Tag: TV Shows

Monthly Recap: February 2017

Posted March 1, 2017 by Rowena in Features | 13 Comments

How are we already in the month of March in the new year? Time needs to slow down. Sheesh.

What I Did

Basketball, basketball, basketball. Basketball overtook our lives this past month with League games then Playoff games and then disappointing ends to everyone’s seasons. Best game of the season was when my Brenna’s Lady Saxons took on my Kenna’s Lady Seahawks. They both played their hearts out and while Kenna’s team smashed on Brenna’s, Brenna played exceptionally well and not even her Coach can take that away from her. I was a proud Mom and Aunt that day.

What I Watched

Riverdale. I’m completely addicted to this show. I’m loving the darker version of the Archie comics and though this is a typical CW (beautiful people, loads of drama) show, I’m all about it. I’m loving Betty, Archie, Veronica, Jughead, everyone. Even Cheryl Blossom and her bitchy ass. Betty’s crazy ass Mom and just all of the drama? I’m so freaking here for it all. If you’re not watching this show, you should be.

Hawaii 5-0. I’m binge watching this show right now. I stopped watching it about mid-season 6 and have been meaning to catch up and then never did. I’m all caught up now and I’m still loving McGarrett’s crazy ass, Danny’s whiny ass and the rest of the team as well. I’m still low key shipping McGarrett and Kono and I don’t even care that Adam is the bomb, too. Haha. Such a good show. There’s a really good Polynesian representation on this show and I love that.

Suits. I’m watching this show faithfully but I’m not really sure why. This season is low key boring but I love Harvey, Mike, Donna and the rest of the gang so even though I’m not all that into this season, I’m still watching every single episode, every single week.

I also watched the following movies:

1. Patriots Day (2016) | Good
2. John Wick (2014) | Very Good
3. John Wick 2 (2017) | Very Good
4. Accidentally Engaged (2016) | Cheesy, but Cute

My favorite movies of the month go to the John Wick movies. Why in the world did I wait so long to watch those? Those movies were the bomb. Thanks to my brother Pete for bringing them to my attention.

What I Listened To

Bruno Mars. Yeah, I’m still listening to this album and yes, I’m still loving the hell out it. Say somethin’…haha.

Say You Won’t Let Go by James Arthur. Brenna brought this song to my attention. She loves this song and because she played it over and over last month, it grew on me until I loved it myself.

What I Read

1. Act Like It by Lucy Parker | 4 out of 5
2. Pretty Face by Lucy Parker | 4.25 out of 5
3. Good Boy by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy | 4.25 out of 5
4. Faking It by Jennifer Crusie (re-read) | DNF
5. Silver Silence by Nalini Singh | 4.25 out of 5
6. Archangels Kiss by Nalini Singh | 4 out of 5

February was a slow reading month for me. I didn’t read much but I’m happy with the books that I read outside of the DNF. My favorite reads of the month go to Silver Silence, Pretty Face and Good Boy. All were fabulous reads.

What I Reviewed

The Bastard Billionaire by Jessica Lemmon | 4 out of 5
Good Boy by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy | 4 out of 5
Pretty Face by Lucy Parker | 4.25 out of 5
By Your Side by Kasie West | 3 out of 5
Nine Rules to Break when Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean | 4.5 out of 5
Act Like It by Lucy Parker | 4 out of 5
#Famous by Jilly Gagnon | 3 out of 5
Satisfaction by Lexi Blake | 4 out of 5
Seven Minutes in Heaven by Eloisa James | 4 out of 5
Fury on Fire by Sophie Jordan | 3 out of 5
Accidentally on Purpose by Jill Shalvis | 3 out of 5

What I Got

I bought some books and I got some books for review. Here are the books that were added to my bookshelves in February.

