Month: June 2016
Your Next Favorite Book: May Reads
Eadlyn still isn鈥檛 sure she鈥檒l find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you鈥nd soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible鈥攁nd more important鈥攖han she ever imagined.聽
When thirty-year-old Brooke Thompson unexpectedly runs into a man from her past, she鈥檚 plunged headlong into memories she鈥檚 long tried to forget about the year she spent in France following a disastrous affair with a professor.
As a newly arrived exchange student in the picturesque city of Nantes, young Brooke develops a deep and complicated friendship with Sophie, a fellow American and stunning blonde, whose golden girl fa莽ade hides a precarious emotional fragility. Sophie and Brooke soon become inseparable and find themselves intoxicated by their new surroundings鈥攁nd each other.
But their lives are forever changed when they meet a sly, stylish French student, Veronique, and her impossibly sexy older cousin, Alex. The cousins draw Sophie and Brooke into an irresistible world of art, money, decadence, and ultimately, a disastrous love triangle that consumes them both. And of the two of them, only one will make it home.
As World War II draws to a close, Jak贸b fights with the Polish resistance against the crushing forces of Germany and Russia. They intend to destroy a German troop transport, but Gretl鈥檚 unscheduled train reaches the bomb first.
Gretl is the only survivor. Though spared from the concentration camp, the orphaned German Jew finds herself lost in a country hostile to her people. When Jak贸b discovers her, guilt and fatherly compassion prompt him to take her in. For three years, the young man and little girl form a bond over the secrets they must hide from his Catholic family.
But she can鈥檛 stay with him forever. Jak贸b sends Gretl to South Africa, where German war orphans are promised bright futures with adoptive Protestant families鈥攕o long as Gretl鈥檚 Jewish roots, Catholic education, and connections to communist Poland are never discovered.
Separated by continents, politics, religion, language, and years, Jak贸b and Gretl will likely never see each other again. But the events they have both survived and their belief that the human spirit can triumph over the ravages of war have formed a bond of love that no circumstances can overcome.
What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.
Three Reasons
Remember when I decided to be really cool and reupholster a vintage couch that I found in my neighbors yard. 聽That was back in April (Easter weekend to be exact) and up until Memorial Day weekend I had literally done nothing in regards to said couch. 聽It had just been sitting in our front living room being slept on and pooped on by the animals in our house.
During Memorial Day weekend I decided to finally get a jump on the project. 聽I spent one whole day totally dedicated to the couch. 聽I ripped, pulled, wiggled, and yanked at every piece of fabric, trim, batting, and at the hundred nails scattered around the couch.
Once it was stripped I was pretty excited about the next part. 聽So excited in fact that I’ve officially decided to abandon the whole project.
I’ve realized that if I write out exactly what happened to make me come to this decision this post would be the longest post ever, so I’m gonna break it down to just 3 reasons I’ve decided to abandon the project.
[one] 聽This couch needs A LOT of work. 聽Ok so the amount of work this couch needs is unreal. 聽The legs need to be replaced, all the batting under the fabric needs to be replaced, all three cuchions on the couch need to be replaced, the fabric (obviously) need to be replaced, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it needed to be fumigated and like de-bugged or something. 聽When I first looked at the couch I thought….oh this will be totally do-able. 聽But once i really started, there was a lot more work than meets the eye.
[two]聽This project was supposed to SAVE me money not cost me MORE money.聽聽When I sat down and really started to price out how much it was going to cost to re-cover this sofa, I realized I would be spending just as much re-doing it as I would on a brand new couch. 聽I even looked into getting it professionally refurbished and that too would have been just as much as a new couch.
[three] 聽 While I’m confident I would do an ok job in the actual reupholstering of couch, I don’t want to spend $700 and the results just be “ok”. 聽While I know I can get a professional to do to it and it would look great. 聽I know that I can find something I’m just as happy with that is brand new for the same amount of money.聽聽
***********
Overall, whole point of this project was too save myself some money. 聽And once I realized I would not be saving any money, I became super disillusioned with the whole thing. 聽Sad but true.
So I am back to square one on the couch front. 聽I have already found one that I really like on that new app called Offerup. 聽But I haven’t heard back from the seller yet. 聽I’m hoping I do, because I really really like this couch. 聽And I think it would go well with everything else in the apartment. 聽But just in case I don’t hear back, I’ve already started looking for similar couches in hopes that I find one I love.
I’m sad to be letting go of the project because I was really excited about the prospect, but I just don;t think it’s worth all the time and money I’ll be spending.
I think I’ll stick with easy DIY jobs like stools and picture frames.
