Pretty Little Things Giveaway

There is a super cute giveaway over at Pretty Little Things.  So go!  Now!

Movies, Books, and Bible Reading

In this episode of what Caitlin's been wasting her time on, we have some quality entertainment for you (in my opinion).
Movies

Ponyo
I love Hayao Miyazaki movies.  I have ever since my parents taped the version of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (renamed Warriors of the Wind)that they had on HBO when I was like three years old and they butchered the entire thing.  He was also involved with Spirited Away, which is probably the movie most people have seen that involves Studio Ghibli.  Anyways, he/they make super fantastic, fantasy movies.  I like his movies because they are smart childrens movies that have messages for adults too.  The movies all share similar elements like a very strong female (usually young) lead, magic, there is always some sort of flying element, and there is usually an environmental and anti war message (those last two I'm not crazy about, but I get over it).  Well, Ponyo is probably the youngest and childish movie he has made, but that is not to say it is not worth seeing.  The story focuses on a young goldfish princess who escapes from her father (some wizard or spirit of the ocean) and finds refuge with a 5 year old boy.  She finds the strength to turn herself human with her father's magic and stays with the boy, but it causes a horrible imbalance in the world.  The two commence on an adventure to save the world from being destroyed and to save Ponyo from changing back into a goldfish.  Disney's releases of these movies annoy me a bit because they only use celebrity voices that you would know, and I find it slightly distracting.  Whatever happened to employing voice actors that can actually act in an animated movie.  This seems a difficult feat for well known live action actors, and I hate it when I can recognize their voices because that is all I see, not the character.  But don't let this minor quibble stop you from seeing these beautiful movies. B

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
If you haven't noticed, I kinda love Harry Potter.  I have since I started the reading the books back in 7th grade (yes that was before they became an international smashing success).  I think the movies just keep getting better and better.  The acting, the cinematography, the story lines improve with each installment.  I know a lot of people do not like this book/movie the best because it focuses more on relationships and on back story rather than progressive action, but I really like it.  Both book and movie are full of character development (my favorite thing) and you get to learn a lot about Tom Riddle/Voldemort.  Sad thing in this movie is that they only show two back flashes, when there was a plethora for them to choose from, there was a random burning of a house that is kind of important that never happened in the book and only succeeded in pissing off a family's Christmas, and the ending is seriously lacking in action that should have been there.  And, no Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), one of my favorite actors.  Sad day.  But it is the most mature of the movies so far. A-

Wind at My Back Season 2

I first learned of this show about 10 years ago when the Hallmark channel or whatever it used to be called replayed them along with Dr. Quinn and Christy, some of my other favorite shows.  Wind at My Back is done by the same company that did the Anne of Green Gables miniseries and Road to Avonlea that used to play on the Disney channel back when they played quality shows and movies.  Wind at My Back follows Honey Bailey and her 2 sons, Fat and Hub, and her extended family.  It takes place in the 1930's Great Depression in Canada.  It deals with their struggles during this time financially, emotionally, raising a family, etc.  It is not too serious, every episode has a slight light feel, but that is not to say it is paltry or unimportant.  But, if you enjoyed Road to Avonlea or Anne of Green Gables at all, you will enjoy this super adorable serious, and there is some awesome clothing and hair inspiration in it too! A-

Little House on the Prairie Miniseries
I watched the miniseries Disney made based on the first two books of the Laura Ingalls Wilder series.  I have to say this is far superior to the 70's TV show.  Definitely not as syrupy and sweet, though still a fine example of family fare.  It is very well acted and chronicles the family's difficult journey to the Prairie, setting up a homestead, and fighting off the Indian attacks.  It is more serious that I expected from Disney and the soundtrack is very high quality.  I definitely recommend it if you enjoyed the TV series, enjoyed the books, or enjoy movies about a journey or family.B+

Gigi
This is the first time I have ever watched this musical, and by chance caught it on TCM this week.  Gigi is dubbed the last great traditional musical MGM produced.  MGM also made My Fair Lady, and Gigi has a similar feel.  It takes place in 1900 Paris.  Gigi (Leslie Caron) is the main character, a young adolescent girl, about 16, who is very carefree in spirit.  However, she is being groomed by her aunt and grandmother to be a courtesan, and they are teaching her things like how to eat cold lobster properly, how to choose a proper cigar, etc.  Very important things, I assure you.  The young man in this story is Gaston (Louis Jourdan), a playboy of sorts and all the papers follow his every move.  Gaston is becoming bored with his lifestyle and finds refuge in his time he spends with Gigi, who at first, enjoy a more younger sister older brother type relationship.  But as the movie progresses, Gaston begins to think of Gigi as something more.  The songs are cute, the acting is fantastic, and the story is great, though I am surprised at the references to sex in this movie.  For the 50's, its pretty shocking to me, though extremely tame in today's standards.  A-

