Avatar = Amazing

Despite the fact that Derek and I are avid movie-watcher's and frequent the local AMC theatre, I rarely post on these experiences nor give my reviews. The movie, Avatar, however, deserved just that.

This Action, Sci Fi movie was beyond any expectations that I had.... and even those were somewhat high being that it's a James Cameron movie! It's not just a cheesy story about extremely tall blue people and their world with flying dragons. It's a visually stimulating, magical story with wonderful music and top notch CG imagery with an amazing James Horner score. After leaving the theatre, I would have given anything to be back into the world of Pandora and the beautiful plants and animal living in their world.

Overall, if you haven't seen this movie, I would highly recommend it. Regardless of if you are a Sci Fi lover or not, I personally believe any normal human being would like this movie. And definitely see it in 3D if you get the chance. It will really surprise you!

Gift Wrapping!

Another favorite part of the Holidays are wrapping gifts. I spend a lot of time picking out my paper, ribbons, bows and gift labels and like to carefully and strategically wrap each gift. I do realize that some people probably just threw up in their mouth reading that as it's a disliked task in certain households. I find it very relaxing to throw on some Christmas music, wrap and dance around while singing at the top of my lungs!

This year, I chose a red and gold theme and think they turned out mighty fine if I do say so myself! (Minus the few thousand glitter speckles all over the kitchen!)

Gone to the Dogs

I do think my cooking skills have improved within the past few years. I enjoy trying new meals, even if I do refuse to venture at all from the recipe. They seem to turn out well for the most part... at least edible if not yummy.

I also am a sucker for traditions so it was time again to make my favorite Christmas treat..... my mother's banana bread. So my first batch (3 small loaves) cooked for an hour like it should and then was removed from the oven. The toothpick came out soggy so they went back in for another 15 minutes. Same thing. Back in for another 10 minutes. Same thing. I finally gave up and knew something was wrong although I had gone over the recipe 8 times in my head and had followed every step to a Tee! The bread was like rubber and only the outside was cooked, and I could not figure it out for the life of me!

Anyone want to take a guess as to what was wrong? This website explains it all. Apparently I had grabbed the baking powder out of the pantry instead of the baking soda. I can just hear all of those cooks out there groaning while reading this in disappointment of my stupidity. How was I to know? They both are white, powdery and for baking. The worst part, however, is that I thought I could use them as treats for the dogs. Nope. They pretty much looked like they were choking on the most disgusting thing ever tasted when I tossed them a nibble. Pretty sad when your own dogs won't even eat your cooking.

Oh well, got more bananas and will be on loaf #7 tomorrow!

2 Peas in a Pod

Lacy has always been an Alpha towards Bailey and sometimes (rarely) can even get a bit pissy with her. That's changed a lot over the past year and they seem to be becoming more like sisters should.

I was working yesterday and Bailey was laying on her bed next to me as she always does. Lacy decided she wanted in on the comfort and laid down on the bed as well. Yes, NEXT to Bailey and no, she didn't GROWL at her to get off first! I quickly snapped this picture with my phone as it just warmed my heart to see the two together.

** You can see Bailey's face looking at me with an "WTF?" face!

Cleveland

I thought it would only be appropriate to somewhat recap our weekend in Cleveland by listing some facts we learned about our new city! (Don't expect any pictures as we were purely just house-hunting all weekend!)

- Cleveland has the 2nd largest Theatre District behind NYC. (Don't worry - I didn't believe it either until we ventured down there to spontaneously see a play!)
- When they say it's 30 degrees, it feels more like 2 due to the FREEZING winds coming off the lake!
- Cleveland has gone from being the 33rd largest city in 2000 to now the 40th largest, due to a steady increase in people leaving the city.
- The school districts there have Elementary, Middle School, Junior High and High School. (We only have 3 here!) They are K-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12.
- The Cleveland Metropark Zoo has one of the largest collection of primates in North America. (Can't WAIT to visit the zoo!)
- Last year, the city was ranked the 7th most dangerous city in the nation among cities with a population of 100,000 to 500,000 and the 11th most dangerous overall. Awesome, right? (What is odd about that fact is the lack of security systems in homes, and better yet, our realtor doesn't even lock her doors at night!)
- This city had the first traffic light ever! It began on Aug. 5, 1914.

Decorating Twice!

This year, because Derek and I are homeless, we didn't have our own tree to decorate. Fortunately, both of our parents needed help decorating theirs! I always enjoy hanging the ornaments with my family as there are special memories for most of them. It was also fun to listen to Derek's parents talk about the memories from theirs as well.

Christmas is definitely my favorite Holiday and I think one reason why is the decorations. I definitely didn't mind decorating TWO trees!

(To the left is my parents tree and to the right is my in-laws tree... ignore the camera flash issues!)

Wicked was WICKED!

I was so sad this summer when Derek and I tried to get a ticket to this musical in NYC only to find out it was sold out every night. Fortunately, my mother surprised the family with some great seats to this show this past weekend. I've heard the rave reviews and all of the good publicity and was super excited. And now after actually seeing it? I'm officially on the bandwagon.

I'm not sure if it was the amazing actors, or the costumes, or just the plot and humor within. Whatever it was, Wicked was an absolutely amazing musical. It made us fall in love with the 'villain' that we grew up to hate as children watching the Wizard of Oz. I even had dreams that night involving the cast and STILL have those songs stuck in my head!

Needless to say, wherever you are, you must find the nearest music hall showing this musical and buy yourself a ticket!!

Book Review - Sarah's Key

Although it's taken me a while to finish, this book was wonderful and was a fun, different read.

Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay, tells the story of Sarah, a ten year-old Jewish girl, who is arrested in 1942 by the French police. Wanting to protect her younger brother, she locks him in a cupboard and promises to come back for him as soon as she can. Another story is woven throughout the book in every other chapter that sits in a more modern world. This story revolves around Julia Jarmond, an American journalist. She's asked to write about the 60th anniversary of the Vel’ d’Hiv’—the infamous day in 1942 when French police rounded up thousands of Jewish men, women and children, in order to send them to concentration camps. Sarah’s Key is the story of these two families, forever linked and haunted by one of the darkest days in France’s past. The back and forth creates a very interesting, emotionally intense read.

I'm giving this book an A and would recommend it to anyone!

I was especially drawn into this book when a personal, special connection came to be known. Sarah's younger brother's name is revealed as "Michael" a couple of chapters in. Not only is that my younger brother's name, but the connection that they share in the book is similar to ours. I'm very fortunate to have a wonderful brother with whom I have a strong relationship and love to death!