Book Club: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Whenever my best friend Jen offers to do a book review for the blog, I almost immediately say "yes!" I've mentioned this before but Jen's day job is a librarian and she always has the most interesting book recommendations and I'm delighted that she's going to share her views on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I hope you all enjoy it!
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The Hitchhiker’s Guide the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is a five novel series published in 1979 that reads like a piece contemporary literature. I've read this book many times over years and I always enjoy coming back to it.

The plot: “Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is
plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor. Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years (Goodreads)."

In my experience reading science fiction is often hit or miss; some books are so imaginative and well written they stick in my mind for weeks after reading. Others feel like a chore to read and seems to have a disconnect between the author’s imagination and what’s on the page. In my opinion The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy is a book that was ahead of its time, smart, engrossing, and just plain funny. 

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12:00 PM

Merry Christmas to All!

It's finally Christmas!

I want to take a moment to wish everyone the happiest of holidays and the merriest of Christmases for those who celebrate it. I hope that all of you reading this is doing so in the comfort of your home, surrounded by loved ones and enjoying a day off. 

Thanks for reading!
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12:00 PM

Currently...(Vol. 8)

It's the end of another week and boy has it been a long one! Since we have the holidays coming up, I've been on intense-work mode trying to get everything done before the office closes for two weeks. But enough of that, here are the things I'm enjoying currently:

Currently

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3:07 PM

Christmas Care Package

My best friend Jen and I have this tradition: Every year we send each other a care package full of small trinkets and things we think the other may need for Christmas/the winter holidays. We started this because we were far away from each other for a while and couldn't hang out together like we used to so we decided to get creative. I know it seems weird that I'm sharing what I am sending her before I send it to her (because she actually reads this blog) but we're weird people - we hate surprises. In fact, she and I are a big fan of movie/book spoilers (I know, weird) so care package spoilers are no biggies for us.
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3:01 PM

My Favorite Holiday Movies

Since I have the next two weeks off from work, I decided it's the perfect time to break out the holiday classics while lounging around in my pajamas and a face mask. 
  • Love, Actually: Ahh, the ever-classic British film! I'm not going to give a redundant synopsis of the film here since you can find that pretty much anywhere (and seriously, if you don't know what the movie is about you should just watch it because it's fantastic!) I will say that this is a great movie to play a drinking game with: If you quote a line accurately, everyone else has to drink BUT the last person to quote a line accurately must refill everyone's glasses. Much fun all around!
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12:00 PM

Cold Weather Essentials

With another polar vortex slated to hit the east coast this year I started stocking up on my cold weather gear. I think anyone who lives anywhere that's actually cold will say the following things are a necessity when temperatures start going below freezing: 

Cold Weather Essentials

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12:00 PM

Book Club: The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything

Today's Book Club review comes from my best friend, Jen. Longtime readers of this blog will remember that Jen is not only the designer extraordinaire who did the header for this blog, but her day job is a librarian so I trust her book recommendations, of course. When she offered to write a Book Club review for me, I knew it would be a great opportunity for my readers to gain more insight on some interesting books out there.
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Usually I couldn't care less about self-help/guidebooks. They all have a different formula to sell to make you into your perfect self, or offer advice based off the authors own miserable mistakes - frankly I’m usually not interested. Having said this, The Girl’s Guide to Absolutely Everything by Melissa Kirsch feels like my own personal Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy and I highly recommend it (both actually). 

I picked up this book out curiosity thinking: "I'm an adult, what could this book possibly tell me that I don't already know or that I couldn't find on the internet," but after looking at the table of contents I was intrigued. Kirch highlights almost every random question I've had. So I started reading it and was hooked by page 10. 

Kirsch takes every question you've ever had about life and lays out it in an eloquently written guide - Questions you were too embarrassed to ask your mom or too proud to ask your friends about. For example, how do you know when you need therapy, and if you’re considering therapy, what type do you need? What kind of health care do you need to have? How can you improve your body image? How can you nail a job interview every time? Is grad school for you? What kind of budget do you need? Are your id and superego controlling your spending habits? Do you need an 401k, an IRA, or something else? Are credit cards a gateway drug to debt? Are stocks something you should get involved with? What are some etiquette essentials? Are you a good friend? How do you make new friends or eliminate toxic ones? When is a friendship worth saving? Can you do long distance relationships? 

