book review: james madison and the struggle for the bill of rights

Howdy y'all! Happy Saturday - I hope you've all had an awesome week! As some of y'all may know, I started a 2016 reading list back in January which you can read about here. Unfortunately, the first book I picked has taken me quite some time *cough cough two months cough cough*, so I'm only now getting around to writing my review. I chose to start with a really nerdy book that I was super duper excited about, James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights by Richard Labunski.

Y'all, I LOVED this book. I was a little worried I wouldn't like it because sometimes history books like this are difficult and very tedious to read. This one was very difficult when I couldn't give it my full attention (i.e. in a loud classroom), but when I was really focused on it, it was very easy and entertaining. The writer did a fantastic job of drawing me in by including interesting historical stats, little funny things, and lots and lots of quotes. I learned so much about, obviously, the Bill of Rights, but also about the Constitutional Convention, James Madison, Patrick Henry, the Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists, other founding fathers that I didn't even know existed (shoutout to Edmund Pendleton, my boi), and the first House of Representatives and Senate. There was so much detail in this book to begin with, but it also includes very extensive appendices. 

A lot of people don't like reading informational texts like this one, but y'all, when you just get after it, have a positive mindset, and make it fun (I like to write sassy annotations in all my books), you can learn so much from texts like this. I hope this little review will open your mind up to reading this book and others like it!

What books have you read so far this year? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day!

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washington, dc: my experience + a travel guide

Howdy y'all! As you might have read in my most recent post, I just went on a trip to Washington, D.C. for a journalism conference (I'm in yearbook if you didn't already know). I thought that this week I could share with you my do's and don'ts and a few pictures along the way!

One of the first things we did was go the the Newseum (duh cause we're journalism kids). Even though it is news based, it's still a great stop for anyone. They had a bunch of super cool artifacts such as a guard tower and pieces from the Berlin wall, historical newspapers (dating to pre-Revelutionary War era), and a printing press with the Declaration of Independence on it. Here are a couple pictures I got there.

Pieces of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall Guard Tower

Declaration of Independence Printing Press

South Carolina Becomes an Independent State (i.e. Battle of Fort Sumter; beginning of Civil War)

The Titanic sinks

D-Day

President Kennedy assassinated

One of our next stops was the Pentagon. While it was super cool to see, the tour was mostly basic military history. I personally didn't find it that interesting with the exception of the 9/11 memorial which was a very powerful stop.

We also made a trip to Chinatown. I really wished I could have explored it more, but we did eat at a REALLY good restaurant. Also, I went into a 3-story Walgreens so that was pretty neat. :)

Most of my group did a segway tour of the monuments, but I was to weenie to get on. They all said it was really cool though, so if you aren't a chicken like me, you should check it out! 

One of my favorite stops was the Smithsonian museums which are right next to the Washington Monument. I was only able to go to the Natural History Museum and the American History Museum, and got to spend minimal time in there, but I will be revisiting them someday. Here are some of my pictures from there!

Smithsonian Castle

Elephant exhibit in Natural History Museum (yes that is the one from Night of the Museum; we asked the guard)

Nasty tarantula (?) in Natural History

Jackie Kennedy's inaugural gown in American History 

Mamie Eisenhower's inaugural gown in American History

Laura Bush's inaugural gown in American History

Pat Nixon's inaugural gown in American History (this one is my favorite)

Sarah Polk's china (my favorite set)

President Jefferson's polygraph

White House Easter Egg Hunt eggs from several presidency's

Here are several other pictures from the monuments!

Washington Monument from the Natural History Museum

Texas Pillar at the WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial

Washington Monument

Vietnam Memorial

National Academy of Sciences

Albert Einstein Memorial at National Academy of Sciences 

White House

A have a few other tips for y'all! First off, depending on how long you're staying, invest in a day or week long subway pass. You'll probably have to use the subway a lot, and its cheaper to get a pass then to pay every single time you go through. Also, most of D.C. is pretty sketchy. You wouldn't think it based on the pictures, but with the exception of downtown, the poverty rate is really high. Based on that information, most stores and restaurants look sketchy as well, but most of them are actually really good! If you're going at anytime from September-May (I'm just guesstimating here), pack for cold weather, I didn't and I payed for it big time. It was FREEZING!!! 

Thank you guys so much for reading! Recently, I've noticed my stats getting a lot higher, and I'm so grateful for the support! I've got some great ideas for future posts, and hopefully, a new Beauties post coming your way. Also, if any of y'all have ever been to D.C., post your tips below, I'd love to hear them!

Love y'all!

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with any of the previously listed associations and all pictures were taken by me on location. 

altauassee, austria

Howdy y'all! Recently we've been doing this research project in English over a topic that pertains to World War II. I picked Monuments Men, or the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Program. If my paper turns out well, I thought I could go a little history nerd on you and put a copy on my blog. I think it is a genuinely interesting topic, and I would love to draw a little awareness to the topic beyond George Clooney's loosely-based movie.

One of the things I learned about was that the Germans loved to store art in abandoned mines and tunnels. One of the biggest repositories was in Altaussee, Austria. You can still visit the mine today, and look at all the little nooks where the Nazis hid art. Also, this place looks like something off of the cover of a magazine.

This is why it has become my mision to go here. It is such a GORGEOUS place and is so rich in history (my favorite). Like, can't you just imagine all of the awesome photos I could take here?!

I just wanted to show y'all this and talk about it a little bit.

Have a great day!