Beneath The Glitter- A Book Review

I recently took the last part of the CPA exam. As per my usual, end of stressful study session routine I decided I needed to empty my brain and read some fluff. My first choice was Emily Giffin's "Baby Proof" (separate review coming on that). It didn't fit the bill; it wasn't exactly the right degree of "fluffy". Since the buzz among the girls I follow on twitter was about the new book coming out by the “Fowler Sisters” I decided to give it a read.

For those unfamiliar, the Fowler sisters are Elle and Blair. Elle is about 24, and Blair is 19. The girls originally from the south-east became what some would call “Youtube Famous” around 2009-2010. Both girls have hundreds of thousands of subscribers, a separately run-website, and contracts with a lot of pretty decent brands. They have a lot of loyal followers, and a lot of people who dislike them. I would classify them as a D list celebrity. They really are only ‘famous’ among those who know them, and while that is a large following, it’s not huge compared to the everyday celebrity by any means. If you’re interested, and haven’t heard of them you can find them under the names “AllThatGlitters21” and “JuicyStar07” on youtube.

On to the book, the easiest way for this might be to play ‘the “pro-con” game, and let you draw your own conclusions. 

Pros:

-  --The relationship among the sisters feels like the type of things real sisters might worry about. Am I being too clingy, is she trying to mother me, why does she care so much about my life, etc. I am not incredibly close with my sister, but these are the kinds of things I feel towards my closest friend, so I can believe it.

-     --The prologue is intriguing. You find yourself wondering what might be going on, and how it got to that point.
-The writing is colorful. If you’ve seen Elle’s videos you’ve picked up on the idea that she wants to convey certain feelings a lot of the time, a feeling of whimsy, coziness, or sophistication. Love her or hate her, she can get her point across. I felt that way with the book as well. She was able to really convey the type of scene she had in her mind.

Cons:

-      --So as to not give away too much of the plot line, there is one character who seemed too fairy-tale to me. He is always there and able to come to one of the character’s rescue. (If you do read this, or have read it, it would be Sophia’s rescue). I understand that a lot of books that fall into this genre have unbelievable characters, and normally I am okay with it, but this one…. He was just over that line. I didn’t like it.

-        --I felt myself reading this book, waiting for the story to begin. I thought it was kind of interesting that it focused more on their ‘lives’ and careers outside of ‘youtube’ but- it felt like the story fell on all the blank pages after the last chapter. I felt like the actual story started, right where the book ended.

-        --I felt a little bit like I was reading a blog from time-to-time. I understand it was a first novel, but something about the writing novel reminded me more of one of those books that is all in text messages and emails, than it was a standard novel. I didn’t like that feeling.

Overall:

I would give the book a solid 2 stars. It was by no means the worst book I’ve ever read. However, at the end of the day, it just felt a little bit… boring. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t good. It felt like I was reading a blog, or a letter home to a friend, about what Blair and Elle actually spent their day doing- because let’s be honest- the story of “Ava and Sophia London” is the story of Elle and Blair Fowler. I would kind of put this in the category of “Feels like it was an extended short story written by a high-school freshman”. The book is set up to have a sequel, and at the end of my Kindle Copy it says that it’s due out in summer 2013, right now the jury is still out on whether I’ll read it. However, if I had a 13 year old daughter, I wouldn’t stop her. It is exactly the book I would expect a 13 year old to read. Unfortunately I’m 23, so it’s just a little bland for my taste. That being said, no one ever said their target audience was stuffy-CPA-candidates. In fact, I can assure you, it wasn’t.

Missing

I haven't blogged in a long time, a really long time. I don't feel the need to apologize, because I don't really 'promote' my blog any more, I will text a few people and let them know I updated it, but it does seem a tiny bit futile... pretty much the only people reading this already keep up with me. Anyway, missing as a title for this blog is perfect. Not only have I been missing in action, I've been missing my internet life. Would you believe this is the first time I have been on my own lap-top in probably 3 months? I unplugged it and put it in the closet at some point when I was studying, and I never took it back out.

I feel like I always come back to blogging when I'm dying to reinvent myself, or better myself. One time my mom made the comment that I am always making goals, kind of one of those "picking on you, but I find it cute" comments. And she's right- I am. She followed it up by the comment that even if I never meet them, it never stops me from making new ones. I think that's kind of true, and I think I like that about myself.

