Yeah! It's time for Strawberries at Farmers Market

I got an email this week from the Farmers Market (across the street from Rice Stadium). One of their vendors has strawberries early this year. Yeah! I am so addicted to the FM. I was thinking about it this week. I love knowing my food is fresh and organic. I enjoy the variety of foods and products. Everything I have bought there has been so tasty! The vendors are so nice as well as the shoppers. I often talk to shoppers in line about recipes and what they are going to do or cook. Every trip is different and you never know what they'll be have new. Take strawberries for instance, you can buy them year around at the grocery store but the ones from the FM are picked ripe and fresh. Sometimes they are so ripe they are red from the outside to the inner core and juicy, oh so juicy!! I think in life you have to find joy in the mundane and day to day stuff. I love going to the FM it's like a game. They are only open a couple of hours Saturday morning and you want to get their early to ensure you get what you are looking for. First I walk around to see what everyone has and taste test. Then I go for the must haves and if I have any money left I buy the wonder what this is and how do I cook it. Last summer I waited in a long line for peaches (the line moved really quick). It was so fun and funny. Everyone in line had a basket of peaches which were so juicy the skins split when I put a bag of tomatoes on top of one of the peaches. By the time I got to the register there were no more peaches available from this vendor. It's like finding that hard to find Christmas toy, Score!!

These are the three Farmers Markets I have been to ...

http://farmersmarket.rice.edu/

http://www.urbanharvest.org/programs/market/meetvendors.html

http://www.discoverygreen.com/en/cev/eb/10580757/

Here's a good site with all the FMs in the Houston area

http://www.bayoucityoutdoors.com/clubportal/ClubStatic.cfm?clubID=3&pubmenuoptID=11318

Movie: Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Robert Downey Jr Jude Law Rachel McAdams


Directed by Guy Ritchie


Screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Simon Kinberg,



Synopsis:
In a dynamic new portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous characters, "SHERLOCK HOLMES" sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.
The action-adventure mystery "SHERLOCK HOLMES" is helmed by acclaimed filmmaker Guy Ritchie, for Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures. Robert Downey Jr. Brings the legendary detective to life, and Jude Law stars as Holmes. Rachel McAdams stars as Irene Adler, the only woman ever to have bested Holmes and who has maintained a tempestuous relationship with the detective. Mark Strong stars as their mysterious new adversary, Blackwood. Kelly Reilly plays Watson’s love interest, Mary.


Hmmm. I looked for a review I agreed with and after reading almost a dozen I gave up. I really like Guy Ritchie's two other films-- Snatch (2000) and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). Snatch is hard to get into bc of the accents. Not only are the accents "foreign" but they are "ghetto/slang". So you really have to tune in your ear to dissect the dialogue but once you get the hang of it it's really good. It's kinda like talking to me at times, lol. My accent can be pretty strong. As with other Ritchie films there is a good dose of slapping and fighting. If you liked those movies you'll like Sherlock Holmes. I have never read any of the novels so I don't have any complaints to any differences between the novel and film portrayals. The reviews I read seemed to basically take the movie to seriously. To me it's a good fun action film. The two fight scenes are a little too realistic for me which is par for the course with Ritchie. I just close my eyes during the rough stuff. I thought Downey and Law were a great pair as Holmes and Watkins. It was kinda like the odd couple. I liked all the casting as well as the story line. The issues I had with the movie I think were intentional. The movie lighting is very dark and I first thought the movie wasn't lit properly but then I realized it's bc of the period it is shot in. It's supposed to be dark and grainy and have a "unclean" feel. The other issue I realized about 30 minutes into the movie. I thought why are we sitting so close to the screen? I looked around and we were in our usual row in the middle of the theater in the middle seats. So I realized the movie was filmed very close in which was done to make the watcher have more of a sense of anxiety or uncomfortableness as well as bring the action flying in your face. So my two issues weren't really that big and were related to filming style not plot. I also thought Downey was great. If you like him in Iron Man, which I liked alot, than you'll like him as Holmes. I definitely recommend this movie and give it 4 out of 5 stars. If you go in expecting an intricate quiet mystery you'll be bummed so instead rent a copy of the classic Murder on the Orient Express. But if you go and see it with the mind set that you're seeing a good action film you'll enjoy it!


