5 favorite Friday: Oliver's sleeping rock-out

Oliver seems to fall asleep just that much faster with some sweet tunes. Here are some of his favorite sources:

A Child's Gift of Lullabies.

This one has been popular with my family for generations! (I'm terribly amused that I can say that.) Also has each song with an instrumental track only, so you can croon away solo if you'd like.

Sleep Baby Sleep {Nicolette Larson}

This Amy Grant-sounding artist has a surprisingly relaxing collection here. A nice bluesy-feel that reminds me of falling asleep on a boat. It even manages to make my harried self relax and catch a few zzz's on occasion . {That's a good thing}

Somewhere in Time soundtrack

My mom listened to this a lot while she was pregnant with me {and while I was very young}. It's a surprisingly appropriate soundtrack for quiet times with a baby.

Broadway Baby by Rock Candy

Sir O got this as a gift from my great friend Travis, and it's a surprisingly versatile little gift! Despite the fact that you can only buy it with the froggy puppet, it's a fairly grown-up cd. I've been known to play it as background music for myself and other grown-up persons. Just some nice uber-calm piano interpretations of some great Broadway standards.

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Celtic Baby: Fisher Price

(Can't find this on the internet anywhere, but I'll bet you it's on the shelf at your locally Wally-world or Babies R Us)

I picked this up at Walmart on a whim, and I really love it. It has some fantastic, classic numbers on it, like "The Water is Wide".... that just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I highly suspect that they make Sir O feel all warm and fuzzy inside as well.

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Honorable Mentions:

Chariots of Fire Soundtrack

A little Chopin

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What are your favorites?

5 favorite Friday: Utah food

Since I'm here {utah}I might as well share some things I look forward to eating while I'm here, or at least that I have missed while I've been away. {Thanks for the "idea" Ginnie}

Pace's Dairy Ann
I guess their rainbows are remotely comparable to something from Rita's....but the rainbow has no nutritional value whatsoever, so it feels more like a treat. I could wax nostalgic about pace bars, and their onion rings are fab.u.less.

The Mandarin
Great little restaurant in Bountiful with the best Chinese food anywhere. They "import" their chefs and let them go home once a year, so they used to close for a few months each year....so I've been told.

Tony Caputo's Deli
I've said it before and I'll probably say it again. Huge happy spot for me. Great sandwiches. {and great everything else too}

ANY Bear Lake Raspberry milkshake
Ooooh, MMmmmmm..... enough said.






Bombay House
My favorite place for Indian Food that is never too over-the-edge for a first-timer. I can introduce anyone to Indian food there and have confidence that they will have a good experience. And the restaurant doesn't have that tinny smell that so many curry-serving places seem to have.

Honorable Mentions:
Robintinos
and I must mention Cafe Rio....just for Ginnie.

5 favorite Friday: epiphanies in song and dance

Thanks to Brittany's inspiration, I bring you some of my favorite epiphanies. Or rather, I bring you some musicals (and the songs in them) that caused me to think beautiful thoughts.


Sunday in the Park with George:

The only thing we leave behind that matters, children and art. And in how many ways are they the same thing? And "Move On" is so full of so much that I need to hear so often. Sondheim is good at expressing complex aspects of life through complex music, and making it seem so simple and obvious.




Hello Dolly:

"Before the Parade passes by" - At least twice this has been a call to arms for me. Hello self, get moving, time waits for no one. Such a motivating concept. There is a song that was not included in the score until Ethel Merman played Dolly 17 years into the run that I love as well, "World, take me back"










Carousel:

"Soliloquy" - there's some real emotional gems among the heaps of O&H out there. I love how the Soliloquy in Carousel reveals all the sorrow and vulnerability of so many grown men. It's good to be reminded that they have tender feelings, even if they end up expressing them in just the wrong way.



Man of La Mancha:

Oh how I love the very concept of Don Quixote, as used here. The book itself allows him some foolishness, but in the musical Quixote (more or less) simply has the gift of seeing the soul of things. Seeing things as they truly are. "The Impossible Dream" makes me all misty every time.








Big River:

The soul of this musical runs right into the core of you, really quickly. (It helps that Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest social commentaries ever) "Worlds Apart" repeats itself over and over, and means something new every time.

















