Koty and the Eternal Hope for Spring

First and foremost, thank you again to all of our friends and family an well-wishers for all of your good thoughts and good ju-ju sent our way for Koty and for the rest of us here who were totally traumatized last week. If you don't know the story, I will not reiterate here. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Reliving it is just not the way to go. As it is, the image of what happened is forever burned into my memory and I have enough flashbacks of it happening already. If you didn't hear the story, HERE it is.

Anywho, Koty is doing wonderfully! He is no longer reticent to leave the house, and he even has played with his toys again a little. Not heartily quite yet, but he's getting there. The stitches come out of his neck on Monday, so that'll be a nice step. Getting him TO the vet will be interesting. He is NOT happy to go there. AT. ALL. My husband had to carry him from the car to the vet office last time and then he proceeded to shiver and whine the entire time he was there. Can't blame the poor guy. No good things happen at the vet!

Now, onto the business of SPRINGTIME! The snow is finally receding and today it's downright NICE outside! Warmish and the sun feels mighty strong - it's going to be coming soon whether nature's wrath unleashes upon us again or not - SPRING is inevitable and it's going to be here soon! We change the clocks back in just ONE week! Ohhh, I'm so excited I could SPIT! I love when the clocks spring ahead and suddenly, sunset is at 7pm and the days just feel so much longer!

I took a spin around the our side yard and the little plot across the street today to take some photos of the little sprouts emerging from the spring bulbs!! I'm seriously SO excited to see green I cannot even tell you!

Here are my crocuses and early early tulips that I planted last fall:




I don't even remember what all I put in. I know the sprouts in that top picture are an array of white and purple grape hyacinth (at least I'm pretty sure that's what they are!). The others are obviously some crocuses and then more grape hyacinth. I love love love grape hyacinth and I honestly don't remember seeing those when I lived in Michigan.

Next door to us was a day-care place that is now closed - we are loving the silence of it. Children are LOUD when you get a big group of them! Anyway, they have some bulbs out there and the daffodils always come up very early there due to the amount of sun and the relatively protected area of the garden:



Now, mind you, we got a crapload of snow and then slush here last week. Here is the scene here just last week when we unexpectedly got about 6-7 inches of snow:
Sadie - very happily dozing in the snow under the butterfly bush. Is that adorable or what?!! She loves the snow! And notice, we've let her coat grow back in for the winter - so she's VERY well protected from the elements!

So, the signs of spring are everywhere - little green sprouts on the butterfly bushes, lots of birdies flitting about and singing, crocuses and daffodils emerging AND, the grocery store has tulips, tete-a-tetes and daffodils! Ohhhh, this all just makes me so happy!! I couldn't resist and had to buy some daffodils for the house last week:

Just try to not feel cheered up when you have a bunch of tulips or daffodils in the room! Impossible to look at daffodils and be depressed!

Pretty soon, I'll be able to go into the back yard and smell the luscious smell of lilacs and enjoy flowers that are growing in my own little garden! Can't wait!

Ok. I'm off to take the furry creatures for a walk. It's 50 degrees out there and THAT is just yummy right now!

You can check my weather HERE, if you're interested!

Take care, kids!

Ciao!

2011 Academy Awards in Review, part deux

On to the fun part, shall we?

I saw a few best and worst-dressed shows and some commentary, and aside from some people LOVING Gwyneth Paltrow's horrible get-up, pretty much there is a consensus about the ick factor in the following fashions. And, kids? We're using the word "fashion" very kindly right now.

Ok, first, and my least favorite of the icks was a tossup between these two unbelieveable bad dresses -

Cate Blanchett:
What on EARTH are those green spots of mold around her neck? They continue down her back in a most strange and upsetting way. Really gross. And the big round circle in the front? I was waiting for Porky Pig to show up and say "Th-th-that's all folks!" in there. Weird. Just weird. The only nice thing I can say, is I love the shade of pinky-lavender on her.

Florence Welch:Ohmygod. The Munsters meet Little House on the Prairie. Not the combination you strive for on the red carpet, right? Oy.

Here's the disco, retro, bad hair and makeup ensemble that Gwyneth was sporting:
I just hate the whole thing. I can't really tell you why, but it's just my gut reaction. Perhaps because I simply cannot stand her and naming her daughter Apple and her whole pretentious fake English accent. Yeesh. Someone needs to get over herself!

