Books [Read] By Les

6/30/2015

San Diego // Vacation Time

hi guys!

i know i said i was going to be all up on SS buuut this past weekend i was in San Diego livin' it up with no access to a computer so please forgive me. (insert kissy face emoji)

we stayed in the Gaslamp District which is known for all the bars and the partying and oh so much fun!

we stayed at the Hotel Indingo in SD. a block (the shortest one ever) away from Petco Park. which by the way....im sorry but the dodger stadium has NOTHING on them!

anyways, our room was the cutest thing ever!! and that bed...omg! i didnt even want to leave when we checked in. soooo comfortable!

but the view....that view! i sat on the little white side table thing and i was pondering about life and everything!!!

not sure why the pictures look lopsided but i can promise you they are not.

after we got some drinks and charged our phones, we took the metro (bus? train?) down to i forgot what little city. B missed our exit so we back tracked and went to see the Kissing Statue.

the weather itself was AMAZING! at some points it was sprinkling and it was gloomy most of the time and it was the best. like a dummy i wore the wrong sandals but i sucked it up and we managed to get it done.

i of course wanted to see the kissing statue. id driven by before but i thought we had to pay to get in to see it. luckily its outside so we were able to see it this time.

it was all his idea to take the picture kissing. i was kinda against it. lol

after that we went to Little Italy to go grab some pizza and have some beer at the Ballast Point Brewery.

on the way to the brewery, there was a lady selling roses. that little s.o.b rose right there cost me $3!!!! talk about over priced. specially cause it died right away.

but because i had paid for the metro or whatever with a $20, it gave me back $15 change in nothing but dollar coins. so you bet i felt like Santa handing out all those coins everywhere.

after that we jumped back on the whatever to head back to our room to get ready for the night.

we missed a trip to Coronado Island but well get back to that on the next trip.

so the whole point of this trip was to take B to see a comedian he really likes, Felipe Esparza

i bought him tickets for his birthday waaaaay back when we started talking so im glad we were able to do this. he introduced him to me when we were having movie night one night and i was on a mission to take B to see him (even though he's seen him before) as soon as he was in town. luck would have it, hes touring in Pasadena and i was going to take him there but when i told him he was also going to be in SD, he was game for that instead.

this guy was soooo so funny!

his opening act, Marcella was saying something about how people trip out that she's salvi and so when she asked the crowd where the other Salvis where at, you better believe i was loud and proud. and also the only one. and then she clowned on us. so worth it!!!

lol snapchat. you are so fun! (add me if ya like ellexgee)

xxx

we were only there 1 night because i had to work Saturday morning (which was stupid because i only came in for 1 hr. but it ended up working out anyways) so after check out we had breakfast at The Broken Yolk. then we hit up the stone brewery (the smaller version) in Petco Park. B filled up his growlers, i beat him at Jenga then we left.

before we left, we made a quick pit stop at Geographie. im a HUGE lover of street art so when i saw that WRDSMTH was in SD i had to stop by and take a picture. after that we headed to the main Stone Brewery and OMG heaven!!!

we shared a pretzel app along with quail wings (tastes like orange chicken but sweet and sour kinda) and he had a drink.

guys, this place, mega heart eyes emoji. i was all amazed at the inside and he was like no, wait til you see outside and he was right! so effin beautiful! i want to go back already! these pictures do it NO JUSTICE whatsoever!

you see those chairs to the left on the very last picture, we sat there and i was so comfy and at peace i wanted to go to my car to get my blanket cause i was falling asleep. oh this place!!! <3 <3 <3

after all that, i got to go home to this beautiful sunset.

this was seriously such a good weekend. thanks B for everything. this was supposed to be his birthday trip and he made it all about us. <3 <3 <3

we were standing in line for the show and he turns to me and said he was sad about this day. instantly i was sad and he explained to me that he was sad because our night was almost over which meant the trip was almost over. this guy!!!! <3

we have Vegas lined up at the end of August. but a Dodgers game date next Friday. i cannot wait!!!

thanks for reading!

(ps i just found this so if youre ever in SD, check some of those places out!)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

published: 2012 // 295 pages

isbn: 978-1-4197-1960-8

read from: 6/18-21/2015

can i just say i now understand the humans that read the fault in our stars and thought, "meh."

well.

i forgot where i heard about this book from but i bought it and the movie just came out so i was pretty excited about that as well. i still have the movie to watch and spoiler alert, I'm kinda hoping its better than the book.

mk so lets get to it.

