Coming Attractions: May

{April showers bring May flowers, in this adorable desktop wallpaper from Craftberry Bush!} 

Well, if March was a month of hard work, April was really a month of re-acclimation to not having quite so much hard work, but working hard nonetheless, you know? What I mean is, instead of having quite so many side projects requiring my attention, I had to shift the focus back to schoolwork, which is now quickly threatening to kick my butt, as well as everything else going on in this beautifully busy Spring. 

May is everything I've been waiting for. The school year is drawing to a close, some big projects that have been in the works for a while are entering their final stages, and Seattle's finally getting to see some sunshine around here! Not to mention my darling sister, The Cheerleader, is finally graduating high school in about a month, and not only is she celebrating that specific milestone of her life, but she's also starting to take the time thinking about her future... more specifically, her future here, with me, at UW! May is a time for looking forward, to summer, to fun, to not being tethered to my planner all the time with so much going on.

APRIL HIGHLIGHTS

{scheduling some much-needed coffee dates with my wonderful Little; the first backyard fire pit of the season, with many more roasted marshmallows to come; beautiful weather taking over the Emerald City, in the view from my window} 

• My most popular post this month: Top Ten Tuesday: Books for Fans of Once Upon a Time (even though it was only published yesterday!) 
• My College Fashion posts from this month: The 100 and Weetzie Bat. 
• My favorite post I wrote this month: The Origin Difference: What Formats Do You Favor? 
• Books I've read this month: Despite not having posted any reviews this month, I actually managed to read six books, three of which were for school, and two of which were for College Fashion: 
• Kass Morgan's The 100
• Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina
• Francesca Lia Block's Weetzie Bat
• Carla Trujillo's What Night Brings
• Marissa Meyer's Scarlet
• Ford Maxford Ford's The Good Soldier

these are a few of my favorite links...

1. Author Alexandra Duncan tackles censorship and slut-shaming after her book Salvage was shelved onto a "Slut" shelf on Goodreads, by launching a giveaway to spread the word on some of her favorite "sluts" from books, an endeavor in which she has been joined by fellow YA women Beth Revis, Megan Shepard, Sharon Biggs Waller, Jessa Hollbrook and Trish Doller. Write on, ladies! 

2. When I saw all the hype leading up to the release of Dorothy Must Die, I thought I smelled a rat... and that rat turned out to be James Frey! Why everyone should be boycotting Full Fathom Five. 

3. Buzzfeed is a wondeful site for time wasters, but instead of spending a couple minutes on their random quizzes or ridiculous videos, why not tackle 36 Life Changing Poems Everyone Should Read, instead? 

4. However, I can't deny that the levity of Buzzfeed's lists don't appeal to me, too: here's a list of the 26 Types of English Majors you'll meet in your department. 

5. And, if you are, like me, recovering from a several bout of mental drought - ie, the unforgiving, merciless Writer's Block that came to Seattle alongside all this beautiful weather - try getting a little inspiration from this incredibly well-done video about Writer's Block, by British YouTuber KickthePj. 

quote of the month