Better Late Than Never: My Trip to Paris and London!

Well, hello there! This post is going to be quite different from what I usually post but I thought it would be cool to post some pictures from my sixteenth birthday trip to Europe! I actually went in late June but just now got around to doing this! (Thanks to Danielle Sibarium for giving me the idea!)

So about three years ago I fell in love with Paris... all because of a book. Anna and the French Kiss. This book seriously made me OBSESSED. I redecorated my room, I wanted to learn to speak French, and I began to dream of taking a trip to Paris. In my family, on your sixteenth birthday you get to take a trip to pretty much wherever you want. I knew where I wanted to go when I turned sixteen. PARIS. So this summer I finally got to go with my mom and I was lucky enough that my best friend, Megan, got to tag along with us. And my mom also decided to go to London as well! So, basically it was a mix of Etienne St. Clair... French boys and English boys. And the trip was beyond amazing. Better than I even dreamed. So here's what we did... (Be prepared for LOTS of photos. I'm warning you now...)

Where we went was basically planned around ALL of the places in Anna and the French Kiss. And we did go to every single place mentioned. Except for the top of Notre Dame... :( The lines were always insanely long and we never had the time to wait...

We rented an apartment in Paris so we could feel all French and such and THIS was the view from our apartment...

Yeah, that's the Eiffel Tower. Right by our apartment. It was CRAZY. 

Here's the inside of our apartment:

These stairs went down to a super creepy, but super cool basement. This was where Megan and I originally thought we were going to sleep but once it was night time we changed our minds. Luckily, there was another room upstairs we used!

We visited the Eiffel Tower (duh!)

(I'm the one in the blue dress, in case you were wondering!)

We also took a tour on the Seine river!

Then we got food from the small food market across from our apartment! 

(Fresh baguettes, some Boursin, and then some fancy carbonated drinks that we put in fancy glasses!)

It was seriously so delicious and all it was was bread and cheese. That's France for ya.

The next day we slept in late because we were SO jet lagged. We literally fell asleep at 6:00 the night before and then woke up at 10:00 pm ready for the day... Yeah. Since we slept in late we decided to get a quick brunch!

I got a Croque Monsieur which is a pretty common breakfast/lunch food in France! It's basically just ham and cheese melted with more cheese melted on the bread. It's pretty darn good. 

Then we took the metro to Notre Dame!

The inside was absolutely gorgeous. I can't even put into words how amazing it was.

Then, of course I had to go to point zero near Notre Dame since it's such an important part of Anna and the French Kiss. 

And I HAD to make a wish on it!

(Note my shoes. Wearing flats? Huge mistake. My feet were KILLING me the rest of the day.)

Then we ate lunch at a nearby cafe and after that we went to Etienne's church: St. Etienne Du Mont! AHHH!

And then off to the Pantheon!

After that we headed towards the Latin Quarter where a lot of students live and go to school. (This is where the school in ANNA took place in! Also where the characters would hang out all the time!) Plus, super cheap shopping! And on our way there was a Creperie! Which I decided was the same one that the characters in ANNA ate at!

 I got some kind of caramel crepe. It was probably my favorite dessert I had in Paris.

Then we HAD to get some French macarons! It's a must.

Then we were off to the Luxembourg Gardens!

 And thankfully for me, that was the last stop that day. By that time I could barely walk. I was pretty much hobbling behind my Mother and Megan. 

The next day we went to the lock bridge where Megan and I put a lock on it and threw the key in the Seine River!

And here's me and my Momma! 

Then I had THE best lunch ever at another cute cafe!

I also ate completely French. Which meant using a fork to eat my French fries. ;)

Then we went to the Louvre which, sadly, was somewhat disappointing. I wasn't all that amazed. We mostly went to see the Mona Lisa and it was jam packed in that room so I got a less than decent picture...

Isn't my picture stunning?

And then we went to Pere Lachaise, the cemetery Anna, Etienne, and the rest of the gang go to! This cemetery was insane. Some of the tombs were literally the size of a large shed. 

Victor Noir. Known for giving fertility if you rub... well... you get the picture.