It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he’s figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad? His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl.
This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Greg’s mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Greg’s entire life.
Fiercely funny, honest, heart-breaking—this is an unforgettable novel from a bright talent, now also a film that critics are calling "a touchstone for its generation" and "an instant classic." -Barnes & Noble.

and now, its my turn.

look, this isn't a bad book at all. i actually liked it and i found myself attached at some points buuut i honestly don't see the all the hoopla behind it.

it started okay and then it picked up and i found myself laughing A LOT. specially when Mr. McCarthy made his appearance and then i fell in love with him even more when he was talking about his love for pho (you should know i have a never ending love for soup. specially pho.)

Also when Greg and Earl end up pretty stoned. that whole scene when they're eating ice cream pretty highlarious.

and then, there's Rachel.

obviously, ya know shes going to you know, not make it. and the whole point of the book is Greg's mom "forcing" him to be friends with her while he still can. but the way they made it seem, i would have thought it would have involved Rachel a liiiiiiiitle bit more than it actually did. She's there in the beginning, with the movies, the hospital, back home and then back to the hospital. and i know that sounds like a lot but its not. and when Greg and her hangout, Greg doesn't shut up.

i think this book was more about Greg trying to man up about himself and his insecurities (heck, even Earl calls him out on it) than it did Rachel and her journey.

i don't know.

i just wanna see the movie to see what they did with it cause i don't honestly see how it works. specially when the premise was to make Rachel a movie and (SPOILER) they made her a very shitty one.

part of me thinks I'm reading TOO much in to it and then the other part thinks I'm not reading its message well enough. AND THEN i think to myself ahh!!

i don't know.

have you read it?

what did you think?

gone girl by gillian flynn

published 2012

isbn: 978-0-553-41835-4

read from 5/14 to 6/17 2015

whaaaat!?
talk about what!!!

obviously this book has been around a while and the movie is now out on dvd but i just now finished it and I'm still in whaaaaat mode.
B rented the movie for me so i saw it when i was a few chapters in. i think because i saw the movie that that's why it took me a bit longer for me to read this book. because this should not have taken me around a month to read. although given, i did not read every day.

anyways, I'm a little bit torn because for me, its been proven that the book will always be better than the movie IF you read the book first. the movie will never do a book justice. BUT i saw the movie first SO, that's why i think the movie was good because the movie portrayed certain parts better where as the book kinda dragged them along. (at least that's my theory.)

anyways, FREAKING AMY!!!!!
so I'm going to assume you know what the book/movie is about.
Amy goes missing and of course Nick gets blamed.
the husband is ALWAYS the first suspect.

so Amy is freaking crazy!!! bitch is C R A Z Y !!!!!
it is because of her that I'm now scared to get married. at least dating someone you can walk away. when you're talking divorce....pffft.

(there are a few spoilers but not enough to make you not want to read the book)

anyways in the movie, they kind of only show her being a bitch about it all. of course she goes bazzerk because Nick cheats but i mean....if someone cheats on me I'm not going to bust all that ill just be like damn. (I'm not a vengeful person at all. KARMA! but also, I'm just hella lazy.)
what they did not show in the movie is that Nick was a total dick to her once they moved to Missouri. he became distant and kind of left her on her own to "fend" for herself so to speak. so when i read that in the book i was like geez, id never go that crazy but i guess it was justified (i mean in the book world sense of it.)

what they ALSO didn't show in the movie was that the reason Nick was over her and being a jerk to her is because (and pardon my french) THE BITCH IS CRAZY!!!
I'm talking multiple personalities because she gets bored easily crazy. he married someone he didn't even know and woah is she something else.
she seduces him by being the "cool girl" and little by little after they marry she shows him the real her which of course Nick does not find attractive at all. no i wouldnt say attractive. thats the wrong word. in real life, he would not have clicked with her at all is what i mean to say.
but i mean who is the real her? the chick is crazy! she has no idea who she is. and she blames it all on her parents. OH! another thing they didn't mention in the movie that i guess makes a lot of sense as to why she is so crazy in the book is the part where shes was the freaking 8th kid her parents had but THE ONLY ONE that was carried to term. she talks about her mom needing a few minutes to celebrate the last 7 Hope's death days and not giving her the time because she didn't deserve it. all attention on her.

she plans this "elaborate" master plan to frame nick and she has thought of EVERYTHING but you gotta think to yourself, are cops really that stupid to not see the holes in her story when she comes back!? (yes. i know its a book.) (and well yes, they kinda see it but all her shiz is backed up like nobodies business!)
cause yea she goes missing for about a month in the book but comes back to Nick when she realizes she messed up by going to Desi for help and of course when Nick falsifies it all over national TV that he misses her and wants to prove it to her just how sorry he is.

the weird thing is, these two are nuts. but they're nuts for each other.
he has no proof to turn her in because she has covered every single base and she wont leave him because "why should the good guy get to screw me over and then get to be happy. fuck that. fuck him." but even towards the end (in the book) they both sort of realize that they cant go on with other people because no one else will EVER know them like they now know each other and what theyre capable of. (hence why i like this part in the movie cause he just realizes im screwed where in the book he realizes he's screwed but you can kinda tell he's in love with the idea of it.)
i don't know man. these two, they're fucked. insert exhausted emoji face.

i will say this though, i love the ending in the book a lot more than the one in the movie. well, just what he tells her. in the movie it just ends with them holding a press and you can see it in his face that he's really screwed now.

