Author Profile Page for: anninwaterloo

Jane Green has established herself firmly in the "Chick Lit" genre.  "The Other Woman", which was published in 2006, became an internationally bestseller on the heels of her other novels "Jeminia J" and "Swapping Lives"."The Other Woman" follows Ellie and her new husband, Dan.  Not having a family of her own, Ellie is eager to be accep...

Has the stress of your job ever driven you to the breaking point?  Have you ever just wanted to walk out of the door and escape to another life?  In Sophie Kinsella's book, "The Undomestic Goddess", that is exactly what title character Samantha Sweeting does.  After making a huge mistake at her law firm, one that will surely end her dream of making partner, Sweeting...

Richly crafted and beautifully written, "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd was rightly deserving of its place on the New York Times Bestsellers List.  Set in the deep South during the mid-60's, "Bees" explores complex issues of motherless children, crime, racism, culture, and feminism.Lily Owens, whose mother was killed when she was young, was essentially ra...

In late 2005, my father and I took a trip to the Hawaiian island of Ohau, choosing to stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village directly onWaikiki Beach.  My parents had stayed there during a vacation in teh 1970's, and I was anxious to see the resort.  Naturally, things had changed greatly in the 30 years since my dad had been there, as the resort now boaste several towers and numerous...

We absolutely LOVED Animal Kingdom Lodge when we stayed there in February 2007!!  I booked it originally because I wanted a deluxe resort and it was the least expensive; and I choose it over the Wilderness because I wanted to see the animals (plus we're from Iowa, and we can get the WL feel by just going north).Our AAA TA booked up 7 nights in a Water View; when we arrived, we were upg...

I've just recently discovered author Jodi Picoult, having recently read "My Sister's Keeper", which I really enjoyed. So I was excited to pick up "Vanishing Acts".  The story is about Delia Hopkins, who has been raised by her father, believing her mother to have died.  However, when the police show up one night and arrest her father, the truth comes out: he...

"My Sister's Keeper" is the first Jodi Picoult book I read, and she has quite a fan base judging by the number of NYT Bestsellers she has written.  "Sister's" is the story of the Fitzgerald family and their fight to keep their daughter Kate, who has leukemia, alive. Their main weapon is their youngest daughter, Anna, who was conceived in an attempt to provi...

I bought "Good In Bed" by Jennifer Weiner in a set of bestselling books, so I wasn't sure what to expect. From the title, I was assuming it was a silly chick-lit beach read.  However, I was happy to find out it was a complex story about family, relationships and betrayl....and hope.Cannie Shapiro is the plus-sized heroine of "Good In Bed", and is struggling to find ...

During our stay at Walt Disney World in 2007, we took a day to go to Busch Gardens in Tampa.  I was nervous about leaving Disney property and their glorious transportation system to go to Busch Gardens.  As the valet had suggested, we were outside at 7:45 am to get a taxi.  Taxis were always lined up outside AKL, so there was never a wait.  Our driver wasn't sure where t...

On the third day of of 2007 Disney World trip, we ventured off property to visit SeaWorld.  We got a bit of a late start Saturday morning and didn't get to SeaWorld until almost 10 am.  We had taken a cab from Animal Kingdom Lodge, which cost $35.  Ouch!  I'd read that SeaWorld was a difficult park to tour as the shows where spaced out time-wise and across the park s...

Truth be told, for most of my life, I never felt I needed a designated facial moisturizer. My skin was dry all over, so I just slathered my regular body lotion all over, and this seemed to work fine. When I turned 30, however, my once matte skin became an oily mess. I broke out worse than a teenager, and I had to continually blot my face to remove oil. Worse, I started noticing large pores, esp...

I wish I'd been born with lush, full lashes...but instead I have sporadic, unevenly colored lashes. Thus, I am always looking for a great mascara - one that will give me natural looking lashes and stay on all day.Since I prefer a natural look rather than thickly coated lashes, I was excited to try the Lash Discovery Mini-Brush Mascara from Maybelline New York. At first glance, I was quite p...

Living in the Midwest means you inevitably make at least one visit to the Wisconsin Dells, the "waterpark capitol of the world".  Growing up, we would spend several days there each summer; always in a standard hotel room, visiting various waterparks, mini-golf centers, and other attractions.Times have changed, as the Dells now features a number of resorts with both indoor and out...

After a few years of dealing with coarse hairs popping up on my chin and neck, as well as dealing with too much upper hair, I took the plunge and scheduled laser hair removal.My doctor recommended going to the local OB-GYN office for the treatments.  That's right - the same office that deals with pregnant woman also offered laser hair removal!  I first met with the nurse who prefo...