Movie Review:Ted

Item: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
Rating: 4
Author: greyskysaturday

KonaBoy and I went to see Ted a couple of weeks ago right when it came out. I’ll admit that I was not excited to see the movie because I thought that since the movie posters did not look that appealing and their screen writers were the guys from Family Guy that it was going to be a poorly written movie.

The movie was definitely better than I expected it to me and it had more substance to it. Good job Seth McFarlane. Ted is the story of a young lonely boy named John Bennett who receives a teddy bear as a Christmas gift. That night under a shooting star he makes a wish that his teddy bear could be alive and really be his best friend. By some oddity his teddy bear comes to life and so begins the story of John and Ted. Flash forward 20 years and John is now a grown man who is trying to hold down a steady job at a rental car agency, living with his girlfriend of 3 years, and still has Ted by his side. I won’t give the majority of the plot away since it’s definitely worth seeing, but by the end of the movie John gets to keep Ted and marry his girlfriend too.

The movie gets a little confusing because it seemed to have two interweaving plots going at once. The story of John and Ted and how their friendship needs to evolve as John grows up. The second plot being the story of Ted and mishaps of being a famous talking teddy bear.

I definitely recommend that you go see this movie in theaters since it is still there and on dvd when it comes out. Enjoy!

Movie Review: Men in Black 3

7 / 11 / 128 / 13 / 18

This movie review probably should have gone up sooner. Oh the busy lives we lead sometimes. At any rate here is my review on the movie.

In Men in Black 3, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back…in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K’s life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him — secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

Josh Brolin is amazing in this film and does a killer job as a young Agent K. See it has been too long because I can’t remember the characters names other than Agent K and Agent J. Nicole Scherzinger also makes a nice appearance towards the beginning of the film for a bit before she is killed that isn’t a huge spoiler though. If you enjoyed the other two Men in Black movies you are sure to enjoy this one. It definitely puts a nice bow on the series and explains that Agent K’s involvement in Agent J’s life is far more than we initially thought it was. Enjoy!

Catching Fire

6 / 12 / 1211 / 7 / 19

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2) by Suzanne Collins
Published by Scholastic Press on September 1, 2009
Pages: 391
Goodreads
four-stars

Sparks are igniting.Flames are spreading.And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel in the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before...and surprising readers at every turn.

This is a follow-up post to my Hunger Games Review. I finally finished the rest of the Hunger Games book series a few weeks ago and I’m sorry this post is going up so late. I did have to compose myself before writing this post because to say that I was disgusted by MockingJay is quite putting it lightly, but I’ll leave that for the next post.

I wasn’t prepared for the twist at the end of this book, but I thought that this book flowed quite well in the last and final book of the series. I’m glad to see how the districts reacted to the Victory Tour in the book and I loved how it played out in the movie as well.

Product Review: Umba Box

5 / 24 / 128 / 13 / 18

I’ve had the pleasure of trying out many different monthly subscription services and this is my review of yet another one of those. This service is called Umba Box and is $26 per month, but they recommend that you purchase a half yearly subscription or yearly subscription. The service features products from various Etsy sellers or handmade/small business sellers that are put into a box just for you. Unlike many of the monthly subscription services that involve a style quiz or have you pick items, this service leaves you basically in the dark about which items will be featured in the box for the month. Once all the boxes have been shipped out they will then post on their blog and their facebook page the items for that month.

Pictured you will see what I got for my half yearly subscription aside from my last box which I completely forgot to photograph, I think it had a lip balm, a candle , and something else.

To the company’s credit they do give you all the boxes for the months you purchased even if you cancel your subscription because you are unhappy with the service. You also have the option to return the items in you got that month at your own expense for another box.

The service is a really good idea and I completely support small business and Etsy sellers. I cancelled my subscription because I did not think I was getting my money’s worth the entire time and I sometimes I wish I was not kept in the dark about what products I was receiving in the Umba Box. I’m still going to be hunting through blogs to find new Etsy sellers and even on Etsy to find new products. I just won’t be using this service.