After we went to Arc de Triomphe!

At the top of Arc de Triomphe!

Champs Elysees! 

Then we headed back to the area of our apartment where we got some dinner before going up in the Eiffel Tower that night!

After we went up we had about ten more minutes before the sparkly lights were supposed to appear on the Eiffel Tower! 

On our last day in Paris we went to Versailles!

The next day was my birthday and we were off to London on a train!

Unfortunately, I got a not-so-great birthday lunch on the train...

Nasty.

In London we went and saw all sorts of places:

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben

London Bridge

Tower Bridge

London Eye

Parliament Building

The Globe Theater

At the Globe Theater I got to be dressed as a tradition Elizabethan woman would dress. It was actually an amazing experience. The clothing was SUPER heavy.

Tower of London

Soldier at the Tower of London

Buckingham Palace! (Sadly, no sign of Kate... Do they KNOW who I am?)

Then the day before we left we went to go see Matilda the Musical. You seriously have no idea how excited I was for this. I had been DYING to see it and we were lucky enough to get tickets! 

It was beyond amazing. I pretty much almost cried at the end just because it was so fantastic. I had chills. 

So that, my friends, was my WONDERFUL sixteenth birthday trip to Europe. It was most definitely an experience I will never forget. I am extremely lucky that I even got a chance to experience the culture of both of these places. If I had a favorite part it would probably be sitting at the cafes in Paris and experiencing everything. Nothing fancy. But very French. And that's what I wanted.

 Hopefully you guys enjoyed looking at all of these pictures. I do realize there are a whole bunch but that was just the short version of the trip. I took over a thousand pictures! Crazy, I know, but I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss one bit.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope the rest of your week is filled with *SPARKLES!*

Beach Reading Giveaway Winner!

I'm super excited to announce the winner of my giveaway! ( Excuse any typos... I'm currently writing this blog post on my phone because we're on the road!)

First, I'd like to thank everyone who entered or shared about this giveaway!

I would also like to welcome any new followers! I hope you enjoy the craziness that is me and that you come to love my many exaggerations... 

Now, onto the winner! Out of everyone it added up to 30 entires! I selected the winner through random.org and here was the result: 

Number two!! Which was Elizabeth Collins! Yay! Elizabeth, I'll be contacting you and getting all your address info so I can send off all of your beach goodies to you!

Again, thank you everyone who participated in this! Be sure to watch out for more of my reviews (usually) every Sunday!

I hope everyone's week is fantastic and filled with *SPARKLES!*

Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot (Review)

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Number of Pages: 422

For ages 13+

"After a car accident--an event he considers a prank gone bad--pop star, Hunter Kennedy is forced to hide out with his aunt in small-town Colorado. He’s supposed to rest, heal his scars and attend high school in disguise until the press dies down. But he only wants to get back to work.

Worse, the girl who’s been assigned to make him over into a geek is a major geek herself. Vere Roth is a chattering pixie, a blushing tornado and a complete social disaster. He’s never met a girl who’s never-been-kissed, believes in romance and thinks Hunter’s a 'nice' guy.

Funny thing is...Hunter is nice around Vere because she’s his first real friend. He also can’t seem to stop sharing his secrets or keep her out of his heart. Knowing he’d never deserve a girl as sweet as Vere, he resigns himself to the friend zone, and helps his new bestie with her own makeover.

She tortures him daily for ridiculous guy advice on how to snag her life-long crush. A guy Hunter thinks is totally wrong for Vere, and sadly, one who has taken note of Vere’s transformation.

When Vere asks her best friend for some kissing advice, Hunter can’t resist...

And that’s when things get out of control..." -Goodreads

So, usually I post my reviews on Sundays, but I actually forgot yesterday was Sunday! Whoops! Being at the beach can seriously mess with your mind...

This book was BEYOND adorable. I can't even begin to put into words how much swooning I did while reading this book. Let's just say Hunter Kennedy knows how to sweep a girl off her feet. Even if he does happen to be completely fictional. (We'll just leave that part out.)

