monthly favorites
i never understood the concept of “favorites” posts until i realized that people don’t actually mean favorites but OBSESSIONS. (okay, i could be 100% wrong on this but that’s just how i interpreted it as.) if you asked me what i was OBSESSED with this past month, i could easily answer that question. but if you asked what my “favorites” of the month were, i’d be stumbling over sentences that otherwise would’ve been easy for me to say. so here were my monthly obsessions favorites:
shadowhunters
i’m not even going to try to deny that i was “cassandra clare trash” this month. (excuse the slang; i honestly think that’s the most accurate phrase to describe me the past few weeks.) i wasn’t a major fan of the mortal instruments the first time i read it. the only books i thoroughly enjoyed were CITY OF GLASS and CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE and found the others to be extremely frustrating and annoying. THEN, the tv show premiered. honestly, i didn’t like it all that much either. BUT, i got a bit obsessed with the ambiance it gave off and had the strongest urge to reread the books – even though it’s 3,000+ pages put together and i have so many other books i need to read. annnnd that led me to buy the paperback set and fawning over the covers. when LADY MIDNIGHT came in the mail, i was already too deep into the shadow realm and now i’m most certainly “cassandra clare trash.”
kayla itsines’ BBG + my polar a300 watch
i began and finished kayla itsines’ BBG early last year and kinda fell through it by the end. the workouts were SO DIFFICULT and i wasn’t seeing a lot of results (but now i realize it’s because i wasn’t going 110%). when isha (from two sisters bloggin’) mentioned she wanted to do BBG, i thought it’d be a fantastic idea to join her and help motivate each other as that was my biggest issue from last time. i also managed to convince my mom to get me (and the rest of my family ahaha) polar fitness watches and i’ve been LOVING it. it has a daily activity log that tracks all movement and syncs onto my phone through a mobile app. mine also came with a heart-rate monitor that gives me awesome stats when i exercise. it’s really motivating me to complete my new year’s fitness resolutions!
goodreads and tumblr
i’ve had a goodreads account for five years (!!!) and tumblr account for (probably) five years, and only just started reaaaaaaally using them this month. the reason why i became re-obsessed with tumblr is because of xkit, an extension that SAVED ME. i often use the queue, but found tagging and posting very frustrating. but xkit just made everything CONVENIENT. i dunno how or why i started using goodreads again but YAY GOODREADS IS GREAT.
farewell, january
januaray was simultaneously consistent and bursting. i successfully accomplished some of my new year’s resolutions: i woke up at 7:30 am (almost) every morning, did BBG, studied, danced, and life continued. but in terms of both books and blogging, it’d be a slump for few days and suddenly a burst of inspiration and nonstop reading/blogging for one day. it was strange and i still can’t believe december was only 31 (+ 2) days ago because it felt like an era ago. (seriously!) i’d say it’s a good start to the new year.
read this month
on the blog
discussions + hauls:
- xan has another haul + giveaway
- bookshelf tour: january 2016 edition
- can you make money from book blogging?
- happy (haul)idays
- in defense of negative reviews
- welcome to ballet class: up to this pointe blog tour
reviews:
- I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN, by jandy nelson
- THE LOVE THAT SPLIT THE WORLD, by emily henry
personal
on replay
recently, i discovered OH WONDER and my obsession for their soft, mellow tunes came in a rippling wave. i didn’t realize it until i had nearly every song stuck in my head and i’d (shamelessly) sing or hum them in the shower.
foresights of february
last month was all about auditions and getting back on track. i’d say i did a fairly good job until the last week or so, but nobody’s perfect. febraury will be filled with ballet competitions and rehearsing for said competitions. i have one coming up on valentine’s day weekend and didn’t even begin rehearsing until last week. *hides* thinking about it makes me feel 25% like barfing, 25% excited, 25% stressed, and 25% SO DONE.
