Book Suggestions!

I've been asked multiple times for book recommendations and things like that, and even though I'm not an English teacher or an author myself, I know how to appreciate a good book. My taste in books tends to lean towards chick-esque, humorous, life-lesson style books (a la Confessions of a Shopaholic). But anyway, I'll just share a few of my favorites.

1. Make Every Man Want You by Marie Forleo:

It's a lighthearted look at how to love yourself, never settle for less than you deserve, and how to make sure you always portray yourself in the best light. It's SUCH a great read! I was honestly so so so very surprised!

ANNA MAXTED

SOPHIE KINSELLA

3. Any and Every book by Sophie Kinsella: I started reading "Confessions of a Shopaholic" in early 10th grade (2003) and I remember reading it through most of my classes. My friend Megan had let me borrow it and I was hooked. I could totally relate to Miss Rebecca Bloomwood and her NEED to shop. It, too, is set in London, but the 5-book series really opens you up to all of Becky's blunders and adventures. The movie totally sucked... Honestly. The books are SOOOOO much better. I'd read them all again if I still had them in my possession. Kinsella also wrote "Can You Keep a Secret?, "Remember Me?" and her most recent work "Twenties Girl"... I've read all of them (well, I own Twenties Girl.. I just havent read it yet) but she also writes under the pen-name "Madeline Wickham". Check her out!

CHELSEA HANDLER

4. Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler: I dont care WHO you are... if you dont love Chelsea Handler, something is sincerely wrong with you. This book was to die for! Her other book, "The Horizontal Life", was also funny, but it doesnt touch this one. I just truly appreciate her comedic genius and I can't help but fall for her dry sarcastic humor and fat little Chuy!

I'm supposed to be doing a book swap with a lovely girl named Ashley soon, but if anyone else is interested in a book swap, let a girl know!

What are some of your favorite reads and why?

I'd love to hear them and maybe check them out!

xo

Body Image, etc...

(this is my drunk face... even though i dont even drink alcohol haha)

so my post begins... last night I ended my post by saying there was a bit of controversy and drama in my formspring last night (oh, the love!) A lovely person brought it to my attention that a girl (whom I've never met) has been saying mean and malicious things about me on her tumblr/myspace/etc. Well well well... surprise surprise! The world is full of less-than-stellar people, and this girl in particular has already taken it upon herself to make herself look like a fool on many occasions. Basically, it merely boils down to this... a pro-anorexia girl (who is very open about the situation) is lurking my myspace/blog/twitter and posting on the happenings. Apparently she lurked my twitter, saw a twitpic I had posted, and wrote a tumblr post saying I was looking especially "chunky" blah blah blah. The Gist: An anorexic girl called me fat. Woe is me! My world is ending!... well... not quite. I've never met this girl in my life... she's merely friends with people I actually still never knew in high school. I won't drag it out and explain how I, even though I'm "chunky", still manage to be incredibly successful in my life, but she, the "anorexic", dropped out of college, worked in fast food, etc etc etc. Whatever. Let's not be petty, right?

The moral of the story is this: I don't care. I'm not hurt by the things she said. Apparently this surprised a lot of my FormSpring followers because I think they expected me to lash out in anger and revenge. So one girl doesn't like me.... so one girl thinks I'm fat... so what. I like me. I like my body. Mike LOVES my body. I'm happy. I'm healthy. I'm successful. Why on earth would one little girl make me question that? The answer: She wont. She doesnt. She isnt. :) The truly disturbing part is that even at my current weight, I'm happy with myself. She's starving/purging and still hating herself. Obviously that has to be the issue, right? I can't imagine why anyone would do that to themselves (Yes, I understand it's a disease, and I respect that... But just because you're unhappy with YOU doesnt mean you should project that onto others).

Anyway, enough about her. She wanted her fifteen minutes of fame and she got it. Congratulations Alaina. You got your time in the limelight. You knew I had a following so you tried to use that to your advantage to get publicity.. you finally did... now thats all you'll ever get from me. :) Go you!

