New York State of Mind

I have so many posts to catch up on! So, sorry if some of these get posted out of chronological order.

One of the things on my 30 Before 30 list (yay, I’m actually starting to cross a bunch of these off!) was taking a trip to the Big Apple. And while we were only there for a couple days, I’m happy to say we officially saw NYC!

We were able to tie this trip in with Brandon’s cousin, Troy’s, wedding in New Jersey. The wedding was beautiful, the reception was super fun and the couple looked absolutely stunning! Yes, even Troy! Here’s a pic of Brandon and I before the ceremony.

The day right after the wedding, we swiftly high-tailed it out of town to head to New York. Our friends Tom and Sandra picked us up and took us out for some hipster soul food – then the next day we went sight seeing! Our first stop was a boat tour where we saw Lady Liberty.

The tour went around the entire island of Manhattan and took a total of three hours! We got to see a lot of neat stuff along the way and I made sure we got a picture of BrandAnna (and baby!) in front of the city skyline. Look, it’s the Empire State Building!

Next stop was Times Square. I’ll admit it wasn’t as busy as it looks on TV, I expected a lot more hustle and bustle, but the giant screens and ads were just as I expected and very cool to see in person. We even saw where they used to film TRL!

Crossing another item off my little bucket list, we went to Tiffany & Co. and although I wasn’t expecting it, I walked out with my very own Tiffany-blue box with a very special gift inside! Brandon got me a Tiffany bean necklace – to signify our own little bean. 🙂

We made a stop at the gorgeous St. Patrick’s Cathedral and took a few minutes to walk through the beautiful aisles and pews. We didn’t know if we were having a boy or girl yet, but before we left, Brandon and I lit a candle and said a couple prayers for our little baby-to-be.

I love the show “30 Rock,” so I got really excited when I saw the front of Rockefeller Center! Something I would love to add to a future bucket list would be to come back and see the city – especially Rockefeller Plaza – at Christmastime … some day.

Alright, when I was younger I really wanted to be a Rockette. And then I found out that you have to be a certain height to even audition to be a part of the elite, high-kicking squad. So, needless to say, this is about as close as I’ll ever get to the Radio City stage.

A full day of downtown sight seeing was enough for me, so after resting a bit that night, we headed out again the next day to Coney Island. Brandon rode a bunch of the rides – while I sat and watched 😦 – but I was sure to get a Nathan’s hot dog before we left!

We crammed a whole lot into a very little amount of time, but it turned out to be a great trip! Thanks to our hosts Sandra and Tom for showing us a good time – we’ll be back soon!

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Book Report: “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E.L. James

Alright, unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve heard about the Fifty Shades series. I’m currently on the third book because at this point I am completely invested in the series and must finish it and find out how it ends!

To be honest, if you’re looking for a book to stimulate your brain and get you thinking – don’t bother wasting your time on this one. The writing isn’t great and a lot of the dialogue is extremely corny but I like the story – no matter how unrealistic it is.

Besides the content (which is definitely risque, so be warned!), the book feels like it was written for teenagers. It is full of repetitive and easy-to-understand language, which makes it a quick and easy read – you could probably read the whole series within a long weekend.

If you are like me and can’t possibly pass up a book that is such a hot topic pretty much everywhere you go, then definitely go for it! But don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Looking Back at 2011

I was inspired by one of my fabulous sorority sisters, Erin Davenport, and her recent blog post about her year in review for 2011. So I decided to come up with my own version of the idea and pick one defining event from each month of last year – it’s a great way to remember, record and reflect upon everything that has happened since this time last year.

January – A Family of Three

We started off 2011 with a new addition to our family: Millie Noel Reinert. If you’ve read my past posts, it’s easy to see that I am head-over-heels in love with my little, long-haired dachshund. Millie was a Christmas present from my husband, Brandon, and from the moment she came into our lives, we have become healthier, happier and wealthier (at least in quality of life) than ever before.

February – Meeting Finley Marie

In December we welcomed a niece, Finley Marie Reinert, to Brandon’s brother and sister-in-law. Due to the busy holiday (and beer) season as well as the fact that they lived in West Palm Beach, it wasn’t until February that we got to meet her for the first time. Seeing her in person was nothing compared to Skype and photos, she is one of the sweetest and happiest babies I’ve ever met.

