wet n wild 1 step wonder gel

While at Walgreens recently, I decided to check out nail polish. I hadn’t bought any in a while and decided I wanted a light pink. In the wet n wild section, I spotted a new 1 step gel polish. I have previously tried a few other non-light needed gel polishes with not so great results, but decided since this was only $4.99, I would give it a try. Wet n wild is 3-free, without the use of formaldehyde, toluene, or phthalates.
 

The wet n wild polish claims to work like a gel polish without a special top coat needed and without a light needed. The company claims that this color will provide you with color and shine for up to 2 weeks. I picked up the color Pinky Swear and decided to give it a try this week for Valentine’s Day.

Now, I didn’t fully expect that this polish would last 2 weeks without a chip, but I had hoped that the formula would allow me maybe 5 days without a chip. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Looking back, I might’ve misinterpreted the point of this nail polish, but if they’re calling it a gel, I expect for that to mean lower likelihood of chipping, not just a longer lasting shine. Any nail polish can last on your nails for up to 2 weeks if you’re not counting chipping.

The first issue that I had with this polish was the application. I found that I needed 2 coats (as I do with most nail polishes) but that it bubbled as it dried. I know this can happen when you shake a bottle or if you’re sitting in a very warm environment. Neither of those was the case during my application. 

The color is pretty, and I did like that the polish was shiny without a topcoat. These were probably the only two pluses to this nail polish.

It only lasted about a day before I got my first chip and that was after I washed dishes. Once it chipped, the show was all over. I wish that this product worked, I really do. Unfortunately, it doesn’t and it isn’t worth purchasing. I think that you could get the same amount of wear time from a regular nail polish, so this is pretty gimmicky. After one use, I think I’m going to try to return this to the store. It just isn’t worth it for me to keep as I will always pick a different polish over this one.

Book Club February 2016

This month’s book was picked by Stephanie. She picked The Lake House by Kate Morton.
 

Published Year: 2015
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 593

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Living on her family’s idyllic lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented sixteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure…

One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest child, eleven-month-old Theo, has vanished without a trace. What follows is a tragedy that tears the family apart in ways they never imagined.

Decades later, Alice is living in London, having enjoyed a long successful career as an author. Theo’s case has never been solved, though Alice still harbors a suspicion as to the culprit. Miles away, Sadie Sparrow, a young detective in the London police force, is staying at her grandfather’s house in Cornwall. While out walking one day, she stumbles upon the old estate—now crumbling and covered with vines, clearly abandoned long ago. Her curiosity is sparked, setting off a series of events that will bring her and Alice together and reveal shocking truths about a past long gone...yet more present than ever.

                                                              First Impressions

When Stephanie first read the synopsis for this book, I was intrigued. I had a couple of quick predictions that I thought were obvious, but I was intrigued. I was excited to read a mystery as it was different from the types of books I had read recently. I was a little put off by the length of the book (because of time constraints) and wasn’t taken in with the cover. It definitely would not have jumped off the shelves to me, especially as a mystery novel.

                                                               What I thought

This was an interesting book and it kept me turning the pages, curious to find out what really happened.

The Lake House follows a few different storylines over a long period of time. One storyline is Sadie. Sadie is a police detective in present day. She is asked to go on leave after some issues with a case, and while visiting her Grandfather in Cornwall, discovers the Edevane house. While looking into it, she discovers that there was a mystery that occurred on those grounds. The other two storylines follow Eleanor Edevane and Alice Edevane. Eleanor was the mother and mistress of the house while Alice was the middle Edevane sister. The book switches back and forth between narrators and time periods, revealing parts of the mystery as it goes on.

This book is a bit slow to get into. I think it took about 100 pages before I really found myself invested and curious about what happened. By about 200 pages I was really into it and trying to read as much as I could as fast as I could. There were a few slower moments toward the last bit of the book, but it picked back up again.

Morton wrote these characters so well. I was attached to each and every character that came through the book, no matter how small their part. She also did an amazing job of making the reader feel attached almost immediately. While Sadie wasn’t one of my favorites, I still enjoyed reading her story. I think hers was probably the least developed which is why I wasn’t as attached. There were actually three main mysteries within the story, and unfortunately I think one of them was a little bit left behind.