What I Bought

Moonshot by Alessandra Torre
Love in Lingerie by Alessandra Torre
Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh
Truly by Ruthie Knox
Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas
Royally Matched by Emma Chase

What I Got for Review

Midnight Target by Elle Kennedy
Off the Ice by Julie Cross
Blame it on the Duke by Lenora Bell
Havoc by Jamie Shaw
Silver Silence by Nalini Singh
Pipe Dreams by Sarina Bowen
When the Marquess Falls by Lorraine Heath

What I Loved

One of the local malls in my town got renovated and it’s fancy as hell. The food court is more upscale, too. There’s no McDonalds, Taco Bell, not even a Chick Fil-A. The new and improved food court serves Pinks hot dogs, Chipotle, Panda Express, sushi, Korean food, Blaze Pizza and bunch of other stuff. My sisters, my friends, my kids and I have spent some serious time at this food court, having lunch and trying out the new spots. We love them all.

How was your February? Did you do anything fun? See or read anything good?

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What I’m Looking Forward To in 2017

Posted December 15, 2016 by Rowena in Miscellaneous | 9 Comments

2016 is slowly ticking down and as always, I’m reflecting on the year. The ups and the downs, because let’s face it, there were a lot of downs but personally, there were a lot of ups too. My family was blessed with a new addition in my nephew Rocky. My niece Chloe married her Prince Charming. Chance and RJ returned from their missions safe and with honor. The girls are all doing well in basketball. I turned 36 and this blog turned 1. I’m blessed and a huge part of the reason I’m blessed are these guys pictured to the left.

To close out the year, my niece Chach has put together a list of activities that she wants to do as a family before she leaves on her mission next month. First up, we went to see the temple Christmas lights and we watched some videos in the Visitors Center where Chach bore her testimony and made everyone cry. This week, we’re going to our town’s Candy Cane Lane where we’ll see more Christmas lights, drink more hot chocolate and take more pictures with Santa and just be together. The kids will love it and I’m sure us adults will too. It’s always a good time with Team Wilson Gang.

I’m looking forward to all of the family activities we’ll do to wrap up the year but here’s a list of things that I’m looking forward to in the new year.

Life

Getting skinny from all the dieting and exercising I plan on doing in the new year. Ha! Don’t laugh, I’m for reals going to do it. Or, I’m like, 80% sure this is the year I actually do it. Haha.

Chach leaving for her Mission in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The people of Brazil are lucky to be getting one of my favorite kids. There is no one more genuine and likable than Chaylene and she’ll be leaving us to go and do work. I’m proud of that kid!

Brenna graduates from High School. I’m low key freaking out about June 2017 hitting me because my daughter will be graduating from high school and starting the rest of her life as an adult. She’s the same age I was when I had her. Someone hold me. But even with how much freaking out I’m doing, I’m looking forward to celebrating her hard work.

Becoming a Great Aunt. Chloe is pregnant and will be having her baby in March (I think) so I’m ready for a new baby to love and cherish!

Movies

There are quite a few movies coming out that I’m looking forward to but here’s a short glimpse into that madness…

My boo thangs Jax Teller Charlie Hunnam and Dylan O’Brien (I know, Cougar Alert! Ha!) have movies coming out next year that I’m super excited about. My favorite Dylan O’Brien character will probably always be Stiles Stilinksy on Teen Wolf but after seeing the pictures coming out of him in American Assassins, I can really get behind supporting him and going to see this movie. You know, because the story looks so interesting. 😉

But I’m also looking forward to all of the other movies listed. Justice League, Logan, Table 19 looks really funny, the trailer for Gifted made me cry so I’m on board for that one and Beauty and the Beast, anybody??? Of COURSE I’m going to see that one.

And though I haven’t read the book for Before I Fall, that’s not going to stop me from seeing the movie. Looks good.

TV Shows

Taken (NBC): This one looks really good and holy cow, I just noticed that it’s Rolo from Vikings as the main character. Lovin’ it! I’m so going to watch this.

Chicago Justice (NBC): I adore the other Chicago shows so I’m really looking forward to watching this one. Especially because Antonio is now a part of this show. I can’t wait!

Sense8 (Netflix): I feel like we’ve been waiting such a long time for this show and umm..I’m right, we HAVE waited a long time for this damn second season but we only a little while longer to wait (fingers crossed) so woo freaking hoo!

Riverdale (The CW): With Vampire Diaries ending after this season, I’m going to need a new show to take its place. This one looks like it because…LUKE PERRY! Team Dylan McKay is back in the house! Yay!

