Shopaholic Series




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 You may or may not have noticed that I haven't posted many book reviews on here. Well there's a reason for that. I've been reading the Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella and it's taken me a while to get through them. And by a while I'm talking about starting somewhere in 2011 and finishing in June 2012. However, six books is a lot for someone like me who prefers to watch tv or movies...so I'm pretty proud of myself!

These were good, easy and quick reads (well quick when I didn't have shows to catch up on). My favorite out of the whole series was the last one (or the last one for now) Mini Shopaholic. I think this was the first time I had actually laughed out loud while reading. Maybe a chuckle here and there, but this one I was actually laughing. When I was trying to explain what I thought was so funny to the boyfriend, he couldn't understand me because I had started laughing again. However, if you don't read all of them and understand the characters' characteristics then it won't be as funny.

The whole series is about a woman named Becky and what she gets herself into with her shopping addiction (i.e. she's a shopaholic). She denies it, justifies it, tries to hide it, tries to change herself, but in the end she can only be what she is and above all she still finds that people love her for who she is no matter her faults.

If you happened to see the movie without reading the books first, please don't judge the books by the movie. The Becky in the books is not nearly as over the top as the Becky in the movie. The Becky in the book is also described as looking completely different than the Becky in the movie, so I really don't know why the cast Isla Fisher to play her. So in summary, books = good, movie = bad. Ha ha.

p.s. I'm currently reading the Hunger Games trilogy! I'm always late to the table with popular book series (except Twilight I read those before there were talks of a movie). So far I'm really enjoying the series and can't wait to see what happens!

The Eagle

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SNOOZE FEST....zzzzzz

We got this movie from netflix back in September 2011 and didn't watch it until June 2012! That should have been the first clue that we really had no desire to watch this movie. But we rented it so by golly we were going to watch. With in the first 5 minutes we knew we should have turned it off, but I was attempting to be optimistic and thought maybe, just maybe it'll get better. Sadly, it did not.

Other than being extremely slow there was other stuff that just bugged the crap out of me. One of the things that bugged me the most was the lack of the accents? Seriously, how are you going to make a movie set way back in the day and not include accents??? Don't Romans or Spainards or whatever have accents?!?! So annoying.

I'm annoyed just writing this...ha ha. So I'm done. It was just bad, so bad.

June Meal - Shrimp Stuffed Shells

Say that three times fast!

This was really good...a little messy but good. I particularly wanted to make these because I had a lot of shells leftover from the Taco Shell meal. I found the recipe over at Cooking Light.

My version Shrimp Stuffed Shells

Adapted from Cooking Light

•  16 uncooked jumbo pasta shells 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup 1/3-less-fat cream cheese 
• 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped 
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• Cooking spray
• 3 cups reduced fat basil marinara sauce, divided
• Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Cook pasta 7 minutes or until almost al dente
3. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion powder and garlic powder. Add cream cheese, milk, and pepper; cook until cheese melts, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. 
4. Place shrimp in a bowl. Sprinkle with corn starch; toss well to coat. 
5. Add cream cheese mixture to shrimp; toss well.
6. Divide shrimp mixture evenly among pasta shells. Coat a 13 x 9-inch glass dish with cooking spray; spread 1 cup marinara over bottom of dish. Arrange shells in prepared dish; top with remaining 2 cups marinara. 
7. Sprinkle shells evenly with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. 
8. Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until shrimp is done

* I also think this dish would be really good with chicken instead of shrimp.

Brothers of the Sun Tour

Better late than never right? Like I said a few weeks ago I was going to the Brothers of the Sun Tour in Arlington and had awesome "seats" on the sandbar area. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. I was excited to be that close! I could have the chance to touch a hand and I could see without squinting or watching from a jumbo tron. At the same time I was nervous because I didn't know if I could stand for that long, not have anything to eat or drink for that long or let alone hold my bladder that long. It was all mind over matter...ha ha. Everything went great and I'm so happy the boyfriend didn't listen to me when I said I didn't want a ticket because I wanted to be able to sit (I know I can be a baby sometimes) and surprised me with one anyways! Get ready for pictures! I went a little overboard, but this is a narrowed down version of what is on computer! Enjoy!

In order of performances...

Jake Owen

Up close and personal



Drum Solo

Booty shakin' time

Grace Potter


Necklace envy!

She was crazy on stage and even took her shoes off to hop around some more

Everyone on the drums...Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

The Main Events...

Tim McGraw

Let's do this thing

number 1...ha ha

Look at those pearly whites...i'm talking about the teeth not the pants

Speaking of pants...those were some tight white pants!

let it shine!

