When Expectations meet Reality

Do you guys remember that brilliant scene in 500 Days of Summer when it shows side by side Tom's expectations of Summer's party and the reality of what really happened?

Too often in life we do like Anne Shirley so eloquently put, “I can't help flying up on the wings of anticipation. It's as glorious as soaring through a sunset... almost pays for the thud.” and like both 500 Days & Anne point out our reality rarely meet our expectations. 
Last night I was lucky enough to attend a special screening of Austenland, and although the only real expectation I had was that I would love it, it was a high expectation. My ever practical brain was trying to convince my heart to calm down because there was bound to be something that wasn't going to match my expectations. Imagine my surprise when the movie was over and my expectations were actually surpassed! 
I was pleased at how well it followed the book but also enjoyed the changes that kept me on my toes as well. If I was not laughing I was smiling, I'm not joking my friend Jenny complained about about how sore her face was from smiling! The whole cast really did just a wonderful job, and obviously had fun filming it. Hint stay for the credits.

Keri was delightful as the slightly awkward and yet lovable Jane Hayes. 

J.J. was completely swoon worthy as Mr. Nobley, that "Darcy guy". 

It was a dream come true to see Bret play a romantic lead, who knew he had a little swagger in him?

In my sisters opinion Jennifer Coolidge stole the show, and it is true that everything out of her mouth had me dying. If you think Jennifer was funny in anything else wait till you see her in this. 

Chelsea liked Georgia King's character and seriously there were a couple of scenes I thought I was going to cry from laughing so hard. 

Don't let the no shirt fool you there is more to Ricky Whittle than a pair of abs. All James Callis had to do was use his quizzing glass and I was laughing. 

When the movie was over my friend Chelsea looked over and laughed at the stupid grin I could not get off my face but we all loved it and agreed we want to see it again. And although I love Austenland & Jane Austen I don't think you need to like either to enjoy this movie. In fact I am going to encourage my brothers and dad to see it, I really do think they will enjoy it.  

Can it be August already?

I first posted about the movie Austenland almost two years ago back in July of 2011 and just feel it would be wrong not to do a post about the trailer as well.



I feel a little silly giving a play by play of the trailer since I can't imagine anyone will really care but I have found it fun when others do it so I am going to have a go.

First: Props to the production team, Jane's room is insane! The Darcy pillow, is that a chamber pot down by her bed. The whole "Darcy was here" is so disturbing it makes me feel like a little better about my obsession.

Speaking of Darcy pillows I like mine better...

Next I LOVE the Colin Firth, Mr. Darcy cutout. 

Well because I got to take a picture with Darcy/Firth at Shannon Hale's book signing which is where I first heard that Austenland would become a movie. 

It's hard to tell with the apron but Darcy/Firth is holding a copy of Austenland. 

Sony has been doing a good job with there marketing efforts I think, I particularly like the website they set up which makes sense when you see the brochure in Jane Hayes hands. Also is she packing a carpet bag? I always have wanted a carpet bag like Anne of Green Gables. 

Where did they get the carriage car we get to see Bret McKenzie who plays Martin chauffeuring. 

I like that they don't waste anytime introducing JJ Feild aka Mr. Nobley as the "one of those Mr. Darcy guys". 

Should I mention Ricky Whittle aka Captain East's abs? Alright you twisted my arm I will mention his abs. 

And if you haven't heard Shannon tell the story about signing his underwear YOU SHOULD. 

Any fan of the book would or I guess I should say love the Tally-Ho reference. 

I am also just as excited for the scenes I have no clue what is happening, other than it looks funny!

Oh man I am so excited for this scene! That little double blink Mr. Nobley gives making him look vulnerable makes me swoon, not to mention how adorable Bret is!

Mr. Nobley reminds me a lot of Captian Wentworth from the newest Persuasion adaption.

Don't you love the original songs Emmy The Great wrote/performed for the soundtrack as well?

Tally-ho indeed! 

Palace of Stone

After hanging out with Stephanie Perkins Debbie I couldn't stop saying how super nice she was. Case in point Stephanie told us that she had been given an advanced readers copy of Palace of Stone so she could blurb it (you know when you turn a book over and there is praise by different authors). Well she gifted it to Debbie and I since she knew how much we loved Shannon's work as well.  

Wednesday night Shannon Hale came to Changing Hands for the release of Palace of Stone, the sequel to Princess Academy. Since it is my birthday week my mom thought it would be fun if we made a party of it. So she my sister Debbie and sister in law Angie all came, we had dinner first and then all got to enjoy the hilarious Shannon. 

