Sarah/Ally Chat

Though it was crazy and hectic and the chat room was a little messed up, the chat was fun. I think keeping up with everyone's responses got to be a little too much for the internet chat room because it kept blanking out or logging people off. Too much awesome-ness for one chat, I suppose. However, Ally is now singing "I'm too awesome for this chat" to the tune of "I'm too sexy" so it was totally worth it!

I haven't read any of Sarah's work and I hope I get to soon as part of this review project I've got going on. She seemed really nice in the chat though. It amazes me how some people perceive actors as, like, so egotistical because of their fortune and fame (some of them aren't!) yet every author I've talked to seems to be completely down to Earth. My mother talked to the author of G.R.I.T.S. (girls raised in the south) and said she was so grounded though almost every southern girl knows her book. I think that's pretty cool and I hope I'm that grounded when/if I get any sort of fame. Because, you know, some people get their 15 minutes and it's a HUGE deal. My cousin was an extra on Ugly Betty (she got a good 5 minutes of camera time) and I haven't heard the end of that story in like, 2 months. Then again, it might be different if it's your first 15 minutes versus you 5th 15 minutes...

Until next time!

Mini blog: Tisk, tisk!

 I went to Barnes & Noble tonight with some friends and they already had CMH in paperback out on the shelves (The second book of the Gallagher Girl series by Ally Carter). I quickly grabbed a copy, obviously, but tisk, tisk to B&N for having it up before they were supposed to. The bonus material is worth taking a look at, though, so I suggest everyone grab a copy! Hope to see you in the chat at Sarah's website!!

"Something Rotten"

I finished Something Rotten by Alan Gratz this morning at about 7am. I ended up reading the book all night because it was so funny. I also thought it was interesting because I'm a theatre person and it was basically Hamlet (go Shakespeare!) but not. And, if that wasn't funny enough, the characters in the book actually do the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which is a spin on Hamlet told from the view point of the two minor characters in the title. I absolutely love this play and studied it last spring in my modern playwrights class. As if that wasn't enough, there are two characters in the book named Roscoe Grant and Gilbert Stern... sound familiar??

I'll post a real review later this week (hopefully before Christmas, but probably after) but I just needed to say READ IT! Especially if you know the story of Hamlet, and even if you don't, read it anyway! 

Book reviews

Now that I've got a good idea of some things I will probably review in the next few weeks, I figured I'd list them just for my own sanity, but also for whoever is reading to know what to look for.

1. Something Rotten by Alan Gratz

2. I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter (aka LYKY)

3. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter (aka CMH)

4. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

5. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

6. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

7. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

That's a lot for the next few weeks. Luckily, I've read them all (except the first one) so just some skimming through them to get ready to write. I've also already reviewed Twilight so I'll just be re-posting it here. I'm also looking to do the Magic in Manhattan series by Sarah Mlynowski and perhaps some of the books by E. Lockhart. We'll see how ambitious I get! I love books and I can read a good book in a day or two, so here's hoping I can finish all these. I also want to review some classics, but it's hard to do that because there are so many reviews out there. I might review them in a teen's point of view though, which might be fun. Those would be books like:

1. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

That's just to name a few of my favorites. Anyway, any of the books in this post are TOTALLY worth reading. I could name a few more (okay, a lot more) but I'll spare you all for a while. Like I said, this list is kind of for my own sanity and to keep me on track. I'd say I'll be done with Something Rotten in about 3 days (I don't have much time to read right now because of the holidays) but before Dec. 30th, the review should be up! Then, I'll try to get both of Ally's books done by mid-January, followed by all of the Twilight series by the end of January to mid-February. After that, it's up in the air depending on what comes out on shelves and what I read. So stay tuned! Until next time!!

Christmas shopping

I started a wild goose chase tonight looking for the Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker. Apparently it's really popular, so Toys R Us didn't have it online or in stores. So I went to Wal-Mart, not expecting to find it, but because my cousin is getting an X-box (he doesn't read this) and I was looking for a fun hunting game for him. He loves to hunt deer. Anyway, I went to the toy section anyway, and YAY for Wal-Mart because they have the cupcake maker and it's almost $10 cheaper than Toys R Us! Plus, I got the hunting game, a game for Maggie's DS (she doesn't read this either), and some stuff for my sister (she may read this...) so I feel accomplished :)

Now I have to do a bunch of wrapping to do. Ugh! But at least most the Christmas shopping is done!

