Belle Peach

"I will be a vessel for the Goddess of Beauty. I hold the dream inside my chest like a breath I never want to let out." This is a book that I have wanted to read for quite a while. When I first discovered The Belles, I remember being immediately drawn to the title which, in my mind, conjured up images of Southern American Belles, Louisiana Creole culture, and 18th century French nobility. Not to mention the fact that the model on the cover, Resnya Renee, is absolutely gorgeous and brings a refreshing appeal. “I am a Belle. I control Beauty.” - Camellia Beauregard The word Belle is of French origin which means Beauty. In Dhonielle Clayton’s gorgeously crafted world of Orléans, beauty is the most coveted thing of all but why is it so? Orléans’ mythos tells us that once upon a time, when the Goddess of Beauty and the God of the Sky were in love, they gave birth to the children of Orléans. With time, Sky grew jealous of Beauty’s affection for her children so he c

Last week was spring break for my mom and we were both delighted to have time to go to one of our favorite restaurants. I've talked about Knoxville's The French Market Crêperie before on this blog so I don't have to go into too much detail about this little gem of a restaurant but I did want to share a delicious new treat called The "Canadian." Btw they added a new awning and I think it's the perfect finishing touch to this place! The Canadian is a delicious medley of bacon, scrambled eggs, and swiss cheese nestled inside a buckwheat crepe and topped with maple syrup and butter. It's one of those foods where upon the first bite, you have to close your eyes and appreciate the talented hands that put this whole thing together. Seriously, it's really really reallllllly good. As long as this is on the menu, it will probably be my go to breakfast get up for a while (although I still need to try their Monte Crisco crepe very soon).

I think I'm slowly becoming a Jim Shore fan but as a Disney devotee and art lover, it was inevitable honestly. I talked a little bit about my adoration for Jim's work when I made a post about the Tiana figure I purchased so I was excited when Hallmark alerted me that they were having a 20% off sale on everything from their site. After doing a little browsing, my eyes were immediately fixated on a gorgeous Snow White figurine that's a part of Jim's White Woodland collection. Thanks to the site sale plus having an extra coupon on hand, this beauty is now a part of my tiny collection! I think she's just the prettiest little thing! What I love about the white woodland collection is that the muted colors blend well with the color scheme in my room. The mix of cream colors combined with the adorable creatures gives this whole figurine a very soft and innocent look. I look forward to seeing the other princesses Jim Shore plans to incorporate in his whit

I was casually browsing various online shops for cute silk scarves and I discovered the loveliest little video tutorial on Kate Spade's site that shows how to rock a silk scarf multiple ways and I figured I'd post it here. The Madison Avenue Bow style is definitely my favorite way to wear one of these scarves. Also, isn't the model just adorable? I love seeing cute black girls modeling classic, feminine styles.

My birthday passed a little over a week ago and one of my celebratory shopping destinations was at Hallmark. My original intent was to see if there were any Princess Tiana figurines available but alas they did not - although I did manage to find a lovely book called Paris In Bloom by Georgianna Lane which, I may blog about soon. Fortunately because of my purchase, I received a few coupons so I decided to visit their website and voila! I am now the owner of a gorgeous Princess Tiana Personality Pose Figurine by the great Jim Shore.  I'm a very big fan of his work because his art style combines a nice mix of American and European folk art with a wide variety of colors, interesting patterns, and the use of rosemaling. Not only does he create Disney themed art, but he also creates pieces that are inspired by commonly celebrated American symbols and holidays such as Christmas, the American flag, Angels, etc. Sometimes I forget that Disney isn't just significant because of the

*** Review originally published on Amazon Source I had the fortunate pleasure of reading this YA historical/science fiction novel by M. Sasinowski over the past week and because I enjoyed it immensely, I thought I should post the review I posted on Amazon here as well. My Review: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Reading Sasinowski‘s Heir of Ra made me feel as if I was apart of this fast-paced, fantastical story. I loved how it didn’t take a long time for the action to build up and the fact that the story is based on Egyptian mythology greatly intrigued me. In my opinion, Heir of Ra is everything a fantasy/science fiction story geared for teens should be: thrilling, packed with adventure, mystery and refreshing characters, and a protagonist you can’t help but admire. I’ve read many YA novels and I’ve yet to meet a heroine with as much grit and confidence as Alyssa. Only 16 years old, Alyssa is a very skillful young woman is faced with the dilemma of having to save her father, Kade Morgan, in a sh