I try to create a culture of celebration in our home. For life, for the little things, for wonder and for whimsy. I try to find the beauty around us and teach my son Wyatt to find it, and appreciate it and love it as well.
We are a homeschool family, and we love it. We love the freedom it gives us to explore a topic or idea more deeply, and I like that I can adjust our schedule around Wyatt’s other needs. Wyatt has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and his week often has therapy, doctor’s appointments, naps peppered throughout which would make a traditional school schedule difficult. He is also an asynchronous learner, and I love that I can tailor learning to where Wyatt is at that moment.
We have a house full of animals and will probably add more because we like a zoo. We have one cat, Miso, who is a rescue. She is 14 years old and my little floofy girl. We also have one leopard gecko, Luna, a pictus gecko named Harlow, a pacman frog named Freddy, and two crested geckos, Applejack and Oliver. We love all of our little friends!
My husband Billy, Wyatt, and I are all curious, creative, stubborn humans which makes for some fun times around here. We love the outdoors, except we are not made for high temps so we retreat inside when the temps start to soar. We are nature lovers through and through. We are trying to downsize our lives too, to live more simply, to buy things that last and eat real food from small local farmers. (and of course Goldfish crackers) We live seasonally and are always up for adventure. We love books and reading, and can be found at the library at least once a week!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hello everyone! I hope you are doing well, and that if you celebrate Thanksgiving, you have a good one, no matter what you do.
I haven’t been reading much lately. I don’t know what is going on, but I am in a bit of a slump which stinks because I have so many new books and I love them and I am excited to read them all. I just can’t sit still these days. Maybe after the holiday I will settle down.
I did read one book, just a little one.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to like this one. I am not really a sci-fi person, but if there was a book that was cozy sci-fi, it is this one. I found myself imagining the roads that Sibling Dex and Mosscap were taking, the slow days, the conversations and the tea, and I just fell in love with this book. It was different, it was thought-provoking, it was gentle, and it made me smile.
A few short quotes from a book that I saved so many from:
“No matter what I’m wonderful.”
“We don’t have to fall into the same category to be of equal value.”
This slim book is so filled with goodness. Even if this is not usually your jam, I say give it a whirl.
Reading This Week:
I picked this up over the weekend and immediately fell in love with it. Maybe my slump is over? Wyatt and I are having a whole week of hygge this week – no real school, just reading and art and baking, and this book seemed perfect for those curl up and read moments ahead.
We are all finished with Comfy Cozy Cinema and it feels weird to not have a Sunday movie all ready to go. Besides that, we are watching The Spiderwick Chronicles that star none other than my teenage celebrity crush, Christian Slater. I loved him so much as a teen. Lol. I can still probably quote Heathers and Pump Up the Volume. And, I have to say, as an adult maybe I still have a bit of a crush on adult him.
And that is it from around here! I hope you are all well!
Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!! Our link will be live for a whole week after we post about a movie.
And actually, this was our grand finale! It has been a very fun run of movies, from all different genres and decades, and a few other bloggers joining us as well, which was awesome! We even had a comfy cozy care package giveaway that we kept adding and adding to and eventually I needed to get a bigger box to send it all off in. I really have had a fantastic time, and I appreciate everyone who has participated or commented on our posts!
For the last time this year, this week’s movie is Chocolat, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, and of course, Dame Judi Dench.
I thought this would be a fun one to end the season of Comfy Cozy Cinema on. Decadent, dreamy, a happy ending (well sort of?) AND a good excuse to eat chocolate while watching. Not that I need an excuse but it was a good one anyway. We wanted a party like atmosphere, full of camaraderie and chit chat, and even though the only people who came to the watch party were Lisa and I (which is fine, life gets busy!) we had all of these things. So much so that I didn’t watch the movie as carefully as normal. I was too busy sending comments back and forth with Lisa!
Plot summary: “When mysterious Vianne and her child arrive in a tranquil French town in the winter of 1959, no one could have imagined the impact that she and her spirited daughter would have on the community stubbornly rooted in tradition. Within days, she opens an unusual chocolate shop, across the square from the church. Her ability to perceive her customers’ desires and satisfy them with just the right confection, coaxes the villagers to abandon themselves to temptation — just as Lent begins.”
