Chloe Ray and Jennifer Love.

SO. 

Before I get off the subject of my little Scarlett Starlet, Chloe Ray - another actress that she has always, always, always reminded me of is Jennifer Love Hewitt. I can't quite pinpoint if it is their facial features (real cute, feminine), their mannerisms (girlie, quirky) or their body type (curvy, hour glass), but for years I have thought that. When I see Jennifer Love in anything - I think of Chloe.

When my girls were young, we used to watch the TV show "Kids Incorporated" all the time and loved it.  If you've never seen it, it was a teeny-bop sitcom.  The cast was a group of youngsters who were in a band together and would perform a couple of numbers during the show.  Jennifer Love Hewitt was on the show at one point, as was Stacey Ferguson, aka:  Fergie (she couldn't have been more than eight, and was so darling then) and Mario Lopez (he sure makes the rounds, doesn't he?).

When Jennifer Love resurfaced in other shows, there was just something about her (hmm, maybe the fact that she reminds me of one of my own) that drew me in ... I'm a fan.

Surely, I have mentioned this before, but Chloe is my daughter who is in pursuit of the Broadway dream.  Ever since that girl was little, she has loved to sing and perform and be on stage.  She is at her happiest when she is involved in some type of production.

Chloe recently finished a run of "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang" at a local theater and her plan was to move to Los Angeles as soon as that show wrapped, BUT .... another little show called "Footloose" came her way, so she is currently living in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the summer playing the part of Wendy Jo.

I miss her now, I will miss her like crazy when she moves to L.A. and then eventually New York, but I have always encouraged her to pursue her dream of musical theater.  (I told her I look forward to wearing a sparkling gown at the Tony Awards when she invites me.)

When Chloe was still a teen, she got the part of playing one of the wives in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."  They asked her to dye her hair black.  UM, NO!  I thought they should get her a wig ... but Chloe was all for it.  So she and her sister Haley, unbeknownst to me, went ahead and did it. Surprisingly, we loved it.  (Who would have thought?) She kept it dark for quite awhile too, and since then her hair has gone from dark to strawberry, to blonde, to brown, to strawberry and back to blonde.  (I think she's in the right profession - she can pull off lots of different looks.)

(Chloe and Jennifer as strawberry blondes.)

(Chloe and Jennifer as brunettes.)

(Chloe and her husband in her second run of "Joseph" ... wigged this time.)

(In "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang".)

(In "9 to 5".)

(In the studio, as her silly self.)

Wigged or not, silly or serious, I absolutely  adore her.

#numberonefan

(Top photo and photos 1,7 and 8 were taken by the talented Keala Jarvis.)

We bought a ZOO.

I remember driving down I-15 around Christmastime and seeing the billboards of zoo animals (lions and tigers and bears zebras, oh my!) with big, bright bows around their necks and thought how stinking adorable those ads were.  I thought it was VERY clever marketing for our local Hogle Zoo - to get people to come out and visit the zoo during the holidays.

Guess I was wrong about that one, wasn't I?  It was, in fact, VERY clever marketing for the movie, "We bought a Zoo."  It looked adorable and I kept telling myself that I needed to go see it with the kids.  They weren't as excited about it as I was though.

I had been having a really rough day at work (actually, it was a relationship issue).  The guy that I had been dating had sent me an email that made me SOOOOOO mad - like more mad than I can ever remember being.  (Yeah.  I was fuming.)  I just couldn't shake how upset I was with him, to the point where I couldn't sit at my desk anymore.  

What gets my mind out of my own reality is sitting in a dark theater, with a ginormous screen in front of me, at the movies.  I can totally lose my thoughts and engage myself in someone else's script for those couple of hours.  So I got up from my desk right that minute and drove down the street to the nearest theater.  I was hoping there would be something that I wanted to see, starting at just about the same time that I arrived.

And fortunately, there was. HELLO, "We Bought A Zoo."

I loved it.  I thought it was adorable, and I was crazy about the cast that played in the movie.  How cute is Matt Damon?  He was such a great dad, and I thought there was really good chemistry between him and Scarlett Johansson.

My daughter, Chloe, reminds me of a lot of different actresses, and Scarlett Johanssen is one of them.  And when I saw that cutie little red-head who played Matt Damon's daughter, Rose, I thought, Oh my word.  That little girl is so much like Chloe was as a little girl.  She was just too precious.

SO, is it just me?




Or is there a little bit of a resemblance going on?

A little thought.

