It is half way through November, meaning the year is nearly over! (OMG). How fast does time go by? Hella

Anyways.

I wanted to talk about life, and by life I mean books. (Which is life…along with food)

No, seriously.

Recently, Facebook threw in my face a really old picture of me due to the throwback nonsense it does.

It was a picture of me four years ago. Dear sixteen year old me.

God, that fringe…that cardigan…that everything. What was I thinking? (I wasn’t…clearly).

Seeing that girl in that picture brought back a lot of memories that I have locked away and tried to erase.

Seeing that girl in that picture blew me away, because that girl would not believe anyone if they told her what she would become and who she would lose.

Dear Sixteen-year-old Me,

You are terrified and confused. You do not want know what you want in life, to the point that you question if life is even for you. Believe the words, “It will get better”, because it honestly does. So much better.

You grow confident, how the hell did you do it? I don’t know, but it happened. When someone makes a comment about you, you look at them in the face and smile. You no longer let it eat you up. You are aware of who you are. Your faults and your gifts. You have the weirdest smile; your tongue sticks out a little…embrace that. Practice in front of the mirror and laugh at yourself.

College will come, and it will not be as scary as you made it out to be. You stayed home, and that's okay…because you met the most wonderful group of individuals and created a cult with them…and you, my dear, as the Queen (metaphorically).

You will lose your best friend. I know. The girl who you’ve known since you were 13, the girl who made you feel not so alone. She leaves. And it is okay. But god it is going to hurt. You are going to cry, you are going to feel like someone tore a part out of you. A big gapping hole. Empty. The parting is gradual, but you feel it. You try, so hard, to make it work, to keep the friendship, to make her keep talking to you. You are going to cry till your eyes burn. You are going to rip some art and photographs up. You are going to write letters that you will never send. Until you write one saying goodbye. There is when you finally let go of those strings.

It will hurt like hell, but it is okay because remember this cult I mentioned…well it is not a cult I was being dramatic. It is a group of people and together (including you darling) create the Magic Kingdom of the Piano Lounge at FIU. I know, hard to believe…you will be part of an actually group of friends who adore you even when you are pain to be around.

There is Mom…she well…is mom and she is your support line, she is the reason you are as strong as a diamond. The moment your confidence falters, even a smidge. She picks you up before you can fall and pushes you forward.  There is your reading buddy, thanks to her you will read about 50 books in a single year and made you realize your real dream. There is your Knight, she will be the person who shows you that when a friendship dies a new one blooms (also, your real mom swears you are in lesbians together) because you will be super lovable to one another. There is Thor, he is a giant teddy bear and he makes you realize that being nice is better than being bitter. Then there is the Creator, he made all the happen. He is the reason we all grew so close, because he got sick. Keep an eye on him. Protect him.

There are more people you will meet and they will challenge your life in a positive manner. They want the best for you just like you will want the best for them. This fills that hole that she left you.

You even grew closer to your parents. ( I’m not lying, I swear!)

You grow in a strong independent woman who is like 75% sure what she wants with themselves. You become this girl.

Crazy right? I know. I can hardly believe it. Sixteen year old me, thank you for not giving up on yourself even when you wanted to. Than you for deciding to become the girl I am now.

Oh, and you go to Japan, which is pretty cool.

Thanks,

Twenty-year-old me

Incredible what one picture can do. Now I am excited who I will become in four more years. Give me a couple years, I have great plans ahead of me.

In the YA world, it is currently very popular to re-tell a classic story. Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, you name it. They grab the basic premise of these classic tales and turn them upside down. Maybe Cinderella is a cyborg? Snow White is actually a warrior. The Beast is human. The possibilities are endless.

Fairytale retellings not just popular in the YA novel world, but in films and tv series. Once Upon a Time is a very popular fairytale retelling where all these classic (and uncopyrighted) favorites shine in new light, with a twist to their stories…like Peter Pan actually being a villain…

Anyways, I am not here to talk about Once Upon a Time or Ella Enchanted, I was to talk about books.

For the month of November I will be reading several retellings of classic fairytales. I do not have a quirky name for the month, but something along the lines of November Retold or Twisted Fairytales November.  I honestly do not know! I am no good with quirky names. Point is, the theme for November is fairytales retold or with a twist.

I already have my TBR prepare for this month and I hope I can tackle all these books.

I will begin with the Lunar Chronicle series by Marissa Meyer. This series is a retelling of Cinderella, Snow White, Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel. It is set several hundred years in the future and in China…well New Beijing and Cinder (aka Cinderella) is the main character of the whole series.