We met on discord at about 6:45, stocked up with our snacks. I had chocolate and popcorn, and a glass of red wine and Lisa had hot chocolate and french fries. I was all bundled up in my bed and for the first 45 minutes or so, it was just me in my bed watching the movie and snacking and chatting. After the first 45 minutes though, my guys decided to watch too.
Lisa and I both agreed that Juliette Binoche’s wardrobe as Vianne was gorgeous.
This is when Vianne had just literally blown into town with her daugher Anouk, on the clever north wind. She sets up her chocolaterie under the watchful eye of the townsfolk, who seem to live their repressed lives under the watchful eye of the Count, or Judgy mustache, as I called him. Judi Dench however, is not as cowed as the rest of the townspeople by the Count, or her daughter or the opinions of her neighbors, and lives like she wants, even if it is very bad for her health. Vianne discovers that Armande (Dench) is estranged from her family, and sets up meetings in her shop between Armande and her grandson Luc. Vianne seems to collect all of the outsiders, including Josephine, a woman who is in an abusive marriage and resorts to stealing things out of her despair. Vianne takes her under her wing and gives her purpose and self-confidence, and a way to get away from her husband. The Count however, tries to take her abusive husband under his wing and reform him.. and you will have to watch to see if he succeeds.
However, the worst transgression she makes of all is befriending Roux, who lives on the river and travels around with his family and friends. His kind are riffraff and not accepted into the very proper and staid town. The Count ups his game and pretty soon the town is boycotting Vianne’s shop – but Armande has an idea to help her out. A dinner party, flowing freely with chocolate. Which honestly, did not sound great to me or Lisa. Neither of us thought meat with chocolate sauce sounded very good. I don’t even like fruit and chocolate together so, meat would be a huge stretch for me. However, the party is very pretty and there is a assortment of characters there, who would probably never share a table otherwise. Everyone though, has a seat at Vianne’s table. Even Roux.
There is of course the moment that things all take a turn for the worse. Tension has been building, and there is a series of events that could be disastrous. The count throws in the towel and gives in to temptation, once and for all.
I was struck by how stark the town was, how visually uninviting. All beautiful stone, everywhere, but no character, no charm, no flowers even! No bits of green, no frivolity, just an overbearing statue in the square. Obviously this was meant to be representative of the townspeople themselves, who had fallen into some sort of cycle of denying oneself anything. The widow Madam Audel lost her husband forty years ago, and that was still too soon for her admirer to try to woo her. (at least before Vianne arrived). They were stuck in time, stuck within themselves, stuck in a rut. I am glad that they all finally allowed themselves to be shook loose.
And that is it! We have reached the end of our journey this year through Comfy Cozy movies! We plan on doing it again next year, starting the first week of September, and hope you will join in. If you have any suggestions for us, I would love to hear them! Thank you again to everyone who participated by commenting or posting!
If you watched the movie and want to link up, here is the linky!
And if you haven’t had enough Comfy Cozy, stick around! We will be hosting Comfy Cozy Christmas beginning December 1 and continuing through Jan. 2.
We will be sharing all of our cozy little holiday posts, about movies and gift guides and baking and books and other surprises we may have in our stockings! We would love for you to join in with us, and share your holiday posts here as well! Please keep them in theme with the holidays/winter (or summer for those in the southern hemisphere!), but it doesn’t have to be just Christmas, just seasonal from any walk of life, culture, or faith that happens between now and January 2nd is welcome! I will have a special dedicated page at the top of my blog with the link available all that month.
Hello all! I am so far behind on book reviews, and now that the weather is turning cool and we are not running around as much, it feels like a good time to get caught up. Not all in one post though, that would be crazy.
Let’s see… let’s start with the most recent book that I read.
Clueless at the Coffee Station is a book that I won in a giveaway on Instagram and I am so happy that I did! I have been in a bit of a reading slump for a few weeks, and I was finally able to settle into a book with this one. It was the perfect book to read right now, as the weather in Michigan begins to change to cooler days and chilly nights. The book is set in Michigan as well, which was a fun little bonus for me as I read.
