I Can't Put the Book Down....

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I was inspired to cook with Julie & Julia, I lost myself & found myself in Eat Pray Love, and even enjoyed the circus in Water for Elephants  but now I'm in the South reading "The Help".   What a real book and a real story. I got lost sometimes in the others but this one...I CAN'T PUT IT DOWN! I almost bought the book a while back but declined and then suddenly on a Target line there it was miss placed and I had to buy it. That was only a week and  half ago and I'm already on page 350. =)

I have a cheesy habit of assigning book characters to movie actress or people from my daily life so it's easier to read. I picture them in my head as I read and I think it helps get me more involved in the story. For "The Help" it was the easiest thing ever because I think everyone they picked for the movie is DEAD ON right! I haven't been this excited for a movie in a while...I think since Inception. Can't wait for August 10th! 

Here's the trailer in case you missed it!

The story is about the African-American maids in the early 1960's deep into the segregation times of the U.S. South.  One lady named Skeeter (Emma Stone) decides she wants to write about these women working for white family and it's scandalous from day 1. I asked my Mom about all of this and she was too little to remember all of this but she remembers watching Martin Luther King Jr. speak at Washington. Reading this book you literally feel like you stepped foot in Mississippi in 1962. You get so into the ladies' stories that you are crying, cheering, laughing, and deeply touched by this novel. I have friends of all races, all religions, and all colors and I'm flabbergasted about how the world used to be. It's almost unbelievable. 

I'm a lil late to work so I gotta go. "The Help" is probably one of the best books I will ever read and I'm still not even close to down. I'm going to go enjoy the conclusion of the great story. It's the "To Kill a Mockingbird" of modern times...really it is.

Have you read "The Help"? What did you think?

Stolen Moments Have Taken Tuesday Hostage!!

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Every week I started doing a Stolen Moments post on Sunday of Weekend Moments I never want to forget. It has taken Tuesday hostage and is not bargaining. Oh well I’ll just have to let it take over…=)

Here were my Weekend Stolen Moments…

~ Girls vs. Boys Bowling Night…CJ and I actually combined the couples we hang out with and it was a SUCCESS!!! Sometimes combining unlike people doesn’t turn out so good. It was a relief that it worked! Also going bowling was pretty awesome when you haven’t done it in a while. ~

~CJ telling me he was so proud of me with trying so hard to get a new job and he was proud to have me as his girlfriend. I’m proud of him too. ~

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~I got to see my friend Danielle who I hadn’t seen in OVER A YEAR! She gave me a mug with the best quote ever:

"Good friends are like Stars, you don't always see them, but you know they are always there."

Totally true! It was awesome to catch up and reminiscence about old times! I miss her so much!~

~I saw The Adjustment Bureau with CJ on Sunday afternoon! I liked it!! It wasn’t ground-breaking but you were eager to see each next scene. It’s about fate, choices, and love. If your looking for a light date movie with a lil action/suspense I recommend it! Emily Blunt danced beautifully in it.~

~ I fell in love once again. This time with a machine that makes my coffee in 40 seconds. My Keurig is my new best toy ever!!! =) ~

~ Oh yeah I picked up “Water for Elephants” by Sarah Gruen. It’s very good! I’m about a 100 pages in and enjoying it immensely. I’m just past where all the characters are developed so I’m looking forward to seeing how the story pans out before the movie!! ~

What were your Stolen Moments this Weekend?

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Finally I Ate, I Prayed, and I Loved...

Finally it’s Friday!! Yeah!! So many good things have happened this week that it just whizzed right by! Thankfully, hehe. Finally too amongst the madness I finished the book, “Eat Pray Love”. I know it was big in the blog-o-sphere months ago but as usual I’m the last one to catch on. With little time to read I’m shocked I finished it at all, but I will say that it was very enjoyable read indeed.

