Mugs and muffins

How is it that drinking from a cute Anthropologie mug can make my husband's already fabulous cappuccinos taste so much better?!! (homemade blueberry muffin from Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook)

 

My inner boho

I am one of the few people that escaped the 80s unscathed by big bangs and crispy perms. It was easy really. I was a gypsy boho queen! My style icons were Jami Gertz in the Lost Boys and Lisa Bonet in anything. I loved Edie Brickel and the New Bohemians and attended the opening night of The Doors movie like I was going to see Jim Morrison live. (That might just be the result of deprivation brought on by a lame Corpus scene). I crushed on River Phoenix because what boho girl could resist, and Ian Astbury from The Cult...well...I'll keep that private. The fact is, all of these things are still awesome! I don't look back at those teen years in shame (well, maybe the glasses/braces combo), but with pride. Here is my tribute to my 80s icons.

Percey Bysshe Shelley says "Forget about it!"

I stumbled upon a weird little bit of information while reading The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein, and I can't seem to move past it. Percy Bysshe Shelley, one of the most quintessentially English of the Romantic poets and husband of Mary Shelley, has roots in Jersey! His great-grandfather came to America to make his fortune. He settled in New Jersey and had kids while here, including Percy Shelley's grandfather. Through the death of his older brothers, Percy Shelley's grandpa inherited the estate in England and moved to the motherland. Thank goodness for rampant illness and the misfortune of those older brothers! One cannot imagine such words as ''Death is the veil which those who live call life" being read in the voice of Tony Soprano.

Frankenweenie equals Frankentastic!

It has been far too long since I've blogged, but thankfully October rolled around to inspire my inner adorable goth. Let's talk Frankenweenie! This movie has Tim Burton doing what he does best, using his old live action short as the basis for this film, but I also see his first stop motion animation film, Vincent, in here as well. Take a peek...

The new Frankenweenie has the look, the story and the originality of all the best of Tim Burton. One could say it's expected, but one could also say that this is exactly what we want from him. We go to Jane Austen for regency romance and we go to Tim Burton to make our Edward Gorey fantasies come to life. Now if we can only get him to do Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.

Read to Me, Mr. Darcy!

Could anything be more glorious than Colin Firth reading you a story? Thanks to the profound wisdom of the folks at audible.com, the fabulous Mr. Darcy will read to you Graham Green's classic, The End of the Affair for a mere $7.49. I've never had any interest in the story, but perhaps now it's time give it a try.

There are other audio books that have readers so perfectly matched to the book that the experience of listening to the story feels better than reading it yourself. I won't create a "top 10 list" because there are so many great ones that I cannot pick who would fit better at each number, but I will list 10 titles that I will add to in time.

1. Dress Your Family in Courderoy and Denim by written and read by David Sedaris - Really anything by David Sedaris is fabulous, but there is something magical about him reading his work that makes it funnier, particularly when you hear him reading live before an audience. His interaction with the crowd and their response to his work is priceless.
2. Neverwhere written and read by Neil Gaiman - Again, anything he reads is worth listening to. There is something so enchanting about his quintessentially English fairy tale tones and rhythm that pleasure could be derived from listening to him read a parking ticket.
3. To Kill A Mockingbird ready by Sissy Spacek - The absolute perfect voice for this book. No remakes please!
4. Lolita ready by Jeremy Irons - I don't think I need to say anything here except that you might need to listen to this in private.
5. On the Road read by Matt Dillon - Matt Dillon was the only reason why I finished this story. He was perfect and you felt like you were listening to Jack Kerouac himself telling you his story. But let's face it, Kerouac is a dick, at least from a woman's perspective. Perhaps because I'm in my 30's and not a 17 year old looking to break free of parental bonds, I just want to flip him off! But if you have any interest in this story, listening to it with Matt Dillon is the only way to make this medicine go down.
6. Sense and Sensibility read by Kate Winslet - This combination of reader and story is so perfect that anything else is just silly.
7. Othello read by a full cast including Ewan McGregor - If you have trouble swallowing Shakespeare, try a dash of Ewan and see if doesn't taste any better.
8. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society read by a full cast - This is a good book, but the pleasure of listening to this story read by the perfect cast makes this one that I want to listen to again.
9. Bob Dylan's Chronicles ready by Sean Penn - If you're going to have anyone read from Bob Dylan's diary, for the sake of all of us, make it Sean Penn.
10. Get in the Van written and read by Henry Rollins - Like David Sedaris and Neil Gaiman, no one other than Henry Rollins should ever read Henry Rollins' work aloud. The magic would simply be lost.

