Inside Kimmy's Mind

So I’ve been coveting a lot of things recently and for this entry, I would like to share them with you because you might also like them as much as me. :3 Most of them are book related.

Subscription Boxes!!!

• OwlCrate– “OwlCrate is a monthly book subscription box that sends newly published Young Adult novels and assorted bookish goodies to your door. Each month’s OwlCrate is tailored to a fun theme (past themes include MAGIC, MYTHS & LEGENDS, and DIVERSITY) and will contain one new Young Adult novel, as well as 3-5 other bookish treats to help you get your nerd on. “
• Illumicrate– “Illumicrate is the subscription box for book lovers everywhere! We are dedicated to bringing you the best new releases and other fun things that book lovers are sure to enjoy. “
• Lit-Cube–“Lit-Cube is a monthly subscription box for readers. We strive to pair hand-picked books with high quality literary themed products to bring you a magical reading experience each and every month. We mail out a variety of books & genres. We are *not* a YA only box subscription.”
• Blind Date with a Book-“Gift wrapped, tagged with clues and delivered to your door. It’s a literary guessing game, it’s wonderful fun! And if you can’t find a date let us help find one for you.”

I’ve been noticing a lot of these bookish monthly subscription boxes and I’ve fallen in love with them all. I find myself looking up unboxing videos on youtube. They are just too cute! My only hesitation is spending $30+, and some of them are out of state, so the s+h will cost extra. Blind boxes sometimes stress me out, because what if I don’t like the book I receive? But then I just figured, I could easily gift the book to someone else. I have tons of literary friends that would appreciate getting a book. I would at least like to try it out once. There are a few more that I didn’t mention, but these are the ones I’m most interested in.

Books! (A few on my to buy list)

• Copygirl by Ana Mitchael and Michelle Sassa- Being an advertising minor, I would love to read about a female protagonist in the advertising world.
• Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius  – The cover is just too cute! It’s a Swoon book, the sequel has an adorable cover as well.
• Every Anxious Wave by Mo Daviau -Time travel and love? What more could you ask for?

• A Darker Shade of Magic by V.  E. Schwab- I’ve been contemplating this one,the sequel was released the other day I’m just not sure if I will fall for it as much as I’m hoping I will. But I still want to give it a chance, might just buy it on my nook first before buying a hard copy.

Other Book Related Items!

• Totes, Pillows and Mugs- Bookwormboutique– Instagram strikes again!!! I’ve been seeing all of these bookgramers showing off all of their bookish items. I especially love the throw pillows! They are too cute, my favorites are this one, this one and this one! Ok, there are a ton of cat pillows that I would like as well. Same with the totes and mugs! I’ve added them to my list!!! It just keeps growing, but I’m totally ok with that because even though I can’t purchase them all, I love finding new things to love!

That’s it for now, I’ve gone on and on for too long already. So I’ll end by showing you my true love! R2D2!!! I was lucky enough to be in charge of another Star Wars party at the museum. I love having Star Wars themed parties, especially when they go all out and have fancy balloons for me to love on!!!

Normally, cookbooks are not on my list of books to browse through when I go into a bookstore…unless I’m just looking at pictures. I struggle with following recipes because I am a very impatient person and tend to get a head of myself. But my sister, Kat, is a chef and she is fascinated with Korean cuisine. I figured I would get a cookbook for her and because this one seemed interesting, plus, I LOVE food!

Koreatown by chef Deuki Hong and writer Matt Rodbard

I may not be a chef but this book is beautifully made, and it offers the reader a look into Korean culture when it comes to the food. The cover jumped out at me, it’s texture is smooth with the title embossed. I love when books have an added texture to it.  I’m not quite sure what type of paper was used, but it’s smooth and soft without having a gloss to it even though it looks glossy. It’s wonderful.

The book is separated into different sections and offers the reader interviews and tips when it comes to recreating different Korean dishes. It’s filled with gorgeous photography that captured moments of food bliss and if they don’t make your mouth water, I don’t know what will My favorite thing about cook books, when I look at one, is how the pictures look. I like to know how the dish I’m preparing is supposed to look. Especially, if it’s from a specific type of cuisine.

The layout of the recipes are displayed with your ingredients on either the left or right side of the page in a column. It shows you exactly what you will be needing and the amount of each ingredient. Each recipe gives advice on the ingredients you will be using, such as what to keep in mind when choosing the type of vegetable..ect. Very helpful, for people like me, who know nothing about produce…or anything involving food. Aside from eating it.

I’ve already flagged all of the recipes I want to try first, so here’s hoping the roomie will assist in the actually making of the dish. But for those of you who lack having access to an actual chef worry not, the book lays out the instructions in an easy to follow manner. I believe even I could follow it.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

I have no idea if I did this project correctly, it was complicated, difficult and exhausting. But it was also really fun and I’m really proud of these photos.

