suziebeezieland

the turquoise thing

My sweet sister found this little enamel turquoise dipper thingy at an estate sale, and gave it to me because she thought it would look cute in my kitchen.

We don't know what it is. Do you? I call it "the turquoise thingy." I love it. ♥ I'm pretending that someone like Juliette Binoche used it to dip chocolate out of a big pot in her chocolate shop in the French countryside somewhere.  She poured the liquid chocolate onto a big marble slab and made it into candy which she gave to Johnny Depp when he came in playing his gypsy guitar.

naptime

embarrassed admission

I'm strangely tempted by these wigs. Aren't they cute? (I won't really buy one, because I bet they are one million degrees hot to wear, and if I wore one, somebody on rollerskates would zoom by and grab it off my head or I'd walk under a low tree branch and it would fly off or something, but I'm just saying, I'm tempted.)  My own hair never looks cute like these. 

I might be a bit wigged out (ha ha) about wearing human hair, though. I mean, I know I wear human hair now, but it's my own. The fancy human hair European ones are really expensive. There is one called Reality, which is ironic.

All the names of these wigs crack me up. I think "Beguile" would look okay on me, although I'd probably feel self-conscious and wonder what my facial expression was supposed to be, to match that wig. 

I also think it would be fun to buy "Hot Sauce," just so you could say to all your girlfriends, "Hey, how do you like my 'Hot Sauce' wig?" 

That "Embrace" one is pretty cute, too, but boy, I bet you have to make sure the person you are embracing knows that you're wearing a wig, because that could be one big ol' surprise there for somebody at some point in the embracing. ("Whoops, my wig just fell right off the back of the sofa.")

Also, look at Raquel Welch. That's airbrushing or PhotoShop something-something, right? Because she's 69 years old.

dear suziebeezieland twihards, please advise

{image from vanity fair}

1. I've read Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn each through once. Then I read Twilight again. And now I'm reading New Moon again.

2. I've read the Midnight Sun partial draft online at Stephenie Meyer's website.  I've bookmarked her website, and note that I know how to spell "Stephenie" with the unusual middle "e".

3. I watched the movie Twilight three times when I had it from Netflix, and then I had to return it, so I went and bought it on BluRay and have watched it twice since then (once with the commentary turned on).

4. I say "RPatz" and "KStew" and "Robsten", and I know who they are, and I keep track of them daily online. 

5. I've watched the trailer for New Moon.

6. I've watched the spoof of the New Moon trailer with guinea pigs, which made my coffee come out my nose.

7. I downloaded the Twilight soundtrack from iTunes, and listen to it every day when I'm in the kitchen working.  "Supermassive Black Hole" is very good for dishwashing.

So. What do I do now?

It's a really long time until November 20th.  Aren't there some action figures I can buy or something?

ps Does anybody want to go on a little road trip to Forks and LaPush with me?

my old dollhouse

The last time my folks came out to visit, they brought my old dollhouse with them. I was so excited to see it again! 

It's a bit the worse for wear and thirytsomething years in a garage, but Claire and I are fixing it up.  First, we had to scrape off all the Snoopy and Josie and the Pussycat stickers I'd slapped on it when I was six or seven. "See, this is why you can't just go putting stickers on things willy-nilly," I grumbled to Claire. "Because years and years later, your old self will be mad at your young self."

We are painting the outside Behr's Pale Stem, which is the green color of Claire's bedroom walls. The inside walls will be Behr's Lucent Sky, which is the blue color of the stripes on the top of Claire's bedroom walls. The floors will be bright white. I think we'll staple oilcloth on the roof, which is an idea I got from Jenny B's adorable dollhouse over at Allsorts.  But we might shingle it. I have to talk to our Susanna first, who as you may remember has done some pretty amazing dollhouses herself here and here and here. 

Anyway, stay tuned! :)

eggs, feverfew, & a candle

fortified with 11 essential vitamins and minerals

Sure, some might scoff and call this "scrapbook paper in cheap Target frames."

But not us. Nope.

We call it "The Cheerful Hallway That Makes Us Super Hungry for Froot Loops & Orange Juice."

a very good house

Here are a few more photos from my aunt and uncle's good house in Kansas City.  They have just redone the sunporch. It's so bright and cheerful. I love all the green.

This is a piece in the breakfast room off their kitchen. I love the color combinations in their home.

When I was a kid, I was always excited to see the artwork in their home. I still am! Look at all those cool old doorknobs.

And this has always one of my favorite pieces:

Claire has been begging for a hammock since we got home.

Homer and Claire got along like a house on fire. They had so much fun together.

This is the kind of guest bedroom you are tempted to overstay your welcome in. :)

shipping container house

Not far from my aunt and uncle's home in Kansas City, a woman (who has designed toy houses for My Little Pony and Polly Pocket) is building an eco-friendly house out of shipping containers.  We drove by to look at it. I love this kind of thing. :)

Apartment Therapy has more photos of it here.

most excellent vacation

Claire and I just got back last night from five most excellent days in Missouri and Kansas. The very best part of the trip was the time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. They are wonderful. (That was the whole point of our trip.)

However, they would probably not appreciate being plastered all over my blog, so I thought I'd share some photos of things with you. My good camera is still kaput, so I didn't get too many great shots, alas. (I'm sorry for the quality of these photos.) But I'll share what I have, a few at a time.

