Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

I finished a fabulous book this weekend, Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.

Before I Fall is a novel about a girl named Sam who is part of the "mean girls" in her high school. Sam was a child who was often made fun of and suddenly became popular one day and never looked back. She is downright nasty to other people in her school, flirts inappropriately with teachers, and barely makes any time for her family. At the end of her day, she dies in a car accident. However, after dying she wakes up, forced to repeat her last day again. And again. And again.

While Sam repeated her last day over and over, I wondered what the reason was she was being forced to do so. Sam keeps trying to change her own fate throughout the novel, avoiding the drive that killed her, but is still forced to relive her last day over and over. 

There are a lot of elements to this story, and I love how Lauren Oliver managed to retell the same day several times without ever being redundant. It is such a fabulous novel about friendship, high school, bullying, and standing up for what is right. I highly recommend it.

In case this name sounds familiar, I have also reviewed Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy, here, here, and here. 

Have you read any great books lately?

All The Small Things

No, I'm not about to break out into a Blink 182 song- I'm here to share a couple of small organization projects that I have completed this week!

First up is the "junk drawer" in the kitchen. This drawer has a ton of office supplies and other "junk" that hangs around. Here's the before:

First step? Come on people you should know this one by now! Dump it all out!

Then it was time to sort everything by category...

Here's the after!

Now let's look at these side by side…

We have a second "junk" drawer that houses items like batteries, chip clips and flashlights. 

Here's the before of this drawer:

anddddd the after!

The best part about this project? They are tiny spaces that by organizing gain you SO much time. Did you know that people spend roughly 30 minutes a day looking for items they've misplaced? Having items in small places organized saves you time when you are looking for something specific. Organizing items by categories allows you to at least know where to look for a specific item. Just make sure you put things back where they belong after you use them…okay enough of that tangent ;)

What small projects have you done to get organized lately?

Have a great weekend!

Project 365: Week 5

Wow! I'm already recapping week 5? How can it be five weeks into 2014 already?! Time flies by that's for sure...

On Day 30 I did a little bit of scrapping that you saw the other day- my Disney scrapbook!

Day 31, I showed you a bit of my glamorous work-life. Yes, those are my ballet shoes that I wear five days a week. Super glamorous eh? =)

Day 32, aka February 1st…I headed to MA to spend some time with my college roomie Megan. We spent the night at her sisters' new apartment and played Cards Against Humanity which quickly became one of my favorite games ever!

Day 33 was Superbowl Sunday! I spent the day making my buffalo chicken dip and then went to my co-worker Kayla's apartment to hang out! Laura wouldn't allow her face to be photographed- but apparently her butt was okay =)

On Day 34 I woke up at Kayla's and played with her adorable son Brayden before leaving for work. Lucky for me it only ended up being a half day at work due to the snow!

Day 35 was another snowy day. Besides shoveling, my day was pretty normal- errands and cleaning! 

On Day 36 (yesterday) I built this little snowman after shoveling quite a bit. You gotta stop and have some fun every once in awhile! 

How was your week?!

The Guard by Kiera Cass

Yesterday, I downloaded The Guard (A Selection Novella) by Kiera Cass to my kindle. This is a story from Aspen's point of view and I thought it was extremely interesting to see things from his perspective.  Aspen's story takes place during The Elite novel and shows how Aspen is handling his love for America, as well as his new job in the palace as part of the royal guard. Although I find Aspen a little rash and dangerous, I do like him and think he would be a good match for America if things don't work out between her and Prince Maxon. 

Although there weren't any new plot lines in this novella, there is a sneak peek of The One at the end! I was thrilled to be able to read a chapter from the new novel. All I have to say is: May 6th can't come fast enough! 

If you have read The Selection and The Elite and plan on reading The One, I would highly recommend this novella (as well as The Prince novella) as companions! Although they are short and don't provide a ton of new information, I still think it's extremely valuable to gain a different perspective on the books! =)

I hope you are having nicer weather where you are then we are here in Rhode Island! Have a great day!

My Disney World Vacation Scrapbook

Despite the frigid, snowy winter days we've been having in Rhode Island lately, I've been hanging out in Disney World- in my scrapbooking life!

Today I thought I would show you my Disney Vacation scrapbook that I recently completed. I may have mentioned before that I am not a fancy scrapbooker. I think of myself as a practical scrapbooker- I don't have the time, nor do I want to spend the time making each page perfect. I don't have the patience to work on one page for an hour. I'm more of a slap-together-those-pages-and-get-this-done-as-fast-as-possible kinda girl. Therefore, my scrapbooks will never be the most beautiful albums in the world, but they do a good job of preserving my photos and memories, and that is all I really need them to do.

This scrapbook was purchased in Downtown Disney during my last day in Florida. You can also purchase it online here. I ended up with extra pages in the back of my book since it was only a four day trip, I didn't have an overwhelming amount of things to book. I also liked the fact that there is a folder in the back of this scrapbook. I didn't end up using it, but it's nice to have that option.

So, without further ado, my July 2013 Disney World Vacation Scrapbook...

Hope you enjoyed this view of my scrapbook! Do you scrapbook?

2014 Planner

Hello and Happy Monday you guys! Even though it was a wonderful weekend, and a warm one at that- the Groundhog unfortunately has predicted a longer winter. I hate that stupid groundhog, what does he know?! Let's talk about happier things, like….planners!

As a self-proclaimed OCD-suffering organizing freak, of course I have a favorite planner! I have been using a planner for as long as I can remember. While everyone cast off their middle school and high school planners we were provided with by the public school system, I used mine obsessively. When I started college, I began using the five star planners by Mead. I really liked it, although it was very simple.  Three years ago, I bought a Lily Pulitzer planner and was absolutely taken by it. This is the third Lily planner I have had and I am still as in love with it as I was when I took my first one home!

I have always felt that a planner is a very personal thing, what works for one person may not work for another person. Although this planner has worked well for me, it may not be your cup of tea. However, I can highly recommend it.

Here are some of favorite features of this planner:

I love the stickers that this planner provides. They are cute little reminders for my daily or weekly calendar. I love to put a cute drink sticker next to a written reminder of a girls night, or a palm tree sticker when I'm going on vacation. Just a nice little extra Lily provides!

You can see from my January monthly view I use this whole-month view obsessively. I like knowing when an appointment is coming up. It's also extremely helpful for making plans with friends. Since Wednesdays and Sundays are generally my days off, I tend to have to look at several weeks in a row in order to make plans that fit with friends' schedules.

My weekly view provides me with a way to write more information in my planner. On these pages I can write daily to-dos, my schedule, and other important dates. I like to write down my workouts as well, so I can remember when I worked out and what exactly I did.

I use a binder clip to keep the pages I've already used together. I like to be able to flip immediately to my monthly calendar view. I also use a paper clip to hold together the weeks that I've been through in the month I'm currently in. Again, this helps me to be able to flip to the page I need easily.

I love that there is also a place to put birthdays and a page with reasons to celebrate. This year there is even a horoscope page!

You're probably wondering what the colored pens is about. Well, in my OCD head, it makes it easier for me to be able tell things apart at a glance if I label each of my entries by categories. Above you can see; pink is for work, light  blue for friends, black for appointments/to do, purple for fitness, red for family, and dark blue for the blog. I can know by glancing at my monthly calendar if I have work on that day, a family obligation, or if I need to make sure I arrive at the doctors on time.

That's it! This planner keeps my life in order, and anything that helps me with that I am all for!

Now it's your turn…do you use a planner? If so, what kind?