Oh what a wonderful...Saturday!

Last night was my daughters' dress rehearsal for their dance program, which means today was their dance recital! I absolutely love watching their dance dress rehearsals. For me, that moment is extremely emotional, and I savor every bit of it. With how much my oldest has gone through due to Crohn's Disease, it makes my heart sing watching all of those beautiful young ladies having fun with their bodies and who they are. I love watching their passion and pride for what they have worked so hard to accomplish come to fruition. It is just one of those things that gets me deep in my heart...every time. I usually try to film their dances during the dress rehearsal as well, so that during the actual recital, when the audience is more packed, I get to just sit and relax, and enjoy! So, today set the day for greatness!
Then after the recital (and my girls changing into more comfortable clothes), we headed of to a lovely dinner to celebrate a recent family member's birthday. It was deliciousness. Then we stopped in our local bookstore (the one that is soon to close), to see what goodies we could find before all was gone.
Apparently they are closing their doors on the 13th, which is way too soon! Everything in the store was 40% off, so I decided to browse and see what would jump out at me. The cheap prices allowed me to give some random books a try, which was really fun!
My youngest picked out 5 American Girl books and a lovely book on a diary of a young lady that was on the Titanic (she is a bit Titanic obsessed), and my oldest picked out 5 more Star Wars related books and Geek Charming (there is a movie on this book that she likes quite a bit). As for me, here are my finds:

All 3 of Shakespeare's Henry VI plays. I have been wanting to read some plays lately, and really don't have any aside from the Theban plays and Romeo and Juliet. I am a sucker for trilogies (I am pretty sure being obsessed with 3 is OCD related...), so when I saw this I thought to myself, can't go wrong with Shakespeare!

I've heard good things about The Secret Life of Bees, and in all honesty, I've been really interested in bees since so many are dying out. I keep telling my husband I want to be a beekeeper, but he just laughs at me! I thought I might enjoy this story, it's the next best thing, right?

I have read about The Mermaid Chair several times online and just think this cover is so beautiful. The storyline sounds interesting, and anything even mermaid related has my attention. This was the only hardcover I purchased today, and all the books we got today were used books.

My last 3 books are these little strange ones; Spanish Holiday, Grecian Holiday, and California Holiday. I really have no idea what they are about, aside from the titles, but they have been catching my eye for quite a while in the bookstore. I think I would love to read a few books with a travel theme. I have a feeling they might be some fun stories, so today I decided to give them a try. I was actually really happy to see that all 3 of them were still on the shelf (yes, again, 3).

Beowulf, based on the screenplay for the movie that I so much love. I really didn't know much about Beowulf prior to this movie, and I loved it. I had no idea this book existed, but I am super excited I discovered it!

 

We ended up bring 19 books home for a total of $50. Most of the books we purchased were only $2.50 each. That will be our last stop in the bookstore before it closes, which makes me incredibly bummed. But, I am happy my girls were able to get so many books they love, so inexpensively- and I am excited to give these new random books a try and see what I like! I am still reading Star Wars Legacy of the Force Betrayal (at a very slow pace lately), but I am itching to give one of these new ones a go. Either way, I'm sure I will blog about whatever I decide to read...

Tinker Bell and the Legend of the Neverbeast

 

Tonight we finally watched this movie. I've got to say, I absolutely loved it. I haven't been much of a fan of the previous Disney Fairies movies, simply because I am just not fond of Tinker Bell's personality. They are cute movies, Tink is cute, but her mischievous, trouble-making ways rub me the wrong way. I can't say that I fully understand why, other than I don't relate to her at all. BUT... this new movie was fantastic!
There is so many wonderful undertones in this movie that I cannot get over. Of course it is the adorable fairies that everyone loves and finds so endearing, but there is also so much more. The movie touches on soul purpose, creatures misunderstood, true friendship, responsibilities, destiny, self sacrifice for the good of others- I could go on and on. The storyline was beautiful. And a little bonus for myself, Tink was not that much in the movie. I found myself watching the movie and thinking, wow, the Earth is a beautiful thing! When a movie has me thinking like that, it is great in my book, even if it is an animated movie intended for children.
I will probably be picking up this movie at some point in the near future to have in our collection, as I am thinking it will be a movie I will want to re-watch many times!
Oh.... and I really love it when animated movies show other animals that are not dogs, acting like dogs. It is so hilariously cute, and Disney added that into this movie just right! If you haven't seen the movie yet, I definitely recommend it, especially if you have some little ones in your life to watch it with!

