Book Review: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns

The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns by Margaret Dilloway was a book I judged by the cover. Going into it, I thought, "A book about gardening? Great." Little did I know that this was going to be so much more than that.

The book taught me about fixing broken relationships, nurturing a love, and finding a friend when you least expect it. The main character, Gal, was somewhat hard to like. She wasn't someone you wanted to become friends with right away. She kept to herself, was kind of a loner, and engulfed herself in her roses. Then, her niece comes along and Gal is forced to get along with her.

I learned a lot about roses and gardening, perhaps more than I ever cared to know, but aside from that, the story behind it was well written. I finished the book in one flight and it was an extremely easy read.

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

Dove Review

I've used a lot of different body washes over the past couple of years and never really stick to one. I've never been extremely impressed with one enough to keep it in my daily routine. Dove gave me the opportunity to try out their new softening creme body wash which claims to give you visibly softer skin in a week so I gave it a try. The bottle design is similar to the rest of the Dove line. It's simple and easy to spot out in the crowd. The smell is pretty average as well. There's nothing memorable about the scent... It smells the same as any soap you'd imagine: clean and not too overpowering like some other brands.

Upon application, you could tell that the soap is truly a creme. It's thick and creamy, with the same consistency as body lotion. With a formula so thick, my first thought was that it would moisturize like body lotion while cleansing at the same time. The first couple of days that I used it, there wasn't a difference from the other soap from Dovew that I was using prior. They smelled pretty similar and both got the job done. I liked that this visible care soap didn't leave a residue feeling on my skin. It washed off just as easily as it lathered on. The extra thickness soothed my skin and cleansed off any extra excess residue.

Did I notice visibly softer skin within a week of using? Not really. I've never had a problem with extremely dry skin, so that could be a factor. My skin is relatively soft and healthy as is, so I'm not sure if this soap did anything extra for me. It did what it was supposed to do: clean my body. I did use this with a loofah and that made my skin softer than normal, but I think that's just the loofah's doing, not the soap. All in all, I'd say this is a simple soap and something to consider when purchasing body wash because of the price. It's affordable and does the job, what else do you need?

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On the Boardwalk

I'm loving printed shorts lately. Leopard print, flowers, tribal print... I'll wear it all! They can spruce up any simple top, which I have quite a few of.

Currently obsessed with Maroon 5's new CD, "Overexposed," and eating more watermelon than my stomach can hold. Now that's summer!

Wearing: Forever 21 top and shorts, Rainbow sandals, Nastygal sunglasses.