Favorite Things + Sponsor: The Lilac Linnet

{Canon 50mm f/1.8 II lens, Printed dress, Softlips lip balm, Modcloth oxfords, 

Fox sweater {similar}, Marquee peace sign, Glass necklace, Hikari lipstick & Revlon lipstick}

Oh my, this new lens! The Canon 50mm f1.8 II lens takes amazing pictures, gets that awesome blurry background, and is lightweight (which is perfect for when I use my camera for work). I was considering getting the 50mm f/1.4, but that's $400 whereas this one is only $125. If you're looking for a new lens, this particular Nifty Fifty is where it's at. 

I have to talk about this marquee sign: How freaking adorable right? It's from Target for only $10, so get your butts over there now. I've putting put it on every night before bed and it creates the nicest glow. 

A few fun links:

♥ Love Sea of Blooming Dreams' tips on how to stick to a workout plan!

♥ The Vane is a weather and fashion app? Sign me up!

♥ Mr. Kate's thoughts on bullying. This blog post is all sorts of awesome!

♥ 15 (amazing) career tips from smart women! I love this one from Nora Ephron:

"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim."

♥ Gummy bear sangria?! Count me in!

♥ If book nerds ran the world! Yes!

♥ Love this: How to turn anything into a brooch.

♥ These animated gifs of love are so romantic and beautiful!

♥ A color thesaurus!

♥ Ways to feel more confident!

♥ Sponsor love:

• Ash's Party Accents has such adorable stuff: scratch-off save the dates, mustache straws, and coffee-inspired thank you cards. 
• Bookworms in Dresses has THE best style pictures ever! And I love her moody October to-read list. 
• The Lilac Linnet wrote a great post on the fact that women's issues are men's issues too, and got the cutest woodland creatures in the mail.  

♥ Swap friends: Obey Ray, Model Savings, Rosie May, All Things Natalie Christa, Jess Olsen, My Life as a Teacup, Starry Eyes + Coffee Cups & Novelstyle. 

♥ Fashion loves: plaid dress, floral scarf, taupe oxford flats, pink bow dress, floral watercolor dress, mint bow top, and a wooden hand jewelry stand. 

♥ ♥ ♥ 

Hi, I'm Llinos, I'm 27 years old and I live in Cardiff, UK.  My name is Welsh for 'linnet', hence my blog name!  I've been following Sara for a while and I am happy to be sponsoring her this month.  I love blogging about books, creative projects and daily life.  I hope my blog comes across as authentic and heartfelt.  I also share a lot about my previous health problems including cancer and depression.  I would love to see you over there and hear your thoughts!

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Happy Friday!

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Watch | Read | Listen {September 2014}

Hello September! It's the first year that I'm not going back to school and it feels really strange. I feel like I should be buying books and already doing homework. This was also the first summer that I didn't have off, so in a way it feels like I'm still waiting for summer to begin, but it's already over. 

Now that it's September new entertainment is coming out soon! I'll for sure be seeing Hector and the Search for Happiness and The Maze Runner in theaters. Last month, I saw The Giver and found it thought-provoking and wonderful. What did you think?

MOVIES

The Longest Week 

Conrad Valmont (Jason Bateman) is an over-educated, under-employed heir to the Valmont Hotel fortune, but when he's cut off by his soon-to-be divorced parents he's out on the streets of the Upper West Side. His old friend Dylan (Billy Crudrup) takes him in, but Conrad starts to fall for Dylan's girlfirend Beatrice (Olivia Wilde). (September 5)

Dr. Cabbie

An unemployed immigrant doctor (Vinay Virmani) becomes a cab driver and uses his cab to help treat people when he turns his cab into a mobile clinic. (September 19)

Hector and the Search for Happiness

Hector (Simon Pegg) is a psychiatrist who is unhappy with his life and heels he can't offer his patients advice that he himself doesn't understand, so he decides to go on a larger than life adventure to find true happiness. (September 19)

