Made it: Baby Poncho

I came across this pattern for a baby poncho in the Lion Brand newsletter and thought it would be cute for little Immy. Immy belongs to Jade and Nigel (my former co-worker and her British husband). She is super cute and has crazy hair. The pattern was pretty easy. It was basically a rectangle with a hole in the middle. The hood is knitted on and picking up the right number of stitches is not so easy. Also there was supposed to be a pocket but I ran out of yarn, plus what the heck does a baby need a pocket for any way? lip balm? a cell phone? nuffin!
We ate at London Fish and Chips, a wildly popular fish n' chips place in Cary. People line up at the door and they sometimes sell out of fish early. Nigel gives it a thumbs up. He says it is less greasy than the standard fish n' chips. Jerry enjoyed it. I feel it is what it is, I am not a huge fan of overly breaded fried things (don't get me wrong, fried IS a food group ya'll).
The highlight was the very fashionable Immy in the poncho and her Union Jack shirt.

Watched it: 3 movies

3:10 to Yuma: I usually do not care for Russell Crowe, but this was not too bad. Predicatably I fell asleep during the middle part but woke up in time for the end. It was ok for a movie I did not entirely see.

Ratatouille: We decided to see this since it was on a lot of critics top ten picks of 2007. It was pretty good. The best thing on the dvd was the extra about the history of the rat. It was really well done and hilarious. I also enjoyed making Jerry mad by calling the rat a mouse..."Poor mouse" or "Poor Mousatouille".

Stardust: This was pretty good. We are not sure why they cast Claire Danes in it. Why have an American play a role with a British accent. There are enough British actresses out there to avoid her all together (even for American movies....please?!). The other thing was a gay pirate played by Robert Deniro. They should've re-cast it or left this out! One of the pluses a large cameo played by Ricky Gervais.

Read it: Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay (audio book)

This was the most gruesome thing I have ever read/listened to on audio. I wanted to tell Jerry about it but I just couldn't, it was that disturbing. It was suspenseful to the very last minute. The reader on this audio book is also really good. I may even like him more than the actor who portrays Dexter in the Showtime series (Michael C. Hall). I have a feeling the show may not use this plot for the show. I cannot imagine how they would pull it off....

*I tried to go see There Will Be Blood tonight using a free preview pass. I invited lots of people to join me. We got there only to find out that the movie did not come in...d-oh! The good news is we can use the pass for the movie in the future and they are going to mail us two passes for any movie.

Watched it: Jane Eyre

Jerry and I watched Jane Eyre on PBS. I think it was a really good adaptation of the book. It is hard to cram a story into 4 hours and they did a good even handed job. The only problem I had with the movie is the actress who portrayed Jane Eyre....really not attractive....
Jane Eyre was not supposed to be a looker but come on! She was like Jerry's girlfriend on Seinfeld who was pretty except in certain light...that is the way she looked all the time. I thought maybe it was her circumstance that made her eww but, nope , even when she was happy she was not attractive. Usually they cast someone who is really pretty but then downplay their looks until it is their time to shine.
Rochester was really handsome and fiery. And the love scenes were pretty intense!
I look forward to seeing other adaptations in the future (maybe not the one with George C Scott as Rochester)

Watched it: 3 movie weekend

Friday night we rented Ocean's Thirteen. It was good. I guess the best thing about it (other than George Clooney, the best thing of anything starring George Clooney) was Casey Affleck. In the movie he was supposed to sabotage some dice in a South of the Border dice factory, instead he led the workers in a revolt. It was entertaining and worth watching, especially if you like heist movies. ~recommend~
Saturday I saw Atonement with my friend Stacy. I read the book by Ian McEwan on her recommendation and loved it. The movie was an excellent representation of the book. James McEvoy is quite the hottie (no George Clooney, of course, that would be impossible). One of my favorite things about the movie was the music. Often they turned a monotonous sound (like the sound of a typewriter) into the beginnings of intense music. I also like how the delicately handled a not so delicate word that plays a big part in the plot, very clever--it was never once uttered, but it still had a huge impact. We both thought reading the book is a good idea before watching the movie. ~highly recommend~