Peter Pan
I love anything to do with Peter Pan, and/or Tinkerbell.  That includes Disney's Peter Pan, Tinkerbell movies, Hook,  Peter Pan the musical and Finding Neverland.  This version of Peter Pan I definitely think is the best.  It is far darker than any I've seen, the acting is superb, and the filming/cinematography is gorgeous.  And, Jason Isaacs as Mr. Darling/Captain Hook?  Yes please.  I tend to be very critical of child actors, as I've said before, but I think all the children pretty much hold their own against the adults.  And the soundtrack is pretty much magical.  A+

Books

The Demon's Covenant, Sarah Rees Brennan
This is the second book in the Demon's Lexicon Trilogy, and it just keeps getting better.  The first one is one of my very favorite YA books.  The writing is fun and sharp.  It is never dull, and the dialogue makes me laugh out loud at times.  It centers around 2 different sets of siblings.  There is Mae (older sister) and Jamie (younger brother), and Nick(younger brother) and Alan(older brother).  Obviously, it deals with demons, but also evil wizards.  There is not much I can truly say about this plot without ruining the first book, but I can say that Nick and Alan are very good at getting rid of demons and wizards, which is how they first meet Mae and Jamie.  The main focus of both books is love.  Not just romantic love (though that does make an appearance), but more love of family.  Mae and Alan both go to extreme lengths to protect and save their respective siblings, and its book like these that I love most.  It also reminds me quite a lot of Supernatural, which can only be a good thing in my mind.  A+

Iron King, Julie Kagawa
This is one of the first books that focus solely on the Fae, or more commonly known as fairies.  The main character, Meghan, is 15, almost 16, and lives with her mother, step father and half brother.  When she was younger her father mysteriously disappeared, leaving practically no trace to follow.  Her step father has raised her but hardly notices her, same goes for her mother. The only one at school who really likes her is her best friend, Robbie.  On Meghan's 16th birthday, she finds out her brother has been kidnapped and exchanged with a changeling, and that her best friend is actually a fairy, and that she is more connected to his world than she realizes.  This book reminds me a lot of Jim Henson's Labyrinth movie, which I quite enjoy.  It is not boring in the slightest, and the two male leads, Robyn and Ash (prince of the Winter Court) are quite charming and very well written.  They are each given their own unique personality.  However, my problem with this novel over all is the main character.  This is girl is pretty much as dumb as a box of rocks, is gullible, and is pretty weak. She annoyed me to no end.  So, by all accounts with me not liking the main character, I shouldn't like this book at all.  However, with all the other elements, Meghan's annoying nature is canceled out and I plan on reading the next one in the series. B-

Bible Reading
Joshua 7- 2 Samuel 1
Basically what I have been reading is the story of David.  How he started off as a shepherd in his father's fields, to the slayer of Goliath, to Saul's right hand man, to Saul's most wanted, to being King.  There are just a few points I want to touch on.
1 Samuel 18: 1-4

"After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king's son. There was an immediate bond between them, for Jonathan loved David. From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn't let him return home. And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself.  Jonathan sealed the pact by taking off his robe and giving it to David, together with his tunic, sword, bow, and belt"

 First off, don't we all yearn for a love and bond with someone as strong Jonathan and David's was.  It is a pure and unbreakable relationship, and one that you can not deny was God designed.  Jonathan was exactly what David needed in his life, and at every step he provided something else to him.  David, at first, needed a genuine friend.  And then, later on, he allowed David to escape from his father's wrath.  Critics of Christianity try to pervert Jonathan's love of David, and honestly it makes me sick.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  And, from the beginning of this chapter, when Jonathan gives David his clothes and weapons, we know that this is just the beginning of putting David ahead of himself.  And is that an implication to David being King, I see as well?

1 Samuel 18: 7-9

This was their song:
"Saul has killed his thousands,
  and David his ten thousands!"

