Marsala

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It's safe to say that I absolutely love the Pantone Color of the Year for 2015.

But wait! you ask. What's Pantone?

Pantone - according to Wikipedia - is a company known for matching colors in their Pantone Matching System used in industries such as printing, paint, fabric, and plastics. Pantone's "Color of the Year" is also a huge deal, and you'll likely see it pop up in next year's fashion and makeup (Sephora has done a couple collections with the Color of the Year in previous years; I have their Radiant Orchid lipstick from last season and I love it).

Here's why I like Marsala so much:

• It's a neutral. It's a neutral with a hint of red in it, so it adds interest to other neutrals paired with it.
• It's versatile. A warm neutral works well as a clothing item, cosmetic, or home decor.
• I just love the color. It reminds me of raspberry coffee.

And here are some Marsala things I found:

Marsala Favorites by savannahinwonderland featuring Maybelline

A lot of the Marsala things I came across on Polyvore (as of writing this post) have more of a red or orange tint to them. I personally like the shade that leans towards red/berry, but however you wear Marsala is up to you and what you like!

What do you think of Marsala as the color of the year? Would you wear it? If so, how?

Thoughts on Pages #11: Atlantia

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This is a tale NOT about mermaids (as I found out literally in the first five pages) that I met with skepticism, but surprised me at the end.

Storyline

"Can you hear Atlantia breathing?

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamed of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all Rio’s hopes for the future are shattered when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected choice, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long silenced—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the corrupted system constructed to govern the Divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths."

Characters

I liked Rio - the main protagonist - a lot more than I thought I would. Her character is believable; she wants to go Above (like Ariel from "The Little Mermaid") but is bound by her promise to her sister Bay, who may or may not have tricked her into staying Below. Plus, she has her own abilities as a siren to contend with...and hide. The majority of the story is her figuring out answers to a bunch of different questions: Why did her sister leave her behind? Who killed her mother? Why is her mysterious aunt trying to get into contact with her? And, most importantly, how can she get above?

That final question is what drives Rio's story, and it's how she meets True Beck. She forms a friendship with him which starts to develop into something more. (By the way, the romance was my favorite part of the story. It's written very well, and it doesn't obscure the quest Rio eventually undertakes, but I wanted to see more of True and Rio in the story.)

The side characters feel somewhat inconsequential. If characters mentioned more than a few scenes, then they're important. Otherwise, some side characters may only see three scenes before the first half of the novel is over. 

The villains were interesting, and acted in a way I didn't expect. They fit the story well, and their development was just as believable as our heroes' (read: their intentions were made clearer as the book went on).

Highlight for spoiler: I wish the sirens had more power than just speaking. I think more magic could have helped the ending feel more climactic than it felt.

Setting

Atlantia is beautiful. I always loved reading the descriptions of this underwater city peppered throughout the book, because it was kind of what you'd expect an underwater city to be, only with more color. It felt believable, especially at night, when the light was "grainy" and the dark was more absolute (because they were quite literally at the bottom of the ocean).

I had a hard time figuring out where the Above was. I knew that Atlantia was right below that (as it's called the Below), but judging by the description I as a reader got from it (which I can't reveal too much about because spoilers), it almost reminded me of Sorrento or the Tuscany region of Italy. I liked the Above, but as a setting, it felt underdeveloped and kind of threadbare in comparison to Atlantia.

My Thoughts

I was curious to read this book, mainly because I bought a signed copy of it at a Books-A-Million. I'd read Matched, so I was interested to see how this particular book played out...especially since it's a stand-alone.

I loved the setting, and the genuine nature of Rio's character was pleasant on the page. I even liked the romance, as short and minor as it was.

However, this book didn't completely blow me away. The plot felt very muddy at times and was slow in parts, and the climax didn't wow me like I expected it to. I wanted more resolution with what was happening Above. However, I'm satisfied with the ending, and I'm satisfied with how the characters developed and how the settings were portrayed.

I give Atlantia by Ally Condie 4 shells out of 5.

