Speak Up! | You Gotta Werk

It's the first Friday of the month, which  means it's time to link up with Amber and Annie for Speak Up! (Click on their names to watch their videos and/or to link up too!) This month's topic: Work

Ah, The Good Old Days of Blogging

Do you remember the good old days of blogging when we had random awards and tags and we would nominate our favorite bloggers for them? It was a fun, simple time, without sponsors, ads, Pintrest, and Google Reader was a thing. We just blogged because it was fun and if someone happened to earn money from it, good for them! But for most of it, that just wasn't even on our radar.

Good times, right?

Well... I got nominated for the Liebster Award by Angie over at A Life More Kawaii!

It makes me think of those days of blogging and how much I miss that time period for blogging. Also, I didn't have a topic for today so this is perfect timing!

Here's what you do:

1. Link back to who nominated you. 
2. Answer the Qs the nominator asked you. 
3. Nominate 11 other bloggers (preferably with less than 200 followers)
4. Create 11 Qs for the 11 bloggers in step 3. 
5. Notify your nominees!

These are the questions Angie asked me!

1. Quick! There's a zombie outside. What household item do you brandish as your weapon?!

Eek! Zombie???? We all know I'd probably be the first to die in a zombie apocalypse. Let's be honest. But to try and defend myself... (looking around the kitchen)... I'll attempt to throw a wooden chair at it.

2. What would your RPG class be? 

So, I totally had to Google what that meant. LOL. It's Role Playing Game Class. I actually never really got into role playing! A friend of mine in high school tried to get me into Dungeons and Dragons, and I remember having a lot of fun. But for some reason I never continued. You'd think loving theatre and story-telling so much, I would have been all about it. But nope. Therefore, I'm not sure!

3. What is your dream pet?

My dog Bandit of course! But seriously, I just love dogs. Dogs are the best. I'd go for something more exotic, but there is no way I'd be able to tame them. So... dogs. 

4. Do you have a favorite superstition? 

If you say the name of the Scottish play in a theatre - I will go crazy on you. I was never a believer, but then... OH BUT THEN! When I was in an outdoor show of Romeo and Juliet, our young Romeo said it and we were rained out the first night. The SAME ACTOR said it AGAIN when we were doing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and the Narrator lost her voice AND the jail for Joseph broke and almost hurt everyone on stage during a performance. 

A couple months later, I was co-directing a show and an actor said it before a performance... I flipped out and made them step outside, spit on the ground, and spin around three times. (That's how it goes away.) Because.... NOPE. 

5. What color represents you?

Pink!

6. What is your favorite myth?

Ooooooooo. Good question! I've actually always been fascinated by Greek Mythology. 

7. If you could perform one act in a circus, what act would you perform? 

I always felt like the tightrope walkers were so pretty and graceful!

8. Who is your current favorite fictional character?

Just ONE?????? Well, you know, Harry Potter, obviously. But of all time other than him, I think Snow White. It's my favorite Disney princess and my favorite fairy tale ever since I was two. So, we'll go with her.

9. Stealing this from Joie... What Pokémon are you?

Sigh... I'm a failure at my generation because I know nothing about Pokemon. Seriously, all I know is "I choose you Pikachu!" 

Seriously. That's it. So... Pikachu?

10. If you could bend one element (air, earth, water, fire, energy), which would you bend?

And another thing I don't know much about! :-( But the idea of bending energy sounds awesome.

11. What is your favorite moment, so far, from this year?

Oooooo. That's an AWESOME question!

The first thought that came to my mind was New Years Eve. I went to a Frozen themed party in Boystown and it was one of the best New Years Eve celebrations I've ever been to. Seriously, you haven't lived until you've belted Let it Go with an entire gay bar. 

I also FINALLY saw the musical Once at the Oriental downtown a couple of weeks ago and it was just so perfect and lovely... I wish I could watch it every single day. 

Now for MY questions:

1.  What TV show are you LOVING to binge watch right now?

2. Tell me about your dream home.

3. What's the best book you've read so far this year?

4. If you could run away and live in another country for a year, where would you go? Even name the exact city if you know!

5. I'm hungry. If I'm coming over to your place for lunch, what are we going to have?

6. Tell me about, or show me, your favorite photo you've taken so far this year and why it's your favorite.

7. What was your favorite part of summer when you were a kid?

8. If you could live inside of a movie, which one would it be?

9. What vacation do you wish you could repeat?

10. We complain about blogging a lot - what do you still LOVE about?

11. And I'm stealing from Angie because this question was just so good- what has been your favorite moment this year so far?

