I Heart London

SPOILER ALERT!

Well…that’s all folks!

I’m finally finished the I heart series by Lindsay Kelk and I am seriously sad about it. While there is still I heart Christmas, I’m choosing to save that one for a more…well…Christmas-y time of year.

As usual, Kelk impresses me once more with this final chapter of Angela Clark’s journey. This time, she’s headed back to home turf for her mother’s birthday…only to be planning her very own wedding for the same day! What ensues is, of course, pure chaos, hilarity, and romance as Alex and Angela pave their way to matrimony.

I really enjoyed reading about Angela’s adventure back in England. It felt like the perfect way to wrap the series. Making her see how far she’s come, finally getting closure with her cheating ex, having her London and New York life collide…it was all perfect. And now it’s over…*sigh*

Luckily I shouldn’t have to wait until Christmas time to get my Kelk fix again. Her new novel What a Girl Wants (the sequel to About a Girl) comes out in June. I’m super excited about this one, I read About a Girl almost a year ago and have been dying for the next book! What can I say? I’m a tad obsessed. But I firmly believe that everyone should try and find an author, series, genre or anything they like to read. Fortunately, I just happen to have found plenty of those things.

So, here’s to you Kelk! You’ve given me a fantastic series!

I Heart Vegas

SPOILER ALERT!

Swoon! This is definitely my favourite book in the series!

I actually finished this book almost a week ago and I just haven’t found the time to blog about it! But here it goes, this time we find the lovely Angela Clark in the biggest debacle she’s had to face since getting to New York. Deportation. Yes, Angela has received quite the unwanted notice just in time for Christmas.

So what does she do? What any responsible girl would do. She jets off to Sin City with her girlfriends for a weekend full of fashion and missteps that all lead up to one terribly wonderful ending.

I adored this one because it moved at a much faster pace than the last three. It left me dying to keep reading just so I could stay on top of the next twist. Trust me when I say the only reason I put this book down was because I had to go to work. Even then I would sneak a few pages during my lunch break. I was even pretty tempted to read on my commute (of course I didn’t…I still haven’t forgotten about my latest driving incidents).

To avoid repeating myself I’ll simply say this…Kelk has done it again. But this time, what happens in Vegas, doesn’t stay in Vegas.

For My Mom…

My mom is a rockstar, a nurse, a personal driver, a maid, a laundry service, a teacher and a superhero.

She does it all for her kids, and she doesn’t blink an eye about it. I don’t tell her enough how much she means to me, and that will remain my biggest crime. I have truly been blessed with the best parents in the world and I wonder what I did to deserve such an amazing life.

My mom has done everything for me and my brothers and more. She made sure we were on the right path. She made sure we had a good home life. She made sure we had everything we needed. She made sure we were happy.

As much as I am ready to start taking care of myself, I know I will always need my mom. Who else will make sure I believe in myself and be my biggest cheerleader? Who else will make sure I lock the doors and make sure I have a safe way home after a long night out? No one but her.

My mom has always said to me that all she wanted to be when she grew up was a mother. It may seem strange, but that’s what this woman was born to be, a mom. Her instincts are so on point that she not only takes care of her own children, but any other child that may need her help.

She’s amazing.

And she’s my mom.

We have had our differences, but I will never stop needing her and I will never stop loving her.

Happy Mother’s Day mom. You gave me an amazing life, and I only hope I can make you proud.

I wouldn’t want to be anyone else’s daughter.

Me and the most amazing woman in the world. I love you so much.

Working Girl

I hate working for free…but man do I love my job!

I’m officially a Toronto commuter, a coffee drinker, a crazy email-checker, and I eat my lunch at my desk. It’s only been a week that I have been working at the Toronto Botanical Garden and not only am I turning into a workaholic, I’m pretty freakin’ happy about it.

I’ve already had the opportunity to work on events, do design work, do writing work AND I’ve been on set for a TV show. This is everything I’ve wanted it to be and more. If I ever had any doubts about Public Relations being the right field for me, those thoughts are gone.

I’ll admit, working for free isn’t ideal. This is the first summer in five years that I haven’t gotten paid…let’s just say I’m feeling the lightness of my wallet. But I want this. I’m willing to put in the free hours if that’s what it takes to get to where I want to be. This is the best experience I’ve had so far for my career and that’s a really exciting feeling. There’s a lot of sacrifice on my part (mostly in terms of commute and pay), but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

I’m not sure there’s a point to this post aside from sharing my overwhelming gratitude for this opportunity. I hope I can prove to my boss that she’s made the right choice with me. I hope I can squeeze as much experience out of this opportunity as possible. I hope in the end, I can look back and be proud of what I’ve accomplished.

I hope I can stop all this gushing at some point…man I turn into a sap for just about anything.

Hitting the Road…and Some Other Things Too

OK, I just want to preface this by stating that I AM A GOOD DRIVER!

