Long Time No See!

Ahh!! I have not posted in two months! I can't even begin to say how sorry I am.... I promised a review two months ago but never finished. Its possibly in my drafts. I'm terribly terribly sorry for deserting this blog. Life has been extremely busy lately, and will likely stay that way for at least another month. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I'm in my high school marching band, and we've been busy with practices and games and stuff. Its super fun, just a lot of work. I'm taking honors English this semester, and I don't think I've ever had so much homework. I've been doing really well though. English is my favorite subject and my teacher is amazing. We're reading The Scarlet Letter as a class, and maybe when that's through I'll write a review for it :). We've also been reading books by American authors as an outside reading project. The first novel I read was Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut. I really really REALLY loved it. Its the first Vonnegut novel I've read, and I think that if you're ever apprehensive about reading a book written by him, Jailbird is a great one to start with.

I probably won't be posting very much until maybe December. I'll try to update this blog with posts about my English class or something since we're reading so much in that class. I hope everyone is having a great school year so far. Happy first day of autumn!!

--Sydney

Happy 4th of July!!

      I would like to wish my fellow Americans a Happy Independence Day! I know I probably should have made this post earlier, as everyone is most likely out lighting fireworks and watching massive displays, but better late than never! I hope you all have/had a safe and fun day! 

      This year my town banned fireworks for the second year in a row, so my day hasn't been all that fun. My parents and I did light some fireworks, but after an hour or so, a police officer came and told us to stop. It stinks because we were taking the right precautions, but even so, it was still illegal. (Apparently this doesn't stop everyone else in the city though - its still really noisy outside.) I hope your Independence Day was better than mine!  Take care!

--Sydney

P.S. I'll have a review up soon! Promise!

Sparkly Polka Dot Bow Nails!

This design was inspired by Sarah's post @ Lace and Lavender. Mine didn't turn out as great as hers did :)
Polishes I used:
Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Lively Lilac
Essie in Coat Azure 
A Bon Bons sparkly polish


It took me FOREVER to do this. First, I had to decide which color combos looked the best out of my favorite choices. Then, I decided I liked one shade on paper, but it looked terrible on my nails, so I had to start over. Next, I only had time to paint the base color because it was getting late, so there was one day down the drain. After that, I started dotting the bow out and messed it up every time. Finally, I decided to save my sanity and just do the stupid dots. Some people say I'm a perfectionist, but I'm not sure that I see it.


Anyway, the dots aren't stupid, they're actually really cute. I'm really happy that I tried this out, and I can't wait to try out more color combos.


I have some little nail gems that I got at a friend's birthday party one year, and I really love using them. I have six different shapes, I think, and there's a bunch of different colors. I wanted to use a circle, but I didn't have one. Then I thought about using a square and then turning it so it would look like a diamond, but the colors of the polishes and the gems didn't look good together. The flower isn't my favorite choice, but I think it looks pretty good. To make it stick, I just used a dot of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails (clear).


The finished product:

I think in order to make the bow look really awesome, you kind of have to make the sides parabola-shaped. Maybe it would have been easier for me to start with a dot in the middle and then fill in the nine dots on both sides (kind of like when you're drawing a parabola! Yay algebra!)

Fun to say, not so fun to learn.

Anyway, if you would like to check out the tutorial for this design and see more awesome stuff, go right here! 

Liebster Blog Award

I have been awarded the Liebster Blog Award!

Thank you outRageous.pages :)

The Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

The Meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome

Here's the rules:

1. Each person must post 11 facts about themselves

2. Answer 11 questions the tagger has given you and give 11 questions for the people you've tagged.

3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.

4. Tell them you've tagged them.

5. Remember, no tag backs.

My 11 Facts:

1. I have two aunts with identical first and last names (that makes get-togethers interesting).

2. I have a dog a two cats.

3. My car is a Pontiac, and her name in Ponti.

4. My favorite color is blue, and I love every shade of it.

5. I play the clarinet and bass clarinet.

6. My favorite academic subjects in school are english, algebra, and science.

7. My favorite place to vacation is Sante Fe, New Mexico. I love it because there's so much culture and art and history stuffed in a city that its unbelievable.

8. I'm an only child.

9. My favorite movie is Dirty Dancing.

10. I still have and use my public library card from when I received it about ten years ago, and it still has my clumsy six-year-old signature on the back.

11. My favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate.

Eleven Questions From outRageous.pages 

1. What song could you listen to over and over and over?

Hmm, I really love music by The Head and the Heart, so probably any song by them.

2. What's your favorite genre to read?

"Young adult" is quite broad, but really I like any book that keeps my attention and has great qualities. My tastes change often.

3. What's the longest book you've ever read?

Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer, I believe. The book is over 600 pages and I devoured every one of them, admittedly.

4. If you could become an animal, what animal would you be?

I would like to be a bird so I can live in the trees, but I don't want to be run over. Maybe an owl, since I don't think they get squished by cars much.

5. Do you consider yourself "normal"?

Not in my perception of "normal", but maybe someone else's. 

6. As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Probably everything. I remember wanting to be a vet, a librarian, a teacher, a firefighter,  and a musician at different points. 

7. What is something you're really good at?

I really like writing, and I think I'm pretty good at it.

8. What do you think of Shakespeare?

I don't have any strong opinions of him. He probably had a really interesting life though. I don't think I really love any of his writing, but I like the ideas and plots behind some stories.