The book is about barista Betti, a woman who enjoys her simple life serving coffee, even though her sister thinks she should be doing something different with her career. When a theft occurs during Open Mic night while Betti is behind the counter, she finds her job and lifestyle at risk and puts on the best sleuth outfit she can find at the thrift shop and begins to investigate…
I found Betti to be earnest, entertaining, and just as awkward as I am. I did enjoy the little bits and pieces of zen she found in her day, the little glimmer moments, such as the coffee shop before it opens and she has Main Street to herself, and a pot percolating behind her. Or a text from a potential love interest that reads “If you are up for cinnamon tea and midnight donuts, I know a place.” That would be a huge green flag for me. Overall I really enjoyed this book, and can’t wait for the next one!
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden: Ooo this was such a good one! It is a middle grade by the author of The Bear and the Nightingale and I was so excited to see how she writes for kids – and let me tell you, it is just as good as her adult writing! (although of course, at a children’s reading level and interest) I absolutely loved the main character’s father, who is very quirky , artistic, creative, and loves to bake. However, her mother has passed away and Ollie is still dealing with this emotionally, as one would expect. Her mother also sounds like she was a very interesting person, with an adventurous spirit, and Ollie is reeling from her loss.
However, the book takes a very spooky turn soon after Ollie encounters a strange woman at the pond. It actually had parts that made me want to look over my shoulder for creepy smiling faces…
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and I plan on reading the second in the series sometime over the winter.
A Dark and Secret Magic is one of my favorite reads this year. It was the perfect fall read, and had so many cozy elements to it. A small cottage in the woods with a fire, a cat, delicious meals that sounded so good yet so simple, magic, romance, ghosts, pumpkin patches and fall festivals.. I could go on and on but I won’t because there is a lot to this book that I don’t want to give away. I will just say that if you like autumn and witchy reads, then you need to read this book. And when you do, make sure you have set some serious reading time aside because you will not want to put it down!
And that is where I will wrap it up today! I hope you are all reading something good today!
Hello everyone! It is absolutely freezing this morning here! Like seriously frosty. I am letting Wyatt sit in the bed and eat his breakfast while I drink my coffee there as well, all covered up, that kind of cold. And..I love it. I do.
It’s been a few fun weeks around here. I think I last left off with our Halloween and anniversary shenanigans. Since then we have had Scouts, my birthday, and just fun days with family sprinkled in here and there.
We had a fire with my brother and family, went to my dad’s, and my cousin and her daughter were there, as well as my stepsister and her boy (although he is 17 and like 6 foot 5). And we got fun happy snail mail from Deb at Readerbuzz! We were super excited to get her cheerful letter, telling Wyatt what life is like in her part of the world, and to look through the little zine she made as well!
Scouts this past week was really fun as well. We started with going through our Oregon nature box that the pack from Oregon put together for us (we had sent them one from our area as well). The kids and parents loved it. I think one of my favorite parts of Scouts is not only the excitement from the kids, but also seeing the parents involved and excited about the activities. When we did leaf rubbings last month, one of the dads made rubbing after rubbing all by himself at the table, he was just having such a good time. And I love that. It wasn’t an aspect that I had planned for or considered but it has been a cool little extra bonus. This week we all marveled at the neat things that were sent to us – a giant pinecone from a Ponderosa Pine with bits of the puzzle bark as well. The trees have bark that comes off in puzzle like pieces, and it is really cool! They also sent sunstone rocks, which are only found in their area in the condition they are in. Each kid got to take one home too, which was neat. They sent bits of flora from the area, including a rabbitbrush specimen, which they said is everywhere in their area and causes allergies in the fall.
