Girl Growing Up: Five on Friday: 2014 Edition

Once again, posting a Five on Friday on... Saturday. Maybe I should make a New Year's Resolution or two about blogging in a timely manner, eh? ;)

Guys. This book is just... Read it. That's all I can say. Well, not really. I can say a lot more. The concept of the book is so unique and intriguing, the plot is phenomenal, the characters are the kind you fall in love with (anyone else like to live vicariously through book-relationships, or is that just me?)... It's just a total page-turner. Divergent is definitely the best book I've read this year (including 2013... this year is still pretty short!). I heard the second and third books in the trilogy weren't quite as incredible, and after reading all three books in the past few days, I'd say that's fair, but in their defense, they did have a lot to live up to. I'm already excited to see the film adaptation this March! Another plus? It's a "young adult fiction" novel, so it's a super easy, quick read- the perfect vacation book.

World's coziest jammies.

Lookin' cute while waiting for Corey so we can go downstairs on Christmas morning.
(Also snacking on my mom's traditional Christmas morning sausage balls... Yum!)

One of my family's Christmas traditions is for us kids to open one present on Christmas Eve: our Christmas pajamas. I'm not sure if it's because I've been cuddled up reading the past few nights, or because it's been so chilly the past few days, but for some reason, these snuggly pajamas definitely make the list of things I'm loving lately! Usually, I'm an oversized t-shirt kind of gal, but these Cynthia Rowley pajamas from Marshall's are just the bomb.

An important reminder.

With all the New Year's Resolutions swirling around, it's hard not to get swept up into the million things I need to work on this year. I think there's something refreshing and wonderful and refreshing about the "reset button" of a brand new year, but I also want to remember that it's okay to stumble and have some imperfections here and there. In fact, it's actually impossible for us to do everything, so this little quotation has always comforted me when I'm hard on myself.

Ringing in 2014.

Before going to Columbia to ring in the New Year with friends, John and I went to my aunt and uncle's house to celebrate with my family. Ever since he was very young, my little cousin, Brady, threw a "Brady's Rockin' New Year's Eve" party. He used to home-make hats for everyone, but this year we had fancy shmancy store ones, as you can tell in the picture! After eating lots of yummy food, playing with my precious baby cousins, and hearing John tell me how much he needs to practice playing pool at my house (I can't say I remember the last time I used our pool table...), it was time to hit the road. A night filled with champagne toasts, fun friends, and Insomnia cookies? In the words of Luke Bryan, that's my kind of night.

Pretty sure I had some sort of transcendental experience with this ooey, gooey S'mores cookie at 2:30 am... Every college town needs a late night cookie delivery service. Or just every town in general.