Random Wednesday: Coral & White + Book Reviews

Top: Old Navy (*Exact) // Cami: Old Navy (*Exact) // Pants: TJMaxx (*Similar) // Necklace: BaubleBar (*Option) // Heels: JustFab (Option) (*Affiliate Links)

Hey party people!! It’s Hump Day!! And another Random Wednesday in the books. A perfect time to find your “feel-good” moment!! Did you check out my 5 tips to help you de-stress?? #5 is my favorite and I’m totally down for a g+ hangout sesh to do it. (Now you gotta go find out what #5 is!!) Plus, you don’t want to miss out on my Refreshing Lime-ade recipe using Sparkling Water. It’s delish!!! And a perfect accompaniment to your de-stressing. 😉

I feel like this whole week is slightly off. This past weekend wiped me out. Friday night/Saturday morning, I wasn’t able to fall asleep until 5am. Yikes! All because I decided to try out Cheerwine. You ever had the stuff?
What?? Did you think I was talking about a new wine?? 😉 Nope…this is soda. Made with Real Sugar Cane. It comes from North Carolina and gets it’s name from it’s original logo (3 Cherries…evidently meant good luck..so that’s where the Cheer came from…I know a bit of a stretch) and then the color is like Wine. So Cheerwine. 🙂 It was described to me like a Cherry Dr. Pepper. I think it has more Cherry flavor than Dr. Pepper, but I’ll go with it. Evidently this bad boy had a lot of caffeine in it. Thus why I was up till 5am. :/

It made for this activity on Saturday afternoon to be a bit more challenging:
That would be a Pure Barre class I took with some fellow DFW Bloggers. More on that tomorrow.

Needless to say I had a hard time recovering after all of that. Moving on…

I recently finished reading this book:
The Jane Austen Marriage Manual by Kim Izzo

Goodreads.com Synopsis: Katherine Shaw—Kate— is happy with her life. She has supportive friends, a glamorous magazine career, and a love of all things Jane Austen. But when she loses her job, her beloved grandmother falls ill and a financial disaster forces a sale on the family home, Kate finds herself facing a crisis that would test even the most stalwart of Austen heroines.

Friends rally round, connecting her to freelance gigs, and presenting her with a birthday gift— title to land in Scotland—that’s about to come in very handy. Turns out that Kate’s first freelance assignment is to test an Austen-inspired theory: in the toughest economic times is a wealthy man the only must-have accessory? What begins as an article turns into an opportunity as Kate—now Lady Kate—jet-sets to Palm Beach, St Moritz and London where, in keeping company with the elite, she meets prospects who make Mr. Darcy look like an amateur. But will rubbing shoulders with men of good fortune ever actually lead her to love? And will Kate be able to choose between Mr. Rich and Mr. Right?

My Review: 4 out of 5 stars. I liked the premise behind the book and overall thought the storyline was good. I enjoyed all the traveling and adventures of Kate. I just kind of felt it was lacking a bit of a spark. And it was a bit more predictable than I like. Most of these kinds of books are predictable, I just don’t like to see the writing on the wall so early.

I also recently finished this book (which was a Literary Junkie Book Club read)…
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Goodreads.com Synopsis: Charlie is a freshman.

And while he’s not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can’t stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

My Review: 3 out of 5 stars. I honestly didn’t really like this book. I didn’t mind the format (which is Charlie writing letters in the entire book, almost “Dear Diary” style) as I’ve read formats similar to this one. I just felt that it was a bit boring. I didn’t connect with him at all. I didn’t think the Epilogue, that introduced something important at the very last moment, was even needed. I didn’t think what it (the Epilogue) introduced helped the story in any way with relation to Charlie’s character. So many people said they loved this book and recommend it to people every chance they get. This book didn’t do anything for me. And thus I’m not going to be shouting it from the rooftops any time soon.

And there you have it folks. My random Wednesday.

Are you reading anything good right now?

Linking here: Random Wednesday // Style Sessions // WIWW // Trend Spin // What I Wore // Your Whims Wednesday // WIWW (#TuckerUp) // Thursdays are Your Days // Wednesday Whatsits