After going through the box, we started on the big activity, which was making ceramics with my mother-in-law. She had made a smattering of little ornaments, penguins and cats and little houses and flames but not traditional “Christmas” type ornaments, as we have some scouts who observe different religious holidays and we wanted to make sure we respected that. Then she also brought in some air dry clay as well, to show the before and after of ceramics. She started with that, having them touch and feel it and push cookie cutters into it to experience that part, then explained that they then go into a big oven called a kiln where they are fired. When they come out, they are hard like the finished ornaments. The kids had so much fun – even though my MIL brought the thing most dreaded by parents everywhere. Glitter. Glitter! Thankfully only two kids left absolutely covered in it. And who were they? The ones related to me. Wyatt and Mermaid Girl. I mean, if you know me and my brother, that tracks.
Wyatt had so much fun, as did all of the kids. I also had my heart completely melt because my littlest niece, Hurricane, immediately wanted me to hold her and carry her around as soon as she spotted me. Then when the meeting really began, I handed her off to her mom and she apparently squirmed free to run after me in her little 18 month old teetering galloping stomp. She sat on my lap and painted two ornaments too. She took it very seriously.
Two days later, it was my birthday! Billy put together the very best, perfectly perfect Erin day. First we went shopping at this store that specializes in Japanese food and other Japanese items. We all had a lot of fun picking stuff out. Pocky in all different flavors, Sake for home sushi nights, and I picked out a bunch of little bowls and plates because I am obsessed with that sort of thing. Bowls with cats, and a bowl with little Shiba Inus, including a little fluffy butt. We also picked up a few things for stocking stuffers and for other kids in our lives for the holidays. Wyatt got little training chopsticks with an owl on them, and dang, if he didn’t learn how to use them in .5 seconds. We practiced with fruit snacks and he just took off with it right away.
Next stop – Barnes and Noble. I had birthday money from different family members, including Billy and Wyatt and my mom for books, and I had a good time picking them out. I was picking books up, considering, deciding if I wanted to buy books for now me, who is in a reading slump and needs something different, or for future me, who knows what she likes to read. I ended up going with a little of each, and then Billy and Wyatt picked out a book for me as well, that is described as being a cross between Princess Bride and Legends and Lattes which is right up my alley. Wyatt of course got a book as well. And then when I got home, I had book mail waiting from a giveaway I had won!
However, the fun wasn’t done for me. We went on a chilly, twilight hike through the woods, which is one of my very favorite things on earth. We saw deer and woodpeckers, spotted mushrooms, and had a little impromptu school lesson, since Wyatt has been learning about the fur trade, voyageurs, and the Anishinaabe, and the nature center sparked a discussion about all of that.
Finally, we finished up with my favorite tacos for dinner and headed home, where we all happily collapsed and were lazy after a very full day.
Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!! Our link will be live for a whole week after we post about a movie.
This week’s movie is one that I chose, The Grand Budapest Hotel. I love Wes Anderson, and this one was one that I had seen on a lot of lists of cozy movies suggested for the season. And I hadn’t seen it yet, so bonus!
However, the main actors were.. still a lot. I am going to say Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revelori, Jude Law, F. Murray Abraham, and Adrien Brody. Oh and Willem Dafoe. And Saoirse Ronan. Ok. I think I am done.
The summary is: In the 1930s, the Grand Budapest Hotel is a popular European ski resort, presided over by concierge Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes). Zero, a junior lobby boy, becomes Gustave’s friend and protege. Gustave prides himself on providing first-class service to the hotel’s guests, including satisfying the sexual needs of the many elderly women who stay there. When one of Gustave’s lovers dies mysteriously, Gustave finds himself the recipient of a priceless painting and the chief suspect in her murder. (Rotten Tomatoes)
This movie was not as traditionally cozy. It wasn’t a movie that was all falling leaves and hot chocolate and scenes of fireplaces crackling away. It actually had an air of sadness about it. As well as L’Air de Panache, the cologne that Gustave spritzes himself with before he leaves his room, without fail.
The movie begins with Jude Law, an author living in the Grand Budapest Hotel, years after the main story takes place. The Hotel has lost its grandeur, it is empty, lonely, with the beautiful opulent furnishings changed to a rather austere, industrial style. It no longer buzzes with energy, instead it seems to sulk along, hollow and hallowed. A reminder of days past, as times have changed.
