Monthly Recap: So...what happened in August? #Recap

Well, another month has come and gone, so it's time to do my recap once again! August is already over, so this is what happened for me this past month. :)

What I did this month:

I really didn't do much during most of this month. I worked, slept, read, and hung out with friends for the most part. The biggest thing I did this month was go on vacation. :) My family and I went to Cuba!! The weather was glorious!!! :D I talked about it a bit in the post that I wrote when I got back, aptly titled "I'm Back!!! :D". 

Oooh, I also enrolled in my Winter semester classes for Ryerson's Publishing Certificate Program, so right now I'm all set for Fall and Winter..and I'm getting anxious to see what the classes are going to be like! :)

What I read this month:

While I didn't read as much as the crazy amount I read last month, I did get quite a bit of reading done! I managed to finish 13 books! :) 

1. What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick
2. The Swift Boys and Me by Kody Keplinger
3. Summer Love by Jill Santopolo
4. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 3 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Renewal Editions #3) by Naoko Takeuchi, and William Flanagan
5. Doctor Who Series 3 Volume 1: The Hypothetical Gentleman (Doctor Who Series 3 #1) by Andy Diggle, Brandon Seifert, Mark Buckingham, and Philip Bond 
6. Doctor Who II Volume 3: It Came from Outer Space by Dan McDaid, Josh Adams, Matthew Dow Smith, and Paul Grist
7. Game Changer by Collette West
8. Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss #3) by Stephanie Perkins
   

9. Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon
10. If I Stay (If I Stay #1) by Gayle Forman
11. The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner #1) by James Dashner
12. The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1) by Lois Lowry
13. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 4 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Renewal Editions #4) by Naoko Takeuchi

I have to admit that a couple of these books were a bit of a disappointment to me...I did love most of them though! :D What I Thought Was True and The Swift Boys and Me were both two books that I was extremely excited to read, and while I enjoyed them, I didn't love them as much as I thought I would. :( 

 

I did absolutely LOVE Isla and the Happily Ever After though!!! It was definitely worth the wait for me. :D I loved Collette West's Game Changer, and I'm really loving the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon mangas! They're sooo fun! :D I also managed to read Outlander, If I Stay, The Maze Runner, and The Giver (this one was a reread actually :P) during my vacation so I couple watch the TV Show and movie adaptations for them all....and I loved all 4! I've already started watching Outlander, and I absolutely LOVE it...Sam Heughan is the PERFECT Jamie, and I love Caitriona Balfe as Claire, too!!! :D Now, I can't wait to see the rest of the adaptations I'm ready for!! :D

What I watched this month:

- Sailor Moon -- I tried to ease up on my Sailor Moon watching this month, so I only watched a bit. I'll have to get back to it though so that I can finally see the later seasons. :)
- Guardians of the Galaxy -- I LOVED IT!!!! :D I'm already looking forward to seeing it again. :D
- How to Train Your Dragon 2 -- Yup, again. :P I watched it when it went into theatres before, and I couldn't resist seeing it again. :)
- Outlander -- LOVING IT SO MUCH!!!!! I'm pretty much obsessed with Outlander and Jamie Fraser right now...and by proxy Sam Heughan as Jamie. :P haha
- Doctor Who!!! -- Season 8 of the revival of Doctor Who has finally started, and I've been loving it so far. I don't feel like we know a whole lot about Peter Capaldi's Doctor yet, but it's definitely interesting to see where he's taking the character. And I loved how the first episode pretty much directly addressed the issues that some fans had with Capaldi when he was announced as the Doctor. I have to admit...the only real "issue" I had was the fact that Capaldi was on the show in one of David Tennant's seasons (in the episode "The Fires of Pompeii") and I wanted an explanation...so hopefully they'll eventually let us know why he "picked" the face that he has now. :P

What else did I do:

I had a pretty relaxed month, and I just enjoyed not really doing a whole lot. I tried to relax. I didn't make myself blog too much last month either...especially after my vacation. Getting back onto the computer made me feel kinda lazy and a bit fidgety after not being on it for a whole week! haha

I did fangirl over Outlander (both the book and the show :P) in the last bit of this month though...and I think from these images you can understand why: 

I already thought men (especially Scottish men) in kilts were attractive, but Jamie (and Sam Heughan himself ;p) takes it to a whole new level. ;)

So, what did you do in August?