I have been on the couch ever since returning from that movie with the worst cold ever.
Really it is bad. I haven't had a fever, but I feel wretched. Really bad sore throat and stuffy nose. While Jerry and Scott watched football, I watched Waitress upstairs. It was cute. Keri Russell's cohorts in the movie were hilarious. It made me want to bake a pie! ~recommend~

Read it: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

This as a quick, entertaining read. Garden Spells is a first novel by Asheville native Sarah Addison Allen (click on her name for her excellent website including recipes mentioned in the novel). Her novel is very reminiscent of Alice Hoffman with lots of magical realism. The main character, Claire, is a caterer who prepares food using flowers and herbs from her special garden (the book includes a back of the book glossary of uses for different flowers). Her and her family are known for their special gifts but this is more of a burden in a lot of ways. Everything changes when her long lost sister returns home.
I look forward to checking out Allen's next novel!

Baked it: holiday cookies

Finally I get to do holiday baking!!! This year I focused on 3 types of cookies. The first was a shortbread with 3 different add ins (one was cranberry and orange, one chocolate chips, one peanut-butter chips--and one plain). This recipe was super easy, especially because of the handy dandy kitchen aid mixer. I will probably not do the peanut butter chips next year, it was blah. The others were really good. I made the dough last weekend. I could have made it up to 3 months ago and kept it in the freezer. (if I ever do make cookie dough that far ahead, punch me).

The second was butterscotch bark. Graham crackers drowned in a butter and brown sugar mixture, baked until "bubbly" and covered in toasted coconut, pecans, chocolate chips, peanutbutter chips and sometimes dried cherries (on the ones without peanut butter chips). [the pic for this really did not look innerrestin']

The last cookies were gingerbread men, women, hearts and stars. I decorated these with royal icing (some appropriately, some inappropriately---got to blow off holiday stress somehow). The royal icing was a first. It was easy. I made it with meringue powder since the egg white kind is not good for certain people...cookies are supposed to be nice, not deadly! The first batch....kinda burnt (so if you think..."gee my cookie tastes kind of burnt", it probably is, what do you expect, it is a free cookie). The second batch turned out much better.If any one has a spicier gingerbread cookie recipe out there I am interested.
If you are wondering "where are my damn cookies?" I gave to people I happened to know I would see. If you want cookies next year, then you should say "hey, I am coming over to pick up my damn cookies" around mid-December next year. If you don't want cookies then steer clear of me for the next holiday season!

Read it: Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison

Look Me in the Eye (amazon, WCPL) is a memoir written by John Elder Robison, the brother of Augusten Burroughs ( a famous memoirist in his own right, Running with Scissors, Dry, Sellevision). John grows up in a truly dysfunctional family and finds out at age 40 that he has lived his whole life with Aspergers Syndrome. John describes in a very forthright manner the challenges he encounters growing up. He faces many obstacles trying to socialize with others without really knowing how. He also is very skilled mechanically and carves quite a niche for himself by creating special effects for concert tours in the 70's.
As a writer, Robison not very frilly, but that is understandable given his Aspergian nature. Sometimes he tells a little too much detail just to relate an amusing or interesting anecdote. Overall, his story is a fascinating glimpse into the world of Aspergers.
* My co-worker, Gerald, told me John Elder Robison was interviewed on the Diane Rehm Show. He said it was very enlightening. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but hope to soon.

Read it: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I have read a lot of new fiction lately so I decided to dust off a classic. Actually the book was brand new since the library system I worked for replenished its classics collection. I only wish I'd returned it in the pristine condition, but books are for readin' and sometimes that's not pretty!
I really like the novel even though I had to muddle through at times. I was used to the quick pace of contemporary literature so it was nice to be forced to slow down. I hope to see the BBC mini-series soon. I have not seen a cinematic representation of this book before, which was nice because I really did not know how it ended until the end. I usually prefer books with a not so tidy ending but every once and a while I cheer for the protagonist and want a happy ending with a bow on top. I am glad their pursuit of love was requited!
The next classic I will pick up is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.