The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

Yeah, it’s been a long time since I last wrote. What can I say, I’m very busy and/ or important.

But now I’m back because I have to share something with you: I love books.

I know, you already know that from previous posts like this one, and this one, and this one, and if you didn’t then you clearly haven’t been here enough, so you should ignore my apology for not posting lately and sign up to receive updates via rss for the love of God!

Back to my point:  I think books enrich  lives, help us to visualize a better world and expand the minds we live in.  In my house we have books everywhere. Books that are hand me downs, books that are ugly (Brown Bear can bite me), e-book machines, and books that are serious works of art.

Like my new favorite book: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
Stunning.
The story is beautiful, the images are breathtaking. And there’s even an app that you can hold next to the book to discover more about the book. But, wait, there’s more! If you’re not into reading, perhaps you’ve lost both eyes in a horrific knife fight, you can also watch the movie (no, I’m not collecting royalties, I just freaking love this book!) it was nominated for an oscar, which was the reason I heard about the book in the first place.

When I finally reach the top of my mountain and you are reading my book, I hope it will plant the same snippet of beauty in your soul that Morris Lessmore planted in mine.

And now, a snippet from the app:

We are a reading household, to the point of exhaustion and it seems the habit has been passed down to the boy.

Our little man loves to read and he’ll choose the same books for a while. I keep those books on a shelf at his level and sometimes I’ll find them in his bed after nap time, like teddy bears.

These are the books on his shelf at the moment:

Beep Beep.
Ah the joy of driving through the woods to get to a farm, only to drive straight through and home again. All the while beep beeping your horn, which somehow doesn’t piss off the farmer, but instead makes for an endearing tale of a girl, her dog and their jaunt.

Whatever! The little guy loves this book, and actually more for the fact that he gets to yell CAT! DOWN! at the pesky cat that has climbed atop a barn than for the little yellow horn he can hit throughout the story.

Happy Birthday Mouse.
It’s mouse’s birthday and we have a ten page diatribe on what he’s going to have for breakfast. The suspense is nail biting, unless you read the previous “If you give a mouse a cookie…” books, in which case you might guess the ending. It’s a quirky little book and you get to sing Happy Birthday to mouse and every other relative you can mention after it.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
I can’t think of anything funny to say about this book. It’s cute and it’s a good one for before bedtime because it’s all about dinosaurs going to bed nicely. If a dinosaur can do it, we all can!

Pigsty.
I like the drawings in this one, but something about the dopey main character Wendell just makes me want to poke him in his chubby little tummy and make fun of him. Isn’t that awful? Luckily the book is about how he makes new friends, so he clearly wasn’t in need of my approval anyway.

Knuffle Bunny
Another thriller, Knuffle Bunny narrates the life of Trixie and her toy Knuffle Bunny. It’s an ok story, made better if you have the actual toy to shove at the book as if it’s a mirror and you want your Knuffle Bunny to appreciate the fact that his likeness is in print, but the ending still bothers me. How does Trixie know Knuffle Bunny’s name? Did an adult actually come up with the name Knuffle Bunny? And if so, why?

It’s like the ending of The Sopranos… I’m just like “Wait, what?”

We’re always on the lookout for new books. Got any to recommend?

The Upcycled Waldorf Salad

It’s January, which means the gym is full of people working off those holiday cookies and while I start back on my exercise regimen on Monday, I am enjoying eating lighter this week and also using up all of the leftovers, including the ten ton of veggies that I didn’t roast.

My dad (aka Poppa) stopped by or a visit on Christmas Eve and I planned on making a Waldorf salad so when  was running errands one day I picked up 2 bags of Granny Smith apples, not knowing how many I’d need. Long story slightly less than long – I have a bunch of sharp apples and no donkey to feed ‘em to. So Mike and I had a upcycled Waldorf Salad today that turned out SO yummy I took a photo of it!