My aunt and uncle in Kansas City have an awesome house. Here are a few photos of their cute kitchen.

products you liked but can't find anymore

What are some products you loved and became loyal to, and which then became unavailable?

I haven't been able to find Australian Toaster Biscuits by Oroweat for a few years. I loved them so much. Remember, when Claire was a baby, and I was eating them every morning for breakfast? Those were the good old days. :D

feverfew & barbie feet

The feverfew has bloomed, and its cheerful little blossoms make my heart skip when I walk out the front door.

There's a Barbie picnic going on in the background.

Here's something cool you might not know. If you buy the Beach Party Barbies instead of the regular ones, they have big, flat feet instead of tiny, inclining traditional Barbie feet. They can't wear regular Barbie shoes, but the fact that you can hang them from almost anywhere by their toes more than makes up for it.

twilight :)

I don't think I ever mentioned that I finished the Twilight series. :) I read the first three books in about three sleepless days, I think, and then I slowed way down for the fourth one and read it over seven days. I had a lot going on, and I also didn't want them to end.

Also, I have to admit that I wasn't as into the fourth book as I was the first three, so I wasn't in the frenzy to read every second I could.  I'm glad I read it, but it was a disappointment.  I felt disappointed that with her really great character development of Edward and Jacob, and the super-creative, detailed worlds she created in the first three books (which I mentioned before were strong enough to carry her basically mediocre writing), she didn't stick with her strengths. The first three books are character- and conflict-driven, with the tension of the colliding worlds holding the story together.  That tension is everything. This was her great strength. 

The fourth book was plot-driven (and a pretty busy plot it was), which is dangerous, I think, when the characters are already so well-established, because characters end up doing things out of character. I think she could have ended strongly, with classic elements from some of her inspiration stories (Romeo & Juliet, Wuthering Heights).  Instead, she seemed to go the route of easy wish fulfillment.  I was disappointed in her.  But I don't want to go on and on about that, because I got over it, and have started reading Twilight again, slowly this time, to enjoy it. :D

And I may have watched the movie once or twice.  I know, I know.  They really marketed it towards teenagers (although apparently Chris Weitz, the new director for New Moon, is targeting the older fans! yay!), so the super teenagery bits with the regular Forks town kids were hard to watch.  But boy did I love the stuff with the Cullens. :) I'm trying to figure out how I can watch it one more time before I send the disc back to Netflix.  Hee hee.

Did you not LOVE the Cullens' house? It is actually the Hoke house, designed by Skylab Architects.  There's a good interview here with the architect.  It was so beautiful.

Edward's room with all those CDs and books and windows was my dream room.  Here's a bit of it in a photo from Apartment Therapy, which also has a short article talking about it.

I guess if you want to read the books and haven't yet, you probably shouldn't read comments posted on this post, because there will probably be some spoilers.

book club & a chocolate chip scone recipe

We're having a little summer book club at my house, and our first meeting was last night. It was so fun! We had about fifteen ladies. I am blessed to have very nice friends.

I forgot to take any pictures, but I will try to remember next time.  Last night we discussed Persuasion by Jane Austen.  This is our schedule for the entire summer:

June 15 | Persuasion by Jane Austen
June 29 | I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
July 6 | 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
July 20 | Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
August 3 | All Creatures Great & Small by James Herriot
August 17 | The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge
August 31 | Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

I thought you might like the recipe for the scones we ate.  Our church friend Julia C. used to bring these to Bible study a couple years ago, and they were always a hit. They are delicious.  It's easy to burn the bottoms, though, so keep an eye on them. I just served them with whipped cream, but you can also serve them with Devonshire cream.

Chocolate Chip Scones

2 c. flour, sifted before measuring
3 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. sugar + 2-3 T.
3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 c. heavy cream

Position rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Scones will be put onto a heavy baking sheet, no grease.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and 1/4 c. sugar into a bowl.  Toss with fork to mix them thoroughly. Mix in chocolate chips. Pour in cream; mix with a fork until it holds together. Dough will be sticky. Transfer to a lightly floured work space.  Knead dough ten times: push dough away with heel of hand, fold it back, turning a quarter.  Pat dough into a 9-inch disc.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with 2 T. sugar.  Cut into 12 pie-shaped wedges and transfer to baking sheet. Leave an inch between wedges. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until tops begin to brown.

As I type this, I realize I forgot to sprinkle on the sugar last night! Ha. :)

kindergarten graduation & father's day

Today we celebrated father's day, because next weekend Claire and I will be in Missouri, visiting my uncles and aunties and cousins. :)  We bought Bob two new shirts and pairs of shorts and some new flip flops from Old Navy. We also got him a pancake pan that makes little pancakes that look like waffles (I have to admit that pragmatic Suzanne does not quite get the point of this pan, but Bob and Claire, who are in charge of Saturday breakfasts around here, were both excited by it). And some chocolate chocolate-chip pancake-waffle batter to go with it. I think we're having that for dinner tonight. :)

This past Tuesday, Claire and Gracie graduated from kindergarten. Here is Claire with her sweet teacher:

And here is the clan (I'm taking the photo) gathered to eat lunch afterwards, in celebration. It was such a fun and joyous day. :)