Okay, I stole this idea from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? Since it's the holidays and everyone is annoyed but trying to appear happy, I figured I'd just be honest and tell you all what's making me angry! Or not angry, but slightly peeved.

1. I went to the dentist this morning and now that I'm [almost] twenty I have to start worrying about gum disease. Gum disease! My teeth have always been great. I never had braces and they line up perfectly. I've always loved going to the dentist because it's the only place I know I will receive at least three compliments. Well not anymore! I'm already missing teenagedom.
2. The word [h]istoric. All my life it has been historic. With an 'h.' A strong 'h.' Now I'm in college and suddenly there is not 'h.' Historic has become Istoric. And what's even worse is that I'm starting to pronounce it that way too!
3. The world glean. I had never heard the word glean until I came to college. Last semester it seemed to be a favorite word of all my professors. "What do you glean from this?" I glean that everyone is using the word glean to make themselves sound a lot smarter than they are. Glean sounds like something you would clean your windows with.
4. Split ends. I have never had a major problem with split ends. But then I decided to grow my hair back out and since I have to walk everywhere and Iowa City is fairly windy it is now a major problem. I comb my hair, I swear I do, but after a ten minute walk outside all of that hard work is down the drain. Yesterday I had to make a hair appointment at a completely different hair salon because I was so desperate to get my hair cut. This has had a great psychological effect on me. I am a creature of habit.
5. Sweatpants. I didn't bring any with me to school and began to regret it greatly when it started snowing.
6. Professors who say they will do things and don't follow through! One of my teachers said she put our portfolios in her mailbox. I walked all the way to her mailbox (fifteen minutes in the COLD!) and they were not there. I went back four hours later and they had magically appeared. Why didn't she just email us when she put them in there? I also had a professor who said he would email us a response to our papers. Grades have come in, two weeks have gone by, and still no response.

Lock of architectural hair

Contextual conformity

VIA «Figurative facade for a beauty salon»

Hey guys! I have got a very special guest poster today! Cassie, the main character from A Closer Look by Karen DelleCava is sharing with us what her first ever blog post would look like if she were to start a blog! It's pretty awesome! AND at the bottom of the post, after Cassie shares with us some of her experiences of what it's like being a teen who discovers they are losing all their hair, there is information from Karen about how you could win a seriously awesome prize pack! So, here's Cassie!
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Okay, queue the intro music to Lady GaGa’s Born This Way. Now, drum roll please... today is my first blog post on: baldteensrock.blogspot.com

If you’re visiting here today (I will check my stats later) you’ve probably figured out that I’m a teen without hair. My name is Cassie and I’m 14 years old. I have alopecia areata and over the passed six months, I lost all of my long hair. And the truth? It was the WORST, most suckful thing that ever happened to me and I cried-A LOT. I felt like I lost who I was, my entire identity.

But ya know what else? I’m still here and I ROCK! Yeah, I said it. I ROCK! I just want YOU to know that you rock, too, with or without hair. It might take time but I guarantee you’ll figure it out. Sometimes I’ll go out with my wig but other times I’m like who cares and I march around all day au naturale! I’m just as cute wig on as wig off. Check out my pics taken by my BFF.

Speaking of my best friend, Tara (I don’t think she’ll mind if I use her real name) is the most awesome friend a person could have. She always believed in me no matter what. Do you have a BF like that? I’d love to know. If not, that’s what I’m here for. Whatever you’re feeling, I’ve felt it, too, so ask me anything. Or tell me a funny story. I’ll be posting some of those, too.

This blog is a place for bald teens who rock (like me) and their friends to hang out, have fun and even try and make you feel better if you’re having a particularly sucky day.

Comment 1 posted by TSpez: Love you too, Cass! Great first post! XOXO

Comment 2 posted by ME: See what I mean about my best friend? Thanks for being my first stat, Tara! I’m loving the temporary tattoos we bought for my head. Too cute. I’m deciding on which butterfly to apply for tomorrow.
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CONTEST INFORMATION:

Visit www.karendellecava.com to read the first chapter AND for details on how to win a signed copy of A Closer Look plus a surprise gift but “Do not open it until page 153.”

A Closer Look Book Signing Friday, April 13th 6:30-8pm
Teens will receive a surprise gift but “Do not open it until page 153.” (While supplies last.)
Well Read (New & Used) Bookstore
425 Lafayette Ave
Hawthorne NJ 07506
973-949-3440

I'd like to say a huge thank you to both Karen and Cassie for taking the time to visit with me and being so awesome to work with! AND if you want to hear more amazing things about this book, be sure to check out the rest of the teen book scene tour, going on now! (In fact, I'm post #1!:) )

In each of our interviews this Fortnight, Misty and I have been asking the authors a series of fun and silly questions. Then, we asked you the same questions in one of our giveaway (enter! enter!)
We thought it would be a great to ask each other the same questions. So now you get to experience the inner (possibly twisted) workings of mine and Misty's minds. Misty's answers are here, and you can hear what I had to say on Misty's blog.

So Misty, as you know, I got crazy excited when you announced Fairy Tale Fortnight. So now, I'd like to know why. ~Why fairy tales?

I could go on and on with this answer. I don't think it was until I started going through things for this event that I even realized the extent of my fairy tale obsession. I mean, I knew; I've always known. In my Adv. Comp. class in college, when we had to pick something to do a huge research project on, and were told to pick something we wouldn't get sick of, when everyone else around me was choosing a topic that would impress the teacher, I chose fairy tales. I've hoarded my fairy tale books from my childhood, and read essays and research on fairy tales for fun. They hold my fascination like nothing else.

But why?

