Thankful...

It seems I missed my blogiversary. It was January 28th that I posted my first review (Lucy Christopher's Stolen) and I've been blogging for FOUR years now. It is crazy that I've been doing this for that long already.

I've reflected back on the last four years and the overwhelming feeling I have is one of being thankful. I am incredibly thankful that I get to be part of this amazing community of amazing bookish people and for all the experiences and friendships I have because of book blogging. So many bloggers inspire me all the time and to them I am forever thankful for making me want to strive to be better. For challenging me and providing a (mostly) positive space to spare my book obsession. You all are truly amazing.

I met the amazing ladies who make up the Ottawa Blogettes because of blogging. Emilie, Jess, Katie, Ciara, Kim, Meaghan and (honourary memeber) Katherine - you all are smart, lovely, amazing women and I am so happy that I get to call each of you a friend. You've gotten me to read books I never would picked up without your urging and I love our chats. Thank you for EVERYTHING.

I am thankful that I met Christy (from The Reader Bee) and Kelly (from Kellyvision). You both let me vent, freak out with me, and just generally get me. I wish both of you lived closer to me than you do because it is unfair we do not get to have wine drinking nights together. I  heart both of you and am so, so, so, so thankful blogging brought us together. Thank you is not enough.

I've worked with amazing publishers who never cease to surprise me with their generosity, passion and thoughtfulness. Words cannot express how thankful I am to all of them. Getting to know them is a wonderful perk of blogging and one that will never stop surprising and amazing me.

Suman and Kaiti - you two lovelies are incredible and I thank you for SO much that has been the last four incredible years.

Part of what makes blogging so incredible is the experiences it's opened me up to. Because of blogging I've gone to Book Expo America. I've gotten to be surrounded by people who love and adore books as much as I do. I got to experience what is essentially a book lover's heaven. I've been fortunate to meet some incredible authors and some of my most favourites. One of my favourite memories of the last four years is getting the chance to talk to Jodi Lynn Anderson at a BEA party. I adore her and her books and the fact that I got to express my love for Tiger Lily to her in person is still mind blowing to me. I will be forever thankful to blogging (and the publishers) who made it happen.

I've also gotten to work with some supportive, kind and amazing authors. Especially Katherine Longshore, Dawn Ius, Kim Liggett who have been way more incredible than I could have ever imagined. I cannot wait to meet each of you and flail in person over your amazingness! Each of them has trusted my blog in some way or another and I am forever thankful for that trust.

I am excited to continue this blogging journey and hope to implement a few new fun things in the near future on the blog! My last thank you (at least for this post) is to YOU! The person reading this. It still humbles me that anyone would bother reading what I think about books. Each and every one of you make me smile daily and I hope to encourage more interaction as I would very much like to get to know you all as well.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS! *HUGS*

My Third Blogiversary

Another blogging year has come and gone. This one sort of surprised me because my 'blogiversary' was technically at the end of January.

I debated not posting anything, but wanted to use this as a chance to thank a few people.

First, thank you to ALL OF YOU! Those reading this. I never anticipated having a lot of followers, the fact that I am now over 1000 is pretty mind blowing to me. A huge thank you to every single person who stops by to read my blog. It means a lot to me.

The Ottawa blogettes. - We've certainly grown since last year. A huge thank you to all of you! Emilie, Katie, Meghan, Ciara, Jess, Kim and Katherine. You ladies make doing this even more fun. Thanks for the bookish chats, book swaps, rants and general awesomeness. You ladies are one of the best perks of this whole blogging thing.

Christy (The Reader Bee) - I can not even begin to thank you for all the banners, chats, and your general awesomeness. I love that we met through this whole blogging thing. We still need to have our Magic Mike/wine night (I haven't forgotten by the way). Also, thank you for catching up on Once Upon A Time. I love chatting about it with you. Thanks for being an amazing friend.

Kelly (Kellyvision) - Thank you for introducing me to Breaking Bad (and for the still fragile state of my heart after watching it). Thank you for letting me rant, vent, and basically clog you with direct messages on Twitter (and generally being awesome). You're an awesome sounding board for blog ideas and I am so glad we met that first year at BEA (and even more glad we became friends).

To the Sisterhood of the Traveling Book Club -  We survived Tampa. We can survive anything. Can't wait to Skype with you ladies again. I adore each of you, and our Google doc chats.

A huge thank you to all the authors and publishers I worked with last year. I look forward to many more to come.

Bethany Griffin and Katherine Longshore who NEVER fail to amaze me with their awesomeness. Thank you both for writing books that make me want to shout at everyone to read them. Thank you both for your kindness, and support of my blog events for your amazing novels. I can't wait to read what you both write next.

To all the authors whose books have made me cry, laugh, and everything in between - THANK YOU! Sharing my love of books is why I started blogging, and you're responsible for that.

I am going to have a quick giveaway. It'll be a thank you to to anyone who follows my blog. I am going to give away one of my favourite novels, and the winner will get to select from this list.....

1 Stolen by Lucy Christopher
2 Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
3 Tarnish by Katherine Longshore
4 Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
5 Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Just fill out the Rafflecopter below. Contest is international as long as Book Depository ships to you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Blogiversary!

It's hard to believe but my blog has hit a pretty amazing milestone. Today is my second blogiversary. I posted my first review two years ago today.

The last two years has been amazing. Filled with great books, learning and finding my way. Most of all it's been about making new friendships with fellow bloggers.

I want to thank everyone who follows my blog. I am seriously honoured that I have any at all, and having over 700 is simply mind blowing to me.

