Tuesday's Tune - Owl City

This tune has got to be the happiest one on the radio at the moment! I discovered that you can download a Take 40 app on your iphone for free, and then you can watch videos without any buffering (Dear computer, when are you going to stop doing that??) Just be sure not to do it without wi-fi or you'll be paying a fortune!

Enjoy, and try not smiling while you listen to this fun song! Impossible!
Makes me want to go camping in summer.

I'm linking up with Thea at A Snap A Set and A Song for Tuesday's Tune, because music brings happiness!

xx

It's Monday What Are You Reading?

Hello all!

I've managed to read three books this week!

The first was The Light Between Oceans which is a
heart-wrenching story about a couple on an island who find a baby washed up on the shore in a boat, and decide to keep her, after experiencing three miscarriages of their own.

They know the father is gone, but they later find out the mother is still alive and mourns the loss of her daughter terribly. What they do, knowing this, is a difficult turn of events that makes you wonder, what would you do? 

The setting is an island off the coast of Western Australia, where the author describes the remote yet magical way of lighthouse living. The characters are engaging, and endearing, and we share their heartache as they explore the dark and  desperate feelings of  loss, guilt, and betrayal.

A superbly written story that you don't want to miss.

I also read a collection of stories by Cecelia Ahern called Every Year.

 Most of these stories, as with all Ahern's books, have a disenchanted protagonist who learns to look at the bright side of life after a wake-up call. There are some clever techniques in these stories, such as unexpected narrators, and ambiguous settings, which made me smile when I realised what was going on. This book is a very short read but some of the stories, especially Mallard and May, will leave a lasting impression. 

After reading this, I couldn't resist downloading the new Cecelia Ahern novel called One Hundred Names.

The premise of the book had me at hello, in that it is about a tarnished journalist, Kitty Logan, who tries to recreate her career by following an article idea left to her by her boss. There is a list of one hundred names of people and it is Kitty's job to find out who these people are, and how they are linked, to be able to produce just one incredible article about their lives.

While excited at first about the mystery behind the one hundred names, I felt a little disappointed by the way the story went along.  The characters seemed to be just a hodge podge thrown together, and while there was a link between them in the end, it just wasn't a wow kind of link. I missed the usual Cecelia Ahern magic that sweeps me away when reading her books. 

Linking up with Sheila now, over at Book Journey.

Have a great week of reading and other adventures!

xx

Food for the Soul

Today's thoughts are brought to you by:

 xx

Film Love - Footloose

It's kinda weird that movie studios feel they have to remake movies, especially when they were successful the first time around, but I guess it means a whole new generation of people will enjoy the stories in a modern context. 

We watched the 2011 Footloose recently and were not disappointed. As soon as you hear the opening music, you can't help but be swept back to the 80s and the fun of dancing. The lead actors, Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough are very cute, and had us oohing and aahing at their bods. 

You know the story; city boy, Ren, moves to a small town to live with his aunt and uncle after his mother dies from leukemia. He falls for the Reverend's wild daughter, Arial, whose brother died in a car crash 3 years earlier, leading the town council to enforce curfews and rules on the youth of the town, including no public dancing. Arial and Ren can relate to each other's grief and feelings of oppression, so they rally to have the no public dancing rule lifted.

As with the original film, the music and dancing in this version are so uplifting and fun, you just gotta sing and dance along. Even if you've never busted a move in your life, you'll feel your toes tapping with this one. Even the bootscooting scene made me want to take up dancing again!

This film could be enjoyed by kids, but just keep in mind that there are a few sexy moves between Ariel and her boyfriend, as well as a scene where they physically abuse each other. There's no nudity though, and I don't recall there being any swearing. Besides those two scenes, it's all pretty harmless fun, with some lessons about family, grief and trust, to add depth.

My favourite scene in the movie is this one, where Willard learns to dance.
 I loved this scene in the original film too!

The little girls are too cute!

xx

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

It's time for A Snap, A Set and A Song! Knowing that this week's theme was Clouds, I woke up this morning with a plan to take a photo of the cloudy sky outside our home. Only thing is, for the first time in ages, there was not a cloud to be seen! So I  popped outside after work to see if there were any clouds at all, and found this miniscule one:

It's the Running Man cloud!

Over at polyvore, the first thing to catch my eye was the I've Got Sunshine on a Cloudy Day print 

which immediately made me think of Willow, because the song My Girl was played at her funeral. This week of the year is quite difficult, remembering Willow, however, sometimes during the cloudy times we are reminded of the sunny things in life that can help lift our spirits - all the people we love, and the beautiful gifts of nature. I made a happy set to express this. 

I've Got Sunshine on a Cloudy Day by wendysice featuring orange handbags

Sleeveless lace dress
$110 - houseoffraser.co.uk

J.Crew platform wedge heels
jcrew.com

Orange handbag
udobuy.com

Monsoon bangle jewelry
monsoon.co.uk

Retro earrings
modcloth.com

Sunshine Print, I've Got Sunshine, Earth, Summer, Sky, Blue, Clouds,...
etsy.com

I chose two songs to share, My Girl by the Temptations:

Those purple suits make me smile!

And also a fantastic song from Christine Anu from the year 2000. 

This song still has such a great feel:

Hope your blues are lifted a little!

Come see some more Cloud Snaps, Sets, and Songs over at Thea's blog!

xx

P!nk - Try

When I saw the video for this song, Try, last week I was quite shocked at how raw and almost violent it was. But the images are actually very powerful, confronting and emotive,

and showcase P!nk's dancing prowess more than ever before.

I love P!nk; she has an amazing voice and is real.

I think the chorus has a beautiful melody, and I fell in love with it on the radio way before I saw the video. 

I'm joining up with Thea at A Snap A Set and A Song  because music is healing when times are tough.

xx

Bittersweet Birthday

On October 26th, it had been a whole year since my younger sister had her twins Blake and Willow. 

Sadly, Willow passed away, a year ago today, so Blake's 1st birthday party on the 28th was one of smiles and tears, as we celebrated his life and remembered Willow. 

Blake is a gorgeous little man, I could hug him all day!

Nana got to have a cuddle!

As did his Mum and Dad, Kristie and Dave:

Not sure how I didn't get a photo with Blake, but I got one with his sister, Lily. She's a character!

Lily spent a good half hour arranging party hats on Jonathon's head until he looked like a punk! 

(Spot the Where's Wally in the background, lol!)

Here is my boy, Jack, with my older sister's son, James. 

They are usually in some sort of wrestling clinch or another!

This is a shot of my sister's family with her dad and his partner Ruth.

I didn't manage to get a very good shot of the birthday table and cake, but I loved all the red and aqua and the circus theme - too pretty!

And this bunch of flowers was from Kristie's mothers'group, 

with butterflies to keep to remind us of Willow.

We won't forget you Willow. Sweet dreams little angel. 

We love you so.

xxx