Read anything interesting?

Watch anything good?

Go anywhere special?

And who else is fangirling over Outlander right now?! I seriously can't believe I waited this long to get into it! ;D

Monthly Recap: So...what happened in July? #Recap

July went super fast!! I swear, I blinked and it was over! haha

So, here's what happened to me in July:

What I did this month:

 - I bought a milk frother!

And I made lots of homemade lattes!! I have to say, they're pretty delicious! ;D

- I saw WICKED with my mom :)

And I also clearly got an awesome tshirt and bag to prove it. ;) haha

- I organized my tea collection ;)

I bought this storage container, and as soon as I put all of the tea I owned in...it was already full, but I've made room for a few more since then. ;)

- I went to K Days with my friend, Alisa! :)

We didn't go on as many rides as we would've liked because it was super busy, but we still had a blast! :D I also won a minion! :D

What I read this month:

I read lots!!! 24 books to be exact! :D And I finally found a way to make my cover collages look pretty on my mac, so hopefully you like how I set them up!

1. Biggest Flirts (Superlatives #1) by Jennifer Echols
2. Doll Bones by Holly Black
3. The 100 (The Hundred #1) by Kass Morgan
4. This Summer by Katlyn Duncan
5. Serenity: Those Left Behind (Serenity #1) by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, and Will Conrad
6. Serenity: Better Days (Serenity #2) by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, and Will Conrad
7. The Missing Piece Meets the Big O by Shel Silverstein
8. Breathe, Annie, Breathe (Hundred Oaks #5) by Miranda Kenneally -- My Review!!!
   

9. The Chapel Wars by Lindsey Leavitt
10. Stolen Songbird (The Malediction Trilogy #1) by Danielle L. Jensen
11. The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein
12. Sea of Shadows (Age of Legends #1) by Kelley Armstrong
13. Teaching Roman (Good Girls Don't #2) by Gennifer Albin
14. Unwrapping Liam (Good Girls Don't #1.5) by Gennifer Albin
15. Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale (Serenity #3) by Joss Whedon, Chris Samnee, Dave Stewart, Steve Morris, and Zack Whedon
16. Four: A Divergent Story Collection (Divergent #0.1-0.4) by Veronica Roth
    

17. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 1 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Renewal Editions #1) by Naoko Takeuchi, and William Flanagan
18. Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1 (Twilight: The Graphic Novel #1) by Young Kim, and Stephenie Meyer
19. Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 2 (Twilight: The Graphic Novel #2) by Young Kim, and Stephenie Meyer
20. New Moon: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1 (Twilight: The Graphic Novel #3) by Young Kim, and Stephenie Meyer
21. Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories by Zack Whedon
22. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 2 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Renewal Editions #2) by Naoko Takeuchi, and William Flanagan
23. In the Shadows by Kiersten White and Jim Di Bartolo
24. Forever Sheltered (The Forever Series #3) by Deanna Roy

 It's pretty exciting! This year, I'm getting seriously ahead in my Goodreads reading challenge!! :D I challenged myself to read 150 books this year, and so far I'm at 109!! Here's my challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/1107051. I also read a lot of books that I've been meaning to get to, like Sea of Shadows, The Chapel Wars, In the Shadows, and Doll Bones! I've also been venturing into more graphic novels, and I've even been reading the Sailor Moon Pretty Guardian mangas! :D I was pretty happy with all of the books I've read this month, too! Most were five star reads on Goodreads for me! ;) If I had to pick favourites though, I would go with Biggest Flirts, Four, Stolen Songbird, and Breathe, Annie, Breathe. They were all amazing! :D

