Book Review

LA Candy by Lauren Conrad (from MTV's reality show The Hills)

A brief description:

Jane and Scarlett are best friends who move to Los Angeles, CA. Jane for an internship and Scarlett to attend college at USC. While out partying at an area night club they are approached by a TV producer who wants them to be in his next hit reality show. They are very skeptical in the beginning but finally decides to give it a shot and life as they had known it would change forever. For these former Santa Barbara kids life was about to be full of having to elude cameras and mikes just to have a little peace and quiet.

-This book started out a little slow. It took maybe a week to get past the first couple pages. Nothing held my attention longer than 5 minutes. Once I finally dove into it, it was a quick read and probably took me about a day and half to finish. (gotta prioritize right) lol There were a couple times I actually laughed out loud while reading. The first time I was embarrassed by it, after that I didn't care. lol To me it was like getting a behind the scene look at how a reality show comes together.

Jane's character is cute. She's a little boring but that's what makes her interesting. She's a bit naive when it comes to dating and knowing who is friend and who is foe. I tried comparing her character to Lauren but there was times when she could be Lauren or Heidi or Audrina. Overall, she becomes the big star of the show and that has its up and definitely its downs.

Scarlett was my fave to begin with. She is quirky, educated, beautiful and free spirited. Somewhere between the first and second episode she becomes really annoying. The only thing to keep me hanging with her is the fact that she is still a true blue friend to Jane. She was getting tired of the cameras invading her space and I got a feeling she will be cut by mid-book.

Overall, the book was came together well. After I got going it was hard to put it down. The ending was a serious cliffhanger! It definitely lets you know the SEQUEL is coming.

I'm rusty at "book reports" my hope is as time goes on I will get back to how I use to bang them out in school. lol I actually enjoy it. As it stands, I have 3 books on the list to read & review.

Next up, Never Make the Same Mistake Twice by reality tv star Nene Leakes of Real Housewives of Atlanta. I'm going to start reading in a little while, once my must-do list is complete.

Book Review

I am an avid reader. I love to read any and everything. I thought it would be fun to start implementing book reviews. Especially since I'm trying to motivate my 4th grader to read more and be able to tell about what he read and learned.

So my first book review will start in my next post and the book I will be reviewing is LA Candy by Lauren Conrad

I was a little skeptical about this book. The book is based loosely around the reality tv show The Hills. Now that show was one of my guilty pleasure but it didn't mean I wanted to read a book about it. lol I didn't do much research on the book cause hearing the name and then seeing the book cover just did not peak my interest. So I didn't really know what type of book it was. One day grocery shopping in Target I wandered over to the book section to grab a quick read and nothing really caught my eye. Thats when I saw Lauren's book and it was 30% off cover price so I figured how bad could it be.

I'm excited to incorporate this section into my blog as I love to read. So we'll see where this goes.

Update

Well we've survived 2 weeks of school so far. I meant to update last week and was just too lazy to. So our first back to school weekend was spent lounging around the house. I cleaned and did laundry most of Saturday including ironing all Cam's school clothes and K's work shirts and pants. I had it all done and put up except for the white clothes. I finished those up on Sunday. Then we just hung out doing misc things around the house. Sunday, Cam went with grandma and I cleaned the guest bathroom then took a nap. The evening was spent again lounging around and getting ready for the upcoming week.

Wednesday of last week I had the written test for my cosmetology license. I was so stressed out that Monday night I was up with anxiety til 4 in the morning. Tuesday night I was studying until a little after midnight. I finally said a prayer and let it go. Even though I let it go, the closer I got to the testing site, the more nervous I got. I sat in the parking lot for about 20 min lightly going over study material. Glanced over at my paper and realized it said to arrive 30 minutes prior or forfeit examination and fees. I looked at the clock and it was 8:56. So I made a mad dash for the building. I was the second person in line. I got registration completed and went in to take the computerized test. Was done within 30 minutes and PASSED! I almost passed out. lol I got in the car and started texting my husband and friends. I almost cried, I was so excited. But sleepiness was creeping in. I couldn't wait to get home and go to bed. But wouldn't you know it, got home, got in my pj's, got a bite to eat, laid down and was wide awake. But by bedtime, I was DONE. lol Out like a light and didn't hear the alarm clock the next morning.

Since my exam, I've really been laid back, enjoying my family and enjoying being at home because it's not going to be this way for long. Reality will set in and I will be licensed and working. My next and final exam is in 2 weeks then I can look forward to what the future holds as a cosmetologists.

This 3 day weekend we are just enjoying being home, hanging out. We watched 2 movies. I went for a haircut today. Then we had dinner at On The Border. Tomorrow I'm going to finish laundry and cut both the boys hair and we'll probably go for groceries to stock up on things we're out of for the week. Monday, we'll probably just lounge and hang out.

That's all I got for now...

