It is a truth universally acknowledged...

You may remember me talking about the book Austenland by Shannon Hale here, even here, maybe here, and yes here. But did you know that there is a sequel called Midnight in Austenland coming out January 31st? Obviously being such a fan of the first I have been dying to read the sequel. Well Shannon decided to have a contest on twitter and the winner would receive an advance readers copy (ARC) of Midnight in Austenland.

When pondering what I should add to the famous opening line of Pride & Prejudice "IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." I thought of a conversation I had with my friend Melissa while waiting in line to get our books signed by James Dashner. I belive we were talking about Inception & Tom Hardy when I said something about how a British accent can take a marginally good looking guy and make him hot. It seemed like a perfect "Connie" truth to proclaim as universal. 

Maybe Shannon thought so too or maybe she just picked me because I bugged her about never announcing a winner for the contest.

 Look what I got in the mail yesterday!





*note this is my third copy (2nd signed) copy of Austenland I have a paperback copy to loan & that I can mark up.





At work we are getting a new server and there is little work that can be done with out my computer so I got to go home and read while my new computer was getting hooked up. I had to stop by my library to pick some things up and decided to read outside since it was a beautiful day here. I strolled through the Riparian Preserve that is around my library. And found the perfect spot to sit and read an Austen inspired novel.





While reading I laughed out loud more times than I can count, which is why I decided to retreat and finish reading in the privacy of my own home. I loved the Gothic appeal and twist to it, I would highly recommend reading or at least watching Northanger Abbey before reading. While reading I realized that I had a grin permanently on my face except for the suspenseful parts, well sometimes even during those! It was a great read I am so happy I was able to go back to Pembrook Park!

Paper Glue & String

I wanted to make Mimi something to help her remember our trip to Europe (she complains about forgetting things). It wasn't till I saw Debbie's Christmas card that I knew that I wanted to make a book and draw/write the places we went.































I also made the cover which I forgot to get a picture of maybe I can get a picture of it and post about later.
I actually made it rather fast I drew the pictures in pencil then just used pen to go over it. Glued on the pictures and hand stitched the book together.

That Time I Met Jason Schwartzman

Last week I watched The Fantastic Mr. Fox and was thinking about good old Wes Anderson and wondering what he was up to. Today I found out exactly he has been up to





I can not think of Wes Anderson and not think about that time I met Jason Schwartzman.

The year was 2002 my sister Debbie & I decided last minuet that we were going to go see Phantom Planet who were opening for Elvis Costello. If you watched The OC you know at least one of their songs but this was pre-OC.

Everything just seemed to work out magically that night first with these guys letting us sit in their front & center seats while Phantom Planet was playing. Then the lead singer jumped down from stage and sang with Debbie. Then before leaving the stage he came over and gave me a drum stick.

Jason was the drummer of the band and through the whole concert he did not look up once he just was beating on his drums. After such an awesome night we decided to see if we could get our CD signed. We were walking by buses trying to guess which one was theirs when we hear a guy yell "hey"(it was a nice hey I know you kind of hey) we turned to see the lead singer. We had to hang around a little longer to met the rest of the band but when Jason finally showed up he said to us. "Hey I know you girls, you girls rock hard." I asked him how he knew since he never looked up once. He replied with "oh I see all." We told him we were fans of Rushmore and I had to ask him if he was one of the announcers during this scene in The Royal Tenenbaums



He told me no, that is was actually Wes Anderson along with the other Wilson brother Andrew. I still think it sounds like him but he did tell me I wasn't the fist person who thought so.

We didn't have a camera with us but here is a picture of the signed CD Jacket.




And here are a couple of pictures of Debbie & I that were taken that year.

Hip Hip Hooray

My parents decided they wanted to treat us all to dinner and while we were gathered for dinner my brother Mark found out his grades for his first semester at Law School were all A's & B's, good enough that he is in the top 25% of his class!
Once my brother in law Russ mentioned that getting a group of people to follow you in a cheer of hip hip hooray is good fun. I decided to give it a go and  while at the restaurant called "three cheers for Mark! Hip hip hooray... and by the third round I got a good number to join in. It was good fun, I highly recommend cheering people!





I have resolved to try and improve my artistic abilities and get over my fears of them being seen. So you may be seeing more of my little doodles on this blog.

Out With The Old In With The New part 5

Happy New Year!!! 

