A Key West Wedding Weekend

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Tara Lynne

Earlier this month I attended a close friend’s wedding in Key West, and I have to admit it: I’ve fallen in love with that place.

I’m not kidding, if it wasn’t so inaccessible – both by air and road – I would move there in a heartbeat.

It has charm and architecture similar to Charleston with the nightlife of New Orleans and some of the most friendly people I’ve ever met. I stayed about a mile from most of the wedding activities (just a few blocks from the Southernmost point) but never felt unsafe walking to and from my hotel.

To make a long story short, I can’t wait to go back.

The wedding itself was amazing; props to my long-time friend Jamie and her new husband Cory for putting together a perfect weekend! I met Jamie on my very first Walt Disney World College Program and – I’m aging us here, oops – fifteen years later, we’re still close, despite living over a thousand miles away from each other and leading the busy lives that adults lead 😉

Other WDWCP friends were there as well, so it was a mini reunion as well as a great vacation. I traveled by myself but never had a shortage of people to talk to, whether they were fellow wedding guests, other travelers, or locals. (Seriously, everyone was SO nice.)

I ate at some great places – most notably Blue Heaven and Cuban Coffee Queen – and of course did some touristy things, like attending the sunset celebration in Mallory Square and visiting the Hemingway House, the Southernmost Point, and Fort Zachary Taylor Beach. I also rekindled my strange obsession with Ernest Hemingway, and am weirdly excited that I’ve now visited both places he lived while he worked on For Whom the Bell Tolls, which wasn’t exactly my favorite Hemingway novel (okay, I didn’t really like it), but hey, seeing both his suite at the Sun Valley Lodge and his home in Key West, where he did most of his work on that novel, is just really awesome to me!

You know, plus there were cats. (At the Hemingway house, I mean.)

As for the wedding itself, we got to do a sunset cruise with Fury Tours on Thursday night, followed by the bachelorette party, and then on Friday the rehearsal dinner was at Bagatelle on Duval Street and it was a blast. The wedding itself was held at the Pier House and everything was absolutely beautiful.

I think the best part, though, was how much Key West inspired me to read and write. I honestly spent half my time in bars reading while I sipped my drinks, and I don’t know if it was the heat, the sea air, or just the place as a whole that made it hard to leave my computer and notebooks behind to go out and actually do all the touristy things I did. It was a blessing and a curse.

I was glad to go home but like I said, I can’t wait to go back. I’ll leave you with a few more pictures from my trip and the suggestion that if you ever have the chance to visit Key West, just GO 🙂

These Weeks On The Geekiary

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Tara Lynne

I’ve been traveling a lot, hence not sharing my articles from The Geekiary for the past two Sundays. But I’m back today with…well, a very mixed bag of news and reviews!

May 3rd, 2016
88 Captain America: Civil War Pop-Up Stores Open in Movie Theaters
“Are you planning on going to see Captain America: Civil War this weekend? Well, here’s some exciting news: The Araca Group, DCPI, and Marvel Entertainment have combined forces to sell unique merchandise in Captain America: Civil War pop-up stores, which will open in movie theaters beginning May 6th.”

May 5th, 2016
Star Wars Celebration 2017: Is Orlando the New Star Wars Capitol?
“It’s May the 4th – a.k.a. “Star Wars Day” – and among the many awesome things happening today, the dates and location of Star Wars Celebration 2017 were announced! Next year it will take place April 13th-16th at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.”

May 10th, 2016
Captain America Civil War Women: The Heart & Soul of the Movie
“I’ll admit it – I went to see Captain America: Civil War for the ladies. Now don’t get me wrong – I love me some Cap – but it was the Captain America Civil War women who really stole the show.”
Tom Hardy Cameo in Episode VIII: He Joins the Star Wars Ranks
“Good news, Star Wars, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Tom Hardy fans – earlier today, MakingStarWars.net posted a good bit of information about a Tom Hardy cameo in Episode VIII.”

May 16th, 2016
The 100 3×15 Review: Perverse Instantiation Part One
“It was really difficult for me to focus throughout the entirety of “Perverse Instantiation Part One”, which to be honest was more than a little bit disconcerting, considering that basically every character in this episode had a one-track mind.”

May 17th, 2016
The 100 Season 3 Finale Spoilers: What Will Clarke Get Into Next?
“I may not have been the biggest fan of “Perverse Instantiation Part One“, but I have my hopes that Part Two will leave me in a better place. That said, I was intrigued by The 100 Season 3 finale spoilers that have been today’s big news for the show.”

May 18th, 2016
Star Wars: Bloodline is Another Great Installment in the New EU
“There was a lot to love about Star Wars: Bloodline, though that doesn’t mean that it was a perfect novel (not by far). Still, I’ve enjoyed reading about half a dozen of the new Star Wars novels in the past few months, and this was definitely one of the best.”
Second Ghostbusters Trailer Ignores the Skeptics
“With the new movie being released on July 15th, the second Ghostbusters trailer definitely didn’t shy away from revealing more about the female leads and the fact that yes, they’re bringing back some old ghosts. It almost seems like they put this trailer together to combat the skeptics who made the first trailer the most disliked in YouTube history.”

