bitten by the bug

the flu bug that is.....sadly the nasty little sickness has been making the rounds in the Jones home, hence the blog silence. Sick babies are no fun. Sick babies with sick moms are no fun. Luckily I was sick during the weekend when my better half was around to help with said sick babies and do nice things for me like make hot chocolate. And a dear friend brought over hot soup and rolls for Sunday dinner. Seriously how come I don't think to bring hot soup to people when they have the flu? Am definitely going to get better at that one. Since we've been sick, we've pretty much holed up and watched TV for the past three days. Mostly its been really exciting things like Thomas the train, Baby Einstein, Peter Pan, Lady & the Tramp, etc.....but when the kids were asleep Jordan and I also have been watching documentaries (thanks again Jake & Kelsie for giving us those!)


Saturday night we watched Food Inc. Have you seen it yet? It was fascinating, creepy and thought provoking. A lot of the points made in the film reminded me of things I read in Animal Vegetable Miracle. Once again it made me grateful for the farm I grew up on and the wonderful meat & produce I am able to can from there. It definitely isn't glamorous when you are in the middle of canning in August & September, but it is so worth it when you think about the alternative.....now the goal is to find a place where I can buy free range chicken meat (since my parents mostly use their chickens for eggs), any locals have suggestions?

a list (of course)

1. Can you spot the baby in this photo:

Remember how I have this bad habit of taking forever to finish a project. Um yes that habit, well I am trying really hard to mend my ways and have finally finished the doll project. Yes these little dudes (or dudettes -- they are gender neutral) have been littering my sewing room since April. In my church, part of my calling is to oversee the monthly R.S. activities and when we had the Humanitarian activity in April these little guys were left undone (well actually they were left naked) so I brought them home planning to finish them shortly. Flash forward seven months (okay perhaps I deserve a slight break since I did birth a child during that time?) and I had only sewn about half the gowns, well this weekend I said enough is enough and I forced myself to finish up the gowns. In case you are wondering I can now sew a doll's "hospital gown" with my eyes closed. But it was worth it when I got to take them to the hospital (except for the part when Ike had a huge tantrum as I was handing them over to the volunteer). These "buddy" dolls are given to children who are admitted into the hospital, the children draw faces on them and the doctors use them to show how procedures work to kids -- if you kid is going to get an IV, they usually will give one to the doll too. Anyways the coordinator for the hospital told me there is a big need for more "buddy" dolls so if you are interested, they need YOU (insert Uncle Sam poster here)!
***No babies were smothered in the snapping of this photograph

2. Finally had a chance to watch Young Victoria. Have you seen it yet? I loved it. 'Love the bag, love the shoes, love everything' (name that movie -- and Emily if you can't name this you are dead to me). Anyways I love period films and history and a love story, so if you like those three things then perhaps you will enjoy it too.

3. Went thrifting/antiquing with my mom over the weekend. I found some items that were on my list for a project that I will reveal when its completed (so don't hold your breath right?) But also found these amazing items, unfortunately they were both on layaway -- I guess you snooze you lose right? Anyway I'm still wishing that I could have rationalized buying that awesome airplane "for Isaac" for Christmas and that amazing dresser/file cabinet/cubby for all of my hobby supplies in the office.



4. Jordan and I are obsessed with The Next Iron Chef. Every Sunday I start baking at about 8 pm because it is impossible to watch this show without being able to shovel copious amounts of food into your face simulatneously. Anyway next week is the finale and in case anyone is wondering, we are definitely on "Team Forgione." Chef Canora bugs -- and I can't handle how much he sounds like "Ross Gellar" every time we watch it I have to yell out my favorite Ross Gellar catchphrase "pivot pivot" at least once and Jordan humors me with a courtesy chuckle. Go Forgione! (And Natalie, if you don't recognize that Friends episode you are dead to me ).

5. Yes I did just type the phrase "you are dead to me" twice (okay now three times) in this post. What can I say I have the sense of humor of an adolescent.

6. Am reading a super interesting book right now (well actually am reading several books), but you should read this one too and then we can actually have a blog discussion about it at some point. Check out Gross National Happiness (by Arthur Brooks), who manages to make statistics interesting -- think of it as sort of like Freakonomics, except that it could actually be applicable to your life.

