Romancing the stone.

Movies for a Monday. I have been in love with Katie Holmes and design collaborations ever since Dawson's Creek met American Eagle and J.Crew....well they have done it again. Based on the book by Galt Neiderhoffer, The Romantics, is the the story of a group of friends with an incestuous dating history that reunite for a wedding and you can only guess what happens. Another chick flick, but less sappy....and what's not to love about Katie, Josh, Anna, Adam, Elijah, and Malin. A must see in my book!....to their glittering future.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Good morning all....I need all the calmness I can gather and all the luck {where preparation meets opportunity} I can channel.....T minus 2.5 hours....in the meantime I am listening to some tunes. Check out this video--kind of different, but this is the song in the trailer for Eat, Pray, Love. Cannot wait to see that movie!

Captivating.

By now you all know I've had my share of ignoring from some of the {ahem} men....maybe I've just never had a captive audience....maybe it takes a guy being tied up to listen....only joking!!! But I did laugh out loud when I saw this scene from Failure to Launch. ...maybe flowers would have been a better idea....maybe flowers on my birthday....

Two turtle doves.

...and a partridge and a pair tree. Maybe it's the Christmas decorations that are already for sale, maybe it's Christmas in July, maybe it's my yen for temps that are not 100 degrees....or maybe, just maybe it's the fact that I just watched the tail end of Home Alone: Lost in New York....but I am ready for December and the "C" word. Those movies have always been my go-tos and considering my recent stressed out state it was a perfect choice.I tuned in at the moment Kevin was giving the turtle doves to the lady in the park just as Mr. Duncan has instructed. Keep one and give one to someone special. Hurry up Christmas!

Feed Me, Seymour....

I admit I was a little leery when a friend asked if I wanted to see Little Shop of Horrors, but after reminding myself what it was about via a few choice Youtube bits....I was convinced I had to go.I found myself humming the tune and was immediately reminded of the game my brother and I had. {Okay, he will be embarrassed if he reads this, sorry, B!!} But as a child he always liked certain things whether it be volcanoes, fish, or carnivorous plants, and for that I am thankful; I probably learned more than I cared to at the time about Pompeii and cichlids....and got to play the Feed Me! game. The Feed Me! game came out around the time of the Little Shop of Horrors remake. The game featured an "Audrey II" plant that would have its mouth open when the game was being played. There were black balls and orange balls about the size of marbles. One color was lighter and one color was heavier. When it was your turn, you'd roll the dice and whatever color popped up is what you'd have to put on Audrey II's tongue. Be careful though! As the marbles add weight onto Audrey's tongue her mouth may just clamp down on the next player to stick their hand in! We had fun just sticking our hands in and pressing down on the tongue and making it bite us.
Demented maybe, fun most definitely yes. How many kids can say they had this game.....and the irony of it all is that it was purchased because it was a venus flytrap, not because my mom remembered the movie..... I wish I could find that game!

Hat attack...

Definitely in need of a good chick flick I watched part on You've Got Mail last night. I had forgotten all the wonderful quotes from the darn movie.

Once I read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today, I saw one. It got on at 42nd, and off at 59th, where, I assume it was going to Bloomingdales to buy a hat that will turn out to be a mistake - as almost all hats are. ~Nikolaus Laszlo, Nora Ephron, and Delia Ephron, You've Got Mail.
Trust me these hats from Kas via Gilt are no mistake and the first is quite reminiscent of the crushed topper Sarah Jessica Parker wore in the latest Sex and the City flick. My view is that hats are almost never a mistake, but over 85%of your dates will be, so take your pick a fedora that flops or a dud of a date..........so my advice, leave the gun; take the cannoli.....skip the date and buy a hat in five years you'll still have the hat, in five days you may not have the guy's number....

Cheetah!

"Cheetos release endorphins and make kids happy, we don't need happy kids." The quote of the night from Glee, my favorite, musical-genius of a TV show. This quote reminded me very much of the Legally Blonde quote: "Exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't kill people.
Thank you, Elle Woods and thank you, Glee for a little light-hearted fun!

Bringing sexy back.

