Strokes From My Brush

Last month I was browsing Amazon when I came across a set of inexpensive watercolors. I'm not much of a drawer, but painting seemed a little more my style, so I decided to purchase it along with a set of brushes. Since I knew I could get watercolor paper cheaper locally I bought mine at Hobby Lobby with a coupon. I wanted a notebook to just practice and experiment in, which the  5.5"x8" Strathmore Visual Journal is perfect for. It's 140 lb. and while it isn't the best for super wet on wet, it's great for everything esle. It's also spiral bound, so it's easy to use. I also got a 9"x12" pad for when I feel like painting something to display.

Adventures of Cinderella Stars Laura and Santino

In my final post for Celebrate Musicals Week I'm talking about the leading couple in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella: Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana. Basically there are lots of photos of Laura and Santino, with some thoughts of my own and some interview questions I found online thrown in. So without further ado, let the awesome-ness begin!

'Ten Minutes Ago' Comparison

Ten Minutes Ago is probably the most well known song from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, and is one of my personal favorites. I decided to do a comparison of the four different versions and see which one I liked best. 

The 1957 version with Julie Andrews:

(Starts at :53)

Although I like this version, it's not my favorite. Dancing scenes are my favorite, so I'm kinda sad that most of the song was them standing, but I'm happy they at least have them dancing near the end. At least they put more emotion into their characters while the were singing, unlike the 1965 version.

The Princess Diary with Laura Osnes

(Note: I tried really, really hard to get the formatting right, but Blogger is being really buggy, so if it looks kinda funny, that's why.)

A few weeks after Cinderella opened on Broadway I discovered a video series on Broadway.com called The Princess Diary (Not to be confused with The Princess Diaries with Ann Hathaway). Every couple of weeks they'd post a new vlog, hosted by Laura Osnes, and we'd get to see what it's like behind the scenes of a Broadway show. I was so excited when I discovered The Princess Diary, 'cause when I get into a show or movie I'm the type of person that wants to know everything about it. I especially like seeing what the actors are like off camera/stage, so this video series fit the bill perfectly. It's really enjoyable to watch and other than a couple of odd moments, it's perfect. 

But you want to know the best part about the video series? Herman the fish. Yes, the best part of the series is a fish. Laura gave Santino a beta fish on opening night, which sorta became the unofficial mascot for the show. Herman's become pretty famous in the Cinderella world and is loved by many. Seeing Laura chat with him usually the highlight of every video for me. He's very chatty for a fish and is fond of the castle in his bowl. And he really likes Laura's smile.

One of my favorite parts is when Laura and some of the cast are waiting just of the stage waiting for their cue, most off the time during Stepsister's Lament. It seems a lot of the most memorable moments happen there and I think it's neat seeing the performance going on from a backstage perspective. I always end up with Stepsister's Lament stuck in my head after!

Then there was the time when Santino gave Laura a Cinderella puzzle (was it on opening night? I can't remember). Of course the Cinderella in the puzzle had blonde hair, so he colored it in brown, so I would match Laura's hair.

Anyways, I've always been one of those people who watches all the bonus features on a DVD, so being able to see what it's like to put on such a big show and get to "know" the cast really makes me appreciate Cinderella even more. The whole cast is like one big family, and they're always goofing off and having a fun time. And Laura especially seems like such a sweet person. The only bad part is that they finished the series a few weeks ago. *fake sob* I guess that means I'll have to go and re-watch all 15 episodes again.

You can find all of the episodes of The Princess Diary on Broadway.com.

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Joining in on Celebrate Musicals Week at Yet Another Period Drama Blog.

The Cinderella Costume Comparison

Instead of focusing on all the outfits in one version, I decided I would compare the same costumes from four different versions. There will be a photo of each dress and I'll share below what I think of each one. There are three different comparisons and I would had done a few more, but it's really hard to find photos of the older versions so there are only three comparisons below. 

All of the images will be in chronological order:
-1957 TV version with Julie Andrews
-1956 TV version with Lesley Ann Warren
-1997 TV version with Brandy Norwood
-2013 Broadway version with Laura Osnes

The Ballgown

Between the four, there really is quite the variety of styles. Julie's ballgown is very elegant and the flow-y back looks really pretty on film as it floats behind her coming down the staircase. The neckline also really pretty, but the skirt part is a little too straight and simple for me, considering this is Cinderella and all. The long gloves add to the elegance as well.

Cinderella on Broadway

This post could also be titled "The Post in Which I Share Bazillions of My Favorite Cinderella Photos". But ya know, that was a bit to long.

Although I was very vaguely familiar with the 1957 version of Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella (basically, I knew it existed and Julie Andrews was in it, and that was all), it wasn't 'till the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade last year when cast performed Impossible and Ten Minutes Ago that I really discovered it. I was really excited that Cinderella was coming to Broadway and from the numbers they did it already looked great! Then I forgot about it until late March, the month it debuted. Since then I've been keeping up with it, watching videos clips and behind the scenes videos, looking up photos on Pinterest, and eagerly waited for the official album to come out, which is AMAZING! The show will be touring in 2014 (Whaaaa! So excited!) which I plan on seeing as long as they come to Seattle.

The Beginners Guide to R+H's Cinderella

This week I'll be joining in on Celebrate Musical Week at Another Period Drama Blog. The idea is to pick one musical and write about it several times this week. Being such a big musical fan I though it would be fun to join in, so for this week be prepared for all sorts of awesomeness from Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella.

