Book Review - The Paris Wife

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This month I read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. This was a really great book! I love history, so any sort of historical fiction book is usually right up my alley. The books follows the life of Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley, during their marriage and time living in Paris. The majority of the novel is in Hadley's point of view, but there are a few sections done in Ernest's. I already knew a little about Ernest Hemingway, so it was interesting to piece together the bits I already knew with the plot of the novel. Their time living in Paris was full of interesting people and a changing culture. I really recommend this book if you enjoy history or the 1920's time period.

Next, I'm reading Quitter by Jon Acuff. I'll let you know what I think next month!

Weekend Update

This weekend was crazy busy! Friday night Mike and I headed to Bradenton to hang out with a bunch of our friends. We had a great time catching up and getting some quality time in with friends we don't always get to see as often as we'd like. Saturday morning we had brunch with Mike's parents and then headed over to my aunt and uncle's house to celebrate my cousin, Kamella's, sixteenth birthday! We had such a fun evening with family!!!

Kamella was beautiful and the party was flawless! I can't even explain how amazing the food was. There was all sorts of barbeque meats, potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw, baked beans, green beans, and (my all time favorite) macaroni and cheese. We chatted, played games, ate cake, and watched Kamella open gifts. It really was a special evening.

After the party, Mike and I drove to Orlando to my parent's house. We woke up early Sunday morning and drove over to the Citrus Bowl to participate in The Color Run. Mike and I did it once before in January of this year. My mom came that time to support us, but decided she really wished she had done it too. So when we heard it was coming again, we talked my dad into joining us and all signed up. The Color Run is a 5k and the proceeds went to Second Harvest Food Bank of Orlando. As you run along volunteers throw powder colors on you. There are four color zones along the run - pink, yellow, blue, and orange. After you finish the race, everyone gathers and throws a color packet into air. The effect is super cool!

 The weekend was a blast, but went by way too quickly! Hope you all had a great weekend too. Happy Monday!

High Five for Friday

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It's Friday again!! This has been a long week at work, so I'm ready for the weekend! I'm linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for High Five for Friday. Below are the top five things that I enjoyed from this week...

1. Monday was my friend Reina's birthday. We had cake at work and then had a spaghetti dinner later that night. So good!!!

2. Tuesday, Mike and I had dinner with our friends, Justin and Latoya, at Tijuana Flats. Yay for Taco Tuedaze...it's one of my most favorites things!

3. You may have noticed a few changes to the appearance of the blog. I'm SO excited about it and hopefully have a few more changes to go.

4. My favorite show of the summer has come to an end. Wednesday night was the finale of Big Brother. I wasn't too happy with the two finalist, so the ending was slightly disappointing, but oh well. I'll have to wait all the way until next summer for the show to come on again.

5. It's finally Friday and our weekend is packed! Tonight we are having dinner with friends, Saturday is my cousin's 16th birthday party, and then Sunday Mike, my mom, my dad, and myself are doing The Color Run in Orlando. Let's get this weekend started :)

I'll have an update on Monday with pictures from our weekend. Hope you all have something fun planned!!!

Birchbox - September Edition

I still can't believe it's already September. This year is just flying by! As usual, I was super excited to find my Birchbox in the mail. It's a fun surprise to look forward to each month and September was no exception. Usually, there is one thing in each box that I'm really excited to use, and the other stuff is just fun to experiment with or give it a try. This month I will use absolutely EVERYTHING in the box. It's awesome.

 1. VOESH New York Lemon Pedicure Scrub - What girl doesn't love a good excuse for a foot rub? I can't wait to try out this scrub. It has a citrusy scent and will hydrate and soften my feet.

2. Ruffian Nail Lacquer in Fox Hunt - I've been thinking about what nail polish colors I would like to try for Fall, but hadn't really decided on any colors yet. This burnt orange color will be the perfect color to get me in the Fall spirit. Bring on those Pumpkin Spice Lattes!!

3. Mally Beauty Volumizing Mascara - I don't usually buy volumizing mascaras so I'm interested to see how this one differs from what I would normally purchase. Plus, it's perfect timing, because I'm running low on the mascara I'm currently using.

4. Serge Normant Meta Luxe Hair Spray - This stuff smells good!! I love getting hair spray in my Birchbox because it's always the perfect size to put in a travel bag. It's easy to grab and go when Mike and I head out for the weekend.

5. Dr. Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips - I was so confused when I first read the name of this product! Apparently, it was originally invented to help soothe nursing mothers, but then someone discovered that it also makes a pretty nice lip balm (wonder how they figured out that one?). It also works well on cracked cuticles and skin.

What I Wore Wednesday - USF Edition

I posted earlier this week about the USF game my family and I went to this past Saturday. I thought it fitting to include it as this week's link up with The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday post. I actually made my dress especially for the game, following this tutorial. This is the third dress I've made using this tutorial, and it gets easier and faster each time. The dress is comfortable and super cute (in my opinion). The earrings were a Christmas gift from my mom and dad last Christmas. This was the first opportunity I've gotten to wear them and I was so excited to do so!

