Busy bee

It's been a busy month, so I haven't had time for raves, reviews or rejects. I'll be back in a couple of days with some new rr&r's.

~Mary

My new bed by Mary

So I finally got my bed, so much more comfortable than my 8 year old Ikea bed. I'm not at all happy with The W Store or the delivery company but I'll just sleep away that stress.

I don't want to complain about them anymore, I just want to enjoy my bed. So far, so good. I would definitely recommend this bed, but only if you can deal with poor customer service.

Where's my bed?!?!

So I'm long overdue for a new bed. I currently have an Ikea bed, the frame and mattress are from Ikea. I love Ikea, they have great prices and their products are getting more stylish and the quality, well it's not the best but you get what you pay for. I've had this bed for about 9 years - I think it's time for an upgrade.

I had my heart set on a Hastens bed, my dream bed!! They are quite expensive but I've researched the bed and gave it some thought for many years. (OK so I thought about it for many years mainly because I couldn't afford it when I first found out about it, but at least I can say I have put some thought into it!) The quality of these beds are outstanding, they are guaranteed for 25 years, they are hand made, they are made of all natural materials (no bed bugs!!!), they are even the purveyor for the Swedish Royal Court! I finally went to the Hastens store and got a price list. Again, they are extremely expensive but it was my lucky day - August Dream Sale or whatever it was called, I don't care they were offering 30% off (all items in stock)! So I asked the sales girl when the promotion was over and again, it was my lucky day, I was there on the final day of the promotion. Of course, I didn't buy one then and there, I still had to think about it. So before I left, the sales girl, Lily, tells me it's possible they may extend the promotion, so I gave her my email address. A couple days later I get an email from Lily, the promotion is extended til the end of the month!! So I emailed her and inquired about a queen size Naturally bed in silver check - I couldn't believe how close I was to purchasing not only a new bed but my DREAM BED. To make this already long, but still ongoing, story shorter, the promotion didn't include the Naturally model beds, she offers me a queen size adjustable bed, "Would you at all be interested in an adjustable bed? We have a Queen Naturally floor model available. It is originally $10,700." Yeah, what's 30% off $10,000?!?!. poopoo on her and her Hastens adjustable $10,000, but only $7,000 with the discount, beds!! I don't even want an adjustable bed, how old am I? 75??

So I decided to go with a W Hotel bed (suggested by Kat, THANKS!). I figured if the beds in the hotels I've stayed in are more comfortable than my bed then a W bed had to be super comfy and they were offering 30% off ALL beds. I ordered the bed Sept. 1, everything was great. 30% off, free shipping and no tax - I was amazed. Well I'm obviously getting what I paid for in shipping because I am still waiting on the delivery of my new bed. Shipping was estimated at 2-3 weeks. I finally called last week and was told the order is still good but the delivery is behind so it'll be more like 3 weeks. So I wait...

Halloween is here!

There aren't many things better than a chocolate covered Marshmallow. The soft squishy texture of the marshmallow combined with a firm outer shell of dark chocolate (my preference) is illuminating. Russell Stover seems to take the cake on this particular treat. I have tried many others but R.S. definitely has it down. And just in time for Halloween, they have come out with Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pumpkins in dark and milk chocolate. THANK YOU.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by mary

If you've seen the previous Harry Potter movies then you must see this one, if you have seen the previous Harry Potter movies then you probably already saw the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series!

I read this book when it was first released, which was a few years ago (1995), so I forgot alot of what happened, I even forgot who the half-blood prince was!! Still I was glad to see this movie without remembering what happened in the book. I knew the major events would not change but books that are turned into movies always have minor changes in it. Again, I forgot who the half-blood prince was but I remembered that (no spoiler here) dies - I was just as hurt seeing it played out in the movie as the day I read it in the book.

I can't wait to see the final Harry Potter movie!

Bruno by mary

Bruno was hilarious, but if you don't like nudity, cursing, racism, vulgarity, homosexuality, fashion or Austrians then stay far, far away!! This movie can offend any race, sex, ethnicity, religion, whatever but if you are not easily offended or don't get offended at all, then this is a must see!!

Public Enemies by mary

To me this was your typical gangster reenactment movie with a love story thrown in. Man robs bank, man makes tons of money, man sees pretty girl, man approaches pretty girl, man sweeps pretty girl off her feet, man robs more banks, man gets arrested, man escapes prison, man tells his girlfriend they'll be together again, WOMAN gets arrested for getting involved with a bad man, man finds replacement girlfriend, man gets sold out by replacement girlfriend/hooker, man gets killed. As typical as the story was, it was supposed to be the story of real life gangster John Dillinger, but we all heard this story before both fact and fiction.

