Why not celebrate?

Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time as my friend knows that I love a good party. In fact, I was recently reminiscing with my good friend, Zac, and he reminded me that I threw him an awesome 18th birthday party our senior year (granted, I very much wanted to date him so I probably put in EXTRA work at the point (p.s it paid of)). Going away to college, I don't have an awesome back yard to throw mega parties like I used to- the kind of parties that are complete with Just Dance on the huge projector, swimming, tables for games, and a warm, crackling fire- but I do still find lots of reason to celebrate- like a good test score or a cute boy posting on my FB wall. I think that you should celebrate anything that is 1. Semi-related to to you in some sort of way or 2. A giant cause of happiness.

That being said, since Jacob's birthday was on the 20th of July, and considering that it was his GOLDEN birthday, I called up Morgan and told her that we had great cause to celebrate. But since I don't really have any friends here in Mesa (yet alone friends  in Mesa that know Jacob- except Morgan, of course) we decided that the best celebration was whipping up some good 'ole Oreo cupcakes (oh, deliciousness in a cupcake). It was a wonderful evening filled with plenty of laughter and a few almost-fatal mistakes (in her defense, Morgan doesn't bake as much as I do). We stuck 20 candles in 4 cupcakes, because we figured that 20 candles in one cupcake would probably be a major disaster, wished Jacob happy birthday with a smiling, glowing,  picture, and blew the candles out before sharing the cupcake love with my family.

I will always love celebrations. So if you have a reason to celebrate, let me know. I'll have a party of my own- I'm not kidding.

Love always,
Ems

Book Review: Looking for Alaska

"We had to forgive to survive this labyrinth. There were so many of us who would have to live with things done and things undone that day.... but we can't know better until knowing better is useless."

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John Green, regardless of how many times he enjoys ripping out the hearts of his readers, leaving them totally immobile on the floor because of something his characters do in his novel, is by far one of my favorite modern authors. 1. I love that you can tell it's John Green the moment you start reading. 2. I love that he and his brother Hank make Vlog Brothers 3. I love that he loves to use lists in all of his stories and 4. I just want to be his friend. 

I went into Looking for Alaska not really knowing what to expect. I had read The Fault in our Stars (which if you haven't read that, stop reading this and go pick it up and start reading-seriously- go) and loved it. Well, my dad was sending me to Kingman for two days and he got me there by bribing me with books. So I finished off my John Green collection #bestideadever and thus, I began Looking for Alaska. I was about half-way done before I even left for Kingman and finished it on the first day there. Once again, John sucked me in on a whirl-wind adventure that I couldn't put the breaks on. 

John Green, as a male, somehow writes about girls amazingly well. Every heroine he creates, I want to be. They are fierce, clever, beautiful (always curvy), and your best friend. Alaska Young is no different. You instantly want to be her best friend and join in all her crazy plans. She is one reckless child, but who doesn't love a little bit of recklessness, right? The story follows as Pudge moves to a boarding school and becomes part of Alaska's group of friends- the misfits of the school. They enjoy epic pranks, smoking, and essentially, breaking any rules they can. They act like they're in college when they're only in high school, and it's great. In the end, tragedy strikes, and they must all reevaluate their lives and what they've learned together. This book, like all of John Green's novels, will make you laugh out loud, cringe, and bawl your eyes out before throwing the book across the room and cursing John Green for breaking your heart (not kidding). 

I will forewarn any of my more tender-hearted readers: cursing is abundant in this novel, as is sex, drug use, and drinking. Regardless, I loved it. Just letting you know. 

Love always,

Ems