Okay, time to nominate other people!

Okay, I'm just going to nominate some of my favorites - if you want to participate in pretending it's the early blogging days, that's awesome. If not, that's cool too cause I know several of my nominees probably have their whole blogging schedule down and know what they're doing. lol

Michelle from Wide Open Spaces

Brittany from Pines and Palmettos

Karina from Lazy Happy Bored Happy Sad

Sandy from Just Sandy

Amanda from Musical Poem

Amber from Mr. Thomas and Me

Kirsti from A Quick Succession of Busy Nothings

Jessica from A Coccoon of Books

Nadine from East &

Dayna from Princess Burlap

Bonnie from The Life of Bon

Finding What Has Value

One of the realities of being an adult is that money is important.

I know, shocker. If you need to sit down or take a breather while taking in that information, I understand. The remainder of this blog post will be still be here when you're done processing.

Saying money is important isn't artistic, it makes me feel like I'm giving into "the man," and bowing down to evil corporate America. In case you missed the memo, I got a new job recently at a hotel. I don't know the rules with talking about work in social media and stuff so I won't say which hotel. But let's just say... I work for a pretty big hotel franchise which I'm pretty sure EVERYONE has heard of and I kind of feel like I'm in a forever episode of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Which, makes me feel like I'm selling my soul to "the man."

Then I remember "Oh wait, I really like my job. I think I'm good at it. And I get awesome perks."

Then I'm okay with it.

And being in an ongoing episode of The Suite Life isn't too bad either.

Let's be honest - if we say having money (at least some) isn't important, then we're kidding ourselves. I'm not saying you have to be rich and have money rolling around everywhere. But you know, paying off debt and being able to pay bills and get food and have a roof over your head etc. all requires money.

Unless you live in the wildnerness or something. Then that's awesome. More power to you. I wish I could be that wild and carefree. But... I like the Internet, coffee, books, and indoor pluming. So, wildnerness living isn't in the cards for me.

Because of this, landing a good job and getting a decent size paycheck becomes a major priority for people. It makes sense. A large portion of our lives is dedicated to working, finding work, getting a degree for a specific job, getting ready for work. Our schedules revolve around the ones our bosses make for us. (Unless you're one of those lucky people who get to make their own.) As sad as it may sound, for a big portion of us, our lives revolve around our jobs.

It's so easy for everything to be about what we get paid to do.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw this quote on Twitter:

Don't be seduced into thinking that which does not make a profit is without value. - Arthur Miller

Don't be seduced into thinking that that which does not make a profit is without value. ARTHUR MILLER #amwriting pic.twitter.com/NoVEXIqC1l

— Jon Winokur (@AdviceToWriters) May 9, 2015

Isn't it so easy to lose sight of this?

This past month, I've had to do a lot of adjusting of my schedule and figuring out my priorities for how I'm going to spend my time on. I'm so used to working a part-time schedule where I work right away in the morning, adjusting to a full-time schedule where I tend to work more in the afternoon/evening, it's been difficult to figure out how to balance everything.

The other day, I was talking with one of my co-workers and I mentioned how I really value my free-time. He looked at me like I was a crazy person and joked, "Free time? What's that?" 

I was almost embaressed to admit I cared about having free time. But, it's true. As much as my job is a priority for me, so is my free time. Because that's when I get to see my family and friends. That's when I get to write, work on my blog, make videos, be in community theatre, and practice ukulele. With this new job, I have great perks for staying at hotels when I travel. If I don't have free time - I can't use those awesome perks.

Sometimes I'm embaressed to talk to people about my blog or my YouTube channel or my writing because I don't make money off of them. I'm not a big blogger or YouTuber, and most likely never will be. And I'm okay with that. But, I feel like there's this expectation when you talk to people about it that it needs to be really popular and/or you need to make money off of it in order for it to be worth your time.

But that's not true. 

As important as earning an income is, it's not the only important thing. 

It's good to have hobbies and to do things you don't necessairly get paid to do. They're important because it feeds your soul. Sometimes, I feel like there are certain things where if I were to get paid to do it, the thing would be ruined for me. Because then it would become all about how I can promote myself and earn more and do more. 

For some people, making their hobby their career is the perfect option. Which is awesome! There are some people who can making their hobby into a living and love every single moment. 

I don't think I'm one of those people.