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We're all familiar with the story of Cinderella: a young woman forced to be a servant by her cruel and selfish stepmother and stepsisters, yet dreams of a better life. With the help of her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella is transformed into a princess and finds her prince.The R+H version is the story that classic fairy tale that they put their own spin on and filled with spectacular songs.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein were genius' when it came to writing musicals and Cinderella was no exception. Their shows were originally written for the stage and later on most of them were made into films as well. And although The Sound of Music, The King and I, and South Pacific may be some of the most popular and well known shows they wrote, in my opinion this is one of, if not the best musical they wrote.

To start off the week I though go over the history of the show, which spans over 50 years!

And now I present:

Star Trek Into Darkness

This past Friday we finally saw Star Trek Into Darkness. Whoo-hoo! Being a big Star Trek Fan who's seen most of the series' and all of the previous movies, I was excited to see this latest edition to the Star Trek franchise. I wasn't completely sure what to expect (after seeing the first trailer last year I decided not to watch any more or read any more about it so it wouldn't be spoiled for me), but I have to say J.J. Abrams did a fantastic job with this film and it was better than I expected.

Note: spoilers are included below.

Banana Bread, Nom Nom!

Banana bread is one of those foods that I forget how much I love it until I make it each time. My mom had this really simple recipe she would make whenever we had really ripe bananas on hand or as a treat for our Starbucks break while at the mall on Black Friday. It was soooo good! Then a few years ago, when discovered her gluten allergy came up with gluten-free version. That was good, but it wasn't until this spring, after finding out about my dairy allergy and cutting sugar out of my diet, that I found this delicious recipe.

This recipe is Paleo, so it doesn't have any gluten, dairy, sugar, or grains. In fact the only sweetness comes from the bananas, which makes it even better. It's really simple to make and whips up real quick, especially if using a Vitamix, AKA my favorite kitchen appliance. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool, but I think it's actually best when it's still slightly warm.

For all you banana bread lovers you can find the recipe at Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations.

Bonjour!

Hi there everyone! I'm Sereina and welcome to my blog, Ribbons Down My Back! Here I'm planning on writing about whatever strikes my fancy, but there are several topics that are bound to pop up more than others which I'll talk about below. 

Food

I've always loved being in the kitchen and baking. Cooking not as much, but I am enjoying it more now than I used to. Since I'm allergic to dairy all of my recipes will be dairy-free and for the present won't have any gluten or sugar. I'll save all the details on that for another post, but I doubt they're will be a shortage of recipes around here!

TV & Movies

Generally the movies I like are filled with humor and/or musical numbers (Singin' in the Rain anyone?), but don't be surprised to see a few action films and period dramas thrown in. When it comes to television, I really enjoy a wide variety of genres, but like with movies, most of them are comedies. Nearly all of the shows I watch are re-runs, like Monk, my all time favorite series, and the classic comedy shows from the 60's will always be a favorite of mine. Recently I finished Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which is now on my favorites, and now I'm working my way to and the Voyager.

Crafts

Repainting old frames, scrapbooking some of my favorite memories, embroidering with vintage patterns found online, making ruffle-y headbands. Those are just a few different types of crafting that I've done and my latest thing is watercolors, which I started last month. Hobby Lobby is my favorite craft store and I always come home with some new ideas to try sometime.

Musicals

The dance numbers, the pretty dresses, the catchy lyrics. Those are just some of my favorite things about musicals, both on film and on stage. There are few things better than a classic musical and I've recently been getting into and loving just as much is Broadway musicals. Broadway albums are amazing and even though I've never seen on in person (yet!) I'm always keeping an eye out for new photos and videos from my favorite shows.

Disney

Having been to Disneyland several times and knowing all the ins and outs of the place, I guess you could call me a Disney Expert. It's not just the parks, but Mickey Mouse, the animated and live action films, and the history behind it all. All the little details, both in the parks and in their films, is what makes the really stand out from everyone else.

Natural Health

After learning about eating real foods I started getting into natural health and beauty. This last year especially I've become really particular about not using products with chemicals in them, which often means making them myself. Not only is that heather, but it's often much less expensive as well.

So that's basically the most popular topics that I'm planning to blog about here. There's bound to be plenty of randomness, since I'm often quite random myself! To finish off this post, I'll end with some random (see, I told you!) facts about myself:

-I have three younger siblings, two sisters and a brother. 

-I never saw The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, or Singin' in the Rain till I was 16. 

 -This past spring I discovered that I'm allergic to dairy. As of April I also cut sugar out of my diet and right now am testing to see if I'm allergic to gluten. None of that stops me from baking yummy foods that I can eat though! 

-I've been to both Canada and Mexico.

-I've never owned an iPod, although I think I'm going to get an iPod Touch soon.



-When I was young my dad build a playhouse in our backyard for us kids and I have many fond memories playing in it with my sisters and neighbor.

-Fall is my favorite season.

-I'm a total cat person. We have two cats, Seal Point Siamese brothers, named Kokopelli (Koko for short) and Doji.

-When I was about 10 I discovered Frank Sinatra's music and he's been my very favorite ever since.

-One of my all time favorite movies is The Princess Diaries. My sisters and I watched it all the time after it came out on DVD and it's still just as fun to watch now.