What I watched this month:

- Wicked (the musical) -- this is the second time that I saw this musical on its way around Western Canada, and I loved it this time, too. I did prefer the actors from the first time I saw it better, but this cast was amazing, too. :)
- Sex Tape --- LOVED THIS SO MUCH!! :D I thought Sex Tape was hilarious, and I'm definitely glad I saw it! :D
- Merlin -- I finally finished watching Merlin, and I found the ending so bittersweet. I both loved, and felt tortured by it. haha
- The Witches of East End -- My mom and I watched season one of this show on Netflix over the span of a weekend, and I really enjoyed it! I can't wait to start watching season 2! :D

- Sailor Moon (Seasons 1, 2 and the Sailor Moon R movie) --- So...I spent a bit of money and bought all of the Sailor Moon series and movies...and I spent a fair chunk of this month watching the first two seasons! haha It definitely brought me back to when I was young watching Sailor Moon on YTV! haha

What else did I do:

- I've been getting excited about movies coming out later this year! The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and Into the Woods teaser trailers came out...and I can't wait to watch them!! :D

- And I've been getting ready for my vacation in a little over a week!! :D (I'll tell you all about it more when I'm back...with pictures!! :D)

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So, that was July for me?
What did you do, or read in July?
 And who else challenged themselves on Goodreads?

Monthly Recap: So...what happened in June? #Recap (with a brief Recap of May, too :P)

I've decided that I'm going to start doing recap posts every month. I'll probably mix the format up lots, but I'm gonna keep it simple and stick to the stuff that I found exciting, what I read, and what I've been kind of obsessed with over the month...so this is what I've done in June! :D

First, you might have noticed that I didn't post a recap for May! I was a bit late at starting my post...and eventually June was almost over, so I didn't see much of a point in making  one anymore. :P But, I'll give you a quick rundown! I didn't do a whole lot in May, but I was very busy with work and I also read tonnes that month!!

Here's a short list of what I did in May:

• celebrated my 23rd birthday!! Wooohooo! 
• finally started watching the Matt Smith seasons of Doctor Who!! 
• watched Neighbors (and loved it!) ---I'm always happy to see more of Zac Efron ;D haha
• read 29 books! I'd list them all, but I'm trying to be brief, so my favourite reads from May
• I loved this one so much!!! For me, it was the perfect ending to the series, and I already can't wait to read Cassandra Clare's next upcoming Shadowhunter trilogy!
• were:
• City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare --- I LOVED THIS ONE! It was exactly what I wanted from the final book in TMI, and I already can't wait to read Cassandra Clare's next upcoming Shadowhunter series!
• Plus One by Elizabeth Fama --- I loved this one, too!!! I read this one with my friend Zoë from Writing Whimsy in our year-long read-a-long! ;D
• Sweet Filthy Boy (Wild Seasons #1) by Christina Lauren --- LOVED THIS! I'm a huge Christina Lauren fan! The two co-authors are hilarious, and I love their writing style! This was an awesome start to a new series!
• Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller --- I absolutely LOVED this book, too! I figured I would like it from the description, and I ended up loving it even more than I thought I would. :D
• The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus #3) by Rick Riordan --- After spoiling myself on Instagram for the ending of this book I kinda stopped reading it for a while, but in May I finally picked it up and finished! And it was heartbreaking, but also AMAZING!
• The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus #4) by Rick Riordan --- LOVED THIS ONE!!! I just had to catch-up in this series because the final book is out in October, and I can't wait!!!
• The Rising (Darkness Rising #3) by Kelley Armstrong --- I finally finished this trilogy, and I loved it so much!! This was another one that Zoë and I read together! :)

And I think that's all I can remember from May! :P

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Now, on to my June recap! :P

What I did this month:

