I got a Bloglovin...

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11400609/?claim=enzju4bjhf2">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

I'm so pathetic, I'm trying so hard to claim my blog, but I really don't think I'm doing this right... 30th time's the charmer!

UPDATE (30 seconds later...) It worked this time!! Yay!!

Surprises, surprises, surprises!

Okay, so there are a lot of updates to discuss...

First of all, the biggest piece that you may have already noticed is that the title and web address changed from Lizzie's Garden to Petals and Velvet. This is because it's almost two years after I first created this blog, and I felt like I really grew out of the "Lizzie's Garden," because even though two years may seem insignificant to many of you, I've changed a lot since then. When I first created this blog, I was 15 and in my freshman year. Today, I am nearly 17 and in my Junior year, and I have evolved so much since then. Looking back on my old blog posts I can see a big difference. So, I decided that I wanted to make a few changes, both in real life and on the "blogosphere." So, I've been pondering a few names for a couple of days, but I kept coming back to "Petals and Velvet". This may be a bit puzzling, so let me explain. I really love this title, because it represents part of my name, my love for flowers, and my adoration for the warmth of velvet. It seemed like a warm and welcoming "hello" to my readers.

Also, I'm thinking about changing the content of my blog. I'd still do book reviews every once and a while, but it seems like my best posts in the past have been my random ones, about any topic. This is because I am interested in so many topics! Books, writing, fashion, music, movies and television, food (!!) and so many other little things. I want my blog to reflect all these parts of me, and I don't really want to limit myself. Especially now, in my Junior year, I haven't been able to read nearly as much as I want to. So, I haven't wanted to feel obligated, because then I feel like the joy was being sucked out of something that I started for fun. And my blog is something that I really want to do, even if I have only done two other posts since last December. So, I'm going to be doing a bunch of different things on here. I'm still going to be doing personal posts, songs of they days and, like I said before, the odd book review here and there, and I have a couple of ideas for new posts that I haven't done before that I think everyone will enjoy. I know I will enjoy writing them, and I'm really hoping that this can get me out of a writing slump that I've been having lately. I'm really looking forward to these new changes, and I'll try harder to post more often. I hope that everyone was everyone was able to find me, and that everyone is looking forward to these changes as much as I am!

Okay, now that that's out of the way, I though I would chatter a bit before I signed off...

So this week has been more than a little crazy, and life will pretty much continue to be crazy until Christmas. It snowed yesterday morning and and the day before that, so Monday was a delay and Tuesday was a snow day, which was pretty awesome! Here's what my yard looks like today...

Yeah, so much snow! It's pretty from inside, but once you step outside you feel like there was a blanket of un-thawable-cold thrown over you. But I'm still crossing my fingers for a white Christmas! Christmas feels so much more festive when there's snow outside.

So, since it's been so cold outside, I've been holed up indoors more than usual, so that pretty much means more homework/TV time (I'm a seasoned multi-tasker). I've been really into 90s shows lately, especially Frasier and Friends...

I love love love the clothes that Daphne from Frasier and Monica, Rachel, and Peobe from Friends in the earlier seasons of these shows. I especially love Rachel's style. She wears clothing that I could see myself wearing all the time. I love 90s style, and the influence that it has had on fashion, especially this past fall and this winter, is something that I've really been enjoying lately. Maybe I'll start doing outfit of the days? I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I do know that I'm really enjoying writing about fashion right now :)

Alright, it may be time for me to sign off, have an awesome night everyone! 

~Lizzie Rose~

Song of the Day: The Story of My Life- One Direction

This song always gives me goosebumps!

Welcome, Summer!