"my gosh Nick, why are you so wonderful to me?"

"because i feel sorry for you."

"why?"

"because every morning you have to wake up and be you."

ahhh!!!!
.....but i think i still prefer the girl on the train a lot more.

the book is set in 3 different uhm, parts. the first one for me freaking dragged. the second one is kinda where things picked up for me but i was like 100 pages away from finishing and Amy was still missing. she was still on Day 10 since missing. jeebus! i was just ready for it to be over.
it left off fine i dont think there is a need for a sequel but because im weird if there is one, chances are i will be reading it. (but please dont let there be a sequel!)

have you read it / seen it?
what did ya think? let me know!
also, in real life i curse like a sailor (but ive calmed down a bit) and i try not to curse on my blog cause its, i duno, not proper etiquette sooo sorry for all the curse words but ya know, sometimes ya gotta!

thanks for reading!

{a really late} Snapshot Sunday

Y I K E S !!!!

i kinda fell off the snapshot Sunday wagon. a month to be exact.

but im here i promise! im here now.

school is over, im free M-Wed and at the moment, the second job, im kinda over it.

but anyways, i kinda disappeared cause i felt like i wasn't really taking pictures. but im going to get back on it!

aahh!!!

here's a lot of pictures from the last month. hope ya got some time!

B got me peonies as a surprise!!!! these were sooo beautiful!

unfortunately they're gone now :( but they were so beautiful. everyone fell in love with them at home and instagram was going through a peonies phase. my feed was sooo beautiful those few days.

Chester laying on my butt.

apparently that's a cool hangout spot. wait, not cool, comfy. lol

my sis and Chester bombing my phone. i saw my pictures today and they took like 30 pictures >_<

loving the silhouette. and i also like how it looks with the screen.

the way she sleeps... <3

talk about spoiled.

bought myself some white roses once my peonies died.

love these!

also, you see those 3 rocks! my cousin and his wife brought them to me all the way from Paris!!!! one of them is from the Eiffel Tower!!!! well the surrounding area. (just so you know, every time someone tells me they're going on vacation, all i ask for is for them to bring me back a rock. OMG! I AM MY MOTHER'S DAUGHTER!)

so my sis gave me a Disneyland pass for my bday thaaaat she hadn't paid in the last 2-3 months. she got a letter stating that if she didn't pay it it was going to go in to collections. soooo i called to pay the past due and take over the payment and i got stuck paying it ALL off at once.

so i took myself on a solo date.

didn't get on any rides but i got myself some ice cream and a couple of post cards to send out (:

gotta go back soon. my pass expires in November.

i mean what else do you when you have a pineapple and sunglasses laying around.

his & hers <3

also, cant wait to watch this movie! but ill wait. because I've been trying to finish gone girl for the last 32653416 months!!! insert exhausted emoji face.
(just finished it about 35 mins ago)

we went on a date night to catch Metalachi. haha. this was us waiting in line to take a picture with one of the band members. i saw this on my screen as he was holding my phone so i took a picture. (:

keeper guys! keeper.

he's wearing Puma's here and i swear when i saw them on him, i dont know i got all happy. really weird but...ya know :D specially because i have NO idea about the last time i saw ANYONE wear them. that and i was so close to buying a pair myself.

this freaking donut place.

these 4 cost me $11.

BUT i had the strawberry one and OMG!!!! my brother loved the froot loops one. my sis didnt tell me anything about hers aaand B said he liked the panda one i got him.

and i wont lie i kinda want another one.

my advise though, freaking uber it there because parking is SO STUPID!!!!

my sis got off and made line while i spent about 1/2 hr looking for parking. and once i did, some guy i used to date stole it from me! ._. blah! (were still cool)

i have this thing with my name! <3 so i made some stuffed letters.

i still need to finish the S. will post a done picture soon!!!

cuddles cuddles cuddles!!!! <3

beach views! <3

snow monster date night with Jay.

my macaroon was SO GOOD!

today is your day // you totally made my day.

love finding these kinds of tags out on the road! (:

i kinda wanna make stencils and do this myself!!!

sorry for the crappy pic but LIFE HACK!!!!

i switched my room around and i have this weird thing where i like to show off all my books SO i found these pieces of wood laying in the backyard and BOOM! layers.

and no no wood is showing...i made 3 layers of books to show!!!!

ill post a better picture when i can. so you can see what im talking about!