A Penny for Your Thoughts? A Book Review. Noteworthy

Hello, hello! Today we are reviewing Noteworthy by Riley Redgate and hint, hint: I inmensely enjoyed it! It comes out May 2nd, 2017. As always for my disclaimer click here. The description:
It’s the start of Jordan Sun’s junior year at the Kensington-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing Arts. Unfortunately, she’s an Alto 2, which—in the musical theatre world—is sort of like being a vulture in the wild: She has a spot in the ecosystem, but nobody’s falling over themselves to express their appreciation. So it’s no surprise when she gets shut out of the fal ...

I give this 5 pennies  out of 5.

"Monday morning was the worst possible time to have an existential crisis, I decided on a Monday morning, while having an existential crisis." This has to be the most relatable first line in a book that I have ever read. After reading that I had a feeling I was going to really enjoy this story (Spoiler alert! That feeling was right).


Noteworthy is a relatable tale about a girl, Jordan, not only finding herself, but of her personal growth in a performing arts school in a rather  intriguing way... she crossdresses as a prep boy. A fair,warning, I might overuse the word relatable, but I just couldn't find any other word that is more appropriate than it to describe this book.

Jordan is confused about not only her sexuality, but who she is as a person. With no friends and no callbacks she starts to wonder what she has actually done with her life at Kensigton-Blaine Academy. This leads us to the first aspect I liked, the characters! Flawed characters in a way that is so relateble you forget that they are fictional. Even the less likeable characters are fleshed out so well I couldn't bring myself to completely dislike them. Diversity! Refreshing to read a book wwith such diverse characters.

Sexuality is a major theme in this book, from the main character's struggle with it to the way some side characters act. The way it is approached felt very organic. None of it felt forced which I appreciated. Important issues were addressed in a tasteful and respectful way. For example (spoiler, sort of), when Jordan comes accross advise she uses to crossdress from a trans website/blog.

One thing I didn't like was how while reading it brought me back to those unsure and self-conscious feelings from high school. THis is in no way negative, as it shows the authors ability to engage the readers.

Overall, Noteworthy was a great read! I enjoyed the humor (Ah, the banter) in the story, there was a good amount without it being excessive or out of place. I'm new to the YA Contemporary genre and this was a great addition to my growing love of said genre. I would definitely recommend this to not only contemporary lovers, but newbies like me.


Oh by the way the relatable word count went up to 4, less than I thought it would be but more than it should have been. What is your favorite YA Contemporary book?

Con Amor,

Yaris  ♡

A Penny for Your Thoughts? A Book Review. Mer

Hello! And welcome to my second book review!

I choose a graphic novel for this review. As always for my disclaimer click here. I had a couple of ARCs to get through, but this one undoubtedly was the read I enjoyed most. Let's get started then.

I give this 4 pennies  out of 5(for sheer potential)

Mer is written by Joelle Sellner and illustrated by Abby Boeh, it's publishing date is set for April 19, 2017. The first sentence of it's description states that this story is like Twilight meeting Atlantis. I have always had a weak spot for anything mer-related so I was quickly drawn to it's description.

First of all, let's talk about that cover guys! I mean if that cover doesn't draw you in then the description will:

Twilight meets the legend of Atlantis in this gripping graphic novel from writer Joelle Sellner and artist Abby Boeh. After the death of her beloved mother, Aryn’s father has moved her family to a new town hoping for a fresh start. At first things seem to be going well—Aryn is making friends and has even caught the eye of one of the hottest guys in school. But there are dark forces moving under the surface that Aryn cannot see; and her new crush may not be … human.

The premise of the story is an interesting one, and I'm a sucker for all that American High School drama (sue me!). At times I was confused by sections of the plot, but the author brought me back to the main theme. Hopefully some of that will be cleared up by the time the finished product is published, if not by the next issue. Which brings me to the next issue with this, is it going to be a series or a one-off graphic novel? The ending was vague at best, which I hope means there is gooing to be other novels. This has the potential to grow into a great series, it has room to flesh out and ther is a world we have yet to explore (spoiler but maybe not: Atlantis!). I am looking forward to learning more about the mer and their world.

The art, it is time to address it! Abby adds so much personality to all of the characters in her illustrations. The best part is their expressions, they are either hilarious or make me sad (you'll see at one point with Aryn and Adrian.. read: before the ending). The colors are also something to look towards. The colors used for each scene and character goes with the general theme of the story or the personality of said character.

I definitely would recommend this if you love graphic novels or anything mermaid. What is your favorite graphic novel?

Con Amor,

Yaris  ♡

Hello! Weekly Instagram Favorites.

Ah, Instagram! I love this social media site, it is a wonderful way to keep up show what I'm working on or my newest obsessions.It has such a diverse community, so many types of account to follow. I love so many of them and I can't really pick which are my absolute favorite. So~~~~

I made a kind of roundup of my favorites this week. I divided them by the type of focus they each have and first up is my newest love....