USF Game

My alma mater is the University of South Florida, from which I graduated a little over three years ago. Each football season my family and I have made it a point to attend at least one game. This past Saturday's game was USF vs. Florida Atlantic University at our home stadium and we had tickets! My parents, my aunt and uncle, and Mike's parents were all supposed to meet at our apartment and then head over to the stadium to tailgate a little before the game. Well, the day did not go as planned! First, my dad calls me and says my mom is sick and won't be able to make it. My dad wasn't sure if he should stay home with my mom or still come. He had the grill and everything for tailgating, so it was going to be a little challenging to make a new tailgating plan without my parents. Thankfully, my mom was feeling well enough that my dad could still come. Everyone met at our apartment before the game as planned. However, as soon as we loaded up in the car and started driving to the stadium, it starts raining! I just kept praying it would stop soon and we could enjoy tailgating. Well, it didn't stop. It rained the whole time we were "tailgating". Our tailgating ended up being all the girls sitting in the car the entire time talking, while the boys stood in the rain to grill out hot dogs and then join us in the car to eat. While it was not how I imagined our day going, it ended up being a lot of fun! Honestly, any time I get to spend with my family is always a blast (just wish my mom could have been there too). The rain cleared up just in time to head into the stadium before the game started. We didn't win, but we enjoyed each others company and the atmosphere of the game. GO BULLS!!!

The group before the game...rain and all

Game time

My dad and me 

Half time show

BrideBlu Necklace

It was love at first site when I came across this necklace on BrideBlu's shop on Etsy. I have been a strictly silver jewelry wearer for a long time. However, lately I've been drawn to more gold pieces. So I've been trying to incorporate more gold into my everyday wear. When I found the necklace on BrideBlu's shop I knew it had to be mine. I love that the locket is tiny and comes on a delicate chain. Plus, that little surprise on the inside is just sooo cute!! Of course, I got mine done with the letter M for my husband Mike.

The information I've gathered from reading other blogs like LaurenConrad.com, is that it's okay to mix silver and gold nowadays. I've always thought that was a no-no. However, this is good news to me because I have a few silver pieces that I wear everyday (my wedding ring is silver, as well as a bracelet that I wear everyday). Now I can mix in gold without having to change up what I normally wear on a daily basis. Do you mix silver and gold jewelry together? What are some of your styling suggestions?

Happy Harvest

This weekend Mike and I did a little Fall cleaning (just like Spring cleaning, but in the Fall). It felt so good to get reorganized and get rid of things we don't need or use any more. I have been wanting to do this for a while, but this was the first weekend we had free to do it. We have a nice pile for Good Will and also had a trash bag of things for the dumpster. I would say the biggest difference is in our bathroom. I had way too much make-up and hair products that I hardly used anymore. Everything is neat and tidy now, which makes my heart happy.
Once we got done with that I got out all of our Fall decorations! I believe after September 1st it's perfectly acceptable to put out Fall decor. I can never wait until it's the actual first day of Fall, I love it too much! So I decided to share a few pictures of our Autumn decorations.

Once it gets to be October I have few more Halloween things to set out. So maybe I'll do another update then. Well our house is all clean and ready for Autumn, now we just need the weather to cooperate! Happy Monday everyone!

High Five for Friday

TGIF everyone!! I'm ready for the weekend! This week seemed sooo long, even though it was a short one thanks to Labor Day on Monday. I don't have any pictures for the post today...fail (I know). So let's get this party started...

1. Mike and I got to spend a little time with his grandparents this week. We all went out to dinner and it was lovely. Family time is always so special.

2. Mike and I also got to spend a little time with his dad! We went to a great hamburger joint named Full Bellies and had an great dinner. We shared an order of awesomeness called The Belly Buster. It has a tater tot base, with mac n cheese on top of that, then sour cream, and finally bacon bits and chives. Yummy!!

3. Tonight Mike and I plan to run a few errands and maybe catch a movie. I love impromptu date nights :)

4. After tonight, I don't really plan on leaving home the rest of weekend. I have so much I want to do around the house that I'm not sure I'll even get to it all. I really want to go through a bunch of our things and reorganize and maybe simplify a bit. It's something that's been on my mind a lot lately.

5. It's time to put out FALL DECORATIONS!!! I love decorating for Fall! I can't wait to put out little pumpkins and light Fall smelling candles...my favorite!!

Hope you have an amazing weekend!! I'm linking up with the Lauren Elizabeth blog.

Book Review - Entwined in You

Below is my opinion of the book Entwined with You  by Sylvia Day. You can check out other books I've reviewed in the Book section of this blog.

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This is the third book in the Crossfire Series (I have also reviewed the first two books, which you can find under the Book section). This book continues where the second one left off and is much the same as the others before it. I started this book in July, but didn’t actually finish it until the end of August because I went long periods of time without reading. The book just didn’t capture my attention all that much. Again, the plot line is interesting; we continue to learn more about the main characters' troubled pasts and how it affects their relationship presently. Of course there's a lot going on in the romance department, which again, I could do with less of. However, I realize that’s the nature of the novel. I caught myself skimming a lot through this book. I don’t usually do that, but like I said before, it was a lot of the same stuff. It seems every time, just when Eva and Gideon are finely going to be happily ever after some new problem/situation arises. Then, the book just ends abruptly. There’s going to be a fourth book in the series, but I honestly probably won’t read it. I don’t want to seem like these books are bad, because they aren’t. However, they aren’t a page turner either.

Stay tuned...the next book I'm reading is called The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.

Labor Day

Happy Labor Day! Mike and I have had a wonderful weekend camping with our friends. We will be on our way home today. To me, Labor Day signifies the end of Summer and the beginning of Fall. This Summer has been a great one, but I'm ready to see what the Fall brings!

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