It is a story within a story, as Law’s character meets Zero as an older man (F. Murray Abraham), after he has lived a great deal of his life. Zero begins to share the tale of the Grand Budapest Hotel, Gustave, and himself with Law’s character, known only as the author. And it is quite a tale.
Gustave, played by Ralph Fiennes, is the concierge of the Grand Budapest Hotel, a job that he takes with the utmost seriousness. Everything must be perfect for the guests, first class, and he selects Zero , played by Tony Revolori, as his protege. He takes Zero under his wing, and Zero is in awe of him. And why wouldn’t he be? Gustave is suave and sophisticated and has a power and aura about him, confidence and style. Zero is a young man, with little prospects, and so being so close to someone like Gustave, to have him as a mentor, is a very big deal to Zero.
A series of events transpires – Gustave hears of the death of a favored guest, he inherits a priceless portrait, he gets accused of murder… and there are many other misadventures that follow. Through it all, the friendship that is between Zero and Gustave is strong. They hold each other up, they keep each other going, they are truly like brothers. As men without families, they are family to each other. They are brothers in arms, as they fight to stay one step ahead of the law – and one step ahead of Dmitri and Jopling. (Brody and Dafoe)
Gustave does not ever lose who he is throughout all the trials that befall him. He believes one must maintain civility in all situations, that these manners and trappings and rituals keep the world from becoming too ugly and well, uncivilized. One line stuck with me, as I am guessing that it was supposed to.
“There are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity.”
However, despite some of the darkness that is in this movie’s bones, there are those glimmers of goodness and humor. The Society of the Crossed Keys, almost every part with Ralph Fiennes, who honestly was so well cast. I don’t think any other actor could have pulled that part off with such, well, panache. I literally laughed at loud at some of his lines, just at how he could switch from gentleman to someone less refined, without breaking stride or changing his tone or delivery. And Gustave never lost who he was at the core – I loved his mush delivery scenes in the prison. It was actually a very funny movie, despite how I am making it sound! I think the parts that made me laugh most were when Zero would command Gustave not to flirt with his girl!
There were some scenes I loved because they made me think of Fantastic Mr. Fox. Scenes where Zero and Gustave were running from hotel to hotel and boarding and getting off different modes of transportation and it showed them as silhouettes, moving with that bouncy little sneaky tiptoe. Or on the motorbike together – so very Fantastic Mr. Fox, another Anderson film.
I loved these moments, their friendship, these glimmers of civility. I am reminded of two very different things. First, their relationship reminded me of the friendship between Lev and Kolya in City of Thieves, one of my very favorite books. And second, the glimmers. A year or two ago, people were talking about glimmers, “tiny, seemingly insignificant moments when you feel a sense of joy, pleasure, peace, and gratitude.” Those moments when you are snuggled up in bed, under a blanket, enjoying a movie with a loved one. The wind ruffling your hair. The scent of a pine forest on a winter day. You know what your glimmers are. And that is the coziness of this movie. Friendship, and looking for those little moments of joy.
And, I will end here because I have written a novel! Oh – quickly I want to say that this movie was based upon the writings of Stefan Zweig.
And ok one more thing. Jeez Louise so many things today! I saw this online the other day and it made me laugh. I thought you guys might like it too. Prada’s catwalk of villains – which has some very amazing and talented actors in it. I loved it.
Did you watch? What do you think of this movie? Feel free to comment and link up with us about it! The link is open for a week. You can read Lisa’s thoughts here!
Next up is our very last Comfy Cozy Cinema movie! We are having a watch party for Chocolat. How this works: Join our discord, The Dames, which is where we will chat to each other during the movie. We will gather there, then all press play at the same time – 7pm EST on Sunday November 17th (the day after my birthday!). I am planning on having some good chocolate to nibble on while watching.
And this is not the end of Comfy Cozy over here and at Boondock Ramblings. Just like last year, we will have a month long linky open for all holiday content! We call it Comfy Cozy Christmas, but it is for all comfy cozy anything you do in December. We will take a few weeks off then look for the linky December 1!
