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| Yikes. |
Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly best-selling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads. She's hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's Finest. PulitzerPrize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise-cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of the murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat.
Well, after my last read I really needed something kind of "fluffy" to read. A little bit of brain candy. *sigh* Thank you whoever you are ghost writing as Richard Castle. This book was basically a higher octane version of the show Castle- except the main characters do hook up (and I am not giving anything major away here, if you watch the show)!
I was happy with this book- it was a light, easy crime novel, with a simple formula. Murder+sexy detective+tension w/ male lead+danger= good.
The only thing I found a little silly/annoying is that ALL of the characters in the book are in the show, down to Castle's, I mean Jameson Rook's mom. They just have different names - Kate Becket = Nikki Heat, Espisito = Ochoa, and so on. Also, I think Castle is more likable than Rook - maybe because the show is a lot from his perspective and the book was all from Nikki's. I don't know, I am really nit-picking here. I really enjoyed the book :)
4/5 for me!
And for your viewing pleasure:
Dementia is basically a disease which causes "brain failure". Literally, the brain shrinks and holes start to form. Here is an example of a healthy brain:
And this is a brain with Alzheimer's disease - same age, race, sex, etc.
This is a sensory box themed for the month of February.
It contains scented lotions (smell and touch w/ hand massages), a feather boa (sight and touch), a CD of old music (hearing), a faux rose (sight, touch), old photos of weddings (sight), a teddy bear and stuffed valentine heart (sight and touch), a book of love quotes and poems (hearing, sight, touch), scented, rose-shaped soaps (sight, smell touch), lip-smackers in strawberry and watermelon (sight, smell, touch, and taste), a light-up bouncy ball (sight, touch), and a flameless scented candle (sight, smell). All of these things can be used to trigger memories and reminiscence. I recently heard a theory that the long-term memories are they, just not accessible by the person, but can be triggered and create a moment of joy.
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| Lipsmackers, Rose, scented soaps |
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| Old wedding photos, "Crooners" CD, and Love book |
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| Sophie was being very helpful... or trying to eat the teddy bear - whatever she's adorable. |
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| Lotions that smell like flowers (Valentine bouquet?) and strawberry |
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| Teddy bear, feather boa, rose petals, bouncy-light-up ball |
All I did was wrap a shoebox in pretty paper and go to the dollar store - I printed the photos off of the internet. This box can be used by my staff for 1:1 visits with residents who are restricted to their rooms or bedridden or it can be used in a small group setting for lower-level residents. I put a list of what is in the box on the underside of the lid. By the end of this year I hope to have one of these boxes for every month of the year.
Sweeping and lyrical, spellbinding and unforgettable, David Ebershoff’s The 19th Wife combines epic historical fiction with a modern murder mystery to create a brilliant novel of literary suspense.
It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife.
Soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds–a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death.
And as Ann Eliza’s narrative intertwines with that of Jordan’s search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love and faith.
I literally just finished reading this book and my exact words were "Ugh- Finally finished!"
This book was not bad, but it is not going on my list of favorites by any means. The two words I would use to describe this book are tedious and fascinating. The author has weaved together a past and present story. He uses the present story to get you sucked in, and then beats you over the head with historical fiction. In the present day story there is Jordan (its guy - took me 30 pages to realize it - but its a guy) and his mother, a 19th wife, is accused of murdering her husband. Interesting right? Well then you get the story of Ann Eliza Young, the infamous 19th wife of Brigham Young a founder of the Morman religion. She came out and publicly denounced polygamy and was instrumental in it being banned. However, in the modern story there is just Jordan. In the historical story you get Ann Eliza's point of view, her mother's, her father's, her brothers'. her son's and Brigham's, along with some letters and newspaper articles for good measure. I really wanted to know what happened to Jordan and his mom as he tried to find enough evidence to prove she was innocent as she claimed to be and I did not get enough of this story and was a little unfulfilled by it's ending, although surprised. Ann Eliza's story was fascinating because it showed a wife's perspective of plural marriage and she was incredibly brave for publicly denouncing it and escaping, but after awhile I felt like it was historical overkill. I all but skipped over Brigham's chapter and her son's letters. I also felt like the book was flawed (but probably by design) because it was unpredictable when it would flip-flop between past and present. I would just really be getting into the present story and then Poof! It's 1878 again. I think if someone was really a fan of historical fiction that they would love this book. It just was not my cup of tea, but I liked it enough to finish it.... which is partially due to my hard-headed nature. :) I also wasn't crazy about the unnecessary use of the F-bomb. It was just strange, going from late 1800's English to modern day slang and cursing.
