Tag #10: “The Harry Potter Book Tag”

 

Stephen King - relatably

Image Credit: relatably.com

I saw this tag on Thrice Read. This is an amazing blog, all about books, run by three fantastic women! If you’re a bibliophile like I am, I highly recommend them.

Here’s the link to the original post:


The One Rule:

  • I can answer the questions, but none of the answers can be Harry Potter.

Ready?

Here we go!

accio

Found on Thrice Read.

A book you wish you could have right now:

You Will Know Me - yahoo

Image Credit: yahoo.com

You Will Know Me: A Novel by Megan Abbott

I instantly fell in love with this book when I heard the review of it on NPR’s Fresh Air podcast recently. I think it’s fitting with the Olympics wrapping up and the fever that the Final Five of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team has caused.

adaasd

Found on Thrice Read.

A book that surprised you in a great way, reveals to be more than it is:

The Vacationers

The Vacationers by Emma Straub

Having originally abandoned this book, it pleasantly surprised me when I sat down to try it again. Check out my book review from earlier this year. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on her newest book, Modern Lovers.

alohomora

Found on Thrice Read.

A first book in a series that got you hooked:

Chosen Ones - bookdepository

Chosen Ones (Lost Souls) by Tiffany Truitt

I was super excited when Tiffany announced her first publication a few years ago. It’s hard to believe that Chosen Ones was released in 2012. I’m a bit biased, because she is one of my sorority sisters. Regardless, she is an amazing writer! The story of Tess and her world made me desperate to read more!

Chosen Ones is the first in the Lost Souls trilogy: Naturals, and then Creators make up the series. Tiffany has several other published books, and I have read them all!

avadakedavra

Found on Thrice Read.

A killer book:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - goodreads

Image Credit: goodreads.com

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larson

I was unsure about Steig Larson’s books, at first. I tried the book on CD method from the Russell Memorial Library in Chesapeake while driving 15 miles from my house to my high school, and I was engrossed from the beginning. It’s a killer story!

confundo

Found on Thrice Read.

A book you found confusing:

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Image Credit: womanandhome.com

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

I remember being assigned this book during my senior year of high school. Our teacher was amazing – One of the best English teachers ever. But the majority of my class hated this book. It was incredibly confusing, and difficult to read. We had lengthy discussions in class. However, due to this book, eventually we all learned about stream-of-consciousness and more about Irish culture!

epectopatronum

Found on Thrice Read.

Your spirit animal book:

Sarah Dessen - Just Listen

Image Credit: amazon.com

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

I’ve always loved Sarah Dessen’s books, since discovering them while I was in high school. Just Listen is the one I feel the most connection. This one, her seventh, was published in between my junior and senior years of high school. I read it shortly after it was published, and then I re-read it in college, and the connection only deepened. I love the way Dessen creates her characters, and I love the winding path that Annabel and Owen find themselves on throughout the book. It made me think of my own friendships, relationships, domestic violence, and standing up for yourself and others.

flagrate

Found on Thrice Read.

A book you found interesting but would like to rewrite:

688087

Image Credit: goodreads.com

Rooftop by Paul Volponi

I remember finding this book on a whim at the Russell Memorial Library in Chesapeake. I liked it. I liked the characters, the setting, and the drama. I think it was a good attempt, but I also think it could have been written better, with a faster pace.

spetumsemtra

Found on Thrice Read.

A dark, twisted book:

The Battle - scholastic

Image Credit: scholastic.com

The Battle of Jericho by Sharon M. Draper

Sharon M. Draper’s twists and turns immediately made me interested in her focus on African-American characters and their struggles. I’ve read all of her books, multiple times now. Initially, I was very skeptical about African-American characters, but this one sucked me in from the beginning and never let me go.

It follows a young man, Jericho, and his friends in their quest to join the Warriors of Distinction at their high school. Along the way, everyone, including the adults, starts to realize that the Warriors are not what they seem, and it’s increasingly dangerous and twisted. The Battle of Jericho is the first in a pulse-pounding, emotional trilogy, which includes November Blues and Just Another Hero.

nominees

Found on Thrice Read.

