#BookWorm: The Death Cure

Hello fellow readers,

I recently finished the last book of The Maze Runner series: The Death Cure. It was definitely the best of the three and held my interest a lot longer than the other two did. It only took me three weeks to finish this one compared to the others! If you haven't read book one or two of the series skip to the next section of bold words to miss spoilers :)

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

So the third book follows the end of the scorch trials when Thomas found out that basically the whole thing was also a setup and he was betrayed by his BFF Teresa and got the hots for another girl Brenda who you find out works for WICKED. And for some reason this whacko Teresa keeps telling Thomas WICKED is good. And he's like yo you're crazy girl. Rightfully so after he has been lied to basically the whole series. So this book takes place in WICKED and then Denver, CO. It's pretty interesting and keeps you wondering what WICKED is up to and who is good and who is bad. It's hard to keep up sometimes. 

SPOLERS COMPLETE - SPOILERS COMPLETE

Anywho I would definitely recommend this book. If you haven't read any of the series, my consensus is now to read it. It is a bit sci-fi for my taste but it's good. The first one is tough to get through, the second is better, and the third made it all worth it for me. I can't wait to see what they do with the movie series and keep reading along. Overall ranking of this book 8.5/10. Overall ranking of the series: 8/10. What does that mean? Well the Divergent series was a solid 9.5/10 and the Hunger Games series a 9/10 so I mean it is up there but not quite at that level for me.

Next up on my list is a throwback Jodi Picoult book that somehow I missed when reading almost every other book she has written. I also have about six other books on my list including Hilary Duff's Elixir series and a new series called The Testing that is supposed to be like a Divergent, Hunger Games, Maze Runner combo. Have you read any of these series? Any other suggestions? Let me know!

Thanks for reading with me,

- Olivia

Wifey Wednesday: Choosing Your Vendors

Hey everyone!

It's been a while since I've done a Wifey Wednesday post, but now I have actually had time post-wedding and move to get some stuff written! For all you soon-to-be brides out there or just wedding dreamers for the future, I wanted to write a post on how to choose your vendors. I was the type of girl who started looking at wedding stuff my sophomore year in college. Wayyyy before we even talked seriously about getting engaged. I knew things I wanted, but needed to know if they would be available in Florida, costs, etc. So I started researching wayyyy ahead of time. I knew Madi and I would get married one day (I mean nothing is ever for sure but I was pretty sure ;) ), so I would suggest if you are pretty sure or even just want to know for budgeting purposes, start looking online. Let me tell you I think nothing is more awkward/embarrassing then visiting venues or calling a place and being like so I'm not engaged yet, but I want to look at this wedding venue. They probably won't judge you in front of you, but let me tell you they are probably like "okay..." in their heads. I would be. Hense why I suggest looking online. A lot of businesses list costs online (venue sites, photographers, etc.) but if they don't you can always inquire if you need to know. Doing some bridal research, for an average size wedding the cost is $26,000+. That's ALOT. And let me tell you whether you think that's unrealistic or not, that is reality. Seriously guys it's expensive. This is why I suggest to you START SAVING EARLY. Put away your tips or bonuses. You will use it. Even if you want a "small" wedding, it gets pricey. So here are how I chose my major vendors, tips on choosing, what to expect to spend, etc.

Venue
- Look online ahead of time. Do research on types of venues you like. Inside vs. outside. Is there a backup plan for if it rains?
- Is there a venue fee? Does that cover the length of your event or only for a certain number of hours? How long of an event do you think you'll have?
- Do they have a list of preferred vendors for food, photography, DJ, cake, etc.
- GENERAL COST: depends on how many people you have, season, and date. But venue fees CAN be $1000-$10000 depending.
Our Vendor: The Rusty Pelican- Tampa. We picked ours based off of pictures and reviews. There was no venue fee and we could get married inside with a view of the water. It was GORGEOUS. They did have a preferred list of vendors which was good and bad. Good because the vendors are familiar with the venues. Bad because sometimes we wanted to use friends for certain things and couldn't due to cost. You get a $500 discount if you use their vendors- and for the most part they were all amazing. BOOK THEM EARLY!!! They book fast- because it's amazingly beautiful. And don't be intimidated by the wedding coordinator Don. He's awesome and really knows what he's doing.

