Book Review: Someday, Someday, Maybe

Someday, Someday, Maybe

By: Lauren Graham

Pages: 344

Read: 8/26/14

"Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates-Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material-and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works.

Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won't call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet.

Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job."
{GoodReads}

I'm going to start this by saying that I am a huge fan of Lauren Graham and Gilmore Girls is one of my favorite shows ever!  I had very high expectations for this book - for the most part, I was not disappointed.  First, I love all of the awesome 90's references!  Franny, the main character, frustrated me at times, but I really liked all of the supporting characters such as her roommates and her father.  This wasn't a particularly exciting story or one that I couldn't put down, but it was still enjoyable and I would still recommend it to anyone who likes chick-lit or just a nice story.

I gave this book a 4/5 on my GoodReads

Book Review: The Heiresses

The Heiresses

By: Sara Shepard 

Pages: 320
Read: 9/14/14

"You know the Saybrooks. Everyone does. Perhaps you’ve read a profile of them in People or have seen their pictures in the society pages of Vogue. Perhaps while walking along that choice block on Fifth Avenue, you’ve been tempted to enter the ornate limestone building with their family name etched into the pediment above the door.

The only thing more flawless than a Saybrook’s diamond solitaire is the family behind the jewelry empire. Beauties, entrepreneurs, debutantes, and style mavens, they are the epitome of New York City’s high society. But being a Saybrook comes at a price—they are heirs not only to a dizzying fortune but also to a decades-old family curse.

Tragedy strikes the prominent family yet again when thirty-four-year-old Poppy, the most exquisite Saybrook of them all, flings herself from the window of her TriBeCa office. Everyone is shocked that a woman who had it all would end her own life. Then her cousins receive an ominous threat: one heiress down, four to go.

Was it suicide... or murder? In the aftermath of the tragedy, the remaining heiresses—Corinne, the perfectionist; Rowan, the workaholic; Aster, the hedonist; and Natasha, the enigma—wrestle with feelings of sadness, guilt, and, most of all, fear. Now they must uncover the truth about their family before they lose the only thing money can’t buy: their lives."

{GoodReads}

Sara Shepard is the author of the Pretty Little Liars series, so I expected a bit of mystery to this book.  I have seen the series on TV but I never read the books so I wasn't sure what to expect as far as writing style.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  I zipped through this book in about 2 days and really didn't want to put it down ... stupid work.  I love mysteries and this was a great one.  I am usually pretty good as guessing "who dunnit" but I NEVER would have guessed this one.  She didn't give anything away.   And the ending!! Oh, I sure do hope there is a second book!  If not, she left us with quite a cliffhanger ending!  The only thing I didn't like was that in the beginning she bombards the readers with like 20 characters at once and their relationships to each other.  I had to read it a few times to make sure I had everyone.  Despite that, I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery!

I gave this book a 4/5 on my GoodReads.

Living Cruelty-Free: An Introduction

A while ago I talked about a few passions of mine - one being animal rights.  I haven't talked much about it on here but it's such a big part of what I believe in that I feel like I should share more about it and try to educate others who love animals the way that I do.  I feel that if by doing these posts, I've convinced just one person to be a more humane consumer, I've succeeded.

Recently, I have been a lot more careful about the products that I buy so that I know I'm not supporting businesses that still test on animals.  It is UNREAL how many companies still test their products on animals.  A few of these products really surprised me and a few were hard to give up,  but looking at the sweet faces of all of the animals I'm in contact with on a daily basis, makes it so much easier.

One that was hard for me was Giorgio Armani because Josh wears Code and I think it smells amazing but then I see photos like this and suddenly, it doesn't smell so good any more.

Yes, this is hard to look at but please don't just leave this page and ignore it because it's easier to do.  There are plenty of resources out there that provide the names of companies that still test on animals:

The Vegetarian Site is one that I've printed out and take with me when I go shopping.  You may look at the list and think that there are a lot of products on it that you use every day and that there is no way you can give them up.  But do me a favor and look at that sweet animal of yours and then back up at that picture above ... if that's not enough to change anyone's mind, I don't know what is.

If you want to ease your way into buying cruelty free products check out the Leaping Bunny.  The leaping bunny guide is a great place to start as it is a list of products that ARE NOT tested on animals.  The companies listed have a met the requirements of a rigorous, internationally-recognized cruelty-free standard.  And of course, there's an App for that!  Just look up leaping bunny on your Iphone/Android and it will help you with your shopping.  I use it every time I question a product!

Beagle Freedom Project also recently launched an App called Cruelty-Cutter.  It is $2.99 and totally worth it.  All you have to do is scan a product and it will tell you if a product is tested on animals or not.  You can even share these findings on Twitter and Facebook and earn "Doggie Dollars" which can be redeemed for discounts on cruelty-free products!

Also, some of the companies (but not all) have this logo on it to help shoppers recognize cruelty-free products:

Over the course of ... well, however long it takes, each Thursday I will be sharing products that I use that are cruelty free and that wont break the bank.  I plan to break these products up by company and share the products that I use as well as the products that leaping bunny provides on their site. 

As I said before, if one person takes this seriously I feel like my time writing these posts is well worth it.  

