I have decided to move to Blogger. You can now find my blog HERE I’m still figuring out how to move my domain and stuff so I decided this was the only way. I hope this didn’t inconvenience anyone, sorry if it did!
I cut my hair! September 23, 2010
I had been thinking of cutting my hair shorter, and this past weekend I went ahead and finally did it! I mean’t to take a picture of my hair before I cut it, but I forgot so here is a picture from a while ago that will serve as my Before:
Why the glum face? Maybe b’cuz my hair was getting boring. When I cut my hair it was nearing my elbow. Now for my After:
I consider it a semi-success. I say semi because my hair only looks presentable when I curl it or put it in a small ponytail. It gets “poofy” at the ends and since it’s to my shoulders it looks plain silly. It was worth the experiment! I’m glad I took the plunge and just did it. I have to admit I felt a bit of panic when she made the first cut (it was a good 5 inches!) but it lasted half a second and she continued cutting. I haven’t had hair this short since elementary school, talk about going “old school” 😀
Any readers with shoulder-length hair out there? Any tips for a newbie?
Happy Thursday!
Black and White Wednesday September 22, 2010
Birthday parties for me as a kid always consisted of a “jumper” a pinata and lots of food complete with a character theme cake. Now that it’s my nieces’ and nephew’s turn, I think I’m having more fun! I still get to jump, I still get the food, and I get to take pictures of them having the time of their lives.
Have a great Wednesday!
For more B&W:
Join me on goodreads! plus a great giveaway you should know about September 21, 2010
Photo:weheartit
The more I mingle in the blogging world the better it seems to be getting! I had heard of goodreads before, but since I was already on librarything I figured I’ll just stick with one. Well I ended up registering last night and I am so excited because I already won a new book to review! I never thought I would be receiving free books to review. Now here I am thanks to my decision in May to start a blog, I am too happy for words. I would love for all my book-loving readers to join if you haven’t already! Join librarything too. Both websites are a way to keep track of books you’ve read (or want to), get recommendations on new books to read, share your opinions, and get free books before they come out! Sounds amazing huh? Join today and add me as a friend 😀 Link is on the right.
Happy Tuesday!
Bonus! Take a look at this huge giveaway at Squeaky Books. There are so many books to win!
Have you been following Enna Isilee’s birthday bash? No?! Well allow me to inform you:
Enna Isilee is the operator of the YA book-blog Squeaky Books, and from August 23rd-September 22nd she’s been celebrating her birthday in style with author interviews, guest posts, and giveaways featuring some of the hotest YA titles. It’s been a blast so far! CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE SUMMARY OF EVENTS
The bad news? IT ALL ENDS TONIGHT!
That’s right, all FIFTEEN (15) giveaways end at 11:59 pm MST tonight! But don’t worry! You still have time to enter! Below I’ve listed all of the possible things you can win. The winners will be announced tomorrow (September 22nd) on Squeaky Books.
If you live in the US you are qualified to enter every giveaway! Most giveaways are open to Canadian residents as well. Sorry international friends, no contests are open to you. But if you have a friend in the US or Canada that will mail to you then you are welcome to enter!
So? Have you entered yet? NO?! What are you waiting for? Check out the links below and enter to win some wicked sweet prizes!!
What to read at night September 20, 2010
Most of you know by now that I love Halloween, I love dressing up, I love decorating, and I (triple) love all things spooky. With Halloween coming up next month, I have switched over to “monster mode” meaning I only watch scary movies (and Halloween specials on TV) and I bring out all my horror stories to enjoy late at night. From now until Halloween I will only be reviewing spooky books and movies. So let’s kick things off!
“The dead woman rose for a moment of agony, while she was lapped in the flame, and her bitter scream of pain was drowned in the thundercrash.”
This excerpt is from “Dracula’s Guest” by Bram Stoker. It was published in 1914 as a short story because it was cut from the original Dracula manuscript by the publisher. This is one of many stories in The 13 Best Horror Stories of All Time. My sister received this book from a friend as a gift for her birthday which is, coincidentally, on October 31. I immediately picked up and started reading it later that night, alone, with one light on in my corner. I was setting myself up to get spooked and boy did I ever! The book begins with The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (one of the best writers of the genre in my opinion) a well-known story. It creeped me out, I know I heard my own heartbeat pounding. What I liked most about this book is that it isn’t just about ghosts and the undead, it’s also about psychological horror and unstable minds. These stories can be a lot scarier than physical monsters. Although I’ve read this book a few times now, the spook factor is still there, I recommend reading this book at night if you dare.
The complete list of stories:
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
Green Tea by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen
Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker
The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs
Oh, Whistle And I’ll Come To You, My Lad by M.R. James
The Country Of The Blind by H.G. Wells
The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions
The Call Of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Have a great spooky Monday!
Friday Thoughts September 17, 2010
Weather has been on the chilly side lately and even though I love a good peppermint tea or a pumpkin spice latte (yum!) I still eat ice cream as often as I do in ninety degree weather in the summer. I’m always up for trying new flavors and brands so the other day I bought a pint of Ciao Bella brand gelato in Tahitian Vanilla. All I can say is wow! It was so delicious, it really was the best vanilla I’ve ever tried.
