Bye Bye Wedding Shoes

Thank goodness for Le Chateau outlet. I have one pair of jeans that fit me properly and unfortunately I tore the crotch out on them (so now I have to wear spandex underneath just to avoid scandal!) so I was planning on going to Calgary this weekend to stop by the Le Chateau outlet and pick up a new pair for $20 (or less!) Then when I got home today from another unsuccessful attempt to make lattes for the staff (the cafe was being rented out by a school group) I found three pairs of my dress shoes on the kitchen floor in various states of disrepair. Our dog Cash had pulled them out of our shoe closet, ate the heels off of my white strappy shoes that I wore to grad, he ate the toe off of my white lacey shoes from my wedding and he tore the sole off my black strappy pair. In one 1 hour block my dog successfully ate all of my dress shoes. Fortunately for me I can fix my black pair but my two other pairs are beyond fixing. I'm most upset about the wedding shoes :( The other white ones were affectionately named my "Devil shoes". So, when I'm in Calgary at Le Chateau outlet I will also be picking up some new dress shoes.
Today was a bit of an interesting day... Gabriel was grumpy beyond belief. At the church today we saw Matt's mom and Gabe actually pushed her away from him in the middle of a fit - something he has never done before. I could tell he was just overtired because when he wasn't grumpy he was super cuddly and affectionate, however his morning nap only lasted 40 minutes so the grumpiness ensued.
A friend from the church lent me her copy of the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice which I had never seen. Since I realized Gabe was not going to let me clean much today I popped in the first volume and got a good 50 minutes (and 1/5) of the way through! My immediate thoughts surrounding it were the following: Mrs. Bennet is much too sharp and not nearly motherly enough. Brenda Blethyn did a better interpretation I think. I enjoy the inclusion of all characters, including Mr. and Mrs. Hurst who were exempt from the later version. On a similar note, I enjoy the fact that when you make a 5 hour production you can include almost all of the original dialogue from the book. Lydia is wonderfully spoilt in a way Jena Malone never got screen time for. The actress who plays Jane is not exactly the breathtaking beauty she ought to be, and perhaps it's the difference between classic beauty and modern, but I'd much rather look at Charlotte Lucas than Jane. Regarding Elizabeth, some speeches are so remniscent of Keira Knightley's mannerisms in the latter film that I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Keira had studied the BBC version for her role. Actually, lots of transition scenes so far are paralleled between both versions and I think the people who did the 2005 version saw the merit of the BBC filmography and decided to copy a few details. And lastly, I really don't remember a bathing scene with Mr. Darcy in the book :) Yah, they didn't show much, but still, shameless excuse to have a shirtless Colin Firth? I think so.
Oh, and Colin Firth is a sweeter, gentler Darcy for sure, but Matthew MacFadyen trumps all. His unintentionally harsh manners making it all the better when you realize he's just shy with strangers and really a wonderful guy. Even his self-reproaching looks after he's been rude are so perfect.
Anyway, that was my Jane Austen rant for... well, the week. Well, actually, no guarantees. Let's just say for today :)
After I finally got Gabe to sleep for a second nap (and woke up myself after dozing off from cuddling him) I took an inventory of some craft supplies. I figure I can make a pair of teacup candles for three people for Christmas this year. I also found some jars my Grandma gave me that I can put some truffles in, and an old wool scarf that I'm going to felt a design on for myself!
After a late dinner Matt and I decided to go for a walk so we bundled up Gabe in about 40 layers and had a nice stroll!
Next week I'll need to get started on my Christmas projects. This week, I'll just look at pretty pictures of Christmas decorations and drool over them!

Mrs. Vander Leek ;)