Besides the disappearance of Theo, the Edevane’s little boy, we follow the case that Sadie was following before she was asked to take a holiday from her job. In addition to that, there is a part of Sadie’s life that is a small mystery that is hinted at. Unfortunately, this was the part that was a bit underdeveloped. It seemed like it was thrown in to create a reason for certain things but then left alone because it wasn’t really a concern. I would’ve liked learning more about that part of Sadie’s life.

I did find parts of the book to be predictable, but not overly so. As a reader, I’m kind of tough to keep in the dark. I tend to be able to figure out what’s going to happen before it does. I didn’t figure out everything in this book, but from pretty early on I figured out two relatively important parts. This didn’t ruin the book for me as I was 100% sure that I was right until closer to the end, but it did take out a lot of the surprise for me. Overall, it was a really interesting story and I really liked the characters. I will definitely be checking out more of Morton’s books in the future.

                                                    What Book Club Thought

With the exception of one person, everyone seemed to enjoy it. We all agreed that there were certain story lines we could’ve done without as they weren’t totally necessary to the main story, but overall everyone really liked it.

The fun thing to do was write down all of our theories as we were reading and then share them at book club. If you pick this book for a book club, I highly recommend doing this. It was really fun to see who guessed what at certain parts of the book.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I can share our poignant questions as they were mostly about parts of the plot that would spoil it for people who haven’t read it. It made for a great discussion and we all enjoyed talking about which characters we liked and which we didn’t. It was also fun to see if we would’ve made the same choices the characters did.

Book Club for March

A Court of Thorns and Roses By: Sarah J. Maas

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Book Club Date: March 19th
 

The Heir and the Spare

By: Emily Albright
Pages: 288
Published Year: 2016
Publisher: Merit Press

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Family can be complicated. Especially when skeletons from the past pop up unexpectedly. For American Evie Gray, finding out her deceased mother had a secret identity, and not one of the caped crusader variety, was quite the surprise. Evie’s mom had a secret life before she was even born, one that involved tiaras.

In this modern day fairytale, Evie is on a path to figure out who her mom really was, while discovering for herself what the future will hold. Charged with her late mother’s letters, Evie embarks on a quest into her past. The first item on the list is to attend Oxford, her mom’s alma mater. There, Evie stumbles upon a real life prince charming, Edmund Stuart the second Prince of England, who is all too happy to be the counterpart to her damsel in distress.

Evie can’t resist her growing attraction to Edmund as they spend more time together trying to unravel the clues her mother left behind. But, when doubts arise as to whether or not Edmund could ever be with an untitled American, what really ends up unraveling is Evie’s heart. When Evie uncovers all the facts about her mom’s former life, she realizes her mom’s past can open doors she never dreamed possible, doors that can help her be with Edmund. But, with everything now unveiled, Evie starts to crack under the pressure of new family responsibilities and the realization that her perfect prince may want her for all the wrong reasons.

                                                          First Impressions

I essentially picked up this book based on the cover and title alone. I think I briefly skimmed the summary but not intensely enough to remember what it was about when I picked it back up. I love England and I am fascinated by royalty, so that in and of itself was enough to make me pick up this book. It also helped that Emily Albright is a debut author, so this book counts towards the Debut Author Challenge.

                                                          What I thought

This book was so cute! I absolutely adored this book.

The Heir and the Spare follows Evie Gray during his first year at Oxford. Evie’s mother passed away when she was young and every year on her birthday, Evie receives a letter from her. One year she receives an additional letter, sending her on a quest. The quest begins with going to Oxford, which is Evie’s mom’s alma mater and also home country. While there, she becomes friends with some other students, one of which turns out to be the second Prince of England. The story follows Evie as she goes on the quest to find out who she is and who her mom was.

Edmund and Evie are two of my favorite characters that I’ve read in while. I also enjoyed how they didn’t have a lot of silly stupid fights that could’ve been explained if they just talked to each other. Yes, they had their moments, but they were all pretty believable. I also enjoyed Evie’s development throughout her year and discovery of who her mom’s family was.

