Month: September 2018

Birthday Trip to Charlotte

Posted September 13, 2018 / Lifestyle, Personal / Information / Etc. / 6 Comments

As you may know from a couple of other posts, the fates were on my side when the football schedule was determined back in April. I knew my team (obviously the Panthers – if you don’t know that by now, what have you been doing on this blog for the past 4 years?!) would be playing my mom’s team (Cowboys) at some point this season. When the schedule was released, we learned our teams would be playing each other in the SEASON OPENER, ON MY BIRTHDAY, IN THE PANTHERS HOME STADIUM. Talk about the best effing birthday I could imagine. We immediately hopped on getting tickets (me, my mom, my stepdad, and Chris), and the rest is history. We headed there on Saturday the 8th and returned home Monday the 10th for a quick weekend trip to one of my favorite places, to do one of my favorite things, with some of my favorite people, on the best day of the year. Saturday September 8th We technically started our trip on Friday night, when we stayed overnight in Rhode Island to fly out of TF Green in the morning… very early morning. We headed to the airport, got some Dunkin, and boarded our 6:15 AM flight. We were nervous we’d be hanging around the city for hours without a hotel room but we got lucky – they had one available for us to check into at 9 AM! We freshened up and set out to explore a bit. We went […]

Virginia Shreves: Now and Then

Posted September 12, 2018 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I always wanted to read THE EARTH, MY BUTT, AND OTHER ROUND THINGS when I was younger, but was never sure what my mom would think if I tried to pick it out at the bookstore. I decided to give this “classic” a go when I saw the audiobook on Scribd. I later received the sequel, THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING (AND SO AM I) in the mail for review, so I decided to combine them here! I have a lot of feelings about this book. The first thing I feel like I need to mention is that obviously it was written in the early 2000s, so a lot of the words and references are outdated. I knew that going into it. The weird thing is that the sequel coming out isn’t like a “fifteen years later” kind of book. It takes place right after this ends. (More on that later.) Virginia was an extremely difficult narrator for me. She spent the vast majority of the book — I mean every single page — talking about her fatness and her (horrible) family reacting to her (horribly). I can feel for her on a lot of things, because I personally get it, but oh my god. It’s a very unhealthy and outdated (IMO) view of being a fat teen. She HAS to be sad and pathetic and unhappy with herself until she “gets healthier” in a very cliche way. I just don’t feel like there’s room for this portrayal of fat girls […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #200: Hidden Gems [Giveaway!]

Posted September 11, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 3 Comments

Hidden Gems – Books & Authors Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. In honor of my 200th Top Ten Tuesday post, I decided to do a giveaway! This week’s topic is PERFECT for it because all of these books and authors need more recognition and love. The giveaway at the bottom of the post will allow one person (international if The Book Depository ships to you) to win a copy of one of the books featured in this post. I decided to focus this post on specific books as well as authors in general, so there could be more than 10 books to pick from here. Away we go! Marci Lyn Curtis Not only is Marci incredibly sweet, her books are straight up wonderful and some of my all-time favorites. I love how she manages to mix humor in with sadness or more serious topics, without her books ever feeling preachy or too “issue-y” … hopefully that makes sense LOL. I loved both of these and I don’t know if I could pick a real favorite between the two, which is why she gets a double shoutout here. Both feature humorous and/or snarky MCs and cute boys and so much […]

Finally Mastering My Oily Skin: Current Skincare/Makeup Routine

Posted September 10, 2018 / Health & Beauty, Personal / Information / Etc. / 7 Comments

I have been struggling with oily skin forever. I’ve gone through so many products and been educated on so many different things over the years… and I’ve FINALLY found a routine that keeps me minimally oily for the vast majority of my day. I had a routine recently that kept my fairly matte but would get cakey by mid-day because the products never fully settled into my skin. I switched to a new amazing concealer and powder routine that allows me to go from 8 AM until 4-4:30 PM without blotting my face. This is huge for me because usually I start to get oily after just a few hours of having my makeup on. If you’re curious about my journey to get here, here are some makeup and skincare posts and product reviews: old skincare routine and updates, new makeup, and favorite beauty brands. This post does not include other makeup items (like lips, eyes, etc.) — it’s purely focused on the face and how I combat oily skin! Check some of the other posts and my Lauren Lately updates for more. Skincare I have a slightly weird routine for this because I always want to use oil-reducing, mattifying products, but using too many can actually dry out your skin and produce more oil. Because of this, I try to alternate them with more hydrating products and balance things out without giving too much moisture. I have “A” and “B” days to categorize my morning routine and parts of my evening routine, […]

How I Make My TBRs (Organized Mood Reading)

Posted September 7, 2018 / Discussions, Features / 1 Comment

I loved Nick’s post about her organized mood reading a while back and decided to share something similar here! As you’ve noticed, I’ve been curating and posting monthly TBRs here for over a year now. I love having something to guide my reading, for the most part, without making me feel too pressured. I have nothing to lose if I DON’T follow my TBR, but it’s the perfect thing to get me on track if I’m losing ideas of what I need or want to read next. I am a mood reader for sure, but those tendencies have faded a little now that I have (a) some semblance of organization and (b) deadlines I can’t get around sometimes. When I pull together my monthly TBR posts, there are a few factors I take into consideration and a handful of places I look to get ideas. I should also mention my life would be a MESS without Crini’s book spreadsheets each year. The pictures you see below will come from that SS. Here’s how I develop my monthly TBRs… Step 1: Look at upcoming deadlines Deadlines here can mean just about anything – self-imposed due dates, book club meetings, library book due dates, and blog tour posts. I always have at least 1-2 of these per month, so that’s the first thing I check when developing a TBR list. What is coming due? I use my book spreadsheet and add a tab for some of these due dates. This tab is […]