Over and out.

daily miscellany

My good friend Annie always gives me good advice, as we've been emailing back and forth (she recently moved *sniff sniff*), and commiserating (or chuckling about) all of our current woes, she mentioned how "time can fix just about anything." With the arrival of Gavin and some other changes in our life that I probably won't share with the www.world, our daily routine has changed drastically. As I feel l have reiterated in many a post, I am a creature of habit. Perhaps the reason I always loved ballet so much, from a very young age, was that there was something very comforting about doing the same thing everyday and perfecting that thing as you practiced over and over. I love the regularity of the barre, you do plies and move onto tendus and then degages.....but I digress. This change in routine has been a bit unnerving to me, but as time has moved on and I am figuring out a new routine lately I feel more like myself. So here is some random daily miscellany:

• I've been planning to do a big long post about the happy reunion in the Jones family. Our wonderful parents and my awesome brother-in-law have returned from their missions last week and we are overjoyed at having them home. We've had some great family parties since their return, here are some random pictures from them:

• I got to babysit two of my favorite girls for a day (and visit with their parents in the evening), while they were in town from Washington. We practically lived with the Dahl's last summer and I have been going through withdrawals since they moved, so nice to get a dose of them this summer, even if its only a small one.

(Kaylee knows how to work the camera right? and Riley has the prettiest curls on her sleepy little head)

• I managed to update my photography blog with some recent pictures, I have so many more pictures to upload, but with two little ones the computer time has been limited, hopefully I can get completely caught up in the near future.

• I've still been enjoying many late night nursing flicks (thanks Katie!) She introduced me to two new favorites:

Persuasion: I had seen the old BBC version where the actors were ancient, but I loved this one much more. When Katie gave it to me, she told me that Captain Wentworth was Mr. Hottie McButter-Pants and there was a really weird awkward kiss at the end. Amen and Amen Katie. Still awkward kiss aside, am definitely giving this one the thumbs up for you Austen fans!

Lars & The Real Girl: I am a big fan of satire/mockumentary in general. This movie is not 100% in that genre, in fact it has some very serious and sweet parts, but it also has that element of humor showcasing a typical "small town" rallying around one of its neighbors. Who knew that Ryan Gosling was such a great actor? I sure didn't. LOVED this movie. Can't wait to watch it again (also it was very clean content wise from what I can recall, which is a double bonus in my book).

Movie Review: The Painted Veil

Thanks to midnight feedings I finally had a chance to watch this movie, (which I had been wanting to since I read the book). I really liked it. It was very different from the book in the direction the plot took in the back half, but I liked it. This doesn't mean I liked the movie more than the book, but that I liked the way the plot was for the book and the way the plot was for the movie. I thought the whole film was very beautiful to watch and it is probably the only movie I have seen Naomi Watts in that I enjoyed. However there is some content in this movie (although after reading the book, I was also pleasantly surprised with the how they handled the content). Good movie, with content you would expect from a PG-13 movie with this plot line.

Night-time Flicks

During my nighttime feedings with Isaac I got all sorts of reading done. However, with Gavin I have been a wee bit more mentally taxed than I was with Ike and have instead started watching sections of movies during these feedings. Hopefully I'll work back up to reading again at night (or perhaps Gavin will just start sleeping through the night, I'd take that too). So today in lieu of book reviews I'm posting some movie reviews. Beware all of these movies were watched in the dead of night when my faculties may have been slightly impaired.

1. Emma (The BBC Miniseries). I am a huge Austen fan and I really enjoy the classic "Gwyneth Paltrow Emma" so the bar was set high for this one, but I loved it. I much preferred Mr. Elton in this one to the Paltrow version, also because its longer the pacing is much nicer. Buy it, love it.

2. Mad Money. Ted Danson looks creepy -- his teeth and hair are just a bit too white and he is much to suntanned. It like he's the real life version of "middle aged" Ken barbie brought to life. Thought this movie was a cute entertaining flick to watch once, but not necessarily one that you'll watch over and over.