So HOW did this little book become such a World-Wide, “OMG YOU HAVE TO READ IT” book? Here is what I think happened…

What do most people dream about? Traveling. What does the main character get to do? Travel to Italy, India, and Bali. There you go. The mystery is out. She finds love with a very sexy man from Bali with an Australian accent too after she had sort of sworn off men! Bam! Historic book magic. She finds her true self through meditation and beats a depression I think we all have known before…when you have to leave a relationship with someone you love because it just isn’t working out. Also, what’s really nice about the book is her realness. The rose-colored glasses are off and it’s all on the table. It’s refreshing…

You also learn a few cultural facts about Italy, India, and Bali that really can baffle your mind. Did you know the people of Bali are only named 4 names? If you read this book you’ll find out more…

Some people thought the book was selfish but I think she redeems herself within the last pages in Bali. The book is about one person’s changing life so frankly it’s going to be all about her. Others thought she was wrong to leave her husband, but to each is own. I will admit she does get a lil repetitive in her describing why she is so depressed and sometimes you wish you could shake her and say, “SNAP OUT OF IT” but no worries certain key characters slap the reality back into her.

If your looking for a book to escape in for a while definitely cross over into her world. =P “Attraverismo”.

Well “Let’s Cross Over” into your mind for a while…

What have you been dreaming of doing lately?

In my new found path of change I’m curious…

{Don’t Forget to enter my SHABBY APPLE DRESS Giveaway! Ends Monday!! Click HERE to Enter}

"If you knew my story word for word had all of my history would you go along with someone like me…"

What a successful start to the week!!! I’m on a roll. I went to the gym, saved some money by doing my own manicure, & talked CJ about just chilling out. I love the days where we just snuggle on the couch & watch our TV shows. It doesn’t always have to be a big production. Anywho there is a roaring storm outside now in skies of NY so I’m going to brief today with my 30 days of awesomness. Rolling…

“30 Day Blog Journal”

Day #4: Your Favorite Book

1.       The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

 When the movie came out I fell in love with this story & had to have to more. At the time I was in love with a man obsessed with time travel sort of speak. He loved a certain movie called Back to the Future. In this heart-wrenching story this woman named Clare was picked by an accidental time travel of a man into a meadow when she was a lil girl. The movie btw is the G-rated version of the story. The book broke my heart, rebuild it, sliced through it, but then I came out realizing stuff about my future with that idiot I thought I loved. I’d be waiting forever for another chance to have a moment with him never knowing when it would happen. I wanted to be someone’s big event & be able to cherish it whenever I wanted. That life lesson I really needed.

2.       Dracula by Bram Stoker

 You would think most of the story would be told by Jonathan Harker & Mina Harker or even Reinfield. Nope. The story is actually mostly written as diary entries about Dracula by the drug addict Dr. Seward. Name doesn’t ring a bell huh? That’s what I thought. He is in the movie version as a man going after Mina’s friend Lucy, but he’s such a big part of the book. The book is ghoulish & dark but it grabs a hold of you & doesn’t let go til the last few words. Very good. I recommend it for a Halloween reading treat! =)

Yeah I know that was two but I also love the books, “Portrait of Jennie” written by Robert Nathan & the “The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver. 

“30 Days of Truths”

Day 04 - Something you have to forgive someone for.

I have 3 friends who in the past year have done some real childlish things. One won’t stop to see me when she passes where I live right by, one will blurt out anything even if its your personal business to an open room of people, & one is always late & won’t let you know what’s really going on with her. I’m not completely grown up myself so I have to forgive this caddy childishness. I’m trying to forgive my ex for being a child too. People think when you turn 18 you’re an adult. Sometimes that’s not the case. I’m not saying that you can’t still go play lazer tag at 25 years old but people need to grow up but it happens to everyone differently. I hope they grow up more in the future. 

Alrighty before this storm knocks out my power, goodnight everyone! =)

Title of Post from Song: "Young Folks" by Peter, Bjorn, & John.

Yeah! I met one of Bravo's Real Housewives of New Jersey!!!