I'm going to say there are many reasons, and I couldn't begin to touch on them all. But for me, the biggest reason is that they are communal and ingrained in our pysches as a result. Fairy tales are interactive. Yes, now you can read them all alone, curled up in bed. But for centuries (and beyond, if you expand "fairy tale" to include all original oral mythology), they were told in groups around campfires, or between parent and child at night before bed. They connect people, and they provide these common tropes for the rest of our lives. You say glass slippers and everyone knows: nothing more need be said. That's powerful.

Beyond that, I love the contradiction of them. They are thought of mostly as kids stories, but they can be incredibly dark. They show us people at their weakest and meekest, becoming something great. Nothing is ever what it seems, and yet you know just what it will be. I love the magic of that.

I love that your research project was on fairy tales! That's so awesome!

~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?

I haven't the foggiest. That's the thing about naming — we have no control over it. So I'm going to go with the name I almost had (in real life. Don't ask me how this was even a possibility): Blue. Forgive me... All I can think of is Little Boy Blue. (Come blow your horn...)

~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale:

Blue sat tucked away as always in the tiny little garret room; she knew her wicked stepmother was looking for her, and that the longer she dallied, the worse it would be — so for now, Blue was content to stay curled up with one of her favorite books, her rat Faustus on her shoulder, both of them dreaming of a different world.

Aww. Poor little Blue. You should send the rat and his buddies into step-mother's bed at night... Teach her what it's like to be on the short end of things.: P

~Best fairy tale villain and why?

Tough one. I like the villains. (Or, I like to dislike them.) I like to try to figure out their motivations. I'd say Rumplestiltskin. He's just so bizarre and hard to understand, and that's always creepy. I always wanted to know why he wanted the baby? (???) And then, anyone who tears themselves in half when they're angry = serious cray cray. Close second would be Snow White's stepmom, who wants to cut out her heart and eat it.

I almost picked Rumpelstiltskin too! He's so creepy! But, cursing babies to die and eating the heart of young girls won out over dancing baby snatcher. (although, putting it light that, maybe not. Ugh.)

~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites?

As a child I was obsessed with The Elves and the Shoemaker and the 12 Dancing Princesses (and occasionally, Puss in Boots). I can't say why I loved the Elves so. I just wanted them, I think. And I wanted to make them tiny little clothes. The 12 Dancing Princesses is easier to say why: I had an absolutely beautiful
copy of it (still do!), and I just wanted to dress up in those gowns and see that underground world with the silver-leafed trees and the 12 princes and their boats. (And Puss in Boots had a kitty.)

As an adult, I tend to like the darker stuff. I have a fascination with Little Red Riding Hood (did as a kid too), but I really find myself drawn to the lesser known or seriously distrubing tales, like Donkeyskin or The Rose Elf (which I rewrote in poem form for a creative writing class. I think it's probably too long to repost for you guys, but it was fun. I'd love to do an actual story with it some day.)

Least favorites... I always had questions about some. Jack and the Beanstalk made me indignant. I mean, he's basically a thief. That is not his hen, and he had no business climbing that beanstalk anyway! Plus, what the hell was he doing with the magic beans? Who trades their cow, their only source of income, for beans? I always wanted to shake him.

Jack always did strike me as a bit of a skeeze.

~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be?

I would be one of the 12 Dancing Princesses — I really want to see that underground world with the trees made of silver and gold and jewels. That was such a stunning image to me when I was a kid, so awe-inspiring, that I've been a little obsessed with it ever since. I'm not much of a dancer, though... (see answer to last question)

Misty, do you realize — if we are both among the 12 Dancing Princesses... We must be, sisters! Hello to my sister in fairy tales! Let us flee from the creepy Evil Queen together!

~Would you rather:
- — live under a bridge with a troll, or all alone in a high tower?

I bet that trolls got stories to tell...

I bet that troll really smells...

- — ride everywhere in a pumpkin carriage (messy) or walk everywhere in glass shoes (uncomfortable)?

Pumpkin carriage. Glass shoes freak me out. Unless they were the ones from Ever After, and then I'd have to reconsider.

Oooh. Ever After!

- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming?

Um... the prince, I guess. I find the godmothers a little dubious...

- — eat magic beans or golden eggs?

Eggs! I don't even want to know what eating magic beans would do to a person... O_O

I'm definitely with you on that one! And, you know how I feel about golden eggs... Makes the outside match the insides, if you know what I mean.;) (still humble...)

- — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers?

I bet you could do some pretty awesome couture things with 50ft of hair. I wouldn't want to wear said hair, but style it?

Sure.

- — be forced to spin straw into gold for hours on end, or dance every night until your shoes are worn through?

Spinning and weaving fascinate me, and spinning straw what certainly be an interesting skill — and one hell of a party trick. Alchemy, anyone? And though I'm sure it'd be pretty mindless after awhile, I could listen to audiobooks or something while I did it. I'm not really much of a dancer (sober, anyway), so I think I'd have to go with spinning. Couldn't be much worse than most jobs, right?

Until creepy Rumpelstiltskin pops up, asking if you need help!! Uber creepy villain, remember? Are you going to offer him your first born?! Come to the enchanted ballroom with me Misty. I'll teach you to dance. (or ply you with liquor until you can't tell the difference!)

*Misty reconsiders*

I want to take a second to say thank you to Misty. I saw her post about Fairy Tale Fortnight, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it, knew I wanted to do as much with it as I could. So, when she asked me to co-host with her, I gave a very, very enthusiastic YES! I have had so much fun preparing for this event with Misty. We've had some awesome email exchanges, and some very definite Twilight Zone moments. I don't think there has ever been a time when we weren't on the same page about things, and our ideas for certain elements of the Fortnight were eerily similar.

It's been such a blast working with you Misty! You've been amazing! It's a little bit sad to see the Fortnight end, but this just means we get to start planning for next year! I can't wait!

