And Thanks for All the Fish

Admittedly it's been awhile since I've posted, but my life has been pretty darn busy since then... school, friends, dating, sex, drugs, rock 'n roll (oh, wait, I'm not quite that interesting). But with Thanksgiving being yesterday, I realized I have a lot to be thankful for, and why not post them on this blog. After all, romance is all about love, happiness, smexy men, and I have those first two! So here is an impromptu top ten.

The Top Ten Things I Am Thankful For This Year:

1. My mental health. This is seriously something that should never be taken for granted, in my opinion, and it's been a good year for me. I am thankful I've kept it together.

2. My parents. My parents are the two most awesome people I know. They have been incredibly supportive of me over the years and I couldn't be more lucky.

3. Dr. Pamela Regis' Popular Romance class which I was lucky enough to take this semester. I had been hoping to blog about it, but perhaps being overwhelmed with classes, one of which involves me writing about romance, is why I'm not blogging right now. However, this point leads me into my next one...

4. The International Conference on Popular Romance was held at my school this year, meaning I got to attend part of it (and posted a little about it here)...

5. ...And because of the conference I've now meet SB Sarah twice! She even remembered me (though she didn't remember from where). Maybe she just doesn't get a lot of fans who become stuttering, incoherent messes at the site of her...

6. The entire romance genre. Do I really need to explain this? I mean, come on! Would my mental health still be ok without some good escapist reading?

7. My pets. I have a beautiful, playful, and utterly aggravating black cat named Abyssinia, and a Betta fish named Napoleon. I'm particularly thankful for Napoleon at the moment, as he's been dying for the past year (visibly sick and everything). I have no idea how a Betta fish even made it to 3 years old, but he's a trooper and I'm going to miss him when he's gone.

Napoleon, a younger, happier, healthier time



8. My friends, both old and new. I think I've meet some people this past year who are really great!

9. Black Friday Deals that aren't on Black Friday. Because Black Friday scares me. I've hear one to many horror stories about injuries inflicted by overzealous shoppers.

And finally...

10. The Internet, for providing pictures of hot men.

(So when does the next season start again?)

Movies: Flashdance

Title: Flashdance
Genre: Drama/Romance
Grade: C-

Flashdance is one of those movies you have to see once, just to know what all the buzz is about. There are a lot of cheesy dance flicks I like- Save the Last Dance, Center Stage, Step Up- but Flashdance fell flat for me.

Let me start off with the dancing, since that is the focus of the movie. First off, the style of dance isn’t one I like. It’s a personal taste thing, but I never got into the 80’s and a lot of the dance routines reminded me of exercise videos. I felt really guilty eating popcorn during this movie. Maybe if you’re into the 80’s or grew up then the dancing will click with you more. The skill used is amazing, but it’s also obvious that Jennifer Beals is not the one dancing.

I also had issues with the dancing at the bar where Alex works at night. What exactly is it supposed to be?! The summary says she’s an exotic dancer, but the girls don’t really strip. They just have these elaborate artsy dances in skimpy outfits. And the one routine where she had the white paint on her face and was dancing in front of a tv… was she a mime?  Very, very confusing.

Most of the reasons I don’t like this movie stem from Alex herself. She’s moody, volatile, and has a toxic relationship with Nick. It’s not just that he’s her boss and older than her. Nick first takes note of Alex after seeing her dance at the bar. It seems sleazy to me that a girl's boss would try to pick her up after learning she also works as an exotic dancer (or whatever she is). In their relationship, Alex will be happy-go-lucky one moment and crazy the next, breaking windows, getting out of cars in the middle of the highway and slapping Nick. Not exactly the ideals of a healthy relationship.  I think Dr. Drew would have a thing or two to say about her behavior.

I Got You Covered

A few weeks ago JR Ward announced the hero in her next book will be Tohr.  I know a lot of us (myself included) were a bit upset.  It seems too soon to let go of Wellsie.  But I'll do my best to read his book with an open mind... I think all us fans do want to see him happy again.

In exciting related news, the title and cover have been released!

I think the title is great!  Lover Reborn is so fitting for Tohr.  And overall, I really like the cover.  It's a pretty golden hue I find appealing, and the cover model is smokin'.  I'd totally go for a guy with that sculpted face and piercing blue eyes.  BUT... (except for looking somewhat haunted and driven) that's not what I imagined Tohr to look like.  For some reason I feel this image belongs on the cover of a book with a Navy SEAL or other military hero.  I was really hoping this cover would be like Lover Mine or Lover Unleashed- those two were HOT!

RWA Loot + Photos

Going to the RWA Literacy Autographing was amazing- but rather than just tell you let me break it down for you...

Tuesday June 28, 2011

5:55 Wake up, alert and excited for that afternoon's RWA Autographing!

5:58 Realize that actually involves getting out of bed.  No longer so happy.

6:30-7:30 Run to catch the Metro to get to Union Station to catch BoltBus to NYC...
which sounds simple except five different Union Station workers gave me different directions to BoltBus, and the bus lines to NEW YORK and NEWARK were two feet apart (really, who does that in a loud, crowded terminal?!).  Luckily, I got on the right bus just as it was ready to leave.

11:50 Arrive at Penn Station, NYC.

