Today's Man Candy......

It's Cary Grant!
I love him, absolutely.
He has a great sense of humor and sense of play that I find so addictive.
This past week they were playing a lot of his movies for some reason.
I watched Talk Of The Town and thought it was charming.
Cary is cool and suave even when he's doing comedy.

I'm a bit depressed lately.... I always get depressed at this time of the year without fail.
Perhaps it's the end of the long winter, and the start of spring, which would, to most people ,
be a good thing.....the stretch between now and Easter has to be the darkest part of my year.
So many bad anniversaries fall within these few weeks, and lots of strange occurances leave me wondering each year. I do not consider myself psychic in any way, but I've had some really weird things happen in March and April .

This Is Just Crazy!

Call them whatever you want......These are "Hammer Pants"!!!!
and making them gold doesn't disguise them either!
I like RL 's spring 09 collection, I really do. I even don't mind that the sleeve is ripped on this safari shirt.
RL is not the only offender either.......
also, I must admit, I'm not a fan of Isaac Mizrahi's Fall 09 Colllection. Maybe I need to digest it a bit. His usual oranges, reds and whites were there, with brights, but it just looked a bit like a big bin of used clothing to me. This kills me to write that because I consistently LOVE his stuff!
My only other 'rant' for today is that the Satorialist posted a photo of Olivia Palermo earlier this week. Please don't give her any more publicity! She's a beautiful girl on the outside, but seems mean on the inside.
Sorry this is a so snarky....this has been bothering me for a couple of days! LOL

Today's Man Candy....

Ahhh.....Hugh Grant. I was trying to decide between Hugh and Colin Firth. (I wish!)
I think it has to be Hugh because he seems to be a lot more fun than Colin.
Hugh Grant always puts me in a good mood. I liked when he was dating Elizabeth Hurley.
they were always a power couple to me.
And, no one can throw baked beans at the paps like Mr. G!
I recently changed my greetings on AOL to Hugh Grant's voice. When I log on he says "you look lovely today!" to which I respond "thank you!"
when I have mail, he says "you have letters!" and when I log off, he says "Au Revoir".....
mmmm.......yummy!

Frozen

Of course, it's SNOWING again..... about 10 inches have come down already this morning.... The poor little rabbit in the yard has just been hiding under the tree for a couple of days.

Harley has just been listening to the wind howl. She isn't really interested in setting foot outside unless it is shoveled.

This is just a picture I took the other day when shooting snaps for Flat Stanley in Liverpool...
I'm still figuring out all the features on my camera. I like the 'macro-ness' of this picture with the background hazy.

This is also a macro shot. I just put these earrings together this week. Really simple, but I do like the way they came out.

Flat Stanley has left the building......

Finally done with the whole Flat Stanley project. It was cute, and quite amusing putting Stan in different scenarios the past week. here he is at Target checking out camping equipment... Eating Pad Thai at our favorite Thai restaurant.......

Enjoying breakfast at Wade's Diner in Oswego.....

Very excited to go to Target!

test driving cars....this photo is one of the funniest....I love how the seatbelt is across his lap...

meeting one of the Bratz.....

these were the funnier shots. tomorrow I mail him back (phew!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm all for any holiday that celebrates CHOCOLATE in any way!

Pistou for You.....

It was very dark and foggy here today. Almost grey. While I was making soup today I took little breaks to catch up on my blog-reading.....
While this soup (Pistou) will be my dinner, I also want to send it out "blog-ly" to LaBelette Rouge.
I was thinking of you the whole time I was putting this together.
Sitting on a couch eating Captain Crunch ... Please accept this soup dedication as a little (((hug)))) from me! Hope tomorrow will be a better one for you. Keep your fighting spirit!

Random....

