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Stnkrbug

Book Review: City of Heavenly Fire

Ahhhh book reviews, how I have missed you. It has been so difficult in college to find reading time, let alone time to write a review on one. However, I have slowly been reading City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare, and I finally finished it the other day!
Just a quick side not, this is the last book in the Mortal Instruments series, so I will try to not spoil anything! If you haven’t read this series, I highly recommend that you do! It has been a really great series, and I’m really glad I decided to steal borrow the first book from my brother.
The whole premise of this book is good versus evil, as with the whole series, and it again follows the lives of Clary Fray and her friends. As this is the last book in the series, it ties up all of the loose ends from the whole series, and also has an epilogue which allows readers to see how the characters are doing a couple of months after all of the falling action.
Overall, I was really pleased with this book. I loved the ending, and also how all of the villains ended up. I felt like Clare did a great job at connecting all of the story lines in this book, and it was also so great to see that she incorporated some events and people from the “prologue” series she did to this one. Honestly, that was probably my favorite series from her, so it was so nice being able to meet those characters again in some way.
Cassandra Clare is a great writer, and this book was written in a way that I never got bored. It was hard to put down when it was time to go to class (I like to get some reading in while I eat breakfast and drink my coffee in the morning), and it was so easy to pick back up when it had been a couple of days in between reading it. She flawlessly introduced new characters into this series, and it actually turns out that she will be doing a new series with these characters. While I think that’s pushing it a little with this world and set of series, I of course will be reading the new series. I know that as soon as I get my hands on it, I will be really glad Clare is continuing on with a different series based off of the new characters in this book. She introduced the issues that the characters will face in the new series very well, and I already have predictions of what will happen in it.
I’m so sad to see this series end, but I’m also very pleased with how it ended up. I am very satisfied with the ending, which is always a great feeling after  you have loved a set of characters so much. I’m really looking forward to reading more of Cassandra Clare’s work, and I’m very excited for her new series! I believe it will be coming out early next year, so I definitely recommend reading her previous series – the Infernal Devices, and this one, the Mortal Instruments – before her new one comes out.
What books have you been loving lately?


Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day! 🙂

Thanksgiving Outfit Ideas

I can’t explain to you guys how excited I am for the holiday season. I live for Christmas decorations (my dorm is already decorated), Christmas music, family dinners, getting dressed up, the warm drinks…I could dedicate a whole post to it, which I will probably be doing soon!
With the holidays comes a reason to get all dressed up and fancy – without looking like the odd one out. Since I’m so excited to dress up for the holidays, I thought I would share with you guys some possible outfits I’ll be wearing for Thanksgiving this year!
Formal Affair

You can see this dress here

Find it here
Find these shoes here





















I absolutely adore this outfit, because I love every piece! I love high heeled booties with dresses, and gold with maroon colored clothing. I think this would be so cute to wear if you have a formal dinner to go to, and it just reminds me of the holidays with the warm colors! I also have a dress just like this, so if I end up going to a formal dinner, I will definitely be wearing this.

Semi-Casual

Find this skirt here

Find this sweater here


I think this outfit would be perfect for a dinner that is neither super fancy or casual – it is the goldy-locks outfit of Thanksgiving! I would also wear my hair up in a high bun (especially now that I have my tattoo behind my ear!) and wear a chunky scarf since it is getting really cold where I live, and I would also probably wear some sweater tights!
Find these here

 

Find these guys here

Casual
You can find this here

Find these here

I’ll most likely be wearing something like this for Thanksgiving, since my family isn’t that formal, and will most likely all be in PJ’s. Still, it’s fun getting semi-dressed up, even if no one else is! Plus, tall riding boots complete any look, and you can wear fuzzy socks with them for ultimate comfort!

Or, you could always just go for this…


I will be doing a post on what I end up wearing for Thanksgiving, because I really don’t know for sure what that will be yet!
What are you planning on wearing for Thanksgiving?

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you have a wonderful day, and I hope you have a great Thanksgiving as well!
Disclaimer: none of these photos are mine!

