I'm Very Excited!

Compared to the title, this post might seem a bit dull to you, but it can't be helped - my inner diva needs to make dramatic announcements once in a while;)

At the moment I have more free time than I've had for a while which means more time for planning all kinds of projects:)

It also means more time for writing! And as it's been forever since I did a random post, I thought I would share with you some of the things that have me excited at the moment.

(Bear in mind that I am very easily excited)

• Last month I worked my kitchen job full time, so I used up my favourite cake recipes very quickly and thus had to learn some new ones. And I've learned to bake the world's easiest and fastest fruit pie!! And it's also delicious. I also learned to bake cinnamon bread, and it looked and tasted just like the ones you buy at the baker!! Never have I been more proud of myself:)

No that's not the one I baked, but it looked kinda the same

• There's a new BBC series about the young Queen Victoria!! And it's starring Jemma Coleman! Even better, it's currently airing in England so I'm really counting on it airing in Denmark very soon.

All the picure's realeased look so pretty!

•  I have finally started on my first sewing project! It's going to be a full apron made from some fabric I got very cheap. And whoa, there's a lot of work involved! I couldn't even imagine how much time it took merely to make the hems. And even though the hems are very uneven,  I'm still proud of the fact that I made them all by myself, and I know I'm gonna look gorgeous in it when it's finished!

• I'm hosting a celebration of classic Hollywood movies! (You probably knew about this one already) I've been thinking about doing it for months, and now it's finally happening! I've already watched 2 of the 3 movies I'm gonna review and I'm really looking forward to learn about new movies to watch from you guys:)

• I'm going to the theater tonight to watch Swan Lake!!!! I'm an ardent lover of ballet - especially those by Tchaikovsky, and this is the only one of his ballets that I haven't watched yet. I've wanted to watch it for years, and tonight it's finally happening!! I don't even know what to do with all this excitement!

                                

• The past few weeks I've tried to keep my apartement tidy and clean, by pretending to be a 50's housewife, and it's working like a charm! Who says just because you're an adult you can't dress up and play pretend? If I can make chores feel like a game, I think I'm the winner here:)

• To stay in the 50's, next phase in my "vintage living" project is my kitchen. I've already got me an old fashioned kettle, and I'm contemplating painting all my kitchen cabinets mint green for a more 50's look.

This picture is my inspiration

• My piano lessons are starting up again next week, which means deciding which new pieces to learn:) 

This is the piece I'm going to play

• I'm going to Copenhagen Comic Con this weekend (first time ever that it's held in Denmark), and I'm going to cosplay as the Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who and as Peggy Carter from Agent Carter (lucky that the Con spands over 2 days). It's my first time ever cosplaying and I'm very excited to go there and meet other enthusiastic people like me:)  

I think that pretty much covered what's been happening in my life at the moment.

What are some things you are excited about right now?

A Hollywood Celebration

I love classic Hollywood! That is no secret.

But as I haven't started really watching those movies until a few years ago, I have only now started to dive into the extravaganza of titles the classic Hollywood era contains. Which again means there are so many treasures yet to be discovered!

But I thought,  why not discover some of them together?

Thus I'm dedicating the first days of November to celebrating Classic Hollywood.

Now, the obvious way to do so, is to review a lot of movies of the time, and that is where I need your help, lovely readers:)
Would you like to share some of your favourite classic movies with the blogosphere? Then this is the chance to do so!

According to Wikipedia the Classic Hollywood era is described as movies made in the years 1917-1960, but I'm a little more liberal, so I will say any movie from before 1970 is eligible to be reviewed in this celebration.

