The Vampire Verdict... and Reel Clocks

New Moon was great- I loved it! It was much better than Twilight. The special effects (and even just the make up) were better. It was cheesy in all the right places- I laughed and squirmed and giggled. Ok, so there were no Oscar winning performances (my money is on Meryl Streep for her role as Julia Child, you saw that one right?), it was just pure fluff fun. Delicious girl movie, giggling, shrieking fun.

I'm squarely on Team Jacob- he's buff and sweet and yes, there actually are scenes where he has his shirt on. Edward is cool, robotic and cold, and just too aloof, pale, and skinny for my taste. Bella is just so awkward and angsty- she's as annoying as she was in the books. Jasper is downright creepy, Alice is just perfect- cute and sweet, and Dakota Fanning even makes an appearance as Jane. I can't wait to see more of her!

Vampires...

I've been rather grumpy this week- after 6 days of hanging with W, my empy apartment just feels, well, empty. Harrumph. Tonight I'm cleaning out the fridge and settling into a salad of wilted lettuce, dried out green pepper, and mushrooms that almost molded while I was away. No more chocolate and wine by the fire for me. I'm looking forward to a little girl time tomorrow evening. So let's talk vampires!

Tom Cruise as a vampire? I wasn't convinced. Buffy? She was ok, but I was never hooked. TruBlood? I watched one season on DVD- W referred to it as my "vampire porn". We just watched From Dusk till Dawn last weekend, and it was terrible. Selma Hayak as a satanic temptress of a vampire? Uhh, maybe not. But Twilight? I read them all. And I've been waiting for the second movie. Ok, so the writing is terrible, and the plot just gets more ridiculous as the books go on. And the first movie was worse than the book. But they are such an easy, guilty pleasure. All that drama and yearning. Tomorrow I'm off to see New Moon with two girlfriends- so, are you in? Team Edward or Team Jacob? I'm leaning towards Team Jacob, he's a bit of an underdog, and pale skinny boys have never been my type...

(Poster from here)

Back to work...

Happy Monday!

I'm on the 7 am bus back to New York this morning, heading straight to the office. I hope you all had a relaxing and wonderful long weekend with family and friends. W and I have both been fighting colds/flu, so we've been sleeping in, and cuddling up around a fire. There have been homemade cookies, french toast at sunset, and the rest we both needed.  We've been less sparkles and glamour and more flannel and hot tea the last few days, but it was a wonderful few days to let everything go, and I'm feeling reinvigorated to tackle the holiday rush of the next few weeks.

This has been me the last few days...

Wishing you more of this...

...and of course this! Happy Holidays!

Poster Cabaret

It's raining and gray here in Boston- a great time for some hot tea and online shopping! Have you checked out Poster Cabaret? It features "gig posters" and a few prints from "the top artists of the underground poster scene". Here are a few of my favorites at the moment... I seem to be drawn to red, taupe, and black right now.

Jenny Lewis by Travis Bone

The Shins by Jaimes Cervantes

Pumpkin Cookies

Last weekend W and I tried a Pumpkin Cookies recipe I found here. There was initially a typo in the recipe, which combined with my misreading it lead to a couple of "uh oh" moments. But in the end we were happy with our improvised cookies, and wouldn't change a thing. They are light and cakey- you could actually make them as muffins, as they aren't particularily sweet. The icing is a nice couterpart to the cookie base, but it is sweet, so frost sparingly.

These cookies made their debut with friends, coworkers, and even my doorman last week, and were a big hit all around. (I'll admit I even ate them for breakfast before I gave them all away).

I'm writing from the Peter Pan bus this evening, on my way up to Boston. We were planning a road trip up to Vermont for our second Thanksgiving, but W has come down with the flu, and in the interest of not infecting friends or their small children, we're going to be having a re-thought, quieter holiday in town.

Whatever your plans, big or small, fancy or quiet, I wish you all a merry merry Thanksgiving!

(The complete recipe is after the jump!)

Feeling Orange...

I'm already missing warm weather and flip flops- when shorter days, gray skies, and the winter sniffles get me down, a little dose of bright orange always helps to cheer me up. Here are a few things spotted around the web this week that made me smile.

This is the Leica M7 Hermes edition. Only 200 will be made in orange.

What a showstopper. Sigh. Details here, via Whorange.

Sunshine on my shoulders Makes Me Happy. Soo true. And on my nose. So it feels tight when you wrinkle it up like a bunny rabbit. Oh Summer.
From Olympia Community Print.

This rabbit is made of carrots. A lot of carrots. He is such a serious looking rabbit, doesn't he make you giggle a little bit? It's an ad by Gavin Martin Associates showcasing their new vegetable inks. By Magpie Studio, details here. via Swiss Miss.

One Month in...

It's been one month since I started Peanut Butter and Poetry. Just over a month ago my coffee table was covered with pink sticky notes as I agonized over finding the right name for this project. At times blogging has come easily, at times it has been hard work. I've learned about feeds, and rss, and even started remembering a little of that html I learned in college. I'm still finding my footing, feeling out a direction for this fledgling blog.

The past couple of weeks have been filled with planning. From coordinating the shipping and swapping of Christmas presents, to hostess gifts and buses and this town or that town and who will be where on what day. I've also been planning a work trip, so when I close my eyes I see little calendar pages floating back and forth. It looks like I will be celebrating Thanksgiving in Vermont, Christmas in Connecticut, New Years in Boston, and then be in Lisbon, London and Paris in January. Whew. All good things, but dizzying to think about.

The Christmas lights have gone up in our building lobby, the ice skating rink is open. For the rest of the week, I'm taking a break from planning, and focusing on enjoying the crisp air and the growing holiday spirit.  (Photo above from here)