Now turning the post to the actual subject at hand: Why do so many girls find it easy to hate themselves? I used to talk a lot of trash in high school (don't most girls?!)... But I wasn't happy with "me" then... I was self-conscious, awkward, weird.... even though I had a ton of friends, played sports, was voted for several superlatives, was involved with so many school activities, and practically ran that place... I was so so so self conscious. So what'd I do? I'd rag on other girls just to make myself feel better. That was the "cool" thing to do. I was given a new opportunity when I graduated high school and moved away for college... I was able to portray myself in a new light... These new people hadn't met me, they didn't know I used to be a "mean girl".. I could be anyone... Well, I just wanted to be me... but the nice me. I found myself over the past 4 years and I've been able to come to terms with a lot of things...

1) No, I'm not the skinniest girl alive... well I'll be damned! It doesn't make me a bad person... I still have a lot of friends... Did someone forget to inform me that chubby is a disease?! How silly! So I'm not super skinny... big deal... I managed to have a boyfriend for 3 years, and more recently an even better one (see what I did there? :P)... Never once has he complained about my body. When I complain, he praises it. I know I don't have to be self-conscious around him. I managed to be chosen by Seventeen magazine as one of the 17 Best Dressed Girls in America... So apparently I can dress for my shape fairly well... I managed to be chosen Best Dressed and Most Likely to be Famous my Senior year of high school.... I managed to snag a dream internship (2 years in a row) and live in NYC on my own... I've been able to accomplish SO much... and guess what?!?! I WAS CHUBBY FOR ALL OF IT! Holy balls, it's possible y'all! :)

So much focus is put on weight for girls (and guys) today. It's ludicrous! People stop focusing on what a person is capable of and start focusing on the size on the tag of the clothing you're wearing. Even the most recent Fashion Week is exclaiming how the sample size needs to be resized! Size 2 and 4 models are fat!

I'd have all the same talents and abilities I do now if I starved myself down to skin and bones and lost 40 pounds so I'd be equivalent to her. Except then I'd be buying into the hype and depriving myself of things I like to do/eat haha Not interested! Plus, I get to wear things that look cute on MY body style... stuff that wouldn't necessarily look good on a lanky frame.

I just don't understand why people can't be happy with their bodies... This is what you have. Treat it well. Don't deprive yourself/it of things you need/like... but don't overindulge and shove it full of crap, either. Treat it with respect and you'll get the most out of it.

I love my body for what it does for me. I can run, jump, swim, skip, sleep, eat, breath.... I get to live my life daily.. Something that so many of us take for granted. Even if I were to starve myself down to skin and bones, I'm probably still going to be sitting at a size 6 or 8, just because I have those child-bearing hips that my Mama so graciously passed down to me. I enjoy going to the gym and working out, but if I want to eat a cupcake, well by gosh golly you bet I'm going to eat a cupcake!

I guess I've ranted on long enough.. I just wanted to bring it to everyone's curious minds that things like this girl do not bother me... She's going to hate me whether I'm fat or not... just because thats the kind of person she is. We've all encountered them. The important thing to remember is that people like her dont run your life... We've all got wonderful people around us that love us for who we are.. they're the ones whose opinions we need to listen to. Why would I care what she thinks of me if the person I crawl in bed with every night thinks I'm the most gorgeous thing to walk the earth? Exactly. And I'm so so very lucky to have that.

Even when you're in doubt with your body, just remember it's a piece of genius! The things it does for you and the things it allows you to do... it's incredible. Treat it with respect and adore it. If you think you're too round or too thin, do something about it if it bothers you! But otherwise, dress for your shape! This is the single most important thing! Dress. For. Your. Shape! The wrong piece of clothing can make a 110 pound girl look like she's 140... but in the same regard, the right piece of clothing can flatter a 140 pound frame and make you look 10 pounds lighter!

Sorry for my ridiiicccculously long post, but I wanted to get it out of the way early on so Mike and I can go enjoy our day and I can blog again tonight. (Didn't want to overload your dashboards with a bunch of hullabaloo!)

I hope you all have a magical Sunday!

xo

Recap...

sorry for my little 3-day hiatus. i needed a break from the internet, for reallllll. the past few days have been awesome (and exhausting). i had a huge exam in art history 2 on friday morning and i hate having to try and study for it. that class is the bane of my existence. i didnt go to class thursday morning but the rest of the day was spent running errands and we shot a few outfit photos. i was very sloppy on thursday so i apologize for my appearance.

