What's On My Nightstand

• Moisturizer Green Apple ChapStick. I kid you not, I keep one of these everywhere. There's one at the desk, one in every jean pocket, for each purse, under the bed, on the bed, on the windowsill, and on the nightstand. It's smooth and yummy, to be sure. But I have a sneaky feeling that my obsession with it derives from the apple flavored lip gloss reference in McFly's "Little Joanna," which is one of my favorite songs. And I don't mean favorite in the same way everything's my favorite. I'm talking top 5 favorite and, thus, mega influential. Obviously!
• Eiffel Tower Forever 21 Necklace. How much can you love a piece of jewelery that cost less than $2? I'll tell you: beaucoup! I'm wearing this all the time these days. Tout le temps! As if I really needed a visual to get me France-asizing... *le sigh*
• Salted Caramel Pretzel Skinny Cow Bar. Ice cream? Chocolate? Salted caramel? Pretzels? Suffice it to say that I spend at least 67% of my day in heart-fluttery anticipation of this nightly treat.
• Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver. Trying to be more proactive about reading more of the genre I'm interested in writing most, I picked up this middle grade novel at the urging of a friend. It feels like it's been a while since I really liked a book (two months is a long time in book years, okay?), but by the end of the first paragraph, I was hooked. I can't put it down! The writing style is precisely what I aspire to. It's warm, but not too rich, and the way the author shows you things instead of telling you is remarkable. I find myself scribbling down her delightful turns of phrase right and left and the three main characters leave me feeling like I've got a gooey center rather than ribs and assorted organs. Looking forward to reading much more from this author!

'Dreamy' is the word I most associate with my lullaby du jour, "Come Back When You Can" by Barcelona. Their whole Absolutes album goes hand-in-hand with one of my stories, but this song gets my daydreaming about it churning at full steam. And I'm not just saying that because I have an affinity for any song with "ohhhs" in the background... But it certainly doesn't hurt!

What's on your nightstand these days? Sweet dreams, moonbeams!

P.S. You might have noticed that there was no 'mardi muse' yesterday. Having just started a part-time job on top of my full-time job, I've decided that I just want these nightstand posts to be the scheduled weekly posts on this blog. Maybe that will change in the future, but that's the way it is for now. I will still be squeeing about fictional characters and obscure inspirations on a regular basis, though, never fear! xx