I'm gonna tell you right now I want to be Vere Roth's best friend. She's super sweet and I swear she  doesn't have a rude bone in her body. Also, I LOVE her name! Gwenivere? So pretty! She's also extremely shy which makes you just want to hug the poor girl. Like I said, I want to be her best friend. Something else I absolutely loved about her was even though she was shy, when things got down to business she could definitely kick some butt. That may or may not be in the literal sense. Another thing,  how lucky was she to "have" to unmake/befriend a GORGEOUS ROCK STAR? Can this happen in real life? And if so, where do I sign up?

Speaking of gorgeous rock stars, there's Hunter Kennedy. Teenage heart throb, extremely talented singer, the reason for my constant swooning through out this book, etc. I mean, of course you have to read this book yourself, but trust me on this: That boy will swoon the pants off of you. Unless you have some sort of swoon deflecting super power then I guess he wouldn't be swoony but, let's hope none of you do because that would be sort of awful... Hunter always did what was best for Vere even if it meant steering her towards someone else. Which seriously KILLED me. I wanted to scream at Vere and say, "DO YOU NOT SEE THE FANTABULOUSNESS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU?!" Don't worry, though. Without giving to much away let's just say, she finally figured it out. One thing is for sure, though. Hunter Kennedy WILL be going on the Swoon Worthy Boy list. Because not only does the boy have the talent of singing, he has the talent of being swoon worthy.

Something else I loved about this book was the relationship between Vere and her older brother, Charlie. You could tell that Charlie was a fantastic older brother that really cared for his sister. He did everything in his power to protect her, even if it meant making extremely stupid mistakes. And trust me, there are more than a few. BUT he meant well!

One person that I really did not care for whatsoever would have to be Curtis. And I'm sure if any of you have read or will read this book you will agree with me. I mean, at first he seems kind of sweet but the whole time in the back of my mind I was a little wary of him. I'm not going to spoil it for you so I won't go into anymore detail about him but who needs Curtis when you can have Hunter? I'm just sayin'...

The only thing I didn't like about the book was that it had to end. I had gotten so attached to these two main characters and I was sad that it was over. Things were finally perfect for them and the story had to be over? I mean come on now! Can I at least tag along with them on their adventures for at least one more chapter? Unfortunately, this book had to end at some point and how Anne ended it was completely and utterly perfect. I really couldn't have asked for a better ending.

And with that, I'm sure you all know how I'm going to rate this book. 5 out of 5 diva crowns, without a doubt. This book left me feeling bubbly, happy, and almost to the point of giggling. And now I'm in denial because I don't have a rock star boyfriend. Life is so unfair.

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In case any of you missed it, I have a giveaway going on until next week so make sure to check it out here! I'm giving away all the necessities for fantastic beach reading plus a signed copy of Bloodlines by Richelle Mead! 

Thanks so much for reading and I hope everyone's week is filled with *SPARKLES!*

Beach Reading Giveaway! *This giveaway is now CLOSED!*

Well, hello everybody! Unfortunately, today I do not have a review because the book I just finished reading wasn't the greatest and there was no swooning involved which means I'M NOT REVIEWING IT! BUT what I do have today is a GIVEAWAY!! YAAAAAY!!! I've been wanting to do a giveaway for a while now but I haven't had the chance to do so but now I can!

The theme is readin' on the beach because I'm going to the beach next week and just because you guys aren't going doesn't mean you can't have the stuff anyways! Now, of course, I'm not AT the beach now so these pictures were taken in my backyard... Where there's grass and dirt. Sounds fun, right? Yeah...

Here's what I'll be giving away:

(Sunglasses not included. :( Sorry, those are mine!)

A SIGNED copy of Bloodlines by Richelle Meade because you HAVE to have reading material at the beach. I mean, how else are you going to pass away the time while you tan? And trust me, my pale self needs it....

I HAVE PROOF

A tumbler because you know you're gonna be getting thirsty and you're gonna need a stylin' tumbler instead of some old water bottle. Who needs those? (I almost spelled it "tumblr" because I have an obsession...)

