Friday, April 27, 2012

Obession Confession:

Hello. My name is Allison. And I am a Readaholic.



“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~Dr. Seuss

 

I was going to post a review on a book I just finished but the more I thought about it, I first wanted to share about my love of reading. It seems natural to me, that understanding my love of reading should come before my attempt at explaining a book I have read. To begin, I have enjoyed reading for quite a long time. I remember in my early elementary days being really jealous of the kids who knew how to read before me but it didn’t take me long to catch up. I remember adoring that special time of the year known as the “Book Fair” and being thrilled when the teacher sent home those thin paper book “catalogues.” My mother, bless her heart, would usually end up buying me a book or two. My most exciting elementary book memory was when she got me the subscription to The Baby-Sitters Club club. Every month three books would come to me in the mail with little notebooks, pencils, and assorted prizes. I believe this might have been when my obsession with books began.

As I got older, into my late high school and college years, I didn’t read for fun as much. I was supposed to be studying and just didn’t make time for reading. But I eventually found my way back to my old love. Now this is the part where I must beg you not to judge. What really reignited my passion for reading was…Twilight. Yes, I know, I‘ve heard all the arguments against the series. (I realize it is not the most brilliant piece of written word and that Bella is not the best female role model.) But, alas, I can’t help it. I loved it and still do! Once I read the Twilight saga, I started searching out similar stories: other vampire books, other young adult fiction, other supernatural creatures, other love stories, so forth and so on. Now I am reading a fairly diverse set of fiction but I have found that I truly love the genre referred to as Young Adult Literature (YA). (Besides Twilight, think Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and many others you might not be familiar with…yet, but don‘t worry if you keep reading my blog you‘ll soon find some other good reads.) I think what I enjoy most about YA is the books are [usually] well written. (Think about it, kids wouldn’t waste their free time reading a book that wasn’t any good.) And also, I am enamored by angst filled love stories.

When I read a good book, I’m the kind of person who starts to think of the characters as my friends. I experience a sense of loss when the book is over. (This is why I tend to gravitate towards book series, my friends don‘t leave me yet! YaY!) I’ve been known to both laugh and cry while reading. Words can be incredibly powerful and beautiful. I think that I generally just love words. I love quotes, song lyrics, listening to public speakers, and good conversations. I love a good turn of phrase. And I just really adore books.

These days I try to read as much as possible and I stalk, I mean passionately follow, authors whenever possible. (My hubs just called me an “author groupie,” ha ha.) But really authors are like rock stars in my eyes. There is nothing like having a book signed by the person that wrote it, especially after you have gotten to hear them explain some of their thoughts, process, and experiences. The books just seem to come more alive at that point.

Confession: I originally only gave my number to now husband because he had the book hook up at his job. Lucky for me he turned out to be almost as big a book nerd as me! In our house we have a whole room dedicated to our “library” with probably, no lie, over 600 books. Hubs estimates we have gone to 10-20 book signings in the past 2.5 years.

The point being, I am a passionate reader and it is a HUGE part of me. I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on books that I have enjoyed and hope that you will to. And I hope you will share with me any good books you come across, lest my “to be read” pile starts to dwindle.

Be looking out for my first review on “Whatcha Reading Wednesday!” I just finished Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare and I’m starting Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich. I also try to keep an audio book going in the car, my current selection is An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.  Happy reading y‘all!!!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Mani Monday

Accent Nail

So I'm really girly and I really enjoy doing my nails. I'd love to go get them done professionally but alas I am cheap and I like the small bit of creativity doing my own nails affords me. Plus I like changing them up fairly often and they can be attention getters and conversation starters. (*note* I look at a lot of pics online of nails, I'm sure this idea came from one of those I've seen in the past but I can't seem to find the original. I'm sorry if I "stole" an idea, it wasn't my intention.)

This weekend I'm rocking what is called an "accent nail" which is basically painting all but one of your nails the same color and then choosing one nail to have a totally different color. You can pick which finger you want to "accent" but I usually go for accenting my ring fingers. (I'm already wearing my wedding band on my left hand and I have a birthstone ring hubs got me I wear on my right ring finger so to me accenting the ring finger makes sense.) But I've seen where others accent there pointer finger and that looks pretty cool too, so it's completely up to you. FUNky manicures are all about FUN so have FUN with it! :)

Here are some pics of my current mani:


I started by painting all but my ring finger in a light pink, then painted my ring finger gray. Which looked pretty good I thought but of course I can't leave well enough alone!


So I added a couple of layers of silver glitter over my gray polish. (I heart glitter!) And I love the way this mani turned out.


These are the polishes I used. From the right: LA Colors silver glitter (I think I got from some Dollar Store) and the gray and pink came out of set I got at Ross.


Feel free to leave me some comments and share your fav nail designs!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

GA Ren Fest 2012

Weekend Wackiness:

The Georgia Renaissance Festival

Yesterday the Hubs (Clayton) and I went to the Georgia Renaissance Festival (Ren Fest). I actually won tickets in a share contest from the Festival's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/#!/garenfest so we didn't even have to pay the entrance fee! Yay! I had really been wanting to go to Ren Fest for a while now, I went once when I was in like sixth grade and was excited to go again. This was Hubs first time but I think he enjoyed himself.

In case you aren't familiar with the Renaissance Festival: it's like going back into a 16th century kingdom. There were Knights, Royals and even Court Jesters, people in period costumes, and unique artisans, wares and eats. It is a family friendly event, totally safe to take the kiddies! And a whole lot of fun! We recommend it. (Just remember to wear sunscreen as the whole event is outside!)

Here's a link to the Georgia Renaissance Festival's website: http://www.garenfest.com

And some of our photos from our day back in time!



The Royal Joust


Flying Debris Juggling Show


Breaking Point


Tiny Owl at Birds of Prey Show


The Ded Bob Sho


Fire Breathing with Barely Balanced


Barely Balanced: Fire Extravaganza


Fairies!


The Royal Hounds: pet friendly weekend.


The Royal Court with Queen Anne and King Henry.


The Joust to the Death.


Beautiful tree creature, looks like he came from Middle Earth!


*Most photos were taken by hubs. Thanks honey, great job!*

Thursday, April 19, 2012

First Timer

Hey y'all! This is my inaugural post to my very first blog. I figure that I might have some insightful tidbits to share about things that interest me and hopefully you too. I've thought about creating a blog for a long time. I was afraid no one would ever read it but then I decided it was more for me anyways and I could get joy from doing it so why not give it a try! What you will probably be finding on this blog will include thoughts on books (mostly), crafty projects, cooking, and the occasional self manicure. Random? Yes. But that is me and this, after all, is Alli's World. Haha, but seriously, hope you can find something you enjoy here too!