Red Riding Hood

I found this darling image on Flickr today.  I'm amazed at how we take scary children's stories and turn them into pretty little books and cards.  This is a get well card!  Oh my, get well or you might be eaten by the big bad wolf!

My teenage daughter and her friends are anxiously waiting the arrival of this movie set to come out next week.  Ok, maybe I'm alittle excited too!  

Joyfully,

The Secret Garden

Today I would like to share another of my favorites movies, "The Secret Garden".  As we are all waiting for our gardens to grow this spring, I encourage you to pop this movie in for inspiration.  There is something about the discovery of a garden and the joy of uncovering flowers and bringing the garden back to life that is so fulfilling.  There is a lot of suspense and drama going on with the characters and you will certainly be entertained as well.

The original book is by author, Frances Hodgson Burnett and the illustrations are by the wonderful Tasha Tudor.  This is a great book to add to your collection.  Take a stroll through the garden with me as I share some of the flowers that I'm waiting to see sprout up this spring...

Lavender

Peonies

Foxglove

Climbing Red Rose

Delphinium

Daisy

Morning Glory

I hope your day is filled with sunshine and flowers,

Miss Potter

I just watched, again, one of my favorite movies, "Miss Potter" the story of Beatrix Potter played by Renee Zellweger.  I love everything about it, from the clothes to the animation and of course the love story.

I have always enjoyed her precious children's books.  Every little creature she draws speaks volumes to me.  I have  had a fascination with mice since I was very small.  This fascination has carried over into a small collection of mice.  I even have tiny mice that roam in my dollhouse in my dining room.

It's about this time of year when I daydream about putting a little play house in my back yard and planting a story book garden, one that Peter Rabbit would be happy to visit.

I love this picture because of the sewing implements.  This little mouse looks perplexed as he studies the patterns, I can relate to that more often than not.

The colors of Beatrix Potter's illustrations are just dreamy.  I have a feeling that it won't be long before the movie is back in my DVD player.  Have a joyful day!

Smiles,

Alice In Wonderland

Last night I saw "Alice in Wonderland" and I can't stop thinking about it today.  Was it bizzare? Yes.  Did I follow most of it?  No.  The special effects were amazing and the costumes were incredible.  Honestly, it was really strange.  My daughter commented on the way out that she heard that Lewis Caroll was on drugs when he wrote the book.  I don't know if that's true, but I can understand how one could make a case for it.

Today, I plan on watching the Disney version.  Not only will it enchant me, but will also remind me of when my children were little, and things were much simpler (for so many reasons).

If I get super motivated I might reread the book, which is really the best way to try to understand the story in the first place.  No movie can quite capture the pictures your imagination dreams up while reading a good story.

The real Alice of "Alice in Wonderland"

Have a wonderful Saturday!

With joy,

Julie & Julia

Last night I watched Julie & Julia again.  I can't help myself, I love it.  It always leaves me wanting to cook Beef Bourguignon and anything made with butter.   I love the clothes from that time period, how they are feminine and not revealing.  How they let you see the person, not the parts that should be covered.  I think this role is the best of Meryl Streep's acting career.  I enjoy Amy Adams as well, finding her a very believable and authentic actress.

I really enjoy cooking.  I've had to adjust my quantities since my son left for college.  His senior year, I had a bunch of his friends over every Thursday for lunch.  I had a lot of fun cooking for them.  They were often my food testers as I would try new recipes.  I have a picture of all the boys and myself that my friend Missy took on one of our last lunch days before graduation.  I haven't cooked as much recently as I should and so I've been trying to get back into it again.  I find that when I meal plan for the week days things run a lot smoother at home.  On the weekends I will try out new things.  Last Saturday I spent all day in the kitchen baking a cake, cookies, banana bread, challah and chicken chili.  I think my husband and daughter thought I had lost my mind.   I'm thinking about tackling the Beef Bourguignon today.  How about you, what's cooking?

Joyfully,