Dreams of Shopping

I think I miss shopping, because I had a dream the other night that I was let loose in our nicest mall to buy whatever I wanted... which was awesome.

I haven't gone shopping in awhile, mostly due to saving up for our upcoming trip. I am itching to go to a mall, though.

I did find out two very exciting things that were shopping related:

 

• We are getting a H&M in Tampa! We have one in Orlando, but I rarely drive out that far. I've been to two H&M's and wasn't really impressed by anything I saw, but now if I see something cute in a magazine, I can zip over to try to find it!

 

• They opened a Tory Burch store in our nice mall. I LOVE Tory Burch and dream of one day owning a pair of Reva flats, so the fact that it's that much closer makes me giddy :)

Anyone score any great deals shopping recently? I think I need to live vicariously through you :)

Book Review: Kicking Ass and Saving Souls

Title: Kicking Ass and Saving Souls
Author: David Matthews
Publisher: The Penguin Press
Book: Hardcover, 336 pages
Buy: Amazon.com

Synopsis:   
           Stefan Templeton was born a child of extremes. The son of Ebba, an aristocratic Norwegian love child, and Roye, a militant African American philosopher, Stefan spent his early years shuffling between the discipline of his father’s house and dojo in decaying west Baltimore and the eccentricities of his mother’s life as a healer and artist in the wealthiest enclaves of Europe. The confusion formed a singular man who had nothing but his own abilities. By age eighteen Stefan was a skilled fighter, philosopher, lover, horseman, and swimmer who exuded confidence and competence.

          
          His highs came from adventure, always. He hunted in Macon, France; brawled in Oxford, England; lived as a kept man off the Champs-Élysées; served as a medicine man in Colombia; escaped death on the Amazon; and trained to serve on Cousteau’s Calypso in Marseilles. Love of the mother of his first child temporarily settled Stefan in Norway, but poverty and adrenaline addiction soon kicked in.


          Eventually, Stefan found himself in a labyrinthine criminal world-where he pulled off one of the biggest jewel heists in Scandinavia’s history as a player in a smuggling consortium. He eluded capture, but the downward spiral continued until he hit bottom one night in Tokyo.

            
          Alone and in need of redemption, Stefan lost himself in the south Asian jungle, but fate brought him an opportunity to help the wretched Karen people of Burma. By serving the forgotten, Stefan could begin his restitution. This Renaissance man at last utilized his uncommon skill set to embrace the call of humanitarian relief. Disasters like the Indonesian tsunami and the Sudanese civil war and drought required all of him.

           
          The adventure of Stefan Templeton tests the bounds of human possibility, and even the most hardened of skeptics will be gripped by this account of David Matthews, Stefan’s childhood friend and sometimes harshest critic.

Review: 
           Reading the synopsis of the book, you almost get the sense that Stefan Templeton is a Jason Bourne-type character in a remarkable fiction novel. Then, when you find out that Templeton exists and has done everything described in the book, you find out that there are people in the world that live extraordinary lives. He has never experienced an ordinary life, which owes to his constant need of adventure. From learning Tae Kwon Do at an early age, to shuttling back and forth between his parent's opposite lives and eventually becoming independent, Stefan set forth to do everything he'd ever wanted. You already want to hate him for having such an adventurous life so young, but it's obvious that it comes at a price. He develops strained relationships with his parents while he sets off to get a high rate education, become a world class diver, and travel the world.

            Not everything he sets out to do works to his advantage; the very skills he's obtained to succeed are the skills that gets him into black market drug and gem deals, further separating him from his girlfriend and daughter. Along the way, he meets other women, and casually has affairs before finding someone he can't live without. Once life back in America gets too boring for him, he is thrown into humanitarian work that changes his life and sets him on a different path towards goodwill and honest work.

