And Part Deux

I count this whole weekend as our Valentine's 2.0. Miles was off work and so we were able to spend so much time together. After doing tons of laundry, washing what felt like all of our pots, pans, glasses, dishes and silverware, vacuuming up a storm, finally doing some legit grocery shopping, and making our bed for the first time in weeks, we dated it up. 

For late giftings, Miles bought me a blender, and I bought him the second season of Bored to Death. Honestly, we each kind of picked out something we wanted for life in general, not thinking about v-day, and much later on decided that they were actually gifts. No guilt, best kind. We watched the first disc of the aforementioned series and then went to our favorite little Italian restaurant. Where we would've spent wayy too much money if it weren't for our lovely Groupon. I'm talking appetizers, pizzas, and desserts. Not just any dessert. Warm Nutella bread pudding. I died. Miles did not. Apparently he doesn't like Nutella? I only learned that after I had ordered it. 

Miles made delicious waffles and we enjoyed a leisurely morning before church. The giant snowflakes proved to be distracting during church. But who would complain of such a distraction? We ate lunch at Sloco, where we had the most delicious sandwiches of our lives. Then we ate Sushi at PM with Miles' mom right after Sloco because he forgot to tell me we were actually supposed to have lunch with her.

Then we all went to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close..Where do I even begin with that movie? It was honestly one of the most wonderful movies I've ever seen. Ever! I loved reading the book years ago, and I really want to read it again now. But I feel like I'm telling everyone that they need to go see it ASAP. Because I am. Because you should. Yes, as always, there are things in the book that of course aren't in the movie, but I don't even know how they would include all the little Oscar-isms in the movie. I still think they did an amazing job with the movie. I sat with tears of pure joy clouding my eyes, or tears of complete sadness streaming down my cheeks the entire movie. It's such a beautiful story of self discovery, grief, loss, growth, love...everything. Watch it. 

I fell in love all over again with "the renter" (Max Von Sydow was perfect) 

and the oxymoron wars

Please can I watch it again, right now? Like...right now? What's that? I have to work? Bummer.

pictures found here, and here

Oy Vey

How ungrateful can I get? I get so frustrated with terrible drivers, when Miles can't read my mind over the phone, when I have to spend my evenings away from aforementioned adorable awful mind-reader. How can I not see how incredible it is that I have the opportunity to make extra money whilst watching super adorable kids who cuddle and profess their "wuf" for me? When Miles and I even have the privilege to be in the process of possibly buying a house--even if it doesn't work out...? That Miles got the promotion we've been waiting months for? Thats right, he got his promotion and I don't ever mention it and I go straight into complaint mode. Talk about ungrateful. Oy vey.

I got home about 6 hours ago, still just as frustrated with the day/week as experienced in the previous post. And really trying to fight off a bitter mood. I knew there was nothing to be bitter about. But you know those moods? Just so over everything under the sun? And so hard to shake? 

I had planned with Miles to go out and have fun tonight, but the mere thought just sent a deep sigh of exhaustion through my whole body. I am a pretty introverted person. I feel quite drained around large (even medium sized) groups of people. And having already had such a weird week, going out was not what I desired. Then a sense of utter dread filled me at the thought of confessing to Miles and backing out.  I didn't want him to not go out just because of me, and I didn't want to be guilted in to going out. Lo and behold, I never even had to bring the subject up. Miles saw me cuddle up with my duvet promptly after dinner, and told me I could just stay home and he'd be back at a reasonable hour. Amazing! Top moments of wifery (? spell check does not recognize) gratitude thus far. So soon after he left, I walked to the nearest redbox and got 50/50. It just so happened that the nearest redbox was in a grocery store, so I also bought snackz.

It looks weird, I know. But its Ritz baked chips (crackers?), [my attempt at] roasted butternut squash (it was mushy), and San Pellegrino. And everything was delish. It was so hard to stop with the baked chips. I mean, yikesabee (name that awful[ly amazing] movie). 

I wanted to watch something that would make them tears flow. And I succeeded! 50/50 was better than I thought it would be. I mean, Seth Rogen? I love him, but not when I want to cry...

There was one point in the movie when Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character (who is 27 and has cancer) is so frustrated and has reached his emotional breaking point exclaims something like, "I just want this to be over"! And dang, that cut me deep.  Who am I to really complain about having to deal with closing (or not) on a house? But really. I am so blessed. I have an amazing husband of 7 months who already knows when his wife needs an evening at home alone. 'Nuff said. (I also cried for his character's mom who had to deal with a husband with Alzheimer's as well as her son with cancer)(cannot fathom)

All that being said, movies, even completely fictional ones, can be so wonderfully humbling. And I knew all I needed was a good cry. 

Top Three

One of my super top 3 favorite movies of all times is Galaxy Quest. If you ever wish to get a feel for my (and now Miles') sense of humor, watch this movie. I (and now we) pre-quote literally every single line. I can't emphasize enough how much I adore this movie. It's impossible. Every second results in a hearty "HA-HA!!" on my behalf. Just like that.

Potato, potaahto

I have today off work with no money to waste on shopping or eating out, so I am therefore spending it on my couch with my fluffy duvet and whatever foods that we have in the kitchen. Okay, geez, I bought a bag of potato chips earlier. Its a couch-potato-potato-chip kind of day. Okay, geez, I also rented two redbox movies. Give a girl a break! I just finished Restless with Mia Wasikowska. She was in it, not watching it with me. I just love her. From The Kids Are All Right, to Jane Eyre. And I'm dying to see Albert Knobbs. 

