Book Review: Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty

With the month of January almost over, I have finished my first book of the year. I was given a Borders gift card for Christmas. Usually I spend those immediately, but I held off in order to make an informed purchase. As I stated in a previous entry, I have quite a few books that I need to read. For some reason, I just have not been motivated to read them. Anyway, I finally spent my gift card two weekends ago. I decided to buy Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Both of those books were on my TBR list.
I decided to read Sloppy Firsts first. I wanted a light-hearted read to ease me into the goal of reading 25 books this year. This book was a great choice. There was a smile on my face the entire time I was reading it. When it was over I literally yelled “What? It’s Over?” out loud. If it hadn’t been 8:00 on a Monday night, I would have gotten in the car and driven to the bookstore (which is 30 minutes away).

Sloppy Firsts is about sixteen year old Jessica Darling whose best friend, Hope, has just moved away. Jessica has trouble relating to her “friends” aptly nicknamed the Clueless Crew. Jessica struggles to decide if it is better to have acceptance and be unhappy or express herself and lose acceptance. She finds an unlikely ally in Marcus Flutie, a socially unacceptable druggie.

It is easy to say that I loved this book. It was not an extremely deep, thought provoking book. However, I could totally relate the Jessica’s internal struggles. I found myself thinking about my own teenage years and wishing this book had been around then. I asked myself many of the same questions that Jessica asked and had many similar experiences. I think almost any female that has lived through high school could relate to this book. If you are looking for a light, feel good read, be sure to pick this book up.

Trouble Focusing

I am having a very difficult time focusing lately. I am terrified that it is my anxiety coming back to haunt me. It has been at least 5 years since I was on any sort of medication for anxiety and I would like to keep it that way. However, I am finding myself worrying about little things lately. As I said before, I really don't want to go back on medicine. That feels like admitting defeat. I am hoping to combat it through things like yoga. If anyone has other suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Now on to what led me to post this in the first place. It is now the 17th day of 2010 and I have yet to truly start working on my goals. I am eating better but I still have to start exercising. The one I am really struggling with is the reading. I have started two or three books that I am having a hard time sticking with. The thing is, I was really excited to get these books. Now that I have them, I can't seem to focus for more than a couple of pages. I need to commit myself to reading these which means I need to start turning my computer off and get reading. Here are the three new books that I am excited to read:

(Image source: borders.com)

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty

(Image source: borders.com)

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

(Image source: borders.com)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I am starting with Sloppy Firsts because I've heard it is a nice light read. 24 starts tonight so I'm not sure how much reading I will get done. However, I have tomorrow off so I plan on doing as much reading as possible then. Hopefully I'll be able to focus.

Nail Polish Love: Sephora by OPI Too Good for Him

On New Year's Eve I decided to drive an hour to the mall that has Sephora and Forever 21. Forever 21 was a complete disaster. I have seen some really cute stuff from there but I can not handle digging through the piles of clothes to find the cute stuff.

After fleeing from Forever 21, I booked it to Sephora in search of Nars Orgasm blush and a fun nail polish to wear that night. Sadly, they were completely sold out of the blush so I went for my trusty Smashbox Soft Lights in Prism. I also happened to find a perfect nail polish for the night. I give you Too Good for Him:

Here it is shown by itself. This is how I wore it that night. I don't usually wear glitters alone but I really liked this look. This isn't the best picture but the polish is a pinkish purple, blue, and silver glitter.

A couple of days later I decided to try it over another polish. A couple of months ago I purchased OPI's Pamplona Purple. I really like the color but it seemed better suited for spring/summer. However, Too Good for Him toned it down perfectly. I LOVED this combination. It even got a few compliments at work on Monday.

Sorry about the poor quality of pictures. I really need to find a better location wtih good lighting to take them.

Goals for 2010

Sorry for the delay in posting my goals. The first five days of this new year have been insane. I will leave that recap for another day. Without further ado, he are my goals for 2010.

1. Read 25 books for fun- I love to read. This summer I spent a small fortune on books because I read them within a day a two. Unfortunately, I have not done much reading since September. Once school starts it is difficult for me to do much more than collapse on the couch when I get home. Lately, I find myself reaching for my computer and mindlessly playing on the internet for hours. Not good. I joined a book club that meets once a month so it should not be too difficult to meet my goal. If I read the book club book and at least one other book a month I will be set.


2.Lose enough weight/inches to fit into my size 4 pants again- This is a simple goal. My dress pants don't fit. That's a problem when you have to dress up every day. I have 4 pair that are big enough but that doesn't give me much variety. I don't have much weight to lose. In fact, when I went to the doctor today the scale said I had already lost 3 lbs. since last time. Now I just need to keep this up.

3. Create and Start a 101 in 1001 list-I have seen this done on a few blogs and I think it's a great idea. I originally wanted that done by January 1 but I just couldn't think of enough. Stay tuned for this one.

4.Do at least 30 minutes of housework each night after work- I hate to admit this but my house is often very messy. Between my husband and dog, it is a never ending battle. The bigger problem, however, is my motivation (see #1). I think I can realistically commit myself to 30 minutes of housework and still have time for relaxation. I am hoping this will result in a much tidier house.