            You can tell throughout the book that Stefan has grown and matured. He eventually doesn't care if he's the scariest guy in the neighborhood, or that the drug deal he was sent on goes wrong... he finds his way through the world with the knowledge that he's obtained and the relationships he's developed. The most baffling thing about the book is the fact that the author, his childhood friend, knew nothing of Stefan's later life until 2007, when Stefan told him everything that he would eventually write about. The author admits to not believing any of it, but later on does enough research to find that all the facts checked out.

              I enjoyed reading the adventures Stefan went through but found it hard to like him until much later, when he started devoting his life to aiding those in need, instead of more selfish pursuits. He did always put his family first, financially at least, which was admirable. However, he fell out of contact with a lot of his family during the years, and only he was to blame. It was nice to see David Matthews write the book about his childhood friend, as Stefan would have never done it himself. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the publisher in order to create this review. The opinions expressed are of my own. Thank you to Trish at TLC Book Tours.

Book Reviews Coming Up

Thanks to TLC Book Tours, I've been fortunate enough to be asked to do several book tours coming up, and I wanted to make sure to let you all in on the fun!

Monday, July 25, I'll be reviewing Kicking Ass and Saving Souls by David Matthews

Thursday, August 11, I'll be reviewing Adam & Eve by Seta Jeter Naslund

Monday, August 15, I'll be reviewing Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto

Make sure to stop by and hear about these amazing books. I might even have a book or two to giveaway ;)

Movie Watching

In the process of watching all my Netflix Streaming movies before September 1st, I've been trying to watch some classics that I had never seen before. These include:

These are all comedies, but I do have several action and thriller movies on the queue, just haven't watched them yet.

I also tried to watch This is Spinal Tap yesterday but couldn't get through it... it wasn't funny to me.

Any of you fans of these movies?

Birchbox Review: July 2011

I wrote back a month ago that I had signed up for Birchbox and was awaiting my first box in July. Well, after a long 8 days of waiting due to ground shipment from Jersey to Florida, I received my box on Friday. Come to find out, there was good reason for it's long delay, but I will cover that in a second.

This Birchbox is unique in that it was designed by Cynthia Rowley to share some of her favorite things and even came in Cynthia Rowley-inspired box.

Once I opened the box, I found this double-sided card with an explanation of this month's box and a list of the enclosed goodies.

I got some great stuff this month!

 

Enclosed was:

Kind Almond and Apricot bar

I've had these bars before and they're delicious and pretty good for you. I guess Cynthia likes to keep these around.

Redken Shine Flash 02

I've never heard of this product before but Cynthia says it adds fantastic shine to dull hair. I used it once over the weekend but didn't really notice a difference other than an added texture to my hair.

Ahava Mineral Hand Cream

I know Ahava is a great brand, but I've never tried their products before. This hand cream is very moisturizing and doesn't leave a greasy feeling afterwards...plus it smells very fresh.

Philosophy Purity Facial Cleanser

Again, I've heard Philosophy is a great brand but I've never tried their products. I used this several times over the weekend and I'm in love! It leaves your face so smooth afterward that I don't even need to apply moisturizer, especially in this heat. 

Zoya Nail Polish in Shay

If you know me, you know I love nail polish, especially Zoya and their extensive color collection. I was really excited to get this neutral polish from their Touch collection (and it explains the ground shipping). I wore this over the weekend and it is definitely a light, neutral pearl color. It's almost the color of my skin.

So that was my Birchbox for July. I was happy with the contents as I hadn't used a couple of the products before and love trying new things. 

I would love to hear from anyone that also got a Birchbox and would love to share their goodies :)

My New Lipgloss Obession

I was supposed to do a review on my first Birchbox today, but after 7 days, I still haven't received it, so that will have to wait until Monday.

Today, I want to talk to you about my new lipgloss obsession... Buxom lip gloss.

I had seen it in Sephora before but never thought much of it, until my friend Carmen told me how much she loved hers. Last time we went, I browsed the colors and tried them on. The instant tingle that came from this plumping lip gloss was not overpowering but did feel like it was doing the job. My lips did look slightly fuller, and the color I chose, Dolly, happened to be the perfect neutral pink for me.

