January Favorites!

Hey all!

So I see people doing these kinds of things on YouTube, and I'm assuming the Blogosphere is included. Well, here I am including a few of my favorite things.

I have to let you all know that I am in no way, shape, or form a beauty guru. So if I get the titling of a lipstick or perfume wrong, don't hate me. I don't actively buy makeup, but as of late, I've been adventurous, and trying new things...go me!

Our Moment by One Direction Scent

I am in love with this scent completely and utterly. In my twenty odd years on this planet, I have not had the pleasure of owning my own perfume. The only perfume I have is an empty bottle of my Grandmother's perfume on the dresser that has a hint of the scent left in the nozzle (I'm tempted to buy a bottle because I loved her perfume). 

But Our Moment by One Direction is such a fruity and refreshing smell. It doesn't make me feel like I'm wearing perfume. It feels like I'm wearing Bath and Body Works! Highly recommend this one!

After Series by Anna Todd

This book series is becoming my January favorite... and quickly. I've been following the career of Anna Todd since Wattpad as I am a writer on there as well.

After is a highly addictive series with three books out presently. They are all enormous in length and take about a month to read each. The story has many twists and turns, and sometimes repetitive situations. This book is one I can't just put down because it is so good. I highly recommend reading this!

Revlon Lipstick #525 Wine With Everything

I absolutely love this lipstick! I'm just recently getting into lipsticks, and this was one I got on Thanksgiving. I wanted a darker red than the one I currently owned.

This one is just a vibrant, dark color of red. I have been obsessed with red lipsticks, and it makes me feel bold. I love how it looks in the winter kind of setting as well. If you use chap stick before applying, it makes it even creamier and last longer. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS!

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King

This month, I plan on beginning to edit the story I completed earlier on. I bought this book last year, and I know this book will help immensely.

This book has tips, tricks, and examples on how to self-edit your manuscript to perfection. I know this will help for when I change up my story to query Literary Agents with this story. I can't wait to put the tips from this book to the test. It's a helpful read.

1989 by Taylor Swift.. Taylor in General

Source: Wikipedia

This month, I have been OBSESSED with Taylor Swift. Her new album, 1989 is probably one of my favorite albums right now. During the day, this is on repeat.

I have also invested in her first album as that was the only one I was really missing. So she has been blasting through the speakers in my house for the past three or so odd weeks.

Her music, I've noticed, has become considerably better than her previous albums. Her making the conversion to strictly Pop music was one of the best decisions she could have made for herself. 1989 is definitely the best album from her, and everyone should give it a go.

Four by One Direction

 One Direction is probably my favorite band ever. So this being on this list shouldn't be a big surprise to anyone at all.

This album has a whole lot of rock influence, and you can hear the 80's vibe to it. Those are definitely my favorite tracks. Some of the tracks worth listening to for those who aren't really interested in them are Stockholm Syndrome and Where Do Broken Hearts Go. Those are two of the strongest songs on the album.

The Fosters

Source: huffington post

The Fosters is an American show (on US Netflix only according to a UK friend of mine). I've been obsessed with this show because of how special the storyline is. This show has definitely gone past the standards of television.

One of my favorite aspects of The Fosters is the fact that it follows a foster couple who happen to be lesbians. This show definitely shows that family is much more than blood relatives. Sure, some people may be related to their birth mother, but she isn't "Mom."

This is one of the most special shows on a cable network show. It portrays the real meaning of family, and what it's like to have a life that isn't easy. Go check this out because it truly is a special show.

New Mugs and Tea

Tea has been a big thing in my life for the past two years. I am OBSESSED with it, and my best friend who is Scottish told me the "right" way to make tea. I love me a cuppa Yorkshire Tea. I have a large bulk bag in my bedroom!

I've recently discovered my love for cute mugs, and have been slowly adding to the collection. The photo beside this is the newest addition, and my amazon wishlist has tons of mugs that I've been finding on the web.

Celebrity Big Brother

Source: bigbrother247.co.uk

Celebrity Big Brother is by far my favorite reality show ever. Well, I am correcting this to just plain old Big Brother from the UK. Big Brother is just so interesting to watch, and I love how it's on three times a year.

I love how different it is from the US. The US one I felt was so dull compared to the UK edition.

Loreal Blackbuster Liquid Eyeliner

I bought this eyeliner on a whim, I admit. I had a slowly dying eyeliner, and this one is perfect for doing like top lids and cat eyes. It's a great one, and I definitely recommend it. 

Kindle Fire HD 7

I purchased this Kindle in December, and I don't think I could use any old kindle ever again. This one I already rely on for just about everything. Check my social media...op, let me grab me kindle. 

