Hello! I will be out of town much of this week, so there will be a bit of an interim before I can get back to the computer (which is probably a good thing!). Hopefully I will be able to post again by Friday or Saturday. At any rate, have a wonderful week!

A Hop, Skip, and a Jump Away

The following pictures as a whole seem to be pretty, happy, funny and real. Enjoy! (Then head over to Like Mother, Like Daughter for more {P, H, F, R}!)

(If you would like to see the pictures enlarged, just click on them!)

A baby robin was hopping around our backyard this morning...

It heard the beep of my camera and came towards me...

...Leaping...

...and bounding...

...until it was close enough for comfort.

Then momma called.

Little Dorrit Party

This past Saturday, my friend S and I hosted a "Victorian Gala" during which we watched the movie  Little Dorrit. 

Let me just say, I have never sat in front of a TV for that many hours at one time. The BBC version of Little Dorrit is a timeless classic.....but it is also 7.5 hours long. Yes, you read that correctly. Seven and a half hours. But, despite its length, it really is worth watching*. As I have now seen it all at once as well as in parts, I would recommend the latter, but it is great either way.

Since I have a propensity for giving away details of the plot, I will not write much about the plot. Let me just say, it is a fun fulfilling story, which is full of surprising plot twists and unique characters. In terms of the film, the acting was superb and genuinely made one empathize with the characters. The plot is fairly close to the book with mostly minor changes here and there. All in all, good triumphs and evil is torn apart. 

That said, here are several pictures from the party: 

A watermelon teapot which S and I carved out! (Note the tulips that S carved into the front!) On the right side of the picture, you can also see a pitcher of homemade lemonade as well as some crackers from Great Britain. After all, if you are going to have a Victorian Gala, you must serve something from Great Britain.

Here is the cake we made!  It was a triple layer deep dark chocolate cake filled with cherry pie filling and kirsch ganache. The frosting itself was a simple ganache which was then folded with whipped cream for decorating. We barely finished preparing the cake before the guests arrived! 

The cake was sweet, but sweetest of all were the guests! 

*Please note: Little Dorrit is definitely not a kids movie as the plot definitely has its downs (as well as its ups), but teenagers should be able to handle it. It should be noted as well that there is a little bit of an iffy scene at one point which is not necessary and is used to show how despicable one of the characters is. It is fairly obvious when to fast forward, but I wanted to let you know. Some might not have an issue with it as it is not explicit.  Personally, I would rather safeguard my purity especially since the scene is not integral to the plot.

Prayer Request

Please keep Leila (from Like Mother, Like Daughter) and her family in your prayers today as her daughter will be undergoing surgery. 

Surgery is never a joy-ride, especially when one is a teenager. After undergoing a three hour surgery on my leg a several years ago, I can only imagine the anxiety leading up to a four hour brain surgery. (Bridget is probably much more courageous than I was, but nevertheless it would be very nerve-racking. I am sure that she would appreciate prayers!) May God grant her a trouble-free operation and an extraordinarily swift recovery.

Time to stretch out my fingers and begin blogging again!

I apologize for taking so very long to post! It has been very busy lately, but I really cannot use that as an excuse. Still, I've keep wondering how other people keep posting despite the sudden onset of many exciting, though hectic, events. What is their secret? 

One of the exciting events in my life lately has been my cousin L's wedding. My family and her family are especially close as we have all grown up less than half a mile away from each other. (As kids we used to joke that we were all "genetic half-siblings" because our mothers are identical twins). L is the first of the girls to get married, so we were all very excited! 

The past couple weeks have been filled with feverish preparation for the wedding.  Despite all the preparation, everything was especially delightful because L was not at all a "bridezilla."

For me, the highlight of the preparation was when the bridal party got together to prepare  all of the flowers. Interestingly enough, a family friend used to work in a florist shop, so she taught all of us how to arrange them. It was a fun and amazing learning/bonding experience (not to mention the fact that it was very cost effective!). 

Here are a couple pictures from the preparations/wedding:

My aunt's kitchen at 10 A.M., the day before the wedding....

....A few hours later: it looked like a florist shop!

The wedding party

Just to prove that I really was there, here is a picture of me....