My Unsatisfying McDonald's Experience

So call me picky or a coffee snob, but I'm really particular about my coffee and espresso beverages. Maybe it's because I barista. Either way, I'm particular. So I was disappointed today when I went to McDonald's in need of a hot beverage to fight off the rainy day blahs. I ordered a caramel mocha, which I know they have because it's on the menu. The lady taking my order then asked if I wanted frappe (a blended/frozen drink), to which I replied "No, caramel mocha. Hot." Well, she rang me up for a frappe anyway and I thought maybe that's just how they have to ring it up. Then I got my beverage and it was iced.

Needless to say, I was   an unhappy camper. I'm not a big iced coffee fan. I decided to keep it because I didn't want to make a fuss, but I wish that places like McDonald's would make their employees familiarize themselves with the menu and products. Anyway, what I ended up with (an iced caramel mocha, I think) was actually pretty good and I would consider it again, but on a hot summer day next time. This has been two whole paragraph of me whining about coffee. So, to those of you who read the whole thing and hung on to the end, gold star for the day.

The Art of Getting By

Just going to say that it was cute, short (only and hour an twenty minutes), and I totally want to marry Freddie Highmore now.

Review: Abduction

Finally got the vlog finished! What did you think of the film? Leave a comment!

Russell Brand on Conan

So I'm watching Russell Brand on Conan and I find it terribly entertaining. He's funny and rude and charming and odd. He's really interesting, though a bit loud. If you are a Russell Brand fan, or even just intrigued by him I was, Check out his Conan interview. He was promoting his new show, Brand X, which starts Thursday at 11 on FX.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2 - Teaser Trailer #2

This looks so great! I can't wait for it to come out. I just hope they stay true to the book.

I rented Abduction.

I'm not sure how good it's going to be, but I figured the worst that will happen is I'll stare at Taylor Lautner for two hours. Review soon.

I want these!

Classics - Ash Canvas Women's Classics | TOMS.com:

'via Blog this'

Review: The Hunger Games

I finally got to see The Hunger Games and let me tell you, I was a happy camper. I'm sure most of you know what it's about, so I'm not going to get into that.

I was pretty impressed with the cast, though a little disappointed with how Josh Hutcherson did Peeta. It has been a while since I've read the book, thought, so maybe my memory isn't doing me justice. I thought Jennifer Lawrence did a good job, and I would love to see her in more films. Lenny Kravitz, playing Cinna, my favorite character in the entire series, lived up to my expectations. I liked watching the bond between Katniss and him grow, just like I did while reading the book.

I thought the movie was pretty true to the book. Some things were left out, but that's understandable considering it was already a two and a half hour movie. They pulled it off, thought. It didn't seem too drawn out. In fact, the whole thing seemed very fast paced. I had trouble following some of the fight scenes. They switched views often to keep the violence down when someone was getting attacked, or stabbed for example. I can see why they did it, but I often couldn't tell who had the upper hand in a face off. This really didnt' help in one scene (I don't want to give anything away) when the two people fight had a similar appearance.

All in all, it was a really good movie. I was tense the whole time, even though I knew what was going to happen. It held my interest for the whole two and a half hours. I have to say, I thought I would have more to say about this...weird.

Review: One For The Money

A piece of advice: don't watch One For The Money with someone who has read the book. That's what I did, unfortunately. That means I was told who should have played who, what was supposed to happen, and how some characters should have been different.

Honestly, I don't have much to say about this film. I haven't read the book series by Janet Evanovich. The film was starred Katherine Heigl, who plays Stephanie Plum, a girl from Jersey struggling to make ends meet. When Plum can no longer stand her lack of cash, she becomes a bail enforcement agent for her cousin. She is hunting down a man named Joe Morelli, with the help of Ranger, who is teaching her how to fight and stay out of harm's way.

It was an okay movie. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't, 'Wow, that's spectacular,' either. Just okay. So yeah...like I said, not much to say.

Review: My Last Blind Date

My Last Blind Date by Susan Hatler was just a cute little short I found for free on my Kindle. It was a nice quick read. It was sweet and quirky and funny and cheesy all rolled into one. Because it's so short, I'm not going to tell you what it's about, because that would pretty much give half of it away. I got it for free, but it looks like the price is up to 99 cents now. Still, I think it's worth it. Go. Check it out. Now. I'll even make it easy for you.

