Bloggin it - The vaca - itinerary

After my vacation edition of my "What I Wore" post this week I got a couple requests/suggestions to actually blog about our vacation. I am more than happy to oblige. I will have to split this up into a couple different posts because it was definitely one of the longest, most packed in vacations I have ever been on.
Also, in reflecting on it, I am incredibly, incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to see so much of this world and the beauty of God's creation. This was my 2nd trip to Europe and I was just as enamored as I was when I was 18 years old. I adore the history that is packed into Europe and it makes me feel like America is pretty lame, 200 years? psh - what a baby.
Anywho - I went on a Mediterranean Cruise with Brandon and his family. Sadly his little brother couldn't come with due to work commitments and he was missed...

Sorry ladies, he's not available.

Our itinerary was as follows:
Friday afternoon - fly to London from Chicago for a 4-hour layover, from London fly into Rome (I think this may have blended into Saturday somewhere around here) Then, once checked into our Rome hotel, we changed, grabbed some fast food pizza and jumped on a tour bus to get a tour of Rome at night.

Sunday - Boarded the cruise ship!

Monday - Arrived in Sicily. We took the Godfather tour in Sicily.

Tuesday - At sea

Wednesday - Arrived in Turkey. We did a private tour for just our family of the ancient Biblical city of Ephesus and saw the Virgin Mary's last home. This day was probably the family favorite.

Thursday - Arrived in Athens. In Athens we did a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the major sites. We also did a Murder Mystery dinner on the ship this night.

Friday - Arrived in Crete. We went on a tour called "real Crete" and got to see some smaller villages and marketplaces.

Saturday - At Sea

Sunday - Docked back in Rome, got a bus to the airport, flew to London. Once we checked into our London hotel we, again, grabbed food and jumped into another tour van to hit the major sites of London

Monday - flew home - and gosh it was nice to be back. I am such a homebody at heart, and even though I find a deep joy in traveling and seeing this world, it is always a welcome sight to see the Chicago skyline, hug my dogs, and snuggle into my own bed at night.

Stay tuned for our adventures in Rome and Sicily!

What I Wore - Vacation edition

It's been awhile ladies! I should've posted this last week, but I just couldn't get around to it. Here are some of my outfits from our vacation last month!

1st night in Italy (this is immediately after nearly 20 hours of travel)

Tank, Scarf: Target

Skirt: Maurices clearance

Sandles: Shoe carnival

Me and Hubs!

First day on the ship - before we embark

Shirt - Target

Capris: Kohls

Flippy flops - I really can't recall

Necklace: Pearl store in the Caymen Islands

At the Aztec Lounge :)

Formal Dinner Night #1

Dress: H & M Clearance! 

Cardi: Maurices 

Necklace: Kohls

2nd Fancy Dinner night

Dress & Cardi: Maurices

Necklace - Gift from Mama Derry 

Brandon getting artsy with his photos - "Look out into the sea again!"

Athens

Crete

Shirt: Target

Skirt: Kohls 

Necklace: Caymen store

Ephesus

Shirt: Target

Pants: Loft

Parasol: Random Turkish store across the street from Ephesus

It was an amazing trip - maybe I will get around to blogging about it one of these days! I will say, that I wish I had over-packed like I normally do. I tried sooooo hard to NOT over=pack and I succeeded, but constantly found myself wishing I had that one thing I decided I didn't need. *sigh* Not a master-packer here..

Tuesday Shoesday - 1st edition

Hello, my name is Ashlea and I am a shoe-aholic.

Hello Ashlea...

My love affair with shoes started many years ago, I blame my mother really... and my Nana. They both heavily influenced me growing up and nurtured my love of shoes. My mom had dozens of shoes but when she passed away we had to give them away because she had the world's tiniest feet - size 5 people! I have really fond memories of helping her pick out her outfits and shoes for work - one on her left foot and another one on the right - modeling 2 pair at once for me to choose between. It was our weeknight ritual.

