Book Round-Up

Amazon.com
Conviction: Solving the Moxley Murder by Leonard Levitt
*I have a slight obsession with true crime and big news stories (currently the stories of Amanda Knox and Natalee Holloway) and I just love to read about them! It's kind of sick in a way, but I just find it so interesting - and yes, I am the girl who sits at home Fridays and watches Dateline or tivo'd 48 Hours Mystery...jealous?
Spring Awakening: A Play by Frank Wedekind
*My current obsession with Spring Awakening the musical has led to purchase anything related to Spring Awakening - it's a sickness you guys! I feel that if I don't buy it now, all this stuff will miraculously disappear! BTW - if the Spring Awakening Tour is coming to your area, you should GO SEE IT! Honestly, it will blow your mind.
Smart Girls Do Dumbbells by Judith Sherman-Wolin
*I don't really know why I bought this book - but I liked the cover and I could use some weight training (and cardio training lol). Hopefully this is a fun program to incorporate some weights.
Going too Far by Jennifer Echols
*I've seen this book reviewed on a ton of blogs. Yes, I'm late to the game, but I can't wait to read it!
Why Mr. Right Can't Find You by J.M. Kearns
*Hello? Mr. Right? Are you out there? I guess I will read this book and find out why he can't find me. Maybe Mr. Right reads my blog......doubt it though!

BookMooch
The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty
If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? by Melissa Kantor


-------

What's In Your Handbag?

Sorry for the delay: I scheduled this post for Friday but it didn't work :(

Do you always have a book in your handbag? If you can't leave home without something to read, then "What's In Your Handbag?" is the post for you! Every Friday, I will be posting what book is currently in my purse. I would love to know what books are in your handbag this week, so leave a comment below telling me - or if you post it on your site, leave the link in the comments so I can go read it!

I will admit that the cover drew me to this book - I love this cover. It's so simple and eye-catching. I think this will be a nice, summer read and hopefully it will make my car trip go by faster :)

So readers, what's in your handbag?

Book Round-Up

So this was a good week for me, book-wise. Tuesday, I purchased some lovely book reading because I was having a really bad day. Today, I looked out the window and saw the rain. I decided to go to Border's and just have a lazy Saturday. I honestly spent 3 hours in Border's today - it was so relaxing! I got a pile of books and a caramel latte and just sat down and relaxed. Doing this, I was able to weed out some books that I didn't really need. Also, I wandered every aisle - which was extremely helpful since they were re-arranging the entire store (yikes). Here are some of the goodies I got:

30 Minute Meals: A Common Sense Guide
*This book doesn't exist online - how weird! I really wanted a budget friendly cookbook, but I couldn't really find one - I saw The Student's Guide to Becoming a Vegetarian - but I wanted meat lol

The Chosen One: A Novel by Carol Lynch Williams
*I have an odd fascination with polygamy; it is such an interesting, unfathomable situation! Plus, the cover of this book is very striking.

Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
*I am a little late on this book, but I waited for the paperback version and can't wait to read it!

The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke by Suze Orman
*I am excited to read this book and start saving for my future (although I should have started years ago), but I am still relatively young, so I am hoping to get my life in order. I have minimal debt - it is good debt though (I think -- student loans/car loan). I'm sure if Suze Orman saw me on the street, her first words would be - STEP AWAY FROM BORDER'S!!!!

Then I got this cute little pocket posh Sudoku for when I am bored at work (shhhhh)! It's so fancy!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

June 19, 2009: Hedge Fund Wives

Product description:

Who could have guessed that Wall Street would go south just as Marcy Emerson and her husband moved east? Down to earth Marcy relocated from Chicago to New York when her husband was offered a big time job as a hedge fund manager.

She gives up her own job—after all, hedge fund wives don't work! And while at first it's fun to shop all day and party all night, Marcy quickly learns that life among the rich can be anything but easy and that behind every smile can be a stab in the back.

Still, it's not until her husband leaves her for his thinner, blonder mistress—a woman who is higher up the social ladder than the original Mrs. Emerson will ever be—that Marcy decides to stand on her own two feet once again, and fight for the things that are far more important than money.

Hedge Fund Wives by Tatiana Boncompagni is a surprisingly fresh story about a woman's sudden thrust into the world of hedge fund wives. This world is unlike anything Marcy knows and she doesn't particularly care for it, but she is willing to give it a try for her husband. This book started out a little slow for me - I'm not familiar with all these financial terms and don't understand them - but once the story started moving, I read the book in a day.

