the movie that inspired my new august cooking challenge

have you seen julie & julia?

a movie that i picked up at the library amongst some others, i have always wanted to see j & j.  for so many reasons.  i mean, i love to try new recipes, i'm constantly bookmarking suggested recipes (almost too many and although i 90% won't get around to making them); get AllRecipes daily, quick and easy recipes emailed to me... i'm more than willing to try something new.  it's like glorified time that i don't have but i wish i could spend on cooking more. :)

so, i watched the movie, and was quite impressed.  i won't divulge the synopsis, but one of the main characters takes upon herself a huge worthy challenge within a certain time frame.  it sounded like a good idea.  i wondered if i could do that.  i mean, the month of august was creeping upon me... would i be able to do something similar but scaled down to a more reasonable possibility?  yes, please.

now, let me back up for a moment.  i get emails everyday from two sites:

1. Moneywise Moms
2. AllRecipes

through some blog trails, i've found some more blogs/sites that interest me in this challenge:

1. KraftCanada
2. Pennies on a Platter
3. I'm An Organizing Junkie
4. Feeding Four
5. VitaMix
6. The Pioneer Woman
7.  Cooks
8.  Simply Alicia (my cousin)
9. Cooking During Stolen Moments: An Affair With My Kitchen
10. Annie's Eats
11. Stephanie O'Dea's "A Year of Slow Cooking" or here

the next time i write... i will share my challenge.  the more i blog about it, the more accountable i'm held. :)

have you seen this movie?  what's your favorite FOOD-related movie?

DVDs

1. we already watch Your Baby Can Read every day.  i put them in their bouncers or leave them in their carseats (if we had been somewhere), and throw on this lesson.  it's usually under 30 minutes, but my girls are CAPTIVATED watching it!!!  we started with the first disc.  usually, they fall asleep to watching the young boy, Graham narrate in entirety. 

when i was at the library a couple of weeks ago, i looked for some DVDs for my girls to watch.  i noticed the Baby Einsteins that were there were for 6 mo.+  so, i looked for something else that we could use meanwhile (my girls are 4 mo.), and found these...

2. i picked up Baby IQ in "colors" and "animals."  i'm beyond impressed.  sometimes, i join the girls and watch the DVD because it's just so awesome.  i like "colors" the best.  the way the colors are potrayed is just so abstract and fantastic.  it really brings all of the colors together... without labeling the colors.  that's the only thing that i don't like.  also, there's nobody narrating--only the London Symphony Orchestra playing upbeat classical music in the background.  my girls also fall asleep to this, and the music really helps me get into the groove and do things around the house.  another quick note: these are suitable for 0 mo.+  i think that it runs under 30 min.