Reading Goals | Books I Own

I have a habit of reading books I don't own. Anyone else? What I mean is the majority of books I read are borrowed from the library or from friends. Except I keep accumulating books on my shelves and not reading them. Instead, I check out other books from the library and read those instead. Last year, I really wanted to read more of my own books and I did a lot better with that goal than ever before. I also cut down a lot on my book purchases. This year though, I really want to focus on reading almost exclusively from my shelves. The few exceptions I have are very specific books that are chosen to read with my IRL book club and another extension of my online book club.

I have a ton of unread books on my shelves still, even though at the end of 2020 I purged my shelves and got rid of about 100+ books. I gave some away, sold some, donated some. Now I am left with two large bookshelves of books instead of four. I used to have six but when we moved into our current apartment, I really had to narrow down my books. For the last two years though, I have realized my reading changes have changed drastically, so it was easy for me to cut down so many books because I knew I really had no interest in reading them ever or again. Instead, my collection is now books I have read and loved or books I am very interested in reading soon. 

It's been nice to make my bookshelves something more exclusive to my likings. I used to have hundreds of books that were popular, but not necessarily ones I loved or was as interested to read. I plan to minimize them even more in the coming year, as I read only books I own and decide whether I want to keep them or not. 

xoxo

Happy New Year | 2021 Goals

I always make a short list of goals I want to accomplish in the new year, and while most of them are realistic, I tend to fall short on them. This year, I want to continue my good habits and break away from bad habits so that’s what my resolutions are.

Bookish 

• Continue to read books I own: I own a lot of unread books and I recently started actually reading most of my unread books. It’s been nice because I can get rid of books I no longer love or will reread, and also find new ones that are on my shelves and don’t need to purchase for my collection.
• Continue to purge books: later in 2020, I began to purge my shelves of books that no longer interest me or that I’d been holding on to, even though I don’t plan to reread them. It’s been really nice to make more room on my shelves and in my home, and I want to be able to continue this trend until I have only a favorites collection in my home.
• Blog regularly: this year I was able to get back into blogging more consistently because of quarantine. I think I can continue this by not pressuring myself to post on a schedule, etc. Instead, I’ve gotten more into the habit of posting whenever I want and it’s been nice.
• Read 75 books: I used to make it my goal to read 100 and in the back of my mind I would still like to achieve that, but a more realistic goal is 75 books so I’ll aim for that first. 

Lifestyle

• Maintain or lose weight: during quarantine, I gained some weight, and while I’m not completely unhappy with how I look I am getting married in November so it would be nice to get rid of some fat.
• Continue to go to the gym: we’ve gotten back into going to the gym every weekend and it’s been good going back, but about two weeks ago, I injured myself and had a hard time doing any exercise. I want to slowly get back into the groove of things.
• Hike more regularly: I love hiking and being outdoors. While the gyms were closed, we were finding isolated hikes to go on, but then went back to just going to the gym instead. I want to combine both of these so that we do both regularly.
• Continue minimal lifestyle: we’re in the process of becoming minimalists but we haven’t just thrown everything out the door. Instead, we’re slowly transitioning into the lifestyle and I want to continue this transition in the New Year. It’s difficult to just get rid of a ton of things, but we’ve done really well so far. 
• Limit spending: I love shopping but I really need to budget myself this year because we have a few expenses coming with the wedding.
• Take care of my mental health: I became anxious and depressed during quarantine. Sometimes I’ll have panic attacks and keep myself awake at night. It’s been difficult but I’ve been finding small ways to help ease my mind and I want to continue to do these things in order to feel more at peace with my mind. 

That’s it! It seems like a lot but this are things I already do for the most part, and just want to actively continue to do. 

Favorites of 2020

I don’t normally do a top anything list, but I saw a few floating around and decided to go ahead and shout out some of my favorite things during this crazy year.

Favorite Books of 2020

These are in no particular order and there are a few that aren’t pictured that I still want to mention because they were favorites, I just don’t happen to own them. 

