"I LOVE JACQUES COUSTEAU!"

I've managed to go 26 years without having to contribute to Thanksgiving dinner.

I've always felt like I'd pull a Rachel Greene with the Traditional English Trifle. "Wait! I wasn't supposed to put beef in the trifle?!?!?"

Normally, I take on the responsibility to make the place cards. Here's one from a couple years ago, but this year I felt the urge to actually bake something.  Never the less, I still made place cards which I'll post soon!

Right: A Macy's Thanksgiving Day Float illustration that I did while I worked for Versimark. We were trying to do the google holiday concept for the company that we were promoting at the time.
I don't think he ever saw the light of day.
The colourful turkey at the bottom of the post was another attempt.

Here's my attempt at a Mixed Berry Pie.

"What's there not to like?"

Raspberries...Good.

Blueberries....Good.

Blackberries....Gooooood.

It was alright, if I do say so myself.  I just really had my mind made up and wanted to make the basket top. That urge could have been satisfied with taking a basket weaving class, but I chose to channel that desire into this pie. Maybe next year, I'll take a stab at making a trifle though.

Here are a few pages from a little Hallmark book I discovered at the library. I found the illustrations by Asterio Pascolini quite similar to the illustrations in the Little House on the Prairie series. Don't you agree? The book is filmed with meaningful quotes from the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson & Abraham Lincoln.

I love that it even includes Psalm 8

O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!  Who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

I hope my readers had a joyous Thanksgiving.

Jana

Heeeeeerrrrrrrrrreeeeeeee's Johnny

I just noticed that ever single talk show I can think of seats the guests on the host's right-the viewer's left.

Why is this?
Is it proven that we prefer viewing people on their right side?
Does that make it more interesting?
Or is that the way that works best and that we recognize as normal?


I try not to miss these guests when they appear on these particular shows.
Krasinski on Conan...

 

Bieber on Ellen...

Barrymore on Fallon...

Downey Jr. on Leno...Who am I kidding, it doesn't matter who the host is, RDJ is always a reliable interview.

J. Schwartzman on Ferguson...

Roberts on Letterman...

Damon on Kimmel...

OP! Wait, Rosie's guests sat on her left. This switched throughout the seasons though, because there were some images with the guests on the other side.

This may be my favourite interview of all time...It happened this time of year when I was in 7th grade. It changed my life.Can you find any other examples of guests on the right of the screen? Who is your favourite celebrity to watch on a talk show?

Do tell!

About Ice Box Cards

Here's what it really says, because chances are you won't be able to read the small print in this image. It will be blown up significantly. Don't worry.

For nine years Duluth letter carrier Dik LaPine has been making homemade thank you cards for the people on his mail route on Skyline Parkway . These handmade notes with his featured cartoon Eskimos, moose, bears, deer, seals, and sled dogs in cute, comical situations have become a special anticipated tradition for all who are thoughtful enough to remember their letter carrier during the holiday season. After making hundreds of these cards over the years and after much encouragement from the people on his mail route for him to start sharing these cards with the world, Dik and his wife Lynda created Ice Box Cards in January of 2011.

It is the vision of Ice Box Cards to provide a greeting card that allows one to write down his or her own thoughts and expressions within fun, quality cartoon cards without him or her having to write around some professional writer’s gag line. Our cards are intentionally blank. We don’t presume to know what’s in our customer’s heart or even attempt to guess. We are at best artistic stationery. Our goal is not to interfere with a person’s correspondence but to merely enhance it. Our cards are meant to be generic enough so that they could be sent for a variety of reasons to commemorate a variety of events by a variety number of people.


What do you think?

iceboxcards.com

Crane Song

I've been creating an updated version of Crane Song LTD's website.
It's still in the beginning stages, but I thought I'd give you a sneak peak of the most recent design I've been arranging.

It's a good thing I like cranes. I can't imagine if it was called Tarantula Song LTD.  You know, I'm not even sure if that's how you spell "tarantula", but there's no way I'm double checking my spelling in google, because you know as well as I do, if I were to type that in, there would be a big ol' image of one. Ugh! I'm getting grossed out just thinking about it...

Back to the site...

What do you think? Would this make you want to purchase gear if you were interested in building your very own sound-studio and/or cranes? Or did you want to gouge your eyes out? Do you think the charcoal font is going to be visible on the lake image? Where did your eye go immediately?

Another Breaking Dawn Giveaway!

This one features 66 items!

And #29 on the list is brought to you by yours truly! Another Breaking Dawn : Volume 4 Pillow is up for grabs. That's right. For FREEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

So while you're waiting in line for Breaking Dawn to begin, why don't you make the most of your time and win something!

There are so many ways you can be in the running for these great Twilight themed prizes. Most of them require you to "heart" the shop from whence they originate. You may have to create an Etsy account if you don't have one already...and a Google Friend Connect account is manditory so that you can indicate that you have followed the requirements and inform Mindie May of Bacon Time with the Hungry Hungry Hypo  in a comment.

So, go here.

You could win sand from the beach at La Push from Angie's Iris or even a garland made from the pages of one of the novels from Huckleberry Stew.

Or wouldn't you love this ring from JZ Designs. It's the colour of Cullen eyes.

You have until the 26th of November!

Calendar Girl

Last summer the cast of Into the Woods was asked to pose for a calendar which would be used to raise money for the Enger Tower and Park Restoration Project. Even though our show had closed, a few of us changed back into the costumes one last time and posed among the Enger Tower gardens. Into the gardens. John Heino Photography and Service Printers made this calendar possible

As we sat there, we were unexpectedly visited by a hummingbird, who darted all around us. Intially I thought it was a bat. The photographer snapped the picture in the very moment we realized we had company. I have not seen this picture yet, but know that if it ever surfaces I thought it was a bat. A BAT!

