Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me

Author: Lily Collins
Pages: 228
Overall: 3.5/5
Takeaways: 4/5
Cheers Factor: 4/5
Cocktail Pairing: Effen On the Rocks Vodka, The Cosmopolitan
I found this in my local liquor store and in true Carrie Bradshaw fashion had to try it. It comes in this totally cute bottle with a cork and all and I loved that it was pre-mixed. It was also petite and perfect for 1-2 people. This brand has a couple other options for types of drinks whether it’s Whiskey Sour or Margarita. Here is a link to ShopWine Direct where you can purchase it if you can’t find it in your local liquor store! https://www.shopwinedirect.com/on-the-rocks-effen-vodka-the-cosmopolitan-ready-to-drink-cocktail-375ml.html
Mocktail Pairing: Non-Alcoholic Cosmopolitan
This easy to make Cosmopolitan Mocktail is super yummy and can make you feel fancy too.
Ingredients
3 ounces cranberry juice
1/2 ounce orange juice
2 ounces sparkling water
1/2 a lime
ice
Instructions
Step One: Measure out cranberry juice and orange juice.
Step Two: Combine cranberry juice, orange juice and lime juice in shaker with ice
Step Three: Shake until cold and strain into glass
Step Four: Top with sparkling water

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Take a Shot: In this book written by actress and producer Lily Collins she shares lessons and anecdotes from her own life on topics ranging from interpersonal violence to tattoos. It’s a quick read and can be done in a single day like I did. I already loved Collins, but this book just gave enough insight into her life thus far that was great. ​

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“I deserve to be loved just as I love others”

Collins recently released Emily In Paris with Netflix and that’s why it felt fitting to release this. It has had mixed reviews, but my roommates watched it in two days and now we want another season merely because we have watched all of Netflix (thank you 2020). We also found out today that Collins was almost cast as Bella in Twilight instead of Kristen Stewart and that would have been a time. I love Stewart as Bella despite popular criticism, but imagine Clary Fray vibes as Bella. Also can we talk about her in The Mortal Instruments? I wish the first movie was better so that we could get more installments in the universe because I did like the books. Admittedly, I’ve only read the first 3 because I was convinced against reading more many years ago, but I have decided I will renew my shadowhunter love and dedicate myself to reading the rest. 
    As for Unfiltered, this book felt so real and genuine that it was relatable even to a regular gal like myself. She goes in depth to her struggles with her body image and her eating disorder. I haven’t had nearly the same struggles as she has with that, but I can’t deny that I have had struggle with not seeing myself as graciously as I should. I cannot deny that it feels reassuring when someone as beautiful and talented as Lily Collins feels comfortable enough to share her struggles publicly in a book. The sense of relations to your struggle can be comforting. 
    Beyond the messaging she also talks about her amazing career. She talks about working for Nickelodeon in their 2008 Presidential Election coverage and Love, Rosie starring her and Sam Claflin or To the Bone with Keanu Reeves. She talks a lot about these projects in congruence with the tattoos she has gotten that reflect her feelings about her work. It is a very artistic way to commemorate her memories on these projects and many people, including myself, hold this to be a good way to remember memories. I am the same way with my own tattoos and hope to continue to tell stories with my own. 
    My last favorite takeaway is from the chapter titled, “Be Silly. It’s Attractive. Normal is so boring.” My roommates and I were recently debating this in regards to my own quirks. We came to the conclusion that I am not weird, but eccentric. I am eccentric because I love books more than I love a lot of things in the world, I love traveling to Walt Disney World, I even love watching fandom edits (particularly those about Harry Potter) on YouTube. I’ve grown to love these things about myself in being an open part of my personality because they make me happy. In high school I would have liked these things in private, but not as publicly as I do now. However, now I’ve decided to use that as a badge of honor and I haven’t been as happy as I am right now that I’ve accepted these parts of myself. That’s what Collin’s emphasizes in her book and I love that. Definitely pick this one up if you get the chance and it’s also good with a younger crowd as well. 

“The more characters you meet, the more character you build.”