Overall rating : 2.5/5 - take it or leave it. For the historical fiction fan it would be a slam dunk.
I do not want to take full credit for the fail though, because part of it is due to health. The last 2-3 weeks I have been having lower back pain and neck pain. I am taking a break from the gym until I can get clearance from a chiropractor to safely work out. Yesterday was especially pitiful - I was laying on my in-laws floor with ice packs on my back and neck attempting to watch Julie and Julia after a particularly satisfying NFC Championship game. (Go Pack!) So, in an effort to not further damage my back/neck I have not been working out.
And the food: Oh for shame! Do you want to hear what I ate yesterday for lunch? Half dozen (maybe more) honey BBQ wings from BWW and a slab of chocolate cake WITH ice cream AND a can of fanta. I kind of want to crawl under a rock... Not such a great move on the healthy eating. Oh- and today for lunch - a big ol' plate full of leftover sesame chicken and steamed rice. *cringe*
I am basically writing this to try to hold myself accountable to these goals I had set. My health is important to me, more important than a plate full of sugar-coated chicken.
In other news: I have a craft project on the horizon and a book review as soon as I force myself through the last 20 pages of The 19th Wife. Yep - its' that good guys I can hardly make myself finish it. (read: sarcasm) Also coming up in the next week or so I have a project for work that I want to share with you, because maybe someone out there has a loved one with dementia and might be able to benefit from it.
So, really, the only reason to watch awards shows is to see what the celebs are wearing- I mean that and to see how insulting the host can be. Apparently, Ricky Gervais took it a bit far... Well, I enjoyed watching the red carpet last night with my mom-in-law and here are some of the best and the worst:
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| Olivia Wilde - its sparkly!! |
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| Sofia Vergara - Va va voom! |
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| Julia Stiles - I actually LOVE this dress - she looks great! |
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| Modern Family rocks my world and so does this dress! Julia Bowen |
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| Minus the "jack it to Jesus" hair and odd look on her face- loving the emerald green that Mild Kunis is rocking |
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| Amber Riley is ROCKING this dress! love love love! |
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| ScarJo looking SCARY. Bride o' Frankenstein anyone? |
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| Why does JLo have to accessorize a perfectly pretty dress with a sheer bedazzled cape? I am baffled. |
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| Recognize this actress? Me neither - until I read her name: It's Jayma Mays- Miss Pillsbury from Glee! Way to over-done |
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| Oh Julianne Moore... Why? |
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| Now, Heidi Klum - Ms. Project Runway should have known better. |
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| She may have one best actress, but Natalie Portman does not win best dressed in this pink - rose adorned potato sack. |
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| Ah- Helena Bonham Carter. We know you are quirky and love you for it... but did you HAVE to wear 2 different colored shoes? And the Bellatrix hair? The dress really was enough. |
I could not find a simple synopsis for this book that didn't give away the entire thing. So to sum it up: This is a dystopian novel, set in the near future, in the Republic of Gilead- what used to be the United States. The new society is based on extremely literal translations of the Old Testament and is definitely misogynistic. Younger women who are still hoped to be fertile are forced to be Handmaidens- basically a vessel for a child for an older couple to raise as their own.
