Murder Mystery Reading List

Y'all know I love to read. I just finished another Agatha Christie book and I wanted to do something different than a standard review. Why Agatha Christie? Well, I'd love to say that it's because she is the queen of mystery and I've always loved her. But I can't say that. Because up until last year I had no idea who she was.

I have a Kindle, not the Paperwhite, or the Fire but the original Kindle they don't even make anymore. It's fabulous. But anyway, my Kindle came with a screen saver of Agatha Christie and I just Goggled her name and read her wiki post.

I've read 5 or 6 of her books, I am by no means an expert but here are the ones I enjoyed. (the images come from Goodreads) 

If you only read one, read this one! 

Title: And Then There Were None 

The book in one sentence: Ten people arrive on a private island, all of them are keeping a secret and their "host" wants them all to die. 

Thoughts: One of the most popular mysteries of all time. Does not disappoint. This was a page turner in my house, my non-reader boyfriend even enjoyed this story. I think I finished it in 2 days (and I am a slow reader). 

Title: Miss Marple Meets Murder (The Mirror Crack'd, A Pocket Full of Rye/At Bertram's Hotel, The Moving Finger) 

The book in one sentence: Four different Miss Marple mysteries in one book. 

Thoughts: My favorite was The Mirror Crack'd. In a sentence: A celebrity moves into a quaint town and throws a big shin-dig where one of the local women dies and the 'elderly' Miss Marple discovers 'who-done-it.' Miss Marple is a spunky detective with a woman's intuition. She is one of Christie's returning characters (another being Hercule Poirot). You can also catch her mini series on YouTube.

Title: The Secret Adversary
The book in one sentence: Friends Tommy and Tuppence get introduced to a secret underground criminal world when they start following the story of a mysterious Jane Finn.
Thoughts: This story is not so much a 'who-done-it' as a search for a mysterious person. The scenario is constantly changing and you never know who you can fully trust. Christie weaves web that she slowly and carefully untangles piece by piece.

Okay, so there you have it. My top three Agatha Christie books to read. They aren't my favorite books  of all time but they do offer considerable entertainment. Are you a Christie fan? Do you have a suggestion for me?

Happy [Early] Thanksgiving!

Quote of the Day: Walt Whitman

 

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!! I don't know about you, but I am very excited for the Holidays!! I will be spending the weekend traveling with my family. My brother is making us a fabulous feast Thursday and I am so stinking excited. I will be making a Martha Stewart pie . . . we'll see how that goes. I'll try to share some picture with y'all later. 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to talk about the things I am thankful for. Some are silly and some more serious but all full of love. 

Sight: Look at that cutie! That's me around age 3 or 4 rocking glasses and a eye patch. No, I was not in a pirate stage. I was wearing the patch over my left eye to encourage my right eye to work a little bit harder. I was diagnosed with amblyopia (lazy eye) and strabismus (crossed eyes) as a child and went through two different surgeries. I only wore the patch for 6 months or so but spend most of my childhood in and out of doctors offices. But I am glad to say that today I am glasses free today. I try not to forget that I am so lucky to be able to see at all, much less go without correction. I am blessed to have truly experienced a miracle in my lifetime. 

Family: I grew up with every member of my family within a 5 mile radius. Now that I am 100 miles away, I am so grateful for such a strong support system. My Daddy puts the moon in the sky for me, my Momma is my best friend, my Brothers are the best security guards a girl could ask for and that's just my immediate family. Now we have the blessing of being within a 5 mile radius of B's family. They have opened their arms to welcome and support me and I gladly consider them family now.

Pigs: They are my favorite animals. I love my collection because I can remember where most of them came from. They are pink, happy, have funny tails and a snout. . . do you need anything more in life?

B: Y'all know I love this boy. He is my number 1 fan, favorite, support system, and a big ol' goof ball. He is always the first person to encourage me and the last person to critique. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with this crazy person.

Chocolate and Cheerwine: I'm serious. This is my desert island food/drink. Also, I am thankful to have food on my plate everyday. It may not always be a feast (mostly because I burnt it) but I have never had to go hungry. 

I hope you guys will have, are having or have had an amazing Thanksgiving. I am so thankful that you took the time to read this. I know there's a lot of pressure to go out Black Friday shopping, but I just want to take a second and enjoy good food, friends, and family.