I love that these glosses give you just enough color without being too much, and they are not sticky at all... they actually feel pretty moisturizing.

You can snag these awesome glosses online at Sephora.com

Have you ever tried Buxom before?

Fall Vacation

As soon as we came back from our trip to California, we knew we had to get planning for a fall vacation. We decided to go solo on this one and spend just a weekend wherever we went. Our destination was somewhat limited by what our JetBlue points could get us to for free, so what better place to go to in September than Boston!

Neither of us have ever been and, being Red Sox fans, we have always wanted to see a game at Fenway.

So, we are heading to Beantown Sept. 15-17 to watch a game, do some sightseeing, and revel in the historical beauty that is Boston. The flight has been booked (thank god it was free) and the bed and breakfast has been reserved. Since Boston is a pretty pricy place to stay, we figured out that a bed and breakfast was the most economical way to go, and the one we chose is situated one mile from Fenway and right in front of the T-train.

Now all we have left to do is buy tickets to the Red Sox game. Ironically, they are playing the Tampa Bay Rays that weekend, but we'll be cheering on the home team :)

Anyone been to Boston before? What did you do?

Netflix Changes; How Will It Affect You?

If you're a Netflix subscriber, you got some bombshell news yesterday. Netflix sent out an email saying that they were not only splitting up the DVD and Streaming plans, but they were raising the price if you wanted to keep both.

You now have three options:

• You can sign up for a DVD-only plan, which is $7.99/month for one dvd at a time and $11.99/month for two at a time.
• You can sign up for Streaming-only plan, which is $7.99/month and only gives you access to their streaming library.
• You can keep both DVD and Streaming, which will be the cost of each plan added together, or $15.98/month.

It's been very interesting to read everyone's reactions to this price hike and change. The good news is, Netflix looks like they are still sticking with DVD's for now, given that earlier reports had them slowly easing out DVD's in favor of future streaming only. The bad news is, now you have to pay a lot more or be limited in what you can watch.

The hubby and I decided that we are going to go through our Streaming movies (all 25) before September 1st, then sign up for the DVD only plan. It's not the price that's the problem... it really is only an extra 6 dollars a month. We just hardly use streaming and feel the choices will be better with the DVD plan. You do have the option of changing at any time.

So, Netflix members, are you picking a plan and staying or looking for another movie alternative?

Pass The Popcorn

When it comes to games, I seem to do well with trivia. So when the hubby and I saw this movie trivia game at Target, I grabbed it off the shelves and high-tailed it home to play. Let me tell you... this game is addicting!

Each card has a movie on both sides and comes with the movie's cast, characters, story, and quotes. The object of the game is to guess the movie based on one of those items and whoever guesses the most wins. The movies range all the way from the 1930s to 2010, so it has a great span of choices to test your trivia.

We've probably played this game a dozen times now and it has made me aware that I have not seen a lot of "iconic" movies before. Anything relating to wars, westerns, gangsters, or science fiction, chances are I haven't seen it.

So I added some 50 iconic movies to my Netflix queue; everything from older comedies (The Naked Truth, Stripes), to science fiction (2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind), to thrillers (Deliverance, The Usual Suspects, The Fugitive). Thankfully, a lot of them are on instant stream so I don't have to wait for them in the mail, but I apparently have a lot of movie watching to do.

Are there any iconic movies you haven't seen yet that you'd like to?

The Duchess of Style

If you've been following Princess Kate's style on their trip to Canada, you know that she is rocking it! If you haven't, here are some of her best looks:

Almost everything she has worn on her trip has sold out in stores and online, even accessories. It's clear that all eyes are on her and she is doing a fabulous job of dressing for each occasion. I like that she alternates between dressy and casual, though she does dresses the best.

I'm excited to see what she'll be wearing in California this weekend.

What is your favorite look?