Summer Reads {2014}

It seems to me that Summer is for books, what Thanksgiving through January is to movies.  I love the  summer book season!

Here are some of the books that have just been released, or are about to release, that I will be reading this summer...

I just love Emily.  I love all her books.  I have attended three of her book signings, and will attend another on June 3rd.  I always have such fun!  Oh, and have I mentioned we follow each other on twitter?  This new book is out today, so get your copy.  I'm currently stalking Fedex tracking for progress on my copy!

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Amazon

Jennifer Weiner is another favorite author.  She has a new book coming out on June 17th.  I've only been able to attend one of her book signings, but I hope that when she releases her book tour dates, I'm able to attend another one.

B&N

Amazon

I've read all of Jane Green's books as well.   This book has been out for a couple of months, and I can't believe I haven't read it yet.  I will be reading it soon.

B&N

Amazon

I have read several of Mary Kay Andrews books.  They are always a quick & fun read, and I like that they are always set in the south.  This one comes out June 3rd.

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Amazon

I read Daisy Goodwin's "The American Heiress" and enjoyed it a lot.  It was very Downton-esque.  "The Fortune Hunter" comes out on July 29th, and it sounds like it will be a good one too.

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Amazon

I recently checked out "The House Girl" from the library.  I also loaned it to my friend Lisa while I had it, and we both enjoyed it.  There are several stories woven into this book, but the main characters are : (1) Lina Sparrow, a first year lawyer at a big firm in NYC, who gets tasked with finding a perfect plaintiff for a big reparations law suit the firm is working on; and (2) Josephine, who is the house girl for which the book is named, and her life on a plantation.  

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Amazon

I've read great things about "The Goldfinch", and of course it won the Pulitzer Prize this year.  I also checked it out from the library and it is sitting on my nightstand, but I haven't read it yet.  Lisa read it and said she didn't enjoy it as much as "The House Girl" (thus it's still sitting on my nightstand!).  Actually, I just didn't want to dive into the 700+ pages of this, when I know that I'm going to get Emily's new book in a day or two and want to read it immediately.

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Amazon

So those are some of the books that I'm looking forward to reading this summer.  What about you?  Are there any that you are looking forward to reading that I have missed?

A Gift to Myself

When I teach an express class each semester, I like to buy myself a reward present for completing it without having to enter rehab for exhaustion during or after the class.  You know, that's a thing that celebrities do.  I'm pretty sure in the normal world, that's called a vacation, but I digress.

Anyway, it's really not that bad.  I think the dread of giving up 3 weekends, and teaching 17 hours over the course of less than 48 hours, is the worst part.  I've been teaching the last 2 weekends, and today I start my 3rd and final weekend.

This semester, the express class happened to coincide with the end of the regular semester, which means I've also been pretty busy wrapping up things for my other two regular semester classes.  Add all that to the past 3 weeks of my actual full-time job practicing law being insanely busy, and well, I feel like I deserve a reward.

I usually like to buy myself something that I might not purchase on a regular basis.  I have bought Tory Burch Revas, Rayban Aviators, etc.  Nothing crazy expensive, like that Prada purse I lust after, but definitely more spendy items than I buy without some serious consideration.  (also note:  I still don't usually bite the bullet unless I am able to get these things at a discount)

This is my last weekend of class, but I rewarded myself a little early this year.  I caught some Tory Burch Miller sandals on sale a couple of weeks ago, so I rewarded myself with a gold pair.

Prior to this, I had only tried on the patent leather ones, and wasn't really in love with them.

But these are a pebbled leather, and I LOVE THEM!

So Comfy!

I have decided that I think I would really like a silver or pewter pair now.  

I mean, if you have gold and silver, they would go with just about every outfit you own, right?

But then I saw this color on Tory's website... Rose Gold!

Be Still My Heart!

 Of course, they are ridiculously expensive for what they are.  I am under no illusion that they are anything but overpriced.  But I am going to be watching for a new sale to hit.  Oh, and I might need to sign up for some additional Weekend Express classes ASAP!

A Summer Tote

Starting early this year, I saw this L.K. Bennett ad in all my magazines month in and month out...

Immediately, I felt a strong pull toward that English Seaside inspired tote!

I went to their website and it was nowhere to be found.  I looked week after week, and finally took to twitter...

(by the way, it is not named Lucy)

I waited impatiently patiently, and finally I found them on their UK website, but they weren't on the US website.  I also called to the Texas LK Bennett store in Houston.  They knew less than I did for whatever reason, but they mentioned that they were getting lots of calls of inquiry about it.

So what's a girl to do?  Take to the twitter again, of course...

I started to worry that if I waited for them to be released in the US, they would sell out before I got one, so I sucked it up, decided I wanted it bad enough to pay shipping from the UK, and placed an order from their UK website.

Truth be told, I wasn't even really sure what the bag cost, or how much the shipping was, since it was all priced out in pounds instead of dollars.  But I did what I often did when going to school in London, or traveling over there... I doubled it and decided that I was okay paying that, so I placed the order.  

Shockingly, I placed the order on a Tuesday, and it was delivered on Friday morning!  Amazing!

It actually was shipped from the UK and got to my house in 24 hours!

front

back

(sorry all those were iPhone pics, and bad ones at that!)

A better picture

It came with a cute little post card too!

I'm so happy to have it.  I think it's such a super cute Spring/Summer tote.  Oh, and I was correct.  Out of all three, the one I got was sold out instantly once it hit the US market!  So glad I paid for the shipping, and so sad I didn't order several to ebay!