High Five for Friday!

TGIF y'all! I don't know about y'all but this weekend has been  . . . well, not good. I am trying to be more faithful to this blog. Making a goal of posting at least twice a week. So here we go here are my high five for Friday picks (you might notice a theme).

1.

My mother is the BEST! We had a Momma/Daughter day this week (much needed) and she brought this surprise for me! It's theBalm's Nude'tude palette. There's a naughty and a nice version she got me the nice (you'll understand when you go to the website). I am not going to elaborate because 1. you may already know what this is and 2. I hope to one day do a favorite looks post.

2.

Another make up buy (thanks Momma!). this one is from BH Cosmetics. They have awesome prices. I think this brush set was $11 or $12 and the little palette was $10. I picked out the colors myself and I will say that they are a LOT brighter in person than they were on the website . . . so buyer beware.

3.

Tisdale Chocolate Red Wine has been a pleasant surprise. It does have a chocolate taste to it (dark chocolate) and would pair very well with peanut butter anything (even just a spoonful).

4.

My Birchbox came this week. You can check out this post to get my impressions of this month's box.

5.

Monkey man again. I do have two other pups, but he's just so dern photogenic y'all! I just want to scoop him up, stick him in my pocket and take him everywhere with me. And then he farts and runs everyone out of the room. :-P


Happy Weekend! What did you do this week? Please leave a comment and follow my blog.

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November Birchbox Review

Hey guys! It's been a while since I've done a Birchbox review.  My mother and I both subscribe. It's so much fun to compare our boxes and trade out on things we're not so wild about but the other person loves (Somehow, I end up benefiting form this situation more than she does). Maybe one day we'll do a review together (wink, wink Momma). 

Anywho, without further ado here's my November box!

If you're not familiar with the set up of Birchbox or other subscription boxes here's how it goes. Brichbox is $10 a month. Around the 10th of the month (mine usually comes on the 13th) you receive 4 to 5 beauty samples and one 'mass market' sample (i.e. something you could find at your local superstore/drugstore). Each month has a theme. This month's theme was 'More Good.' For the month of November they are teaming up with No Kid Hungry by giving them a portion of the profits from their Birchbox Shop.

1. Every once in a while you do get a full size product. This month I received a full size Ghirardelli chocolate. It's Mint Cookie. I am actually surprised I left it in the package long enough to take a picture because I.LOVE.GHIRARDELLI.BIG.TIME. So, thanks Birchbox!

2 & 3. Next, I received two Beauty Protector samples. One is their shampoo and the other a conditioner. I've talked about Beauty Protector leave-in conditioner before in this post. The smell is amazing, but like the leave-in conditioner you really have to be careful because it can make your hair feel 'gummy' pretty quickly. I used this product once because I plan on saving these babies for a trip. They are the perfect travel size.

Beauty Protector: Protect and Shampoo - (Full Size) $21.95
Beauty Protector: Protect and Condition - (Full Size) $21.95

They are Vegan if you're into that, but I really don't see myself spending that much money.

 4. The next product is Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm. It's a BB cream and has 25+ SPF. I've used BB & CC cream before. My favorite high end product is Supergoop! CC cream and my favorite drug store BB cream is Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream. This Dr. Jart + cream will not change my mind. I felt like it was hard to apply. I just felt like it wasn't a very creamy product (to be a water fused cream and all).

(Sorry, I have some focus issues)
Dr. Jart + : Water Fuse Beauty Balm SPF 25+ - (Full Size) $32

5. Okay, I love Juicy Couture. My favorite is Viva La Juicy La Fleur. I received their new scent, Viva La Juicy Noir in my Birchbox. It's a good Holiday scent, very sophisticated without smelling like an old lady. Sorry, I'm not good at describing scents. I don't think I will purchase this but I will enjoy having a sample for traveling. Adding it to my collection (because they send me one about every month).

 Juicy Cotour: Viva La Juicy Noir - (Full Size) $25 - $90

6. Finally, the nail polish. It's Color Club's On the Rocks. It's a very metallic silver. Much like Essie's No Place Like Chrome that I already own. I tried to take a picture of the two on my nails to show you how similar they are, but like I said, I'm having focus issues. So, thanks Birchbox for another metallic silver (because you can never have too many).

In comparison, the Color Club formula seems to be a little more tacky and quick drying. Essie takes longer to dry but is a little bit easier to apply. Overall, not a very big difference.