3. Ballet Shoes. This book is based on one of my favorite kids books and I found this a charming kids movie....it is just the sort of thing that my ten year old self would have watched everyday for a week. Is it perfect ? No, "Posie" kind of annoys and there is a lot of smoking for a movie that would be recommended for a younger audience, but all and all I enjoyed it....it somewhat reminded me of A Little Princess, which was another childhood fav.

miscellaneous stuff I've been meaning to post

• Crossed another item off the list, by using extra maps from this project to recover a bunch of ugly books. Much better (pictured above).
• Made this recipe for dinner last week. Verdict: AWESOME! I love it when healthy food tastes as good as it is.
• Remember when I read this book? Finally saw the movie. Verdict: Loved it. Am slightly surprised that I really liked it, but I did. The story was faithful to the book, which means that it is an enjoyable & clean date-night flick (not intended kids -- this is not a Beethoven-movie that just chronicles a crazy dog, but a movie about relationships & families that happens to feature a precocious dog). Oh yes and p.s., can I move into the Old Stone Farmhouse featured in the movie? Seriously.
• Went to my little brother's Lacrosse game over the weekend (Yeah Orie!) It was exciting and thrilling and made me very glad that I don't participate in a sport where its okay for people to beat me with sticks.....
  
  
• Watched the Jazz lose to the Lakers (boo). Spent much of the time fixated by the thought that Pau Gasol eerily resembles Big bird. Anyone else see the resemblance? Am I crazy? Something about his buggy eyes, yellow jersey, lurpy appendages, and floppy fly-away hair just conjures up the beloved muppet.....perhaps I spend too much time watching Sesame Street with Ike?


• Spent much of the weekend going through all of my kitchen cupboards and re-organizing everything and finishing the pantry. Do you think someone is nesting? Yeah, just a little bit. Below is the photo of one of my kitchen cupboards, the photo doesn't quite do the organization justice, as before it was a mystery what was behind the first row. Also a big post is coming up revealing our new pantry-- built by Jordan (I am the luckiest!).

Nonsense

As you may have noticed posting has been light lately. With Christmas a week away the days have been full with the customary merriment activities, also Jordan and I are doing an experiment of sorts this year for Christmas and we are making/creating EVERY gift we are giving. It sounded like a really good idea this fall when we started the project, but now that my fingers are covered in hot glue gun blisters and sliced up from my rotary cutter and my eyes are losing their ability to focus on the computer screen, and we still have lots and lots of work ahead to finish up all of our projects, I'm not so sure we'll ever attempt it again. On the up side we are much more excited to give some of our gifts this year than we have been in years past. Also I am really pleased with how some of our wacky ideas have turned out and after Christmas I'm excited to start sharing them. In the meantime my brain is not in great working order (as it is swirling with projects & of course visions of sugarplums) so rather than trying to post a coherent essay tonight (I have several book reviews to do) I thought I'd post some of the nonsensical random thoughts that the fumes of turperntine & oil paints can induce.

With the late night crafting, I have definitely watched more movies in the past month than usual for me. I started with my favorite Christmas movies (White Christmas will always be my very very favorite); however, along with many of the classics alot of my favorites aren't really Christmas movies to most people, just to me. It made me feel better when my friend Becky posted her list of movies that included several of "mine" such as: While You Were Sleeping & You've Got Mail. Sleepless in Seattle is definitely on my list, I love the part when she's driving and singing Jingle Bells, because as I've been out running errands in the car it seems as though that song is the only one I can catch on the radio even though there are three stations dedicated solely to playing Christmas music right now, and I hear myself singing it exactly the same way. I also watched the annual Stepmom, which for some inexpicable reason is about Christmas to me.

And speaking of Christmas music on the radio, who in the world assembled that "playlist," I feel like there are four annoying Christmas songs to every normal one. And there is a plethora, nay even a surplus, of great Christmas music available right? Its true, I have probably 150 songs in an iTunes Christmas playlist are all wonderful......why aren't they getting air time? Yet there are fifty crappy covers of the Drummer Boy & Jingle Bells that are enough to make people committ suicide seemingly on loop the radio. I don't quite understand it, the only viable reason I can come up with is that they are trying to annoy you to death with Christmas tunes so that when the holiday is over, you will breathe a sigh of relief at the return of your normal music rather than languishing for that wonderful Christmas music.