Oh, and if you still need more convincing, watch this video of rescued pups taking their first steps in grass ... ever.   They spent their ENTIRE lives in steel cages.    I ugly cried through 90% of this.

Wedding Wednesday: My Family

This post has photos of my family plus mine and Josh's family together.  These wedding pictures are taking way longer than I thought but I just can't narrow the photos down!  Plus, this is also for me for future reference and a good backup for my photos.

Cafe 4: Knoxville, TN

LOCATION:  Cafe 4 is located right in Market Square in downtown Knoxville. 
4 Market Square
Knoxville, TN 37902

ATMOSPHERE: Cafe 4 is a very modern looking on the inside with plenty of covered outdoor seating as well.  There are tons of window seats overlooking Market Square for those who want to view but not the heat.  We had one of the window seats which was perfect.

SERVICE: The service was excellent!  Our server was very friendly and very efficient.  I could tell he was busy but if I hadn't worked in a restaurant I would have never noticed, he did a great job.

EFFICIENCY: Again, they were very efficient.  It was fairly busy but we were seated right away.  Our server was at our table taking our drink orders within two minutes and the drinks came fast.  We ordered right away and my "appetizer" came out within 5 minutes and the rest of our food took another 15 minutes. 

PRICE: The price "rating" was $$.  I thought it was very reasonable but southern and northern prices are definitely different.  I think my entire check was under $25.00

FOOD:  EXCELLENT!  My appetizer was a delicious fruit, yogurt and granola parfait made with fresh fruits.  For my meal I got a Hickory Burger with bacon, cheddar cheese and bbq sauce. I ate every last bit, which for me is saying something.

I really enjoyed my experience at Cafe 4 and would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Knoxville. 

RATING: A+

University of TN Football

As I said on Tuesday, Heather won tickets through work for the University of TN opening football game verses Utah State.  She asked if I'd be interested in going and I definitely was.  I have never actually been to a football game before.  I never went to JMU's games and I know that college ball is a big deal in the south so I knew it would be an experience - and oh was it ever. 

I have never seen something quite like it.  The tailgating was insane and Neyland Stadium was huge.  Ours at JMU was nowhere near that size (at least not when I went there, they've since added to it).  We didn't stay for the whole game but Tennessee was kicking ass and it was a lot of fun to be there. 

I love the panoramic thing on my phone!  This picture was taken half before a touchdown and half after, I think it's so neat!

ChaChaCha Changes

As you can see, there have been a few changes here.  The biggest being the blog name.  I figured my blog name no longer applied once we moved from our home in the country back to the suburbs.  Though hopefully within the next few years we will be back in the country, I wanted a name that would work no matter where we live or what stage of our lives we are in.

I searched for hours (literally) on pinterest trying to draw inspiration from quotes when one jumped out at me:

It was perfect.  And there happens to be a story behind why it's so perfect that I found this, this week.

My friend Heather moved to Tennessee last November and I have been wanting to visit her.  In marchish we decided on Labor Day weekend because I always have off Monday and Tuesday so I'd just need to ask off for Saturday and Sunday and Heather wouldn't need to take off because she had off on Labor Day anyways.

Since I started my job back in January I have had off exactly one weekend, and that was my wedding weekend.  And I had only put in two requests for days off and that was for the wedding and for a concert I had tickets to.  I didn't even take off the day of my own bridal shower because I worked overnights.  I've worked countless overtime hours and always say yes when a shift needs to be covered.  I figured that if I did this, people would be more willing to help me out if I needed a day off sometime.  Yeah, not so much.   My request off was denied because it would cause overtime.

I was pissed.  There is a guy there that asks off for weekends once a month and is always accepted.  The main reason my request was denied was because I have a crap schedule (0600-1400 Wed and Thurs and 2200-0600 Fri-Sun).  So, it's not like I was asking for extra days off, just different days, but I can't work both Monday and Tuesday without having to do a double which we aren't allowed to do.  We are not permitted to work more than 12 hours straight due to the nature of the job. So, it would have caused overtime for someone else.  I was going to cancel the trip but the more I thought about it the more angry I became.  I eventually told my boss in advance that I would be calling out.  I got my Saturday covered but no one would do my Sunday.  Imagine my anger after covering people for months just to be turned down the one time I need a favor.

This is when I realized that I really need to stop saying OK to every extra shift and all the overtime hours.  I realized that I was so busy with that place that I had no life.  I was coming home tired with a headache every day.  I obviously did call out and go on my trip and I don't regret that decision one bit.  I had a great time visiting my friends and exploring a new place.

As much as the whole situation angered me, it was also a reality check.  I need to start doing more for me and making more time to have a life.  I have friends that live five minutes from me that I haven't seen in months.  That's just not OK, I used to see them once a week at least.  I have a husband that I can easily go a week without seeing because of that schedule, also not OK.  I have decided that it's time to get back to what's really important: my family, my friends and having a life. 

Side Note: Some of you may remember a series I had started a while ago called Being a Humane Consumer.  Well, I am pretty much starting over with that.  I am going to republish the Introduction on Thursday and share products and facts each Thursday following that.  I have been able to try a lot of products since moving to the new house so I am so excited to start this series back up :)