooke Mackenzie is a single mom to her daughters Natalie and Ava, and on top of that her ex-husband, whom she put through college and to make it big in Boston, had cheated and divorced her for a skinnier woman he was sleepin' with, and tried EVERYTHING to get away from him. Then Edward Parker asked her to do a single father's party for his own daughter and everything was right in the world...until one of her daughters let out that the Barbie was pregnant with her ex-husband's child. There was a one time that she had to let Samantha watch over her girls because Zachary wasn't there one the day she needed him to watch the girls. And it was the most beautiful scene ever of Jonathan reading Stellaluna a couple times before the girls went to sleep.

All in all, I truly enjoyed this book-better than I thought. I couldn't stop reading it and it made me wish I was actually living in the Alexander in Midtown (if it was real...and I'd had a job and all that....)

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Book Review: Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns by Lauren Weisberger

Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns by Lauren Weisberger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The second book of Revenge Wears Prada...I thought I wouldn't like it as I thought, but the more I read it, the more I actually loved it.

It had been years since Andy and Emily had worked as Miranda Priestly's assistants at Runway, and the two girls who used to be enemies are now best friends and married-Emily to Miles and Andy to (well, about to) get married to the love of her life. Max Harrison. From wedding preperations to finding a letter her mother-in-law wrote to him about his bachlor trip and meeting his ex girlfriend, to a week later when Andy finds out she's pregnant with her first child, it's almost all too much...

Until the deal of the lifetime with Elias-Clarke comes on their laps that Andy and Emily both face the Devil herself again, Miranda Priestly. Andy downright refuses to sign the deal, knowing good and time well that they'll work under Miranda again and go through what they went through when they were working at Runway, Emily basically turned around and started kissing Miranda's ass again, even at the dinner.

It was like Andy was the smart one throughout the whole entire thing, even when she had Clementine and met back up with Max again through her mommy and me class (I didn't know they even EXISTED in New York) and then the moment of truth came when Andy got to Emily's house and found out that both Max and Emily signed the deal, and automatically, and this is the part I truely hate but understand, Andy washed her hands with them (both Emily and Max), took Clementine and went home, feeling betrayed. A year later her and Max seperated, Andy found a job with the Writer's Space, dated a couple times with a man named Nick, also her Grams died a year before the ending.

But I honestly hated the ending-to me, I think Andy should've stayed with Max after the "betrayal" and yeah she could've worked at the Writer's Space because divorcing him after what he did was stupid as hell on Andy's part. Yeah they have child visitations and keeping the kid on certain days and whatnot, but divorcing him? ANDY WHY.

Secondly, I thought The Plunge was doing much better where they were instead of with Elias-Clarke and under Miranda Priestly. THEY DIDN'T REALLY NEED HER SO ANDY WAS RIGHT AND EMILY WAS WRONG. Dead wrong.

Also, just FYI, I loved Miranda's apartment. Just saying. I would totally live there.

So inconclusion, Andy was right at the end and Emily was wrong. Miranda's still the Devil Wearing Prada, and this book was really good.

That's all. *Miranda Priestly voice*

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Book Review: Party Weekend (Sweet Valley High #143) by Francine Pascal

Party Weekend by Francine Pascal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So since this is the only Sweet Valley High book I actually own (which sucks, by the way) so yeah I do need to read all of the books, but this book right here was actually pretty good. First time I thought I would hate it and would DNF it. But then I gave this book a chance and I loved it.

It takes place after Jessica and Elizabeth's junior prom, and the junior class of SVH are entering a talent contest at the countywide battle of the junior classes, and of course, El Carro High starts some drama by taking over their practice spot, ruining their set and planned on pushing Jessica off the thing when she wanted to do the Peter Pan fly thing in the SVH, but thank god Ken stopped it before something truely happened to her.

Also Jessica has been seeing the ghost of her dead boyfriend Christian, who came to her and told her that what she was planning to do was going to be a chain reaction to what happened to him before he died. When Erica pull the stunt and the fight was going to happen, Jessica stood there in fear and thought that she was going to relieve it again, but then had an idea to let Palisades High play their presentation, but played Christian's part and everyone stopped.