Photographer
- Meet with them IN PERSON.
- Look at their previous work. Do you like it? If not, don't hire them
- READ REVIEWS. I'm gonna leave this one as is.
- Hire a second shooter. Just do it. If the company doesn't have one available, don't use them. Your wedding day is huge and you want every moment captured. It is hard to do that when there's all these people involved with your wedding and one photographer. It may cost a little more, but it is worth every penny.
- GENERAL COST: $1250-$3500
Our Vendor: Hippie Love Photography. We picked our photographer because they were listed on the vendor list. We met one of them in person and felt comfortable with them. We loved that it was a husband and wife team. Their photographs are BEAUTIFUL. They were on time the day of the wedding and made us feel comfortable with our portraits. However, post-wedding communication was poor about timing of receiving pictures back. The contract said 8-12 weeks, but some people's preview photos were posted on their Facebook the day after their wedding and I had to ask for ours after a month of waiting and getting nothing. Overall we LOVE our pictures, but we had to wait longer than some customers which is weird to me.

DJ
- Read reviews
- Have they won an award from The Knot? If not, they aren't that experienced or aren't that great. Just saying. (Unless you are getting married in a small town)
- MEET THEM IN PERSON
- GENERAL COST: $800-$2000
Our Vendor: Music on the Move. We chose our DJ when we went to a vendor meeting at our venue. He was VERY personable, not obnoxious or flashy, and had about 10+ plaques or trophies from various magazines and companies saying how amazing he was. And he was amazing. Best DJ hands down at any wedding I have been to. Met with him two weeks before the wedding and he helped us clear up our timeline and the flow of our wedding.

Florist
-Prepare to spend way more than you anticipated. Unless you are using babies breath only, you'll be spending a lot. I almost had heart failure. It is crazy how much things that die will cost.
- Don't skimp on flowers, even though they're pricey
- Meet with them in person
- GENERAL COST: $2000-$8000 (not kidding guys)
Our Vendor: Arlene Floral Designs. We chose our florist because she was also at the vendor meeting and was recommended by almost every person at the venue. She is AMAZING at what she does. Works in your budget. Day of she was the first person to greet me before I walked into the venue and had everything set up beautifully. I was happy I spent more on flowers than I had planned because it was perfect.

My BIGGEST piece of advice: READ THE REVIEWS. If they're 3/5 stars, something went wrong. Look at the date of the reviews and the reviewer. If this post didn't apply because you have/had a wedding planner, good for you! Wedding planners are awesome at what they do. If you want to save a few extra $, doing things yourself takes time and a lot of effort, but it saves money. Any questions about our vendors? If so, we would LOVE to share any advice or help you choose someone. We recommend all of our vendors listed above, but read what we wrote and make sure that is what you want for your big day. It only happens once!

Thanks for reading!
- Olivia :)

All photo credits to Hippie Love Photography

{Real Talk}: The Fear of Hair Donation

Hey guys!

It's been over two years since my last haircut. Crazy right? Well as some of you know and some of you may not know, I grow my hair to long lengths for reasons more than just personal preference. I grow it to donate it. Excuses I have heard from people to not donate their hair "I just can't cut off more than four inches", "my hair looks terrible short", "I don't know how to do it", "it takes too much work to send it". Blah Blah Blah. First let's just see how much you know about hair donation in this version of Rumors vs Facts.

1) RUMOR: you have to give 12 inches! That's a lot!

FACT: most wig making companies accept 8 inches now. Not that much more than your 6 inch cut is it?

2) RUMOR: it's so complicated to send my hair to these companies.

FACT: to send it is as simple as putting it into an envelope with the hair in a plastic bag and pony tail holders or small rubber bands around the hair and mailing it to the donation place of your choice. Take five seconds and look it up on whatever device you're using to read this.

3) RUMOR: I dye my hair, so I can't donate it. 

FACT: for most places, your hair has to be natural. This means no hair dye. No highlights. Etc. However Angles Hair Foundation and Children with Hair Loss both except chemically treated hair and grey hair. 

ALSO: Any hair 3 inches or longer can be sent to Matter of Trust. An awesome company that helps clean up oil spills with people's hair! So if you can't quite see yourself making the 8 inch cut. Save your locks to clean up oil! (for this you have to arrange a few things ahead of time for them to accept the donation. Go to matteroftrust.org for details).