I think this book really highlighted the fact that money doesn't buy happiness. Honestly, how can we be envious of these women with their fancy clothes when they have crumbling marriages. Also, these women felt like mean girls - no thank you!

I was so relieved that Marcy did not take her husband back after his affair (which was heart-wrenching to read, by the way) but I was also so excited that she ended up with the good guy in the end.

Since it is the summer season (not that I can tell since it rains everyday) I would highly recommend that you take this book the beach and just get lost in the story! Such a fun and quick read.

What's In Your Handbag?

I'm going to start posting "What's In Your Handbag" every Friday. I always have a book in my handbag, and it is usually my current read. If anyone is interested in posting what is in their handbag, please leave a comment.

NOTE: I apologize if someone is already doing this in the blog-o-sphere, I just thought it would be fun to post what I am reading!

Uglies Series

Ok-I know I have been pretty lax on my reading lately, but here is what I've been reading: Uglies (5/29/09); Pretties (6/1/09); Specials (6/10/09); and Extras (6/17/09) {all books by Scott Westerfeld}.

Despite the ridiculous amount of time it took me to read the series, I really enjoyed these books. I will say that I prefer the first 3 books and Tally's story way more than I enjoyed Aya's story. It is kind of cool to read about a world that far in the future and it really does make you wonder what will happen then! My favorite book of the four is Pretties because I prefered the little love story between Zane and Tally {on a side note, I kind of think the name Zane is cool now}.

Wish List Wednesday

So I got this from Jenni's blog and thought I would put my wish list up! These are probably things I might not get ever, but if I put it out into the universe maybe The Secret will work and I can get them {Hey! The Secret worked yesterday for me. I said to my sister, I really want to win the 50/50 drawing and she said, I think everyone wants to win, that's why they buy tickets. Well, guess who won?! That's right, I am $22.50 richer, so ha!}

1. First, I would love this beautiful Marc Jacobs bag......it's so delicious and classic.
2. A $1,000 Amazon.com gift card {do these exist}. Imagine all the books I could buy with this bad boy!3. There are so many places in the world I want to visit, but I really want to go to Greece {and London, and Paris, and Australia, and Italy}. If only I could get over my fear of flying and do something fun like that! It's so gorgeous there, especially the blue roofs!4. Ed Swiderski of The Bachelorette....since you left Jill, you should come to Western NY and marry me please {unless the rumors are true and you go back to be with Jill, then I suppose you can stay with her}. Seriously though, I think I might like older men....not like 30 is old, but I think I need someone who is 30 or older. I am sick of boys in their 20's.
5. Finally, something I will most likely buy next winter :) I love Uggs {and I don't care what you think!} They are so comfy and warm! I've been craving the chocolate brown Uggs for awhile now!Like my wishlist? Want to play along? Go to Jenni's blog and grab the button; then pick 5 things off of your wishlist and sign her Mr. Linky to let her know you played along :) enjoy!

Alicia and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Okay, so maybe that is a slight exaggeration. Today was just an off day for me; I am stressing over planning my sister's baby shower because I just want it to be perfect. How can it be perfect if people keep messing up my list? I created my awesome to-do list so that the shower would be perfect....it's just so frustrating! It's a silly thing to be upset about, but it just made me so emotional all day - yes people, I cried at many random points throughout the day...even if someone just asked how I was doing.

Then, I ordered my Reasons to be Pretty mug and was so excited when it arrived. Then I opened the box....and it was cracked which led to cry fest number 4. No worries, they are sending me a new one and I don't have to return the cracked one.

Then I had a dr.'s appointment, which always stresses me out anyways (yes, I realize that I sound like a crazy pregnant woman and no, I am not a crazy pregnant woman). My lovely sister saw how stressed I was all day and went to Panera Bread with me (which she hates) and then bought me some Starbucks! I have the best sister....and she deserves the perfect baby shower darn it!

Anyways, the point of the post is that I bought two books at Target :) I picked up The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton, but then I saw L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad (don't judge me) and couldn't decide which one to get. My sister said that since I was having a bad day, I should probably just get both to make me feel better. She knows me so well! Then, I found Rolling Stone with Adam Lambert on the cover - finally! I couldn't find it over the weekend. So she was right, I felt so happy :) Then to top things off, I won the 50/50 at my cousin's baseball game and won $22.50-yay me! Those books just paid for themselves!

