TBTBSanta!

It arrived!  My awesome box from my Secret Santa!

This is my second year participating in a Secret Santa hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  It is known (and hashtagged) on Twitter as #TBTBSanta and even though this is only my second time participating, its kind of becoming a yearly tradition to look forward to.  I was surprised today to find a package on my doorstep from my Secret Santa.  This is PERFECT!  It's really starting to get cold and gloomy here in Michigan so receiving a surprise like this was just perfect timing!

Out of respect for her privacy I will not be revealing who my Secret Santa was, at least not on my blog (though I have thanked her on Twitter and will be sending her a thank-you card in the mail), but let me just got through what was in the box!  First let's cover the three books - one graphic novel and two regular novels.  I LOVE that each book came from a different genre!  The graphic novel, Gotham Academy, has been on my list for awhile and it was a super fun surprise to open that one today!  She also sent me Finnikin of the Rock, a YA (I think!) fantasy that I've seen mentioned from time to time and that people seem to have high opinions for.  And finally...The Night Circus!  I've been wanting to read this one for years, ever since I found out the author wrote it during NaNoWriMo, and I have heard nothing but good things about it.  I know all three of these will keep me busy over the break!

My Secret Santa also sent me some PLANNER STICKERS which contain hundreds of stickers for different seasons and occasions, and will be absolutely perfect for my bullet journal!  Also, fuzzy socks, which I happen to be wearing right now, as it's freezing, and they're super comfy and cozy!  A Gilmore Girls mug dipped in glitter, because she knows how much I LOVE and adore Gilmore Girls, a Ron funko pop (the version of him in the Christmas sweater), DavidsTea ornaments, one filled with Sleigh Ride and the other with Apple Cider tea.  I haven't opened the ornaments yet but I have tried the teas and they are both awesome!!  Can't have too much of these flavors!  And finally, some of my favorite candies - Toblerone and Hershey's cookies and cream bar!  

So if you are my Secret Santa and you are reading this, THANK YOU!  You really put a lot of thought and effort into this box and it really brightened my day!  I hope you are having a wonderful time leading up to the holidays!

I still haven't mailed my box out to my Secret Santa (the one who I gift to, obviously) because I'm still waiting on a few gifts to come through the mail (USPS is already getting backed up due to Christmas it seems), but I'm hoping to be able to send it off at the beginning of next week!

Finally, I cannot end this post without a picture of Harry, Ron, and Hermione all together :).  And...Snape...lurking in the background haha!

I'm BACK!

Hey all!  So sorry for the long absence!  I actually went back to school!!!  When we moved here to Michigan, I was afforded the opportunity to finish out my degree, and I knew I would be stupid not to.  So I'm now studying Psychology and so far I'm loving it, though I have been SO BUSY with this studying thing (and re-learning HOW to study) that I just have not had the time to maintain this blog. But that's about to change.  My semester comes to a close next week, so I will have all Winter break to write some catch-up posts, and hopefully in the Spring I'll be able to manage my time better (now that I've got a better hold on this studying thing) and still post regularly :).  So here are some things that have happened since August:

• I started a bullet journal!  Actually, I started and finished one.  This all started with my looking for the perfect planner to stay organized, but when it was obvious no such thing existed, I sort of stumbled into the bullet journaling world.  I have kept a journal since I was in Kindergarten, but this was a new thing for me, and I found a way to combine planning, list making, and journaling all into one notebook.  I'm really digging the Leuchtturm notebooks.  Maybe I'll do a blog post (or a few) totally dedicated to bullet journaling and my method to the madness :)
• My fountain pen collecting took on a new vigor.  I've been collecting fountain pens since we moved to Colorado, actually, but with going back to school along with the bullet journaling thing, I've cared even more about my writing instruments (hint: fountain pens are the only things I ever use).  I've acquired more fountain pens than I care to admit this past semester, and I've got two more on the way (one is a Christmas present from my husband, and the other is a reward to myself for my good grades this semester).  I definitely plan to do several blog posts about fountain pens in the near future!  
• I got to spend Thanksgiving with my family in North Carolina, which is always nice.  That used to be a given, but ever since I moved away from home, spending holidays with my family is always a special treat.
• I still hate my house.  But I've learned to tolerate it.  
• I've discovered that I DESPISE grocery shopping in this town.  There are simply not enough grocery stores to accommodate the population here, and I've taken to getting meal delivery services like Sun Basket and Blue Apron (trust me, for someone who hates shopping and lives in a place where all the stores near her feel like the day before Thanksgiving no matter what day or time you go, these are WORTH IT!).  I'll probably review some of those boxes as well.
• I've been in kind of a reading slump.  Part of that is due to reading so much for school that I no longer want to read ANYTHING when I'm done with it.  So it's taking me forever to get through books and therefore I kind of lose interest in them.  I hope I can remedy this over the break.

So yeah, that's it for this quick update, but I hope to post some more detailed blog posts too (and no this isn't a false promise)!

Top Ten Books I Would Buy RIGHT NOW If Someone Gave Me A Fully Loaded Gift Card

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish blog meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish!  Head over there to check out their blog as well as to find other bookish blogs!

This weeks theme is which books I would purchase right now if I had a fully loaded gift card.  Well, there's definitely more than 10 books.  I mean, have you SEEN my Amazon wishlist?  lol!  I'd pretty much buy everything on my TBR list if I could...and if I had the time to read them all.

I'm not really going to take the time to explain each one, as this list of books is pretty self-explanatory.  Not all of these are YA, and I tried to limit it to books that haven't yet been released. So, without further ado, the top ten books I would buy are:

1.  Mirror In the Sky

2.  The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love

3.  Cure for the Common Universe

4.  Orphan Train

5.  The Rosie Project

6.  The Crown's Game

7.  The Smell of Other People's Houses

8.  Dark Matter

9.  A Wizard of Earthsea

10.  My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry

The above list is in no particular order, they are just all books I'd like to read sometime soon and if I had the money I'd just go ahead and buy them (don't worry, OTSP Secret Sister, I won't be buying the books on the wish list even if someone gives me a gift card to buy them  ;).  It's just hypothetical).  Let me know in the comments which books you are eager to read and would buy right now if you had a gift card!