Now, many also liked this outfit on Jennifer Lawrence:
This totally screams Baywatch-Themed- Prom to me. This is not red carpet to me. Now, don't get me wrong - the chick has an incredible body and is very pretty...That's not the issue. The issue is classiness and glamour; both of which are lacking in this look.

Here, apparently, Marisa Tomei (who I adore) could not decide between two dresses, so they just sewed the top of one onto the bottom of the other!I'm kidding, of course! But that was my immediate reaction to this dress! WTF? The bodice fits all wrong, it come up too high, the top is too shiny and that skirt is just miles and miles of tulle. Not right.

Melissa Leo:I didn't know they made dresses out of doilies! Go figure!

Nicole Kidman:Nicole, my dear. You are gorgeous and talented. Can I just give you a big, huge, important few words of advice (like I'm such a fashionista!)? Thanks. First? GO OUT IN THE SUN FOR 10 MINUTES. Please. It will not kill you. I promise. Second? Eat a friggin cookie. Please, dear. Put on like 5 pounds or something. You look unhealthy and frail. Third, and most important? DO NOT WEAR WHITE. Ever. Never ever. If you insist upon having the complexion of newly-fallen snow, please wear some inkling of color on your body. That is all.

Scarlett Johanssen:
As Joan Rivers so aptly put, the best part of this dress is the back - because that means she's leaving the room!! Evil, but true! At first glance I wasn't sure if I hated it, but after looking at it a few times, I really, really hate this dress. It us just two types of ugly lace put together rather badly. It's just not flattering. Blech.

And, last, but FAR from least, our dear Oprah:
Oprah, Oprah, Oprah. Can you not find a stylist that can find better dresses than this thing that made your boobs the largest things looming over the entire stage? Holy breasticles. WOW. Really just NOT a good look.

Ok. That's all I've got on the Oscars.

In other world news, my dear, dear friend has a wonderful blog featuring her incredible illustrations. Today, as a huge surprise, she did a sketch of our dear Koty who had to endure some mighty awful stuff on Thursday night. He is doing much, much better, and Penny decided to put up her illustration and get her followers to send us some good, healing thoughts!

Please check it out HERE!

She's such a talented illustrator and just one of the best friends I've ever had. A real peach.

That's all for today, kids. I'm working all day as a fill-in assistant for my husband's father tomorrow, so I will not be able to be a bloggy person tomorrow. You will have to forge ahead without me!

See you on the flipside!

2011 Academy Awards in Review

First off, kudos to Anne Hathaway. I realize she probably came off a bit manic at times and laughed heartily at her own jokes a bit too much, but look who was sharing the stage with her. James "The Stoner" Franco. Good LORD, man. Liven UP a bit! I know he's the most over-worked person in Hollywood what with his movies, his soap operas and being a full-time student and part-time artist. But STILL! Help a sister out onstage!

Anyway, I think Anne did a good job overall and her dresses were utterly incredible. There was only one I didn't like, but I won't even show you that here. Rachel Zoe was hired to dress her and I think she really did an incredible job of it. The dress Anne wore on the red carpet was just Hollywood glamour personified. Perfection:
This is vintage Valentino Couture. So beautiful.

Some of the other standouts for me were Halle Berry:
Is she actually getting younger?

Hailee Steinfeld:Picture perfect for a teenager on the red carpet.

Michelle Williams:
She knows exactly what she's doing. Her look is always just right for me...Perfect hair, perfect makeup and I just love love love the dresses she wears to these award shows!

Hillary Swank:
So pretty. I don't usually go for feathery type things but this was just very pretty. And her hair and makeup were just right, I thought.

Amy Adams:
The color of the dress is utterly gorgeous on her. She's usually all pale and washed out looking but she looked really pretty last night. Not certain about the jewelry WITH the dress, but overall it was very pretty.

Jennifer Hudson:
Though I do agree that this dress made her boobies look a bit like pancakes, the color, the style, her jewelry and her makeup looked just beautiful. She needs to find dresses that don't squish her girls like that, though. The dress she wore to the Golden Globes was not flattering to her ta-tas either.