Hope you enjoy the list. Feel free to post your favorites as well!

Moonrise Kingdom

I got a chance to see Moonrise Kingdom on the 4th of July, which also happens to be my birthday. This film was my husband's suggestion, and I think there is something so sweet about the fact that he recommended this beautiful little love story on the first date we've able to have in a while. Wes Anderson has created the most visually perfect and original fairy tale of a story since Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands. As usual, there are film shots designed to look like the set of a play or like Edward Hopper paintings, where actors are so reserved and introspective that it feels as though they are posing for Hopper's tranquil universe rather than acting. Oh, and it's funny too! The combination of elements completely universal and outlandish make for fantastic story telling that remind us of our first loves and what it's like to be young. This film also makes us wonder how Wes Anderson always manages to up his quirky factor. Hipsters will love this film and will most certainly use it for indie validation. But I don't care. This was an all around fun and beautiful treat and was the perfect way for me to end my birthday. Better than fireworks any day.

Cookbooks as Literary Reading...because I said so!

Do cookbooks count as reading? I pour over the pages again and again and feel this obsessive studying of rustic fruit desserts or Nigella's fabulous hair have enriched my life and taught me something of the world. What the hell! I'm going to play my librarian card and use my biblio-authority to proclaim cookbooks a legitimate and profound reading experience!
I get so much from a cookbook that I don't get from the internet. It's like a privileged tour through the lives of the chefs, their homes, and their style as well as their tastes. I completely identify with Allysa Torey's aesthetic in At Home with Magnolia and feel that the only thing we don't have in common is that I am not a wildly successful baker with a fabulous farm house. And how adorable are The Farm Chicks?! Well, as I understand we are now down to one Farm Chick but the singular doesn't have the same ring to it.
My new discovery is The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook. I'm not sure if anything gets better than this! The book perfectly captures the fantastic vintage looking bakery and food! I just about fell over when I saw all the aprons in the back that hang the way they do in my own kitchen. And the food...hang on...I need to clean up my drool. Well, you get the point. The bonus here is that I discovered a new place I want to visit in Savannah. And please tell me that if I'm ever lucky enough to visit that the retro-fabulous founder, Cheryl Day, will be there! In the meantime, I'll be baking her tarts.

Zombies and Robots

Now that I'm back working as a librarian, I am reveling in the joys of buying books on someone else's dime. I have the good fortune of having an awful 600's (cooking, crafts, etc...) section, which means that I get to rebuild it myself. I have always had fun buying these books for libraries and this section is always popular. I will post favorite finds as I shop for these books. Today's choices are too fantastic not to post. Since it is a Catholic high school, I will not be able to rely on punk bios or thug poetry to speak to my infinite coolness as a librarian. I will have to accomplish this with books on adorable zombie crafts. I hope it works!

Books and Footie!

This is one of those book review entries that will likely take over the blog, and I suspect this one will go against the grain of the sorts of things I’m supposed to write about. Most folks tuning in to read about sewing or cooking will find those things, but book reviews in these sorts of blogs rarely venture into soccer memoirs. I’m afraid I can’t help myself! I love Nick Hornby’s non-fiction and this is actually a reread for me of his book Fever Pitch, a book that is part memoir and part book about his soccer obsession, particularly with Arsenal who play in the English Premier League. I read this about 10 years ago and I enjoyed it then, but I loved it now. We are in the middle of the Euro Cup so it seemed fitting.

Let me just break down some reasons why I love this book:

1. This book is every bit as English as anything by Jane Austen, but it’s modern and male and, therefore, hilariously self-deprecating.
2. It’s laugh out loud funny. Seriously!
3. I feel like I too am traveling around England, going to matches and experiencing something that is such an intrinsic part of their culture that I forget the fact that I live in south Texas and am actually experiencing 108 degree heat.
4.  I feel like this book is my own particular treat. I know that this is not the sort of book that will appeal to lots of folks I know simply because they don’t want to read about soccer. Never mind that this book is about coming of age in England and about finding something that connects you to the world. Never mind that this is told with such a distinct and honest voice that the wit is perfect and natural. They only see a sports topic and stay away. That’s fine with me. Those that deserve the rewards this book will bring will read it. The rest of the world can go enjoy their little best seller titles.

Ladies and Gentleman...Elvis Presley!