I thought for a second that Olivia and Ken broke up over the Erica thing (which to me is really stupid) but I'm glad they didn't after he saved her life. I enjoyed this book and I'm going to hunt down all of them so I can read them all, including senior year.

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Book Review: Too Much of a Good Thing by Kimberla Lawson Roby

Too Much of a Good Thing by Kimberla Lawson Roby
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I...have never hated....a Reverend in my life. Not even my own Reverend at my church. But Mr. Curtis Black? Revvy Rev Curtis Black? I. HATE. HIM. I hate Reverend Curtis Black SO MUCH that I don't know if I can put in words how much I HATE him. In fact, I never read a Kimberla Lawson Roby book before ever, so when I picked this book up, I went 'what the hey' and started to read it...and HATED Reverend Curtis Black for EVERYTHING HE DID IN THIS BOOK. LIKE DUDE THE HELL MAN.

First off, he really shouldn't be a Reverend at ANY church after what happened in the first book (that my library doesn't have) and now he's married to Mariah, but you're cheating on her with Adrienne (like why, why are you cheating on Mariah with your EX-BOOTY CALL?? Why, bro? Why? What was wrong with Mariah?), then turn around and cheated on BOTH Mariah and Adrienne with your baby mama, who's daddy told her that you'll be arrested for what you did once you THOUGHT about being with her and your son (in which I feel terrible for because of a terrible father you are. I mean, between you and Alexis Carrington Colby, you made the top five book/tv parents I can't stand) and the lies, man.



And poor Alicia....Alicia, who actually hates you because of what you did to her mother is dating online to a boy named Julian (instantly, I thought of freakin' Julian Jerome, but then it disappeared when it turns out she was talking to a so-called nineteen year old boy who's screenname is 'JMoney1' like....how FREAKING ORIGINAL IS THAT?) whom she thought she loved to the point that she went with him to his apartment and got raped. I felt sorry for her as well because good lord Curtis, YOU WASN'T THERE FOR HER WHEN SHE NEEDED YOU. That's why I'm glad she came around to Tanya and James (especially James and Mariah) at the end.

And the thing with the deacons....DUDE SERIOUSLY? You're THAT mad at them because they won't accept the fact that you basically want to add a ATM in the church, so you get information about them? Good lord you IDIOT. But did I feel sorry for you when you got caught, twice? No...I actually said thank God for that. Did I feel sorry for you that Adrienne lied to you, sent that letter and tape of the both of you in bed, and her confession in the letter and your voice on the tape? Nope, not one fuck was given that day....Did I feel sorry for you when Adrienne came in the church and shot you twice, then shoot herself? Nope...but I actually liked it though because I thought you were getting what you deserved.

And now you're thinking of going to Mitchell with your baby mama to open up your own church? Go right ahead sir, I'll be here watching and waiting for you to mess up, okay? Okay.


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Book Reviews: The Boozy Blender by Mark Scarbrough

The Boozy Blender by Mark Scarbrough
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Boozy Blender is a book (well, I'm going to call it a drinkbook) full of frozen boozy drinks you can make in your blender! Even though smooth, blended drinks are awesome, there were some that were tasty enough that I just HAD to write down (to the point that my thumb started to hurt and I had to take a break from writing) but the recipes I wrote down sounded interesting and tasty to try, like:

-Frozen in the Pink
-Georgia Ice Storm
-Blueberry Numb-Bellini
-Bourbon Sugar Shake
-Black Forest Freeze
-High Proof Cherry Pie
-Frozen Key Lime Pie
-Chilly Cherry Libre
-Frozen Slammer

All of them sounds good (and delicious too) and I'm so glad I wrote them down so one day I can make them for all my friends (or for myself and get drunk and cry over fictional characters like I always do).

