Best of 2021
The Great Book Debate
All these years I have been so fixated on physical copy books, I just loved everything about them. The smell of a new book, feeling the pages, being able to use my favourite themed book marks for it, seeing the books on the shelves and just physically browsing the libraries or book stores for a new story to read.
I was also completely against the idea of e-books, with my day job I am constantly looking at a computer screen, and even with my obsession over social media and trying to run my Direct Sale businesses, not to mention watching TV or playing video games and texting people… I honestly have far too much screen time for my liking, and if I had to depend on an electronic device to read a novel, I just felt like it was a bad idea for my already sore, dry eyes and just doesn’t look as appealing as a physical book. However, I also do understand the concept of them, e-books are cheaper and is probably a minimalists best friend.
Audio books, I have honestly never considered before. I have tried getting into podcasts, and I either find the person talking incredibly boring, or I just couldn’t get into it. If I had to listen to something, I’d rather it be music. I also would’ve hated if they made me feel anything like a podcast did.
Look at me now though, now have one physical book I’ve been reading whenever I have time to step away from electronics and can enjoy it with a cup of tea, an audio book I’ve been listening to occasionally while I am working and an e-book I read when I’m out and about OR when I am laying in bed. I overall still do preference physical books out of the other two options, I do want to increase my bookshelf with more books (as much as I also do need to declutter what I already have as well). Being able to allow myself to enjoy the beauty of all three reading styles has increased the amount of reading I can get done in a single week, and I guess that is one thing I am happy about for sure.
Which one is your preference in reading? Physical books? E-books? OR Audio Books? I would also love to hear the reason why you love that specific reading preference.
~*ATBW*~
Holiday Baking ~ Christmas 2021 Edition!
One of my all time favourite things about the Holiday season is the amount of different things that we can bake to help get ourselves in the Holiday spirit. Not to mention I just love baking and also a complete foodie.
In the bottom of this photo is Elf sugar cookies, these were not made from scratch, but they were the Pillsbury Dough Boy cookies.
One of my Best Friends ended up coming over to do some Holiday Baking with me, she made 4 different recipes and I made three, the photos below you will see the three items I chose to bake. All thanks to Pinterest (I absolutely love that site!)
Cannot wait to share other baking plans I have for next year!
~*ATBW*~
This is What Has Been New For Me…
I know I have not been posting anything since the Summer, things have started getting a bit hectic, plus been dealing with something we have been keeping a secret for a while. We only recently (a couple of months ago) been open about it more publicly.
WE. ARE. EXPECTING.
YES… EXPECTING.
For the first while, the pregnancy symptoms were very mild, did not get any morning sickness and mainly just experienced nausea if I was waiting a bit too long to eat. Honestly, if it was not for the pregnancy test, I wouldn’t have even known I was pregnant.
Just this past month, I have been experiencing more pregnancy symptoms, my sinuses are very bad, especially when I’m at home (we live in a basement, so I hear the air tends to be more dry), I ended up getting a humidifier to help it. Headaches come from time to time. And the ultimate worst of it is the heart burn I’ve been getting, and that only started about two weeks ago, especially any time I eat something deep fried (which sucks, because for a while I was craving French Fries), today it happened more so when I was hungry and didn’t eat, and after eating. Oh yay… heart burn.
I am currently at my 22.5 weeks mark. So just more than halfway there.
The more time that goes on, the more real it all feels. The more excited I am getting, we are getting.
As much as we have a lot of time to prepare, it also feels like time is already flying by and that time just feels so tight.
I also frequently feel the flutters, and it feels funny, but, so magical at the same time. I cannot wait to actually start seeing the little baby kicks.
I honestly cannot wait to meet this little bean and be their Mama.
*~ATBW~*
Fashion ~ Black Leggings SUMMER edition!
We have come a long way when it comes to leggings. Especially in 2020-2021 leggings came back in style, when a lot of people have become more dependent on comfort clothes.
Not sure about you, but, for me… I swear I depended on my leggings. From going to the office to going out and even chilling at home. I went from not owning any, to owning probably over thirty pairs.
I have lots of different patterns, solid colours and even different lengths (She’s Got Leggz.. which I am a consultant for has legging, capris and shorts length.
My ultimate favourite colour is our Black Onyx. The ones in this picture is not from She’z Got Leggz, they are actually just random photos from Google images, but wanted to show you how versatile black leggings really are.
How do you wear your leggings? What is your usual to go to style? Which style is your goal to try? Comment below with answers.
~*ATBW*~
Black Widow ~ Movie Review
MOVIE REVIEW ~ BLACK WIDOW
Release Date: July 9th 2021
Duration: 2hrs and 13mins
Genre: Sci-fi, Action, and Adventure
Rated: PG-13
*NOTE* this review will have some SPOILERS!!!!!