Cinderella in the thrift store?

Since my daughters and I love dolls (it has kind of become our way to bond...long story), and seem to spend way too much money on them, I've decided to start giving thrift stores a try. This is actually very huge for me, as thrift stores are kind of a trigger for my OCD. Since I was very young I have really despised thrift stores, they kind of freak me out. They still do. I hate the smell of them. I try to avoid touching everything, and refuse to look at anything other than the dolls to see what treasures we might discover. And even then, I will only dish out money if it is in near perfect condition and EVERYTHING can be thoroughly sanitized to my high expectations. So, this new endeavor is really pushing me out of my comfort zone.
So far we have only checked in our local thrift store 3 times. The first time we found a couple of good books (the one I got for me, I still haven't felt comfortable enough to sit and read it...but I will get there), and a bag of 2 Bratz Babyz fashion dolls and a café play set of some kind for only $3. The second time my youngest lucked out big time and found a bag for $5 filled with all kinds of Mix and Match Lalaloopsy doll parts. There ended up being enough parts in the bag to make 3 complete dolls!

Today, I found a Disney Cinderella toddler doll! I have been wanting to get a toddler doll for a long time, but just haven't wanted to spend the money, unsure if I would enjoy making clothes for one. This one I found was in near perfect condition, with her original dress. The dress still needs to be washed, but she is freshly sanitized (several times), and her hair was thoroughly washed (several times). Her hair looks a little fuzzy in the picture, but I am pretty sure that is because I washed her hair with really harsh soap (it looked better prior to the washing), and it is still wet. I need to fiddle with her hair a bit. I think she is probably one of the prettiest Cinderella ones I have seen. Cinderella would probably not be my first choice, but for only $4 I could not pass up the chance to finally own one! Now I can get started in making some bigger doll clothes and see what I can come up with on a larger scale.
I did some searching and discovered she is actually a real Disney Store toddler doll, before they started making the Disney Annimators dolls. I am pleased with my find! We are officially on a doll buying ban though...thrift store and other. I've spoiled myself and my girls a bit too much in that department lately.

doll sleeping bag craft idea

I have been having a bit of doll fun with my girls lately and came up with this super inexpensive doll craft idea....sleeping bags! What little girl doesn't want to have sleepovers with her dolls?

The most basic material needed is a felt sheet. You can find these in your local craft store. I know A.C. Moore's, Joann's, and Michael's sells them, and they come in all kinds of colors and patterns. The basic solid colored felt sheets sells for $ .49, and the patterned ones are up closer to a dollar. Then all you need to do is simply fold the felt sheet in half the long way and stitch the bottom and part of the long side closed. This can be done using a needle and thread, yarn, hemming tape, or even hot glue! For ours, we also cut and added a strip of colorful fabric across the bottom, which was super simple to just stitch in place. We then used the same fabric to sew a simple pillow we stuffed with fiber fill already in our house. We made several sleeping bags for dolls that basically cost us only $ .49 each, as we had all the rest of the embellishments in our house!

sewing doll clothes

I've been having a lot of fun sewing some doll clothes lately. I already have a small pile of fabric, but I stopped in Joann's Fabrics this past weekend to see if I could find some other pretty fabrics, only to discover that all their clearance fabrics were 50% off! Clearance fabric is about the only kind of fabric I buy, and I really only buy a very small amount, since doll clothes doesn't take much. I tend to have only 1/4 yard cut for each, which actually allows for quite a bit of clothes to be sewn from it. I got a bunch of new fabrics (my girls did as well). I think altogether we picked out about 12 different fabrics and paid only $8. It was pretty amazing. Everything the dolls are wearing in the photo I made (although the middle doll's shirt is a no-sew shirt), which I am also pretty amazed about. Me and sewing don't normally go together. I can't believe I am actually producing useable outfits! My Maleficent doll is one of my favorite dolls, given as a Christmas gift from my youngest. She is sporting some lovely monster pants. I got my Ariel doll from Disney World a couple of summers ago, beautiful doll. She is loving her new pajamas! And the middle curly haired doll is new; I found her at Toys R Us last week and couldn't resist. Since when does Barbie make a curly haired blonde doll with freckles?! She didn't come with a name, so I appropriately named her Riley Poof. Unfortunately, she came with one eyebrow paint a bit messed up (she was the only one available), so I've told my girls it is just a scar from a her podracing on Tatooine. Anyways...I've also made several doll pants for my daughters as well. I think up next is a pair of pants with dinosaurs all over it, a patterned picked out by my youngest!

