My I Heart Story (Inspired by the I Heart Series by Lindsey Kelk)

So I Heart Forever will be out very soon! In case you hadn't heard, Lindsey Kelk has been chatting about the I heart books, one a week over on her YouTube channel. There's still plenty of time to catch up with them and read along. She is always looking for questions for her videos so definitely get reading so you can ask your burning questions.

I decided to join in with this I Heart Book Club/Readathon, as you may have noticed from my TBRs and wrap ups. And so I have been re-reading these books!

Reading the books again and watching these videos got me thinking about where I was then and where I am now. Where I was when I read each book and how much things have changed because of that. These books were really quite important to me and so I decided I would share my I Heart Story with you!

This one came out in 2009 and I absolutely loved this book. This book was where I rediscovered just how great books could be. I had just finished my first year of teaching, which had directly followed my PGCE, both times where you're not going to get any sleeping done, never ind reading. I had just moved from Glasgow down to Kent, I was in a really rubbish relationship, didn't have any money or a proper job. And this book allowed me to escape those things. I loved living in New York with Angela and rediscovering that whole 'just one more chapter' thing that I hadn't had for a couple of years. This book was important because it did allow me a little bit of sanity. Someone gave me the book and so I hadn't had to pay for it and reading it didn't cost me anything so this book will always have a special place in my heart!

Now I found out this book was out because I used to go into Sainsburys on a Thursday, when the new books would come out and see what was new and I was so excited to see there had been a sequel to I Heart New York, one of my all time favourite books. This one was published January 2010 when I was back living with my parents in Yorkshire and doing supply teaching. I was working a lot more and was generally happier and I was just thrilled to read the sequel to this book. I had visited Hollywood once and so I could picture roughly where they were in the book. I also loved reading Heat magazine and so I loved the storyline with the celebrity interview! I was single again and so I loved reading about Angela and Alex's relationship dramas.

I Heart Paris came out that same summer and I had secured a long term supply position for that September, things were looking up for me but there was so much drama going on in Angela's life, what was going on? I was also just beginning a new relationship so was totally optimistic about all that kind of thing and so I didn't like that Alex and Angela weren't communicating properly. I believe I read this in the Lake district whilst I was away for the week before what should have been my wedding to the guy I was with when I Heart New York came out-big changes there! Yes we seem to be tracking my relationship history with I Heart books but this is why this series is important to me. 

I think that, aside from I Heart New York, obviously, this book is my favourite of the sequels. I loved the wild things that Angela and Jenny got up to and this was the first time in the series where I hadn't been to the location where the book was set (I have been there now, I got married there, and so re-reading it has been sooooo different!). This book came out in December 2011 and I had just moved down to the south east to teach just outside London. I had a full time job, a flat and I was living on my own again. I felt more grown up and Angela felt more grown up too. I was at one of those stages where you're like "I don't need a man, I'm not dating again!' and I think that made me long even more to be on a girly trip with Jenny and Angela and I think I connected all the more with this book. Re-reading it has been so different because of the fact that I went to vegas with family to get married and so I have a whole different perspective now. 

This book came out on June 7th 2012 and I went and met Lindsey and got this book signed! This was before I managed to go to all the author signings. I had been living in the South East just less than a year and this was still when most of the singings were in the London area (I love that they are all over the place now) and so I was very lucky to be able to go and get this one signed at the new Westfield! If we're tracking this in terms of relationships, I was in a very 'I'm going on dates' stage and had had a few good dates and a few disastrous dates from dating apps (this was pre-Tinder) and this book was released JUST before I met my now husband. 

It was exciting because the singing was on June 2nd so I got the book early and of course I started reading the book on the Tube home! This book was great because Angela was back in London and I was in London and I felt like I could be my own Angela because I had just started my very own blog too! This was probably the most empowering book of the series for me! Lindsey also complimented my dress so-mont made!