Kenny Chesney

Baby blues

Sing it...turtle style

You and Tequila

Jam session

Thinking about "Some beach, some where..."

Bring it home!

Brothers of the Sun

Everybody (Kenny, Tim, Grace and Jake)

This was truly an amazing experience. The three of us who went each caught a guitar pick and the tallest one of us caught a drum stick! Talk about a lucky duck!

Polka Dot Tree Happy Birthday Card

Made this card for my Aunt's birthday way back at the beginning of June! I wanted it to look summery so I used bright polka dot paper. Then I wanted to use my new tree embossing folder for my cuttle bug. The stamp I used silver as the first color and the black as the second to give it a shadow effect.

Rock Of Ages

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I absolutely LOVE 80's music! If you don't believe me, you should listen to my Kenny Chesney Pandora station and there will be just as many 80's rock songs as there are country songs...I know it's weird, but entertaining :)

This musical (yes it is a musical) was right up my ally! When I told my Dad what I had seen he corrected me and said "Do you mean Flop of Ages?" Ha ha. I was slightly offended by that, but to each their own. Was it campy? Yes. Were parts of it over the top? Yes. But what do you expect from a movie about the rock scene in the 80's come on now...

Oh and Tom Cruise as a spoiled rock star out of his mind...completely realistic...ha ha. I guess in his own right he is a rock star...he's been around long enough :) As for Russell Brand I don't think it was a stretch for him to play his character. People say Julianne Hough quit Dancing With the Stars to persue her acting carrer, but can you really call it acting when everything she's been in she's been dancing or singing?!?!

Honestly, I can't wait for this movie to come out on dvd so I can rent it and sing and dance along without strangers shh-ing me or having me thrown out. Ha! Don't worry, I controlled myself in the theater and the most I did was bounce my foot to the beat :)

Anyone else love 80's music??

Baby Proof

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I’m finally all caught up with the Emily Giffin novels! Woo Hoo! And just in time for her new book that is coming out July 24, Where We Belong. I truly enjoy her writing. All her books have been very easy reads. However, Baby Proof is probably my least favorite of hers. While it’s still entertaining, it’s not as gripping as say Something Borrowed or Heart of the Matter. Maybe it’s because there’s no adultery.

Baby Proof is about a woman, Claudia, who is anti-having kids. While she loves her nieces and nephews she does not want any of her own. This has made it tough for her to find a man to call her husband who feels the same way as her on the subject. Then she meets Ben who shares her opinions about kids. After a few years of marriage, one party’s opinion begins to change and in turn puts a strain on their relationship. The book is all about what you will and won’t do for the people you love.

What made this book my least favorite is that things seemed to happen really fast. Don’t get me wrong I love fast paced story lines (both books and movies), but I also like there to be some build-up. The only other negative I have is that the main character, Claudia, seemed whiney at times. Other than that I really enjoyed reading Baby Proof.

Snow White and the Huntsman

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Not a terrible movie, but I wasn't that impressed. Or maybe it was just Kristen Stewart because lets face it...it wasn't Chris Hemsworth (picture me swooning ha ha). I've read other reviews and everyone else seemed to really like this movie. So I don't know what my deal is...ha ha (maybe it's because I watched The Eagle (read: snooze fest) the night before...post to come soon).

Here's what I did like...
1. Charlize Theron as an evil queen because she has some evil looks. I might have even picked up one or two of the eye gazes for furture use...he he.
2. The costumes for the Evil queen...over the top just like her.
3. The darker side of the Snow White story.
4. Spoiler alert: Kristen Stewart smiled?!?! Who knew she had it in her?!?!

Here's what I didn't like...
1. The accents were not consistant or even there. I'm mean the Huntsman had a pretty nice one, but I felt as everyone else's kept changing.
2. Kristen Stewart as Snow White. I don't think she portrayed as strong of a snow white as the role called for...she still seemed needy/Bella (from twilight) like.
3. It seemed very slow to me.
4. Where was the prince?!?! There is a prince right?!?! Or maybe they just left that open for a sequel
5. The dwarfs names changed

I guess this is more of a toss up for me...would I buy it? Nope. Would I watch it again, say if it were on TV? More than likely.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Dream Catcher Necklace

I saw this necklace on Lovely Little Things Blog and fell in love with it! I had to have one for myself/continue to grow my long necklace collection...I just can't get enough. I picked ivory so that way I could wear it with pretty much anything. If you want one for yourself check out The Lovely Lemonade on etsy. This necklace came in a stitched envelope and with a very sweet card. Sometimes it really is the little things that mean the most :)

Final Destination 5

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So did anyone else know that this was the prequel?!?! Or I guess I should really ask does anyone else still watch these?!?! I've been hooked from the start. Yes they are cheesey, but I love it! Plus it doesn't hurt that FD:4 had someone I actually know IRL in it! (I definitely just raised the roof...ha ha...how old am I?)

