Bonjour!

Today was amaaazing!! *<|:-) Woke up happy, writing this happy. The whole day was just great :) :) :) :) It was super super warm and sunny all day. This morning, KK played a new album that she downloaded from this hot new band-21Captains. 

Classes seemed easier today, and homework seemed lighter! How?!?! I wish every day could be this good. I got a A on 3 of my big recent essays!!! Drew and I went to The Slice for lunch, and even the pizza seemed good. We talked about how CCA seemed so tough and scary with classes, but it was so pretty and serene on campus. And, of course, about our wonderful horses. My lesson was cross country, so I was a bit nervous. But Whisp was PERFECT. She did the scary coffin, and the water complex. Plus, we had the fastest time over the course. Yayayayayayaaaay! Whisper was all cute when I turned her out. She ran around and bobbed her head around. I <3 my horse:). Uploading the vid on FaceSpace later. When I got back, I told Khloe all about our fab ride. Here's a snip bit of our convo:

KK: LT! That's great! Olympics, here you come.

Me: Um, maybe not Olympics right now...

KK: Weren't you paying attention to last week's Pretty in Port Royal?

Me: Um, yeah. I think? What are you talking about?  

KK rolls her eyes.

KK: Linnea did a small modeling gig, just as an amateur, but after that, she moved straight up to, like, professional!

Me: Um, Khlo. I think you are forgetting two, oh, I dunno, minorly important things.

KK crosses her arms and I grin.

Me: 1.) I'm thirteen. 2.) Horseback riding is NOT the same as modeling!

KK: Pshh. Whatevs. Ever was great today, too!

Me: It's just a good day.

  

    If I told you the rest, you'd fall asleep...so, yeah. After our talk, we had a mini spa day. First, we put on Biòre blackhead strips on our noses and foreheads. Then, we applied coconut eucalyptus face masks. While those were hardening, we went online shopping (Ooh la la!) on our new fave accessory store, Adore Hunter. Khlo got a totes adorbs wrap ring with a copper Boston Terrier (her fave breed of dog), a sterling silver necklace with a yin yang symbol, a golden tiered necklace with a heart-shaped locket, and a leather bracelet with the word PEACE on a gold plaque.

I got a pair of pink rhinestone horseshoe earrings, a necklace with a silver plate that said Amor on it, a ring with a a heart shaped emerald gem, and a golden ring shaped like a cobra. Can't wait for them to arrive!

Fortunately, we had to take our masks off. If they hadn't needed to come off, we would have shopped forever!! Oops. We took off our masks, and our skin was super super smooth! :) Then we did mani pedis. I bought a mani pedi kit, so it was really fun to do them. We dipped our feet in water with rose petals, and rubbed lotion with oatmeal and maple, and use a matching scrub. Khloe chose a teal called Token to Turks from Essie, and I chose a lavender called Lavender Love from Wet 'n Wild. For our hands, we rubbed lotion and scrub, and then filed, cut, used cuticle cream, then painted. I fell in love with a sea salt caramel called Chewy Cutie from OPI, and Khloe applied a glittery metallic blue called Robotic Rebel from Sally Hansen.

Oh, almost forgot! Drew did great at swim meet, the one I told you guys about last time. I wish I could've gone to cheer him on. Just to see his eyes blend with the color of the water, and to see his smile when he won. He has one of those killer smiles, the ones that make everyone around him smile back. It reaches his eyes, and they get even brighter, if that's possible. And he has adorable dimples that appear whenever he smiles. And his hair falls down and-

Oh mon dieu. I've been blabbing forever. Sorry, guys. And now I'm going to meet with Taylor. I seriously need to get going.

Kisses-

Laur

Help name Kim's new schoolies!

Bonjour guys! 
It’s soooo pretty out right now! Eek:) Perfect snow on the forecast for today. After our lesson today, we all went on a gallop through the woods. The trees were covered in snow, and it was TRES BELLE! Whisp blended in, of course. LOL.

Congrats to Becs! My fab sister won Winter Queen at the Winter Wonderland dance at Yates *</:-)! Luv ya, Becs. 

I found some awesome show jumping exercises that include cavalettis and Carina and I are going to try them out sometime this week. Yay!!

Going with Cole and Lexa to the Sweet Shoppe to try out a new cannoli flavor tomorrow. Yum. Do you guys have any fav desserts I should try? Let me know in the comments. ;)

I heard that Kim bought 4 new schoolies! 4! She’s already named 2, but she’s still dwelling on the others. One’s a bay Thoroughbred gelding, and the other’s a chestnut Hanoverian mare. What do you think?