Photo: Ciao Bella
If you knew me you’d know I am a new lover of frozen yogurt. I went to my favorite yogurt spot Yogurtland yesterday with a friend and was delighted to see they had a new flavor up, pumpkin pie! Once again I had hit the jackpot, it was delicious! Man I really love pumpkin. You know I’ve never carved a pumpkin before? I think I might this year. I also want to bake an apple pie and a pumpkin pie from scratch. If I can defeat the cheesecake I can defeat the pies!
Photo: weheartit
Any goals this holiday season?
Happy Friday and have a great weekend!
Journey September 16, 2010
I haven’t had a chance to post about my journey to Happiness Love and Wisdom yet. Until today!
One thing the book stresses is to not let things bother you, especially the little things! Well I thought I was doing particularly well, I let things go and you know what? It felt great. It’s like getting rid of unnecessary suffering. I would usually get really irked if dishes were not put in the sink or trash not in the trashcan. Recently however, I’ve just put everything where it should go myself. It didn’t cost me a lot of time (seconds really) and I texted everyone a (nice) reminder. You attract more bees with honey right? So all was going well until last night, as I am typing I am hanging my head in shame, but I will share my story with you all.
So last night was the Giants/Dodgers game at 7 p.m. (pacific time) and was totally bummed to find out it was blacked out in my area. I immediately got online and looked up the game on our provider’s website and it said it wasn’t blacked out! I told my dad to tune back to see if it still had the message. I wasn’t looking at the television screen as he did it, but somehow the game came back on. I was so happy! Until the first commercial. My dad decided to change the channel to check out a bit of bicentennial celebration for Mexico’s Independence Day, before he did though I warned him “don’t do it, we might not get the game back”. Well he changed it anyway and like I had predicted the game didn’t come back, it gave us the same blackout message. Now at this point I lost all sense of “letting things go” I told him things I am now embarrassed to even type, I said things like “you should’ve listened” “I told you not to” “now we won’t see the game because you changed it”. I immediately went online to chat with a customer service representative (didn’t help) and calmed down. I didn’t say much afterwards, but I immediately thought to myself “what the heck is your problem? it’s not a big deal”.
So that is my story of my shall we call “fail”?
I hereby promise it will not happen again for at least 3 days (small goal yes, but it is one I know I can keep). Maybe it’s my guilt or sense of failure (probably both), but I am so sure I can control myself. Maybe it was bottled up and he was the outlet. If that’s the case then I seriously need to read more of Buddha‘s Brain. I again encourage you all to follow my journey and hopefully take something away from it for use in your lives and pursuit of Happiness Love and Wisdom.
Don’t let small things anger you, if it can be fixed then fix it, if it’s not important then don’t worry about it. Don’t let anger turn you into another person, it’s not worth it. La paz es amor.
Happy Thursday!
Black and White Wednesday September 15, 2010
I hope everyone is having a wonderful week, it’s already Wednesday! I shot these a while back but never posted them. The angel pictured belongs to my mom, the orb in her hand lights up at night with solar energy. I think the photos look a bit eerie in black and white. Perfect for upcoming Halloween….
Happy Wednesday!
For more B&W:
Mexican food and US Open tennis September 14, 2010
While in Los Angeles we were able to eat at a family favorite restaurant named:
I had the vegetable fajitas:
(sorry I totally picked at the avocado)
What I really like about this restaurant (other than the food) is the ambiance. They have authentic decorations complete with:
Before we left I had been watching Nadal’s match with Gilles Simon and was feeling pretty bummed at having to miss the end, but lo and behold they were showing the match on a television near my table! It was fun getting my entire table to applaud as Nadal celebrated his victory even though my aunt didn’t understand a thing about the game (only that my future husband Nadal was alto y guapo). Good food and a Nadal match, what more could I want  in one sitting? 🙂
Update: Nadal won the US Open! I was too happy for words last night, I felt so much pride 🙂 Vamos Rafa!
Photo: US Open
Happy Tuesday!
Winter Shadows September 13, 2010
I am so excited to be posting this review today. I received an early copy of Winter Shadows by Margaret Buffie from the Early Reviewers program from Library Thing. I encourage you to join if you also enjoy reading, what’s not to love about receiving a free book from the publisher?! Anyhoo, on to my review!
Photo: Amazon
Winter Shadows is the story of two young women going through difficult and confusing times in their life. Cass is dealing with a cold new stepmother and bratty stepsister while simultaneously still recovering from the recent loss of her mother. In the 1850s Beatrice is recently returned home from school and is also dealing with a mean new stepmother. The story is of how both these young women help each other get through the changes in their life by way of Beatrice’s journal and by doing so help themselves as well. The author does a swell job of transitioning between the two characters and the story is easy to follow with both of them. Although this story is geared more towards grade school age readers, I still enjoyed reading and maybe you will too. Some young girls will surely feel more of a connection to the dilemmas the girls face than I did. As the title suggests this story takes place during the winter season, so I suggest a cup of tea to along with it, it’s just too fitting! This book is available for pre-order and will be released on October 12.
Happy Monday!
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