September Must-haves or Must-do’s.
1. Birthday cake. Well, that is if you’re me and your bday is in September – or if you happen to be near the Christensen house because my mom make’s THE best birthday cake in the world. Too bad Josh doesn’t like chocolate, huh Candy? : ] Oh well, more for us. If it’s not your birthday in September, you can eat some in honor of me.
2. Gossip Girl Season 3 party – check. Thanks to some other addicts I helped get started – we’re getting together to celebrate the return of Chuck Bass to the screen on September 14th. Ow ow.
3. Attend a best friends wedding. Also, done & done already in the month of Sept for this girl. Congrats to Alyssa & Rob.
4. Kindle 2. Mine’s on it’s way and I’m SO excited. Therefore the Kindle 2 makes my must have’s or must-do’s for September 2009. First book I’m going to buy? The September bookclub book – ‘Girl with a Dragon Tattoo’. Hurry Kindle, please hurry.
5. Chic-lit. I’ve declared September my month for Chic-lit. So go to Borders and pick yourself out a new Shopoholic book, read some Jennifer Weiner, or join me in reading some Candace Bushnell. Oh wait, and I already read Lauren Conrad’s book to kick the month off.
6. Attend Fashion Week in Tampa. Well, you don’t have too but I sure want too. September 23rd-25th.
7. Company. I love to have company come to stay with me. Maybe growing up in a household where we constantly had people staying over is to thank for this. This month my friend Sarah is coming from Jacksonville to spend my b-day weekend with me. I can’t wait to show her around SoHo!
8. New Knowledge. When I think of September I think of the start of school. Well for those of us out of school why shouldn’t we still consider September a great month to start learning something new? This month for me, I’m tackling Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University with my church (Grace Family) and a few girlfriends. Perhaps my Kindle will be my last splurge for a while once Dave gets a hold of me!
9. New planner inserts. Time to start thinking about 2010. Hard to believe, I know. I’ve got mine, thanks to Candy and Coach.
LA Candy Review.
I’ve been a huge Lauren Conrad fan from the beginning of her ‘career’. I’ve been watching The Hills, her reality show since it’s premier four or five years ago. I also own every season on DVD. I realize that much of what I observed of her life on The Hills was in fact a show, not real life. But she’s a girl from Laguna Beach who has built a TV career, a fashion line, and a name for herself. In many ways, I respect that.
Also, I think much of my LC love comes from the fact that she’s my age. She’s relatable in that way. She’s going through (whether real or fabricated) that drama of jobs, bosses, friendships, and boys. What 20-something girl can’t relate to that on some level? When I think about doing it in front of America that seems even more overwhelming. Society is not very forgiving.
When the rumors of LC’s first book began circulating I was wicked excited. Here’s a girl I’ve faithfully followed since high school and she’s doing one more thing I’ve always wanted to do – write a novel. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and read every page.
I didn’t have many expectations, honestly. I didn’t know what the book was about or what her writing style would be. I attach to writers more based on their style than content. I’m a weird literature consumer I suppose.
In my opinion, the book was an epic fail. First off, in writing a book for ‘teens’ (it’s produced by Harper Teen) doesn’t that mean the target audience is 12 and up? Well then it’s not appropriate to encourage underage drinking as glamorous and something everyone does. Breaking the law is not in fact chic. Also, the f-bomb? Really LC? Was it necessary to add profanity to a book marketed to teens let alone the f-bomb MULTIPLE times? Call me old fashion but that is not okay. I would not want my 12 or 13 year old reading that.
Language and underage drinking issues aside let’s talk about ‘Scarlet’, one of the characters in the book. Painting her promiscuous lifestyle as ‘cool’ really left an unsettled feeling in my stomach. Whether or not my girl LC meant to or not, what you write does in essence promote something. I was disturbed and turned off to the book by the promotion of hooking up with guys whose names you don’t care enough to know. Do I even need to go over the emotional and physical consequences that come with this sort of lifestyle? I doubt it.
Even the more innocent character, Jane, ‘cheated’ on the guy she was dating with his best friend. Sneaking her one-night-stand-turned-love out before her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend came up the stairs. Real classy.
With spotlight driven success comes responsibility. Like it or not LC you’re a role model to young girls everywhere. What you do with your time in the limelight is up to you but it also says something about who you are and where your priorities lie. Do you in fact understand that?
I would have liked to see someone with LC’s platform write a novel about success. With a leg up in the fashion world, why not dwell on the positive aspect of a successful fashion career in LA? Write about fashion shows, meeting designers, what it’s like to intern at Teen Vogue. Now that would have been worthwhile reading material.
Sorry, LC but this book gets a thumbs down from me.
Love,
B