Review: The Help

I apologize in advance if the thoughts in this review are a bit scattered. I'm blogging and watching Pretty Little Liars and I just can't help it. (Season premiere tonight, whoo!)

Anywho, The Help is a movie based on the book (of the same name) by Kathryn Stocket, which I have not had the pleasure of reading yet. Skeeter Phelan, played by Emma Stone, has just returned to Jackson, Mississippi, her home, from school. She is looking for a writing job and begins writing for the house care column in a local newspaper. She interviews the black maid of one of her friends for answers to her letters. This evolves into an idea for Skeeter, and she convinces Aibileen, the maid, to help her write a book on what its like to wait hand and foot on a white household.

I really enjoyed this movie. The plot was refreshing, different from most movies these days. I thought the characters were unique. I've liked Emma Stone in every role I've seen her in, and this is no different. She is a different woman compared to most of her time. Another character I liked was Celia Foote, played by Jessica Chastain, who treated Minny Jackson, another black maid played by Octavia Spencer, with the respect she deserved. This film also featured Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook. Howard played Victoria in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

The Help is really a touching story. The entire cast put in their all to portray a one of a kind tale with a big finish that you want Skeeter to have. The Help brought home an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Octavia Spencer, a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for Octavia Spencer, and the People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress for Emma Stone, just to name a few.

Tomorrow, I blog.

I've got a bunch of reviews waiting to get done, so be prepared for a bunch of post. Then again, you never know. I have trouble getting myself motivated to do things.

Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Finally got to see the movie! I saw it on the shelf at the video rental place and to be honest I had kind of forgotten about it. I saw it and my mind was like yessssss. Then I took it home and got very excited to watch it.

Most of you probably know from my recent review of the book that the movie is based on the book by Jonathan Safran Foer. It was an amazing book. So, if you'd like a summary on the movie, check out the book review, since they are the same story.

OR THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE. Nah, I'm just being dramatic. It was pretty close in the beginning, but then it started to drift. The part that I didn't like was that Mr. Black's role was pretty much replaced by the renter. Mr. Black was barely even in the movie. I thought this change was unnecessary and disappointing.

Then the ending or the movie was basically fabricated. For instance, Oskar makes this book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, (how clever, I wonder where they got that). That wasn't in the book book.

It was still a pretty good movie though. It was a little slow, but I don't think it would have made (or should have been) and action packed thriller. It was very emotional. I think Thomas Horn (Oskar) did a wonderful job. I had wondered if all those things that go on inside Oskars head would come across on screen, and they did. It was narrated, but even without that, he was such a curious character. I think the whole cast did a great job. I hope to see Thomas Horn in future films.

Review: Extrememly Loud and Incredibly Close

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I may have found my new favorite book. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close follows Oskar Schell, a nine year old boy living in New York who lost his father in 9/11. He found a key of his father's though, and he travels all over New York looking for the lock it fits. He meets many new people along the way and learns a lot.

When I saw the preview for the movie, I knew I wanted to see it. I didn't know it was a book at the time, so it's sort of funny that I ended up reading the book before I saw the movie.

This book instantly grabs you because of the perspective. You're inside a nine year old's mind where proper punctuation is unnecessary. All of the dialog is withing the paragraphs, which bothered me at first, but I got used to it. Another reason the perspective on this is different is because, yes, Oskar is only nine, but he's extremely book smart for his age. He knows countless random facts. He's terribly blunt. This makes him a very peculiar person that is basically shunned by most of the kids his age. He was very close with his father, and their unique relationship is something very neat to read about. It wasn't the typical father- son relationship.

The way Oskar interacts with people is also very interesting. He knows what people want to hear but at the same time he can be rather tactless. He comes in contact with many new acquaintances throughout the course of the novel and it is interesting to read their conversations.

There are two more perspectives in this book, and I'm not going to tell you much about those because I don't want to give to much away. I will say that one of them is from a man who no longer speaks, so it's also neat to read about him communicating with the world.