Watch I get into the trouble for posting this, but I figure I am promoting the fundraiser and may actually direct traffic to their site.

Did you know that this year King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway visited this very tower?

I thought it would be fun to mess with the levels of the picture to make it more whimsical.
What do you think? It's okay, you can like the original. ;) You can almost see the bean stalk reaching to the sky behind us. Can you see it?

Note, I have done this without permission. Please do not get me into the trouble. Thank you!
.

Breaking Dawn Giveaway!

Book Nook Club is sponsoring a 5 item giveaway and my Breaking Dawn: Volume 4 pillow is part of it!

To participate, click here and leave a comment!

Best of luck to you! Enjoy the latest installment!

And if you don't win and absolutely MUST own the Breaking Dawn Pillow, you can visit LaPine Design on Etsy.

The New Kate & Leo

Michael Fassbender & Mia Wasikowska

Photo by Todd Williamson – © 2011 Todd Williamson – Image courtesy gettyimages.com

I love it when actors who have portrayed characters I love actually get along outside of the confines of a movie set.

They look genuinely happy, don't they?

Move over Kate & Leo, there's a new darling duo this year.

Cullen House

HGTV's Color Splash designer David Bromstad redecorated a couple's living/dining room last week.

Normally I tune out decorating shows, but this particular segment concerned me because it was inspired by my favourite family of vampires.

The couple loved the design of the Cullen's house. Here's an example for those of you who have avoided seeing the Twilight films.

Image from Studio | ten | 25

The graduation caps in the stairwell- Love it!

I had never noticed the old radio behind Bella in this scene. I think I would have used that as an inspriation piece had I been the designer.

Edward's bedroom.

The couple's living quarters were already stunning to begin with. It reminded me more of the films before. But what's a design show without a contrasting after? Sorry, I don't have a before picture. But you'll have to take my word for it, it was extremely elegant.

My mom could have done wonders with this living space, but David Bromstad had other plans. I really wonder if he's ever read the books OR even seen the movies.

 I did like the pillows and the mushrooms on the coffee table--the apple painting-not so much. What a waste of the fireplace.

The horizontal stripes are too reminiscent of a hospital...then again, Carlisle Cullen was a doctor. I just don't think that's what they were going for. The wooden walls could have been in Kip and Napolean's Grandma's house. "Boyfriend?!"

Make-over images from Cafe Mom

Okay, so these pictures don't look as heinous as I remember, but they are also excluding the two-toned dining room table that is one part modern, one part classic painted metallic silver- conjoined into one giant eye-sore. And the neon, moss matted mirror as seen behind the his and her chairs wasn't painted in the green hue I would have chosen. It was also covered with green styrofoam which looked like asbestos.

Don't even get me started on the 35 animal heads on one wall.

Now I'd rather hear your theories. What do you think?

Masterpiece Classic 2012

It's finally been announced!

Here is the schedule (which I pronounced [shed-yool]) from the Masterpiece Classic page of pbs.org


January 8 to February 19, 2012

Image from Tim's Reflection Connection


Downton Abbey Season 2


Downton Abbey season 2 resumes the story of aristocrats and servants in the tumultuous World War I era. The international hit is written by Julian Fellowes and stars Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, and Hugh Bonneville, plus a drawing room full of new actors, portraying the loves, feuds, and sacrifices of a glittering culture thrown into crisis.


April 1 & 8, 2012


Great Expectations


Widely considered one of the greatest novels by Charles Dickens, Great Expectations tells the story of Pip the battered orphan boy, who rises from blacksmith's apprentice to gentleman under the patronage of a mysterious benefactor, who assures him of "great expectations." Starring Gillian Anderson, David Suchet and Ray Winstone.


April 15, 2012


The Mystery of Edwin Drood


An adaptation and completion of Charles Dickens' last novel left unfinished at the halfway mark at his death, The Mystery Of Edwin Drood is a psychological thriller about a provincial choirmaster's obsession with 17-year-old Rosa Bud and the lengths he will go to to attain her. Cast includes Matthew Rhys (Brothers & Sisters) and Julia MacKenzie (Miss Marple).


April 22 & 29, 2012 at 9pm


Birdsong


An adaptation of Sebastian Faulk's novel about lovers torn apart by World War I. Eddie Redmayne (The Pillars of the Earth) plays Stephen Wrayford, whose pre-war affair with Isabelle Azaire (Clemence Poesy, Harry Potter films) has an enduring effect on him as he fights in the trenches.

Dr. Sheldon Cooper

The graphic designer that created this ad in an in-flight Moldovan magazine must have been a fellow fan of The Big Bang Theory.

Or maybe this was just a coincidence...

Nah, this was definitely premeditated. What do you think?

Then again, the ticket reads "Mr." and not the accurate "Dr." prefix.

Gotta love that Green Lantern shirt, but can we please talk about how terrible the Ryan Reynolds movie was?... Absolutely abysmal.

LaPining Away for Pinterest

I may be the most inept person on the face of this green earth.

For the love of all things good, I can't figure out how to use Pinterest.

Maybe it's not user error...maybe my web provider doesn't allow for me to use it. My internet is also extremely slow on some sites. I can only dream about creating boards and I pine to re-pin. ARGHHH!!!!!

I've watched the turtorial and read the help page, but to no avail. I can't PIN!!!!!

So...if I could, here are a few things that I'd pin.

If I ever have the patience to figure out how to use this site people have been raving about, I will be sure to let you all know.

Somehow all these pictures remind of Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden. Has anyone else read that?