I must say this-->spoiler alert. Yes, it's official I saw SATCTM2 on Friday evening and was initially concerned that upon entering the theater we were the only group in there......thankfully the space filled. The movie opened rather slowly and I had read that SJP was conceited and lack luster...that the chemistry between she and Big was off. Well it was, but only to portray marriage woes. I gasped as Big opened the vintage box...and I uttered the words "Vintage Rolex," then when Big gives Carrie her anniversary gift--a television, Carrie flips. Trust me, I understand the dangers of technology for gifts of the heart. Carrie is bored she will become an old married lady and her life will be boring, she wants to go out and get pushed in a crowd, She wants to be in the middle of the action and she cringes at the brown bag of take out. A few days later she leaves the house for two days returning to her old apartment to write and think. The story line develops and she and the girls head to Abu Dhabi to gallivant across the desert. Carrie finds Aiden, Charlotte finally cracks admitting that she is not super mom, Carrie kisses Aiden, Samantha is arrested, they sing karaoke, they lose the silver spoons they were handed(personal Maybachs) and return home humbly bringing lessons learned across the worls. Carrie realizes that she had spent half her life running around New York chasing Big and finally she had him sitting in front of her on her couch. She learned to appreciate and love what she had. In true Sex and the City form the story came full circle just like SJP's Zac Posen skirt.

But enough of that--the looks, the fashion is what I want more of. The ballerina look is back in the form of this Zac Posen taffeta number and Dior tee. My personal fave.The movie opens with SJP in this white Halston number and shiny Louboutins.More Halston.80s flashback when Carrie first moved to NYC. I heart the Converse.Love this looks as well. So fun. Capri jeans with Brian Atwood pumps, thrifted plaid and a sweat band. Classic Pat Field.Dress by Pat Field.Love the headdresses and hats in the flick. This top and tiara is what she sings karoake in....hey, don't we all need crowns?More Halston.The dress she met Aiden in and the Chanel glasses.The Louboutins worn with the John Galliano for Christian Dior dress. I died when she walked out in this dress. One of the best moments in the entire movie.....she got her sparkle back....

So last year.....

Mark it down....I saw Sex and the City: The Movie Part Deux (SATCTM2) and I loved it, but not before I googled my heart out trying to find spoilers, fashion and shoes....then I found some classic looks...the looks that made SJP, SJP.
Take 1: In the first movie Parker, not one to recycle wore the studded belt and black gladiators throughout the flick. This left me wondering if I would spot a unified theme in the next flick?Take 2: The ballerina. Take 3: The dress Carrie wore as she waited in Paris on Alexander who never came until she had drifted off to sleep.
.....well that's enough of a tease....on with the feature film...

3, 2, 1....Liftoff!

Watching one of my fave chick flicks, Failure to Launch, and winding down on a slow Sunday evening, I forgot how many cute quotes there were and how much I liked the home in this movie.

*Nature rejects you.
*I just need one bullet.
*You are a dirty little fun-haver.
*The only reason he ever brings girls home to meet us is 'cause he's getting ready to dump them. {Guess the same holds true for funerals and Vegas }

And look at this cute, Antro-esque home. Lovely.

Dessert chic....

.....Or dessert sheik rather. When asked what one style should viewers take away from the new SATC flick SJP aptly responded dessert chic....or sheik....get it? She responded, laughingly. She urged viewers and women alike to invest in a long flowing dress.Here are some Saks finds from C&C and Tbags.....tie-dyed goodness, if you ask me.

Trekkie.

That's what she said.

The City!

Sex and the City that is! So excited that in less than a month I will get "Carried" away. I guiltily watched movie previews three times today and my eyes were glued to the television as E! gave updates on SATCTM....oops Michael! SATCTM2 telling viewers that the new flick was recession-friendly. Recession-friendly my arsh....a $49 shirt with $700 shoes is not downsizing, but who cares I love it either way.

Get 'Carrie'd away....