I nominate anyone that’s a Harry Potter fan!

I really enjoyed this tag. It was so different from most of the other tags I’ve done for the blog. It made me realize I want to read more books!


Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Tag #9: “Inside Out Book Tag”

Inside Out Book Tag - itstartsatmidnight

Image Credit: itstartsatmidnight.com

I stumbled upon this tag on B.G.’s fantastic blog, Getting Through Anxiety!

Ready?

Here we go!


I: Inside Flap / Back of Book Summaries. Too much info? Or not enough? Discuss!

  • I love reading the inside flap – It helps me determine whether or not I’ll leave the library or bookstore with that book! I don’t normally read back of book summaries, but it depends!

N: New Book. Be Honest: Which format do you want it in? Audio, hardcover, paperback, or ebook?

  • I prefer paperback.

S: Scribble While You Read? Do you write in your books, or keep them clean? Tell us why.

  • The horror! Never. I keep them clean. B.G.’s response was perfect: “The only writing that should be in a book is the author’s!”

I: In Your Best Written Voice Read Us Your Favorite First Sentence From a Book.

  • “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
    ‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.‘”
    ~F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

D: Does It Matter to You Whether the Author is Male or Female when Deciding to Read a Book? What if you’re unsure of author’s gender?

  • That’s a very interesting question! As a child, I was drawn to more female authors. As an adult, I’ve found that it’s been basically a 50-50 split between male and female. Regardless, it doesn’t matter to me whether the author is male or female. As for being unsure of an author’s gender, I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a book that I really didn’t like!

E: Ever Read Ahead? Or have you read the last page before you got there?

  • I have read ahead, but just a few books that I had to read for school. Some were just awful!

O: Organized Bookshelves or Outrageous Bookshelves?

  • For me – Organized, as much as possible. However, I like hunting through outrageous bookshelves in second-hand bookstores!

U: Under Oath: Have You Ever Bought a Book Based On the Cover? … The Cover Alone?

  • Yes, a few times when I was younger. Not now, though.

T: Take it Outside or Stay In?

  • I prefer to stay in, especially now, since this summer has been ridiculously hot and humid. However, I’m envious of our neighbors across the street – They have a beautiful front porch with chaise lounges. I would love to have that, at some point. For now, though, once the weather decides to calm down, I’m excited to get some patio furniture and read on our back screened-in porch!

I Tag…

  • EVERYONE! I would love to see your responses!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Tag #8: “Song to Book Tag”

Music and Books - wallpoper

Image Credit: wallpoper.com

The Rules:

  • Mention the person who tagged you
  • Pingback to the original post at Getting Through Anxiety – Thanks, B.G.!
  • List about 10+ songs that describe 10+ books
  • Tag 5+ bloggers for this post

Here we go!

  1. Stronger by Britney Spears … The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  2. Only The Good Die Young by Billy Joel … The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
  3. Something in the Water by Carrie Underwood … Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  4. Raise Your Glass by Pink … The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  5. Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey … The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
  6. It’s My Life by Bon Jovi … Divergent by Veronica Roth
  7. True Colors by Cyndi Lauper … The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
  8. My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson … Till Death Do Us Part and For Better, For Worse, Forever by Lurlene McDaniel
  9. Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield … Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  10. Beth by KISS … Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  11. Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys … The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
  12. Oh, What a Night (December, 1963) by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons … No Ordinary Sound: A Melody Classic by Denise Lewis Patrick
  13. Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars … The Princess Bride by William Goldman
  14. (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes …Emma by Jane Austen
  15. Firework by Katy Perry …Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
  16. Sugar by Maroon 5 … The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks
  17. Don’t Stop by Fleetwood Mac … Luna Morba: What A Wonderful World by Sirrico Whitfield
  18. Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson … Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
  19. Seasons of Love by the cast of RentThirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
  20. What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction … Push by Sapphire
  21. Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga … Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
  22. Mine by Taylor Swift … Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
  23. Footloose by Kenny Loggins … Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
  24. Faithfully by Journey … The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
  25. Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond … Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
  26. Dancing Through Life by the cast of WickedDash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
  27. Somebody to Love by Queen … November Blues by Sharon M. Draper
  28. Measure of a Man by Clay Aiken … The Vacationers by Emma Straub
  29. Forget You by Cee Lo Green … Persuasion by Jane Austen
  30. Welcome to New York by Taylor Swift … A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
  31. Isn’t She Lovely by Stevie Wonder … The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  32. Who I Am With You by Chris Young … Paper Towns by John Green
  33. Life Is A Highway by Rascal Flatts … Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
  34. Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson … To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  35. The Way by Clay Aiken … Looking for Alaska by John Green