I have had ZERO time for blogging lately, and I am sad about it.  The blog posts that I'd like to do are really piling up ... well, as far as blog posts can pile up.  I've been away so long, I just noticed today that Photobucket has changed once AGAIN and I have no idea when that even happened.  But I will say this about that - when I have time to poke around a bit, maybe I'll like this new way better, because I really didn't like the old new way at all.

So this post is a happy little thought, so that the next time my good friend Delanie looks at my blog, she won't  have to say to herself (and then later to me), Enough of the post about posing, P-Dove!  We already know and don't want to see that anymore.  (Right Del?  Love ya!!!)

 

Posing 201.

SO ... talk about posing, right?!!!!  That cutie patootie, wisp of a girl on the far left of this picture is my friend, Trish.  She posted this picture on Instagram and I had to immediately call her and tell her how adorable she looked and what a fun little pose I thought she had going on in the picture.  I mentioned that my sisters and I always try to get a good angle for taking pics, etc. and she commented on how she thought this was a good angle for her, and then laughed at the fact that it was a little exaggerated.  (Note to self: remember to try Trish's pose the next time we're taking pictures.)

Well ... not too long after that, my sister Leslie had a birthday. Now, Leslie is one of the biggest Mitt Romney fans/supporters that I know. In fact, one of our brother-in-laws told me he was really worried about how Leslie might react if Mitt lost the election. (She survived, but it did take a while to get over the loss.)  

The sisters were all going to go out to dinner and shopping to celebrate Leslie's birthday, and I wanted to pick up some balloons for her.  While I was at the party store I noticed that they had a card board cut out of Mitt Romney.  Leslie had to have it.  (For what?  Who cares ... if for nothing else than a good laugh on her birthday, that was good enough for me.)

Spring was driving the car when they came to pick me up.  Everyone had been running a little late so Leslie just wanted to honk and have me run out.  Nope ... she needed to come in.  She didn't want to.

"Why do we need to get out of the car?  Polly can just come out, I don't understand why we all need to get out and go inside."  Spring made her get out, and Les was slightly annoyed.

But when Leslie opened the door, and saw Mitt standing there, her reaction was pretty priceless.  "Oooohhh."  She walked up to him and gave him a hug and a kiss.  Her man.

After I took a few (engagement) photos of Leslie and Mitt, we decided to take a group shot.  Spring and Leslie dibbed getting to hide behind Mitt first, so Courtie and I were on the ends, and I remembered to give Trish's pose a go ... and Leslie noticed, "What's your pose? You look good."

I shared my new found tip:  Stand a little more sideways, kind of throw your head back, and tilt your chin.

Next picture .... Les and I both did it.

Then we did it again .... a little too head tilty though ... looks a little silly.  (Okay, a lot silly.)

Then we got a picture with Leslie and her daughters. (I think Leslie just may have found a new favorite pose.)  What do you think?!!!  

 

smile

Posing 101.

Every so often (but not often enough), my three sisters and I get to take a trip together.  We affectionately call it "the sister's trip" and it is usually a trip back east to visit our parents who live in upstate New York.  We took our first official sister's trip back in June of 2006.  (I remember exactly when too because I had recently gone through a really sad breakup.  My youngest sister, Courtney, said, "Now Peeps, if you are going to be crying and sad the whole time, you can't come.  We want to have a good time and enjoy ourselves."  I did my very best to buck up, keep my eyes dry and enjoy myself.)

That particular trip, my parents were in the process of restoring their third home on Nantucket Island, so we landed on that lovely little "grey lady" and, as always, we did have a marvelous time.  We laughed, we ate too much, we shopped, we relaxed, and we took pictures.

The picture below, of us leaning over the banister on the porch, worked really well for everyone, and by that I mean - any part of our bodies that we might not be so thrilled about (and I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) was hidden.  Another bonus of leaning over is that you put your face forward, thus getting rid of a double chin that you might have and not like to see in photos.  (Does this sound familiar yet?)

Now, I hate to call my sister Leslie out, but I'm calling her out .... She is the one who is always the most concerned about the pose or position she is in when a camera is in front of her and we like to tease her about that.  The chin forward tip came from Leslie.  "It makes your face look thinner."

(It was suggested that I give this warning: Picture Overload Ahead)

 

One other really great tip from Leslie is just to go ahead and hide yourself behind someone else.  She's pretty good at that too.  And it never fails that when we're looking at our pictures, Courtney (in the pink shirt) always says, "Oh my word.  My boobs.  I am the one that needs to be hiding!"

