Title: Summer at Tiffany
Author: Marjorie Hart
Genre: Autobiographic, Memoir
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2007
Pages: 258

Acquired via the Link+ system at my friendly on campus library.  This books was acquired specifically for the Word Shakers online book club hosted by Sheila at  One Person’s Journey through Books and Coffee.

Do you remember the best summer of your life?

This question is presented in the opening pages of Marjorie Hart’s Summer at Tiffany. And in the 258 pages that follow, it becomes clear that Marjorie absolutely remembers the best summer of her life.  The summer of 1945 in New York City, Marjorie and her best friend Marty get the amazing opportunity to spend a summer in New York.  And to make that summer even more memorable, they get a job at Tiffany.  For two girls from Iowa, this summer is definitely an eye opening experience.  And I loved reliving it with Marjorie.

I’ve confessed this before to you all and I’m going to confess it again, I LOVE NEW YORK.  I’ve never been there but it lives in my mind as an icon of all this wonderful and fabulous.  I admit that this idea of New York comes from watching way too much Sex and the City mixed with obsessively reading books that happen to take place in New York.  And let me tell you, I hope to one day have my own summer adventure in New York.  But until then, I must live vicariously through authors who write about their experiences in the fabulous city.

And Marjorie’s account was absolutely breathtaking.  I treasured every page of memories of 1945 New York.  Now I am certain that visiting New York today is not going to be anything like Marjorie’s summer, which is why this book was so unique.  It took me a while to get through this book because I wanted to soak in every detail.  And I loved that there was even a section of pictures!  This book made me feel like i was one of Marjorie’s grandchildren getting a remarkable story of her past adventures.  It was intimate, charming, and a delight to read.  I especially enjoyed hearing about her celebrity spottings.

This book is certainly a gem and I feel so glad that I had the opportunity to read about Marjorie’s amazing adventures!

I have been pretty much MIA for the past two weeks.  I blame it on my new job and poor time management.  But mostly on my new job.  I’ve mentioned this before, but probably haven’t really explained it in full detail so I will take the time to do so now.  I am the Assistant Resident Director of Swig Hall aka the Cyphi Community.  And let me tell, you this job is a big deal.  Probably one of the most important jobs I have ever had.  It’s a promotion from my position last year as Community Facilitator aka CF (known to the rest of the world as a Resident Assistant (RA)).  Anyway, because this job requires a lot more work, the training is longer and more extensive.  So my training started on August 16th, my birthday.  And since the training (we call it formation) started, I have had very little free time.  And since I’m also doing the game on diet, a lot of that free time has been spent exercising or making sure that I find a way to get those precious seven hours of sleep.

So how am I finding the time to write this post right now?  Well, we do get weekends off.  And the CFs are coming for their training this week so that means that I get a little bit of a break.  Granted, I will play a huge role in their formation, but for now, I’m just trying to get ahead on all my work so that I can have some time to cater to my blog.  Because while blogging can be tough and time consuming, it always puts a smile on my face.  And let me tell you, after long days of learning about duty coverage and judicial sanctions, I could use a smile.

So now it’s time to share: What puts a smile on your face?  AND What are your best time management tricks?

Today, August 16, 2010 I turn twenty-one years old.  It is insane to think that I’ve been alive that long.  While I am glad for all the amazing things I have done, I can’t help but also think of all the incredible things that I haven’t done.  There are so many adventures I haven’t gone on, so many opportunities I’ve passed up.  Whatever my reasons might have been at the time, I just want to forget about all the excuses and try my best to just do more in the future.  I want to be the kind of girl who jumps head first into things without fear of the consequences.

I guess that is my birthday wish this year.  So instead of drinking way too much at a bar, I’m being responsible tonight.  I have a huge work day ahead of me tomorrow and I want to start off the week on a good note, not a hung over one.  Even better, I’m writing this post in which I get to share some extremely exciting news with all of you.  My blog anniversary was a little over a week ago.  Can you believe it, one whole year of blogging?  It seems like just yesterday that I started this blog and already I’ve discovered so many amazing features of the blogging community.  Still, I haven’t been able to focus on blogging as much as I want to.  I’m getting better about it this summer, but there is still so much I want to do.

So instead of whining about it, I’m going to host my first giveaway ever!

