First of all- our house is back to normal.  Almost.  We actually turned the whole thing upside down in order to make a scene in the movie! Now that scene is finished, but we're not even done.  We learned so much in the process of filming that the earlier scenes aren't nearly as good as the later ones.  Sooooo.. we want to film them over again.  It's annoying to have to go backwards like that, but I don't think I'd be happy to settle with material that is not as good as it could be. 

The Parkingtons are about to start decorating for Valentine's Day, since they are always on top of their holidays.  Something we figured out recently has allowed us to have SO much more room for creativity and making new things.  Almost all of the doll families have separated their fall/winter and spring/summer belongings, and they have certain boxes where they keep the things when they are not in season.  That way, during spring and summer they don't end up having closets full of winter dresses that are just taking up space.  It also means we have room to make more clothes. ;)  I like that part.

 The Parkingtons have been doing this for a while now, but the rest of the town is finally catching on.  The Parkingtons probably have the most boxes though, because they have so many holiday themed boxes for their decorations.

I can't wait for Spring to get here!!!!

Love,

Willow

Posted by tinuviel_156 at 12:18 PM EST

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Good morning! I'm feeling really boggled about stuff that I need to do.  We're STILL filming scenes for the movie, even though it was almost finished a month ago.  We just keep coming up with ideas for extra scenes we didn't originally plan on.  

 Meanwhile, Alex completely rearranged her whole house, and now it feels a lot nicer there.   Suzanna and Elinor get to live in separate rooms, (which is great, because they usually ended up bickering pretty constantly when they're together too much)  and Alex gets to use the whole downstairs and make it look spacious and relaxing.   It was difficult for Greta, Solana and I to play in their house before since it's a small closet, but now with the way all the furniture is arranged we'll probably find it more pleasant to spend time there.

 The bank is SO close to being finished.  The last few pieces of it are gluing in the garage right now.  Pleasantville will probably have an "opening of the bank" celebration when it's finished.  Maybe governor Merriman will say a few words and have Lisa cut a ribbon around the door. ;)  

 My dad's next project sounds like it will be remaking the Larson's cabin.   Just think of an adorable realisitic wood cabin with a roof and door and windows.  Eeeeee!  I get really excited when I think about it.  I mean, right it only has one wall made of cardboard and we covered it in popsicle sticks to make it look like wood.  The new cabin is actually going to be made out of logs!

 I can't wait.

Love,

Willow 

Posted by tinuviel_156 at 11:59 AM EST

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I'm starting to get a little bit tired of having Christmas decorations up.  We haven't taken down the dolls' decorations yet because we still have some filming to do in their houses, and haven't gotten around to it quite yet.  I really don't like the idea of leaving them up for too long though, because then they don't seem very special anymore.  Also, the greenery that we put up back in November is completely dry and brittle, which makes it annoying to play anywhere in the houses because you just end up cleaning pine needles off the floor. 

The most recent thing that happened in town was a poker party at the Grumpy Troll, which is basically the men's version of the ladies' sewing circle, except they plan it secretly because they don't think their wives would like the idea.  Edward, Anders, John, Tomas, Andres, and James all came to play a few nights ago, and had a rolicking good time. 

I would really like to do a sewing circle sometime too, because that's a great way to get some new projects going.  At sewing circles, each of the ladies is required to bring something to work on, so we have to make sure that each of them starts or works on an actual project. 

 Alex is thinking of starting a yoga class for all the people in town who want some organized exercise.  She plans to move the table out of Bamboo Terrace in the mornings and have yoga classes, and then reopening the restaurant for lunch and dinner.  (She doesn't serve breakfast there anyway.)  So far she has interest from Lisa, Paul, and Elinor, and she is very excited about it. 

That's it for now!

Love,

Willow

Posted by tinuviel_156 at 12:15 PM EST

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It's another Wednesday, and here I am finally writing another blog.  This is a very good sign, it means that life is starting to fall back into some kind of normal pattern!  After the completely hectic month of December now I can actually sit down and figure out what I want to get done in this next year.