The issue that I had with this book is that it seemed like Albright had a lot ideas, but not enough pages to carry them out on. This book is relatively short and could easily have been another 100 pages without any new ideas. The first half of the book was very well paced and had a lot of great development, but the second half seemed rushed. It would seem like a problem would come up and then 5 pages later it would be resolved. This was a little frustrating because that wasn’t how the first half of the book was written. I wish that Albright had taken some additional time to really flesh out the ideas that she had and make the book more substantial. The potential is there, the carry-out is just a little off. 

While this book was relatively predictable and not necessarily unique, the story was wonderful and I loved the characters. It was an easy read and I enjoyed every minute of it. I wish that the ending had been a little different so that it could’ve been set up for a sequel! Maybe we’ll get lucky and Albright will write one anyway. If you’re looking for a quick, easy, fun read, then you should definitely check this out. 

January 2016 Favorites

Books

The Bitch-Proof Suit By: De-ann Black (Review)

Match Me If You Can By: Michele Gorman (Review)

My Life on the Road By: Gloria Steinem (Review)

The Heir and the Spare By: Emily Albright

The Marble Collector By: Cecelia Ahern
 

Favorite Book This Month: The Marble Collector. This was a great month for books for me and it was really hard to choose a favorite. It’s completely possible that this ended up being my favorite because it was the last one that I read. However, it has been the one that, even though I started a new book, I’ve still been thinking about it. I love Cecelia Ahern and I think this is just another solid showing of her talent as a story teller. 

Beauty

Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels

I don’t think I have repeated an item in my favorites as I typically like to highlight new products I’ve been loving, but these have been such a savior. Not only have they been great after the (multiple) plane rides I’ve been going on, but they are also wonderful for when you don’t feel well. The few times that I’ve found myself starting to come down with something my eyes have been getting itchy and puffy. I put these on and they immediately make me feel better. Since it’s still cold and flu season I really wanted to share that. I also think they’ll be great come spring for those that have seasonal allergies. I typically purchase mine through Birchbox using points that I have, but you can also buy them at Ulta.  

Buys

Guinness Sweatshirt

I purchased a sweatshirt at the Guinness factory when my husband and I went and it is the most comfortable thing I currently own. I have been wearing it pretty much nonstop when I’m not at work. I also love that not only is it comfortable, but it has memories from my honeymoon.

Columbia Coat

This coat has been a lifesaver this winter! It is the pefect weight and really keeps me warm and dry. The only issue I have is sometimes the zipper can be a bit finicky. Buying this coat was the best decision I made this winter. Not only is it warm, but it is easy to move in and the color is unique. This will definitely be useful through the next couple of Chicago winters.

Miscellaneous

Tea

After having an afternoon tea in England, I became obsessed. I’ve always enjoyed tea, but for some reason that sparked a new passion for tea in me. I purchased the David’s Tea starter pack and have been really enjoying trying the new teas and finding new ones I love. My current favorite is the coffee pu-reh.

Jessica Jones

I love superheroes. I watch all three superhero shows on the CW and I always see the movies. However, for some reason, I was wary of Jessica Jones. When my husband and I got back from a trip recently we decided to give it a try and I am hooked! It is so good that we ended up finishing it in less than a week!
 

Our Shared Shelf- My Life on the Road

In January 2016, Emma Watson decided that she wanted to start a feminist book club. I really respect Emma Watson and was really excited when I saw that such a smart woman like her would be starting a book club that I could be a part of. In addition to that, I knew that her selections would be books that I would not pick up on my own so this would be a great way to challenge myself and read books outside of my comfort zone.

The first book she chose for her book club was My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem. I think that for these Our Shared Shelf posts, I’m not going to put a first impression. I’m predicting a lot of them would be “I don’t know this person” or “I would not have picked this up by myself.” So instead, I’m just going to share what I thought of the book.

Published Year: 2015
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 304

Amazon Barnes and Noble

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Gloria Steinem—writer, activist, organizer, and one of the most inspiring leaders in the world—now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of how her early years led her to live an on-the-road kind of life, traveling, listening to people, learning, and creating change. She reveals the story of her own growth in tandem with the growth of an ongoing movement for equality. This is the story at the heart of My Life on the Road.