I do want a give a special thank you to all the authors, publishers, and other bloggers who have worked with me over the 2 years, and look forward to much more in the future.

I also wanted to specifically thank a few people

The Ottawa Blogettes (Emile, Katie, Meaghan and Ciara) - thank you ladies for fun bookish talks, book swaps, an epic road trip to Toronto, and lastly for loving books as much as I do.

Christy from The Reader Bee - You've become a true friend, and are a wonderful blogger. I love our chats, and can't wait to have our Magic Mike watch/chat together. It's been awesome getting to know you because of blogging.

Brodie from Eleusinian Mysteries - Our epic Once Upon A Time emails, your amazing comments, and simply the awesomeness that is YOU! It's been amazing getting to know you through blogging.

Kelly from Kellyvision - My BEA book blogger buddy! I can not wait to experience BEA with you again this year! You make the countdown much more exciting and chatting about it with you helps pass the months until it gets here. I love that you plan so far in advance like me! Also, thank you for giving me one of my favourite weekly features.

Evie from Bookish - Thank you for the AMAZING blog design! I can't wait for your design business to really take off. You're one of the sweetest people EVER and I am glad blogging introduced us.

Katherine Longshore, Michelle Hodkin, and Bethany Griffin - Thank you all for being so supportive of my events for your amazing novels. Each of you have earned a place as one of my "MUST READ" favourite authors. The interviews and such mean more to more than you'll ever know. Thank you for writing books that make me fangirl.

As a thank you for my followers I am offering a giveaway. Simply fill out the Rafflecopter below.

The prize? I figure I would allow the winner to select from a list of my favourite books.

Choices are

1 The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
2 Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
3 Gilt by Katherine Longshore
4 Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
5 Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Good luck and thank you again, so so so much.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Weekly Obsessions

The awesome Kelly at KellyVision started posting a weekly post highlighting whatever she happened to be obsessed with that week. I LOVE this idea, so much in fact that I will be doing it myself every Saturday.

Here are my obsessions this week:

BOOKS

Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

Look at this cover!! Now take a moment and read the Goodreads synopsis (I'll wait). This novel sounds like it's going to be filled with fun twists and the premise sounds intriguing. My curiosity was piqued when I read it was inspired by a true crime case (it's pretty obvious which one). I can not wait to get my hands on this.

TV

The Following

I was expecting this to be good. What I was not expecting? Kevin Bacon and James Purfoy to have such amazing "chemistry" (for lack of a better term). They play off each other so well. The end scene was straight up intense, and made the show. It had a very Lecter/Starling vibe to it, and I enjoyed every tense second of it.

This show kept me on the edge of my seat and I can only hope it keeps up it's killer pacing for the rest of the season.

MOVIE

Warm Bodies

I was fortunate to see this at an advance screening. I was not sure what to expect, but the movie really surprised me. Funnier than I was expecting, sweet and rather romantic. Nicholas Hoult was super charming as "R". I am dying to read the book now to see if the humour translates the same. The studio gave us these really cute and fun valentines.

OTHER

Ottawa Book Blogger Meet Up

This event is starting to come together, and it's going to be VERY exciting. I can't wait to recap it and am very much looking forward to meeting a bunch of new bloggers.

A Glass of Wine's second blogiversary

My little blog is turning 2 on January 28th. It's pretty crazy that so much has happened in the past two years! Look out for a giveaway to celebrate.

So what are you obsessed with this week?

Weekly Obsessions

The awesome Kelly at KellyVision started posting a weekly post highlighting whatever she happened to be obsessed with that week. I LOVE this idea, so much in fact that I will be doing it myself every Saturday.

Here are my obsessions this week:

BOOK

Born Wicked

I just finished reading this and the only word that comes to mind is  - WOW! This book has me dying for book two and I can't wait to share my review. You'll want to pick this one up when it's released in February.


TV

Ferris Bueller 2012

I LOVE Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's one of my go to movies when I am sick and don't want to get out ofbed. I literally squealed when I saw this preview for a TV commercial (YES, a preview for a commercial) that shows Matthew Broderick saying a twist on one of  his iconic lines from the movie which is followed by the even more iconic music. The full ad will air during the SuperBowl and is apparently for Honda.



Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Ok, my nostalgia factor is high today. I spent the day watching Buffy videos on Youtube and especially videos of the musical episode. Also, let's not forget the mostly SILENT episode that still gives me chills. It reminded me of how amazing, ground breaking, and well written it was. Joss Whedon is nothing short of genius and Sarah Michelle Gellar remains my idol and girl crush.

If you haven't watched Buffy ever, PLEASE do. You are missing out on one of the greatest TV shows EVER! Season 2 is my favourite - heartbreaking, romantic, and filled with jaw droppings twists.

And I've just made myself want to watch the entire series AGAIN...

OTHER

My Blogiversary

This happens to be today! My little blog is a whole year old. It feels like I just started (but some days it really does feel like I've been a blogger for years). I am having a little giveaway to celebrate, and I just wanted to thank you all again for following, and basically being awesome.

A special shout out to Brodie, Christy, Kelly, and Evie for being amazing and so welcoming in my first year.

Happy Blogiversary!

On January 28th something crazy will happen - My blog turns 1 year old. It was a year ago that I posted my first review and became a part of this amazing community.

It's been awesome and crazy and a year filled with some amazing books, and even better I made some great friends who love books and reading as much as I do.

I decided to thank you guys for following my little blog by offering a chance to win any 2012 debut author novel. The winner will get to select the book they want, and it is open to pre-orders as well. The contest is international as long as book depository ships to you!

Thank you again everyone! Cheers to another fantastic year!