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

Verity by Colleen Hoover 

Too Late by Colleen Hoover (not pictured)

Heartstopper, Vol 1-3 by Alice Oseman

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryan Greenwood (not pictured)

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon (not pictured)

Favorite Movies and Shows of 2020

So these are the new movies and shows that I loved this year that were new releases. There's a ton more I could add to this list that were new to me but that would make this list way too long. 

Favorite Songs of 2020

 I didn't really listen to a lot of newer music this year. Except for Taylor Swift. We were blessed with two albums this year and there are a few songs that I was really obsessed with, as you can tell. But I honestly spent a lot of my time listening to Lo-Fi music while around the house and I can't imagine listening to anything else now when I need music but don't really want songs. Also, I listened to a lot of old favorites. 

That's it for my favorite stuff of the year. It was a difficult year and I spent my time rewatching a lot of things that brought my comfort. Listening to songs that made me happy. But not finding new things as much. So I hope you liked this post and here's hoping to a better 2021. 
xoxo

Life lately.

Hi, it’s been a while. I basically went back to work and really didn’t have time for much else for a while because it took me a while to transition back into working and regular schedules and dealing with pandemic life outside of my home. It’s been stressful, but also, I’ve been healthy and safe. There was a while there were I got a cold and freaked out, but I was fine. Now the holidays have passed and we’re on the verge of a new year, so I decided it was time for an update to the blog. 

I’ve been reading. Not very much, but about as much as I expected I would be reading now that I’m back at work full time. I’ve enjoyed quite a few books, but noticed lately that I’ve gotten so much pickier with my reading. I’ve never been one to rate a good amount of books 5-stars, but this last year, I’ve definitely been more critical with the books I read. Also, I’ve done a lot of purging of books because I realized that there’s no point in having books collect dust if I’m never going to read them. I’ve had books sitting on my shelves for years and now it’s time to get them out into the world for others to enjoy. It could be in part with my decision to live a more minimal lifestyle, but that’s a topic for another day. What else is new? I’m engaged and back to being quarantined for two weeks. I know, both great news and not so much.

We got engaged back in September and I’ve been overwhelmed with planning, but also doing pretty great with getting important things done and out of the way. Most of the stuff I have to do from now until our wedding is mostly DIY things that my mom, fiancé, and friends will help me with.

As for being quarantined...one of my coworkers was exposed. Actually, a few of them were. We were not sure if we would shut down but because of the circumstances, we had to. Being so close to the holidays definitely made the decision more stressful and now we’re waiting for testing results, etc., but we’ve had several positive confirmed cases which just makes it more stressful for everyone. 

But the silver lining is, I have some time to blog. It’s always something that helps me get through some tough times and just another hobby I go back and forth with. So for now, I’m back. Expect some content until I fall off the blogoverse again. 

a quiet reading vlog

This past week, I decided to upload a YouTube video after taking a long break. I decided earlier this year to stop creating content because I really wasn't feeling it anymore, but for the past few weeks, I wanted to try something a little different. So I went ahead and recorded a quiet reading vlog.


I really liked this idea and while my channel is still a work in progress, I think this will be a new direction I am going to try. So I wanted to share my new video with y'all and hope that I can grow my channel a little more this year.

Life Lately

I went back to work full-time two weeks ago (ish) and I am still adjusting to a more regular routine. I was off work since March 13th (first day of quarantine for LA County) and worked from home, but wasn't doing that much. I became accustomed to sleeping in a bit and having time to clean, read, workout, etc. It was stressful but it was also, kind of nice. My boyfriend and I were both home all the time, and it was surprising that we ended up actually having really nice days together. I've seen a lot of memes and such about couples being together now and how it's not ideal, but I really liked being home with him every day. I miss that, now that I am back at work.

And I am also very tired most days.

It's crazy how quickly your body adjusts to a more sedentary lifestyle because now that I work 7 hours every day, I come home exhausted. I guess running around after toddlers is quite different than being in a classroom of infants also but that's what I have to do as we slowly normalize. I've tried to keep up with my reading and am participating in Bookopoly, an event over on my book club, but I can tell that my reading pace is already slowing down. I don't have more than an hour or so a day to listen to audiobooks now and I've struggled to get through any physical books these last few months. So I don't know how much reading or even updating (weekly) I'll be doing now that things are changing.

