1.31.2014

Name That Book: Literal Version Answers

What time is it?  Adventure Time!  I mean, it's Friday!  Which means it's time for gratuitous exclamation points and the answers to last week's Name That Book post!  Most of the guesses were spot-on, although it seems everybody had trouble with #5. 



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1. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey


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2. Fire by Kristin Cashore
Krispy suggested this could also be the faction symbol for Dauntless.
I was like, No, Krispy!  Literal title interpretations! LITERAL!
...but good guess anyway.


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3. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke


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4. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
This was probably the hardest title to try to interpret literally,
which is probably why nobody guessed it.


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5. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo


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6. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Another guess was A Million Little Pieces (good guess, Connie!) and I thought
maybe somebody might guess Fractured.  They're all broken-up things, anyway!


How well did you do?  I think I'm going to nag Krispy next time and have her help me come up with some titles and doodles.  Maybe I'll even bully her into doodling a few herself!

In the meantime, Krispy's been getting lots of good suggestions and tips for her upcoming trip abroad!  I will be staying put on Loki Duty and trying to remember how to use my own remote control and TV schedule since I watch 90% of my shows with Krispy and her Sister.

Have a great weekend!  Stay warm, peeps!

1.29.2014

What's Up Wednesday (25)


What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, so we can check in with each other. To join, just check out Jaime Morrow or Erin Funk's blogs for the link widget and sign up!


WHAT I'M READING
I finally finished JUST ONE YEAR, which I started in December. Since I finished in January, it'll be my first book of 2014. And it was good. You can see my brief goodreads review of it here: JUST ONE YEAR.

My current read is...



WHAT I'M WRITING

Nothing, at the moment.


WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

So many themes and quotes in Gayle Forman's JUST ONE YEAR. Whenever I need a good Contemporary jolt of FEELS, I can always count on Gayle Forman. Here's an example.

"But maybe we were both wrong, and both right. It’s not either or, not luck or love. Not fate or will. Maybe for double happiness, you need both."

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

Not too much except for continued London-Paris vacation planning. But even that has hit a rough patch because EVERYONE at home IS SICK. Thankfully, I'm not sick (though I had a few close calls and felt a bit off), but I'm paranoid I will be! The Sister was the latest victim to this sudden flu, but she seems to be recovering. So just keep your fingers crossed she gets healthy and I stay healthy, so that our trip can still happen without health misery!

I also went darker with my most recent hair touch-up. Red hair!



I am ready for a vacation! It has been a stressful last half of January! OH and it's Lunar New Year at the end of this week! So yay for delicious foodage!

We ate these toast mountains with friends before the sickness hit. [Photo/Gennia]

Happy New Year to you all and STAY HEALTHY (and warm)!!!


P.S. Come back Friday for the answers to Alz's Name That Book: Literal Titles Version questions!

P.P.S. The Sis and I welcome any and all recommendations on what we should do (or eat or shop) in London and/or Paris (though we'll only be in Paris for two days)! Also, tell us weak Californians how we should deal with the cold... other than layering everything we own on our bodies.

1.24.2014

Name That Book: Literal Titles Version!

Happy Friday, everyone!  I've been enormously slacking on my reading, continuing my extended trend from last year--I looked at my Goodreads page and made a sad, sad face.  And then I decided it was time for another round of Name That Book.  This time, I've taken the titles of various YA novels and doodled them literally, not necessarily with any connection to characters or events in the story.  No hints this time, just plain doodles!

Take a gander and throw us your best guess:


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2.

3.

4.

5.

6.
My plans for the weekend include copious amounts of sleeping and also bullying Krispy because, you know, that's what I do, although this activity is not exclusively reserved for the weekend because in fact I do it all the time.  Maybe I'll try to catch up on some reading while I'm at it.

Have happy Friday funtimes, peeps!

1.22.2014

What's Up Wednesday (24)


What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, so we can check in with each other. To join, just check out Jaime Morrow or Erin Funk's blogs for the link widget and sign up!


WHAT I'M READING
I'm hoping to start reading Coriolanus soon since, you know, I'll be seeing it in like two weeks. Reading slump, GO AWAY.


WHAT I'M WRITING
Sort of working on a new project. It's not a long project, but I think it will prove to be quite interesting. I don't mean to be mysterious, but it's in the very early stages of planning and am not sure where it will go yet. Needless to say though, I am excited!


WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

Friends, fandom, collaboration. Lots of bits and bobs have reminded me to be grateful for what I have and to enjoy myself more often.


WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

Being weirded out by the strange warm weather we're having, but enjoying the opportunity to wear skirts and dresses. Finalizing travel plans. Washing Loki. His scab came off and it looks like fur is growing back! Yay!

And in case you missed it, check out Loki's tumblr! Dog Days of Loki.

Scratching an itch with a bone in his mouth. [Photo: Sister]


Met up with Corrie again and tried out the new Urth Cafe around here. Of course, we chose to meet up at a book store that Cameron Diaz was having a book event at, so it was ridiculously hard to find parking.

And the Sister and I finally met up with our friend Nicole for "taco bell Sherlock," which is a weird inside joke we have about hanging out and squeeing about fandom.

What's up with you?

1.17.2014

2013 in Review

I wasn't going to do a year-in-review post since it's already halfway through January, but then I thought about how quickly 2013 flew by and how much happened. It was a crazy, wonderful year.

Two of my long-time friends got married, and I was a bridesmaid in one, which meant some of the best times ever with some of the coolest people I know. The Sister and I went to our first Comic Con in San Diego, and it was everything we didn't dare hope it would be (better to go in with no expectations & just enjoy). I finally met and got to geek out with an online fangirl friend; I met more online friends IRL this year too; and I found and made friends with lots of new people. I did a 5K of my own free will, though really it was just because it was the Color Run and I just wanted to be covered in colored powder.

So yeah, lots happened, and here's the recap!


JANUARY

Instead of making New Year's resolutions, I made a One Word Resolution to be PRESENT.

I reviewed an e-ARC of Elsie Chapman's debut DUALED and finally got include blog/Twitter friend Lydia Kang's book cover in a Waiting on Wednesday post!

The Sister & I got sucked into Downton Abbey, and I helped throw a gorgeous (if I do say so myself) Tuscany-themed bridal shower for one of my best friends!

[Photo: Gennia]

FEBRUARY

Alz showed off her skills in both jewelry-making/soldering and book title poetry writing, while I revealed my (not-so-secret) origin story: how I got my nickname Krispy.

Plot twist, I willingly did a 5K run. Not so surprisingly, it was the Color Run & I did it for colors. [Photos from Gennia]


The Bad B*tches Bachelorette Weekend happened, and it was straight-up magical. Fireside board games and snow in the red-rock desert.

[Photo: Gennia]
Alz revealed her impressive unicorn herd.

The blog got a clean new look courtesy of the sweet and super-talented Caroline Richmond.


MARCH

We (re)discovered Theo James & finally had a new album from Justin Timberlake.


I met Mindee Arnett, with whom I later had a Dream Thieves ARC-sharing pact, and got a signed copy of her debut The Nightmare Affair.


Alz did a fascinating analysis of YA Dystopian first lines.

Then, we + the sister had a magical weekend in Palm Springs, where we imitated dinosaurs and attended our good friend's fabulous wedding. It was probably one of the most fun things of 2013 and/or ever. I mean, confetti cannons, c'mon!


[Photo: Docuvitae]

[Photo: Sister]
I actually managed to participate in the YA Book Club for Gayle Forman's JUST ONE DAY.

Loki celebrated his first birthday!


APRIL

April was National Poetry Month, and by some stroke of fate Lydia Kang & April Tucholke start tweeting poems based on medical terms. I joined in, and eventually we started #twtpoem for our Twitter poetry. Our first prompt was "atropine."



Loki & Sadie had play dates & they were nuts.

[Photo: Sister]
I reviewed an e-ARC of the vibrant YA dystopian THE SUMMER PRINCE.

Another childhood friend of Alz and mine had her wedding in April. We weren't part of the bridal party, so it was a lot more relaxing. It was a lovely ceremony and fun party!


(And shhh, Cake Club was accidentally formed.)


MAY

Alz dazzled us with more hand-made crafts, while I began my collection of "galaxy"-themed clothing.

We saw a bunch of movies; Lydia sent us a bunch of cool Control swag; and I finally met IRL a fellow fangirl, lady geek whom I've been chatting with for a year - Nicole!

We also hit up the Arrested Development Netflix tour stops and then finally watched the new season!


Double good news: the Sister and I found out that we were in fact going to Comic Con! And Mindee Arnett was a doll and promised to share her The Dream Thieves ARC.

Sis, cousin, and I saw Imagine Dragons.

[Photo: Sister]

JUNE

We presented to you the (still unsolved) mystery of Loki's disappearing poo.



The Sister hooked me up with a free pass to the Capital Cities show at the El Rey, and I signed up to do Ready.Set.Write!

We watched a bunch of movies & I got my signed copy of Neil Gaiman's THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE.