Famous in Love (Freeform): This is a book and it’s being turned into a TV Show. This book nerd is definitely watching it. I hope it’s better than Pretty Little Liars and Shadowhunters. I wasn’t a fan of either of those shows.

Alright, there you have it…some of the stuff that I’m looking forward to in 2017. This post is already long enough so I’ll probably do a list of Books that I’m looking forward to on my book blog, Book Binge. I’ll let you guys know when that goes live.

What movies and TV shows are you looking forward to next year? Anything good that I’m missing?? Let me know!

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Fall TV is Coming Back – Here’s What I’m Excited For

Posted September 20, 2016 by Rowena in Miscellaneous | 6 Comments

tv-time

Fall is my favorite time of year and it’s not because the weather cools down, the leaves turn colors and football starts. Oh no, I live in Southern California so the weather is the same every damn day and we’re never going to get out of this damn drought because of it. We also just got a football team back so for a long time, I didn’t have a team to cheer for (I’m a hometown team supporter) so I didn’t watch football. Anyway, fall is my favorite because all of my TV shows come back from summer hiatus. I love TV shows. I watch a lot of them too and we get brand new episodes starting in the fall and I usually look like this when they all come back:

Here are the shows that I’m excited for (both old and new):

1. Vampire Diaries. I get a lot of crap for liking this show so I stopped talking about it but I’ve come to realize that I’m too damn old to lie about loving Vampire Diaries so I can’t wait for this one. This is the final season and I’m all kinds of sad about it but I’m ready for it. I hope Stefan and Caroline get that June wedding that Caroline is famous for saying in the PILOT of this show. I also hope we get some major Bamon episodes because while I love Enzo, my shippers heart wants to see Bonnie and Damon happen before the show ends.

2. Jane the Virgin. Every single female teenage member of my family is hooked on this show like I am. We’re all waiting anxiously for the new season to find out what happens next cause if you remember from the finale, something shocking happens and we want to know if Jane is going to die a freaking virgin because the poor girl just can’t get laid. Ha! While the majority of us are Team Rafael, there are two Team Michael girls and Team Rafael is trying really hard not to do happy dances while we point and laugh at Team Michael after the finale. Either way, we need to know what happens next so I’m excited for this show to return.

3. Teen Wolf. This is the final season of Teen Wolf and while I haven’t been watching this show as religiously as the other shows I watch, I’m going to watch the hell out of this season because MY SHIP IS FINALLY HAPPENING! Team Stydia!! The premise for this season sounds good too. Scott and Lydia: FIND STILES! DON’T FORGET STILES!

3. The Chicago Shows. Man these shows (yes, all of them) hits me with feels each and every single week and I love the marketing and promotion that the cast does for these shows. I love the whole One Chicago family and the best thing about it all is that all of the shows are fantastic. They’re each well written and the acting is superb. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with Gabby and her adoption thing on Chicago Fire. I’m also looking forward to seeing Severide each week again and follow him around like a love sick schoolgirl. Ha! On Chicago PD, I’m looking forward to what develops with my ships Burzek and Linstead. I’m also hearing that there will be a cross show romance between Brett and Antonio Dawson so I’m excited for that. On Chicago Med, I’m looking forward to see some Manning goodness (I’m a sucker for my ships) and seeing some more Maggie. Love me some Maggie!

4. This is Us. Of all the new shows starting up this fall, the one that I’m most looking forward to is this one. I love Milo and Mandie Moore and the whole thing just looks so freaking good. I’m in.

5. Powerless. This one looks funny and I love super hero shows but this one looks refreshingly different from the other superhero stuff out there already. Also? DANNY PUDI!!

6. Chicago Justice. Yeah, yeah, I know I watch a lot of Chicago shows already but I don’t even give a damn because I’m ready for MORE Chicago goodness. Bring it on!

I could go on and on and on but I’ll stop here. What shows are you looking forward to returning and starting up this fall? Anything I should keep an eye out for?

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Top 5 Wednesday: Books You Want to See as TV Shows

Posted September 14, 2016 by Rowena in Features | 10 Comments

T5W

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey at Ginger Reads Lainey but is hosted by Sam at Thoughts on Tomes. You can read more about this meme on the Goodreads Group here.