 Bookstagram:

~inkandmagic- This is one of the newest accounts I follow and it is absolutely gorgeous.

~sincerelysara22- I love Sara! She has a great blog, and her pictures are so pretty (I low key aspire to be a book blogger/bookstagrammer like her, but I'll settle on looking at her pictures). She also has touch of Lifestyle to her blogging.

~thebookferret- Adorable furry friends and so many wonderful book pictures.


 Pins (my most recent obsession! All of these are pin makers too):

~lulu-bloo

~thepinksamurai

~luxcups

 Pets (all the adorable fluff you need in your life)

~bunnymama

~bernedoodlebythebeach

~jaeun2- Jane is more on the Lifestyle type of blogging, but her dog pictures and videos are so adorable I just had  to add her.


 Lifestyle:

~fashionadnfrills

~itscarlabethany

~heleninbetween


  Handlettering:

~thepigeonletters

~flowering.words

~bydawnnicole




And that is all for today! Tell me, what are some of your favorite instagrammers?

Con Amor,

Yaris  ♡

A Penny for Your Thoughts? A Book Review. The Roanoke Girls

Welcome to my first ever book review! I put a lot of thought and went back and forth before deciding to actually post this (I tend to write my posts on notebooks so I already had it written down). Do you like the title for my book reviews? I really hope this isn't taken!

First up is The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel, I received an eARC of this for a review. Click here for my disclaimer, thank you!

I give this 3.5 pennies out of 5 (and I will explain why)


I dove into this book blind. I did not read its synopsis or other reviews before I started. The reason for this is that I wanted to read The Roanoke Girls as a blank slate, no bias or unconsious ideas derived from others about the book. This is a very well written book, my rating has nothing to do with the author's ability. On that note, I would like to congratulate Amy Engel on this debut Adult novel!

Even thoughy I really liked the writing style, this novel just wasn't my cup of tea. It took me a while to get any traction while reading this, I'm not sure if it was jsut the genre or something specific to this story. I absolutely loved and enjoyed that the characters were flawed (some extremely), just not enough to keep me engaged. I love myself stories filled with secrets, the big secret here is revealed to the reader a bit too early for my taste. I kind of enjoy simmering in that not-knowing-trying-to-guess-what-are-they-hiding??? stage of a story for a good while.
This is a dark thrilling story and can get (will get) disturbing. If you enjoy dark family secrets this is the book for you. It just wasn't the dark secrets story I normally enjoy, I might give it sometime and then try again (who knows maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this genre when I read it). I will check out Amy Engel's other books and give them a try. Oh on a side note that has nothing to do with the book, can I just say how much I like that Amy Engel was formerly a criminal defense attorney? I don't know why I just do, that is so badass.

Here is part of the synopsys on Goodreads:
After her mother's suicide, fifteen year-old Lane Roanoke came to live with her grandparents and fireball cousin, Allegra, on their vast estate in rural Kansas. Lane knew little of her mother's mysterious family, but she quickly embraced life as one of the rich and beautiful Roanoke girls. But w...

Thank you for sticking till the end of my first ever book review, Here is to hoping they get better!
Do you guys enjpy thrillers? What are some of your favorites? If not, what genre do you favor and what book from said genre would you recommend?

Have a great weekend guys!

Con Amor,

Yaris  ♡

A year wiser. Happy birdday to me~

It is my birthday! Altough I am of the belief that until the exact time I was born I am  still not a year older (I still have till 10:30 pm). This has been one of my best birthday days (???) in years.

Finally finished.

There was a power outage yesterday, and I decided to make the best of it. I finished a couple of my before the year ends goals.I'm proud of myself, and my productivity.

Santa baby.

Slip a sable under the tree for me. I love this song! It's my Christmas ringtone. Anyways, Minki's Christmas sweater came in the mail today and some markers I ordered to practice handlettering and other artsy things.

Today we took Minki to the pet store, just for a little outing.  On our way in we saw Santa Claus was going to be there to take pictures with all the good doggies. We've never had the Sassfluff take a picture with Santa before,  so we decided this year was the year.

She made lots of dog friends while waiting for the big man. One was as energetic as her, and goes by the name of Lina Sofia. Very pretty name for a pretty dog. The other friend is a service dog, she is a majestic dog and her name is Isabella. She wasn't too excited to take a picture with a strange man in a red suit, hahaha.

Minki took her picture with my sister  (Isn't she beautiful?), and was like the little model she thinks she is.

Con amor,

Yaris ♡

Just blogging.

So, here I am blogging to pass time while I wait for a doctor's appointment....

