Disney World 2014 *pic heavy*

Had a great trip to Disney. It was kind of weird going when there weren't any Christmas decorations up, but from what my Dad had heard, they had cut down on them this past year.  It was quite busy in the parks - the marathon had occurred on Sunday (the day we arrived), there were several Brazilian tour groups there, and it was especially crazy on Friday as it was a holiday weekend.

We stayed at concierge level at the Grand Floridian, the Victorian style resort.  We always had a quick bite to eat there in the mornings before heading off to whichever park we were going to that day and usually got back in time for afternoon tea (always had fresh scones during that time and my mom and sisters were very disappointed that trifle wasn't served everyday).

Probably the greatest annoyance of the trip was the new Fastpass+ system they've implemented.  Instead of just getting any number of  FastPasses for the day, you are now only allowed three passes per day and only for one park.  Even after using the passes for that park, you can't go to another and get more passes.  Unless you choose your passes before your trip, it's a great possibility that you won't get them or at least have really awful return times (for example, you might choose your passes at 9 o'clock, but depending on the demand for a ride, you could have a return time of 3 o'clock).  This new system really hinders the park hopper option, almost forcing you to stay in one park if you want to utilize all your passes. I think Disney really needs to work this out or they will get serious backlash for this.

My MagicBand - room key, ticket to the parks, access to FastPass

The castle after the fireworks - had a great view of Wishes at the dessert party

Topic #2: Skincare

Today I have the second topic of the #2014BloggerChallenge which was skincare.  This is going up a little late as I was gone on vacation this past week and didn't really have much access to internet while I was gone.  It was a family trip to Disney World and very enjoyable but my skin is hating me right now.  Between getting a little sunburned, not having all of my skincare items, and how hard the water was, my skin is feeling really coarse and dry and needs some serious TLC.

But to start, here's a rundown of my current night routine:

On the days I wear makeup, I first use the Neutragena make up remover wipes. Out of all the makeup wipes I've used, these are the best.  I then follow this by using Villainess Datura Slick, which is an oil cleanser good for removing eye makeup and helping with congested skin (this was the main cleanser I used on my trip as I could not find my travel size bottles to bring my usual cleanser).

During my shower I wash my face using The Face Shop Herb Day 365 Cleansing Foam in Acerola. I also have the same cleanser in lemon waiting to be tried.  My toner is Etude House Skin [Mal:Gem] Smoother.  I finally used up all my moisturizer samples that I have and recently bought Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. This I took with me on the trip, which on top of not having my cleanser and toner was probably not a great choice.  I don't think it's moisturizing enough for my skin but I have to wait to decide that once I incorporate with my full skincare routine.

I exfoliate twice a week using The Face Shop Smart Peeling White Jewel Peeling.  Using exfoliators that beed up are the most gentle on my sensitive skin.  When I want to pamper my skin a bit, I use a sheet mask (my current stash is all from The Face Shop).

Since my skin is not in the greatest condition right now, I thought it would be appropriate to share my bad habits in regards to skincare.

• I tend to not wash my face in the morning on the days that I work. My shift usually starts at 5:30 in the morning, so I tend to stay in bed til the last possible moment before getting dress and leaving.  So usually, I only wash my face once a day.
• This is more make up related but it does impact my skin - I'm awful at cleaning my brushes (which seems to be a pretty common vice).  I really should probably wash my brushes once a week or even every other week, so less bacteria grows and probably transfers to my face.
• I think I tend to overestimate how oily my skin is. I know I have combination but am always hesitant on a heavy moisturizer even though it helps the dry skin I do have immensely.
• I am willing and happy to buy a lot of new skincare products all at once.  I sometimes can get a little carried away with trying multiple new products at a time, being too impatient to wait to ease them in my routine to make sure I don't have any bad reactions.

I could probably go on about this topic but I think I'll stop here.  Just saw the third topic which ties in nicely with another post I was planning on doing.  But for today I'm going to just read and catch up with everything while I was gone. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Blogging Goals 2014

It's a new year, and my blog is now 2 years old! I thought I would share some of my goals I have for my blog that I hope to reach this year.

• Reach 100 followers: This might be a little too ambitious, but I think it would be great to hit my first 100 by the end of the year. I want to thank everyone who has followed me thanks to the #2014BloggerChallenge - there have been some great posts on the first topic.
• Post weekly: This will be a challenge; I've got the #2014BloggerChallenge, which means 2 guaranteed posts up each month, but I really want to start putting out more content on this blog. I take forever editing my posts - I'll write something up, and just edit it to death before posting (it can be a week between writing and posting).
• Blog everyday for one month: I would love to participate in a 31 day blogging challenge, but I always seem to find one when it's already halfway through the challenge. Still, it's something I want to attempt this year.
• New layout/background: I really want to clean up the look of my blog - it just looks kind of plain to me and I would love to make it pop some.

I've got some other ideas, but these are the main goals I plan on working on.  I found some great blogs to follow last year, and can't wait to find new ones. 

I don't really do New Year's Resolutions but I do have one personal goal that I would like to work on and that is to be more social. I tend to prefer to stay at home once I get off of work and am more than happy to spend the entire day in bed on my days off.  I usually have only a couple of big social events (going to conventions) during the year, but I want to make an effort to go and hang out with my friends more often.  I'm actually planning on doing something on my birthday this year and have a tentative plan to do a day trip to  Canada to check out some restaurants so that isn't too bad of a start.

Hope the new year is off to a great start for everyone.

Liebster Award

Charlotte over at Girl in my Mirror (a fellow #2014BloggerChallenge participant) nominated me for a Leibster Award a little while ago. The Liebster Award is given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers on Bloglovin. You must give 11 random facts about yourself, answer the questions given by your nominator, while creating 11 questions for your own nominees.