May 21st, 2016
Exclusive Announcement: Trevor Project Fundraiser at MegaCon 2016
“MegaCon 2016 is fast approaching, and I’m very excited to announce that The Geekiary has spoken with The Trevor Project, which champions a cause near and dear to our hearts, and I will be holding a fundraiser for them at my booth next weekend!”

This Week In My Life

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Tara Lynne

It’s been a slow week for me in terms of articles, because I spent the majority of my free time working on my next novel as well as getting ready for my 8th Annual Kentucky Derby Party! Because of that, I’m going to wait until next Sunday to make another “These Weeks on The Geekiary” post…and instead take you on a bit of a journey through eight years of awesome Derby celebrations 🙂

Every year I buy fancy cheese and crackers and make insanely time-consuming tea sandwiches and try to perfect a mint-simple-syrup recipe that makes for a proper Mint Julep. And for my first seven years, I had fun dresses and hats as well. I went a different route this year in regards to clothing, but everything else was about the same. Still, I thought it would be fun to take you through eight years of my Derby parties!

2009…

2010…

2011…

2012…

2013…

2014…

2015…

And finally, 2016!

As you can see, I went with the dapper look this year and honestly it took a lot less time to put together. (Let’s be honest, I just didn’t want to spend the time decorating a hat.) But the drinks were amazing and the food was great and even though my horse did terribly (that’s what I get for trusting that a funny name – Trojan Nation – and a good post spot [1] would trump 50-1 odds) it was a good time as always!

Also I just love theme parties and this is my longest-running one…so here’s to next year 🙂

These Weeks On The Geekiary

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Tara Lynne

Last Sunday I was still at the fourth annual Ice & Fire Con, so I missed my “This Week On The Geekiary” post…which means I have two weeks worth of links to catch up on!

But first…how awesome is this Iron Throne banner that my close friend and fellow Geekiary author K-K created?

Needless to say, the convention was awesome as always, and eventually I’ll collect my thoughts and share them here…let’s just say it’s been a very busy week since I got home. I still don’t know how I’ve kept up with my Geekiary articles, but clearly I did 😉

April 20th, 2016
Ruby and Sapphire’s Story “The Answer” Being Released as a Children’s Book
“When “The Answer” aired back at the beginning of January, it immediately became my favorite SU episode of all time. So my excitement knew no bounds when I heard that Ruby and Sapphire’s story is going to be made into a book – and even better, a *children’s* book!”
First The Magnificent Seven Trailer Reveals Diverse Cast & More
“I grew up watching the late-90s Magnificent Seven TV show with my family, so between that and my love for Chris Pratt, so far I can’t see anything to not love about the first The Magnificent Seven trailer.”

April 21st, 2016
Game of Thrones Season 6 vs. A Song of Ice & Fire: Round 1
“This year I’ve waited until the last minute to write this first Game of Thrones Season 6 vs. A Song of Ice & Fire article, because as many fans know, the show has separated itself from the books quite a bit – and is now, in many respects, moving on from them in this upcoming season. It’s something that many fans are seriously concerned about; with all of the deviations (both the good, the understandable, and the downright crazy) Benioff and Weiss have already made, what’s going to happen when they have next to no source material to guide them?

April 26th, 2016
Walker Stalker Con Joins Boycott Against Discriminatory North Carolina Law
“Yesterday Walker Stalker Con announced that they will be postponing their Charlotte, North Carolina convention. This change is because they, along with many other companies boycotting North Carolina, hope for a repeal of the state’s bigoted law which forces people to use the restroom of their assigned birth gender regardless of their actual gender identity.”

April 28th, 2016
Star Wars: Bloodline to be Important Franchise Installment
“Bloodline, the next Star Wars book by Claudia Gray, is being released on May 3rd, 2016 – and needless to say, the hype is strong with this one.”

April 30th, 2016
The 100 3×13 Review: Join or Die
“I have to be honest, when A.L.I.E. ordered that the gates of Polis be opened, I wasn’t expecting the horror that we were greeted with in “Join or Die”.”
Loot Pets 2016: The Quest Collection
“The past couple of months, the Loot Pets boxes I’ve received have been heavy on the treats and accessories…but The Quest Collection definitely included some different and fun items.”
Children of Earth and Sky: An Interesting Premise That Doesn’t Quite Work
“As someone who enjoys history (and has a B.A. in it, in fact) I was really intrigued when I heard about Guy Gavriel Kay’s new novel Children of Earth and Sky. The fact that it’s essentially billed as a fantasy novel that is loosely based on actual history drew me in for sure; I just wish that alone had been enough to keep my attention.”