This weeks topic is:

September 14: Books You Want to See as TV Shows

–With fall TV season starting up, this seems relevant.

TV Shows and Books? This is going to be easy since both of these are my jams. I mean, I watch a lot of TV Shows as it is but if these books/series became a show, I’d add them to my long list of shows to watch obsessively. It’s how I roll.

Here are my top choices for this week’s topics and I totally cheated because I chose series, instead of individual books.

1. The Psy-Changelings Series by Nalini Singh.

I love this series and would love to see all of the drama, the politics and steamy romance come to life on the small screen. I can see it already, waiting on pins and needles to see what the hell those damn Psy folks are cooking up, watching the Changeling passion week in and week out. Seeing the couples come together, Hawke and Lucas slowly form an alliance, everything. I would probably be just as obsessed with the show as I am the books.

2. The Ivy Years Series by Sarina Bowen.

I love sports romances and I would love a TV show that took place in a college setting with characters facing the same issues that each of the books in this series faces. They’re real life issues that make you sit up and take notice. I would also love to see the hot players on the hockey team come to life. Ha!

3. The Royals Series by Jen Frederick & Elle Kennedy.

This one would be the guilty pleasure show that I can’t figure out why I watch each week because the characters would drive me up the wall but I’d watch it religiously anyway. I wouldn’t be able to help myself because I would totally watch this show. Every single week.

4. The Sex, Love & Stilletos and Oxford Series by Lauren Layne.

I love office romances and strong, smart characters. This series has all of that and so much more. I would love to witness the office shenanigans these guys get into every week at the Stilettos and Oxford headquarters. It would be such a fun show to watch with heartwarming episodes. I want it.

5. The Killer Instincts Series by Elle Kennedy.

After watching and loving The Last Ship, I would love another smartly written romantic suspenseful show about a team of assassins who blew shit up and got into shooting matches every week with a new bad guy to run down and catch. I’m sure there have been plenty of shows like that but there haven’t been characters like Jim Morgan, Trevor, Isabel, Juliet and the rest of the gang. There hasn’t been a romance like Sully and Liam’s. I want this show too.

What about you? What books would you want to see as TV Shows?

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Monthly Recap: August 2016

Posted September 1, 2016 by Rowena in Features | 10 Comments

Summer is just about done for my kid and in a week, she’ll be home from Colorado for good and she’ll start her senior year in high school. Gah. She has senior pictures on the first day of school so we’re going to be super busy that day and I’m not ready for Brenna to be a senior in high school. On the upside, our family finally has a football player to support so I’ll be watching some high school football thanks to my nephew Chase. Go Saxons!



1. My sister turned 50: Blanche turned 50 this year and she looks fabulous! We had a great big surprise party for her at Mom’s favorite restaurant and even though she was salty that nobody wanted to go to Disneyland with her that day (the only thing she wanted to do) she got over it when she saw everyone that showed up for her party…even her daughters who live in Utah and the other one who was supposed to be in Colorado. It was a great time.

2. Saying Goodbye to Old Friends: My childhood ward dissolved last month and so I spent most of the month hanging out with my childhood friends and reminiscing about the good ol’ days when we would ditch Sunday School to walk to 7-11 or

3. Brenna’s Co-Ed Tournament: Our last year playing in this co-ed tournament and we were the winners of the Losers Bracket. I blame Jonathan for taking 50 shots a game and only making 3…the entire tournament. Ha. Still, it was a lot of fun to watch the kids play for fun and not be under so much pressure to perform on their club and high school teams. There was a lot of laughs and a whole lot of yelling at Jonathan to stop shooting the ball.

1. The Last Ship. It is all Grace’s fault that I did absolutely nothing else with my free weekends but watch every single episode of this show because hot damn, this show is good. Season 3 is underway and I’m blown away with how fresh and explosive each episode is…still.

Grace knows me so well because she knew that I would start the show for this guy:

Dgreen3

..and I did. But now I watch and love the show for everyone else too. I have a total girl crush on his wife on the show, Kara Foster. She’s a boss! She’s also freaking gorgeous!