This one came out in November 2013. I was approved for this one on Netgalley-how exciting. I was loving my book blog, I had a promotion at work. I was still living on my own but I was in a happy relationship, very different circumstances from most of the I Heart series. You can see now why I wanted to track the differences in reading them and also the differences between then and now. Theres not such a big difference with this one. I'm sill in the same relationship only now we're married and living in Denver so a bit of a difference. I loved this book obviously and took my friend with me to get ti signed, it was her first author event and so that is why this book is just as important and all the others in terms of mile stones!

So re-reading the books now, obviously they remind me of where I was when I read them the first time and that's sometimes not the best memories, but they also remind me of why they were so important to me at the time. The first time I went on my own to a book signing, in London! Escaping to vegas as a single girl with Angela and Jenny. Getting celebrity gossip from Angela and discovering New York with her for the first time. I love this series, I'm not a bit re-reader but I am so enjoying re-reading these books because they represent these milestones to me. It's come full circle slightly because I am now unemployed again but happily so! Plus now I have Angela's perspective of things we miss from the UK, getting parcels containing Dairy Milk, Percy Pigs and M&S pants!

I cannot wait for I Heart Forever and I am so excited that I'm going to be able to go to a singing too!

Thank you Lindsey Kelk for writing this series!

Here's the link to pre-order I Heart Forever in the UK and the US

My Wedding!

Ok so I know I've been putting this post off for a while but I think that was partly to let the whole thing sink in... So on November 26th I got married! We decided to do it right after Thanksgiving so that our parents could come over for Thanksgiving and then we could all go to Las Vegas together-it had to be Las Vegas! Anywhere I mention, like stores and things, I've put links to.

The first thing I bought for the wedding was the shoes, I knew I wanted these particular Irregular Choice shoes and the store on Carnaby Street had them shipped from the Brighton store for me, they weer so helpful! Oli ordered his shoes from the Converse website because he wanted them custom built, I couldn't out-shoe him too much! And they have the wedding date on the back!

I also had a kind of dress in mind and ended up ordering one online, having seen something similar in stores. I ended up with a dress from Studio 8 and it was so comfortable all day.

And then there's the bouquet. My Mum brought this with her in her suitcase. It comes from I Heart Buttons, a store on the Isle of Wight with a big online shop. They do custom orders but I knew I wanted this one when I saw it! It came with a button hole too, we didn't use that on the day but I'm going to wear it again!

We chose to stay at the Bellagio after a bit of research into the massive choice of hotels, we weren't sure about a theme hotel but I don't think we'd stay there again! The actual ceremony was so much more 'us' than we could have hoped for. We chose The Chapel of the Flowers because they did live streaming, and when we saw the Magnolia Chapel on their website we knew it had to be that one. Yes, we did toy with the idea of a drive through wedding but since we had six people coming over from England, we thought it would be better to have an actual chapel.

I really couldn't have asked for any more from the chapel. We loved everyone we dealt with, our wedding planner, the photographers, our minister and the limo driver. If you are thinking of tying the knot in Vegas, I couldn't recommend them more! Even the minister seems to be enjoying the ceremony too!

The Limo picked us up from the hotel and then took us to the chapel. He played some cool music on the way, a little bit of Elvis and 'Going to the Chapel' as we were pulling up to the ceremony-just perfect and I did sing along!

Then we had a chat with all the people who would be involved whilst our guests were seated.

We chose to have 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' to walk down the aisle to and "Growing on Me' to walk back up to since The Darkness is really the only music we have in common, he's into Rock and I love me some show tunes! So the songs we chose seemed to fit just right! We also knew that we wanted to walk in together.

We then had a really fun photo shoot. We honestly didn't realise until we saw the pictures that we would love them so much. We chose just 18 for our actual wedding package and then ended up asking for them all when we saw them. The photographers just rocked and there are hardly any pictures we don't absolutely love!

Then our limo drive took us on a tour of the strip. This was the only time over the course of the weekend that we actually saw a little bit more of the strip, it was such a busy time! And finally for pictures at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign. He knew exactly what he was doing and took some really awesome pictures of just the two of us and then the whole party. Our driver was just so excellent!