12:00-3:30 Shopping on Broadway!!!
While the Autographing was the purpose and highlight of the trip, I was really looking forward to spending some time walking around Times Square area.  My three favorite places I visited were:

Toys R Us

It has a Ferris Wheel inside the building!  How cool is that!  No, I didn't go on it (there was quite a line, mostly of little kids) but I thought about it. 

Each one of the passenger cars represents a different toy. There's a pink Barbie car!

The Disney Story

This place really is magic.  You can't tell from the picture, but the tree is an LED screen of some sort- the images move and change!  Whoever designed the store was a genius.  The place was fun just to walk through.

A kids area.  It has a touch screen so people can choose to watch clips of any particular Disney movie.  The Princess and the Frog was on when I went by.

The entrance to the Princess section of the store. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought it was photo-worthy :)

The M&M Store

There is an entire store dedicated just to M&M's- key chains, magnets, plushies, and of course, the candy itself.  Huge vats of it in every single color.

One of their fun little in store gimmicks was a "mood analyzer".  Stand under the beam, and the screen tells you what kind of M&M you are.

I was Dark Pink.  I guess the scanner knew I was off to RWA!

3:30-4:50 Chill in the Marriott's Atrium Lounge

I get to the hotel two hours early, read the Marriott's events board (at the main entrance) and see the Autographing is on the sixth floor, and decide to people watch in the hotel's bar for the meantime.  While hanging around the Atrium I spotted Roxanne St. Claire and Julie James, and chatted on and off with some RWA attendees.  I really wished I could have come back after the signing, but NYC buses wait for no gal...

4:50-5:05 Essentially, I was lost and confused

Forty minutes before the Autographing was about to start, I return to the sixth floor only to be told the line starts on the first floor (because of it's huge, wrap around the block length).  Really?!  It would have been nice if they had made that clear earlier on (i.e. at the main entrance!).  But- it turns out there are some advantages to being places you aren't supposed to be...

First, I meet SB Sarah!  Fun  fact: This photo was taken by Jaci Burton, just as Jennifer Crusie checked in behind her.  Oh yea.  (Kat- this picture is for you <3 )

And... while taking the elevator back down to the first floor, I was given some free books by a volunteer from the Librarians Luncheon.  Moral of the story- always smile to people on elevators!

-The Iron King by Julie Kagwa

-The First Love Cookie Club by Lori Wilde

5:05-6:40 Wait in line

This was the not-so-fun part.  But I was in good company.  All of us loved romance novels, so there was always something to talk about.  I met both Rita from Not Another Romance Blog and Jamie from For the Love of Romance, who were quite a bit of fun to talk to. 

6:40-7:30 Collect Swag!!!

Then, finally, I was in!

Here's what I walked out of the signing with:

-Yours for the Taking by Robin Kaye
-Start Me Up by Victoria Dahl
-Something About You by Julie James
-A Lot Like Love by Julie James
-Here Comes the Groom by Karina Bliss (unfortunately unsigned, Karina Bliss couldn't make it herself)

-The Countess by Lynsay Sands
-Unveiled by Courtney Milan
-Nowhere Near Respectable by Mary Jo Putney
-The Perfect Scandal by Delilah Marvelle
-Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah McLean
-The Darkest Hunger by Juliana Stone

-Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

-The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton

-The Princess in His Bed by Lila DiPasqua

I didn't take as many photos during the signing (I was crunched for time, and I didn't want to hold other people up either), but here's a couple shots I snapped:

Robin Kaye, holding up Yours for the Taking.



And Eloisa James and me!

7:45-1:05am Pay, dash out to Port Authority and take the bus home. 

A very successful day :)

Top 10: Favorite Series

I meant to have a post up today detailing the AWESOME time I had at the Literacy Autographing Tuesday, but between travelling and getting back to work I'm exhausted. 

So instead here are my top ten favorite romance series!
10. Legend of the Four Soldiers by Elizabeth Hoyt
9. Love by Numbers by Sarah MacLean
8. The Matchmakers by Candance Camp
7. The Hellions of Halstead Hall by Sabrina Jeffries
6. The Wallflowers by Lisa Kleypas
5. Domestic Gods by Robin Kaye
4. The School for Heiresses by Sabrina Jeffries
3. The Bridgertons by Julia Quinn
2. The Hathaways by Lisa Kleypas
1. The Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward

Pictures and a recount of Tuesday's events should be up soon :)

RWA Countdown!!!

Guess who's going to RWA... I'm going to RWA!  The Literacy Autographing at least. 

I can't afford the whole conference, but I am taking a bus up to NYC for the day and going to the signing.  How friggin' awesome is that?  So if any other readers/bloggers/authors are going to be up there and know of any events immediately before the signing (like I said, I'm only going to be there a few hours), let me know!

Show Your True Colors

Do you know what's in two days?

The New Season

That's right!  It's the True Blood Season 4 premiere!  I'm getting chills just thinking about it.  In the meantime I've been watching (and re-watching) all of the HBO online promos, which are beautifully done and are only feeding the frenzy.

For the other TB-addicts, I would recommend checking out:
-http://www.inside-true-blood-blog.com/ (careful! some of the videos can be spoiler-ish)
-http://www.babyvamp-jessica.com/ (a cute vlog for Jessica that ran parallel to Season 3.  I only just learned about it, but it looks like they're starting it up again for Season 4!)

Jessica's Blog: Special Guest Appearance!