The Maze Runner

Thomas (Dyland O'Brien) wakes up trapped in a massive maze with a group of other boys and has no memory of the outside world. By piecing together the memories of his past, he hopes to unlock the reasons for why they're all there and how to get out. (September 19)

The Box Trolls

This is the tale of the Boxtrolls, monsters who live under the streets of Cheesebridge, who crawl out of the sewers at night to steal the townspeople's children and their cheese. But that's just rumor. In truth, the Boxtrolls are lovable creatures who are raising a human boy as one of their own. (September 26)

Other movies coming out:

• Frontera (Sept. 5)
• Mephis (Sept. 5)
• The Remaining (Sept. 5)
• My Old Lady (Sept. 10)
• The Drop (Sept. 12)
• The Green Prince (Sept. 12)
• The Skeleton Twins (Sept. 12)
• 20,000 Days on Earth (Sept. 17)
• The Guest (Sept. 17)
• Fort Bliss (Sept. 19)
• This is Where I Leave You (Sept. 19)
• Believe Me (Sept. 26)
• Two Night Stand (Sept. 26)

BOOKS & MUSIC

• The Secret Place (Dublin Murders Squad #5) by Tana French -- Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting to get his foot in the door of the Dublin Murder Squad and after getting a photo of a boy murdered in a girl's boarding school with the caption, "I know who murdered him," and now this is his chance. (September 2)
• The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell -- After a terrible fight with her mother, Holly leaves her home and runs away, but she's no ordinary runaway; ever since she was a child she's heard voices and is a psychic. Holly catches the attention of a cabal of dangerous mystics and their enemies. (September 2)
• The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory -- A threat to the volatile King Henry VII's claim to the throne, Margaret Pole, cousin to Elizabeth of York and daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, is married off to the kind Sir Richard Pole. After the Prince of Wales dies and his bride, Katherine, marries his brother, King VII, Margaret is called to court to be Katherine's lady-in-waiting. (September 9)
• The Children's Act by Ian McEwan -- Fiona Maye, a High Court judge in London, throws herself into her work after her husband leaves her after he asks her to consider an open marriage. She takes on a difficult case about a boy whose parents won't give him a life-saving blood transfusion because of their religious beliefs. (September 9)
• Lullabies by Lang Leav -- A sequel to Love & Misadventure, this book of poetry explores the intricacies of love and loss. (September 16)
• Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes -- Detective Gabriella Versado is shocked by a body found in Detroit -- half boy, half deer fused together, but more strange bodies keep cropping up and she needs to figure out who's doing this and why. (September 16)
• Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld -- Darcy Patel has put college on hold to publish her novel. She moves to New York City with no friends, but is taken under the wings of other writers, and over the next year finishes her book and falls in love. (September 23)
• Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham -- A collection of frank and funny essays about Lena Dunham's life written by none other than Lena Dunham herself. (September 30)

Maroon 5's V (Sept. 2) | Counting Crows' Somewhere Under Wonderland (Sept. 2)

The Kook's Listen (Sept. 9) | Chris Brown's X (Sept. 16)

Alt-J's This Is All Yours (Sept. 22)

Happy Labor Day, fellow Americans!

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Inspired By: September's Best Selling Books + Sponsor: Ten Penny Dreams

Hey guys! This month I read two books: Delirium by Lauren Oliver and Cinder by Marissa Meyer, both of which are the first book in a trilogy. I read Delirium, which is about a dystopian society where love is considered a disease, but it was meh. The character Lena is depressing and the story didn't surprise me or keep me interested. I won't be reading the next two books in the series. 

Cinder on the hand was absolutely amazing! Based on the fairy tale Cinderella, Cinder is a cyborg in the future, where a deadly disease is rampant and the lunar people wait to start a war with the people of Earth. When Prince Kai's needs a robot repaired, he turns to the best mechanic in New Beijing: Cinder, which is how she gets caught up in an intergalactic struggle. It sounds super sci-fi, but it all feels so real and has so much heart. I couldn't put it down, fell in love with all the characters, and I never knew what was going to happen next. I can't wait to read the rest of the series. 