9. Do you ever contemplate the meaning of life?

Not when there's more important things to contemplate :)

10. Is there a book you wish you had written?

I wish I had written a book that's now/will be a classic, because I think being remembered and acknowledged and praised after so many years would be really fantastic.

11. Hey baby, what's your sign? (I just had to...)

Libra :)

People I'm tagging:

1. READ IT NOW OR ELSE!

2. Ripping Reads.com

3. Sitting With A Book

4. StoryBrooke

5. It's a Book Thing

6. Hime Sugar

7. Lauren's library

8. Awesomeazing Reads

9. BeLoved Books

10. Paper and Pages (I can't find a way to comment on your blog! I hope you find out about this somehow....)
11. The Headless Owl

If you have already done one of these or you don't want to participate, you definitely don't have to. 

Here's 11 questions for the tagged:

1. What color(s) do you dislike?

2. What is a quote that you live by?

3. Do you have a lucky object? What is it?

4. What is your dream job?

5. Would you rather have a gigantic, extravagant wedding or a small and intimate one?

6. What is your favorite holiday?

7. If you could live anywhere, where would you live and why?

8. What is your preferred beverage?

9. What language would you most like to learn?

10. What is your worst vacation memory?

11. What toppings do you like on your pizza?

I'm home! With books!

         Hello! I've been in Kansas City for the past week visiting some family. I drove up with my grandparents, and we got home late last night. It felt good to sleep in my own bed :)

         I did a little bit of shopping, and I'll show the books I bought and put the rest under a break.

The one I'm most excited to read is City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.

 

(Goodreads)

         I've heard great things about this book. I really want to start reading it but I should finish all the other books I'm currently reading :(

I also bought The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard.

(Goodreads)

         I've already started reading this book and its pretty okay so far. It was hard for me to really pay attention to the story, but that could be because I was hanging out with family and stuff. Maybe I'll start liking it more.

The last one I bought is The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong.

(Goodreads)

         I loved the Darkest Powers series by this author so I really think I'm going to love this book too. This book has a pretty good rating on Goodreads so there must be some good things about it. I read that the story line is kind of similar to the Darkest Powers series, which is great because I couldn't get enough of those books.

My cousin also lent me a book which I'm pretty close to finishing. Its called Saving June by Hannah Harrington.

(Goodreads)

           I only have about 30 pages left, so expect a review pretty soon. I really love this book and its really hard to put down. There are some little things I don't really like about it but the story is really great.

         Under the jump is some stories and other things about my trip, if you are interested. Also, have a happy father's day!!

Inadequate Synonyms! Sad Stuff! Book Haul!

I just want to start out by saying that I hate the way 'haul' sounds, but I can not find an adequate synonym for what this is so I'm just going with it.

Tonight I went out with my parents and grandparents for dinner (exciting life, I know). Just before we started eating, my grandpa got a call from a relative. Yesterday his uncle, who was like a father to him, passed away. I've only met this man once (that I remember), but he left an impression. He was rich with knowledge and belongings, and was always going somewhere or doing something. When he passed, he was in New York visiting family. He was chatting with his late wife's family and suddenly just... died. At any moment, life can be taken away. It can happen to anyone. Make the most of the time you have and do not waste it over silly things. But also do what makes you happy.

Now on to the book haul (ugh)!

After having a sad time at dinner, my parents and I decided we didn't feel like going home quite yet. So we went to the book/music/movie store!

I looked over the 'teen' section for probably 30 minutes and found some good books.

First is:

(Goodreads)

Vanished (1 & 2) by Meg Cabot
Meg Cabot is my favorite author and I love everything I've read that she's written, so I figured this would not be money wasted. I also bought this used for $5! So that's awesome! In fact, all the books I got are used. More on this later. Anyway, you can read the description at Goodreads, but I'll summarize really quick. Jessica Mastriani is struck by lightning one day, and along with a kick-arse near-death-experience story, she also gains the ability to find missing children. Chaos ensues. I can't wait to start reading this because every Meg Cabot book I've read is written fantastically and the story lines are suspenseful and interesting. 

Next up:

(Goodreads)

Dance of the Assassins by Herve Jubert
I was reluctant to pick this up because the cover really put me off. Not in an offensive way, it just didn't look like something I would read. But then I read the description. The story is set in a virtual city, and Jack the Ripper is running rampant (as he usually did). I'm not too clear on the virtual London thing but maybe I'll figure it out when I start reading. A witch, Roberta Morgenstern, and a rookie policeman, Clemente Martineau, discover that someone is resurrecting history's most villainous villains. Chaos ensues! Ah, gotta love that chaos. Jack The Ripper is horrifying but history is exciting, so I'm really scared excited to read this. I hope it doesn't give me nightmares :(


Finally:

(Goodreads)

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
To be quite frank, I knew next to nothing about this book when it caught my eye. It was hard for me to decide if I should buy it, but the price was $9.50, so if I don't like it, I did not have to spend $20 on it. We have Will Henry, an assistant to a doctor who hunts monsters. When a visitor shows up on the doorstep with a dead girl and a monster, Will and the doctor must save the world from a hoard of horrifying creatures. I will admit that this story hints to no romance and that is a bit out of my norm. But if this book is suspenseful and enthralling then I am totally willing to read it.


The total for all three of these books was $25.03. I saved $23 by buying them used.

Its June!

Wow! I didn't realise it was June until I posted that last review!

Happy June everyone! Have a great month!

:)