{Month in Review/Monthly Preview} From Owlcrates and Exclusive Funko Pops to Toppling 2016 TBRs and Sleepy Puppies!
The Holidays Are HERE!!!
Is it just me, or is this always the absolute busiest time of the year?
I feel like most of the year is pretty steady, but once fall hits, everything explodes. I've been SO crazy lately, and it's only gotten moreso this past month. I don't see things letting up until the new year!!!
But....it's also a great time of year! In addition to all of the normal curveballs life throws our way, this is a great time of year for spending time with family, because there are so many holidays! Especially in my family, when you add a lot of fall/early winter birthdays into the mix!
Do you have any great plans for the holidays this year? I get to go to Chuck E. Cheese next week for my niece's birthday party (First time I've been there in I can't even tell you how long!), then a week later, it's her mama's birthday. Three days later, there are Christmas Eve plans, THEN Christmas Day plans, THEN Boxing Day plans with out-of-town family, then yet one MORE out-of-town get-together. Busy, busy!
I hope you'll have an amazing holiday as well, no matter what you celebrate!
MORE BOOK SIGNINGS!!!
I know, I know! I've had at least one book signing every month this fall! I've been incredibly lucky!!
This month, it was just a little signing, not a big event, with Tor authors Lawrence M. Schoen and Fran Wilde.
I've never read Schoen's books, but I recently read (and reviewed!!! Check it out!) Wilde's UPDRAFT. I picked up the companion novel CLOUDBOUND at the event and am eager to read it!
Since the authors were just sitting at a table and chatting with fans, rather than doing a big panel event, I was able to talk to her a while and ask questions and hear some awesome behind-the-scenes stuff. It was really cool!
UPDRAFT has one of the most unique worlds I've seen in a novel in 2016, so if you like fantasy and want something new, you should totally check it out! It's technically an adult title, but I would feel no qualms giving it to a teen because it could have easily been published as YA!
NaNoWriMo!
Ha. Ha. Ha!
I knew I'd be behind starting off. I had a couple of blog tours at the beginning of November and then I had to put a lot of posts together for our week-long A Week of Wonderland event. So I was already two weeks behind the crowd!
Then I did a day...and then I changed what I was working on. And then I got sick. And then I realized I didn't have enough time to do anything substantial.
PLUS, my crazy-long booklist of everything I have to read by the end of the year started worrying me. (I was on a book-reading ban to write....and you guys!!! You'll see the picture below in my TBR pile section, but I have FOURTEEN BOOKS left to read. That's a LOT. So eep!!!)
I'm going to do my own NaNo in January/February instead!
!!!
Hunting for...Exclusive Funko Pops!!!
Okay, I guess this is TECHNICALLY a set of December pictures because I found my last Moana Pop on December 1st.
BUT I spent most of November hunting these gals down, so!!!!
The Hot Topic exclusives were both pretty easy to snag. Baby Moana was on their website and Translucent Ariel was in the store. I've never had a non-Hot Topic or Barnes and Noble Pop before, so I didn't know how hard/easy it would be to find the others---especially in busy stores like Walmart and Target! So the other three Pops? Not so easy!!!
Walmart eventually put Voyager Moana on their website, and now she is mine!!! The Target exclusive....someone gave me the UPC and told me to use a website called Brickseeker. When I saw that my Target got it in, I flew there the next day....and an employee had to get it out of the stockroom for me!!!! I felt bad, but she made my day!!!
I would say Target was the hardest exclusive to get, since she's STILL not on the website and I had to get her in a very convoluted way, HOWEVER, Glitter Ariel was probably the real hardest/rarest of the Pops. She's a secret Chase Pop. She was originally a Hot Topic Exclusive, but then they scrapped her for the Translucent Ariel, so Funko mixed her in with all the "Regular Dress" Ariels in their shipment. No unique UPC, no sticker saying she was special, NOTHING!!! You had to either pay a fortune on Ebay/Amazon for people who had found and snagged her or be lucky enough to snag her in the wild. I couldn't believe it when I went into Michael's Crafts and found her mixed in with the regular Ariel at the register. Especially since I didn't know Michael's even SOLD Pops! AND I had a 55% off coupon, so she was only six bucks!!! #win
My First Owlcrate!!!
I have an unboxing video here if you want to see better images of everything, but look!!!
If you want a Wonderland Owlcrate too because you need that exclusive HEARTLESS cover as much as I did, Owlcrate JUST put up a new batch of boxes you can buy!
NAIL POLISH!
My nails were short again most of the month. *sigh*
They were FINALLY getting long again--and nine of them broke last week!!! So now only my left thumb is long. During Holiday Nail Art Season!!! SO BUMMED!!!!
So ignore how short my nails are--I know designs don't look as nice on short nails.
I did two cute manicures this month!