This movie originally was supposed to release May 1st 2020 but was postponed not only once, but three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I can personally say as much as I hated the fact it got postponed so many times, it was definitely worth the wait.
“Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) also known as Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.” — Disney Plus
For anyone that watched Avengers Endgame, I’m sure we all know that Black Widow ended up dying *insert cry emoji* and that this Black Widow film will most likely be the last time we ever see Natasha Romanoff. In my opinion, she should’ve had at least two solo films and they should’ve been before Endgame ever happened. I suppose this is better than nothing though, and better late than never. With how this movie was placed although it was about the past, I felt like it was more of Yelena Belova’s (Florence Pugh) introduction.
The dynamic duo between Natasha and Yelena was AMAZING! Honestly having both of these amazing actresses in this film made me fall inlove with the movie and I was not a single moment where I felt bored of the movie. Not to mention that I honestly lost track of how many times Yelena made me laugh and I felt like out of all the characters in the film, she had the most character development.
My other two favourite characters was Alexie (David Harbour) although I found him a little dull at times, he did have a lot of funny lines and overall good character. I also felt that the Taskmaster was pretty bad ass, especially with the constant growth and ability to learn other peoples moves before they can do the moves themselves.
When the end credit scene came on, I had a strong feeling of what was going to happen… and it did. I did cry… I felt like it was a little too soon for it to pop up on the screen again, although it has been over two years ago since Avengers Endgame, it still hit home for me, since Black Widow was one of my favourite characters in the Avengers.
I am however really excited to see what Marvel has in store for Yelena, and I hope they keep her personality and wont alter it too much in any future shows/films.
Here are some of my favourite quotes:
Natasha: You can’t just steal a guy’s car.
Yelena: So you want me to chase him down and unsteal it?
Yelena: Well, I doubt the God from space has to take an ibuprofen after a fight.
Natasha: Put your seat belts on.
Yelena: You’re such a mom.
Natasha: You okay?
Yelena: Yeah. Great plan. I love the part where I almost bled to death.
Yelena: You’re a total poser.
Natasha: I’m not a poser.
Oh, come on. I mean, they’re great poses, but it does look like you think everyone’s looking at you, like all the time.
Yelena: [Referring to the avalanche] This would be a cool way to die.
Alexei: Okay. Why the aggression, huh? Is it your time of the month?
Yelena: I don’t get my period, dipshit. I don’t have a uterus.
Natasha: Or ovaries.
Yelena: Yeah. That’s what happens when the Red Room gives you an involuntary hysterectomy. They kind of just go in, and they rip out all of your reproductive organs. They just get right in there, and they chop them all away. Everything out, so you can’t have babies.
Alexei: Okay, okay. Okay! Okay! You don’t have to get so clinical and nasty.
Yelena: Oh, well, I was about to talk about fallopian tubes, but, okay.
My rating: *****
~*ATBW*~
Fashion ~ Shein Haul #1
For the longest while Shein was always advertised on my Facebook and Instagram feed. Although I browsed through the advertisements I never really trusted it. Until more of my friends purchased from them.
It was maybe two months ago when I placed my first order.
It had taken approximately 1-2 weeks for me to get my order, which was faster than the estimated time frame. The fact I felt sketchy about ordering from the app did make it feel as if it was taking far much longer for the order to come in.
Here are the items I purchased in my first package:
To be honest I normally don’t wear hair clips, a lot of the ones I used to have were way too tight and very hard to get it on without hurting my hand in the process. These are honestly very easy to use and I’m super happy about them.
Overall the material of the products are all really nice, nothing was itchy or painful to wear. I’m the kind of person that cringes when a price tag of an item is on the hefty side… I mean, I can’t spend $50 on a pair of pants without feeling regret about it. Shein is also a good way to test items out to see what styles best suits you. If you go through a trial and error phase, you wont be throwing too much money out the window.
Overall for this order, I have spent a total of: $120.79 Canadian tax in. Which I think is a pretty good haul.
Have you ever tried Shein? Were you happy with the product?
~*ATBW*~
A Simple Favor ~ Movie Review
MOVIE REVIEW ~ A SIMPLE FAVOR
Release Date: September 14th 2018
Duration: 1hr and 57mins
Genre: Crime/Thriller/Mystery
Rated: R
It took me almost three years to watch this film, and when I finally decided to do it, I am glad I did. This movie is also based on a book that was only published a year prior (I am yet to read the book, I am hoping to add it to my Autumn reading list).
Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) a lonely single mother that runs a vlog about food, meets Emily (Blake Lively) one day after picking up her kid from school. The two kids had become friends and asked their moms if they can have a play date. That is when Stephanie tries to become best friends with Emily, they exchange secrets and conversations over a Gin Martini.