Thursday's Outfit Details:

Dress: Converse ($35)

Cardigan: Charlotte Russe ($25)

Tights: Walmart ($10)

Headband: Charlotte Russe ($4)

Flats: Ross ($12)

Mike's Outfit Details for Thursday:

Undershirt: Forever 21 ($15)

Buttonup Shirt: Forever 21 ($26)

Jeans: Courtesy of me

Shoes: Journeys ($45)

Friday was the test and I was just happy to have it over with. Later in the day mike and i ran errands, grabbed lunch, had an impromptu picnic in Pinkerton Park (where we took all of the following photos) and then we went to see Valentine's Day at the theater. (it was SOOOO good! i totally recommend it to anyone! i was laughing, crying, etc! such a great cast. i will OWNNN that movie when it comes out!)

Friday's Outfit Details:

Dress: Charlotte Russe ($35. NEW FAVORITE! i fell in LOVE!)
Cardigan: Charlotte Russe ($18 though its a size or two too big :()

Tights: Walmart ($10)
Shoes: Ross ($12)

Headband: Charlotte Russe ($4 altered)

this is his angry/frustrated face haha awww

Mike's Outfit Details for Friday:

Undershirt: Forever 21 ($15)

Button Up Shirt: Forever 21 ($24)

Pants: Courtesy of me again.

Shoes: Journeys ($45)

Oh, I forgot to mention we took up a new hobby. We were bored so we took up candlemaking. Yep... you read it. Heres a few silly pictures of our less-than-stellar candles!

Oh oh oh! On Friday, Mike was going to surprise me with carnations on my car as I came out of class... but I foiled his plan by leaving class earlier than he had expected. I was still thrilled to come home to some beautiful flowers! How precious!

There's currently some ~controversy going around on my formspring about a certain female and her knack for saying rude/malicious things about me. I'm going to post on that later (well, less on her and more on body image, etc) But for now, I have to get ready for work. I left my makeup there last night so I'm going bare faced with dirty dirty hair and a gross outfit. I just dont feel like getting all spiffed up tonight.

Tomorrow Mike and I are going to clean our cars (yay!) and start some spring cleaning as well. At least I am haha So excited for it to be 60 degrees! I better not get TOO attached... the high will be 31 Thursday! Gah, Tennessee! You're killing me!

xo

NEW FAVORITE ITEM EVER!

This deserves it's own post because it is full of EPIC WIN! I bought this bad boy on Ebay tonight! EEEEEP! I AM SO EXCITED TO GET IT! I AM GOING TO WEAR IT EVERY SINGLE DAY AND IT WILL LOOK AWESOME!

$60 of heavenly glory!

I FEEL LIKE A 7 YEAR OLD ON CHRISTMAS!

Yes, it IS a backpack! and YES, YOU DO GET TO REACH INSIDE OF ITS MOUTH! ahhhh!

OKAY! done! eep!

V-Day Recap

So finally! Here I am to excite you all with a ridiculously large update about our fun-filled Valentine's Day weekend and our little mini-getaway to the Smoky Mountains! Huzzah!

Well for starters, Saturday night was quite possibly (actually no, it WAS) the most physically, mentally, and emotionally draining night of work that i've EVER had. ever. I won't even get into it. Let's just say that if that ever happens again, I may have to walk out. I simply cannot handle it. I got home around 3:45am (yes, an hour later than usual) and went to sleep. We woke up at 7:45am so we could leave by 8. That never happens. We did, however, manage to be on the interstate by 8:45 or so. It took us a bit longer because we decided to swap VDay gifts before leaving (keep reading...). I took a big ol' blanket and 2 pillows so I could sleep on the way there but I couldnt manage to sleep. I didnt even read any magazines. We had an intense game of fadiddle instead.

We exchanged gifts before heading out and he had me a basket of goodies! Included was: the Hello Kitty clutch wallet I was dying for! (eeeeep! i LOVE it!), an Owl Watch/Clock necklace, the sweet Shark foam visor (see photo in previous post!), and a peachy pink ribbon bow headband, etc. My bag o' goodies to him included: a 6 pack of Yuengling Black & Tan beer, Lotttsss of gummy candies and by lots I mean like 5 bags (his favorite!), valentines day cookies, a cute red teddy bear that says I Love You, an I Love You balloon and other fun stuff!

