This week feels like it's Christmas all over again! It's been GREAT (Despite the snow and the forecast saying that it feels like -28 outside when you get locked out of a building you are supposed to be playing a gig at)
1. Last night we played Brahms Symphony 4 (which if you don't know is BEAUTIFUL) and I got to play principal oboe so it was pretty fantastic :) Also you should listen to the last movement while you read this because it is intense. Also there are oboe solos. And a crazy awesome flute one.
2. Even better? My mom came up to see me! She came up on Thursday, but she's leaving today :( We still managed to have a lot of fun even if we didn't get to spend much time outside what with the snow and all.
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Yay my mom visited!
And then there's the package part of Christmas!
3. I'm SO EXCITED!! So I really needed a new Physicians Formula mascara and for some ungodly reason they don't seem to sell it ANYWHERE in this gigantic city! I mean come ON! It's a drugstore (but fantastic) makeup brand. It shouldn't be that hard. But I found a really great deal on iHerb.com - you get $5 off on your first purchase, and if you spend $20 you get free shipping! So I also got an eyeliner brush, which I've needed for ages, tea tree oil (my favourite brand!) which I have also needed for ages but haven't been willing to pay three times the price of the oil in shipping, two lipsticks, and Physicians Formula organic mascara....all for a grand total of $21!!
4. Speaking of the lipsticks...they're E.L.F. Essentials and only cost $2 each (I think at Elf they might be $1, but I needed something to get me to $20 in shipping, so this is worth it since it was less than my shipping cost would have been). And you know what? They're fantastic! They feel great and moisturizing, I love the colors I chose (Charming and Sociable), and when they wear off they look like lip stains (which I LOVE!)
I'm wearing Sociable in this one. It's actually a little brighter and pinker, it looks a bit dark and red in this. This comes from being too lazy to replace my lightbulbs)
6. AND THEN!!!! I got my books from my partner on CG Swaps! Erin has been really fun to e-mail with (and also she has awesome taste in books). Hopefully she'll get the books I sent her soon, but I'm betting that won't happen for another few days. So! The big reveal!
First of all, she packaged her books like this and it's adorable!
So the goals were:
#1. A book you love: Daughter of Smoke & Bone - OH MY GOD I am so freaking crazy excited about this!!! It's been on my wishlist for ages and everyone keeps talking about it and I want to read it AND NOW I HAVE IT!! I'm excited about all the books that I got, but I'm super excited about this one. Just in case you couldn't tell.
#2. A book you haven't read: Delirium - I absolutely fell in love with Before I Fall, so when I saw the concept of this book I knew I needed to get my hands on it. Yayyyyyy!
#3. A book your partner wants: The Darkest Minds - I have heard so many good things about this book! Erin hasn't read it either, so hopefully we'll both love it and can fangirl over it together!
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Did any of you do the CGSwaps? Was your week as awesome as mine was? (I hope so!)
That book swap sounds like fun. You got some great books! I loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone! It's a beautiful story. The Darkest Minds is still on my wishlist but I guess I won't resist that much longer :D
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot of fun! We have similar tastes too, so pretty much as soon as I saw her wishlist I knew what I was getting her haha. I can not WAIT to get to read these books!
ReplyDeleteLove this! And you got some fun books! I didn't love Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but I feel it is right up your alley. I did like Delirium and The Darkest Minds a lot though! The Darkest Minds starts off a little weird and slow (IMO), but gets really fun in the last 2/3. And I thought Never Fade was even better. Have fun reading!!
ReplyDeleteHow awesome that you got to spend time with your mom! Mine lives far away so I miss her. I used to swap a lot of books and crafts based on books, it's so fun to get mail packages full of surprises. :)
ReplyDeletePS--random thing, I really like the conductor featured in that Brahms clip. I always keep an eye out for pieces he's involved in.
