Book blogger Ginger at GReads posted: "I have a special place in my heart for those broken boys in YA novels, especially when the story is told from their POV." So on her site this month, she has recommended titles she enjoyed that she feels fit that description. One that she featured was Freefall! She also offered up further recommendations from both author Hannah Moscowitz and Kari at A Good Addiction. If you're looking for more books about boys, definitely check out Ginger's post. :-)
I have long, fine hair. It falls well beyond my waist these days. It's my own fault, of course, that my hair is so crazy-long, but I continue to not cut it because I don't know what I want it to be like. Living in Western Washington, I can curl and wear my hair down only occasionally because of the rain and wind, and as it happens, pulling my hair back in a ponytail isn't always the most flattering look.
A while back, I decided to make hair accessories be a thing in my life. I wore lots of hats in the fall/early winter, and lately two looks that I've become a huge fan of are The Messy Side Braid, and also Fake Flowers Stuck in My Hair. Sometimes, I combine these looks.
Recently, I trekked out to the mail in search of all new flowers for my hair and came home instead with two new headbands a.k.a Fascinators. They were cool and all (and I swear, a man gave up his seat on the bus for me because he was so enchanted), but not what I had set out to find.
And so! (spoiler: this is where the crafts come in!), I went to the craft store and bought several bunches of fake flowers, a few different hair fastener concepts, and a hot glue gun. This weekend, my sister and I spread everything out on table and combined those flowers, fasteners, and hot glue to create all this loveliness:
What we have here are flowers of different sizes and types on hair pins, clips in various sizes and styles, and elastics. Three hours of tedious work gave us both lots of new flowery hair accessories to wear this summer. Hooray!
(Did I mention that I'm not really, totally the crafty sort? If the mall hadn't let me down with their non-having-of-awesome-flowery-hair-decorations, I would have wanted to take this project on. Thanks a lot, The Mall! But, why complain? Because these are all totally custom and as long as they don't fall apart the first time we wear them, they are going to be GREAT!)
Oh, and I almost forgot. Here are a few pics of Lindsey, Ella, and me modeling some of our favorite pieces from our exclusive collection:
I've donated a VERY SPECIAL item to help benefit tornado disaster relief in Alabama! This is one for All 4 Alabama and the proceeds of the auction will go to helping some of the smaller communities devastated by the April storms. Now, whenever I've contributed items for auctions or contests in the past, I've opted for a signed copy of Freefall for the winners. (Although, in December, I also knitted Harry Potter-inspired scarves.) This time, I decided to do something different.
Okay, it's still a signed and personalized copy of Freefall, but this time it is SUPER-PERSONAL and totally one of a kind!
I am going through a copy of the book and writing notes on EVERY SINGLE PAGE. I'm revealing everything I can think of to reveal to you about the inspiration for scenes, the stories behind the characters, things that changed from first draft to finished book, quotes and occurances that came from my real life, and much, much, much, much more!
I've already put four hours into this project and I'm only on page 90! Yes, I have a lot to go, but I'm having so much fun doing it. So, I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that someone out there who might like me, but who really likes Freefall, will be interested in bidding on this book! :-)
Here's a sneak peak of a somewhat scandalous selection with behind-the-scenes info scribbled in by me:
So that's the stuff! If you are interested in bidding (and I really hope you are!), please go here! The auction for this item ends on Wednesday, May 25th at 8pm CST. Thank you so much! ?
Hey everyone,
I've donated a VERY SPECIAL item to help benefit tornado disaster relief in Alabama! This is one for All 4 Alabama and the proceeds of the auction will go to helping some of the smaller communities devastated by the April storms.
Now, whenever I've contributed items for auctions or contests in the past, I've opted for a signed copy of Freefall for the winners. (Although, in December, I also knitted Harry Potter-inspired scarves.) This time, I decided to do something different.
Okay, it's still a signed and personalized copy of Freefall, but this time it is SUPER-PERSONAL and totally one of a kind!
I am going through a copy of the book and writing notes on EVERY SINGLE PAGE. I'm revealing everything I can think of to reveal to you about the inspiration for scenes, the stories behind the characters, things that changed from first draft to finished book, quotes and occurances that came from my real life, and much, much, much, much more!
I've already put four hours into this project and I'm only on page 90! Yes, I have a lot to go, but I'm having so much fun doing it. So, I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that someone out there who might like me, but who really likes Freefall, will be interested in bidding on this book! :-)
Here's a sneak peak of a somewhat scandalous selection with behind-the-scenes info scribbled in by me:
So that's the stuff! If you are interested in bidding (and I really hope you are!), please go here! Thank you so much! ♥
Taku, a character in Freefall, doesn't like to use his inhaler. The reason he doesn't like to use it (and the reason he has it at all) is because I don't like to use one of my inhalers. It isn't out of stubbornness for the sake of it, I don't think. The way my hands shake and the powerful drowsiness that sometimes comes over me right after I use it (even with a spacer) are really off-putting side effects.
Most of the time, I technically don't need it. But there are times--like when I get a cold--that it is essential. I was reminded of this fact yesterday when I went to the doctor to find out why I wasn't responding to any brand of cough medicine, why I was getting worse and worse every day instead of better. She asked, "Are you using your inhalers?"
*forehead slap*
No. No, I wasn't. I haven't used them for months because I felt fine. And, I don't know, somehow I forgot that I need them. How that happened when I have them on my bathroom counter all the time to remind me, I don't know. But I need to remember this in the future.
MINDI: YOU HAVE INHALERS FOR A REASON. USE THEM!!!
Okay. I hope this will help. Because I am so exhausted and worn down and I don't want to have another week like this one if I can help it. *Sigh*