Anyway... We pulled into Gatlinburg around 2pm and decided we were famished so we ate at a little Mexican place next to the Aquarium called No Way Jose's.

Mike had some yummy Caribbean Veggie Fajitas!

It snowed the ENTIRE time we were there! Lovely!

Quick Photo-op before going into the Aquarium!

Valentine's Day Outfit Details:

Dress: Forever 21 ($30)

Cardigan: Charlotte Russe ($25)

Jacket: Forever 21 ($40)

Tights: Walmart ($10)

Flats: Ross ($12)

Headband: Charlotte Russe ($7)

Necklace: Part of VDay gifts from Mike! (It's an Owl Clock necklace!)

Finally! This is what we planned our ENTIRE trip on/around! SO EXCITED!

Quick photo outside in the snow. I love this picture of us :D

I tried only picking *a few* photos from the weekend.. but you can see the rest on my Flickr by CLICKING HERE!

Shark Lagoon!

Lion Fish

Jellyfish

Cuddlefish

Next up was the Guinness World Records Museum. (Don't waste your money.. it was a TOTAL flop!)

Then we headed down the strip to the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. It was actually really interesting. I just wouldn't go again, know what I mean?

After that we headed down the strip some more and happened upon the Ripley's Moving Theater (Simulation theater where all the seats move like you're on a rollercoaster.) We decided that was a good idea so we did that, too. It was alright. Turns out Mike lost his phone there but luckily the attendants found it! Phew! We woulda been SOO upset!

We decided to head to dinner. We went to this really nice Italian Restaurant on the main road and had a fireside dinner. We drew on the tables, ate yummy Pasta Primavera with lots of veggies, and eavesdropped on the MOST ridiculous conversation EVER!

My Pasta Primavera. I hate creamy sauce. Red is the way to go!

Mike's Pasta Primavera.

I doodled Mike's name...

and then my own.

He looks thrilled, yes?

We were so beat by then so we headed to our "lodge"... The Sidney James Mountain Lodge. We got a big room with a jacuzzi and everything. Much to our dismay, our "hot tub" in the room was smaller than we one we have in our room at home! But the hot water was lovely so it turned out just fine. The fireplace was nice, too. We had wonderful conversation all night. We lounged in the jacuzzi, ate junk food and drank cokes haha. We were awful eaters this weekend, thats for sure!

We woke up slightly early (by slightly I mean 9am) and got all of our things together. We were going to go eat breakfast and shop a bit, then head to Pigeon Forge & Sevierville on teh way home. We had this really beautiful brook behind our balcony so we decided to go down there and take photos.

My favorite photo of Mike. Isn't he dreamy?

The face I ALWAYS make...

and some together.

We headed down to Pancake Pantry and was greeted with a line out the door. We got in fairly quickly though, only to have an awfully rude waitress. She was SO unpleasant! She almost slung coffee on Mike and you'd swear she was trying to skip our plates from across the restaurant. Either way, the food was yummy and we tried to disregard it.

After all of that, we got in the car and headed north. We found out there was an Exotic Petting Zoo on the way home and i LOVE LOVE LOVE animals so we HAD to go! It was a bit out in BFE but we managed to get there without incident. They had kangaroos, peacocks, CAMELS!, zebras, etc! The kangaroo was a new guy and he loved to have his neck rubbed. So cute! I hand-fed a peacock (after he stole some feed from our cup!) Fed some reindeer an apple, made new goat and donkey friends... then came the camels... Well, I'll get there in a second.

Okay.. so the camels. Well, if you've read my prior post you'll notice that I was indeed bitten by a camel.... this resulted in a very very quick drive to the nearest emergency room. Man oh man! What a story! We came upon the camels and there were two of them. One was significantly larger than the other. Well, the large one (Bully is what we'll call him.. for the sake of this post), was very very forward, loved to stick his big ol' face in yours, and he wanted ALL of your food. seriously. The other one was much more reserved, kept to herself, and would rarely come to you first. We fed Bully for a bit but I noticed that he would NOT let her eat anything from us! He'd knock her out of the way or nuzzle his way to my hands first. If you know anything about me, you'll know I ALLLWAYYYSSS root for the underdog. I always buy the ugliest fish from the pet store, I always adopt the ugliest animal from the shelter.. whatever. I guess my instinct is that they need love, too, and if I don't give it to them then no one will. I'm weird. Whatever. Anyway, I was not okay with Bully being a jerk. So I devised a plan to feed BOTH of them at the same time... One per hand. Makes sense right? Well Bully still kept eating everything so he was a bit distracted at one point and I was only feeding the sweet Small one... Well he saw this and got jealous/angry.. He stampeded over to the little one, kicked her, and pushed her out of the way. My hand just so happened to be in her mouth at the same time. She panicked, chomped down, and drug her teeth all down my hands/fingers as I was trying to pull away.