It's an amazing Kindle, I highly recommend it for everyone looking for a great device for reading books on!

Those are my January Favorites! I hope you enjoyed them, I know I did!
~Amanda .xx

A Melting Pot of Things, Really

Hey All!

It's been a really odd day today! In the fact that I really haven't done anything but watch YouTube videos all day!

The Curse of YouTube Videos

I started my day earlier than I would have liked (thank you to the rooster alarm on my kindle...), but I woke up all excited to write...and then I found myself clicking the social media bookmark on Google Chrome, and clicked on YouTube.

Now, one thing you have to understand about me is that the videos I watch are often five minutes up to forty-five minutes in length. The latter of the two times is thanks to Celebrity Big Brother. If you have not seen this show, I highly recommend it! It is by far my favorite show. Well, any UK Big Brother is my favorite thing. I CAN'T WAIT FOR SUMMER! The celebrities this January only has one that I know of, and that is Perez Hilton. People don't seem to like him, but he's my favorite besides Katie Price (Louis Tomlinson agrees with me I think...he did tweet he likes having her in the house).

Anyways, YouTube is like a blessing and a curse for me. I can spend hours upon hours on there. It is my favorite website besides Wattpad. Though I spend far too much time on both of these websites.

Speaking of YouTube, I filmed a little video with my camera, and I have yet to edit this video. I want to try the YouTubing thing again. I think the last two times I've tried it, I've gone in with the idea of "BOOKS" which is what the filmed video is about, but the video I have planned is not. My next post will be similar to what I have for the video. Who knows if I'll actually stick with YouTube... maybe I should let this blog thing become a thing first!

A Random Kind of Day

As today is a random kind of day, I thought I would mention my recent habit of not wearing matching socks. This came from my roommate at school who lives by a life motto of "I'm too cool for white and matching socks." She legitimately gets sad if her socks match. I've witnessed this, it is a very real thing. I started this last year when I wanted to kind of live life not caring.

Not caring what the "norm" is should be appreciated more, and a simple thing like socks is a little step. I don't normally care what others think, but I shouldn't care what I think of myself either. As long as I'm happy, I am more than okay! 

It is a quarter to ten at night as I write this post, and I am finishing up a chapter of Flora. This story makes me want to go to Spain really bad you know. I took a shower after working on the story, and was thinking to myself in Spanish. I never do that! I only put little phrases here and there in the story, but I am affected by it! It's funny what things affect you when writing.

I am going to finish Flora's second chapter now, and then off to bed I go! 

Night guys!
~Amanda .xx

The "Right" Way to Make Tea

Hey Everyone!

So yesterday I was talking with my best friend and she told me that I was making my tea wrong. Now, I made it how I liked it because I live in a house of non-caffeine drinkers. My family is very much into their soda, or fizzy drinks as my best friend calls it. The way I was making it before was steeping it for 10 minutes (because I liked it strong) and three spoonfuls of sugar. That is it. But this is what was required of me.

Boil your water....

While you wait for your water boil, put tea bag (preferably Yorkshire Tea) and sugar in.

Steep your tea bag and sugar for five minutes. You can also stir it.

Next, you dribble in some milk. I asked what this was and she said "just enough."

This is the end result! It was good, just different and more milky.

Until Next Time!

~Amanda

First Post of the Year!

This is my computer named Jem. He's awesome.

Hey Everyone!

Well, it is nine days into the new year and it dawned on me that I should start a blog. I have done blogs before, but I wanted to do something completely different from previous ones.

This blog, I decided, would be about me and my love for books. These "books" would be either books I am reading or writing! I am an aspiring author and this year will be filled with plenty of editing. That is something I can guarantee.

The book I will be editing this year (since I am a mere two chapters from being done) is called The Prince. In its original form, it is a fanfiction found on wattpad. It's about, you guessed it, Harry Styles. I've always written fanfiction, it's not something I can get away from easily because it helps my characters come to life. I do change their personalities, but writing to these people helps me get a sense of who they are. Writing on Wattpad is also a great platform for this style of writing. Look at New  York Times bestselling author Anna Todd, she had over one billion reads by the time she was published. That amount of success is not common, but it is something I can only dream of.

Something I will also be doing this year is a reading goal on Goodreads. Now, I attempted this last year (I probably passed), but I did a lot of rereads. My goal for this year is to read 52 books in total. However, on my goodreads, you will probably notice that it says 40. Basically, I want to read 40 new books this year and 12 can be rereads. Complicated, I know. I love reading and to be the best writer I can be, I have to read. It is my life.

I will see you all tomorrow with a new blog post. Resolution: blog every day of 2015, you did a shit job last year.

See you all tomorrow!
~Amanda .xx