Literary Junkies Link-Up

It is Literary Junkies Link-Up time again!  YAY for book nerds!

What are you currently reading? Tell us about it.

Currently reading Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.  She is an Omaha native, and it is interesting to read a story set in my city.  I went to a book signing a couple weeks ago, and Rainbow Rowell was great, so I liked the book before I even started reading, just because I liked her so much!  I'm not very far into the book yet, but it is about 2 teenagers in Omaha in the mid-80s.  I think they are going to fall in love. Plus the main character, Eleanor, has hair like mine, but bright red.  I'm pretty much imagining an awkward teenager version of Merida.

What book do you recommend the most to people?

It really depends on the person, and what I have been reading lately.    A few books that come to mind are The Pillars of the Earth, East of Eden, A Tale of Two Cities.  I just read The Fault in Our Stars, and have been telling everyone to read it.   

What are the top 3 books on your "to-read" list?

• The Shepherd of the Hills by Harold Bell Wright

• A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

• Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

What do you "do" while reading? (i.e. listen to music, eat) Any weird reading habits?

I really don't do anything else while I am reading.  I'm usually just curled up on the couch or in my bed.  Sometimes John is watching TV, and if it is a boring enough show, I can read, but usually any other noise is too distracting to me.  I almost always read when I am flying somewhere, but I can't read in a car.    

Blazer, Sweater, Shirt: Gap

Necklace: Bass Outlet

Jeans: Old Navy

Boots: Wanted

Feeling Better

Happy Friday!  I think I am officially recovering from the flu.  I actually worked a full day in the office yesterday, complete with dressing up and putting on make up!  After about 9 days of feeling terrible, it was nice to be back in the swing of things.  It was not so nice that the temperature outside was "feels like -7," but I just wore lots of winter accessories to stay warm.  I would love it if the temps went up, but I am trying to remember that the cold weather helps reduce the creepy bug population in the spring.  So yay for freezing temperatures!      

Sweater: Old Navy
Shirt: Gap
Skirt: Target
Boots: Rampage

Favorite Books of 2012

Since I read 50 books in 2012, and I didn't write reviews on most of them, I figured I should write up a list of my favorites.  These are in no particular order:

• A Storm of Swords - Since this is book 3 in the series, it's kind of tricky, because you'd have to read books 1 and 2.  Right now, I am about a quarter of the way through book 5 and really love all of the books, but book 3 was my favorite.  
• Divergent - dystopian future, teenage girl is the main character, not quite as good as The Hunger Games, but still a pretty great story!  I also read Insurgent, and am looking forward to the next book this year!  
• Let's Pretend This Never Happened - not your average memoir.  Jenny is hilarious and heartbreaking and somehow manages to be both of those things in a completely believable way.  I read it on a flight this summer and had to be very careful about laughing uproariously on the plane.  
• MWF Seeking BFF - the author moved to Chicago to be with her boyfriend (who becomes her husband), but then realizes she doesn't have any close friends in town, and doesn't really know how to get them.  I am very happy to say that I have some great friends here in town, but I could really relate to that awkwardness of making friends as a grown-up.  How do you ask someone out on a friend date without being awkward?  I still don't really know, but it made me think I should make more of an effort to spend time with my friends.  That's kind of an unofficial resolution for the New Year.  
• Neverwhere - I don't even know how to describe this story line, but it's a great book!  Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite recently-discovered authors.  

What were your favorite books of 2012?  My to-read list is out of control, but I am always looking for books to add.  Speaking of more books,  I'm pretty excited to be participating in my first book swap.  If you like books, you should join in on the fun!

Shirt, Sweater, Jeans: Gap
Boots: Wanted via Piperlime

Winter White

It's Third Thursday Threads link up time again!  Have I mentioned that I love these theme link-ups?  I just have a hard time decided what to wear most days, so having a prompt is super helpful.  This month's theme was a bit more challenging than the previous ones - Winter White.  Now, I don't really believe in the whole "no white after Labor day" rule, but when I thought about the challenge, I was envisioning white pants.  I don't currently have any white pants, but I used to have an awesome pair of cream-colored corduroy trousers from Old Navy.  I actually wore them to my college graduation way back in December 2006 (how has it been 6 years?).

evidence

Since I don't have any white pants to build an outfit around, I decided to wear bright fuchsia pants and white everything else.  I really like the look of white layers in winter.  It still feels cozy and seasonally appropriate.  It was probably a mistake to wear these shoes, because it was pretty chilly outside, but I didn't really want to add heavy boots to the mix.

What do you think about wearing white in the winter?  Go check out the other looks here.

Button-up and jeans: Gap
Sweater: Old Navy
Jacket: Relativity
Shoes: BCBGeneration
Pearls: Gift (from China)

My Interpretation

The challenge today is to interpret this outfit.  Super cute, right?  I resisted the urge to go out and buy a green pencil skirt.  I just added the green-ish/teal pop of color with my tights and necklace.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 

 I just wish my button down shirt wasn't quite so long.  It got so wrinkly from sitting at my desk all day.   

I made this necklace a few weeks ago, and I really love it.  I should have taken a close-up shot of it.  It is just 6 strands of beads, and then I braided them together. 

Go check out the other interpretations here!

Sweater, skirt and belt:  Old Navy
Button-down:  Gap
Shoes:   Seychelles via DSW
Necklace:  made by me