I have already read Cinder and I was fascinated with the hole plot and idea. Cinder is a cyborg with immunity to a very deadly disease that is plaguing the world. Oh! And there is a civilization called the Lunars that live on the Moon that want to take over the Earth. So we follow the story Cinder as she lives her daily life and finds herself in unusual circumstances.

Then we have Scarlet, and here we explore Red Riding Hood’s story along side Cinder’s…I have not read Scarlet but it is the first book on my TBR. I promise!

Next there is Cress, and it follows Rapunzel’s storyline, kinda. And of course Cinder.

Then Winter is the final book in the series. Winter is not out yet but I have it pre-ordered and it will arrive to my doorstep (hopefully) on the day it is released!

After I am done with The Lunar Chronicles I will be continuing The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer.

I have already read the first two books of the series, The Wishing Spell and The Enchantress Returns. The next book that I have to read is A Grimm Warning…and Beyond the Kingdoms (but I don’t own this one).

The Land of Stories is a more innocent retelling of the classic Grimm Brother Stories, where we follow the tale of twins, Alex and Conner, and how their lives are connected to these stories and people.

THEN! If I still have enough time in the month of November I will be exploring the world of The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. This story is a retelling of A Thousand and One Nights.

I have never read this classic story, so I honestly don’t know what to expect. All I know is the a woman got out of a death sentence by telling a story to a prince/king each night until he fell in love with her or something. All I know about this retelling is that it is darker than the original story…but I am honestly clueless.

Hopefully I can read all these books by the end of November!

OH!

I also have business cards now! What do you guys think? I think they are so cute~

HAPPY READING.

I was in ninth grade and Borders was still a semi-stable bookstore company. I do not remember what led me to ask my mom to buy me a complete set of books…but I did. I think we were looking for a book I needed for my English class or something, but on that day I returned home with the complete paperback set of Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. My memory is fuzzy on how quickly I devoured the stories, but on 2010 I continued the journey of the Greek world of Camp-Half Blood with the new Heroes of Olympus series.

Six years later I am proud to say that I am slut crazy for Riordan’s stories. I also discovered my love for Percy Jackson (my favorite book character of all time…presently). It was Riordan who put me back on the reading bandwagon after my…vampire literature phase…

The stories of Percy Jackson (at least the first five books) we watch Percy grow in each book. Much like Harry in the Harry Potter series. Percy is a demigod, the son of Greek god Poseidon, and he learns that being a demigod sucks and it is not something he would wish upon anyone. He didn’t ask to be a demigod. I was 14 when I read the first book and Percy was 12, even though he was younger than me, I wanted my life to be a crazy deadly adventure like his. (I know…wtf?)

Today I just pray to the heavens my poor baby survives another quest. And question Riordan’s butchering of Percy’s inner demons in Blood of Olympus. Sorry getting side-tracked.

I have branched off and dabbled in Riordan’s other mythology pools. I have met Carter and Sadie Kane, Egyptian magicians, who have to make sure the world doesn’t turn into sand as they try to figure out how to bring back Ra. Even though I have only read the first book of the Kane Chronicles trilogy I know I am in for another great adventure. Filled a bunch of gods, demons, and Goth God of Hotness.2: Anubis.

Recently, Riordan released a new series. A Norse series called: Mango Cheese Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. I absolutely loved it, Magnus is my fictional son and if anything happens to him I might send Uncle Rick a very angry 10-page letter.

Something I absolutely love about Riordan’s stories is that they all connect. All these Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Norse gods are in the same universe. I like this, because I do not completely agree with Christianity and their whole concept of only being one single god. Of course, these books are not religious at all, so no worries.

In his three mythology series there are subtle hints of the other stories. In the Kane Chronicles there are subtle hints of Percy’s world and his gods. Carter’s uncle warned them that Manhattan is inhabited by other gods so he needed to be careful (which left Carter extremely confused). There is even a cross-over (that I have not read) where Carter and Percy meet, along with Sadie and Annabeth!

Then in Magnus Chase…who is Annabeth Chase’s cousin (she is a Greek demigod, daughter of Athena), there are a bunch of hints and shade thrown about Greek series.

Can you tell that I really like Rick Riordan’s stories? I own practically all his mythology stuff…someone send help.

Next May he is publishing a new series based of the world of Camp Half-Blood called Apollo’s Trials… and I wont be here!!! I might actually cry if I get spoiled…

I just…augh! I need help!

 Recently, I purchased some wonderful soaps from a small home business called Rose Originals.