From the beginning, I knew this tag would be a huge challenge. But, I loved it!

Thanks again, B.G.! Her blog is amazing!


I Tag:

  1. Brey at Ordinary Adventures
  2. Kristian at Life Lessons Around The Dinner Table
  3. scarletpen28 at 28 and Counting …
  4. Paul at wwwpalfitness
  5. stephburryshortkake
  6. Nicky M at The Shimmer Within Her
  7. marquay at Thefateblog
  8. The Captain at Captain’s Quarters
  9. Tony Burgess at The Tony Burgess Blog
  10. Iman
  11. Blanca at A Girl’s Voyage
  12. Emily at The Bibliophile Living
  13. Novelacious at Novelacious
  14. Caralyn at BeautyBeyondBones
  15. Lish Wells at Alisha’s words of wonder
  16. Brittany Anna at A Simple Dose of Reality
  17. heideekae at Write, Miss Monster
  18. zahraammar at Ramblings of a Wanderer
  19. Anthony Moss
  20. The Lonely Author

And anyone else who has an interest in books and music!


Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Tag #7: “50 Movie Tag Questions”

Movies - quotescover

Image Credit: quotescover.com

I stumbled upon Young OFW’s post on Sunday morning. He inspired me to do my two Movie Marathon posts a few months back, so I was really excited to see this post!

Here’s the link to his post:


Here are my answers! I hope you enjoy them!