I am going to try and get back to blogging on a somewhat regular basis. I have some hobbies that I am dabbling  in, and I'm reading again, so I would love to do book reviews. I will hopefully get my final CPA exam score released this week, and maybe I'll know for sure if I can start blogging again... but in the mean time I am going to work on some posts about some different things. It would seem like a lot to make one giant post, so I'll do them separately. :)

2011 Resolutions- recap.

Below are my 2010 resolutions.  Let's see how I did....

#1- Get back to the gym, and vary my workout routine. For almost the entire month of December I got out of the habit of hitting the gym. Part of it was that December was a really stressful month for me between work, school, finals, and getting a pretty horrendous "won't go away cold." The other part was that I think I just needed some time "off". I asked for freehand weights for Christmas and my sister got them for me, and I have a yoga mat, so while I want to get back into running too, I also want to work on toning up some muscles. But most definitely incorporated into this category is to lose the 6-7lbs I've gained over the fall. (Yes, the little cliche bells are going off.)

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I am so sad about this but I only kind of got back into the swing of things. Two years ago I was really good about getting to the gym 4-5 times a week and I would run at least 4 miles if not 5 when I went there. I have been trying to get out more but I just keep being "tired" and wanting to rest up. This year I am making "SMART" goals (I'll explain that later) to help me meet this goal more. Gotta be pretty for my wedding!!

#2- Read more for fun. I think I underestimate sometimes how much reading keeps me relaxed this past fall/summer I hardly read for fun but with the purchase of my kindle I am going to attempt to take 30minutes a day to read just for fun. I should have a little more time this spring since I'll only have one accounting class (technically two I guess...)
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I did okay on this one. I remember in the early part of the spring semester I would read my book at the gym, but then I felt like I wasn't getting my full workout in, so I stopped. I took a few months off and in late summer early fall I really picked up reading again. I don't know how many books I read this year, maybe 15? It's not a ton but it's a big improvement.

#3- Relax more. I don't know WHAT happened this fall but I felt almost constantly stressed and burnt out (hence why I think I got four colds and needed a month break from the gym after finals). I really don't want to do that to myself again. I only get to be this young once- I want to enjoy it.
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I'm not sure I've learned to relax. I don't think I know how not to spend my time worrying about something. But I don't feel like I have been as "anxious" as I was a few years ago. I don't think I've done anything to change that though, I think life is just different now. Anyway.... I guess this was accomplished.

#4- FINALLY make some wedding plans! We have a date set, but since it's not until the end of 2012 I've never bothered to start looking into making actual plans. This obviously won't be until the later part of 2011 but it's time to start!
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Check!!! Got the wedding venue/catering picked out, and the photographer, and the ornaments. AND I just found out earlier today that my uncle is making a webpage for it, and my parents are going to go down for a weekend in the spring to try out the "events" we're going to suggest guests do while they are in town. :) Mom and I even went out to get ornaments for the centerpieces the day after Christmas! I think we will try and do engagement photos sometime between March and May! Now I just need a dress?!

#5- Start saving for a town-home with Zach.
Ooooh! Look at me over achiever! We didn't save but we now OWN one!!

#6- Take a CPA review course, and at least one part of the CPA.
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No CPA review course, but I passed the first section of the exam so does the rest matter?!

#7- Take at least a "mini" vacation (3-5 days) with Zach. Not sure where, or with what money, but I haven't been on an honest to God vacation since I was probably in 8th grade.

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:( No. Moving was expensive, and then CPA studying and tests got in the way!

#8- Run more 5k's.
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I think I had done 2 in 2010 and i did 4 in 2011 so..... improvement? :)

#9- Learn to cook more things, and try to expand my pallet.
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No :(

#10- Sleep more! I've gotten into an awful habit of getting about 4-6.5 hours of sleep a night for five or six days in a row and that is NOT good for you!
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I think over achieved on this one too. Now I won't even get up when my alarm goes off!!

Favorite Thing This Friday

My Phanatic Pillow Pet. Don't lie, you know you're green with envy. 

Too many days in the week start with T.

I have a problem at work when I have to send an email. I never know what to use in the subject line. I feel like subjects such as "Question" are too vague. In contrast I feel like a subject such as "Specific Question, about Specific Client" is way too wordy- I mean do people even read the subject lines of emails? As a result I probably spend a little too much time figuring out what few letters to type in that annoying little field. Anyway, the moral of this story is that I never know what to title my blogs. And considering I generally just "talk" I don't think it matters.

#1- I really enjoy the song "Dreamer" by Elizaveta. It's a little new-agey and not my typical cup of coffee but I really like it. It's oddly a really good song to listen to when you're running. At first it might not seem that way, because it's a little whispy sounding, but the lyrics are pretty motivating. It also helps that at some points the tempo is "building".