Along with all the Christmas movies, I've also seen a few new regular movies that have long been on "the list." I saw August Rush, which for the most part I really liked, until the ending which I felt left me wanting more. Now I know that is supposed to be a postive thing to be left "wanting more," but not quite to this degree. I've always been a very vivid dreamer and lately that have been more vivid than normal and for several nights after watching August Rush I had dreams about additional endings to the movie where they would show "one year later" scenes featuring a completely happy little family. This is probably not normal, but I do have a compulsion for closure & resolution. Also I finally saw Julie & Julia, which I have been wanting to see since I was dismally disappointed in the book. I loved it! Nora Ephron made me proud, as I knew she would. And I loved how incredibly annoying & endearing & yet just like Julia Meryl Streep really was. Also I was dying during the part when Julie & her husband see the SNL skit of Julia with all of the blood. And thank heavens it wasn't peppered with "F" words like the book.

Some parting nonsense:
1. I read Seriously So Blessed which is in my opinnion one of the funniest satirical blogs about "Mormon Mommy Culture" ever. It is actually depressing how many of her posts resemble posts I come across that people write in all seriousness. However, now I have this weird complex that my blog would even slightly resemble anything that is on that blog and I catch myself re-reading my own posts to make sure I'm not completely pathetic, which is in and of itself pathetic right?
2. Everyone will hate me for saying this. In fact I probably hate me for saying this, but I can't help it, I'm going to say it. I'm sick of hearing/reading/watching things about NieNie everywhere I look in "blogland." Yes, she is a very interesting and even an inspiring person, and yes I often will read and enjoy her blog. However, when I want to read her blog, I can go to it. Instead I feel as though everyone and their virtual dog is all but building a shrine to the woman on their own personal blogs complete with one of those creepy ceramic dolls resembling her. They are quoting her, wearing obnoxiously bright and be-flowered outfits with the always constant flower hair clip like her, decorating their house in that "quirky vintage Nie Nie style" like her and still having fundraisers for her. I feel like she is everywhere on TV (the today show, Oprah, Good Morning America), on blogs, on the radio, on posters and quite frankly I feel like ranting, "enough already!" There you go, hate me, its okay, I've given you permission.
3. I didn't go shopping at the crack of dawn on Black Friday; however, I did end up going to one store at 10:00 am with my mother to pick up one item she wanted to purchase as a gift......and as I waited in line for her and eavsedropped on the conversation of the weird frazzled bleary-eyed mob of very rude women who were all the while comparing how much money they had spent and how early they had awoken and how many of the "very last ones" they had managed to snatch off of the store shelves.....it was simultaneously repulsive and hilarious to me. When one woman proudly mentioned that she had fought off a group of people so she could get 25 candle warmers at "that amazing price" that she planned to give as wedding gifts I had to fake cough to stifle the giggle. I guess the economy can't be that bad when every person in sight is pushing a overflowing shopping cart of just stuff out to their cars which occupy every single spot in the parking lot right?
4. Jordan recently went to the local college rivalry football game. The day of the game the projected high was 28 degrees Farenheit. As it was a very popular game, with heated feelings on both sides, the crowd was much more boistorous than a typical game and the noise was deafening and when the game was over, the fans (the home team won) stormed the field with gusto. However when Jordan got home he told me about how he was sitting by several, (not just one complete idiot, but SEVERAL) people who had brought their small infants to the game strapped to their chests in baby bjorns. When I say small infant, Jordan estimated that most of these babies he saw were under five months of age. At the conclusion of the game as the crowd started pulsating toward the field, one such woman who was sitting in front of Jordan found herself being pushed down the bleachers, row by row, towards the field. Luckily Jordan and his friend saw her and came to shield her from the crowd and help her get to the side and out of the "current." As he was telling me this story, it was the equivalent of nails on a chaulkboard. Seriously WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE THINKING? Its freezing, the game is five plus hours long, the noise is deafening with constant canon fires and screaming, the crowd is rowdy, public bathrooms are scarce and changing tables non-existent, and you think that is the enviornment for your infant? C'mon, take one for the team and stay home and watch it on TV or get a sitter. Seriously? Should these people be allowed to be parents? I wish Child Services could have attended the game and somehow ticketed everyone with a baby there......I feel like I may have even had a dream where that happened -- and you better believe it was a fantasy!

