Postcrossing

Have you heard about Postcrossing?  If not, you are in for a treat.  I love Postcrossing!  I have been a member of this site/ project for a little over two years now and I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to cheer someone up through mail.

Postcrossing:  It's a project that allows anyone to receive postcards (real ones, not electronic) from random places in the world. (Info. from the Postcrossing site)


I love getting to my mail box, looking inside and finding a postcard from some far off place.  I have literally received cards from all over the world (Finland, Taiwan, China, Japan, Qatar, Czech Republic, Poland, The United States, etc.)!  It is amazing!


I really like that you get monthly updates about where you have sent postcards, where you have received them from and how many you have sent over the course of a month.

This is so pretty to me and kind of amazing that all of this information is held in one tiny space.

There is a postcards wall, that you can upload photos of all of the postcards you have received and others can post photos of postcards that they have received.

On this page you can mark your favorites and so may others!

If you love sending and receiving mail, please check this out!  It is amazing and I don't know if I have shown that very well here.  Happy Postcrossing!

Beauty and the Beast Three Ways

Me and my mom are finishing up our third season with the Pantages Theater is Los Angeles... at the corner of Hollywood and Vine.  There have been some really great shows!  To name a few:  Fiddler on the Roof, Mama Mia, The Color Purple, In the Heights, Riverdance, Young Frankenstein, RENT, The Lion King, and West Side Story.  There were also some bad ones, like Grease, Dirty Dancing, CATS, and Legally Blonde.  But, all in all I have enjoyed my time with the Pantages.

I will miss riding the metro in to LA... seeing all of the wild people and getting slightly freaked out by random people that come up to me and say awkward things.  Ok, so I will just miss riding the metro.  I know that I will probably go to a few shows next season, but overall it is seeming like a not so dynamite list of shows.  Billy Elliot and Wicked (which I have seen before) will be my two choice shows.

Anyway, we are finishing up the current season... just 2 more shows, Burn the Floor and Shrek the Musical.

On Friday night, my mom and I got to see Beauty and the Beast.  To be completely honest this is one of my favorite Disney movies and I was a little nervous about what the show would bring and undoubtedly leave out.  As it turns out I was happy to see the show.  I believe that they cast the characters extremely well and each person did a great job perfecting their role.

I would have to say that my favorite character in this show was Gaston.  I don't enjoy him so much in the movie, but the actor had fun with the role and it really showed.  I recommend that you see this show if it comes near you.

Disney: Beauty and the Beast, the Musical

The musical was the first way that I saw Beauty and the Beast this weekend.  The second way was through a movie... a modern take on the story.  My best friends mom and little  (She's almost 17) sister were up.  I told Amanda that I would take her to see a movie and oddly enough she chose to see 'Beastly'.  I had not seen any previews for the movie, but  I had my suspicions that it was a re-make of a timeless Disney classic.

Being that I am no longer a teenager and I have never experienced love, I find that I may be slightly jaded when it comes to campy love stories.  I believe in love, I know it is out there... that it can happen, but I would prefer to experience it than watch it on the silver screen.  Is this wrong of me?

Anyway, it was a cute movie and Amanda really liked it.  It was right up her alley.  Here is the poster for the movie:

Because I had been submerged in a Beauty and Beast weekend without really knowing it beforehand, I decided that I would watch the Disney cartoon version as well.  I love this movie!

Disney's Beauty and the Beast...  Disney

I love this movie not only for the great songs and the humor, but because it shows us that it is important to think of others instead of ourselves.  I think the latter is the most important and it is also something that perhaps is the hardest to accomplish at times.  What do you think?

Go catch some of Beauty and the Beast yourself...  it'll be fun!

A Book in Review: 'The Glass Castle'

I made a trip to Colorado for the first time, back in January.  Shortly before heading to the airport, I realized that I had not packed a book!  What a shock!  I always travel with a book or two... or three.  So, I stopped at a Target and was pointed in the direction of 'The Glass Castle' by my friend.  I had wanted to purchase it before, but never really thought that I would like it.  I usually do not do well with real life stories, they get on my nerves.

After some coaxing, I picked it up.  I read about half of it throughout the trip and I really enjoyed that bit, but then coming back to work and grading assignments, etc.  I was unable to finish it... until last night.  What a crazy life these people lived.  I cannot believe what the children in the book went through and how the parents acted.  I am even more surprised that 3 of the 4 children turned out to lead productive lives.

I definitely recommend this book.  The writing is smooth and keeps you moving through the content.  I did not find my self bored even once.  Check it out and hopefully you will enjoy the read as much as I did.

The Glass Castle

Family Dinner

Last week, my grandma was in the hospital for a serious heart condition that we did not know she had.  She needed to stay in the hospital for 3 nights and 4 days.  It was a scary time.  I do realize that she will be 81 in May, but I have always been around her and even though she can sometimes grate on my nerves, I would be dreadfully sad without her.

That's what made this family dinner so much better... knowing that she is still around to tell me when to turn into the parking lot, even though I live in the same town she does.  For her to tell me how to get to the grocery store, for her to ask me 9 times in 2 minutes what my plans are for the night... etc.  I know these things annoy me at times now, but I will be sad when they no longer occur.

Tonight we had family dinner to celebrate life and I made a cake for dessert.  No, it is not from my Bon Appetit Dessert Cookbook.  However, it is a Paula Deen recipe.  I have been watching the food network non-stop these days and boy am I glad that I have!  I came across this 'Pink Lemonade' cake recipe.

Pink Lemonade Layer Cake

By: Paula Deen

Cake:

1  (18- 1/4 ounce) box white cake mix

1  teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2  teaspoons vanilla extract

3 Tablespoons sweetened pink lemonade drink powder

Frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1  pound confectioner's sugar

5  Tablespoons frozen pink lemonade concentrate

1  teaspoon vanilla

1  teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper or waxed paper.

Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions. To the batter, stir in the lemon zest, vanilla, and pink lemonade powder. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Carefully turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting by beating together the confectioners' sugar and remaining 1 cup butter until fluffy. Beat in the remaining frosting ingredients until combined.

Transfer one cake to a cake stand or large platter. Using an offset spatula, spread the top of the cake with a layer of frosting. Place the second cake on top of the first. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of both layers.

Everyone enjoyed the cake and we will continue to enjoy it over the next few days.  Please try this fast and easy cake!  Oh, and Happy Spring!  Don't forget to celebrate life everyday because you never know when it is going to cease.

A Fading Art...

There is something about opening your mailbox and finding a letter inside... hand written at that.  I have always enjoyed receiving mail and I absolutely love sending it out to friends and family.  It saddens me that this is something that we are allowing to fade from our lives.  Yes, I do enjoy new technology, but I believe letter writing is one thing we truly need to hang on to.

Because of this belief I was super glad to have discovered Minted.  Minted is an amazing site that sells stationery (flat, folded), address labels that are unlike any I have ever seen, lovely and quirky wedding invitations and a whole bunch of other amazing things!

Please check them out and be just as amazed as I am.  Minted.

These photos are from Minted.