Yup! I got to meet Mrs. Teresa Guidice. Now for those of you who don't know I live 5 minutes from the border of New Jersey & about 20 minutes from where they actually film Bravo's "Real Housewives of New Jersey". The TV show premiered last Monday & I'm hooked once again. I don't know maybe it's because I'm Italian? Or that I know the places they go? Or is that they have sooooo much drama in their lives that I'm absolutely hooked!! =)



Teresa was so nice in person that I'm still in a state of shock. The bookstore called "Bookends" hosts authors to come & sign their books. That's how I got to meet Molly Ringwald. Teresa was late but her daughter apparently had a tooth pulled, so she really is a normal lady with normal problems. I wish she had flipped a table for us, but she was all smiles & "Love Love Love's".

The best part about the experience was my mom came with me. The world stops at 10pm on Monday's when the show comes on. She loves it too. So it was a nice memory we both will have together. Teresa was nice to both of us. She was like "Are you on my Facebook?" I was like No? then she was like, "Omg Add me. I'm wearing a red dress in the profile pic!". I was on Cloud Nine. She's my favorite housewife!! Her book is adorable too. There are pictures of her family & soo many recipes. However I feel like I gained 10 pounds just reading it. I recommend checking it out in the bookstores.

This week has been a whirlwind, bad & good. That will be tomorrow's post. For now I leave you with more Teresa pictures!! =)

This week on Melanie's Randomness...Go Go not Cry Cry

This week is going to be very interesting. I got some different things to do all across the board. It’s funny how there can be nothing for weeks then Bam! Things get going! So I’m going to get on that tea-cup ride & keep twirling… Here it goes…

Monday: I got my doctor’s appointment to figure out what I’m going to do with the fibroid breast issue. The potential of it growing has me worried about waiting to deal with it. I will be speaking with my doctor of my options. I…I’m still not sure about my decision but I want to make sure I know all the facts before I have another surgery. I just got keep calm. I trust my doctor. He removed my gall bladder last October & actually held my hand before I went under the anesthesia. That simple gesture of kindness made me feel like it was going to be okay. It was, so I trust him with his judgment. Okay…now for the good stuff.


The Real Housewives of New Jersey are BACK!!! There are very few TV shows I’m addicted to. That is one of them!! I actually live about 20 minutes from where the show is filmed. One of my bosses knows Caroline well. All I can say is that they act like real actual Jersey girls. The accents, the flipping tables, the real-life drama, and where they go do things are allllll real. I love love love them!

They premiere tomorrow night on Bravo @ 10pm E.S.T.

Tuesday: FINALLY I will get to back to my Writer’s Group. It’s my turn for my zombie novel chapter to be reviewed by the group. I used to be nervous having my work reviewed being that I’ve had no real training writing a novel but they were very constructive with their criticism & they all were like “Can you please write some more?” hehe. I’m really excited for it!!

Wednesday: Last Wednesday I got to meet Molly Ringwald. This weekend I will get to meet Teresa Giudice. Yes the table flipper herself!!!


She will be signing her book, “The Skinny Italian”. I'm also going to try to get my hands on a toy table to maybe get her to sign it!! hehe. My mom & I will both be going because she’s addicted to the TV show as well. She is a true Jersey girl too. I hope the bookstore isn’t mobbed!! =)

I don’t know what’s going down the rest of week but I’m trying to keep busy. There is an issue, a boy issue that this week is important to him & I’m resisting the urge to call him. He’s not chasing after me & I think wayyy too much time has gone by since we’ve spoke. I’m devastated, not going to lie. It…I haven’t gotten over it enough yet. It’s his birthday & I should be going to a concert with him but I’m not. My replacement is. I wish I was going...Ack whatever…

Anywho…this week should be interesting…Stay tuned everyone. =)

YEAH!! I got to meet Molly Ringwald!!

Finally a lil sunshine in the past few days!! Yes the title of this post is for real. I met Ms. Sixteen Candles herself!! Molly Ringwald!! I have a secret desire to meet every famous person I can. I love seeing the real people who I love quote time & time again. Molly Ringwald is one of those people. Her movies in the 80's defined a generation. I may have seen them in the 90's but they still had an impact on me. I wish the guy in the red car would show up on my birthday & kiss me while we're sitting on my dining room table. I always wanted to jam out to music in my library & make my own pink clothes. =)


Today I got to meet one of those Movie legends. She is awesome in person. Her book is called, "Getting the Pretty Back". Its about her loving herself @ her 40 year old self who is not 16 anymore & how she got the pretty back in herself. It's about her as a mother & its a real story...no one else wrote it, just her. She even has her Guide to life in it...how to have a diet without trying...how to be pretty without the make-up & the cameras rolling. I can't wait to read it.


