"i don't know. it's a mystery."

"shakespeare in love"

William Shakespeare: My story starts at sea, a perilous voyage to an unknown land. A shipwreck. The wild waters roar and heave. The brave vessel is dashed all to pieces. And all the helpless souls within her drowned. All save one. A lady. Whose soul is greater than the ocean, and her spirit stronger than the sea's embrace. Not for her a watery end, but a new life beginning on a stranger shore. It will be a love story. For she will be my heroine for all time. And her name will be Viola.

"love is the only inspiration"

Synopsis

It is the summer of 1593, and the rising young star of London's theatre scene, Will Shakespeare, faces a scourge like no other: a paralyzing bout of writer's block. While the great Elizabethan age of entertainment unfolds around him, Will is without inspiration on material. What Will needs is a muse--and in an extraordinary moment in which life imitates art, he finds and falls for a woman who draws him into his own dramatic adventure of star-crossed love. It all begins when Lady Viola, desperate to become an actor at a time when women were forbidden from such depravity, disguises herself as a man to audition for Will's play. But the guise slips away as their passion ignites. Now Will's quill again begins to flow, this time turning love into words, as Viola becomes his real-life Juliet and Romeo finds his reason to exist. Yet all is not well in Will's world. For even as the parchment begins to pile up, he's plagued by the fact that Lady Viola must marry the insufferable Lord Wessex

click on the arrow below 
for a look at the original movie trailer

"tell me how you love her, will.
like a sickness and its cure together."

"how is this to end?
as stories must when love's denied: with tears and a journey".

this is without question in my top 5 favorite movies

of all time!

i love, love, love it!!!!

you should totally watch it:)

bye...

more later...

how do you like them apples?

i am about to become a granny:)

it seems fitting that i should do something with my favorite kind of apple...

the granny smith...

this is a made up recipe by me:)

really...

i found some cranberry cinnamon goat cheese

at costco,

and it is fantastic! 

(but actually any cheese would be fine.

brie would be delicious with the honey.)

 it also took only 5 minutes to prepare...

i have decided that puff pastry is my new best friend 

(seriously, have you ever used this stuff? it's impossible to mess up and tastes like you really know what you are doing)

and one of my new years resolutions was to learn more about how to pair cheese with fruit and other things

because i love the combination so much!

this is what i came up with.

fold the edges of the puff pastry in to form a pretty edge...

you could add toasted pecans or sliced almonds as well...

it is very light and really good!

honey and cheese?

so, so, good...

one of my favorite ways to warm up my house in the

freezing temperatures that we are experiencing 

right now, is to cook something...

i am learning to cook:)

really...

i hope you are enjoying our book...

have a great week...

i will keep you posted on my little blue bug...

bye...

more later...

"life is a storm, my young friend."

"the count of monte cristo" 

a young man, falsely imprisioned by his jealous "friends", escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge.

Synopsis

Dashing young sailor Edmond Dantes is a guileless and honest man, whose peaceful life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes are abruptly shattered when his best friend Fernand, who wants Mercedes for himself, deceives him. Set up to be unlawfully sentenced to the infamous island prison of Chateau D'If, Edmond is trapped in a nightmare that lasts for thirteen years. Over time everything he ever believed about right and wrong is abandoned and replaced by all-consuming thoughts of vengeance against those who betrayed him. With the help of an equally innocent fellow inmate, Dantes plots and succeeds in his mission to escape from prison, whereupon he transforms himself into the mysterious and wealthy Count of Monte Cristo. With cunning ruthlessness, he cleverly insinuates himself into the French nobility and systematically destroys the men who manipulated and enslaved him.

"let's make a bargain. you ask God for help, and i'll stop the moment He shows up."

definitely one of my top movies...

you will love it!

it's on netflix

bye...

more later...

cozy dinner. robyn style

robyn sent this to warm up our freezing cold weekend:

 looks amazing...

she says she let hers simmer for a few hours

and to serve it with grilled cheese sandwiches...

i am making it as we speak:)

thanks robyn...

what's warming up your single digit weekend?

bye...

more later...

"you are my whole existence, and i will love you until my very last breath."

Who Was Queen Victoria?

"She was a fun-loving princess who endured an unhappy childhood, enjoyed the attentions of some of the most prominent men of her day and, for all her breeding, retained the common touch."