Hello everyone!
  Today is the official start of summer! I have just spent the last week at the beach with my family, so I was able to welcome the summer, and all the adventures that come with it, beach side.
   Every summer has a story. Whether if it's a cross country trip, three months at the beach, or time spent at home, every summer has memories attached to it. Pictures dedicated to it. A small slice of your heart given.
   And this summer, I hope to make many, many more memories, because this is the summer before my junior year. This coming school year I will be an upperclassman, I'll turn seventeen. And it's just starting to hit me how little more childhood I have left. All of my friends, my cousins, we're growing up. We're not kids anymore. I only have these two summers of childhood left, and I intend to live them out!
   So, when we leave tomorrow and head on back home after a heavenly week hear at the beach, I'm going to go home, write up a storm, and make this summer an awesome one.
   This is just the beginning.

Book Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

  A lot can happen in 24 hours. You can sit on your couch and read all day, tea and coffee mugs piling beside you as you read. You can shop in a bookstore, you can drive in the country or walk around a city. But in Hadley's case, she is off to her father's wedding to a woman she's never met, in London, and she knows that her life as she knew it will be over soon. Hadley does not start her day off well, missing her plane to London by four minutes. Cutting it close, she books the next flight to London.
  Hadley meets Oliver, an English boy who is also flying across the sea to change. Hadley and Oliver spend the whole flight talking. And when they arrive to London, Hadley doesn't really want to leave. But there isn't much time, as Hadley rushes to her fathers wedding.
  Hadley and Olivers' day is a whirlwind of surprises, new beginnings, endings, and love. Like I said, a lot can happen (and change) in 24 hours...
~Lizzie Rose~

Book Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

  So I have mentioned before of my admiration of the author Stephanie Perkins. I reviewed her first book Anna and the French Kiss a while back, but I never reviewed its sequel Lola and the Boy Next Door.
  The novel centers around Lola, a creative costumer high school senior who has 3 withes for the year. For her parents to approve of her rocker boyfriend Max, to go to the winter formal as Marie Antoinette, and to never see the Bell twins again.
  But when the Bells move back into their old house next door to Lola's, her wishes start to go up in smoke. As time goes on, Lola and Cricket start to become friends again, but Lola is wary, dead set on making her relationship with Max work. But as Lola and Cricket grow closer and closer, she starts to feel old feelings again.
  I loved Anna and the French Kiss, as did many Stephanie Perkins fans, but many have given Lola and the Boy Next Door thumbs down. I can see where some are coming from. Lola is a compulsive liar, both to herself and others. But where people say it isn't as well written as it's predecessor, I must agree to disagree.  The story is just right for Lola, and I think that it is the perfect sequel (we even see Anna and St. Clair from time to time during the book!). I can't wait for the third book, Isla and the Happily Every After, to come out in 2013! I'm dying in suspense!
~Lizzie Rose~

Book Review: What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

  So while I was looking over some of my old posts, I saw that I said I would review this book, What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones. But as I looked back, I saw that I never did post a review, so I thought I would now! No time like the present, right?
  What My Mother Doesn't Know is a novel in verse. Actually, It's the one that inspired me to write my own! Sophie is a fifteen year old high schooler struggling with family issues, boy craziness, relationships, breakups, and first love(s). Sophie is just like you and me, making this book so realatable, sometimes it might feel like you're looking into a mirror. Sophie is just trying to make sense of the world, of her heart, and most of all, growing up, and is doing so in her poetry (and art). What My Mother Doesn't Know is a beautiful narration of this, and should be read by every girl entering the scary years of adolescence.
~Lizzie Rose~

Book Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephan Chbosky

So if you have been following my blog for a while, you'll know that I'm obsessed with this book, the movie, Logan Lerman. But I don't recall ever actually reviewing the book, so I will now!
The book is composed of letters from high school freshman Charlie. Starting each letter with "Dear friend," Charlie writes of his first year of high school. Struggling with family issues, relationships, friendships, and the ghosts of his past, we see how Charlie grows from a boy to a young man during the progression of the book. With a surprising twist ending that no one expected, this book is impactful and will stick in your mind for years to come.
Being a teenager myself, I think that everyone entering high school should read this book. Please go check it out now!
~Lizzie Rose~