a toast...to two-slice hilly

i'm sure my book club wasn't the only one to read 'the help' before

the movie came out last month, but i'd be willing to bet we were the

needle in that haystack that dressed to the nines in our southern-est

60's attire, held a jr. league meeting luncheon, and then went to see

the movie after.

i've spoken fondly of our themed book club before, but this has been

the best so far.  i raided my mom's closet to borrow my great grandma's

old jewelry - real pearl necklace, giant earrings and broach - and my

mom's old cat-eye glasses (classic!).  not only was it fun for the bc meeting,

but it was great rummaging through all that history with my mom.

here are the girls.  rachel's little sister dressed as our maid, and she even

spoke in a southern accent all night (my friend rachel is 2nd from the left.

i haven't started speaking in the 3rd person).

and don't you just looooove karen's hair?

it was a hoot to find actual recipes from the book's author to make for

our meeting...

minnie's caramel cake (that isn't even spoken about in the movie, but is

 a pretty big deal in the book).  i bought the cake stand just for bc.

deviled eggs...with paprika.

and lavender lemonade (not from the book, but i'd been looking for an

excuse to make it after buying the lavender at the farmer's market...

totally worth it!)

and the infamous chocolate pie...without minnie's secret ingredient!

as silly as this whole thing might seem, i'm having a riot.

as for my thoughts on the book and the movie:

i loved them both.  read the book twice, and i've seen the

movie three times now, and each time i loved each one more.

there were certainly differences between the two, but i wasn't

at all disappointed in them.  celia foote was my favorite character

in both book and movie, and i couldn't bring myself to hate hilly holbrook

in either of them.  i don't think she was right, but i think she believed that

she was, and that's what was sad.  the movie made me love the relationship

between aibileen and mae mobley even more, and they are what made me

a sobbing mess at the end.  i'd recommend the book to anyone, and even

richard liked the movie enough to see it twice.

so, a toast: to themed book clubs, and two-slice hilly!