Song for the Weekend

Do you know the band Boy & Bear? I just read about them, and am loving this song, which appropriately (for the weekend) is called Rabbit Song:

Happy Easter / Passover weekend

I just realized I haven't posted anything since before Christmas! How have 4 months gone by so quickly?
What are you up to for the holiday weekend? I'm pretty excited to be in England, as we have a two whole days off. In college, I lived 5 hours from home, and I remember what a pain it was to have to cut the holiday short and drive back to school. At least I had jelly beans and chocolate for the ride.

Flights home were too expensive to justify for just a few days, so I have rented this cottage with a few friends. I've never been to Suffolk, so it's really nice to hang out, eat, drink wine, explore the coastal villages, eat, play some board games and relax.

In keeping with the last blog post I wrote, click below for my top picks for Easter-themed children's book stories:

Old Man and the Sea

Check out this cool stop motion video of The Old Man and the Sea created by artist Marcel Schindler. I am loving the song as well:

Christmas Books

Did you read Christmas books as a child? What were your favorites?

Here are some that were well-loved in my family:


The Sweet Smell of Christmas: 

The story is cute, but the book is SCRATCH N SNIFF! All the Christmas smells are there: candy canes, hot cocoa, pine, oranges. I think my sister and I ruined it with all of our scratching, so I was very relieved that it came back into print a few years ago.

The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry:

This is a lovely edition of the classic Christmas tale of a couple who sell their most-prized possessions to afford to buy gifts for one another. BUT, there's a twist...

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Chris Van Allsburg is one of my favorite picture book writers (I am hoping Santa brings me a copy of the new Chronicles of Harris Burdock book for Christmas), and while this is perhaps his most well-known book, it's absolutely lovely. I wish train rides were always the way they're depicted in the book.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

It's a classic for good reason.

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore

Every Christmas Eve, my sister still insists we read this aloud as a family. The cover is a bit different than our version at home, but I believe it's the same illustrator. With so many editions to choose from, this one seems cozy and warm.

The Mitten by Jan Brett

While all of the other tales are Christmas specific, "The Mitten" is just a sweet, fun, winter tale.







The Night Before Christmas

New Music

One of the best things about December is that all of the "best of" lists for the year come out. I'm always looking for new music, so was pretty excited when I saw this list from Paste Magazine with the 50 best albums of the year.

What are your favorite songs / albums of the year?

Happy Holidays

Now that it's December, I'm starting to get into the holiday spirit. How cute is this new ad for the John Lewis department store? I love it.

Documentaries

Though I generally enjoy documentaries, I find I only watch them occasionally. However, I've seen some really great-looking previews lately. Has anyone seen any of these?  Are any of them on your list of movies to see?

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
I can't upload a video to this directly, but here is the trailer for the first full-length film about Chinese artist, Weiwei: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry. I think it looks amazing.



Being Elmo:

 I Believe I Can Fly:

Starting a Wine Cellar

This is a neat article about starting a basic wine cellar.

What's your favorite type of wine?

Until a few years ago, I normally only drank white wine. Then, at the start of 2009, my New Year's resolution was to acquire a taste for red wine. It was one of the most fun (and also most successful) resolutions I've had to date.

source: http://xkcd.com/627/

Ballroom Jeans

A friend recently passed this advertisement along to me, and it's kind of hilarious. This same friend, split the crotch of his jeans open trying to impress a small group of people with his dance skills a while back. So...these would be good for that, or also if you want your man to practice his ice dancing skills, I suppose:

New Favorite Magazine

A friend of mine recently told me about Matchbook Magazine, which is online once a month. It's so cute! The perfect combination between preppy and relaxed. I can't wait until next month's issue!

Music for Monday Morning

I woke up this morning to this link in my inbox from my dad. Monday mornings can be hectic, so get ready for work while listening to this fun song.

Tonight for dinner, we tried the Spicy Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti from Ina Garten's How Easy Is That? Cookbook. Lately, that's been my go-to for recipes. As always, I'd recommend using less salt than she suggests, but it was a tasty, hearty cold weather meal.

Here's a link to the recipe, and a picture of a much tastier looking dish!

These are a few of people's favorite things...

Lately, there's been a lot of "top" lists. Here are some of my favorites:

•  The Top 10 Literary Badasses in Children's Books 
• 10 of the Best Burgers in NYC (chosen by The Guardian)
• Best Cocktail Bars in the World (Top 50)

What do you think? What are your some of your favorite things? 

Sunday Post

I am always on the lookout for new music. Lately, I've been feeling like I'm in a bit of a rut--have any suggestions?

In the meantime, I'm enjoying these:

Mr. Rogers! (and more)

It's Monday, which means I never have seem to have enough time in the day to do everything I'd like to. Maybe it's because I spend most of the days wishing it was any other day...

Here are a few things I found interesting:

• A great article on Fred Rogers.
• This looks like a yummy British food to make. 
• Apparently a man in Florida tried to use a taco as ID? Best line ever: Another deputy clarified they were asking for an ID, not a taco. Falkner chuckled and began eating the taco.
• I want to try making some of the recipes on this tasty-looking blog. 

Happy Sunday

It's definitely fall in London this weekend. Yesterday we went up to Windsor and went kayaking on the Thames, which, aside from the the train not running part of the way, was a really fun experience. We managed to see Windsor Castle, Eton College, and lots of birds amidst fall foliage.

Afterward, we decided to swing by the Egham Real Ale & Cider Festival. Located at the Egham United Services Club, there was snooker, a BBQ, and fireworks in the background for Guy Fawkes Day.

Today, we made a Turkey and Roasted Red Pepper Meat Loaf for dinner. Real Simple's recipe is a nice, tasty alternative to traditional meat loaf.

For the end of the weekend, I've swiped the two below links from Cup of Jo:

• This is a great article on relationships.
• Don't you kind of want these cute fake tattoos? They could be a cute Christmas stocking stuffer.

Tokyo Police Club

I discovered this album last year after a friend recommended it to me. It took a little while, but they've really grown on me (good driving music!0. And this video is one of the most fun music videos I've ever seen. Dog pool party!

Occupy Wall Street

This is a pretty great idea, even if you just want to cut down on junk mail:

James Van Der Week

Ever wonder what James Van Der Beek is up to these days? Me either, but I was still pretty excited to see him take over the Funny or Die Twitter Account for a week, and also to see this pretty awesome new website (I especially like the Katie Holmes smile section). Here's a clip of him doing "sexy":

And here's how it all came about.