Owl Crate February Review

Hello, all!

I wasn't too impressed with last months Owl Crate box, save for the book (The Cruel Prince which I've been meaning to read), but this month perked me back up. The theme was Hidden Worlds, so let's get into it!

The first thing I picked out was this skeleton key necklace designed by Team OwlCrate and based on the Neil Gaiman story, Coraline. The chain is super long, so it looks sort of silly when I wear it, but it's a great little piece if I ever decide to try and find a doorway to another world.

Next was this soy candle created exclusively by Books on Candles called Through the Wardrobe. With hints of pine, mint and vanilla it's supposed to magically transport you to the woods of Narnia. Hopefully, there's no White Witch waiting to offer you a terrible Turkish Delight for betraying your family. I'm lookin' at you Edmund.

Ooh, you know how much I love a pouch. This one was designed by Risa Rodil and was inspired by Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. The design is really fun and I love all the little touches that went into it. Also, the 'o' in world reminds me of a Yoshi egg and I'm all about it.

How cute is this Alice in Wonderland sticker? It was designed by Naomi Lord, and I'm loving the anime sort of vibe, so I'm pumped to add this to my little sticker collection.

This month they included this lovely wall tapestry by Evie Bookish. It's a really lovely quality and the design itself is gorgeous, it perfectly captures how it feels to just lose yourself in a book. Unfortunately, I have nowhere to put this so I'm hoping I can find someone to pass it along to.

Now onto the book:

First off, how pretty is this cover? I'm absolutely loving the forest green with the gold embellishments, it just works so well together. I also was hoping it would be this book once I heard the theme because I've heard such good things and couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

The Hazel Wood centers around Alice and her mother who have spent their whole lives on the run trying to escape the never-ending bad luck that seems to follow them wherever they go. Alice's life seems to go from bad to worse after the death of her estranged grandmother, who just so happens to be the author of a beloved strange collection of dark and twisted fairy tales. Alice's mother is kidnapped by one of the characters from her grandmother's stories, so Alice has no choice but to team up with Ellery Finch, a huge fan of her grandmother's work (with some potential ulterior motives) to help her find her missing mother. The two of them must journey to the Hazel Wood, her grandmother's mysterious estate in hopes of saving her mother.

Has anyone read this yet? If so, lemme know what you thought!

VHS Haul

Hello, all!

My roommates and I have a VHS/DVD combo player and one of my favorite things to do on a weekend is dig around thrift stores to see what kind of VHS gems I can find. We're (and by "we're" I really just mean me) always trying to find more classics that we can add to our collection. Here are just a few that I recently found and was super excited about.

Party time, excellent! I once tried to woo a guy by quoting this movie and that's why I'm terrible at flirting, but whatever it's just so good.

At any given point, you can find me and my one roommate screaming/dancing along to this entire soundtrack, so picking this up was just a given.

John Travolta playing Nic Cage playing John Travolta and Nic Cage playing John Travolta playing Nic Cage.  This movie is a cinematic masterpiece. Also, whenever my brother and I want to annoy the other we just do the face waterfall thing they do in this.

You can't just leave this movie behind. This'll go great with the Dennis Nedry/Dilophosaurus Funko Pop set I pre-ordered. Now, if only I can find the shirtless Ian Malcom Pop, I'd be golden.

This was another one I just couldn't leave without. I watched this recently for the first time in ages, and I forgot how much I absolutely love it. And 90s Ethan Embry is just so adorable. Damn the man, Save the Empire!


If anyone has any VHS tapes they're trying to get rid of, holla atcha girl! I'll pretty much take any and everything. Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Top 5: Book Club Members

Hello, all!

I've never been a part of a book club, but they seem like they would be so fun. I love the idea of getting together with a group of friends and discussing a current read, so I thought I'd dedicate this Top 5 to fictional characters I'd want in my book club. So let's get to it!

1. Matilda Wormwood: Much like Matilda, I turned to books at a young age as a means of escaping reality, so I feel like we'd have a lot in common. And after we talk about books, we can dance around the living room to Rusted Root and she can telepathically bring us some snacks.

2. Daria Morgendorffer: If I had to choose one character to describe myself, I would always pick Daria. Not only do we look alike, but her preference for reading over going out and being social is one I know very well.

3. Jess Mariano: I know when you think "Gilmore Girls" and "books", you immediately think Rory, but I'd pick Jess over her any day. Jess wrote a novel, he's in publishing, and he writes in the margins. Plus, he is just so dreamy.

4. Hermione Granger: As if I could have a book club without Hermione. She always knew the power books held, and used her cleverness as a weapon and I would just really like to hang around the Hogwarts library with her.

5. John Keating: O Captain, My Captain. My love for English and literature stemmed from Dead Poets Society. Keating was so energetic about his love of the written word and teaching his students to look at everything from a different perspective. He urges them to think for themselves and helps them to understand the beauty in words and the world around them.


Who would you want in your book club? Lemme know!

Let's Talk: Current Favorites

Hello, all!

I figured today I'd give you guys a little peek into what I've been loving lately. I've only ever done one of these which I think is pretty silly because I love watching YouTube videos of what people are loving lately, so I may make this a recurring thing. So let's get into it!

First up is the Hot Cocoa and Cream candle from Bath and Body Works. Ho-lee cow, does this smell exactly like a cup of hot chocolate. I've gone through about 2 so far and even have a few more squirreled away so that way I won't run out of it.

I'm not a coffee drinker, so anytime I go to Starbucks I usually get tea or a hot chocolate, and my favorite is the Snickerdoodle hot chocolate they have around Christmas time and I always get bummed when they take it away-- but not anymore! A friend of mine works there and recently told me that it was just a white hot chocolate with some cinnamon dolce syrup, so now I can have it all year round!

Now, I'm a huge spazz when it comes to make up. It seems like some people are just naturally blessed with the knowledge of contour and highlight and blending eyeshadow, but I am not one of them. My usual make up routine is: throw on some foundation and concealer to not look so dead and head out the door. I always have a problem picking out foundation because I'm really (and I mean reeeeeeally) pale, so even the lightest shades are always a bit too dark for me. I'd heard really good things about the Fenty beauty line that Rihanna came out with, so I figured I'd see how I fared with that one and I actually found my shade. I got color matched at Sephora and it turns out I'm between the 100 and 110 shades, I went with the 110 and I'm diggin' it so far. It's a matte foundation so it does get slightly patchy in my dry spots, but nothing too noticeable.

The other littler one is a whipped foundation by The Balm called Even Steven in the shade Lighter that Light, and that one is also a near perfect match for my skin tone and it also feels super light. So ya girl's face is pretty happy lately.

I got this Q & A a day book for Christmas and I've actually kept up with it and it's something so small and silly but I look forward to filling it out everyday. It's all sorts of questions ranging from What's your mission? to What'd you eat today? so it's a good mix of serious and fun. I also really like how it's a 5 year journal so you can see how your answers vary over the years.

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 3. I love Drag Race (imagine the little clapping emoji in between each word for extra emphasis) and I get super into all the queens and I'm so pumped to see how this season turns out. There's only been two episodes so far, but already I've been clutching my pearls at everything. I love it.

My last favorite is super random but it's going to the library. I've loved the library ever since I was young, but then I started to just buy all my books and I've pretty much run out of space and money, so now me and the library are BFFs again. We have a lovely relationship where I go there weekly and they help feed my addiction. It's great.

What're you loving lately? Lemme know!