    CCA people, if you see Drew, Tay, or any other swim team guys, wish them luck. They have a big meet this weekend! I know they’ll do great:):)

Au revoir!

Back to school!

Hello guys! 

Back at CCA :) :) 

First lesson back today was so fun! Mr. Connor had us go bareback and we did some dressage drills. Dressage + bareback on Whisper (btw, she is the most comfortable horse ever!) = Um, AMAZING! Now, though, my legs are SUPER SUPER ridiculously sore. Grrrr.

Of course, the teachers piled a TON of homework on us, and I have a 100 problem math review due on Thursday. Not. Fun. KK and Zack have a date tomorrow! I'm letting her borrow my favorite pair of jeans (don't get used to it, Khlo! Haha!) 

I showed the new saddle pads to Whisper today, she loved them! Yay!! I found her new obsession- gummy bears. I was chewing on one and she nudged me and tried to eat them! So I gave her one, and for her it was love at first sight (love at first taste, really)! 

KK gave me a late Xmas gift, even though it's really for both of us. It's a set of dessert scented lotions- Strawberry Cheesecake, Orange Dream Cupcake, Raspberry Chocolate, and my fav, Vanilla Crème Brûlée. THEY SMELL AMAZING!!! 

It was so cold today! I had to wear my Athletica undershirt, my American Eagle navy long sleeve polo, my North Face, my heavy coat, leggings, fuzzy socks , my thick Irideon fuzzy breeches, and a wool scarf!! If I'd put on anything else, I wouldn't have made it through the door...

So, I made a new hashtag, #totm or tea of the moment. LOL. Anyways, my #totm is Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane. Mmmm.

  

For the first time ever, I'm actually excited to write a paper. In fashion, we have to write this paper on a fashion star. I got assigned Coco Chanel, not as good as Audrey Hepburn or Jackie O, but still pretty awesome!

Khloe and I are going to see a movie, so I have to go!

xo,

-LT 

Happy (almost!) New year!

Bonjour, darlings! 

I hope you all had a wonderful Xmas and are looking forward to NYE! I sure am! :)  

KK, Lex, Clare, Carina, Bri, Ana, Drew, Tay, Zach, Garrett, and I (plus Sasha and her friends) had a great time at SHT!! So happy for all the people who went home with new horses at the adopt-a-thon! 

Our last lesson before break was fab. We jumped in the arena and I'm so happy with Whisp's progress. I felt soooo bad for Bri, though! She fell off!  Naughty Zane threw a big buck and off she went. They totally made up for it when she got back on, jumped clean AND had the fastest time of our class. Kisses, Bri!

Before we all left campus, Drew took me to The Slice. :) Lexa lent me a tres hot black keyhole top with golden lining, and it looked great with my dark-wash skinny jeans and ballet flats. KK did my makeup, and I left my hair wavy and down. You like? 

The teachers gave us a TON of homework even though it's break! But I’m so proud to say ‘I'm a Canterwood Crest student and I actually survived!' LOL

What did you all get for Xmas? The main things I got were a $75 gift card to Garnet Hill, new tres, tres adorable snowflake flannel sheets, a pretty CCA sweater, 3 new saddle pads for Whispy-girl, a beautiful new leather halter with light blue stitching, a set of glittery bell boots, and a makeup kit (See my pics below!) Love!!! Everything is tres parfait, and I’m sure Whisper will love it all too. 

I hope you all are having a great day! Let’s all have a good New Year, yet remember the last. AH! I’ve been blabbing forever…..Oops. I’m gonna hop in the shower now! I got a new flavor of Bliss lotion . . . Sugar Cookie with Chamomile. It smells like two of fave teas  (one of which I’m having right now) Celestial Seasonings "Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride" and "Honey Vanilla Chamomile." :)

Anyways, I’m actually going now. KK’s calling.

xx,

~LT

Bonjour!

It's been MONTHS since you've heard from me, I know! But guess what? I'll be back to regular blogging VERY soon!

I have so many new things to share from my current fashion faves to makeup mishaps. Oh, and there is that one little thing . . . I'm back at Canterwood!

Whisper and I send our love.

xx

~LT

My EBT guide available now!

Yaaay! My guide of EBTs is ready for you guys to download! I hope you like it! *nervous*

xo,

~LT

SURPRISE!

This 25 plus EBT guide filled with 15 photos (mine) is available for download RIGHT NOW!

