A Film By Pickle (Starring Some of the Monsters)

Pickle had fun making a short movie with some of the monsters. The captions come and go too quickly, but hopefully you'll get the gist of it.

Why You Need to Read "Just One Day"

Just One Day by Gayle Forman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, I'm rounding up from 4.5, but this book officially puts Gayle Forman in Maggie Stiefvater/John Green territory for me. I will happily place this book in people's hands when I'm with them at the bookstore, although I'm slightly more likely to put it into a woman/girl's hands than a man/boy's only because it feels like more of a feminine perspective.
Allyson is a recent high school graduate spending a highly-planned European tour hating just about every moment until she is noticed by an itinerant Shakespearean actor named Willem doing guerrilla theater in the streets of Stratford-upon-Avon. When he asks her to go to Paris with him for a day, her life suddenly opens up for her as she lets go of the rigid track she's been placed on and learns to embrace chance. Although it is just one day, she learns that life can be way more satisfactory when she's willing to trust the adventure that life can be.
I loved the plot and the character development (even of minor characters: in fact it felt like there were no minor characters). I feel like Gayle Forman has a generous spirit and that she's trying to help people open up to the possibility of life. The nice thing...it didn't feel like a preachy life lesson. If you like the pleasure of reading words placed together beautifully and really love when characters grow and develop, then this is the book for you. Oh, and the European travel and hints of Before Sunrise are lovely, too.

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A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

There's been a lull in entries which can be entirely explained by the fact that both Pickle & Schmoo have not had after school classes for a few weeks now. What was my excuse before that? Who knows - winter ennui?

Anyway....

We have been busy. Monsters have been made. Paintings, plays, art & talent shows and crafts have been done. Visitors have come and gone. People have been ill.

Thing the One: Me freaking out about Pickle growing up

 

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Two of My Favorite Authors Talk About Writing and Life

Chocolate Quinoa Muffins

At Pickle & Schmoo Labs, we aren't just mindless automatons who ignore the pleasures of life. No! Sometimes we tinker with recipes because, really, would monsters be as awesome if there wasn't chocolate around?

So, many of you are familiar with the timesuck that is Pinterest, right? I can lose hours looking at beautiful pairs of pants, wonderful craft organizing schemes and signs with absolutely amazing fonts. Perhaps the biggest timesuck, however, are the food porn recipes that people pin. My greatest fascination this week has been with seemingly healthy snacks, and since I actually happened to have all the ingredients laying around, I decided to tackle the Chocolate Quinoa Muffins, posted by Pinterester Riley Huebsch. Of course, I had to add more chocolate.

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