She read parts from her book to us & then took questions. I actually somehow got up the nerve to raise my hand and ask her this,

"Do you still wear a lot of pink?"
To which she answered, "Can you see my feet? I have pink socks on.". It was awesome. See she is wearing pink socks!!! =)


She thanked us all for being fans & said she was absolutely amazed that she is still a role model today. The only thing was that she wouldn't pose for pics but there was a lot of people but I did get my booked signed & my cousin snapped a shot of me from behind as she signed the book. I'm smiling. I'm happy. I'm going to learn how to get my pretty back too! =) Here are the rest of the photos. Til Tomorrow...

The Storm...

"He said there's a storm coming in." - Gas Station Attendant
"I know" - Sarah Conor, Terminator
Today it rained in buckets. It's still raining actually. I can hear the wind outside. Everytime there's a storm I think of the movie, "Terminator" & those last lines above of the movie. The first two movies are my favorites. I can't imagine what I would do if I knew the future. If some hot guy showed up one day & told me my son would save the world. I'd probably freak. hehe. In case anyone didn't know, Terminator Salvation came out yesterday so it's in stores.

Hmmm...Storms. I've been a storm of emotion lately. One thing after another is reminding how things used to be. For example, 3 Back to the future references in one day. Don't ask. Trust me. Then there is a text that I recieved that I opened with hope that maybe it was, "Hey we haven't seen each other in a month. We should chill." But no. It was a text of "We should chill soon." When I wrote, "Yeah that would be cool. Miss ya." I of course got no response. I hate wasting perfectly good and meaningful I miss yous. Sigh. I knew better. At least tho I said it. I was honest.

This is a snippet I wrote months ago, but I don't think anyone read it, so here it is again. It works so perfect in this moment, yet again...

I've mentioned before of a writer named Kate Chopin. Ever hear of her? The name may ring a bell if you ever looked at the summer reading list in high school or happened to read one of her stories. She was so pivotal in the late 1800's and her stories were published in Vogue Magazine. My favorite short story of her is called "The Storm". When i first read it, I got chills. Its about a woman named Calixta who has a husband and a small boy who go out one day to the market, leave her home, and then the storm hits. The storm is in the shape of a man named Alcee. I still can't get over that I was reading a love scene from 1898 that was more full of passion and love and sexier then many of the erotic novels of today. Calixta lets go of her life in the arms of this man she had known in the past as the storm rages on around them. I often thought that if my Brown-eyed Mr. Big (The Mess) and I ever got back to some semblance of how we were it would be a storm. Well it was a storm again but only for a lil while. It was kinda like Sarah Conor & Reese in Terminator...a lil bit.

"As she glanced up at him the fear in her liquid blue eyes had given place to a drowsy gleam that unconsciously betrayed a sensuous desire. He looked down into her eyes and there was nothing for him to do but to gather her lips in a kiss." -"The Storm"
It's a very short story and it's actually a sequel to another of Chopin's work. I recommend reading the story if you ever feel a lil caged. Feeling that there are walls all around you and your trying so hard to look over them or break free from them. I found the Kate Chopin information via Kate Chopin. The short stories are also on that site.

Oh well. There will be a storm on Saturday because a mutual friend of the Mess's & I is having a birthday party. It's supposed to snow too on that day. Great, but I have to go. The mutual friend is too good to me not to go. It's going to be weird. I've been in these weird positions before. Have to suck it up & be there for a friend regardless of the Ex that will be watching my every move or not caring that I'm there which hurts just as equally. I don't know. Too early to say. So I got 3 days to get over this guy. I work good on deadlines. It's motivation. Okay Starting now...