Although, yes, someday I'd love to have a published novel. But, I also know it's incredibly rare to make a living off of just writing. Most authors have another job in addition to their writing. I'm okay with this. 

My other hobbies though? No, I don't get paid to do them. But that's okay. I kind of prefer it that way.

Also, spending time with people doesn't earn a profit either. Does that mean it's not importnat? Absolutely not! We need to invest in our relationships with people around us too. 

So, yes. My co-workers might think I'm crazy for valuing my free time and not jumping at every single opportunity to work overtime. I will at times though of course! Because I enjoy what I do and support the hotel where I work. It's all about finding a balance though. I'm absolutely dedicated to my job and will do my best at it and work hard. 

But I'm dedicated to those things which don't give me a paycheck too, and that's okay.

Then over on YouTube in case you missed it:

Let's Go to Neverland

My Reaction to the Mockingjay Part 2 Teaser Trailer

Pop Culture Chicken Soup

June TBR Pile

Book Worms Talk - I Love You Beth Cooper

Motivation and Insecurities

I tend to talk about my insecurities and doubts about blogging and social media from time to time on this blog. While, I'm sure my thoughts on this may get tiresome, I do think it's good to have moments to sit back and really think about "why am I doing this?"

Yesterday, I was watching a video from Carrie Hope Fletcher about this topic, and I thought I'd made a video of some of my responses to what she had to say. Since I talk about writing and blogging, and not just YouTube, I felt it would be appropriate to post it here.

Carrie's Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMusUuAL8xk

5 Reasons You Should Vlog

Lately, I've been consumed with Vlog Every Day April. (VEDA) I feel like all I do is record, edit, and post videos lately. But I love it! I've been participating with VEDA for a few years now, and Kirstie and I ran it for WeBlogWeVlog this past year. We then took on Vlogmas - and ever since then I've been adicted.

(If you're looking for the Unbroken book talk with Bonnie... we were both WAY ahead of the game and thought it was this week, but it's next week. So come back a week from today!)

Today, I want to share with you five reasons why I think other bloggers should join me on the vlogging train. Don't quit blogging if that's what you love - I have no intentions of stopping my writing. But you have to admit, adding video is pretty awesome once you get started.

I made a video about it (because... duh) but below I'll write a quick re-cap of what I said.

1) You Get to Know People on Another Level

You can absolutely get to know people through their blogs. They post pictures, write about their lives, and sometimes you can really "hear" their voice. With vlogging - you ACTUALLY hear their voice. When you see someone's face and see and hear how they talk, you get to know them on another level.

2) The Community is Awesome

There are tons of communities you can join if you want a place to plug in. Kirstie and I lead WeBlogWeVlog, Amber and Annie do the Speak Up Link Up on the first Friday of the month, and the Snark Squad is now doing #seguemagicsaturdays.

WeBlogWeVlog
Speak Up
Snark Squad

3) It's not as Complicated and Expensive as You Think

People feel as though they need fancy cameras and editing equipment. WRONG! Lately, I've been using my iPad and my phone exclusively for filming. Sometimes I use my point and shoot camera too.

For editing? I use Windows Movie Maker (it came with my laptop, and it's not crazy fancy, but gets the job done) and the free iMovie app on my iPad. (There's a full app for $5.) That's all you need and they're really easy to use.

4) It Stretches Your Creativity

There's so much you can do with video , so it's fun to see the different ideas you can come up with for your topics to make it fun and entertaining.

5) You can Vlog About Basically Anything

Book Tube and beauty videos are HUGE! But there's a ton of other stuff you can do too. Whatever you're interested in, you can vlog about it. In fact, I'm obssessed with this new channel that's dedicated to Disney. Or maybe you can do comedy or sketches or a web series or something educational or music...

So, there you go. Have you thought about vlogging? If you've thought about it but never taken the plunge, what's stopping you? Do you vlog? If you do, what are some of your suggestions to newbies?

What I Loved This Week

Happy Friday!!!!!!!! I'm pretty excited because next week is my spring break at the preschool, so the arrival of the weekend is very much welcome.

Here's what I've found and loved on the Internet this week:

In the Blogosphere:

Susannah from Simple Moments Stick has launched her own Etsy shop!

Elizabeth at Oak and Oats has her last post in her Instagram photography series! This week she's talking about use of color.

Bonnie from The Life of Bon does a book club each month, and for March we read Yes, Please by Amy Pohler. It was AMAZING! Also, I'm co-hosting the book Unbroken with her for April. I can't wait! Then, she also wrote this fantastic post on authenticity.