One was for a wedding (And I didn't have the time to do anything fancy, so I cheated and used nail stickers ^^;;;;), and the other was a fun design for Black Friday!!!
PHOTOS OF THE MONTH
Here are some of the photos I've taken and shared this month!
MUSIC 🎶
Christmas music!!!! Only since Black Friday, but....that's most of what I've heard this month! It makes me happy to pull it out for a few weeks!
How about you?
MOVIES AND TV
Behind on everything, of course! I wasn't allowed to watch anything when I was going to do NaNo, so....I've seriously only watched Once Upon a Time and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this month, and only because I watch them when I visit with my dad on Sunday evenings! Or else I'd be caught up on nothing!!!!
That was my November.
How was yours???
Here's a look at everything that happened this past month!
Is it just me, or is this always the absolute busiest time of the year?
I feel like most of the year is pretty steady, but once fall hits, everything explodes. I've been SO crazy lately, and it's only gotten moreso this past month. I don't see things letting up until the new year!!!
But....it's also a great time of year! In addition to all of the normal curveballs life throws our way, this is a great time of year for spending time with family, because there are so many holidays! Especially in my family, when you add a lot of fall/early winter birthdays into the mix!
Do you have any great plans for the holidays this year? I get to go to Chuck E. Cheese next week for my niece's birthday party (First time I've been there in I can't even tell you how long!), then a week later, it's her mama's birthday. Three days later, there are Christmas Eve plans, THEN Christmas Day plans, THEN Boxing Day plans with out-of-town family, then yet one MORE out-of-town get-together. Busy, busy!
I hope you'll have an amazing holiday as well, no matter what you celebrate!
MORE BOOK SIGNINGS!!!
I know, I know! I've had at least one book signing every month this fall! I've been incredibly lucky!!
This month, it was just a little signing, not a big event, with Tor authors Lawrence M. Schoen and Fran Wilde.
I've never read Schoen's books, but I recently read (and reviewed!!! Check it out!) Wilde's UPDRAFT. I picked up the companion novel CLOUDBOUND at the event and am eager to read it!
Since the authors were just sitting at a table and chatting with fans, rather than doing a big panel event, I was able to talk to her a while and ask questions and hear some awesome behind-the-scenes stuff. It was really cool!
UPDRAFT has one of the most unique worlds I've seen in a novel in 2016, so if you like fantasy and want something new, you should totally check it out! It's technically an adult title, but I would feel no qualms giving it to a teen because it could have easily been published as YA!
NaNoWriMo!
Ha. Ha. Ha!
I knew I'd be behind starting off. I had a couple of blog tours at the beginning of November and then I had to put a lot of posts together for our week-long A Week of Wonderland event. So I was already two weeks behind the crowd!
Then I did a day...and then I changed what I was working on. And then I got sick. And then I realized I didn't have enough time to do anything substantial.
PLUS, my crazy-long booklist of everything I have to read by the end of the year started worrying me. (I was on a book-reading ban to write....and you guys!!! You'll see the picture below in my TBR pile section, but I have FOURTEEN BOOKS left to read. That's a LOT. So eep!!!)
I'm going to do my own NaNo in January/February instead!
!!!
Hunting for...Exclusive Funko Pops!!!
Okay, I guess this is TECHNICALLY a set of December pictures because I found my last Moana Pop on December 1st.
BUT I spent most of November hunting these gals down, so!!!!
The Hot Topic exclusives were both pretty easy to snag. Baby Moana was on their website and Translucent Ariel was in the store. I've never had a non-Hot Topic or Barnes and Noble Pop before, so I didn't know how hard/easy it would be to find the others---especially in busy stores like Walmart and Target! So the other three Pops? Not so easy!!!
Walmart eventually put Voyager Moana on their website, and now she is mine!!! The Target exclusive....someone gave me the UPC and told me to use a website called Brickseeker. When I saw that my Target got it in, I flew there the next day....and an employee had to get it out of the stockroom for me!!!! I felt bad, but she made my day!!!
I would say Target was the hardest exclusive to get, since she's STILL not on the website and I had to get her in a very convoluted way, HOWEVER, Glitter Ariel was probably the real hardest/rarest of the Pops. She's a secret Chase Pop. She was originally a Hot Topic Exclusive, but then they scrapped her for the Translucent Ariel, so Funko mixed her in with all the "Regular Dress" Ariels in their shipment. No unique UPC, no sticker saying she was special, NOTHING!!! You had to either pay a fortune on Ebay/Amazon for people who had found and snagged her or be lucky enough to snag her in the wild. I couldn't believe it when I went into Michael's Crafts and found her mixed in with the regular Ariel at the register. Especially since I didn't know Michael's even SOLD Pops! AND I had a 55% off coupon, so she was only six bucks!!! #win
 |
| All my exclusives in a row with their boxes!!!! (I shot it crooked, I know, sorry!!) |
 |
| The various stages of Moana!!!! I think the Target exclusive is my favorite! I was SO Happy to finally find her there!!! |
 |
| Such pretty belles of the ball!!! You have to make the picture bigger to see Ariel's glitter, but she's so sparkly!!!! |
I have an unboxing video here if you want to see better images of everything, but look!!!