This made Saul very angry. "What's this?" he said. "They credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Next they'll be making him their king!" So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

 This is what they sang in the streets, that David was a better warrior than Saul, and Saul became jealous.  Forget money... jealousy is the root of all evil.  Jealousy makes otherwise good people, ugly on the inside.  It makes people hate others because they have what the other person does not have.  Jealousy causes people to not be happy.  If you are jealous of someone you are saying you are unhappy with something about you.  Jealousy can take hold of you very easily and color your every move and word.  Is this something you struggle with?  Because I know I do.  I've even flat out told friends in the past that I am jealous of them.  It's not something I'm proud of, and honestly I struggle with it a lot.  And its not really about just one thing.  It is a whole lot of little things that I wish I could have but don't.  The past 2 weeks or so, I have been sort of in a slump or funk or whatever you want to call it.  I'm not really sure why, or even what my true reasoning for it is.  I've just had this really negative attitude and been short tempered and all around grumpy, and I feel at least part of it is because of me wanting a different life/situation than what I have, even though I live a perfectly great and fabulous life.  I've been praying lately for God to give me the strength to help me curb my jealousy and to help me to see the joy in what I do have.  I have so much to be thankful for, I get embarrassed at times with this issue, but it is just one of the many struggles that I live with daily.
1 Samuel 30: 6

David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

 I believe this happened when the Amalekites invaded where David and his men had been staying.  I love that David alone found strength in the Lord.  Here they are in this desperate situation where everyone thinks they have lost their entire families, including David.  And what does everyone do?  They blame David.  And what does David do?  He turns to the Lord and looks to Him for strength and knowledge.  How awesome is that?  If you were in that situation, would you be able to not freak out and rely solely on God?  I hope I could say "yes" that is exactly what I would do.  However, knowing me, I would probably freak just a little and then pray about it.

And lastly, our sermon today in church was about poverty.  And at first, it honestly felt like I was back in my social work classes learning about poverty and what we, as social workers and government workers need to do to help.  Here are some of the statistics I hope I wrote down correctly:
Of those in or applying for Low Income Housing:
83% are single Mothers
46% of those single mothers are 18 years old or younger
80% live on about $1,200 per year
and, 36% of those considered low income could not find adequate housing for themselves
Now are those statistics shocking to you?  Because they were for me.  I thought our pastor was going down the path of saying how the government needs to help them, how we need to help the government, which is all I basically heard all 4 years of college.  However, I was pleasantly surprised.  Right off the bat, I am going to say I will not apologize for my politics, and I do not hide my views on things very well.  I think the government pretty much does jack squat.  I don't think any of their programs truly help or get to the root of the problem.  And, I do not believe it is really the government's business to get involved in these type of affairs.  The government should not make me charitable.  Me, as a Christian, should feel and want to be charitable.  I as a Christian should want to give back to God...and in turn to those in need, as a response to our faithfulness.  I (me personally) need to give back what God has given me.  Christians should be the agents of change in the poverty problem.

Hair Tutorial

Well this is my first attempt at a hair tutorial, and I am mostly doing it for myself so I remember what I did.  I'm sure most of you already know how to do this style of hair, but for those that don't, here we go.  And I'm sure I'm going to get yelled at for doing something wrong or improper, but I don't really care.  This is how I did it and it worked.
So, first, I set my hair in pincurls with pretty wet hair.  Now, I normally do not set my hair with it being wet.  I usually blow dry it first and then use a spray bottle with setting lotion in it to wet the ends and mist the middle.  I find that when I set my hair wet it never dries.  Well, last night I set it at 8pm and took it out at 7:45 am, so that gave it almost a full 12 hours to dry, and guess what, it was dry!  And I was very happy with the results.  My curls were very well formed and springy, and very mold-able.  The setting pattern I used wasn't anything fancy either.  When I first started doing pincurls for the first time, I sat in front of my vanity and tried to get my sections very even and it would take me almost 1 1/2 hours to do.  Way too long, and I hated it.  But after I got used to doing them, I started just doing at night in bed without a mirror or anything and doing it by feel rather than by sight, and so far I have been very happy with how it turns out.

So, for the setting pattern (forgive the lack of makeup), I rolled the hair up like I drew on the picture.  I also lined my part on both sides with standing pin curls.  I also rolled these up (diagram with X), however, if I were to do this again, I would roll them under (diagram with happy circle). 

Back View

Side view
I try to do 3 rows all the way around, though, as you can see, it kind of ends of up in a more random order than I would like. 