March – Two Years & Counting

In March, Brandon and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary – it seems like just yesterday when we said “I do.” On our first anniversary we stayed at the Grand Bohemian (where we had our reception). Last year we didn’t plan anything big but we did have dinner at a fondue restaurant, Brandon had never been to one before. Each year keeps getting better, I can’t wait to celebrate three years!

April – Welcome to Wyndham

April brought a big change for me. I left my job of almost four years at a small, local publishing company to go to work for Wyndham – a large, nationwide organization with a more corporate setting. I still work in publishing and continue to do a lot of writing and editing, but I am constantly being challenged in new ways (which is a good thing) and getting tons of social media experience.

May – Phirst Time to Philly

There were a lot of May events that I could have picked to highlight: Brandon and I both turned 27, I started a blog and two of our best friends got married. But our trip to New Jersey/Philadelphia was too good not to mention! On a whim I suggested to Brandon that we visit his hometown and of course he was more than willing … as long as we made it out to a Philadelphia Phillies game.

June – I Added an @ to My Name

Yeah, that’s right, just like I said I’d never join Facebook when I was in college, I had no plans whatsoever of tweeting. That is until social media became a bigger part of my job and I was looking for more ways to spread news about my portfolio and blog. 🙂 So in June I finally bit the bullet and signed up, and I’ll admit I like tweeting and find a lot of great stuff for work (and for fun) through my account.

July – Carpooling to Coral Springs

The summer months were hot as usual so we decided to cool off with some of our buddies in Coral Springs in July. Our friends Ben and Alli invited us on a little road trip to Alli’s sister’s house and of course we were up for the adventure. We brought Millie along but she wasn’t alone – she had Ben and Alli’s dog Bella as well as two other dachshunds in Coral Springs to play with!

August – Revisiting My Alma Mater

After celebrating Bid Day with Chi Omega at UCF, I really started missing my own chapter at USF. So I planned a weekend where I could go visit the Chi Omega house and campus at USF (they have done a lot of renovations around campus since I left) as well as see my good friend Jamie. Being back in Tampa brought back a lot of memories, I hope to get over there more often this year.

September – Weekend in Death Valley

September brought a trip that we had been looking forward to for a while – returning to Clemson for a football game. Along with our friends Ben, Alli and Curtis as well as my sister Lina, Lina’s friend Emily, Brandon’s cousin Troy and Troy’s fiance Sarah we headed to South Carolina for an incredibly fun weekend and a great game against Florida State. (Clemson won, of course!)

October – Traveling Coast to Coast

In October I scratched the first item off of my 30 before 30 list by taking a trip across the country. I had never been to the Pacific Northwest before (or really the West in general) so I was very excited when my work sent me to Seattle for a meeting. I only spent a couple of days in Washington but luckily I was able to see most of the main sights including Pike Place Market and the Space Needle.

November – My Little Millie Turns 1

November brought the beginning of the holiday season but for the Reinerts it also brought Millie’s first birthday! Millie was born on 11/12/10 (although we didn’t bring her home until Jan. 1). We’ve loved every second we spent with Millie so far and look forward to many more years of love and licks from our little girl. She had a great birthday filled with treats and a couple new “big girl” toys.

December – From Beer to Wine

Brandon also had quite a few changes in his career last year. In the spring his company (he worked for a beer distributor) was bought out. As a result, his territory and hours were greatly affected and right before the holidays he was offered a job with a wine distributor basically doing the same thing. He is now off weekends and we are on similar schedules throughout the week. 🙂

2011 was a really great year all around … but we are hoping for an even better 2012! I’ll keep you posted!

Happy Owl-idays to You

So yeah, if you know me well then you know I have a slight obsession with owls. A few months ago I stumbled upon an owl-infused blog (see my Blog Report below) and was inspired to integrate my favorite feathery creatures into my Christmas gifts this year.

Owls seem to be everywhere lately – which is both a good and a bad thing for obsessed people like me – so it was easy to find the basics like wrapping paper (mine is from Target). It was a lot of work, but I created 20 of these cute little owl gift tags for the holidays.

I started by drawing the owl outline and the owl belly. Once I was happy with the shape and size, I created a template out of cardstock and proceeded to trace and cut out the shapes. I went with a red and green theme for Christmas, of course!

I bought a set of Martha Stewart holiday paper to make up the feathers of the owl. I tried to stick to my color scheme of red and green and chose sections of the papers that had plenty of color and Christmasy designs.