The acting was not the greatest to say the least, but I still liked this movie. And more so I loved at the end how it tied everything together. Of course like I said above, I had no idea that this movie was a prequel so at the end when they are on the plane and you see the actor from the frist movie start to freak out and then the current actor look at his ticket and it says the year 2000...wow did it throw me for a loop. Just for a second, but still. I like to be surprised now and then.

Men In Black III

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Just like old times...and by old I mean the first MIB came out in 1997! I can't comment on the 3d version of this movie since I saw it 2d, but I thought 2d was perfectly fine. (If anyone has seen it in 3d and thinks it's worth it to see it that way let me know).

Josh Brolin playing a young Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K was hilarious. He nailed it! Of course Will Smith was excellent as well, still playing Agent J. The movie as a whole was pretty good, but not as good as the first one (but isn't that always the case?!?!). The ending of this movie was my favorite part. It was definitely worth seeing just to see that part.

Day Dreaming

I stare at a calendar with pictures like this all day every day (or 4-5 days a week). Which tends to leave me day dreaming about being at a place like this. Unfortunately, I don't have any plans to be on a beach in the near future except for the "sand bar" area I'll be standing in to watch these two hunks play their hearts out this weekend...

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Of course I'll get back to that next week with lots of pictures!! I'm excited!!

In the mean time there are always 2 things I think about...
Q1. What would I do if I won a large sum of money/were rich?
Q2. If I was stranded on a remote island, what are 5 things I would want with me?

A1. If I had a ton of money, first things first I "retire"!! Then go get me an awesome beach house and set up camp. I seriously think I could spend every day by the water. And it will have to be like the picture on top and not the brown yuckiness that's an hour away from me. Then of course I'd do all the things I've ever wanted to do, but those two are the first things!

A2. I asked my friend this and she spit the answers out really fast and I took a little more time...ha ha...obviously I think about this wayyy too much. Here goes 1. Water Filtration System 2. Book on what's safe to eat 3. Sunscreen 4. Toiletries (including but not limited to an endless supply of t.p.) and 5. Unlimited amount of matches. Of course none of this would I actually have on me...ha ha.

Anyways...complete randomness today, but sometimes it's nice to day dream a little. What would your answers to be the questions? What do you day dream about?

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel



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I watched 7, yes 7, movies from the time span of last Thursday through Sunday! I do have a life I promise. Each one will get their own feature on this here blog of mine, but I won't bombard you all at once with back to back posts of movies...you're welcome. In case you're wondering what's to come...here are all the movies I watched: Final Destination 5, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Men In Black III, The Eagle, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Snow White and the Huntsman and finally Enemy of State.

I wasn't planning on ever seeing this movie as it's about a bunch of old people and I hadn't seen very many previews for it, but I'm so glad that my Aunt wanted to see this for her birthday because I would have missed out on a good movie otherwise.

The movie is about a group of retired people from England who all need an escape from their current lifestyles for various reasons. They all travel to what they expect to be an upscale hotel in India for retired English men and women, but find out what they are really in for after arriving. They have to learn how to adapt to new lifestyles and more or less go with the flow. The movie is very character driven and you really come to like some and hate others. This movie has the best quote in it...

"Everything will be all right in the end...if it's not all right it's not the end." - Sonny

Wedding Cake Card

For the same wedding I made the invitation ornament for, I also made a wedding cake card using the Wild Card Cartridge for my Cricut. The paper is off white to match their invitation and I wanted to jazz it up a bit, but still leave it simple so I added white pearls for decoration. These I just simply measured, cut and glued! Easy as pie...ha ha.

Wedding Invitation Ornament

Over Memorial Day weekend, I had a wedding to go to for a girl who was in my father daughter camping group as a kid. I've been wanting to try an invitation ornament, but all my friends who have gotten married already had one so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to make one! Plus, I had told the girl around Christmas that she should make one with her invitation and she was like maybe I'll just have you do it for me...ha ha. So I did it as a surprise!

1. Cut each line of the invitation separately
2. Wrap strips around smooth pen or pencil
3 and 4 glide strips into ornament and put top back on

After all the strips were in the ornament, I went to Michaels to look for a charm and ribbon to complete the ornament. Here's what I found...

A cross and love charm plus some gold-ish ribbon that matched the invitation. I was really happy with the way this turned out and can't wait to make another one!