Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for...

...time spent with friends. Whether it be attending a college basketball game; playing Cards Against Humanity; a Girls Night Out; a company picnic at Six Flags; watching an awesome 80s movie at the theater; or even just meeting up for lunch at Whataburger, I am thankful for any time I get to spend with friends.

I'm thankful for...

...my sweet maintenance man who came by after hours to kill the wasps that got into my apartment (and the ones living on my balcony). I'm highly allergic to them and he made sure he removed all of them. He sprayed outside on my balcony and around my front door too. He even left the wasp spray in case any came back (thankfully they haven't). I keep the spray nearby though, along with my Epipen.

I'm thankful for...

...our veterans. They sacrifice so much for our freedom and I feel they need to be thanked everyday, and not just on Veterans Day.

I'm thankful for...

...a day off work to go see a movie by myself (even if the power did go out halfway through and I had to go to another theater to finally see the whole movie, but whatever). :) 

Yes, I smuggled in Chick Fil-A in my purse, I'm not ashamed. Lol

I'm thankful for...

...all of you who put up with my randomness and silliness. Yes, I have my serious moments, but most of the times, I'm just a goofball. I'm sure it's interesting being friends with someone like me. I don't filter my thoughts and just say whatever is on my mind (this can be a good or bad thing). And yes, I'm probably gonna ask you to take a picture whenever I see you. I can't help it, I love photos and I love my friends. I'm learning to love myself and to actually take care of myself, and I don't care if you think my selfies are dumb, I don't take them for you, I take them for me. Haters gonna hate. Lol. I've come a long way over the last five years and I feel I'm in such a better place than I've been in a long time. Love y'all!

What are YOU thankful for??

XOXO!!

Book Reviews 2017: Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman

**All reviews on Randomness With Rachel are done on a five-star rating system. The reviews are solely my opinion and no one else's. Randomness With Rachel does not receive any incentives or compensations for reviews.**

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman by Sam Wasson

Who doesn't love Audrey Hepburn? A friend gave me this book because Audrey is my favorite actress of all time and I adore the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. I've read Truman Capote's book, so I knew his Holly Golightly and the Holly Golightly of the movie were NOT the same. I also knew about all the other differences between the book and the movie. I did find some of the history about the creation of the book and the making of the movie fascinating. It was interesting to see who else they wanted to star in the movie.

Also (I don't think this is really a "spoiler" so I don't think I need to warn you), I was a little sad to hear that Audrey didn't really care for George Peppard (he wasn't a popular person on set with really anyone). It was interesting to hear how the movie could have been so different. The author talked about scenes that were cut or re-written. I wish the alternate ending was somewhere on film (the author said no one knows for sure if the film survived from the cutting room floor). Although in my opinion, I like the actual ending of the movie better. No, I won't tell you what the alternate ending was going to be, you have to read the book. :) 

I didn't realize that Audrey had as many miscarriages as she did. He doesn't go too much into detail about Audrey's personal life (sadly), but he does provide tidbits here and there. He did write a little bit about her slightly troubled marriage to Mel Ferrer.

At the end the author talks about why he wrote the book. Why do people love this movie? It got me wondering why I love it- my answer is because of Audrey. I don't think the movie would have worked with anyone else. Is it the best love story out there? No, not at all. But no matter what, I will always find time to watch it when I'm wanting to have an Audrey marathon.

Oh, at the end of the book after all of the author's notes and references, he talks about his personal conversation with actress Patricia Neal- well worth the read. She seems like she was a hoot! :)

I finished this book on September 15, so it goes towards my 40 by 40 challenge.

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm Loving...

That my church's Trunk or Treat event was a great success! My Sunday School class and the kids loved my Dr. Seuss decorations, I was so pleased how well they turned out. I found a cute Cat in the Hat headpiece, so I wore that and made my own costume to go with it (although for a while the sweater and fur boots were very warm since the temperatures decided to climb into the mid-80s on Sunday). Two ladies from my class wore Thing One and Thing Two costumes they bought online. The photo frame prop I made was a huge hit, everyone loved it, including the adults! I think I might make one for my class' Christmas party next month. :)

With Thing One and Thing Two

Even dogs loved getting their photos taken!

I'm Loving...

My new hairdo. I got my hair highlighted last weekend (for the first time in over 10 years). I have an awesome hair stylist named Afsana and she did a fantastic job. She curled it (just to show off the highlights), but sadly I can never get my hair to look as good as she does when I try to curl it. But I still thing it looks good even when it's not curled.

I know, I look glamorous... Lol

A before and after of the back of my hair

For one day at least, my hair looked super cute. I loved how she blended the highlights

Afsana is the best!

I think it still looks good even when it's straight. I love it!

I'm Loving...

Girls Night Out. Some friends and I met up for a Girls Night Out last Friday night. We were supposed to go an outdoor showing of the movie Hocus Pocus but it was insanely cold and we didn't want to sit out for over 2 hours in the cold wind, so we just had a long dinner instead. These ladies are awesome, so glad we got to hang out!

While we waited for our food, we played around on Snapchat (mainly sending the snaps to each other- we are nerds). Lol.

Once I got home, I threw an extra blanket on my bed and watched TV the rest of the night.

I love my weather app, it's called Weather Pup. It shows a different dog each time you open it. :)

I'm Loving...

This new photo filter app I downloaded called Deep Art Effects- it has super cool effects. These are just a few of them....

 What are YOU loving today?

XOXO!