  1. How often do you watch a movie?  It depends. With such marvels as Netflix and Amazon Prime / Amazon Fire, it can be up to one per day!
  2. What movie genre are you particularly fond of?  I like almost any genre. The only one I’m not into: Horror. Too many nightmares!
  3. What was the last movie that you’ve watched and liked?  We just saw Suicide Squad on Thursday, August 4th. It was awesome!
  4. What was the last movie that you’ve watched and hated?  I’m not a big hater when it comes to movies. I honestly can’t think of one that I’ve outright, truly hated!
  5. What is your most favorite movie of all time?  I can’t pick just one! Forrest Gump, Dirty Dancing, Star Wars, Jurassic Park
  6. Your most favorite guilty pleasure movie?  Ghost, and Twister.
  7. What movie/movies have you watched a million times already?  Forrest Gump, Dirty Dancing, TwisterThe Wedding Singer.
  8. Are you the type who watches a movie on its first day of showing?  It depends. If it’s a Marvel or DC movie, then yes. Otherwise, unless I’m really into a particular movie, I can wait a while before seeing it.
  9. Do you use Fandango or do you pre-booked movie tickets?  Originally, I didn’t like Fandango. But, in reality, Fandango is super convenient, especially since one of our local theaters has the reclining seats that you reserve in advance.
  10. Movie house, Blu-ray, or download?  I’ve always preferred seeing movies in theaters. However, between Al and I, we have quite a massive collection of DVDs and Blu-rays. We’ve also downloaded several movies from Amazon and enjoyed them that way.
  11. How often do you go to a movie house to watch a movie?  I started counting recently, and it simply varies from month to month. Sometimes it’s only once a month, but it tends to be higher in the summer months.
  12. What are the movies that made you cry?  Too many! Forrest Gump, Dirty Dancing, Ghost, Toy Story 3, Up, The Shawshank Redemption, Milk, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook
  13. Do you watch foreign films?  Not really.
  14. What are your favorite foreign films?  Life Is Beautiful.
  15. Who are your favorite directors?  Spielberg, Hitchcock, Scorsese, Crowe.
  16. Are you particular with movie scores, soundtracks, and musics?  Yes. The music can make or break a movie.
  17. What movie soundtrack can be found in your iPod?  Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1, all the Harry Potter movies, Jurassic Park.
  18. Have you ever watched a movie alone on a movie house?  Yes. I try to go to a movie solo every year in honor of my birthday. The last movie that I watched by myself was Eddie the Eagle, back in March. I loved it!
  19. What is the best chick flick for you?  10 Things I Hate About You, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, The Five-Year Engagement … Basically any movie adapted from a Nicholas Sparks book!
  20. Is there any movie that has changed your perspective in life?  I have two: Forrest Gump and Ghost. Forrest Gump made me fall in love with history and historical fiction, and gave me a greater appreciation for people with disabilities or challenges. Ghost made me grateful for every day that I have with my loved ones.
  21. Your favorite comic book movie?  It’s a tie: Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
  22. DC or Marvel movies?  I like both.
  23. What are the movies in the top 10 in IMDb that you have watched?  I have watched all 10.
  24. Do you read movie critic reviews before watching a film?  No.
  25. What is the best movie adapted from a book?  To Kill a Mockingbird, The Pelican Brief, Jurassic Park, The Princess Bride, The Green Mile, Ender’s Game, Jumanji, The Outsiders, The Perfect Storm, The Cider House Rules.
  26. Do you watch the movie before reading the book or vice versa?  I always try to read the book before seeing the movie.
  27. What is your most favorite comedy movie?  Ghostbusters (1984), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Airplane!
  28. Drama movie?  Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, The Pelican Brief, A Few Good MenAll The President’s Men.
  29. Western movie?  Maverick.
  30. Romantic comedy film?  Silver Linings Playbook, When Harry Met Sally, The Wedding Singer.
  31. Horror film?  Psycho.
  32. Sports movies?  Remember the Titans, Rudy, The Express, A League of Their Own, Glory Road, Hoosiers, Field of Dreams.
  33. Sci-fi?  Contact, Star Wars, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.
  34. Action movies?  Die Hard, GoldenEye, Batman (1989).
  35. War movies?  Schindler’s List, Casablanca, Glory.
  36. Who is your most favorite movie couple?  John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
  37. Any movie character you can relate to?  Not really.
  38. If you are to only watch five movies for the rest of your life, what would the movies be?  This one was surprisingly easy: Forrest Gump, Ghost, Dirty Dancing, The Princess Bride, and Remember the Titans.
  39. Your least favorite movie of all time?  Skyline (2010).
  40. Have you ever watched a movie based on the lead actor/actress only?  Plenty of times. Anything with Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Patrick Swayze, George Clooney, or Meryl Streep leading, you’ll find me watching it.
  41. What movie you expected and wanted to be good but failed you?  Batman v Superman:  Dawn of Justice.
  42. Favorite movie character of all time?  Forrest Gump.
  43. Favorite movie villain?  Darth Vader.
  44. Any movie sequel that you’re still waiting to see?  Not at the moment.
  45. Ever made a movie review?  Not yet.
  46. Star Wars or Star Trek?  Star Wars.
  47. Right now, think of any movie, what comes first?  Star Trek Beyond – That’s next on the must-see list.
  48. Favorite movie lines?  “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” — “May the Force be with you.” — “You can’t handle the truth!” — “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
  49. TV series, books, computer games, or movies in order of interest?  Books, movies, TV series, computer games.
  50. Lastly, if your life story is to be made into a movie, who would you like to portray you? Who should be directing it and what would be the title?  I wouldn’t want my life story to be made into a movie. I’d much rather write a novel that’s made into a movie, and it being done well.

I Tag:

  • Everyone! I’d love to see what people’s responses are.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Tag #6: “3 Days, 3 Quotes Tag” (Day 3)

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Image Credit: cateredcrop.com

Rules:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you – Blanca @ A Girl’s Voyage.
  2. Post a quote for 3 consecutive days (1 quote for each day).
  3. Nominate three new bloggers each day.

Here’s my quote for Day 3!