I was strolling down the main hall of my University when cute pastel colors suddenly caught my attention. Being the dork I am, I went and fetched my friend so we could snoop around the table.

Rose Originals is ran by lovely lady named Rose who makes all sorts of handcrafted body care products that are 100% eco-friendly and organic based.  They even use locally harvested honey and beeswax (which was a really neat fact).

As a person with really problematic skin, I have to be extra careful what products I put on my skin, because if something is chemically based my skin will reject it. I either breakout, get rashes, become itchy or worse. So I pay the extra dollar in order to ensure I get the highest quality product that wont cause my skin to have a freak-out.

I usually do not buy skin products without knowing what they are made off, especially if they are handcrafted, because (no offense) I do not know if everything you put on the ingredients is true or not. I initially was not going to make any purchase from Rose Originals because of this fact.

BUT! Rose Originals has a YouTube channel that shows you how their soaps are made and what is put in them. My friend and I spent half an hour watching the videos until we finally decided to return to the table and purchase some soaps.

I purchased Caribbean Coconut and Sweet Thing.

I am currently using Caribbean Coconut as part of my daily shower routine. And I am happy. It smells like a fruit smoothie (in a good way) and coconut. I love anything coconut based, and it is also very good for your skin! Every time I lather with the soap, my skin is left nice and soft as it absorbs all the coconut oil goodness. Then, when I come out of the shower I can still smell the hints of coconut of my skin for a good hour or two. It is just lovely. It makes me feel like a tropical goddess.

I have not used Sweet Thing. ( Why would I have three bars of soap in my shower?) It is currently sitting on my desk, because that is clearly where unused soaps go. But since it is always on my desk, you can sometimes catch me having a wiff at it. It also contains coconut oil, but the main fragrance is a cranberry plumy goodness. I also feel like it has a hint of a rosey smell, but I am crummy at identifying flower smells other than lavender.

I am over-joyed with my purchase and the minute my soap finish disintegrating into my body I plan on ordering some more! ( You should as well! Worth the money.)

They also have body butters, sugar scrubs & lotion bars. I hope that maybe in the future I will have some of those products in my possession as well.

Rose Originals:

Website: www.roseoriginals.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rose-Originals-350134641835722/timeline/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RoseOriginals

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rose_originals

I need you to image the fabulous Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. Image her stylish clothes, her positive attitude, her brilliance and her ‘do what you believe in mentally’. Is her picture in your mind yet? I hope so; now imagine her southern, accent and brown hair. Now to that southern Elle Wood, blend her together with Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Congratulations! You’re currently seeing Harper Price, the protagonist from Rebel Belle a book by Rachel Hawkins.

Rebel Belle is very hard to explain, so bare with me. There is this girl named Harper and she is the definition of a southern belle. She is class president, head cheerleader, homecoming queen, and the school’s queen bee. On the night of her homecoming prom she finds herself in a really weird situation with the school’s janitor and her history teacher. The janitor isn’t a janitor at all, he is actually a Palidin; a protector.  And the janitor has been stabbed and about to die when he passes his powers to Harper. Harper, against her will, becomes a Palidin. Then Harper is placed in a confusing and complicated situation where she obtains strange new powers and has no clue what they are for or what she should be doing. (Like possibly saving the world and the boy she has hated since kindergarten)

I dove into this book thinking it was going to be super girly and possibly hating Harper. I was wrong. Yes, there are some girly elements to the book because that is who Harper is, a girly girl. Thankfully, it doesn't distract from the story nor become super annoying, because of all the action packed scenes. (Remember what I said about Buffy.). All the girlyness was overshadowed by how kick-ass Harper was and how she handled every situation.

The characters were fantastic, and many of them, like David Stark, were super funny. There were multiple times were I was giggling like an insane person and I would get funny looks from the people around me. They didn’t understand.

Like most YA novels now a days there is a romance, and a slight love triangle. The triangle was not overwhelming like most novels, but hinted at. Thankfully, it was a hinted triangle and not actual one (Thank the Hawkins). Also, the romance was not a key point to the story. I repeat: romance was not the main element! (Hallelujah). Harper is with and mentions her boyfriend, Ryan, several times through out the novel, but it is not: Ryan this, Ryan that, Ryan Ryan Ryan, OMG Ryan. It more like: Oh damn my date with Ryan is today, I need to protect David, oh damn we are being chased, I need to learn how to sword fight in heels, where is my lip-gloss?

If you want try something new and magical, my dear reader, go get a copy of Rebel Belle. And after you have finished reading Rebel Belle let me know your thoughts, feels and reactions.