tuesday things

1. Last week was spring break, and it was such a great week. What started with not many things planned turned into a week of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, coffees, and a slumber party. It was time well-spent.

2. My intent over spring break was spring cleaning. That didn't happen. I bleached my shower and wiped the baseboards in our bathroom, and then decided I was done for the day. I never went back to it. We still have weeks of spring ahead of us, so it'll get done. And if it doesn't, I'll admire those clean baseboards in our bathroom often!

3. For St. Patrick's Day, we celebrated with cheddar and stout fondue (with bread, apples and asparagus to dip) and a chocolate stout bundt cake topped with chocolate ganache. It was delicious! And so much easier than a stew or hash.

4. At the beginning of the year, Jeremy and I set goals for us. One goal is to see 12 movies in the theater. I know. Priorities. We like movies, but saw maybe three last year. We're upping our game. This weekend, we saw Oz: The Great and Powerful. I loved it: the music, the costumes, the effects, the story. Only eleven more movies to go!

5. Last Tuesday, I returned our DVR box. It was difficult. I almost didn't do it, thinking I could convince Jeremy to keep it. But then our bill decreased by $60. I think I can do this. Plus, we have Roku that we'll use to stream our shows.

6. Our shows this season include: The New Girl, The Mindy Project, Castle, Modern Family, Top Chef Season 10, Duck Dynasty. We waited until Top Chef ended before making the break from cable--we have an obsession with that show. It's more like borderline addiction. We enable each other.

7. I am totally into memoirs right now. I love real stories. Some that I've read and loved: Crowded Skies: Letters to Manhattan by Tara-Leigh Cobble, Orange Jumpsuit: Letters to the God of Freedom by Tara-Leigh Cobble, and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling. The pendulum will swing soon enough, and I'll love fiction again. But for now, I love these stories.

8. We ate dinner with my brother and sister-in-law this week. My brother is a great cook. (It obviously runs in the family.) For the first time ever, I had real artichokes--not just the hearts that come in a can. We dipped and scraped the leaves on our teeth and dug out the thistle-y part to get to the heart. Oh, man, it was good. I have it on the menu for dinner one night this week, but I can see how they could become a regular vegetable in our house!

Weekend Update

This weekend was so nice. I've had such a busy two weeks, especially in the evenings. Truth be told, I love staying home at night. We don't go out to dinner much, or at least we do take out. Especially on Friday nights. It's like we're retired folk. This weekend revolved around television and movies. We decided that we must see a movie or two since we didn't see any of those nominated for Academy awards. We hit up Blockbuster Express on Friday night before a quick trip to grab a burger. While we ate, we watched Top Chef All-Stars.

We're HUGE fans of Top Chef, and self-proclaimed foodies who love a drive-thru burger. After being extremely satisfied with the outcome of the episode, we popped in:

Oh, it's so good! Not like I have to announce that to my blog readers--or anyone else in the world--since we're a good year behind the curve. I admit that I cried a little, mostly at the end when Andy is playing with his toys again.

On Saturday, our plan was to see two movies, but the theater changed the times, so we were only able to see one:

It's definitely worth every award it won. I loved it. It doesn't hurt that I'd watch Colin Firth in anything; I think he's an amazing actor. I haven't seen The Fighter, but Christian Bale must have been more than fabulous to win the Academy award since Geoffrey Rush did an outstanding job in The King's Speech.

On our way home, we stopped by Blockbuster Express to return Toy Story 3, and I had a coupon code for Buy 2, Get 1 Free. So we rented three more movies. After dinner with my parents (my mom's first time for sushi, chopsticks and  martinis), Husby and I watched:

First of all, a couple of years ago I deleted Mark Zuckerburg as my facebook friend for unknown reasons except that I didn't know why he needed to be my friend. After watching this movie, I feel good about this decision. It was a good movie, but not nearly as good as The King's Speech. Oh, and this was the first time that I wanted to hit Justin Timberlake.

We watched Inception last night. Truth be told, I thought more in that 2.5 hours than I planned to think during Spring Break. Half the time, I didn't know if we were watching a dream OR a dream within a dream OR a dream within a dream within a dream without really thinking about it. Again, great movie, but I'm still glad The King's Speech won the Academy Award for Best Movie.

Confession: I love Will Ferrell. And Marky Mark. And funny movies. I can't wait to watch this.

Also, I was able to watch the premier of:

It's my guilty pleasure. I loved Bethenny Getting Married, so I'm super excited that she's on for another season.