SO EXCITED!

This is the first in a series of beauty e-books.

Grab it now for $.99! The next book will be all about at home spa treatments. :)

I’m back to work on WILD HEARTS now, but HEATED should be ready by March at the latest. So, yaaay!

I really, really hope you like this guide! I put tons of time and effort into it. Thank you to Bri Ahearn for helping me with the cover concept and for proof reading.

Hoping this ebook will do well enough that I can make a second one! Also hoping it will help fund my mental health/writer retreat.

My EBT guide is out!! I h

Custom Canterwood Crest Academy Class of 2014 tees

Stealing this from Jess's blog, heehee . . .

I am taking a VEEEERY limited amount of custom Canterwoood Crest Academy Class of 2014 tees!

If you look on the store and don't see colors you'd like, you can e-mail me your request and I will do my best to make the shirt for you.

Here's what you need to do:

Look at the left color palate. Those are the ONLY colors I can use for text and the horse. You can choose a color for the text and the horses. They do not have to be the same.

So, say you want a ORANGE text, you'd email me something like "for text, row 5 second color." 

Then for the horse, how about yellow? "for horse, row 4 sixth color." 

As for shirt color, those are on the RIGHT.

You'd write me, "Shirt color row 2 second color." 

That way, instead of you emailing me and saying "white shirt, pink text, blue horse" there's no confusion about what pink or what blue you want."

Please email these to me at teamcanterwood AT gmail DOT com with "T-shirt request" in the headlines. 

The graphic has TWO options:

 OPTION 1: WALKING HORSE

OPTION 2: JUMPING HORSE

Please specify either option 1 or 2. 

Those are the ONLY graphic options. :)

Can't wait to make some shirts for Team Canterwood!

PS: I cannot add text graphics to the back. I can only do what I have explained here. :)

PPS: You don't need to send me sizes or anything. I will create the shirt and upload it to the store where you can then purchase it. :)

It's my birthday!

Posting pics on my Instagram! Mobile blogging this to say thank you for all of the bday wishes! MWAH!

xoxo

~LT

My birthday is next week!

I 

Khlo has been hiding my boxes of green and white tea lately, lol. She claims I am "extra hyper super crazy caffeinated"-a high only brought on when somone's birthday is so close. 

Like next Thursday close! Eeep!

I asked my parents for a new winter turnout blanket for Whisper. (the one above) It's a mid weight blanket from Dover. J'adore the light blue stripes! 

I asked Becca for this Zocks helmet cover. It. Is. So. Cute. 

Mr. Conner gave us the okay to wear any design covers we want for practice at school. It's so fun not to be stuck with a black or white helmet. Do any of you guys have fun helmet covers? 

Khloe, Clare, Lexa, Carina, Cole, Drew, Zack and I are meeting up tomorrow at The Sweet Shoppe to spill our Halloween costumes! I can't wait to hear what every else is going to be. Instead of 'fessing to each other, my friends and I are even keeping our costumes a secret until tomorrow. 

Something new this year--Headmistress Drake is allowing us to attend Thursday classes in costume! 

What are you guys going as? Anyone trick or treating or going to a Halloween party? 

Xx

~LT

Party, party, party!

I'm reposting this from Jess' blog! :)

So, I want to have amazing online Home for Christmas/goodbye to Canterwood Crest parties.

For everyone (international too!)

First, we party via LiveStream like we did for the Famous release. You create a free account, get online at a set time and you'll have access to a chat box and to me via Webcam. You'll be able to type questions/comments to me that everyone can see. I'll answer them via my Webcam. I'll be online for one hour and you can pop in whenever you like to lurk or ask a question.

Everyone and anyone in the world can participate. LiveStream will allow as many people who want to join in. It's anonymous because you can use a screen name. You get to "see" me via Webcam.

If you can't make it to the actual live event, it will be recorded for you to view later. 

~*~

Party #2 is one that I've never done and is the ULTIMATE VIP party! I mean, Home for Christmas is a super special, so we need a super special party, right?

We will use Google+ Hangout. This is also totally free (you do have to sign up for a Google+ account to video chat). NINE winners (I will have a contest soon!) will join me live online where we will all (me plus the other chosen 9 members of Team Canterwood) can video chat with each other. OMG! Team Canterwood members from across the country will get to meet! That is soooo awesome!

If you don't win the contest, you can still watch the party--you just will not be able to message me or the other Team Canterwood members who are on video chat.

This contest is only be open to US and Canada residents because other countries will be charged to video chat. However, if you are just watching the party--you can live anywhere. 