Finally he dropped us right at the door of Caesar's Palace so we could go to the Cheesecake Factory. We had meals and bubbles and then finally the cheesecake itself. We ordered the cake beforehand but they didn't charge us which I thought was really cool-you know how wedding expenses can build up! We ordered half red velvet cake cheesecake and half mango key lime!

The rest of the day we went off and explored Vegas, a little bit with the families and a little on our own. We rode gondolas at The Venetian and then went on The High Roller, half an hour with a free bar and great views of The Strip at night! We did a little gambling but we just loved what an awesome place Vegas is for people watching.

The next day we went to the Neon Boneyard after a little visit to the Bellagio Buffet. I couldn't recommend the boneyard enough. Seeing all the old signs and hearing the stories behind them was something else and our guide was so knowledgeable and entertaining! If it's not a sunny day though, I would take a coat as it's all outside and I was freezing!

We had just the kind of wedding day we wanted and we will definitely be visiting Las Vegas again!

It's my Birthday! 32 facts about me!

Yes it's my birthday today! And in case you hadn't guessed from the title of this post, I am 32 today (more on that below!) So I always do something different on the blog on my birthday, I think last years was rather rushed so apologies for that! This year I decided to let you in on some facts about me which you may or may not know, but hopefully you get a little bit more of an insight into me because of them! I;m also going to do a video on this too if you'd rather watch that.

1. I am a teacher and right now I really miss it!

2. I lived in Scotland for 6 years. 

3. I spent 5 years at university.

4. I am currently 50% through a masters in Education.

5. I have 3 first drafts and 2 short stories hiding on my computer!

6. I was born in Yorkshire, very proud to be a yorkshireman!

7. I currently live in Denver (big change)

8. I have lived in Kent & Berkshire

9. I have taught in 27 different schools

10. I love shoes and have a very large collection

11. Have 2 tattoos, both of my fvaourite things!

12. I love musicals-especially stage musicals!

13. Glasgow is my favourite place to be, instant sense of home there!

14. I collect Starbucks locations and have been to 360 as of today (I'm drinking one right now)!

15. Just got married in Las Vegas!

16. I'm an only child-I like it!

17. I love whisky and have an extensive collection!

18. It took me 5 attempts to pass my driving test...

19. I have a phobia of balloons and people in costumes.

20. I can't throw or catch (but have had to teach it!)

21. Both my parents are scientists but I'm just not!

22. I love to coupon and get lots of free stuff because of it.

23. My degree is in RE/Theology and English Language, I loved it! 

24. I have a good sense of direction and can always find shops!

25. I still suck my thumb when I'm tired/ill

26. I like both tea and coffee

27. The only drinks I don't like are gin, grapefruit juice & brandy

28. Cauliflower makes me sick

29. I love baths, especially with Lush products in them!

30. My favourite Disney film is Aladdin.

31. I hate anything orange flavoured.

32. Is my favourite number

Please do let me know if any of these facts are new to you, I enjoyed sharing a little bit more of myself with you and I hope you have a lovely Christmas!

Blog Tour: A Very Manhattan Christmas by Darcie Boleyn

I am very excited today to be a part of the blog tour for A Very Manhattan Christmas by Darcie Boleyn. I recently returned from a trip to New York and so today I am going to be sharing what I would do with a Christmas in Manhattan. Please keep scrolling down to find out more information about this fabulous book and this wonderful author and don't forget to keep following the tour for more content, reviews and author spotlights!

I was lucky enough to be in Manhattan in the run up to Christmas 9 years ago now. It is so magical at Christmas time, just thinking about it now gets me so excited. It definitely gave me some things that I want to do, should I have the opportunity to go back again. 