The Facade

{Click here for item info}

Written by Eric Lundgren, The Facades is a novel about the disappearance of an opera singer. The singer's husband, legal clerk Sven Norberg, must find her on his own through the streets of Trude, a once-great Midwestern city that now lies in ruin. He descends into the city's underworld and meets bizarre and menacing citizens, like an insane modernist architect. 

For a cute office look, wear a denim dress, red cardigan, a rustic necklace, studded belt, and ankle-strap flats. Or if you're meeting interesting people, you could wear a striped top, boyfriend jeans, a red watch, and red canvas sneakers.

Buy the book: B&N | Amazon

Bleeding Edge

Written by Thomas Pynchon, this novel takes place in 2001, after the dot-com bubble has burst and before 9/11. Maxine Tarnow runs a fraud investigation business in the Upper West Side chasing down con artists. Between two boys in elementary school and an off-and-on relationship with her ex, Maxine looks into the finances of a computer security firm and it's billionaire CEO. As people begin turning up dead, she finds herself in both dangerous and bizarre situations that only Pynchon could concoct. 

If you find yourself investigating criminals, wear a quilted black jacket, polka dot dress, teal stone necklace, boots, and a bag big enough to carry your Beretta. Or go for a striped turquoise top, black jeans, buckle booties, and a cross body bag. 

Buy the book: B&N | Amazon

Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

Written by Maria Semple, this novel follows 15-year-old Bee after her mom has disappeared the day before her family was about to depart for Antarctica. Since Bee's architect mother, Bernadette, is agoraphobic traveling to the end of the planet would be a problem. To find her mother, Bee compiles emails, official documents, and a secret correspondence. 

For the mother's outfit, I went for an office look: navy blazer, white blouse, light blue pencil skirt, circular sunglasses, and color-blocked wedges. For Bee's outfit, I put together a look that's perfect for class: a striped sweater, high-low blue skirt, blue sunglasses, and white Converse sneakers. 

Buy the book: B&N | Amazon

Burial Rites

Written by Hannah Kent, Burial Rites is a novel based on a true story. In Iceland in 1929, Agnes, an accused witch, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution for the brutal murder of her master. At first the family housing her avoids Agnes; only Toti, a priest, want to understand her before her death, but soon they all hear a different side to the story. 

Keep warm by wearing a knit gray cardigan, gray and mint dress, skull ring, and buckle boots. Or wear a long-sleeve floral dress, gray scarf, star earrings (since she's an accused witch), and heeled booties. Also, I added a hint of red for the murders. 

Buy the book: B&N | Amazon

♥♥♥

I'm so excited to introduce you to my new sponsor, 

Amy of Ten Penny Dreams!

Ten Penny Dreams is a literary lifestyle blog run by Amy, a twenty-something aspiring writer from the North East of England. It features articles on books, writing, inspiration, geekery, North East culture and life in general. Ten Penny Dreams aims to promote creativity and find passion, humour and meaning in all things cultural, all the while dreaming about capturing that perfect moment on the page. Currently shortlisted in the Blog North Awards 2013 as Best Arts & Culture Blog.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Amy's blog is amazing! I can't resist a good blog about books, creativity, and geekery!

If you can't either, go check her blog out!

What books did you read this month?

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Movies I Want To See (September 2013)

I'm going to start off by saying that I'm so disappointed that Austenland is in limited theaters, as in only New York and Los Angeles. Yes, I live only 40 minutes away from the city, but I didn't want to go there just to see a movie, so it looks like I'll have to wait. Bummer. (I actually found out it's coming to a theater near me, but I don't know when yet. Yay!)

I did see Elysium (really, really awesome) and The Spectacular Now (amazing acting by Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley and a touching story about romance and addiction). 

P.S. -- Check out my sponsor spotlight on Becoming Fabulous!