The reason there are always food pictures on here is that I am trying to figure out the settings on my camera. The only subject matter that changes from day-to-day is food and I need the practice! As the weather turns warmer I will take more outdoors.
I am so into Za'atar right now. It is a Lebanese spice mixture. Sort of a Middle Eastern "italian seasoning".
It has sumac in it which is a bitter herb, and it gives it a very distinctive flavor. I first heard of it when people were RAVING about it on a blog I read. There are even contests in parts of the world trying to find the best recipes using it.
On Top Chef this week one of the dishes had meat breaded and spiced with Za'atar. The chef/contestant did not know what to do with it.
I had done some googling on Za'atar to see what all the fuss was about and I read where middle eastern mothers put it in their kids breakfasts to make them do better on tests.
I use it in everything I would use an all- purpose seasoning in, and in the traditional way of grilling pitas and dipping them in Za'atar-infused olive oil.....yummy! I don't think i have figured out the riddle of Za'atar, because it is only sold in one pound packages, so there must be a really common use that I don't know about...that's a lot of spice!!!!!! My other love lately is fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice. I had gotten an electric citrus juicer and never really used it. Forthe past month I have juiced one grapefruit every morning. the electric juicer makes a big difference ...All this juice came from just one grapefruit!

I made this coffee cake the other day. the Recipe is in the current issue of CRAFT magazine.

It was easy and so moist and yummy. I don't think I had to write that because this picture is a perfect representation!

trying to go for a walk with Harley . The weather is mild but cool . I'm kind of tired today ....we just go back from a day trip to go to the Brother-in-law's birthday party.... he turned 50, and it was a nice little party!

So de-Muir........

Last week, I wanted to go to France...This week I want to go to Scotland!!!!!!
The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh is diplaying a retrospective of Jean Muir's life and designs.(she passed in 1995) Over 18,000 items are on display , making this the largest collection of a single fashion designer ever to be displayed.
Jean Muir designed for the label Jane and Jane in the early 60's until she broke away and started her own label in 1966. Probably the most remembered design of hers is the catsuit that Emma Peel wore on the Avengers. This was Muir's style. Closely fitted and simple-chic.

As I was reading the article about this showing, something struck me ....the way everyone talked about her designs reminded me of the way people used to describe Donna Karan's early collections. For the working woman... fitted but comfortable. Modern working-woman's clothing.

Joanna Lumley (Purdy of the Avengers and Patsy Stone of Ab Fab fame...) was a house model at Jean Muir in the 60's. that explains a lot! She still has that work-a-day cool!

Here's a pic of Joanna L. in Jean Muir:

(Love the Poirot- pink cheeks!)

Muriel's Wedding - Great Quote and Waterloo

Recently I've joined Facebook While it has been really great finding old friends, it does bring up some unexpected feelings as well:
It was 30 years ago the last time I spoke to a lot of these people
I have changed
they have changed
they are weirdly the same too!
If you look at people's friend lists, you sort of see little cliques that used to exist, still exist now.
I think I've changed a lot since then, but people tell me I look the same.
It got me thinking about this scene from the movie Muriel's Wedding.
Muriel was a nobody in high school but she tagged along with the most popular girls. The finally tell her to get lost.
They go on a vacation without her. she finds a way to go . She wants to show them that she has enough 'cool' to be back in their clique.
When she sees them, they confront her and embarass her.
She stumbles upon another classmate at dinner, and they become friendly.
Rhonda is a lot more forward than Muriel. This scene is where Muriel's life starts to change.
I LOVE this scene. It just proves that exclusivity is not only for the so-called popular people. Live your life in your own way.
You make your own 'clique'.
Speaking with people I used to know makes me realize that my life could've gone in a million other directions.
I'm happy and thankful it went the way it did!

Monday....

Here it is, Monday again. Saturday, I made chicken curry: It was good, but the next time I do it I will put in less chilies. It was a bit spicy for me. I added mushrooms and peas only because I didn't have enough potatoes and I had them leftover in the fridge.This picture kind of looks a bit 'brown', but it was really good.

Here is my lunch for today:

I shopped at Wegmans today and saw this container of Pad Thai in the prepared food section.

It was good, but not exactly authentic Pad Thai. It had a few shrimp on top and some cooked eggs, a sprinkling of peanuts and it was all tossed in an extremely vague tomato-based sauce with a few spices. Not so great.....It was mostly broad noodles which were tossed inthe same sauce, but dryly.

the tea, on the other hand, was FANTASTIC!! Wegmans has started selling this brand of tea from Japan. I like my tea unsweetened and strong, and this was both. It is green tea, which is sort of hit or miss for me.

I felted the beret I made last week and sewed in one of my new labels.

I finally ordered some new ones. I don't usually sew these in because it seems like a vain thing to do, but I always regret it after the fact.

I think Spring is coming! Harley has set up camp near the deck door again. She always does this as the weather gets warmer and the sun shines through the window. she is my little harbinger of Spring!