Book Review: The Book Thief

I took advantage of a weekend to myself and a snow day yesterday and got to reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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My friend Trish had recommended this book to me a while back, and I had suggested it at my book club, where it was added to the list of books but was never picked, so I took it upon myself to read it. Especially since the movie came out and I wanted to read it before I saw the movie.

Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:

"It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. "

I don't even know how to describe this book, other than I really loved it. The first few pages I had trouble getting into it, so if you read it, I suggest trying to get through the first few chapters, where it will read easier.

I think part of a sentence from the book describes itself perfectly, for me:

"the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant"

That is this book. I fell in love with the characters, the stories, the relationships. The perspective that the book is told from is different, and I enjoyed that, too. The only thing that I regret is that I read it in 3 days. I wanted the story to last longer but I couldn't help myself from continuing to read it.

I'm not even sure that I want to see the movie because I'm not sure how it can do this book justice. 

This book is wonderful.
~.~.~.~

And, since today is another snow day/day off from work, I'll be diving into another book...stay tuned! :)

Weekend Recap

This weekend wasn't too crazy, which was just what I needed.

Friday my friend Crystal came with me to look at and choose linens for the wedding. After looking through a bunch, I chose this pewter color:

We'll get to see a mock up of the table at our tasting, so I can still make changes. I'm also going to see 3 other options at that time, too. But for right now, I think this silver will be fun, a little different, and help pop the purple color around the room, too.

After that, we hung out at my place for a bit, had a bottle some wine and caught up.

Saturday morning was the massage that I'd been looking forward to. It hurt, bc Im full of knots, but my massage therapist was good and really sweet. We ended up talking the whole time (which didn't take away from my "relaxation" since this massage was to work out knots, not to relax) and she even told me "I'm so glad to have met you today" after our conversation. She was so nice, and I have another appointment with her in 2 weeks. Woohoo!

I ran a few errands after that because the weather was supposed to be really icky on Sunday and I didn't want to be stranded at home with no food. 

The rest of the day was low key, cuddle time with Cooper, reading The Book Thief (really good so far, by the way), taking care of some cleaning around the house, and watching movies on tv like 13 Going on 30 and Something Borrowed.

Sunday the first snow came. And then icy rain/sleet. Which meant another day to snuggle on the couch, stay warm, watch tv and read. 

Here are a couple of scenes from the weekend:

Puppy, Christmas tree/lights...how does this get much better?

I did do something productive with myself and tried out the Zumba "game" I got for Xbox, and I LOVED it. It was so fun (I'm sure I looked like a total idiot, but that's ok) and I was sweating after just a few songs. Totally going to be doing that more often!

And, to top it all off, I got the greatest gift...school was cancelled today because of the icy conditions outside. So, another day ahead of relaxation for me! And I have a yummy meal cooking away in the crock pot for dinner tonight. Bliss!

Told ya it was a "low key" weekend. But I'm totally ok with it! Hope yours was fab!!

   

5 on Friday

It's FRIIIIIIDAYYYYY!

Which means that there's only 2 more weeks of work before my Winter Break! Thanksgiving break was a bit of a tease, and all of my teacher friends and myself are ready to enjoy some real family and relaxation time. (And then, oh em gee, it's the real countdown before the wedding!!)

But, for now, let's focus and do some 5 on Friday!

{1}- Best Discovery

Ok, maybe it's not THE best, but it's pretty awesome. I discovered this week that mtv.com has all episodes of Laguna Beach, starting from Season 1 online. I can watch full episodes to my heart's content, and travel back to the time that I could relate to these teens. Ahh, good times! (I could do without the online commercial breaks, though...)

{2}- Xmas presents....to myself

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Yep, just like last year, I've had NO problem buying myself some gifts during all of the Cyber Monday deals (and some before), although I went a LOT less crazy this year than I did last year (my credit card thanks me). My favorites are some Loft purchases (were you surprised??), and my new purse from Target (only $34.99)! Meanwhile, I'm at a loss as to what to get for my parents. Total, complete loss. Wah.

{3}-Massage

I'm getting a massage tomorrow for the first time in about 4 months. That may not sound like long, but I have a Massage Envy membership which means that I haven't used it in 4 months. Which also means that I plan on scheduling another massage in 2 weeks, and maybe another one 2 weeks after that. I've got some work-stress knots to work out for sure--I feel bad for whoever my massage therapist is on Saturday (but not THAT bad...hehe). Looking forward to feeling like Jell-o!