Let me explain this image. Like I said, I was going to show you my nails but none of the pictures turned out well. It just turned out that I was already wearing an Essie and Color Club combo on my nails (they are pictured in the back). Essie's Master Plan (an awesome warm grey) on the majority of my nails and Color Club's Put a Pin in It (a shimmery, rose gold Birchbox exclusive) on my pointer finger. They all run about $8. You can find Essie at drugstores but I have only found Color Club at Ulta, Sephora, and online (please correct me if I am wrong).

 What did you get in your box? Do you use another subscription? I've been looking at Ispy but still on the fence.

*** Birchbox is not sponsoring this post, I pay for the box myself and the opinions written here are my own. The prices listed do come from Birchbox, so there is always the possibility for you to shop around.

High Five For Friday

Happy weekend everyone!! TGIF! Here are a few of my favorite things from this week. Please excuse the picture quality, most of the pictures are from my phone.

1. Sunday was absolutely perfect, beautiful day. So I rode in the golf cart while boy played. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

2.  I bought the $5 Wet N Wild Comfort Zone Palette Monday and I've been wearing it all week. I am in love.

3. Monkey Man is pretty much my favorite thing.(plus a photobomb of boy's legs)

4. "Nobody puts baby in the corner" Best.Movie.Ever. Dirty Dancing was on ABC Family. Boyfriend got to watch it for the first time, I think it changed his life (not).

5. I love my Daddy's sense of humor . . . and the new Geico commercials.

He waited all the way until 6:00 (a.m.) to send it to me (gee thanks). 

What are the things that get you from Monday to Friday?

#OOTD

Is there anything better than leggings and boots? I submit that there is not. Plus I love this shirt because it's really just a regular sweater with sequins. Sequins make everything more fun! As far as the makeup goes, I am wearing the Comfort Zone Palette from Wet N Wild. I've been obsessing over YouTube makeup tutorials lately. I keep hearing that this palette is a dupe for Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette (not to mention it's $35 cheaper). I don't own a Naked Palette so I have no idea if this is truly a dupe but honestly I don't care because I am loving the colors.

Necklace: Target
Earrings: Claires
Top: Maurices (here)
Leggings: Walmart
Socks: Maurices (here)
Boots: Marshalls (similar, similar)

Sew Many Bags, Sew Little Time

In the past few weeks, I've been making the cutest travel cosmetic bags. The tutorial came from a blog called So Chick! Here's a link to the tutorial. It's a pretty easy tutorial and an awesome bag but I want to take some time to share some hints. Some of these may be just because I'm a beginner but sometimes the most obvious things are the ones that slip by us.

This first tip came for Pinterest. When you are attaching a zipper, unzip it to keep from sewing over the plastic teeth. As you can see here, I have pinned the zipper in between the feature and lining fabric and it's unzipped and out of the way.

A couple other general tips:

1. Pin away. When you are working on a new pattern or with a new fabric it's better to add more pins than less. It helps keep slippery fabrics from moving (like Minky) and helps you sew on track (like on zippers and around curves).

2. Slow and steady wins the race. It's better to keep the presser foot slow than fast. The reasons are much the same as above.

3. Keep calm and get out the seam ripper. If you mess up, most of the time,  you can just rip it out and start over.

The next image is specific to the Boxie Pouch pattern. When you attach the second side to your zipper, the first side (i.e. that seen in the picture above) is sandwiched in between the feature fabric and the lining fabric (right sides together). So it goes feature fabric (wrong side out), feature fabric (right side out and sewn to zipper), lining fabric (right side out, sewn to zipper) and lining fabric (wrong side out).

Pin the second side to the top of the zipper, wrong sides together with zipper sandwiched between. Unzip your zipper to get the other side out of your way. This is pictured below. 

Okay, this may seem silly to all of the advanced and intermediate sewers (is that a word?) out there, but for me, the beginner, I need things to be spelled out like I'm in kindergarten. After you've attached both sides of our pouch to the zipper you put both feature fabric pieces together and both lining pieces together and pin.

 On page 4, the tutorial says "Pin and stitch using a 1/4 inch seam allowance." What I missed: ONLY sew the bottoms together, NOT the sides. (also don't forget to leave a hole in the lining). This will make the next step much easier.