11 random facts about myself:

1. I drink a minimum of 2 sodas a day.
2. I have a BA in Sociology.
3. I have two younger sisters: Alyssa (24) and Heather (22).
4. I have never written a status update on my Facebook.
5. Bottlecaps are my favorite candy.
6. I can justify buying expensive jewelry over expensive clothing.
7. I have over 200 bottles of nail polish (still haven't counted).
8. Legally Blonde is one of my happy movies.
9. The Nutcracker is some of my all time favorite music.
10. I love and prefer to wear dresses, but hardly ever do.
11. I love to collect coin banks.

New Years Inspiration

Happy New Year, everyone!!  For my first post of 2014, I'll be tackling the first topic of the #2014BloggerChallenge.  The Challenge has over 400 participants so it'll be fun to see everyone's take on everything.  The first topic is to share a quote or picture that inspires us and what could inspire others in the New Year.

When I got the e-mail telling us what the topic was, I immediately knew what I was choosing.  I saw it a few weeks ago on tumblr and it really got my attention.

I really need to keep this in mind this year.  I want to make some big changes but I always think of everything that could possible go wrong and/or things that should be taken care of first.  I keep justifying staying at a job I hate, out of a sense of responsibility to my managers and possibly being a little bit afraid of change.  I feel that I'm wasting time that I won't get back and letting myself be miserable - I need to take a more positive approach at life in general and gather the courage to go after what I want, even if it seems impossible.

Good luck to everyone this year!

Winter Holiday Book Swap 2013

Like I mentioned in my last post, I just got my box from my Librarian in our latest book swap.  The winter book swap started just a couple of weeks after the fall one, and I had to sign up for it.  The requirements: send at least three books (one must be winter/Christmas themed), at least 2 treats (one winter/Christmas themed), and at least 1 extra goodie. The deadline to ship everything out was the end of December but I was able to get my bookworm's box out last week (I of course had to go to the PO on one of the busiest shipping days of the year).


My books - I also got a digital copy of Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith

My treats - never had a GooGoo cluster before.

My goodies all wrapped up neatly

And unwrapped!

This box couldn't have come at a better time. The past few days have been extremely busy for us at work and extremely stressful. It's also like a nice pre-Christmas gift.  The Eyre Affair sounds really interesting but I'll probably read Soulless first to get some background of that universe before I read the next book in the author's Finishing School series (which I didn't realize took place in the same universe as the Parasol Protectorate series until I finished Etiquette & Espionage).

I love all my extra goodies, especially the ornaments. I already have a nice collection of Christmas decorations and these will be a great addition to it.  The headband is super cute and will be great for covering my ears when I head off to work in the morning (I don't have a hood on my coat).

And so my last swap of the year is over. Can't wait for new ones next year!

Breaking Out Of Reader's Block

Since I just got my box for the most recent book swap, I thought it was the perfect time to post this up.  For several months now, I've been fighting a rather bad case of reader's block. I usually have a few books checked out from the library at all times on top of all the unread books that I personally own.  But, when I get a new stack of books, I suddenly find myself completely disinterested in reading them.  It's been really frustrating. And it's not like I haven't been reading but it's been mostly other blogs or fanfiction.  I've been determined to break out of this for the past month or so and I thought I would share my approach of trying to break out of a reader's block.

First off, I've gone back to reading during my breaks at work. For the past few months, I would just use my breaks as a time to doze off a bit (sometimes almost falling asleep for real).  I read Dracula solely at work - it's surprising how much reading you can get done in a short amount of time.  Since becoming a senior at work, I really only get to read during my lunch but better than nothing.

I've mostly chosen books which I think would be quick reads. A lot of those have been young adult or juvenile fiction: the reading is usually less complicated and the plot moves along faster (especially those geared toward kids) so they usually get finished pretty quick.

I like to read 2-3 books at the same time.  One that I bring with me to work and one that I read before going to bed.  It's a way to go through my stack of unreads faster, as well as possibly find a book that I can't put down.  And sometimes you just want to take a break from what you're currently reading for something new.

I've been using Goodreads to keep track of what I've read - it's a good way to keep count for my goal in my Project Day Zero list. I sometimes forget to add books to my 'currently reading' shelf and just add them when I've finished them.  Based off the dates of when I've added books to my account, I've read 6 books since November 15, and currently reading 3 books. It feels good to have actually finished something rather than losing interest halfway through and not finishing it.

Some other observations and musings:

-I've been trying to find new authors to read and have been having a difficult time (on my own). I usually find new others mostly through book swaps. I will judge a book by it's cover and whenever I go look at the scifi/fantasy section at bookstores, all I see are covers that could belong to romance driven books. Not interested.

- I've started to read a new series: The Last Apprentice (also known as the Wardstone Chronicles) by Joseph Delaney.  The movie Seventh Son is loosely based off it and I wanted to see what the books were like. I've read the first two books in the series, and comparing what I currently know to the trailer, 'loosely' is definitely the word for this adaption (still looking forward to seeing it). I feel rather 'meh' about the protagonist, but his mother is really interesting and hope we learn more on who and what she is.  I can't pinpoint how I feel about the character Alice but it will be interesting to see what her fate will be. I've already got the next three books from the library, and placed the next 3 after that on hold.

-I mostly read fantasy and scifi, but fantasy has been the dominant genre in my reading for a while and I'm craving for some good scifi stories. I really need to start reading some of the classics: Dune and Neuromancer are the ones I'm thinking of tackling first.

I'm always on the look out for new stuff to read, so tell me some of your favorites books or authors to check out.