Tag - brainyquote 2

Image Credit: brainyquote.com


My Three Nominees:

  1. Nicky @ The Shimmer Within Her
  2. Hannah @ Wordsmith Observations
  3. Suyog Chhatre @ Positivity Unlimited – Re-imagine The Life!

That’s all!

I really enjoyed this tag – I love finding awesome quotes!


Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Tag #5: “3 Days, 3 Quotes Tag” (Day 2)

Tag - cateredcrop

Image Credit: cateredcrop.com

Rules:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you – Blanca @ A Girl’s Voyage.
  2. Post a quote for 3 consecutive days (1 quote for each day).
  3. Nominate three new bloggers each day.

Here’s my quote for Day 2!

Tag - brainyquote

Image Credit: brainyquote.com


My Three Nominees:

  1. Sableyes
  2. Natalie @ The Girl in the Little Black Dress
  3. Tony @ I Am Antonia Michele

Come back tomorrow for Day 3!


Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Tag #4: “3 Days, 3 Quotes Tag” (Day 1)

Tag - cateredcrop

Image Credit: cateredcrop.com

Rules:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you.
  2. Post a quote for 3 consecutive days (1 quote for each day).
  3. Nominate three new bloggers each day.

Thanks to Blanca over at A Girl’s Voyage for nominating me!

Here’s the link to Blanca’s post where I was tagged:


Here’s my quote for Day 1!

Bravery - quotationof

Image Credit: quotationof.com


My Three Nominees:

  1. Ariel Lynn @ Writing Radiation
  2. B.G. @ Getting Through Anxiety
  3. Kristian @ Life Lessons Around the Dinner Table

Come back tomorrow for Day 2!


Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Tag #3: The New York Times By The Book Tag

I saw this awesome tag on Getting Through Anxiety a couple days ago!

You know me, I love anything that deals with books!

The New York Times is also close to my heart. I was born in NYC. I get the NYT news alerts to my email. I did my college internship with a division of the NYT, the Shared Services Center in Norfolk, Virginia!

Okay – Here we go!


Questions:

What book is on your nightstand right now?

  • I currently do not have a nightstand in our bedroom (Still moving!) Haha. So, I’ll go with the book on my living room couch – “The One and Only: A Maryellen Classic 1.” I’m absolutely hooked on the BeForever series from American Girl!

If you could meet one author (living or dead) who would it be? What would you ask?

  • Tough question! I’d love to meet F. Scott Fitzgerald, since he wrote my favorite book. I’d ask him if he had a timeline or structure for writing and editing his works. I’ve written parts of three novels, but I haven’t mapped out the time to edit them!

What books might we be surprised to see on your shelf?

  • Maybe all of Nicholas Sparks’s novels? I studied the perceptions of love and romance of female readers of his novels for my college senior thesis, so I re-read them all in prep for my research and study.

How do you organize your personal library?

  • Right now, my huge bookcase is still at my parents’ house. I’m pretty picky – I try to organize everything by author, and then everything in the order of that author’s publication. I may reorganize it better when we move said bookcase into our house!

What book have you always meant to read but haven’t gotten round to yet?

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: what book did you feel you were supposed to like but didn’t?

  • The Divergent series. Thinking about all of them, it was a let-down.

What kind of stories are you drawn to?

  • Historical fiction, definitely. I love the Dear America series in particular.
  • Human interest stories (Think Chicken Soup for the Soul, etc.)
  • Certain crime novels.

What do you plan to read next?

  • Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee.

I Tag…

  1. booksandbakes1 – Charley
  2. Sallyporte
  3. Becky Due – Author
  4. Thrice Read – Jenn, Caitlynn, and Eden
  5. Jay Colby

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Tag #2: The Handwriting Tag

Handwriting - quotationof

Image Credit: quotationof.com

I’ve seen variations of this tag recently (such as the way A Girl’s Voyage did it), so I wanted to try it.

Questions:

1. Write your name
2. Write your blog name
3. Write your favorite word and its definition
4. Write something nice
5. Write the name of your favorite song right now
6. What’re you writing with?
7. Write a fun fact about yourself
8. Write/draw your favorite emoticon
9. Write a silly message
10. Write who you’re tagging


Here we go!

