head banging headband

Have you ever bought something spur of the moment but later wondered why? I have more times that I'd like to admit... 

I was shopping downtown this week and saw someone wearing an extremely cute headband that worked at the store. I immediately found the same headband & bought it, not thinking much about it. Now, I have no idea where to wear it to. I don't work at a trendy store and I don't have THAT much of an exciting life to rock out head bands all the time. I guess I'll just wear it all around my apartment... but I do LOVE it!

Violets of March

Violets of March by Sarah Jio was one of those books I stumbled upon based on my family's suggestions. I'm not sure if I mentioned before, but I come from a family of readers. My mom, aunts, cousins, sister & even grandma all read on a daily basis. It's almost as if we have our own little (unofficial) book club going on. And let me just say, they all have especially good taste in books! 

Violets of March @ Amazon.com

A hearbroken woman stumbled upon a diary and steps into the life of it's anonymous author.

In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.

Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily's good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life. 

I couldn't believe how easy it was to get lost in this book.. that's how good it is! Violets of March is a love story within a mystery & every character that's introduced adds so much to the story. I have to say, my favorite character is Aunt Bee - a fun, down-to-earth older lady who holds the biggest secret of all. Bainbridge Island is also a character in itself and Sarah Jio does such a great job making the reader feel like they've visited the island long before they picked up the book. I'm pretty sure this is one of my favorite books I read this year & would definitely add it to my top ten books of all time!

back again..

I admit. I've been doing some serious slacking when it comes to my blog. A couple of things have been happening in my life that have taken away any free time I used to have. I've been traveling to a couple of cities in the US & Ireland, working long hours, celebrating some exciting news and reading of course. You might be thinking "What can Kate be celebrating that would take her away from this amazing blog?"

Well.. that's a great question. The fact is that 
I'm engaged!!!!

It's true :) Chris proposed to me back in March & gave me the shock of my life. I literally had NO idea that it was going to happen any time soon. I might not have reacted the way it happens in movies (and books), but that's what he gets when he surprises the hell out of me! 

Chris down on one knee. "Kate, will you marry me?" 

Me:" What is that!? What ARE you doing? Is that real? Oh. My. God. Are you serious!?!?"

Chris starting to laugh at me. "Umm, yes it's real. So is that a yes?"

Me (beginning to let everything sink in): "Oh. My. God. I can't believe this! Of course  I'll marry you!!!"

Sorry, Chris! But we wouldn't have it any other way ;) And now, the date is set...

The Hunger Games

Recently I decided to jump on the bandwagon and begin reading the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Let me just say, I am so glad I did! 

 Lucky for me, I was able to rent the first book, The Hunger Games, on Amazon because I'm a recently new Prime member. The first page grabbed my attention immediately and from there I just could not stop. Literally. At one point, I think I was even walking to work while reading. Don't worry, no one was injured in the process.

Now, this is where Amazon Prime gets you. I was happy enough to rent the first book but then I had to wait until February 1st to rent another book. Well, that just could not work for me. I had to know what would happen next to Katniss! I bought the second book, Catching Fire, for my kindle & raced through that book as well. Unfortunately, it still wasn't February 1st. That means I had to buy the third book, Mockingjay, for my kindle as well. Needless to say, I absolutely enjoyed all three books & loved the ending! 

Suzanne Collins trilogy has an urgency to it that, when combined with the very startling life-or-death plot, is incredibly mesmerizing. It's entertaining and disturbing all at once. The characters stayed with me days after I put the third book down. If only I could find more books that leave a lasting impression like these did!

keeping up

Not with the Kardashians but with my New Year's resolution. I've been busy this January reading, reading, and... reading!

I finished East of Eden by John Steinbeck, which has become one of my favorite books. It's difficult to read a book that has been admired over and over again. You tend to set high expectations for the book without even turning the first page. Happily enough, East of Eden exceeded my expectations as I got further and further into it. I was glad this book had 601 pages, just more to read from John Steinbeck. The characters in this book are what made me love it so much. Each one I wish I could have met personally and by the end, I feel like I did.

And yes, that it my lovely kitten Charlie telling me I've read enough of Steinbeck for one night..

my kindle

Given my somewhat challenging New Year's resolution, I've decided to put my Kindle to the test. Let's see how many books I can download before it literally explodes with words!


Every time I turn my kindle on, I think about the day I received it. The weekend before my birthday in June, one of my best friends and I decided to take a short weekend trip to Fort Lauderdale. My generous boyfriend, which I have yet to mention in my blog, decided to give me my birthday present the day before I left. He knew that I had been dying for a kindle ever since they came on the market. (I would watch the Amazon Kindle videos in amazement at least once a day.) Because he knew how excited I would be, he decided to record my reaction. Only, he completely threw me off when he walked out of his house...

new year's resolution

Unbelievable. The holidays have come and gone and I was just putting my party hat on. 

Despite the fact that my official work week starts up again tomorrow, I've decided to allow my holiday vacation to end at exactly midnight. That gives me a little less than two hours to relax and enjoy my free time.

I'm not sure if any of you have heard of librarything.com, but it is actually an amazing website. They have a section that is dedicated for groups of people to have topics of discussions related to one of my favorite things... books! One of the groups that was created recently is called '75 Books Challenge for 2012'. Given my dwindling holiday spirit (not midnight yet!), I've decided to make this one of my New Year's resolutions...

75 Books in 2012
Number 1: East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Yes, it's over 500 pages. Haven't you heard? I'm kind of an over achiever.

Let's just pretend I started it today instead of 2 weeks ago...