2011 May | She Scribes

The Royal Wedding: William & Catherine

May 31, 2011 By Kimberly

Can you believe it’s been over a month since the Royal Wedding of William and Catherine? WOW! Seems like just yesterday I woke up at the crack of dawn so that I could watch the wedding from beginning to end, only to doze off during the most important parts including the Queen and Catherine’s arrivals.

I finally had the opportunity to see everything that I missed when I watched the new DVD put out by the BBC called The Royal Wedding: William & Catherine. I have to give the BBC all the credit in the world. I saw a lot of coverage on the Royal Wedding, but nothing as up close and personal as the footage from the BBC. They were able to get so close to the action that you felt like you were right there with the lovely couple.

Everything is featured in this DVD, from their arrivals at the Abbey to the infamous kiss on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. Some of the shots were amazing, like a shot from the ceiling at Westminster Abbey looking down on William and Catherine.

I’m glad that I finally had a chance to see the Queens arrival. She reminds me a lot of my mom who passed away many years ago. She and the Queen were born the same year too.

If you missed all of the wedding coverage, or just want to have a memento of that special day, this DVD has it all.

My favorite part about this DVD is the bonus feature called William & Kate: A Royal Engagement. This bonus section goes in depth into the lives of William and Catherine, from their childhoods, to their first meeting at school and of course up until their beautiful wedding.

I have always thought that William was a nice young man. You can just sense that about it. However after learning more about him I have even more appreciation for him. Did you know he once volunteered down in South America and scrubbed toilets? How many royals do you know that scrub toilets?

I have always thought Catherine was a lovely girl. After listening to interviews with people who know her best and learning more about who the Princess was before her marriage, I can see how William and Catherine are truly meant for each other.

The wedding section of the DVD runs for 2 hours and the bonus section is 50 minutes.

The Royal Wedding: William & Catherine is available for purchase now on DVD from the BBC (www.BBCAmericaShop.com) and many other retailers.

Kimberly

*I received a free sample screener in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Reviews Tagged With: Entertainment, Reviews

Creating an Outdoor Living Space

May 30, 2011 By Kimberly

Now that summer is just about here my family and I have been spending more and more time outside on our balcony. Sadly we don’t have a yard. Our “yard” is a 6′ x 12″ balcony on the top floor of our condo building.

Recently we added an outdoor carpet and some flowers (fake) to “beautify” our balcony. I was tired of looking at old, splintered wood and not seeing any color or life out there, other then our pets. Of course I also added the carpet to make things more comfortable for our four cats and dog too.

Space is limited on our balcony but I’m anxious to get a patio dining set. My kids keep begging me to get one so that we can have dinner outside on the balcony. I’ve seen a few but so far nothing has fallen in our price range. I won’t even consider a set unless it comes with an umbrella. Where our balcony is positioned we get direct sunlight all day long. I had to buy insulated curtains for the windows and sliding glass doors just to keep the heat out. It can get REALLY hot in here with the sun beating through the windows. If we had an outdoor dining area I would need an umbrella to fight off the direct sun.

I would like to make our balcony serve as another room in some way. There are times it’s so hot and humid in our condo. We don’t have any cross ventilation so often it’s cooler outside then it is inside. For that reason I would love to have something like a patio daybedthat we could sleep on if it gets unbearable inside our condo. I would sleep outside in a heartbeat if possible. I’m just not sure if our balcony is big enough for one of those beds. I suppose we could lay out a sleeping bag, but I don’t like the idea of sleeping on the ground with all of our pets. I’m sure they would take over the sleeping bag if that was the case.

My husband and I spend a lot of time outside at night after we put the kids to bed. It’s our special time to talk, reconnect and enjoy the fresh air. Currently we sit on either our old bench or folding chairs. I’d love to get one of those outdoor sofas so that we could sit together. That would be so nice (and romantic too!).

I just wish our space wasn’t so limited. We also can’t change the look of the balcony as per the condo board rules. If we could I would love to rip the whole balcony down and build a new one made with that special wood that doesn’t splinter, rot or fade. We’re not even allowed to paint or stain the balcony because it has to look like everyone else’s balcony. Ugh! There are some serious downsides to living in a condo complex.

Does any of my readers have a small balcony or outdoor space where you live? What do you do to make it more “liveable”? Aside from an outdoor carpet and some plants, what else do you use to make your balcony or patio a ‘home away from home”? I’d love to hear from my readers. Thanks!

Kimberly

Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: Ramblings

Have a Beautiful Memorial Day

May 29, 2011 By Kimberly

I hope you have a beautiful day with family and friends on this Memorial Day. It’s the “unofficial” start to summer. Our condo complex pool opened up this weekend. It seems like yesterday when we took the kids to the pool for a “last hurrah” just before the pool closed for the season. And now it’s opened again. WOW! Time sure does fly.

Memorial day is a perfect time to take advantage of great sales. If you come across a great price on an iPod Touch PLEASE let me know. I am dying to get one. My phone doesn’t have any “bells and whistles”. The iPod Touch would allow me to do a lot of the fun things I can’t otherwise do, and I don’t need to worry about a monthly phone service either.

Enjoy all the good food and good times with family and friends. Save a big, juicy hamburger and some barbecue chicken for me. We cannot barbecue in our condo complex and no one invited us over for Memorial Day. We’re dying to have some great barbecued foods. Mmmm!!!!

With all the fun, great food and awesome sales, please don’t forget the REAL reason behind the holiday. It’s a time to remember the brave men and women who gave their lives for our country, and for those who are currently risking their lives to make sure that our freedom lives on forever and ever.

God Bless our service men and women, both past, present and future.