Thanks to everyone who added their favourite romance movies to My Top 10 Favourite Romance Movies post.  What awesome movie selections!  My poor husband will never get near the TV now.  I’ll put together a master list on a future post so we can share everyone’s choices.  Keep the Kleenex coming!

The Bridges of Madison County still makes me weak in the knees even though I’ve watched it oh so many times.  When Francesca’s hand is gripping her husband’s truck door handle and Robert’s truck is hesitating in front of them at the green light, his red blinker flashing like a beacon, my heart is pounding louder than the rain on her husband’s windshield.  Will she take a leap of faith with her lover Robert and abandon the life she’s grown to accept?  “This kind of certainty comes but once in a lifetime.” 

I can identify with her ambivalence.  Some days, life in my “comfortable marriage” is just that…comfortable – laundry on Mondays, grocery shopping on Wednesdays, Church on Sunday.  I love my husband and my pleasant but somewhat predictable suburbia lifestyle.  But what if one day, the very handsome man flipping through the latest bestseller beside me between the narrow bookshelves at Chapters strikes up a conversation?

“That’s a great book,”  he says casually pointing at the paperback in my hand. 
“Really?”  I answer in a nonchalant voice. 
“Yea.  I read it at the cottage last summer.  Great ending.” 
“Where’s your cottage?”  I ask while gently slipping the book back on the shelf. 
“Huntsville.  Beautiful up there.” 
“I can imagine,”  my hand flutters to my throat. 
“Hey, you put the book back?”   he says sporting a crooked smile.  “You’re missin’ a great story.  Let me buy you a coffee and I guarantee you’ll buy it.” 

Should I have coffee with him?  Would chatting with a handsome stranger about literature and life on a steamy hot summer day be so damaging?  My heart races as he brushes past me towards the end of the bookshelf where the small round tables await, a hint of Hugo Boss in the air.  What would Francesca do?

I think there’s a little heroine in all of us.  Which leading lady in your favourite romance movie best describes you?  Why?  Share your story.

Sometimes on a hot summer night, I’ll sit outside in my Muskoka chair and look up at the stars twinkling in the sky.  My mind wanders to people and places long forgotten.  A moonlit picnic on the beach.  Sipping champagne at an outdoor café.  Afternoon tea in the splendid garden of a rustic mansion. 

Indulge in your romantic fantasies this summer.  Escape for a few hours watching one of my favourite summer romance movies.

1.  The Bridges of Madison County – Clint Eastwood & Meryl Streep – my favourite!

2.  Message In a Bottle – Kevin Costner & Robin Wright Penn  — love lost and found.

3.  Autumn In New York – Richard Gere & Winona Ryder — a tender love story.

4.  Pearl Harbor – Ben Affleck & Kate Beckinsale — war brides are beautiful.

5.  An Affair To Remember – Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr — star crossed lovers.

6.  Pride & Prejudice – Keira Knightley & Matthew Macfadyen — classic story of love and misunderstanding.

7.  The Notebook – James Garner & Gena Rowlands — a gentle love everlasting.

8.  Nights In Rodanthe – Richard Gere and Diane Lane — keep the kleenex handy!

9.  Under the Tuscan Sun – Diane Lane — an elegant and inspiring story.

10.  The English Patient – Ralph Fiennes & Juliette Binoche — love knows no boundaries.

For full movie details, just Google the title.  What’s your favourite romantic movie?  I’d love to know.

Verona, Italy – the city of the most famous lovers in history, Romeo and Juliet.  Tourists flock to the tiny romantic courtyard of the House of Juliet and the hopelessly love lost send letters to Juliet looking for answers to sooth their troubled hearts.  Feelings of love twinkle on paper like stars in the heavens.  Volunteers reply to the letters adding a touch of magic to an already mystical story of two star crossed lovers.