Saw it. Loved it.

Had to bribe & drag Jordan to see this with me last night (since my Carrie lives in WA). Luckily Jake & Kelsie were up for it, or even my bribery may have come up wanting. But in the end even Jordan begrudgingly admitted he "mostly" enjoyed it.

Point of fact: MJ is totally weird/creepy, but the boy (err I mean 50 year old man!) can move......and sing a bit too.

Movie Review: The Jane Austen Book Club

About two years ago I read this book, with mixed feelings. I think perhaps this was one of those reads that I went into with high expectations, which it didn't quite meet, but it didn't crash and burn either. Anyways I never saw the movie and had entirely forgotten there was a movie until a couple of weeks ago when my mom and I had our annual date while our spouses were at the General Conference Priesthood Session and after doing some shopping we came home to watch a movie and found this one.

After reading the book I didn't have super high expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised. I felt like the onscreen characters took all of the quirks of the written characters and managed to make them seem appealing and endearing rather than grating and annoying. Even Purdie, who was my least favorite character in the novel, managed to come off decently well onscreen. I don't know that I'd recommend this movie to everyone (I believe there is some slight content, but nothing that made me feel uncomfortable **edit: I did see it on TV, so perhaps it was edited?**), but if you have ever participated in a book club I think you would enjoy it. Perhaps one of these days I'll have to give the book another try?

Movie Review: Some Like It Hot

I've been a little scarce around the blog world of late. Instead I've been scurrying around like a squirrel gathering the very last nuts before winter -- I've been picking up every nice day and using it to finish projects project projects. I have some exciting things to share, but they will have to wait a few days or a week or two while I finish all the details. But since I couldn't stay completely away I thought I'd review a movie I watched last evening while working on one of the said projects.

I have a penchant for classic films as I call them and "old" films as Jordan calls them. Perhaps its a family trait as both my Mother & Grandma love old movies. However, this is one I had not seen before. I went in with low expectations (I'm not a total Marilyn fan), but we pleasantly surprised. This film was very funny, witty, nicely paced, and a bit surprising at its aptness for modern themes. Marilyn Monroe of course was dazzling (even if she was pregnant while it was filmed, it was rather refreshing to see someone who wasn't a toothpick in the starring role --although I will say some of her wardrobe was a bit more racy then I had anticipated).....and Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon had me in stitches. Anyway, if you like old movies, I think you might get a good chuckle from this one.

Movie Review: The Secret Life of Bees

Ever since I read the book earlier this year, I have wanted to see the film. Well since the husband is in Texas to see THE GAME (yea Cougars!), I have found some time on my hands in the evening and was very happy to find this movie as a distraction. Usually after reading the book, movies can leave you really wanting. However, this movie really impressed me, it was by no means better than the book, but definitely embraced my favorite elements of the book and brought it to life on the screen. Two thumbs up.

P.S. I thought she was brilliant, but I can't get over that she STILL goes by "Queen Latifah," (the moniker conjures images of a slightly scary female rapper complete with doo-rag/bandana) anyone else think she should graduate to her real name of Dana Owens?

Movie Review: Joyeux Noel

Jordan and I weren't feeling the best on Sunday so we stayed home all day and pretty much lounged around. I wanted to watch a Christmas movie, but if you know Jordan he isn't the biggest movie fan; he usually falls asleep or just finds something else to do. This is a movie someone had recommended to me quite a while ago, its a pretty serious film, but since it was about WWI, I thought Jordan may like it, and it was about Christmas so I hoped I would as well. Verdict is we both loved it. I really loved it, and it was a refreshing take on trench warfare and WWI, not to mention Christmas. See it, I think you'll like it too.