Hey! :) Want to see what I'm reading next and what books I'm into lately? Check out my Goodreads page and follow me there if you want!

An Instagram Roundup of Art, Adventures, and At Least Two Hot Beverages

1. I went to the cutest meat n' three last week in Georgia. It's family owned AND has the best chicken fried steak I've ever had (It was battered with pastry batter! Yum!).

2. Fun fact: I draw! I've drawn as an occasional hobby since high school, and I spontaneously decided to draw a self-portrait one day using an ink outline and colored pencils. I really like how it turned out. (I may do a post about my artwork in the future! Stay tuned!)

3. One family tradition that we have around the Holiday season is our cinnamon red hot apple cider. This stuff is AMAZING. It's basically regular apple cider boiled with red hot candies, then served. It reminds me of so many holiday seasons from my childhood and I love it.

4. I always get excited seeing the Finn and Jake balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Another fun fact: I watched Adventure Time for the first time on a plane flying back from Germany to the USA a few summers ago. Good times.

5. I went Black Friday Shopping in Atlanta with my aunt and cousin. I got to visit ZARA and C. Wonder, two stores we don't have in Nashville, among many amazing places to do my Christmas shopping (including Madewell, one of my new favorites!).

6. Speaking of new favorites, I love this candle from Anthropologie. It's Coconut Milk Mango. :)

7. I dove into a new book this week, armed with tea. Books-a-Million had signed copies of Atlantia by Allie Condie...be on the lookout for a Thoughts on Pages review of it soon!

8. This is actually my grandparents' front yard. It just looked pretty in the sunshine and I had to snap and edit a picture of it for Instagram.

9. Remember when I talked about golf carts? High schoolers park their golf carts during school hours and line them up - and there was a ton of them when I drove by in a golf cart this week. This would have been so easy back when I was in high school!

Thoughts on Pages #10: A Thousand Pieces of You

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How amazing is this cover?!

When a book keeps you guessing, then leaves you breathless at the very end...that's when you know it's a good one.

Storyline

The synopsis for the first book in the Firebird trilogy is as follows:

"Cloud Atlas meets Orphan Black in this epic dimension-bending trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a girl who must chase her father's killer through multiple dimensions. Marguerite Caine's physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, called the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universes—and promises to revolutionize science forever. But then Marguerite's father is murdered, and the killer—her parent's handsome, enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite refuses to let the man who destroyed her family go free. So she races after Paul through different universes, always leaping into another version of herself. But she also meets alternate versions of the people she knows—including Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways. Before long she begins to question Paul's guilt—as well as her own heart. And soon she discovers the truth behind her father's death is far more sinister than she expected.

A Thousand Pieces of You, the first book in the Firebird trilogy, explores an amazingly intricate multiverse where fate is unavoidable, the truth elusive, and love the greatest mystery of all."

Let me summarize dimension travel before we go any further:

The firebird - a fancy, high-tech locket - gives the wearer the ability to travel between parallel dimensions to their bodies within those dimensions. If the wearer is without their Firebird for a long period of time, they forget themselves and lie dormant within their bodies in the dimension they traveled to. Sound complicated? Not to worry...it's explained well in the novel.

Characters

I adore the characters in this book. Especially the protagonist, Marguerite.

Here's why I absolutely love Marguerite as a character:

• How relatable she is. When dressed to the nines as the daughter of a Russian Tzar in one dimension, she wishes that she could take selfies and use at least one of the pictures as a profile picture for the rest of forever. At first I rolled my eyes, but then I thought, Wouldn't I want to do the same thing? This vein continues throughout the novel, sometimes on more serious tones. She's a believable 18-year-old, and I love that.
• She's homeschooled. She not only mentions that she's homeschooled, but also debunks the audience's perceived misconceptions of homeschooling, namely, social interactions and quality of the courses she was taught. For someone like me who was homeschooled for a good portion of her life (Kindergarten through 8th Grade), reading this was huge.