In the run up to Christmas I would definitely take a day to do the Christmas windows properly. There are tours that you can take where you get to sit on a warm bus and look at the windows, but I would definitely sack that off in favour of getting all cosy in my jacket, grabbing a Starbucks red cup drink and walking along 5th avenue, Madison Avenue and Broadway to see the Christmas displays in my own time whilst enjoying a warming drink and perhaps a black and white cookie or two.

When I was in New York this time, the Ice rink at Rockefeller Plaza and the Walman skating rink in Central Park had just opened and this is something else that would definitely be on my list. The idea of skating under the shadow of 30 Rock and its magnificent Christmas tree with some friends or a significant other just fills me with joy and so this is something else I would do, perhaps even as a birthday treat!

On Christmas day itself I think it would be amazing to get all wrapped up and go for one of those Christmas day walks. Hopefully there would be light snow falling and people would be out in the city enjoying similar walks. Maybe a Starbucks drink would be involved again, but just being able to walk in the city with slightly less traffic and everyone in a slightly better mood would be amazing and would definitely help all the food I'd eaten go down just a littler easier!

I know this isn't strictly Christmas, but it is still the festive period, I would love to see in the New Year in Times Square. Just being there is like being in a different world where you don't know whether it's day or night and so I think it would be truly magical to end the festive season with a whole bunch of other people celebrating the new Year with a bang!

And now here's everything you need to know about A Very Manhattan Christmas by Darcie Boleyn:

Summary:

Lucie Quigley hates Christmas. It’s the time of year when everything goes wrong in her life. So this year, when she’s asked to be a bridesmaid at her friend Petra’s Manhattan wedding, she jumps at the invitation to escape the festivities.

Dale Treharne has been best friends with Lucie for as long as he can remember. He’s used to looking out for his oldest friend and when she asks him to be her plus one, he can’t seem to find a reason to refuse. Instead, he sees it as a way to help Lucie get through what is, for her, the most miserable time of the year.

In New York, as the snow starts to fall, Lucie and Dale start to realise that their feelings run deeper than just friendship. But can they overcome their pasts, and make it a very merry Manhattan Christmas? 

Information about the Book

Title: A Very Merry Manhattan Christmas

Author: Darcie Boleyn

Release Date: 7^th November 2016

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Canelo

Format: ebook

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32731802-a-very-merry-manhattan-christmas 

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Very-Merry-Manhattan-Christmas-ebook/dp/B01LD9RQWG 

Author Information

Darcie Boleyn has a huge heart and is a real softy. She never fails to cry at books and movies, whether the ending is happy or not. Darcie is in possession of an overactive imagination that often keeps her awake at night. Her childhood dream was to become a Jedi but she hasn’t yet found suitable transport to take her to a galaxy far, far away. She also has reservations about how she’d look in a gold bikini, as she rather enjoys red wine, cheese and loves anything with ginger or cherries in it – especially chocolate. Darcie fell in love in New York, got married in the snow, rescues uncoordinated greyhounds and can usually be found reading or typing away on her laptop.

Author Links

Blog: https://darcieboleyn.wordpress.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/darcieboleyn

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/public/Darcie-Boleyn

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darcieboleynauthor/

Bookshop Love in the US so far!

I recently visited The Strand Bookshop in New York and while I was there I was thinking about all of the great bookshops I have visited in the last few months since moving to the USA. I am lucky that I have been able to travel around quite a bit and of course when I travel to somewhere new, I need to take in a bookshop in the area!

The Strand
Oh my goodness I could spend the rest of my life in this bookstore! The atmosphere is just buzzing with a love of books. They advertise that they have 18 miles of books but they have 18 miles of a wide selection of reasonably priced books and include things like tables of books under $5 or $10 books to make you think. They have a great graphic novel selection and a massive section of books about writing too. They have some amazing merchandise with cool slogans on socks, tote bags, pencil cases, pins and notebooks and they even have a TFIOS bench-just such a cool place!. Come to New York just to see this shop!