NaNoWriMo

This month is National Novel Writing Month, which is where you have a goal to write 50,000 words in the month of November, and I’m trying it this year! I heard about it over the summer so I definitely wanted to try it this year. I don’t really know what exactly I’m going to write about so I need to decide soon!

I’m not sure if I’ll actually make this goal, as it’s my first year attempting this, but I feel like it’ll be a great thing to inspire me to start writing for fun again! It’s been hard in college to write for enjoyment outside of my blog since I’m so busy with homework, and writing actual essays that I’m assigned in classes. 
If you enjoy writing at all, I highly encourage you to do NaNoWriMo as well!
Thanks so much for reading and have a great week! 🙂

I Got a Tattoo!

I have been so busy this past week, and I feel like I can just now take a sigh of relief. Midterms are this coming week so I have been studying for those, and I’ve also of course had assignments and papers on top of that. College has been such a whirlwind so far, but I’m loving every minute of it! I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy in my life, but it is definitely a good kind of busy. 
Anyway, on to the topic at hand: I got a tattoo last weekend!
I chose a daisy because it was my grandfather’s favorite flower, and mine as well, so I felt it was perfect! I’ve been thinking about getting this tattoo for about a year (don’t worry, it wasn’t a spur of the moment I’m-at-college-so-I’m-gonna-get-a-tattoo decision – I even went home to get it!) and now seemed like as good of time as ever, so I thought why wait?
I am so in love with my tattoo and really glad that I got it! It really didn’t hurt that badly while I was getting it, and it wasn’t too sore afterwards.
 Casually planking on the table.
 Right before he started!
 I didn’t realize this picture was being taken, and I look dead haha but this is when it was almost finished!
 Just finished!
I took this about thirty minutes after it was completely done, and the healing ointment is still over it so it looks a bit weird, but it really wasn’t too red at all!
Overall, the experience was a lot of fun and I thought I would be a lot more nervous! Once I got in the tattoo store, I was 100% excited and super ready! I just laid down on the table, and he started tattooing away, so there really wasn’t any time to be scared.
Do you have any tattoos, or do you ever want to get any?

Thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day! 🙂

Halloween Costume Ideas

Now that I’m in college, Halloween has again become a big affair. I haven’t dressed up for Halloween in about six years, so now I am scrambling to figure out what to dress up as! I think it’s funny how we dress up as kids, stop when we’re teenagers (at least where I live) and then begin dressing up again once we’re young adults! I am definitely looking forward to it this year, because I love this time of year.
Anyway, I have been thinking of what to dress up as for a little while now, so I thought I would give you guys some ideas that I’ve gotten from the internet! (And I absolutely refuse to dress up as any character from Frozen)
Comic Book Character
How cool are these?! I can only imagine the time this actually takes, but the end result is definitely worth it!!
Greek Goddess

This is such a classic and timeless costume – although, I’m sure there will be a lot of Greek Goddesses at parties!
Group Costume: The Seven Dwarves
I think this is such a cute group costume! My group of friends and I are thinking of having a group themed costume, and this would be so perfect!
Any Character From Game of Thrones
Okay, I just had to include this because I’m a huge Game of Thrones fan! The dresses that the actresses get to wear are so pretty – it would be so much fun to dress up as them!
Fifty Shades of Grey Spoof
This is funny on so many different levels (ha ha) and would actually be a really cheap and easy costume to make!
Dobby From Harry Potter

This is also a really cute costume idea, and another one that would be easy and cheap!

Well, these are my ideas for now, but I’m sure I’ll have more soon! I’ll share with you guys what I finally decide on – I’m so excited for Halloween! I’m going home this weekend to go to the pumpkin patch with my family, so I soon get my roasted pumpkin seeds. I’m telling you guys, you need to try them!
What do you want to be for Halloween?

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day! 🙂

Disclaimer: none of these photos are mine!

Dorm Room Tour!

I’ve been moved into my dorm for three weeks now, but I finally have all of the decorations just the way I want them! Since it’s all nice and done now I thought I would finally share some pictures with you guys!
 The area by the front door, and our little chalkboard/corkboard/key holder thing.
 These are our closets, and also the first thing you see when you walk in. To the right is the bathroom.
 I know I have dishes drying but I thought that would be nice to show you guys since that’s what that counter space is used for most of the time haha.