Odds & Ends

Yes I had planned on reading Wives & Daughters now, but I have been thwarted once again.....it still hasn't arrived in the mail..... thus I will have to put it on deck next month. So I finally decided to join the lemming rush and read Stephanie Meyer, if only to be able to join in the conversation with the 8 million friends/co-workers/family/bloggers who have read it already (I want to enjoy it really.....) fingers crossed I'm going to love it. I anticipate finishing these quickly because I should have extra time to read over the holiday...after that I'm reading Housekeeping because my cute friend Jessie has started an online book club with this as the first month's read.....so if you are interested please join us.

And finally, there has been mixed reviews towards this movie, Dan in Real Life....but I recently saw & loved it.... I'm a huge Office fan and didn't know if I'd be able to stomach Steve Carrell as a serious character, but he was fantastic and his character was endearing (not in an annoying way either, who knew?) It is a chick flick yes, but actually Jordan even enjoyed it too (or at least he said he did). As and added bonus this film has an incredible soundtrack mostly by Sondre Lerche....I already purchased it and am obsessed with the song, Modern Nature. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Memoirs of a Geisha

Over the weekend I finished reading Memoirs of a Geisha and subsequently watched the movie. This book was really fascinating simply because it revolves around a completely different culture.... a culture that it is very hard for my western mind not judge for some of the things that seem "weird," or just wrong to me. One theme in the book that really struck me was the commentary on kindness. Not only was kindness nearly non-existent for this main girl, several of the few times she thought she was on the verge of kindness it turns out that she is being severely misued i.e. practically sold into slavery. So I guess it kind of worked for the story that the first time in her early life that she really does receive pure kindness (with no expectation of anything in return) she promptly begins a lifelong obsession with the person who was first kind to her. Pretty poignant point I think. The movie was also beautiful with all of the colors and costumes and the actor they got for the Chairman was perfect... sure it wasn't as good as the book, but it was artful in its own right.

Elizabeth Movie Review

Jordan and I rarely see a film in the actual cinema (being as addicted to Amazon as I am they usually come straight to my door); however, this weekend we actually did go out and see Elizabeth. And I really liked it, now this movie is not for everyone, but I am really interested in historical films in general and the cinematography & soundtrack were gorgeous.... and Cate Blanchett really is Elizabeth she just embodies her. The only thing that was somewhat difficult for me was the gruesome depictions of torture that went on at that time that was necessary for the story.....but overall it was an interesting film... however Nik & Orie also saw it with us and said they were bored to tears because if history isn't interesting to you I guess it is sort of slow moving.... did anyone else see this yet?

Oh Hamlet, how I love thee!

So anyone who has lived with me can attest to my abnormal sleep patterns... I go through periods of great depravity where I consistently get a maximum of four-five hours each night and then cycles where I'm on sleep overload sometimes getting nine plus. Typically I think I'm more on the depraved end usually (this is fed by my incessant need to "do" things). This week I started a new hobby, needle punch. yep I know it sounds like an old lady's hobby, but alack alack alack I don't care its fun. Anyway I have been so busy every day after work (due to ballet teaching, YW, family stuff and trying to squeeze in workouts) I haven't had much time to do this. So even though it was rather late when I got home from my YW meeting last night I put on this gem of a movie and sat down to my needlepunch. Pretty soon my needlepunch lay discarded on the ottoman and I was completely enthralled by my dear Hamlet (this doesn't happen often to me, I'm a great multi-tasker). So I'm going to plug this film.... if you don't like Shakespeare you can stop reading right now (although really you should be kicked in the shins or something because who doesn't like Shakespeare?) Anyway this film is gorgeous, I have seen it multiple times on VHS, but it was just released on DVD for the first time a couple weeks ago and when my copy arrived in the mail (yes I am a nerd that pre-ordered this) I realized how long its been since I've seen this version... its beautiful. I am an artsy girl so visuals really appeal to me in a film, but this is augmented by the beautiful play (they didn't change a word) and the extra fantastic actors. I've always loved Kenneth Branagh, but this film is stuffed with other amazing authors..... and Kate Winslet will always be Ophelia for me. So please please please see this, and if you don't like it, go stick your head in a hole like and Ostrich and "think about what you've done." or else just don't tell me and let me live in my happy oblivian that everyone likes this movie. And yes although Mel Gibson is oh so attractive he really really is subpar compared to Kenneth, although I still like that version as well --this one's just better. P.S. (as if this post wasn't long enough already) Only sit down to this film when you have 244 minutes of uninterupted time (yep its that long, just like the play) hence I was awake until way too late last night. I think the teacher in my spin class (at 5:45 am) this morning thought I had a hangover or something, I wasn't looking my best, but it was worth it.