In the morning, I first took out the clips for the bottom row only and used my curling brush to brush out the sections individually and then in larger sections to get a good base form.  I used a bit of pomade on the ends to keep the ends curled up (I always have problems with that)

Then I unclipped the middle sections and brushed them separately from the bottom row to form the curl under and then I lightly brushed the two layers together, and again used a bit of pomade on the ends.

Finally, I let out the top row of curls and did the same as I did with the middle section. 

I know most tutorials tell you to brush the back out more than the front, but I didn't really brush out the front any more or less than the back sections.  However, after I got everything curling under, I took a wide toothed comb and put it into my hair starting at the part and pulling the top layers down with the comb to about the end of my ear and then I took it out to create the dent in the style.  That's all I did, and then I finished it off with hairspray. Tada.

Daily Outfit

Well, this weekend, my parents randomly decided to turn our spare bedroom into my own sewing room and vintage closet for me.  I totally approve.  But this is definitely a work in progress, so pictures of the finished project will come hopefully shortly. 

I finally finished my 1940's day dress with my truly vintage fabric, and for the first time I feel like something I made doesn't look homemade.  Yay!  I think I've gotten better at it, but I still feel like most of the things I make have this homemade quality to them which I hate.  Bleh.

When I was sewing this, I had to go over board on the pins so that the stripes matched (almost as annoying as hand sewing), and with the stripes to guide me, I'm pretty sure my hem is the most evenly sewn hem I will ever do. 

And, at first I wasn't going to add the lace, and my mother made fun of me for using the kind I did because it's lingerie lace, but it matched so perfectly I couldn't not add it.  Though something screwy happened with my tailor tacks and I had to totally disregard them and go by sight to make the swoopy part even.  Oh well. 

For the arm hole, they didn't have a pattern piece for it, but they said to make a facing for it (annoying), but I just pressed the seam allowance and folded in the cut edge like I would for a smaller hem and then hand sewed it.  I think it came out better than it would if I had tried to screw around with doing a facing.

And, for once in my life, my hair kinda turned out awesome today.  And I was even pressed for time since I woke up late and had to get to early service.  Perfect hair for a hat.  I ws concerned about wearing a 50's hat with a 40's dress, but the colors were so perfect together, I think it looks relatively cute together.  What do you think? Hat yay or nay?  My little 4 year old kiddies in Sunday School were kind of mesmerized by it in the beginning of class.  I guess I've never worn a hat around them, which I can't imagine to be true, but whatever, and they were like "Teacher you have something on your head.  It looks like a lego."  That's what I heard today.  My hat looks like a lego.  I love these kids lol.  It will probably be the most awesome lego they will ever see.

That's it for now.  I will do my first hair tutorial later today and a Bible and movie post also later today.

Flea Market Finds

First things first.  There is a totally awesome femme fetale giveaway going on at Va-Voom Vintage so go enter! 

This past weekend, the Springfield Extravaganza Flea Market happened.  Yay!  My favorite weekend each month is the flea market, but 2 times a year they have an extravaganza and it about triples the normal size, and usually takes us about 8 hours to see everything.  I basically consider it my workout for an entire week lol.  It is usually a very happy time:D  However,  I was in kind of a horrible mood and probably a terrible bore because my allergies have been plaguing me for about 3 full weeks now.  It makes me all stuffed up and give me awful sinus headaches, etc etc...oh the horrors of a pollen ridden Ohio this time of year...bleh.  So, it was not as lovely of an experience as it normally is, but I still found a lot of totally awesome things, including some faby hats, a 50's Jantzen's swimsuit, a 1940's NOS Betty Hartford suit, a 1940's wedding dress, and various assortments of buttons, buckles, and patterns.  Here's a quick picture view of everything, and individual picture hats and other things will come hopefully tomorrow after I decide what I am going to keep and what I am going to sell.

 there weren't a whole lot of amazing buttons and belt buckles which was surprising, but there were some fabulous glass buttons and ivory buckle

 A quick view of the 1940's wedding dress.  I was too lazy to take it out, but it has a veil and that beaded pattern that is at the top throughout the dress randomly.

 My 50's Jantzen bathing suit I found for $10.00.  Of course I had to get, and it fits. Finally.  Something I found finally fits, even though it is way past swimming season. 

 The NOS 1940's suit that actually fits me as well.  Not the cutest suit I've found, but since it fits, I'm keeping it, and it is still super fine.  I got it for $10.00 amazingly because it was missing a button.  That's it.  No holes or anything.  What an easy fix.