I can't go too much into the supporting cast, because spoilers, but I absolutely adore the supporting cast and villains as well. Everyone keeps you guessing as to their intentions right until the very last page. This got annoying at times, but at the end, it was exhilarating.

The only other annoying thing I found was how fast the romantic relationship progressed. It almost went too fast for Marguerite - and myself as a reader -  to process what was going on, but she grows as a character because of it, so it's only a minor blemish on an otherwise great story.

Setting

Setting? More like settings.

Marguerite travels to many parallel dimensions in different cities, like futuristic London and 1900's Russia, just to name a couple. The settings are very well-written and the world-building is believable for each respective place. How Marguerite interacts with each dimension is also believable, from her conversations with characters to having to learn languages to adapt to a foreign culture.

My Thoughts

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING.

It reminded me of Doctor Who, but also Inception. Like I mentioned earlier, it's an exhilarating ride from start to finish. I already can't wait for the next two books in the trilogy, and am so curious to see how the plot unfolds from here.

I give A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray five Firebirds out of five.

Hey, y'all! :) Want to see what I'm reading next and what books I've been loving lately? Check out my Goodreads!

My Top 10 Uses for a Sequined Dress

Once upon a time, I was in Forever 21 with some of my best friends. We were wandering the store when suddenly, I saw a dress on one of the mannequins up front:

FOREVER 21 Sequined Skater Dress (see more sequin skater dresses)

Because it was sequined, blush pink, and amazing, I wanted to see if I could find it. Sure enough...it wasn't there. Bummer.

I decided to browse online (which, in my opinion, is the best way to shop Forever 21's clothing selections...the stores can get overwhelming), and they did have it. Fast-forward a week later, and a package arrived at my doorstep containing the sequined dress I ordered.

Some of you may be thinking, Savannah, where could you possibly wear this? Others of you may be thinking, Why not wear this literally everywhere?

So, let's talk about where you could wear a sequined dress.

1. Holiday Parties - This is probably the most obvious choice, given this time of year. I intend to wear my dress to my family's Christmas party this year for sure.

2. New Year's Eve - Again, another fairly obvious situation, but a dress like this that has sleeves will help you out if you're going to be outside in colder weather for any amount of time.

3. Concerts - You know how some genres kind of have specific clothes associated to them - leather for Rock, and cowboy boots for Country, for example? A sequined dress covers all those bases; just change the accessories depending on the concert and your mood. Speaking of shows...

4. Broadway Shows - In the times I've been to New York, I've loved dressing up for broadway shows, including matinees (I'm looking at you, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" starring Daniel Radcliffe back a few years ago <3). A sequined dress would be a fun piece to wear to musical theatre, whether you're on Broadway, West End, or at your city's performing arts center.

5. Graduations - I wore a shiny dress with rose gold embroidery to my college graduation, and this would work well if you're wanting to stand out beyond the same regalia that everyone else is wearing. Just make sure that this dress works with your school's guidelines; my high school graduation robes were white, for example, so this particular dress wouldn't work.

6. Halloween - When all else fails, this is an INSTANT Princess Peach costume. And speaking of costumes...

7. Themed Costumed Parties - Lately, I've been seeing Great Gatsby-inspired dresses amidst the usual sparkly sequined ones. To get more uses out of a dress like this beyond the holidays, wear it to a costume party and add decade or theme-appropriate accessories, like a sparkly headband for a Gatsby party.

8. Weddings - Depending on what kind of wedding you're attending and how much your particular dress is sequined, you could wear a dress like this to either the rehearsal dinner or the ceremony itself. Just make sure it's understated enough that you're not outshining the bride.

9. Travel/Other special occasions that only come around once in a while - Going to a live taping of a show in NYC? Going to a fancy dinner abroad? Take this dress along on your travels. You never know when the occasion may arise to wear it. And speaking of occasions...

10. Whenever you want. :) - Fashion is so subjective, and even with trends that come and go, you should stay true to your personal style. If you want to wear a sequined dress, wear it, and wear it with confidence. :)

I hope y'all enjoyed this little Top Ten list! :)