Here’s how to make it:

6 Granny Smith apples
1 cup Craisins
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts (you can toast them if you can be bothered, they smell really good that way, but I don’t taste any difference)
1/2 packet of Feta Cheese with Tomato and Basil
1 large can tuna
1 head Romain Lettuce
1 Spring Onion

Core the 6 apples and dice them.
Chop lettuce and onion.
Throw everything a salad bowl together, toss with oil and balsamic.
Enjoy!

Last time Target collaborated (or maybe it was the time before), I bought a designer shift dress and wore it once to hide pregnancy. Let’s not kid ourselves fashionistas, these designers aren’t doing us a favor by lowering their standards. If anything, they’re loving Target for accepting them, allowing them to churn out mini notebooks that cost about 7 cents to make and 10 minutes of doodling during a boring conference call to design. Honestly, I designed an awesome bag while sitting at traffic lights yesterday. If I had a team to put it together and a factory full of underpaid Chinese workers, I’d be lounging on Necker Island right now. Instead, people like me are supposed to stand in line for hours waiting for Target to open.

I did that.

I really did.

I stood outside Target here in sweet south Florida and waited for restore to open. I was the only lemon waiting. And the store opened, the store girl looked very confused at me, and had to “check the back” for said designer items, bringing out the rack of all for me to pick at. But the momentum was stale being the only person. I was hoping for a Filenes Basement type moment where I clambered over others and pulled out a few hair extensions. Instead, I picked up the shift dress and strolled to the check out, where again I didn’t need to stand in line.

Ok, so yoga mats, ridiculous Lennon glasses, and poorly made striped luggage aside, there are some things that might be worth asking Santa to stand in line for. And here they are:

Clockwise from top:

Robert Rodriguez dress
Marchesa girls floral dress
Oscar de la Renta bag
Marchesa beaded girls dress
Tracey Reese blouse
Lela Rose top
Robert Rodriguez top
Thom Browne blazer (available for men and women… lazy!)

The collection is available December 1.
These may or may not be the prices.

I would say its my idea of heaven but the strangers bother me, the chairs aren’t perfectly comfy and my kids aren’t sleeping sweetly in the next rooms. So, I needed to bring the cookies home. Andthen I found the recipe on Real Mom Kitchen blog.
(this recipe was adapted from the recipe found here)

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1 bag mini Reese’s peanut butter cups, roughly chopped (refrigerate first)

Blend the sugars and butter until smooth.
Add in the peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until blended.
Add in the next three ingredients.
Fold in the choc chips and bake at 350 for 12 minutes.
Lightly press a few peanut butter cup pieces into each cookie.
Bake for another 2 minutes.
EAT!

And in the spirit of fun ole Movember, I leave you with a little Jimmy Buffett:

Now they make new movies in old black and white
With happy endings, where nobody fights
So if you find yourself in that nostalgic rage
Honey, jump right up and show your age

Chorus:
I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
The boston blackie kind
A two toned ricky ricardo jacket
And an autographed picture of andy devine

I remember bein buck-toothed and skinny
Writin fan letters to sky king and penny
Oh I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
Then I could solve some mysteries too

Then it’s bandstand, disneyland, growin up fast
Drinkin on a fake i.d.
Yeah, and rama of the jungle was everyones bawana
But only jazz musicians were smokin marijuana
Yeah, I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
Then I could solve some mysteries too

Then it’s flat top, dirty bob, coppin a feel
Grubbin on the livin room floor (so sore)
Yeah, they send you off to college, try to gain a little knowledge,
But all you want to do is learn how to score

Yeah, but now Im gettin old, don’t wear underwear
I don’t go to church and I don’t cut my hair
But I can go to movies and see it all there
Just the way that it used to be

Chorus:
That’s why I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
The boston blackie kind
A two-toned ricky ricardo jacket
And an autographed picture of andy devine

Oh, I could be anyone I wanted to be
Maybe suave errol flynn or the sheik of araby
If I only had a pencil thin mustache
Then I could do some cruisin too

Coda:
Yeah, bryl-cream, a little dabll do yah
Oh, I could do some cruisin too