5 Favorite Nerdy Drinks

Happy Friday, everybody! Hope you all have super fun plans for this weekend. For me, the newest card set for the Star Wars Destiny collectible card game will be released, and I booked the weekend at work so that Kurt and I could attend a few pre-release events together 😁 For those who plan on enjoying a drink or two this weekend, here are my personal recommendations if you're looking for something more on the nerdy side.

#1: Princess Peach Martini! This is my favorite nerdy cocktail, without a doubt. I had this for the first time last month, while having lunch with Kurt at The Geekery in Niagara Falls after we'd finished playing together at a Star Wars Destiny tournament. I don't know the exact measurements, but I do know that this drink is made with Peach Schnapps, Raspberry Sour Puss, and orange juice. It tastes like candy! And like in this photo, it was actually served with a little Fuzzy Peach inside, skewered by a little plastic sword. It was so yummy, and learning to make my own Princess Peach Martini is definitely on my to-do list.

Review: The Last Chance Matinee

(An advance reader's copy of the ebook was
provided to me in exchange for
an honest review.)

Some of us might struggle to get along with our siblings when we're stuck working together on some kind of task - doing chores for our parents, helping each other move, that sort of thing. Now imagine if you had only just met your siblings and were expected to live under the same roof as them and tackle a massive renovation project at the same time. Such is the underlying premise for the first novel in Mariah Stewart's Hudson Sister series, The Last Chance Matinee.

Stewart's new novel is told from the perspective of three women living in different states that are brought together by their late father's lawyer and best friend, Pete Wheeler. Sisters Allie Monroe and Desdemona Hudson meet Cara McCann for the first time in Pete's office, and learn that their father had a second wife, and that Cara is their half-sister. If that wasn't enough information to process, they are then told that their father had set aside some very specific conditions in his will that must be met before any of the three girls can claim their inheritance; they must live together in their father's childhood home in Hidden Falls, PA and restore the Sugarhouse, a large art deco theater that is a part of Fritz Hudson's estate. If any of them leave Hidden Falls before the project is complete, than none of the sisters are to inherit anything.

The Last Chance Matinee's narration is split between these three sisters, but it is probably Cara McCann whose perspective dominates the majority of the chapters, and that is an aspect of this first book that I really enjoyed. Compared to Allie and Des, Cara is the outsider, raised as an only child whereas Allie and Des grew up together, although the two of them aren't at all close and even live in different states. While all three sisters are living in less than perfect circumstances before they learn about their father's death, the events in this book focus primarily on the events in Cara's life, both leading up to her move to Hidden Falls and everything that Cara experiences living with her Aunt Barney and her half-sisters. Cara's perspective in this first novel is a great way to look at how Des and Allie cope with the news about their father's double life. Cara is determined to learn just what sort of person their father was, given that he only showed certain parts of himself to her and her mother while he was alive.

My Insta Love #7

Happy Monday! I know that Monday is nobody's favorite day of the week, which is why it's nice to make things a little prettier at the start of the week 😊 Here's a collection of some pretty Instagram images that caught my eye this week - enjoy! 💖

The Geeky Girl Tag

How's everybody doing today? I hope your week has been treating you well so far. Today I've decided to participate in a tag I learned about through the Female Geek Bloggers G+ group known as The Geeky Girl Tag! I learned about it from The Howling Wolfheart, and this tag was originally created by Zombie Goddess Beauty. Go check out their posts, as well as their respective blogs, which are both awesome :) Anywho, time for me to answer some geeky girl questions!

#1: What is your must-have tech gadget?
Like everybody else in 2017, my phone is somehow attached to me at all times. I rely on it for its amazing camera, for keeping in touch with my friends, family, and amazing boyfriend, and of course all the awesome games and apps and visual novels that I have. Let me tell you, when I dropped my phone earlier this month and the screen cracked, I went into full-on mourning, especially when I learned how much it would cost to replace it. Guess everyone experiences their first cracked phone screen at some point or another...

I'm also very reliant on my laptop, for my blog of course, and also for the recent Facebook games I've gotten a little addicted to XP And lately I've become re-attached to my 3DS, and I've actually been enjoying one of my favorite original DS games, Urbz: Sims in the City. Have any of you guys played this game for the DS or GameCube? Let me know in the comments below :)

#2: Which house do you belong to in Hogwarts?
Hufflepuff, through and through! I'll be honest, when I was first sorted by Pottermore, I was hoping to be sorted into Ravenclaw, but since then I've embraced yellow and black, and I am a very proud Hufflepuff.

Wednesday Wish Lists #33

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Happy Wednesday, folks! Let me tell you, I always feel the urge to write "Happy Hump Day" at the start of these posts, but hearing it in my head just makes me cringe and I can't bring myself to do it XPP Anyway, I have more pretty things to show all of you, and PLEASE feel free to leave a comment or even tweet me @KacieCruise if you feel like gushing about these items, and we can chat about having similar tastes!