Also, two of the writers for this film previously wrote action/crime/thriller films: Invictus (2009), The Assassin (1990), Jumper, XMen: The Last Stand, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, XXX: State of the Union. It's not wonder that this film is full of action.

More on Sherlock Holmes from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes


Trailer for Sherlock Holmes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4K3aM5H5KM

Some other movies you'd like if you like Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Snatch
Fight Club
Pulp Fiction
The Usual Suspects
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Sin City
Memento
Trainspotting: Collector's Edition

Strawberry Shortcake a la Crochet

As a child of the 80s I grew up with Strawberry Shortcake and love strawberries and things strawberry themed. So in my quest for a strawberry charm for my lovely new Pandora charm bracelet my father in law, Jim, gave me for Christmas last week I came across these fabulous crochet patterns with strawberry themes on Etsy. Take a look ...

http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=handmade&search_query=crochet+strawberry

New to Pandora bracelets? Check 'em out, they are like the new version of the charm bracelet. http://www3.pandora-jewelry.com/us/Jewelry/Charms And on their home page you can click to build a wish list and a bracelet. So you pick your charms and then you can see what they would look like together. My dh gave me a cute pig to add to the charms his Dad gave me with the bracelet.

Crochet Away: Sew Crafty Houston

This is my crochet room. Hahahaha, just kidding!! I can barely finish a row of chain stitching much less finish a project. I found this pic in an article, Crochet: It’s Not Just Kitsch Anymore.

My Christmas present to myself ... I signed up for a crochet class for this Sunday at Sew Crafty Houston. I am so excited. I did some crochet as a youngin' with my Great Grandmother, Grandmother Keeland. I forgot most of it so I was trying to teach myself with a book as well as through a crochet group I found on yahoo meetups. It was going well but I was having trouble getting past the chain stitch (which isn't very far, lol). So I decided to sign up for a class in January and here we are. Also besides being a generally crafty person I decided to take up crochet bc to keep my hands and mind occupied during those times I want to randomly eat.





Yahoo Houston Crochet Meetup-- Meets at The Black Walnut Cafe (near university shops) on Saturday mornings. It's a lovely group of ladies of all ages. It's very casual and people of all skill levels. You can also get a bite to eat before, after or during. http://www.meetup.com/houstoncrochet/





Sew Crafty Houston-- Is a fairly new craft class store. It's in the Heights and they have sewing, crochet and other crafty classes available. You can sign up online or visit the store. I'll be there Sunday for Crochet I class. http://sewcraftyhouston.com/





Crochet book I am using-- Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. One of the girls at the meetup told me she used it to teach herself so I picked up a copy. It's got pretty much everything you need to know. I think I am just a bit more visual and need someone to show me the next step but it is a great reference item and has patterns from easy to hard. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0761139850/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0761128182&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=13MRBZDXEH7FAXRJPMJ2

Feeling Lucky? Texas Lottery Scratch Offs

I don't live to scratch but I thought the shirt was cute. (And the arms sadly resemble my now stretched out deflated arms, lol.)I generally like to buy scratchoffs to put in a birthday card and every now and then I like to press my luck. So I got to looking up at the available Texas Scratch offs and came up with this list.

Scratch offs to buy… All of these scratch offs have at least half of the grand prizes left (as of yesterday). Be sure to check the game number on the back of the scratch off before you buy. Sometimes they run several batches of a game with the same name so you want so get the right game number. Some of them are going to be hard to find (the lower the game number the older the game).

Game# Cost Name Odds
1101 $50 Extreme payout 1 to 2.6
1212 $5 $50,000 cash 1 to 3.9 *starts 1/11
1184 $5 $50,000 cash windfall 1 to 4.8
1114 $20 $500,000,000 Blockbuster 1 to 2.8
1069 $5 Big money bingo 1 to 3.8
1196 $5 Bonus Break the bank 1 to 3.8
1263 $3 Bonus Word Crossword 1 to 3.4
1047 $2 Break the Bank 1 to 5.0
1168 $5 Casino Royale 1 to 3.9
1206 $1 Find the 9’s 1 to 4.4
1182 $5 Five star cash 1 to 4.0
1211 $10 Gold Bar Bonanza 1 to 4.2 *starts 1/4
1192 $10 Jingle jumbo bucks 1 to 3.3
1259 $3 Lotteria TX 1 to 3.9
1185 $5 Lucky Rider 1 to 3.7
1210 $1 Lucky Slots 1 to 4.9 *starts 1/4
1207 $1 Spicy 7’s 1 to 4.5
1188 $3 Stocking Stuffer 1 to 3.8
1209 $2 Super Deuces 1 to 4.8
1159 $2 Treasure 1 to 4.8
1208 $3 Tripler 1 to 4.9
1218 $2 Weekly grand 1 to 3.9

(I rounded the odds up to the nearest tenth on the odds.)