I bought a Martha Stewart leaf stamp cutter and I’m SO glad I did because it made cutting out all those little “feathers” so easy. I created a peanut-shaped stencil and cut out a bunch of those for the eyes section of the owl’s face.

After I stamped out all the feathers I took an assortment of them and arranged them in four rows of six. I made guidelines on the belly-shaped paper to keep my feathers in line. Then I glued the feathers on row by row starting at the bottom left.

I continued to layer on the feathers one row at a time until I reached the top of the tummy. After all the feathers were glued firmly in place, I turned the belly over and trimmed the top along the wavy edge I created with the template.

I glued the tummy onto the red owl shape, leaving enough room at the top for the eye mask (peanut-shaped) part. The final steps (which I didn’t take pictures of) were to cut out a small yellow diamond shape for the beak and two white circles for eyes.

I drew pupils in the eyes with a black marker and then cut a slit toward the top of the owl’s head to weave ribbon through. Then I wrapped my gifts in my owl-iday wrapping paper and attached the gift tags with curly, complementary ribbons.

I was very happy with the finished product and enjoyed the look of our Christmas tree with all the owl-themed presents stacked up underneath it! And I still have plenty of owl wrapping paper for next year (and maybe even the year after that!)

Like I said, these tags turned out to be a lot of work, but I love the way they came out and I got a lot of compliments on them when everyone received their presents. Now I need to start planning on my holiday gift wrapping plans for next year!

Hope you had a great holiday season … I’ll see you in 2012!

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Blog Report: My Owl Barn (MyOwlBarn.com)

Through one of my other favorite blogs, How About Orange (HowAboutOrange.blogspot.com), I found a great DIY tutorial on how to make adorable little owl tags! Once I looked through the tutorial, I started browsing through the other projects and products featured on the site … and I was hooked.

My Owl Barn is an owl lover’s dream. It has tons of craft ideas, printable owl designs and nifty finds from all over. I could seriously browse through the posts for hours.

I love the gift tags that I made this year and hope to get more ideas from this blog for future owl projects. If you’re an owl lover, like me, or simply a lover of crafts, this site is one you should definitely check out!

Along for the Ride

Last weekend we went on yet another fall trip, this time to Raleigh, N.C. for a wedding. We took a long weekend and drove up there with Millie – it was her longest and farthest trip so far. We ended up having a really great weekend spending time with family, shopping, laughing around a bonfire and of course drinking … Brandon works in the beer business so we always have to try new brews when we are out of town!

Millie usually gets a little bit of anxiety when we start packing bags which has been happening a whole lot lately. This time around she jumped into the suitcase as usual, little did she know that she was coming along for the ride, too!

It was a long nine-hour drive to Raleigh and by far the longest trip Millie had ever taken in the car. On the way there she was very anxious and confused but spent most of the trip in her favorite spot behind her daddy’s head.

We arrived in North Carolina right around 11 a.m. and settled into our room at Brandon’s dad’s house. They live in a gorgeous home on a little more than an acre, it’s the perfect place for family get-togethers!

One place we always go when we are in town is Gigi’s Boutique – owned by Brandon’s dad and step mom. They have two stores in the area and have a number of super cute styles for women, so we did a little bit of shopping.

One of my purchases at Gigi’s Boutique was this black cut-out dress, which I love. Brandon’s sister, Casey, and I ended up wearing very similar outfits on the night of the rehearsal dinner, so of course I had to take a picture with my sister-in-law!

One of my favorite things about our trip up there was getting to spend a whole lot of quality time with Brandon’s fabulous sister-in-law, Ann, and step mom, Cheryl. I absolutely love this picture of the three of us Reinert wives!

One of my best friends (and my favorite photographer!), Brianna, has a pocket obsession. She had pockets sewn into her dress and was very excited about it so we decided to take a pocket picture together while hanging out at the hotel bar.

My favorite thing about the holidays and special occasions is that I get to spend time with Brandon’s side of the family. Rowland, Cheryl, Ann, Wes, Finley, Casey, Brandon and I had a blast hanging out throughout the weekend!

As always, the trip went by way too fast, but Brandon and I decided that next time we are flying! Millie had a blast and got to meet her “aunt,” Rowland and Cheryl’s dog, Abby. It was really great gathering the Reinerts together, we all enjoyed it!

