I tend to have an aversion to a lot of the “fad” books. You know the ones… they seemingly take the world by storm. It’s not that I’ve never read a bestseller—I’ve read many—but I’m talking about the books with which it seems the world is obsessed.
I tried and did not care for Harry Potter.
I do not understand the Twilight phenomenon. At all.
50 Shades of Gray is SO NOT going to happen.
And The Hunger Games—with the weird names, and the futuristic, sci-fi setting? It’s not my thing. Or, at least… I didn’t think it was.
But then I watched the movie. And I have to say: I didn’t hate it.
My dad is a serious movie viewer, he sees EVERYTHING. He doesn’t discriminate; he will seriously watch anything. So he happened to have The Hunger Games arrive via his Blockbuster account and I watched it with him and Michael because 1) I was curious, and 2) I didn’t have anything better to do, so why not?
I was definitely entertained for the entirety of the 2 hours and 20 minutes of the movie. I’ll give them that. Were there parts that I absolutely rolled my eyes at? Yes. Were there parts where I had to seriously fight to suspend reality and reason in order to chew what I was being fed? Yes.
But it’s a movie.
I’m actually damn near tempted to give the books a shot now. Although I’m not sure how my view of them will be affected by having seen the movie before reading them?
I’m having a hard time remembering anyone saying anything BAD about The Hunger Games trilogy; I feel like I have only heard from people who loved them and couldn’t put them down.
So what’s the consensus here? What are your thoughts on The Hunger Games? If you love them and devoured them, which of the three is your favorite? I read brief synopses/previews of the second and third books just to get a feel for how the story continues for two more books/movies, but it seemed like the plot was definitely strongest in the first. I don’t do a lot of reading these days (sadly)… but I’m willing to give the first one a chance and go from there!
I know the old adage: “Blondes have more fun.”
So what do they say about brunettes? :)
I’ve been wanting to do something different with my hair for about a year now. I’ve been doing the same blonde highlights for about 10 years, only varying my style with the length from time to time. Last fall, I considered going dark—closer to my natural color—but chickened out.
But when I called my stylist to make an appointment and found that he couldn’t fit me in for like two months, I decided to go a different route altogether. I cheated on my stylist, and came out with completely different hair.
Check it out:
It’s been three weeks already, so this is kind of old news. But I realized I never shared. I really like the way it turned out, and it was just the change I was needing. I’ll probably go back to the blonde highlights come springtime, but this is a nice look for fall/winter.
I have no idea how to upkeep dyed hair. My stylist recommended going back in 8-10 weeks for more dye, but knowing me, I’ll probably push it longer, until it looks like crap. :)
Have you done anything different with your hair lately? Do you go dark for fall?
Michael and I have been talking about a 2013 vacation for a while.
We didn’t take a BIG vacation in 2012, for several reasons. For one, we bought a house in August 2011 and the majority of our disposable income has been going toward home improvement. Secondly, Nora is a TODDLER now, and travel with her is far more challenging than it was when she was an infant. So in 2012, we took a few short trips—our annual jaunt to the Poconos, and also to Boston for my 30th birthday.
But in 2013, we wanted to do something bigger. For a little bit, there were rumors swirling about one of our family friends getting married in Scotland in September, so we were holding out to see if that was really going to happen, because HELLO—it would’ve been awesome to have a good excuse to go to Scotland. But alas, she ultimately decided to get married stateside so that more friends and family would be able to swing it.
Then we were left with a simple, yet very difficult question… where do we want to go?
San Diego was on the short list because we have a friend who lives out there, and Michael has never been to Southern California. But although we talked about it a lot, we were non-committal. And then, several weeks ago, I got wind of a Southwest Airlines sale and within a few hours we were clicking the “submit” button on flights to San Diego.
It was the first time we ever had to buy Nora her own seat (she’s over 2 now!) but we still got a great deal. But I’ll admit that my mouse hovered over that “submit” button for a minute or two as I asked Michael if we’re crazy. Flying with Nora to Boston wasn’t the easiest thing ever—she was restless, and it was ONLY AN HOUR. This is… a lot more than that. But we don’t want to be people who let their kid hold them back from doing things like this, so we sent up a little prayer to the universe that this was a good decision.
We’ll know come January.
Anyway, I’ve been to Southern California a few times. Los Angeles, San Diego, Palm Springs. Our tentative plan is to stay with our friend in San Diego for a few nights, drive up to Los Angeles and stay in a hotel for a couple of days (with a stop in Anaheim for a day trip to Disney Land) and then head back down to San Diego to finish our trip. But nothing is set in stone, except for our flights into and out of San Diego.