The assignment called for creating a scene for the camera, using props, “actors”, costumes. ect. And then using line, texture, balance, light. ect. To capture a single scene and create a narrative in that single shot. I sort of did this last minute, but I started off by writing down ideas.  Now, we were doing things on a smaller scale so using toys or action figures as our “actors” was encouraged. I had trouble with my ideas in the beginning but after watching Amélie, I was brimming with them. However, I just couldn’t figure out how to bring them to life. Long story short, I decided to go with recreating fairy tales. As my actor, I decided to use a ball joint doll that artists use when sketching. I chose Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Rapunzel as my inspiration for transforming the ball joint doll. It was tedious and I crafted each outfit and yarn wig myself. I’m very pleased with the finished images and hope my teacher will be too.  So without further ado, here are my four constructed realities….

… continue reading this entry.

My mantra. 

I made this bracelet at the beginning of January to inspire myself when I was feeling less than shiny. And it’s not like I need this as a way to force myself to be happy. I am a very happy person, I love my life and  I love being me. I bought it, a long with a charm with the letter “K” on it,  because I’ve always loved the letter “K”, so they jingle next to each other and it’s just, well… nice.

Valentine’s Day was yesterday,  and I spoiled myself quite a bit.

First: Every Day by David Levithan

I don’t really want to go into too much detail about this book, because I will probably type up a review once I finish reading it. But I’ll leave you with this. It’s what made me want to read it in the first place. The sequel came out as well, technically it’s not a sequel, it’s the same story but from a different perspective.

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

Second: Stablio Markers

We just got this new 30 pack in at Paper Source, I hesitated at first but then I decided to gift them to myself for Valentine’s. I am so glad that I did too, because I just love having that many color options. You can never have too many marker pens, and again!!! Colors!!!

Third: This new A+ bag!

 

That’s my mini haul for you, there are a ton of things on my wish list of things I’d love to buy, but I spoiled myself enough for already for quite some time. I’m so spoiled!!! But Happy Valentine’s to me and to you as well!

 To finish up the holiday, I cooked myself a very delicious dinner. Beef teriyaki, it was very good, if I do say so myself. I might have let the meat get a bit chewy, but all in all, still a win in my book. Even though I didn’t have a romantic Valentine’s this year, I don’t see the need in being sad about it.  I still like this holiday, and working at a store like Paper Source, where I’m surrounded by lovey dovey things all the time, it’s sort of hard to hate this commercialized holiday. Plus, the decorations and cards are really cute. I never put that huge of a focus on it even when I was in a relationship, so  I don’t see the need to hate it now that I am single. Whether you’re single or in a relationship, I hope your day, your week and the months to come are filled with love!!!

Thanks for reading

I want to start off this review by saying, This book is absolutely gorgeous! Camilla d’errico is an unbelievable artist.

Her twist on surrealism is just breathtaking. I love how she adds animals, food or even the look of elements to her paintings. The color of the cover just pops at you, which would make this book the perfect companion for any coffee table. The girls in in her paintings each have her signature pouty lips and textured hair. And she explains her techniques in such a way, you may not able to fully mimic but you may even discover your own technique in the process.

“You are born an original, so don’t die a copy.”- Camilla d’errico

 She offers the reader tips and answers questions you may have concerning tools and materials. Helpful for anyone aspiring to paint or anyone interested in the topic of painting. The book is broken into two parts and then into different chapters that concentrate on certain areas such as, sketching, blending, composition…ect. In my opinion this would better assist someone who has some beginners knowledge in drawing or painting. But don’t let that deter you from testing out her advice even with no arty knowledge.

I finally got my printer to print wirelessly once again! Yes, this might seem like such a small thing, but it has taken me forever to get this stupid printer to print via wifi and I finally figured it out.

Excited for no reason, but I like knowing I can print from my couch or from my desk without having to plug the printer into my laptop. Nice feeling. I’m such a loser…I know. -.- Aside from that excitement, I’ve been working a lot. So far, every weekend for the next few weeks are booked with parties.

Last Saturday, one of the guests told me they could tell how much I enjoy my job and that I did a great job with the party. It’s always nice to know when you’re doing a great job. Made my day. :3 I always feel awkward when people I meet at work compliment me. When I work at Paper Source, I get compliments on what I wear or how I do my hair. And those types of compliments are always nice to hear, but I get really excited when it’s based on my work ethic. Go me!!!