Natalie Portman:
Very pregnant done VERY right. The matchy shoes and the earrings were not so great for me, but the dress was nicely flattering on her pregnantness.

Sandra Bullock:
Thank GOODness she dumped whatever stylist she used for the Golden Globes! She looked gorgeous. Loved the dress and her hair. Her makeup was very pretty, too. Glad to see you back, Sandra!

Mila Kunis:
Love love love the color of this and how very feminine it is. Very young starlett pretty dress. It would be nice if she got that look off her face though, like she smells a perpetual fart. Smile a bit, honey!

And to the older actresses who don't know how to dress? These two women show you HOW. IT'S. DONE!

Helen Mirren:
That dress is just to die for. The color, the way it fits her, it's just yummy. Her hair was perfect, jewelry, makeup...If I look HALF this good at her age I will be elated!

Annette Bening:
Just gorgeous. GORgeous.

We will continue our review tomorrow with the "What were they THINKING" variety of dresses!

As for the awards themselves, the only big prediction that I didn't get right was the Best Director award. It went to Tom Hooper who directed The King's Speech. And I was quite happy about that!

Colin Firth was so incredibly funny and sweet during his acceptance speech. SO glad he won!

That's all for today, my dears. I have to go brush up on whale facts! I'm giving my talk in just a few hours and I have not thought about the size of the humpback whale population in about 6 years! ACK!

Wish me luck!

Academy Awards 2011 prediction post

Well, it is that time of year again, kids. The Oscars are tonight and I just cannot wait to see the winners, the gowns, the actors - all if it! Since I was a child I have ALWAYS watched the Academy Awards. I don't think I have ever missed it!

Since I will be talking in future posts about the best and worst dressed, I will talk here about the actors and movies that I predict will win.

Best Picture: Hands down The King's Speech. If The Social Network wins I will NOT be happy. My husband and I saw both of these movies and we ADORED The King's Speech. It was just a pleasure to watch and Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush were AMAZING. The Social Network is about the drippy guy who invented (aka stole the idea of) Facebook. It was okay. Just lukewarm for us.


Best Actor: Colin Firth! Easy-peasy.

Best Actress: Natalie Portman. I didn't see Black Swan, but all of the hubbub is about her and I just cannot see Annette Bening winning for The Kids Are All Right. I saw that movie and felt much the same as I did about The Social Network. Meh at best.

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale. He was simply unbelievable in The Fighter. The finest job of acting right up there with Colin Firth. Superb. I wouldn't be upset if Geoffrey Rush won, but I think Christian Bale deserves it more.

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo. She was just great in her role as the Southie Mom in The Fighter. Amazing performance. I've seen Hailee Steinfeld's name as the dark horse for True Grit, and I would not be upset in the least if she won this. She was incredible in True Grit, just incredible.

Best Director: The favorite is David Fincher for The Social Network. I didn't think the directing was all that impressive, personally. I thought the directing was far more effective in The King's Speech, True Grit or even The Fighter. I guess I don't know from directing.

Best Animated Feature: I would like How to Train Your Dragon to win this. I was completely charmed by that movie. However, the favorite is Toy Story 3 which I also saw and it STRESSED ME OUT!! It was such a dark movie! I really didn't like it! The first Toy Story was one of my favorite, favorite movies, but this one was just so dark!

Best Original Screenplay: The King's Speech. Enough said.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Favorite here The Social Network. Again, I wasn't impressed. I would like to see True Grit steal this one or even 127 Hours (though I thought it was rather slow)...

Best Art Direction: I didn't see Alice in Wonderland, but that's certainly supposed to win. Second in line is King's Speech, which I'd love to see win anything and everything!

Best Cinematography: True Grit. It has to be. It was stunning to watch.

Best Visual Effects: Inception is favored here. We hated it. We watched like 20 minutes of it and were so confused and befuddled by the whole thing. I know lots of people who loved it, but we just didn't get it at ALL! Special effects were pretty cool in those first 20 minutes, though! I'll give them that!

I don't know anything about the Foreign Films, Shorts, Documentaries, Sound, Makeup etc. so I'll leave that stuff to the experts or whoever decides these things!

Can't wait to see who wins!

Will try to post on here tomorrow, but have a busy day, as I am giving my talk on whale tomorrow afternoon among other things!

Enjoy the show!