“Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars. Learn how to drive a stick shift. Go so far away that you stop being afraid of not coming back. Say no when you don’t want to do something. Say yes if your instincts are strong, even if everyone around you disagrees. Decide whether you want to be liked or admired. Decide if fitting in is more important than finding out what you’re doing here. Believe in kissing.”

– Eve Ensler

I LOVE a ‘To Do’ List.
I fill it to the brim with things like, return this call, write that article, pitch that idea, buy that book, hoover and…well, you get the idea, right? A list helps me get my focus on and stops me feeling so stressy and overwhelmed. It’s like a li’l ritual each morning to kick-start my day…

Thing is, we get so caught up in the things we ought to do, and forget to the add to that ‘To Do’ list all the things we absolutely, positively should do every single day, like:

♥ Laugh out loud
♥ Step outside, take some deep breaths and thank God/Goddess/The Universe/N-Dubz for a rather fabulous day ahead
♥ Look in the mirror and tell how beautiful I are
♥ Call a friend – leave them a happy voice mail if you can’t get through
♥ Send a txt/email to someone you haven’t talked to in a while

What’s on your “To Do” list today?

Well who doesn’t? In fact, we here at The Sassy Minx heart all the ‘I Heart..’ books, but that might just be because we are more than a little biased. One of our dearest friends and NY hook-ups, Lindsey Kelk, has her third book released on July 9th, and as I can promise you its a goodun’, because I can’t stop reading it!

We’ve already been on Angela’s adventures in NY and Hollywood, and now she is in Paris…

Angela is in the city of love – but romance is taking a nose-dive…

With London and her old life only a train journey away, Angela can’t decide if should stay and face the music or run away home…

Preorder at Amazon.com now

If you LOVE Gossip Girl and Sex and the City, you’ll LOVE this book.

It’s the last ever in the It Girl series and while it’s a total hit with teen girls everywhere, it’s also a complete guilty pleasure for grown-up girls like me too. This book is extra special as it features popular Gossip Girl character, Jenny Humphrey – she of the peroxide blonde hair and obscene amounts of eye liner.

Jenny longs to be Waverly Academy’s ultimate It Girl. Of course, her competition is tough: some whisper that Tinsley Carmichael’s beauty earns her top social marks while others believe that Callie Vernon, otherwise known as Little Miss Perfect, has and always will rule the school. Can three It Girls coexist on Waverly’s well-manicured campus?

Course they blimmin’ can’t!

Indulge in this guilty pleasure as soon as it hits the shelves on 21st June.

£5.99 www.amazon.co.uk

A few monthes ago, a parcel landed in my lap. The gift, from Ms L, was a press copy of The Carrie Diaries, the new book from Candace Bushnell which documents on Carries life, before she moved to NY, before she met Manolo and Big, and more importantly, the rest of the girls.
I had already been warned that I was not allowed to disclose the book to anyone, as the details of the storyline were so secretive that there were legal implications if I lost it or it found its way out of my hands into wherever. So full of anticipation, delighted with excitement, and slightly gutted I couldn’t read it on the bus due to its secretive nature, I snuck into my bedroom and read the full book from front to back in a Saturday morning.
I want to say it was reminiscent of the show overall, but this was a bit difficult, due to the fact Carrie is seventeen. It was abit more Sweet Valley High, than Salvatore Feragamo, and as a die hard fan, I found it a little hard not to remove SJP from narrating, and acting the storyline inside my head. Which is a bit hard, when she is snogging Sebastien Kydd, the hot badboy comes to Castlebury, to stir things up with her and her friends. I also thought that Carrie said in the show, that her father left her mother when she was younger, yet in this book he is the mainstayer-I don’t want to reveal too much, so it is best to read it!-so it made me have my own “I couldn’t help but wonder” moment.
Regardless of all of this, it certainly gave an insight into an American teenage girls life, white cowboy boots, an’ all. True to the theme of the show, Carrie makes mistakes and learns through these, the most important relationships are with her friends, is confused by the kingdom of male, and begins her in-awe marriage with NY early on………………

Meet Carrie Bradshaw before ‘Sex and the City!’

