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Moonlight by Lisa Kessler


As you may or may not know, I'm a bookworm. I've decided to start sharing more books on this blog, although I do have a book blog solely dedicated to books. I'll keep the super racy books on that blog and share more reader friendly ones here ;)

Lisa Kessler is a great local author. She's known for her paranormal stories and her love of Disney. She's also one of my lovely clients. I love editing her books! Anyway, Moonlight is the first book in her Moon Series. I'm so behind the bandwagon, so I'm scrambling to catch up.

First off, this book was published by my favorite publisher: Entangled. They have the most amazing books.

Moonlight is about forbidden love and a search for someone's identity.

You see, werewolves and jaguars are enemies. Werewolves run in packs while jaguars are lone animals. Jaguar shifters are also assassins...

In this world, werewolves were always born as a set of twins and they were always male. In order to create a female wolf, a human had to be bitten by a male wolf. The same goes for jaguars...except Lana was born a jaguar. Hmm...

Adam was the alpha wolf's first son and by their rules, he was the next in line. But, when he realized that his mate was a jaguar, he was prepared to give everything up for her. Romantic, right? It would have been if Lana wasn't so righteous. She would rather put herself in danger than take Adam away from the pack. If that wasn't love, I don't know what is.



Chapter 42 really had me tearing up. It was so intense and badass at the same time. I probably should mention that I read some of the other books in the series prior to reading this one, but they were okay as a standalone. There wasn't a spoiler per se, but I did know that one of the tragedies in this book would happen because I had read one of the later books.

Anyway, if you want paranormal with a splash of romance and a pint of action, I would recommend you read this book. 

x Ayre

Harveston Lake Park



This past Labor Day, I spent some time with my mom and my friend J.D. at In-N-Out. My mom had to work so she went home right after, while J.D. and I ventured to Harveston Lake Park for the first time. My mom kept telling us how beautiful it was and that we just had to see it. I brought my DSLR just for this adventure. When we arrived, I gave J.D. a crash course on the camera. My back was hurting so I told him he was in charge. He accepted the challenge and the photos in this post were the results.


This was his first photo. I thought he was just practicing, until I started editing the photos and I noticed that there were letters carved. What a beautiful start.


Next, I taught him how to take a macro photo. He was a quick study and captured the beautiful photos above. I also told him that he had such a great eye for photography because the lighting in his photos were perfect. In the length of time that I had been taking photographs, my photos never came out like his did. What a natural.


We continued walking and I suggested potential subjects. He took few photos, but what he did take were all beautiful. Unlike me who took 20 photos in succession of the same subject, he took one or two that came out perfect. Seriously, I told him he should be a photographer, too. Especially because he loved to travel and recently came back from Spain. Imagine all the amazing scenery he could capture!


The photo above was one of many that really blew my mind. Just look at how perfect that water looked! I wish I could be as amazing one day.

 
We kept walking and he continued to take photos while I watched in awe. Towards the end of our adventure, I gave him his final challenge: photographing people. It seemed like a harder feat, but he was able to take a few good shots. A bit more practice and he'd really give me a run for my money.


What a lovely day that was. Looking at these photos inspired me to be better and keep practicing my little hobby. Here's to our next adventure!

x Ayre

Oink and Moo

Photography credit: JD
It would be a rarity for me to choose red meat over white meat, but on occasion, I quite enjoy a good ol' burger. When my friend brought me to Oink and Moo, I was surprised to see how small the restaurant was. My first impression was that it had a very intimate setting with a lot of character. They had tables, booths, and then there were the two high tables in the back. There was also a bar, but we didn't venture there.


We were seated in one of the two tall tables in the back, so we were able to oversee the entire restaurant. It was really cool because the chairs were rooted to the ground, but the table moved. Since I am vertically challenged, I literally had to climb my way up to the chair, and then I couldn't get back down until after the meal.


There were beautiful fixtures all over the place, and a couple odd electric fans as well. Behind the restaurant was a garden where they picked fresh herbs, literally harvesting them as they prepared the food that the patrons ordered. It was very cool.


The servers were great and very friendly. The whole place almost had a family vibe to it. It was so cool being there as if it was a small community enjoying a feast. I didn't notice it until later, but they also had really interesting salt and pepper shakers.


As me and my friend were very hungry, we perused the menu online prior to arriving to the restaurant. When the server introduced herself, she informed us of the day's specials, and one of them was a berry lemonade. Well, I was starving, but I was also thirsty, and a regular lemonade just wouldn't do when there was a berry option! My friend opted for a spiked regular lemonade as you could see from the first photo of this post.


As for our appetizer, my friend decided to go with Frings, which consisted of waffle fries and onion rings. It came with the most delicious ranch for dipping. It was a glorious start to our meal.