For more info on Texas scratch offs go to http://www.txlottery.org/export/sites/default/Games/Scratch_Offs/

If you need help with a gambling problem go to

http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/qna.html

Movie: Julie and Julia (2009)

I finally got to see this movie. I loved it. I thought it was done very well especially since it's a based on two books. One of the things I have learned since my RNY gastric bypass that food and I have a "romantic" relationship or so says my preop therapist. I love food in all forms- eating, cooking, shopping, reading. She said after the surgery in order to be succesful with my weight loss I would have to suffer a "break-up" with food and re-establish that relationship. It's very true! Food for me is all things. It is a comfort through the good and the bad but also entertainment and a hobby. I always joke with my girlfriends that cookbooks are my "food porn", lol. I thought I was alone in that thought but apparently not. When I surf through blogs on healthy eating or RNY and healthy eating I have actually come across that phrase fairly often. A trip to Sur La Table is heaven. I love the merchandise and the prospect of buying something and what I will make with it. I love going to the farmers market and Whole Foods and Central Market. I am so happy and fulfilled in those visits. So with that said I really enjoyed this movie bc it's two main characters are cooks who enjoy the art of cooking. Meryl Streep as Julia was great. She made me want to go back and watch segments of Julia's cooking show. I also enjoyed the romance in this movie. Both of the female leads are married and display very loving affections toward their spouses. Me being a person deeply in love with their spouse, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing healthy married romantic advances. I also connected with Julia in her pain of being unable to have children (since due to a hysterectomy I can not have children). I definitely recommend this movie. It is a good food cooking chick flick!

Weene and Choochoo want H1N1 masks

Haha, too cute. My DH sent me this pic this morning with the comment that our two Dachshunds would like a set of these masks. Good use of the ears, lol ...

Nifty Thrifty: Got umbrella?

So it's that time of year when you need to keep an umbrella handy. For me particularly because it can be quite a walk from my car to school in the rain. So I just wanted to pass on a Nifty Thrifty find ... I was at Family Dollar and picked up a large golf size umbrella for $6.50. They had compact, regular and large sizes.

I was looking for an umbrella image and came across this blog. It's some Japanese people covering Rhianna's Umbrella. I thought it was kinda funny but was impressed at the same time. Take a look if you like. http://goodvibe.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/who-rocks-the-umbrella-cover-better/

Then I came across this blog with strange shaped umbrellas. Too funny! Umbrellas to inspire ...
http://brellas.wordpress.com/tag/daft/

Retro christmas ornaments: Crackerbox

Growing up my Great Grandmother, Grandmother Keeland, decorated her skinny artificial tree with beaded ornaments. They weren't as grand as the ones in this picture but too me they were equally beautiful. It wasn't until I got older and started decorating my own tree that I found out this style of beaded satin ball was made from kits from the Crackerbox Company. The company has been around for 35 years. Each ornament kit has a name and they regularly retire the kits making them highly collectible. You can look on Ebay to find retired kits and completed ornaments. The ornaments on my tree are from random boxed ornaments I bought on Ebay. Most were missing beads so I took the best ones and "repaired" them with the beads of the more broken ones. I joined the Crackerbox mailing list and was amazed at the catalog I received in the mail. There are so many different styles and colors. I love the names they are so serious and comical at the same time. For me the ornaments bring back fond childhood memories and are often an interesting topic of conversation when people first see my Christmas tree.

So if you are looking for a new hobby, a retro Christmas look or just interested in something new check out http://www.crackerbox.com/ and get on the mailing list. You might become a fan or pass on the company information to someone else who might enjoy them. Check it out!!

Been a while

I haven't posted in a while but I am gonna get on that .... tomorrow ... hahahaha