Today’s Prompt: Destination Titles (titles with name of places in them. These places can be real or fiction!) (this was a topic Rachel @ Sunny Side came up with for a freebie week last year and has let me steal it!)
I had fun with this one, looking back at books that I have read and enjoyed with destinations in the title. I am a big settings reader, and will often pick up a book just because of where the book is set.
It wouldn’t be one of my lists without some kids fiction. I read The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines because the main character uses a wheelchair and I like to look for books for Wyatt that have this representation. He deserves to see himself in literature, and not just as a character who is there to explain to others what it is like to use a wheelchair. Not all disabled characters need to be there to teach others about their experiences – they can have actual other roles in the book, and even be the main character who has their own adventures.
Miracles on Maple Hill was a wonderful, old fashioned read. I holed up this past winter with these type of wholesome books to make it through to spring and Miracles on Maple Hill was one of my favorites of the whole bunch that I read.
Greenglass House – I just love this world! I love this book, and I plan on reading the next in the series in December.
It also wouldn’t be a list of mine without some anthropomorphic animals. Shady Hollow is my pick for this week! I still haven’t read the second book – maybe I should do that this month. It feels like a good time to read it.
The House on Prytania is set in New Orleans, one of my very favorite cities in the United States. There was a time in my life that I deliberately set out to read every book that took place there. And my first trip there was due to all of my reading and needing to finally walk the streets that I had read so much about.
So, The Cloisters. I actually did not like this book, but I loved the setting. I have always always always wanted to go there.
A friend bought me this book this year, and it is easily one of my favorite reads of the whole year. I love that The Blue Castle is not only a fictional destination for this week’s topic, but also an imaginary one in the book as well. If you all need a pick me up book for whatever reason, I highly suggest this book.
And that my friends is my list for this week! I can’t wait to visit your posts and see what you have chosen!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hello everyone! Our week was full of school last week, and catching up on some things. It was a good busy. I loved getting caught up around home honestly. Getting things reorganized, moving stuff around. However, I went to bed at night exhausted and zonked out before I could even fathom reading.
I did finish one book though!
I had been very curious about Arden’s writing for kids, as I loved The Bear and the Nightingale. I have to say, I was just as much caught up in her middle grade as I was her adult fiction. I am looking forward to reading the next in this series, although that probably won’t be until January.
Reading This Week:
I just love this cover. And the sound of the book as well! I am reading in between stitching right now, when I get time. I am working on a few embroidered gifts, so I need to make sure I spend time on that as well. I just need two of me I think! Or, to be ok with never sleeping. Lol.
We are still watching the same old things here. The Great Pottery Throw Down and What We Do in the Shadows. We love them both!
We also only have two weeks left in our Comfy Cozy Cinema movie watching with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings! This week we are watching and talking about The Grand Budapest Hotel, and next week is our watch party for Chocolat! If you are interested the watch party and chat (all text on discord) in on November 17th at 7 pm EST. I plan on surrounding myself with some good chocolate candy to nibble on, some red wine, a comfy blanket, and my cozy bed for the watch.
And that is it from my corner of Michigan today! How are you all doing?
Hello everyone! Does it feel early to do this? Maybe a little. But, I love to make themed lists, especially for the holidays; I can’t help myself! And while these are affiliate links, the love of making them is more than just throwing out affiliate links, since I make like ten cents a year or something like that. But if I do make a dollar that is cool too, but it’s definitely not the money! It’s the joy. For some reason I feel like clarifying that.
Anywhoo, my first list this year is inspired by my love of cozy fantasy! Dragons, orcs, faeries, elves, hobbits – I am loving it all right now. So for those that love books like Legends and Lattes, ACOTAR, Emily Wilde, Fourth Wing – this list is for you! (or for those of you who love people like me, this list is for you too!) Just imagine it like a walk through the Renaissance Faire in the winter (ooo I would love that! Can I have that?) Turkey drumsticks, mugs of mead, and all the trappings, just picture it all for the holidays.
I would be happy if I received any of these items! I am adding them all to my list, Billy. Looking at you.
