Lifestyle – Page 3 – The Estella Initiative

Book Review: A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick

Published on March 26, 2026March 23, 2026 by essieofwhoLeave a comment

Back in 2015, while I was taking care of a relative, I saw A Frozen Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick for sale at Walmart. I read a copy of my friend’s book, but I wasn’t able to finish it before I gave it back to them. Even though I didn’t finish it, I liked it and wanted to continue reading it. Since it was available to purchase that day, I bought it, took it home, and began to read it… but still never finished reading my copy of it.

In 2025, I found A Frozen Heart in my book collection with my bookmark from 2015 left inside it. By this time, I was able to read my friend’s copy and know what happened in the rest of the book. Since my copy was left in the same state I left it ten or so years prior, I decided to reread the book and write a review about it.

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Some of the Advice I Would Give to My Teenage Self

Published on March 24, 2026March 23, 2026 by essieofwhoLeave a comment

Being a teenager is hard. Looking back on your teen years as an adult can be even harder. I know it is for me.

When I was a teenager, I had a hard time. It didn’t seem like I had a hard time, but I did. I received a lot of advice, but as well meaning as it was, it didn’t help me.

Today, I know what I wish I had known back then. If I could tell my teenage self advice, here are some of the things I would say….

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Book Review: Murder by Cheesecake: A Golden Girls Cozy Mystery by Rachel Ekstron Courage

Published on March 11, 2026March 8, 2026 by essieofwhoLeave a comment

Last year, I purchased a novel called Murder by Cheesecake by Rachel Ekstron Courage. It is a cozy mystery inspired by the TV series Golden Girls. I am not a big fan of Golden Girls, but I know many people love the show. One of my friends is a fan of the show. They were really excited when they found out there would be a cozy mystery novel inspired by the show. I was happy for my friend, but I didn’t really think the book would be right for me. (After all, I’m not a big Golden Girls fan!)

After my friend read the book, they began to encourage me to buy the book and read it too. After listening to them describe the book, I began like the idea of the book, how it was written, and other parts of it. So, I decided to buy myself a copy of the novel and read it myself.

Before I read the whole book, I decided to try the cheesecake recipe in the book. I talked about it and if I liked it in a previous post. (You can read it here) Aside from talking about the cheesecake recipe, I didn’t talk about the actual novel. I have since read the book and decided to write a review post about it!

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Roller Rabbit x Target Collection- Food & Beverages

Published on March 6, 2026March 6, 2026 by essieofwhoLeave a comment

It is finally time for the last post in my series about the Roller Rabbit x Target collection! There is just one category I still want to talk about: The food and beverages.

For this post, I decided not to pick any favorite items in the food and beverage side of the collection. The reason is because I have food allergies. Although some of the food looks like it will be ok for me to eat, I decided not to consider purchasing anything from the food and beverage category.

Instead, I decided to show everything that will be available in the food and beverage category. They include cookies, candies, and drinks. In my opinion, I believe the drinks will sell out the fastest. The reason is because the drinks are actually made by Poppi. They come in three flavors: Watermelon, Raspberry Rose, and Shirley Temple. Since Poppi is a popular drink on social media, I think the ones in this collection will be the most popular items in the whole collection.

Aside from the drinks, I really love the cookies. They are decorated cookies and come in two shapes: A monkey and a heart. Both are designs by Roller Rabbit for this collection. Even though I know I won’t be able to eat them, they are super cute!

Please Note: All the items mentioned in this post are picked by my own personal taste and is based off what I saw online before anything is available to be seen and touched in person. All the photographs of the products are from Target’s free to download media pack on Target’s website. All the names of the items and it’s cost is taken from the listings from Target’s website.

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Roller Rabbit x Target Collection Favorites- Home and Outdoors

Published on March 6, 2026March 6, 2026 by essieofwhoLeave a comment

Out of all the categories the Roller Rabbit x Target collection has, one of my favorites is the home and outdoors category. It is also the category I will probably be purchasing something in the collection from.

The home and outdoors collection covers a wide range of products. They range from colored pencils to outdoor furniture to electronics to tableware. Everything has the Roller Rabbit designs used throughout the Target collection.

While picking things to feature in this post, I realized everything I picked ranged widely in price. The lowest priced items are a deck of cards and sticker pack for $5 each while the highest is a wicker patio table for $250. If you are interested in purchasing something small, practical, and useful from the collection, I would recommend browsing the home and outdoor category.

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Some of the Books I’m Interested in Reading- March 2026

Published on March 4, 2026February 25, 2026 by essieofwhoLeave a comment

It’s a new month, which means it’s time to reflect on the books I read in the past month. Unfortunately, I didn’t read very much last month. So, instead I wanted to talk about the books I’m interested in reading this month.

Even though I have a long reading list, I still wanted to add these books to my list. Some are new releases while others have been out for a while. I also may not own/have access to a copy to read, but when I finally decide it is time to read them, I’ll look for them.

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I’m in a Reading Slump (and Why it Happened)

Published on February 27, 2026February 26, 2026 by essieofwhoLeave a comment

Last month, reading became my favorite pass time. After reading so many books, I thought I would be able to keep reading through my to be read list into February. Sadly, this didn’t happen. Normally this happens because I read too much and just burn out. This time, it’s because I didn’t like what I read last month.

I read a lot of romance novels, which is normally fine. I don’t love romance novels, but there seems to be at least ten newly released romance novel to every adventure (My favorite genre of books) novel every month. So, if I want to read a lot of new releases, I will need to read romance novels. Last month, the romance novels I read were… meh.

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5 Things I Do For Fun

Published on February 27, 2026February 20, 2026 by essieofwhoLeave a comment

Like many people, I’ve had very stressful times in my life… like right now. *sigh*

During these times, I find it hard to do something for myself or something that I can do for fun. This is why it is important to remind myself of the things I really enjoy and is fun. Since I’m going through a pretty stressful time in my life right now, I wanted to list five of the things I do for fun. These are not the only things I do for fun, but it is something I know will bring me stress relief!

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Book Review: Victoria: The Romantic Heart by Linda Sunshine

Published on February 26, 2026February 25, 2026 by essieofwhoLeave a comment

Many years ago, I decided to buy books I used to want as a girl but couldn’t buy because… well… I was a girl! For the most part, these books are ones that contained many pictures or were easy to read, yet they were pretty or caught my eye. One of the books was The Romantic Heart.

The Romantic Heart is by Linda Sunshine, who is the editor of the book. It is part of Victoria Magazine’s book series. Victoria Magazine, also known as Victoria Bliss, is a magazine that focuses on romantic and vintage topics, themes, and items. In the 1990’s, Victoria Magazine began to publish books that follow the same themes the magazine covers. The Romantic Heart, which was published in 1995 by The Hearst Corporation, is one of these books.

I purchased my copy of The Romantic Heart in 2025 second hand. After owning it for a year, I decided to write a review about this book, which I wanted to own since I was a little girl.

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The ‘Wuthering Heights’ Movie, Will I Watch It, and Why I Will/Won’t Watch It

Published on February 25, 2026February 25, 2026 by essieofwhoLeave a comment

A new movie inspired by Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights was released on February 13, 2026. Although I originally thought it would be just another movie version of a classic novel, things changed once I saw some of the paparazzi photographs surfaced online. As time began to pass, I began to hear more and more about how people online were unsure about this movie and it’s faithfulness to the novel.

After watching a few videos, and viewed more content than that, about the movie, I made a decision about if I would or would not watch the movie and why.

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