Jo’s Weekly Favorite Things . . .

Here’s a week’s roundup of my favorite things:

Favorite color: Purple

Favorite shoes: Ruby & Bloom “Grace” ballerina snakeskin flats

Favorite Book: Harry Potter

Favorite outfit: jean shorts and a white tee

Favorite drink: Iced espresso

Serena the Fashionable…

Why is Serena, aka Lively, so fashionable? Or more importantly, why does everything she wear look fabulous?! You would think wearing black with brown would make one cringe, but Serena (Lively) pulls it off effortlessly and quite honestly? It looks pretty damn good!!

The bag? Just an added bonus to the amazing-ness.

As for Blair, aka Meester, she was wearing a sassy pair of bright pink Elizabeth and James shoes. . .

Harry Potter Stuns Us All…

Last night, I along with swarms of Potter fans invaded theaters, some in uniforms, others with scars painted on their heads.  We  stood in lines, bought our popcorn, found our seats and waited. We waited for the 6th installment of Harry Potter: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which made a record breaking $22.2 million in midnight screenings alone.

As I sat in the theater at 12:01 AM with the screen black, the theater sat quietly. The munching of popcorn wasn’t even heard, just pure black silence. At 12:10 AM, after some sort of delay, previews came onto the screen, all of which no one cared about. But just as soon as the Warner Bros. logo popped up onto the screen, followed by the iconic Harry Potter title swarmed by black, gray fog, legions of fans in every theater, clapped, screamed and prepared themselves for what I believed, to be one of the best Potter films yet.

Last movie, we left Harry at Hogwarts after the recent death of his Godfather, Sirius Black. His only means of a “true family” were destroyed, save for the Dursleys of course.  However unimportant they are to Harry, the serve as a safety for him.  Yet despite all of that, Harry returns to Hogwarts, preparing to face a war he has to fight, finding love and finally learning that his friends are with him till the end.  The emotions of the movie range from happiness to sadness, however cliche that may be, there is no other way to explain it, unless you watch it yourself.

I felt the movie did an excellent job in portraying the book, to the best of their abilities and with time restrictions.  Many would argue that certain aspects of the book were left out. WELL OF course they were! How can you make a movie following every page of a book?  In a way, I like it this way, it gives me a reason to return to the text – always promising more than what the movie could.

David Heyman, the producer, described the movie perfectly:

“What I love about the movie is that it has many different parts – comedy, romance, suspense, good versus evil – but it also sets up the final chapter that is Deathly Hallows… It really is the beginning of the end.” – EW

Potter fans know what is in store in the last Potter book, which will be split into two separate movies.  It will be the final battle that will serve as an emotional ride not only for the cast but for the fans as well.

Till then, we revisit Hogwarts one last time with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, before everything changes. . . .

Harry and cast . . .

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince comes out tomorrow in theaters, but for those early birds, it starts at midnight.  Pre-sales for the movie have hit a record high according to Dave Gonzales.  Looks like the fret over which teen franchise (Harry vs. Twilight) would win out seems to have been answered.

As for me, I will be at the theaters for midnight, along with lightening struck fans, dress in uniform to watch the latest Potter film.  (I will be without my lightening scar, but then again . . . )

Harry Potter and his cast have recently hit a pose with Entertainment Weekly and you can see the rest of the photos here.

For those of you not in favor of spoilers, I hate to say it but … SPOILER ALERT: in this upcoming film, Harry turns to snogging a certain red head along with learning how to fight off you know who…

It should be epic. I’ll see all of you Harry fans tonight! Bring your cloaks!!

jo

You make my heart melt . . .

Gossip Girl has begun to film scenes for their upcoming season.  We left off last season with a sweet Chuck and Blair union of sorts. It seems that we are picking up where we left off, Chuck and Blair. Together.

Let’s rejoice.

Thanks to justjared, we got some close-ups of the scene and in-between takes.

AND CHUCK always seems to make my heart melt . . . sigh.

Sarah Dessen Spills her HEART . . .

I have been reading Sarah Dessen books since I was an awkward little sophomore in High School. Yes, I’m not ashamed to admit that I continued my awkward stage way up till sophomore year, actually I’m lying, junior year. FAIL.

ANYWAYS, my first book of Sarah’s was the compilation of That Summer and Someone Like You = HOW TO DEAL.

Does that ring a bell? The movie with Mandy Moore? Yep, it was based on Dessen’s two novels.

Ever since then, I have been hooked, reading almost every book she wrote, (save for Dreamland and Keeping the Moon) falling in love with the characters, growing to love reading and becoming inspired to write. WHICH then led to me figuring out my life’s goal – to be a writer. Hence the English major and the blog and so on. . .

I finished Dessen’s latest novel, Along for the Ride and it does NOT disappoint. It is one of my favorites, which includes The Truth About Forever (I’ve read it three times…LOL) and This Lullaby.

The characters were so relatable, the issues real and intriguing, with a setting that let you escape. I loved the book. It’s cluttered with post-its, highlighting my favorite passages and parts of the book. I couldn’t help myself!!

