In which Mariella's mom gets her an iPhone.

And I show off the signature Jenn made me for the first time! You'll find it at the bottom of this blog post. It's really pretty. I love the umbrella and the butterflies.
I don't know if anyone really cares, but since it's my blog I'll say it anyway: I've been really feeling awful because of a cough that came with allergies and brought along with it an asthma attack. So I've been dealing with that cough for a few days now, and though it's getting better (thanks to my amazing mom who takes such care of me and she's the absolute best! ♥) it's still an annoying cough. I had to go to the doctor because I couldn't breathe well and my heart was beating way too fast. So yeah, that was a very long day. I came back breathing and feeling better, but still with a cough that's way annoying.
I've had a rough past two days because of this cough. I can barely talk--my voice is really hoarse. I know, I know...at least I can talk. And one good thing is that I can stay around in my pajamas and just finish up a bunch of things. I've made a lot of progress on arranging the ESCAPISM blog. I had a ton of help from friends and contributors who gave me ideas, their bios, and Syd made me a banner. I can't wait till tomorrow, when I can make the introductory blog post. I've been planning this since May and it's exciting to finally see it coming together and shaping up to resemble the masterpiece it's meant to be. If you guys still want to participate, we're always hiring for contributors, and all you have to do right now is let me know.
Also, my mom is so amazing that she got me an iPhone. The kind with all the apps. And I can listen to Pandora radio on it. And store pictures. And it makes chatting really epic. And I can listen to iTunes music on it. My mom is the best. I can't begin to describe how lucky I am to have her; I don't know what I'd do without her. She's my best friend and always will be.
So, from now on you'll probably be talking to me or texting me via an iPhone. I'll check my blogs on the iPhone. It's all iPhone.
I'm all hi-tech now. I've got the nookColor, which is a totally epic eBook reader and I love. It's got a big screen and it's easier to type blog posts in than perhaps an iPhone would be. Then there's the iPhone that's both phone and iPod at once. (Yes, I'm totally having a bragging moment here.) The nookColor has a pink rubber cover on it, and the iPod has a blue one. I'll get pictures!
Also, I thought I'd share with you guys my reading list for the rest of the summer. Here they are, and I might check them off in the sidebar as I go: (Some of them are really complicated to read, so wish me luck with that!)

1. Kissed by an Angel
2. The Essential Works of Christian Mysticism
3. Teresa of Avila
4. Go Ask Alice
5. The Memory Keeper's Daughter
6. The Reformation
7. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
8. Lord, Have Mercy
9. The Disreputable History of Frankie London-Banks
10. I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist
11. The Summer I Turned Pretty
12. Augustine
13. Beastly
14. The Prince of Tides
15. The Forgotten Garden

And more that I don't have around me at this immediate moment but definitely need to get read.

LATER...

I've added some tabs to my blog, as well, so it resembles more of a website. I don't know, I'm just having a lot of fun with this. I hope you enjoy sifting through here because this blog is going to my my attempt at being more personal than ever. The I LOVE... page is where I brag about people. Literally. I just feel called to tell people about the great things I have in my life, and the people I love, so I'm organizing all those posts into a page.

It didn't work out trying to get more followers by blogging as a professional blogger. Now I'm going to try and get more followers by being me, because I'm the only one who can. And I'm me for a reason. So here's my blog.

Thanks for coming and happy July! (I started this blog post on June and finished it on July. ^^)