 The patterns I found for $1.00 each.  I have to decide which ones to sell and which ones to keep.  Obviously the ones that are not even close to my size I won't keep.  And, some of them are very similar to each other, so I need to choose which ones I like more.  I also got a book that documents and chronicles fabric types and fabric patterns from the late 1800's to 1960's (I think), but I forgot to take a picture of it.  Individual pictures to come tomorrow possibly, if my hair cooperates. 

Sewing Peek, Book Reviews and Bible Post

Alright, so after saying I was going to do my Bible post like 4 posts ago, I am finally getting around to it, not that many people really read it. 

But first, I have been working on 2 different dresses this past week and this week. 

This is a 1940's pattern that I've seen pop up all over the internet.  My pattern I got came with the vintage fabric though, so that's pretty awesome.  I really like the feel of it and the look.  At first, I wasn't sure if I was going to like the lace on it, but I love the way it turned out.  Full pictures will come sometime later.

And, I finally got my second shipment of the red and cream striped fabric in, from the pattern that I royally screwed up laying out.  Yay!  And boy is it heavy.  Full pictures will also come later

Book Reviews
Not too many books these past 2 weeks. 

City of Ashes, by Cassandra Clare:  This is the second book in The Mortal Instruments Series, and it is definitely an improvement from the first book.  There is hardly a dull moment in this book, you meet a few more characters, most notably Isabelle and Alec's parents.  Jace's snarky sarcasm literally makes me laugh out loud. There is a lot of conflict, inner turmoil and forbidden romance. A

City of Glass, by Cassandra Clare:  This is the third and latest book published in The Mortal Instruments series, but it is not the last.  A new one comes out in April I think, and the spin off series set in Victorian England came out a few weeks ago.  This is the epic end of the Valentine saga part of the series.  There is some tragedy, some betrayals, and some long awaited reunions.  It leaves alot of questions unanswered, but also ties up alot of loose ends, and I am definitely excited for the continuation of the series and the new spin off.  Books like this one, I like to savor and take my good old time reading so I can enjoy every moment I have with it.  Jace is definitely one of my favorite boys from YA books.   Here's a preview of the gorgeous cover.  Don't you wish all books had awesome kick butt covers like these? A+

The last book I read is called Undressed: The Naked Truth About Love, Sex, and Dating by Jason Illian.  It was pretty good, not the best relationship book I have ever read, not the worst.  Everything he wrote about in terms of dating was all Biblically based, not just his personal thoughts and beliefs, which was nice to read.  But a lot of times, reading books like these, it feels as if he is writing towards teens and not adults.  Christian adults need books to read about things like this too.  Oh well.  It was entertaining.  B

Bible Readings: Numbers 8:15-Joshua 6
My more profound things to say will come with the next Bible post, but here are my thoughts on what I have read last week and this week. 
Numbers 25

"While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove some of the men defiled themselves by havings sexual relations with local Moabite women.2 These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab (...) The Lord issued the following command to Moses: Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the Lord in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel...So Moses ordered Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death the men under your authority who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor."

This isn't the first time something like this has happened in terms of Israel turning against God, as I wrote about before, and it certainly isn't the last, but what I have begun to realize is that there is not much room for forgiveness in the Old Testament.   I feel like for the most part, my church, as with probably most churches, focuses on the New Testament and we talk a lot about forgiveness through Christ.  Christ's shedding his blood on the cross is the price for the forgiveness for our sins.  Well, Christ obviously hasn't made a presence yet where I am in my reading, so judgment was swift and unforgiving.   I'm not saying the punishment and outcome isn't justified, for turning against God, but it does seem astonishing, when all we have known is absolute forgiveness if we ask for it.

Joshua 2:1-5 abbrv.

"1 Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp. He instructed them, "Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River." So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night. 2 But someone told the king of Jericho, "Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land."3 So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: "Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come here to spy out the whole land." 4 Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, "Yes, the men were here earlier, but (...) 5 They left the town at dusk. I don't know where they went"

This is just a quick note, but Rahab I have always known was a prostitute, but in a note in my bible it says prostitute -or- inn keeper.  err?  Inn Keeper is quite a bit different than prostitute, I'm just saying.  This is my short opinion on this.  Women are not mentioned without purpose in the Bible.  It just wasn't the way of the culture, so you know if a section or an entire chapter is devoted to tell a story about a women, she is going to be pretty important.  Her strength and courage is absolutely undeniable, which she is rewarded for by being saved from the massacre.  My question though, is why did she decide to hide the men in the first place? When they are foreigners, people she should probably be scared of, people that are trying to destroy her city.  What led her to lie for them and risk her life for them? 