 What I thought

This book could be absolutely life changing; it has that kind of quiet power. It is one of those books that I wish we could require everybody in the world to read. While I think it would be beneficial for women, I think it would be even more beneficial for men to read. There are some really interesting stories and I think it does a great job at explaining feminism in a way that isn’t typically shared.

I will admit that I tend to tune out the news and I was never interested in history as a child, so I am kind of ignorant when it comes to lesser known (but still well-known and important) figures in history and politics. I also do not have any interest in politics, so I will be the first to tell you this is not a subject I am knowledgeable about. So, I had no idea who Gloria Steinem was. None. And I will now admit, after reading this book, that I am ashamed of myself.

Gloria Steinem is such a core factor of the women’s movement, past and present, and I think it’s sad that I never heard of her or knew who she was. I was a little worried that this book was going to be very preachy and anti-male but it definitely isn’t. It was so fascinating to not only be educated about who she is but to hear a lot of her stories about her life.

As a writer, this autobiography is obviously written as well as you would expect. I think my favorite thing was how she would write about different things she did (like talking on college campuses) and share some history about how she felt about the talks and different people that she traveled with. Then she would have a series of actual stories and interactions from her speeches. These were my favorite parts to read and I loved that she included her commentary about how those moments made her feel.

This book is so inspiring and so positive that I can’t praise it enough. I am honestly surprised by how much I feel like I learned from this book. I wish this has been out when I was younger and that I had been forced to read it. While I feel as though I have feminist values at heart I have never been one to act. This book makes me want to act and that is saying a lot.

This was such a great start to the book club! I’m really looking forward to reading more and I really hope that it continues!

Like I said, I think anyone and everyone, no matter age or gender, should read this book. I think it will teach so much about life and different perspectives which is something we need in the world right now. I would gladly buy this book as gifts for people just in hopes of forcing them to read it. I can definitely see myself buying this for my shelf, again, just so I can loan it out to people.  
 

Ten Books I've Recently Added to my TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke & the Bookish. Every week they put out a topic with a top ten list. I don’t always participate, but when I see a topic that I find interesting, I try to fill it out! Last week they had this list and I thought it was interesting since I have recently been adding a lot of books to my list

The Expat Diaries: Single in the City By: Michele Gorman- I read Match Me If You Can by Michele Gorman (Review here) and I really liked it. When I went to look at what else she wrote this one caught my eye and I immediately knew I wanted to read it.

The Lake House By: Kate Morton- This is actually our Book Club Book for February! I don’t know much about it but I’m excited.

Joyride By: Anna Banks- I found out about this book on another blog and added it to my TBR. I’m hoping to receive a copy of this to read and review soon. It

The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America’s Cold Cases By: Deborah Halber- Like the rest of the world, I have been sucked in by Making a Murderer. I read an article (probably on Buzzfeed) on 10 books to read if you like making a murderer and this was on that list, as well as the next two books.

True Stories of False Confessions By: Rob Warden

Getting Life: An Innocent Man’s 25 Year Journey from Prison to Peace By Morton Michael

The Distance from A to Z By: Natalie Blitt- I am taking part in the Debut Author Challenge again this year. Every Sunday Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl does a feature of debut author novels. This was on a recent one and it really caught my eye.

The Marble Collector By Cecelia Ahern- Cecelia Ahern is one of my favorite authors. When I was in Gatwick Airport in London I (of course) walked into the book store and saw that she had a new book! I will read anything by her so I immediately added it to my list.

The Crown (The Selection #5) By: Kiera Cass- When I’m bored I go to barnesandnoble.com and check out their list of novels coming soon. Not only does this help with remembering that sequels are coming out, but sometimesI find new books I didn’t know about! I was really excited to see that the 5th book in The Selection series had a name, cover, and release date, so I added it to make sure I remembered to get it when it came out.

The Unexpected Everything By Morgan Matson- I don’t remember exactly how I heard about this book, but I did somehow find out that Morgan Matson was writing a new novel and I got really excited. Similar to Cecelia Ahern, I don’t even really know what this book is about but I knew I immediately needed to add it to my TBR.

I’m really excited about all of these books that I added and can’t wait to read them. Have you added any books to your TBR recently that you’re really excited about?
 