Fall TV Plans and New England Bucket List

Posted September 6, 2018 / Goals & Planning, Lifestyle, Personal / Information / Etc. / 7 Comments

I’ve used this little September graphic for the past few years because I just love it so much. September is my favorite month of the year for so many reasons – my birthday, football season, my anniversary, New England activities and fairs, perfect weather and sweaters, new TV shows, and what feels like a clean slate (even though I’m not going “back to school” anymore). I’m here again with another fall bucket list, including what TV shows I need to finish off, start, binge, and keep up with weekly. Fall/Winter TV – To Be Watched When the weather gets cooler, I’m able to hole up inside and binge shows. I feel like I need to get back into my habit of waking up early and knocking out my hobbies, like reading or watching shows. Chris and I spend so much time together that we struggle to separate and watch our own stuff sometimes. I really need to do a better job of organizing my time now that I’m commuting again. Shows to finish up: Most of the season/show to watch: Younger has been one of my favorites for a while but I tend to go through spurts of binge-watching, then forgetting about it and saving them up, and then binge-watching again. Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce started its final season recently but I’ve honestly been sad it’s ending and don’t want to finish it yet. Sorry not sorry. I started the reboot of Will & Grace and it’s been pretty good. It’s a show I […]

Fall Bingo TBR Ideas

Posted September 5, 2018 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 2 Comments

Another season, another round of Bookish Bingo (hosted by Pretty Deadly Reviews)! As always, I’m here to sign up for the next card and use it to guide some of my reading choices throughout the next three months. For fall bingo, we’re looking at September, October, and November. I already posted my September TBR so you’ll see a few repeats on here where applicable, but there will be plenty of other books to spread throughout the other two months. I haven’t filled a full card in a few rounds, so I’m aiming to get everything crossed off this time! Also, sometimes I manage to cross a few items off really early with my first reads of the month, or am in the process of reading the book when this posts, so you’ll see that noted below too in italics. Fall Bingo Card TBR Ideas & Progress So Far Made into a movie: You by Caroline Kepnes History with a twist: The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee Space or stars: This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman/Meagan Spooner Copper/bronze/gold cover: The Towering Sky by Katharine McGee The bingo card rules say that you can also do something developed for the small screen, so YOU was a great choice. I was always mildly interested in the book but nothing more. Seeing the trailer for the new show though? SIGN ME UP. Must read then watch! ♦ I don’t read a lot of books about history, but I DO read ones when there’s […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #199: Bingeworthy TV Shows

Posted September 4, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 6 Comments

Bingeworthy TV Shows Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. For a non-bookish twist in honor of the upcoming fall TV season, we’re chatting about bingeworthy shows or movies for this TTT! I love more personal posts (or non-book at least), so this is great. I have actually been quite terrible about watching TV in the last 6 months though. Younger Okay this is a MUST for all book bloggers, as it takes place in the publishing world! Liza decides to fake her age to get a job at a publishing house and her secret slowly gets revealed to everyone in her life. There’s a love triangle with two amazing guys I’m obsessed with (hopping in the gif above). It’s such a great show with good female friendships! The Bold Type Speaking of female friendships, hoooo boy is this the most girl power-y show right now. It takes place at a magazine (equally as fun as a publishing house) and involves three best friends. All of them are awesome and unique in their own ways. They talk candidly about juuuust about everything: sex, relationships, diversity, feminism, work, etc. American Vandal Here’s a different one for ya. I loooved this show and the […]

Quick ARC Reviews: Unclaimed Baggage and The Dinner List

Posted September 3, 2018 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment

This book was great! A quiet, heartwarming, and quirky story. I had high hopes for this one because I love when people meet in weird circumstances and come together to be friends/fall in love/etc. One flavor of this overall trope is when people meet at a job. Working at a grocery store throughout high school definitely brought me closer to the most random people from my high school that I otherwise wouldn’t have talked with as much… so you could say this “genre” has a special place in my heart. I loved the main characters so much and that only grew with every page. Grant, Doris, and Nell were fast friends and it felt so natural. Not gonna lie, they weren’t my favorite at the start of the book. They truly did grow on me with every chapter, as they also grew closer to each other and softened a little bit. The setting of the “lost luggage store” was amazing; I wish there was even more time at the Unclaimed Baggage. I loved how some of the luggage-related threads were woven together eventually. The author covered a lot of serious issues while keeping the book lighthearted overall. The southern setting definitely came into play a lot, with racism, religion, and more having a big effect on the story. Overall, I highly enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend it if you thought the premise sounded interesting. Learning what random shit people carry in their luggage was incredibly fun and the […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | August 2018

Posted September 1, 2018 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 2 Comments

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. I feel like my wheels are constantly spinning, trying to get my Goodreads goal back on track. I honestly think my ARC August participation was bad for my overall reading numbers, but great for catching up on the intended purpose – reading books for review. The issue was that I wanted to read 75% ARCs, which meant I would NOT read other non-ARCs (aka audiobooks) even when I was in the mood for them. In hindsight, I should have just said I wanted to read 5-7 ARCs and called it a day. There were times I was in the mood for an audiobook and just decided not to listen to it because it would mess up my challenge, which is so not the point. All of the books read this month: Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge 7 read this month | 33 read total | 74% NG ratio Popsugar Reading Challenge 0 read this month | 28 read total | 70% complete None this month Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge 0 read this month | 7 read total | 58% complete […]