another bookstore...gone

So, this past weekend I went to a store I don't normally, and discovered it was in the same shopping area as our small local bookstore. When I got out of the car, I pointed to the bookstore across the huge parking lot to show my girls how close we were, only to discover a giant sign hanging before their entrance informing me that they were closing. I was so incredibly sad at that moment, if I wasn't out in public I probably would have wallowed in my tears! I have so much enjoyed having a bookstore that I can easily drive to and wander through the isles looking for something delicious to devour. It is so depressing that it is so hard for our town to keep a bookstore open.
With that said, my personal book buying ban is out the window. I immediately chucked it and was reading to start hoarding everything I could. They have a lot of books I know I want to read, books that I've put off purchasing for a late date, books I know I will be paying a lot more for down the road than right now. Everything in the store was 20% at the time, on top of used book prices to begin with. My oldest daughter made out like a bandit. She loves the Star Wars series for kids, such as Jedi Apprentice or Jedi Quest novels, and they had a ton on the shelves. I think I got her 8 Star Wars books total. My youngest is apparently unamused by books at the moment and just insisted she found nothing of interest. I kind of pushed a couple of books on her that looked like something she would enjoy. Myself, I finally splurged and purchased 4 of the Legacy of the Force books. I have been eyeing this series for a while, really interested in reading them. Unfortunately, they were several books shy of the series, but I will seek them out online to fill in the gaps. I am now the proud owner of:

1. Legacy of the Force: Betrayal by Aaron Allston
2. Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice by Karen Traviss
3. Legacy of the Force: Inferno by Troy Denning
4. Legacy of the Force: Fury by Aaron Allston
5. Star Wars: Tales from Jabba's Palace edited by Kevin J. Anderson

The bookstore has lowered the percentage to 30% off as of today, so I am sure I will return to try and gather up a few more of the books I've been wanting. Then when we are void of bookstores, I wont feel so panicked. Then my indefinite book buying ban will be reinstated!

Books I wont read. Ever.

I decided to do a Top 5 Wednesday, which is to share 5 books that I wont ever read. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. The Hunger Games series. I haven't even seen the movies, but the whole premise of this dystopian series doesn't impress me. I actually cringe at the whole idea.

2. 50 Shades of Grey series. Again, haven't seen the movie either, but I did get slightly curious with all the buzz and looked up a few excerpts from the book. Woah! It is pretty sexually intense, though that is not what surprised me. I was actually shocked at the horrible writing for the sexually intense scenes in the book. It amazes me that so many people like it, even if they purely like it for the sex scenes. There has got to be better written stuff out there in that genre.

3. The Vampire Diaries. Bleh. I absolutely love the show, but the books were a bit iffy for me. I picked the first one up in a bookstore several times, giving the first few pages a go. I just cannot get past the extremely teenagery feel of the entire thing. Even the first few pages were too saturated with "OMG, like, I'm writing in a diary."

4. The Fault in Our Stars. I watched this movie and immediately wished I could pull the story and all the heavy emotions that came along with it our of my brain. I literally couldn't stop crying that night I watched it, and I slipped into a bit of depression. Watching people suffer like that because of sickness is something that triggers a lot of grief for me, and probably always will. Reading that for however many days it takes me to finish it...will never happen.

To be honest, I can't come up with a 5th book that I absolutely don't want to give a try. I'm sure there is one...but my mind is blank after those four! What about you? Is there five books you refuse to read?