(I'm kind of obsessed with the adorable straw)

A $10 gift card to Starbucks because you'll also need a cold, refreshing drink from Starbucks. Or a hot one, I don't judge.

And yes, I know there's a cupcake with a candle in it, but the gift card is sparkly and I love cupcakes so what's not to love about it?

And of course you'll need a super cute towel to lay on at the beach. No laying on the bare sand and getting it all in your suit. I hate that feeling!

So that, my friends, is it! 

To enter you MUST follow me on my blog! +1 for new followers and +2 for old ones! If you don't follow me but do any of the other options they won't count! To get even better chances of winning you can also...

1. Share this post on Twitter or your blog (leave me the link in the comments or tag me in your tweet, @SparkleJewelz) +1

2. Follow me on Twitter! @SparkleJewelz (make sure to leave me your Twitter name in the comments as well!) +1

3. You can also like my new blog page on Facebook! Click here! (Leave me your Facebook name in the comments!) +1

4. Answer this question in the comments: What's been your favorite read this summer? +1

If you do all of these things you have up to 5 or 6 chances of winning! YAY FOR WINNING!

Then add everything up and then comment your total! Also in your comment make sure you leave me your email address so I can contact you if you won! 

Unfortunately, due to my lack of funds in the babysitting department right now, this giveaway is NOT international. :( Sorry, friends! I would love to send it out to you but I'm a shopaholic and I spent all of my money in Europe! But feel free to stick around my blog for more giveaways to come!

This giveaway will be open for two weeks which means it will be over on the 21st of July at 12:00 AM central time! Then on Monday I'll post the winner so make sure to come back to check that out! 

Good luck to everyone who enters and thanks so much for reading and visiting my blog!

Hope everyone's week is filled with *SPARKLES!*

The Avery Shaw Experiment by Kelly Oram (Review)

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Number of Pages: 278

For ages 15+

"When Avery Shaw’s heart is shattered by her life-long best friend, she chooses to deal with it the only way she knows how—scientifically. 

The state science fair is coming up and Avery decides to use her broken heart as the topic of her experiment. She’s going to find the cure. By forcing herself to experience the seven stages of grief through a series of social tests, she believes she will be able to get over Aiden Kennedy and make herself ready to love again. But she can’t do this experiment alone, and her partner (ex partner!) is the one who broke her heart.

Avery finds the solution to her troubles in the form of Aiden’s older brother Grayson. The gorgeous womanizer is about to be kicked off the school basketball team for failing physics. He’s in need of a good tutor and some serious extra credit. But when Avery recruits the lovable Grayson to be her “objective outside observer,” she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for, because Grayson has a theory of his own: Avery doesn’t need to grieve. She needs to live. And if there’s one thing Grayson Kennedy is good at, it’s living life to the fullest." -Goodreads

So I've been in Europe for about the past two weeks and before I went I new I was going to need some books to read on the eight hour flights and this book was PERFECT for keeping me entertained during those stuffy, cramped flights! Also I had read Kelly Oram's other book, V is for Virgin, and LOVED IT so I was hoping this one would be good to! ... It was beyond good. 

I loved Avery to death. She was super adorable, and shy, but she also had a determined spirit to her, which in my opinion became more evident because of a special boy with the name of Grayson. I'm just sayin'... I really felt for the poor girl. I mean, being best friends with someone for your whole entire life and then they decide they need "space." I MEAN REALLY? Not going to lie I was pretty angry at Aiden. I thought he was an utter and complete idiot. BUT he does redeem himself. And also without Aiden being an idiot we wouldn't have gotten the SWOON WORTHINESS of Grayson. And we cannot have that. Trust me. 