#2- I bought my favorite "test pencils" from college again the other day. I think I just like them because they're pastels. Oh, and they were obviously successful because I graduated from college manga com laude. (I'm not going to lie, it drives me crazy that after you get a job noone cares how you did in school. I worked my butt off for 3 years, not 4, when do I get to brag?!)

#3-  Look at how cute my new nail polish storage is!!

The top box has my cotton balls and nail accessories in it. The bottom box (pictured) stores all my colors. Yes, I really do own that many. It's a healthy hobby and the pretty colors make me happy. I do not have a problem. You'll also be thankful for a friend like me when you need a pretty nail polish to match your dress.  But the best part! Look how cute! Look how accessible! I ADORE!

#4- Hannah has started her blog up again which has me motivated. I always love looking back at my posts so I wish I could stick to keeping up with blogging. I just never feel like I can allot time to it when I need to study, exercise, paint my nails. Thoughts? Who reads this?

#5- I think my dog hates me. She always barks at me and never wants to play with me. She won't share her toys and likes to hide under the table when I decide she needs to go out. Naturally I still adore her. I feel like that girl in high school whose in love with the jerk.

Day 1

Now Playing- Grace Potter & The Nocternals " Paris (Ooh la la).

So I thought I would rehash on my progress today, and then also just share some tid-bits.

Skin- I washed my face this morning and after my run with my new "Olay Pro-x face brush" and the face wash that came with it. The face wash doesn't give me the overwhelming clean feeling but I wanted to try something different. If I need something with something stronger I can always go back. My only fail is that I probably should have washed off my makeup before my run. Oh well- starting off perfect would leave no room for improvement. :P

Running endurance- I ran 3 miles today. I had planned on going further but it was pretty windy and the fact that I had no music  had me a little unmotivated. The important thing was that I got out there and that I wasn't even a tiny bit winded after my 3 miles. I also didn't run "fast" so I kept my heart rate lower which is good for building endurance.

Spend less time on the internet- yeah nope.

Get to work earlier- I didn't succeed on this one today. I set an alarm for 4:45 and got up and turned it off and was for all purposes "wide awake" but I just wanted to get more sleep. I didn't want to get up and study. So I slept a little late. I think tomorrow I will try and be out the door by a little after 7 (whenever it's bright enough) and pick up some coffee with one of my many giftcards.

Save more- I don't know that I really had the opportunity to do this today. I woke up and went to work and then came right home and went running and put things away, etc. I mean I didn't do any online shopping but I normally don't... weekends are my bad time.

So- some Tuesday tid-bits.
-I'm really motivated for the next year.
-I really love writing new years blogs- very reflective.
-I am mildly terrified about all the hours I will have to put in in the next 4.5 months at work.
-My brother and sister in law got me a Cinnamon Sugared Donut candle for Christmas and it smells like fabulous snickerdoodles. I <3 it. 

Working on me

Yeah- it's been a while. My life is more consistent now and I feel like I don't change up my routine too much. I feel like I always come back to my blog when I want to work on myself... almost as like a "diary". Anyway here are things I want to start working on TOMORROW. As my friend Jill says- why wait?

1) My skin. I blame part of the problem on a change in medication but I think part of it is me. I don't get enough water and I don't eat that healthy so I want to work on getting my skin cleared up. I used to get compliments on it- I'd like those back.

2) Running endurance. I have a 10 milers to due MARCH 4th and I'd love to not have to walk any.

3) Spend less time on the internet. I feel like that's a funny item to put on this list but it's true.

4) Get to work earlier- more consistently. IE- get out of bed the FIRST time the alarm goes off.

5) Save more. I buy too many little thing. Things should be "treats" not expectations.

:) I might come back to this and update it and add a few but I wanted to get some of these off my mind before I head to bed. I am going to START TOMORROW! I am getting up when that first alarm goes off! Why put off until tomorrow what you can get done today?

Oops

Oops. Two months later I am updating again... so much for that whole "once I get on a schedule" thing. I don't really have much to blog about I guess... I always just seem to talk about things I am liking or doing... and for the last two months it has been a rarity that I've had a quiet, empty, house that I could actually think about it! But, Zach's out, Minnie''s asleep, I've got pandora on, coffee in hand, and a pomegranate cider candle burning. Please see pictures to the --> for exact ambiance. :P And yes, I do drink my coffee with a straw. And yes, those are some seriously aged Nancy Drew books. They used to belong to my Aunt, she gave them to me when I was in 6th grade or so. Not sure if they're "original editions" but either way I find it fun to think about all the great people who could have read them before me! :) They belonged to her schools library!



