The Hunger Games

I finally gave in and read The Hunger Games. I knew that I wanted to read it at some point, but when I was randomly at a Walmart and saw it, I immediately decided, why not now? I read it in about 2 days and absolutely LOVED it. It was the first time in a while that I’ve read a story where I didn’t have any clue where it was going. I loved the premise of a dystopian future that pits teenagers against each other in a fight to the death, and I loved the fierce main character, Katniss. I just ordered the other 2 books in the series on Amazon; I hope they get here really quickly. I can’t wait to read them!!

New Birchbox!

I just got my new Birchbox in the mail! It contains:
1. Juicy Couture fragrance sample
2. Miracle Skin Transformer Concealer
3. VMV Hypoallergenics Re:everything Eye Serum (for undereyes)
4. Zoya Nail Polish in Megan (a gorgeous lavender-gray color)
5. ‘wichcraft Granola
The great thing about Birchbox is that you get a chance to try out products that you would otherwise never get a chance to. Also, I find that I’m rarely ever able to finish a full-sized anything anyway, so these smaller sized samples are perfect for me.

Shopaholic

I just finished Mini Shopaholic, the 6th in the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. At this point in the series, I feel like it’s getting a little stale. It was fun at first; I could totally identify with Becky, buying things with fantasies of how it would change your life, magically make you into the person you want to be. But now, 6 books in, it feels like she should have become a little more mature, and not keep making the same mistakes she always has. If another book in this series is written, I’m not sure I’d read it. They’re a fun read, but I feel like this story has run its course.

Predator

Last night, my boyfriend and I managed to wrangle up 12 people who wanted to see a double feature of Predator and Predator 2 at the Egyptian. I’d never seen either of those movies before, but they were on my unwritten list of movies I should probably see at some point.

It was kind of amazing how different the 2 movies are, even with the same premise of an alien hunting down humans with a single-minded focus. I thought that maybe it would be like The Hangover, where the sequel is basically a retread of the original. The first one takes place in the jungle; the Predator is hunting down Arnold Schwarzenegger’s team of commandos. The second one takes place in 1980s Los Angeles, with Danny Glover as the cop who’s trying to figure out what’s going on with this invisible alien terrorizing the city. I haven’t seen any of the other Predator movies, though. I guess I should, now!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I read the novel The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo after my mother found it too distasteful to continue reading. Who’d have guessed, but I also found it to be a little too much. I generally don’t like mysteries anyway, so there was little that the book could do to redeem itself. I just couldn’t really get into it at all.

And it turned out, the movie was much the same. It was okay; can any movie by David Fincher really not be? But there’s still just too much researching for it to be very exciting to me, just like in the book. I did think it was interesting that they kept it in Sweden, since there was already a Swedish version of the movie that took place there. I feel like most adaptations would have moved the location to New York or something. So it was good, at least, that they kept it true to the book.

Wicked

On Sunday, I saw Wicked at the Pantages Theater. Wicked is one of my all-time favorite musicals! All the songs are so great, and catchy enough that you’ll be singing them in your head for the next year. This was my 3rd viewing of this amazing musical. All 3 performances have had different actors in the lead roles, but they’ve all been fantastic and have each brought a little something different to their characters. And they’re all amazing singers, of course. This time, however, I had ridiculously good seats. The stage is expansive enough that really, any seat is good, but to be so close to the stage made it a whole new experience.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

I finally finished Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And Other Concerns by Mindy Kaling, only like a month after I finished half of it waiting in line to get it signed by the author. The book is a series of essays/stories about Mindy’s life growing up and now. She wrote a bit about the play she wrote with a friend based on Ben Affleck and Matt Damon when they were writing Good Will Hunting. It’s so crazy because I remember reading about that play years and years ago, and now here she is, acting on The Office and writing a book! I love books like this, humorous autobiographies in essay format. Her writing style is so engaging and funny; it’s having a conversation with your most hilarious friend.

Young Adult

One of my 101 in 1001 goals is to write about all the movies I see. I’m going to amend that to ‘in theaters’ because otherwise that’s really a lot.

I saw Young Adult over the weekend. I like a movie that has such an unlikeable protagonist who does not at all redeem herself by the end, as most movies with such a character would do. Charlize Theron was amazing, as usual, as was Patton Oswalt. I loved that it was framed by the Charlize character writing a young adult book. I’m pretty sure it was inspired by the Sweet Valley series, which Diablo Cody, who wrote this movie, is also writing a movie version of.

Ugh, I don’t write reviews of films very well. Maybe this goal is going to be a little challenging...

Birchbox

For Christmas, my awesome best friend Erin got me a subscription to Birchbox. Birchbox is this thing where you get a box every month filled with deluxe sized samples of beauty products. My package for December included:
1. Ahava Mineral Body Lotion
2. Amika Obliphica Hair Treatment
3. Blinc Eyeliner
4. Kate Spade New York - Twirl fragrance sample
5. Alex and Isabelle Classic Hair Tie
Not bad, right?! I’m really ridiculously excited to see what I get the other months!