If you want to participate and already now know which movie(s) you will be reviewing, do tell me in a comment and I'll add it to the list I'm starting below. It is completely all right to have several reviews of the same movie, but it's also nice to get as big a variety as possible;)

Movie Reviews To Look Forward To:

The Thin Man (1934) by Rose
State Fair (1945) by Rose
To Catch A Thief (1955) by Rose
National Velvet (1944) by MovieCritic
An American In Paris (1951) by MovieCritic
Destry Rides Again (1939) by Hamlette
It's A Wonderful Life (1946) by Meredith
The Wizard Of Oz (1939) by Meredith
Cape Fear (1962) by Quiggy
The Night Of The Hunter by (1955) Quiggy
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954) by Livia Rachelle
A Friendly Persuasion (1956) by Livia Rachelle
Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962) by Cordy
The Reluctant Debutante (1958) by Rilla Blythe
An Affair To Remember (1957) by The Elf


Last, but certainly not least, I have made a couple of buttons!! Feel free to take one of them to display on your blog, and let's get the word out to as many film enthusiasts as possible:)

Inkling Explorations And A Lady's Dress

It's time for the monthly Inkling Explorations!

This month's theme is: a description of a lady's dress in literature.

Luckily for me, Heidi allowed entries written in September, so without further ado here is a lovely little scene from Anne Of Green Gables:  

"Anne took the dress and looked at it in reverent silence. Oh, how pretty it was—a lovely soft brown gloria with all the gloss of silk; a skirt with dainty frills and shirrings; a waist elaborately pintucked in the most fashionable way, with a little ruffle of filmy lace at the neck. But the sleeves—they were the crowning glory! Long elbow cuffs, and above them two beautiful puffs divided by rows of shirring and bows of brown-silk ribbon."

For more descriptions of frills, ruffles and finery, don't forget to visit the link-up on Heidi's blog.

A Proper Summer

Why, hello everybody!

It is me, finally returned from my extended blogging vacation.

I can't believe it's already September and that the summer is offically over! 

Not that I've had much of a summer here. 

We Danes are ever optimistic about summer - every year we say "this summer will be warm and sunny" and we keep up that sentiment even though we know that it will probably be cold, grey and wet with only few sunny days. This summer was no exception to that rule. 

Luckily it is not the weather that decides whether I think it has been a proper summer. For me there are certain activities that I will always connect with summer, and here are a few of them:

Reading Outdoors

                      

Nature Walks

Eating Strawberries With Cream

Strawberry season is the best!

                        

Bike Rides Along The Beach

This is, in fact, the very beach I go to                       

Eating Koldskål

For those of you who don't know, Koldskål is a kind of cold soup, made with buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. In Denmark it's often eaten for dinner on hot days with vanilla crackers

                     

What makes a proper summer for you?

Vacation Notice & AMA Post

As you may have gathered from the title, as of yesterday I am free as a bird and my biggest chores for the coming days will be soaking up the sun and reading!!!

                      

However, it also means that I will be absent from the blogging world for the next month or so.

But don't despair! To not make the waiting time unbearable for you, my dear readers, I will be compiling an Ask Me Anything Post.

So if you have any questions you've been dying to ask, this is your chance. Ask anything you like in the comments and I promise to answer them all when I return.

I look forward to reading your questions:-)

Catching Up On Tags

I love being tagged, I really do! However, actually getting around to do the tag is a bit harder for me. Mainly because I need time to formulate the answers in my head and then I forget, and new projects take over.

But after this very, very long post, I should be up to date on my tags.


Sisterhood Of World Bloggers Award

Cordy tagged me with this back in February! Yes, you read that right, February as in 5 months ago. But I told her I would do it, so here goes:

1. Do you have a favourite fictional couple? (If so, why do you like them?)
One of my all time favourites are Margaret and Mr Thornton from North & South. What I particularly love about their love story is that none of them had to change much, their journey was simply to truly get to know the other and not let preconceived ideas get in the way.

                                     

2. If you could have any animal (safely), as a pet you would have a...
A Cheetah!! 
They are so graceful and slender, and a documentary told me that they are the only big cat that can become completely tame, if you get them as infant cubs.

                

3. You get to live in Middle Earth, what race are you a member of?
I'm not familiar with the LOTR universe so I don't know.


