Ho, ho, ho, Hearties! Happy December! This is our very first post of the month! I do apologize once again for the posts being spotty. We’ve been dealing with sickness and school busyness, and all kind of “ness” time-fillers. 😀

Yet another “ness” I’ve experienced is “kindness”. I looked at my Facebook page, and I’m at 90 likes! We’re almost at a very big milestone! So thank you for caring about what this little blogger has to say. Maybe we’ll get 10 more likes by Christmas! Wouldn’t THAT be something?! That would be a Merry Christmas to me!

Making someone’s Christmas seems to be a running theme; it’s what I’m writing about today. Today’s blog is about the Candace Cameron Bure movie “Christmas Town”. This film was an interesting choice for the Hallmark Channel. The plot, the mood, the dialogue, all has the feel of the “grab the tissues” movies that air on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. Totally enjoyable and heartfelt, just thought it belonged on a different station.

Three of the players are WCTH alumni, and we even have a member of the Postables team! In order of appearance: Kurt Evans, Jason Cermak, and Anne Marie DeLuise from When Calls the Heart, and Karen Holness from Signed Sealed Delivered: Higher Ground. She played the irrepressible Hattie, and in Christmas Town, she’s the principal who hires Lauren, and makes it possible for her to stay in Grandon Falls. Here’s the breakdown of the others:

                                   WCTH.                                        CT
Kurt Evans.              Glenn Davis – oil expert.            Lauren’s dad
Jason Cermak.            Dr. Burns.                             Eric – the other man
Anne Marie DeLuise.      Aunt Caroline.                    Gloria – teacher

First of all, I love Kurt as the father. He is, indeed, a “wise man”. We often see him as a businessman, but this time, we get to see the softer side. He adores his little girl, and doesn’t hold back any of those feelings. Lauren obviously sees her daddy as her hero; she was more concerned about his well-being than the fact that he broke her present. That makes it even more fitting that he has a presence throughout the whole movie in the form of letters. I didn’t lose my dad as a child, and I can’t imagine going through those milestones without him. I did lose him eight years ago, though, and I relish the memories he left behind. What I wouldn’t give to have his advice when life takes a turn or two. And Lauren’s dad had the presence of mind to write a note for each special time she would have so she could feel him still with her. I took note of my favorite note to her in each letter.

16th – “The world is full of surprises
18th – Don’t be afraid of change, change is how we grow.
21st – We are not here for ourselves
13th – Don’t let [ups and downs] stop you from leading with your heart.

I’m going to have to cut this short, unfortunately, but I will return to finish up. Have a great day, or a magical night, whenever you might be reading this. This is Hooked Heartie, signing off! May your heart let your hope blossom!

Hello, Hearties! Welcome to another #WisemanWednesday! I’d like to begin offering my sincerest apologies for missing Friday, but my family does come first. As fans of one of the biggest family-friendly networks around, I know you understand.

However, I do think that this post is worth the wait, and I think you will too. Presenting for the second time at Hooked Heartie, Dr. Carson Shepherd himself, Mr. Paul Greene! He agreed to be a guest on the Hallmarkies Podcast after I begged him endlessly. Kidding! I asked him, he had an opening, and he graciously accepted my invitation. 

And speaking of Paul, don’t forget that tonight is the premiere of The Christmas Cookie Match Up on Hallmark Drama at 9/8c, if you have it, featuring the cast of When Calls the Heart. So without further ado, here’s our little chat with Paul.

Here’s the link for the podcast. Just copy and paste, then listen and enjoy! This is Hooked Heartie, signing off! May your heart let your hope blossom!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hallmarkies-podcast/id1296728288?i=1000456548732

P.S. For a little bonus fun, here’s a picture of Paul and other favorite Hallmark stars at the Christmas Con in New Jersey this past weekend. Credit goes to Paul’s Twitter.

Brand spanking New podcast out with the wonderful ladies at #hallmarkies
Check it out. We talk about, God, jean Claud Van dam, purple rain, tithing, saving, drugs, sex.
Carnegie hall and possible new Christmas Album.#hearties #countdowntochristmas https://t.co/D6iXCOrdbf pic.twitter.com/NUob9AaZ0b

— Paul Greene Official (@paulgreenemedia) November 12, 2019

It’s beginning to look a lot Christmas, Hearties! Welcome to our first Christmas movie review, and fair warning, you’re going to be seeing several of them in the next couple of months. That’s right! Hooked Heartie is jumping on the festive bandwagon. I figure, the 10th anniversary of Hallmark Channel’s #CountdownToChristmas is a milestone worth celebrating. So this is now another holiday headquarters, hence the new hashtag. And there are two more you’ll see. With so many movies being filmed and shown this year, we’re taking a little break from our beloved show, and we’re having some Movie Months. I’ll still be posting twice a week, and each post will be centered on a Christmas movie. But rest assured, every film reviewed will still have at least one WCTH actor in it. I only break THAT rule for family. 😉

First up: “Merry and Bright” with the adorable Jodie Sweetin, and yes, the VERY charming When Calls the Heart guest star, Andrew Walker. This is a pairing I never would have thought of, but it made a whole lot of sense. I thought they were adorable together! And here’s a fun fact you may or may not have heard: neither actor is a huge fan of peppermint. When it comes to Christmas goodies, they go for the chocolate and the baked goods. Jodie remarked “that made it easy” to not scarf down all the candy canes with which she was surrounded.