So, I guess let's talk about things I like. I really like nail polish. I feel like of everything I highly adore, nail polish doesn't make it to the blog posts often enough. Wanna see all the ones I've bought since May? Oh you do... well okay... I'll show you :) Left to Right: Sally Hansen Insta Dry in 'Pink Blink', Sally Hansen Salon Manicure in 'Shrimply Devine', Essie 'Jamaica me Crazy', Essie 'Coat Azure', Essie 'Cute As A Button', Essie 'Mod Square', and Essie 'Nice is Nice. And yes, I was able to do that all from memory. It really is impressive, one of life's odd talents. :P PS- Just in case you're judging me and thinking that 'Shrimply Devine' and 'Cute as a Button' are the same color. Totally not. CAAB is more of a pastel than SD. :)

I am also really liking my "Eli Young Band" Pandora Station. I know Pandora is so 2009, but I still love it. Especially because I can pick it up on my Droid and listen to it at work. I feel like my iPod is always dead so I can rely more on my Droid. PLUS I have some song selections on my iPod that are extremely awkward to find popping up at work. My friend, Callie, can probably vouch for that... as I've let her know in the past when they pop up in a silent office. :P


I've also really been enjoying two new shows that I can thank my friend, Heather, for bringing into my life.  'Psych' and 'In Plain Sight'. I was moping around the beginning of May about how there was going to be absolutely NOTHING for me to rot my brain watching all summer and she let me know about all the USA 'summer season' shows. (Although, to be fair, Psych season 6 is coming back in October, so now it will be a standard 'short season' show). Check out your Netflix instant view for both of these gems.

OKAY. I am going to go obtain some new, probably work inappropriate music to jam to at the gym and on my runs. Yep, I just "said" jam to.... and on that note....

Back in the Swing

So, I've been little miss awful about blogging, but I'm honestly hoping that once things with work start to settle into more of a routine I will be better about it.... I'm really big on my "routines" so if blogging becomes part of mine, then I'll be better about it! I just know it... anyway I wanted to do a big update post about what I've been up to for the last few months and what will be going on in the next few months. Summers are always so busy!! Maybe that's why I like autumn so much... that and it's pretty, it's closer to Christmas, and I finally stop sweating yech!!!

Sooooo we'll just do the updates by topic....

Job

Starting May 31st (technically my pay-rate will switch over on June 1st) I will be a full time staff accountant. I don't want to mention where because this blog is obviously public and if I mentioned the name when people google searched my employer this blog might come up and that would be super-awk. Anyway; full time employee. I'm kind of nervous to now be in a job that I don't consider to be just a phase in my life (for example, when I worked at PetsMart I knew that wasn't where I'd spend my whole life). In some ways I am looking forward to it though, it'll be nice to make new friends and have some consistency in my life. Everyone asks "What will you do there?" and to be honest I'm not entirely sure. I think when you work as a staff accountant you don't really 'specialize', at least there you don't. I know this summer I will be working in 401(k) and 403(b) audits. I'm sure you all know what a 401(k) is, a 403(b) is just the government sponsored form of a 401(k). Anyway, basically we just go in and make sure employers are deffering what they should be and following all the rules. I'm going to stop there because otherwise no one will continue to read this.  If you have questions you can definitely ask, but since most of you don't... we'll stop there. It is nice though because during the summer months you can pick two Friday's off a month for "free" that don't require the use of your vacation days. They're kind of to make up for all the extra hours people are working during tax season.

House
Everyone keeps asking, so what's the deal with the townhouse?! Here's what's what. In March Zach and I put a contract on a town-house (picture will be below). The offer was accepted and since then we have been working with WellsFargo and "Rural Development" that is helping us obtain a loan for 100% financing. That's right- no down-payment. From what I can gather from our loan agent everything is probably going to go through. However, since it's the government it's slow, and they need to know everything about you. I've been the bigger problem because I wasn't full time employed. On June 16th I will get my first "full time salary" pay-check and so at that point I will forward that to WellsFargo, who will then send it on to Rural Development, who will *fingers crossed* finally approve our loan. Once the loan gets approved (4-5 business days after June 16th), then we can pick a settlement date. Which fingers crossed should occur before June 30th otherwise we might run into problems because our contract is only good through June 30th. Anyway, I'm trying really hard not to be too nervous about that. I have a good job, and the mortgage on the townhouse is, according to CNN money, almost 100k less than we "could afford" based on the salary and debt information I have.  So I'm keeping my fingers crossed... that road is just kind of a bumpy unsure road right now. Things should be just fine but like I said I like "definite" information... and nothing will be definite for a bit longer. Which is driving me up a wall.  Please keep your fingers crossed and blow house-fairy dust our way.