I just wanted to share a quick update, since it'd been a few days since I last updated. I was doing so well too. I am going to try to keep it up!

Oh, hello.

We're living in weird times, and honestly, I have too much time on my hands on some days so what better time than now to try and bring back my blog? I've made failed attempts in the past, but maybe this time I can make it stick. At least until maybe I get to back to work? Who knows what's going to happen, but blogging has always been a hobby that I've loved and enjoyed, so I am going to try to do this again.

I'm trying to be active on my bookstagram as well, so you can maybe follow me there too?

Another break.

In late March, I started noticing I was feeling depressed. I didn't want to do most of the things I enjoyed, and felt tired all the time. I started just laying around when I got home and those feelings intensified the more I wanted them to go away. By April I was crying a lot, sleeping a lot, and doing a lot less. But I got through every day and then went on vacation.

My vacation was a lot of fun, don't get me wrong, but I know we missed out on a lot of fun things during our trip because I constantly felt tired and in need of a nap. At least I didn't cry. I felt really down when we got back home and then a few days after returning to work, I got horribly sick and had to take a week and a half off work. It was the last thing I needed, to be honest, but spending time at home trying to get better made me feel like I was finally getting the rest I needed. I did some research during my free time and read up on what might be causing my depression. I made some changes and they helped.

After getting better, I went back to work for a few days, then went on a shorter cruise with my grandma. This one was spent more relaxed and doing more things. When I got back home, I noticed my moods had improved. I felt myself returning back to normal and wanting to do things I had missed. I spent a lot of June just focusing on being happy.

Now that the days are warmer and the sun is out more frequently, I definitely feel a lot better. And that's where I'm at now. Coming back to doing things I enjoy, such as blogging. So these last few months haven't been the greatest, in my head, but otherwise I would say things are going well. I'm working every day and enjoying my weekends by working out and doing things I want. I still haven't completely gotten back to reading or filming YT videos, but I'm slowly getting into the swing of things. And I am glad to be back :)

Will I Review Books?

I haven’t reviewed a book here on the blog in a while because, well, I’ve been gone. I’ve sort of reviewed books on Goodreads but mostly just give them a star rating a leave it at that. But I’ve been going back and forth on whether to continue to review books now that I’m back to regularly blogging, and I don’t think I’ll be doing it the same way.

The thing is, I always struggled to get through reviews even though I did it for years. I also always fell behind on the reviews I was putting up because I was reading faster than I was reviewing, which goes to show how slowly I was reviewing because I read really slow. I was always playing catch up with my reviews on here especially because I wanted to make sure I reviewed every book I read. I even started making different kinds of review posts to inspire myself to write them, such as Short Story Saturday and Quick Reviews.

But after much thinking, I’ve decided that no, I won’t be reviewing books the same way. I think what works best for me is sharing my thoughts in a few sentences and providing a star rating, which is basically what I do on Goodreads like I said. I plan to post these “wrap up” kind of posts at the end of the month on books I’ve read that month and that’s it. It’ll still be me reviewing books but in a way that works better for me, and also goes hand in hand with the wrap up videos I upload on my YT channel.

I’m pretty excited to be changing up the format of my reviews, and while I didn’t want to really play catch up anymore, I’m going to do it for the books I’ve read this year so far. So you’ll be seeing January and February reviews in the next few days. But then I’ll be all caught up and that makes me even more excited.

Thanks for sticking through all these changes with me, if you have. I can’t express again, how good it feels to be back to blogging.

Goals + How I've Been Doing.

I am one of those that sets a ton of resolutions and usually fails at all of them. It happens, but it doesn't stop me from doing it all over again. For the past few years I've been sharing my new year goals here on this blog. But I wasn't here this year, at least not at the beginning, to share them. I don't even know if I set that many, but I always have a few. So I wanted to share what those are and how I've been doing. I might do a few check-in's throughout the year (but not likely).