Mini blog: PNGing

The only thing as bad as staring at a computer for hours while you write a paper for a class you hate is staring at a computer for hours using Photoshop to edit pictures. And these aren't even cool pictures... they're pictures of purses and jewelry for my mom's catalog. Hmmm...

On the bright side, You've Got Mail is on and I LOVE that movie :) And the "Stylista" finale comes on in an hour and fifteen minutes!!

Mini blog: Twilight - the movie

It's official.

I have seen Twilight a total of 5 times since it came out in theaters on Nov. 21st. Let's see:

1. Midnight showing, of course!

2. I drug my guy friend/coworker to see it (he hated that Edward "dazzled")

3. Over Thanksgiving break with my 2 BFFs

4. After the Alabama/Florida game with a friend from high school

5. Tonight with my BFFs again :)

That's it. It may end up being 6 before it leaves the theater, but then there's always the dollar theater. Twilight for $1!! I'd probably see it every day until I could repeat every single line. I'm about halfway there :)

Ally Chat

Okay, so this evening, Ally Carter (one of my favorite authors!) had her first ever ALLY CHAT! I was lucky enough to attend and talk to her and Alan Gratz, though it was briefly. Unfortunately, I'd made plans with friends and couldn't stay the whole time, but my friends and I had fun :)

Point is, Alan Gratz wrote an amazing book (so I'm told) entitled "Something Rotten" which I looked in 2 different bookstores for, but to no avail. So, Alan told us during the chat to try Books-a-Million because they've been so helpful in promoting his book. I did, and they had ONE copy. Of course I bought it, so now they probably have to replace the copy that was on the shelf, but hey, that's their job. Anyway, Alan and Ally are hosting another Ally Chat on Dec. 30th, which I hope to be at, to discuss "Something Rotten". I bet you can tell what's coming next... *waits for answer*... you're right! I'm going to review the book right here! I'm excited because it's my first review (though I will be reviewing Ally's GG books as well as the "Twilight" series soon) and I get to talk to the author afterwards and get his input on what's really going down. So stay tuned for that!

In other news, my mother and I are putting together her retail catalog again. Another holiday spent PNGing pictures on a computer all day long... joy...

Top 5 Christmas Gifts

I felt compelled to create the top 5 Christmas gift list. I'm not really sure why, but here it goes anyway!

5. Trip to NYC - This was really for my sister's 13th birthday, but it also counted as my Christmas present in 1998 because we went in December. Anyway, I've been back since then, but it was fun because I was young and we saw all the fun shows like "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King".

4. Cruise - I don't know how long ago this was, but my mom gave me and my sister a Playschool boat and told us it represented something else. I guessed we were going on a cruise (*ding ding!*) so we went to Mexico and Jamaica over the course of a week.

3. SLR Canon Rebel - I got this camera from Santa last year. I use it for my photography class, specifically, but it's one of the most amazing camera's ever. Sadly, it's a film camera so it isn't instant gratification, but it makes me feel professional :)

2. MacBook - okay, two years ago I got my MacBook from my mom for Christmas, and it's amazing! I don't think I could go anywhere without it. I bought a purple incase cover for it, so it's now a purple MacBook... how often do you see those?!

1. Trip to Ireland - Okay, it wasn't the whole trip, but it was the money to help me pay for half of it. Last January I went to Ireland with my school and it cost nearly $4,000 just to go for 2 weeks. It was a literary trip that was totally worth it!

The "Welcome" Post

This is the oh-so-unoriginal "Welcome" message.

Welcome to my blog, Bella Blogger!

There are a ton of things I hope to do with this blog: comment on books, television and movies, make spontaneous lists of nothing, post links to things or people I think rock, write my memoirs, and keep you avid readers (which are few at the moment) on your toes about what's coming up in my career.

I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I'm going to enjoy putting it all into words!

- Bella