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{4}-Kinect/Zumba

Over the weekend, MG's dad gave us his Xbox360 (he's upgrading to the Xbox 1) so now we have a Kinect and I wasted no time in ordering Zumba for it. It should be here today and I'm excited to try it out and hopefully have another way to get a workout in, have fun, and get in shape for the wedding. Has anyone done the Zumba with Kinect? Thoughts?

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{5}-Little Bit of Holiday Cheer

If this doesn't melt a Grinchy little heart, than I don't know what will. Every time I see these types of pics, they make me smile. 

Watching the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center and then part of the SNL Christmas special definitely got me even more in the mood for Christmas! The little village near our place is complete with lights in the trees and it just makes for a more festive feel.  And within the next couple of days it is DEFINITELY going to start feelings like Winter with temps in the low 30's (which is a change after having 64 the other day). Nevertheless, I'm excited for Christmas! :)

And now I get to make it through another work day, and then meet with my wedding coordinator at the reception site to pick out linens. Thanks for all of your opinions and input on Wednesday! Hopefully once I get there and see the selection, it will be an easy decision!
Catch ya on Monday!

Book Review: Allegiant (Divergent #3)

I've definitely been on the reading train this month! I just recently finished reading the 3rd book in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, called Allegiant.

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My friend, Trish, actually turned me on to this series back when I was depressed that I was done with The Hunger Games. I devoured Divergent--I was SO into it. And then I started another series that was too similar and in this genre and it got me lost when I read Insurgent (book #2 in this series), so I think I didn't enjoy it as much for that reason.

Luckily, I had some time between reading book #2 and Allegiant coming out. I had to read a summary to remember everything that had happened previously, but once I did, I got into this story and the characters again. I really wanted to find out what would happen to everyone in the book. There were definitely a lot of things that I did not see coming, at all, which kept me guessing throughout the story.

Here is the synopsis from Amazon:

"What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?
The explosive conclusion to Veronica Roth's #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy reveals the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergentand Insurgent."

I'm definitely glad that I read the series. Overall, I really enjoyed it, and I just saw (when I went to see Catching Fire) the preview for Divergent the movie which is supposed to come out in March 2014. I'm curious to see how they make the book come to life. And, truth be told, I'm not sure that I agree with their selection for the actress who will play the main female character. But, time will tell.

In the meantime, if you're looking for a new series to get sucked into, this might just be it for you!

For more of my book reviews, check out the Book Review tab at the top of the page! It's all laid out nice and neat for you to search through now :)

Wedding Wednesday: table linens (opinions wanted!)

Sounds boring, right? It kind of is, but I'm trying to decide on what kind/color table cloth that I want to use for our tables at the reception.

Our colors are purple and silver/gray....

Our reception is going to be in the ballroom at a Marriott. This is the general look of it during the daytime with lights on (the balloons were for a prom, so disregard them).

We're using the ugly yellow chairs, which I've been told over and over again will kind of disappear when the lights go down. Fingers crossed.

We are also going to have purple uplights around the room to add to the ambiance, kind of like this, only more purple:

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This week I'm meeting with our coordinator at the hotel to pick out the table linens. I'm not sure how extensive my choices will be for the linens, but I DO know that we are using silver chargers on the table. Right now I'm debating what to choose for the tablecloths. Our flower centerpieces are primarily going to be purple flowers, and with the purple uplights around the room I was thinking of doing a gray/silver table linen instead of a purple one, which I think might clash with the yellow chairs and kind of get lost with all of the other purple stuff going on. Here's an example of a purple table with silver chargers (our centerpieces will be low, though):

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And here are some examples of the silver with maybe a purple napkin and purple centerpieces:

And then there's the option of just doing a plain white table cloth, with the silver chargers...(and not the big diamonds on the plates like in this pic lol):

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I'm just not sure which one will blend things together (a.k.a. distract from the yellow chairs) and look the nicest or make the most complete look. I'm leaning more towards the gray/silver or the white table cloths, but after that, I'm not 100% sure which one to choose.

Opinions are wanted and needed! What do you think will look the best and go together best?