 

In 2010, we were on another trip to New York.  Now that trip was really a turning point for new tips on having your picture taken.  Note the picture below.  Leslie and I were sticking with our old tried and true tips:  hide behind someone, push your chin forward .... when we looked at the picture of Spring (bottom right in the pink polka dots) we all thought she looked super cute.  She said, "That's because I got some new tips about looking good in pictures."  She shared ..... one of them was to cock your head just a little bit.  She did it, Leslie did it - looks pretty cute, right?

 

Then we went to Niagara on the Lake and most of the new tips went out the window - at least on the picture below.  Leslie and Courtney did good on their hide me technique and Spring did well on her cock your head a little bit technique, but what the heck was I thinking? (Slouching is never a good thing.)

 

After dark, we were over at Niagara Falls and wanted more pictures.  Another tip that Spring shared with us was to put your hand on your hip. Believe it or not, that was the first time we had heard about that tip and yet, now, everybody does it in pictures. (And if you haven't noticed it yet, now you will. EVERYBODY does it.)  It's a great tip too - makes you look thinner.  Well, unless you aren't quite ready for the picture because you were just practicing the tips, like in the photo below.  (Chin out Les ... There you go.)

 

Now, there can come a point where too much of a good thing is ... well, too much of a good thing, as in this photo.  (We hadn't shared the tips with our mom yet.)

 

Leslie and Courtney were trying to get in the best hiding position, which totally cracked Spring up, but this picture makes me laugh, and then I remember how insanely hilarious that trip was for so many reasons.  Mostly, on this particular night, because we were making fun of Leslie for not getting a passport and teasing her that she wouldn't be able to get back over the Canadian border and we were going to leave her because she should have done what the rest of us did and not think that she is the exception to the rules ... and we were hungry and tired and didn't want to deal with the border patrol.  (Isn't our dad the cutest?!)

 

Fast forward to Nantucket, 2011.  Here we are on the ferry heading over from Hyannis, Mass. No one really wanted their picture taken.  We had just driven about 7 hours to get to "the boat" but hey, you're on a boat to Nantucket and I'm taking your picture.  (Note that some tips were still followed.)

 

One of the mornings on Nantucket, we all rolled out of bed and went into town to get some treats at the bakery.  No one was really fixed up for the day yet, and eyes were still sleepy, but many tips were still used in the photo below:  hand on hip, lean, push your chin forward, tilt your head, and Leslie and Courtney's favorite, hide yourself. 

 

Later on in the day, we took a drive out to the other side of the island, into Sconset.  We stopped at a park along the way and wanted to get a picture of this bronze sculpture.  Our mom said she wanted us to be in the photo so she took the picture.  I was leaning, Spring was doing an awesome pose and tilting her head (which she's the best at out of all of us) and Leslie found the best place to hide. 

 

And from the park, we went to the beach.  It was FREEZING cold, but Spring had said, "I am not going to be on Nantucket Island and not put my feet in the sand."  So we did.  And our dad took the picture.

(Leslie - "Wait, I think my hair was in my face."  Courtney - "Wait, mine was too.")

 

We also realized we hadn't really implemented the tips, so we tried it again.

 

Then we had a brilliant idea .... 

Let's take our picture jumping like our kids always do!

 

But as hard as we tried ... none of us could really get up off the sand.  Oh, and we tried.  It was just not gonna happen.  But we sure did get a good belly laugh out of the attempts ......

 

....... laughs kind of like Leslie, and her hysterical laughing in this picture.  (Sometimes we get a candid shot without worrying so much about the pose.)

 

Just not usually.  Usually, it's posed.  And all the while trying to utilize the tips of the trade ... if you will. 

 

(Clearly, I paid the most attention to the hand on the hip tip, right?!)

 

Cleaning out the bull barn.  (Man, these girls are good).

 

Sooooo,

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The next time our mom and dad came out to Utah, we were all together doing yard work at Sundance and decided to have a "family portrait" done, and naturally, implementing ALL of the many tips.  By then, we had told our mom about them too - hand on your hip mom, it makes you look thinner. 

Easter 2013.

If my memory serves correctly (and that's a big IF at my age), our extended family has ALWAYS gotten together for Easter Sunday.  We have a big, yummy ham dinner, an egg hunt for the littles, and nice quality time visiting with the ones we love.  But, as our children have grown and married, we sometimes have to share them with the outlaws in-laws.  So this year, it was just me and my kids joining my brother and his little brood. (Well, he and his wife have five children too, but we seemed like a little brood comparatively speaking.)

The day was practically perfect, with incredibly delicious food, treats and company. And the fact that the annual Easter egg hunt was just for two didn't make it any less fun for the participants, or adorable for us to watch.