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The Nutcracker: A Magic Theatre Book (a review)
I have the most beautiful, magical, amazing children’s book to share with you. Sometimes reviews are difficult for me to write because I hate to say anything bad about a product that has been given to me by someone who is paying me to write about it. But I also want to be truthful to you readers because my word is my word after all. So you can imagine how wonderful it is when I sign up for a product I that would rave about without even being paid. This book is that product. I don’t think I can rave about it enough. It’s so pretty! So beautifully illustrated! I just want to eat it! I think my photos will tell you all you need to see but I’ll rattle on anyway.
I bribed Bug with frozen yogurt and a trip to a local nail salon to get her to pose for these photos because, as you know, she’s not a girly girl anymore and she only likes to be seen wearing black, preferably black Hello Kitty. But to tell you the truth, when she opened up this book and we talked about dressing up to play a part in one of her favorite ballets, you should have seen the gleam in her eye. She might lead you to believe she’s too much of a tomboy to wear tutus and prance around to Tchaikovsky but she’s totally fooling herself. That girly-girl is still in there and she loved this book. We both do.
Bug can read now so it’s twice as much fun. I’ve seen the Nutcracker on stage but Bug has not yet though she’s heard about it plenty and seen small parts of it when the big girls performed at her dance recital. She’s seen Swan Lake with her dad and loved it. So I think it’s time we got tickets to see The Nutcracker now that the holiday season is so quickly approaching. I know! I’m sorry! I hate to be the one to remind you.
This book is the perfect introduction to the famous story. I love how touchable it is even though it is a pop-up book. I’ve long been frustrated with pop-up books. They are usually written for really young children but really young children love to rip up pop-up books. This book is can be appreciated by just about anyone at any age. I love looking at it. How the characters pop into the circle when you turn the page is fascinating.
Here’s a movie so you can see for yourself:
Isn’t it pretty? I wish snow fell when you turned the pages but that’s just a special effect of the movie. It does make me want to scoot closer to my heater and look out a window at snow that is not there. It’s fun to dream…
Here is Bug with her Black Cat flashlight that also has a jaw that snaps up and down like a nutcracker. She was in character to say the least.
Thank you, Nutcracker, for bringing back my old Bug to me. I missed her.
It’s a good thing I never got rid of all her old dress up clothes.
So if you have a girly-girl in your life or someone who loves ballet as much as we do, I say: you must get this book. It’s so pretty and very well made. You can buy it here and I have a 25% discount for you if you purchase it before November 30th, 2012. Just enter the promo code NUTCRACKER when you check out.
And guess what?!! I have one beaufiful book to give away. It’s sitting on my bookshelf right now so we don’t even have to worry about it being shipped from the manufacturer. I’ll send it to you personally. Bug might even write you a little note to go with it.
Feeling lucky? Just comment below about what is special to you when you think of The Nutcracker and I will randomly pick one winner next Monday. I can’t wait to hear your stories!
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Happy Cup! French Pressed and Reviewed
It’s coffee review time! Secret Agent Josephine here, reporting for duty. If there is a coffee to be reviewed, I shall review it!
It’s a dirty job but somebody has to do it.
Today I am reviewing Happy Cup Coffee from Portland, specifically their Morning Madness blend. Also I’m going to French Press it so if you’re someone like me who had to google how to use a French Press maybe this post will help you.
First of all I love their company name. I know my coffee cup always makes me happy. It also makes me happy that they have a great logo and lovely packaging design. I always judge packaging. It does make a difference. I honestly think that coffee tastes better when it comes out of a sharp looking bag and gets poured into my favorite cup. I’m very particular about these things.
The second thing that makes Happy Cup Coffee special is that they hire special people to help them roast it. And by special people I mean people with disabilities. How cool is that? This bag you see right here was packaged by Alec. I didn’t really expose the photo well so you can’t see his name stamped on the bag but it’s there. I like that personal touch.
I don’t know who Alec is but I’m hoping it’s that super smiley guy they have a picture of in their brochure.
Now let’s get down to business and review the actual coffee. The beans they sent to me were not as dark and oily as I usually like mine but I realize not everyone likes their coffee super burnt like I do. Moving on…
It smelled delicious when I ground it up. Mmmmmm!
Since I’m sharing step-by-step photos I figured I might as well include this tip that I learned from Bethany. Basting brushes work great for sweeping out those clingy bits of ground up coffee. It might seem like a fiddly extra step but since I’ve been doing this, my coffee grinding area and the cupboard where I keep all my coffee supplies is so much cleaner!
Four heaping tablespoons into my French Press…
Fill with hot boiling water.
Stir lightly to make sure all the grounds get soaked evenly.
Steep for four (FOUR! no more, no less) minutes.
Press down gently with both hands. Of course I can’t show you both hands because I’m always holding my camera with one hand. This is all sorts of awkward but my photography assistant was off playing with Pink Kitty and not available, as usual.
Then it’s ready to be sweetened in your usual manner. My usual manner is a swirl of sweetened condensed milk. (Though lately I’ve moved back to my usual glurg of half and half and a pinch of sugar. The sweetened condensed milk was getting too sweet for me.)
Time to taste! (I think my ugly face might have ruined this review. Please try to ignore.)
Result: A bit on the acidic side with a berry twinge but DELICIOUS! I think I should move to Portland.
Oh right, it rains all the time. Nevermind.
So guess what! Happy Cup wants to make you happy too! Happy Happy Joy Joy!
Comment below with your two cents on what makes your favorite coffee great and I get to pick three lucky people to receive a bag of their choice of coffee.
You can see what kinds of coffee they sell here. Just click on that little link at the top of the page that says “Happy Cup can be purchased online and at our Coffee Shop at 3331 NE Sandy Blvd.” and then the coffee section and you’ll see the flavors in a pop up window. Great names for coffee right?
I also get to pick one lucky winner to receive a gift box. Inside the gift box is a cute mug like the one I received, a bag of coffee and a t-shirt! Hot diggety! So comment away! I’ll pick a winner by next Monday.
p.s. I received this product for free but I was not paid for this review. Opinions are my own! :)