- CONVOCATED!!! :D I'm officially a University Graduate now!! ;D

- registered for Ryerson University's Chang School's Publishing program...woo hoo!! :D
- got a new laptop! My old laptop had been acting up for a while and hadn't been charging, so I caved and bought a Macbook Pro! I'm enjoying it, but I'm definitely still adjusting to some stuff...most editing pictures. I still haven't found a program to replace Paint.net, which I used on my PC. :P
- GOT MY FIRST AND SECOND TATTOOS! ;)

Woof is just above my left wrist, and READ./DRINK TEA./BE HAPPY. is on my right forearm just below my elbow. I totally love them! :D And I've already got several other tattoo ideas I wouldn't mind getting. ;)

What I read this month:

 12 books! :) 

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

 Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? by Shel Silverstein

 The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

A Giraffe and a Half by Shel Silverstein

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 3 by Daniel Abraham (Adapter), Tommy Patterson (Illustrations), George R.R. Martin

Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein

Falling Up by Shel Silverstein

Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

Pants on Fire by Meg Cabot

I was doing a big Shel Silverstein read over May and June, so lots of them showed up this month. I've got a couple of his books left to read, but I've now almost read them all! :) I love his quirky poems, but I must admit...some are seriously disturbing. :P

My favourites this month were Through to You, and Maybe Someday! :) Maybe Someday was my first Colleen Hoover book and I absolutely LOVED it, and Through to You was by one of my longtime favourite contemporary authors, Lauren Barnholdt...and it definitely lived up to my expectations. :D 

What I watched this month:

 - finished Doctor Who! I'm all caught up with the new series of Doctor Who, and I'm all ready for the Twelfth Doctor! :D

- Maleficient (x2) -- I watched Maleficient twice this month and loved it both times. I also can't wait for the live action version of Cinderella they're planning!!! :D

- How to Train Your Dragon 2 --- LOVED THIS SO MUCH!!! This was definitely my favourite out of everything I watched this month. I cried, I laughed...I just loved it so much! :D I also loved that Kit Harington (my beloved Jon Snow in Game of Thrones ;P) was one of the voice actors for a newer character. I'm always a sucker for Kit. ;) haha

- The Fault in Our Stars -- I loved this one, too, but in a completely different way than How to Train Your Dragon 2. I loved seeing Hazel and Gus brought to life! The acting was superb, and the whole film was just perfect. And I totally fell for Augustus even more after watching the movie. :)

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So, that's what I did in June!
I convocated, worked quite a bit, got a new laptop, watched Doctor Who and some amazing movies, read some books, and got tattooed! :) 

What did you do in June?

Monthly Recap: So...what happened in April? #Recap

I've decided that I'm going to start doing recap posts every month. I'll probably mix the format up lots, but I'm gonna keep it simple and stick to the stuff that I found exciting, what I read, and what I've been kind of obsessed with over the month...so this is what I've done in January! :D

What I did this month:

This month was pretty crazy for me! I finished my classes for the semester, and then wrote my finals...and with all of that, I completed the final semester for my Bachelor of Arts degree!!! :D I still don't quite feel like it's finished, but I'm definitely super happy about it! My Convocation date is early June, and I'm pretty excited! :D

What I read this month:

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices: Manga #2) by Cassandra Clare and Hyekyung Baek
If Only by A.J. Pine
The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars #1) by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
 Hothouse Flower (Calloway Sisters #2) by Krista and Becca Ritchie
Love, Stargirl (Stargirl #2) by Jerry Spinelli
Matilda by Roald Dahl
The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy #1) by Marie Rutkoski
Unnatural (Holloway Pack #4) by J.A. Belfield
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood (Sisterhood #2) by Ann Brashares
Legacy Code (Legacy Code Saga #1) by Autumn Kalquist
Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood (Sisterhood #3) by Ann Brashares
Iron King #3 (The Iron Fey Manga #3) by Julie Kagawa, Sara Gundell, and Lidia Chan
Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood (Sisterhood #4) by Ann Brashares
Sisterhood Everlasting (Sisterhood #5) by Ann Brashares
Hold Me Tight (Take Me Now #3) by Faith Sullivan