I am really glad I got some recommendations from my facebook friends for books to read in this year. I appreciated this book and it is one I never would have picked up on my own. It has a little bit of a Hunger Games feel, minus the violence, but full of oppression. It was a bit jolting to read and I think I handled the violence of the Hunger Games better than the brainwashing and twisted theology of this book. The sexual rituals described made me shiver - and not in a good way. It is just creepy. They have these once-monthly rituals where the handmaid lies between a husband and wife, holding the wife's hands while the husband attempts to impregnate her. This makes it ok because the wife is part of the process- they are "one". It is disgusting.
I had a hard time getting into the style of the writing because the entire story is told through the thoughts of the main character and it is very staccato. Her thoughts kind of flit about from one sentence and jerkily on to the next one. It was hard to put together a cohesive story at times because she keeps flashing back to the night when she and her husband and daughter tried to escape. She flashes back to college days and her best friend Moira. She flashes back to time spent with her mother. It all gets a bit jumbled, but I still really got sucked in to Atwood's frightening and strange world she created. I kept wanting to know more. There was a consistent string of suspense throughout the entire novel, like something had to give at any moment. The handmaid was always walking on a fine line.
I have to say, I did like it for the most part, even though it was disturbing. However, I was not satisfied with the ending. It was very abrupt. Just. over. Those of you who know me well, know that I like a resolution and I didn't get one with this ending. I want to know what has happened to our little handmaiden!
Overall rating for the book: 4/5 - it kept me wanting more, but left me unsatisfied in the end, and it creeped me out.
Rating on the movie : To be announced. But I am guessing - bad.
This is a steampunk, paranormal series by Gail Carriger and I am a pretty huge fan. So, gonna do quickie reviews of all three. And, Blameless is the first book of the new year! I have a new goal to read 52 books this year (so 1 per week) and Blameless is numero uno! I will, however, review them in order.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?
SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.
Soulless is yet another recommendation from my college roomie Liz. And I LOVED it. Alexia is an amazing protagonist. She is sassy, witty, and slightly scandalous. Conall is a wonderful, rough-around-the-edges, sexy beast (quite literally). There is a lot of I-think-I-hate-you-but-I-really-love-you banter that happens between the two as they are pursued and caught by evil scientists. It had me on the edge of my seat and I ate up every page! I love the characters; Professor Lyall, Ivy, Alexia's family and Lord Akeldama are well-developed, individual, and charming characters. There is also plenty of steamy snogging (that's for you Liz). It really could be a stand-alone novel. I loved the setting and the fun inventions that fit into the steam-punk genre that I have just recently discovered (and am totally loving). Sometimes period novels are hard for me, but with the addition of the paranormal and steam-punk elements it kept my interest. 5/5 on this one.
Changeless ***SPOILER ALERT FOR BOOK 1***
Alexia Tarabotti, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears - leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria. But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can. She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.
This book was good, but didn't have quite as much zing as the first novel. I do love the dynamic between Conall and Alexia, and again, with the witty banter. They have a fun and sweet connection, even though they are both pretty snarky :) I continued to admire Alexia's eccentricities in this novel and her tough, ballsy attitude. However, I figured out the villain AND the cause of the "infection of normality" AND her "condition" before Alexia did. I prefer to experience my characters "AHA" moments and feel like I didn't see it coming. I had mixed feelings about the new androgynous character Madame Lefoux. Since Alexia did not trust her, I didn't either, but I did appreciate the mystery she added to the plot. All in all though, I did enjoy the story and it was the first book in quite awhile that I really just wanted to sit down and read until I knew what happened. So 4/5 for book 2.
*random side note: not a huge fan of this cover. I think it's the model's bangs. I really have an issue w/ them.