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12:00 PM

Book Club: An Ideal Husband

Happy Tuesday lovelies!
This month, I read a play by Oscar Wilde. Victorian sexism aside, I've always found the wit of that era to be absolutely enchanting and I found myself highlighting a lot of the banter on my Kindle so I can have a ready retort if I'm ever in a situation that calls for it (I know, I'm a nerd. At least I'm a nerd with a witty Victorian retort :P ). 
An Ideal Husband chronicles a period of time involving four central characters: Mrs. Cheverey, a larger-than-life woman with her wits about her and a penchant for trouble, Lord Chiltern, a politician with a reputation for high moral character and a secret past, Lord Goring, a fine example of the epitome of Victorian dandy, and Lady Chiltern, a strict, moral woman who's ideals are hard to match. 

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12:00 PM

Six Cublicle Essentials

I think most of us spend most of our weeks at a work setting of some sort (or a school setting if you're not working). This got me thinking of some of the things I find necessary for me to be on hand at my desk. As someone who as been gainfully employed in various office settings for the past three years, I've put together a list of six essential items that is sure to be helpful for many women in the workforce:

Cublicle Essentials


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12:00 PM

Playing with Colors | Burgundy Sweater and Navy Trousers

So I think I'm going to start an annual tradition on the blog - Professional Outfits Month, where I wear business/business casual outfits. I think a lot of my readers are young professionals or about to enter the workforce and I think dressing for the job can be a bit tricky. Luckily I have experience dressing for various office settings. From the formal Capitol Hill office to the casual campaign office, every business setting has different dress codes and clothing culture and I want to help you guys navigate through the masses of black and white. So first up on the chopping block is an outfit featuring one of my favorite Autumn color combinations - burgundy and navy. 

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12:00 PM

October According to Instagram

Hello everyone!

As you are reading this, I am making my way to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a business trip! It's my very first business trip ever and I'm excited to travel for my company! I will certainly try to take as many pictures as I can (though looking at my schedule for the week, it doesn't seem like I'll have much time to do much sight-seeing). I've also scheduled a few posts for the week - November will mark the return of my "work-outfits" series! I'm pretty excited for this as I've been planning these looks for the past year!

Here is what Instagram says my October looked like:


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12:00 PM

Full Sized iPad vs. iPad Mini

I recently bought an iPad Mini. I had an iPad 3 but I found that I wasn't actually getting much use out of for quite a few reasons (will get to that soon). Now having owned two versions of the iPad, I thought it may be helpful to write a review of the two for those who are in the market for a new tablet:



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12:00 PM

7 Travel Essentials

Happy Saturday, everyone!

I am currently making my way to New York to see one of my good friends! Since DC to New York isn't too far away, I decided to take a Megabus out so I can relax and not worry about gas or driving ($25 each way - can't beat that!) Lucky for me, the bus I'm taking has wifi so I am currently scheduling my blog posts for the week. It also inspired me to write a post on some of the things I find to be absolutely essential for a road trip:
Travel Essentials
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12:00 PM

Updates

Happy Friday everyone!

It sure has been a while, hasn't it? I'm finally back and will be blogging (somewhat) regularly again. Thank you all so much for your kind words about my mother in my last post. She's doing well now and even goes to the pool regularly for her water aerobics class. She's back to her old self. She was so touched when I told her about my readers wishing her well - she told me to tell you all that she is incredibly grateful to all of you and your kindness!

I also wanted to let you guys know that I will be in New York City to visit a good friend this weekend! I have a few posts scheduled for the week and a couple of outlines for posts of my trip up. I really hope you all will enjoy them!

That's all I'm going to say for now. Thank you all for reading and stay tuned for more posts!
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10:22 PM

July According to Instagram

Hi guys,

I've been a bit MIA on social media lately and I'm going to let you guys know now my posts this week may be a bit sparse. My mom was recently admitted to the emergency room after being ill for a few days. She's back at home and doing okay now but I've been with her this week and I didn't have time to schedule too many posts.

Now that I got that out of the way, here's what my July looked like:

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11:43 PM

Product Review: Dickinson's Witch-Hazel Toner

Splendid Saturday, lovelies!

 I don't consider myself a beauty blogger at all but I know how much I love knowing what kinds of makeup products other people use. After all, if it works for them, it could work for me, right? I know a lot of people feel that way so I wanted to share with you a product I've been loving - My Dickinson's Original Witch-Hazel Toner. When it comes to beauty products, I tend to look at three big things: The packaging, the formula, and the price. 

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4:13 PM

Closet Strategy: Romper

Today I want to try styling my romper in different ways. When these first became popular I was kind of repulsed by them because they reminded me of onesies that babies wear. Now that I've found one that is super comfortable and cute-looking to boot, I wanted to maximize the wears I get on this. So here are some ways to wear the romper:

 Outfit 1: Fall Ready

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12:00 PM
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