 I got a tonne of reading done this month!!! FIFTEEN!!! Whew!! Yay!! :D I kind of went on a binge read and devoured the last four books in the Sisterhood series. :P I also read a bunch of ones I was really anticipating, like The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, Hothouse Flower, The Winner's Curse, Unnatural, and Hold Me Tight! For the most part, I loved these books! I think the only one I was disappointed with was Love, Stargirl...it was just so different from Stargirl, and I really didn't like the format. It was written as a really, really long letter, but it read more as daily or almost-daily journal entries. April was an awesome reading month though! :D

What I watched this month:

- I watched Captain America: The Winter Soldier twice (and rewatched Captain America), and I loved it both times!! :D I also religiously watched Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this month! I'm a pretty big Marvel fan, so I'm always super excited for any movies, or information coming out about their stuff! :D

- I finally caught up to season 4 of MTV's Awkward!! I'm a huge fan of the show, but I fell a bit behind, and had to watch half of season 3 and start the new season! :D

- I watched Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters, and I liked it. I wonder if they'll continue with the movies...I know most people were a bit shocked when they made the second one, so I guess we'll see if the third one gets made. :P

- I watched Transcendence -- It was okay, but I have to be honest, this was one of those movies that I wouldn't have been too upset if I hadn't watched it. I just felt like a lot of it was filler, and unnecessary, but the story was definitely interesting...and kinda freaky. haha

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And that's all I really did this month! School pretty much dominated most of it, and then I totally went crazy with reading once I got some free time! haha   

 What was your April like?

Did you do anything exciting?

Monthly Recap: So...what happened in March? #Recap

I've decided that I'm going to start doing recap posts every month. I'll probably mix the format up lots, but I'm gonna keep it simple and stick to the stuff that I found exciting, what I read, and what I've been kind of obsessed with over the month...so this is what I've done in January! :D

What I did this month:

This month was super weird for me! I always get more lethargic as the end of the semester approaches, especially during the Winter semester, and this time around it's been bad! I've just felt super duper lazy! On the plus side, I've kept up with my readings at the very least, but I haven't really been reading a lot outside of my class readings. I think it's because I actually got together with friends quite a bit this month, which has been pretty awesome...and I watched a whole lot of movies!

What I read this month:

This month I read six books...so, not too bad, but I definitely wanted to read more. :P Here's hoping I get a lot more read in April because I am super behind in my Goodreads challenge. haha

These are the books I read this month: 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam Trilogy #1) by Margaret Atwood

Night Games by Collette West

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Four of these books are for my classes...so I'm definitely serious in saying that I was doing class readings this month, and I'm feeling chatty, so I'm going to share a bit about each book. :P

• I did finally end up finishing Frankenstein, and I liked it. I didn't really love it or anything, but I did enjoy it. I think if I ever reread it, I'll try the 1818 version because the one I read was the 1831 version of text, and it was modified quite a bit. For all I know, the differences that were made could've been the reason that I wasn't a huge fan. :P 
• I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep for my Comparative Literature class on Science Fiction and I really enjoyed it! It was different, but very interesting. 
• I finally read The Fault in Our Stars this month, too!!! :D It made me sob like a baby, but I still absolutely loved it, and I can't wait to see the movie!  
• Oryx & Crake was also for my Sci-fi class, and I wasn't really a huge fan. I just found the main character so unlikable that I just didn't enjoy it all that much. I did like it, but more because I thought that Atwood's world was so intricate and interesting, and I really enjoyed reading about the Crakers, too...but seriously, she could've done so much better with Jimmy. :S
• I really enjoyed Night Games! It was a light, easy read, and a sports romance, so I had a blast reading it. :)
• PERSUASION!!! :D It's been too long since I've read on of Austen's books! I reread Persuasion for my Romantic Lit class, and I loved reading it again!!! :D It's been a while since I first read this one, so I loved my little "revisit" when I reread it this time around. :D