Currently {June}
Reading…. A book I picked up from Target a few weeks ago. 聽It’s called Losing the Light by Andrea Dunlap. 聽So far so good. 聽It’s an easy read which is what I’m looking for right now. 聽The next book will be my next book club books. 聽It’s called An Ember in the Ashes.
I will have a “Your Next Favorite Book” post next week, and I’ll sharing all the books I read in May. 聽Including one of my new personal all time favorites…Me Before You. 聽If you haven’t read this….GET ON IT NOW! It is so good.
Feeling…. a tad overwhelmed. 聽It’s this couch project y’all. 聽It’s not that I didn’t think it wouldn’t be hard. 聽I KNEW it would be, but I dunno I thought it would be something else too. 聽But as I really dig into the project I keep second guessing myself. 聽I realized that the fabric I originally chose is going to be WAY to expensive. This project was supposed to save me some money not cost me more money. 聽Then I keep thinking, what if I buy all this fabric and then hate it. 聽What if I don’t pull the fabric tight enough and the couch looks like shit. What if I get it all done and it is the most uncomfortable couch in the history of couches (I always fall asleep on the couch, so it’s a must that this couch be nap-able) What if….What if….What if….BAH. 聽So many what ifs, it’s giving me a little bit of anxiety and I am not an anxious person.
Drinking…. nothing at the moment. 聽But I am thirsty and a Dr. Pepper sounds amazing. 聽But I don’t keep it in the house anymore so water it is.
Watching….聽Real Housewives of New York. 聽These girls are so bitchy! 聽And I love it. 聽Sonya needs to get it together…I’m sorry but “Tipsy Girl?” 聽Way to close to Skinny Girl if you ask me. 聽Especially after Bethany invited her into a Skinny Girl meeting last season and she sat there and took notes!! 聽Then all of a sudden she comes out with a drink called Tipsy Girl. 聽Yeah I would be pissed too. 聽Not cool Sonya, not cool.
Wanting….聽New bedding. 聽Which is the last thing I need right now, since I have an entire apartment I need to buy things for but still. 聽It’s on the list, albeit at the very bottom of the list. 聽Doesn’t stop me from walking around Target and picking out the one I want. 聽Here the I think I like best right now.
Wishing…. I had about $1,000 extra dollars in the bank. 聽(Don’t we all).
Thinking about…. That today is THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! Well technically I have to go to work tomorrow, but there will be zero students and it’s just a wrap up day.
Looking forward too…. Going home in two weeks. 聽We’re gonna spend most of my week home at our family cabin in Ruidoso, NM and I cannot wait to get some mountain air. 聽We’ll also be going to see my cousin and her new baby!
Loving…. These Maybelline Vivid Matte Liquid Lip Sticks. 聽I joined Influenster a few weeks ago and have loved reviewing some of my favorite products. 聽I got my very first Vox Box in the mail the other day and inside were 2 of the new Vivid Matte Liquid Lipsticks. 聽They are so fun! 聽I received two different colors, a nude and a red. 聽My favorite was the nude, called Nude Flush. 聽It has a slight pink tinge to it and goes great with my skin tone. 聽I’ve worn it to work everyday since I got it.
This is by no means an actual matte, it has a matte finish but is very creamy. 聽It doesn’t have a dry finish it has a very creamy finish. 聽It’s not that dries either, you will have to reapply it throughout the day, which is fine with me.
Well there ya have a little bit of what’s new with me. 聽I seriously cannot believe it’s the last day of school. 聽It feels like yesterday I was so excited for the start of the school year and now I’m about to say goodbye. 聽WOO HOO!
Till tomorrow friends! 馃檪
It’s the week of the link ups….linking up with Kristen for What’s New聽With You!
Current MakeUp Favorites
I’ve recently become obsessed with makeup.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved it. 聽In fact if I could find a way to post the home video of me giving my cousin Jordan a make up tutorial I totally would. 聽But I’ve never been one to really know how to do my own makeup. 聽I pretty much have done my makeup the exact same for the last 10 years. 聽And to be honest I’m fine with that routine. 聽I know what looks good and I stick with it.
But lately I’ve been wanted to up my make up game. 聽I attempted to learn to contour and that was a slight, ok major bust. 聽I’ve watch about a million make up tutorials and am still not sure how to do it. 聽I think I need someone to sit me down and walk me through it. 聽But that’s neither her nor there at this point. 聽While I haven’t mastered contouring I have added a few more steps to my makeup routine that I feel make me look a tad more polished.
Today I thought I would share some of my current make up favorites.
I am by no means a high end make up buyer. 聽Save for a few things. 聽I have this thing where I go to Sephora/Ulta with the intention of buying something a littler pricer that I want and then end up leaving the store with the drugstore equivalent. 聽womp womp. 聽But the following are a happy mix of high and low end products.