My psychiatrist moved and I had to find a new one in the area. It's my first time seeing this one and I'm so anxious. I feel like it's the day of a final presentation in a huge college class. My stomach is in knots and I've got to keep my hands moving otherwise I'll be a shaking mess. So here I am typing away my anxiety, ha.


On the bright side I'm loving my boot game right now. I bought some really cute boot socks and I started using the first pair today! I have, maybe, three more (or two more, gah my memory) that I can't wait to try on. I also have some new boots that are being delivered. I can't wait!

I've been thinking about making myself a new work space in my room. It'll be smaller, but a lot cozier. I'm a bot excited to see what I come up with! I'm jotting down my ideas while waiting for my appointment. I might sketch a little something,we'll see.

Tomorrow I'll start making the cookie doughs for some Christmas gifts I'm thinking of. Come back tomorrow and maybe I'll make a post linking some of my favorite make ahead recipes!

Tell me, what is/are your favorite type and cookie flavors?

Con Amor,

Yaris  ♡

Cleaning and cleaning.

I've been cleaning since Friday, and I'm finally taking a well deserved break. It's taking a long time because we're not only cleaning but we are also cleansing our closets and drawers. We are separating a lot of things to donate. Although, so far I'm the only one doing this daily and the rest of the family do it during the weekends (when they're not working).


 Anyways clearing out my closet I found my sister's old guitar and I was checking the strings and was able to record this cute little thing:

I've also been setting out Christmas stuff, so Minki got lucky. I set out some of her X-mas theme toys. Just look at that sassfluff being all cute!

Oh, and during my unplanned hiatus our freezer fizzled out so we've been freezer-less for a while. Today the new one finally came in and I can't wait to start using it! I have a ton of make ahead cookies recipes I've been dying to try and now I can. I'll keep you guys updated..

How has your week started? I'd love to know.

Con amor,

Yaris ♡ 

Of dogs and gifts.

Good morning to all!


It's finally Friday, and I've spent all my morning with my cuddle bug Nina. I was awake in bed going through emails and other notifications while she slept the morning away. She is a napper, she loves her sleep!

She got so grumpy when I said it was time to get up. Look at that little grumpy lion cub face! She is adorable.

I've been spending the majority of my time lately checking tracking for gifts that I got for my family. I've also become a gift wrapping machine! Every gift I already have, I've gift wrapped.

Now I'll spend the rest of today and this weekend finishing Christmas cleaning, so the decorating can commence.

I'll hopefully post more (Fingers crossed) this weekend. Until then, happy Friday!!!



What are your weekend plans? Have any of you started Christmas decorating?

Con amor,

Yaris ♡

Errand day.

Hi guys!

Today has been a long day. I've been running errands all day long!

I opened a new bank account, since I didn't have one here. So it's all ready for my financial aid refund, I'm kind of excited to start college classes again. I feel like a freshman all over again.

I did some grocery shopping and went to a freshmart.. I'm trying out a new drink made with ginseng, I already tried the ginger ale flavor and it was so refreshing. Next one up is an all natural cola flavor~

Anyways for lunch we went to a nice place called Crepe Maker. It was absolutely delicious! I had a pesto chicken crepe it looked and tasted amazing. I couldn't help but take a picture of it.

They have so much variety, I am definitely planning on going there again. Hopefully soon!

How was your Saturday?

                                                                          Con amor,
                                                                             Yaris ♡

life lately. a little hectic.

I've been pretty busy lately. I've been spending time with the family, have been busy at church, been looking for work, and I am starting my classes again. I took a year off, and I think it's time to start up again. I'm facing my fears and difficulties head on. Wish me luck guys!

And I'll blog a lot more now.

I'll leave some pictures of what I've been doing and I promise that there are more to come!

So, has has summer been for everyone else?


                                                                           Con amor,

Yaris ♡

New Year Suggestions 2016.

This morning I woke up and saw that my terrarium flowers were blooming~

I then got ready for a day out with my siblings. My sister's birthday was on Sunday, but today we had our own mini celebration just us three siblings. We bonded, went shopping for a little, had some amazing ginger ale from a quaint little market, and finished of with dinner.

While I was in the car, I was thinking of New Year resolutions and how I see so many blogs posts, statuses, etc. about it.

When you google the definition of resolution the first meaning that shows up is: a firm decision to do or not to do something.

I don't know why, but I find the word resolution pressuring. This pressure to keep up with these firm decisions I made with no thought if I could actually go through  with it. Then at the end of the year I find myself disappointed because this pressure made me so anxious I barely make at least one of the resolutions work out.


So this year I'm not going to pressure myself, and I'm going to be laid back about it.

Instead of resolutions, I jotted down some suggestions for the New Year. This way if I follow through with them I'll be very happy and surprised with the achievements and if I don't follow through it'll be alright because they were just suggestions. It'll be up to me if I take up the suggestions or not.