5. Reconnect with 2 old friends- I will not go into details but there are two friends I have lost touch with that I really miss. They are great friends and I primarily blame myself for the distance that has developed. This is actually the most important goal for this year. Friendships are very important to me. With my two best friends on the other side of the country, I really need to work on my friendships here.

So there you have it, my goals for 2010. I think all of my goals are realistic and I look forward to accomplishing them.

(Stay tuned for another nail polish review. I've found another color that I'm in love with)

Decade in review

I have seen this on a few blogs and I think it is a great idea so I'm jumping on board. Unfortunately with the switch from hard copies to digital photography during this decade I don't have posts for every year but I'll give it my best shot. If I get motivated enough, I will scan some of the older photos and update later.

2000: My sophomore year of high school. I was asked to the prom by a friend. My favorite thing about this picture is that you can see Dave at the table in the background (to the right).

2001: My junior year of high school. So many great things happened this year. My favorite by far was going to Washington D.C. for Close-Up.

2002: My senior year of high school. I have so many great memories with awesome friends.

2003: Freshman year of college. This didn't go so well. I liked the school and my major. I did not like my roommate and being so far from home. I decided to transfer to a community college closer to home and then to the state university after that.

2004: This year was pretty uneventful. I would say it was actually a low point for me. I was in an unhappy relationship and trying to discover who I really was. This is the year I started at SUNY Geneseo which was one of the best decisions I ever made.

2005: This is the year that I met my future husband.

2006: I'm sure I have a picture to go with this year but overall it was pretty uneventful.

2007: This was the most life changing year of my life. This is the year that I got engaged. I also graduated from college:

We bought our house:

Got married:

Went to Hawaii on our honeymoon:

And got Charlie:

2008: This was one of the hardest years of my life. This is the year that Dave was deployed:

While he was gone I was going to grad school, teaching full time (as a long-term sub) and working part time at Wegmans. Things were crazy.


In July, Dave surprised me for my birthday by coming home for 2 weeks R&R. While he was home, we were able to attend the wedding of a good friend.

In September I started my full time teaching job. These are the flower Dave sent me on the first day of school.

2009: January 4 brought David home. This was one of the best days of my life besides our wedding.

Our poor Charlie got hit by a car at the end of February so the next couple months were tough. He survived but he had a broken femur which had to be repaired with surgery. It was an expensive and emotionally exhausting time.


In April we went on our second honeymoon to Hawaii. This time we went to Oahu which I absolutely loved. I cannot wait to go back someday.

We were also blessed to go to the weddings of a few good friends.

In all, I would say that this has been a pretty good decade. I am hopeful that this next one will be even better.

I hope to follow up tomorrow with my goals for the next year so stay tuned.

Christmas haul

Dave and I are blessed with wonderful families who definitely spoil us. This year my parents said they were cutting back they were still incredibly generous. Here are some of the great gifts I got:

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Dave got me addicted to Rock Band when he got home from Afghanistan last year. I enjoy it because it is something we can play together too. I am excited to play this as long as I can tear Dave away from his gift (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2).

(image source: jcpenney.com)

I am constantly struggling to find a way to store my jewelry. Right now the stuff I wear the most has a home in a tiny box on my night stand. This is a great jewelry box because it hangs on the wall and it looks nice. I hate the look of normal jewelry boxes so this is a great alternative.

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This is one of those gifts that brings me back to my childhood. I remember teachers always having these "smelly" markers. Now that I am a teacher these are a must-have. Unfortunately, I am too cheap ($14.99 for markers!) so I asked for them for Christmas. I am excited to use them when we get back to school.

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These might be my favorite gift this year! My ankles get very cold in the winter so these are great. I put them immediately after opening them. I'm in love. (PS. I got these in grey)

I also got a few different bracelets (three to be exact), some gift cards and some money which I can't wait to spend.

I hope Santa was good to you. Merry Christmas!

Ornament Wreaths

Merry Christmas (almost). Every year I try to DIY some Christmas presents without them looking DIY. I do this for two reasons. First, I think they are more meaningful. Second, they give me something to do during my down time. It's also a bonus if they save me money.

Last year I made personalized ornaments. They turned out nice but I needed to try something different this year. I frequently lurk (and occassionally post) on The Nest message boards. This year one of the DIY projects that kept coming up was the ornament wreath. After seeing a post on one of the boards, I was inspired to make my own. The girl who posted it has her own blog and posted the directions. Since she did a great job writing up the directions, I will not repeat them. Here is the link for her how-to.

I made two wreaths. I made a brown and gold one for myself (please excuse the poorly painted windows).



Then, I made a red, silver, and green wreath for my mom.

I actually prefer how my smaller wreath turned out over the larger one. The larger one took so much more time and ornaments. It is a good idea to use shatterproof ornaments. I did not which was fine for my wreath but a pain in the butt for the other one. I got a few cuts and had to replace many broken ornaments in the assembly process.

Overall, this was a great project. I am looking forward to making more next year.