Smiling for the cameras as ever, Stacey showed off the style wearing a bright peach top with a white bow, taupe leggings and red bowed flipflops.
Give us a wave: The Sing If You Can presenter has had her long brunette hair cut into a wavy bob
The former X Factor star, who won last year's I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here - is famed for her non-stop talking and exclamations like 'Oh my god!'.
She came third on the X Factor in 2009, won last year’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me out Of Here and this year's Celebrity Mum Of the Year and lives in Dagenham, Essex, with her three-year-old son, Zachary.
Stacey currently co-hosts with comedy star Keith Lemon the hysterical Sing If You Can, a guilty Saturday night pleasure on ITV1 for many, but a show that also more importantly raises money for the Teenage Cancer Trust charity.

Longer locks: Stacey, left, on I'm A Celebrity at the end of last year, and right, in 2009 during her time on X Factor
The show sees celebrities attempting to sing songs while all sorts of distractions happen around them - like last week, when football legend Rodney Marsh and singer Ray Quinn attempted to sing Blur's Parklike while surrounded by dogs.
Teenage Cancer Trust aims to ensure that every young person with cancer and their family receive the best possible care so the show is well worth watching and donating - or just donate anyway.
Meanwhile, ditzy Essex star Stacey, who confirmed last month that she is wokring on her debut album, also has a book coming out on 12 May.
Her autobiography, it's called My Story So Far.
Ray Quinn on Sing if you can - 30/04/11 - Parklife

Stacey Solomon Behind the Scenes of the Photoshoot for her autobiography

source :dailymail

VIA Oh my god! Sing If You Can presenter Stacey Solomon gets the chop

For one year Vanessa Farquharson decided she would make one environmentally friendly change every day. She would keep a blog about her progress, and try to figure out what all of this green movement stuff meant. Sleeping Naked Is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days

is the book version of her blog, although they're very different. The blog had in-depth posts for each change, while the book only has a little bit about a few different changes every month. And sometimes nothing about the changes at all, just a mention of the change and then a story about a date she had that same day. Something completely unrelated. If you can't tell by my lackluster introduction, I was less than pleased with this book.

Maybe I should preface the rest of this review with a statement: I'm an environmentalist. I pretty big environmentalist. I recycle, bike/walk instead of drive whenever possible, buy organic food, recycled products, make homemade cleaning products, take military showers, wear clothes several times before washing. Yeah, I'm kind of green. But there is still so much more I could do, so when I picked up this book I thought maybe I would also pick up some new ideas. Which I did, let's make that clear. I'm planning on creating compost box after reading her description of hers, and there were a few other ideas. But for the most part, I think this book was a cheap ploy to cash in on the media success of the green movement. Oh, and a way for her to brag about how she started dating her boyfriend.

The biggest problem I had with this book was the lack of information. She says she did something, like stop using paper towels, but she never goes into why she decided to make that decision. She doesn't talk about any research she did, and scientific information to back up that decision. And without education, people are not going to make a change. Another problem I had with this book is that she complains relentlessly about everything. She decides to wash her hair with natural oils instead of shampoo, and then complains and complains about how this will prevent her from getting a boyfriend because what kind of guy will date a girl who uses oil to wash her hair. She decides to bike instead of drive to work, but then complains and complains about how this is going to prevent her from wearing cute outfits to work, and that's she's going to have to take backpack (God forbid!) with her to work. She has a real thing against backpacks, just hates them. And there are multiple instances in the book where I was under the impression she was doing all of this to meet hipster guys instead of for herself. To her credit, she does stick with some of her changes and stops complaining about them after a few days, but honestly my view of her was not the greatest, and I didn't find this book to be very interesting, helpful, or mind changing.

I'm giving this book a D.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

The 21-year-old actress looked stunning in the monochrome dress, which she teamed with slicked back hair and a pair of sky-high heels while leaving the Ritz Hotel in Paris.
Fashionista: Emma showed off her enviable figure in the flirty outfit, which she teamed with on-trend slicked back hair
Emma has worked hard to transform herself from innocent young actress into a world-famous fashionista, but her status was secured earlier this year when she won a job with cosmetics house
Lancôme.
In a statement released by Lancôme, Emma said: 'Being a Lancôme ambassadress today is an immense pleasure and a great honour.
'For me, Lancôme is an authentic brand. It reflects elegance, class and style.'
Who's your friend? Emma shared a joke with one of the hotel staff as she headed out for the evening
In February, she was handed the Elle Style Icon award by Vivienne Westwood, who admitted to having no idea who the actress was.
Watson also launched an eco-friendly collection with Italian designer Alberta Ferretti, a line called Pure Threads by Emma Watson.
source :dailymail

VIA Emma Watson shows why she was named world's best-dressed woman

Katelyn is for serious one of my favorite blogger/twitter friends and she's just pretty much awesome. For realz people. If you don't know her already, you really should fix that. I've loved a lot of our conversations and gotten more than a few book recommendations from her. So I'm really excited that she agreed to write a guest review for me for Just Contemporary! So here is her review:

Going Too Far is a wonderful story that has yet again, confirmed my total love for Jennifer Echols. She has this incredible ability to create deep, multi-layered characters, a story line that sucks you in, and a romance that just comes alive with every passing page. This is most definitely the case with Going Too Far!

When we first meet Meg, the main character, we can tell that she has a tough exterior. She acts like a total nutcase. She has blue hair, she rebels against all authority figures, and she has an attitude to go along with it. While it may seem like she could be a pretty easy character to hate, I in fact loved her. Meg will always hold a special place in my heart because no matter how hard she tried to be tough, you could tell that she was hurting on the inside.