Have I mentioned that I love Sex and the City, but not for what you might think, I love it for the clothes, I love it for the shoes, I love it for the carefully planned writing. .....well the new movie is coming out in May and I already have a girl's outing planned to watch the master flick (go ahead, gag guys....y'all don't get it). Carrie (SJP) has done it again landing a coveted spot in Vogue, but this time she is not donning white. Check out the fab number below.... ...and check out this photo of the set.....do you see those succulents on the table. Wow!! I have great style, if I do say so myself....
So make a date and see this movie in May...I know I will!

What happens in Vegas.....

....Stays in Vegas! An update on my life....I blogged about Vegas....but yeah the relationship "stayed in Vegas".......as bad as it may sound I actually laugh when I utter those words....I mean at least I have a catch phrase...right?! Update for the blog world....I've gotten some queries from friends, but don't worry people I'm not upset about the split....but when several people know you just went to Vegas.....on Valentine's Day.....with a boy......and they know you are single...the only thing left to say is "Yeah, the relationship stayed in Vegas!"....and of course laugh.....only in my life LOL

Meet me there.

Trust me, if you know me then you know I've fallen down and done my share of embarrassing things. Whether it was tumbling down a flight of stairs after taking the ACT, tripping over my own two feet walking to class or doing number of other embarrassing things.....I've done it! But I started thinking the other day.....maybe it's a "meet-cute." If you have seen The Holiday then you know what it is, if not here you go via Wikipedia:A meet-cute is a convention of screwball comedies and their heirs, the romantic comedies, the contrived encounter of two potential romantic partners in unusual or comic circumstances, a comic situation contrived by the filmmakers entirely in order to bring them together. During a "meet-cute", scriptwriters often create a humorous sense of awkwardness between the two potential partners by depicting an initial clash of personalities or beliefs, an embarrassing situation, or by introducing a comical misunderstanding or mistaken identity situation. Sometimes the term is used without a hyphen (a "meet cute"), or as a verb, as in "to meet-cute." Even without trying somehow I manage to do it {Groan!} Two guys ago into our first big date I fall down while walking down the sidewalk..and I do mean bust my booty, feet slipping out from under me, fall down....then thirty minutes later standing up my feet slip out from under me. The last guy I dated I could not stop falling down. I slid down the stairs leading to his house, not once but TWICE and took a tumble walking in Atlanta....and to top if off yesterday at lunch (with a friend) I could not drink out of my straw. The guy asked if I had ever seen Hitch.......and I was thinking Oh no.......!! The dimetapp scene! When Will Smith has a face swollen shut and is sipping, or rather attempting to sip, the medicine through a straw. Sadly I on the other hand was not drunk off medicine, I was drinking water....whatever you want to call it....meet-cute or meet-badly I can't help but embarrass myself. All I can hope is that someone might find it endearing or at least laugh.....because I know I'll be laughing (if only at myself)!! ;)

(500) Days of Boredom

....Really I shoulda read the review. Sitting at Claire's future inlaws we were debating whether or not to leave the house, and unfortunately we decided to stay in and watch a movie.....and even more unfortunately we decided to watch a movie. The choices were The Hangover and (500) Days of Summer. The first choice was probably not parent friendly, but it is quite a comedy and follows the wild rumpus that is a bachelor party---NOT bachelorette mind you. These guys get into every possible bad situation they can, and trust me......all of these situations could (and probably have) happen(ed). But enough of that we watched 500.Unknowingly, we believed we had selected a cute, quirky, romantic comedy.....needless to say it was far from cute. It was quite possibly the most depressing recollection about a romantic fling I have ever seen. Viewers are tormented through watching a guy's painful dating saga as he goes after a girl clearly not into him. Day after day. Ten minutes through the movie we were all groaning offering to pay $5 to buy a new movie. Anything would have been an improvement.

This morning I opted to read the critic's review to see what the rest of the free world was saying...turns out Rolling Stone liked the flick, but the review would have given me the info I needed.

Boy meets girl, boy loses girl. It’s been done to emo death. That’s why the sublimely smart-sexy-joyful-sad (500) Days of Summer hits you like a blast of pure romantic oxygen. It turns the genre on its empty head and sees relationships for what they are — a bruising business. Someone’s heart always gets ripped out.