Goals + Am I Failing Already?
+ Read 100 books: Yes I am failing already. Yes, I try this every year. Yes, I have never made it. Yes, I am going to keep trying to make it (it's only March after all.)
+ Pay off some debt: This one will be the death of me. Moving on.
+ Lose some weight: I want to lose around 25lbs. Realistically, I will about +/- 3 lbs.

To be honest, that's most of my goals. There's a few additional reading/bookish goals I have which I talked about in a video that you can watch here, but mostly include reading my own books, not buying as many books, and reviewing on the Netgalley ARC's I still haven't reviewed.

I am not doing that great in my goals, if I am being honest. But I don't lose hope that I will succeed if I continue to try. I still think I can read 100 books, I have just fallen a little behind and need to quickly catch up. I have started a new diet and will hopefully lose some of the weight I can't seem to get rid of. And I have banned my credit cards from my presence so I won't use them. I think I can do really well, if I only try a little more. I will keep y'all updated as regularly as I can.

xoxo

Cindy

Hello, it's me.

I'm back. I can't believe I am. When I wrote my last post, I was sure I was done. I made plans to delete my blog and made up a post with links in case anyone stumbled upon my blog and wanted to find me elsewhere. I was ready to say goodbye. Except I wasn't. I couldn't actually delete everything especially after so many years. I've had this little blog here since 2009 and while it's never been anything special to anyone except for me, I couldn't just erase everything that I had spent countless hours writing. I guess I just needed a long break.

I don't know how well my comeback will be, to be honest. But I have been thinking about posts I want to write, reviews I want to add to my list, new features and ideas I want to incorporate and I feel like maybe this time I am really back.

I think the reason why I stopped blogging as much was lack of inspiration and YouTube + social media. Other websites have become huge for the book community, from Booktubers to Bookstagrammers and everything in between. Blogging just isn't as popular as it used to be and I found myself lured into these other platforms. I started my own YouTube channel under the same name and attempted numerous times to have a dedicated book Instagram but that didn't work out. And while I regularly upload videos (honestly, it's just here and there every month if I'm to it) it's just not the same for me. I have to actually get ready, and have good lighting, and go over what I want to say. There's so much planning and preparation and I miss the ease of sitting in my pajamas and writing up a post in a few minutes. There's so much more that is involved in the other platforms and I am just too lazy to keep it going as frequently as others.

Basically, what I am trying to say is that blogging has been my favorite way of sharing my thoughts on books and I've missed it. Maybe I'm back for good or maybe I won't write another post for years. Who knows. I know I want to do this again and I think that I am finally determined to really come back.

I will see you all soon.

xoxo

Cindy

Not sure.

I've been going back and forth with deleting this blog. Or I guess just abandon it. Since I decided to steer away from only book reviews, I have found myself not wanting to blog anymore. I used to almost feel obligated to post reviews and try and catch up on what I'd read recently. I do all my book talking on YouTube now and am still posting short incoherent thoughts over on Goodreads as well. But I don't feel like I have much to say in regards to anything else on my blog. There have been a few things here and there in my life where I felt I could talk about, but then I forgot about them and never actually got around to posting anything else.

So here I am, and I am not sure if I want to continue keeping this up. Part of me does, and part of me doesn't. I've had this space for so long that I can't imagine just deleting it. But then I also don't see myself keeping up with it and actually posting anything. So I am stuck in this in-between place where I kind of want to just leave it and say goodbye, and also attempt to revive it a little. Yet, I am not leaning more either way.

I felt a little inspired today though, to at least share these indecisive thoughts after seeing a YouTuber I've followed for years discuss her life and share an update + her new website blog thing. I felt like I could at least share this, this feeling of not being sure on how to continue with my readers. Although to be honest, most of my readers are now inactive and that 800+ subscriber number is very much a lie.

Anyways, I may or may not be here. I may or may not post personal stuff. I may just let this die out and wander back from time to time if I feel like it. Or I may just disappear from this blogging business once and for all. I am not sure.

A change.

This has been a long time coming, and I didn't even know it. I have been trying for the last two or so years to keep up with my blogging, and catch up with reviews and all that stuff. But what I failed to realize is that I don't want to do that anymore. This blog has been a part of my life since 2009 and I still love it very much. It was my place to talk about books when I had no one else, and it has been where I can share my own thoughts on books.