So now that we just so happened to get onto the subject of Grayson Kennedy I feel like we should maybe discuss this topic a little bit more because there is never TOO MUCH discussion about Grayson Kennedy. He is swoony as all get out. My stinkin' gravy. Like, he's literally swoony from the third page until the end. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? HOW? I'm pretty sure the man sitting next to me on the plane was a little worried for me because, yes, there were times where I would kind of get that really dumb, dopey look on my face and I wanted to be that girl who sighs and hugs her book to her chest. But, alas, I did not. Then I would've gotten some REALLY weird looks. Back to Grayson. He's the kind of character who looks super macho and tough and looks like someone who could care less but in reality he has insecurities just like everyone else. (Yeah, I figured that out all by myself. I'm deep.) He was SO STINKING SWEET to Avery and always wanted to protect her, always making sure he was doing what was best for her. Not to mention he was smoooooth. Also he called her Aves. AVES. HOW CUTE IS THAT?! And yes, so did other people, but coming from Grayson Kennedy it was adorable. He's goin' on the Swoon Worthy Boy List. Don't even act surprised.

And wow... That was a really long paragraph about Grayson Kennedy... Whoops. (I'm not really that sorry.)

On to things other than Grayson Kennedy even though we all know I could talk about him for about three more paragraphs. I loved how much Avery developed as a person throughout this book. She started out as a shy science "nerd" who had anxiety and as Grayson helped her face all of these obstacles she began to form into a more confident person. ALL BECAUSE OF A BOY NAMED GRAYSON. And now I'm talking about how swoony Grayson is again. Guys, I can't help it. 

I wanted this book to go on for so much longer then it did because the ending was so adorable. I honestly would not have minded at least three more chapters of just Grayson being adorable with Avery. I would have been perfectly content. But that's how books work, I guess. Darn conclusions.

If you couldn't tell by my humongously long paragraph about the main guy character, I'm in love with this book. It was funny, adorable, and filled with a whole bunch of swoon worthiness which is always a plus. Five out of five diva crowns! And four of those diva crowns are because of Grayson Kennedy. ...I have a problem.

Thanks everyone for reading and I hope your week is filled with *SPARKLES!*

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (ARC)

Genre: Fantasy

Number of Pages: 448

For ages 13+

"Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her–or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm." -Goodreads

So I haven't done in a review in who knows how long and school's out so LET'S DO THIS THANG. Also, I'm being a capsaholic today so don't mind the random shouting of words.

This book. HOLY STINKIN' COW. So amazing. I can't even put into words how amazing this book is. If you all remember my review of the first book, Shadow and Bone, you'll know I LOVED it and let me just tell you all this book was NO DIFFERENT.

I probably cried about mmm... I would say maybe FOUR TIMES. I don't think I have ever cried as hard while reading a book as I had reading this book. This book is pretty emotionally straining, not gonna lie. We can all thank Leigh for that one. I know she not so secretly loves it, though.

Alina? Amazing. Just plain amazing. I hadn't read Shadow and Bone in a while and I had forgotten just how hilarious this girl is. I mean, I would give you quotes but it's an ARC and I had it for about a week before I had to give it back. But take my word for it, she's awesome. Also, this girl goes through SO MUCH CRAP. Oh my gravy. This book is filled to the brim with heartache and sorrow. She has hard decisions being thrown at her left and right and to top it all off, she's got boyfriend issues too.

Which brings me to my next topic... FLIPPING MAL. This was pretty much the basis of all and every cry I had during this reading experience. There was one point where I literally set the book down, stared at the wall for a couple of seconds, and then had a good cry. And trust me it was a BLUBBERING, SOBBING, UGLY cry. It was plain torture and amazingness all rapped up into one. Mal is still super swoony and the romance is still there but it's strained and Alina and Mal have some rough patches. And if you are like me there may be some blubbering, sobbing, ugly, crying in your near future.

Not only is there Mal in this book but there's also the Darkling and ANOTHER GUY, Sturmhond. Leigh seriously knows how to write the swoony boys. I don't know how she does it, but she manages to write them QUITE well. Don't get me wrong I'm still a huge part of Team Mal, but Sturmhond may just change your mind. There's also that other guy, you know the Darkling. Yeah... I've finally decided how I feel about him. Wanna know? I VERY MUCH DISLIKE THE MAN. Sorry to say he is just plain evil in this book and you see no sign of the possibly sweet Darkling you thought you saw in the first book. That's not necessarily a bad thing, either. I mean, he is a villain after all. But it's sad to know that he didn't "redeem" himself in this book.

