Curssed By Jennifer Armentrout

Summary: Dying sucks
...and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand.

After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.

Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he's a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she's more than interested. There's just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she's willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't?

But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not have been an accident at all, she's not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life.

For real this time.

Rating: ***** (5 Stars)
Review: Ok so I finished up this book while I was on vacation in Mexico & it was the perfect book to read lounging in a hammock or cabana on the beach. I really like Jennifer Armentrout's style of writing - she really pinpoints how YA really talk without it being annoying. I've read 3 out of 5 books in her Lux series which is fantastic btw! How rare is it to find a fantasy/paranormal standalone that's this good? Jennifer is a real genius. The story is intense, the characters are well written, and nothing feels pressured.  It has you guessing what's going to happen and it has so many twists and turns it will leave you dizzy. From the very first page I could not put this book down. It's heart-stopping and exciting and every page leaves you breathless and needing more. So many times during this book I thought I knew who was good and who was bad just to have everything change again. It was the perfect balance of suspense and romance between Hayden and Ember. I felt throughout the book that Ember was so strong, to have gone through everything she did and the fact that at her young age she tried so hard to take care of her little sister. I really loved this book and highly recommend it.

See I told you it was a good beach book 😉

Guess Who's Back

Back again! Katie's back - tell a friend. Ok, I'm really sorry for the Eminem song reference. But it made me laugh. I can not seem to keep up with blogging - once I get going I am really awesome at it (not to toot my own horn but beep beep!) but once I hit a wall I forget it ever existed. I've read so many books since last year & want to do reviews on all of them but it's overwhelming. I also went on a few vacations I want to tell you all about but again overwhelming! So let's start off where I'm at currently and then we can flash back to cool specific moments that have happened over the past year. Right now I am stuck on my couch with some sort of evil sinus/head cold. It's gotten ahold of everyone in the Klueg household & ruined our weekend. Hopefully it'll subside soon - send some get well vibes our way! Apart from that were in the middle of redoing our home décor. Ever reach a point where you go into every single room of your house and suddenly hate it all?! Yup that's me right now. I don't know if it's because I'm approaching 30 (eeek!) and my tastes have changed or if I might be watching too much HGTV for my own good. My issue is keeping focus on one room. We started with the kitchen; got it painted and put new shelving up. Over the past couple of months I've been collecting pieces to go in there but I get easily distracted and move onto other projects. So the house is in a bit of a chaotic state right now. If you've ever seen the show Fixer Upper on HGTV with Joanna & Chip Gaines that would basically describe everything I am trying to obtain for our home. I love the rustic farmhouse look with a little bit of shabby chic cottage flair. We have gotten so many pieces of furniture to redo it's kind of ridiculous. But I'm extremely excited to start on those - I'm going to be giving chalk paint a try for many of those pieces. As I start I'll try and post before and after pictures. For now I will leave you with some of our recent completed projects:

Here's our living room before - we loved red obviously. 

And here we are after - it's so much more inviting. I made the curtains out of drop cloths & actually redid the green/yellow pillows that came with the couch. 

This was probably the easiest and cheapest project I've ever done. Picked up this window pane for $5 and printed some 8x10 pictures from Walgreens, with a coupon I maybe paid $7 total. My friend made the decal lettering for $16. 

And last but not least, my absolute favorite addition so far: 

The shelving in our kitchen is beyond perfect, thanks to my wonderful husband who basically did this project for me. It's beautiful and I sometimes catch myself walking by the kitchen just to see it! If you have any questions as to what materials we used, where we got any of the aboved pictured or how to's just let me know! 

Bombshell Mascara by Covergirl

Hello there ladies! I am super excited to write a review about this product! Let me just start out by saying I love makeup & once upon a time I thought it was something I wanted to do with my life but living in good ole Evansville, IN I knew it wasn't an ideal career choice for me. I've tried countless mascaras some good and some very bad but when I saw a review on this product on Youtube I knew the next time I was at the store I wanted to pick this up and try it for myself. First of all you should watch Kandee Johnson's first impressions video for this & then tell me you're not convinced {link below!} I like that it doesn't leave my lashes clumpy and short. It actually makes them look long and thick. I will say a couple of things I don't like about this mascara is the packaging, the wand is huge and not ideal for sticking in your to go makeup bag & it's a bit difficult to get off but then isn't that what we look for, products that last and don't wear off? So with that said I do spend an extra couple of minutes on  my makeup removing routine getting this mascara off. But I can get past that for the price of $9!

This is the only pic I got after I applied this mascara, I should have gotten another closer up of my eyes but oh well. I can tell a difference in length!

