september highlights

so this is late. *facepalm* so sorry, i had a busy week and an even busier friday: physics class + work + babysitting till ten pm. i tried to finish it last night to have it ready this morning....but it didn't happen. ;)

september was a busy month, full of school, starbucks iced coffee, and bagels. lots of comfort reading and knitting.

... i started senior year. yup. ;) so far, it's been good. busy and crazy at times, but good. i'm trying to make the most of every moment, to treasure the small things and not just look forward to the weekends + special occasions.


... started rereading harry potter + the raven cycle. realizing how magical + adorable the first two hp books are, and how much i love this series. and also realizing how much i adore the raven cycle characters. i'll write a post on the series soon ;).


... lots of movie nights with my friends, staying up way too late talking about infinity war theories + our undying love for bucky barnes.


... making a conscious effort to spend more quiet time. calligraphy. watercolors. knitting. listening to calming music + drinking tea + lighting my favorite candle ;).


... making a winter soldier sweatshirt! and i'm going to comic con tomorrow, so i'm so excited to wear it with my cap shirt ;)

p h o t o s 

it's felt bucky!! 

FIVE STARS // dark and creepy but amazing // finished it in 24 hours

FIVE STARS // adorable and cute 

ALL THE STARS // utterly amazing + magical // lavendar ;P

four stars // intriguing premise // writing not the greatest

FIVE STARS // amazing + intriguing // dark // that ending! 

dnf // interesting but dry 

focus on the family radio drama // sixth or seventh re-listen // magical + amazing

""

""

3.75 stars // cute // love all the food + baking 

no pics bc i'm lazy, xD.

miss peregrine's home for peculiar children

the 5th wave

the raven king

love and gelato

scythe 

r a n d o m 

my friends and i were cooking dinner last night, and we had to open a bottle of red wine for the brisket marinade. it took us almost twenty minutes to open the bottle. also, i have cuts all over my hands from trying to use scissors to help pull the cork out. xD

had the best babysitting job: kids were literally angels + i got to read for nearly two hours. and i got paid. xD

binging "the office". absolutely hilarious. 

watching "justice league" with my friends, all on our basement couch + sharing a blanket, and laughing + criticizing the movie. 

touring a college with my friends + my mom + their mom, and having so much fun. standing in a huge line for chik fil a. laughing way too loudly in the hallways. jamming to "hamilton" in the car. stopping to get boba tea on the way back. falling asleep in the car + waking up with stiff necks. 

well, that's how my september went ;)  it went by way too fast, and i'm not sure if i'm ready for october. although i'm very ready for autumn. and cold weather. and fires. and hot apple cider. 

how was your september? any memorable moments 

or events? 

what are you looking forward to 

in october? 

<3 <3, 

allison riera

my autumn tbr

*cough* totally did not forget about my blog post until the day before *cough*

also, I was inspired by this post by the lovely Gray Marie ;)

so, my #autumn tbr is a mixture of rereads, new books, and classics. ;)

REREADS

because no autumn tbr of mine would be complete without a Harry Potter reread! i'm actually super excited, bc my little brother and i are going to read them together ;). 

nothing says fall + halloween + cold weather like the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. ;) these are some of my all time favorite books, albeit with a few issues (language + a certain romance) maybe after i reread them i'll post an in-depth review of them :).

 another Stiefvater book! i LOVE this one so much, and it's so autumn-y + creepy with the water horses and November 1 *heart eyes*.

yess, love this one so much! i've been wanting to reread it for awhile since i enjoyed it so much the first time i read it ;)

another one of my all time favorite books. the plot, the characters, THE ENDING << my gosh, it's amazing. 

haven't read these in awhile, and i'm excited to dive back into the 19th century world of Victorian London. gaslights, cobblestones, hansom cabs, and murder mysteries ;) also, i'm a huge fan of #bbc Sherlock, and I'm hoping to binge watch all four seasons this fall (there's only twelveish episodes *sobs*) 

NEW BOOKS

y'all, i read "scythe" in less than twenty four hours, and it was absolutely amazing. so i instantly reserved "thunderhead" from my library and now i'm nearly halfway thru and loving it. ;)

nothing like halloween + fall like "frankenstein", xD. i've been wanting to read it for awhile, and hopefully i'll get to this fall. 

and y'all, TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF FALL! << so excited, xD. going to celebrate with pumpkin coffee. and this year, i've finally decided to try a pumpkin spice latte ;). 

what's on your autumn tbr?

and have you tried a pumpkin spice latte? 