The ending will nearly kill you. You will be speechless and then if you're like me, you'll want to scream and yell and tell everyone you know what kind of emotional abuse you were just put through. But it is SO WORTH IT. This book is flawless and amazing and made me feel all the feels, some I didn't even realize I could feel when reading a book. If you want an example here's a text I sent to Trisha after I finished:

As you can see I didn't really take it all that well. But I got over it and now I get to wait who knows how long to wait for the next one to see just how all of this stuff is going to be resolved because I honestly have no idea. 

I was enthralled with this book from the first page to the last, from sad to happy, filled with laughs to filled with tears. I can't even begin to explain how much of an impact this book made on me. I highly recommend and cannot wait until it comes out soon so I can buy myself my own copy. Five out of five diva crowns!

Thank you so much for reading and hopefully I get back into the swing of things so I can review all summer! Hope the rest of your week is filled with *SPARKLES!*

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Oh! And if anyone wants a super mini playlist while reading this book I made one. It's not very long and almost completely filled with Coldplay songs but Leigh's playlist hadn't been released yet and I needed some music to get me in the mood:

A Rush Of Blood to the Head- Coldplay

Daylight- Coldplay

X&Y-Coldplay

Winter Song- Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson

Twisted Logic- Coldplay

Low- Coldplay

Winter Prayer- Leigh Bardugo, herself!

Aberrant by Ruth Silver Cover Reveal!

Why, hello everyone! Long time no see? Yeah, I've been gone for quite a while. School is INSANE and I have a whole bunch of stuff going on with theater right now so I'm not having as much time as I would like to read what I want. BUT I do have a cover reveal for you all!

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So here it is... ABBERANT by Ruth Silver! 

DUM DUH DUH DUMMMMMM!

Looks mysterious doesn't it? Most definitely dystopian. I think it looks fantabulous! 

And here's the description:

"In the future dystopian society of Cabal, the government instills equality for all and offers its citizens the perfect system.  There is food, shelter and jobs for everyone.  The one requirement is to follow the rules without question, including the government's match in marriage and "The Day of the Chosen", a lottery that randomly selects families to conceive children as natural means hasn't existed in generations.  Following her eighteenth birthday, Olivia Parker accepts her requirement to marry her childhood best friend, Joshua Warren, and is eager to start her work assignment and new life when it all comes abruptly to an end as she's arrested and thrown in prison.  The only crime committed, her existence.  Olivia is unlike the rest of the world born not from "The Day of the Chosen."  The truth haunts the government and puts her life in grave danger as one simple fact would destroy the perfect system.
With Joshua's help, Olivia breaks free of prison and is forced on the run.  Together they set out to find the promised rebel town in search of a new home and new life together.  Their situation seems less than promising as they reach the town of Haven.  New rules and customs must be adhered to in order to stay.  Leaving would mean most certain death in the large expanse of the Gravelands.  Time is running out as the government mounts an attack to destroy Olivia and bury her secret with her.  Thrown into a world unlike their own, they must quickly adapt to survive."

You can enter to win one of three signed copies of ABERRANT on Goodreads!

About the Ruth:

Ruth Silver attended Northern Illinois University and graduated with a Bachelor's in Communication in the spring of 2005.  While in college, she spent much of her free time writing with friends she met online and penning her first novel, Deuces are Wild, which she self-published in 2004.  Her favorite class was Creative Writing senior year where she often handed in assignments longer than the professor required because she loved to write and always wanted to finish her stories.  Her love of writing led her on an adventure in 2007 to Melbourne, Australia.  Silver enjoys reading, photography, traveling and most of all writing.  She loves dystopian and fantasy young adult stories.  Her latest novel published by Lazy Day Publishing, ABERRANT is scheduled for release April 13th.  Ruth has been actively writing since she was a teenager.  She currently resides in Plainfield, Illinois. 

Find Ruth on Twitter: @writeawaybliss

Or on Facebook: writeawaybliss

If you want to check out more go to her website!

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Thanks for reading! Hopefully I'll have a new review up sometime soon! Hope everyone's weekend is filled with *SPARKLES!*