goals for the month:
- continue waking up early (and even earlier) and doing BBG
- don’t get behind on school
- begin practice driving again
- focus on dancing
xkit is definitely the best way to use tumblr. Back when I used tumblr a lot I relied on that thing SO much. Now I don’t use the site much so I don’t really even have installed, but it’s certainly a nice piece of software. I’ve got to say your shadowhunters obsession has really made me want to try that universe again. I could never get into the TMI series but I’ve been thinking about reading TID or Lady Midnight. 🙂
i can’t believe i JUST discovered xkit! and YOU MUST GIVE THIS WORLD ANOTHER CHANCE. i wasn’t a huge fan if TMI either but TID is actually 100x better in my opinion. i honestly find it hard to believe that it’s written by the same author because cassandra clare has improvee SO MUCH. i hope you give it shot and i hope you adoreeeeee it as much as i do!! thanks for commenting, tamara <333
SHADOWHUNTERSSS! I’m watching the TV show (as well as everyone else) and although the acting is a little cringe-worthy, I keep anticipating the next episode during the entire week.
By the way, your tumblr is amazing! Is as aesthetic as everything you do, of course.
AND, good luck on your auditions!!
I FEEL THIS. the show is so cringey but i anxiously wait for the new episodes like everyone else ahah. thank you for visiting my blog! xxx
YES YES YES! Welcome to the TMI fandom! Have you read The Infernal Devices yet? They are one of my favorites and in my opinion even better than TMI. (TID is the prequel series). I’ve only seen the first 2 episodes of Shadowhunters and I LOVE IT (of course there are certain aspects that could be better, but on concept, it is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!) This was a great obsessions post. 🙂
I HAVE!! honestly, TID is what made me like shadowhunters and TMI in general since the first two TMI books were bleh to me. TID IS SO FANTASTIC IT MAKES ME WEEP. i feel iffy about the show, but it triggered my obsession so i suppose that’s good! xxx
OMG I REREAD ALL OF TMI THIS MONTH TOO! The TV show got me into it and I found that I actually loved it so much (but I also felt like her writing was quite a bit repetitive within sentences which I did not realize my first time reading it) I’m sososo excited for Lady Midnight! I can’t wait to hear what you think! I am definitely “cassandra clare trash” right along with you. Good luck with your ballet competitions! Do you go to YAGP? AAND I love Oh Wonder! All there music is so chill yet super catchy! Amazing post as always 🙂
i just finished LM and intend on finishing the rest of TMI because the cassandra clare trash is going to strong. (p.s. LADY MIDNIGHT IS FANTASTIC AND MADE ME MORE TRASHY THAN POSSIBLE.) and thank you!! yes, i’m going to YAGP for coming weekends so hopefully it goes well! i have a love/hate relationship with dance comps sighhh. and YES, oh wonder is so chill but still catchy. thanks for visiting my blog! <333
Ever since the Shadowhunters show started, same as you I’ve really been wanting to re-read the Mortal Instruments series again which I loved the first time! It’s actually what got me into reading! Can’t wait to hear what you think of LM, I have been waiting for this book to come out for like 2 years!! So the anticipation is real, haha. I must admit though the show is just a little bit cheesy/cringey. -_-
ahaha yes the show is very cringey and i’m honestly not a big fan of it but I KEEP WATCHING. i highly recommend rereading TMI before beginning LM because there are so many references that i probably missed and kinda wish i got a chance to reread the whole series before starting (esp CoHF!). rereading also made me really nostalgic and i also think you’ll enjoy it more the second time around. so… i’m basically saying GO REREAD TMI YOU WONT REGRET IT. <333
Honestly I’m glad someone is enjoying the shadow world. I’ve seen so much negativity around the show this past month, it’s exhausting. I really want to reread TMI again as well but I don’t know when I’ll get around to doing it.
I’m checking out this XKit extension you mentioned and it seems pretty neat. Maybe I should get it as well. I haaaate tagging everything because it takes so much time.
i’m not a huge fan of the show either, but it’s one of those things you say you don’t like but can’t stop watching. honestly, even if the acting is bad or they changed the plot or WHATEVER, it’s entertaining and isn’t that the purpose of shows/movies/books? it sucks that people are hating on the shadow world for such a petty thing. ://
you should definitely get xkit! there are extensions to the extension that you can download that make tagging, posting, and EVERYTHING so so so much easier!