The next step is to press the seam flat, line them up with the zipper, pin, and press flat. This would not be impossible with the sides sewn together, you're going to do that in the next few steps.

The final steps include sewing the sides and boxing the corners. One tip on boxing corners: watch out for creases in the fabric, you want everything to be flat. If your line isn't straight or your fabric has creases the box will turn out wonky.

Okay, that's all I have for now. I hope you get to go out a make this bag for yourself. If you do, I hope this helps you work out the kinks. If you have any questions (or helpful hints) feel free to leave them below in the comments.

XoXo k.bunny.love

#OOTD

 

Please ignore the image quality here (as well as any strange faces I may be making), I am still learning. Today is Laundry Day. I hate Laundry Day because it reminds me how much I dislike my dryer. I love laundry day because it makes me wear things I wouldn't normally wear.  This purple over shirt is the result of Laundry Day. It's a hidden gem in my closet. It's like a shirt, crop top, and scarf all in one. It came from a little boutique I frequent in Boone, North Carolina. I find that most of my statement pieces from from boutiques (or Marshalls) Why don't I wear this top more?

Jacket: Marshalls (similar at H&M,  similar and cheaper at Forever21)
Top: Lucky Penny
Tank: Maurices (current stock)
Jeans: no idea??? (just medium wash straight leg number)
Boots: Marshalls (similar at DSW)
Watch: Bijuju (similar, similar)

Long Post about Long Hair

January 2012  (Before)

September 2013 (After) 

As you can see, over the last year I've been growing out my hair. I get a lot of questions about what hair products I use. I don't think it's so much because my hair looks fabulous as it is that girls like talking about their hair. First a disclaimer:

1. I do NOT claim to be an expert. I have no training or experience dealing with hair (other than my own). So this is ONLY my opinion and experience . . . I am open to suggestions.

Lately I have been washing my hair daily with Mane and Tail shampoo. You can buy it at most drugstores or dollar stores for $3 or less. A friend at work suggested this and got me my first bottle. It's for horses but can be used on humans. My dad used it in high school which makes me laugh. It's not fabulous, it doesn't really have a smell and it's a pretty thick texture. I found that the conditioner didn't really do a whole lot for me.
Okay, I know there's been a lot of hype about shampooing (is that a word?we). They say that shampooing every day can be bad for your hair, especially considering all the crap they put in shampoo. I personally went about 3 months only shampooing every two to three days (using dry shampoo in between). Well my hair didn't ever seem to get used to it's "own" oils as they say. So I went back to shampoo daily simply because I like the way  it makes my hair look.

I only  apply conditioner weekly, because I've found that if I do it more frequently I get a LOT of buildup. Lately I've been using deep conditioning packs from Sally Beauty. Today I used this one by Ion. You just leave it in for 2-3 minutes (not 30 like I did the first time) and wash it out.  I really just buy the cheapest one at Sally Beauty, I don't have a favorite.

Next, I use a detangler. Birchbox gave me one from Beauty Protector. At first I hated it, I felt like it left my hair feeling goupy (don't laugh, you know what I am talking about) but after using it for a while it's okay. That said, I will not be paying $21.95 for this product.

But I am a big fan of Aaragon oil. I bought mine for $7.99 at Sally Beauty (link). I also bought their generic Smoothing Serum for $8.99. I use a pea size amount of one or the other daily (NOT both) they leave my hair feeling so, so, so very soft. Trust me, a little goes a LONG way and less is more.

Still before I dry my hair I use yet another Sally Beauty product (no they do not sponsor me . . . maybe they should). This Volumizing Root Lifter is the bomb.  I watch the hair tutorials from Kate at The Small Things Blog and in this one she shows you how to apply Aquage uplifting foam (which I haven't been able to find). But I apply my root lifter the same way and get really good results (not so much since my hair is longer and therefore heavier).

That is everything I do to my hair when it is wet. It sounds like a lot written out like this but it seriously only takes 5-10 minutes including washing it. I should say I use a wide tooth comb like this one while it's wet to reduce breakage and fall out.

I dry my hair upside down for volume and then commence with styling. Some days I straighten, some I curl, so I braid but most of the time I am running late to work and just leave it where if lies.

If you want to hear more about how I style my hair leave a comment. Or if you have any suggestions for my hair leave them below. I am always interested in other ideas.