What I watched this month:

Like I said, I saw A LOT of movies this month! I watched Veronica Mars twice, saw That Awkward Moment and Pompeii with my friend Alisa, and I saw Divergent with one of my good friends and fellow Edmonton blogger, Cassie, from Vamps, Weres, and Cassay! I also watched some movies for my film studies class, and I finally caught up on the BITTEN tv show, and The Carrie Diaries! Plus, I watched Frozen several times (I'm not telling you specifically how many :P) since I bought it! haha :)

I gushed over movies in these posts this month: 

• Random Sundays: VERONICA MARS!!
• Fangirl Fridays (4): DIVERGENT!
• Fangirl Fridays (2): FROZEN!

What else did I do:

I didn't do a whole lot this month. I'm getting closer to the end of my undergraduate degree, so keeping up with school has pretty much been dominating everything other than my movie watching this month. ;P haha I really did enjoy getting to catch up with so many friends this month though! It made the month go by so quickly though....and I must admit, I'm starting to get an eensy bit nervous about finishing my BA. :P I'm trying to not stress and get nervous though! haha

I did interview two of my favourite characters from Krista and Becca Ritchie's Addicted series and spin-off books this month though, and it's one of my favourite blog posts ever! So, here's the link to my Ryke & Daisy Character Interview -- just a warning, Ryke likes to use a certain word beginning with the letter "F" just in case you're sensitive to swearing :P

So, my March was dominated by movies, what did you do this month?

Anything exciting????

Monthly Recap: So...what happened in February? #recap

Instead of doing a "Random Sunday" post I decided to just put it in here because I was planning to do a recap anyway. :D As I said last month, I've decided that I'm going to start doing recap posts every month. I'm going to keep it pretty simple and stick to the stuff that I found exciting, what I read, and what I've been kind of obsessed with over the month...so this is what I've done in February! :D

What I did this month:

My month wasn't too crazy. :P I had class, worked, and got a week off for Reading Week, where I pretty much just slept, read, and relaxed. It was just what I needed after the crazy hectic week I had right before my week off. 

The biggest thing I've really done this month is that last week I introduced a bunch of new posts to my blog! 

Here's a recap of the new posts: 

Mani Monday: Gradients and Dots

Cover Catch-Up: These Covers are Heating Up!

Tea Tuesdays! - Redberry Tonic

Waiting on Wednesday - CoHF

Discussion - Procrastination

What I'm Listening To: Score Galore!

 Fangirl Fridays - Veronica Mars!

What I read this month:

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown

Trust in Me (Wait for You #1.5) by J. Lynn (a.k.a. Jennifer L. Armentrout)

Solving for Ex by Leigh Ann Kopans

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Melting the Ice (Play by Play #7) by Jaci Burton

The Witches by Roald Dahl

So, I ended up reading the same amount that I read last month, and since February was a short month, that's not bad at all! I'm still apparently 6 books behind on my Goodreads challenge though. :P

What I watched this month:

- rewatched Catching Fire with my good friend, Alisa, and it was even better the second time! I can't wait to get my copy when it releases in a couple of weeks!! D

- watched Austenland with Keri Russel, and it was so adorable! I loved it!

- I didn't watch a whole lot of TV though because most shows weren't on with the Olympics, and I honestly didn't watch a lot of the Olympics either because it started during the week when I had a tonne of assignments...and once you miss the opening, you never really get into the hang of watching it. I did watch some though. :)

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And that's all I really did this month! It went soooooo fast! 

Here's hoping March is awesome...and that's it's warmer than February was! It's not off to a good start here in Edmonton...right now it's -24 degrees Celsius outside...and apparently it feels like -36, so it's pretty cold! Hopefully, you're much warmer wherever you are!