IVE ALSO BEEN CASSANDRA CLARE TRASH THIS PAST MONTH! So many Shadowhuntery things happening…I’M SO EXCITED!!
I’m so glad you love the new fitness watches – they sound like a great investment 😀 😀
And yay I’m glad January was a good start to the year for you! Let’s hope February will be just as great~! 🙂
YAY CASSIE CLARE TRASH TOGETHER!! all the shadowhunter things are giving me lots of ~feels~. and yes, the fitness watches are a big motivator. hopefully it’ll stay that way since i stopped using the last one i had after a month or so :// i hope your february will be fantastic as well!! <333
January was both awesome (with lots of fun experiences) and not so great (winter blues, boo). But it’s a brand new month, and that means a brand new start, and I’ve decided to try to be more positive about life (even with the gloomy, icky weather)! Good luck with all the ballet auditions; I’m sure you’ll do a fabulous job in all your performance! And honestly, I can’t help it – I’m totally hooked on the Shadowhunters TV show. (It’s mostly MALEC. DID YOU SEE LAST NIGHT’S EPISODE?)
i’m glad your january was awesome as well! you’re complaining about the wintery weather, but i’d happily trade with you since southern california has a sad definition of winter. and i’ve never seen snow! a blizzard would actually be kinda cool, but that’s probably because i’ve never experienced one ahaha. and i haven’t watched the shadowhunters episode yet but plan on watching it very very soon. MALEC!!! i agree; watching the show solely for malec. hope your february is great!
January was a good but stressful month for me (exams suck) but reading wise it was pretty great I read like 9 books so I’m off to a pretty good start. And omg, I’ve been wanting to get one of those watches for ageees I think I might get one now. Also I’m always Cassandra Clare trash tbh.
ahhso many books! jan, feb, and march are stressful for me as well so i feel you :/// except i can’t even read because i feel too overwhelmed and stressed to even do that. ughhhhh. and i would highly recommend getting one of these watches if you want to be more active! such a motivator, honestly. and YAY FOR BEING CASSIE CLARE TRASH!!
Oooh, congrats on the exercising and waking up!! I’m a morning person, and my family hates me because I’m up at 6am and have like half of everything done by 8am. XD Ahem. ;D OH AND GOOD LUCK FOR THE UPCOMING BALLET AUDITIONS.
And *whispers* I am so obsessed with Cassandra Clare books it’s not even funny. Actually it is hilariously funny. XD I read most of them the year before last? And omg, I just couldn’t get enough. <3 I found the middle of TMI a bit tedious, like we were going round in circles? But the last books were EVERYTHING. And it's one of my all time favourite series. xDXD I haven't started the show because I ACTUALLY LOVED THE MOVIE?!? I'M SO WEIRD. So I have to like stop thinking of the characters of the movie before I can flip over to the show. 😛
okay, HOW DO YOU WAKE UP SO EAROY EVERY MORNING? i’m not a mornibg person AT ALL, meaning if i didn’t have my alarm i’d probably get up at noon. teach me your secrets. i’ve been slacking off these past few days ://
ahahah i completely agree about TMI going in circles in the middle. the books could’ve ending at CoG but it seemed like cassie wanted to add more books so HEY let’s make the bad guy’s SON destroy their lives now! but they kept getting better after that so no complaints from me! CoHF was such a fantastic ending I CAN’T EVEN. and i’m pretty indifferent to both the movie and the show; it just makes me want to reread all the shadowhunter books and basically BE A SHADOWHUNTER. so… i guess i do like them, in that sense? i dunno, it’s a strange relationship.
Wow! BEAUTIFUL PICTURES!!! I never actually finished the Shadowhunter series (a couple books left!), but I’d really like to because they were SO good, and I’d like to watch the show as well. 🙂 I honestly have no idea at all how to use Tumblr… It’s so confusing! I’ll definitely check out xkit. Is I’ll Give You the Sun worth reading? It kind of scares me, but people keep saying it’s good.
Wow, you dance? How awesome!!! Good luck! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for your auditions. 🙂
-Amy