But after many years, the time has come to make some changes. After giving it some thought, I have decided to switch this blog from book reviewing to a personal blog. It will no longer solely be about books. In fact, I won't be posting book reviews for every book unless they're 5 star reads for me (or if I accept it for review) and that doesn't happen very often. I will do a wrap-up post at the end of the month sharing all my thoughts on books I've read recently instead. And that's just a few of the changes.

I've decided to keep my name because it became part of my identity many years ago and I couldn't part with it now. I am still a reader and continue talking constantly talking about books on my YouTube channel, but that won't be the main focus of my blog anymore. And maybe keeping my name the same for now is not such a good idea, but I think it is. We will see how that goes.

Of course, I will be sharing more stuff from my life with these changes. I have changed and grown so much these last few years, and I have so many other things I do with my life that I don't share here or anywhere and I want to.

I am also changing the layout of my blog, which has changed so much these past few years. But now I want to make sure to include tabs on other stuff that isn't book related. It'll take some time for blog to finally grow a bit, but I am really excited to be actively blogging again. Thanks for those of you who have stuck around all these years, and I hope we can still talk in the comments.

New Year & Goals | 2018

It's already a few days into the new year, what the heck?! I can't believe this year came by so quickly. 2017 didn't go by super fast, but the end of the year sort of sped up and now it's a few days into 2018 and I am just sitting down to write my goals. I am going to make this a quick one, because other than random and extremely ambitious goals, I don't have too many "new goals" for the new year. It's mostly repeats or rollovers from previous years.

Reading Goals
- Read books that I own: I tried this last year, and didn't do so well.
- Read all the Netgalley ARC's I have: I've talked about this already.
- Read the Stephen King books I have planned to: I have a list.
- Read 100 books: I've done 52 books these last couple of years and really want to challenge myself this year.
- Limit book buying to 1 or 2 books a month, max: Because honestly, I can't not buy books.

Blogging Goals:
- Blog once a week: Trying this again.
- Catch up on reviews: I was so close.

Lifestyle goals:
- Continue my workout goals: This last year was the year I finally did it. I'd been trying so hard for so many years to be consistent about my fitness, and I always fell off track. 2017 was the year where fitness literally became priority. I workout weekly, keep track of food for the most part, and really have focused on strength instead of weight loss. It's been great.
- Limit spending: I tend to splurge a lot on things that I don't really need. I hit a bad bump in my finances at the end of 2017, had a breakdown, and vowed to be better. I don't ever want to feel so helpless about money again.
- Travel: I already have a trip planned for February but I want to camp at least once, and go on another cruise (for my birthday hopefully)
- Be happy: Always my #1 goal, even though I mention it last.

None of these are unrealistic, but some are very ambitious. I still think it's worth a try and I guess that's what new year resolutions are all about. Thanks for reading all that and I hope you had and have a happy new year :)

2018 Reading Goals | Netgalley ARC's

I've had a ton of books on Netgalley that I got accepted for review that I never read. I know. Shame. But I have slowly made some progress. My goal this year is to read ALL of the books I got accepted for and review them. There is only 19 on this list and that's not too many, really. I will updating this list as I get these read and the year progresses.

This or That | Bookish Edition

I've been seeing this floating around a few blogs and I wanted to participate too! I haven't done a random kind of post in forever, so I figured it would be fun. This was created/started by Wendy over at Falconer's Library.

Buy new or buy used?
Both, depends on my budget. If I am able to buy it new, then I do, but if I am trying not to spend much I will only buy used books

Eat while you read or read while you eat?
Read while I eat, definitely. I don't tend to eat when I read as much.

Re-read old favorites or pre-order upcoming possibilities?
I don't usually pre-order books but if it is something I have been anticipating for a while, I'll buy it around the release date. And I also re-read old favorites from time to time. So, both again.

Read every single word or skim at times?
Read every single word unless I've decided to possibly DNF the book and want to know where it goes without actually reading it in its entirety.