So I was really excited to receive my e-newsletter from I Heart Daily featuring Sarah Dessen, spilling her heart over a few of her favorite things. Here’s a glimpse:

1. Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss Lip Gloss ($26). “I didn’t think anything could win me over from my loyalty to Stila. I was wrong. This lip gloss has a perfect little brush, great shine, and lets even us regular girls have something Dior. Nice.”

For more of Dessen’s favorite things, go HERE

I met one of the founder’s of I Heart Daily, Melissa Walker, who came to my school to chat with ED2010.  Once we began sharing our favorite books, Sarah Dessen came up and it turned out Melissa knew her! (They were even on a magazine cover together!!) I was ecstatic and not one bit surprised when I got my newsletter with Dessen featured.

Thanks Melissa!!

Happy reading,

JO

ps. one of my favorite passages from Along for the Ride :

“I found myself suddenly reaching out to grab a pack of two chocolate cupcakes.  I knew they were extraneous, highly caloric, a waste of money. And yet I had to wonder if they were right.  When you don’t know where you’re going, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing to have more than you need” (pg. 133).

GO GREEN . . .

For the past weeks, I’ve had my nails painted with OPI’s Who are you wearing? from their Hollywood Collection. Sad story though, its discontinued.

Who Are You Wearing? - Google Images

It’s a dark violet color, and we all know how much I love the color purple. It’s not too dark, but it has the right hint of a deep purple. My FAVORITE COLOR!

Well I’m deciding to change it up a bit, and call me crazy, but for some reason I’ve been debating on whether to GO GREEN…on my nails.

Go On Green!

I know, crazy right? But the polish GO ON GREEN! is part of OPI’s Brights collection, and it looks so cute in the bottle, but I’m not sure if I’ll look like the witch from Wizard of OZ…

But who knows what happens the next time I splurge on a mani, I might go green….would you?

Wear His jeans . . .

Katie Holmes has taken fashion, and spun it around. Turning baggy jeans into a hit, and making the act of raiding his closet a DO.

Google Images

I’ve been on the hunt for some “boyfriend jeans” and I struck gold at GAP. I was afraid I would have to spend A LOT of money to pull off Katie’s look, but since I’ve turned into a recessionista, I’ve had to keep my eyes out for bargains, steals and deals.

Ah the life of a recessionista. . . .

GAP has a lot to offer regarding the “Boyfriend” look, and it won’t make your bank account hold a grudge… SO if you want Katie’s look, keep scrolling:

Cropped Boyfriend Jeans

Distressed Cropped Jeans

Boyfriend Sweater

Ruffle-Trimmed Cardigan

Shrunken shawl Cardigan

Not only are these looks great, but they’re affordable too. You’ll be looking like Katie Holmes in no time . . .with money left over!

Happy Recession Shopping!

Emma and ELLE take cover . . .

August is the best month. For magazine covers that is.  So far, every one of my favorite magazines have chosen the best cover girls, save for the ELLE (US) issue, which I won’t even discuss. WOOF!!

BUT, as for the ELLE UK, my other favorite fashionista Emma Watson sat pretty for the cover, in Chanel no less.

Thanks to justjared.com, I got a sneak peek of the article and photos …

“I want to decide that for myself. I want to avoid becoming too styled and too ‘done’ and too generic.”

Go HERE for a bit more of the article.

Can’t wait till this issue hits the magazine stands. You know I’ll be checking it periodically . . .

PS. The new Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out in theaters on July 15th!!

Vanessa’s INSTYLE Favorite Looks . . .

As I visited my local B&N, I made a bee-line for the magazines.  I have been making frequent visits to the magazine shelf, for the sole purpose of finding my UK July 2009 issue of INSTYLE with Vanessa Hudgens, my favorite fashionista.

So, imagine my excitement when I spotted the issue, THE ONLY ISSUE on the shelf.

Mission Accomplished.

I won’t go into details of the content of the article, it can be found here in my previous spill about VHUDG, but what I WILL do is discuss Hudgen’s “Favorite looks,” some of which can be found here @ jonotjoe

So what did she pick?? I’ll spill some of the deets from the article:

Golden Globes

“This was Alberta Ferretti at the Globes.  I’m in love with it because it’s the whole beaded thing, but then the bottom of it is chiffon. It felt very flowy and elegant.”

At the premiere of HSM3, London, 2008

“The dress was Simone and the jacket was Catherine Malandrino.  It was so short that I was freaking out and had to wear shorts underneath!”

This is one of my all-time favorite looks of VHUDG, I’m glad she thinks so too!

“They’re J Brand jeans. The shoes are Kenneth Cole and the cardigan is by Antik Batik.  This is my take on the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen baggy ‘homeless’ look that I love! I’ve had the butterfly since I was 13.”

Pretty sure I admire Mary-Kate and Ashely as well…which sums up the reason why VHUDG is my fashion crush. Check out my take on MKA’s fashion…

I loved what Vanessa said about fashion and her personal style – here’s an excerpt:

“I am no label whore and for the most part, I dress for myself.” Hudgens then goes on to say, “I like my own thing.  I’m not content with just wearing a T-shirt and jeans every day.  I love fashion and I love playing with it.”

Go here for your fill on VHUDG with INSTYLE, or run over to B&N to pick up your copy!