Influenster Holiday VoxBox 2012

If you follow me on ANY of my social networking sites, it's no secret that I've been pretty excited about Influenster. Influenster, if you don't know, is a website that sort of uses the trend of blogging and social networking as a means to get the word out on some pretty awesome products.

I've received 3 VoxBoxes so far but the Holiday has been the best one, I must say. :)

Okay, so the products I received to review are as follows:
1.)Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal in Summer Berry (Freakin' delicious! I've had the Cherry Pistachio and I highly recommend that one.)

2.)Goody QuikStyle Hair Brush w/ Microfiber Bristles - I used this today to dry my hair and I will say that it DID try my hair faster and I honestly thought my hair looked super sleek today. I don't know if the brush had something to do with that or if it was my conditioner. So far so good, though. I'll let you know more as I use it longer.

3.)EBOOST Energy and Immunity Booster. (This reminds me of Emergen-C, which I use often. You just mix the powder in with some water for a quick boost. I haven't used the EBOOST yet but if it's anything like Emergen-C, I'm already a fan.

4.)NYC Liquid Lipshine in Nude York City- I've been a fan of the NYC brand for a long time. I love the Bronzer in Sunny and I've tried various lip glosses from them. This one might honestly be my favorite. It's just a simple nude that isn't too opaque, so anyone could pull it off.

5.)Kiss Nail Dress- Nail Polish strips are becoming more and more popular. I've never really been a fan. I work with my hands and I feel like I can feel that strip on my nails 24/7. I've heard good things about this particular brand and the unique part is the 3D look and feel to these. Really cute and festive.

6.)Montagne Jeunesse Fruit Smoothie Fast Mask- These are perfect trial sizes and make for some pretty awesome stocking stuffers. I've not tried this particular mask but I've liked all of the others I HAVE tried.

7.) Last but not least, they included a $25 off coupon on my first pair of shoes from Sole Society. I am actually already signed up to that site but I've never purchased a pair of shoes from them. I'm pretty excited.

So, as you can see, this haul was pretty good. I'll definitely get back to you with some more extensive reviews if you're interested. :)

Holy Blush Lemmings, Batman! (Beauty time)

I'm having such a beauty binge urge, it's crazy. I've been eying NYX blush powder blushes all morning. As far as price and quality goes, NYX blushes are one of my favorites. I think once the new year arrives, I'm going to haul some blushes like crazy! Happy 2013 to me!

Let's see... which ones do I want the most? Terracotta, Raisin, Cinnamon, Amber, Dusty Rose, Spice, Cafe, Chocolate Moose, Angel, Copper, Pecan, Taupe, Mocha.... Oh, man. How long is that list?!

The ones that I already own are Pinched, Peach, Pinky, Stone, Expresso, and Bourgeois Pig. I love them all, so you can see why I'd want to buy more!

I buy my NYX blushes at Ulta or on cherryculture.com. Happy shopping!

Follow up on last week's library haul: Mini reviews.

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta was MY FAVORITE BOOK THAT I'VE READ ALL YEAR. That's right. I'm saying those words and I'm standing by them. That book made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me stay up until I finished the damn thing, and best of all, it made me smile so big when I finished it. If it hadn't of been almost 6am when I finished it, I think I would have started it all over again. I loved it that much. Believe every positive thing you've heard about this one. It's amazing.

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White was another one that I finished in one day. While it didn't blow me away, I found that I was quite happy with not putting it down. It reminded me so much of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, specifically season one. If you're a fan of BtVS, I'd recommend checking this one out.

The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin was the other book I read this week that wasn't supernatural or paranormal. (I'm also currently listening to The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton on audiobook on my drives to work.) It's set in Idaho at this sort of nature girl's reform school. That's not quite the phrase I'm looking for but it will do as a place filler. I didn't love this one but I didn't hate it.

Which brings me to.... the book I DID hate. Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz. This little book just couldn't decide what it wanted to be. At first I was like, "Okay. This is sort of like Practical Magic meets A Discovery of Witches." and I wasn't loving it but I was managing. Then in the last 50 pages, the book was like, "Nope! Just kidding. We're not WITCHES, silly reader. We're GODDESSES. Duh." Yeah. Freakin' Norse mythology Goddesses. I wanted to throw it across the room.

I made a trip to the library today. I went a little crazy. I just found so many books that appealed to me. I finally narrowed it down to five books. One I think I'll return and get the audiobook for my drives to work. My haul included the following:

The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
Witches of the East End by Melissa de la Cruz
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

The only book I went in for was Saving Francesca but I got caught up in a book whirlwind. I've heard of de la Cruz's Blue Blood series but never got around to reading it. State of Wonder is the only adult fiction that I walked away with today. It's also the book I was referring to before, the one that I'll probably end up returning unread to check out in audio.

I'll let you know what I think of these books soon!

I've completed my 2012 Book Challenge!

I've officially read 50 books this year so far. A tip that I can give to double the amount of books you're enjoying at any given time is AUDIOBOOKS!

I read whenever I get the chance but I have a 40 minute drive to work. That's a lot of time that could be used to be reading! :) I'm so glad I opened my mind to the world of audiobooks.