Random-ish

So first day of school was Monday. Alarm was set for 6:30 and boy was that rough! The new school don't start at 8am like normal schools, but instead 7:55. So I was trying to get a fill for what time we all needed to be up, fed and dressed to have him on time. Well 6:30 was waaayyyyyy the hell too early. lol First I woke him up at 6:55. He wanted cereal. So I fix him a grand bowl of cereal. He was so excited he takes 2 bites and dumps the bowl into the disposer. Me, NOT SO MUCH! You do not waste food of any kind in this house, that damn cereal was $4! lol And I think he has a very clear understanding of that now. Anyway, this year since he's 9, some things needed to change. Before, we laid his clothes out at night and had them on the couch for him in the mornings. To make sure he actually got dressed and wasn't just sitting and watching tv. This year, he is assuming more responsibility. Getting dressed in his room, picking out his own shoes. Lotion, deordorant,teeth brushed,etc. Then come down for breakfast at a decent time. Its been working so far. Slowly I will start introducing him to picking out his own clothes for school, since I've cleaned out his closet and all school clothes are hung separate from weekend/play clothes.

Anyway, 1st day went great at the new school. He found a friend he already knew from daycare in his class. And according to him he made 6 new friends. He is excited about microwaves being available to them in the cafeteria at lunch time, and the class pet fish. The school is bigger, newer and his teacher is nice. He made me a happy mom. :)

Now onto some pics..

I created this layout today documenting his first day of 4th grade..the pictures aren't perfect and I think that's what I like about it, but that's a whole nother post in itself...

Most of the pictures I got from Monday look like this. With his back to me. The older he gets the more he wants me to leave the camera home. Well that won't happen..not at all. I'm savoring these moments because I know when he gets to high school there will be no more walking him to class.

From my graduation day at Paul Mitchell. It seem so long ago but it's only been 3 weeks. Thats my mom on the end next to me. Had I thought about it I would've taken a separate picture with just the girls from school. These are my babies. I started school with every single one of them except Sierra(the one behind my mom) There is so many things to be said about every single one of these girls. They all hold a special place in my heart and man we became such a huge part of each other's lives during that 10 months and Sierra less than that as she started after us but she still my babygirl. I was the first to graduate out of 26 of us, a major accomplishment.

Following tradition, leaving my handprint on the wall.

I think that's enough for now. I need to figure out how to schedule posts. So when I'm sleeping I can have post already done when I wake up.

That's all I got for now...

What a week

Starting Monday, I get a call from Cam's school. Never mind I was just there registering him on Friday. Well, he now has to go to a new school based on zoning. I was upset about it at first.

Pros:

• Maybe now he'll meet some kids from our phase/neighborhood. All his friends live in different phases in our neighborhood but none close enough to walk.
• New school is within walking distance, both schools are less than a mile but old school was too dangerous to walk to as it sits on the main street.
• New school is only a year old and bigger. (Something told me to switch him last year)
• New school was recognized as Exemplary by the state for the TAKS (same as old one)
• New school has computer and art camps during the summer.
• Counselor is a lot nicer and younger than the old school counselor, but I'm not feeling the registrar lady. (She don't won't no problems!)

Cons:

• Old school didn't tell me when I was there Friday, so I had to register all over again on Monday at the new school.
• He only has 2 more years in elementary school and now he has to be the "new" kid all over again.
• I had to return 4 shirts and 2 pair of shorts that my mom bought because they don't fit the new school dress code. (UGH!)
• I basically bought all uniforms cause that's really what they want them to wear. They can't wear t-shirts at all except of course the school t-shirt, but only on designated days. No cargo pants but they can wear carpenters. What's the difference!
• I had already purchased all his school supplies in late June/July only to find out the new schools supply list is way different and alot shorter. I'm not buying anything else!

Above all, he is excited and ready to go. So that makes me feel a whole lot better. According to him he already knows a few kids that attend so thats good.

On Tuesday I ran errands all day.

First up, Walmart, to exchange school clothes for uniforms. Now I like Walmart but they get an F in the customer service department. Why do all the cashiers act like you MADE them work for Walmart. You don't like your job, get a new one! I asked this lady which aisle was the parmesan cheese on and she told me the aisle with the pickles! Oookay.. No matter which Walmart I go into, the customer service always stink. Not all cashiers are attitudish, but alot of them are.

Then I went to Armstrong McCalls. A place where only licensed cosmetologists can shop. There is one close to where I live but it's alot smaller than the one by the school I attended, so I made the drive over there. Everytime I go in there they have a hard time finding my name. This time I was attitudish cause I was just in there a few weeks before. I almost felt bad because the cashier was so nice, but dang how hard is it to find one's name. So I got what I needed from there and on to the next stop.