 The last few days I've been trying to organize all the video tapes that are laying around from the last few months.  I usually catalogue all the tapes and put them in a number system so that if I want to find a certain thing on a certain tape it's very easy.  That's handy when you have about 360 tapes going all the way back to 1993!  Since we've been filming a new movie about Pleasantville, that in itself is another 24 video tapes that need to be catalogued.  It's fun to go back and look at all the scenes that I've forgotten about.  We're up to watching tape #9 right now.

I just edited a blooper video of Nafy's first 5 blogs.  We're going to have a DVD of Nafy's blogs with the blooper reel as a special feature available on the website pretty soon.  The blogs are a lot more fun to watch on a big TV screen than on the computer!!!!

Today is a home day, I'm not going anywhere but the day is devoted towards being prepared to drive to Salem, Oregon tomorrow for a fair showcase.  That's where you perform for a bunch of people who might hire you to play at their fairs in the summer!  So basically packing and practicing, and Greta has a violin student coming over for a lesson later.  While she's teaching, Pierre and William will probably do a Latin lesson.  Pierre is Lavender Fox's nephew, and he likes to wear fancy suits and top hats to Latin lessons since he is so wealthy.  He usually makes fun of William for wearing the same old vest every week, but this year he gave William a very fancy silk vest and over jacket for Christmas which made William very happy!

 Anyways, happy NEW YEAR!!  I hope you make lots of great resolutions and keep them. =D I want to learn how to play the mandolin.

 Love,

Willow 

Posted by tinuviel_156 at 12:40 PM EST

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Well, as is pretty typical of this time of year, I have way too much to do.  There are so many projects that I want to get around to that I have a hard time keeping track of them all!   When I get stressed out about how little time I have though, I tell myself, "WILLOW!  This is all stuff you WANT to do.  You don't HAVE to do any of it."  And it's true, I really have to keep reminding myself to be grateful for all the wonderful things that I DO have time for.  I am so lucky to be able to do everything that I love the most full time.  

Pleasantville is officially snowed over, and almost all the houses are decorated besides that Montoyas.  Yes, we are a little bit ahead of the season.  You can never have enough Christmas though, right?  Right.

We are about a third of the way done filming the movie, and we are really making progress quickly.  Filming is going to have to slow down pretty soon though, because we have a lot of trio jobs coming up.

 Happy thanksgiving everyone!  Try not to get too stressed out and take a day to relax and be grateful.  There is always something to be grateful for!

Love ya,

Willow 

Posted by tinuviel_156 at 11:46 AM EST

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Yesterday was the first sunny day here in a really long time.  Greta, Solana, and I went on a jog with a friend and on the way back to the car we found lots of pine tree branches laying everywhere along the trail since it had been really windy the night before.  We collected lots of them and brought them back so that the Pleasantville families have some fresh greenery to work with while they decorate for Christmas.  The smell of pine needles is amazing and it makes everything feel (and smell) way more Christmasy. 

 We've been really busy filming these days.  It's a pretty long process and there's so much left to do. We've been waiting for some sun to do certain scenes, and today is looking pretty good.  It's cooooold though!  Not nearly as cold as it is for some people in other places, but I'm definitely having to add on blankets onto my bed so now I have something like 4 or 5 blankets piled up on there. 

I'm happy because I've definitely gotten a good start on my Christmas presents and it's only half way through November!  This never happens!  I'm might just be able to have everything done in the next month and a half.  It's difficult to catch up though, because every time I make one present I think of about 10 other ideas to make for people.

 Stay warm!  Love,

Willow 

Posted by tinuviel_156 at 11:31 AM EST

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It's getting pretty cold these days, not to mention wet.  It is half way through November after all which is CRAZY.   Christmas has started early in this house, because December will be so busy that we wanted to start decorating a month early.   