Before Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw was a small town girl who knew she wanted more. She’s ready for real life to start, but first she must navigate her senior year of high school. Up until now, Carrie and her friends have been inseparable. Then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture, and a friend’s betrayal makes her question everything.
With an unforgettable cast of characters, The Carrie Diaries is the story of how a regular girl learns to think for herself, and evolves into a sharp, insightful writer. Readers will learn about her family background, how she found her writing voice, and the indelible impression her early friendships and relationships left on her. Through adventures both audacious and poignant, we’ll see what brings Carrie to her beloved New York City, where her new life begins.

The Carrie Diaries
By Candace Bushnell and published by Harper Collins, 6.49 from Amazon.co.uk

If you’re a woman who lusts after bargains (and, uh, other things), who wants the high life even when your bank balance is low, who likes to eat well and look amazing without the guilty conscience – well, Bitches on a Budget is for you.

Seriously, I LOVE this book. It’s for minxes like us, who know what we want but don’t want to pay the earth for it. Author-girl, Roz Hoffman is officially my new recession era fashion guru, travel agent, grooming consultant, therapist, sommelier and life coach all rolled into one – come meet her, read about her awesomeness, then buy the book – in that order.

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If you can’t date anyone nice, don’t date anyone at all…

The result? Her life — usually joyfully/traumatically occupied with dates, clothes and vodka — is finally easy. Chastity rocks. No wonder nuns are always singing. Everything falls at her feet. Especially men.
Will Sass break the rules? Why does fate keep throwing her in the path of the irritatingly amusing — and gorgeous — Jake? Will she ever roll the dice and play again? Or is a love-free life too good to risk losing?

The Dating Detox is my new favourite book, it’s super-charged, awesome sauce ‘chick-lit’. The leading lady is called Sass – we were always gonna love her with a name like that Sass, weren’t we? She’s straight talking, ever-so likeable and I’d deffo want her as my BFF.

The Dating Detox is a refreshing anti-rom com, but before you run out to get yourself a copy, which you absolutely should, come meet Gemma – funny, pretty and ever so talented – if she wasn’t so fabulous, I might want to poke her eyes out!

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I’m a newbie astro-girl. For sure, I’ve read a gazillion books, I’m addicted to the David Wells forecast in Spirit and Destiny magazine and I’m currently on an astrology course that frazzles my brain with talk of sextiles and sesquiquadrates, but no one makes astrology more fun and accessible than the ever-so funny and – sssh, don’t tell him – ever-so hot, US-based astrologer, Matthew Currie.

Matthew has been a pro astro-boy and counselor for 20 years, with numerous appearances on television and radio. He writes The Daily Sky at Sasstrology.com, blogs the Clueless About Dating at Astrology.com, and writes his own blog matthewastrology.blogspot.com As if that didn’t keep him busy enough, he’s author of a beyond fabulous e-book series, and host consultations with people across the world – I’ve got one this afternoon, I’m all kinds of excited about it! Come meet him, he’s awesome. Fact.

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I am often asked, sometimes by total strangers, how and why I’m so positive and smiley. Well first, I point them in the direction of the nearest bookstore so they can buy my book, Think Pink, which is the go-for-it girl’s guide to thinking positively, and then I tell them that there’s no real secret, I just work every day to fill my life with as much pleasure and fabulousness as I possibly can – adventures, pretty things, books, people I heart, long conversations, flirting, dancing, it really is a recipe for happiness…

But, there are still icky days, you know those days when an unexpected bill comes through the door, when our hair doesn’t do what it should, or in Miss Aimee’s case, you find your dog has chewed up four pairs of super-expensive Agent Provocateur undies and on those days you need to be prepared, which is why I created a Sassy Kit o’ Pleasure, because laughter and smiles are infectious and they are a great way of releasing tension or negative thoughts…

Lisa’s Sassy Kit o’ Pleasure…

Elizabeth Taylor/Doris Day/Audrey Hepburn DVD BOX SETS – flick the ‘off’ switch in your hectic head and admire and adore the stars of the silver screen – girls with curves, leading men who woo and dramatic clinches of lust…Le sigh.

