"In My Life"

This is past tense, since I started writing last week. Life gets in the way of blogging, sometimes. Anywho, I like this too much to erase it all and start over. Enjoy, and I'll try to bring you up to date with current events SINCE last week as well (since at this point the post is only half finished. Confused yet?) Also--you might want to check the Rafflecopter widget below (Giveaway "300"). The winners have been announced! Congrats, ladies. I hope you had as much fun as I did. :)

{me. with my friend Bilbo. and his friends.}

I loved today. One of those grey, overcast, dreamy sorts of mornings (brings out the blogger in me,) as dreary as my heart was heavy--I didn't want to go to work. So I prayed, and I trusted, and all at once, almost literally, things were better. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, yes? Work (nannying, for any new followers,) went quickly and uneventfully. Really, is there anything like a chubby, bubbly new baby to mend  a broken smile? I think not. :) The twins were fun, Mimi (aka, Yours Truly,) ran around, read books, made strange faces, danced, sang. . .and ultimately behaved like the perfect 2 year. . .and all is well with the world. Like I told a friend the other day, it's all about attitude.

Now I'm enjoying the solitude of a grey, overcast, dreamy sort of evening; my younger sisters are listening to Adventures in Odyssey {part of every day life} downstairs, mom's cooking, and Anna is ripping seams from a one-day skirt. And instead of reading North and South (more on that in a minute,) I'm writing a much needed blog post.

Something happy:

 

{Anna, our friend Hannah, and me, outside the theater}

Last week a group of friends surprised a friend by showing up opening night at A Christmas Carol. Of course I spent all that afternoon making a skirt to go with my new shirt from The Loft (be still my heart, that store! o.o) And of course that's because I forgot to wash the fabric the day before and then realized I didn't have enough fabric. . .which of course usually happens to perfectionists-in-a-hurry. It turned out perfectly, in the end, and I'm really excited to wear it all winter (can't go wrong with black corduroy). We drove down with our friend Hannah, and snuggled with everyone into the most adorable little theater ever. Sigh. Need I say how much I LOVE plays and theater and curtains and theater-chairs-that-don't-stay-down and pomp and circumstance? Because I do. Having a good friend star as Fred made it all the better. The look on his face when he saw us was worth all the "lying" and facebook threads. Really--after my surprise birthday party (has it really been almost two years ago? o.O ) everyone has become excellent liars. Only this time I got to lie too. hehe

{yay! Sneaky, awesome friends. B) }

Something sentimental:

Last weekend my family hosted our monthly meetup--when all our "local" (meaning, all over Ohio and PA,) friends get together for some type of activity and fellowship. It's new and fun and makes for awesome memories. Anyhow, it was a night of laughs, way too much pizza and chocolate, utterly failing at Guesstures, learning (or *trying* to learn ;) ) The Charleston. . .and losing a baby corn snake under the piano. Which meant of course ripping my ancient upright apart looking for it. It was quite the adventure (after we found the snake. . .it was in it's bag the whole time!) discovering the beautiful  insides of my 90 year old player piano. All the valves, bellows, strings, hammers. . .parts I can't name, so intricate, so detailed. I almost didn't want to close the cover. Best of all, the player *isn't* actually broken. With a little help, it still plays--1903 ripped paper and all.

Something sappy:

All the frantic hype over The Hobbit made me watch North and South again. Which made me fall in love with Richard Armitage--I mean, Mr. Thornton--again. Which made me read the book. Which has made my heart incredibly happy, sappy, swoony, and all and everything that makes the proper fangirl.

The book and minstries are almost alike--the casting is sublime. Actually, the few things that were added to the mini series compliment and add character to the story. ie, Margaret "meeting' Mr. Thornton in the midst of beating a worker, the explanation of WHY Mr. Hale left the clergy, the stunning "Northbound Train" ending, and a couple of other things.

Besides loving every single atom of the book, I've come to truly understand and appreciate Margaret--the one "heroine" I've always despised. I won't say much now, in case I decide to write a proper review of the book and characters, but I think I've finally found the heroine I can most relate too. She's amazing (coming from me, that's a big compliment.) Daniela Denby-Ashe IS Margaret, down even to her looks. She pulls the  haughtiness, confidence, and ultimate ignorance and final humbling of the character together beautifully--as though she's stepped right from the pages of the book. And Richard. . .need I even say anything? He is perfect, perfect, PERFECT in every sense of the word--except that the "real" Mr. Thornton is supposed to be homely ("he doesn't LOOK like a bulldog, surely." :P ) Someone in a facebook comment said they wished Mr. Thornton would have shown more gentleness (in the mini series)--that he seemed too unattractive until the very end. I ahem beg to differ. Strongly. :P They couldn't have cast a better actor to show--just through his eyes--all the pent up passion of a rejected, misunderstood lover--of the human being under all the stiffness and starch. Mrs. Thornton is perfect too. . .no, beyond perfect (of course.) And Higgins. And Bessy--though she's a lot more likable on screen; in the book she's just morbid.

I am on Team Gaskgell. Thank you very much, Jane Austen, but your stories do nothing for me.

Something recent:

Two nights ago I attended a Regency Christmas Ball. . .in a gorgeously-restored Victorian mansion.  It was just as beautiful and movie-ish as two years ago, only this time I made and wore a costume that actually fit and that I didn't cry over. Ok, cutting a hole in the neckline is a different story, but otherwise--after all the experience sewing for Beyond the Mask, the dress went together smoothly. I even finished a gown for Anna in ONE DAY. Yes, you may congratulate me.

 

{had to snatch a picture or two on the story-bookish balcony overlooking the main floor of the mansion. There are three floors in all, but what makes the "balcony" (for lack of  a better name,) so adorable is how it branches right off the staircase--so, you can stop and rest on your way up, or just continue up the stairs.}

It was great to catch up with out-of-state friends, wander around the mansion, dance, eat, and be merry. Here's a video of some of the more advanced dancers demonstrating 'Waltzing to Iowa'--I'm in the purple gown with champagne sash, in case you can't tell from the above photos. ;)

Something simple:

And because this is a sappy post, I will mention the Elephant Vanilla Chai tea I had at our local tearoom last week. It was one of those afternoons when I REALLY needed to get out of the house, and made me extra grateful for a mom who notices and cares. We had a great time chatting and oohing and ahhing over girl-stuff (aka, teapots, laces, pink, yada yada,) North and South (since I cant' seem to talk about anything else right now,) and such. Chai tea, btw, is out of this world. Just in case you were wondering.

{yes, it was topped with whipped cream.}

Soooo that is current life in a nutshell. Crazy month--usually we don't have so many events, weekend after weekend. Right now, blog-wise, I am trying to make a vlog, and I REALLY need to write about Beyond the Mask. Sometimes I stop and remember--actually, every day I stop and remember. . .and really, it doesn't feel like it ever happened, it was such a satisfying, once-in-a-lifetime experience. To think that John Rhys-Davies was on set of The Hobbit only months before coming over to little 'ol MI to shoot BTM. And to think that. . .well, that's for another post. ;)