Kara

If Holly tells you that I changed the part in my hair to match Kara’s hairstyle in the picture, don’t believe her…much. LOL, who am I kidding?? I totally changed my hairstyle to look like Kara’s cause I’m a freaking weirdo like that. So as you can tell, I freaking love this show and am so stinkin’ sad that I’m all caught up so now I have to watch the show one episode at a time and this waiting business is for the birds. Gah.

2. Bourne. I watched a few movies this month (that’s what happens when your daughter is gone for the summer and you’re a free woman! Yay!) and Jason Bourne was one of them. I almost didn’t make it past about 30 minutes into the movie cause they did my girl Nikki wrong but I was glad that I stuck around because while it wasn’t my favorite Bourne movie, I still liked it.

3. Bad Moms. I didn’t need to watch this movie to know that I was probably a bad Mom. According to my snobby co-worker, bad Moms let their kids eat Lunchables. Brenna loves Lunchables. So being a bad Mom wasn’t anything new to me but after watching this movie, I embraced being a bad Mom because hell, I’m not perfect but my kid is still pretty freaking awesome. She’s well-mannered, she tries hard and she’s respectful of others. Win! This movie was funny. It was all kinds of cheesy too but I didn’t even care, I laughed and laughed and laughed. The kind of movie that you watch every time they show it on TV.

I started writing again, a second chance contemporary romance so while I’m writing, I’m listening to the playlist that inspired the characters and story. Here are some of the songs on that playlist.

1. Dance for You by Beyonce. This song inspired a scene in my story where the heroine gets a little revenge while paying up on a bet she lost to the hero. If you watched the video for this song, Beyonce dances for her man and in my story, so does Sophie. Jack wasn’t ready for Sophie’s dance. Not at all. Ha!

2. Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey. This is the ultimate second chance romance song, at least for me. The first verse is basically my hero Jack and the second verse is my heroine Sophie. They come together after some time apart and pretty much live out this song. Ha!

3. Blank Space/Style (Taylor Swift Mashup) covered by Louisa Wendorff. This is another song that is all Jack and Sophie. “We go crashing down, we come back every time, we never go out of style…” Everyone knew that these two were meant to be together and that they would stop fighting so hard to not be together eventually because these two were never going out of style and Sophie had a blank space on her list for Jack. Ha!

1. Wild Embrace (Psy/Changelings #15.5) by Nalini Singh | 4 out of 5
2. No Mistress of Mine (An American Heiress in London #4) by Laura Lee Guhrke | 4 out of 5
3. The Rogue Not Taken (Scandal & Scoundrels #1) by Sarah MacLean | 4.75 out of 5
4. A Scot in the Dark (Scandal & Scoundrels #2) by Sarah MacLean | 1 out of 5
5. Rookie Move (Brooklyn Bruisers #1) by Sarina Bowen | 4 out of 5
6. Who’s That Girl? by Mhairi McFarLane | 3 out of 5
7. The Year We Fell Down (Ivy Years #1) by Sarina Bowen (re-read) | 4.25 out of 5
8. The Trouble with Mistletoe (Heartbreaker Bay #2) by Jill Shalvis | 3.5 out of 5
9. Just One Week by Alice Gaines | 1 out of 5
10. Do You Want to Start a Scandal? (Spindle Cove #5) by Tessa Dare | 4.25 out of 5
11. Bedmates (American Royalty #1) by Nichole Chase | 3.5 out of 5


Last month, five of my reviews went live on my book blog Book Binge and if you click on the book covers above, you’ll go right to my review for each of those books.


This is the trendy little spot that my bestie and I had our The Hills lunch at. We ordered spring rolls, egg rolls, shrimp pad thai, a taro smoothie and a chamoy mango smoothie. It sounds like a lot but actually, it was a lot of food but we ate it all and I really liked everything that I had. I’m not a boba girl so I didn’t get any of that boba stuff that Brenna loves so much but everything was great. I will definitely eat here again.

There you have it, everything that I did, watched and read in the month of August. How was your month? Watch anything good? Read anything fabulous? Tell me in the comments!

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