Skip To The Good Part - Release Day!

I HAVE SOMETHING SO EXCITING TO TELL YOU ABOUT TODAY!

The all caps were so, so necessary.. BECAUSE.. Today is the release day launch of Skip To The Good Part. I really, really wanted to finish reading it so I could have a full review for you guys today, but busy month, so I just haven't gotten that done.. yet.

So here's some info you need, then my 2 cents below that, and thennnn a special present for you lovely people at the bottom.

Skip to the Good Part Synopsis:

Find your next red-hot read in this sizzling collection of sexy scenes

99¢ only through release week—regularly $2.99

Skip to the Good Part: 20 Authors Reveal Their Steamiest Scenes offers face-fanning romance and tie-me-up sizzle (and everything in between) from top authors including New York Times and USA Today bestsellers. 

The collection features a British alpha who wants to turn a good girl bad, a woman realizing her impetuous marriage to a stripper isn’t all bad, a bad boy boxer who could use a large dose of sexual healing, a carnie who has found new and inventive uses for fun house mirrors, and a rocker who wants to woo the girl who got away: his high school sweetheart.

Read 20 of the best steamy scenes in contemporary romance and erotic romance today. This 250-page collection will get your blood pumping, your heart racing, and your skin tingling—you’re sure to discover a new favorite. 

Due to the graphic nature of some content, this collection is recommended strictly for mature readers. 

New York Times best-selling authors:

Raine Miller 

Kendall Ryan 

K. Bromberg 

Carly Phillips 

Denise Grover Swank 

S.L. Scott 

USA Today best-selling authors: 

Christine Bell 

Rebecca Shea 

Andrea Smith 

Featuring: 

Magan Vernon 

Kristie Cook 

Nevaeh Lee & Michelle Lynn 

Alessandra Thomas

Selena Laurence 

Heidi Joy Tretheway 

Elizabeth Briggs 

Meghan March 

Taylor Michaels 

K.B. Nelson 

Elise Covert

Buy Links:

Amazon | iBooks | Kobo |Barnes & Noble

I KNOW.
So first of all you should know that I think this is one of the greatest ideas, ever. Jasper Ridge Press took all of the "good parts" of these amazing authors' new books and combined them into one. How freaking genius is that? Like I said, I haven't finished yet, so I don't want to give you a full review, but I will say I am LOVING being able to get a little taste of so many different authors and I've already added a few full books to my "To Read" list.

The only other side note I want to include is that CARLY freaking PHILLIPS is in this book. I own every single one of Carly's books and she was the very first "romance" book I ever read. So basically, Carly and I go way back and I am just over the moon excited about being able to get a glimpse of her new book. THIS IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA!

And now, for the good part.. (get it? lol, i'm so punny)

Jasper Ridge Press is hosting a giveaway and will be giving away print copies of some of the books featured in Skip To The Good Part. I know, a damn dream come true.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Top 3 Favorite Lip Balms

This is kind of a random post, but for some reason I was thinking about this over the weekend and I started mentally ranking my lip balms, because that's not weird at all. So once I was done with my mental list, I decided to share, because these are things the people of Blogland need to know.

#3

Maybelline Baby Lips Dr. Rescue Medicated Lip Balm
This stuff is amazing. I do enjoy the original Maybelline Baby Lips, but the Dr. Rescue line is just fantastic. They also come in tints, which is fun, but I've only tried one tint, so I can't comment on that too much. It was nice, with just a subtle hint of color. I was kind of terrified that it'd be like lipstick. I have two of the Too Cool color, which is just plain, no tint. I'm in love. So good. I like that is FEELS hydrating unlike some of others I've tried.