Chick Entertainment

Tis canning season! While this can be a major pain, it also has its perks.
1) I love the smell of all the foods we can, peaches, apples, plums, salsa, cherries, they all smell so good as they simmer.
2) Freshly canned items look beautiful, I just love how perfect the jars looks when the come out of the water bath with the vibrant fruit!
3) A little labor of love equals good eats all year round!
4) It provides much needed bonding time with my Mom & often my aunts, cousins, and friends!

This last item is the most important of all.... and this last Saturday Mom & I watched a great chick flick while we sat and quartered peaches for hours on end.... MIss Potter... Now this film is often slow moving, anti-climatic, and subtle -- but I love the simple story and the beautiful cinematography and I'm not a big Rene fan, but she did a fair job. So if you are sitting around canning and want some entertainment, give this one a try!

A Book and a Movie Review

So take note.... it is a historical moment I am actually going to admit two movies that I liked better than their book counterparts... crazy, I know, I never thought this could occurr, but here are the respective reviews:

I saw Nanny Diaries in the theatre on Tuesday and wasn't expecting much as I had heard from several people that it was a flop... however, suprisingly I really liked it. In fact, there were things I liked better than the book --for example the ending in the book (which I read earlier this year) mentions nothing about Mrs. X changing her ways and becoming a better mom & leaving Mr. X! Also, the movie shows Annie happily dating her boyfriend and moving on in her life towards something she really loves, where in the book it doesn't even clarify if Annie is still dating Harvard Hottie after she doesn't receive his messages. So while the book did have some more extra funny scenes involving adventures with Grayer --I did actually like the movie better.
Next Review:

So I just finished reading Practical Magic, which I decided to read because I love watching this movie every year around Halloween so I figured that the book would be even better to read right? Wrong! This book I would give only 2 Stars.... the writing was poor, the storyline dragged in some places and went too quickly in others, and there was even some content that made me blush and skip a few pages...So I do not reccommend this book, but this movie is a classic fun Halloween watch. Every time I watch it I want to put the song on "Lime in the Coconut" and dance around the house. I guess they took the premise to a really less than mediocre book & made it into a great movie... I stand corrected from the notion that every book is better than its movie counterpart!

Becoming Jane

Last night Bambi & Mom came with me to see this in the theatres, I've been wanting to see it for ages, being the Jane Austen fanatic that I am. Anyway it was beautiful and sad, I mean we all knew that Jane Austen didn't marry in real life so I don't know why I would have expected it to work out in the film, but even with the sad ending I still loved the movie, which really must say something about it since I do love my happy endings! Anyway see this! Also, I think if I could choose a celebrity to look like it would be Anne Hathaway she is so striking in this movie, she definitely looks unconventional and was a very convincing Jane!

Tristan & Isolde

Last night Jordan and I who have been copiously unpacking & cleaning for weeks decided to take a break and actually watch a film. Does this mean our house is clean or anywhere near put together, no, but we needed a break. We decided to watch Tristan & Isolde, which neither of us had seen (although I've read one adaptation) and we were pleasantly surprised by how much we liked the movie. It had plenty of sword fighting & war for Jordan, and a sweet love story for me. Now the story is a tragedy and I knew that going into it, but Jordan hadn't heard anything about it and halfway through it, he asked.... "is everyone I like going to die?" It was so "cute" to see him actually get invested in the characters like that, although he's probably going to kill me for posting this. Anyway if you haven't seen this, give it a chance we were definitely entertained and it renewed my desire to take a vacation of England & Ireland and climb through old castle ruins!