Book Haul

I was definitely persuaded to buy more than I anticipated with Amazon's 12 Days of Deals in Books for the holidays. I went searching for one book, thinking I would only spend about $10.00 and rather ended up spending $35.90, but I do not regret it. Six books for that total? That's a steal! If you've been looking to buy a book, I'd urge you to buy it now because you'd probably find it for almost half the regular price with Amazon's sale going on right now! There was also a discount code called BOOKDEAL25 that knocked off another 25% off of select books, and because I spent more than $35.00 I got free shipping! If there was a present I would love to receive for the holidays, it would definitely be a book. I love adding to my collection, and I don't think I could ever have too many. Here are the books that I bought and links to them on Amazon:

♥ The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman - $14.99 $9.37 ♥

This was the book that I was initially going to buy alone. It's a self-help/psychology book and it is definitely a more mature book than the young adult books that I usually read. I read a preview of the book online and I was so intrigued, so I knew that I had to buy a hard copy! The author writes about how love has five languages, and the reason many relationships fall apart is because we fail to realize our partner's love language may be different than our own. The five love languages are quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. I don't want to ramble on too much because I plan to write a separate post dedicated to this book once I finish it, but I can already tell that I would recommend it to others in relationships!

♥ The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner - $39.96 $23.98 ♥

I've only read the first book of this series—The Maze Runner—and I absolutely loved it, so I look forward to reading the rest of the series! If you like dystopian books, you'd enjoy The Maze Runner. I feel as though this book is loyal to the dystopian genre, yet it feels fresh. It's not the typical story you'd see of the future government separating society into different groups/districts/factions/occupations in order to maintain control. Does that short description sound like it fits a lot of books all at once? And I'm not bashing the genre; I love my dystopian books and all, but sometimes the stories can get repetitive. That's why I like The Maze Runner: a story about a group of teenage boys and one teenage girl, attempting to escape this maze and figure out who put them into it. It was also made into a movie, which I absolutely loved, unlike another book-turned-movie which I didn't like so much (cough cough, Divergent). The Maze Runner movie had quite a handful of changes, but I still left the theatre feeling completely happy with the changes and how it turned out. I'm looking forward to reading (and watching in 2015) the second book in the series—The Scorch Trials!

♥ Looking for Alaska by John Green - $9.99 $5.99 ♥

Now this book I really only bought because I only needed a few more dollars for the total to be $35.00+ and thus get free shipping, but that's not to say that this book isn't just as good as the others! This book has got to be one of my favorites, especially being that it's the book that got me really into reading. This book introduced me to the world of the young adult book genre. I couldn't remember a time before this that I felt so hooked on a book that I literally did not want to put it down. I related so much to this book and it is definitely a tearjerker, so you may want to have some tissues close by. I've always wanted to read John Green's other books but never got around to it. Perhaps I should have bought a book of his that I have never read before, but I knew I just had to have my own copy of Looking for Alaska. I can't wait to re-read this book!

My Homemade "Charging Station"

Sitting at a desk cramped with two laptop cords, a monitor screen cord, two phone chargers, and a tablet charger, I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed and crowded. Cords seem to have a way of making even the neatest area look cluttered and messy. I knew I had to do something about this, so I decided that I would need to move some of these monstrous cords elsewhere. However, there was no where else I could charge the phones or tablet besides the one outlet beside my bed, and that didn't seem safe or comfortable to have electronics on the bed when trying to sleep in it. That's when the idea came to me...what if I made some sort of "charging station" for the phones and tablet? I decided to research some things and came across this popular post, where someone made a holder for charging their cell phone out of a lotion bottle. It's a really clever idea; however, I knew that I would need something bigger than a lotion bottle because I was planning to place my 10" tablet inside this thing as well. All of my ideas were a jumbled mess inside my head, so I decided to just head on to the store in hopes of finding some inspiration there. As soon as I passed by it, I knew it was the right tool for the job...a tissue box. It was the perfect size; not too bulky but also big enough for my tablet to fit inside of it. I wish I would have taken pictures of the steps with my camera, but I was so excited to make this, and honestly I was just figuring out how to make it as I was going along. It's pretty simple though, so I'll try to explain it. 

The part of the tissue box where the tissue would come out of needs to be either against the wall or on the front of the box. This allows for the box to be more tall/narrow rather than facing it up-right as that would make it short/bulky. First I cut the side of the box that would be on the top once placed on the wall with some scissors. After doing this, I hot glued some felt sheets on the inside of the box; this step is not entirely necessary, but I just felt more comfortable knowing my phone and tablet would be sitting upon something soft rather than cardboard. Next you can decorate your box however you'd like. I tried to find some extra fabric laying around, but to no avail, so I just covered my tissue box with light pink card stock paper and glued artificial flowers along the edges. Now you need to make holes on either the side or the bottom of the box with an X-acto knife so that your charger cords could go through these holes and into the box. I would be placing two phones and a tablet in my box, so I made three holes along the left side. Once your box is ready you can nail it into the wall. I would suggest not relying on tacks to hold this up, just because electronics are going to be inside of it and you wouldn't want an accident to happen! There were other ways that I thought this box could be held up, such as making two holes on the side of the box that would be along the wall and hanging it up using Command hooks. It all depends on what you feel comfortable with, but you can get creative with it.

This project has made me realize how many things I have in that light pink color...But that's all there is to it! My homemade charging station idea came to life, and I couldn't be more happy with the results!

My New Bedding

After probably about a month of researching comforters, sheets, duvets, and anything you could imagine, I finally have new bedding! Yes, you did read that right; I spent a whole month trying to find the perfect comforter, the perfect sheets, and the best prices. I went through the process of finding something, questioning it, finding something I don't like about it, and then having to start the search all over again...basically I made something way more complicated than it had to be, but it was well worth it because I am in love!

When I initially started looking for a new comforter, I found myself more drawn toward the ones completely covered in flowers and pink hues. But then I realized...Thai probably wouldn't want to sleep in such a girly comforter, and in a few years I would think that my bedding looks too "childish". I came to my senses and started looking for something more gender-neutral and mature. I decided that a white comforter is perfect to be considered gender-neutral and mature, and I would bring the hint of color into my room with the sheets. That's where this ensemble came from! I know that it still looks pretty girly, but I just couldn't resist, and Thai told me that this amount of girly-ness is fine with him. Besides, I also figured that since my comforter is white and versatile, if I tire of the girly-ness of the sheets, I could just change the sheets rather than having to completely change my bedding! Win-win!

At first I bought the Simply Shabby Chic Ruched Comforter Set from Target, but when it arrived I could tell I would hate it without even taking it out of the bag, The fabric just felt so cheap and the stuffing was extremely thin. I returned it immediately. I then found the Sidney Comforter Set in White from Bed Bath and Beyond, and it is just lovely! The fabric is 10x better than the one I bought from Target and it is way thicker. Another plus is that it comes with three decorative pillows. With the 20% off discount I received from their mobile text offers, this purchase was a steal! As I mentioned before, I feel as though this comforter is really versatile. It could be girl'd up by pairing it with pink sheets and pillows, but it could also easily suit a more mature bedroom by pairing it up with neutral colored sheets and pillows! Although the Simply Shabby Chic line from Target disappointed me with their comforter, they redeemed themselves with the Simply Shabby Chic Sheet Set in Pink Rose. Let me tell you, it is extremely hard to find pink sheets outside of kids bedding, and those are usually twin sizes! These simply adorable sheets are not too flimsy but also not too crisp; they are just perfect for me.

I feel as though I'm sleeping on a cloud with this new bedding! It's so beautiful and fluffy and girly and...I just absolutely love it.