And It Burns, Burns, Burns....

This is what I want, to be able to sit in front of the fire with my toes in the sand and have a beach bonfire in the comfort and convenience of my own yard. 

This is what I have. A folding chair in front of an old cast iron stove we use to burn wood. I sit with my feet in the dirt while getting eaten alive by mosquitos.

How do you get from what I have to what I want? Well it's certainly not by begging and pleading with your husband. I live 2 miles from the ocean so he doesn't feel having my own beach is necessary. He just doesn't get it.  Anyway, I've decided it's not that difficult to make it on my own and by "on my own",  I mean my husband, who is a perfectionist, is going to take over pretty much from the get go because I'll be "doing it wrong". 

Hopefully soon I'll be sinking my toes in the sand while sitting in front of the fire in my own personal beach!

SurfSide5 Bar & Grill at Salisbury Beach

                                              

                                            SurfSide5 Bar & Grill at Salisbury Beach

If you visit the Salisbury, MA. Hampton, Nh area and are looking for a great place for drinks, dinner and music, you must come here! It sits right on the ocean, with great views and is a fun place to hang with friends and family!

This place sits right in my backyard and although I frequent it here and there, I don't go as much as I would like/have time to. But you should...so what are you waiting for?

Jean Dujardin, "Lucky Luke," WTF?

Apparently, the solution to many of life's problems is to bitch and complain until things go right. After spending the majority of the week complaining to all who would listen (and those who would not), my Lucky Luke DVD came in yesterday.

Of course, Murphy's Law intervened, and I spent a few hours hooking up my region-free DVD player. I should probably explain that my parents bought my TV before I was born; it has no remote, knobs, and faux-wood siding. It's a glorious example of late-1980s aesthetic. And it's a pain to hook up modern technology to it (DVD/VCR, region-free DVD player, and cable).

But being a plucky gal who'll push up her sleeves and get things done in the name of Jean Dujardin, I got everything settled and sat down and watched the weirdest movie ever.

Mind you, I love and actually get Rocky Horror Picture Show and enjoy John Waters movies. But Lucky Luke was a huge, sexy WTF-slap in the face.

That's how my bangs look in the morning

It was a visually stunning movie, and I really, really liked it, but what the hell? Maybe it's because I'm not French or maybe it's because I've never read the comics, but, again, what the hell?

So, aside from the perplexing French-Westernness of it...and the fact that Mrs. Dujardin/the chick from "Un Gars Une Fille" (she's a bitch on that show so she's naturally a bitch in real life, according to my brain. Just like how Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are actually the same person), I highly recommend this movie. Mostly because Jean Dujardin is hella hot in it.

Yippie cay-ay, and all of that stupid cowboy nonsense!

(Oh, and I've been asked by my partners to ease up on writing about Jean Dujardin. So, there goes that blog about how he's a handsome, dark-haired Frenchman with a swell cleft in his chin and I'm a pretty, smart, wonderful bibliophile brunette who hates sheep and muddy boots and isn't that strange?).

I wouldn't care if Jean couldn't read...or constantly wore gardening gloves. 

The Postman Had Better Damn Well Ring Twice...

Recently, I discovered that Amazon UK may just be the most adorable website ever. Maybe it's because I'm a cloistered American, maybe it's because I'm easily amused, but I'm in love with the fact that instead of adding items to the "cart," the Brits "Add to basket." After a fit of "Awws," I added a Lucky Luke DVD to my basket, waited until it "dispatched" (instead of "shipped"), and was expecting my movie to arrive yesterday.

...and by "expecting," I mean eagerly, obsessively, waiting, counting down the minutes until it arrived. Why? Because Lucky Luke stars Jean Dujardin, the most wonderful man in the world. And he plays a cowboy. Truth be told, I don't like Westerns and I don't speak French (am pretty sure the DVD has English subtitles), but Jean Dujardin's sheer charisma and sex appeal surpasses this. Hell, I'm not even sure what the movie is about; his being in it is enough for me.

I also don't like hay or white shirts (...I'm clumsy...) but find myself not caring...

Amazon UK didn't give me a bleeding tracking number, so I have no idea where my package is. I went to the post office and Post Office Lady (a surly woman) seemed to get angry at me for asking if my package was stuck in post-office-Limbo.

So now, I'm desperate for a Dujar-fix. I'm also waiting for "Un Gars, Une Fille" Vol. 1-3 (French sit-com he was on) to come in from Amazon France, but that's not due for another week or so. I've nearly exhausted my copies of OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies, OSS 117: Lost in Rio, and The Artist and, oddly enough, have no interest in the other 312 movies I own.

If I sound like I have an obsessive Jean Dujardin-fixation it's because I do. I suppose.

Maybe if I'm lucky, my copy will be in by Oct. 21.
(Oooh! Dujar-bum!)

But, damnit, I want my movie.

The Postman Always Rings Twice With This Stationery Set

What's better than going to mailbox and NOT getting a bill? How exciting was it to instead find a handwritten letter on handmade stationery? Nobody does that anymore. Instead it's just so much easier to send an email. And yet, not as exciting to receive an email as it is a handwritten note on beautiful stationery. So why not bring that back? There are so many pretty stationery sets available. You can write your own message inside, send it as a greeting card or a personal letter. And personally, I like seeing other peoples writing. It's not so unique and personal in an email. I am going to start doing it; sending actual letters via snail mail on handmade stationery. Who's with me?

                                                                   Stationery Set

Singin' In The Rain Movie...TOMORROW!

So, apparently, it's the 60th anniversary of Singin' In The Rain. And I will not miss it! (The 70th anniversary of Casablanca was a few months ago. I went to see it and tickets sold out a few people ahead of me in line. Quel dommage).

For those who haven't seen it (and if you haven't, stop reading this right now and watch it) Singin' In The Rain is a musical starring Gene Kelly about the transistion from silent to talking pictures. Silent starts Don Lockwood (Kelly) and Lena Lamont (Jean Hagen) are making their first talking picture, but there's just one problem: Lena's voice. Enter Kathy Selden, a young starlet-wannabe (Debbie Reynolds) who is to dub for Lamont. Problem? Lena has a thing for Don (who can't stand her) and Don is in love with Kathy, who returns his feelings.

Featuring classical musical numbers such as "Good Morning",  "Moses Supposes", and "Singin' In The Rain", it is, in my opinion one of the 5 greatest American films ever made, (along with Gone With The Wind, Sunset Blvd, All About Eve, and It Happened One Night).

And the best part? It's playing in theaters tomorrow!

Click here to find out where it's playing near you!

Ideas For 4th of July Leftovers

So you've had your family/friends cookouts and have all those leftover hotdogs, potato salad, buns, etc. Food Bloggers have come up with a great list of ideas to turn your leftovers into something new and tasty!

For instance, how about corn dog bread made from leftover hotdogs from Foodie With Family?

Also, Real Simple has come up with 7 great ideas for those leftover buns! Such as these Salami Panini's.

Check out Lunch In A Box for ideas for leftover potato salad! Faux Latkes W/ Tuna and Potato Salad.

                                         Have any leftover ideas of your own? Feel free to share!

                               Thank you to all the websites for your great ideas and leftover recipes!