While reading the story it was easy to see that she does this to keep people at a distance. No attachments means she can get out of her small town as soon as possible. The more she gets in trouble, the angrier her parents get which in turn means they will be happy to let her go. The more she hangs out with losers like Eric who only use her for booty calls means she won’t have a boyfriend to keep her tied to her small town. The more she ignores her only friend, Tiffany, the fewer goodbyes she’ll have to say when she finally leaves. Meg’s whole scheme works out perfectly until one fateful night on the railroad tracks.

One of Meg’s rebellious acts leads to a ruined spring break that she now gets to spend with Officer After. It is at this point in the story, ladies and gentleman, which my heart started to melt. John goes against everything that Meg stands for. He is straight-edge, follows the rules, and always thinks ahead. Even though their personalities couldn’t be further apart, there is a chemistry that sizzles beneath the surface every single time they are together. I flipped page after page wondering when their feelings for each other would ignite the whole book.

John and Meg are one of the greatest matches I have ever seen in a Y.A. Contemporary book. They like to push each other’s buttons. Meg says little comments that she knows will grate on John’s nerves. John does things just to tick Meg off. They do all these things to each other just to see how far they can go but at the end of the day, you could see the chemistry continually build between the two of them. John secretly loves Meg’s harsh personality and blue hair. Meg secretly loves John’s devotion to his job. Together they are an unlikely couple but they just work.

Another reason I love the two of these two, they were both devastated by something in the past and it is this similarity between the two of them that eventually becomes one of the main driving points behind the story. For Meg it is an illness that struck her years ago. This sickness affected her more than she lets on and it really controls a lot of what she does. For John, it is more complex. For most of the book he seems calm, cool, and collected but near the end you can definitely sense that something heartbreaking happened in his past. The book would have been good without this element but when you add this to the already GREAT aspects of the book, it is pure genius.

Looking back on this book there is not a whole lot of negatives to say about it. I was in love with Meg and John from the very first chapter. Their constant bickering and obvious chemistry kept me interested throughout the whole book. I turned page after page hoping they would be able to work out their differences. I hoped so desperately that they could face the ghosts of their pasts so they could finally see what needed to be done to make the other happy. As I stated earlier, this is another book that proves just how great of a writer Jennifer Echols is. It is because of this book (and all her others) that I will be a total fan-girl for the rest of my life!

Thank you so much Katelyn! This is an awesome review, one that would make even me want to run out and grab a copy, if I hadn't already read it! Thank you again!!:)

The Third Child: a fill-in from author Maureen McGowan There was an old woman who lived in a Birkin bag. She had 3 children, the bane of her existence. The first was a thick-headed, doltish son, who was prone to buying magic beans and geese that laid strange orange eggs. The 2nd was a beautiful but haughty daughter, who stared at herself ceaselessly in any reflective surface, speaking in rhyme to the reflection there. But the 3rd child, Pandora, she was the worst of all. The first 2 children gave her endless grief, but it was Pandora who drove the old woman to distraction, for Pandora was always greedy.

The old woman had no choice but to lock Pandora high in a tower — from which Pandora promptly escaped, climbing down a ladder made of hair and fleeing in a giant pumpkin carriage. (The old woman’s fault, you see, for braiding hair-ladders and growing what were surely mutant pumpkins...)

The 3rd child traveled night and day, finally reaching the Great City. When Pandora reached the City, she opened a manhole and discovered the sewers flowed with gold. It seemed too good to be true. So Pandora promptly stole a bucket from a poorly attended vendor’s stall nearby, and set off to climb into the sewers.Pandora‘s quest was not an easy one, and before long, she discovered the bucket had holes. Not knowing what else to, Pandora did what any greedy 3rd child would do: using her skirt, she plugged the holes. This of course caused her to run through the streets half naked, which led to her arrest for stealing a bucket filled with yellow paint. Which is exactly what one would expect of such a 3rd child.Pandora lived infamously ever after, of course. But to this day, when ever someone says Fool’s Gold, everyone thinks of Pandora , the 3rd child of the old woman who lived in a Birkin bag.

Thanks, Maureen! Maureen McGowan is the author of the Twisted Tales series, including Cinderella: Ninja Warrior and Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer, as well as a short story in The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance.
Make sure to check back with us in late May, when Misty and Ashley will both be a part of Maureen's blog tour.
Ashley will be reviewing Cinderella: Ninja Warrior. Misty will be reviewing Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer.

The Unwritten Rule as part of Elizabeth Scott week. I had been hoping to have this review up hours ago, but my internet has been broken since last night.: (

Anyway, this is a book I was a little nervous about reading when I initially picked it up. Having read two Scott books previously, one I really liked (my review of Something, Maybe) and one I really... didn't (so sorry Living Dead Girl) I was unsure where my emotions would fall on this one. Add to that fact that I have absolutely zero respect for cheaters, and I was, understandably, I think, a little nervous.

However, my fears were unfounded and although I wasn't quite as charmed by these characters as I was by those in Something, Maybe I really enjoyed this book. Sarah is a character that doesn't start the book strong. She doesn't have a lot of substance and pretty much all of her thoughts are consumed with Ryan, the boy she has had a crush on since 8th grade. But, Ryan is her best friend, Brianna's boyfriend, which means that he's totally off limits. But, all things are not as they seem. The more we learn about the trio, the more we become aware that there are some major problems with all of the relationships in question.

Sarah has liked Ryan forever. But things are different this year. Over the summer, he went from skinny (and a little geeky) to totally hott. They meet up at a party and are talking and having a great time until Brianna, the beautiful one comes into the room and whisks Ryan away. Suddenly, they are dating and Sarah is left feeling insanely guilty because she can't stop thinking about what it would be like the be the one with Ryan. But with all those looks and tension filled long pauses between the two of them, it looks like that interest is not one-sided.