<3<3, 

allison riera 

p.s. saw the captain marvel

trailer, and it actually looks 

pretty good!

although i still think black

widow should have gotten 

her own movie before capt. marvel ;)

are y'all looking forward to it?

why i will always love harry potter [fandoms part 1]

this is kinda a different + random post, but I've been rereading the Harry Potter series, and decided that yes, it's time for a HP appreciation post. also, i wrote a reflection / deep post last week, and wanted something more fluffy + fun. so yea, xD.

from pinterest

d i s c l a i m e r 

now, I know this series is controversial (especially among the homeschooling / Christian circles), as it does involve magic, etc. if you haven't read it / don't want to bc of personal convictions, I am not judging you nor will I try to convince you :D. this is just my personal opinion.

okay, on to the post + ramblings!


// also, all pictures below are from pinterest + my camera :D

I didn't grow up reading the Harry Potter series; rather, I "discovered" them exactly two years ago. I had watched the second movie (Chamber of Secrets) awhile ago when I was babysitting, and it freaked me out so much that I went home and told my dad that I would NEVER watch/read Harry Potter.

fast forward to about three / four years later. August of '16. I was bored and wanting new books to read, so I wandered the YA section of my library, and saw Harry Potter. Went home + asked my dad if I could read them. He shrugged and said sure. So I checked out the first book, The Sorcerer's Stone, just in time for our family vacation.

I read the first book in two hours on the first day. And I was officially obsessed. I talked #nonstop about it all the vacation, and could not wait to get home + check out the other books.

and so I read the Harry Potter series for the rest of the year, intentionally spacing them out bc I didn't want to finish them too fast.

I finished The Deathly Hallows on a cold, windy November night, at this hunter's lodge thing that we spend family reunions at. And I cried. I still remember that night. I was lying on the gross carpety floor, next to a crackling fire, with my loud + noisy relatives just in the other room, laughing. And I was crying bc *cough* some people died (#spoilers) and bc it was over.

I may not have physically grown up with Harry Potter, but it felt like I had. It felt like I had been with Harry, Hermione, + Ron for seven years, watching them grow up and mature. it was truly magical <3 <3

so, that's the story of how I fell head-over-heels in love with Harry Potter and the Wizarding World. fast forward about three months, and my little brother read the entire series in basically a month and a half. then my mom read the series. and then my dad. and then we went to the Wizarding World theme park, and we reached full geekdom. now my little sister has read the first book, and she loves it. my littlest brother has only watched the first movie + heard #1 on audiobook, but loves it as well.

so now, my entire family is officially Harry Potter geeks. xD

w h y  i  l o v e  t h e m

just a couple reasons why the Harry Potter books are among my favorites of all time:

~ THE CHARACTERS. y'all, the characters in the Harry Potter series are so amazing + real + vibrant. like, I literally CANNOT name a favorite characters. I love them all so much. especially Fred + George, Hermione, Neville, Luna......see? I can't name a favorite. also, I had at least two beta fish named Neville. originally one was going to be Voldefish xD 


~ also, the entire Wizarding World is so rich + deep. worldbuilding is something that J.K. Rowling is a literal GENIUS at (and yes, I realize that sentence was very ungrammatical #ohwell). just all the little details she puts in are just so amazing and funny and make it seem so real, if you get me. like Blast-Ended Skrewts (my dad's favorite part of #5) + Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans + Exploding Snap + gahhhh, so much, xD


~ the powerful + amazing messages. the power of a mother's love. sacrifice. how love can defeat all evil. no matter how hopeless + dark a situation/world may seem, there is always hope. never give up. the power of friendship. the classic battle between good and evil.


~ THE QUOTES. y'all, do you know how much calligraphy + watercolor art I've made of Harry Potter quotes? TOO MANY, xD. J.K. Rowling is such an amazing writer <3 <3


~ also, the way she writes is just....can't think of the word, xD. the Harry Potter books are hilarious and the writing style is simple and straight to the point + deep and thought provoking, and yet somehow kids, teenagers, + adults all enjoy them?? like, how??


~ the humor. the Harry Potter books are so unbelievably funny + snarky, and this is something the movies did not do justice (again #ungrammatical). like the #iconic scene: "there's no need to call me sir, Professor." <<< one of my ALL TIME favorite Harry Potter moments. also, the absolute amazingness that is Professor McGonagall.

found this on pinterest and absolutely loved it:

so, whether you're a #potterhead for ever, or haven't read this amazing series yet, hope you enjoyed this. :) and if you haven't read them + are open to, i highly recommend you do it. also, fall is the perfect time to read the Harry Potter series. tea + coffee + sweaters + crackling fire + fuzzy blanket. and yes, i'm going to reread them once fall begins :D

have you read "harry potter?"

if so, what are your favorite quotes? favorite characters?

<3 <3, 

allison riera

p.s. y'all, i read "scythe" in less than 

twenty four hours

#sendhelp

and it was AMAZING!!

i need the sequel now :P