#2

Vaseline Lip Therapy Rosy Lips
This is my new love. I mentioned in yesterday's post that I've been watching a lot of beauty videos on YouTube, well this product was mentioned so many times and by so many different people! So I was like, ok, I'll try it out, but the whole time I was thinking "Vaseline? Isn't that kind of old school?". Well, old school works, folks. It's so good, it lasts on your lips for such a long time and oh my goodness, super hydrating! Also, it's so little!! It's like a little baby tub of vaseline! I can barely handle the cuteness! There are a few things that irk me a bit. For one, I don't like that I have to apply it with my finger. I wish it was in some kind of tube that I could squeeze up. Two, it actually has a faint smell of roses. I like the smell of real, actual roses, but I'm not a huge fan of rose scented things. Does that make sense? No one can get the smell just right and it bothers me, whatever, it's a weird quirk. I did discover that there are two other scents of the Lip Therapy, so I'm probably going to pick them up.

#1

Mary Kay Satin Lips Lip Balm
I 100% do not want you to think this is because I'm technically a Mary Kay consultant. This is #1 on the list because I'm legitimately obsessed with it. It lasts so, so long on your lips and it makes them just absolutely silky smooth. Honestly, it is, in my humble opinion, the best product Mary Kay offers, no joke. Followed up closely by the Mary Kay Satin Lips Lip Mask. OBSESSED. Do the lip mask and follow it up with the lip balm? Heaven. I have a tube of this in my purse, one in my bathroom, one in my car, and one by my bed. I mean, that should speak for itself.

Honorable Mention

eos Lip Balms
I have to mention these because I do own two of them and my sister loves them. They are good, don't get me wrong, I just think the three I listed above are better. I really like to use the eos lip balms for some moisture right before I apply lip liner and a lip stick, because this lip balm tends to dry to an almost matte finish, so it's easy to apply things over it. I have the Sweet Mint scent, which is okay, but I also have the Coconut Milk scent, HOLY BANANAS! It's awesome. It's always out of stock, so if you see this one, snatch it up! My sister really like the Pomegranate Raspberry scent. Like I said these really are good, with a really cute packaging, but not that long lasting and sometimes the almost matte finish I was talking about bothers me. I know these are really, really popular, but they aren't all that. *hair flick*

There you have it!
I know this was kind of random, but I felt like sharing, so shut up and like it.
I love you.
Bye.

November Update

Whoa hey.. Is this thing on?

I've been pretty checked out of Blogland this month and when I have stopped by, it's been just for a hot minute. So today I'm just gonna give you a little November update on my life.

:: Here's the thing about working in athletics - November sucks. November is the transition month. By that I mean that the fall sports aren't over yet, like football, soccer, and volleyball, but the winter sports have officially begun, such as basketball, swimming, and wrestling. This month I personally work football, men's soccer, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, and a few stand-alone athletic events. This month alone I have 8 men's basketball games and 7 women's basketball games - and those are just the basketball events! It's just a lot. So I'm tired. This is also my excuse for not being around Blogland.

:: Today is also my oldest brother's birthday. Shout out and Happy Birthday to Michael! (family tree saga and explanation found here, there are diagrams)

Michael is the one choking his wife.. Christmas 2012. We're so normal.

:: So as most of you know, when I'm not running around playing athletic supervisor, I work in a CPA office. Well guess what, we're moving! December 1st we will be beginning the process of moving into a new, much needed (holy shit I can't even tell you how much needed) office building. So I mean, if I didn't have enough going on this holiday season, we decided to pack up an entire office and move it. We so smart.

:: When I'm not working, and in between my DVR watching, I've been watching YouTube makeup tutorials. Or makeup hauls. Or makeup reviews. etc. etc. It's turned into an obsession. Just so many beauty videos in general. The good news is that I've been learning so much and you know, if you're a long time reader, my goal in life is to know a little about a lot, just enough to make me dangerous. Boom.
PS. If you need some YouTube beauty blogger recommendations I suggest starting with Laura Vitale, Jaclyn Hill, Nicole Guerriero, or Casey Holmes. But really there are a ton of really good ones out there, so actually if you know of someone, send them to me!