The Time Traveler's Wife.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is one of the best books I've ever read. I love to read but this is the first book I've completed in awhile. I'm one of those people that when I read books I will basically play it like a movie in my head. I'm very visual. I actually saw the movie first so I had good images for the read. This book places you in a world that your desperately waiting to find out what happens at the turn of each page. She describes the scenes so nicely that you really don't have that moment where your like, "Oh crap I just read 3 pages of nothing and can't remember what I just read, then have to re-read it." Not in this book at all.

Here's a brief non-spoiler synopsis of the beginning:
There is this boy named Henry, who one day finds out that he can time-travel within the time frame of his life. An older version of this boy starts to appear to a little girl named Clare playing in a field. He sees this little girl grow up right before him but little does she know that she is married to him in the future & when he leaves he is going to her. Little Clare begins to fall in love with this older gentleman that keeps showing up naked in her parents's estate field. But it's not that easy to meet the man of your dreams and have him be there always & love you always. She meets the present day Henry when she is 20 years old and he has no memory of her at all. Of course not. This present day Henry doesn't know her because he has never met her in the present. From here is where the story truly begins.


There is emotion, devastation, pure love, waiting, heart breaks, joys, and just so much more. Your happy for Clare & Henry one minute and then the next your screaming at Henry for being an ass. You might cry and some of the story may leave a cold shudder upon you. HONESTLY DON'T EXPECT A CLICHE' STORYBOOK ROMANCE where two people meet, there's a little drama, they sleep together, fight, and get back together. NOPE! You get to read how Clare grows up and anyone who has ever make believed that they had a secret boyfriend will love some of it.

I recommend this book if you really want to get lost in a story for a while. It's cleverly laid out so that you get Clare's reactions and Henry's reactions in separate diaryish sections. It's very realistic even though Henry Time Travels. Niffenegger can write emotion and true emotion well.

Perhaps I like this book because Clare reminds me of myself. This book deals with her finding herself while waiting for her life to make sense and come together. Yup, that's me. I seem to always be waiting for the Mess to come back to me. He leaves, comes back, leaves, and comes back. He also...Get this...has a DELOREAN!!! A delorean is the car from Back to the Future where Marty McFly time travels. I couldn't make this up if I tried. lol. Well him & I just can't seem to tell each other who we feel or not feel so it really is appearing to me to be a wicked game going on. I love him & *sigh* would wait for him to love me. I just don't know if he does or ever will? I think I fear knowing the answer because it could mean to the end to him & me. Clare waited. She waited her whole life. Also in the book Clare drives a Honda Civic. So do I. Henry gets sick when Clare drives. So does the Mess. Clare's hair is always a mess. So is mine. lol. Eerie Coincidence. The Mess is really going to drive me insane. He was back for a lil while last week & I have no idea when he'll come back again, if he even does.

"I wouldn't change one second of our life together." - Clare
The following is purely just my opinion. If you read the book first, then watch the movie you may feel like they watered down everything, stripped the story of rawness & realism that the book projects so loudly. If you watch the movie then read the book, the book is a bit more of a brutal slice of life but you may enjoy the book more because it's more details & you can really see how Henry & Clare felt about things. I like the movie for in it's own way but I enjoyed the book so much more.


Today my office talked non-stop all day long, which made my day seem longer than ever. Even when I was taking orders over the phone they whispered which was worse. I wish each one of those boys one day works in a hair salon and gets to listen to female gossip 24/7. That would be justice. One of the callers to place an order for this site I work for too actually asked me if I knew the Real Housewives of New Jersey. LOL! I've never seen them but I live 20 minutes from where it was filmed and where the ladies live. It was hysterical.

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What else that made my day was I received my Postcard from the lovely lady, Nicolette that runs the blog, Simply Collete!! If you click here you can read her blog, Simply Colette. Her photographs are beautiful, she's full of inspiration & talent, and her tales from her travels make you wanna book a flight tonight and go! =) I'm going to put the postcard in a collage that I can't wait to make!!

The water is soo blue. I want to go, now. It rained all day so seeing the Fort Lauderdale beach made me want summer again.

