End of the Week Roundup

Dave and I were talking tonight (Thursday night) and we both asked at the same time "Where did the summer go?" It feels like it's flown by just like when we were kids. Anyway, here's the best moments of the week!

1. Sunday Dave and I went up to his brother's  house to celebrate our youngest nephew, Jacob's, 4th birthday. They have a little pond behind the house that is stocked with fish each year. I snapped this sweet moment between Lucas, Jake's brother, and his best friend since his was a baby, Peyton. 

2. This week I started back to school for my certification and master's degree. It's a bit bittersweet. Part of me is happy to be back, working towards my dream career, and appreciative of the opportunity to even do this; but another part of me is bummed. I really liked my free time and I'm a bit over school. 

3. I finished another baby quilt this week, and I'm currently trying out a new project using scrap T-shirts to make teddy bears. I'm hoping it turns out great!

 4. Snapple cap "Real Fact" taught me something new this week:

 5.  Nibbler loves laying on Dave's stomach. I don't blame him, it's pretty comfy and I think he smells good. 

How was your week?

Favorite Pinned Hairstyles

I only give myself about 20 minutes to get ready in the morning, for both hair and makeup. It's mainly because I spend a good hour laying in bed just playing on my phone. What can I say? I like to wake up slowly and restfully, haha. 

Some mornings I'm just not feeling the whole "pull out the flat iron and curling iron" look, and I'll scan through my pins to find easy styles. The ones I am sharing today are my favorite go to simple looks. 

Pin        Original Source: A Beautiful Mess

I have a confession...I like to look at the back of my head in the mirror when I style my hair like this, the criss cross just looks so good!

Pin   Original Source: Anne Sage

I love how elegant this looks, especially since it's so simple. Plus I finally learned how to use my spin pins with it!

Pin          Original Source: The Beauty Department

If I have to do my hair for a fancy function (versus paying someone to do it), this is my go to look. 

Pin                 Original Source: Makeup.com

On the days where I do decide to pull out the ironing tools, but my front bangs won't cooperate, I'll braid my hair in this quick look. 

Pin  Original Source: The Beauty Deparment

This is similar to the first pin, in both looks and me looking at the back of my head a lot...

What are some of your favorite pinned hairstyles? Comment with the link below!

Teen Book Club Hits and Misses

I've been running a teen book club at my local library for a little over two years. I recently asked the teens what their favorite books were that we read in the group and which ones missed the mark. 

If you'd like to see all the books we've read as a group, you can check them out on the TBC shelf on my Goodreads profile.  

Hits:

1984 by George Orwell showed up on the favorites list of all the teens, and quite frankly I was shocked. One teen explained, "I enjoy books that have depth and complexity, and that say things, and preferably expand my mind by reading them. I also enjoy classics, which have stood the test of time, for some reason or another . . . I love exploring them, and discussing them after!"

I wasn't sure if the teens would "get" this book, and they did. We read it right after Animal Farm so we could compare the two books. I also explained what inspired Orwell to write the two stories and they were fascinated by the history behind it.

Farewell to Manzanar was one I was hoping the teens would like, and most of them did! Since the autobiography of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston focuses on Japanese interment camps (something you never hear about in school), I was really hoping the teens would be interested in learning something new and discussing it. This book gave us one of the best discussions we've ever had. 

The Book Thief is one of the most recommended books I've ever come across and it definitely lives up to the expectations. Again, most of my teens recommended this book too. It still gives me "the feels" when I think about it. 

Honorable Mentions:

    The Hobbit                                        Nation                                 The Time Machine

Misses:

The Obsidian Blade, well actually the whole series, wasn't a big hit among the teens. It wasn't that it was a terrible book, but as one teen stated, it lacked literary style and seemed to have no meaning. I enjoyed the first book and the different events that Hautman took you to, but I have to agree, by the third book everything was so muddled it was too hard to keep track and just wasn't enjoyable. 

Okay so here is the thing about Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, it's your typical teenage love story. If you liked Twilight, you'll probably love this book, but the Teens and I aren't typical teenage love story fans. This book fell flat because it seemed like it was going to go somewhere but just didn't seem to go anywhere. 

Five (Again)

I'm sorry guys, the past few weeks have been a bit stressful. I'm really dreading starting school next week (I'm loving my "free" time and don't want to give it up!!) and student loans has me freaking out since they can't seem to understand that I'm still in school and they keep trying to bill me, even after they supposedly have put a student forbearance on my account...three times. So I don't have another roundup for you. Instead, here are my top five favorite things this week:

1. This video...hilarious!

2. This shirt....ridiculously comfortable AND stylish? Yes please!

3. This cleanser...hormonal pimples are awesome, especially because they are not only unsightly but hurt too. This cleanser seems to soothe them.

4. This pin....I can never catch friends with this game in real life, so this pin is my way of doing it on a wide scale. 

5. This song....Ed Sheeran can do no wrong. He's been on repeat for the past month for me. 

How was your week? 

Rainforest After Dark Palette

One of the things I purchased when I went shopping with MJ a few weeks ago was Tarte's Rainforest After Dark Palette. 

At $38, I was a little hesitant to purchase the palette, especially since I had just bought several items at Ulta and got an eye shadow palette while I was there. But I loved the blush, and in fact, before I saw it in store I was loving the blush color. Then MJ pointed out that it was a really good value, since the blush appeared to be full sized, which would run $26 on its own, and there are 6 shadows in the palette, which could be the the price of the palette on their own. Plus, I really wanted to check out Tarte's bronzer, Park Avenue Princess. 

I have to say, I absolutely love this palette, love it. I love the bronzer, highlighter and blush trio. The fact that they are all in one spot also means I'm more likely to contour my face on a regular basis instead of just on special occasions, it's more convenient! 

The shadows are gorgeous, and it comes with a card that shows you how to create two different looks from the shadows offered. The picture below is the day time look. 

I seriously cannot praise this palette enough, I highly recommend it!