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Book Review: The Real Girl's Kitchen by Haylie Duff

The Real Girl's Kitchen by Haylie Duff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So I used to watch Haylie's show on the Cooking Network on a Saturday and I loved it, so when I checked out her cookbook and looked through it, I instantly loved it. I even written down a couple recipes that looked good to me (even my mom asked me when I'm going to try and attempt some of these, and I said maybe) so the ones I wrote down were:

-Ham and Cheese Waffles
-Celery, Fennel, and Apple Salad
-Grape, Pecan, and Chicken Salad Sandwich
-Baked Herb Eggs with Parmesean
-Crescent Roll Apple Pies

And the photos are really good and fun-even the Tyler Hoechiln one (and I swear I didn't lick the page...I wanted to, but I resisted), and it made my mouth water and made me wish I went on ahead and made some of them (and I will, really soon, especially the ham and cheese waffles and the grape, pecan and chicken salad sandwich).

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Book Review: Design Museum: Fifty Designers That Changed the World

Design Museum: Fifty Fashion Designers That Changed the World by Design Museum
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I haven't done a book review in so long, so bare with me...but this little book is quite informative. From little tid-bits about Lanvin to Jenna Lyons, this book tells about the fifty designers that changed the world. The ones I loved reading about was YSL, Coco Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Laura Ashley, Valentino, Alexander McQueen and DVF.

Then there were designers I never even heard of-like Madeleine Vionnet, Madame Gres, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Christopher Kane (though the only Christopher Kane I know is the one who plays Stone on The Libarians, but his name is Christian Kane). I honestly didn't know these people existed, but without these people we wouldn't have the designers we know and love. Even though this book review is short AF, it's a really good book and I enjoyed myself a whole lot.

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My Two-Month Break and What I've Been Up To (Part Two-Photo Heavy)

Hey y'all!

So on to part two of my two month break of blogging! It wasn't that much-more reading, going to the library...but I did take a college tour of my future school, Georgia State University. It was a long walk-and a very large school in downtown Atlanta, but I actually loved it-and I fell in love with the library-sadly I didn't take photos of the library, but I did take photos of the outside of it (and it has 7 floors!!)

(sadly no one was playing this lovely piano :( )

(I would live there forever)

(yeah sorry about the blurryness of the bathroom)

Even though it was tiring, it was actually pretty much fun. And then after that I brought a video game (Dishonored 2) and read a lot, and then wrote a couple book reviews (which will be coming up tomorrow after this post). 

My Two Month Break and What I've Been Up To (photo heavy-Part One)

Hey y'all!

So for about two months I've been on break from posting anything-any book reviews, anything on Valentine's Day, even changing the background of my blog-I've just been too busy reading, going on college tours, writing a lot, and even playing video games. So what have I been up to lately? Well, let's see....

In January, I finished up Crooked Kingdom, all three books of the School for Good and Evil books by Somani Chainani (I know there's a fourth one and I'm going to get it really soon), Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andews (my first book I've read by Mary Kay Andrews and it was really, really good), and read the last book Jackie Collins ever wrote, The Santangeleos, which was a ten out of ten stars. But also in January, as ususal, stores started putting up Valentine's Day things and I, a single gal, just looked at it and went 'okay' and rolled my eyes at it.

      

Also in January, I flew on a plane (actually I flew in December to Fort Lauderdale for the first time) and this is me and my daddy looking at the plane (not our plane) leaving to fly off somewhere. But we flew to Miami Beach (or more precisely, Sunny Isles Beach, Florida) and it was fun-went to a few casinos, but didn't win that much money at all. 

(Outside my airbnb because it was so beautiful that night in Sunny Isles Beach, FLA)

 

On our last day in Florida that morning, we went to Denny's to eat, then walked on the beach in Miami. We didn't dip our toes in the water (my brother almost did, but it was too windy to do it) so we stayed on the beach till it was time to ride back to the airport to go home, but we did ride around Miami to see the sights-and the cruise ships as well!!!   

Even though I traveled, there is something else I'm very happy I did and proud to announce...I'm FINALLY GOING TO COLLEGE. I applied to Georgia State University in the beginning of the year and I waited till last month when they sent my acceptance letter in, so now I'm officially a college girl (and Feburary will be in another post because that's the kind of girl I am!