I hope everyone else had a radically awesome day!

Twenty Boy Summer and Other Things

So I was walking by Barnes and Noble yesterday when I saw the sign below:Well, I have read some great reviews of Twenty Boy Summer and I had no idea that Sarah Ockler was a former Orchard Park Resident - how cool! So anyways, I am very excited that there is a book signing this Saturday and I will be picking up my copy of the book and getting it signed :)

Other items --> First off - I am planning a baby shower for my first niece {yay} so I am kind of stressed about that. I don't like to relinquish control because I want everything to be perfect and I have my lists - but I don't like to stray from the list, but I will be okay!

I haven't posted any reviews lately - but I have been reading. I read Uglies, Pretties, Specials and am in the middle of Extras. I think I will just consolidate them all into one post and then hopefully I will get reading and posting some more. I really love posting on this blog because I like to keep track of the books I read; but I kind of want to start making this blog a little bigger. I want to do some giveaways, but I just don't know if I have enough readers to do such a thing. How does everyone get more readers on their blog - is it through twitter and other forms of social networking?

Anyways, I apologize for the lack of posts but I expect to be posting more shortly.

May 25-28, 2009: New York City Trip

UPDATE: Geez, I had the most difficult time uploading this post! I hope it looks okay and not too funky!

So, I took a little vacation last week and went to NYC :o) It was exhausting, but fun – and can you believe that I only read 1 book!!!!

Monday

We took the 8 hour train to NYC and this is where I did not read one single page of a book – oops! Our hotel was gorgeous and probably the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in, and it was in Times Square – the only downfall was the lack of free wireless and I was not about to pay $16.95 to use the internet! We had a low-key night and went over to Brooklyn and walked the Brooklyn Bridge back home. Nothing too eventful happened, except for the guy who blew on my hair and then hit me with the arm of his jacket…..um that was the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to me in NYC. We ate pizza for dinner (this will be a recurring theme), we wanted to eat at Grimaldi’s but the line was crazy long, so we found another pizzeria and ate there. I was so exhausted by the time we got back to our hotel, traveling really makes me tired!

Tuesday

My sister and I woke up early and walked over to the CBS Early Show around 7:00 a.m. It was a nice, long walk and it was actually quite peaceful that early in the morning. The reason we went to CBS is because ADAM FREAKIN LAMBERT was performing and I found out about it Sunday and dragged my sister along! We actually had a good spot; we were in the second row of people. He finally came out around 10:00 and by that time, my whole body hurt! I hate standing up for long periods of time. Anyways, I got some awesome pictures, courtesy of my awesome, taller sister. He did his sound check (amazing) and interview and then left for 15 minutes. I was sick of standing, so my sister and I got out of the line and sat down. Amazingly, we still had an excellent view and I got some more pictures. He came out and sang the song "Mad World" and then left right away. I have to admit – it was awesome! My sister is not an Adam Lambert fan, but she couldn’t believe how cool it was. Plus, we were on tv for like 1 second :o)

After this, my sister and I crossed the street to Central Park and wandered around for a bit. The Strand had a booth set up, so I got an awesome tote bag and Coraline. I didn’t want to get a bunch of books, because I had to travel home still! I also got this cool Broadway picture – it had all the current Broadway Show signs in the picture. Unfortunately, I did a crappy job packing it (even though I wrapped it in many pashminas) and the glass broke on the trip home.

Finally, my mom and grandma got to Central Park and we went to the Zoo. It was actually my first time at the Central Park Zoo. It’s a really small zoo, but that’s okay because I didn’t have the patience to do a huge zoo. My favorite part was the polar bears. The one was swimming laps – he would do the backstroke down one side, and then would push off the wall and swim back to the other side. Then the other polar bear just watched him, but was exhausted from watching so he laid his head down and napped – too cute!