Over at Donald Miller's blog, he had a guest blogger share how he finally "gets" why his son wanted a tattoo.

Jackie Jade from Jade & Oak shared some tips on how to make your blog stand out. 

I've been following the blogger Paul Agone for a long time now, and he has a book coming out! It comes out next month and you should pre-order it.

My good friend and former co-worker wrote a post about unfollowing people on social media, and it was completely perfect.

Amber from Mr. Thomas and Me wrote this beautiful letter to her husband this week and it made me swoon.

Nadine from East & Blog shared about her insecurities of wondering if she can accomplish her goals. Something I've been thinking about a lot too.

Brittany from Pines and Palmettos talked about how hard it is to make friends.

On the YouTubes:


In our video letters this week, I discussed making friends.  Then Laura shared her top 3 road trips ever.

A few weeks ago, my friend Katherine challenged us to make videos about self-worth. Sheryll had an AMAZING response in her video.  My response is here.

Patrick Pho did this awesome parody video with his car.

The fantastic Gary C did a wonderful video discussing forgiveness.

Christina of PolandBananasBOOKS had a book talk about We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sundquist and I really think I need to read this book. Like... REALLY BADLY.

What I Loved This Week

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful week. Once again, I have compiled some of my favorite blog posts and YouTube videos that I've read/watched this week. I will note, some of these were published before this week, but I just hadn't had a chance to read or watch them until now.

In the Blogosphere:

- Brittany of Pines and Palmettos challenges what we consider praise here.

- Over at The Write Practice, they shared why fairy tales never grow old.

- Elizabeth over at Oak & Oats is still killing it with her Instagram photography series! This week the topic is perspective. 

- Erica Jaquline wrote a BEAUTIFUL piece on kindness on Wednesday. I know this is a topic I've been thinking about the last few years, and this past week (thanks to seeing Cinderella) and she captured it wonderfully. You can read it here.

- Then Taylor, over at The Daily Tay, has another fantastic post! This week she talked about explaining Bloggers on Instagram to Non-Bloggers on Instagram, and it's hilarious and right on point! #thestruggleisreal

- Everyone must have gone to see Cinderella because they're all talking about kindness! Amber from Mr. Thomas and Me also wrote her take on the topic, here.

On the YouTubes:

- In case you haven't heard, the author Terry Pratchett recently passed away. If you are interested in reading his work, Kirsti, of A Quick Succession of Busy Nothings, made a video of her recommendations of where to get started. You can watch it by clicking here.

- If you're a book nerd, you'll love this video from Carrie Hope Fletcher! If you didn't know, she's coming out with a book this year. (Available in the UK in April, here in the USA in August.) She was able to go see how her book was being printed and it's just so awesome!

- Since starting to play the ukulele, I've been watching more and more videos of people playing theirs and finding fun covers of songs. I LOVE this mash-up of pop songs from Doddleoddle.

- Did you hear that I love Glee, I LOVE Darren Criss, and Glee is ending tonight? Yeah. Those little things I talk about ALL THE TIME? Well, Darren Criss (my future husband) wrote a song for the final episode and talked about it in this interview. Basically, I will die of weeping tonight.

- The Snark Squad ladies have been doing vlogs this year and it's fabulous. This week they talked about guilty pleasures and it was perfect.

- Do you love fancy Italian food? (AKA - fancy Mac n Cheese?) Watch this. 

AND the Paper Towns trailer was released this week! I enjoyed the book, although not as much as The Fault in Our Stars. I kind of wonder if I'll enjoy the movie more though. You can watch the trailer below:

And Christine from polandbananasBOOKS did a discussion on the trailer.

Things I Loved This Week

I decided I wanted to try and share some of my favorite posts and links I've found throughout the week. Other bloggers do this periodically and I used to share other people's blogs and posts all of the time. For some reason... I just stopped. So, starting on Monday, whenever I found something I really enjoyed I copied and pasted the link to this blog post. Enjoy!