Populaire

It's spring, 1958 and 21-year-old Rose (Deborah Francois) lives with her widower father. Her life seems destined for a quiet life, but she longs for something more. Rose interviews to be a secretary for Louis, an insurance agent (Romain Duris), and she reveals a special gift -- the ability to type at an extraordinary speed. Louis becomes her trainer so that she can compete in a speed typing competition. I love French romantic comedies so much and Romain Duris, who was also in Heartbreaker! (September 6)

Riddick

Vin Diesel reprises his role as Riddick, a dangerous and escaped convict wanted by every bounty hunter in the galaxy. Riddick is left for dead on a desolate planet where he must fight alien predators while also being hunted down. I probably going to end up seeing this with my dad and brothers. (September 6)

The Family

A mafia boss and his family are relocated to a sleepy town in France under the witness protection program after he snitched on the mob. Despite Agent Stansfield's (Tommy Lee Jones) best efforts, Fred Manzoni (Robert DeNiro), his wife (Michelle Pfeiffer), and their children (Dianna Argon and John D'Leo) revert to old habits and blow their cover. This looks really good! (September 13)

Haute Cuisine

Based on a true story, this film is about Hortense Laborie (Catherine Frot), a renowed chef, who is surprised when the President (Jean d'Ormesson) appoints her as his personal cook, responsible for making all his meals at the Elysé‎e Palace. Though she encounters jealousy, Hortense quickly establishes herself. (September 20)

Prisoners 

When his little girl and her friend go missing one rainy day, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) faces every parents worst nightmare by waiting for the police to do their job. But when their one lead comes to a stop, Keller decides to take matters into his own hands, even though Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is investigating thoroughly. This movie looks so powerful and haunting. (September 20)

Other movies coming out in September:

• A Teacher (Sept. 6)
• Fire in the Blood (Sept. 6)
• Salinger (Sept. 6)
• Touchy Feely (Sept. 6)
• A Strange Brand of Happy (Sept. 13)
• And While We Were Here (Sept. 13)
• Wadjda (Sept. 13)
• A Single Shot (Sept. 20)
• COG (Sept. 20)
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sept. 27)
• Don Jon (Sept. 27)
• Rush (Sept. 27)

♥♥♥
I joined Megan of Girl Meets Camera's Mug Swap!

If you want to join too, click here!

Which movies do you want to see this month?

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(via 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5)

Movies I Want To See (September 2012)

In August, I ended up seeing The Odd Life of Timothy Green because my mom won two tickets to a screening. Yay! If you haven't seen it, I would really recommend it. It was beautifully shot and heartwarming. This month there are even more movies I want to see, and most of them are in the category of sci-fi and action/adventure.

 

For A Good Time, Call...

Technically, this movie came out in August, but I forgot to post it for last month (oops). Anyway, this comedy follows two women Lauren (Lauren Anne Miller) and Kate (Ari Graynor) who both need money and used to be enemies. One day Lauren discovers that Katie is working as a phone-sex operator and sees it as a good business opportunity. This movie* looks absolutely hilarious. (August 31)

 

*Warning: I linked it to the red-band trailer.

 

Branded

In this dystopian sci-fi thriller, mega corporations have created a global conspiracy in order to get inside our heads and keep us dependent on them by the use of their ads and products. One man wants to find out the truth about how they corporations are doing it and to stop it. The trailer definitely looks intriguing. Starring Ed Stoppard, Leelee Sobieski, and Max von Sydow. (September 7)

 

The Words

Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper) has always sought after literary success, so when he finds a beautiful manuscript he publishes it as his own. Soon the past comes back to haunt him and he must confront the fact that his fame comes from stealing another man's work. Also starring Zoe Saldana, Jeremy Irons, and Dennis Quaid. I want to see this movie not just because I'm a writer, but because it looks like a fantastic movie. (September 7)

 

The Perks of Being A Wallflower

This touching coming-of-age story based on the novel by Stephen Chbosky follows a young man and his friends as they grow up, find love, discover loss, and realize that all you need are good friends to help you get through life. (September 14)