And, in case something funky happened with the photo, here are my answers:

  1. My name is Laura Beth Vardaro.
  2. The name of my blog is Hot Shot Headlines (hotshotheadlines.wordpress.com).
  3. Awesome: Extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear, or extremely good; excellent.
  4. Thank you so much to those who read my posts, like, or comment! You all are truly awesome!
  5. Night’s on Fire – David Nail
  6. Pilot G-2 gel pens – I love these colors!
  7. I’ve always been a Green Bay Packers fan – GO PACK GO!
  8. 😉 (Wink)
  9. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
  10. Nominees! My three most recent followers:
  • timkeen40 -> timkeen40.wordpress.com
  • Ariel Lynn -> writingradiation.wordpress.com
  • burbuqeraufi -> burbuqeraufi.wordpress.com

I hope you enjoyed this post – I had a lot of fun!

If you know of any other tags, let me know. I’d love to hear about them!


Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Adventure Time: Hampton Roads Edition (Katie and the Sleepover, Round 2)

Fuller House Youtube

Image Credit: youtube.com

” … Everywhere you look, everywhere you go

There’s a heart (There’s a heart), a hand to hold onto.

When you’re lost out there and you’re all alone,

A light is waiting to carry you home … ”

~Jesse Frederick and Bennett Salvay


This all started with an announcement, way back in April 2015:

Full House Revival Fuller House Headed to Netflix in 2016!

… Say what?!


Disclaimer: I’m a big believer in zero spoilers for at least a week after a movie/TV show premieres. This is a spoiler-free zone!


FINALLY … Almost a YEAR later … The day arrived – February 26th!!

My workday was ridiculously slow. This always happens when there’s excitement in the air!

Katie agreed to arrive at 7:00 p.m. It worked out perfectly – Dinner was ready!

Reminiscent of our Star Wars: TFA weekend in December, the menu was spaghetti and sauce, garlic bread, and salad! Katie also brought dessert – Princess cupcakes!

Al headed upstairs to his computer, and Katie and I proceeded to plow through the first SIX episodes! It was awesome 🙂

We stayed up until 11:00 p.m. – A record for me!


Katie was the first to get up on Saturday morning, to get a shower.

We then proceeded to have the breakfast of champions: French toast sticks, scrambled eggs with cheese, and coffee!


After breakfast, Katie and I went to Leigh Allyn Jewelers in Western Branch to pick up the peridot combination ring that I ordered on Valentine’s Day.

The big event for this weekend was another trip to LUSH Handmade Cosmetics in MacArthur Mall. We both stocked up on bath bombs, bubble bars, and a few other things!

Katie Uyak

We loaded up! Photo Credit: Katie Uyak.

One thing that we didn’t get to do with Heaven in December was the Color IQ test at Sephora. It was great! They took three photos with this nifty hand-held camera, one at the forehead, one at the cheek area, and then one at the neck, and that helps formulate your IQ.

Katie has a red undertone, and I have a yellow undertone. The really nice girl helping us showed us different foundations, lip colors, and concealers! We also signed up for Sephora’s Beauty Insider program.


After the mall, we went to see my dad at NOAA.

It was his last weekend, he is now officially RETIRED!

He gave us a quick tour of the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson.

I drove the “Classic” wagon to Mom and Dad’s and we said hi to Mom. They just bought a replacement for the old girl … Sadface!


Then Katie and I picked up Al and we took Katie to Zaxby’s for the first time!

We got to episode 9 of Fuller House before Katie had to leave!

After Katie left, Al and I watched the rest of the episodes! I officially became a binge-watcher: All 13 episodes within 24 hours. Wow!


If you haven’t watched it, I recommend it. I didn’t grow up watching Full House, I discovered it at Longwood, thanks to ABC Family. But it’s one of my favorites.

I promised zero spoilers, and I’m upholding that.

I hope they do a Season 2! There’s a lot of potential.

Did you watch it? What did you think?


Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