Movies vs. Books / Books vs. Movies

I am a huge fan of reading and a huge fan of movies. I love to be entertained! Don't we all? I have been an avid reader all my life. A book worm, you might say. I just love a great story. I love to picture the places, the people and the scenarios. So, I am always intrigued when I find out a film is coming out, based on a book I have read. I guess those are the key words 'based on'. Basically, that means, same name, same characters and usually the rest is up for grabs. Below are a few books that I have read recently and the movies that I have seen after the fact.

The first is Dear John. Again, I love a great story. Nicholas Sparks always has great stories of love and heartbreak and this one did not disappoint.

The movie on its own would have been pretty great, if I had not read the book. Sometimes it was right along with the book and at other times it was totally different, including the ending. So, I was a bit disappointed.

I really enjoyed The Blind Side. This was a great true story. After reading this I was really looking forward to seeing the movie.

They changed a few things in the movie. I am not sure why, but all in all the movie was pretty good. Plus, who doesn't love Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw?!

Next is The Lovely Bones. This was a tough book to get through. It's a different kind of story and it is not your typical happy ending.

I did not know how well this story would play out in a movie format. At first I was really pleased with the movie, but the more I thought about it, I changed my mind just a bit. The movie left a bit out too. I know that movies can not include everything, but I think if I had not read the book, I may not of understood a few things that were going on.

Last, but not least, is The Time Travelers Wife. This book took me forever to get through. Not that I did not enjoy it, but the way that the story goes back and forth and back and forth, it just took me a bit longer to read.

Steve and I watched this movie together. He found it to be strange and hard to follow. I had to fill him in on a lot of things, to help him follow the story. I wondered if I had not read the book, if I would have truly understood what was going on myself. Even though I even thought that they left some things out of the story, I really enjoyed seeing the characters come to life.

So I guess my final summation would be that the book is always better. I love to see the characters come to life, but there is just something about reading a story and having your own vision in your mind. Call it a nerd thing or maybe the bookworm in me, but I love the places that books take you, that the movie portrayals never can.

I (heart) Josh

We headed out to the Paw Sox game yesterday with one thing in mind....seeing the amazing Josh Beckett make his first re-hab start on his way back to the Red Sox starting line up.

We made good time in getting to Pawtucket, RI and headed straight to the stadium...

We were greeted outside by the adorable mascots 'Paw' & 'Sox'.

Loved this huge statue of 'Paw' out front.

This was a cute little photo cove they had at the park.

Batter up!

It was really a nice stadium.

But, again, the main reason we came (along with hundreds of other people) was to see Josh Beckett pitch.

Good times!

Good times indeed!

After the game we stopped for a couple of souveniers. Love the Paw Sox symbol. the bear paws hugging the red sox. How cute is that?

And really? How hot is Josh? He had a great day! He pitched 4 innings (wish it had been longer!) didn't issue any walks and struck out four against Syracuse, throwing 42 of 68 pitches for strikes. He topped out at 96 miles per hour on the McCoy Stadium radar gun. Amazing and it can only get better!

So glad we were there to see it.

Totally Awesome!!

Fitzy Reacts To...Lebron & More!

Lebron, blah. Gettin' the band back together, yay! I Love the Truth. Lindsey, blah. Pats football (especially White Wes), yay! I plead the 5th on Twilight. I am a girl after all...

I (heart) Fitzy!

It's All About Me...Sometimes

Before you get the wrong idea and begin to think that I am being a bit conceited, just hold on. I just meant for some of my scrapbook pages. I really do keep trying to document my life, not just the people around me. I guess that I should leave some type of legacy. LOL. Actually, I was quite happy to create the following 2 pages. I had a lot of fun with the process. It started with great pics and a little (okay, alot) of help from my June Scarlet Lime kits. I love them. Scarlet Lime has a new add on kit every month that is called Frugal Fab. Only $19.95. Lots of good stuff and quite a bargain. June was the first month it was offered, so I had to give it a try. I used a bit of both kits to create these pages. This first page is all centered around a couple of my favorite people. Stephanie, a long time friend, that I met while we worked together in highschool and Lisa, my best friend growing up. "I love these girls!"

