Review || The Vintage Tea Party Book

I just so happened upon this book as I was skimming through an adorable (and incredibly vintage!) kitchen shop with my mom a week or two ago. As I was browsing the tea kettles and smelling the loose teas they were selling, my eye caught the title and I immediately picked it up and began to examine it. I was so impressed with the book (and let's face it, the drawings and details on the cover will make anyone swoon!) that we decided to purchase it and add it to our collection of vintage books, and I am so glad we did! It's has the perfect amount of recipes for brunches, afternoon meals, and dinners, plus it is packed to the seams with tutorials (like how to make a Union Jack flag on your own, or how to style your hair with pin curls)! The Vintage Tea Party Book is such a treat.

I think the thing I like most about this book is the rich history Angel Adoree talks about in the beginning of the book. She includes photographs of her parents, her life story, and snippets of how she became a vintage-lover. Her photos are beautiful, her recipes are delicious (I've made the rose petals sandwiches and I am dying to try coddled eggs!), her words flow like cream into a tea cup, and her tutorials are classic. Near the back of the book, she even includes mens grooming tips and a how-to on classic make-up. I am serious when I say she has it all! If you haven't checked out The Vintage Tea Party Book, I encourage you to do it! You can even download invitations she has created to get a taste of what this book has to offer on Angel's website.

Overall, I give this book 5 stars! This was exactly what I needed to pick up to encourage the vintage-lover in me and I cannot wait to put into practice all that I have learned how to do from her! I also found out quite recently that she has two more books alongside this one titled The Vintage Sweets Book and The Vintage Tea Party Year. I might have to invest in them before too long.

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Thank you for your kind words and encouragement as I complete my last few weeks of high school. I will be trying my best to create new content and posts, but like I stated in my post Review: Cinderella (2015), my posts might be few and far between until after May 15th. Thank you for understanding!

Much love,

Samantha

Review: Cinderella (2015)

(image provided by Disney)

"When her father unexpectedly passes away, young Ella finds herself at the mercy of her cruel stepmother and her daughters. Never one to give up hope, Ella's fortunes begin to change after meeting a dashing young stranger."

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5 stars!

I can tell you that when I first saw the trailer for the new live-action Cinderella, I was expecting it to cater to the little girls of the crowd and only be appealing for those who were born in 2000 and after. But how wrong I was! 

Cinderella is filled with beautiful cinematography, gorgeous costumes, detailed story lines, and the most beautiful pair of glass slippers you have ever seen. I first saw it a couple of weeks after it came out (mainly to let the crowds die down, but partly because I was avoiding what I thought would be a disaster), and I loved every minute of it. I laughed, I cried, and I became all jittery inside when Ella saw Kit for the first time. It was probably one of the most wonderful movies I have ever seen and I was sad when I left the theater as it was like confirmation that the movie had ended. 

But, I was able to see it again when I went to Downtown Disney a few weeks ago with my family, and my sister can testify to the fact that I cried and laughed all at the same parts as I did when I saw it for the first time! It truly is just one of those movies that will move you every single time you turn it on, and I am incredibly excited for when it comes out and I can add it to my collection of movies!

Cinderella was filled with a bountiful of good morals pertaining to kindness and forgiveness (I actually am planning out a blog post on forgiveness and how Ella lived it out). Ella demonstrates what the Bible calls us to do, forgiving "7 times 70 times" (Matthew 18:21 - 22) and never holding a grudge over her stepmother. In the end, one of the last few words she says in the movie to her stepmother was "I forgive you" (I still get chills when I think about it!). 

It truly was one of the best movies I have ever seen. Disney did a fantastic job putting together such a beloved story in the form of a live-action movie and I cannot wait to see what they do in the future (apparently The Beauty and the Beast is underway!)! I'm secretly hoping that they do a Snow White remake because Mirror, Mirror wasn't all too impressive, and from what I hear, Snow White and the Huntsman was horribly casted and executed. We shall see!

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I might be a little absent in the next few weeks. I am graduating from high school on May 15th, but until then, my weeks will be jammed packed with math, English, and economics homework, as well as a last minute trip to Washington D. C. in the coming weeks. I will be trying my very best to update the blog (even putting this post together took me days of adding to it here and there when I found the time), but I might not meet my desired 2 posts a week regiment until after May 15th. Please know that I haven't given up or abandoned anything this early in the game! I have post idea upon post idea stored in my notebooks, so please expect lots of posts after I graduate! :)

Much love,

Samantha

I Was Nominated || For The Liebster Award!

Wow. I am blown away by the responses I have received so far after launching my first blog post. I cannot believe how welcoming and warm the blogging community is. This just makes me 10x more excited to jump right in! Thank you all for your kind and encouraging words!

The lovely Lydia from Through the Wardrobe nominated me for the Liebster Award! Why not take a gander and check her blog out? She is a lovely writer.

I had never heard of the word "liebster" before, so before I put it on my blog I thought I'd look it up. Apparently it is a German word (how fitting since my novel I am working on is based in Germany!) that means "beloved" or "dearest". I've never been nominated for anything before, so this is a real treat. The rules are thus:

1. Link back to the blogger who nominated you

2. Answer the 11 new questions

3. Nominate other bloggers

4. Notify the nominees

Simple and easy enough! Thank you again, Lydia, for thinking of me! :)

1. Favorite dessert?

I'm not a huge sweets eater, but I do have a weakness for chocolate. Not chocolate in a dessert though, just plain ole' chocolate, especially if it's dark! The darker, the better.