Honorable Mentions:

Oodles of Sondheim: Send in the Clowns, Not while I'm around, Being Alive...
Ragtime: Back to Before
Showboat: all the deep and brooding parts are best, Old Man River and Can't help lovin' that man

What's touched your mind or heart in a epiphanous way?

5 favorite Friday (makeup): easy peasy summer treats

(image from http://kitchen-notebook.blogspot.com/)

Sorry, Friday slipped through my fingers.

We've already established that I have a massive sweet tooth. I do like to bake, and attempt to make tricksy/impressive things (usually with chocolate). But I'm also perfectly happy to pull a fast one and make something super easy, that still has a little panache.



Lemonade Pie:

So easy! Can of lemonade concentrate, 1/2 tub of coolwhip, 1/2 carton of softened vanilla ice cream. Mix with beaters and dump in a graham cracker crust, then freeze. If you want to make it look like it was hard to make, just sprinkly some lemon zest on top.



Sandra Lee ice cream sandwiches:

smush a scoop of ice cream between two cookies, then roll the exposed ice-cream parts in sprinkles. Cover in wax paper and freeze until hard(er).



Ice cream terrine (noticing a pattern?):

Line a bread pan with wax paper. Fill 1/3 full with raspberry sherbet, and smush it down, add some raspberry sorbet and smash down to a thin layer on top of that, then fill the rest of the way with smushed lime sherbet and freeze until hard. (store bread pan in freezer in between layers for best results) Invert on a cold plate and slice to serve. Obviously you can substitute any ice cream flavor!





Bubbly Lemonade: Substitute seltzer water for plain water when making lemonade from concentrate. A few frozen berries or lime slices thrown in for prettiness-sake.



Ice cream cake: split a cake mix between two 8 or 9 inch rounds. (And bake according to directions). Cut the top of both cake pieces so they are even and flat. Dump about 3 cups worth of ice cream on top of one cake and smear it around until even, then top with second cake piece, inverted. Freeze for 45 min, then frost with flavored/colored whipped cream. Sprinkles are nice too.



Happy summer

5 favorite Friday

Because I obviously needed to give myself something more to do...right?

Today: My 5 favorite warm-fuzzy movies.

Not romantic warm-fuzzies, just glad to be alive in a not-particularly-cheesy-way warm-fuzzies

Mrs. Miniver (1942):

Sure, it's a propaganda film. Meant to boost the morale of a bombed out England. I bet it worked. It gives you this heroine who isn't the perfect british wife because she bakes perfect pies or dresses meticulously....it's just because she's nice in a normal kind of way. Kind of a melodramatic ending, but considering the scope of the setting, it's only appropriate that the film try to deal with loss in an honorable-type way.

The Color of Paradise (1999):

Perfect reminder to treasure your children. Beautiful, beautiful film. I watched this with my little sister when she was about 7, and she was able to follow it with minimal subtitle reading from me. Speaks to you on a very basic, human level. And it's beautiful too boot! (Did I mention how beautiful it is?)

Mr. Deeds goes to Town (1936):

Yeah, so Capra may have been the king of feel-good films. But this is my favorite. I love the way he takes this pure character and plops him in the middle of "the real world" and more or less proves that you don't have to be jaded to live in a jaded world. Well, it's difficult....especially with scheming relatives. I especially love watching the "inner" turmoil of Jean Arthur's character..... how would you feel if you ran into someone untouched by the world?

The Man who Planted Trees (1987):

Perfect film for giving hope to the hopeless, and finding sense in the senseless. I love the slow steadiness of the whole idea. Brings fantastic perspective to the value of small and simple things. Makes me want to plant things and watch them grow.

Going My Way (1944):

I love this film! I love how it makes me feel about the prospect of raising boys. I love the sort of a male role model it creates, and the music doesn't hurt either. There's a lot of reasons this won so may awards....makes me happy.

Honorable Mentions:

Divided We Fall (2000)

Dear Frankie (2004)

I Remember Mama (1948)

Babette's Feast (1987)

The Road Home (1999)

The Straight Story (1999)

Not One Less (1999)

You Can't Take it With You (1938) more Capra....I'm shameless