I love stickers, no real explanation there. And that sweatshirt makes me think of Tress!! Not the graphic itself, but what it says. Tress was no damsel – she took off to find her Charlie despite the dangers and risks. The mug, eh, not very fantasy but I am leaving it because it is so pretty.
The moon and stars mug is so pretty! I have always loved anything with a moon and star design and we can find this replicated in fantasy and cozy fantasy – the Night Court perhaps? The dragon sweatshirt is just cool. I always love all those things that say “I’m not a book hoarder, I’m a book dragon!” Maybe I am a book dragon too.
The little hobbit house made me think of my cousin for some reason. Well, I know partly, it’s because we share a love of The Hobbit. I remember being little kids and sitting on his bed looking through the book and listening to the record of The Hobbit that they had for kids. Anyone else remember the book and records? I wish I could have this and have incense send little smoke plumes out the top but my asthma prohibits me from incense.
I had to include fairies. I love fairies, I always have. Fae, faeries, fairies, whatever however, I love them. And another dragon, this time in a pretty folklore looking design.
Finally, just an enchanted wood with a fox and squirrel and a little reading elf. It all just makes me think of Emily Wilde and that whole world.
And there you have it – my cozy fantasy based gift guide!
For other Etsy Holiday ideas, check out the link here!
Hello everyone!! I am drinking my coffee today out of one my new favorite mugs, this one by Danica Studios. I am on a personal quest to replace my mugs with only ones that make me happy, which might sound absurd but..it’s the small things in life, right?
I just wanted to start this post today by saying my blog is my politics free zone.
I don’t think I have shared Halloween with you all, and I want to. So let’s throw this post right back to October!
The Saturday night before Halloween, Wyatt and I went to the Jack O’Lantern journey at the Detroit Zoo. Billy was supposed to go too, but he hurt his ankle working on Wyatt’s ramp that day, and wasn’t going to be able to manage all of the walking we were going to do. I was a bit nervous about taking Wyatt on my own, which is weird because I am not generally like that. I think because it was going to be dark so fast and I had to drive home through the city at night, but despite being a bit nervous, we went. And I am so glad that we did. We missed Billy of course, but Wyatt and I had a complete blast. We stayed so much later than I anticipated. We were just having such a good time together.
We came home in very high “spirits” and had lots to share with Billy. We bought these tickets as part of a package deal with their Christmas lights display, and now I am looking forward to holiday lights!
The next day was more Halloween shenanigans, with a visit to my dad and stepmom’s house. My stepmom had arranged a whole cookie and cupcake array for the kids to decorate (and eat). She had all of the candy decorations all pre-cut and in little bowls, frosting made, even edible eyes! It was really cool and the kids had a blast. Little Hurricane girl even sat on my lap and made cookies with me!
As you can see, the kids thoroughly enjoyed the day.
After all of our pre-Halloween activities, we were so excited when the big day finally came! Wyatt wanted to be a snail, which turned out pretty good if I do say so myself! I went as a mushroom and Billy wore a shirt with morels on it that said “I’m a fungi”. Lol. We cracked ourselves up.
Phew and now we have made it through Halloween!!
Finally, Billy and I celebrated our 24th anniversary on the 4th! We are old y’all. Wyatt’s grandma watched him for a few hours while we went out for sushi. We went to a place called The Goblin in Detroit (you know I loved that name) and ordered the Penguin tray to split. Now, the Penguin is supposed to come with a cute little rice penguin. But I wanted the panda that comes with the Panda tray lol, and the very nice owner made sure that I got a panda. I am weird. The employee/owner guy was super nice. We really enjoyed chatting with him. The restaurant is small, with maybe six tables total, but does a brisk carry out business. And the sushi was absolutely delicious. We will definitely be returning. And luckily it is not too far from where Billy works, so it would be very easy for Billy to pick up sushi on his way home. We had such a great time together and we need to go out the two of us more often.
Those are all of the big things that happened. We also had slow days, days where we just did school and therapy, sat outside in the sun, painted, played with our menagerie of creatures. And we even added two new babies, two little African clawed frogs that we named Hurkel and Durkel. They are so derpy, I love them.
And now for some random photos!
And that my friends is all for today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!
Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!! Our link will be live for a whole week after we post about a movie.
We had a last minute movie shake up! We were supposed to watch Skylark – then learned that we couldn’t find it available anywhere! Lisa switched it out to Bringing up Baby, starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, and it was adorable.
I just want to start by saying that Cary Grant was an attractive man, no denying it, but seriously he never looked better than he did as a dino nerd, the slightly awkward paleontologist David Huxley. Dang.
Now, the summary before I get really started. “Harried paleontologist David Huxley (Cary Grant) has to make a good impression on society matron Mrs. Random (May Robson), who is considering donating one million dollars to his museum. On the day before his wedding, Huxley meets Mrs. Random’s high-spirited young niece, Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn), a madcap adventuress who immediately falls for the straitlaced scientist. The ever-growing chaos — including a missing dinosaur bone and a pet leopard — threatens to swallow him whole.” (From theromcomcatalog)
I loved this movie! Maybe because on some level this movie made me think of Billy and I; he often calls me Calamity as my nickname because well, I guess he thinks I can be a bit of a Calamity. And he wouldn’t be wrong. Billy is much more rational and practical than I am; I get us into all sorts of predicaments, all none of them as cool as what happened in this movie.
So. David is supposed to be married to a woman named Alice Swallow, who is his assistant at the museum. It is never really said why other than that it is for his career, and it sounds like it will be a business-like, staid marriage. No honeymoon, no children. Just work. Which, yuck. David doesn’t seem too thrilled with that but kind of shrugs it off. Neither are madly in love with the other, so that makes what happens the rest of the movie ok.
Enter Susan Vance, portrayed by Katharine Hepburn. She is wealthy, has an even wealthier aunt, and is a bit of a scatterbrain. She is also very impulsive and flighty. And, she has a leopard! Her brother who is in Brazil sent it her way, and while it seems rather tame she can’t keep it in her apartment either, and convinces David to help her drive it out to her country house.
We get a taste of the madcap crazy in the beginning when the two meet, but it doesn’t really escalate until they reach the countryside. It is one thing after another, crazy schemes and situations and misunderstandings and dogs and leopards and car thefts and running around the woods and country at night. It was a wild trip!
Grant and Hepburn were fantastic and just kept the frantic energy up the whole movie, complete with witty remarks and exasperation. When David meets Susan’s aunt, he is clothed in a negligee of Susan’s and has no idea that he is meeting the woman he is hoping will donate money to the museum and kind of releases some of his frustration at his situation on her. Susan tries to cover up for his behavior by telling his aunt that he is a man named David Bone who is a friend of her brother’s, and who has had a nervous breakdown. I thought this was so funny as it becomes a running joke where anything he does is a result of his nervous breakdown, at least as far as the aunt is concerned.
Anyway, there are so many moments in this movie that were funny or endearing or both. They are on the hunt for the leopard baby, who has escaped. Although, unbeknownst to them, another more ferocious leopard has escaped from the nearby circus. Two leopards are on the loose in Connecticut in the same few square miles – what could go wrong?
I always use a net when I am looking for escaped leopards too.
The audience knows of course that Grant and Hepburn are going to end up together, and we are just waiting for the moment that the characters themselves realize it.
We have to wait all the way until the end, when David is back in his museum, putting together his Brontosaurus, sans glasses by the way. Susan comes in with his bone, and she climbs up a ladder, which we all know will end in disaster because it is Susan after all.
This movie was madcap, funny, crazy. I never knew what misadventure would befall our hero and heroine from minute to minute and I loved it. And now I totally want my own leopard. However, that seems to be illegal in the United States. I do have a leopard gecko, and she is a sweet girl and easier to feed so there is that.
My Luna baby.
If you watched Skylark or anything else at all, feel free to comment and link up with us about it! The link is open for a week. You can read Lisa’s thoughts here!
Next up is The Grand Budapest Hotel, and after that is Chocolat and our watch party! We will all press play together at home and chat on our discord channel (and don’t worry, not on video!). The watch party will be November 17th, at 7pm EST. (the day after my birthday! yay!)
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 