Our little “kitchen” area.
 It’s really nice being able to have this area, because it actually feels like a little mini kitchen.

 My desk area!

 I really love the second shelf area since I can store books up there and my perfume as well.
 My little perfume area, and also my whale ring holder that I adore.
 I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS. I am super happy with how it turned out, and it makes my dorm seem so much more homey! I also love maps, and I really like how the poster blends in with the wall.
 I keep my rice cooker, crockpot, pans, and tupperware in this little shelving unit, and I store food, shoes, laundry stuff and extra storage drawers under my bed.
 I love my little fox plant holder! 🙂
 Broader view of my side of the room.
 Close up picture of my wall.
My polaroid frames.
View of the “window wall.”
Overall, I am so happy with how my room turned out! I am loving college life, and having my dorm decorated really helps to make it feel more like home.
Thank you so much for reading, and have a great day! 🙂

Book Review: Defy

It took me forever to finally order this book, Defy, and there really is no good reason for this. I had been interested in it for a while, but had never really gotten around to ordering it, so I finally did! I actually finished this book a couple of weeks ago, however, being busy with college has made this review extremely late!

Getting on with the actual review, this book is set in about the sixteenth century, in the made up kingdom of Antion. This nation is at war with another one, called Bevlon, however the reasons aren’t as clear cut as everyone thinks. The king of Antion is a crooked one, and he declared war on Bevlon when his wife was supposedly killed by a Bevlon assassin. Fast forward a couple of years, and we meet a girl named Alexa, who is made into an orphan, along with her twin brother, when her parents are killed by the Bevlon army. In order to save his sister from being taken to the breeding houses, he cuts off her hair and says they are actually identical twins and both wish to join the army. They had been trained all of their lives by their father, so they’re both very good with swords and quickly move up the ranks in the army. They eventually become apart of the Prince’s personal guard; while very honorable, it is not the best job because Prince Damian fits the role exactly for haughty prince.
Alexa, now known as Alex, gets a special job from Prince Damian to deliver a message. She goes to deliver it, but gets attacked by a jungle cat (the castle is in the middle of a jungle) and has to stay in the jungle for a couple of days with some healers. Prince Damian is livid when she gets back, but she doesn’t tell him she was attacked because she was healed by sorcerers, and the kingdom of Antion hates sorcerers. After a calm couple of weeks, the castle is attacked, and Damian, Alexa, and another guard in the Prince’s guard are captured and taken on a two week trek to Bevlon. Many things happen throughout this journey, and Prince Damian is revealed to be different than his perceived image.
I absolutely loved this book! The writing was great and the suspense was done just right. I loved all of the politics within the book – it was more than the cliche “nobody knows who I really I am, I have to keep my secret at all costs” and each character had so much depth. The ending is great and I can’t wait for the second book! I thought it was out already and was disappointed to find out that it isn’t coming out until next year! I definitely recommend this book if you like thrillers, or books like The Hunger Games.

What books have you guys been loving lately?

Thank you so much for reading, and I hop you have a great day! 🙂

OOTD: First day of College!

Yesterday was my first official day of college, since I actually had some of my classes, so I wanted to wear something cute but comfortable! The campus is huge, so comfortable shoes and a warm jacket (with a hood) is vital! However, I also wanted to look cute so this is the outfit I chose to wear!
(I’ll be doing a dorm tour soon once I get a cuter TV stand, but for now, here is a sneak peak!)
Cardigan: Nordstrom
Shirt: Pacsun (Brandy Melville line)
Jeans: American Eagle
Shoes: Macy’s
I’m still trying to figure out where I can take all of my OOTD’s since the campus is really busy everywhere, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out! College has been a blast so far – I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy before!
Thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful day! 🙂