In the Blogosphere:

Kirstie from Melbourne on my Mind, did a review/recap/fangirling over Jupiter Ascending:  http://www.melbourneonmymind.com/2015/03/movie-monday-jupiter-ascending.html

Nadine from East &, shared how to find your "creative sweet spot": http://eastandblog.com/2015/03/how-to-find-your-creative-sweet-spot/

Amanda of Musical Poem, is giving away Evian facial spray!:  http://musicalpoem.me/2015/03/09/why-every-makeup-bag-needs-a-facial-spray/

Elizabeth from Oak and Oats is doing this fantastic series on phone photography (specifically Instagram) and did a great post on lighting: http://www.oakandoats.com/2015/03/lighting-instagram.html

Taylor of The Daily Tay did this really funny, but also kinda adorable "Boy Behind The Blog" post:
http://www.thedailytay.com/2015/03/the-boy-behind-blog.html

On the YouTubes:

In my letter to Laura this week I had some of our college friends say hi:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIV7KwjSPss

In Laura's letter to me this week, she went to the mall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsojeVpol9c

The family who runs the Epoddle channel did a great video about little kids and how they mispronounce words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy5Hg2QbnQg

My friend Sheryl did the #Fail Tag!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5NGhxS5EUA

And finally, my friend Stephen is doing some rebranding for his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itOyoIGB7pc

What have you been loving on the Internet this week?

Questions Questions Questions

Not too long ago I was tagged in the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award by my friend Kirsti! So, I figured... why not join in on the fun? Thanks so much Kirsti!

Guidelines:
1. Thank the blogger that nominated you and link back to their website.
2. Post the award’s logo on your blog.
3. Answer the ten questions you have been asked.
4. Nominator ten other bloggers and ask them ten other questions.

Then, I give myself the following rule with questions like these: I can't answer anything with Harry Potter. Because obviously I could probably find a Harry Potter answer for each one.

Your questions are as follows:

1. What's your favourite Harry Potter book? (Come on, everyone has one)

Okay... this one is the exception to my rule because it's actually about Harry Potter.

UGH I have to choose just ONE?????? There are a few it could be. I love Goblet of Fire with the tournament, Harry and his friends transitioning more into being teenagers and the books start to become more mature, it's the changing point of the whole series, Cedric Diggory is in it, Draco turns into a ferret... what's not to love?

Then I also love Half Blood Prince. It was the perfect mixture of being hilarious but also serious and sad. We learn so much about Voldemort and his past and we learn about horcruxes and all of the things with Snape! But there's also all of the stupid high school relationship drama which cracks me up and I can't stop laughing.

But I have a tender spot for Deathly Hallows too because it's the end! I love how it all wrapped up and the epic conclusion - even the epilogue! I know... it's a controversial stance to have, but I LOVE THE EPILOGUE AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!

2. What's the book/series that everyone raves about but you just didn't get?

The first one that came to my mind was Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. Don't get me wrong - I like the book. But everyone seems to have this one as their absolute favorite by her and it's my least favorite. I think a big part of it was that I was expecting something really fun and light and it definitely wasn't... but I enjoyed her other books much more.

3. Which real world places do you want to visit because of a book?

London. Paris. Although I think I already wanted to go to said places but reading books just made me want to even more. 

4. What bookish merchandise are you dying to get your hands on?

Well... I really need a new bookshelf. I've been able to rearrange my shelves a few times and at the moment my books are fitting. But I know it won't last much longer.

5. What's your most anticipated book of 2015?

It's a toss between Winter and Fairest. But they're part of the same series... so it's hard to pick which one I want more. In Fairest, it'll be so fascinating to learn more about the queen. But Winter is the conclusion of The Lunar Chronicles and it's Snow White! Snow White is my favorite fairy tale!

6. Which book character do you wish you could be best friends with?

I would love to be friends with Edward Zanni from How I Paid for College by Marc Acito. He's hilarious and we would have epic musical theatre duets.

7. What's the last book you gave five stars to?

Oh! I just finished Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers. It's the third book in the His Fair Assassin trilogy and it was completely perfect. 

8. Which secondary character do you wish would get their own book?

ZUZANA from Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. She's the actual best ever and I love her and her boyfriend so much!


9. Which author, alive or dead, do you wish you could meet in person?

Rainbow Rowell. From what I can tell from her Twitter account, she and I would be really good friends.

10. How many books do you own?

I actually kinda know the answer to this one because I'm a nerd like that and keep a record of all of the books I own. Yeah... I'm  a nerd. As of my last inventory I own 375 books. That's not including the ones down in boxes in my basement that I never unpacked. Those are mainly the youth ministry type books which were in my office back in Missouri.

Now, it's my turn to tag people and ask them questions! My questions are...

