Giveaway!

Earlier this week, I mentioned that I would have a giveaway, so here we go!

It came to happen that I have one too many copies of the following book:

Yes, the Cake Pops book by the famous Bakerella. I remember first learning about cake pops and being totally enthralled with the whole idea. Cut to me making them a few times and two friends gifting me the book, and here we are.

I have yet to really venture into the more complicated designs shown in this book - I just haven't found an occasion yet - but it includes the basic 'recipe' of creating these cute pops. Maybe in the spirit of giving this book away, I'll try my hand at one of the Christmas varieties and post about it!

Anyway, since I'm not up-to-date on all the fancy schmancy giveaway plugins, we're keeping it simple. You get one entry for commenting on this post and one entry for tweeting about it - just include my Twitter handle (@princesscait) and post the link here, preferably in a separate comment. That's it! I'll pick and post a winner next Wednesday, so all entries should be in by 11:59EST on Tuesday, December 10.

I was not compensated in any way for this post/giveaway, I honestly just had an extra copy and felt like giving you guys a special treat for the holiday season.

Cait Actually Reads!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I actually went to the library for the first time in forever (and discovered I had twenty cents in fines from 2006, oops). So that begs the question, what am I reading?

The main reason for hitting up the library was that I needed to get my hands on Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Natalie lent me her copy of The Hunger Games and I ate that up completely, and when I saw they had the second book available at the library, I headed over immediately. I was slow on the uptake - as I was with the first book - but at least in this one I was already invested in the characters and storyline. I just finished the last few chapters last night and was in a tizzy because I need to know what happens next.

The second book I'm in the middle of reading is L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad. It may seem silly, but when I heard she authored a few novels, it piqued my interest. It's taking a little while to get into it but I'm not counting it out yet.

And finally, I picked up Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, but I haven't cracked it open yet. It's not for a lack of desire - I've been meaning to pick it up for months now - but I wanted to get through Catching Fire first and then I started on L.A. Candy as light bedtime reading. (Plus, I don't like to be reading more than two books at a time.) Now that I'm down to reading one book, I'll probably breeze through this one this weekend.

On the horizon is, obviously, Mockingjay because I nearly threw Catching Fire across the room when it ended. Other than that, I don't have anything specific in mind - I'll probably consult my to-read list on Goodreads and see what's available at the library.

What are you reading these days? Any recommendations?

Playing Favorites.

On the list of BEDS topics, the first few are about our favorite things. Since I like common themes and I didn't use any of those topics on those days, I'm going the first five prompts.

Your favorite song
My love of music is far too expansive for me to only pick one favorite, so here are three: Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel; The Middle by Jimmy Eat World; Keep Breathing by Ingrid Michaelson.

Your favorite movie
I'll list my top five, just for kicks -- Ferris Bueller's Day Off; Dirty Dancing; Grease; Anchorman; Centerstage.

Your favorite television program

So You Think You Can Dance?

Your favorite book
It's a tie between the Harry Potter series (if I had to pick a favorite, I'd go with Deathly Hallows) and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Your favorite quote
"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." -- Ferris Bueller

Share some of your favorites in the comments - pick one or answer them all! I'm curious.

lessons learned from eat, pray, love.

Last weekend, I began reading Eat, Pray, Love. It was a spur of the moment decision to read it – I actually wasn’t sure if I wanted to, seeing as it’s received mixed reviews, but my mom had picked it up at the library and I just happened to be looking for something to read while lounging in my backyard.

As I read through the first section about Gilbert’s travels through Italy, I found it strangely fitting that I’d picked this book up when I did. I had vowed to take Memorial Day weekend to relax and unwind, putting away my responsibilities and stresses for a couple of days. My goal was to connect with and enjoy the moment; this was Gilbert’s goal as she spent her days in Italy.

In her quest to figure out her life, Gilbert spent several months in Italy simply because it was something she wanted to do. She didn’t have a set plan to visit certain places or do anything specific. She got up in the morning and did whatever she felt like doing. I found that so truly inspiring that I almost wanted to get up and go to Italy, too, except then I realized I don’t much care for traveling or being in a country where I don’t speak the language. Instead, I tried to extract this revelation and apply it somewhere in my own life.

If you read this blog regularly, you know that one of my goals this year is to live in the moment because I have a hard time doing so. I’m constantly dragging the past along with me like a ball-and-chain and simultaneously worrying about all the possible outcomes of any given day in the future. If I’m not doing that, I’m busy listening to music, reading blogs, or watching TV to distract myself from my own thoughts. Rarely do I ever just sit with myself and breathe.

I am, however, pretty good about indulging myself on a regular basis. If I want a treat from Starbucks or a cute top from Forever 21, I go ahead and get it, so I’m no stranger to the whole “doing what I want when I want to” mantra. But usually I don’t go deeper than simple things. I don’t stop and listen to my mind, my heart, or even my body to figure out what it is I want on a daily basis. Last weekend, I had no choice – my body was pretty much demanding that I take a break and spend time in the fresh air.

I really enjoy the way Gilbert weaves her story because it’s relatable. I’m hopeful, but not necessarily expectant, that perhaps I’ll find inspiration in the next two parts of the book. For now, though, the reminder to check in and do what makes me happy is floating around in the forefront of my brain and it’s doing wonders for me.