If you want a Wonderland Owlcrate too because you need that exclusive HEARTLESS cover as much as I did, Owlcrate JUST put up a new batch of boxes you can buy!
So click here and grab it---for yourself, OR for a holiday gift idea!!!
HURRY, HURRY, HURRY!!!
NAIL POLISH!
My nails were short again most of the month. *sigh*
They were FINALLY getting long again--and nine of them broke last week!!! So now only my left thumb is long. During Holiday Nail Art Season!!! SO BUMMED!!!!
So ignore how short my nails are--I know designs don't look as nice on short nails.
I did two cute manicures this month!
One was for a wedding (And I didn't have the time to do anything fancy, so I cheated and used nail stickers ^^;;;;), and the other was a fun design for Black Friday!!!
 |
| Revlon Nail Stickers for a Wedding!!! |
 |
| They're starting to wear and tear in this picture (sorry!!!), but I love doing some kind of black and white design every year on Black Friday!!! I always use my beloved Zoya "Purity" and Orly "Liquid Vinyl" because I love how strong and shiny they are. This year, I also used a Sally Hansen nail art pen in black for the dots!!! |
PHOTOS OF THE MONTH
Here are some of the photos I've taken and shared this month!
 |
| When you're on break and a co-worker offers you a *kiss* ....you take it!!! I love the Santa Hat Design on the Hershey Kisses this year! |
 |
| On Black Friday, Barnes and Noble had their Leatherbound Collection half price. I love collecting these beautiful books and had to stock up! |
 |
| Look at these pages!!!!!!!!!!! Especially the green! *swoon* |
 |
| Sleepy Puppy needed to cuddle with my foot while I was watching TV after Thanksgiving Dinner! I couldn't get up or change positions, but it was so worth it!!!Add caption |
 |
| Have you gotten HEARTLESS by Marissa Meyer naked yet? So pretty!!! |
 |
| My haul one day when I was excite to find the Hot Topic Exclusive Ariel AND the special Beauty and the Beast issue of Entertainment Weekly on the stand early! ....plus, I spent Kohl's Cash on a pricey brand of nail polish and paid barely anything for it!!! |
MUSIC 🎶
Christmas music!!!! Only since Black Friday, but....that's most of what I've heard this month! It makes me happy to pull it out for a few weeks!
How about you?
MOVIES AND TV
Behind on everything, of course! I wasn't allowed to watch anything when I was going to do NaNo, so....I've seriously only watched Once Upon a Time and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this month, and only because I watch them when I visit with my dad on Sunday evenings! Or else I'd be caught up on nothing!!!!
That was my November.
How was yours???
Here's a look at everything that happened this past month!
ONGOING GIVEAWAYS:
None atm, but two are coming! ^.~
Check out the October Blog Tour Schedule for more upcoming giveaways!
None atm, but two are coming! ^.~
Check out the October Blog Tour Schedule for more upcoming giveaways!
DECEMBER BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE
(Most blog tour stops feature giveaways as well!)
*EVER THE HUNTED by Erin Summerill {12/20 Review}
*Gifts for Writers---I'm going to guest post over at That Artsy Reader Girl later this month!!!
(Most blog tour stops feature giveaways as well!)
*EVER THE HUNTED by Erin Summerill {12/20 Review}
*Gifts for Writers---I'm going to guest post over at That Artsy Reader Girl later this month!!!
READING NOW:
{All links to Goodreads!}
*CARVE THE MARK by Veronica Roth (but I'll probably be done this and on THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE by Heidi Heilig by the time you read this because I'm close to the end!)
PLANNING TO READ IN NOVEMBER:
Do you seriously want to know the answer to this?
Because HAHAHA You're funny!
This is EVERYTHINGI need to read in the next month if I want to read all of the "Best of the Year" books.
So, um.....tell me which ones to prioritize???
{All links to Goodreads!}
*CARVE THE MARK by Veronica Roth (but I'll probably be done this and on THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE by Heidi Heilig by the time you read this because I'm close to the end!)
PLANNING TO READ IN NOVEMBER:
Do you seriously want to know the answer to this?
Because HAHAHA You're funny!
This is EVERYTHINGI need to read in the next month if I want to read all of the "Best of the Year" books.
So, um.....tell me which ones to prioritize???
[link to my GoodReads account so you can see my blurb feed as I read]
READ IN OCTOBER:
{All links to Goodreads!}
TOTAL: 6 Books...so much for a book ban! Once I knew I wasn't NaNoing...well, it was a contemporary month for me!