:: I have a thing with smells. Actually, I just decided this entire bullet point could be a blog post, so look for that this week. Here's the quick version - I have a candle addiction and I would rather buy candles over just about anything else. Well currently I have a Buy 2, Get 2 FREE from Yankee Candle coupon in my email inbox and I'm trying really hard to ignore it…. *insert wide-eyed emoji here*

:: OH, Kate, who is one hilarious no-reply blogger, (yea, I'm calling you out, Kate) wrote a comment on my post about my marathon cooking day recently where I talked about how I screwed up my vegetable soup and I didn't know what I was going to do about it.

Well, to update everyone and to make a long story short, I had to throw it away. I tried putting a few whole potatoes in it to soak up some of the salt and them removing those potatoes, didn't work. So then I tried scooping out a ton of the juice and adding new fresh juice, still didn't work. When I say I royally screwed up this soup, I'm being serious. So in the trash it went. Whomp Whomp.

:: This happened yesterday. Running a few errands, came across an RV. I laughed and was all "OMG Breaking Bad, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman are in town, LOL, SO FUNNY, let me get a picture!" and then I took a picture.. And then zoomed in..

Because.. obviously.

That's all for this morning, folks! I have a huge list of things I need to accomplish today and no surprise here, but I have to work a men's basketball game tonight! Hopefully you'll see me again this week, because I have at least 2 post ideas in my head currently, so here's hoping they actually happen.

Swifty vs. Spotify

If you've been around this blog for any significant amount of time or if you know me and my sister in real life, then you know we are not Taylor Swift fans. It is not about her personally! She does great things for a lot of charities and from every single thing we've ever read she's absolutely fabulous to her fans. Great, wonderful, awesome. BUT we aren't fans. It's a combo of her dancing, her adolescent song lyrics, and her horrible live singing at every damn awards show. Honestly, I shouldn't have to defend my decision not to like her. #IDoWhatIWant

So, disclaimer - I'm not a TSwift fan, so I don't, at the moment, have a dog in this fight.

However, I did listen to her song Shake It Off, and damnit, I do like it. So when her album 1989 was about to be released, I was kind of interested to hear it because I thought just maybe she was finally growing into herself and finally writing for her age. Unfortunately, I still haven't heard any of her new album, because she pulled it from Spotify.

Spotify is my main device for listening to music. I pay the $9.99 a month so that I can have Spotify on my laptop and on my cell phone and I have an AUX cable so that I can listen to Spotify in my car. I definitely get my $9.99 a month from Spotify and it is more than worth it for me. I'm a huge Spotify supporter.

Taylor came forward after pulling all of her music from Spotify and gave her reasoning behind her decision to pull her music. I don't necessarily disagree with her basic argument, to be honest. Her music is an art and just like you'd pay for a painting, she should be compensated for the hard work she puts in. Cool, no arguments here.

Do I think Spotify is the problem? Do I think Spotify is to blame? No.

It's 2014 and I haven't bought a song on iTunes in over a year and I haven't purchased an actual CD is much, much longer. I took a quick poll from my friends and they all pretty much said the same thing. Then I read this must-read article from the Spotify CEO. I'm not going to sum it up or paraphrase it because I want you to read it. It is definitely worth your read.

I'm thinking a lot of thoughts right now. I'm wondering if Taylor realizes that Spotify does pay so much for every song they stream. I'm also wondering if she just isn't getting the payout. Recording companies are known for underpaying their artists. I'm also wondering why it feels like she's trying to take a stand against Spotify and against free music, BUT she's left her album on multiple other sites that do not pay her or anyone else. Also wondering how she thinks she's going to stop illegal downloads, because that is and has been a huge problem for a long time. I'm curious about her thought process in general.

Not to be totally metaphorical or anything, but she just hoped off the train, which is fine, but that doesn't mean the train is going to stop. She didn't even give the train a legitimate reason to stop and she didn't pull the emergency breaks. She just jumped off. Again, cool for her, but everyone else on that train is going to keep going into 2015 and now here she is on foot, walking back to 2008.

Or I could be wrong. It's a rare occurrence, but it has been known to happen occasionally.