Blameless ***Spoiler Alerts for Books 1 AND 2!!***
Quitting her husband's house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season. Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London's vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead. While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires -- and they're armed with pesto.I enjoyed Blameless slightly more than Changeless. I think it is due to more action scenes. Alexia is constantly being attacked by someone for some reason and I did not figure out why! They did try to make me suspicious of one of my favorite characters, and succeeded! I enjoyed seeing more of Floote, the ever-stoic gun-wielding butler. It was also very interesting to learn more about Alexia's father, who is somewhat of a mysterious fellow, only known through his journals. Of course, we know from book 2 that Alexia and her father would have never been able to share the same air because of their soulless abilities. My favorite book-recommend-er felt like this book was lacking because of the fact that Conall and Alexia spent the vast majority of it apart. There was very little, if any, steamy snogging in this book. I still liked it though. Some of the plot twists were quite unexpected (Oh Biffy!!) and I was happy to again be surprised. I was a tid bit confused by the scientific experiments though- Does Alexia actually have a soul- just one that's not connected to anything? What the heck are aether and pneuma? And what the heck kind of child have Conall and Alexia conceived?! I am happy to be asking these questions as it means that I will be following Alexia through her next adventure (motherhood apparently) in the next book which I believe is called "Heartless". Hmmm. intriguing.
4.5/5 - I couldn't quite give it a 5/5 because I couldn't quite love it as much as Soulless. *oh and I love this cover! So much better than Changeless!*
This was an OK book and was made into an OK movie. A little bit 6th Sense meets The Notebook. When I was reading it and got to the twist in the story I was spitting mad. (Just ask the hubby- I was reading in bed and started yelling at the book) Don't worry- I got over it by the end. This book did made me cry a couple times, and it is emotional material. Charlie has a lot of survivor's guilt because he lived (or was brought back to life) after a car accident. I did prefer the fireman's story line in the book, but understand why that would be too tragic to put on the big screen in an otherwise heavy story. Also, I preferred the time-line in the book. In the movie, Charlie was 18 when they got in the accident and on his way to a party. It's much more bitter-sweet in the book- he is 15 and driving the neighbor's car to take Sam to a baseball game. They have the dog in the car too, which (of course) I liked better about the book. It was just really sweet that the boy and his dog appeared every sunset to hang out with Charlie. Anyway, 10 years goes by in the book, and in the movie it's only 5 years.
The romance was more tangible in the book as well, but was pretty well done for the movie. Tess was more vibrant in the book, but was so-so in the movie. I do wish that the book and movie could have had the same ending. (It pretty much is... with one exception) In the book, Charlie gets to see what Sam would have become as a grown man, but in the book, they say "No one gets to see what would have been". It was sad, because I thought that was one of the most touching scenes in the book.
The casting:
For Sam- perfection. The kid they cast for Sam nailed the role. I loved him!
Tess- meh, so-so. I think she was under-whelming. Her character is so spunky and strong in the book and I didn't get enough of that in the movie.
Charlie- ugh. Oh Zac Efron. He was not the best choice for this role. My favorite critic review of him is "The surreal thing is, Zac Efron can't do despair. He plays it by staring. Blankly. And by not smiling. Blankly." That is pretty darn accurate. He's not good at not being happy. I mean- he sure is pretty, but not good at sad.
My overall rating for both is "Just OK", so probably 2.5/5. I didn't dislike either, but wouldn't run out and demand that my friends read/watch them.
Here's a little snippet from the movie for you:
I know- this is the blog I promised so long ago! Waaaaaaay back in October? Yes. That’s embarrassing.