Oh, and we made an impulsive, late night decision to buy tickets to see Coriolanus in London (which is happening in less than a month!!) because of REASONS, ahem.

Loki swam to keep cool.


JULY

Thanks to Mindee Arnett and the ARC she sent me, I got to read THE DREAM THIEVES months in advance!

Geeked out (& roped the Sis in too) over 4th of July with my US Revolutionary History gear; I got my "unicorn" (purple, pink, red) hair; Loki maybe killed a bird, but he's not sayin'.

Knowing this, I'm sure NO ONE is surprised I LOVE the show Sleepy Hollow.
The Sister discovered the Terrifying Mr. Darcy, and unrelated, Alz taught her to make Jellybean Prongs!

Then, we had the geekiest weekend of our lives at SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON!!! (And I got to meet Twitter friend Lauren.)


Hugh Dancy! And Loki (Tom Hiddleston)!!


Here's a post with all the SDCC recaps (scroll to the bottom).

Ended the month with a Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z concert at the Rose Bowl.



AUGUST

Girl's trip to Las Vegas! Of course, we were silly. We imitated One Direction (who were also in town that weekend, so our hotel was overrun with teenie boppers [do we still use that term? clearly, I am old now]) and took a pic with a Backstreet Boys poster.



Discovered a most delicious food place in J-Town with the Sis and Alz. Also, was lent an ARC of Lydia Kang's debut CONTROL from April Tucholke!

Celebrated my birthday in various ways: a post from Alz, seeing The Neighborhood, eating a hamburger-shaped birthday cake, receiving bedazzled e-cards of Tom Hiddleston from a bestie.

Also of note, N*SYNC briefly reunited (whut), Ready.Set.Write! ended, and I got really into poetry again.


SEPTEMBER

Alz wrote another interesting post, a brief analysis of the color spectrum of her read books and her reading habits, and I reviewed Stephanie Kuehn's debut CHARM & STRANGE.

Also, she and the Sister did another craft project: this epic Loki dog jacket (for Loki).

[Photo: Sister]
We had some epic sky, met Markus Zusak, and the Sister did a Fall Music Recs post.

This was also her birthday month. We went to a kids science museum to see dinosaurs and to Lego joust!

[Photo: Sister]
The Sister got me in to the sold out Bastille show, and later in the month, we went with our cousin to see M83 at the Hollywood Bowl. We also saw LORDE at some point.

But the best concert we saw this month (maybe all year) was THE BACKSTREET BOYS at the Gibson Amphitheater! Went with my besties/ fellow fangirls. Best time ever! I wish this happened every year.

[Photo: Gennia]

OCTOBER

Family trip to the San Diego Safari Park ended up with us making friends with giraffes and rhinos!


My pic is in the SD Zoo magazine for Jan 2014!
Halloween-wise: carved pumpkins with friends, and Loki and the Sister were really excited for costumes!

[Photo: Sister]
[Photo: Sister]
Oh, and I met Twitter friends Corrie and Cat!

[Photo: Cat York]
NOVEMBER

You mean, Nerdvember? The Sister & I did a challenge to incorporate geekiness into our every-day wardrobe. I think we did pretty well.


Also, there was NaNoWriMo, the release of the THOR: THE DARK WORLD & the sister wrote a Buzzfeed article about it.

We got to see the THE BOOK THIEF and CATCHING FIRE movies early because the Sister was super lucky and won advanced screening tickets to both.

Alz shared the Button Quail Murder mystery, and it was also her birthday month!

Our other friend celebrated her birthday too with karaoke and Disneyland....where we met Thor.

[Photo: Sister]
And speaking of, back in September when the Sister took a pic of me by 3 Loki cardboard stand-ups at the movie theater...

[Photo: Sister]
we didn't think we'd actually get Loki'd and end up winning one of those giant things in November!



There was, of course, Thanksgiving and a Michael Bublé concert too.


DECEMBER

Our post-Thanksgiving sales purchases arrived (Blackmilk and ShadowplayNYC) and Loki got a stuffed dragon toy that we named Benedict Cumbersmaug.

The Sister and I built a book tree.



Alz and I participated in the always-fun YA SUPERLATIVES BLOGFEST before we took a blogging break for the holidays.

We baked cookies and played board games with friends. The Sister and I spent a day off with our mom, and we went to an art gallery and photobombed Sauron.


Even Loki(s) got into the Christmas spirit!



(And we had the last Cake Club meeting of the year.)

[Photo: Gennia]

So that was 2013! What a year!

Q4U: What are some of your fondest memories of 2013?