I'll definitely be updating soon about the rest of the books I've read. Until then, feel free to peruse my Goodreads account. :)

~*~ My Goodreads.com profile~*~

One of my favorite bloggers/Youtubers is have a giveaway!

Say Anything Brooke is having a cute giveaway. She's giving away the limited edition Halloween themed Soft Lips. (Marshmallow Ghost and vanilla!) Check out her blog for a chance to win! Click here!

Books I've read this year. (So far.)

In 2012, I challenged myself to read 30 books. It's July 28th and as of today, I finished my 29th for the year. (Well, I also did a re-read of Hunger Games and Catching Fire, so technically I finished my 31st book for the year. Seeing as it was my FIFTH time reading those books, I decided not to count them.) Now, as I talk about or list the books that I've read, please keep in mind that I read mostly for entertainment purposes. I'm not one of those readers whose sole purpose of reading is to learn. I'm a woman with a HUGE weakness for YA lit. And on that note, here's the list of books I've finished. 1.) One For The Money by Janet Evanovich- This was a reread. I started reading the Stephanie Plum novels about 6 years ago, based on friends recommendation. The movie came out and while I did not go see it, it DID inspire me to read the book again. 2.) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness- This book was RAVED about by a Youtuber that I watch. I ended up finishing it but wishing that I could have that time back. I did not love this one at all. 3.) Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning- Another one I read and hated myself for doing so the entire time. 4.) Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins- CUTE! Cute cute cute read. This was the second novel I read by this author and I CANNOT wait for the third to come out. This is YA fiction at it's finest, people. 5.) Love and Other Things I'm Bad At by Catherine Clark- This is a book containing 2 novels about a heroine I LOVED in high school: Courtney Von Dragen Smith. I bought this one because it contained the conclusion of her story and I needed to know what happened to her. 6.) by e. lockhart- Haha. Do I even need to tell you this one is a YA book? Don't be fooled by the title. It's a good one. 7.) Divergent by Veronica Roth- And the start of my dystopian YA novel obsession. I didn't eat this one up as I know a lot of people did. It took me a long time to finish it. I even put it down at one point to read other books. I ended up liking this one, though. Not enough to start the next book in the series but that's another story. 8.) The Maze Runner by James Dashner- A dystopian novel I DIDN'T love. I finished it rather quickly. I didn't hate it. I was just indifferent, which is possibly the worst emotion to feel about a book. 9.) Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony- My first ARC. I received this one for free. I won it in a Goodreads giveaway. It isn't a book you READ. It's told through pictures and it is RIDICULOUSLY interesting. Give this one a look. 10.) It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini- Contemporary YA with a male protagonist. That was a change up for me. I liked this story a lot. It was made into a movie a few years ago. I never saw it but after reading the book, I definitely would. 11.) Looking For Alaska by John Green- THIS BOOK. Oh man. THIS BOOK. WHY did I not read this one sooner? John Green is a CRAZY talented writer and a hilarious vlogger and whywhywhy did I not know this until this year? Better late than never. I'd recommend this to anyone. ANYONE. It will break your heart. 12.) Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys- And not for something completely different: HISTORICAL fiction. Say what? This one was another heart breaker. 13.) Ten Things We Did by Sarah Mylnowski- After reading the last 2 heart wrenchers, I needed a fluffy read. Cue this book. I didn't love it. I didn't need to. I just needed to read something that wouldn't make me sob my eyes out like the last two books did. 14.) The Fault In Our Stars by John Green- Yup. Another John Green and another one that made me ugly cry. I actually want to re-read this one really badly. It's his newest release and it's lovely. Really really lovely. 15.) Delirium by Lauren Oliver- Love as a disease. The concept intrigued me. This book was great. It didn't grab me all at once. This one was started a long time ago and I decided to finally pick it up and finish it. Once I did that, it enthralled me. This world was crazy. I liked this one a lot. ...and hence why my next two books I read were also THIS series. :) 16.) Hana by Lauren Oliver- Okay, this one isn't a book. It's a short story as told though the Delirium protag's best friends eyes. It explains a few things that happened in Delirium and it was pretty good. 17.) Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver- This. One. Was. Awesome. Read it. 18.) The Ideal Man by Julie Garwood- Romance novel. 'nuff said. It wasn't good. 19.) Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan- Cute. Takes place around Christmas time in New York City. I liked this one. 20.) Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti- This one made me bonkers. Love triangle. High school. Best friends. No communication. JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER, PEOPLE! 21.) The Boy Book by e. lockhart- Book 2 in the Ruby Oliver series. I love Ruby. I think she's a cool girl, so therefore: I like the series. I'm gonna stop here for now. The rest of the list is seriously all Richelle Mead books. I got sucked in. (Ha. Funny little pun.) I'll finish my list at a later date. Until then... Happy reading. -Jackie

New/Old Obsession

When I was younger, it was unlikely to see me without a book in my hand. As I've gotten older, I had sort of grown out of having my nose in a book 24/7. This year, I've made a decision to fall back in love with books, and fall in love, I have.

As of today, February 16th, I've read at least 20 books since Christmas.

I want to use this blog again as a sort of way to compose my thoughts about the books I've been reading.