Stuff and Things 10/6

Fall is truly in full swing.

I can't decide if it's because it was such a hot summer or if it really is this chilly.

I feel like we went from hot, humid, and miserable to gee, it's cold.

I will take this moment to remind you to join Kristin and I for The 5th Annual Great Pumpkin Swap!  Sign ups end TOMORROW (at 11:59 P,M. EST)!  If you haven't signed up yet, come join us!  It's so much fun!  (Click the swap link to fill out the sign up form.)

In other news, I've decided that I want a new handbag.  When my Shoedazzle.com showroom updated for October, I thought I'd actually check out their handbags for a change.

I didn't like the ones in my showroom, so I decided to browse the shop.  I went ahead and filtered by color and selected brown and black.

Can I admit, though, that I'm not really a brown and blag hand bag person?  I know that it's certainly more practical to have a handbag in one of these colors, but I'm just drawn to bags in other colors....

I used to do direct sales with Celebrating Home (a company that has since closed its doors), and they had a line of handbags and accessories called Penelope Ann.  There was one bag I particularly like and ended up with it in three colors: black, red, and turquoise.  My black one ripped inside after lots of use.  And now I'm left with just the two colors.

But I digress...I came across this bag from Shoedazzle:

Amir handbag- ShoeDazzle

I actually do like this color, but then I saw this....

Amir Handbag- Shoedazzle

I mean, purple is my color.

And, of course, it's sold out in this color.

I also feel like this is a great handbag color for fall.

Alas, I skipped the month for my VIP account.  I'll keep an eye out for this bag to come back.  Because I really think I need it.

Anyone else have an aversion to neutral colored handbags?

September Books

As expected, my reading progress slowed a bit this month with the start of school.  *sigh*  
Work gets in the way of my life.
Anyway, here's what I read this month:

Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial by Rabia Chaudry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Since I'm pretty much obsessed with Adnon's case thanks to Serial and Undisclosed, I knew I needed to read Rabia's book, too. I even preordered the book from Amazon! Adnon's Story did not disappoint. While the book, of course, covers parts of the case that we already know from the above podcasts, I did discover some new aspects of the case.

It was nice to see things laid out in print. The book also included pictures of documents related to the case and, most interestingly, Adnon's own words and descriptions of things that occurred from the time Hae Min Lee disappeared and through his time in prison. The story itself goes up through Adnon's PCR hearing that took place in February of 2016.

I really enjoyed getting a more "hands on" look at the case by finally having a print copy of the information I've been hearing for so long. If you are interested in True Crime or are also obsessed with this case, I definitely recommend this book!


The Lake House by Kate Morton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I finally settled on a 3 star rating for this book for a few reasons.

1) While I liked it, I didn't love it.
2) It was an interesting story and a mystery that kept me guessing, but it was very confusing at times. It jumped back and forth between the past and present a lot. And while the book starts out making you think it will only tell the story about Alice in the past and present, and Sadie in the present, the story starts to focus on other characters. While they're not really in their point of view, the narrator tells the story about a character and shares his/her thoughts and feelings.
3) Because of all of this jumping around and changing perspectives, sometimes I forgot what the cliffhanger was from the last time they left off.

I was very surprised by the end since I didn't see it coming, and I found the characters to be very likable. I found the ending to be satisfying, and I was actually a little sad that it was over.



View all my reviews

Also, have you signed up to join Kristin and I for The 5th Annual Pumpkin Swap yet??  Sign ups end on Friday, October 7th.  Come join us for the fun!  (Click on the swap link to sign up!)