Library Anxiety

I have a problem. I am a library book over-requester. I have this tendency to request a lot of books from the library and put them on hold, and then, somehow, they all come in at the same time. This then causes me to have a case of Library Anxiety. Have you ever experienced it?
 

As you can see, I currently have 6 books out from the library! And they all came in during the same week. Add that to the fact that three of the books I requested are on a two week loan instead of 4 week and my library anxiety is running high!

I am not one who is ok with overdue fees, so I think that adds to my library anxiety. As a result, I feel pressured to read all of the books that I took out before I have to return them and then I don’t end up enjoying them as much as I would if I had more time to read them. Definitely a down side to library anxiety.

Over the past few years, I’ve tried to find ways to ease my library anxiety. So far, the best solution is trying to hold back on the amount of things that I put on hold. Obviously, that doesn’t always work. If I end up in a situation like this one, I try to prioritize. First, I look at the dates that he books are due. I then try to decide which book would upset me the most if I had to return it without reading it. Unfortunately, this doesn’t calm the anxiety 100%, but it does help a little. It also helps if I know that the books I have are able to be renewed, but unfortunately the ones that are 2 weeks usually aren’t renewable.

I’d love to hear your experiences with Library Anxiety! What do you do if you’ve experienced it?

Match Me if You Can

By: Michele Gorman
Published Year: 2015
Publisher: Avon
Pages: 416

Amazon

I received this book in exchange for my honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this book.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Best friends Catherine, Rachel & Sarah are fun, smart, successful and single – just like millions of women with a low tolerance for idiocy in their dates.

Mr. Right hasn't turned up yet, and Mr Right-Now isn't worth booking a wax appointment for. So when Catherine, London’s finest matchmaker, gets Rachel and Sarah to join her dating site where they can recycle their ex-boyfriends in exchange for an upgrade, they soon realise that anything could happen . . .

                                                            First Impressions

This cover immediately caught my eye. It is that chick lit type of cover that always draws me in and makes me want to find out what the book is about. The summary also made me interested after the first glance. I thought this looked like it was going to be a nice light read which would be a good change of pace after some other books I read recently.

                                                             What I thought

This book is so cute! I wish that I could be friends with the girls in the books.

Match Me if You Can follows three women who are friends and housemates. Catherine runs a match making/online dating service and Sarah and Rachel decide that they’re going to sign up for it. The book follows all three women as they move through some changes in their lives and try to discover who they are and who they love.

I really enjoyed everything about this book. The characters were all so thoroughly developed that I felt like I became one of their friends. Each chapter alternates between the perspectives of the three women. Even though they weren’t always connected, it was easy to follow what was going on and the switching was not distracting or confusing.

The one thing that did confuse me a little bit was Catherine’s company. Rachel and Sarah sign up for an online dating site which requires your ex to sign up with you and evaluate you, but then she also runs what seems like an old school match making business, but she’s also doing makeovers? Everything seems completely separate, but somehow at the same time they see connected? Either way I was a little confused and unfortunately it is kind of an important part of the story. I did enjoy the idea of the dating sight that she created. I liked that in order to go on the site, you had to have your ex share where they thought you needed improvement. It made for an interesting plot point as well as character development. I would be very curious to see how this would work in real life.

Even though the love and match making was a bit part of the story, it wasn’t the only part and I think that’s what makes this book so enjoyable. Sarah is dealing with her 16 year old sister with Down Syndrome and Rachel is dealing with her job as an architect. Catherine is also dealing with work and he ex-husband deciding to remarry.  The best thing about this book is that every time a chapter started I was like “oh yay! I love (insert character here)” I honestly didn’t have any issues with any character in this book that I wasn’t supposed to have issues with. 

This book was also enjoyable because it didn’t follow a lot of the everyday chick-lit tropes. While there were a few moments that were predictable, there wasn’t any cattiness between the girls or fighting over boys. It seemed like these were real women who were real friends and who went through real problems. 
 

This is the perfect easy read. The characters are well developed and the story is interesting. The story is the kind of story that seems like it could go on forever as there isn’t exactly a point that the story is moving too. Because of that, I can’t see myself re-reading this. I think it would make a good beach read because it is thoughtless but still a really good read. If you have the chance to pick this book up, I would definitely recommend that you do! It’s a solid chick-lit with loveable characters. I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future!