Judges 2:10-12

"After those people had died, their children grew up and did not know the Lord or what he had done for Israel.11 So they did what the Lord said was wrong, and they worshiped the Baal idols.12 They quit following the Lord, the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of Egypt. They began to worship the gods of the people who lived around them, and that made the Lord angry."

So, another generation of Israelites died, and their children basically turned away from God, if I am reading this correctly.  This just reminds me of nowadays where the parents and people my own parent's age seem to be strong Christians and faithful to attending church, etc, but their kids and people my age think they know better and don't need all that stuff, blah blah blah, so they fall away from the church.  I think it is heartbreaking that this is such a common pattern in today's society, especially with half the media seeming to mock Christianity.  That probably makes even more people turn away.  Am I wrong in saying this?  I feel like I just had a conversation not to long ago with someone about this, so it was funny that I happened to read that passage when I did.

That's it for now.  I missed a few days in my reading so I have like 60 chapters to catch up on.  I'm not really freaking out about not being on target though, because I'd rather go slow and actually comprehend and meditate on what I am reading than rushing through and be no better off in knowledge and understanding than I was before.  Now I'm off to tear off two sleeves off a shirt that I put on the wrong side.  Man I love it when I do that.

Navy Outfit, Fixed.

Alrighty.  I finally got my Navy outfit fixed that I had got like in April.  That is how ridiculously slow I can be sometimes.  Does anyone remember how absolutely disgusted I was with it?  I loved the pictures I saw of it on Etsy, but as soon as I opened the package, I was completely disappointed and was certain I would probably never wear it.  It was most likely from the 70's or 80's (bleh), made of polyester (double bleh), and had the most horrid gold braiding on it (I had enough of that my 14 years of dancing thank you very much).

Well, I had a moment of clarity and decided to cover those ugly gaudy gold trimmings with white.  I used 3/8inch white grosgrain ribbon to hide that nasty, belongs on a dance costume only, gold trim, and it did a pretty good job.

I replaced the painted gold buttons with plain white buttons.

The biggest challenge was re-embroidering the emblem on the upper pocket.

I need to go over it again with embroidery floss, because when I was fixing it, for some reason I was completely out of floss so I was using 1 strand of thick quilting thread.  That was....frustrating.

Well, I finally got it all put together over labor day weekend!  And, just in time to take my bike out on its maiden voyage, which I forgot to take a picture of.  Stupid me.  I don't think most of my family liked this outfit, but I don't think it's truly awful.  Anyways, I think it turned out relatively cute.  I obviously need to get a smaller belt.  Certainly not the cutest thing I own, but certainly not the ugliest thing I own either.

I should entitle this area of my posts What Caitlin Wasted Her Time Doing This Week, or something probably more creative than that:D

Well, these past few weeks since my last post on this subject, I have watched a few tv series, a few movies, a few animated favorites, and read 3 books which is an unusually tiny amount for me.  I think it might be because I have taken to reading my Bible readings at work now too, so that takes away time from other reading (not that that is a bad thing).  Alrighty, here we go:
TV SHOWS

VERONICA MARS SEASON 2
First off, my mother and I like to marathon tv shows, especially when we are both sewing, though she hasn't sewn in a while.  We finally finished watching Veronica Mars Season 2.  I love love love this series.  I cannot believe it only lasted 3 seasons.  It is so much better than all the other crap they are trying to have teens watch nowadays, it's not even funny.  Veronica Mars is adorable, sassy, snarky, smart, and a kickbutt private eye.  And, it's not dirty, nor does it focus on who is hooking up with who.  Yay! The best thing about this series is the strong, realistic relationship between Veronica and her protective father.  I am a sucker for this type of tv trope. A++

BLACK BOOKS SERIES 1-3
My mother randomly decided to pick up this series from the library, and I am so glad she did.  I love shows imported from England, as if you needed to be told that, what with my love of Doctor Who, Merlin, Being Human, etc.  I think the writing is better, the acting is stronger, the comedy is actually funny, unlike most American shows (with the exception of American comedy Arrested Development).  This series is no exception.  Sometimes, I have to be careful with English shows because they don't have the limits on what they can show on broadcast TV after a certain hour like we do.  Thankfully though, this series only issue is that the main characters are constantly drinking with each other.  The language is pretty tame, and there is almost no sex in it whatsoever.  And it is one of the funnies shows I've seen.  The main character owns a used book shop, but hates people and is constantly verbally abusive to his customers.  I don't know how he stays open because I don't think he ever sells anything.  Which is good, because he doesn't know how to order new stock.  He hires a helper in the first episode and the helper basically becomes his poor abused peon.  And, he has only one friend: the lady who owns the shop next to him who is very unlucky in love and they drink a ton of wine together.  A-