The trailer to the movie is here. I have yet to see it, but I think it will be every but as good as the book. Now I want to get my hands on Jonathan Safran Foer's other book Everything Is Illuminated. When I finally see the film, I will review that, of course. Until next time...

Review: This Fine Life

So, I'm not going to do a full out review because it's been a while since I've read this but....

This Fine Life follows a young girl who falls in love and elopes. I found it in the free section on my Kindle one day (unfortuneatley, it's not free anymore). It turned out to be really good! I liked how the story lasted several years. I usually enjoy  books like that, because normally at the end of good books I still want more. I want to know how the characters are doing. Buy a hard copy of This Fine Life here or the Kindle edition here.

I just want this.

So adorable! Buy it here.

Review: Thirteen Reasons Why

I wasn't going to review this book since I didn't finish it. Then I figured, what kind of reviewer would I be if I only reviewed books that I thought were good? If a book is good, I should tell you, and if a book is bad, I should tell you that too. It's my 'responsibility'.

So. Thirteen Reasons Why. It's about a girl that records thirteen tapes that get passed around to thirteen people that have affected her life in some way or another since she moved to the town in which Clay, the main character, resides. She only sends the tapes to the first person, though, after she's committed suicide. It's a really great idea for a book, and I don't think that it was a bad book, or would have been if I would have gotten through it. I just found it redundant. Each chapter was a tape, and you listened to the whole thing. So, every chapter was a story, a good one at that, but it was the same basic story. New tape, new story, new way someone hurt her.

Another thing I may not have liked about it is that even though it seemed sort of like a novel more for girls, it was first person from a guy's perspective. I have a tendency to shy away from books from that perspective (one of the reasons Book Jacob of Breaking Dawn is so tough for me to get through), but I figured I would try this one, since I'd heard it was good. I guess that was a mistake on my part.

I'm currently reading a book called This Fine Life by Eva Marie Everson. It's pretty good so far, and it looks like I'll be reviewing that soon. So keep an eye out for that and more reviews (maybe for The Vow!!!) coming soon.

Review: Vera Bradley Tech Products

For Christmas, I received all the Vera Bradley products my nerdy self could need. For those that don't know, Vera Bradley sells handbags, purses, totes, luggage, and tons of other things in a multitude of fabrics. There products are of wonderful quality, and I am hardly ever disappointed by their bags. Well, I've got quite a few of their purses, so I got electronic accessories for gifts. Now that I've had a nice amount of time to try them out, I can tell you what I think!

I love surprises, so I was intrigued when my brother gave me a rather large box on Christmas Eve and told me I couldn't open it until Christmas morning. After opening my laptop (squee!), I was pleased to find that I would have something to keep it in. I got the case in Plum Petals. It has a pocket on the outside on each side, one has a zipper, one doesn't. It comes with a small, fabric-covered bar that Velcros to the felt inside. This can be used if the case it a bit too big for your laptop. It's meant to be used on the side, but I put mine on the top. My laptop is fairly wide. it also has handles on top, and there's a detachable shoulder strap.

The laptop case wasn't the only thing I got in Plum Petals. I also got a case for my Kindle. It's really really cute! I love the print on the little case. Now, it's not made for Kindles specifically so it is a bit big for my Kindle. It's just an 'e-reader' case, so it's probably made for Kindles, Nooks, Kobos. It comes with a little slot with a card in it where you can fill in your personal information. This way, if you lose your e-reader (and hopefully someone honest and kind-hearted finds it), it can be returned to you.

The last Vera piece I got was a tech case in Baroque. I use it for my iPod and it's just perfect. It has a little pocket inside for my headphones. It has a detachable wrist strap on it. So, if I just want to take my iPod and my phone somewhere, I can just slide my phone in my pocket and carry my iPod with the wrist strap.

Freaky Sock Friday #13

So, I couldn't really get a picture, but I also really wanted to use these socks because I have become a little Angry Birds obcessed in the past day or so. They're from Hot Topic, which is perfect, because they get alot of freaky stuff and this is Freaky Sock Friday. So check out the Angry Birds socks here.

I would also like to point out that this is the thirteenth post and this is Friday the thirteenth...oooo spooky.