Click here to watch Kandee Johnson's First Impression Video

The Fault In Our Stars By John Green

Summary: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Rating: ***** (5 Stars)
Review: So here I lay, after reading this book with swollen eyes, a runny nose, a wet puffy face and a whole lot of heart ache and a head ache too. For the past year I've seen this book everywhere. It was the first book cover I would see walking into Barnes & Noble, I often saw people reading it in Starbucks when I would stop in to get my green tea frap, & it was Goodreads Choice Winner for 2012. Let me just say the entire book is wonderful.  I loved John Green's wit. I gave his characters a little leeway on the maturity scale, but still I didn't believe they could be this articulate. But I loved Green's writing so much, I didn't mind. Without the wit and endearing characters, this would be nothing but a book about cancer. Green's characters feel real and quirky and I fell for them and felt for them. I cried for them. In unexpected ways, like Hazel's parents waiting for the loss they know is coming and Hazel trying not to be a grenade in their lives. And the complications of facing your own mortality and therefore being wise beyond your years but still having to live like a teenager with all its restrictions. Then there's watching your friends die off and dealing with the shallowness of people who weren't there through the tough times. I made the mistake of thinking I could read this book at work, I actually had to make myself stop reading because I had tears coming down my face at my desk! So if you don't want others to think you are having some kind of breakdown save it for the comfort of your own home where you can ugly cry all you want!

The Fault In Our Stars is an insightful and moving novel that will not just leave you with a inspiring story to remember, but also with a more optimistic understanding of life. I think the movie to this book comes out in June & after seeing Divergent this past weekend I'm really looking forward to seeing it. Shailene Woodley knocked Divergent out of the park for me & the trailer for The Fault In Our Stars also looked impressive. I'll be sure to bring along a box of Kleenex to go with my popcorn.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Summary: Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability." She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome--and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life....
But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of--big surprise--murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next....

Rating: ***** (5 Stars)
Review: So I read this book back in 2009 right after I had started the Twilight series & I'm pretty sure the only reason I picked it up was because it was about vampires and I was coming down off my Twi high (haha Twi high..!) But the fact that it's about vampires is where the comparison to Twilight ends. After the first couple of chapters I fell in love with it instantly. Can I also just say that the art work on the covers in this series are awesome?! The southern gothic writing is absolutely phenomenal!! I have pushed this book series on all of my friends & they have loved not only the book but the series on HBO as well.  I enjoyed the aspect of two "unusual" people getting together and falling in love, which was strange especially for a vampire who supposedly has no emotions. I wouldn't even characterize this series as a guilty pleasure. It's well-written, with a lot of humor, & a sense of place. And I appreciate that it is aimed towards grown-ups. These vampires & other beings are not in high school; they are complex adults with real (& rated-R) lives to boot. Although my husband has not read the series he does watch the show & really enjoys it. He often asks me how the book compares & then we have a discussion on the differences. I have read 12 out of the 13 books in this series & the only reason I haven't read the last one is because I'm in denial that it's the final book & ending. So if you can commit to a long series then this is for you!

Posted Up - Literally

So this past weekend I decided I would get a head start on spring cleaning. I know spring is a few weeks away yet but it was so lovely out this weekend & I had the motivation! My thought is if I got a lot of cleaning out of the way now that when spring finally does decide to come I can be outside enjoying the beautiful weather & redoing a few pieces of furniture instead of cleaning. The only problem with that is after doing so much around the house I kind of maybe threw my back out? Which I'm not even sure that's what I've done since it's more of my upper back/neck that's hurting. So I am laid up in bed today with a heating pad trying to take it easy & not move much. Which let me just add is so incredibly difficult for someone like me who doesn't like to sit still or waste a day in bed: all I can think about is how much I could be getting done at work & home. But at least I've got a pretty view & good tv! "You've bewitched me body & soul & I love, I love, I love you." -Mr. Darcy {Pride & Prejudice} sigh...

I have finally found new bedside table lamps & accent pieces for the walls, I just need to make time to go & get them. I also need to add hang up the curtain rods to my honey do list {which is basically the house fixer upper things list for my hubs to do}

And just because I adore this so very much I thought I'd show you this beautiful vase I found at Gordmans - I'm switching up a lot of things in my home and I love this rustic look that I'd like to transform my dining room into! Think rustic farmhouse with white ceramic accent pieces!

 

 

Personalize This

So I love to do all sorts of crafts; that doesn't mean I'm a professional by any means but anytime I can personalize something is fantastic. My sister is having a baby soon & one of the items on her registry was my soon to be nephews initials from Babies R Us. I knew she didn't want just plain white ones because her walls are white so I thought I'd  head to the craft store and get them unfinished. Any craft store will have unfinished wood letters for around $4 for 9" which is how big I wanted mine to be. Be on the look out because places like Michael's, JoAnn's, & Hobby Lobby often have 30% off sales on unfinished wood items & if not they all always have 20%-40% off coupons!

 

I found a small bag of letters for around $1.99 to spell out my nephews name & just used wood glue to put them on. I then got little hooks and hammered them on the back and midnight blue ribbon to tie them so she can hang them on the wall. They match her theme perfectly!
Here is a picture of the H I did for Holden's room - I hot glued a little race car I got from Hobby Lobby {per the request of Holden} & just painted on some flames!

And last but not least I got this cardboard K {again from Hobby Lobby- can you tell it's my favorite store?!} - I left it unfinished because I like the look of it and glued on these paper flowers {I got them at Michael's for $1} I now have it sitting on my desk at work. These are fun & easy crafts that anyone can do - so grab some paint, glue, wall hooks, & ribbon to personalize any space of yours!