The characters in this book were very well developed. I'm amazed at the conflicting emotions each character was able to pull from me. Let's start with Brianna. She is a bitch. There is no other word to describe this girl. Seriously. She belittles Sarah constantly, always pointing out that her skin is too shiny, her hair too frizzy, her clothes strange, but always camouflaged as helpful (Here, take my brush and try to comb some of that frizziness out of your hair). She is gorgeous, and she knows it. Sarah has had bad experiences in the past, where boys who have shown interest in her are really just trying to get close to Brianna, and while Brianna does feel really bad every time it happens, she also takes it as her due, and often tells Sarah that she will eventually be able to find some boy who likes her. She's toxic. BUT, I feel bad for her. I pity her immensely. Her parents use her as a weapon against each other, when they think of her at all. Her dad has just about completely written her off, and her mom says all the same horrible things to Brianna that she then passes along onto Sarah. But you can feel her pain and her suffering and you do feel oh so very bad for her.

Sarah is also a more complex character than she first appears. It's pretty obvious that living for so long in Brianna's shadow has been bad for her, but all she can see is her glorious best friend. She ignores a lot of her flaws and makes excuses for her behavior. But even Sarah has her limits. She has a great strength of character that just takes a little while to really show itself. She also has some interests and hobbies that she focuses on, no matter how belittling Brianna is of them, like her shoe art. She buys plain white shoes and decorates them. She is also torn up about the way she feels about Ryan. She doesn't want to hurt Brianna, but she's liked Ryan forever and she just can't help it, especially now that Brianna has been asking her to come hang out with them all the time. Just the three of them.

And Ryan is also great. He has a lot more to him than the typical YA hero and he's just a pretty solid guy. He shares a lot of the same interests as Sarah and he's trying to figure out where he fits best in life. I also liked that he had his two sides — pre-hottie and post-hottie and he didn't let the fact that he had filled out over the summer change who he was as a person. He isn't one of those guys that thinks because he's now attractive, he's entitled to being an a**. And Sarah and Ryan have a history, sort of. They've circled each other for years, friends but not best friends and both not quite sure of where things will go next. And then, enter Brianna.

I thought that this book was just very well written. All the individual elements of the story were handled beautifully and combined in such a way that I just don't know how this story could have happened any different. Watching Sarah learn who she was, and how to be that person independent of Brianna was amazing. I don't think that anyone deserves to be cheated on. Ever. But, the way that Scott handled this one made me hopeful for all the characters involved. I still don't condone cheating and I don't think it's ever your best option, but these characters were just so achingly real and honest, I couldn't help but root for them.

Sally Gardner's The Red Necklace

takes place during the French Revolution. Yann Margoza is a Gypsy who has no knowledge of his background or family but is able to throw his voice. He is working for a magician. Yann and the other magicians are taken to the home of Marquis de Villeduval upon the order of Count Kalliovski. Here the young men put on a magic show for the French aristocrats, including the Marquis' daughter Sido. Sido has been away at school for some time, but is also brought to the house upon the order of Count Kalliovski. She has a limp and her father hates her, but she has a good heart and great spirit.

Yann is also gifted with the ability to read minds. As soon as he meets Sido he falls in love with her. He hears her desperation and he wants to help her. The Marquis is convinced by Kalliovski that Sido should be married to him. Kalliovski is very evil, not to mention a little old for Sido. Sido feels like she has no choice. Kalliovski is a very influential man but there are many questions in the air about him. Not to mention the many murders that have happened on his watch, which always end with the victim's neck donning a red necklace. Sido is creeped out by Kalliovski but she feels there is nothing she can do.

When Yann returns from London a few years after first meeting Sido he discovers the Count's desire to marry her. He immediately comes to her rescue, risking everything to help her even though he knows they are of very different classes and could never hope to marry.

This was the first novel I read for my Young Adult Self Challenge. I love the French Revolution so this was a great book for me to start with, although there wasn't quite enough history for me. The mania of the time is definitely portrayed but there is not a great amount of information or historical context. Still, I enjoyed the book for a YA novel. Yann is a fantastic character and a great hero. I loved the parts where he learns about who his real parents are and what happened to them. His ability to read minds was interesting, but it didn't feel too hokey to me. There wasn't quite enough about Sido in the book for me to really like her. She just seemed kind of sad and bleh. Also, the novel says she has brown hair but the woman on the cover has blonde hair? Perhaps I was missing something with that but it always frustrates me when covers don't line up with books.

Pub. Date: September 2009

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)

Format: Paperback, 416 pp

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Trisha is an energetic, outgoing and caring individual. She believes in putting family first and is very thankful for the role that her family has played in making her the hard working and ambitious woman she is today.

Born in Edmonton and raised in northern Alberta’s Cold Lake she is proud to call Canada her home.

After graduating high school Trisha continued her education in Hanceville, Alabama USA studying her Bachelor of Science Degree in Medical Laboratory Technology. Upon returning to Canada she went a different direction and began working in Real Estate.

After three years she is the Office Manager of a Real Estate Investment Company in Edmonton, Alberta. Growing up she enjoyed dancing jazz, ballet, tap and folk and uses her dance back round to teach dance fitness classes evenings and weekends.

She enjoys leading an active lifestyle and in her spare time she is studying to become AFLCA certified in group exercise leadership.

Trish has a kind heart and believes that everyone can make a difference for positive change. She has volunteered with the Salvation Army, Samaritan’s Purse, The Edmonton Food Bank, Canadian Blood Services/One Match Stem Cell and Marrow Network and American Red Cross.

Growing up on acreage in a rural community Trish has always had an affinity for animals and is a member of PETA and the Soi Dog Foundation. She hopes to one day adopt a dog to Canada from the organization that helps abused and abandoned cats and dogs in Thailand.

In addition to dancing, Trish enjoys travelling, swimming, snowboarding, creating culinary sensations in the kitchen and making people laugh. Her favourite night of the week is Monday as she gets to catch up with Grammy and Gramps over supper. Her passion for life keeps her pretty busy when she isn’t on the go you can find her curled up reading a book or watching the Food Network.