Wendy @ The Midnight Garden
It was AWFUL! It was with my quintet and we had to carry big metal music stands around, which you know...-28 degree weather realllly doesn't make your hands feel good! I have never figured out foundation, I have a hard enough time finding a concealer that matches me. My skin color changes pretty dramatically from summer to winter (probably because I think cold weather is the work of the devil and refuse to go outside). But I'm always optimistic about make up, one day your perfect match will find you! (In fact that might even be more exciting than a soul mate).
ReplyDeleteI do that too!! I am the WORST about reading endings! I'm going to have to try extra hard to resist now. And it sounds like I'm going to want to request the sequel from the library asap! We're usually on the same page about pet peeves in books...so I think I have an idea of what is likely...and that makes me sad. But we'll see. You're right though I'll probably know exactly what you're talking about haha
Yeah I don't get to see her anymore really :(. I was living 8 hours away, but now I'm living a not even remotely drivable distance away, so I'm lucky that I managed to see her three times in the past year!
ReplyDeleteTBTB Secret Santa was the first time I did any sort of swap and I've decided I quite like doing these! Although my bank account is telling me I need to take a chill pill on that now haha
I LOVE Kleiber! This is definitely one of my favourite recordings of this piece. His recording of the Prelude to Act III of Tristan and Isolde is one of the most haunting things I've ever heard. I'm so surprised/excited that you know who he is!!
It looks like you had a great swap!! I was well matched with my partner, too. I love how Erin packaged your books!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on getting to be principle oboe! That's awesome! (and Brahms is such a great choice for woodwinds).
ReplyDeleteDaughter of Smoke & Bone is a book I adored, so I'm super excited that you'll get a chance to read it!
I love the idea of you and Erin co-fangirling over the same book....how fun! :D
They were so cute! I felt so grungy in comparison with how I sent my books haha
ReplyDeletewww.shebecameabutterfly.net
ReplyDeleteYour swap partner rocked it….great books! YAY! I'm a wee bit late to the party, and you had a very good week!
ReplyDeleteLinking from Books 'n' Bloggers Swap,
Ricki Jill
Gah! Disqus is letting me down again! Just saw you left this haha. Yeah it was a really great week and I got so many awesome books!!
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot of fun - thanks for hosting it! I will likely be joining your next one as well :)
ReplyDeleteIt was really, really fantastic. Thanks for stopping by the blog! If you see this, leave me a link to yours so I can go check it out!
ReplyDeleteI loooooove Brahms. Every time I hear one of his symphonies I'm like...oooh this is my favourite! But then I hear another and it's...wait no THIS is my favourite! I seriously love them all haha. This quarter's been great because now we're doing Verdi's Falstaff and I get to play principal on that too!
ReplyDeleteIf you see this comment, leave me a link to your blog so I can check it out!
We'll be doing another in June so keep an eye out if you're interested in joining us next time! :D
ReplyDeleteGreat package! Thanks for joining us!
ReplyDeleteI loved Before I Fall too! Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteActually, it starts off with a bang, but I just felt slightly disoriented. There is a lot of info that comes at you right away. Also, I didn't love Ruby, so I wasn't very invested in her story. But the secondary characters definitely make up for it. I LOVE Chubs!
ReplyDeleteHopefully you're right! I really want to love them all! Luckily for The Darkest Minds, I'm pretty patient when it comes to pacing. I don't forgive everything, but the middle/ending is more important than the beginning for me. I'll let you know what I think when I finish them all!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had fun, well, you know, except or the getting locked out part. (I'm not laughing, swear. Though, it sounds like something that would happen to me :P) On the makeup side, I can never find a good colour foundation, seriously, I bought a Rimmel Match Perfect and oh no IT LIES. LIES I TELL YOU. The only book I've read out of those is The Darkest Minds, which is really good for the most part, but went a bit downhill towards the end for me, because 1) Cruel ending (which of course, I totally looked at before actually reading it.) and 2) There's this one scene that's not portrayed well at all, and is just kind of pushed to the side and it's NOT okay. (you'll see). Okay, I'm shutting up before I get mad at it all over again.
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