I’m a huge fan of Aidan Donnelley Rowley’s blog, Ivy League Insecurities, and when she wrote up a post about publicity for Life After Yes, I was eager to help.  I recently purchased the book for my iPad and although I haven’t been able to finish it yet because of all the hectic craziness in my life I have really enjoyed the chapters that I have read thus far.  Anyway, she agreed to send me several copies to give away.  So, it is with extreme pleasure that I offer 8 paperback copies of Life After Yes to you my wonderful readers on my birthday!

To enter, please just leave a comment (with your e-mail!) telling me about a memorable birthday of yours (extra props if said memorable birthday happens to be your 21st birthday!).  This giveaway will be open until August 30, 2010 at 12:00AM PST.  I will pick the winners at random after that time and will notify them via e-mail so if you don’t leave your e-mail, you can’t win.

Title: Damsel Under Stress (Book 3 in the Enchanted, Inc series)
Author: Shanna Swendson
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Year: 2007
Pages: 306
Acquired via the Link+ system at my friendly neighborhood library.

These books are becoming more and more irresistible to me in the worst possible way.  The last book irritated me beyond believe, but the ending hinted that there would be more of dreamy wizard Owen Palmer, so I had no choice but to read on …

And I was right, this book had it’s fair share of the handsome yet mysterious and extremely nerdy Owen.  But Katie didn’t seem to learn her lesson.  And while I adored her Southern charm in the first book, Enchanted, Inc., it has been wearing on me and I couldn’t really stand it any longer in this installment.  I kind of wanted to slap Katie and shake her until she realized that she was being kind of stupid.  But I guess when you’re living in the midst of a magical war that you’re trying to keep from your very best friends and family, things can get a little muddled.

And if things didn’t get shaken up a little, this book wouldn’t be possible.  And the adventurous aspects that I felt were missing in the last book were definitely present in this one.  We get a lot more magical mayhem; possibly more than we might actually want.  But the gem of this book is the blossoming love story. I only wish after reading this book that Owen Palmer was a real man.  I love it when a book can make you fall for its leading man.  Again, I also loved the glimpses of city life in New York, especially since this time we got to see New York around Christmas time.

While this book had its flaws, I was still frantically turning the pages to find out what would happen next.  I’m definitely going to be picking up the next installment, Don’t Hex with Texas very soon so I can find out what happens next.

Title: The Game On Diet
Authors: Krista Vernoff and Az Ferguson
Genre: Nonfiction, Health and Fitness
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books
Year: 2009
Pages: 352
This book was acquired for my iPad from the iBooks store.

I have to admit that I have some serious body issues.  I’ve had these issues since the sixth grade.  I always compared my body to other girls and the other girls always had an advantage.  When I was figure skating, I had amazing legs, but my abs weren’t toned enough.  And when I quit figure skating, everything seemed to go downhill from there.  And college has not been good to me.  The late night study sessions have turned into outrageous snackfests that have left me at my heaviest weight ever.  And I’m not a total couch potato either, I hit the gym several times a week.  So I knew that I needed to find a diet that would force me to focus on improving my horrible eating habits.

This book does just that.  Although it is a diet plan, The Game On Diet is designed to be more of a game than a diet.  You get points for making healthy choices.  Brian and I are currently playing against each other: if he loses, he buys me a pair of shoes and if I lose, I buy him a video game.  Let me tell you, we are both motivated.  And that is what is great about this book: it motivates you in several ways instead of just one.  And so far, it seems to be working.  I miss my sweet deserts, but I’m sure that when I fit into my skinny jeans again, I won’t be complaining.

And the book was actually fun to read!  Who knew that a diet book could have you literally laughing out loud.  Maybe it is because Krista Vernoff is a writer on Grey’s Anatomy, one of my favorite shows possibly ever.  Her witty humor shines in this book and actually made me read it from beginning to end (most diet books bore me to death and end up sitting on my bookshelf unfinished!).  But not this one.  I have actually reread section of this book because they were either extremely helpful or they were just that funny.

So the verdict is that I highly recommend this book to anyone struggling with body issues.  It is not a cure all, but it is definitely a step in the right direction and one that I’m really excited to be finally making!  Also, if anyone wants to set up a game with me in the future, I’d love to play with a team.  Brian and I decided it would be the most convenient to just play our first game against each other, but I would love to try it out from the team perspective in the future!