Anyway, the reason I share this is because I am trying out a new feature day. I know how well 'feature days' have gone in the past on this blog - consistent for a month and then they peter out - but I am easily bored! Rest assured though, I don't think that I will ever bore of shoes! I am going to try to post a few photos of shoes that inspire me each week. They may be my own or more likely, from pinterest, or perhaps even from a store while I shop. I hope you enjoy these posts and give me lots of feedback!

So, without further ado, may I introduce you to Tuesday Shoesday:
I have been watching alot of Downton Abbey lately which might be why I am drawn to these prim and proper looks:

via

via pinterest

via

They remind me a little of Lady Mary - prim, proper with just the right amount of edge.

What do you think? Are you a fan of the prim and proper look? How about Dowton Abbey? Who else is addicted to that show?!

50 Shades of Blah

To see summary - I couldn't make myself copy it here.

 I really wanted to form my own opinion about the phenomenon that is Fifty Shades.  I had read some very polarizing reviews from those who skewered this book and called it crap to those who revere it as "mommy porn" and a "great love story". Well, I side more with the former...

Perhaps it is because I am coming off of books like Divergent and The Hunger Games who have kick-ass female leads. Maybe it is because I watched True Grit with yet another kick-ass female lead the day I started this book. Perhaps it is because I had just seen Magic Mike and it wasn't so magical and I was put off of this smutty genre. Or, even more likely, it could be that this is just a crappy book with a wimpy, weepy female lead and "erotic" scenes that fall a little limp - kind of like Magic Mike. I was actually BORED with this book - the plot is so weak and I was more entertained by the Goodreads reviews of this book than I was by the book itself. I echo many of the sentiments I read and I am going to share my favorites Goodreads reviews here with you (please be warned, some of them use foul language, but I tried to sensor my choices)

From Katrina Lumsden: 
(This woman had ALOT of great things to say, it was hard to pick.)
"Christian is a misogynistic, self-loathing, abusive piece of shit. Apparently, his only redeeming qualities are, in this order; his ridiculous good looks, his money, and his giant penis. The only time Ana seems to like him as a person is when he's being "lovable", and those times are few and far between. Most of the time he's serious, brooding, and threatening. How charming."

"About halfway through, I wished I'd been keeping track of the word "crap" because Ana is constantly saying/thinking it. Crap, Holy Crap, Double and Triple Crap, Oh Crap, This Crap, That Crap, any and all Crap. Speaking of crap, if I ever, ever ever have to hear/read the words "inner goddess" again, I'm going to construct a pyre out of tampons and maxi pads, light it, and toss unsuspecting women into it."

From JT Giessinger:
"The Bad: Terrible writing. Simply insufferable at times, with an abundance of repetitive, trite phrases such as "Oh, my!", "Holy crap!", ad nauseum. The author suffocates the reader with an unending ocean of rolling eyes, biting lips, sighing, shrugging, glaring and giggling. Also present is a very curious tendency to write, "he said" or "she replied" or another version of such after every single sentence uttered by the characters. I could go on, but you get the picture. Ms. James won't win any awards with this one."

From Kim:  
"Now I lay me down to sleep. I hope to hell my soul keeps. Because, if I shake off this mortal coil before I wake, I’m going to be mighty pissed that this was the last book that I freaking finished. This is not my legacy.

I can play all Britney and Oops-I-did-it-again, I could use the old adage ‘Fool me once, shame on you….’ Or I could let my horribly low self worth tell you that yes, I am an idiot and could be classified with all those soccer moms wanting an escape with shiny vampires and fallen angels. You choose.

BUT. I will admit… fully admit… that this book sucked donkey balls. Seriously." 
 
From Stephanie Sinclair:  "Introducing an even more abusive and disturbing TWILIGHT! Now with whips and chains!"
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   Now trust me folks - what you just read up there in those reviews is better than the book itself. If you loved it, please don't be offended, it was just not my cup of tea at all. That said, I will not judge if you have to pick it up and read it for yourself - just come laugh with me about it later. Nana isn't quite convinced yet and wants to read it for herself - I cannot wait for the phone call on that day she finishes it! 

Divergent & Insurgent - A Review

 In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her. 