4. In an ideal situation (you don't have to worry about living to far from family or money concerns) where would you live? (It can be fictional.)
There are so many places I would love to live. The Scottish Highlands, The English Countryside, Southern Germany and New England are a few that spring to mind.

                

5. Do you have a favourite 'vintage' movie? (As in, filmed before 1960.) What is it?
That is really not a fair question! Movies filmed before 1960 is my new favourite genre! How can I choose only one?
One of my favourites though, is State Fair, I could watch it every day without getting bored.
                 

6. When you were a little kid what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a writer and a housewife.


7. You can be 'the best' in any sport (e.g. gymnastics, curling, synchronised swimming etc.) what do you choose?
I'm don't really consider myself a sporty person. However, one sport I wouldn't mind mastering is Figure Skating. To glide gracefully and confident across the ice must be really something.

                                      

8. List three things that you wish people knew about you but will never ask. (Or just three random things. ;))

I'm gonna list 3 random things.

1. One of my dreams is to get to wear pretty dresses every day.
2. I'm very addicted to soup at the moment.
3. I couldn't live without my bicycle.


9. Share a favourite quote!

                          

10. What is your favourite thing about wintertime? (Besides Christmas.)
The twilight sky! I don't know about other countries, but in Denmark it's the most beautiful thing ever. If you time it right, you can look to one side and see bright day light, and look to the other side and see black darkness. And everything in between is what I like to call A Study in Hues of Blue.

                     

Furthermore, I've been tagged twice with the Liebster Award, once by Abby P and once by Miss March.

Abby's questions:

1. What is your favourite decade of the 20th century and why?

Do you even have to ask? The 1940's all the way! I actually wrote a whole post on why I love that decade, you can read it here. 
Some of the things I absolutely love, are the clothing, the hair, the music and the movies.

                                   

2. Would you rather visit a giant library or a giant museum?

A tough choice. 
I would visit the library, I think.

                   

3. Do you drink soda, and if so, what is your favourite flavor?

I drink it occasionally. 
My favourite is Fanta.


4. Would you rather tour a famous castle or a stunning garden?

A castle! Always a castle!

                  

5. What kind of dancing do you like best? (Ballroom, swing, ballet, etc.)

I would really like to learn ballroom and swing dancing. But I also love watching ballet.

                  

6. Do you have a hope chest? What sort of things do you have in it?

No.
I have my own apartment, so I don't really have a need for one.


7. Have you ever owned/used a typewriter? How about a quill pen?

I had to use a typewriter when writing out checks at work, but all I remember was a crippling fear of mistyping, because then I would have to start all over.
I haven't tried a quill pen.

                  

8. Do you go to the library often, and do you have your library card number memorised?

Why, yes I do. At least a couple of times a month. And yes - I need to use it to get into the library outside the opening hours. (For the only thing that beats being at a library, is being at a library when there's no one around)


9. What is your favourite piece of makeup you own?

My red lipstick. I don't feel properly dressed without it.

                

10. What is your favourite blend of tea, and do you prefer iced or hot?

I love peppermint tea.
And in my opinion the only way to drink tea is hot.

                 

11. Do you share your birthday with anyone famous, past or present?

I have no doubt that I do, though I have never checked. 
However, my birthday is the day that the Danish flag was discovered, according to legend, so it's a national flag day.

Miss March's questions:

1. What is your personality type?

I'm an INFP. According to the site I took the test, I'm an idealist (which I disagreed on at first, but after some introspection I realised they knew me better than I did). 

2. What is one of your newest favourite movies? (As in one that you recently found, not necessarily a newly made film.)
Captain America: Civil War. I watched it by myself in the cinema and spent the 2+ hours shifting between a blissful state of awe and full blown fangirling.
                                      

3. Have you ever been prejudiced against a certain movie before watching it, but then after seeing it decided it wasn't so bad?  What movie was it?
Yes, it's been known to happen a few times. 
The most notable cases are Phantom Of The Opera (I didn't get the hype about it. Now it's one of my favourite musicals), Les Miserables (I thought with that title it could only be depressing. I was right, but it's depressing in a good way) and Fried Green Tomatoes (I thought it would be sad, but it turned out to be such a great movie).