Hair donation is something I am very passionate about. If you've been a reader of DHTBB for a long time, you probably read the post I did about it two years ago when I did my last cut. Well, it's important. And I donated BEFORE I got into the field of oncology as a profession. Look at any person you know. If they had cancer, burns, or alopecia would you want them to have no hair? A lot of these patients DREAM of having hair again. And while a wig isn't always what everyone wants, the people who want it are always so grateful when it's available to them. My favorite story to tell people who complain about their hair not looking good after: my hair was SO short the first time I did it. I cried and cried because everyone hated it. But you know what? It grew back! And I learned about places who take less hair and grew my hair out longer the next time. Everytime I do it, it gets easier. 

So take the plunge! If you have questions about it, ask me! I love it when people make the choice to donate their hair! This year I even got my little sister in law to do it with me! 

Thanks for considering making a difference!

- Olivia 

Alpena, MI & Chicago, IL

Hey everyone!

We just got back from our annual trip to my hometown, Alpena Michigan! This year was a little different than most years, because Madi's sister came along for the journey! The trip also started off differently as we moved our whole apartment, u-haul with Madi's car in tow and two full cars, up to our new home in Durham, North Carolina. It was quite the journey. After unpacking for three days we drove from NC to MI and spent eight days showing Sondra the ropes around Alpena. We spent a lot of our time relaxing, but we also did a lot of the things we typically do when we travel to Michigan. Some of those things are hiking to Misery Inn, paddle wheel boats, golfing at Lee's, walking the point every night, and playing beach croquet! This year we enjoyed some new activities including a painting class with my Grandma as well as canoeing to the marina and back (what a workout). We managed to flip the canoe in only three seconds. At least we killed all of the spiders that had been living in there all spring!

We headed west to give Sondra a tour of my favorite big city in the world: Chicago! We spent three days there going to Navy Pier, the Watertowers, Millenium Park, Buckingham Fountain, and shopping of course! The best part was our first night when they had a firework show off of the Navy Pier which was so gorgeous. Fireworks are one of my favorite things! We ate at a lot of chain restaurants but we want a list from people of the best places to go in Chicago for the next time we go back! If you have any let me know!! Friday night was my cousin's wedding and we had a blast. It is so fun re-connecting with family and getting to spend time together especially with us moving away from everyone so soon!

Now I am back in Florida, graduating from Residency tomorrow and Madi is in North Carolina starting orientation tomorrow. We can't wait to be in one place together after Labor Day! I also can't wait to show pictures of our new apartment when it is complete. It is beautiful! It may take a little while but we got a lot of work done in the three days we spent in NC thanks to our moms and Sondra.

Our next big trip won't be until December, when we travel back to one of our favorite spots: Deep Creek, Maryland to ring in the new year! For now we will just be enjoying our time together as the craziness of school starts next week for Madi and I will keep sending job applications (prayers please :) ).

Thanks for keeping up!
- Olivia :)

#BookWorm: The Lake

Hello fellow readers,

So I just finished another book since I finally have had some free time! This one took me only a week :). It's called The Lake by Annalisa Grant. It was one of those books that popped up on my suggested list and was about a girl moving from Florida to North Carolina so I thought it was appropriate! As I did more digging I found out its a trilogy of a small town author and this trilogy is her first set of published books. Anyways so the plot it about a 17 year old girl Layla, who moves to North Carolina to live with her estranged aunt and uncle after her grandparents died (who she lived with for five years after her parents both died). She falls in love with a boy named Will but there are complications. It's a pretty typical romance story with some twists. The writing can be repetitive as far as repeating phrases the main character says and sometimes it felt as though it was being written by an older person who hadn't been a teenager in a while. I do want to read the other two books though! In the end it was a good quick read and the plot was interesting enough to make me want to keep reading. I'd give it a 7.5/10. She's no Sarah Dessen, but still interesting.

Have you heard of or read this series? Thoughts? I love finding new authors because you never know what they will become in a few years, it's pretty cool. Next up is the last Maze Runner book: The Death Cure. Hopefully it doesn't take me as long to finish it as it did the other ones. 

Thanks for reading with me,

- Olivia :)