Tattered Cover
My Denver saviour! I love this bookshop mini chain because the staff are so friendly and the bookshops themselves are just lovely. They host lots of events with fabulous authors and I love to get involved in a bookshop like that. What I also love is that they have a downtown branch and a branch a little closer to the city centre but they also have a branch in a shopping mall area so I can go there and park and take as long as I want browsing and chatting to the lovely booksellers!

City Lights
A San Francisco institution! This bookshop wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be, there was a fab selection of books about the local area and about local interests which I thought was really great. They also had a lovely children's section in the basement complete with little chairs for the children to sit and enjoy the books. I really liked their coffee table books and the fact that they had a big selection of books on feminism and LGBTQ+ issues! I would have liked a little more space between the shelves and I don't think you'd get a wheelchair or a pram in there but that's really the only negative I have!

The Booksmith
This was a great bookshop I found in San Francisco in Haight Ashbury. It had a great selection of diverse books as well as a lovely display of recent releases. My favourite thing about this shop, aside from the awesome music it was playing was the section on feminism and feminist books. It was so refreshing to see it displayed in a prominent position in the shop and not tucked away in a back corner as if it needed to be hidden. if you're in San Fran then I definitely recommend a visit there!

Barnes and Noble
Ok, so I know that this is a chain bookstore but I do love a Barnes and Noble and I recently found one in a mall in New York that was so quiet and peaceful and just a lovely place to read with a coffee and a cupcake. I do have a Barnes and Noble card and I do feel an instant sense of calm when I step through the doors! I love the fact that most branches have a coffee shop or a Starbucks and I recently visited a branch in New Jersey that had a massive 'sale' section at the back where they had regular sale books and then this whole selection of second hand books and you could take your books there for trade in. If you're ever in the area I totally recommend a visit to that Paramus store.

So those are the bookshops I've loved so far. I also did a video about this so do give that a watch (also see my post with my YouTube confession if this is news to you!) and also let me know in the comments if you have other bookstore I should check out in Colorado or anywhere else for that matter-will travel for books!

Film Vs Book: Paper Towns and Me, Earl and the Dying Girl

I wanted to do this post because these two films based upon two great young adult books came out this summer. I owned both of these books but the films coming out gave me the impetus to read the books. I absolutely flew through both of them and enjoyed them both very much (as you'll have seen from my review of both!). I wanted to post about the films and the books because I enjoyed both elements of the way the story is told. This post does contain some spoilers so if you have no idea what either of these books is about, I suggest you pick them both up now, read them and then check back at this post. 

Paper towns. I loved the book because it was a bit of a mystery and was very fast paced. The movie has this same fast-paced element to it but the mystery element seems hyped up a little more, it is more, 'this is scary looking for Margo' than 'I wonder why Margo has us doing all of this stuff?'. One of the things I was most looking forward to seeing in the film, aside from the bit with the peeing in the car, was when Q and Margo break into Seaworld. There are two things missing from Margo's list in the film though and that was one of them (the book has 11 items, the film 9 items). I was a bit disappointed by this, as was my cinema companion and fellow John Green fan. I did love seeing the road trip brought to life in the film though and Margo looked exactly as she appeared in my head-yey!

Me Earl and the Dying Girl. I loved the film of this book as well but I have to say, the film didn't make me laugh as much as the book-surprising! There were certainly some laugh-out-loud moments in the film as there was in the book but I think possibly the images i conjured up in my head were just a little sillier and way out there. I really liked the way the scripted scenes that were in the book were done in the film. The books is part prose and part script and to get this effect over in the film, part of it is live action and some bits are animated with clay models or just general stop motions animation. The thing I also really liked about the film  was that you got to see snippets of the films that Earl and Greg made-they were fabulous. I like the fact that the books is mainly written in the second person and the film also achieves that by talking directly to us, the audience.

So as you can see, I liked both books and both films, not a very controversial post really, however I wanted to make clear that there are definitely difference between both films and their respective books. If you read and watched both of these this summer, I'm sure you'll agree with me that a great time was to be had by all!