You can view the party from your iPhone, iPad or other smartphone if you can't be on a computer.

If you are one of the 9 people who get to video party, you're more than welcome to grab any friends that want to attend and share your Webcam with them. :)

If you're not able to make it to the party, it will be recorded and will go up on YouTube for you to watch at any time.

Below, is a random Google video chat that I just started watching a few minutes ago (no Google+ account needed to watch). I took a screen shot so you can see how it would look for all of us via video chat. Isn't it cool?!

So . . . if being part of the video chat party interests you, please do some reading about how it works, what you need to do to participate, etc.

The poll for the two party dates will close on October 30. Then, the dates will be announced. I will blog or vlog very soon about how you can participate in a contest to be on the video chat.

Soo excited! What do you guys think? 

Halloween is almost here!!

Hi, everyone!

Sooo sorry that I've been MIA. I fell off Whisper a few weeks ago during jumping practice and hurt my right arm. Nothing serious but my doctor wants me to stay off the computer until 11/1 because typing strains the tendon that I injured.

Boo. I know.

But I sneaked online just because I miss you guys SO MUCH and had to say hi!

Plus, oh mon Dieu, it's almost Halloween! That means . . . my birthday!

I haven't started party planning yet, but I know Khloe, Lex, Carina, and Clare having been having "secret" (haha--I know you guys!) meetings about my birthday. :D

I have no idea what I want to ask for either. Suggestions?

Okay, better get off before KK catches me. She has been the Computer Police. Um, seriously. She got so into character that she made herself a BADGE. Yes. LOLOL. I love my Khloe!

Tell me how you're doing!

xx

~LT

Home for Christmas video

Home for Christmas contest (it's K writing for J) :)

Hi! It's Kate writing for Jess. :) She asked me to do a quick blog post for Team Canterwood.

 The models posing at the photoshoot 

 Alexis and Dayton!

Jess says to tell you all that she's super excited about HOME FOR CHRISTMAS which releases on November 12, 2013. Today, she's launching a contest!

* If the pre-orders and first week sales of HOME FOR CHRISTMAS are better than any other book in the Canterwood Crest series, Jess will gift you all with a holiday treat in early 2014 . . .

a Canterwood Crest e-novella picking up EXACTLY where UNFRIENDLY COMPETITION left off will be written and published online! It will be a Sasha featured, lip gloss packed, drama, and horses filled e-novella that will be able to download for $.99. Jess would set the price at zero, but Amazon doesn't allow authors to self-publish free books anymore.

So, if you want a special, never before read e-novella, start spreading the word about HOME FOR CHRISTMAS! :) The contest starts NOW and ends on November 19th! Let's GO, Team Canterwood!

Ways you can help sales (both e-book and paperback count):

Ask your local bookstores to order Home for Christmas

Post reviews of HFC on Websites such as Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Bookamillion.com and other bookseller sites.

Review HFC on your blog

Ask your school librarian to order HFC

Set up a Skype visit so Jess can virtually come to your classroom

Tweet about HFC on its release date

Update your Facebook status to let people know of HFC's release

Make a YouTube video for or about HFC

Instagram your copy of HFC

Get creative!

Goodbye for now!

 (Reposted from my blog)

I wanted to let you all know that starting today, I will not be blogging or writing until November 1st.

It's doctor's orders that I give my arm/elbow eight weeks of rest while I try new medications and therapies for it. I've been in a pretty severe amount of pain for years and it's now increased to the point where I cannot type.

I am incredibly grateful to my editors and Simon & Schuster and Bloomsbury who were so very kind about my sudden break from work. They each are working on new schedules for me and have been great about giving me medical leave.

This also means I will not be writing HEATED or SANCTUARY until after November 1st.

I will respond to business emails, but not to Team Canterwood mail during this time. I will still read EVERY one of your emails, though.

I'll be back just in time to celebrate the November 12th release of HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

I'll also be Tweeting (with my LEFT hand) occasionally and posting photos to my Instagram account. (jessashley87). But staying off the computer is important to healing--my writing career depends on my hands!

If any major news occurs, I'm sure I can talk Kate into posting it here for me. :)

In the mean time, I'm going to be reading tons and tons (yaaaay!), loving my kitties, spending time with Kate, going to California to visit with my Cali Barn Mafia, and working on my other hobby--photography.

Much love to you all and see you in November!

xoxo

My back to school clothes shopping list

Oh, mon Dieu!