Luciously romantic don’t you think?  But what’s happened to the passionate art of writing love letters?  Throughout history lovers have bared their souls to one another through the written word – the scandalous letters of Henry the VIII to his forbidden mistress Anne Bolyn or the romantic letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning to her husband Robert Browning.

There’s something intimate and exciting about reading a handwritten love letter.  You can turn it over and feel it in your hands, read it again and again, fold it and tuck it into a book for safekeeping.  And then years later when the long forgotten book is opened and the tattered letter flutters to the floor, the overwhelming feelings return as if time has stood still. 

Handwriting conveys a certain intimacy.  The penmanship, the curves of the letters, crossing of the t’s – they all mean something about the writer.  Something significant.

In the cold impersonal world of texting, instant messaging and cell phones, I would welcome the thrill of holding and reading a handwritten love letter.  Wouldn’t you?

“You have the greatest soul, the noblest nature, the sweetest, most loving heart I have ever known, and my love, my reverence, my admiration for you, you have increased in one evening as I should have thought only a lifetime of intimate, loving association could have increased them.”
– Woodrow Wilson to Edith Bolling Galt (who soon became First Lady)

I find it astounding that many women still don’t make wearing sunscreen a regular part of their daily skin care routine! Buying sunscreen can be a daunting task with the shelves full of brightly coloured bottles and sprays not to mention the need for a PhD. to understand the labels!  But we have no choice.  It’s sunscreen or skin cancer.

Here’s the skinny on sunscreen:

• UVB rays burn the skin and can cause skin cancer. 
• UVA rays cause wrinkles, age spots and skin cancer because the rays penetrate more deeply into the skin.
• The SPF (Sun Protection Factor) number represents the length of time you can stay out in the sun without burning multiplied by the corresponding number.  So with an SPF 15, if your skin starts to burn in 20 minutes, you could have 300 minutes (5 hours) of sun protection.
• SPF numbers are deceiving.  Sweat, swimming and clothing rubbing on your skin can reduce the amount of time you can spend in the sun without applying more sunscreen.
• Choose an SPF 15 or higher.  If you have fair skin, have had skin cancer, laser skin treatments or peels, choose an SPF 50 or higher. 
• UVA rays are not reflected in the SPF number. 
• Choose a “broad spectrum” sunscreen.  The product should have Avobenzone (also called Parsol 1789), Octocrylene and Oxybenzone listed on the label to protect you from both UVA and UVB rays.
• More expensive doesn’t mean more effective.  A new Consumer Report featured on Msnbc.com in March 2010 found that Target’s brand, Up & Up Sport Continuous sunscreen selling for less than $10.00 for TWO 6 OUNCE bottles, offered better protection from burning than La Roche-Posay Anthelios 40, the most expensive product priced at $18.00 FOR 1 OUNCE.

I use Banana Boat Ultra Defense SPF 15 and I like Hawaiian Tropic SPF 30 Sunblock, both broad spectrum and contain the ingredients I mentioned above.  On the days I don’t mind smelling like fruit I wear the Hawaiian Tropic.  The Banana Boat product is fragrance free.  I’ll be in the US this Saturday so I’m going to buy Target’s brand of sunscreen and try it out.  Let me know your favourite brand of sunscreen.

Remember Ladies…purses look pretty in leather.  Not faces!

Ted and Gayle Haggard started New Life Church in the basement of their home in 1985 that grew to a congregation of more than 14,000 in 2006.  Raising a child with special needs as well as her four other children, Gayle often felt like a single mother.  She writes, “In light of Ted’s busy schedule, I often felt that I parented alone.  I developed compassion for single parents and appreciated how difficult it could be for them to manage the demands of children, work and family.” 

“I wanted more of my husband,” she continues.  “Yes there were plenty of times when I felt Ted wasn’t with me in the moment – when his attention was diverted to something else and his emotional energy was spent on others, leaving little time and energy for the kids and me.”  She writes that she let Ted know her feelings and he always seemed “blindsided” by her frustration. 

