I'm Looking Forward to Seeing Some Books (Movies) in 2012

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close





A nine-year-old amateur inventor, Francophile, and pacifist searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. ~ From imdb.com 
Okay, so it sounds incredibly depressing but with Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks, I'm looking forward to a good film.  I love the idea of the story, but I'm sure I'll need kleenex. (As a side note,  I posted the book cover because I'm nearly certain that it is more immediately recognizable).  I've been meaning to read this book for years! 


The Vow 





A car accident puts Paige (McAdams) in a coma, and when she wakes up with severe memory loss, her husband Leo (Tatum) works to win her heart again.  Wow, another downer just in time for Valentine's Day (go back about 8 years to the Notebook).  Anyway, the trailer prompted a brief discussion of what my husband and I would do if this ever happened to one of us.  


Me: Would you go to the trouble of trying to make me fall in love with you, again? 


H: [gives me a very obvious "No way" look, then laughs and says:] "Of course!" 


Me: Well, I know what I would do. Now that I know all of the things that I do to tick you off, I'd try to fix them.  [He of course takes the bait.]


H: Like what? 


Me: Like leaving my books and clothes on surfaces in the house, not tilting the dishwashing sponge the right way so that all of the soap doesn't drip into the sink, sleeping in the middle of the bed, etc. 


H: If you know that all of those things bother me, why don't you fix them now? 


Me: Well, THAT backfired. :) 


The Descendants 





Hello, George Clooney.  From imdb.com: A land baron tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident.


Again, depressing, but good actors plus lots of good award-show hype.  Good enough for me. 

My Favorite New Habit for the New Year

I love blogging (obviously) and have kept journals on and off since I was a child.  I also frequent shops like All She Wrote  and Paper Source because of their unique paper goods, Lilly Pulitzer garb and fun kitschy items - like THIS:
 It's a five-year journal.  You answer one question about yourself, your life, your day, etc. every day for five years.  You end up reanswering the same question on the same date each year for five years - so it will be interesting to see how my answers change for each year.    I think that I remember my dad having one of these when I was younger.  I like the idea of keeping track of my life in that way.  I can often incorporate little things about my day or what I've been up to in the tiny 5 lines available for each day.  However, it's even better than a typical journal because there is zero pressure to fill up even a full page with ramblings - that's what this blog is for ;).  I think that it will be fun to show my kids one day.  I love my life - the good and the bad - and being young.  I am trying my hardest to remember all of it, since life is far too short to spend even a second wishing it away.  :)

Our Christmastime trip to Vienna, Austria - The first morning

The streets look like Christmas.

 We ran across this building as we were wandering around the streets of Vienna.  We were too excited to sleep and very tired of sitting still after many hours of trains, planes and streetcars. 

St. Peter's.  We happened upon this church on our way home from eating dinner and walking around.  The pipe organ was playing and everyone was silent.  It was so peaceful - like something out of a Christmas movie. 

Kohlmarkt was my favorite street.  The lights looked like crystals and went on as far as you could see.  The street was lined with lots of high-end boutiques - perfect for window shopping.  

The front of the Hapsburgs' Palace.  We went as far as the front of it before we realized that we were starving and stopped into Cafe Grienstadl.  Yum. :)

Sausages with mustard, bread and horseradish.  I also had dumplings with onions and cheese.  Delicious. 

We wandered around Maria Theresa Platz and the  Christmas markets in that area.  

This was the location of several great museums and  a ton of rum punch tents :).  We watched curling while we sipped orange punsch (sounds like poooonsch) 

This is the city hall for Vienna - the Rathaus.  It was magical. 

We stumbled upon this Christmas market as we wandered toward our hotel.  It was probably the most authentic Christmas market we saw during the entire trip.  

Thes is the inside of St. Peter's when we stopped to listen to the organ.  Breathtaking. 

One last photo of the beautiful lights before we headed inside for some sleep :)

This Must Be

My favorite song. Ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTPqPZzH-LA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I am aware that it is incredibly old and I've blogged about it before. However, it is life-changing. Its writer, David Byrne, had this to say about it:

"That's a love song made up almost completely of non sequiturs, phrases that may have a strong emotional resonance but don't have any narrative qualities. It's a real honest kind of love song. I don't think I've ever done a real love song before. Mine always had a sort of reservation, or a twist. I tried to write one that wasn't corny, that didn't sound stupid or lame the way many do. I think I succeeded; I was pretty happy with that."

If this doesn't cheer you up, you're a Martian.

Always in? Classy Dresses.

Classy, fitted dressy appear to be hanging around for awhile.  Now, if we can just convince designers to keep using high quality fabric, we'll be in good shape.


This is Tracy Reese, via Cake Plate - Napa, CA.  Hands down, one of my favorite boutiques in Napa Valley.

Another Tracy Reese favorite:


Very versatile.


Tucker Shirt Dress

The front is great, but wait until you see the back:


Tracy Reese is on fire.

One of my favorite poems for a cozy snowy Saturday e.e. cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
                                  i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Book Review: The End of Normal

I blogged about reading this book right before our trip to Austria.  I probably finished this book in about 6 hours.  It was not only a well-written account of Mark Madoff's widow, but it really gives the reader an insight into exactly how news of the scandal broke to Bernie Madoff's family.  I know, there are probably some less savory parts that were left out to make it appear as if there was no wrongdoing by Mark whatsoever.  However, after reading this book, I feel as if I have a better understanding of the events that took place behind the scenes.  I also cannot stand Bernie Madoff -- and he didn't even take my money!

The reason for the author's name-change is also explained in the book, as well.  She did not remarry.  If you're looking for a non-fiction quick read, this is definitely it.  Enjoy!