Sponsored by:

Crystal’s Bridal, Joanne Halldorson Royal LePage Cold Lake, Master & Master Real Estate Edmonton, Tangles Hair Salon Cold Lake, Royal LePage Northern Lights Cold Lake, Louise Johnson Sutton Cold Lake, EK Designs, Shameless Accessories, Family and Friends.

Languages spoken Fluently (please include your native language if English is not your native language)

English

VIA MISS UNIVERSE CANADA 2011 CONTESTANT - Trisha Vergo

Copyright by Sleek | Phootgraphy Daniel Schröder | Styling Isabelle Thiry | Hair & Make Up Gregor Makris at Bigoudi | Models Val at AM, Erik Andersson at Mega Models, Hampus Ahlqvist at Unique & Maximilian / Photography Assistance Christian Schildmacher | Styling Assistance Josepha Rodriguez | Production Nu Projects Germany | Support Paris Uli Semmler | Retouching Primate Postproduction | Via Steelmachines
SLEEK MAGAZINE

VIA Men and Women

VIA Miss Universe Canada 2011 Contestant - Venessa Facciotti

Katie appeared to have forgone any makeup and had her hair scraped up into a messy top bun.
The mother–of-one perused the show section of the store enjoying a some alone time retail therapy.
Katie had taken centre stage the night before as her husband Tom Cruise was honoured by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre.
Polished and preened to casual and comfy: Katie looked stunning on Thursday night at an event honouring her husband while she opted for comfort yesterday
The 32-year-old actress looked stunning in the black dress with green sash, which she teamed with black sandals, as she posed with Cruise outside the event.
However, it was inside the event that Holmes really stood out from the crowd, as she glowed while applauding the honorees at the ceremony.
The couple were also accompanied by Cruise's 16-year-old adopted son Connor as the Mission: Impossible actor was presented with the Humanitarian Award - the highest honour bestowed by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, a Jewish rights organisation which also educates people about the Nazi Holocaust.
Too much choice? The 32-year-old actress looked at shoes and enjoyed some alone time in the Barneys store in Beverly Hills
Cruise, who played a German military officer who planned an assassination of Adolf Hitler in the 2008 film Valkyrie, was honoured for his support of the organisation throughout his life.
Absent from the ceremony was the couple's five-year-old daughter Suri, who is perhaps too young for such an occasion.
Late night? The mother-of-one appeared tired as she made her way around the store. The night before she had joined Tom at a party
Despite reports that she and her husband are planning to have more children, Holmes recently insisted that she is happy with the size of her family.
She also said that Cruise and ex-wife Nicole Kidman's adopted children Connor and 18-year-old Isabella get on incredibly well with Suri.

Red carpet royalty: Katie was looking picture perfect at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Annual National Tribute Dinner on Thursday evening
She said: 'They're great kids, a great brother and a great sister to Suri, and she's a great sister to them. It's not, "This is stepmotherhood and this is motherhood".
'I'm not worried about it (having another baby). She's got really good friends and great cousins, so I feel happy about it.
'We have a really busy household, and it's really fun and fulfilling. There's always something going on.'
source: dailymail

VIA Dressed down day? Katie Holmes opts for casual comfort shopping day

Trisha is an energetic, outgoing and caring individual. She believes in putting family first and is very thankful for the role that her family has played in making her the hard working and ambitious woman she is today.

Born in Edmonton and raised in northern Alberta’s Cold Lake she is proud to call Canada her home.

After graduating high school Trisha continued her education in Hanceville, Alabama USA studying her Bachelor of Science Degree in Medical Laboratory Technology. Upon returning to Canada she went a different direction and began working in Real Estate.

After three years she is the Office Manager of a Real Estate Investment Company in Edmonton, Alberta. Growing up she enjoyed dancing jazz, ballet, tap and folk and uses her dance back round to teach dance fitness classes evenings and weekends.

She enjoys leading an active lifestyle and in her spare time she is studying to become AFLCA certified in group exercise leadership.

Trish has a kind heart and believes that everyone can make a difference for positive change. She has volunteered with the Salvation Army, Samaritan’s Purse, The Edmonton Food Bank, Canadian Blood Services/One Match Stem Cell and Marrow Network and American Red Cross.

Growing up on acreage in a rural community Trish has always had an affinity for animals and is a member of PETA and the Soi Dog Foundation. She hopes to one day adopt a dog to Canada from the organization that helps abused and abandoned cats and dogs in Thailand.

In addition to dancing, Trish enjoys travelling, swimming, snowboarding, creating culinary sensations in the kitchen and making people laugh. Her favourite night of the week is Monday as she gets to catch up with Grammy and Gramps over supper. Her passion for life keeps her pretty busy when she isn’t on the go you can find her curled up reading a book or watching the Food Network.

Sponsored by:

Crystal’s Bridal, Joanne Halldorson Royal LePage Cold Lake, Master & Master Real Estate Edmonton, Tangles Hair Salon Cold Lake, Royal LePage Northern Lights Cold Lake, Louise Johnson Sutton Cold Lake, EK Designs, Shameless Accessories, Family and Friends.

