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.

Let’s tread lightly, for here there be dragons…

Cozy Fantasy Era Sticker || A Well-Read Woman Mug || Not Your Damsel Sweatshirt

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.

Handmade Moon and Stars Mug || Book Dragon Sweatshirt || Handmade Hobbit House Incense Burner

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.

Dragon Book Nook || Beside a Dying Fire Candle || Dragon Pocket Hug

Speaking of book dragons, check this cool shelf dragon. Perfect for guarding your precious book treasures!

The other two, the candle and the dragon stone, are just fun.

Fairy Cameo Locket || Book Dragon Folklore Shirt || Elven Reading Forest

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!

Happy Halloween!!

 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. You can read Lisa’s post about Dracula here! This week was a wild card freebie week!

This week’s comfy cozy movie is Practical Magic, starring Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Diane Wiest, and Stockard Channing, all of whom are perfectly witchy witchy.

First, let me say that this movie had the best 90s vibes! It took me right back to my youth, being a teen/young adult in the 90s. The clothes alone – my own wardrobe could have stepped out of this movie back then, and was a blast from the past to see again onscreen. I mean, those dresses. I would have worn mine with Dr. Martens though. And those shorts with that tee? I think I had so many of those type shirts back then! I would probably still wear the green dress and cardigan look there honestly.

This image is from Pinterest by way of the Nightswimming Tumblr.

I was always more of a Sally than a Gillian.

Ok, now that I have that out of my system, let’s go on.

Quick summary: Raised by their aunts after their parents’ death from a family curse, the sisters were taught the uses of practical magic as they grew up. As adults, Sally and Gillian must use their magic to destroy the evil spirit of Gillian’s abusive boyfriend before it kills them.

This movie is about, well, witches. The Owens women have always been witches, and everyone knows it. Growing up Sally and Gillian were shouted at by kids in the street, and watched their eclectic aunts, Aunt Frances and Aunt Jet, meddled in the love lives of others, mostly upon request.

They also lived under a family curse, one that states that any man that they fall in love with will die young. Love to Sally looks too dangerous, unpredictable, and tragic, and she vows to never fall in love. Gillian on the other hand is her complete opposite, and can’t wait to embrace that roller coaster that they see played out before them in their aunt’s kitchen whenever the lovelorn come calling. Sally even casts a love spell on herself, creating the perfect man who can never exist, full of qualities like two different colored eyes, one blue and one green and who can flip pancakes in the air, because if the perfect man can never exist, then she is safe and can never fall in love. Or so she thinks.

The sisters go their separate ways in life, with Sally living a quiet life on the island with her aunts, and eventually getting married and having babies, and swearing to live normally and without magic. Gillian is off on wild adventures, but the two keep in touch, writing long honest and open letters to each other. While they are not close in distance, they are close in spirit.

And that is my favorite part of this movie. Their sisterhood, their relationship. They are each other’s ride or die, the one you would do anything for. They are there for each other, and in one of my favorite parts of the movie, Gillian returns to town for just one night, when she senses her sister needs her, and they spend the night just talking and talking and laughing. When Sally wakes up the next day her sister is gone, like it was all just a dream.

This movie is full of cozy aesthetic – the big old Victorian, the beautiful garden, Sally’s shop, the cozy looking cardigans, the quaint village (full of jerks but whatever it is pretty),cats, the fact that Gillian never wore shoes, that GREENHOUSE, eating cake for breakfast, and of course midnight margaritas! (fun fact: they all were actually drunk in that scene) Just so many quirky weird little things. I love that kind of stuff.

But then there is the other side of the coin, as there always is. Darkness, anger, grief, sadness. The balance that is life, ups and downs, good and bad. And the real magic is how we get through those times, with help from those we love, from our family, from our friends.

Is this a great movie, on par with Rear Window? No. Was it a fun movie from my youth? Yes, 100%. Billy and I loved rewatching it together the other night (because you KNOW I dragged him to the theater to see it with me in 1998), and joked about getting up for a midnight margarita at 8pm but then opted for ginger tea instead. Ah the difference time makes.

And remember: “Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.”

If you watched anything this week link up with us! This week is wild card week! This link will be open for a week.

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Next up: Skylark. This movie is free to watch streaming on Roku!

Hello everyone!! 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. You can find Lisa’s post here.

This week’s movie is Dial M for Murder, another Hitchcock film. This one stars Grace Kelly, Ray Milland, and Anthony Dawson and is summarized on IMDB as “A former tennis star arranges the murder of his adulterous wife.”

They probably have the same problem I do – not wanting to reveal anything about this movie so they kept their summary short and sweet.

Dial M for Murder is a typical Hitchcock, full of the twists and turns and tension that we are used to. This movie wastes no time at all in getting right down to it either. The movie starts building tension immediately, as Margot and Mark are in Margot and Tony’s apartment, anticipating his return home. Margot reveals that she has gotten two letters, blackmailing her over her adulterous relationship with Mark. As they are discussing what this means and what she should do, Tony arrives home, interrupting them.

And honestly, right from this point on, the game begins.

The viewer knows everything that is happening in this movie, unlike in Rear Window when we could only see what Jeff saw. Here, we see everything unfolding before us and despite knowing all the facts, we helplessly watch as things play out and keep us on the edges of our seats. Billy and I were fairly silent as we watched this movie; normally we chat here and there, or have little comments, but for this one, we were drawn in right from the start and barely spoke.

The movie for the most part takes place in one room, Tony and Margot’s ground floor apartment, and the fear that Hitchcock can create just using that one little room, a simple setting, is pure genius, and so much rests on the performances of the actors, all of which played their roles with equal talent and genius. I admittedly had a few scenes where I gasped, surprised or shocked, and scenes where I felt like shouting at the screen – I was all in. I really really didn’t like Tony, and he played the role of a diabolical schemer so very well.

The actual “big scene” was so scary, I barely took a breath! And when Grace Kelly flung out her hand, like in the movie poster, it sent chills down my spine.

This movie really did keep us guessing, and well, I loved it. It was perfect for mid-October, a movie that was a bit scary but not too scary, not gory, and as we made ourselves comfy, with our popcorn and for me, a glass of red wine this time instead of tea, it was that perfect near Halloween feeling. When I was younger I found it in horror movies and haunted houses; now I find it with old classic Hitchcock movies watched from the comfort of my bed.

Did you watch with us? Add your post to our linky, or if you’d rather, share your comments below! The more the merrier! Find Lisa’s post here!

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Next week we are watching Practical Magic starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, or if you would rather, throw in a wild card movie of your choice! This post will live up on Halloween!

And one final thing – we are having a watch party for Chocolat! Stayed tuned for more details but the gist is that we will all watch independently, we will press play at the same time, then discuss and chat during the movie on our discord, The Dames! I am setting up a room today for the discussion of all of our movies – feel free to join and poke around. If you are nervous because you are not familiar with discord, well, I am still figuring it out as well!