Book Review: A Long Way Gone

Hey all! I'm on day two of my break, which means that I've had a little extra time to read--woohoo! I just finished the book A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah:

It's about a boy who lives in a village in Sierra Leone and has to deal with the wars that run rampant through his country and his village, his losses,  his experiences, this he learns, etc. It's also a true story (the author is the main character), one that is eye-opening to those of us who only hear about such things on the news. 

It's a book that will make you appreciate all of the luxuries and freedoms that we are so fortunate to have here. Although I feel like I am pretty aware of things going on in the world, this book was eye-opening. I think it is a must-read for everyone. 

I won't go into too much detail, but I will provide you with a quote that was particularly strong for me:

"...I still felt as if I was dreaming, a dream that I didn't want to wake up from. I was sad to leave, but I was also pleased to have met people outside of Sierra Leone. Because if I was to get killed upon my return, I knew that a memory of my existence was alive somewhere in the world"

I can't imagine having that thought go through my head....but I think it is a powerful statement of what becomes important when nothing feels like it is guaranteed.

I hope you look into the book--it's a short, easy read, but extremely powerful.

The Weekend Cooper got a TON of Love...

Happy Monday, lovies! I'm a little later than normal on this post because I'm on my first day of vacation, and have spent it catching up on the DVR, grocery shopping and preparing dinner in the crock pot (Pasta Fagioli...mmm), and cleaning the crap out of my apartment--most of it was stuff in my room, some of it was the crap my roommate continues to leave around (she's up to a collection of 6 empty/semi-empty wine bottles on the kitchen counter, and the pot that has been on the stove for the past week and a half is still there, among other things).

MG and I before the wedding, taken from a 5-year
old's perspective (hence why we are looking down) lol

But, besides my roommate being annoying and messy, I had a FAB weekend up in Philly with MG and his family. We went up for his friend from HS's wedding, and BOY did I get a scoop on what MG was like in high school. Let's just say, I'm glad that he's who he is now haha.

Along with heading up for the wedding, we spent time with MG's family, and brought Cooper along. He was, apparently, the part that MG's nieces and nephew were most excited about. Especially his 5 year old niece (who is one of the cutest little people Ive ever met).

Take a look at the evidence to back that up:

Yes, that is my dog, licking her feet....for at least ten minutes...

 Let's just say that when MG's other niece and nephew arrived later in the evening, Cooper got quite a good amount of exercise (maybe he even lost that extra pound the vet has been getting on me about)! I would be willing to bet that there was probably no more than a total of 5 minutes when Cooper did not have someone's hands on him! :) 

As always, MG's family was SO much fun, and I loved spending time with them. I actually wish that we were closer so that we could see them more often!

It was an awesome weekend! I'm a little jealous that MG is going back up on Friday for Christmas....but at least I'll have Cooper :)

Hope you're having a good start to Monday!

Friday Post of Random Things

So, I know I already did a Friday's Fancies post, but there is a lot I wanted to blog about today that I know if I don't do today I will totally forget. And then you would miss out on all of this awesomeness. And that would be sad. I don't want you to be sad. Sooooo, let's get to it!

First of all, can we revel in the fact that it's my LAST day of work for THREE WHOLE GLORIOUS weeks. Yes, you can be jealous. I am incredibly happy about it, and the excitement is palpable throughout my school--I think the teachers are even more excited than the kiddos are!

What makes today better? Well, you remember my rant post about my stupid roommate yesterday? Well, let's just say karma is a B. When I was packing up my stuff for the weekend (MG and I are headed to Philly for a wedding, and he's picking me up from work today so I had to be all packed up), I overhear my roomie on the phone (and of course she's in her room, because that's what she does...comes home, goes into her room, shuts the door, and doesnt come out). And I hear "But, I've never been accused of plagiarism before!" followed by "...I don't know how I'm going to prove to them that I didn't. I mean, I can show them where I got the information from. And I guess I can tell them that if I was going to plagiarize, why didn't I copy MORE of the information".....at this point I really wanted to stay and listen but I had to take a load of crap down to my car. When I came back I heard, in a whiny voice, "Well, I called 15 times, so YEAH it was an emergency".....a pause...."Well, what if it HAD been an emergency?!?!?!" Despite REALLY wanting to stay and eavesdrop, I figured I would get caught if I did, so I left. But, Im very curious how this will turn out for her, since it's grad school...and her work is paying for her to go. Whoops! *throwing up a prayer that karma doesn't come back to get me for kind of finding this entertaining after all of her b*tchyness towards me*