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES
This is yet another one of those English show that I adore.  It is a Doctor Who spin off, which yall know I am in love with, right?  Well, this series focuses on one of the Doctor's former companions, and her adventures fighting aliens on earth with her son and her son's friends.  It can pretty hammy at times, no where near the quality of Doctor Who or Torchwood, but if I didn't have those shows to compare it to, I would think it was pretty fabulous.  It is definitely geared towards a younger audience, unlike Doctor Who and Torchwood.  However, as with those two shows, it does push evolution and liberal theories in your face, but if you are okay with that then it shouldn't be a problem. B

SUPERNATURAL SEASON 5
Alright.  I don't think I have ever written about Supernatural.  If you've been following me for awhile, you'd probably think my favorite show was Glee.  Dead wrong.  While I do have a lot of love for that show, my heart belongs to Supernatural.  I started watching this in the second season after catching up with the first season on DVD my sophomore year of college.  I love this show so much, I usually record all the episodes so I can watch them again the following week, read several blogs solely dedicated to this show, look up and practically memorize every episodes mythology, know which classic rock songs have been on the show, mostly know which classic rock songs are in what episode, buy the DVD the day it comes out, etc etc.  You get the picture.  In fact, the first season, my college roommate and I watched so many times, I should probably be embarrassed by the amount.  Sometimes we would watch the same disc or episode a few days in a row, especially our favorites.  Well, each season just keeps getting more and more awesome.  And this season it was basically heaven vs. hell, angels vs. demons.  And the boys fight lucifer.  And it is pretty epic.  Though the religious undertones of last season make me a little nervous sometimes because they are so theologically unsound, I hope teens or other viewers don't take that part seriously or to heart.  While this show is about the brothers fighting demons and supernatural entities, the true heart of the show is about the brother's relationship with each other.  This show is all about family, which as with Veronica Mars, is my favorite thing about any show.  A+

MOVIES

BLUES BROTHERS
I watched this for the first time.  This is like one of those classic movies that everyone sees and you can't help but like it.  Like John Hughes movies in the 80's (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Breakfast Club, etc.).  They are fun and everyone can enjoy them.  Well, I certainly liked my time watching the movie.  I can't believe I had never seen it before, and, besides some language it was pretty clean.  A-

TITANIC
Well, what can I say about Titanic other than I love it.  This was the first pg-13 movie I saw, back in 5th grade.  Wow, that's how old this movie is, and that's how long I've loved this movie.  I even got it when it first came out on the 2 tape set.  With certain movies or shows that I love, as if you couldn't tell, I can get pretty obsessive over and watch multiple times in a short amount of time with no problem.  I have watched Titanic a ridiculous amount of times that I should be embarrassed about.  I remember when I first got it on tape, I would watch one tape, then tape 2, then tape 1 again, then tape 2 again.  Over and over.  Thankfully I had my own tv so I didn't drive my parent's nuts with it.  A lot of people make fun of this movie, but it is just this epic romance/adventure that is so engaging, I honestly don't know how you can't enjoy it.  Plus, I was watching with someone who had never seen it before, so it was almost as if I was experiencing it for the first time again, which was rather quite lovely.  I could pretend to experience Jack and Rose's dramatic first meeting, the 3rd class Irish dance party for the first time, the evilness of Cal and his manservant, the amazing effects of the ship filling with water and breaking in half, the sorrow and the sadness all for the first time.  I liked that a lot. A+

PRINCE OF EGYPT
I said I was going to have to watch this movie while I was reading Exodus, so I did.  I hadn't watched it in years since I only have it on tape and our only tape player is in the sewing room.  I am surprised at how accurate this movie actually is.  I mean, of course they take some liberties with the text, but the heart and message of Exodus is fully intact.  Sometimes, when animated movies use celebrities instead of voice actors to voice the characters I get really distracted and all I can see is the actor instead of the character.  However, with this movie I don't really notice it, despite having Sandra Bullock, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ralph Fiennes, etc.  And, the songs are beautiful and very singable which is important for me.  In fact, the ending song "When You Believe" was the very first song my best friend and I sang in church.  We weren't really even friends when we decided to sing this, but after a few months of working on it together, countless sleepovers, buying matching outfits to sing in, she became my very closest friend.  Man, I wish we had that performance on tape somewhere.  That would be hilarious.  Me a lowly high school freshman and she a superior high school senior.  Oh the memories.  A-