The history books tell us that she was the ruler of the United Kingdom of Great Britain from 1837 to 1901. Her time in power was the longest of any ruler in British history and came to be known as the Victorian Era. With this, we immediately conjure up all those images of a frumpy over-weight woman dressed in black; but now, with the motion picture, "The Young Victoria", we are presented with a different view of this dynamic British monarch.

this movie is so beautiful and sweet...

a royal who married for love and remained madly in love for her whole life,

despite what was expected of her.

she chose love above all else and remained true to her people and responsibilities at the same time...

one of my favorite royal characters...

and prince albert...oh he was amazing:)

"You are confusing stubbornness with strength, my dear. And I warn you, the people will not like you for it".

Queen Victoria: [sobbing] I'm so sorry! I thought I was going to lose you!

Prince Albert: I don't think he was a very good shot. 

Queen Victoria: Why did you do it? So stupid, why did you do it?

Prince Albert: I had two very good reasons. First, I am replaceable and you are not.

Queen Victoria: You are not replaceable to me!

Prince Albert: Second, you're the only wife I've got or ever will have. You are my whole existence, and I will love you until my very last breath.


i loved this movie...
(on netflix:))

bye...
more later...

baby blue brunch

so...

we had a party...

fyi....

don't do a search on pinterest for

"baby shower for boy"

because there is no way to ever measure up to the amazing things people come up with and you will just feel like a failure...

my advice is keep it simple:)

but ohhh we had some fun!

we had an open house and served brunch...

in spite of the fact that we are living in 

"flu central"

and it's -6 degrees and we had a ton of snow over the holidays,

(it's basically the frozen tundra with a lot of coughing)

we had a great time...

here are some pictures taken by maddie... 

we served breakfast casserole

(recipe at the end of this post)

and french toast bites.

i would love to take the credit for these amazing treats because they were definitely the hit of the party.

my idea was to make them and serve them in little cups with maple syrup like on pinterest.

however,

that's just insane!!!!!

i ran out of time and instead went to macey's and got my favorite

french toast bagels and toasted them and put butter and powdered sugar on them and cut them into bite size pieces with a pizza cutter...

easy peasy...

i cheated,

 as per usual:)

and every last one of them was gone...

                             

we also had granola in snack cups

                           

cinnamon rolls

delicious fruit and cheese

no winter brunch is complete without

delicious homemade hot chocolate to warm us up...

courtesy of grandma dallyne...

thanks mom!

i served the hot chocolate with yummy

biscotti

~~~~~~~~~~~

here is the recipe for the yummy egg casserole we ate...

i also make this every christmas morning!

it's always a hit:)

it does tend to bubble over so i suggest putting a cookie sheet under the casserole dish.



next up?

BABY!!!!!

p.s.

i wanted to look pretty for my new grandson:)

i am extremely weird...

have a diet coke on me:)

bye...

more later...

"what the hell do you think leona really puts in that pizza"?

just thought i'd let you know about this little gem of a movie

"mystic pizza"

one of julia roberts first movies

and it's on netflix! 

pizza just makes people happy...

it also stars this little cutie...

matt damon

it's good...

click on the arrow below for a look at the movie trailer...

bye...

more later...

"i could almost hear you laugh"

a look back...

i thought last year was memorable...

for the first year in so many years, i was in touch in some way with every one...

i didn't really know the best way to do that but having a book club was what i came up with...

i knew we all loved to read...

or cook...

or watch movies...

since we live so far apart this seem to be a pretty fun way to stay in touch...

pretty cheap too:)

thanks guys...

pretty cool family!

here is a look at my favorites from last year.

~~~~~

"the book thief" 

this book was unexpected and really amazing.

i think it is one i will never forget.

~~~~~`

"shadow of night"

i so loved this book and "a discovery of witches" 

and since i kind of have a thing for witch books and movies

this will definitely go down as one of my favorite series.

i am really excited for book three! 

i will keep you posted about when it is supposed to come out.

~~~~~

"the thirteenth tale"

i think that this book was the perfect book for a book club.

this story was so interesting and mysterious and of all the books we have read, this one was the one i wish we could have had a party for.

it would have been so fun to talk about and plan a party around.

it was for sure one of my favorites.

~~~~~

"outlander"

this one has become a lifelong favorite series.

i have loved it.

~~~~~

"the physic book of deliverance dane"

this one was not on our reading list but one i came across and enjoyed so much.

it is a modern witch book but also delves into the salem witch trials and what those people went through.

it was fascinating and also very unexpected. 

it would have been a fun one to talk about as well.

 ~~~~~

"the night circus"

okay.

this one was my very favorite...

makes me want to make carmel corn right now.

i think i had the most fun during the months of february  and october.

i would love to know what your favorites were...

~~~~~

can't wait to see what this new year brings...

babies, books, and who knows what else...

we are down to counting the days now...

i will keep you posted:)

bye...

more later...