At first I thought I was fine. I was just in a bit of shock. The adrenaline had caused the pain to feel non-existant... that was until I turned around, ran to Mike with my arms pulled close and just started BAWLING in the middle of the zoo (luckily we were the ONLY people there). I thought I was going to be okay... I thought I could dust my hand off and it would only be sore... Then I looked down and saw my middle finger bending up, and my ring finger bending down. It had teeth scrape marks and it was turning colors. The freezing cold air didn't help either. We ran back inside and by this time I was hysterical. I was in SO MUCH PAIN. The owner lady ran my hand under cold water and I was doubled over in agony. She sat me down and wrote down directions to the nearest hospital and Mike rushed me there. By the time we got there I had calmed down a lot. It was still hurting like the dickens but we walked in and he signed me into the ER. The page definitely said "Reason for visit:" and he wrote "Camel Bite"... we both burst out laughing like crazy. Here I am holding my hand like a disabled person and we're hysterically laughing in the ER... They must have thought us crazy!

We sat and waited for them to call me back. Finally they did. EVERY SINGLE NURSE/DR LAUGHED AT ME! Yes, I realize its a hilarious story.. Why the crap gets bit by a camel in the snowy Smoky Mountains?! They put me in the psychiatric ward room due to lack of rooms (or maybe because they legit thought me crazy for claiming a camel bite? idk.. ha!) and they took 3 xrays. They tried prescribing me pain medication (like Lortab) but I refused. They gave me 800mg Ibuprofen and luckily nothing was broken. Merely sprained and insanely bruised. Praise! They sent me on my way and luckily the zoo will be paying all of the medical bills.

It wasn't the camels fault by any means.. so I'm not bitter. My hand still hurts tremendously, and my knuckles are turning very interesting colors. I couldn't bend my fingers at all Monday. I got more use out of them as the day progressed yesterday, and finally today I can make a fist. I'll be fine but at least I have a ridiculous story about our first Vday together haha!

The Hospital

We stopped on the way home to eat at Panera and then a massive snow storm hit. (Apparently it hit back home overnight so school was canceled). It didnt get bad until we were about 130 miles from home. It got awful... FAST! Luckily we made it back without too many problems though. Mike wanted to make me feel better so he took me to Opry Mills Mall! Eep! The boy knows the way to my heart, okay! I only bought some hair accessories and tank tops, but we did get him a few cute shirts! :D

Yesterday I spent all day working on a project I presented today. I have photos from Tuesday and Wednesday, but I'll post them soon. This is getting long as it is!

Today Mike was going to surprise me with carnations on my car at school but I foiled his plan by beating him back home. Oops! But they're still beautiful! White and pink and sitting in a small vase in our room! We went and ate lunch at Garcia's and headed to Hobby Lobby. We decided to make candles tonight! They turned out awesome (not perfect, but it is just our first try!). We're going to do more tomorrow! We came home for a bit and then headed out to get groceries. We made dinner (teriyaki noodles and roasted red potatoes & green beans!) and nowwwww we're going to catch up on some Hulu and go to bed! Phew!

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful weekend and to be able to spend it with someone so fantastic! He was so great, even when I was bawling hysterically at the zoo and he had to abandon the sweet camels to take me to the ER! (We got our money back though! Huzzah!)

This was by far the best Valentine's ever!

Also, I got sweet sweet cards from Ashley, Emily, Keesh, and Emma! Thank you girls so much! As promised, I'll have something back in the mail for you shortly!

xo

PS; if you want to see all 180 pictures from the trip, just CLICK HERE to visit my Flickr!