Now, on to more kind things....If you ever need a pick-me-up, or just some really cute "awwww" moments, check out this site that has kids' answers to the question "What is Love?" A couple of my favorites include:

• "Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs"--Chrissy, age 6 (I'm with Chrissy...if I'm sharing my french fries, Im definitely in love)
• "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen" --Bobby, age 7 (uhh, how freaking intelligent and heart-warming is THAT???)
• Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day"--Mary Ann, age 4 (and thank goodness they do!)

And, can I say how nice it is to walk into work (today is a "jeans day" for us), and have a coworker say "I love that sweater. I want it!" and then have a 6th grade girl, almost immediately afterwards say, "I looooove that scarf. Can I wear it??" and then get a compliment on my boots a few minutes later. I didn't think I was wearing anything earth shattering today, but I'm glad to know that Im looking good while comfy! I apologize for the pic being in the bathroom...I just figured I'd take one so that you could actually see what I was talking about, and I didn't have a mirror in my office to use. (Hello toilet paper and trash can!)




I had something else that I meant to write about but I already forgot. See what I mean? Isn't this what happens when you get old? Crap....looks like I'm on board that train and it's pulling out of the station...lol

Anyway, I hope you all have FAB weekends! I'll be up in Philly with the boyfriend and the pup. Hopefully I'll have some fun pics from the weekend and the wedding to share with you when I return! Until then, stay classy! :)

Friday's Fancies: Sparkle + Shine!

Happy Friday, everyone!!! It's the last day of work for me before my winter vacation and I am PUMPED! I figured that one way to celebrate was to create a sprakly and shiny outfit for Friday's Fancies with {av} at {long distance loving}  for her Sparkle and Shine theme this week!

This is what I came up with:

Friday's Fancies: Sparkle and Shine by jamiffer featuring jeweled handbags

I absolutely adore the light pink/light gold sparkly, girly feel this outfit has. I know it's all one color, but I kind of like that! What other colors would you have mixed in and where would you have added it (the shoes? clutch?)? Let me know! What are you fancying this Friday?? Go head over and link up!

I hope you all have *sparkly* weekend plans! I'll catch you on Monday!!

It's OK....

It's Thursday and BOY do I have a rant for you....lucky for me Amber at Brunch with Amber is hosting the link-up It's OK, cuz I have some things to share...




It's OK....
...to maybe have the majority of this post be a rant about your roommate and how much she really sucks (I apologize for the rant right now)....
....to not understand said roommate when she walks into or out of the room/apartment without acknowledging me, sometimes even when I said "hi/bye" first...
....to still be ticked that she tried to list the apartment on Craigslist behind my back, and then got annoyed with me when I didn't want to live with cats (I'm allergic to some), or random guys!
.....to really wish that she would clean up after herself instead of leaving pots on the stove, cups on the end tables (from this weekend) and things on the counter. Do we really need those 5 bottles of empty/half empty bottles of wine from back in August??? 
....to be annoyed that she leaves lights on all the time, but then complains about bills being too high (and that's one of her reasons for wanting to move out)...
....to watch her drive into the parking lot of the complex in her Mercedes C300 (her second Mercedes at the age of 23) and not reeeeally feel badly about the bills being too high...
....to wish she acted the same way towards me without people around as she does when they are (I guess she can't show her true colors when others are around, otherwise they might understand why I'm never at the apartment)....
...that despite all of this, before she went behind my back and listed her room on Craigslist, I had already gotten her this bracelet from Etsy for Christmas, since I know she likes owls. Am debating still giving it to her (maybe it will make her feel like a jerk for being a jerk)...