After the zoo, we walked up 5^th Avenue and looked at some window displays. Then we stopped at Magnolia Bakery….oh my gosh you guys! The cupcakes were amazing! I like plain cupcakes, so I had vanilla with vanilla butter cream frosting and it was the best cupcake I have ever had….and I've had a lot of cupcakes...I'm an enthusiast :o)

For dinner, we went to John’s Pizzeria. We eat at John’s every time we are in NYC because the pizza is absolutely amazing! Then we were off to see Mary Poppins! We got an awesome deal on tickets, buy one get one for $15! So off course, we couldn’t pass it up! Our seats were pretty high up, but we could see everything perfectly. The set design for this show is incredible! I still can’t get over it! First of all, it was a giant dollhouse that moved so it was pretty awesome to start. Then, Mary Poppins started pulling lamps, coat racks, etc out of her bag and I have no idea how she did it! Then she flew into the audience….how did she get down? Seriously, she was on stage a minute later for the curtain call! My favorite part is “Step in Time”, but the entire musical was very good. It is actually quite different from the movie, so I wonder if it was based on the books more – maybe I will have to read them!

Wednesday

Wednesday was my relaxing day! I slept in a little and my sister and I walked over to the TKTS booth around 8:45. She went to get us bagels while I waited in line and thankfully, once it was 10:00 the line moved fast! I was out of there by 10:05 :o).

There were so many shows I wanted to see (Next to Normal, West Side Story, Billy Elliot, The Little Mermaid) but I ended up getting tickets for 9 to 5: The Musical. When I first heard of the musical, I was unsure I would like it. BUT when I got to NYC, I realized that the theater was next to our hotel and I had heard that Neil Haskell was in the ensemble – also, Stephanie J. Block and Megan Hilty! I am already fans of them, so I was excited to see them in something!

After getting tickets, we sat around for a bit and then we went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company and it was delicious. My sister and I each got a shrimp appetizer and shared them. My favorite part of the walk to the restaurant went something like this: Random Comedy Club Guy – Do you like to laugh? Me – Nope, I absolutely hate laughing (of course I was smiling because I always smile whenI try to joke). Random Comedy Club Guy – Me neither….{yelling} I think I’m in love with you. Awww – how sweet random guy on the street. After this, we sent my sister off in a cab because she flew home a day early!

Around 1:45, my grandma and I made our way down to the theater – you know since it was right next door. We put on our rain jackets and my grandma put on sneakers (cause it was raining, obviously) and we walked around looking for this theater! How can we not find it? There is a huge picture of it right outside our hotel – yep, it was inside our hotel and we were walking around like loons! I still can’t believe that on the 3^rd floor of our hotel, there is a theater and 9 to 5 happens eight times a week! We had 9^th row seats and it was an amazing show! Full of energy, catchy tunes and some truly showstopper moments; Megan Hilty deserved a Tony nomination – she is an absolute star!

After the show, we walked ALL THE WAY back to our room (haha) and chilled because we were going to see a play that night (what can I say, I love Broadway). The theater for Reasons to be Pretty was down the street from our hotel, and I knew this because I scoped it out beforehand so that I didn’t look like a fool. We arrived early and climbed 47 flights of stairs – well, it felt like that many! The Lyceum theater is gorgeous, by the way! I was excited to see this play because (besides the obvious – the pink sign) Piper Perabo was in it and Idina Menzel was at the premier and I have to do everything that she does – so I should be marrying Taye Diggs any day now and having his child :o). Anyways, it was really different – I don’t think I have ever seen a play without a musical number! However, I think I might try to broaden my horizons and see some more plays in my life – I especially love the mug I bought. It says, “Love is blind shithead”. By the way - I just read on the website that the final performance is June 14th - how sad :(!

After our day of Broadway, we went to the Broadway lounge in our hotel and got a drink ($14.95 for one drink, so I obviously only got one). I got a Champagne Collins and it was super strong and I think I was totally tipsy off of that one drink!

Thursday

Went to the deli and got bagels then hopped on a train for our 8 hour trek back home. Bye New York, I will miss you!

Friday

This is not part of my NYC trip, but I have to tell anyways! My mom and I took a three hour drive to Pittsburgh to see Spring Awakening, which is absolutely amazing and I had been dying to see it! It was worth the 6 hour round trip (yes we went home from Pittsburgh at 11:00 that night) and I hope to see it again in Rochester during February - although, I wish it would come to Buffalo!

I'm Here!

I'm still here guys!! Crazy two weeks, last week I was on vacation and this week I was without a work computer! It is torture to be at work without a computer! Anyways, I will wrap up my vacation post and post some reviews next week :)
-------