We all make mistakes, we get into little bad habits while driving, but for the most part I have done pretty damn well considering I’m a fairly new driver. I’ve had my license for about four years now and I’ve managed to get by without an accident or a ticket. I follow the rules and I pay attention.

Unfortunately, this past week the driving gods seemed to have forgotten about me though as I’m racking up my accident count pretty quickly. In one week I went from zero to two. TWO! Trust me, I’m mortified.

People can reassure me all they want, these things happen, at least you weren’t hurt, it could have been much worse, but it doesn’t make me feel better. I’m a perfectionist with high anxieties…I don’t exactly take accidents lightly. Truthfully a part of me thinks these accidents have happened because I haven’t been driving really at all these past two weeks. I’ve been off school and really haven’t had much reason to leave the house…of course the couple times I do, I slip up with the car. Not that that’s an excuse, I definitely should know better.

The first incident was last Friday. I was headed out to see a friend’s play (shout out to Carly for an amazing job by the way!) and I stopped at the bank. Since I was just going to run in quickly to use the ATM I decided to park my car on the curb beside the bank so I could just hop back in and go without dealing with the parking lot. I’ve done this many times before so I didn’t think much of it. Well, I got a little too close to the curb and hopped it slightly…no big deal…I’ll just move off. Except has I was attempting to get off the curb my right side mirror hit a sign post and was ripped off the side of my car. Fantastic.

After properly parking, attempting (with no such luck) to somehow reattach the mirror and tearfully calling my parents with an explanation, I went home and swapped out cars so I wouldn’t be pulled over on my way to the play. Fortunately, my parents were awesome about it and were just happy I wasn’t hurt. The car was fixed and that was the end of that.

Or so I’d thought.

Today, I went out shopping with my friend Sarah. All was well, and I managed to keep my promise to myself not to spend a dime. Broke college girls…beware of the mall, it will try and suck you in. I digress. We were on our way back, and were actually pretty close to home when once again, I goofed. This time though…I was in my father’s car, not my own. Great.

Basically the girl in front of me was clearly a new driver and her mom was in the passenger seat. This girl had a bit of a habit of stopping abruptly but I’d managed to be OK. That is until we were coming to a stop sign and we began slowing down. I made the mistake of looking down for a second to pick up my drink and when I looked back up, she’d stopped super abruptly for some reason and I’d ended up rear ending her. Not that this was her fault…I shouldn’t have looked away even for that second.

Of course I’m mortified as I get out to face her mother who states that I’ve just hit a new car (oh yes, my luck just keeps getting better) and there’s a license shaped dent in her bumper. Ugh! God knows this woman thinks I’m just the most incompetent girl right now, being that I’m young and probably thinking I’m a newer driver. Honestly I’m inclined to agree with her after all these mishaps.

The parents weren’t thrilled hearing about a second infraction, and me sobbing at home probably didn’t help, but what’s done is done. And trust me, I’m paying for whatever needs to be fixed…I don’t think I’ve ever apologized so much in my life.

So this week hasn’t exactly been good for me on the roads. I feel like a total idiot and like I should re-take my driver’s test or something. I’m especially paranoid as well because starting Monday I have to take the highway all the way into Toronto for work…yay! Please keep your fingers crossed for me people…or maybe just avoid me for a while. Apparently I’m a hazard.

I Heart Paris

SPOILER ALERT!

Paris holds the key to my heart.

It has ever since I was there four years ago on a school Europe trip. Now I’ve just relived the city through the eyes of Angela Clark in the third book of the I heart series. Once again, fashion and fumbles take over Angela Clark’s life, but this time, she’s in the city of love. Sadly, love seems to be taking a turn for the worse as soon as our lead gets to Paris…and it’s all just downhill from there (true to Mademoiselle Clark’s form). Don’t worry though, the ending will put a giant smile on your face!

Too often in books, I find some characters just don’t get that karma they deserve. The person who gets screwed usually ends up taking the high road with a grand smile and a brief smug comment. I’m so glad Kelk chose to write Angela completely differently. Unfortunately, Angela gets screwed over by quite a few bitchy women on this trip, and I’m am so thrilled to say she gives them all EXACTLY what they deserve. A good slap across the face, ice coffee dumped on a head, and an amazing brawl with Alex’s ex-girlfriend (who thinks she’ll get him back) are the moments I lived for in this book.

Violence is never the answer by the way…but man does it make a good read.

I think I’m running out of creative ways to praise Kelk, I can’t get enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve found a really solid chick-lit author that I can adore every single book (Sarah Dessen anyone?) so I’m thrilled to have found Kelk. Her new novel What a Girl Wants (the sequel to About a Girl which was of course flawless) comes out very soon and I’m itching to get my hands on it. I’ve been waiting since August for this book and thank God the wait is nearly over.

Ladies, I can’t stress enough, if you love, love, fashion and a relatable woman, Kelk’s books are a MUST. I heart Paris absolutely is one of my favourites in this series, but now that I’m off to read about Vegas, who knows what could happen?