Definitely one I would have preferred to miss...and I did happen to miss the last bit. I have a bad track record of going to sleep and missing television if watched on a couch late at night....I awoke to hear groans...."UGHGHGHGHGH" as I wiped the sleep from my eyes I realized I had missed the last bit of the movie. I think I feel asleep of Day 497. I missed the punch line at the end. The next chick he meets is.........Autumn.....really?! I recommend skipping this movie if your taste is anything like mine. I wanted to see a happily ever after, humorous movie and 500 did not deliver....I like the empty head that RS dislikes. Brain candy.

Bad moon a rising...

The very first last time......wow! I cannot believe I attempted, and I do mean attempted to see New Moon at the midnight premier. A lofty goal it was. I had a meeting immediately following work and had avoided purchasing my ticket, but was convinced coerced into buying one.....and many moons later we arrived at the theater to find a thousand (well a lot) of fans lining the perimeter of the building.We joined V in line at 10:15 pm and waited and waited and waited. Teenagers sat on blankets gossiping, doing homework, studying for tests. There were pajamas and layers of clothes piled on everyone as we waited in the chilly night air. Anticipation was high as sides were taken for Edward or Jacob. A girl even got a little testy when I admitted to not having read the book. We waited two hours, the line began to move at Midnight as we were ushered into the theater in groups of twenty. Finally, we got in. I headed for the bathroom since I had been turned away earlier. The theater attendants were Twilight Nazis making you handover ids and cell phones for restroom use prior to the premiere. Finally relief! Thankfully my friends had found an empty theater. It was intense. Fans raced from room to room to find filled theaters. It was a mad house and every screen was showing New Moon.

Well to make a long story short we found seats at the top of the room and I snuggled into my corner...I was slowly but surely going to sleep and Claire was not far off. I kept checking the time...when would the movie start? 12:20 rolled around and there was still no premiere...not even one tiny commercial....I made the decision no one else in America made...I left New Moon. I realized that I probably would not leave the theater until 3:45 or 4:00am and was planning to wake up at 5:00 to get to work to ready for my presentation...I made a beeline for the door. Yes, I was the one person that left the theater. I missed seeing the movie but I gained a few precious hours of sleep and do not feel one bit bad about it. Sure I should have turned back before I got there, but I had to know....and now I'm happy I tried, maybe I won't do it again, and maybe I will....but definitely with a change of company.

Movie Monday...

Nora has done it again. From the same genius talent that brought us When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle comes Julie and Julia. A wonderfully, entertaining piece chronicling the lives of two women. Julia Child-the famous chef and Julie Powell- a lesser known Government drone trying to make it with her husband in Brooklyn. In the midst of a major breakdown and jealous of her successful friends, Julie is searching for something/anything to do with purpose. Her husband suggests a million different things and finally stumbles upon the notion that you can write...you can blog. Julie decides to blog about cooking-realizing that cooking is her one escape, the one thing that she can do well, to paraphrase, I can have a horrible day at work, but come home and make the perfect french silk pie...the perfect bruschetta. Julie acknowledges the fat that she is not a real cook--like Julia Child, so she is determined to blog about real cooking or Mastering the Art of French Cooking rather. She snagged a copy of MtAoFC at her mum's in Texas and will blog her way through 500 and some odd recipes over the course of one year {she needed a deadline}. Each day she cooks and blogs her way humorously and emotionally through the book.

As a novice cook {not chef} the movie struck accord with me as I have learned to cook for myself the past two years, I have most definitely had my share of kitchen successes and mishaps. One of Julia's recipes sounded particularly interesting--the braised cucumbers, Julie described them as absolutely perfect {or something like that}. I bought some cukes that day, having never considered heating, much less cooking them. The French view vegetables as part of a meal, and not necessarily for nutrition and as it turns out the will butter, cream, and cook vegs until they are extremely soft.
The original recipe for braised cukes calls for them to be brined in a salt, sugar, and vinegar solution them saute them in butter and bake/braise them in a butter and cream bathe. I was not keen on brining them, so the Sweet Home twist on the classic MtAoFC is to take a small amount of olive oil in a saute pan and fill with the thinly sliced cuke {remove the skin}. It was quite tasty and a new flavor. Thanks J&J.