STARDUST
If you couldn't tell already, most things I watch have some fantasy or supernatural element to them.  I just think it makes things more enjoyable and I tend to use it as a form of escapism.  Well, Stardust is no exception.  I think most people compare it to Princess Bride as in they are both truly enjoyable films that most people enjoy.  I don't think you can really hate either movie.  Neither movie can really be narrowed down to only one genre, there is an adorable love story in each, these weird fantasy lands, magic etc.  Stardust is about this boy, Tristan, who is one of those very loyal boys who you know would do anything for anyone who needs help and you can just tell he would make a really great husband.  Well, he is in love with Victoria, a spoiled snobbish girl who does not deserve his love.  She is in love with someone else purely because he can afford to buy her things, but agrees to marry Tristan only if he can find her the star they saw fall.  The problem is the star is across the Walle, where no one ever ventures.  Well, through a series of events, he gets into Walle, and finds the star.  Problem is, the star is a young girl and an evil witch is after her to eat her heart.  There is a whole lot more that goes on in this story, some dark humor, some more witches, some sky pirates.  Just trust me,  You will enjoy it.  A+

Moulin Rouge is my favorite contemporary musical, so I can't say a bad word about it, though I know a lot of people hate it.  It does take a while to get used to it.  In fact, I had to watch the first 20 minutes of it 3 times before I could go any further, it is just that weird and random and hyper.  The costuming, the scenery, the music, the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous in this movie.  The songs are all songs you would hear on the radio if it was in the 70's and 80's, with a few originals thrown in. It is about a Christian, a writer(Ewan McGregor) who moves to Paris to discover things about life, like love and beauty.  He meets Satine(Nicole Kidman) who is a courtesan and she makes him believe that she loves him the first night they meet because she thinks, by a comedy of errors, that he is a very rich duke who can fund the play that the owner of the Moulin Rouge wants to put on.  Well,  Christian truly does fall in love and continually pursues her, despite her being contractually obligated to the real duke in order to get the funding.  It is full of romance, betrayal, jealousy, etc.  And, for a movie about a whorehouse in the 1800s, there honestly is not as much sex in it as there could be.  Most of it is implied.  A+

Man, I watched some awesome movies the past few weeks.  This is one of my favorite Disney movies.  And I just realized now, watching it with adult eyes and mindset, how much this movie truly is not meant for little kids.  It is rather dark and ominous, and edgy for a Disney movie.  Frollo, the mentor and father figure to Quasimodo, is the most cruel and vile villian in a Disney movie.  I am pretty sure there is nothing redeemable about him, not to mention he lusts after Esmeralda, is sexually obsessed with her and threatens to kill her if she doesn't submit to him.  All of which he blames on Esmeralda herself, because she has used her "witchcraft" on him.  And we are advertising this movie for little kids?  The soundtrack is one of the more fabulous Disney soundtracks, which is hard for me to say because I basically love all Disney soundtracks. A-

The last movie I watched, several times actually, was Annie.  No, not the 1980's movie version, but the Disney made for TV movie.  I had never seen this version before, and I have to say, as much as it pains me to say it, I like this version just a smidge more.  The one thing this movie definitely has going for it is that it includes a few more songs in it from the Broadway show that did not make it into the other 80's movie.  I also think the singing is much stronger in this version, except by Kathy Bates.  No one can beat Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan.  Even acting wise, Kathy Bates is blown out of the water by Carol Burnett's drunken swagger throughout the entire movie.  The acting is not as good, however, in this Disney version.  Sometimes it feels too "stagy" if you know what I mean.  But, Victor Garber, who played Jesus in the Godspell movie and Mr. Andrews in Titanic is in it as Daddy Warbucks.  And, Kristin Chenoweth, from Wicked and Pushing Daisies: one of the cutest, if not the cutest show ever created, is in it.  She is just the most adorable thing ever.  Though, she doesn't sing very much.  How dare they do that to her. But, yeah, its awesome! B

Alrighty, that's it for now.  I will work on a preview of what I've been sewing and Bible post tonight.