This next one is a basic pic of me , that was taken recently. This moment in time. A simple pic of me, but a crazy colorful LO. That is so me! Plus, I sewed on both pages...did you notice? I think it adds such a great touch.

Oh! Last, but not least, I am treating myself (and my family!) to this:

An early B-day present to myself. I told you it was all about me...(sometimes!) I love JB and can not wait to see him IRL. Very excited indeed!

Happy Friday!

A Little Fun Outta the Sun

What is a gal to do on these unbearably hot days? Stay inside where it is cool and scrap her heart out. I finally got a bit of time to scrap. Yay me! I have tons of pics and great supplies, that I have re-discovered after weeding out my scrap supply room. Some of those goodies are the "Love Elsie" lines that I have been hoarding. I decide to use the Zoe line for the 2 layouts below. I was also able to get a couple more of Janna's challenges completed. Again, yay me!

Janna's Week 23 Challenge:

Staple something fun onto your page!!! (how easy is that?) Yes, you can get digi staples too!

These are some pics of my favorite peeps, hanging out and enjoying the comedy of "Fitzy". Good times indeed. I used staples to attach my journaling strips. If you look close enough, you will see that they are not just any old staples, but red staples. Yup, found tons of colored staples while cleaning out the scrap supplies.

Janna's Week 17 challenge:

SUPER BOLD. Just do it.

I recently got to re-connect with my oldest childhood friend. We have been friends since we were 6 years old. I just had to capture that moment. Really had a lot of fun with this layout. Lots of color and whimsical fun. I love the result.

Still scrapping away with more to share soon. I am really loving the jump start I am getting from Janna's Challenge's and it is really been fun re-discovering (and shopping) my stash..

Happy 4th of July!!!!

God Bless America!!!

What a Week!

It started off last Monday, with Steve and I hopping on the train and heading into Boston for the day. Boston is really one of my favorite places. I really love city life. One of the first things we saw as we exited North Station was the new Bobby Orr statue.

A portrail of his famous flying goal.

The next place we headed for was Quincy Market to get some breakfast. Since the week was all about the Boston Celtics vs. the LA Lakers in the NBA playoffs, everywhere you turned there was support for our favorite team.

Then a little window shopping around Fanuel Hall. We loved this Statue of Red Aurbach wearing the 'Beat LA, Again' t-shirt.

I have to admit I was really psyched about the Celtics being in the playoffs. So much so, that I even dug out this old beauty. I got this jacket for my 19th birthday. Yes I still have it. It was too warm to wear now, but for nostalgas sake it was fun to pull out of the closet. I was a huge Celtics fan in the 80's.

One of the coolest things that happened, was that I got to meet up with my oldest childhood friend. Cindy and I have known each other since we were 6 years old (that is a really long time!) She happened to be in town chapperoning her sons school field trip for the day. We decided to meet up with her at the Boston Aquarium and when we did, it was like we had just seen each other last week. She looks exactly the same. It was so cool!

After a nice lunch, we headed over to Kenmore Square to stop by the Supah Fans Street Wear store. We can always use a few more cool t-shirts and it was nice to visit with the owner, coach Kevin.

Next we headed over to Fenway. The 'cathedral of baseball' as one of my friends calls it. It looked a bit deserted. No game on this day AND everyone was at work (except us...tee hee hee!)

One of the great landmarks out in back of Fenway Park is this great statue of Ted Williams.

They recently moved it down a bit, to make room for this new statue. The Teammates: Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Peski and Ted Williams as they appearred in the pennant winning season of 1946:

We did all that in just one day! The rest of the week was spent with my sisters family. Bryant loves when his cousins are here visiting. It is like they never left. I had to snap up this cool pic of the boys 'representin' New England sports.

Oh, and how could I forget the silly band swap:

Look at the great goodies that I got:

Ya, we rock!

We had a great week. Swimming, playing baseball, shopping, cook outs and we saw Toy Story 3. Lots of fun indeed! I wish it would never end, but alas, we are back to reality. I miss them already. I wish they lived closer. Now I have to deal with a sad little boy, who misses them terribly. I know he will be okay, but it still breaks my heart.

It really was a fun week & Summer is only beginning....