Friday, November 29, 2013

Taking a weekend



Life is hard. School is a lot of work. And there is never enough time. For some reason at this point in my senior year, I am absolutely drained of energy. I feel like even when I get a good night's sleep, it's just not good enough. I've had a few people point out to me that sometimes, you just have to take a weekend. Say no to anything your friends are doing. Tell your parents your checking out for the weekend. No matter what, spend the weekend taking care of yourself. Do whatever it is that you do to recuperate and rejuvenate. I sadly have not gotten a whole weekend yet, just bits of a couple. But I must say, I do feel a bit better and a bit more prepared to face the vicious holiday season.





Here's a few simple steps to some much needed R&R.

1. SLEEP IN! Go to bed early and wake up naturally. There is no better feeling than your eyes opening simply because they are ready to. Not because the alarm goes off or the dogs are barking.
2. Read in bed. Don't get up just yet. Bundle under the covers and grab your current read (I'm working on The Dark Between by Sonia Gensler) to burrow in for an hour or so.
3. Make yourself a cup of hot tea with a bit of honey. Honey has relaxing properties and tea just makes you feel like your living in an English Shire.
4. Paint your nails. I know it sounds silly, but it's fun to sit, watch a movie, and paint your nails a fun color!
5. Make yourself a spa day. Use store bought or home remedy treatments to make your skin glow and your hair shine! Apply a face mask, scrub your rough hands and feet, take a scented bubble bath with candles.
6. Take a walk. Not a work-out walk, just a nice leisurely walk down the street, admiring the leaves (or lack thereof) and the sounds of nature. It might sound cheesy, but it helps.
7. Choose a line-up of movies to watch. I always make mine themed like...Southern (Fried Green Tomatoes, Steel Magnolias, & The Help), Greek (My Big Fat Greek Wedding & My Life in Ruins), Teen Masterminds (Catch Me If You Can & Ferris Bueller's Day Off), Or a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan Double Features (You've Got Mail & Sleepless in Seattle).
8. Jump into your pajamas early, or better yet, stay in them all day.
9. You choose your dinner, most likely comfort food: pizza, mac & cheese, Chinese-whatever makes your tummy happy!
10. Jump into bed with your book and read until your eyes start to fall like curtains. That's when you know it's time to go to bed!

So remember, you deserve a weekend. And these steps can help you achieve the much needed and deserved R&R.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern


The Story of The Night Circus
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des RĂªves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.
True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.
Opinion:
I love books. No one can doubt that. I want to write, and I read at every spare moment, even if it is just that. Of all the books I have read, only a few come close to the magic and magnitude of The Night Circus. Erin Morgenstern, in a burst of pure genius, has created the most magical story of the decade. The complex web of deception intermixed with the condemning pull of love is cause for an inevitable horrible ending...or is it? Starting in the past and jumping to the future, Morgenstern works her way up to making two different time eras meet together in a fantastic reunion. The pages flew past my eyes as I devoured the book in three days. I cannot give this book enough praise, but if you don't believe me, find out for yourself. 
Facts about the circus:
  • The circus is over 2000 years old.
  • It is harder to get into the Ringling Brother's Clown School than Harvard Law School.
  • Some performers keep a hair from an elephant tail in their pocket for good luck.
  • Whistling backstage is considered bad luck.
  • The circus began using trained animals in 1829
  • When the Ringling Bros. bought the Barnum & Bailey's "The Greatest Show on Earth," the combined and made "The Big Show." Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Commercial