I heart Johnny Depp!

He is so dreamy. And this is not even the first time I have talked about my love for him on this blog. This is because, unlike most celebrities, he seemingly exceeds people's expectations of him at every turn. I have always thought that Johnny was hot, but did not develop a crush on him until I kept hearing such nice things about him. So, I thought I would share yet another story that confirms what we already knew--Johnny Depp is the coolest guy in the movies.

Johnny Depp is a cat in the hat one 12-year-old will never forget. Playing 1930's bank robber John Dillinger – America's Most Wanted at the time – for his upcoming movie Public Enemies, Depp was shooting on location in Wisconsin in April when he was observed on the set by local boy Jack Taylor, who especially admired Depp/Dillinger's hat. In fact, the boy wanted the fedora, and asked the actor if he could have it. Depp, 45, said Taylor could, once the movie was finished. Last week, reports the Oshkosh, Wis., newspaper the Northwestern, Depp made good on his promise. Taylor received the hat. The leading man's rep also included gifts for Taylor's four siblings from Depp's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as well as a note from the star himself, telling Jack to enjoy what was sent. Now Taylor is at work on a thank-you note. His parents are helping. -People Magazine

How can you not fall in love with him upon hearing this story? Oh, and by the way, there was a drive-by shooting on the set of this movie this morning, but no one was hurt and Johnny wasn't there. But I'm sure if he had been there he would have avoided being shot and shielded everyone from harm. He had also donated big bucks to a hospital where his child was treated from some weird condition and even came to the hospital last Christmas dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow to read a story to the kids that were there.

Swoon! I just adore him.

Sometimes you need to taste the bitter...

To know how sweet life is. I find that my life is so much better than I ever could have expected it to be because of the experiences I've had. As someone who was diagnosed with cancer as a child, I look back, and yes, I am grateful that it happened to me. Don't get me wrong, there are parts of it that still suck. I will never be someone who has thick hair that tumbles down my back. In recent years I have developed lymphedema in my right leg that in essence has taken away one of my true loves in life-shoes--and made it into a pain in my butt.

But I don't know I would have lived my life so passionately or done so much with my life if I hadn't had that challenge so early on. It made me so grateful for every experience I had and made me thank my lucky stars every time I would see something about another kid who had fought the battle against cancer just as hard and hadn't made it, or had lost a leg in the process.

Now that I'm married, I'm experiencing the same thing (on a much smaller scale). For the first year of our marriage, my husband was constantly working insane hours. When I really think about it, it's been that way for much longer than we've been married, but before that I was in college and could just arrange my life around him. It was really hard for us to never get to see each other as newlyweds.

But just a few days before our first wedding anniversary, my husband gave me the best gift ever when he got his new job and now our lives are completely changed. Corey is only working one night a week and the rest of the time he is working 8-5. Yes, he works on Saturdays, but for a former chef/general manager of a restaurant's widow, this schedule is truly a blessing from God. I thank God everyday that we get to spend so much time together and I find myself actually pinching myself (I'm not kidding) to make sure this is my life.

So once again, I went through the hard stuff, came out alive and unscathed, and I am now enjoying life with my husband more than I think I would have if we had just always had it this way. Sometimes when we are hanging out, I think to myself "Wow he is really (fill in the blank-Funny, Cute, Wonderful, Amazing, Likable, Handy, Sweet, Cuddly, etc)" and then I remember that I am married to him and again I am thanking my lucky stars. Oh yeah, that's why I married him. He is really funny and cute and wonderful and amazing and...I'm going to quit now so you guys don't throw up.

In my opinion, all of these experiences were orchestrated by God. Here is my favorite quote from the Bible, it is from the letter Paul wrote to the Ephesians.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God". Ephesians 2:8

While I think this is probably referring to the awesomeness that is the chance to go to Heaven, I also think that you can take this and apply it to life in general. God gets us through a lot of really tough situations, and we are often blessed with the opportunity to come out of it a better, smarter and stronger person, who is more grateful than ever for all of the wonderful things God has brought into our lives.

Hope I didn't sound too preachy, I just wanted to share some of the wonderful things that God has done in my life.

Have a great day!

Elle Bunny

Julia Sugarbaker, you are my shero!

I have decided that from now on, every Friday I will praise someone I think is awesome. And today, let's give it up for Ms. Dixie Carter. She is married to the amazing Hal Holbrook, aka Reese Watson. She starred in Designing Women as Julia Sugarbaker and always had something witty to stay. She was known at the "Terminator" for her tirades. Here are some of my favorite quotes from Julia on the show:

Quote#1
I think you should tell them to take their invitation, fold it in five corners, and stick it where the sun don't shine.