*UPDRAFT by Fran Wilde {Adult with YA slant}
*THE HATING GAME by Sally Thorne {Adult}
*#Famous by Jilly Gagnon {YA}
{All links to Goodreads!}
TOTAL: 6 Books...so much for a book ban! Once I knew I wasn't NaNoing...well, it was a contemporary month for me!
*UPDRAFT by Fran Wilde {Adult with YA slant}
*THE HATING GAME by Sally Thorne {Adult}
*BY YOUR SIDE by Kasie West {YA}
*PS I LIKE YOU by Kasie West {YA}
*THE HATE YOU GIVE by Angie Thomas {YA}*#Famous by Jilly Gagnon {YA}
REVIEWED IN OCTOBER:
{All link to our reviews!}
*EVERYDAY MAGIC by Emily Albright {YA}
*RED GIRL, BLUE BOY by Lauren Baratz-Logsted {YA}[Redux]
*UPDRAFT by Fran Wilde {Adult with YA slant}
*SEEING REDD by Frank Beddor {YA}
*HATTER by Daniel Coleman {YA }[Redux]
*JABBERWOCKY by Daniel Coleman {YA} [Redux]
*SPLINTERED by A.G. Howard {YA}
*HEARTLESS by Marissa Meyer {YA}
*QUEEN OF HEARTS by Colleen Oakes {YA}
*ALICEI N WONDERLAND HIGH by Rachel Shane {YA}
*BEWARE THE LITTLE WHITE RABBIT Anthology by Various Authors {YA+}
*THE YOUNG ELITES by Marie Lu {YA}[Redux]
*LIFT THE FLAP: FAIRY TALES by Emma Jennings w/illustrations by Victoria Ball {Picture Book}[Vlog Review]
*THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN GIRLS by Erin Entrada Kelly {MG}
*PS I LIKE YOU by Kasie West {YA}
*TITANS by Victoria Scott {YA}
{All link to our reviews!}
*EVERYDAY MAGIC by Emily Albright {YA}
*RED GIRL, BLUE BOY by Lauren Baratz-Logsted {YA}[Redux]
*UPDRAFT by Fran Wilde {Adult with YA slant}
*SEEING REDD by Frank Beddor {YA}
*HATTER by Daniel Coleman {YA }[Redux]
*JABBERWOCKY by Daniel Coleman {YA} [Redux]
*SPLINTERED by A.G. Howard {YA}
*HEARTLESS by Marissa Meyer {YA}
*QUEEN OF HEARTS by Colleen Oakes {YA}
*ALICEI N WONDERLAND HIGH by Rachel Shane {YA}
*BEWARE THE LITTLE WHITE RABBIT Anthology by Various Authors {YA+}
*THE YOUNG ELITES by Marie Lu {YA}[Redux]
*LIFT THE FLAP: FAIRY TALES by Emma Jennings w/illustrations by Victoria Ball {Picture Book}[Vlog Review]
*THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN GIRLS by Erin Entrada Kelly {MG}
*PS I LIKE YOU by Kasie West {YA}
*TITANS by Victoria Scott {YA}
FEATURES IN OCTOBER:
*Talking about Japan, Fantasy/PN YA novels that actually have ISSUES, and Featuring A DARKLY BEATING HEART by Lindsay Smith!
*{Blitz} BLOOD FOR BLOOD by Ryan Graudin
*{Month in Review / Monthly Preview} November is all about Wonderland Goodies and NaNoWriMo!!!
*A Week of Wonderland: Schedule of Events
*Discussing Todrick Hall's "Taylor in Wonderland" featuring Maddie Ziegler from Dance Moms!
*Top Ten Alice in Wonderland-themed Books!
* Happy Book Day to HEARTLESS by Marissa Meyer!
* Stylish Wonderland-Themed Gloves--for writers and the cold-handed alike!
*{Design Analysis Vlog} HEARTLESS by Marissa Meyer (Both UK & US Editions!}
*Discussing...Disney's Alice Through the Looking Glass and Why I--*gasp* LIKED It!!!
*Wonderland Fashion Inspired by QUEEN OF HEARTS by Colleen Oakes
*Discussing Frank Wildhorn's WONDERLAND Cast Recording
****FREE EBOOK!*** HER MAD HATTER by Marie Hall (Or a FREE pack that also includes GERARD'S BEAUTY and RED AND HER WOLF!!!)
*Discussing SyFy's ALICE Retelling...Set 150 Years in Our Future!
*Fashion Inspired by OF FIRE AND STARS by Audrey Coulhurst
*Unboxing the Wonderland Owlcrate!
*Ten Most Recent Books We've Added to our TBR!
*What Makes a Villain? What Makes a Hero? Feat. THE YOUNG ELITES by Marie Lu
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