School has been crazy and hard. But other aspects of life have been beyond great. I don’t want to jinx anything in any of those areas, but I applied for this job and it’s perfect. I hope I get called in for an interview and then I hope they choose me!!!! Here’s hoping.

… continue reading this entry.

This is my last semester at UH, I’m excited but also terrified at what’s to come after I’m no longer a student. Serious/scary things happen….like paying back loans and finding/having a full time job with benefits. Working on finding that now. 0.0

Scary but also very exciting, I sort of wish I was already there. 2015 went by extremely fast, and although I hate how it ended I’m ready to feel secure so if we could just fast forward 2016 a bit, that would be nice.

I know speeding up time isn’t going to happen so I’m going to do my best to enjoy my last semester at UH. Which means joining in on the fun things on campus and utilizing the Rec room for some Yoga and Zumba sessions. Might as well use the time I have left. I only went a few times last semester so here’s to making an actual schedule for it.

Here’s my schedule for Spring 2016 – The Final Semester!!!… Sounds like a movie poster.

Paid internship- 10:30-1 – Tues and Thur

Photography Class- 2:30- 5:30 -Tues and  Thur

Spanish- 6-8-  Tues and Thur

I’m keeping all of my class/work things on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  That leaves Monday, Wednesday for some extra hours at Paper Source or for some Zumba and Yoga time. Here’s hoping for a stress free last semester! I wouldn’t be opposed to making some new friends during this final semester at UH, plus spending more time with the friends I already have.

To my final semester!! Wish me luck. 🙂

Thanks for reading

As I mentioned before, I’ve been spending time with my friends lately. Helps keep my mind off of things. My friends and I celebrated a belated Xmas together. Even though we haven’t spent very much time together they still know me very well. Look at some of the goodies I received. The trooper goblet!!! And the Socks!!! Gah! It’s all fantastic.

After having a bit of lunch and exchanging gifts we went around Rice Village for a bit. Stopped by Half Price, and then off to Urban Outfitters. We then made our way out of the village and stopped by Cactus music where I splurged and finally bought my favorite Tennis Vinyl – Cape Dory. Love their music! Bought it as an early Valentine’s gift to myself. After browsing through records for a while we went and had some bubble tea and then ended the night wondering around Target. We spent the entire day together, which was nice. 🙂

… continue reading this entry.

I hope your holiday was as wonderful as mine, I spent a few days at my parent’s house, now that we are all adults we usually open presents on the 24th. For some reason my mom wanted to prolong it this year.

Receiving gifts is a lot of fun, and even though the holiday isn’t supposed to revolve around such things it’s fun buying, wrapping and unwrapping gifts. My mom likes to buy us each a big gift that is then surrounded by smaller gifts. She’s adorable. I couldn’t imagine what she would give me this year but she surprised me with a new camera. I’m not a fancy photographer, but I’ve been wanting a new camera for blogging/vlogging purposes. I hope to return to vlogging a bit more, even though I no longer have Premiere, with the right camera I think I can have fun making vlogs again. First impressions: Compact body and a great zoom. It looks easy enough to use and takes pretty good quality pictures and video. It’s a Samsung WB350F, a point and shoot camera, I think it will do what I need it to do. Plus it has wifi share capabilities which is pretty neat. 🙂

This camera makes my third Samsung product and I’ve been loving Samsung a lot. My Samsung Galaxy 6s cell takes wonderful pictures and video so I’m hoping this new camera will take just as good if not better quality pictures. I’m excited to test it out and start vlogging again, just need a nice case for those vlogging outings. Never did get to that point where I could vlog openly in public, but who knows maybe I will this time. I want one of those pleather body cases that allows me to take pictures without removing the case. The quest to finding one begins!

Moving on….

… continue reading this entry.

Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy by Dinty w. Moore

• Cover: As usual, the cover of a book is the first thing that sparks my interest. And this one has a very interesting style. The simplistic yet exciting. Of course the title also grabbed my attention. Not that you have have to be interested in writing in order to enjoy this book, I just think sharing the same experiences expressed in the book help you appreciate it more. So, yes, this is probably more geared towards writers or people that at least enjoy writing a bit more than your average joe.
• Voice: The author is hilarious in in his stories and advice. Definitely the type of style I would like to write in.
• Style: Since this is an advice column for writers, this book does one of my favorite things. It introduces each question on an envelope and even has the questions typed up as if by typewriter. There are even illustrations that might pertain to said question. One in mind is the question that bout cocktail napkins. Moore answered it by writing on cocktail napkins. I enjoy that style. Makes it seem more hands on when a book does things like this. When they print maps and letters, it’s my bread and butter in the book world.

I was very excited to receive my copy and might even hand it off to another writer friend of mine. I have many that would find this book very interesting.

Thanks for reading

*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review