1) What is one of the most underrated books/series you've ever read?
2) What's your favorite holiday story?
3) If your pet wrote a story about the holidays, what do you think it would be about? If you don't have a pet, pick your favorite animal.
4) Tell me about your favorite classic story/book/movie.
5) What are you looking forward to in 2015?
6) What's your favorite holiday dessert? (Can you tell I'm in a holiday mood?)
7) Which fictional character do you think you are the most like?
8) What is your latest Netflix binge?
9) Who are your favorite YouTubers? If you don't watch much YouTube, share bloggers, Tweeters, Instagramers, etc.
10) What's your current background on your laptop/tablet/cell phone?

And I tag... (Even though I know most of them probably won't do it... but I don't care!)

Amber of Mr. Thomas and Me
Dana of Princess Burlap
Angie of Sailor July
Michelle of Wide Open Spaces
Brittany of Stories, Songs, and Praise
Amanda of Musical Poem
Anne of GeekBrarian

Okay... that's all I got. I know I'm supposed to do ten, but oh well.

Also, I've been awful about keeping you all updated on my YouTube channel and my doing Vlogmas. Here's the whole playlist of what I have done so far!

10 Instagrams

I've done recomendations for blogs and websites before, but never Instagram. I think it's because I mainly follow people I know and other blog friends on Instagram simply because I know them or like their blog. Not necessarily because I just love their photography. So, it took me a little bit to dig through my Instagram account to see people who are genuinely good photographers to tell people about. However, I found some!

Andrew Kennan Blogger

Being a huge musical theatre nerd, and after seeing Newsies on Broadway a couple of years ago, I ended up following about 1/2 of the cast on Instagram. It turns out, the actor Andrew Kennan Blogger (he played Crutchie), is an amazing photographer. I always love looking at his photos and all of his NYC adventures.

http://instagram.com/keenanblogger

Beauty Edit Max

I have no idea who this guy is. All I know is that one day, forever ago, he followed my account for some reason and I followed back. Holy cow- he does amazing photos.

http://instagram.com/beauty_edit_max

Neil Patrick Harris

Um... who wouldn't want to see the world through his eyes?

http://instagram.com/instagranph

The Blog Baton

This is the coolest Instagram/Blogger idea ever. Basically, everyday a different blogger takes over the account. (I did it back in January.) It's fun to see everyone's lives and to get some more exposure for your own blog.

http://instagram.com/theblogbaton

Writers Atelier

This account is awesome for writers. They post different quotes, inspiration, words, writing prompts, etc. everyday. 

http://instagram.com/writersatelier

The Ugly Mug Cafe Chicago

You know that cafe sign you see on Pinterest all of the time with the best quotes ever? That's a cafe in Chicago called The Ugly Mug Cafe. They really do have the best signs ever.

http://instagram.com/uglymugcafechi

Humans of New York

This guy is all over social media. Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, etc. But I really love his stuff. I love how he takes pictures of random people in the city and shares their stories. 

http://instagram.com/humansofny

Pemberley Digital

Hello! Pictures from behind the scenes of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Emma Approved, and now Frankenstein MD! 

http://instagram.com/pemberleydigital

Starbucks Olive and 6th

One of my closest friends who works for Starbucks runs this account. So everyone should follow it.

http://instagram.com/sbuxoliveand6th

Colin Wright

I kinda of want to be this guy. Colin Wright travels the world, writes books, and basically lives on the Internet. And gets paid to do it. Coolest life ever, right? Right now he's living in Prauge.

http://instagram.com/colinismyname

Who are some of your favorite Instagram accounts? You know... other than mine. ;-) Yes... this is a shameless plug. http://instagram.com/lovewokemeup

You're Not Much Use to Anyone- Book Reivew

I'm going to be totally honest - this is going to be a tough review to write. The reason? I didn't really like this book. ... At all. What's awful is as I researched the author a bit, it appears this book is semi-autobiographical. Basically, in a way I'm saying I don't like the author's life. Which is partly why I'm personally hesitant to write a novel/book of the same nature. If someone doesn't like it, they basically say they don't like your life. That's terrifying and awful. But, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right? Right. So... here we go.

You're Not Much Use To Anyone

Release Date: July 22, 2014

Publisher: New Harvest

Author: David Shapiro

Basic Summary Without Spoilers:

21 year old David just graduated from NYU and is trying to navigate his new adult life. One day, after noticing how passionate he is about a popular music review site, suggests he write his own blog which reviews the websites reviews. He decides to do it and opens up a Tumblr and writes his blog posts from his Blackberry. David's blog then becomes very popular very fast and he finds himself in the blog world and semi-famous on the streets of New York.