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 One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

I briefly mentioned these books in this post. I decided that these two definitely deserved their own post- they were just that good. I could not put them down. A friend at work recommended them to me because of my love affair with The Hunger Games series. They have similar premises – a dystopian society with some serious issues and a young girl who becomes a symbol out of her drive for survival and ability to think for herself. I love me a good tough-girl protagonist!

I thought it was even neater that they are set in Chicago sometime in the future when Lake Michigan is a marshland and the Navy Pier ferris wheel sits idle.  I immediately got a feel for the setting and it wasn’t all that difficult for me to imagine Chicago as a foreboding place – I don’t like it that much as it is.  This society is set up into factions, unlike the districts of the HG world. Each faction holds on characteristic in esteem – Selflessness, Peacefulness, Courage, Knowledge, and Honesty. At 16 each child has to choose their faction and they go through a test to see which one they are most suited for. I took the quiz at the back of the book – but let’s face it – I was definitely in the wimpy faction of Amity which is basically the Hufflepuff of the factions. *sigh* That’s probably why I love tough-babe main characters because I know I will never be one. Speaking of which…

I love Beatrice. She’s definitely a new favorite. She’s tough, but vulnerable, stays true to herself and deeply loves her family. All pluses in my book. I also enjoy her love interest, Four/Tobias. Another thing I really enjoyed about these books, but didn’t even realize until my work-friend pointed it out to me is that there is not a love triangle. I hadn’t realized how sick I was of reading about the Edward-Bella-Jacob-esque drama. It’s just Beatrice and Tobias – and they create enough problems themselves. 

Similar to HG there are the stirrings of a revolution, but it takes on an entirely different (and in my opinion decidedly scarier) form with mind control and implants and hallucinations oh my!

All in all – fantastic reads. I can’t wait to get my paws on the third book and read the resolution to this story. I am also stoked for the rumors about a movie adaptation!

Anyone else out there read these books? Are you Team Katniss or Team Beatrice? I have to wave the white flag on that one – I love them both!

 

Rapid Fire Book Reviews

I decided I should do another rapid-fire round of mini book reviews. I devoured several books while we were on vacation, mostly while sitting in airports, planes, and the like, plus a couple before I left. I liked doing the mini-reviews, so I am going to give it another go with this batch. I may need to expand on a couple of them in their own posts though because they were so good, but read on to find out more.Click on the titles for their Goodreads info!

·  36. Charming theShrew by Laurin Wittig – Brain candy, borderline Harlequin novel about some Scottish folks – a fun, randy read.

·  35. Insurgent byVeronica Roth – (this is book 2 of the trilogy) If you liked Hunger Games you need to read this book like yesterday (but read Divergent first) – especially if you live in the Chicago area – it’s too cool.

·  34. On the Island byTracey Garvis-Graves – This book stuck with me and I was emotionally invested in the characters, but it might creep some people out with the older woman/younger man story line.

·  33. Divergent byVeronica Roth – Book 1 of a trilogy – this and Insurgent may just need their own post I loved them so much.

·  32. Anna Dressed inBlood by Kendare Blake – A fantastic, creepy young adult book about a ghost hunter that I really enjoyed.

·  31. A Grave in the VegetableGarden by Janice Coy – This book was a little bit predictable for me about an abused woman who kills her husband and goes on trial for his murder.

·  28, 29, 30. TheSloane Monroe Series books 1-3 by Cheryl Bradshaw – These books were fun and reminded me of college, my roomie Liz, and our Tami Hoag days – but they aren’t quite as scandalous or grisly as Tami Hoag.

·  27. The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan – I really, really enjoyed this book – it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside – it’s a wholesome read. 

Anyone read any of these titles? Are you planning to? Tell me your thoughts!! 

Where's Waldo... err Ashlea?!

Can you spot me on this blog?!

Retro Rack by Gail Carriger

Now, I was quite surprised to see my smiling face looking back at me from another person's blog, but quite excited and flattered at the same time. Just when I thought people were probably getting really sick of my outfit posts, I get selected as an inspirational image, which I am going to take as an encouragement :)

In case you didn't know, Gail Carriger is an author of a very fun and cheeky series which I reviewed here.