After Ted’s very public fall from grace, Gayle’s love and commitment to her husband were put to the test.  She could have walked away.  No one would have questioned her decision, but she saw an opportunity to strengthen her marriage. 

She understood what it would mean to save her marriage.  For the first time, she had from Ted what she’d always craved – time.  She had his undivided attention at a point in his life when he was most vulnerable.  She could have said, “Screw you…you’ve never been there for me all these years and now you’ve got what you deserve.”  But she didn’t.  Instead she really got to know her husband and began the long journey home. 

Gayle had the courage to put it all out there in her book to help other women struggling with heartache and painful decisions.  She paints a picture of a real family in crisis and not some airbrushed tinsel town version. 

Life has a funny way of working out sometimes.  A crisis can be a turning point and there’s no looking back.  The book’s title says it all, Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made In My Darkest Hour.  Worth the read.

“Spa” is my middle name!  Add delectable cuisine in a breathtaking 19^th Century mansion and I’m in heaven!  But this hideaway has a unique twist.  Memories Manor is an exclusive retreat designed for ladies that love to scrapbook! 

This St. Clair, Michigan treasure was home for a blissful weekend in mid-March for January,

 Leanne,

Judy,

and moi!

Decorated for spring

 the Manor’s cheerful sunrooms

on the first and second floors

offered a lovely setting for a quick break from scrapbooking or for quiet reflection after melting from an incredibly relaxing massage.

But the real pleasure was the food!

While waiting to be invited for an amazing breakfast,

scrumptous lunch or delectable dinner

in the magnificent diningroom, we admired the creative

and colourful centrepieces that adorned the dining room tables.

No one goes hungry at Memories Manor.  The wonderful ladies that own and operate the Manor offered a special seasonal menu with lots of fresh veggies, comforting entrees and of course, sinful desserts.  Recipes were  included so we could make all the scrumptious goodies at home!

We scrapped and yakked late into the night

taking time to enjoy the Easter decorations.

Climbing up the beautiful staircase

to our historic rooms

each with its own unique name, we settled info our comfy beds.

Mornings start early at the Manor.  Letting the young valets spoil us by carrying our bags to the truck, we hit the road with our tasty homemade treats in our cute takeaway bags.  September can’t come fast enough for me when we escape once again to the cozy comfort of the magical Memories Manor.

See you next Tuesday!

You’d think I’d have learned by now to “walk not run” down the stairs.  Well I guess I hadn’t…until yesterday.  I stupidly ran down the stairs and tripped on the final two steps.  I’ve learned my lesson this time after five hours in Emergency, several gruelling x-rays with a final diagnosis of a chipped ankle bone along with my bruised pride.  I’m a complete spaz at using the crutches and the pain killers are messing with my head!

So folks, under the circumstances, I have no other words of wisdom to extoll upon you this week except…WALK DON’T RUN!  See you next Tuesday provided I follow my own advice!

I’ve spent the better part of the winter parked in front of my TV watching contestants sing, dance, cry, starve and backstab.  Yep.  Sad but true.  And you know I’ve found that TV and eating seem to go hand in hand.  Or should I say hand to mouth!  No wonder my pants were too tight and my butt sagged! 

I’d like to share my weekly reality TV line up for your viewing pleasure and the way I USED to snack before I became a Weight Watchers groupie:

Monday:  Dancing With the Stars
I’m exhausted after watching all those buff young male and female dancers prancing around the stage that I have to refuel with high energy snacks like chocolate bars and gooey granola bars.

Tuesday:  American Idol
Listening to those amazing new young artists sing their hearts out leaves me exhilarated and with exhilaration comes happiness and with happiness comes Oreos and Chocolate Cookie Dough ice cream.

Wednesday:  Elimination Night for American Idol and Dancing With the Stars
I’ve sat on the edge of my seat with anticipation as the lights dim to watch one unlucky couple be banished from the competition while on a different channel a young aspiring singer is crushed after “America voted.”  I eat to ease the suspense.