Recipe: Quinoa w/ Pesto, Artichokes and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I realized that I never posted this delicious quinoa recipe that I teased you all with a few weeks ago. And what better time for a healthy recipe than when we are all trying to get back on track after the massive amounts of holiday eating that just happened?

I found this recipe on Pinterest (duh) and couldn't wait to try it since it has some of my favorite things in it! The original recipe is made with kale pesto, but I just used the jar of pesto that I had on hand.

What You Need:

-1 cup dried quinoa (not cooked)
-4-5 Tbsp pesto (I used 5 bc my jar was almost empty)
-6oz jar artichokes, drained
-1/3 Cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained, roughly chopped
-salt/pepper to taste
-Parmesan cheese (optional)

What You Do:

1. Cook the quinoa according to the package directions. Mine called for 2 cups of water and took about 18 minutes to cook up where the water was absorbed. Once cooked, remove it from the heat, fluff it with a fork and let it cool:

2. Add the quinoa to a bowl and toss it with the pesto

3. Add in the artichoke hearts and the sun-dried tomatoes. Then add in salt and pepper to taste (I only added pepper). 

4. Add in Paremsan cheese if desired. Shredded is better but I only had grated on hand so I went with that and it was still good.

Enjoy! Super tasty and it came together in no time with very little work!

Quick note: I've updated my tabs/pages at the top of the page, so that it's easier to look for recipes (and book and product reviews) without having to scroll through long posts. I hope you like it!

Thanksgiving/Weekend Recap

Phew! This last weekend flew by! But I guess that happens when you have tons of fun, yummy food, and awesome people around you.

It was a very Poodle-y Thanksgiving!

Wednesday I got off work 2 hours early, headed home, and MG's parents arrived shortly after that. We spent some time together before heading into Old Town to the Chart House for dinner. After dinner MG's best friend came over since he was in town seeing his family, and we all hung out more until MGs parents left for the hotel. MG's best friend stayed over because they were running a Turkey Trot in DC the next morning. We also got to watch MG's parents puppy, too (who, at 4 months is already Cooper's height). 

Thursday MG headed into the city and ran a 5K while I got our place ready for our parents and Thanksgiving. My parents got to our place a little later than planned, but we got everything together with relative ease. Overall, hosting our first Thanksgiving was a total hit! The food was yummy, and it was nice spending time with both sets of our parents, who get along really well. The food was so good, and the day flew by. My dad also seemed to be doing better with his energy levels, so that made me happy, too.

Friday morning MG and I drove up to PA with his parents following us so that we could see the rest of the family. Traffic was light and we made the trip quickly. That day/night we got to see MG's sister L and her kiddos. The guys went to see Thor that night and the girls stayed behind to hang out, watch tv and chat. And eat cupcakes. Perfect! :)

Saturday MG's dad had arranged for him to get a shave and haircut at a place called RAZRBAR and surprised me with an early Christmas present in the form of a shopping trip to Loft! It may sound weird to go shopping with your future father-in-law but he has great taste, and it was a lot of fun. Not to mention the haul of items that I got:

This is something that he does with both of his daughters for Xmas, and it made me feel really special that he wanted to include me in that this year. Like I said in my Thanksgiving post, he is one of the most generous people ever.

After MG's shave/haircut and my shopping trip, the 3 of us had lunch together and then headed back to hang out with MG's niece for a little bit before the rest of the family came over for MG's birthday dinner. We went to a place called Firebirds that we went to for his birthday last year and the food and drinks were SO good!

Sporting my new Loft shirt and scarf! :)

After dinner we all hung out at MG's parents house until around 11 when everyone made their way home. We went to bed because we wanted to get up and get on the road before traffic got crazy the next morning.

We left around 10am after MG helped his dad hang some Xmas lights outside, and breakfast, and made it home easily, thankfully. We unpacked and I got to putting up our tree since there were only 24 days left before Christmas!

After a quick trip to Target for the tree topper (and other necessities for the week), our tree was complete!

And now I'm in the post-holiday haze. Also wondering how the heck I'm going to fit into my wedding dress after all of these delicious holiday meals...and thankful that I have some time to fix that. Hopefully anyway :)

I want to take a second and wish MG a very happy birthday today. You mean the absolute world to me and I'm so thankful that I get to celebrate this birthday, and all the ones to come, with you. I love you, always!

I hope your Thanksgiving and weekend were family and fun-filled! And, oh my gosh, it's DECEMBER! When did that happen??