Languages spoken Fluently (please include your native language if English is not your native language)

English

VIA Miss Universe Canada 2011 Contestant - Trisha Vergo

Copyright by The Ones2Watch | Photography Saty+Pratha | Styling Holly Chaves | Hair Sonya Park Howie | Makeup Debbie Finnegan | Model Anna Tatton at Bookings | Special Thanks The Eye Casting
THE ONES2WATCH

VIA Garden Of Earthly Delights

Copyright by B/M | Photography Ulrich Hartmann | Styling Sebastiano Ragusa | Hair/MakeUp Tom Strohmetz | Model Valeria Benner
In season Spring/Summer 2012 Berlin-based fashion label Burkhardt/Möllmann presents itself clearly defined and minimalist as usual. Tight and straight patterns and the focus on a few, but particularly colourful elements catch the observer’s eye.
As sometimes denoted in former collections, the basic theme of B/M 121 is borrowed from a technical work environment. This time motives are modelled on the clothing worn by an aircraft carrier’s crew. Every crew member wears a certain uniform which exactly characterizes their tasks on board, since the uniforms can be clearly
distinguished by visual elements. Different integral colouring is combined with several graphic shapes and symbols. Consequently, every single combination from colour, shape and symbol is a code and expresses the person’s exact function.
This fascination for the semiotics of colours and design elements is now reflected in Burkhardt/Möllmann’s present fifth collection. the luminous colours orange and blackberry are mainly used in geometric details on straps, belts, zippers, buttons, collars, cuffs and laces. At the same time, the colours form a contrast to the neutral parts in anthracite, black and white. the lucid details and the colour-neutral parts are united in their distinctive graphic stringency and seeming functionality.
BURKHARDT/MÖLLMANN

VIA Burkhardt/Möllmann Spring/Summer 2012 Women’s Collection

Copyright Photography Balint Barna | Styling Szandra Csek | Makeup Kata Kertesz | Hair Viktoria Toth | Model Ida Skeppar at Attractive Models
BALINT BARNA

VIA The Last Mistress

Bonnie from A Backwards Story is with us again today, bringing us another fantastic interview — this time with Carolyn Turgeon!

Carolyn Turgeon is the author of three novels, Rain Village, Godmother, and Mermaid. Her next novel, The Next Full Moon, is scheduled to come out in August/September 2011. Based on Te Swan Maiden, this will be Turgeon’s debut novel for young readers. Her novels tend to be twisted versions of fairy tales you’ve never seen before, such as The Little Mermaid from the princess’ perspective in addition to the mermaid’s or a version of Cinderella where the godmother is banished from the fairy realm when something goes horribly wrong... For a review of Turgeon’s work, please visit the above links. Reviews of her other titles will come to A Backwards Story later this year. Godmother and Mermaid are also featured in a FTF guest post titled FRACTURED FAIRY TALES.

1) What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them?
I can recall loving all kinds of stories, such as Thumbelina and The Princess and the Pea, with all their strange and wonderful images—the tiny girl floating along in an acorn, the princess with her stack of mattresses. I think my favorite fairy tales were by Oscar Wilde: The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose… but my favorite was The Selfish Giant. It’s very sad and strange and beautiful—the ghostly little boy, the lush garden, the endless snow and frost, the giant who gets struck down, covered in white blossoms… I’ve always tended to like stories that are very sad.

2) What made you decide to write alternative versions of fairytales from unique perspectives?
I didn’t really start out intending to write alternative versions of fairy tales. When I started Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story, I just wanted to tell the Cinderella story straight, with lots of wonderful, lush detail and full, fleshed-out characters and all kinds of weirdness and darkness, etc. That’s what I love about fairytales, by the way—that strange combination of beauty and darkness you find in all of them. After my first book, Rain Village, which took forever to write, I wanted to do something that I thought would be a lot of fun, something that I would really love writing. I only decided to tell the story through the perspective of the fairy godmother when I realized how limited Cinderella’s perspective was—back then I only ever wrote in first person—so I figured that if the fairy godmother was narrating she could be pretty omniscient, tell you what was going on with Cinderella and the other characters. Plus, she could tell you her own story, too, which I thought might be interesting. Later, I decided to set the book in contemporary New York City and only have the godmother remembering everything that had happened in the other world. The book is set half in New York and half in the fairy tale world (in flashbacks). I only decided to do that after joining a writing workshop and seeing that the people in the workshop didn’t seem to be responding to the straight-out fairy tale I was writing. I wanted to win them over and I thought maybe I could lure them in with a present-day story set in the city, win them over that way, and then plunge them into the fairy tale.
So the book only slowly evolved into this alternative version. Once I put the fairy tale in via flashbacks, I knew something had to have gone terribly wrong. Why else would the fairy godmother be an old woman in New York?
After writing the book, though, I felt there was something really powerful in taking a story as well known as Cinderella, a story that’s in our blood and bones, and telling the “real” story from a perspective you never think or care about.

3) Can you tell us more about your upcoming book, The Next Full Moon?
The Next Full Moon is my first children’s book, a middle-grade novel about a 12-year-old girl who’s being raised alone by her father in Pennsylvania and who starts growing feathers, which is totally mortifying and confusing for her of course. She then comes to discover that her mother, whom she thought died when she was an infant, was (and is) a swan maiden. The story’s based on the old tales in which a man steals a swan maiden’s feathered robe when she’s in her human form, takes her home, marries her and has children with her. One day she discovers the robe and flies away—there are various reasons for this, depending on the version you read. I wondered: what happens when those kids she leaves behind hit puberty? In my book, the man and woman had only one child, and now here’s the kid ten years later with feathers appearing on her arms and back, having no idea that her mother is still alive and, of course, no idea that she’s a swan maiden.
I like the idea of a 12-year-old girl, full of shame and embarrassment, slowly discovering that she’s magical and amazing.