Aside from Disney Land and the San Diego Zoo (we hear the zoo is a MUST with kids, and I’ve never been), we have no real agenda… yet. And if you’ve been reading here a while, you know where this is going. I rely on all of you to give me the inside scoop!
What are your Southern California recommendations? We want to hear what’s worthwhile in San Diego, L.A., and everything in between. Sightseeing, restaurants, suggestions for places/areas to stay in L.A., and any other miscellaneous tips. We’re hungry for it all. Oh, and if you are an experienced Disney visitor (I’ve been to both Disney Land and Disney World once each) and have tips on tackling the park with a 2.5-year-old, HELP.
The weather should be decent while we’re there, but it’s January, so likely not beach weather. But I’ll tell you what—60-degree temps are bound to feel GLORIOUS compared to what it’ll be like at home! I can’t wait for the short reprieve in the middle of what are always long winters up here in the Northeast.
I can’t wait to hear the governator say, “When can you start?” :)
It is November, and I am participating in Nablopomo. Are you sick of me yet? This “posting every day” thing is serious business.
Nora is at a stage where she is obsessed with certain books. Like, we will go a week at a time reading the exact same three books at bedtime. Then she’ll latch onto another one, so we’ll continue reading two of the original books, but the third is a “new” one, and we’ll read THAT combination of three books for a week.
It’s adorable, albeit tedious for the adults. (I may be guilty of burying certain books at the bottom of her pile so she can’t find them. *ahem*)
Anyway, one of her current favorites is a Mercer Mayer Little Critters book called “I Was So Mad.”
This exact copy was actually mine when I was a kid, which is pretty awesome. Another one of the Little Critters books we have (“Just Me and My Puppy”) actually has my name written inside the cover in my kindergarten handwriting. Such a cool hand-me-down.
A few weeks ago, while reading Nora “I Was So Mad” for the 80th time, I heard her start to say some of the words along with me. Particularly the word “mad.” You see, the phrase, “I was so mad” is repeated multiple times in the book, so it’s easy for her to pick up on, especially when we’re reading the book as many times as we do. So I started making this a little bit more interactive for her, reading to her, “I was so….” and then letting her finish the sentences with “MAD!”
Then, just a couple of days ago, Nora was upset with us about something. I think it was that she didn’t want to sit down and eat dinner with us. So she went off into the corner of our kitchen, arms crossed in front of her, huge pout on her face, and she said, “I maaaaaah.”
Michael and I looked at each other in disbelief. Had she just said “I’m mad”??
She sure had, because she repeated it again. And again, until we acknowledged her emotion. “You’re mad?” She immediately replied, “YES.”
Now, anytime she is upset about something, she doesn’t hesitate to tell us… “I maaaaah.” Last night, I was nearly peeing my pants laughing as she was saying it when I was trying to get her into the bathtub. It is just too cute. I have to say, though, that I am thoroughly impressed that she has learned how to correctly identify and express this emotion from reading a Mercer Mayer book. Reading is good, y’all. ;)
Tonight, we managed to catch it on video. Crappy quality because it was too dimly lit for our flip cam, but I think you’ll get the idea.
It is November, and I am participating in Nablopomo. I am only following the prompts when I need them, because, well, some of them are kind of awful. Or just not my thing. Hey, I said I’d blog every day, not that I’d follow all of the directions. :)
I told myself weeks ago that I didn’t care as much as I have in the past about the outcome of the presidential election.
Still, I find myself parked on the couch tonight, laptop in my lap, with Brian Williams on TV giving me up-to-the-minute news on the results. And I am anxious.
I guess I care more than I thought.
I hope everyone was able to get out and exercise the right to vote today. Whether you were in and out in five minutes, or whether you had to wait in line for hours… good for you for casting your vote. We didn’t have time to go this morning, so we went after work. We brought Nora in with us and she kept saying “Vohhhh!” (Vote.) Teaching her young. :) Her favorite part, by far, was the “I Voted Today” stickers. Duh.
More than anything, I hope we have an outcome tonight. I don’t want this to drag on any longer than it has to. The campaigns are so long, so grueling, so… dividing. I just want things to settle down again. Let’s get rid of the yard signs and the commercials and the phone calls and the bumper stickers. And for the love of god, let’s get rid of the Facebook rants.
Let’s move on, one way or another. I think we are all ready for that.
Tonight, we’ll all celebrate our red states and our blue states, depending which side we’re on. And tomorrow, no matter the outcome, we’ll still be the United States. I hope that whoever has this job come January 21 will have the country’s best interest at heart.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