Frosted Willow on Etsy

....to be really excited that boyfriend gave me a key to his place (woohoo!) and that I can escape my living situation anytime that I want or need...
....to be really looking forward to getting away this weekend for a wedding in Philly (spending time with MG and his family, and bringing Cooper along for the ride)....
....to be extremely happy that there are only two more days of work, counting today, before I'm off for 3 weeks of winter vacation!
....to feel better after writing a ranting post (Thanks Amber for the outlet!)
...to hope that you didn't scare too many people away with your rant! (Please love me still!! :)...

What are YOU finding "ok" today? Link up!

WILW and Oh how Pinteresting!

It's hizzy hizzy hump day!!! So close to the weekend and my 3 week break!

Wednesday has two of my favorite link ups so let me just get right to it!

First I'm linking up with Jamie at this kind of love for WILW:

I'm loving that I finally feel like my cold got better. The last week it has felt like a lot of the same, with no real change and today I woke up feeling like I'm on the other side of it. Hopefully it continues!

I'm loving that I got to meet some really cool ladies at the Blogger Blitz DC meetup this past Sunday. It was so much fun and time just flew by! Really looking forward to hanging with some of you ladies who I got to talk to even more!

I'm loving that my dad started cardiac rehab this week. Hoping this will help him get back to more of his "normal" self and regain some of his stamina for things. And I hope he can keep up a positive attitude to get him through!

I'm loving my mom for being there for my dad through everything and taking care of him as well as she has been.

I'm loving my boyfriend, as cliche as this is. He has been here for me through quite a bit since we started dating and a total sweetheart. I'm SO glad to have finally found a guy who cares about me just as much as I care about him. Hopefully he decides to stick around for a long time :)

I'm loving  that I have some really great friends who are always there for me. I may not have a TON of really close friends, but I have some really quality ones, and I'm really thankful they are a part of my life! *hugs*

I'm loving that, counting today, there are only THREE more days of work before I get THREE WEEKS off for Winter break! I am stoked!

And as always, I'm loving Pinterest, which is why I'm linking up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting!

This week I've been pinning...

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

I am in love with this coat...even tho it looks like this chicky  isn't wearing anything
underneath it...

I just think this is really cute as an accent piece. And I love purple.

Eggnog Pound Cake....sounds pretty delish!

The same usually applies for working in groups at work, too haha

Just a touch of cuteness to end this post, and to make your day just a tiny bit brighter!

What are you finding Pinteresting this week?

Blogger Blitz DC Recap!

Happy Monday, lovies!




I'm here, still getting over this stupid cold with my scratchy voice (not so awesome) after a really fun night meeting a ton of cool chicas at the DC Blogger Blitz meet-up, hosted by {av} at {long distance loving}!

It was complete with glittery name tags, a blogger directory, beautiful ladies, some drinks and lots of good conversation!

There were a lot of girls there--some whose blogs I read on a regular basis, and others I hadn't seen before, which made me happy because I met some really nice people and now I have new blogs to follow!



Before the official meet-up, Ms. Pinky and I decided to meet at the metro and ride into DC together. We've been emailing and such for the past couple of months and it was SO great to finally meet her. She is awesome, and you should go check out her blog. Especially if you like pink. And glitter. :)

I was really excited to learn that there are several lady bloggers who live right near me, too! You should check out their blogs as well!

Bud And Leo, Mr&Mrs Smith Go to Washington, My Unrehearsed Life, Pinky!, me!

The whole meetup was really fun, and I wish I had gotten a chance to talk to more of the ladies there, but hopefully there will be another chance for a DC blogger meetup again sometime soon! I know I'll be there!

To the lady bloggers at the Blogger Blitz: It was SO great to meet all of you ladies, even if we didn't get a chance to chat. It was awesome to see so many people who are in the area, blogging, and letting their creativity flow! You are all inspiring and I can't wait to follow along with your blogs!

Hope everyone has a happy Monday!