#1: Ariel Green Foil Princess Dress from Hot Topic! I have a weakness for The Little Mermaid, and mermaids in general, and this dress is beyond gorgeous! My favorite part is the draped shoulders, but the neckline and bodice and amazing too. I'm pretty sure that I'll be adding this to my massive collection of dresses this spring or summer.

#5FF Green Photo Challenge!

TGIF, everyone! Hope everyone had a great week, and here's hoping the weekend is even better. With today being St. Patrick's Day, I'm sure a lot of your weekends are off to a great start, and you'll be hitting the bars or your local liquor stores. I'll be working tonight, but I've never been one for green beer anyway 😆 Drink responsibly, everyone! Now, for the pictures! This week's prompt was to show off some green-inspired photos, and since I didn't want to rush and take a bunch of crap pictures of green things, I decided to showcase a few of my older photos instead. So here we go!

#1! Here's an Instagram pic of me showcasing one of my favorite nail polishes from Black Sheep Lacquer, which is a stunning emerald green. I love pretty much every nail polish I've ever received from the subscription I used to receive from BSL, but I always really enjoyed wearing unusual colours on my nails, instead of the typical red, pink, etc. Greens and yellows and dark blues are my favorite, and BSL has also sent me a number of glitter coats that are both bizarre and awesome.

Chocolate Oreo Mousse Pi Day Pie!

Hello everybody! And a very happy Pi Day to you all! Normally this day just passes by me as a regular day, but this year I decided to celebrate, and I wanted to do it with all of you 😄 To mark the occasion, I decided to make - and eat - my very first pie ever! Yes, I am one of those weird aliens living on Earth that has never eaten a slice of pie before. This recipe looked so yummy that I was dying to try it out! Just to be clear, this is not my recipe, but was created by +Rosanna Pansino of Nerdy Nummies. You can click here to see the video she made that steps you through the process to make this very pie in your own kitchen.

For anyone who wants a list of the ingredients without going through watching the video, here is an image you can save that lists all of the ingredients you will need.

5 Favorite Sequels

Happy Friday everyone! And a Merry beginning-of-the-weekend to all of you as well! Me, I've been working most weekends for the past month or so, but I still get most Sundays off to spend time relaxing, and going to the YMCA with Kurt 😊 I actually had a little help from him for this post, when I was struggling to remember which movie sequels I actually found semi-decent, so you could say that this post is something of a collaborative effort. Thanks for the inspiration, my love! Without further ado, here is a list of my favorite sequels.

#1: Love Never Dies - Sequel to Phantom of the Opera! This was the first thing that popped into my head when I started to think about sequels! Okay, that might not be true, #2 was really the first thing that came to mind, but I know without a doubt that Love Never Dies is my favorite sequel of all time, probably because of how much I also love the original Phantom of the Opera. Let me be clear for any theater geeks reading this, I'm not saying that the sequel is better than the original, but as far as sequels go, this one did not disappoint, and I am determined to see this show live on opening night once it finally comes to Toronto!

5 Favorite Ways To Celebrate An Achievement

Howdy, folks! I know this weeks #5FandomFriday prompt is about favorite local coffee shops, and don't get me wrong, I started to write about coffee shops, but then realized that I only had 2-4 that really mattered anything to me at all. Plus, I prefer caffeinated tea over coffee. So I decided to make my own prompt, and who knows, maybe it'll catch on and other Female Geek Bloggers will give this one a shot sometime? Plus, it gives me a chance to tell you all that I got 92% on my Product Knowledge test! AND the test only took me 12 minutes to complete!!! With all the studying I put in, now comes the time to celebrate this awesome accomplishment, and for the fun of it all, here is a list of the 5 ways that I usually pick to celebrate an achievement in my life.

#5: Have a "Party" with friends! When you picture a party, it's probably a lot different than the sort of thing me and my girlfriends would consider an ideal party. Usually it's just me coming over to their place (my 3 best friends all live together) and us shooting the shit, laughing at just about everything, me lusting after my friends' bookshelves filled with tons and tons of books - lately we've sometimes including adding wine to the mix, because we're "grown-ups" now, but that won't stop us from watching Markiplier's gameplay videos from the various Five Nights at Freddy's games XD

Wednesday Wish Lists #32

Happy Hump Day, my fellow nerdlings! For this week's Wednesday Wish Lists, I have put together a set of tantalizing nerd goodies that I've been lusting after. One of the items on this week's list is a little more on the melancholy side, but I've always had a policy of being honest with people, especially like-minded people such as yourself, who I hope will be my future friends :)

#1: Beauty and the Beast Makeup Collection by L'Oreal! I've seen this makeup set advertised all over the place - articles shared on Facebook, on Instagram, etc. Only problem is, this set is limited to being sold in Italy 😔 Let's hope that L'Oreal in the states (and also Canada 😁) get their butts in gear and release this gorgeous set in North America.