And what did you do in February?

Anything exciting or did you have a pretty mellow month like I did?

Monthly Recap: So...what happened in January? #recap

I've decided that I'm going to start doing recap posts every month. I'll probably mix the format up lots, but I'm gonna keep it simple and stick to the stuff that I found exciting, what I read, and what I've been kind of obsessed with over the month...so this is what I've done in January! :D

What I did this month:

- I spent my Christmas holidays at my parents' house and I got lots of family and puppy time! :)

- I got together with some of the lovely Edmonton Book Bloggers for our Christmas meetup, and was spoiled by my secret santa, Mandy (from Forever Young Adult)! :D

- I became completely obsessed with DOCTOR WHO!!! And since I'm totally smitten with David Tennant now, I'm giving myself a small break so that I can deal with the Doctor's regeneration. I'm finished Season 4 of the newer series of the show, and have paused until I'm ready to move on.

And check out my awesome pink Tardis phone case that I just got:

- I started my very last semester for my Bachelor of Arts degree!!! Exciting...but also a bit nerve-wracking. I'm in the last stretch guys, and then real life begins!!!

- My awesome friend, Zoë (from In the Next Room and Writing Whimsy) and I are planning out a year-long read-a-long with a ginormous list of books that we'd both like to read this year, and that we'll discuss once we finish. We also might turn it into a blog thing, so we'll see about that. :)

We just finished our first book, too!

What I read this month:

Addicted for Now (Addicted #2) by Krista and Becca Ritche

Shaken Not Stirred (Mixology #1) by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Forever Loved (Forever Series #2) by Deanna Roy

Holiday Games (Play by Play #6.5) by Jaci Burton

Master Zacharius by Jules Verne

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

Kiss the Sky by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Devil's Frost (Spellspinners of Melas County #3) by Heidi R. Kling

Salvage by Alexandra Duncan

I ended up reading 9 books total this month, plus a few excerpts of books for some of my classes, and textbooks of course. :P All in all, I was pretty happy with reading nine because I totally was in a slump for a bit, but I think I'm finally out of it!!! :D

I also read some amazing books this month! Addicted for Now, Forever Loved, Kiss the Sky, and Salvage were all amazing!!! :D

What I watched this month:

- DOCTOR WHO -- As mentioned, I became obsessed!!!

- I, FRANKENSTEIN --- It was kind of strange at times, but I did enjoy it. I liked how they were adjusting the story of Frankenstein. I'm also doing the book in two of my classes, so I found this movie even more interesting because of that.

- THE BUTLER -- I watched this one with my mom, and while it wasn't really a movie I expected to love, I did really enjoy it. It was incredibly interesting, and was a beautiful film.

- SHERLOCK!!!!!!! -- I resisted watching Sherlock until it was on PBS, so now  I'm devouring it every week!!! :D I seriously missed this show so much! :D

- DOWNTON ABBEY -- I've already watched season 4, and discussed it with my Downton Abbey bestie, Eilidh from Recovering Potter Addict, but I'm rewatching the season now, and I'm loving it all over again! :D

- My shows are all coming back on from their midseason breaks!!! NASHVILLE, and GRIMM in particular are ones that I've been eagerly awaiting!!! I also can't wait for ONCE UPON A TIME to come back on!!! :D

I had some fun with Grimm/David Giuntoli gifs in my Forever Loved posts this month, and my EBB pal, Mandy, really enjoyed them, so here's a gif of David Giuntoli just for you, Mandy! ;D

What else did I do:

- I painted my nails a bunch...and am super hooked on Julep's nail polish right now! ;D

- I also drank lots and lots of tea from David's Tea. :P

Here's my collection of tea right now!! :)

I'm thinking of posting on my blog about tea a bit (and maybe nails too even :D), but I haven't decided how yet. Keep an eye peeled for some blog changes some time soon! :D

Okay, so that's a bit of what I did in January! I had a pretty great month...it went WAYYYY too fast though! haha I hope January was great for you, too!