After my mom & Angie left not wanting to stand in the long line. Debbie and I eventually grabbed a bench so we could sit. See us sitting while everyone else is standing. 

Debbie and I were wondering if Shannon would remember us but when she got up to hug us and talked about Project Book Babe it made our night! I then told Shannon how we had met Stephanie Perkins (a aspiring author at the time) at Project Book Babe and how awesome it was to be having Shannon signing a copy of her book that Stephanie had blurbed!

My mom was right it was super fun and exactly what I would have wished to done to celebrate my birthday week!

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!

More Austenland - The Movie

At my book birthday party (see post below) some of us talked about how excited we are for Austenland the movie and I promised a friend I would send her links to some of the fun things I have found. Which I did but I have seen a lot of traffic coming to my Austenland post so I thought I would share the links with you all as well.
The following pictures came from Jennifer Coolidge twitter account...

Keri Russell is in the brown dress as Jane Hayes and Jennifer Coolidge as Miss Charming is in the pink dress.

Here is Keri & Jennifer again with the director Jerusha Hess.

The following picture of Bret McKenzie as Martin was taken from a film extra's twitter account.

The fan site Absolute JJ Feild also has posted pictures supposedly from set, I just didn't see where they got them so I am not going to say they are for sure. Although I think he does look very Darcy/Nobley.

There are more if you click on their link.

Screen Daily also did a great article that I already posted on facebook awhile ago about their on set visit. Here is one of my favorite parts...
"I witnessed Bret McKenzie from Flight of the Conchords grinding up on Keri Russell, all the while wearing regency finery. Oh, and did I mention a Nelly song was playing? What more do you want from a film, people?"
What more could you want indeed.

Ricky Whittle twitted about production if you want to check out his twitter. He tweeted a picture, of some possible swim trunk wardrobe???

Mr. James Callis tweeted the following picture of himself as Colonel Andrews from his trailer...

Austenland Exclusive with JJ Field, Bret McKenzie, Georgia King & Ricky Whittle


If you want more you can read Shannon Hale's (author of Austenland book & co-authored screenplay) blog for her on set adventures.

I really want to see Austenland get picked up by a studio soon so I am going to do everything in my power to get the word out there!

Austenland - The Movie

One of my favorite novels Austenland by Shannon Hale is getting made into a movie! I have always wanted it to be a movie and two years ago I heard hints that it was in the works & even more promising news a few months ago. Then on July 5th the announcement finally came with the cast as well. Here is the movie description taken from Fickle Fish Films Stephenie Meyers production company's site.

“AUSTENLAND” is a romantic comedy about 30-something, single Jane Hayes, a seemingly normal young woman with a secret: her obsession with Mr. Darcy—as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice—is ruining her love life; no real man can compare. But when she decides to spend her life savings on a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become more real than she ever could have imagined.

The Cast (taken from Shannon's blog / IMDB)
First as Jane Hayes we have the lovely Keri Russell 

I use to watch Felicity back in the day and liked Keri from that. But more importantly she is from one of my favorite movies a Hallmark movie called The Magic of Ordinary Days. (I wish I could find a real trailer for the movie but can't, if you haven't seen it I would highly recommend it)

Mr. Nobley is being played by JJ Feild who I found extremely charming as Mr. Tilney in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, here is a little taste.


Mr. Tilney is so sweet I was wondering if JJ can do the proud Darcy type, it looks promising.


I am also very excited to see him in Captian America.

Martin is being played by Bret McKenzi as in Bret yes THIS Bret


and this Bret

Let's not forget this Bret


Maybe one more he was in a music video for The Black Seeds called So True

Miss Charming - Jennifer Coolidge
Miss Charming was written for Jennifer Coolidge 
The first thing that will always come to mind when I think of Jennifer is snow peas. 

We have so much in common, we both love soup and snow peas, we love the outdoors, and talking and not talking. We could not talk or talk forever and still find things to not talk about. 

Colonel Andrews - James Callis
Was in Battlestar Galactica but more importantly Bridget Jones Diary (love connections to Colin Firth)

Mimi don't you think he looks a little like Desmond

Mrs. Wattlesbrook - Jane Seymour

Do I need to say anything more than Dr. Quinn?

Lady Amelia Heartwright is being played by Georgia King 

She played Rosamond (she loves St John) in the 2006 BBC miniseries Jane Eyre
She was also the mean girl in Wild Child not that I have seen that movie twice.

*Edit if you want more see my post More Austenland - The movie

First to understand why I love Austenland by Shannon Hale you need to understand why I love Pride & Prejudice. I am stealing from a post I did in October of 2007 called Liz On Top of the World.