Quote #2
[about Nancy Reagan's book]

Suzanne: She said it was a gag gift.
Julia: Well, it certainly made me gag.

Quote #3

Julia: Yes, you can give him a message. You do take shorthand, don't you? Good, we take it in the South too. Anyway, just tell him that I have been a Southerner all my life, and I can vouch for the fact the we do eat a lot of things down here... and we've certainly all had our share of grits and biscuits and gravy, and I myself have probably eaten enough fried chicken to feed a third world country - not to mention barbecue, cornbread, watermelon, fried pies, okra, and... yes... if I were being perfectly candid, I would have to admit we have also eaten our share of crow, and for all I know - during the darkest, leanest years of the Civil War, some of us may have had a Yankee or two for breakfast. But... speaking for myself and hundreds of thousands of my Southern ancestors who have evolved through many decades of poverty, strife, and turmoil, I would like for Mr. Weaks to know that we have surely eaten many things in the past, and we will surely eat many things in the future, but - God as my witness - we have never, I repeat, [shouts] never eaten dirt!
Quote #4
I'm saying I want you and your equipment out of here now. If you are looking for somebody to suck pearls, then I suggest you try finding yourself an oyster. Because I am not a woman who does that, as a matter of fact, I don't know any woman who does that, because it's stupid. And it doesn't have any more to do with decorating than having cleavage and looking sexy has to do with working in a bank. These are not pictures about the women of Atlanta. These are about just the same thing they're always about. And it doesn't matter whether the clothes are on or off... it's just the same ol' message. And I don't care how many pictures you've taken of movie stars - when you start snapping photos of serious, successful businessmen like Donald Trump and Lee Iacocca in unzipped jumpsuits with wet lips, straddling chairs, then we'll talk.

Dixie is actually a registered republican who considers herself to be a libertarian in real life, despite playing the very liberal Julia Sugarbaker. She was born and raised in Tennessee and got her bachelors degree in English from the University of Memphis. In 1959, she competed in the Miss Tennessee pageant and placed first runner up. She has enjoyed recent success with her guest role on Desperate Housewives.She is a great actress and she looks great at age 69. Way to go, Dixie! Thanks for representing the south with such class!

Somewhere over the Rainbow

Yesterday was one of those days. My IPod is on the fritz, work was long and people were difficult. I got in traffic and someone tried to run me and my car over on my way out of the Wal-Mart parking lot. I was in a grumpy mood.

But I am lucky, because there was Mr. Bunny to assure me that everything was going to be alright and we could take my IPod to the apple store. He also told me that people are just dumb and not to take it personally. Then he yelled and used a few choice hand gestures when the guy tried to run us over.

So when I look back at yesterday, I don't feel like it was a bad day, but a day when I realized how lucky I am. I got to walk on the treadmill, finish my book, and go swimming with my husband. We even had a Digiorno's Pizza for dinner. Life is good, even when it is difficult. And I am blessed with a wonderful husband and a beautiful life.

To bring up something totally unrelated, but sad yet beautiful, they were remembering Tim Russert yesterday in Washington D.C, and somebody sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow at the funeral.

Afterwards, this appeared in the
sky.

Isn't that amazing?

Fo Fo Fo Dolla Sto

So me and my best friend Meredith always laugh about the many variations on the Dollar Store there are in this world. You've got your Dollar Tree (where everything really is a 1.00), your Dollar Store (where things can cost any amount of money, sometimes a lot more than they would cost at Wal-Mart), your Family Dollar, your Everything 99 cents (which we don't have a lot of in these neck of the woods, but when we were down at the beach with 4 television channels local to Houston, they showed one that had 10 Wii's and 10 Wii Fit's that were 99 cents each for the first 10 customers in line).

And there are plenty of other types of dollar stores, but we have always joked about having our own variation, the Four for Four Dollar Store, or as we like to call it the Fo Fo Fo Dolla Sto. It just rolls of the tongue better.
We spent a lot of our time on our beach trip this past weekend (which was a lot of fun, I'm a little sunburned on my legs, but we had a good time) discussing the products we would have in our store. We have been talking about this particular issue for about 3 years now. So here are just a sampling of the products we plan on featuring at the Fo Fo Fo Dolla Sto.

Instead of Tide, we will have Wave Laundry Detergent .

Instead of Bounce, we will have Jump.

They are not Band-Aids, they're Help Me, I'm Bleeding strips.