Happy endings or tragic?
I want to say tragic because they make me feel more, but I am all for happy endings too.

Audiobooks or ebooks?
Audiobooks! They're my second favorite format. I really can't read many books in eBook format.

Multiple books at once, or one at a time?
Multiple books although right now I am in the middle of too many and I think I need to cut back on the too many books at once, so I am going to try and go back to one at a time.

Mostly one genre, or a little bit of everything?
Definitely a little bit of everything, although I do stick with fiction.

Lifelong obsession or later (re)discovery?
Ever since I learned to read, I have loved it.

Classics--yea or nay?
Yea but not too often.

Read aloud to others or be read to?
I like to read aloud to the children I work with, but normally don't otherwise.

Absolute silence or background noise/music?
Either, I can read with both although I usually turn on some background music when its late and I'm alone.

Cover on or naked?
Naked because I don't like messing up the dustjackets of my hardcover books!

Dog-ear or bookmark?
Bookmarks! I used to dog-ear but now I just can't.

Movie covers or originals?
I hate movie covers!

Life Update | Wrap Up of Sorts + Currently Reading

Life Update:  

It's been a long time since I've tried to keep this blog consistently active. It was difficult because of school + work, lack of reading or motivation to read, creating a YouTube channel and keeping that updates, and other life stuff. But regardless of all the changes in my life, and my transition to a more popular way of talking about books on social media, my blog will always be my favorite form of expressing myself when it comes to books.

Earlier this year, I made an attempt to post more often by cleaning up and transitioning my blog back to Blogger. I am still trying to clean it up, but I have a lot of posts to go through and it's just a work in progress. Then, I tried writing up reviews and I realized I haven't reviewed any of the books I've read in the past year. So that left me feeling a little unmotivated. When I finally graduated college, I expected to have a little more time on my hands while I transitioned jobs, but I had some family stuff which sort of put everything on hold for a couple weeks. Then I had about a week of self-care and relaxation before a mini-vacation and then getting my butt back into gear.

And now here I am.

With all that, I've thought about what to do with this blog, and how to get back into the whole blogging thing. I decided that I want to start off with a quick wrap up of what's been going on, what I've been reading (it hasn't been much) and where I plan to pick up and move forward with. I've noticed that checking out other blogs and seeing how consistently they post, or what they post, encourages me to get really back into this.

Reading:

Like I said, I haven't been reading much but every little bit counts so here's what my year to date looks like

• Books Read: 12
• Books DNF'd: ≈ 6
• Favorite Book (so far): The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2) by Maggie Stiefvater
• Books Reviewed: 0

There hasn't been much of anything, but on my YT channel I have uploaded 23 videos so there is that. But again, I feel the need to update my blog and keep it active. Let's see how well I can do this time. 

Currently Reading: 

I'm currently reading a few books and I also have a summer TBR that I want to follow in hopes that I will read more this summer. I've been attempting to finish the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series since I am obsessed with Game of Thrones but that hasn't been going great. I started A Darker Shade of Magic but that's also something I might have to put on hold right now. I decided to re-read and continue the Boys Over Flowers manga because I really did enjoy it when I was reading it a few years back. I've read one book of my summer TBR so far, and might start another one soon but that's all I am currently reading.

Blogging:

I haven't made time to blog to be honest and I really want to. I have started by catching up on reviews and since I read pretty slow, I am sure I can be up to date really soon if I actually try. Which I am, since that's the whole point of this post. I want to write all the reviews on the books I've read so far, post a monthly wrap up towards the end of the month, and also update the look of my blog. Definitely plenty to work on and I do have time to right now, I just normally don't. I also want to read more, of course, because I haven't read much and I miss it. That is all. 

New Year & Goals

This past year flew by! It feels like it's been so long since I sat in front of the computer and written here even though it hasn't been that long. In all honesty, I have struggled to keep this blog going this year. At some point, I think I became unsatisfied with the way I changed my reviews to be really simple like I had originally made them. I am not sure how, or if, I will be writing my reviews from this time forward, but I really want to get back to actually doing it.

