Hai guise.

I hate summer.  It makes me lazy and unmotivated and useless.

At least that's the excuse that I'm going with as to why I couldn't be bothered to blog.

For real though, I hate the heat and the mugginess.  So for the entire month of August, I barely left my AC.

I don't do sweat.  Or giant foofy poodle hair.  Which is what happens to my head when the slightest amount of humidity shows up.

Anyway, I woke up this morning and felt all renewed and ready to blog and shit.  This just backs up my previous hypothesis.

Moving on.

Know what I love?  Recycle day.  Recycle day is awesome.

Why is it awesome?

Because books!  Just sitting on the sidewalk!  Waiting for meee!

Yes indeedy.  That is two giant bags of books!

Real books.  With pages and covers and the lovely book smell..

Thanks to money and space reasons, I had to switch over to an eReader.  But these are free!  Lovely free REAL books!

All in all, the count came out to 52 books, not counting the assorted magazines.

Among those 52 were the awesome..

The weird..

And the really fucking disturbing..

Seriously.  Who actually buys Philippa Gregory?

Serial killers and puppy kickers, that's who.

So, my plan is to sort out all the interesting looking books and then take the rest to the library across the street.

Then yesterday, after being inspired by the Century 21 bags that the books came in, I walked down to Century 21 to get myself some new sheets.

And walked out with 3 bags of things I didn't need but were way too pretty to pass up.

My favorite purchase, which had absolutely nothing to do with the binge-sesh I indulged in of Downton Abbey season 3 the day before, is my new little tea set!

I know, I know.. a bit of an odd purchase for a 29 year old 23 year old, modern day woman, but I couldn't help myself!

I plan to keep adding to it, which is why they're all different.  So in the end I'll end up with a full mismatched tea service.  The front 4 came as a set called Rose Chintz that I got for $19.97.  The teapot was a separate piece that I bought out of a set for $6.99.  And the two matching next to the teapot came together with that little blue and orange box which has 20 assorted teas.  That was purchased for $12.97.

First tea in my new set.  I feel so fancy!

I've also found other uses for my tea set.. Like breakfast! 

Supah fancy!

Those two photo frames were also new purchases ($5.97 and $6.97) along with some candles, which I used to decorate my "mantle".

Which is really my TV stand because I live in Brooklyn and am not a billionaire that can afford a fireplace with a real mantle on the Upper East Side and it's not fair and NO, I'M NOT JEALOUS AT ALL.

Anyway. 

Newly decorated with Century 21 awesomeness.

All the candles, besides the lit ones, are also new.

So, that's what I've been doing the past couple of days.  Helping clean the streets and doing my part for consumerism.  

What have y'all been up to since we last chatted?  

I missed you guise!
XOXO

Easy Breezy Summer Goals

First off, what I'm about to say might seem a little.. icky, but... I love the garbage/recycle room in my apt building.


Gross, right?  Let me explain.


The garbage/recycle room is where everyone takes the opportunity to place all the things they no longer want, rather then taking it to the Goodwill or passing it on to a friend.  They do this because it's like a swapsie room down there.


You can find all kinds of stuff: books, office supplies, chairs, paintings and artwork, clothing, lamps, whatever.


It's kinda awesome.


Yesterday I found, in a bag and folded nicely, 4 pashminas.  


I LOVE me a pashmina.  


Take a looksie:

They're in pretty much perfect condition.  I found one snag on one of them, but it isn't noticeable.  And according to the tag that I found they're 75% cashmere.  Good enough for me.


Score.


Alright, down to business.  


Every time summer comes around I always say the same thing:  It's time for me to get to reading some of the classics.


Now, I'm a huge reader.  


Like, colossal.  Massive.  Sorta obsessed.


And there isn't any one genre that I stick to either.  I partake in almost all of them.  Except western.  Or romance.  Can't stand bodice rippers.


Ew.


But I rarely dive into the classics.  I mean, I love Jane Austen and have read her work.  I've also read Dracula by Bram Stoker.  And a few classics in middle school like Fahrenheit 451.


And each time summer makes an appearance I once again promise to pull out that 8th grade reading list that we all soundly ignored and get to it.  But of course, some new amazing fiction bestseller hits the shelves and that goal gets buried under Stieg Larsson or Jodi Picoult.


Not this time!  I can proudly say that last night I finished the first classic on my list:

I chose The Great Gatsby because 1) a girlfriend of mine told me how amazing it was and that she rereads it every couple of years and 2) because they are remaking the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Isla Fisher.


I can say that it was an amazing book and really wish I had read it back during my 8th grade summer rather then racking up some skin cancer by the pool. 


Live and learn.


Next up on my list is The Grapes of Wrath then I think I'm going to try Wuthering Heights.


If anyone out there has any suggestions of favorite classics, please let me know in the comments!  I'm definitely open to all.


So, what kinds of goals do you have for the summer?

You are what you read

The other morning I rolled over and one of the first things my eyes landed on when they opened was the stack of books on my nightstand.

Now, I'm a big believer of the saying "You are what you read."  It's true.  What you read says a lot about you.  About your personality, secret hopes, fears, dreams, whatever.

I think it's certainly true in my case:

Let's evaluate, shall we?  What I've been reading (from the bottom up):

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
Vampire Academy: Last Sacrifice - Rachelle Mead
The Secret Holocaust Diaries - Nonna Bannister
The Secret - Rhonda Byrne
Full Dark, No Stars - Stephen King
Classy - Derek Blasberg
The New Yorkers - Cathleen Schine
Bogus to Bubbly - Scott Westerfeld
Audition - Michael Shurtleff

From this list I would think the reader was perhaps in their 20's with an eclectic taste.  Perhaps leaning towards the dark issues when the mood strikes but also with a whimsical outlook on life.  Someone that cares about their image and wants to improve in life.

Then again, I could just be projecting who I'm hoping I am.

Who knows. 

I do know that I have excellent taste in books.  Dragon Tattoo is a reread for me.  I am in love with the trilogy and was so disappointed when I read that Larsson's father and brother (who control his estate) won't be allowing the release of the 7 additional books that he wrote, intending the trilogy as a series.

Audition is a great, quick read for any actor.  I read it for my Auditions I class and thought it had some great info.

Who doesn't love Stephen King?  Fantastic storyteller.  He's one of the very few authors whose short stories I bother to read.  This one is a collection of 4 that a very dark.  

The Vampire Academy series I started reading because Mead is a Seattle author and it was her first book.  I go out of my way to support local authors when I have the cash to spend.  It turned out to be an interesting story with a slightly different take on vampires.

I read so much.. I probably spend far, far too much on books.  This is what prompted me to finally purchase an e-reader.  I once said I would never make the switch from actual books to an electronic device.

That was before I moved to one of the most expensive cities in the world.  With no space.

Yeah.  So after a few days of research I settled on the Kindle 3G.  It should be arriving in a couple days and I am extremely excited.  What really sold it for me was this 1 series that I've been longing to reread.  Unfortunately most of my book collection was left in WA due to the fact that if I brought all my books I would have had to rent a whole other apartment to house them all.  Because this series is packed away among the many boxes it wouldn't be feasible to ask my parents to go searching thru all the boxes for these 5 books.

I would love to just buy them again but bookstores no longer carry them.  I looked them up online and can get them but I would have to pay almost full price and shipping. 

The Kindle has each book for less than $5.  After seeing that I was sold.

Hard to beat that, no?