BEING TICKLED – tickling is such a fine line between pleasure and pain, but being tickled and laughing so much that my tummy hurts, is one of my most favourite ways to spend an afternoon, evening or morning for that matter…

HUNK-A-DUNK-TIME – duvet + cuddles + lots of kisses + Paloma Faith/Kelianna/Carla Bruni CDs on shuffle + plotting + planning + daydreaming = totes and utter happiness.

COLOURING IN – some people meditate, some people do yoga but I colour in. It’s not just for children y’know, I love it, try it!

BAKING – it’s no secret that I LOVE cupcakes, but it’s only recently that I’ve put on a pair of heels, a Cath Kitson pinny and channeled both my inner and outer Nigella to bake my own…Not only do I love rocking a Nigella ensemble and licking my spoon seductively, I love adding pretty frosting and most importantly, eating them.

PLAY – paint a picture, re-read a book from your childhood – I recommend anything by Judy Blume, splash in huge puddle in your flip-flops, get crafty because stitchin’ is bitchin’, there doesn’t always have to be an end result, just have fun enjoying the moment!

CHOCOLATE – it’s good for you. Fact.

PUGS – until I get my very own pug that I will name Groucho, this video ALWAYS makes me happy.

PLAYING MAKE-UP – picking a look I love, like Elizabeth Taylor in The Last Time I Saw Paris, and replicating it with very expensive make-up with nowhere in particular to go…

LONG CONVERSATIONS – late night conversations with a boy you’re crushing on, long chats with your best g-friend over tea and cake, passionate discussions with far-away friends on Skype – BT were right, it is good to talk.

FLIRTING – This is me, mid-flirt. I’m not going to lie, I LOVE to flirt. Only last week, I found myself flirting outrageously with the boy behind the counter in Subway – he was hot, he was covered in tattoos and told me I had the prettiest hair he’d ever seen. I left Subway with a tuna 6inch baguette, an offer of a date with aforementioned hot boy – I politely declined, he was far too young for me – and a big smile o my face because flirting should make your day, not just his. I’ve also received two marriage proposals in a month when I’ve rarely left the house, which is ever so promising seeing as I have my eye on the prettiest dress from Vivien of Holloway that I ‘d love to get married in while on a trip to Vegas with a hot boy in a retro suit…Girls, you need to make pleasure a priority, it’s the law o’ Sassiness.

SPIRITUAL LEARNING – I love to learn, and I have a HUGE obsession with all things spiritual/occult, so nothing makes me happier than chatting with my fellow witch-y friends, studying goddesses, giving tarot readings – I now give Sassy readings read about them in Diva o’ Destiny and playing with crystals – when I’m indulging in all my witch-y goddess-y goodness I am truly happy.

What makes YOU happy? What’s in your Sassy kit o’ pleasure? Share with me!

A Single to Rome? After seeing Nine earlier this week, I am ALL over that idea. Unfortunately though, my finances won’t allow me so much as a slice o’ pizza this month, so I have indulged my love for all things Italiano by snuggling under the goose-feather duvet – seriously, best purchase I’ve EVER made – with Sarah Duncan’s new book, A Single to Rome.

I LOVE this book. I mean, not only is it filled with my most favourite of things – that’s Italiano-men who put the Rome in Romeo, btw – it’s a also a warm and romantic tale of love, rudie nudies and making the right choices – it’s the perfect escape from all this borin’ snorin’ January glumness… Come meet the lady behind the words, she’s ever-so fabulous.

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