"Curious and Curiouser"

In honor of the upcoming Tim Burton remake of Alice in Wonderland I will be posting some fun stuff about Alice in Wonderland check out the trailer.

"Alice In Wonderland!"

Here is a fashion shoot that vogue did of Alice in Wonderland.
Through the Looking Glass
The Mock Turtle's Story
Who Stole the Tarts
The Mad Tea Party

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Cheshire Cat

Pig and Pepper

Advice from a caterpillar

Drink Me

Down the Rabbit Hole

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't." -Lewis Carroll

The Story behind the story lets take a look at what inspired Lewis Carroll to write the classic tale that lives on today.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar creatures. The tale is filled with allusions to Dodgson's friends. The tale plays with logic in ways that have given the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children It is considered to be one of the most characteristic examples of the "literary nonsense" genre, and its narrative course and structure have been enormously influential, especially in the fantasy genre.
Alice was written in 1865, exactly three years after Charles Lutwidge Dodgson and the Reverend Robinson Duckworth rowed in a boat up the River Thames with three young girls.
Lorina Charlotte Liddell (aged 13, born 1849) Alice Pleasance Liddell (aged 10, born 1852)
Edith Mary Liddell (aged 8, born 1853).
The three girls were the daughters of Henry George Liddell, the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University and Dean of Christ Church as well as headmaster of Westminster School. Most of the book's adventures were based on and influenced by people, situations and buildings in Oxford and at Christ Church, e.g., the "Rabbit Hole" which symbolized the actual stairs in the back of the main hall in Christ Church. It is believed that a carving of a griffon and rabbit, as seen in Ripon Cathedral, where Carroll's father was a canon, provided inspiration for the tale.
The journey had started at Folly Bridge near Oxford and ended five miles away in the village of Godstow. To while away time the Reverend Dodgson told the girls a story that, not so coincidentally, featured a bored little girl named Alice who goes looking for an adventure.
The girls loved it, and Alice Liddell asked Dodgson to write it down for her. After a lengthy delay — over two years — he eventually did so and on 26 November 1864 gave Alice the handwritten manuscript of Alice's Adventures Under Ground, with illustrations by Dodgson himself.
But before Alice received her copy, Dodgson was already preparing it for publication and expanding the 15,500-word original to 27,500 words, most notably adding the episodes about the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Tea-Party. In 1865, Dodgson's tale was published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by "Lewis Carroll" with illustrations by John Tenniel.
The entire print run sold out quickly. Alice was a publishing sensation, beloved by children and adults alike. Among its first avid readers were Queen Victoria and the young Oscar Wilde. The book has never been out of print. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has been translated into 125 languages. There have now been over a hundred editions of the book, as well as countless adaptations in other media, especially theatre and film.
The book is commonly referred to by the abbreviated title Alice in Wonderland.. (wikepedia)

"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you."

Today is Dr. Suess' Birthday so in honor of this great children's book author whom we all know and love I am dedicating this post to him.

Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen name Dr. Seuss. He published over 60 children's books, which were often characterized by imaginative characters, rhyme, and frequent use of trisyllabic meter. His most celebrated books include the bestselling Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. Numerous adaptations of his work have been created, including eleven television specials, three feature films, and a Broadway musical.
Geisel entered Dartmouth College in fall 1921. At Dartmouth, Geisel joined the humor magazine Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, eventually rising to the rank of editor-in-chief
While at Dartmouth, Geisel was caught drinking gin with nine friends in his room, violating national Prohibition laws of the time. As a result, the school insisted that he resign from all extracurricular activities. In order to continue his work on the Jack-O-Lantern without the administration's knowledge, Geisel began signing his work with the pen name "Seuss"; his first work signed as "Dr. Seuss" appeared after he graduated, six months into his work for humor magazine The Judge.
As World War II began, Geisel turned to political cartoons, drawing over 400 in two years as editorial cartoonist for the left-wing New York City daily newspaper, In 1942, Geisel turned his energies to direct support of the U.S. war effort. First, he worked drawing posters for the Treasury Department and the War Production Board. Then, in 1943, he joined the Army and was commander of the Animation Dept of the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces, where he wrote films that included Your Job in Germany, a 1945 propaganda film about peace in Europe after World War II, Our Job in Japan, and the Private Snafu series of adult army training films. While in the Army, he was awarded the Legion of Merit. Our Job in Japan became the basis for the commercially released film, Design for Death (1947), a study of Japanese culture that won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature. Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950), which was based on an original story by Seuss, won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film.
After the war, Geisel and his wife moved to La Jolla, California. Returning to children's books, he wrote many works, including such children's favorites as If I Ran the Zoo, (1950), Scrambled Eggs Super! (1953), On Beyond Zebra! (1955), If I Ran the Circus (1956), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957). Although he received numerous awards throughout his career, Geisel won neither the Caldecott Medal nor the Newbery Medal. Three of his titles from this period were, however, chosen as Caldecott runners-up (now referred to as Caldecott Honor books): McElligot's Pool (1947), Bartholomew and the Oobleck (1949), and If I Ran the Zoo (1950). At the same time, an important development occurred that influenced much of Geisel's later work. In May 1954, Life magazine published a report on illiteracy among school children, which concluded that children were not learning to read because their books were boring. Accordingly, William Ellsworth Spaulding, a textbook editor at Houghton Mifflin who later became its Chairman, compiled a list of 348 words he felt were important for first-graders to recognize and asked Geisel to cut the list to 250 words and write a book using only those words. Spaulding challenged Geisel to "bring back a book children can't put down." Nine months later, Geisel, using 236 of the words given to him, completed The Cat in the Hat. This book was a tour de force it retained the drawing style, verse rhythms, and all the imaginative power of Geisel's earlier works, but because of its simplified vocabulary could be read by beginning readers. These books achieved significant international success and they remain very popular.
Geisel went on to write many other children's books, both in his new simplified-vocabulary manner (sold as Beginner Books) and in his older, more elaborate style. The Beginner Books were not easy for Geisel, and reportedly he labored for months crafting them.
Though he devoted most of his life to writing children's books, Geisel never had any children. He would say, when asked about this, "You have 'em; I'll entertain 'em."
Geisel died, following several years of illness, in San Diego, California. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered. On December 1, 1995, four years after his death, UCSD's University Library Building was renamed Geisel Library in honor of Geisel for the generous contributions he made to the library and their devotion to improving literacy.
"Dr. Seuss and the Cat in the Hat" at the Dr. Seuss Memorial.
In 2002, the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden opened in his birthplace of Springfield, Massachusetts; it features sculptures of Geisel and of many of his characters. On May 28, 2008, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that Geisel would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. The induction ceremony took place December 15 and his widow Audrey accepted the honor in his place. (wikepedia)

"I do not like green eggs and ham! I do not like them Sam I am!"

Today in honor of Dr. Suess' Birthday my mom had a party for her daycare with breakfast green eggs and ham and birthday cake as well as story time with dr. suess. Here are some of the pics.

Anthropologie

I don't think I have met a girl who isn't in love with Anthropologie, it is a store that is creating adicts. Maybe i'm being dramatic but it's just so easy for me to get caught up in browsing their store, catalog, or website there are so many lovely things there that it's so easy to wish you had an unlimited spending budget and could buy whatever you want there. If you read thier claim on thier website you can see why it is so easy for girls to become addicted to this store.

"Anthropologie offers a one-of-a-kind and compelling shopping experience that makes women feel beautiful, hopeful and connected.We invite you into our world - whether it's our store, website, catalog or social community - with the hope you take a deep breath and explore until your heart's content.We've been getting to know you ever since 1992, when we opened our very first store in Wayne, Pennsylvania. From that time on, we've not only grown a hundredfold, but, more importantly, we've learned so much about you -like how you appreciate innovation, artfulness and good design, and how you're drawn to soulfulness and sincerity.Although you enjoy the clever details and fine craftsmanship of our products, you come to us for more than that. You come to escape and to connect, to spend time and to make time.Complex as you are, you remain our inspiration and because of this, we endeavor to bring you an unimagined experience."

Can you really blame girls for being addicted to this place. Unfortunately for most of us living in the middle class who have to live by budgets, we are not at liberty to spend freely here do to the ridiculously high prices of the lovely things in this store. It almost makes you greedy for more money which is never a good thing. So for me at times i feel guilty for wishing to shop here and then i remember the places I've been and the people less fortunate than me and I remind myself that I am blessed in the clothes im wearing even if they aren't as beautiful as the clothes at anthropologie. Plus not only that if you have any piece of creative ability you can find ways to recreate the looks found in this store on your own takes a little bit of craftsmanship but it definately can be done. Anyways here are a few of my favorite catalog pictures aren't they lovely they seem to match the store's claim perfectly. Also check out the March catolog on thier website.

This dress is my latest obsession I would love to be the owner of this lovely dress.

Pomodoro

I decided that I need to space out my recommendations for places to eat and go out in san diego so for today this will be my only recommendation. On Friday night a few friends went out for Tarra Fry's birthday she invited everyone to Pomodoro Italian Restuarant which is conveniently just down the street from her house and from Tim's house. Tim and I pass it all the time when we are walking Kai and have been meaning to try it out so I'm really glad we were able to go for Tarra's birthday. The restuarant was so great it is cute candle lit tables with a cute little italian restaurant vibe. Most of the staff is Italian and every thing on the menu was pretty authenticly homemade italian food it was so delicious. Once all the food was served the owner went around sprinkling fresh parmasian and fresh grated pepper on all our food. I absolutley love this place so delicious and great atmosphere for dinner.