The Piano Teacher

I started reading this book while babysitting miss Ellie and just had to finish it. It was written by Janice Y. K. Lee, the former editor at Elle and Mirabella magazines. She was born and raised in Hong Kong (the setting of the book) and now lives there with her husband and children. "In 1942, Will Truesdale, an Englishman newly arrived in Hong Kong, falls passionately in love with Trudy Liang, a beautiful Eurasian socialite. But their affair is threatened by the invasion of the Japanese as World War II overwhelms their lives. Ten years later, Clair Pendleton comes to Hong Kong and is hired by the wealthy Chen family as their daughters piano teacher. Seduced by the colony's heady social life, she soon begins an affair...only to discover that her lover is hiding a devastating past. As the threads of this spellbinding novel intertwine, impossible choices emerge-- between love and safety, corage and survival, the present, and, above all, the past."
I really couldn't think of anything to say about this book, so I decided to post the review that's on the back cover. I thought the story line was very clever, and the intertwining of the two stories was well thought out. However, perhaps miss Lee should stick with her job as editor...

SwapTree

I honestly think SwapTree is one of the best things I've ever discovered on the internet. It is a book/music/dvd trading site that is actually easy to use! There is no charge and, out of my four trades, I have never been let down! This week I shipped out my Vanessa Hudgens cd (which I am very embarrassed to have owned) and am receiving the book Post Secrets by Frank Warren. They website finds all the trades for you, based on the the items you want, and your user ratings. They've recently added a new feature that lets you do three way trades.
www.swaptree.com

Record Store Day

I must say, this is pretty awesome. Thanks Becka for listening to The Buzz and finding this :)

http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home

Cage the Elephant - Back Against the Wall

Search Retreat

Of all three days, this was the only picture we got...fail.
I'm so proud of Becka, and feel blessed that she invited me to experience in the awesome weekend she planned. Becka was asked to be the director of Search at her church this year, and I am so proud to call her my friend. I know how much planning and stress went into this weekend, and she handled it very well.
I went into this weekend looking for some answers about college, and ended up not thinking about it the whole time. I do not count this as a loss, because it was refreshing to have a weekend away from the everyday life to deal with some issues that I've been holding onto for a long time. I knew I would cry, but looking back I'm not sure if it was more or less than I expected. Brooke and Krissy did a great job with their talks, and I am so thankful for how open and honest they both were. Our church doesn't have anything like what was put on this weekend, and I was amazed with every minute of it. The rest of the weekend is personal, but I am very thankful God placed this in my life.

Shopping Trip to Charlotte Russe

My favorite purchase of the day! I feel like I should be walking in Paris with Domitille when I wear this :)



















Really cute necklace that will go with my graduation dress.


















Shoes for the graduation dress.


















And the buy 1 get 1 for $15 shoes.

Eat, Pray, Love

I am quite excited about this movie! Julia Roberts is one of my favorite actresses, and I think she is perfect for this role. Although I did not agree with everything in the book, The Jane Austen Book Club had an interesting discussion about it (see older post). IMBD.com has said the Julia has rented two apartments in New York for that part of the filming; one for her family, and one for their staff. She is currently living their with her family, and as you can see it looks like the movie is off to a great start!