Cheers! It's been a bit chilly here lately, and I know it's been cold lots of other places, too, so I hope you've got a warm cup of tea waiting for you, as well!

Here's to an awesome, February! :)

What did you do in January?
Did you read any great books,
become obsessed with any shows,
or just do something seriously awesome? :)

Maggie Stiefvater Signing RECAP!

I'm always a bit slow posting these recaps, but last Thursday Megan from Megan Likes Books and I went to Maggie Stiefvater's signing at the Indigo in CrossIron Mills Mall (it's just a bit outside of Calgary for anyone wondering), and we had an amazing time!! :D

Indigo did an amazing job hosting the event, and it was just a fantastic atmosphere! And so much fun!

Megan & I showed up super duper early! I was driving from Edmonton, so we wanted to make sure that we got good seats...and we did! Right at the front! :D We had quite a few books to get signed, and even got some signed for a few of our fellow Edmonton Book Bloggers! :D We also had plenty of time to get caught up, which was great! :D

Here's a picture of Megan (left) and I waiting to meet Maggie! We were the entire line for a bit there....but we were also REALLY REALLY early! haha This photo was taken by the lovely Megan and posted on her Twitter.

Before Maggie came out, we had some trivia for Chapters/Indigo gift cards, which was really fun! 

 

 Here's the audience for the signing holding up their favourite book of Maggie's! Photo from Indigo Events' Twitter (@indigogreenroom).

Then we got to see Maggie! She told us some hilarious stories (like the one about "The Knife Incident" and her feinting goats), did an audience reading, and answered some questions!

 Here's Maggie!!! :D She's a fantastic public speaker, funny, and just so entertaining! She told us about her struggles writing Forever (she felt like the fans were watching her while she was writing, so she took twice as long as usual to write it because she ended up taking it back from her editor to make it better :P), how she found out Linger was #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers list, and she even mentioned how Hollywood is extremely complicated and that she likes book-to-movie adaptations as long as they keep the same "flavour" as the book, which she said was the reason she pulled the options for Shiver before---apparently Sam was a homeless guy digging up a can of peaches, and that just didn't feel like Shiver at all... and I definitely have to agree with her. :P

As I mentioned before, she had an audience reading! So, members of the audience helped participate in a reading of her book...and I got to be a part of it! We read from one of the chapters in The Dream Thieves, and I was Persephone! :D (Once again, I borrowed this picture from Megan.)

The event itself was really well put together, and it was definitely worth my three hour drive! ;D
Maggie was also nice enough to sign all of our books at once (without a limit), so Megan and I didn't even have to line up again...and we totally thought we'd have to because we had 9 books each! ;D

Meeting Maggie was awesome though! She was really easy to talk to and so fun!!!

 They took some candid photos of us while we were talking to Maggie, and this one was my favourite! I just love both of our expressions...I look seriously fangirly and happy...and totally entertained by Maggie, and Maggie looks like she's saying something intense. :D

 Here are a couple of the books I got signed! :D The Scorpio Races is my favourite because of the doodle Maggie drew (plus, the book itself is fabulous!)...so awesome! :D

 Also, Megan was much quicker at posting her recap of the signing, so if you're curious about what she had to say about the event, youu can find her recap HERE.

There you have it, that's my recap for what happened at the Maggie Steifvater signing that I went to last week! It was awesome, and Megan and I had a blast! Everyone at the signing also wrote a little something to Maggie in a notebook...and Megan and I wrote a poem for her...it was pretty fun, even if we're not very good at rhyming...although hopefully Maggie thought our poem wasn't too "draggy". :P

I definitely hope to get to meet Maggie again someday because she's just a fantastic person, and her books are pretty fabulous, too!

Have you been to a signing before?

What was it like and who was it for?

And if you haven't been to one before, 

which author (or authors) signing(s) would you want to go to?