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Book Report: “Heart of the Matter” by Emily Giffin

I loved this book! Now that I got that out the way … Emily Giffin has become one of my favorite authors. She creates some compelling stories – like “Something Borrowed” – where you end up siding with (or at least getting a better understanding of) the “other woman.”

This is another one of her books that deals with the dirty “a word” (adultery). I really had a hard time putting the book down and it kept me guessing until the very end. One of the main characters, Tessa, turns out to be the sister of Dex (and the sister-in-law of Rachel) from “Something Borrowed.”

I literally cried while reading this book, but I’ve recommended it to a ton of my friends, especially those who are Giffin fans. It makes you feel a little bit uncomfortable because of the unthinkable content but there is something tough but truthful about it.

This book isn’t for the naive at heart, it will make you think, especially if you are married. But I thought it was really good and continue to be a faithful Emily Giffin follower!

Not So Sleepless in Seattle

I was super excited when I heard I would be attending the WorldMark by Wyndham Annual Owners Meeting in Bellevue, Wash. It’s a trade show and business meeting for WorldMark (one of the Wyndham Vacation Ownership clubs) that features representatives from all over the company – including the Destinations magazine team, a.k.a. me!

As I’ve never been to the West Coast (I’ve never made it past the Mississippi River before) I was pumped for the trip to Bellevue, which is just outside of Seattle. And I also crossed the first item off my 30 Before 30 list!

We arrived in Washington on Wednesday afternoon after changing planes in Phoenix and leaving Orlando at 7:30 a.m. After setting up for our Thursday meeting we headed to the city, and I was kind of surprised at how hilly it was!

My boss Merav and I found a parking spot downtown and headed out to explore Seattle. It’s a great walking city and we got really lucky with the weather – it wasn’t the rainy, dreary place I thought it would be, at least not while we were there!

You can’t go to Seattle without stopping by the fish market! We went to Pike Place Market and although we didn’t buy any fish – or see them throw any either – it was still an experience. All of the seafood in the city was awesome, I wish I could have brought some home!

We walked through the main market, although most of the stores were closing up when we got there around 5 p.m. on a Wednesday. The three-hour time change was definitely noticeable, making me sleepy pretty much the entire trip.

I was so excited to see the Space Needle – I felt just like I was in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy! I am not a fan of heights, but I braved 520 feet up to the observation deck in a see through elevator (I just didn’t look down).

We had dinner reservations at the Sky City restaurant at the top of the Space Needle, but we stopped off at the observation deck beforehand. My legs were a little shaky, both from the height and from the chilly weather, but the view was worth it!

The restaurant was fabulous! All of the tables are right along the windows, so every seat has a great view. The restaurant spins, making a full rotation every 47 minutes, so you are always seeing something different. And the food wasn’t bad either!

The reason I was in Washington – the Annual Owners Meeting – took up the day on Thursday. Merav and I had a booth where we asked owners to vote in our annual photo contest and shot some short videos about why owners love their timeshare so much!

It was a very short trip, but it doesn’t take much to fall in love with the Emerald City. Seattle is a big craft beer center, so of course Brandon had me keep track of all the local brews I tried. Hopefully we will be able to make it out there together sometime soon for the Tacoma Craft Beer Festival.

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Book Report: “Don’t Breathe a Word” by Jennifer McMahon

When my friend Jamie first told me about “Twilight,” I was a little skeptical. A vampire love story? I didn’t think I could get into that. Well, I felt the same way when a member of my book club offered up this novel as the next read for the group.

She said it was a story about fairies. And while it is about fairies, it is so much more. I gave it  a try and was pleasantly surprised. It’s not the fantasy fiction book that you’d expect – it is complex, suspenseful and even a little bit spooky.

It’s more about the idea of fairies than an actual fairy tale and it is a bit scary. I actually had to be sure to read it with the lights on and watch a little TV before I went to bed so as not to keep myself up all night worrying over it!

I definitely recommend this book – it’s the perfect read leading up to the spooky Halloween season!

Adventures in Tigerland

I realize I’ve been seriously slacking on my blog posts, but rest assured annatomy readers – I am back on schedule and already have my next several posts ready for publication (and maybe even a couple of special mid-week treats)!