2. If you could live with any book character during and after the series/book, who would you choose and why?

This is an incredibly tough question! I would love to live in some far off magical land, but I'd also like to live in a "this world" land that seems magical in the book. I think I'd have to say Anne of Anne of Green Gables. I've always been enthralled with the thought of staying in Green Gables, and you must admit that Prince Edward Island is beautiful. It would be a dream!

Most special stuffed animal?

I've long since tucked away all of my old stuffed animals, but I think the one that was dearest to me when I was younger was a white bear dressed in a white and blue pinstriped overalls. It was given to me by my grandmother (she got it sometime in the 1960's). I think it's special to me not only because it's vintage, but also because my grandmother gave it to me.

Do you like dolls?

I think I like the ideas of dolls more than the actual doll itself. When I was younger, I didn't play with them very much. I much preferred books over dolls, to be quite honest. In fact, I think I only had one doll growing up. It was a Violet Travilla doll from the Life of Faith series (and has since been discontinued!). 

What trait do you have that you would love to improve?

I'd have to honestly say my pride. I am so incredibly prideful that it makes me ashamed of myself sometimes. It is so easy for me to become proud of things I've accomplished or things I've deemed better than other people. I have to ask the Lord on a daily basis for the strength and wisdom to overcome this unceasing battle.

Cursive or print?

Cursive is much classier in my opinion. I usually print, though, because it's easier and faster, but lately I've been practicing my cursive while taking notes in church or in my schoolwork to try and become better at it. My mom only writes in cursive, so I know it's possible! :)

Classical or rock?

Classical, hands down. I'm not a fan of rock, honestly. I prefer the ability to hear myself think.

If you could have any book character's clothing collection, who's would you choose and why?

All of these great questions! Again, I think I would like to have Anne from Anne of Green Gables clothing. But, if we are speaking in a more practical sense (because it really isn't realistic to dress like your from the 1910's in this day and age), I'd have to say Katniss from The Hunger Games. Her wardrobe is a little bit more practical for this time period.

Do you like butter?

The real question would be who doesn't like butter?

Favorite breakfast food?

I love waking up in the morning and putting a kettle of water on the stove for tea. As that heats up, I usually make my bed, wash my face, or do any other form of cleaning up. Once it's steaming and squealing, I toast some bread and spread a generous amount of our latest homemade jam (usually blueberry) on it and accompany it with some fresh fruit and Earl Grey tea.

Would you believe me if I told you cookies grew on trees and then they were imported to an underwear bubble before being shipped to the super-market?

Sadly, probably not. But if it were true, I would hope you would gift me with the cookie tree you speak of! ;)

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Now it is your turn! I honestly would like to nominate each and every one of you, so if you are feeling up to it, answer the questions I have created below on your blog and follow the rules above. I would love to hear your responses, so do be sure to comment and tell me that you have accepted the award!

1. Coffee or tea?

2. What is your favorite time period and why?

3.) Are you a reader or a writer?

4. What made encouraged you to start blogging?

5. How has blogging effected you?

6. What is your favorite book you have read?

7. What is your favorite fairytale?

8. Do you prefer gold or silver jewelry?

9. What is your heritage (for example, I'm English, Irish, and Welsh)?

10. Do you prefer being indoors or outdoors?

11. What has been your favorite blog post you've written so far?

Much love,

Samantha

5 Random Facts.

(please pardon my crazed expression here... I'm just so excited!)

Oh my goodness, I have my own blog? It's definitely time to crack open a little sparkling grape juice (preferably white!) and throw some colorful confetti! I cannot wait to start documenting my life through posts of fashion, food, creative writing endeavors, and so much more! It will be so much fun connecting with new people who are like-minded, and now instead of stalking the blogs, I'll actually have my own! And, for starters, I thought it would be a grand idea to open up this blog with 5 random facts about myself.

I am a reader and a writer.

That might come as no surprise to you since I list reading and writing pretty much every where on the blog. But, alas, it is true! I remember when I was younger and asking for books for Christmas and my birthdays instead of the usual toys and trinkets my siblings asked for. My love for reading developed into a passion for stories, both the written and visual kind. In fact, I am currently working on my first debut novel (no details can be given out currently, though)!

I love the 1940's.

The 1940's are my favorite time period and it greatly affects my taste in clothing and choice of music. I could sit in a diner with oxfords on and listen to The Andrew Sisters all day if I could make my own decisions about things like that. I find that people were classier during those times and so full of life and purpose. I love how even housewives got dressed up to cook, clean, and welcome their husbands home from work. Nowadays, so many people are in this "take me as I am and like me" state of mind that it makes me yearn for the past with the morals and social standards of that day.

I believe in fairytales.

Well, maybe not quite, but I sure do like to read and write them. I think my love of fairytales comes directly from this quote by G. K. Chesterton:
Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.
I love the romance and simplicity and the strength in fairytales just as much as I love the complex plot lines and intriguing characters of today's novels (which is quite a bit!). I apparently love them so much that I named my blog after one of the most famous fairytales of them all (among other reasons)!

I am in love with Jesus.

I am a Christian, and because of that, my blog will reflect that in some way or another. Just like how I talk about the Lord in my every day speech with strangers, this blog will have some Christian influence in it. I by no means want to be preachy (as that is just not my style), but many of my posts will talk about my faith in God and Hi undying grace. I pray that I can make some sort of impact in your lives, dear readers.

I've been homeschooled my entire life.

And I would honestly never change a thing. I'm actually thinking about blogging about my experience with home education at some point. It's very dear to my heart and the benefits outweigh pretty much everything.

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I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and have enjoyed hearing my 5 random facts about myself. I'll be blogging twice a week, so you can look forward to the next post being on Friday! 

Much love,

Samantha