Anyways here is the list of suggestions I made to myself for this year:

1. Blog more (I use blogging as therapy so why not)
2. Try to socialize more.
3. Lead a healthier lifestyle.
4. Do things that make me happy.
5. Work on my time management.
6. Do more DIY projects.
7. Get back into painting.
8. Practice, practice, practice using my drawing tablet.
9. Take more pictures, make them meaningful pictures.
10. Be more open about my feelings.
11. Manage my finances better.
12. Possibly get a new dog. Let me explain this one, I know you guys will see a couple of dogs in some posts and I call them my babies but really they aren't mine mine. Minki is my sister's dog, Nina and Suki are my mother's dogs even though I raised them, and Claudette is my baby cousins' dog who we are taking care of. I want to have my own dog like my sister, where I'm responsible for the doggie financially, physically, and emotionally. A dog that I'll be able to take with me when I move out. Because it's mine not my sister's or the family's, just completely mine.
13. Work on my relationship with God.



So those are my suggestions. Do you guys have any suggestions or resolutions for 2016? If so, please share I would love the read about them! Leave a comment below, maybe we can help each other out or see if we have any in common!

Con amor,

Yaris ♡

New Year. New URL. Same me

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

I'm starting my year with a new URL. I've moved back home, to the wonderful island of Puerto Rico, so from now on I'll be sharing my everyday island life. It's everyday things, only slightly more tropical hahaha.

I've been away for a long time since moving back home but here I am now.

I started out the year going to different gardening shops, with my mother, and grandmother. There were a lot of beautiful plants and I just couldn't help myself so I took some pictures to share with you guys~

I felt as if I was in a forest all day long, and it was really relaxing going plant shopping.

The orchids were beautiful as always.

A pop of red was also delightful through all the greenery.

Here is a sneak peak at what may be my next post!
I'm doing a little  DIY project to start my year off right and as you can see I had a little helper with me. Meet my sweet eldest baby, Suki. She is eleven years young.

Although  she played more with her teddy than helping me out... She was very curious to what I was doing and why she couldn't play with any of the things I was using.

That is it for now, I just wanted to get back into the habit of posting in my blog

I hope this year I'll keep at it and won't abandon it. Any suggestions are welcome

Feel free to talk and ask anything <3

I would love to know about your Holidays!

Con amor,

Yaris ♡

life lately.

Life has been busy lately, and I haven't had time to just sit down and have some blogging time to myself. It's currently 6:30 am as I am writing and making this blog post while all three kids are asleep. I haven't been able to make many blog post, but I have a diy project one on the way (it might take a little while). 

For now I'll leave you guys with a couple pf pictures of the reasons I've been so busy, but at the same time enjoying my  time with them. They are a joy to me, and I love them so much and I hope you'll be fond of them too.

My precious Minki

My little fluff ball Nina and charming Claudette (she came with the kids and she's a sweetheart)

I know life is busy, but it's the little moments that make everyday things worth it and I wouldn't change my right now for anything.

How are you guys? Tell me what's new?

Con amor,

Yaris ♡

mother's day (a day late, I know)

 For all the mothers out there happy (late) mother's day! I'm sorry for making this post so late, I spent all day yesterday travelling and then at my grandmother's house with my family.

The flight was ok, although we had to change gates three times and I made the terrible mistake of wearing cute heeled boots. Note to self and anyone else who travels as much as I do: Never pick style over comfort. Today I have very swollen feet but it's been a mellow day so far. I've edited pictures, played with my cousins, and spent quality time with my babies (Minki and Nina).

Anyways, mother's day was a very bitter sweet day for my family. Most of them spent it at the cemetery, while my mom, dad, and I where on our way back home. A month ago we lost our Aunt/ my mother's younger sister. I only just found out the news last Tuesday, she went to a better place but left behind three little angels (my babies). So, now we have a full house of eight people and have not had any time to mourn my aunt but we will honor her. My family currently has custody of my three babies (read as cousins) since my uncle is disabled and isn't able to properly care for them especially since the middle child (a beautiful girl) is also disabled. I welcome them with open arms, I've spent half of my life helping to raise them and I promised my aunt that if anything were to happen I would take them under my wing. And that is exactly what I'm going to do.

Expect to see them on the blog at some point and  a couple of their own diy projects, as well as our transition into having kids in the house again and moving on with our lives making them happier. I'm excited to see what the future has in store for us.

As you can see while traveling my mom used the time to her advantage to knit and took in a couple of naps in. My mother is an admirable woman, I've never met someone as emotionally strong and stable in my life and I only hope that when I become a mother I can be at least a fourth of the woman she is.

How did all of you spend mother's day? And to the mothers I hope your day was as special as every single one of you are!

Con amor,

Yaris ♡