Bright Lights, Big Ass Book Review

A few months ago I posted about the book Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster and how much I loved her style of writing.  When my brother gave me a $50 gift card to Amazon for Christmas, I knew exactly what I was going to do with the gift card: BUY MORE BOOKS!

Since I loved her first book so much, I decided that my next read would be Bright Lights, Big Ass: 

A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me?

Brief Overview

Jen Lancaster hates to burst your happy little bubble, but life in the big city isn't all it's cracked up to be. Contrary to what you see on TV and in the movies, most urbanites aren't party-hopping in slinky dresses and strappy stilettos. But lucky for us, Lancaster knows how to make the life of the lower crust mercilessly funny and infinitely entertaining.

Whether she's reporting rude neighbors to Homeland Security, harboring a crush on her grocery store clerk, or fighting-and losing-the Battle of the Stairmaster- Lancaster explores how silly, strange, and not-so-fabulous real city living can be. And if anyone doesn't like it, they can kiss her big, fat, pink, puffy down parka. (Overview from Amazon)

My Review

Just like her first book, Lancaster was able to get my to laugh out loud within the first five pages of her book.  Lancaster is able to take something that would otherwise be a mundane day-to-day task and make it seem hilarious.  From the stories of the evil squirrel on the back porch to the stories of her four pets, I found myself laughing with every chapter.  

As I mentioned before, I appreciate that Lancaster is not afraid to say things exactly as they are, even if that requires a slew of curse words to tell you the story.  I often felt, while reading the book, that I was sitting right in the room with her and we were having a conversation about the happenings of our day.  She does an excellent job of painting you a vivid picture without going into the tiniest of details.  

If you are looking for a lighthearted read, then look this way.  She is sure to not disappoint!

Additional Reviews:

• Write Meg 
• Shh I'm reading
• So Many Books, So Little Time
• Strand Update

Make sure to check out the rest of Jen Lancaster's books as well!

Birthday Weekend Part 2!

My birthday celebration finished off with one of the most fun things I've ever done: The Color Run! My cousin's ran it last year and said that they had an absolute blast, so of course I HAD to run it this year.

The purpose of The Color Run, in case you did not know, is to get as much color on you as possible.  It is a 5k race where every kilometer they splash you with color.  Luckily, the color is edible and only stains clothes if it sits on there for too long because it is made out of corn starch and food coloring.

Don't we look so fresh and so clean? This was us as we were waiting in line to start the race.  I guess some 20,000 people came to run the race so when we got in line we were in the VERY back of the group.  They started doing waves every minute or so to allow for the color tossers to get the color prepared for the next group of people.  We ended up being in wave 12 which seems like a high number but there were a ton after that! 

After the race, the color run has a huge party where everyone is able to throw their color packets into the air.  It is so unbelievably cool to see all of the different colors flying into the air and to see all of the people jumping and soaking it all in.  I do have to note that even though this stuff is edible, I would not recommend opening your mouth while running through a color station.  It will turn your teeth different colors. haha

Danielle did not run the race with us, but she did come along to grab some pictures of us at the color party afterward.  Unfortunately, she got hit by a color packet and got quite a bit of green on her.  Such a suitable color that does not match anything on her person.  Thank you Danielle for grabbing some great pictures of us! 

After the race, we all headed back to the hotel to grab some showers before heading home for the day.  Overall my birthday celebration was a blast and I am so thankful for everyone who made it so special! I cannot wait until next years event! It's bound to be something fun!

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite thing you've done for your birthday?

Medical Update + Birthday Weekend Part 1

Okay, looks like I need to get the yucky stuff out of the way first.  I got the results from my HIDA scan and it appears that my gallbladder only functions at 6% which is way too low to even consider trying to change my diet and kick start my gallbladder again.  So it looks like surgery is going to be in the books for me in the somewhat near future.  As I go through this process, I will make sure to continue giving you updates.

Now onto the good stuff! This year for my birthday, I wanted to do something super fun and super exciting so I chose The Color Run! I sent out a note to all of my friends to see if anyone was interested in doing the race with me and we made a plan from there.  I had two takers for the race and it was SO much fun!

On Friday night, a group of us headed down to Ypsilanti, MI for the night.  Instead of getting our butts up super early, I figured it would be better to get a hotel room for the night, so that's what we did! We headed out to dinner at Hayden's Bar and Grill .   If you're ever down in the Canton area, I would definitely recommend going to this restaurant! It was delicious and their fried pickles were to die for.

Delicious Fried Pickles!

Sarah and Reggie being silly.

Nick and I!

 The group for the weekend!  

After dinner, we decided to go check into the hotel and try to hit the hot tub before going to bed.  Unfortunately, the hot tub/pool are was filled with tons of kids and by the time they would be heading to bed, the pool would be closed for the evening.  So Sarah, Danielle and I headed out to this awesome hot tub place where you go in and you rent a "hot tub room" for the hour.  It was awesome being able to relax at the hot tub for a bit before heading to bed for the night.

This was just the beginning of a fun birthday weekend! I will post the second half of the birthday fun later.

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite thing to do for your birthday?