I also became a more active booktuber, and my channel has been slowly growing. I post videos almost every week and have really enjoyed that. But this has also caused me to neglect this little blog over here. I plan to change that this year. While I am still getting comfortable being in front of the camera, I find myself most comfortable here. This blog has been a part of me for almost 8 years now, and I love it so much, I can't imagine it not existing.

So like the past few years, with the new year, I figured the best way to jump right back into my blog was to post my goals for the new year. These past few years, my resolutions have been easy. And I want to keep them that way, but also challenge myself just a bit. Here goes nothing...

On books and reading: 

• I've made my Goodreads reading challenge 52 books these past few years, but this year, I want to try and surpass that goal. 
• I want to try and read all the unread books on my shelves
• Limit my book buying (I haven't bought a book since October, so I am doing pretty well there!)
• Read all the ARC's/e-ARC's I have ever received.

Blogging and stuff:

• Review most (if not all) the books I read. I have failed so terribly at this. BUT I can have a fresh start
• Post at least once a week *fingers crossed*
• Clean up the blog - I transitioned back to Blogger and have tons of broken links, posts that need readjustments, and maybe a few that need to be deleted. I want to focus on fixing and revamping my blog so that I love it again. 

Stay healthy and happy: I did well in staying healthy for the most part and regularly go to the gym these days. This year, I want to disregard my weight loss, and focus more on looking and feeling fit, run more, and maybe, finally participate in a runDisney race. I also want to have another really happy year :)

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Universal Studios Hollywood

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood opened up on the 7th of April, and of course, I had planned to be there. The boyfriend and I had plans to get our annual passes for the park and enjoy our first day on opening day.

What we didn't expect was for park tickets to be sold out for opening day. I was crushed, and after several reassurances that my life was not over, we agreed that the following week would be better. I'm glad we did this after because 1) It rained on opening day 2) The lines for rides were about 2 hours long and 3) My boyfriend ended up getting sick that day (while we were at Disneyland) and wouldn't have enjoyed himself.

Anyways, Thursday was the day! I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. I had a hard time falling asleep the night before.



That morning I was up bright and early, decided to wear my Hogwarts inspired uniform (black leather skirt, knee high socks, Dr. Marten boots, and my Slytherin cardigan of course.) I decided not to take my Sirius Black wand because I knew I'd be getting another one there.We arrived and entered the park at 10:00am and headed straight for Hogsmeade. I was jumping for joy as we went through the archway. Immediately to the right was the Hogwarts Express and I wanted to burst into tears.


I took a picture with the conductor standing out front. We knew from checking the wait times that the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride was a 45 minute wait, so we wasted no time and headed there first (although my boyfriend had to drag me there since I wanted to stop everywhere -- Ollivander's, The Three Broomsticks, etc.)



Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

The ride itself is inside Hogwarts, so our first view of the castle was while we walked to wait in line. The winding line outside the castle offers the best views of it. Once past the gate onto the school grounds, where I was warmly greeted with a "Welcome back, Slytherin" and a high-5 from a fellow Hogwarts student (employee), we were steered into the bag line. As it turns out, if you have a large purse or backpack, you have to rent a locker before the ride. I had a backpack so we had to make the quick stop, which turned out to be a bit of a commotion with all the people bustling around -- like a real train station! If you don't have a bag though, you can continue in the line. After the lockers, we made it back into the line.

As it turns out, and also read in several reviews after, waiting in line is actually quite enjoyable. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is considered to be the first ride (at both parks I'm assuming) to have a queue where guests enjoy being a part of. As a huge fan, I can agree wholeheartedly with this because as you make your way through the line, you also get to experience the inside of Hogwarts.



Winding through the outside portion of the line, there's a greenhouse with exotic plants, including Mandrakes. Once inside, there are statues, and classrooms, talking portraits, and offices, the hourglass with the points, and plenty of things to just "Oh" and "Ah" over. I had to pause in every section to get a few pictures in and really couldn't stop looking at everything. Walking through Hogwarts did not feel like a wait to be honest.