My Thoughts:

I was really excited to read this debut novel. As a 20-something who is also trying to find her way in the world, and as a blogger (who isn't famous or popular by any means), I thought this book would be fun and relateable. The premise and idea are great. I have zero complaints about that.

What made the book difficult for me to enjoy though, was the writing style. Absolutely everything was just the basic facts. "I did this. Then we talked about this. Then I felt happy." (Or insert one word to describe some sort of emotion.) The entire book was the author telling us things which happened instead of showing us what happened. I'm all for being concise and not having overly flowery writing. (Because that just gets ridiculous after awhile.) However, as an author you need to paint the picture for the reader. If you don't, it's just a bunch of facts and events which happened to people on a page. 

I also didn't have any attachment to any of the characters at all. If I'm attached to the characters, I can usually excuse a writing style I'm not a fan of. In this case, I didn't care about the characters. As I read, I found I didn't care if his blog was popular, or if his girlfriend(s) broke up with him, or where his career led to. His friends and girlfriends seemed shallow. At times I did feel like the author was going a bit more in depth and I saw glimmers of great characters, but then it always fell short. I'm sure in "real life" the main character (who apparently is the author) and his friends, girlfriends, and family, are great and funny and intelligent. However, he did not portray this well in the novel itself. They all were cold, un-empathetic, and boring. There were a few moments when they would crack a joke here and there, but I think we have difference senses of humor. The main character also was pretty awful to the women in his life, which made me pretty upset.

Many scenes didn't seem to have a purpose either. There was one scene where the main character, David, heard someone get shot outside of his office. He and his co-worker debated about helping, then decided not to. Then the scene ended and there was no further reference to it. This happened a few times. I know in "real life" not all of the scenes in our lives add up to something for a greater plot. However, when you're writing a story, you need it to make sense and flow together. 

Overall, I was very disappointed in this novel. Between the writing style, the lack of character development, and pointless scenes, I couldn't find myself enjoying it. Although, the premise was very promising and I love the idea of it. I think if the author had gone more in depth it could have had great possibilities. I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads.

I received this book as a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Linking up with Life of Meg for Mingle Monday.

Reasons I'm a Bad Blogger

No one is perfect, so they say. But, if you look around the blogging community you'll find many people attempting to prove this phrase wrong. They have perfect DIY projects, perfect husbands/boyfriends/finaces/girlfriends, adorable kids or pregnancy photos, a recipe for every occasion, host fabulous giveaways, provide an inspirational Bible verse or quote for whatever mood you're in, take beautiful photos, etc.

Well... I hate to break it to you. But I'm not one of those bloggers.

I am far from being a perfect blogger.

1) I didn't take any photos this weekend. Or at least none that were blog worthy. My little point and shoot camera (nope, I don't even have a DSLR) has had a dead battery for months and I had to order a new charger because I lost mine. I finally got the new charger in the mail this weekend. Did I remember to take my camera on my birthday outings or to the 4th of July fireworks or even Instagram my food over the weekend? Nope.

2) Half of the blogs I follow on Bloglovin I don't even read. I've been working on cleaning it out and getting rid of blogs I don't read anymore or aren't active now. I also read the newest blogs I've been following everyday and there are a lot of blogs I read almost religously. THEN the blogs I do actually read, I only comment on about 1/2 of them. If I comment at all that day. It's awful. I'm working on it, I promise. But for some reason I'm just the worst at leaving comments. Although I do try to at least "like" blogs I read on Bloglovin if I enjoyed the post but didn't comment. Does that count?

3) I think I'm giving up on the whole sponsorship idea with blogs. It works great for some blogs, but it's not for me. Granted, if someone wanted to pay me money to blog or put their ad on my page, I'm not going to turn them down. Bu,t as of right now, I'm fine with not doing sponsorship's. It's a lot of pressure to be sure you're a good host for your sponsors and to search out places to sponsor and it's just a lot. I want blogging to be fun and not for earning money. Maybe I'll try it again someday, but today is not that day.

4) I have a lot of thoughts about life and faith, but I rarely post about them. I feel like you have to come to a conclusion at the end when you write about "real" stuff sometimes, and I rarely ever have a conclusion. While I know it's okay to not have all of the answers and to have things open ended. But if I were to write like this every single day I have a feeling people would grow tired of it.

5) I worry way too much about what other people think. Most of the time, it's not even people I interact with in "real life." At least not often. I worry about all of my Internet friends and I want them to like what I write. A lot of times I feel like I'm the new kid (who isn't even new... I've been blogging for awhile now...) who wants to try and hang out at the cool table.