Husby and I also watched this weeks:

If you don't watch this, you should. It is laugh out loud HILARIOUS. Every week. We laugh at it, and then look at each other and smile because the things that happen in this show are things that could (and have) happened to us.

Our goal of watching movies and TV this weekend was more than met. I think I wound up watching 11 hours total. Impressive, right? I have plans for Spring cleaning over my one week break, and maybe a couple of other movies.

Have a great Monday!

The Hills are Alive

Tonight, as Husby works to finish a project for work, I have control of the television. And I'm watching...

I've seen it no less than 16 times. I remember watching it at a very young age and proclaiming that I would be a nun. Because all good baptist girls go to the convent.

And because of my L.O.V.E. for musicals and soundtracks, I've listened to the soundtrack at least 34 times in the past ten years. Which makes me sad that my average is only 3.4 times per year. I've set a new goal for myself to listen to it at least 5 times per year. It's all about setting goals.

Before you continue reading, YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS VIDEO:

Wasn't that FANTASTIC?! It makes me smile. Do you know HOW HAPPY I WOULD BE if I were part of that flash mob? I wonder if I can will it to happen to me.

Allow me to offer a few observations from my current viewing material. I'm sure that you'll enjoy reading along. It'll be like you're here, watching it with me as I comment on everything I love.

1. Remember the curtains in Maria's bedroom? The curtains she used to make the childrens' play clothes? It's in the scene with "A Few of My Favorite Things," and I would totally like to have those as curtains. I really wonder if damask was a fashion in the late 1930's that's made a roaring comeback. Who in their right mind would want to replace curtains like those?! Evidently, Captain Von Trapp didn't see them for the fashion trend they were. I'm really glad Maria saw that they could be used for good, cute outfits. As a refresher for you, the curtains were very similar to this damask:

2. I love it when Captain Von Trapp begins singing while the children perform "The Hills are Alive." My hear just melts. That AND when he sings "Edelweiss." 

3. I need to work on my yodeling so that I can sing along with the marionette show.

4. When Captain holds the party for the Baroness and goes to dance with Maria on the patio, he's wearing white gloves with his tux. He looks so handsome! I'm 94.3% sure that I'm finding something to attend where I can dress Husby in a tux with white gloves. I think he'll look even more dreamy than the Captain. I'm also sure he won't agree to my outfit of choice.

5. It's REALLY HARD for me not to sing all of the songs as they're playing on the movie. Except for "Climb Every Mountain." I fast-forward.

6. I really don't like the Baroness. I'm glad they didn't end up together.

7. I think my mom resembles Julie Andrews. Which is a good thing.

8. I LOVE THIS STORY!  

9. I'm also going to find a function to attend where Husby will wear a 1930's naval officer uniform. I'll also need the uniform with the gold things on the shoulders. Why didn't I watch this before our wedding? Husby totally could have looked like Captain Von Trapp.

10. It makes me so happy that the children have a new mother that they love.

11. I just realized how late it is. You know that MawMaw has to be in bed by 10:30, and I'm already five minutes past my bedtime.

12. On a good note, I finally learned how to embed video's into my blog.

13. Good night.

14. P.S. When the Von Trapp's fled to the States from Austria, my great uncle and aunt knew them. Cool, huh?

15. I've attempted to fix my original bullet points SIX TIMES. Now, I have a numbered list. MawMaw just doesn't do well with technology (or much else) after 10:30.

16. Good night, again.

Over and Over

There are some movies I could watch over and over. In fact, I have. Even if I own them, I get so excited when they come on television. I'll watch them, commercials and all. In fact, I've seen some of them so many times, I don't have to watch them. I just enjoy having them on in the background. They're like old friends. Some older than others. But all are favorites.

In no particular order, these movies include:

1. My Big Fat Greek Wedding

2. You've Got Mail

3. Secondhand Lions

4. The Sound of Music

5. Dumb and Dumber (Don't judge me.)

6. Mary Poppins

7. Elf

8. Father of the Bride

9. WALL-E

10. Little Women

11. Dan in Real Life

12. When Harry Met Sally

13. Dead Poet's Society

14. Corina, Corina

15. Hope Floats

16. My Girl

17. Juno

18. The Cider House Rules

19. UP

20. Julie & Julia

21. Confessions of a Shopaholic

22. Breakfast at Tiffany's

23. P.S. I Love You

24. Monsters, Inc.

25. Emma

Anyone else have favorites?

Updated to add 21-25. Plus the disclaimer that I don't watch movies non-stop. Or TV. It bores me. But I do get excited when these movies are on!