In My Mailbox 2 and In My Shopping Bag

Hello dolls! I'm back with another "In My Mailbox" and a new feature called "In my Shopping Bag." Most of time, it will be about new books I've purchased. I plan to also post on books that I get from the library, I just need to find a good name for the feature. Let me start with what came in my mail box.

If you dolls remember, I had quite a few books lined up for Spring Break. I loved The Body Finder and The Dark Divine, but the book that struck a surprising chord is The Hunger Games. I read that book in two days. I absolutely loved it! So much so, that I bought the second book, Catching Fire, the next day (I'll discuss this more at the bottom). So look what came in the mail for me...

I need to have a copy of my own because I love it that much! The third and final book, Mockingjay, comes out on August 24 and I'm dieing to have it in my hands! You might have also noticed that I have a countdown for Mockingjay on my page. I also purchased another book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm trying to figure out what all the hype is about because it's been on the New York Times bestsellers list for a while. I'm not into crime novels, but I'll let you know what I think about it later.

The sweet doll over at Pride & Prejudice (2005) Blog ran a Keira Knightley Birthday contest. I entered by wishing Miss Knightley a happy birthday as a comment on a post. There was to be two winners. Since another doll and me entered, we both won! The above picture is of the prizes I won. I won a Pride & Prejudice film, a Pride & Prejudice film bookmark (loves it!), a memo pad, a small notebook, and sweet letter from Jeane, the great webmistress of the page. You can read the letter below.(Darling card from Miss Jeane)

I also won second place in a House of Night contest over at Novel Novice. I have talked about the House of Night series before, and the seventh book, Burned, is coming out on April 27. In two days!!!! Now, the contest was to either write a story describing how you would feel about entering the House of Night, draw a tattoo, like described in the series, or discuss your favorite character and why you like this character. I decided to draw a tattoo. Here it is!

The prize was an advanced full copy of Burned. I didn't win the book, but they liked my tattoo so much that they gave me the option of picking from a few books as a prize. I picked My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent. Here's my prize!
My Soul to Save is actually the second book in the Soul Screamers series. I need to borrow My Soul to Take from the library. The series seems very interesting and very promising! You can read about the contest here and the winning post here.

I also entered a small contest where I could win a signed bookmark by Kelley Armstrong, the author of the Darkest Powers series. In the series is The Summoning, The Awakening, and her newest book, which just came out on April 6th, The Reckoning. I entered the contest by heading over to Crissi's Blog, but I first heard about the contest by following her Book Club on facebook. I just needed to prove that I followed Kelley and Crissi to enter.

(Zoomed in picture to see Kelley's autograph. Sorry for the flash glare)

Now for what's in my shopping bag, I had mentioned before that I purchased Catching Fire. That was on the 5th of April. This week I purchased The Awakening and The Reckoning because I'm going to meet Kelley Armstrong on the 12th of May at Borders in Torrence, CA!!! I already own The Summoning. I can't wait!!! I love this series really bad, and meeting the author is just going to be a treat! I'll post pictures of the event after I go.

Well that's it for this weeks post. I can't wait to get out of school so that I can post more. School is eating my brain! I know that I was also going to post on the book wreath I made. I finished it, and my mother loved it so much that she already put it up, but I'm going to need more time to work on that post.

Loves you a lot and thanks for reading!

Things I Love Thursday!

Yay! It's time for another "Things I Love Thursday!" I haven't done one of these in a while! Let me give you a list of great stuff that I have "discovered."I have yet to get one of these Cheshire Cat tails, but they are at the top of my list the next time I visit the Disney Parks! They look sooooo yummy and I want to see if I can get one to display in my room! Here's hoping it lasts long. In other words, I hope it doesn't melt or start getting mold or something along those lines...Speaking of Cheshire Cats, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is a must see film for anyone! I have heard great comments and reviews from people I know, and awful backlash from critics. I love it! I'm sure you'll love it too! I wouldn't really recommend watching it in 3-D, even though that's what kept it at #1 for three weeks. Ten minutes into the film, my eyes started to hurt. Let's just say I left the theater a little dizzy... Watch it soon before they get rid of it in theaters or you can wait less three months to get it DVD. From what I heard, they want to get it out in three months from the release date. Let's hope this is true!

Still along the lines of Alice in Wonderland is Almost Alice! An excellent tribute/song collection dedicated to Lewis Carroll's original books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, the 1951 Disney's Alice in Wonderland, and Tim Burton's new Alice in Wonderland. I'm actually listening to it right now as I'm typing this...(Signed picture I purchased at the D23 Expo last year from Margaret Kerry's booth. Sticked it on my wall next to my monitor, so that I can always look at him... Sigh..)

The cover of Almost Alice makes me think of one person... Johnny Depp!!! THE HOTTEST MAN ALIVE!!!! Squee >_< A hatter always offers tea and why not drink it in this charming mug. You know about my obsession with Jane Austen and this mug has just the right touch of my favorite Jane Austen hero. The BBC America online shopping website is the only one to offer this particular mug and it's just too darling!!!

These next items don't particularly match the chain I had above.
Moleskine's Passions Journals! My particular favorite is the Book Passion Journal (of course), but there are journals for Film, Wellness, Recipes, Wine, and Music. I have yet to get a Book Passion Journal, but I will.
I have been waiting for this album for quite a while. Last year a band called The Vespers friend requested me on MySpace. I went to their page to see if their music was good, and man did I love it!!! Their music is a mix between Folk, Indie and a little bit of Blue Grass, even though they don't consider themselves to be Blue Grass. You can listen to samples of their album here, or you can search for them on iTunes. You can check out their MySpace, which serves as an official band page for the time being, and you can check out their online store where you can purchase tees and a copy of a physical album. You can also hear full songs from their MySpace page. Totally recommend them like crazy!!!
This tote is extremely cute! This LA Hobo tote bag is made from natural cotton and features a map of Los Angeles! I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it! This same tote is also featured in different styles and colors, but I loved this one more. They even have different cities on their website. They might even feature the one you live in! Check out the Maptote website and look around to see if you find anything you like.
Lastly, I wanted to talk about lip gloss... but not just any lip gloss. This lip gloss can tell your fortune! Well not really but it also serves as a Magic 8 Ball. Ask it a "Yes or No" question and it give you an answer. As a plus, it fits in your pocket or the bottom of your bag. This gloss is going on my shopping list!

Well this is it for this "Things I Love Thursday!" Let me know of any items that I may be interested in and I may feature them here! Thanks for reading!