As for my burger, I decided to build my own with a medium well quarter pound steak with lettuce, tomato, special moo sauce, caramelized onions for taste, and avocado as a burger bling. It was so delicious! I could only finish half of the burger until I was feeling really full. We were offered dessert, but we turned it down. I only asked for a box, so that I could take my burger home, and a glass of water.

When the water arrived, I greedily drank from it, and then regretted it. If you were picky with the kind of water you drink, I would not recommend their water at all. Anyway, we made our way down the tall table and my friend warned me to be careful. I said it didn't look that high, but when I landed, I was proven wrong as I almost hurt myself. I didn't, thankfully, but that should teach me a lesson for next time.

Another bummer of the trip? I left my leftover on the table! I was so bummed, even as I wrote this post. The burger really was delicious and I wanted to have some more for dinner...

Alas, I simply must go back and bring another friend there. This time, we would make a reservation just to make sure we would be seated quickly, in case the place happened to be completely packed. 

Let me know in the comments what fixings you like on your burger!

Oink and Moo Burgers and BBQ
121 N Pico Ave
Fallbrook, CA 92028
(760) 451-6005
Open Wed-Sun 4:30-9:00pm (8:30pm on Sundays)

x Ayre

Youthful Face Scrub


This is the secret to looking young for as long as possible...

Okay, that might have been a stretch, but this Pacifica Glow Baby Youthful Face Scrub was amazing. Made of only natural ingredients, this face scrub had a subtle scent and really small beads. I purchased it because, although I had an exfoliating mask, I wanted a scrub with actual beads so that I felt like I was actually clearing away the dead skin on my face.

I try to use this product once a week, but as laziness would have it, I would use this twice a month. When I would use it, my face would become extremely soft. All the dead skin were scrubbed away and I was left with literally a youthful face, so smooth and soft.

One thing to always remember with this product is to make sure your face is damp. I made a mistake when I first used it and scrubbed my face so good while it was dry. This would cause irritation for a few days, so please, make sure you wet your face before applying this scrub.

Overall, this had been the best scrub I had ever used in my life. I highly recommend it! Let's all join the youthful beauty club with this product as our mascot.

x Ayre

What I Love About Autumn

Photo credit: JD

I haven't always been a festive person. I still don't think I am now, but this year, I decided to decorate my room for the sake of my videos. Wow, I never knew I'd be so happy with it!

COLORS
More than anything, I love the colors of autumn. I don't really know why, but the oranges and browns somehow makes me feel cozy. I also love that unlike spring or summer, the colors aren't overly bright. Autumnal colors are just right.

CRISP AIR
It's not too cold, and it's not too hot. Perfect weather, basically. I love smelling the clean, crisp air in the morning and even at night.

SWEATER WEATHER
Aside from the fact that I'm still struggling to exercise regularly, I love the coziness of sweaters. I actually just bought a new one that I featured in today's YouTube video, and it was the coziest sweater I've ever owned. It was so soft and so comfortable. It looked thin, but it was actually quite warm and comforting.

CANDLES
I haven't lived in a place where I was allowed to light candles until now. And oh my, I'm so glad. I am not a big fan of eating pumpkin-flavored foods, but I absolutely love pumpkin-scented candles! I love the warm and spicy aroma that it gives my room. I just feel extra cozy because of it.

YOUTUBERS
I love watching really festive youtubers get excited about the season. So, even though I'm just starting to make an effort, I love living vicariously through them. Ahem, Zoella, ahem. :)



I'd love to know in the comments what you love about autumn!

x Ayre

Gothic Photography


My friend JD and I went on another photography adventure earlier in the month. For some reason, when we arrived at the park, I had an urge to take photos for the purpose of editing them and making them look gothic. Since Halloween is right around the corner, I hoped that this would be a great post. Obviously all of the photos here were edited to have a creepier vibe.

The first photo above was of a bench. We tried to take a lot of creepy bench photos. JD even said he would be a nature and bench kind of photographer. I'd say that was a great start!

Photography credit: JD
The next photo was a shot of a tree branch. JD was definitely quite excited and proud to have taken this photo. Have I mentioned he was a natural at this?!

Photography credit: JD
Next we have a slightly gothic shot, again, courtesy of JD. I remembered him being so happy with this shot, so I thought it definitely deserved recognition. I really enjoyed editing this photo. I wanted a red leaf, but as I only used PicMonkey to edit these photos, I had to settle for adjusting the saturation and temperature to achieve the effect you see here.


Some people already started their countdown for Halloween even before October started, which was yet another reason I wanted to do this post. Also, did you notice her staring at you? If not, look again. I totally added a ghost in the photo. 


Last but not least, I wanted to take a creepy house photo. I went with an old school look for this one. You know, the kind of photo that had been around for centuries and was recently rediscovered? Yep, that's the one.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know which photo was your favorite in the comment!

x Ayre
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