The ride itself is, in one word, magical. I have seen a few negative reviews on it already, but before I visited HP World, I knew nothing. I had NO idea what to expect and really wanted to just enjoy everything. Back to the ride. Universal is known for great, thrilling rides that really cannot be compared to other amusement parks. The Forbidden Journey is no exception. Not knowing what was in store, I really felt immersed into Harry Potter world, and loved the ride. I don't want to give too many details because it is really a ride that needs to be experienced first hand.

The Flight of the Hipogriff

After our first ride, we headed to the second ride of Harry Potter World. To be honest, the short little roller coaster looked laughable, but of course needing to experience everything, we quickly got in line. I am not a big fan of roller coaster rides but this one looked like something that I could handle. While the ride is short, the quick little roller coaster does provide a few stomach drops which come as a bit of surprise because it seems to move pretty slow from the line.

Butterbeer Carts



It is foamy and delicious. You can get it hot, cold, or frozen and since it was a warm day for us, we went for a frozen and cold. I definitely recommend the cold one better because it doesn't taste as watered down. And while it is quite delicious, it is also really sweet. Even for someone with a sweet tooth like myself, sharing one among two adults is perfect. And you have a choice of getting a souvenir mug!

Ollivander's Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC

For Ollivander's you can choose to experience your wand being chosen by waiting in line (approx 45 minutes when we went.) But we wanted to check out the rest of the park, so we decided to do this towards the end of the day. With an hour left before closing, we headed back. We were getting restless after only about ten minutes though because we really had no idea what we were standing in line for. We decided to skip it and I sadly accepted I would not get my wand this trip. Since we still had a few shops to check out, we went into one and realized Ollivander's was on the other side and we could enter that way. After asking an employee, I found out that the line is for a group of about 6-10 people taken into a room, and only one guest gets chosen for their wand. Once that's over, they are ushered into the shop and buy their wand there.



I felt like I was okay with missing out on that experience this first time, and had someone help me find my new wand. I asked about it, and the wands can be chosen by qualities or by birthday. I went with the birthday and got a Vine wand. Character wands are available and can be picked between interactive and non-interactive.

Interactive wands can be used for "spells" in several locations in Hogsmeade. Because of our time constraint though, I didn't get an opportunity to do this but saw people waving their wands a couple times so I got the idea and it seems fun.

& lots of shops!

I got to walk through all the shops, which include Zonko's Joke Shop, Honeydukes (where I got Bertie Botts Every Flavor Jellybeans and a Chocolate Frog -- and got Salazar Slytherin!), Dervish and Bange, Gladrags Wizardwear, Wiseacres Wizarding Equipment, Filch's Emporium of Confiscated Goods and the Owl Post. The only thing I missed out on was eating at The Three Broomsticks, but I'll make sure to check that out next time.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is truly amazing, and if you get the opportunity to go, I definitely recommend it. I cannot wait to go back and spend the entire day there, since there are a few things I missed out on. It really is a great experience for Harry Potter fans of all ages.

New Year + Goals

This past year was a good one. While there were a few things that were hard to just deal with, overall this year was amazing. I laughed a lot, read more than I did the year before, and just enjoyed a lot of little moments. I also remained pretty active on the blog, for the most part. Earlier in the year, I decided to finally stop reading books I didn't want to finish and I also started reviewing my old way.

As I've done the last few years, I wanted to share my new years resolutions and goals which are again, simple. They worked out well for the last two years which is what I like best.

• Read books: I've set my goal low for the last two years but it makes me a little sad that I don't get to read more. I don't want to set an unrealistic goal, but this year I am aiming for 52 books since I was able to accomplish my goal last year.


• Re-read Harry Potter: I set this goal for myself last year and unfortunately wasn't able to get around to reading the books but maybe this year I'll get to it!


• Stay healthy and happy: Like last year, I did well in staying healthy for the most part. While I fell off the healthy for a bit, I was able to jump back on it and lose most of the weight I wanted to. This year, I want to make sure to accomplish my weight goal, run more 5K's and maybe even be a part of a runDisney race. I also have a really happy year and hope this year is the same if not better :)

That's it! An even shorter list than last years but I am happy with my resolutions/goals. Happy New Year every one and happy reading. Let's make this year a good one ♥