Puppy
One of the things I am most excited in the near future is the sweet little furball addition to our home/lives, little Miss Minnie. Back in April I started stalking a little baby girl dachshund on this website her name was Peppermint Pattie and I was absolutely head over heels for her. I didn't want to ask the breeder because at that point I knew that we wouldn't be in the house in May 23rd (original settlement date) and I didn't think the breeder would hold her for us without charge. Anyway, long story short she is going to hold her for us... originally it was until June 16th-20th but with settlement being pushed back again... I'm not so sure... although her Grandpa has finally conceded to let her live with him for a week or two if she has to. Anyway, I'm sure most of you have seen her picture but I am such a proud momma I'm going to put one blow just in case. Her new name is Minnie, and she is a silver and black dapple miniature dachshund.

Wedding
Finally after being engaged for over a year and a half now Zach and I are finally going to start planning our wedding later this summer, once we're in and settled into the new house and little Miss Minnie is in a nice routine. So far the only real thing I know is that it's going to have a "Christmas" theme (go ahead act surprised), it will be December 1, 2012, and we will be honey-mooning in Disney :).

Alright this is long enough!!! More to come soon I hope <3

Five Random Facts

So um... I watch a lot of YouTube videos because I'm fascinated with learning about people, even if I'll never meet them. Anyway... a "tag" that goes around every so often is the "Five Random Facts" tag- so I thought I'd share. Depending on how well you know me, you probably already know some of these. But sometimes people don't know things.... so let's begin, shall we?

#1- Okay, don't laugh, but when I was younger I had a stuffed pig and I named him Porkchop after the dog on Doug. I know, I know, I know, so awful (especially since pigs are my favorite animal. But I just didn't really realize the irony in his name choice. Anyway, I'd get really offended when people made fun of me for naming my pig "Porkchop" so I'd try and lie and I'd be little miss dramatic and exclaim, "His name isn't Porkchip!! It's PORTchop." Yeah- because that makes total sense...


#2- I have a serious medical phobia. If I'm going to the Dr. for anything other than my standard, "Look- I have a sinus infection PLEASE give me an antibiotic!!!" I worry. And I mean this in that I will cave and last minute move appointments, and I will dread the appointment all day, or for a few days before. Additionally, if I go to the Dr. and they need to do anything as simple as draw blood, remove a freckle, get a cavity filled, I get nauseous. I can recall three times in recent history that I've found myself passed out on the floor, or on the little patient bed thing. And don't even get me started on when people talk about medical things. I can't think about internal organs, especially the brain. It just creeps me out and I get overwhelmed. It's sad too because I can make a conscious effort to stay calm, and say that this is completely fine, and normal, and it doesn't matter. My body reacts..


#3- If you ask me my name (Emily,... you better at least KNOW that much!) I say it "Emma-lee" I don't pronounce it the way some people do "Em-mil-ee" So, in 6th grade my best friend ended up being a girl named Leigh... so I thought it would be cool if instead of my name being spelled "Emily" that I spell it "Emma-leigh". So, no lie, for like 3 months I wrote on all my papers "Emma-leigh" like that would somehow change my name. I'm still surprised my teachers didn't kill me!

#4- I love the weather channel. It just fascinates me. Sometimes I sit there waiting for the local on the eights (even though I could totally bring it up on my phone) and get so entangled in the latest natural disaster that I don't even realize I've been through the "local on the 8's" three or four times. Seriously though, hurricane season & blizzard seasons are some prim-o viewing times on the weather channel. They also have this show (couldn't come up with the name of it if you threatened my life) where they like play out what would happen if a natural disaster hit a certain city... and one time they did I think a tornado in Washington, D.C. in like August at 5pm... it was so interesting.

#5- Hide your Grandpa.... I have the strangest habit of developing crushes on old men. And no I don't mean "older" men I mean, literally like someone's Grandpa. Let me just elaborate, although a little arrogant I have a crush on Alex Trebec. Additionally, the weather-man Bob Burnette Kurie (spelling) "BBK", yep, I cried when I heard he was retiring because I loved him so much. I also think Richard Geare and Jack Nicholson are just about the most charming men in the world. And if all that really wasn't creepy enough, I keep developing crushes on our forefathers when we talk about them in my US History class. (Although I feel as though I should say, we're currently through John Quincy Adams and I did NOT develop a crush on him!!)