Guys can you believe that I have been blogging for over 5 years now? December was a busy and fun month and I feel like my holiday's just finished and I can finally get to posting my traditional end of year favorite movies post.  (I know you all have been waiting for it.) ;)

My favorite movie of 2011 with out a doubt had to have been Harry Potter Deathly Hallows part 2. I think I saw it three times in the theater & know it is going to be one of the movies that I will remember seeing in the theater for years to come.


Next up was The Kings Speech, really what is not to like about this movie, a marvelously talented cast & a story that pulls on your heart strings.


In my opinion the X-Men movies are what made comic book movies kick up their game and X-Men First Class did not disappoint. I believe I said this in a blog post already but a comic book movie that can make me cry is a good comic book movie!


Movies I liked were Super 8, Midnight in Paris, Jane Eyre & Like Crazy, even with its indie ending.

As for the New, 2012 is going to rock our socks off with movies! So many movies I am looking forward to seeing!!!
Obviously The Dark Knight Rises

My brother Mark and I were texting today about little things in the trailer, WE CAN NOT WAIT!

The Hobbit


The Hunger Games


I am also looking forward to The Avengers, Snow White and the Huntsman & Disney's Brave.

The Christmas Post

Christmas Eve my parents little brother Eric and I all went to Debbie's house where we had dinner then went and saw the Mesa Temple lights. 

My BFF wanted me to hold her (as usual) and she enjoyed telling everyone Merry Christmas!

After my parents and Eric headed home but I spent the night instead of waking up and just driving back over for Christmas morning. It was fun to help get everything ready for the morning.

The beginning of December Debbie called so stressed because she couldn't think of what she was going to do for the kids for Christmas, and I reminded her of things she wanted to do like a play house for the kids. Part of me wondered it would happen, and can I just say I am super impressed. 

Then we went in to open presents! Debbie has better pictures on her blog. 

Joe is just a pooh bear himself.

I helped Gracie make the Captain America shield and think it turned out great. 

After opening presents we went to church then headed for my mom's for breakfast lunch & opening more presents. Gracie helped me make the stuffed french toast she is such a little good helper. 

You guys would not even believe how excited I got about this steering wheel cover. My parents have one and I love it, I am so glad they remembered how much I wanted one. I also received a tiny porcelain tea set because if Grandma couldn't get one for each of the grand girls then the second best was aunt Connie.

Ain't no party like a tea party!

My cousin Amy sent us a link to a video of me, Debbie, my our cousins Chris & Steve singing "Everything I Do I Do it for You."

I would just like you all to see what a giant I was as a kid. My cousin Chris is six months older than me and I am like a head taller than him.
I am going to share the video but it is not all that embarrassing. I loved hearing Debbie's little voice talk and seeing how out of control thick my hair was. My little brother Eric does some nice dancing and singing after us.

The White Elephant In The Room

Our family tried out a new tradition this year, we decided to do an adult dinner and then a white elephant gift exchange. Personally I stressed over picking what present to get. I had bought Warrior before my brothers decided to come over and watch it. But I wanted it to be funny as well, then I saw that Anthropologie had Emma with this quote on the back. True it probably wasn't funny to anyone but me but I thought it was funny. 

I am happy because Debbie & Ashley were fighting over it and I really wanted a gift people would want. While I watched Warrior with my brothers the night before I wrote all 16 numbers out (yep that is my parents, siblings and in laws).

 After dinner we all went back to my condo for presents and desert. But first Mark and Ashley asked if they could use my bed room, when they came out they were dressed like this...

Here is my other brother Ryan modeling one of the fake mustaches he got.

There was lots of laughing and fun to be had, I am already looking forward to next years!

The Tom Hardy Weekend

Being the Batman fan that I am I went to IMAX to watch a special 6 minuet trailer of the The Dark Knight Rises before Mission Impossible 3. Here was my Instagram...

and here was Debbie's

In the clip they showed men being loaded onto a plane with their heads covered, I knew which one was Bane (Tom Hardy) by just his back.

I knew who Tom was from Wuthering Heights and I know most British male actors. But I of course fell for him in Inception.

So when my brothers wanted to watch Warrior together I said come on over.

It was fun to discover that my brother Mark has a man crush on him as well. 

Lucky Britt's got this Kleenex commercial of Tom & his sensitive side.

I am really looking forward to This Means War


Has anyone seen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy yet?