Thursday:  Survivor
The mud.  The bugs.  The unshaven, unwashed bodies.  Not much to look at but boy when they win a challenge that includes beer, pizza, hot dogs and chocolate chip cookies I can’t help but share in their joy by indulging with them.

Friday:  Rented DVD’s
How could anyone enjoy a good movie without some hot buttery popcorn, M&M’s and Planter’s Mixed Nuts?  Not me.

I’ve managed to beat the bad snacking habit but haven’t quite shaken my couch potato mentality.  Summer is coming soon and I bet low-fat yogurt and apple slices will taste much better beside the pool.  Maybe I should ask Simon what he thinks.  I’m sure he’ll consider them, “completely forgettable.”  See you next Tuesday!

“We need to take a few more pictures, Kathryn,” she calls through the drape.
A sinking feeling takes hold in the pit of my stomach. This is my second mammogram and ultrasound in a month.  There’s no lump.  I feel fine.  I’m searching for the humour.  Maybe I moved during the x-ray or a fly was walking across his x-ray reader.

Days pass and I start to relax.  I think they would have called me right away if I had anything serious.  But there it was.  The dreaded message from my GP’s office.
“The doctor wants to see you, Kathryn.  He wants to discuss your mammogram results.”
I hang up the phone.  I try to convince myself that it’s just a routine visit and I won’t have to go for another mammogram until next year.

“We just want to put this issue to rest, Kathryn,” says my GP at his office in London.
Rest???  I know I’m fine.  My mind starts to race with irrational thoughts.  Why do I have to be such a responsible person all the time?  If I’d just ignored my routine checkups and never went for this mammogram I’d be sitting in Starbucks right now having a Latte after a workout at the gym.
“They’ll be calling from St. Joe’s to book a biopsy for you.”
They.  The mysterious they.
Biopsy.  Dense tissue.  Hospital.
“Do I have cancer?”
“Kathryn, don’t panic.  We just want to rule it out.”

So I go home in my surreal state and wait for the call.  Every magazine ad with the pink ribbon jumps off the page.  I take the open box of Kleenex with the picture of the pink ribbon and hide it in the closet.  Everyone knows someone who’s had one.  I think back to when my Grandmother had a mastectomy.  She lived to be 97.

My biopsy by ultrasound is scheduled for this Monday.  Ed wants to plan a holiday for May.  I’m scared.  I think, what if I have breast cancer?  We shouldn’t plan one.
“You’re going to be fine,” he says, his tone matter of fact.
“You don’t know that,” I answer a little too sharply.  “They don’t send perfectly healthy people for biopsies!”

I’m so thankful for the reassurance of my friends and family but in the end, it’s just me and the cold biopsy needle.

Have you been there?  How did you cope?  I’d love to hear from you.

One woman crashed through the film industry’s glass ceiling last Sunday. Fifty-eight year old Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director for her film, The Hurt Locker. I lived with a bomb tech on a Canadian military base.  There’s something about these guys that you just can’t put your finger on.   Bigelow captured it. Just like that. And she purposely chose actors who were not as well known so that the audience wouldn’t automatically assume who would live.  I thought her directing was brilliant.

Hollywood isn’t the only place you’ll find beautiful successful women. Forty-eight year old world-class athlete Colette Bourgonje won the first medal for Canada at the Paralympic Games in Vancouver on Sunday. Her story is amazing. Right before her high school graduation she had a car accident leaving her a paraplegic.  I know if that had been me, I’m sure I would have had a great pity party!

But not Colette. She went to the University of Saskatchewan, became the first disabled student to graduate with a degree in Physical Education and didn’t compete in her first paralympic games until she was thirty! If you want to learn more about Bourgonje, read Mary Harelkin Bishop’s recently published book, Moving Forward: The Journey of Paralympian Colette Bourgonje.

Cheers to both of these strong successful women! I heard Colette say in an interview on the news today, “Age is nothing. Attitude is everything.” You go girl.