Every box comes in white with light blue lettering just like the card above. The card that is included with every box is a short description from each Etsy seller about their business in their own words.

My first box featured a photo card and a necklace. I wore the necklace a couple of times and it is fairly good quality and goes with a couple of pieces that I already own.

My second box came with this clutch. My clutch was a plain white bottom as compared to the various colored bottomed ones featured on the card. The clutch is a good size and fits quite a few things. I also appreciated the fact that it came with a dust cover.

The third box was a set of six note cards and envelopes. While the note cards were cute and I was able to use them for work, it just really was not what I was hoping for that month.

The fourth box was the one I liked the least because of all the bath products, but it is just a personal preference.

The fifth box included salted caramels, a dish towel and a note pad. According to one of my friends the salted caramels were really good. I thought that the dish towel especially in the packaging it came in was really cute and that notepad had a cute design.

Product Review: Little Black Bag

5 / 10 / 128 / 13 / 18

A new monthly product service started a few months back and after hearing about it from Jenny (Miss Jen Fabulous on Youtube) I decided to try it and see if it was worth it. The service cost $49.95 a month for designer products. The concept of this one is very different from many of the other sites though in the fact that after you take the style quiz and you get shown your showroom and while you can still favorite and add things to your showroom you do not automatically get every item you purchase. You get to pick one item you REALLY want to have and then after you check out the team will add 2 other items to your bag and that’s when the real fun begins. After you see the other items in your bag, you can trade with other members on the site for items you would rather have in your bag and they can trade with you. You have 7 days to trade before your bag ships, however if at any point during the 7 days you decide that you are completely satisfied with your bag you can choose to ship it and get them items you want.

I decided to try Little Black Bag to see if the service was actually worth the money. In my first box I picked the Kitson heart bracelet to receive. I also had wish listed the Hello Kitty watch for my boss”s wife and found someone who wanted to trade the item I had in my bag for the watch. The Two’s Company Skull and Crossbones Decanter I was offered many items to trade for it, but ultimately when KonaBoy said that he would not mind the Decanter for his apartment I decided to get it. My box was shipped and I received it via UPS 10 days later. It came in the box pictured below, apparently the same box comes in various sizes.

The items comes wrapped like gifts and in the fashion of the company comes wrapped in black tissue paper with the company’s seal as pictured below.

Both the Hello Kitty watch and the Kitson bracelet arrived safe in their packaging. The decanter however did not arrive safely. The moment I opened the box and heard the rattling I knew something was wrong. When I opened the box that held the decanter I found that the cork for it was in one piece, but that the rest of it was completely shattered to the point that I did not even get to take it out of the box. See the pictures below.

Hello Kitty watch in the box

Kitson heart bracelet

The best picture I could get of the damaged decanter.

After I took a look at the packaging for the decanter and knew that the company should have packaged it better, but maybe that comes from my years of encounters with the postal service. I contacted customer service the day I received my box and explained that the decanter came broken. Within the next business day I received an answer to my customer service issue and they offered to add another item to my box for the following month.

The next month I picked the ZAD set of 3 leaf bracelet set. Also in my box were the ZAD set of 3 hammered bangles, Disney Couture “Love” necklace, and the Lee Angel Resin Bangle set. The box arrived in the same timeframe as the last box and thankfully nothing was not broken this time. See pictures below for the items.

Everything I received in my last box

Disney Couture “Love” necklace

ZAD set of 3 hammered bangles

ZAD set of 3 leaf bangles

Lee Angel Resin bracelet set

I decided to cancel my subscription not because I didn’t receive good customer service or that the products weren’t any good. I canceled simply because the service is a bit overly expensive for my taste. Nearly $50 a month for 2-3 high end products is a bit expensive for my taste. I know that I’m saving money, but ultimately it wasn’t enough for me to keep the subscription at this time. I may decide to pick up the service again in the future, but at this time I’m not entirely happy with the price of the service.