6) I will never write a recipe post. I'm the worst cook in the history of the universe. At most you'll be reading stories and watching videos about how I almost light my apartment on fire by boiling water.

7) The main reason I don't write "weekend recap" posts is because my weekends are usually painfully boring. Or... see #1. Unless you want me to talk about how I binge watched The Autobiography of Jane Eyre and watched almost all 90+ episodes in one day...

8) My best writing usually doesn't make it on the blog. Probably never on the Internet anywhere. Because most of my best (in my opinion) and favorite writing is fiction and what I'm working on in my novels. Sometimes I'll share bits and pieces with you all, but it's usually not the best. I do try to write well on my blog, and I want to be proud of it. But what I pour most of my energy into is my fiction, and this is a more fun and relaxed style more for keeping in touch with people and connecting to new friends.

This list was supposed to have ten points... but I can't think of anything else. 8 ways of being a bad blogger is enough, right? Right.

And it's okay. I don't have to be perfect. Hannah Montana told me so.

Yup. I went there.

Linking up with 10 on Tuesday.

Happiness Is...

For people who are long time readers of this blog, along with my family and friends, they probably have a good idea of the things which  make me happy in life.

Coffee

This is pretty frequent on my Instagram

My dog, Bandit

Another frequent image on my Instagram

Books

Just a small handful of my book collection

Musicals

I saw Motown the musical a few weeks ago with some friends and WOW! It was incredible!

Various fandoms (Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Sherlock, etc.)

They're all here in one picture! Isn't it GLORIOUS?

However, there are other things in life which make me happy that I want to share with you today which you may or may not know about.

-Random mixes on 8tracks.com. This is the one I've been listening to this morning as I write, and it's one of my favorite mixes I've found. But there are a ton of other mixes I love too. I've found a ton of new songs I've fallen in love with by letting this app/website take over as I'm reading or blogging and checking emails.

Covers And Coffee from Mrigank Nath on 8tracks Radio.

- The Chicago skyline. Or any city skyline really, but I live in Chicago so I'm partial. I see the skyline every morning as I drive to work and of course when I drive into the city. But every time I'm always awestruck that I get to live in such a beautiful city. Even when I'm driving in the rain or crappy weather it's pretty. The way fog and clouds wrap around the skyscrapers makes you feel like you're in a movie.

We had some pretty scary storms the other night, but how cool is this photo of the clouds????? Source

- Shopping for clothes and makeup. It sounds ridiculous, and I used to not be a big fan of it. But now that I've gotten older and I've learned how to really pick out what looks good on me and what I like, it's so much more fun. (Even through college I had to have friends put my makeup on for me because I didn't know how.) I really enjoy putting together outfits and different looks for what I want to do that day or who I want to be. It's like creating little costumes for yourself. Like Lola does in the book Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. Although, Lola goes way more extreme than I do. But honestly, I'd rather wear a fun skirt than blue jeans because I like how I look and it's way more comfortable.

- Random snap chats from people. It's become one of my favorite ways to keep in touch with people, especially those who don't live near me. Their faces make me smile. Awhile ago one of my good friends who lives in Maryland got snapchat and sent me a picture. I was so excited because I had realized how long it had been since I had seen their face and there it was! I love how we can be ridiculous and crazy and look awful but see images of each other and our lives. (Seriously, I need more snapchat buddies. If you want my username just send me a message. FOR REALS.) Also, that dancing ghost thing is adorable.

- The fact that I'm hosting Vlog Every Day in August (VEDA) with my friend Kirsti. 

Kirsti and I with our friend Lor when we went to The Magical World of Harry Potter last year.
Yes, that is butterbeer in our hands.

Wait- what?

Yup. You read that right. For the last two years I have been participating in VEDA with a ton of other internet people on YouTube and it's been a blast. We create a calendar of topics and everyone posts their short videos and we all comment on them and become friends. The other day when Kirsti and I saw that the "captain" of VEDA was stepping down for this year, we kinda on a whim decided to team up and do it ourselves!

If you've ever thought about doing it, this is the year because it is SO MUCH FUN.

For more info you can follow us on Twitter (@WeBlogWeVlog). That way you can be up to date on everything going on! If you aren't on Twitter but want to participate just let me know and I can be sure to get you the information.

So, what makes you happy?

Today's Blog Everyday in July Topic: Five things that make you happy. Link up here!