It's not Dawn, it Wake UP!

Better than Mr. Clean, she's Mrs. Tidy.

And introducing a couple of our new cosmetic lines that we dreamed up on this trip-

Could be she's born with it, Could be it's Couldbelline.

Front Page Woman

And our new clothing lines by very well respected designers such as
Teddy Hillbigger

Dana Van Thirstybird

Alvin Bein
And Shoes by
Johnny Shoe
Christine Lapootin
Finolo Chronic

Don't you just want to shop there? If only to catch a glimpse of our classy clientele.

Have a great day!
Elle Bunny

Nat Bussichio, I heart you!

They better have Nat in the new spin off of Beverly Hills, 90210 or I am going to boycott! He was the one thing you could always count on in the 10 years that show was on the air, besides Donna looking ridiculous and David's sucky music. Of course, the person who first introduced us to Nat was the king of cool, Dylan McKay. He loved going to the Peach Pit, the retro restaurant that Nat inherited from his Dad, to get a Megaburger and Peach Pie. I believe we first met Nat in the second episode of the first season, which is also when we first met Dylan. At first the Peach Pit seemed like a really out of the way place that only Dylan went to. But then, Brandon got a job there, and the whole gang started to hang out there and it became a local hot spot. Brandon was the one with the longest stint working there, but others who did their time working at the Peach Pit include Brenda (she took on the Laverne persona while working there), Steve (for two days after making a bet with Brandon that he could do his job if he really wanted to) and Carly (Hilary Swank in her pre-Oscar days as Steve's love interest who was a hard working single mom). Nat always had something witty to say and he never got mad at any of the kids for taking up seats in his restaurant for hours on end. Later on in the series (I think Season 6?) he rekindles an old flame named Joanie and they have a baby named Frankie. That always makes me super happy because I loved getting to see a different side of Nat.
Nat was always there for the kids when their own parents weren't. When Jim and Cindy move to Hong Kong, he is there for Brandon. He plays a big role in the last episode of the series. Donna's dad had died of a heart attack a few episodes back and so Donna didn't have him to walk her down the aisle when she married David. She asks Nat to stand in for her dad, and he says he would be honored, and it is one of the few times in the later seasons that I actually tear up. In the E True Hollywood Story of Beverly Hills, 90210, the actor who plays Nat, Joe E. Tata, said that he suggested to someone that they make the Peach Pit into an actual restaurant chain, but that they shot down his idea. They should have listened to Nat, I would be eating at that place every chance I got! So here's to Nat Bussichio, all around great guy!

My wonderful Daddy

Since yesterday was Father's Day, I was thinking about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful father. My Daddy is one of the best people I know and has so many great qualities. He is funny, humble, honest, and loving.He is the son of a house painter named Clarence and a homemaker named Millie Ann. They raised him along with his four brothers and one sister in a small house filled with love. He was the first person in his family to graduate from college. My Daddy started working in land surveying to pay his way through college, and though he is never one to brag about himself, he has a very successful career as a partner in a land surveying business after many years of hard work. In addition to all that my Daddy has accomplished, he is always so supportive of everyone else in their own accomplishments. My parents are always the happiest for me and and my sister when something good happens. Daddy is always telling me that he will help to support me in any effort to go back o school to get my masters--this is after my parents supported me the whole way through college, then paid for a beautiful wedding. He is the most proud of me when I do something great, but he will give me a Look if I talk bad about people. He is always telling me to be a singer even though I have a pretty average singing voice. My Daddy believes in me more than I believe in myself. My sister and I have talked a lot in the last few years about how we wish we could keep my Mom and my Dad in our back pockets and be able to utilize their expertise at any time. My Daddy is so smart and knows so much about everything, that he could pretty much be my one and only lifeline if I ever went on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (if that show is even still on). He is very good at dealing with people and very likable. When I am not sure how to handle a situation, Daddy always knows what to do.Daddy has always been there for me. When I was sick, my Daddy was there for me just like Mom was. He would come and stay the night in the hospital with me and we would watch TGIF on Friday nights.

He used to take me and my sister shopping for Christmas gifts for my Mom on the day before Christmas and he couldn't resist buying us toys while we were there, despite the fact that we had dozens of packages with our names on them at home underneath the tree, waiting to be opened the next day.

He has been a great husband to my Mom for close to 30 years now, he is a great brother to his siblings, and a great father-in-law to my husband. He is an awesome uncle and he will make a wonderful and doting Granddaddy someday. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful Daddy!