It’s been about five years since Brandon and I went to a game in Clemson, so we started talking to our friends in the spring about planning a trip up there. We ended up recruiting seven other people to join us at the Clemson/Florida State game on Sept. 24 in South Carolina: Benli (Ben and Alli Stout), Lina, Lina’s sorority big sister Emily, our buddy Curtis, Brandon’s cousin Troy and Troy’s fiance Sarah.

After a relatively painless seven and a half hour drive (we left at 5 a.m. and pulled up to the hotel at 12:30) we headed out to lunch at Loose Change and even had a little extra time for some shopping – notice Brandon’s new shirt, hat, croakies and koozie.

At night we made our first trip to Triple Ts (Tiger Town Tavern). We got there early to save a table with a good view of the TVs and the UCF game for Benli and Curtis. Alli, me, Lina and Emily hogged the booth most of the night while the boys kept the drinks coming.

One of my favorite things about Clemson is the school spirit that runs throughout the entire town. Every so often Triple Ts would play Clemson’s “Tiger Rag” and the entire bar would join in. Brandon liked to take it as an opportunity for some friendly family taunting.

The next day we got a great tailgating spot and spent the morning and early afternoon shopping, drinking, killing it in cornhole and playing drinking games. Emily, Lina and I put on our Chi O pins and threw up a couple of Xs and horseshoes!

Brandon and I – the cornhole champs for the day (my back is still hurting from carrying our team) – both got new game-day outfits for our trip and ended up leaving with a whole slew of other Clemson souvenirs while we were in town.

While we were walking to the stadium from our tailgate spot we passed a friendly tiger who was willing to take a picture with us. This was right around the time that my new purple sandals started killing my poor little feet.

We had awesome seats (thank you, Curtis!) that were technically in the visitors’ section but we didn’t care and there were plenty of tiger fans around to cheer along with us. And I love how you get a good view of my orange paw print in this shot!

After the game – and a Clemson WIN – they brought down the goalposts and all the fans rushed the field. It was a really great game and a great weekend overall, we will definitely be back before another five years go by!

I found this highlight video online. Of course it’s not as good as being there in person, but watching it brought back a lot of the excitement that was in the stadium during the game. Enjoy!

Of course we couldn’t leave Clemson without bringing something home to our little Millie. She now has a new scarf to wear on game days – it’s a little big (they didn’t have her size) but she looks good in orange and purple!

We had an absolute blast and can’t wait to take another trip up there for a game. It’s been a week since we got back and I haven’t been able to get “Tiger Rag” out of my head, I guess that’s just the price you have to pay for a “Clemson good time”!

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Book Report: “South of Broad” by Pat Conroy

I picked a novel set in South Carolina for my report this week – it seemed appropriate – although it takes place in Charleston rather than the western side of the state. This was a Chi Omega Book Club pick and although it started off a little slow I ended up really liking this book.

I have a bad habit of looking up reviews on books before I read them and then forming a preconceived opinion. I did that with “South of Broad” but was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out.

The story had a ton of twists and was full of suspenseful surprises. It’s about a young man, his mix-n-match group of friends and how their Southern upbringing shapes their lives and friendships.

Pat Conroy is the same author that wrote “The Prince of Tides” and “The Great Santini.” Most of his books are set in South Carolina where he grew up and currently resides. I’m thinking of trying out some of his other novels because I really liked this one!

Doxiepalooza a.k.a. Our Trip to Coral Springs

Thank goodness for awesome friends. Brandon and I have been so busy for the past couple of months that we haven’t been spending much time relaxing and really enjoying the summer.

So, we were more than happy to take up an offer to visit Alli’s sister and her family in Coral Springs for a long weekend full of swimming, sun and a whole lot of dachshunds!

Ben, Alli, Bella, Brandon, Millie and I packed up the car and made our way down to South Florida. Millie got comfortable in her favorite car-ride spot.

We were greeted at the Smith house with a warm welcome from our hosts: Stavid … or Dacey, I’m not sure if they’ve decided on an official couple name.

A total of four dachshunds were running around the house the entire weekend. Bella, Guinness, Millie and Finnegan had a great time and became fast friends!

After we arrived, we unloaded our bags and left the dogs with the kids while we went to Mai-Kai for happy hour. Brandon got the Barrel o’ Rum while I had a Mai-Tai.

On our way out of the restaurant Ben and I posed for a BenAnna picture before the boys got all excited about seeing Joe Thiesman – apparently he is a Hall of Fame football player.