All the dolls, (well most of them at least) have lots of ideas for presents to give each other, and the hard part is that Greta, Solana and I need to make them secretly which is hard in a small house!  I've claimed the sewing room for the last week, and have to keep reminding Solana, "DON'T look in there!" 

 Greta bought some new Mannheim Steamroller Christmas music that we didn't already have, (gasp!)  which I absolutely love.  Everything they do is so brilliant.   

Meanwhile, down in town square Cristal and Suzanne are busy trying to do everything that "The Pleasantville Lady" says is fashionable to do in the holiday season.  This includes baking cookies, decorating on the day of the first snowfall, writing Christmas cards, going gift shopping, and making sure that each room has decorations.   So far they are quite on top of things except that Cristal has yet to bake cookies and Suzanne still has Christmas cards to write.

See you all next week!

Love,

Willow 

Posted by tinuviel_156 at 10:56 AM EST

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Well, the Christmas music has started playing around our house.  Right now I'm listening to a Scottish Christmas CD.  It's really pretty.. I think some of these songs will have to go in the Larson's Christmas playlist. 

Mr. Larson is off at the hospital right now getting his arm fixed, so it's up to Peder to be the man of the house for a few weeks.  It's really cute.  He is trying to get everyone in the house to get moving in preparations for the winter, and definitely motivated Mrs. Larson to clean the barn which was a complete disaster.  She even fixed the storm shelter too, so the Larsons are finally on their way to being ready for bad weather.  Who knows when the first snowfall will be so it's best to be prepared! 

Alex has been feeling a bit threatened recently about her restaurant since the Grumpy Troll has become so popular.  Yesterday she decided to come out  with a new fall special, which was a new recipe of curried crabs.  Sure enough, she had quite a few customers that day including John Wickon who ordered a plate for himself and one for his dog, Watson.  

Well, time to get my day started.

Love,

Willow 

Posted by tinuviel_156 at 11:44 AM EST

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Ok, now that the masked ball is over I am starting to think about Christmas.  Already, yes I know.  I'm so excited about it.  I looooove that holiday so much!  Pleasantville is really going to be doing a lot for Christmas this year, since we'll be at home for most of December.  

We have another Pleasantville movie in the planning stage right now that is going to be very cute.  Filming will probably begin sometime in the next month.   Besides that, we have lots of other projects to work on.  

The Pleasantville pub, (called the Grumpy Troll)  has just opened, and it's been very popular, especially later in the evening and early in the morning.  Since they serve coffee as well as other drinks, (it's kind of like Pleasantville's Starbucks)  there are lots of frequent customers who want their peppermint mochas and pumpkin spice lattes.  Lisa Devecamont is particularly excited, as she loves to get up early and get coffee before heading to work at the bank.

There was quite a surprising moment at the masked ball this year, as Lavender Fox decided to invite Felicity on a trip to Europe in January, and informed Mrs. Merriman that Felicity will need to have at least ten gowns that are as fancy as her current ball gown.  Therefore, Felicity and Mrs. Merriman have been busy figuring out how they will finish in time and Felicity has been boasting about her invitation to anyone who will listen.  The other children are starting to get a bit annoyed that Felicity is suddenly getting all the attention! 

That's it for now, see ya next week.

Love,

Willow 

Posted by tinuviel_156 at 1:56 PM EDT

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The day has arrived!  And I'm definitely not ready yet.

Tonight is supposed to be the Masked Ball, but I have a lot to do still.  For one thing, Felicity's ballgown is not finished.  I've pinned most of it together, but I still have to sew it and add a bunch of decorations.

Laura still needs her costume figured out, and Cristal has a few hairstyles she isn't quite finished with since they still have curlers in.  

Not only that, but the forest/garden where the masked ball is held on the Parkingtons' grounds still needs to be set up.  That means collecting all the plants and trees from the Larson's farm and rounding up as many Christmas lights as possible! 

 Okay, time for me to get going.  Felicity's ball gown calls!  We'll definitely be taking pictures.

~Willow 

Posted by tinuviel_156 at 11:13 AM EDT

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