Best buy: WHY ARE THEY SO FREAKIN EXPENSIVE! I was checking prices of ear pieces for husband and I. The cheapest one was 59.99. That they had in stock. Then I couldn't get a worker to help. Usually they hound you from every angle asking if you need help. So I ended up leaving without a purchase and probably won't be back to that location.

Dollar Tree: I initially stopped in here at the recommendation of my mom and because the only thing I considered buying from the new school's supply list is the multiplication flash cards. Well I found them here. I got the multiplication, subtraction and the division and they are spiderman, so that should be fun. I had also been looking for foam hand sanitizer and I found it of all places at Dollar Tree, so I got two, cause it'll be my luck I go back and they sold out or discontinued.

Kwik Kar: at the request of my husband. Wasn't so bad. They were done within 15 minutes. I got a $6 car wash for $3. And I was on my merry way.

All that in one day. Made me tired just to type it all out. And I had the nerve to stay up til 1 in the morning cleaning my office and organizing my scrapbook supplies. I'm a little rusty since I hadn't scrapped since school started last September. I missed it alot.

Today: I only left the house to drop off/pick up Cam from daycare. After I dropped him off, I came home and slept another 4 hours. Got up, scrapbooked the rest of the afternoon. I finally started my cosmetology school album and a few pages from my Chicago trip back in Mar. I need a few supplies to complete each album. Hopefully I can pick them up this week. I have my eye on a 3m atg 700 tape dispenser cause I'm tired of running out of adhesive after 2 or 3 layouts. That's alot of money.

Whew that's my week so far and there is still 2 days left in the week. Sat. we were invited to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese by a little boy that was at Cam's party. So we need to get a gift for him. And I have the pleasure of taking Cam alone since the husband has to work. Fun,Fun,Fun. lol

Well that's all I got for now.

It don't feel like the weekend. I guess cause I technically have nowhere to be come Monday. It feels good though for the time being.

This morning around 8:30 I woke up and had a strange craving for baked chicken. So that's what I had for breakfast, complete with hot sauce and water. Then I cleaned the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher. Around 11am I took a benadryl and went to sleep. I woke up thinking it was late but it was only 12:30. So I started laundry and cleaning a little bit. I made a list for each room in the house. Over the next week or so I'm going to deep clean and organize and dust, I'll probably also start posting decor inspiration as I want to redecorate a few rooms in the house.

Random pics...

Last Tuesday my girls got together and brought food and a cake for my graduation. Although it didn't turn out as we planned, I am most thankful for them thinking about me. Thanks Celisa, Toya and Yolanda! Yo, the cake was very creative and tasty.

My breakfast this morning. I didn't eat all of it, but I ate most.

The beautiful roses my boys brought me at graduation. They bloomed so beautifully.

I got my nails done yesterday and I think this is going to be my last summery set. I don't know about anyone else but I'm ready for fall. I love falls colors and the fall air.

I bought this scrapbook yesterday, I'm going to fill it with random pictures from the entire 10 months I was in school. I hope to start working on it today/night.

I think I've blogged enough this afternoon. Really just random thoughts,etc.

That's all I got for now....

A Graduate Amongst us!

So yesterday I graduated from cosmetology school. To be in school for the last 10 months then to have the actual graduation day go by in flash is crazy! I stayed at school Mon. thru Wed. from 9:15 in the morning to 10:00pm at night. I was deliriously tired, but I did what I had to do. My family came and Cam was so proud. They all were proud but I think my baby was the most proudest to see his mom graduate. Afterwards, we had lunch at Razzoos, then went home and took a nap cause the lack of sleep was catching up with me. We woke up and took Cam to see Harry Potter and the Half blood Prince, which I almost fell asleep on. Now he's dropping hints that GI Joe came out today. He can recruit his dad and uncle for that one. I want to see a chick flick. lol

The day after graduation(today) was weird. It went by so very slow. Cam stayed home with me so we got up and registered him for school which was by far the smoothest and quickest registration of all the years we've been registering. I cleaned out my stateboard bag since it was still a mess from Wednesday's test. That didn't take up anytime so we strolled on down to Tarjay and walked around a bit. I let him talk me into a GI Joe action figure. When we got home it was only 1:30!! WTH. I thought it was around 4pm. lol I spent the rest of the day watching DVR'd shows and surfing the web, while Cam played the Wii.

What's next? Hopefully a vacation. We'll see. Then I need to set up examination times to take my state test to become an official licensed hairstylist. :) In the midst of all that, I'm scoping out salons. So I'll probably blog about that experience as well.

That's all I go for now....

Intro Part 1

I've wanted to start this blog for a long time. Why? For us, for family and friends. Especially those we don't talk to or see often. What will this blog entail. Oh I don't know, everyday life, milestones, celebrations, etc. I'm pretty crafty and creative so maybe I'll throw some of that in there too. I hope this will be as fun and as interesting as I envision in my head. So we'll see where this leads us.