Btw...Where did September go? It evaporated....

"He said there's a stom coming in."

"He said there's a stom coming in." - Gas Station attendant
"I know" [sighs] - Sarah Conor, Terminator (1984)
I took that picture from inside the back conference room at my job right before the mini storm we had today. It looks like a face. What the hell? But it's like the face of a skull. It's creepy, really creepy. I don't like thunderstorms. They scare me, even though I'm indoors. Perhaps it's because it's soo loud that I fear it somehow got me but then i catch my breath. I was okay with them for a while due to Rip Van Winkle's story I used to say the angels were bowling or something like that but then i grew up.


This got me thinking of one of my favorite authors. Kate Chopin. The name may ring a bell if you ever looked at the summer reading list in high school or happened to read one of her stories. She was so pivotal in the late 1800's and her stories were published in Vogue Magazine. My favorite short story of her is called "The Storm". When i first read it, I got chills. Its about a woman named Calixta who has a husband and a small boy who go out one day to the market, leave her home, and then the storm hits. The storm is in the shape of a man named Alcee. I still can't get over that I was reading a love scene from 1898 that was more full of passion and love and sexy as hell then any of the erotic novels of today. Calixta lets go of her life in the arms of this man she had known in the past as the storm rages on around them. I often thought that if my Mr. Big and I ever got back to some semblance of how we were it would be a storm. Well it was a storm again but only for a lil while. Maybe him and I we'll have yet another storm...some day...

"As she glanced up at him the fear in her liquid blue eyes had given place to a drowsy gleam that unconsciously betrayed a sensuous desire. He looked down into her eyes and there was nothing for him to do but to gather her lips in a kiss." -"The Storm"
It's a very short story and it's actually a sequel to another of Chopin's work. I recommend reading the story if you ever feel a lil caged. Feeling that there are walls all around you and your trying so hard to look over them or break free from them. It has passion, lust, and that sigh of I just read a story that left a lil mark on me. Her story "Desiree's Baby" is also a moving read and very shocking with her twist of words.

I found the Kate Chopin information via Kate Chopin. The short stories are also on that site.

But on a positive note, I'm trying so hard to stay positive with things, I did see a rainbow when I drove to the mall tonight. Its hard to see in the picture but it was there. It was my lil ray of sunshine of the day. I had to stop and try to take a picture. And this lil deer also showed up at my job. I swear my job isn't to impersonate Snow White with the animls too. =)


It's faint but it's there.


I'm tired. It was a long week. Too Too long. Hope everyone has a restful weekend and be careful if your on the East Coast of U.S. for the Hurricane.

The Time Traveler's Wife.

I am SOO Uber excited to go see this movie. I haven't been this excited to see a movie since The Dark Knight. I have a total soft spot for the romance movies. It looks so cute and meaningful and I think I need a good cry. Ya know that chick flick cry that actually makes you feel good? Even watching the trailer Im crying. I'm a hopeless romantic and I crave it oh soo much. I hope it has a good ending. I really do. *Fingers Crossed* I hope she waits for him to come back and be with her. I love this idea because it seems like I'm painfully waiting for things in my life to come and Rachel McAdams is in that position too. I'm waiting for that turning point, that moment where I smile and it all makes sense.

Here's the trailer for The Time Traveler's Wife if you have not caught it.




I wanna be someone's big event.


It reminds me of this book and movie I've read and seen called Portrait of Jennie by Robert Nathan. Its one of my favorite books ever. Its a story about a painter who's a little lost in his life and he sees a little girl one day playing and he talks to her and she immediately falls in love with him, then she disappears...BUT! Then he sees her a few days later again and she's ice skating but she's much older...of course he then falls in love with her and everytime he sees her she's older til she gets to be his age. And he paints her picture but there is a heart-wrenching twist that I won't spoil. It's such a good but sad story. The movie is in black and white but oh it doesn't matter. The book is a fast read too. If they remade the movie I would give anything to play Jennie. Maybe one day...

Okay I gotta go get ready to meet Erin shes another one of my best friends. I can't wait. I hope they wind up making it work...I truly do.