It's almost time to go back to Canterwood! I'm happy AND sad that summer's almost over! How was everyone's break? When do you go back to school?

Becca's taking me back to school shopping tomorrow. Char might come, too, if she's not busy with her friends.

I'm hitting up my favorite stores for some new clothes. I love Kohls, Target, and Forever 21. They have tres chic clothes at killer prices.

Here's what I've got on my list:

Jeans

LOVE these in purple!

I want a few pairs of color denim, a couple of skinnies, and a few dark wash flared.
 

Moto jacket

Isn't this gorge?! It's in "Cameo Rose" and it's faux-leather by Candies from Kohls.


Ballet flats

 Totally crazy over these blue Hush Puppies Capri ballet flats! Metallic is SO in for fall!

School appropriate tops

These tops are tres parfait for class!

Stable tees

I love these tees because they're super casual. And who doesn't love a graphic tee?!

Fall sweaters

 Heart all of these!

Skirts

 I'm really into lace and polka dots this year. These skirts are so delicate and pretty. Perf for school or a date! :)

Dresses

I heart these dresses sooo much! They have bold colors for fall or lovely lace patterns.

What's on your back to school shopping list? All of these clothes were from Kohls, BTW.

Share what you're looking for! :)

xo,

~LT

Stormy day

It's so rainy today! I LOVE it! I'm curled up on my window seat watching the storm and it gives me this sense of calm. :) Not that I wouldn't prefer to be riding Whisper at Briar Creek right now, but she needed a day off anyway.

We've been working really, really hard every day with only the weekends off. Kim has been teaching Brielle, Ana, and me in a separate class which is the coolest thing ever. In return, we agreed to help her run Briar Creek's summer riding camp next week. It's a week long camp for kids who have little or no experience with horses. Kim said we're going to teach the basics about riding, play lots of games on horseback, and then take a trail ride at the end of the week. I'm really excited to be one of the camp leaders! Brielle and Ana are psyched too. The trail ride is going to be so much fun--we're going to take the kids down this easy trail that B, A, and I already mapped out. It winds through the woods and ends at the lake at the farthest edge of Kim's property. We're planning to eat packed lunches by the lake and go swimming!

I really want to see if Whisper will wade into the water. I MIGHT end up getting dunked head first, LOL, but it's worth a try. :) Zane's a total water horse. He *loves* swimming and Brielle can ride him into the middle of the lake. She let me try it with him last summer because the stable horse I rode that day was terrified of water.

Any of you guys ever go swimming with your horses? What about horse camp?

Tell me what you're up to!

xx,

~LT

Yay, summer!

Just a tres quick side note: the video below will be up and running again very soon! :)

So, how are all of you guys? Is everyone out of school by now?

Canterwood is out for the summer and I'm a mix of emotions: sad because I'm missing my friends and room, excited because I get to ride Whisper non-stop at Briar Creek, happy to be home with Becca and Char . . . etc, etc!

School let out last Friday and it has been soooo nice to sleep in! Well, until 7:30. Grrr. My body is still used to waking up early for class. Anyone else have that problem? The other morning, I actually jolted awake and it was still dark out. I was like, OH MON DIEU! I'm gonna be late to class!

Then I was like, Ohhhhh...I'm home. LOL.

What a dork!

Oh! Kim's already got something for Brielle, Ana, and me to look forward to/work toward! We can sign up for a local summer show next week. The show is in 3 weeks and I really want to enroll in classes that will push Whisper and me. I've got a lot of thinking to do.

Okay! Yawning and need to sleep. Love you all and I'd love to hear your thoughts about what I should do about the show. Should I really push myself or make it a laid back show with easier classes?

Xoxo

~LT

Canterwood Crest FAMOUS girl: Lexi Carson

REPOSTED FROM JESS'S BLOG: :) The Cali Barn Mafia created this gorgeous and amazing video to spotlight FAMOUS. Endless thank yous and hugs to Lexi Carson, Grace Carson, Contero (our star horse!), Heatherly Davis for the riding coaching, and Edelweiss Farms for hosting the shoot. I am absolutely in love with this video and thank you, Lex, for being a FAMOUS girl. Team Canterwood all the way!

Finally FAMOUS

Ooooh, la, la!

FAMOUS is out today!

You've gotta grab it and catch up on my latest adventures. There's so much that I can't wait for you to read then we can FINALLY talk more!

xoxo

~LT

Another FAMOUS chapter! Yay!

Eeeee!

The second chapter of FAMOUS is up on Jess's blog!

xo,

~LT