4) What other ideas are you working on right now?
Well, I’m working on a few things right now. Because of Mermaid, I started this blog, I Am a Mermaid, where I talk to all kinds of people about mermaids. I’ve realized that there’s this whole mermaid culture out there that’s really fascinating and lovely. So I’m writing my first non-fiction (but still quite fantastical!) book. And I’m working on a new novel that has to do with Weeki Wachee and a YA novel about a drowning pool, and I have this half-done thriller that I hope to finish this year…

5) Was it hard coming up with your own lore when you began world-building? How did you bring everything together?
It was challenging for me to write about magical worlds, I think, in that I was afraid of making them too Disney-ish or corny. So with Godmother, at first I was very vague when talking about the fairy world; in fact in the first draft, the flashbacks start with the godmother meeting Cinderella and we don’t really see her in her own world at all. It was only after the book sold that my editors pushed me to make the fairy world more defined and vivid, to explain the rules of that world and the landscape of it and so on. So I added in the first couple of flashback chapters that are in the book now, and they were probably the hardest chapters for me to write, even though they’re probably the lightest ones in the whole book.
With Mermaid, I mainly had to explain the rules we see in the original Hans Christian Andersen story… like why the mermaids can only visit the human world once, on their birthdays, and so on. It was more like putting together a puzzle than anything else, trying to create the worlds in that book and make them adhere to specific points from the original story.

6) Which of the books you've written is your favorite so far? What makes it the most special to you?
Hmmm. I think that would always tend to be the latest one. Right now I’m very excited about The Next Full Moon and writing for this younger age group. I found it surprisingly easy to write as a twelve-year-old, which is possibly a little worrisome, and was able to draw on my own memories and experiences more than I have for any other book. Like the characters all go to the lake in their town, where there’s an old carousel and people sell lemonade and they can all go swimming or lie out on the beach. And I was just directly describing the lake my friends and I used to go to in East Lansing, Michigan, where I lived from when I was twelve to fourteen, and I hadn’t thought about that lake in years. We moved around a lot when I was growing up, and so I’m really distanced from some of those memories and places. It was kind of nostalgic and wonderful, writing that book and slipping into those memories and this old self. Also, I have to say, I think the trauma and awkwardness of being twelve mixes really well with the fairy tale elements in the book, and I like the idea that something magical is happening to you as you hit puberty and you just have to figure that out.

7) What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors?
I love Angela Carter and her weird, gorgeous visions. I love Alice Hoffman, Francesca Lia Block, Joanne Harris, Isabel Allende, Jeanette Winterson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Italo Calvino... They’re not all fairy tale writers and I don’t know to what extent they’ve all been inspired by fairy tales, but they all write in that vein I think, lush and magical. I really enjoyed Erzebet Yellowboy’s Sleeping Helena. And I also, by the way, really loved the way the Pied Piper story is used in the movie The Sweet Hereafter. It’s pretty brilliant.

8) If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why?
Oh, I think maybe Thumbelina. I mean, who wouldn’t want to ride around in an acorn? For the most part, I think fairy tales are not the stories I would like to live out. Though I wouldn’t mind being the little mermaid for a day, before she goes and sees the sea witch and ruins her life…

9) What's your favorite Disney rendition of a fairy tale? What makes it so special?
I’m going to have to defer to my childhood self, who loved all those movies quite passionately. As an adult, I could barely even get through The Little Mermaid, which I was totally swept away by as a teenager. Probably my favorite, though, is Snow White. The old versions of that tale are really very shockingly weird and violent, and even the Disney version is incredibly creepy, with our semi-dead heroine lying gorgeously in a glass coffin in the forest and our hot prince having a thing for dead chicks.

FUN AND CRAZY ROUND!

~Best fairy tale villain and why?
Oh, the stepmother from Snow White. She’s a gorgeous witch with a magic mirror who has her stepdaughter murdered in the forest and then eats her heart (or lungs or what have you). Even though she’s betrayed by her huntsman and actually eats a stag’s heart, she believes she’s eating Snow White’s. It’s hard to think of a more perverse female villain! And I love the image of her skulking through the forest with her cloak and her basket full of poisoned apples.

~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?
Oh, I love Rapunzel and the lettuce that is so delicious and addictive that Rapunzel’s mother craves it above all else and even makes her husband climb into a witch’s garden to get more for her. I mean, who pines for lettuce? Now I totally want some lettuce, now that I’m thinking about it...
I’d like to be something equally un-chocolate-y, if you know what I mean, some other pedestrian, unsexy vegetable with hidden powers of seduction. Like a rutabaga or a turnip. Turnip is kind of a cute word, not too far off from the delightful “tulip.” I’d like some fairytale character to be sitting in a room wasting away from a mad desire for turnips.

~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale:
She stared out the window at the impossibly lush turnips growing outside just beyond reach, their leaves shooting into the air like hands, their bodies dense and purple, as round as breasts. Her mouth watered as she watched the turnip leaves undulating in the breeze. As if they were bellydancing, she thought.

Meanwhile, Turnip was enjoying a large slice of chocolate cake at Jean Georges.

~Would you rather:

- — eat magic beans or golden eggs? Golden eggs. Don’t those sound delectable? A magic bean is just wrong.

- — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers? I think polishing the glass slippers would be much more manageable. And I love things made out of glass, especially slippers and dresses. Are you aware of Karen LaMonte’s glass dresses? Look:

- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? Oh, a fairy godmother. Who wouldn’t want an endless supply of dresses and carriages? And let’s face it: Prince Charming isn’t all he’s cracked up to be.
Come to think of it, though… if we’re talking about the fairy godmother from my own book, then I’d really have to go for the hot prince, or even one of the coachman or mice. Anyone but the godmother, please!

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Okay, okay, here’s the part you’re all waiting for: The giveaway! Carolyn has generously agreed to give away three—yes, THREE—autographed copies of Mermaid as well as some fun mermaid tattoos! You know you want to win this contest and read this fantastic book.

To enter,. In addition, please leave a comment answering this question: What would you do if you could be a mermaid for a day? Also, what would you be willing to sacrifice in order to become a mermaid?

Entries must be received by MAY 5th. May 8th This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL!
Good luck and I can’t wait to see your responses!

PS from Misty: I love this picture! ----->