I've been a very naughty blogger, but knee injuries acquired during hilarious attempts to exercise will cause such lapses. Before this silly little episode, however, I had a glorious return to sewing! I missed it! Never again will I neglect my machine or the beautiful piles of fabric I've accumulated. And to kick off this return, I felt it appropriate to use my Elvis fabric. A few aprons followed during my sewing frenzy. Here are the results.

 

Nothing says "I love you" like a vintage tiara!

Today I have been married for 3 years. Tradition dictates that the 3rd anniversary theme is leather. I think it's tiaras.

My name is Tanya and I'm addicted to aprons and fabric

Aprons are my addiction that I never wish to kick. I wear them to cook and clean like everyone else, but I’ll wear them to run errands and grocery shop too. They dress up my t-shirt and jeans and make me feel a bit sassy. It’s like flaunting my domesticity and my fashion sense (Cute aprons only please) My wedding shower was a kitchy “Aprons and Pearls” theme and it was fantastic to see so many people get into the June Cleaver spirit of things.

Today’s shopping apron was the first one I made a few years ago. I pieced together scraps of fabric left over from other projects and voila! Sassy apron! Mother’s Day afforded me the excuse to splurge on fabric for more aprons.  My husband kindly refrained from asking how much everything cost, but there is no limit to the rewards he’ll get having his wife look and feel retro-tastic while making banana apricot muffins for the morning.

Walking for Anthropologie

And so it begins. I will be waking up early to go walking before the baby wakes up and I have to get ready for work. Am I doing this for better health? Sure. That goes without saying. If I’m going to be honest, however, my motivation also includes a deep desire to fit into whatever I want from Anthropologie.  The occasional top or cardigan just isn’t going to cut it anymore! I’ve had a baby. I’ve nursed him. It’s time for that cute skirt hanging in my closet to actually fit over my hips again. This also affords me time with my tunes, which leads me to the introduction of a regular feature here at My Little Thought Bubbles… “My Personal Soundtrack.” Today’s entry is “A Perfect Day Elise” by PJ Harvey. Miss Polly Jean will likely find her way into this feature on a regular basis because she’s fabulous, though I admit that today her cute outfit and haircut played through my head and kept me going at a brisk pace. “I too will have this look if I just keep going.” We shall see…

Wild Things

I went to kindergarten in a town just outside of San Francisco. I loved Grease, the Electric Company and my roller skates, which were black with silver wheels and were likely an early indicator of my future yearnings to roller derby (I’ve not yet taken the leap…perhaps for my mid-life crisis) But nothing quite captured my imagination like the well worn book in my classroom library that was filled with “wild things” and a naughty boy named Max. I knew these wild things. I saw them in my room at night too. The thrill of these imaginary monsters was more fun than anything I could buy in a store. I have a son of my own now and my only gifts to him for his first Christmas were his own copy of Where the Wild Things Are and the little dolls to go with the book. He looks at them as he goes to bed at night and he talks to them when he wakes up in the morning. We can’t yet understand what exactly he’s saying but whatever his idea of the story might be, I want to say thank you, Maurice Sendak, for filling our lives with dreams and wild things.

As a former bookseller and librarian, I don’t feel compelled to hide behind elitist proclamations like “The cover doesn’t matter, it’s what’s inside that counts.” Pish, posh! Yes, the content matters, but isn’t it more fun to have the pretty copy of Pride and Prejudice or the gothy cover of Jane Eyre? The whole experience is just better. Don’t get me started on e-books. I can embrace a good audio because it goes back to our inner childhood feelings of the joy of hearing a good story. But proper bibliophiles need libraries with books which are reflections of our minds, our tastes, and our incomprehensible coolness. We enjoy showing them off to our guests and secretly discerning your character by the covers of your books as well. If you’ve been reading from a kindle or a nook, I implore you to reach back into the days of yore and rediscover the pleasure of judging a book by its cover.

Today is the beginning of an era for me, one which includes a blog. Today is the end of an era for France, one in which French president Nicolas Sarkozy is voted out of office. While I promise to never write about politics here, I am including this bit because it's French and it was fun being able to look at the French president as a man who was so French that he married the fabulous Carla Bruni, whom he met at an exclusive party. (Nevermind that she's Italian. She spent enough of her childhood in Paris to be honorary) In honor of your era Monsieur Sarkozy, here is my favorite song from Carla. My apologies for the fact that it's about the father of her other child. What can you do...