Moving to College

Well, I definitely underestimated how hard and time consuming moving to college would be. I moved in on Thursday, and it has been nonstop activities since! I had about a week before classes start when I moved in (my classes start this Wednesday), but my college has a week of activities for Freshman in order to get adjusted, and probably to help avoid homesickness.
So far college has been really fun! It has been crazy busy and I have met more people than I have remembered names (and I always thought I was so good at remembering names!). My floor is surprisingly quite, which will most likely be really nice during the year, but for now it seems really lonely and my roommate and I don’t know what to do because we really want to meet more people on our floor!
I think this will all get a lot easier once I fall into a routine, since right now I’m still trying to figure out how my routine from home fits in here. I think Thursday night and Friday morning were the hardest for me, since it was my first night and morning away from home. I’m still homesick sometimes, but that’s only when I have a lot of downtime and don’t really know what to do.
I’m pretty excited for my classes on Wednesday, though! I’m not sure how I feel about going back to school and having to do a bunch of work again, but I’m sure I will get used to it like I do every year. However, I think it will be a lot more fun since I’m taking subjects I really want to learn about. It’s just so crazy that I’m at college! I feel like I’m still twelve years old, about to go into middle school. I remember my first day of middle school, and high school, like it was yesterday. Time has really flown! I know my time at college is going to fly as well, so I really want to make the most of it. I’m hoping I get well adjusted soon, and my moments of missing home aren’t quite as striking or sudden. It has been really nice having one of my best friends with me, though. It’s like having a little piece of home in this giant, new city.
Speaking of city, I am not used to all of this street noise! I’m used to coyotes howling and my dogs barking, but not buses running all night and people laughing and screaming on the streets until 2am. But once the colder weather hits, we’ll be able to shut our windows which really blocks out a lot of the noise. For now, our dorm has been super hot! Even when it isn’t that warm outside, our dorm seems about ten degrees hotter. But like I said earlier, the hot weather will be turning to fall very soon, so I’ll probably be wishing for warmer weather anyway!
Well, I just wanted to do a little quick update and let you guys know I wasn’t MIA! Regular posts will resume soon, and I plan on sharing some photos from college so far, soon!
Thank you so much for reading and have a great day! 🙂

Flash Tattoos!

A while back I saw some really cool pictures on Tumblr of what I found out to be Flash Tattoos, and I decided I had to order them!
You can go to the website here, and check out all of the different ones that they have, and I highly recommend you do! These are such cool tattoos, and a certain percentage of the profits from each purchase goes towards different charities. So, you get sheets of really cool gold and silver tattoos and help out people at the same time! It was a win-win for me and I do not regret buying them!
The tattoos come in sheets, and I chose the “Sheebani” one (you can find it here) which benefits the Miracle Foundation. I thought all of the henna inspired designs were so gorgeous, and there wasn’t a tattoo I didn’t like!

 The quote is “live. love. wander.”

I adore these elephants! I’m thinking I might use them for halloween somehow? Haha I’m really not sure yet.

I love using these “bands” as bracelets and anklets.

I cannot explain to you how difficult it was to photograph these haha. The gold and silver are very shiny and metallic-y, so it was very difficult to get a picture that didn’t have a weird reflection.

These tattoos are so fun to use! I love how they turn out and mine lasted for a full week (they say on the website that the tattoos are supposed to last 4-6 days). I’m really sad because I lost the photos I had of mine, I have no idea where they went, but they probably got lost when I switched laptops last week 🙁
However, you can kind of see them in my OOTD picture from my VloggerFair Post: I have two on my chest, one on my right ankle, and one on the side of my arm that is of course covered with my cardigan.

Overall, I really recommend buying these if you have a special event coming up, or if you just want to wear them anytime! They go on exactly like every other temporary tattoo, and come off easily with baby oil, or with gentle scrubbing with a rag or loofah in the shower.
I got a lot of compliments and questions about them when I wore them, and some people even thought they were real! If it was actually possible to get real tattoos that looked like these, I would definitely get them in a heartbeat. They are so gorgeous but also subtle, so they are absolutely perfect in my book!

Have you guys ever heard of Flash Tattoos?

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day! 🙂

This is NOT a sponsored post.