I did not learn anything new about John Dillinger. I learned more about John Dillinger's from his Wikipedia page than I did from the movie.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate the movie or even dislike it. I enjoyed it, the acting was great - Johnny Depp is always a pleasure to watch in whatever he does - cinematography, costume and set design were also great. The problem is, I had to go to John D's wiki page to get more info about his life.

UP! by Kat

The short before the movie was delightful! (I am trying to find out the name of it because I don't remember.) It was a appetizing first course before a gorgeous dinner with a wine pairing.

One of the things I found quite enjoyable about the movie was the music. In the past I have just enjoyed the soundtrack as part of the movie in the background. The soundtrack for Up, however, was particularly enjoyable for me because the person that did the music also did the music for the 81st Academy Awards, which was my last job. I thought it was such an integral part of the storytelling.

Up was full of beautiful characters and the story moved along at an interesting pace. It left me with such a nice feeling in the end. And please, who doesn't love talking dogs. SQUIRREL!

UP

So I finally saw Up (in 3D of course!) and it was as great as I expected! To be honest, I had only seen one or two short previews so I wasn't quite sure what the movie was about. I just wanted to see it and knew it would be great because it was a Disney animated film and you can hardly go wrong with that.

Let me just say, I hadn't been to a 3D movie (or maybe I've never been it's been so long I can't remember) or maybe I should say I hadn't seen a 3D movie since I was a kid. Oh wait, does the Shrek Experience at Universal Studios count?? OK so I have been to a 3D movie lately BUT I always thought of 3D glasses being the paper frame/plastic red and blue lenses (minus the Universal experience but I just thought Universal was way ahead of the game). When I decided to see Up in 3D, I was totally expecting to be wearing the red and blue, flimsy, uncomfortable glasses. Man, has 3D changed since my childhood days!!

Since I was so late in seeing the movie, I had already heard stories and reviews from friends who already saw it. I heard it was good, sad, cute blah blah blah.

Well, here's my personal review...
Let's start from the beginning, I mean beginning beginning - the previews.
So the previews were in 3D as well, (promoting other 3D movies obviously) and those in itself were entertaining. If I had seen these previews in regular 2D (is that right, 2D??) I would've just thought, oh looks good maybe I'll go see that or movie sucks, I'll wait for DVD or skip it altogether. But 3D made me want to see all the movies that were previewed. Hmmm maybe something for the marketing folks to think about.

On to the actual movie -
Up starts out cute, with Carl and Ellie meeting as young children. Then it's a bit slow, although still very entertaining, throughout their adult years. Finally the expected sad part comes (don't worry no spoilers here, or was that just a spoiler?!?!) followed by all the action a children's animated film can offer. The whole movie is very entertaining and extremely cute, Carl's sidekick Russell is the best! Along with all that, the movie is very touching.

All in all, I can't say there's a bad or boring part in the movie. Each character has, well what else, CHARACTER! The story line is fantastic and original and the colors, graphics and animation was amazing. Even the credits were cleverly done. All in all, the movie was funny!

This is a movie anyone can enjoy whether it's your type of movie or not.

"And that's all I have to say about that."
~Forrest Gump

COBBLERMANIA!

Today I had the joyous pleasure of trying the most amazing sugar-free dessert.

My sister and I were innocently wandering around Fiesta Hermosa's food court trying to decide amongst the many tempting vendors. My feet froze as my eyes locked in on a sign that read "So good you'll (want to) slap somebody!"  Now them's fightin' word where I come from.   You don't go around saying that unless you can back it up. And besides, I saw the word "cobbler" (which never leads to anything bad) so I beelined right to this booth. 

To my dismay, the table was bare. Damn! Just like Old Mother Hubbard.  The nice lady there said to just come right on back because there was more coming and it was worth waiting for. and I kindly noted that it better be because the sign says so good you'll slap somebody.  She laughs and adds that not only are these cobblers good, but - wait for it- they are sugar free! What? I want to slap someone already. These cobblers are made from agave nectar as opposed to sugar so are better for the glycemic index and better for diabetics blah blah blah. I say does it come in peach? OK then we'll be back. 

We proceeded to the beer garden to wait. and eat Holy Guaca-moly. and matsui. I love festivals.

I ended up getting a strawberry-rhubarb cobbler. Rhubarb reminds me of my childhood. I can remember seeing piles of fresh rhubarb and being amazed at how good that sour vegetable (or whatever it is) could be in a pie. I rarely see it anymore, so I took this chance to munch down on some memory lane. 

The cobbler was delectable. The crust had a flaky, yet chewy quality that is so adorable in a cobbler. The syrupy filling was not too sweet but yet sweet enough to complement a fine balance with the tart strawberries and rhubarb. 

Sho'nuff made me want to slap somebody!

Check it out... you can find CobblerMania at local farmer's markets: 

www.cobblermania.com