at the cinéma: barney's version

My mom and I recently went to see Barney's Version - a quirky drama we both thoroughly enjoyed....like you would a comfortable, old, familiar sweater. The movie is based on the popular novel of the same name written by late Canadian author Mordecai Richler.

The film is a remarkable story about a unremarkable man and is set mostly in Montréal, although Rome and New York also make their appearances.

Paul Giamatti is amazing in the role of the incorrigible Barney Panofsky and British actress Rosamunde Pike is breathtaking to watch in the role of Miriam Grant-Panofsky - the love of his life. I'm not that familiar with Pike, but am enamoured with her acting, her lovely eyebrows and her sense of style. I officially have a girl crush. :)

And for those of you who watched Felicity back in the day (one of my fav shows), Ben Covington,

I mean, Scott Speedman also appears in the movie. He plays Barney's friend Boogie - a periodically fun-loving, periodically infuriating, drug-addicted would-be writer who disappears under mysterious circumstances during a contentious weekend at Barney's lake house. 

I almost forgot to mention that the film centers around Barney's relationship with his three wives. Yessirree bob! Three wives! I bet you're all very, very intrigued now.



Photo from http://www.cbc.ca/

Don't want to say much more, other than I loved it & highly recommend! Happy viewing and happy weekend!

Dajana :)

p.s. Mom and I will be seeing The King's Speech this weekend. My friend Ayesha has raved about this British period piece, predicted to win an Oscar for Best Picture this Sunday.  Ayesha also raved quite a bit about her gentleman crush Mr. Darcy, a.k.a Colin Firth. Can't wait to see him...err, the film! ;)

All photos are from http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ other than those noted.

eat: amish friendship bread

My work peep Lee is married to a lovely girl named Sharry. Just a few months ago, they had the sweetest little dumpling of a baby girl. And I've got to tell you friends, our office is reaping the benefits. How you ask? Well, Sharry is on mat leave and has been baking up a delicious storm and sending oodles of goodies our way. Yay for Sharry! :)

Recently, some Sharry-made Amish Friendship Bread made its way to our lunch room, which our department proceeded to devour like emaciated piranhas. This stuff was so good! And it sure didn't taste like bread, instead it was a dense, moist, cinnamon-scented cake.

I was eager to try it myself and so I asked for the recipe. I was a tad surprised when at work the next day Lee handed me this bag filled with what looked like slop:

What the heck? After reading the recipe and doing some research on the internet, I quickly learned that Amish Friendship Bread is made with a starter - hence the bag of slop. So I followed the recipe:

The mushing was my fav part. And I quite liked watching the starter grow and ferment.

I showed the bubbly bag to the boyfriend one day who said unequivocally, "I'm not eating that."
Alrighty then.

And on the 10th...ummm...12th day, (okay, so I kind of forgot about it for a couple of days) I baked.

And here it is!

After all the mushing and even forgetting about it for a few days, my AFB turned out pretty dang good! I sent some over to my neighbours Harry & Mary to try (yes, those are their real names!) and brought some over for my parents and niece as well. Thumbs up all around! My niece even called it yummy cheesecake. Ha!

Have you ever made Amish Friendship Bread? If you'd like to have your own go at this culinary chain letter, try the recipe found here. 

Happy baking friends! xxoo, Dajana

p.s. The boyfriend has now recanted his firm stance against trying the AFB - he liked it! Scotty really liked it! ;)

family day long weekend!

It's Family Day in Alberta and the last day of a lovely long weekend. I was able to spend heaps of time with my fav peeps - my boyfriend, my pup, my parents and my niece. Love them to bits!

One of our stops over the weekend was the Silver Skate Festival. Held at Hawrelak Park, Silver Skate is Edmonton’s longest running winter festival. And I can see why - the snow sculptures were amazing!

        

I also spent time with this chocolate cutie...

And on Sunday we took our lil' niece to a puppet show based on Leo Lionni's books, Swimmy, Frederick and Inch by Inch. The puppeteers were from the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia and they were wonderful! We also liked that they announced it was a non-shushing show. You could hear all of the parents breathe a collective sigh of relief. :) Highly recommend Lionni's books and the Arden Theatre Family Series.

 

Heart this kid!

I hope you had a super weekend and were able to spend it with your fav peeps, too!

Happy Familja Day!

Dajana

anthropologie: how i miss you so!

I've been on a self-imposed austerity program for almost two months now - which has meant absolutely no shopping for clothes. It's been a tough road peeps (I LOVE me some retail therapy!) but I've done surprisingly well and thankfully the end is near. 11 days near, to be exact. And just in time too because the latest Anthropologie catalogue appeared in my mailbox the other day! Isn't the model on the cover the most exotic of beauties? sigh.

I am longing to be reunited with my dear anthro. However, until that moment arrives, I'll be dreaming about adding these pretties to my cupboard:

images via anthropologie.com

I think the polka dotted number above - named the Take Action Dress - is my fav out of the entire lot.  I quite like its pretty shade of blue, slightly retro silhouette and its versatility. Cross your fingers that this frock and my other covetable items go on sale SOON!

Now, what about you? Did anything catch your eye? And are you an anthroholic too?

If you are so inclined, (and I have a feeling that you may just be) you can take a look-see at the catalogue in its creative entirety here.  Just grab a cup of tea, relax and begin perusing. It is Friday after all! And you, unlike me, are not on a shopping ban. ;)

Happy weekend friends! xxoo Dajana 

literary lady: american wife

I've been a voracious reader since I was a wee little lass. Books were my one true love growing up (yes, I was a nerd). While my parents thought I was all snuggly asleep in my bed, I would actually be reading well into the night, using the glow from the street lights to lead my eyes across the pages. Now, I belong to a ladies book club and currently on our list is American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld - a New York Times bestseller.  Did I mention it's pretty thick? Yup, like a cankle. I need to devour 555 pages by mid-March. Um, I haven't even started yet. I may be seeing a few more late nights.

What about you? What book(s) are you reading right now? My fav tomes include Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez but I also like a light & fluffy read now and then. I'd love to hear what's on your must-read list!

p.s. Did you know that the amazing Edmonton Public Library offers book club kits? It surely does! Isn't the EPL the best? :)

happy heart day!

I am entirely smitten with Duchess Bake Shop and have been since they first opened their doors.  When I stopped in on the weekend,  I couldn’t resist picking up a couple of L’Amours for Valentine’s Day - large macarons filled with rose-cream raspberries and lychee buttercream. One word - delicioso! They were such a lovely combination of sweet, tart, smooth and chewy. I was sad when they were all gone. And the boyfriend? He loved them just as much as I did.

Along the way, I decided I also needed something from Kerstin's Chocolates. My fav is the Chocophilia Cocoa Bean bar. It's not pictured with its friends because I ate it. all. myself.

Hope your Valentine's Day was filled with sweetness, too!

Dajana

let's begin! počnimo! vamos a comenzar!

I'm finally blogging friends. Yippee! I've talked about starting a lifestyle blog for many moons now and it's finally come to be. I'm excited to have my own little corner where I can share my love of food, fashion, travel, design & décor and lifestyle.

I couldn't have started all kinds of lovely without the help and support of some very special people in my life - Scotty, Ayesha & Christine - grazie! Also, many thanks to all of my friends and colleagues (Willa and Nat, I'm looking at you) whom I've probably bored to death with my incessant blogtalk.

You're all solid and that's why I like you.

Dajana



NYC skyline thank you card image found at http://www.papertastebuds.com/