The next day was dedicated to spending some time poolside and playing cornhole. Bella was the only dog brave enough to jump right into the pool!

For dinner we had a delicious boil with shrimp, scallops, sausage, corn and potatoes. It was very yummy and was complemented well by my Honey Moon.

After a long day and night of swimming and drinking, we ended the night at Tiki Springs. The next morning David went outside to assess the damage.

Two days of playing, swimming and chasing lizards was enough for Millie, who was definitely ready to head home. She was a very good girl the entire weekend and made a few new four-legged friends.

The dogs were so exhausted from their fun, doxie-filled adventure that they were passed out the entire ride home. (They were even holding hands!)

I’m really glad we got the chance to get away for the weekend, the trip was a blast! Brandon, Millie and I all really enjoyed ourselves and we are very grateful to Stacey and David for having us – hopefully it is just the first of many trips down to the Smith house!

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Book Report: “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot

I heard a lot of really great things about this book, so I decided to offer it up as a recommendation for my book club. Another member had also heard good things so we all gave it a whirl.

The book is about HeLa cells which a. have lived for about 60 years and contributed to the development of numerous scientific discoveries and b. were taken from Henrietta Lacks in the early ’50s without her knowledge.

Throughout the novel, the author, Rebecca Skloot, searches for Henrietta’s surviving family members and describes how the cells progressed from a woman’s personal battle with cervical cancer to major breakthroughs like the polio vaccine, in vitro fertilization and cloning.

If it sounds really science-y and a little bit boring … well, yeah it is. I had a hard time getting through some of the more medically concentrated chapters but the history of it all is pretty interesting.

See below for a video about the book!

Birthdays & Brotherly Love

In honor of my 27th birthday (eeeek!) I decided to wait an extra day before adding a new post to my blog this week. 🙂

Brandon and I are both Tauruses – his birthday is May 13 and mine is May 19 – so we usually try to celebrate together. As Tauruses, we believe in the saying “opposites attract” but we think having something in common is what actually keeps couples together. In our case we are both determined, both stubborn, both bulls – but somehow we balance each other out.

This year, Brandon and I decided to treat ourselves to a trip to New Jersey in honor of our birthdays. We had a great time staying with Brandon’s grandmother, visiting with family and friends, and touring the nearby “City of Brotherly Love.” When you live in Orlando it’s nice to be a tourist for once, so we took advantage of our vacation and spent a little time seeing the sights in Philadelphia.

We stayed with Brandon’s grandmother, “Gram,” in Cherry Hill, N.J. in the house that my mother-in-law grew up in. Gram was a great host and even took us to the Cherry Hill Mall on our last day so I could pick up a Phillies T-shirt.

We spent Saturday in Philadelphia with our friends Sandra and Tom, who drove down from New York. We ate a nice greasy breakfast before walking around Independence Hall and visiting the Liberty Bell.

Brandon and I dedicated one of the last days of our trip to riding the train into Philadelphia and walking around the historic district. We made a pit stop for a few afternoon beers at Paddy’s Pub of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” fame.

While we wanted to visit family and see the city (this was my first trip to New Jersey/Philadelphia) the main reason for booking the trip was to catch a Phillies game at Citizen’s Bank Park – and luckily we saw the only winning game of the series.

Brandon was very excited when the Phillies beat the Braves and the iconic Citizens Bank Park bell started ringing. And yes, Brandon brought just about every Philadelphia sports T-shirt he owns …

All in all we had a great trip and we both agree that it was a joint birthday present for the books. Now we have next year and hopefully a trip to my hometown of Chicago to look forward to!

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Book Report: “Something Borrowed” by Emily Giffin

So, I totally forgot to include a book report in last week’s post. I had planned on talking about another newly released book-to-movie: “Something Borrowed.” This is another novel that I absolutely loved. The first chapter may be the best of the whole book, it grabs your attention and gets you excited about finding out what happens next.

It’s one of those stories where the “normal” girl gets her chance with the “unattainable” guy … and let’s be honest, what girl doesn’t love that story? I haven’t seen the movie yet and it’s been a while since I read the book so I fully plan on skimming my way through the pages again before heading to the theater.

There is a sequel, “Something Blue,” that tells the story (and a whole lot more) in a different character’s voice. It isn’t as good as its predecessor in my opinion, but it’s not terrible. If you’re like me you will read it anyway because you just can’t get enough of a good series by a great author. Happy reading!