The Squishables Fashion Show - Brought to You By The Squishables

Yulysta: Well hello and welcome to the first annual Squishables Fashion Show!

Julius: Wait, wait. We just got back from Greece. Shouldn't we be talking about that?

Peanut Butter: Well, here's the problem: Holly wanted to post a blog entry before she left but ran out of time. So after we write about our show, Holly will post a mini "Special Holiday Blog Post" at the end because it's Easter, then tomorrow she will write all about her travels to Athens.

J: I need some coffee.

PB: Anyway, yes! Welcome to our fashion show. The idea came about as kind of a join thought between Holly and the youngest, when the youngest wanted to take us "shopping" and then Holly, noticing all of the dress up clothes, thought it would be fun to have a Squishables Fashion Show!

Y: About a week later, Holly was playing with the children and remembered about having this little show. So Holly grabbed us, brought us to the playroom, and instantly the children were excited.

J: Luckily, each child has a favorite of us. I'm the middle child's/the boy's favorite.

PB: I'm the littlest one's favorite.

Y: And I'm, of course, the oldest one's favorite!

PB: Oddly enough, the little boy loves to throw, kick, and generally knock around Julius... and Julius doesn't seem to mind...

J: It's fun.

Y: Into the play clothes the children and Holly went to collect things that we could wear that were, "Squishable sized."

PB: We collected all of the clothing in a little basket and immediately the camera appeared and we were fashion icons!

Y: Shall we begin with the pictures?

PB: Please!

Y: Here we see Peanut Butter dressed as a scary Squishable skull.

J: And here I am: Christmas Julius. (Even though it's April.)

PB: We have our ever dashing Hula Yulysta, ready to soak up some sun!

J: Pirate Peanut Butter will attack you for your gold!

Y: Here we have... I'm not really sure actually... Julius?
J: I'm not sure either. I'll call it "Funny Julius."

PB: Angel Yulysta is a vision in white and silver... with a touch of gold in her halo.

Y: I think we will call this one "Party Peanut Butter."

PB: This one suits Julius a little too well. Tyrant King Julius.
J: Hey! I'd make a great king!
Y: I think you'd be a little mean...
J: I would rule my country firmly, yes.
PB: (Good thing this is just a pretend show...)

Y: Here I was dubbed "Baby Yulysta" by one of the two girls.

J: This one's my favorite. I call it "Peanut Butter in Drag."
PB: It's a children's fashion show, Julius.
J: I don't care. I still think it's funny.

Y: This one's actually my favorite. Holly came up with the "Cowboy Julius" idea and I think it really works for him.
J: Well, thank you... Maybe I should try being less cynical...
PB: Yeah, maybe you should.

J: Lastly, here we have poor suffocating "Princess Yulysta."
Y: They just didn't have anything in my size. There is nothing wrong with being round. It's a beautiful shape.

PB: And thus is the conclusion of our show. We hope you enjoyed it!

J: We will take votes on which picture is the overall favorite.

Y: Uh, Julius, I'm not sure anyone will vote on a pretend children's fashion show. It was kinda just for fun.

J: But... but... I wanted the people's votes!

PB: Okay, this is why King Julius is a bad idea. Speaking of King Julius, after the children's fashion show, the two girls put together a little Squishable's play starring King Julius, Princess Yulysta, and... well, me as a non-royalty love interest/friend of the Princess.

J: And they had a baby dinosauer. Because everyone knows that pandas and cats produce extinct animals together.

Y: Yes well, the children had a lot of fun before we all went to Athens.

PB: There will definitely be a blog post on that tomorrow, Tuesday at the latest.

J: Below, Holly has shared two things besides the Easter summary: two new additions to our stuffed animal world, and her pita pizza recipe.

Y: We hope you enjoy!

PB: See you next time!

Holly's Pita Pizza Recipe!

This "lecker" (German for yummy) pizza dish is so easy... and only takes about 10 minutes total time!

Ingredients:

One Pita Bread (the kind that can be a pocket to put veggies and other things in)

One Tablespoon Pesto

One Tomato, sliced into rings

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, as desired

(Note: Serves 2)

Nutritional Information:

Well, let's put it this way: whole grain bread, tomatoes, herbal base, with calcium filled cheese. Runs about 300 calories per serving, and there's nothing bad in it. I'd say it's healthy! (Can be made gluten/casein [lactose] free with substitution of ingredients.)

Directions:

Carefully cut the pita bread in half as if you're opening up the pocket part of the bread. (This means you'll have two circles of bread.)

Use the pesto as your base, then top with tomatoes and mozzarella.

Place in 400 degree oven (or 200 degrees Celsius) until cheese is melty and the tomatoes have dried up a bit, somewhere between 5-7 minutes.

Enjoy!

This recipe is so versatile. Use tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella for a classic American pizza, or use my surprising favorite combo of tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella topped with pineapple, chicken, and jalapenos! Yum!

Happy Easter everyone! This is my very first Easter away from the states, and it's also the first Easter in a long time I won't be spending directly with my grandma, which is sad. Mostly everyone knows that Easter traditionally is to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, and also many people also know that Easter was originally a pagan holiday that was converted to Christianity. However, I actually was curious to know what's the deal with the colored eggs and Easter bunny.

Obviously, rabbits, chicks, and eggs are symbolic because of the coming of springtime. (Except for today, I woke up to snow whereas yesterday I woke up to tropical weather.) But egg coloring? Easter bunny? Well, I just discovered, much to my surprise, that the notion of the Easter Bunny or Rabbit was first presented to the Americans by, believe it or not, the Germans in the 1700's. These Germans who introduced the idea would later become the Amish in Pennsylvania.  The chocolate bunnies as we know them today were originally made of sugar and pastry, and the Germans had the "folklore," if you will, that the rabbit would bring eggs, historically a symbol of rebirth, to the children during Easter time. Why color the eggs? Because eggs had been so symbolic, people had "wrapped" them, kind of like presents, with gold leaf, or boiling the eggs with flowers and other vividly colored plants to make them beautiful. The were also colored in the bright colors associated with springtime to further appreciate the season. Later, of course, different strains of candy came about, like jellybeans and dare I say Peeps. And there you have a brief, interesting history on the Easter Bunny and the colored eggs. (Source.)

I'm sorry about not posting a blog post before I left, and I will be posting an Athens post tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest. Time has been elusive the last few days and I'm doing my best to get everything organized. Plus I have to start planning a trip to Paris!

I had a box on my dresser when I came home yesterday, and when I opened it, I was shocked with glee to see what my grandma had sent me! I'll write soon!

ELEPHANT & PIGGIE HAS COME TO LIVE WITH ME!