And here are three pieces of trivia I never knew! The writers of this one really did some digging! Did you know December 26th is National Candy Cane Day? That’s a lot merrier and brighter than what I usually call it…me and Warren Christie’s character Morgan from “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”: “ the saddest day of the year”. Pouring chocolate on a spoon to temper it before it hits the mold is a cool trick I’d never considered. And I had no idea that the legend of the candy cane centered on a choir director trying to keep children’s attention! Quite clever when you think about it!

Let’s talk about my favorite thing about this movie – you know what it is – it’s not a #OneKissWonder! At precisely 1:31:12, there was a perfect, chemistry-filled smooch. Now, even though the circumstances surrounding it are less than ideal, and it’s dismissed as a “nice moment”, it still sticks with us. I especially like it because the next time we see them kiss, a year has passed, and he’s proposing. I think it was really important to establish that connection between them to make us all the more excited for them at the end.

Speaking of which, I really loved the juxtaposition of the two couples: Gabe and Cate, and Pete and Sophie. Despite the fact that Pete was scared to propose, they were a very happy and settled pair. That cute little hand hold when they said hello while he was on the phone was proof of that! And call me crazy, but I adored the fact that the diamond was so small. They were a young couple with jobs that weren’t incredibly lucrative, but they don’t need lots of success to be happy. Sophie was just as thrilled with that tiny stone as she would have been with a full carat. The other cool thing is that by talking with the two of them, Gabe and Cate are able to figure their own issues out because they say them out loud, and talk themselves through them.

Let’s backtrack a bit, to a scene Jodie claimed as her favorite, and Andrew agreed: the first meeting. Here’s one of the places Andrew earns the title of Wise Man, or rather Wise Guy! 🙂 This scene is so crucial in romantic movies; it creates a domino effect, so it’s gotta be good. And this one WAS good; the banter and timing were exceptional! Cate puts the pieces of the wrong puzzle together, and assumes that Gabe is Gary, someone from Akron who her matchmaker mother is setting her up to meet. He’s actually from a corporate consulting company, but he happens to say just the right words that seem to confirm her suspicions. Embarrassing! You’ll have to watch for yourself to hear the full exchange, it’s too funny to try to explain in print. But he may have mentioned being her “last chance to turn this ship around”. Yikes!
You know that scene in so many movies when one of the people involved overhears the wrong part of a phone conversation, or misinterprets an appearance. Well, no need in THIS movie, because there was nothing to misinterpret. He flat out called the business model a dinosaur, and her a brick wall. Good thing they were able to move past it, huh?

This is Hooked Heartie, signing off! May your heart let your hope blossom!

Happy Halloween, #Hearties! Welcome back to Podcast Week, and welcome to our last #FallHarvest themed post for the year! This year, I’ve decided to not fight the early Christmas madness, and try to make it until after Thanksgiving to post Christmas content. 😉 I had Chridtmas on before Thanksgiving last year, but I protested harder. 😀 But, I just couldn’t bear to do too much before HALLOWEEN, so I’m standing my ground, and posting one more autumn post before the #HookedHeartie Christmas season begins.

Now, I did warn you that I might have to invoke family privilege here at the end, and I’m cashing that in! For your listening and/or watching enjoyment, I present the Hallmarkies Podcast of the Fall Harvest Recap, featuring talk about “Love Fall and Order” right in the middle. This movie had personal significance for me for several reasons, which I’ll let you listen to yourself. But here are some fun tidbits from talking to Clare Niederpruem the director, and my sister-in-law Shelly. By the way, this picture of Shelly was from her filming of a Balsam Hill commercial. So if you watch the right one, and you don’t blink, you just might spot her.

Photo credit: Clare’s Facebook, Shelly’s Facebook               

– Shelly stayed at her daughter’s apartment, so she got to walk to set.
– Shelly said the catering was amazing! The salmon was better than some restaurants
– Clare’s of the opinion that this is definitely one of the funniest movies she’s been involved with.
– Clare’s favorite scene was Gregory Harrison’s monologue.
– Clare loved working with Greg. He was there for a week, and made a great dad because he has daughters himself.
– Shelly said Erin was lovely to work with. She tried to convince Shelly to buy the business suit that was her costume because it looked so good on her.
– Shelly told me Erin had a trick for not losing her wedding ring during filming, at least their scene. She would safety pin it to the inside of her pants waistline.

Photo credit: Crown Media 

Have a safe and happy Halloween! We’ll see you Friday for the start of the Christmas season…here. 😉 This is Hooked Heartie, signing off! May your heart let your hope blossom