When I was younger around the age of eleven or twelve I loved to stay up late on Saturday nights and watch whatever black and white movie PBS was playing. One night PBS played Pride & Prejudice (the 1940 version with Greer Garson & Laurence Olivier). I loved Elizabeth with her sharp whit & pert opinions and of course was smitten with Mr. Darcy. The funny thing was I had never heard of Pride & Prejudice and did not realize it was even based off a book. Then a few years latter the BBC version came out all 300 glorious minuets. It was incredible going from an almost two hour movie to a five hour movie. For Christmas the next year I asked for all of Jane Austen’s books. 


The description of Austenland from Shannon Hales website is as follows...

Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined

It is true I love Mr. Darcy/Colin Firth I mean come on what other Austen hero in any of the movies can pull of those britches like Colin? (Not Mr. Knightly, you know what I am talking about Debbie)

*Edit if you want more see my post More Austenland - The movie there are also updates at Austenland Movie Fans tumblr.

The Mean Reds

Have you seen Breakfast at Tiffany's? I remember watching this with my sister Debbie & our neighbor and friend Jennie after we put on this old trench coat my mom had and walked down the street saying things like "step on it darling" & "I'm crazy about Tiffany's."

Lately I have been thinking about the "mean reds" and Holly's cure for the mean reds.

Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?

Paul Varjak: The mean reds, you mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?

Paul Varjak: Sure.

Holly Golightly: Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!

When I went to New York back when I was a senior in High School I had my best friend Erika take a picture of me standing in front of Tiffany's.

But Tiffany's is not my cure for the mean reds my cure is Jane Austen & anything Austenesque. Although our cures are different the reasons for the cure are the same...

"The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there."

After having a really bad start to my new year I found myself tired & down and desperate for something to lift my spirits when I remembered that Elizabeth Eulberg's new book Prom & Prejudice had come out. I drove straight to Barnes & Noble & got myself a copy.

I read Elizabeth's Eulberg's first novel The Lonely Heart's Club before going to London last year and loved the message of girls staying true to themselves and not doing things because of guys. The Beatles references didn't hurt either. Reading Prom & Prejudice was extremely fun. I loved seeing how Elizabeth made Lizzy & Darcy fit into modern day high school and her twist on things. I only wish I could have gotten more.

Some of my other favorite Austenesque type books are Shannon Hale's Austenland. I don't even know how many times I have read this book or listened to it, yep I also have the audio on my ipod. Not to mention how much I love what Shannon wrote when she signed it...

Another is Enthusiams by Polly Shulman which is a book I have never actually read. I have only listened to it on audio since the library only has it on audio, silly library. I am not one for ordering books online so I was so excited that I found it at Bookmans on Saturday! I gave it to Debbie the Enthusiast in my life. This isn't a modern re-telling it is just about two friend who love Jane Austen & long to find their Mr. Darcy and crash a dance to find one for themselves. 

 Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier, I have not read that the 5 sisters in this fantasy/fairytale retelling are based of the Bennett sisters in Pride & Prejudice but it just seemed obvious. So if you like fairytale retelling & Pride & Prejudice I would check this out.

Ok this is not a Pride & Prejudice-esque book but if you like fantasy/fairytale Shannon Hale type books check out The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal.

Healed & Girls Night

You may have heard me mention Muse & it's lead singer Matt before. Well yesterday I saw a blog post about a gossip magazine running a story with a picture of Matt on a "date" with Kate Hudson.

How could he have forgotten he was mine... See Shannon Hale even said so. After posting the story on Facebook I had friends offering their condolences and even offering cookies & ice cream. Ok maybe I asked for the cookies, but I was just joking. But my sister in law Alison was so sweet she asked her mom to make me THE BEST COOKIES in the world. They are called Monster Cookies....
See how the love of my friends & monster cookies can make everything better! (sorry for the lack of makeup) But I think if you have friends who make you feel better when your fake rocker boyfriend starts dating someone else you are lucky indeed!

Friday was the Father & Sons camp out so with William & Russ gone Debbie & Gracie came over for a girls night/sleepover. After dinner I painted Gracie's nails.

See how happy/excited she is! And man I look so white next to her, well probably anyone.

Then Gracie painted my nails

And Debbie's nails as well...
Still excited!

She is telling Debbie she can't move, she needs to hold still.

After Gracie went to bed Debbie & I watched Leap Year. Debbie had not seen it after it was over Debbie said "It is like P.S. I Love You but he does not die at the end." Matthew + Ireland = Swoon!

Also I would just like to say that Gracie said to Russ when he came over "this is Connie she is my bestest friend." Victory!!!