To be fair, I have had the bedroom done for nearly a month and photos were taken 2 weeks ago, but you know how it goes once the Christmas season hits. So folks, without further ado, the bedroom post:
I started this project back in September I think- I really wanted a new comforter. Our brown one from our first bedroom was worn and just a bit skeazy looking, plus it didn’t match the tones of the browns on the wall in the bedroom. Here is the old brown one:
I love love love our down comforter and really wanted to find a duvet cover for it, but I gave up on that search after weeks of looking. There are just not good options out there for duvets (unless, of course, you make it yourself- which I just didn’t feel like doing). I THOUGHT I had a solution when I found this bright yellow beauty of a comforter.Here's the preview pic:
It looked awesome in the store. Bright. Fresh. Different. Cheery. And Yellow! (For some reason, I was fixated on incorporating yellow into the new bedroom-it’s just such a HAPPY color!) After 3 days of “trying it out” I just couldn’t take it. It didn’t convey the right mood to the room. It was too juvenile I think. I stuffed it back into the box-ish and I toted it back to Target. I have become braver about returning things these days. They took it back and were a little chagrined that I didn’t quite get it all back in that itty bitty box. Whoops. Well that was about an $80 set for 2 pillow shams and comforter. I wanted to keep my next find around the same price point and so began my search… I searched at Target, JC Penny, Macy’s, and Kohls both online and in stores. Then, I got a coupon to Bed Bath and Beyond and had leftover gift card money from our wedding to the store (lame I know- it took me more than a year to spend it). So I trooped over to BB and B and found a beautiful quilt and matching shams. I was in LOVE! And it was on SALE! And I had a COUPON! And I had a GIFT CARD! It was almost too much to take in. So, it ended up being slightly more expensive (like by $10) with all of the above discounts –which was golden as far as I am concerned. Isn’t it purdy??
So- with the bed spread finally decided I could turn my attentions toward the rest of the room. Here are some before and after’s for you:
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| Before |
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| After! |
Dresser views:
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| Before- lots of reds |
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| After |
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| I re-painted the black shelves and little yellow birdy |
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| I got the Van-Gogh print on Ebay and just put it in the frame we had there |
This frame was red, as you can see above. I had gotten it on super-sale at Hobby Lobby. I never really loved it because the saying on it was "If you love something you have to let it go and if it comes back to you it was meant to be, if it doesn't it wasn't mean to be" or something like that. I just never loved that sentiment. So, I spray painted it along with my lamps (you can see below) and shelves (pictured above) and then went to town with puffy paint! I used one of my pillows from my living room and from Lindsay at Aisle to Aloha and her pretty dahlia painting as inspiration. I will be honest, I don't love the way it turned out. I would just leave off the dark brown and do it all in gold if I could re-do it, but everyone who sees it likes it, so it stays.
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| Before- pretty boxes |
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| After! |
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| The vase was $7 at Target on clearance! |
I covered the decorative boxes with muslin, then the zebra print fabric. I used a hot glue gun and pretty much wrapped them like presents. I love the result! Still great for storage and they match the room, bringing in a little bit of the wild! haha
Now if I had to choose, these might be my favorite addition to the room:
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| Ahh- curtains! |
Now- I first saw these amazing curtains on Thrifty Decor Chick's site. She found them at JC Penny for $12.99 per panel. Awesome! Especially when the orginal price is something like $80 PER PANEL. So, of course, I surfed right over to JCPenny.com and made my purchase, only to receive a disappointing phone call a few hours later to tell me that they had sold out. Well, I would not be dismayed. I then hopped right on over to Ebay! I found a seller who had these curtains in a rust color. I emailed her and found out (Oh happy day!) that she did have the gold, but hadn't listed them yet. She emailed me when she listed them and I immediately bought them. I paid about $15 per panel and $10 in shipping- so a $40 set of curtains, plus $10 or so for a rod and curtain hangers. Not too shabby! I also have a room darkening set of curtains under them as well, because I am all about it being dark. I used Thrifty Decor Chick's method of hanging the curtains as well and just used shower rings (hey- I had a pack just laying around!) to hang up the room-darkening shades underneath.
My other project for this room was the lamps. I love the creamy beige color that they ended up as. They began as bronze, had a short stint as a terrifying yellow color (sorry- no pics of that) and finally the beige. I also love the canvas lampshades and like the texture they bring into the room.
So there. Finally. I hope it was worth the wait. We really, really, really love the way it looks! Hope you do too!
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