                      

4. If you could meet any author in person, who would it be?
Most of my favourite authors are dead, but if that isn't an obstacle I would love to meet Jane Austen. 

                               

5. How many siblings do you have, and where do you fall in the lineup?  (Sorry if that's a rather nosey question.  You may answer it or not as you so choose.)
I have a younger brother, which makes me (you guessed it) the oldest one:)

6. If you could be related to any fictional character (from a movie or a book), who would it be and what relation would they be to you?

7.  What is your favourite household chore, and what is your worst?
My favourite chore is doing laundry, but in particular ironing. (My mom didn't like ironing, so I was glad to do it all.)
My least favourite is probably vacuuming, not because the task in itself is streneous, but because it takes me so long to clear the floor beforehand.

                       

8.  Anne and Diana (from Anne of Green Gables) are a classic example of best friends.  Do you have a best friend, and if so which one of you is more like Anne and which is more like Diana?
Yes I do, and if I have to honest I would describe us both as being Anne:)

9. What was one of the first chapter books you ever read?  (You know, the one that made you feel so proud because you were reading a "big kids' book"!)
The first book I remember reading, was the ending of On The Shores Of Silver Lake, and I know I read Farmer Boy as the next one.

10. What is one of the yummiest, most delicious desserts you can think of at the present moment?
ICE CREAM!!!

                   

11.  If you could be a character in one of your favourite movies, which movie would it be and which character would you choose?
I want to be Peggy Carter! 
The only movie she is in, is Captain America: The First Avenger, so that must be the one (also, it's set in the 40's, so could it be any better?)

                      

There, if you've managed to get this far, I commend you:)
You now know a lot of random things about me.

In turn, will you tell me 3 random things about yourself in the comments?
Consider it my very lazy way of continuing the tag.

Doctor Thorne (2016)

I actually first head of this new series by reading a review of it on Old-Fashioned Charm. It sounded like something I would enjoy, so when my mom casually mentioned that it would be sent on TV, I couldn't believe my luck.

To those of you who hasn't heard of it, here's a brief summary:
Mary Thorne has grown up with her uncle, Doctor Thorne, and they have always had close relations with the Greshams of Greshamsbury Estate. But when she and the son Frank develop feelings for each other his mother is very much against the match, as she wants Frank to "marry money" in order to save the indebted estate. At the same time Mary gets some unexpected news about her parentage.

If I should describe this series in one word it would be: pretty!

Everything is a treat for the eyes; the scenery and the mansions look like like they should be on post cards (and they probably are in real life), and the ladies with their pastel coloured gowns and their flower adorned hairstyles look like they have stepped right out of a painting.

The plot, on the other hand, is predictable almost to a fault. I was not even half ways through the first episode before I knew exactly how everything between Mary and Frank would resolve itself.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind knowing from the start who will end up together, but a little suspense in how they will get there is generally preferred.

                                    

While I did enjoy some of the characters - especially Frank and Miss Dunstable, I found most of them to be rather two dimensional and shallow. To be honest, I didn't really get a feel of most of the characters until episode 3, which is a bit too late in a 3 part series.

I just wish that they would have spent more time on the characters so I could get to know their motivations. If they had maybe given the series 2 additional episodes that could have been achieved, and I think I would have enjoyed it more. (Then again, I haven't read the book so I don't know if there is enough plot to fill up 2 more episodes)

                

Content wise there are mentioning of a gentleman seducing a woman and a child born out of wedlock, but that is all.

From this review you might have concluded that I didn't like this series at all, which is definitely not the case. Despite all its shortcomings I did enjoy it - especially the visuals. And if you like pretty period drama dresses you shouldn't deprive yourself the experience of watching this.