One day Emily calls Stephanie and asks her “friend” to for a little favor. That was to go over and watch her son. As time passes, Stephanie realizes that Emily may possibly be missing and eventually has been declared dead. But for a girl that is dead, things don’t quite add up. Why is her presence still so strong? How did she die if she really did die? Stephanie tries to put all the puzzle pieces together all while trying to keep herself sane, and getting herself caught up in her “dead friends” affairs.
I’m honestly surprised at how much bad reviews this film got, but, I guess to each their own? I truly did love every bit of this movie, and there was a lot that has happened that I would have honestly never would’ve guessed (I wont say what caught me off my guard, in case anyone is still yet to watch it).
I’m personally very behind on watching movies, so not sure how to compare it to other possible similar movies. It does really give me Gossip Girl featuring Pretty Little Liars vibes.
My Rating: *****
~*ATBW*~
Fashion ~ Dresses with Pockets
For this weeks blog about fashion, I’m going to talk about pockets. Specifically dresses with pockets.
I have been saying for YEARS how I hate that a lot of Women’s clothing doesn’t have any pockets, or if there are pockets they are too small to fit anything useful. For a long time now, I have wished and hoped that pockets for Women will become a little more normalized and always thought it’d be cool if dresses had pockets.
Well… that time has come! I think it was last year I started getting incredibly happy about new things releasing with pockets, and not fake pockets nor were they pitty small pockets. They were pockets large enough to put my hefty key ring in (I have A LOT of keychains 😂) or even my cell phone, which these days a lot of them are also quite large.
The pictures below are items from a Canadian company called She’s Got Leggz. They primarily sell leggings, but the other non-legging related items are honestly pretty amazing too! In case anyone was wondering I’m a consultant for SGL, so you may see more Fashion Friday posts based on that specific company!
I was also never much of a girly girl growing up. More so these days I’ve really gotten myself into floral, brighter colours and other girly type fashion items. But seeing dresses with pockets are acceptable for both dressing them up and down.
If you want to dress the outfits up a bit, simply do your hair nicely, put on some makeup, maybe wear heels or pair it with some nice jewellery.
If you want to dress them down a little, you can wear more casual attire. Example simple flats, maybe you can even get away with casual sneaker type shoes, grey.. something not too out there.
Do you own any dresses with pockets? If not…. What are you waiting for? If so.. how do you style your outfit? Would love to hear your fashion thoughts in the comments.
~*ATBW*~
Bridge to Terabithia ~ Movie Review
MOVIE REVIEW ~ BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA
Release Date: February 15th 2007.
Duration: 1hr 36mins.
Genre: Fantasy Drama.
Rated: PG.
Bridge to Terabithia is a movie I have watched at the very least ten times. I unfortunately never had the chance to read the book, so I am unable to compare how similar or different they are from one another (it is on my to read list), the last time I seen this film was a few months ago when I was looking for a film that gave me some sort of comfort, and I remember exactly why this film gives me that sense of comfort and happiness. I love the idea of having a place to escape to from reality, between being bullied and having that horrible feeling that you don’t belong due to not having many friends, a great escape is exactly what is needed when reality gets crappy. Which that is exactly what this film had, that realism of young children in school and what they go through emotionally and physically, and how they made themselves feel happier and more themselves.
The connection between Jess Aarons (Josh Hutcherson) and Leslie Burke (Anna Sophia Robb) I found were the perfect duo for this cute family film. At first Jess thought that Leslie was possibly a little crazy, she was seeing and hearing things that he just was not quite understanding. Eventually he got into the idea of the Fantasy world and they became best of friends, they met up nearly every day after school just to go to Terabithia. The one day Jess was unable to meet up with Leslie was the day he went on a trip with his teacher Ms. Edmunds (Zooey Deschanel). When Jess got home, he found out about a tragic incident that had happened to his best friend Leslie (This is as far as I will go with the depth of the movie as I don’t want to spoil the movie, in case anyone has interests in watching it).
I can say there is a particular part in this movie that I always end up crying my eyes out, and it never fails to get to me. I know just when it is about to happen, and the water works just automatically take control over me.
Although I do highly recommend this movie for an evening at home with the family, I do not recommend to little kids. Between the giants and some parts of the movie being a little on the dark side it can either scare them or they might not understand everything that is going on in the film. I would probably suggest 10-11+ for the age group.
Although the story itself was amazing, I kind of wish that things were a bit different for the characters, maybe it would’ve left an open opportunity for a second film. Would’ve loved to see what Leslie and Jess would’ve been like a bit older.
My ratings: *****
~*ATBW*~
ATrueBornWriter 