I was expecting to really enjoy this movie. And I really did, just not the way I thought I would. The ending was perfect. The last 20 minutes were so poignant and made me really appreciate the rest of the movie a lot more than I had while I was watching it. So, watch it! Because I'm pretty sure that "last 20 minutes" sentence was confusing but I don't know how to fix it. Its quirky, and somewhat predictable, but completely enjoyable. It made me feel grateful for little things, sad for sad things, and happy that I am alive and have such wonderful love in my life. What more could I want?

Also, Mia is so beautiful. All the time. Yeesh.

And now, Boo is coming home to (he doesn't know it yet) watch Midnight in Paris with me!

Pictures from here and here

Note to Self,

I need to remember to watch these:

My Week With Marilyn--I've been looking forward to this ever since they casted Michelle Williams.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows--Because its the kind of movie I would normally go see with my family over Christmas break. Now I just have to do it in solidarity from across the country. Maybe we can plan it out to where we go to the theater at kind of the same time? Too much?

Albert Nobbs--I think I may really love this. Glenn Close? Mia Wasikowska? 19th century Ireland?

The Darkest Hour--Will admit I'm a sucker for end of the world-esque story lines. 

The Descendants--Filmed on Oahu. The trailer made me homesick for my parents house. I  fully expect the movie to create a knot in my throat from missing my family partying it up without me in Hawaii this Christmas. Also, benches from my dad's church were borrowed as props for the movie! When the film people initially called my dad to ask if they could borrow them, he said only if he got to meet George Clooney. Even though they somehow couldn't arrange that (ha), I absolutely love that my dad asked. And that he knew who George Clooney was.

Beginners--Somehow I missed this in the theaters?? I've loved Ewan since I was a wee one watching the [terrible] new Star Wars. Ok, not such a wee one, but still pretty terrible. Regardless, my love for Ewan has only grown. And Captain Von Trapp apparently comes out in it. Has anyone seen it? Will I love it? Because I really want to. See it, and love it.

The Future--I love Miranda July. I love Me You And Everyone We Know. Miles and I always quote the little boy, "its spinning.....from the metal". Don't ask me how that ever comes into daily conversation, I wouldn't know what to tell you. That just gives you a little picture of how odd our conversations can get. And I missed this one as well. Even though we live 3 blocks from the theater. Fail.

Miles and I love movies. Films. Whatevs you want to call them. And we do think there is a difference. And that there is a mixture in list above. We used to go see every single movie we ever had even the slightest desire to see in the theater but then we realized, oh, this is so stupidly expensive. And then discovered redbox and started to practice patience and self control..and money saving. We also kind of decided that spending two hours in a dark movie theater kind of swallowed up a lot of quality time we could've otherwise had. Since we don't get a lot of that regularly, we try to protect whatever time we do get.

That being said, the six movies in my list that are now showing or will be showing in theaters soon...I want to see them all in the theater. That's what..at least $120...?!! Ok, after doing the extremely basic math that I had not thought of before...I'm going to have to settle for about half of that list. Insert pouty face. 

And really, this list was for my own use. And you just wasted about 5 minutes reading it. Gotchyaaazz!

Whoopsiedaisy

I was 9 when Titanic came out and was not allowed to watch it. I don't remember when I ended up seeing it for the first time, but it was definitely several years later. And I remember thinking, oh, thats sad...but not a lot else. Nerd note: as a kid, I was obsessed with the actual historical Titanic events. Had all those huge illustrated books and knew all the facts my little child brain could absorb. I thought it was the-coolest-thing-EVAR that they had actually found the sunken remains of the ship. So as a young'un, I stuck with the facts and was completely satisfied. But as I have grown older, I have become a complete sucker for all things romantic. 

Titanic has been on every afternoon for the past 3 weekdays of my nannydom. And I have watched it every single one of those afternoons. It was on this morning (is on right this very moment), but Tuesdays are my + 1 two-year old days so we're watching Sprout tv instead. The first day Titanic came on I was flipping back and forth between channels, so didn't see the whole thing. The second day I kept it on the whole movie but was pretty preoccupied with the baby. But yesterday the babe was sick-ish and super cuddly and actually pretty chill so we watched the whole movie. This morning when I saw that it was on again I watched about 5 minutes before my two-year old came and loved/was embarrassed by the sense of something so familiar. So yes. Titanic is my 14-years late, current guilty pleasure. The combination of Jack, Rose, the fictional Titanic story lines and then remembering all my nerd facts from childhood has turned out to be quite captivating. 

from here

And the fact that Kate and Leo are besties in real life now makes me love it more. I wouldn't mind being best friends with Leo at all. 

Good Grief!

My life is so good. Why don't I always remember how incredibly blessed I am? Why does it take Josh Groban to come on the radio and make me smile and cry and sing at the top of my lungs and feel like the biggest carefree dork and then have an epiphery (Michael Scott style) about my wonderful life? I mean, we all know how much I love me some Josh Groby, but I feel like he shouldn't have that big of an effect on me.

Either way, I am one happy lady today. Miles fixed my car the other day, saving us a lot of money and stress. I mean how lucky am I to have a husband that is smart enough to fix a car? We only have one more task on our list of things we urgently needed to do as a newly married couple. I really love my job (and actually miss the babe's sweet little face today). One of our very best friends is moving back to Nashy after living four hours away for the past year. The three of us are going to see HP in a little while. I put on no eye make-up so that I could freely bawl my eyes out at the end. We're going to a music festival this afternoon and then a marina show tonight. I get to watch the sunset over the lake and enjoy a wonderful evening with my husband and aforementioned best friend. Yes, my life is so good. 

Lets get this DIY show on the road

My sister and I have bunkered down an begun some test runs of different projects for the wedding. We mostly just felt like we should be productive while watching two of our favorite childhood movies, Quest for Camelot & Anastasia. So amidst singing along with all the songs we successfully put together a boutonniere, washed all the dishes for the makeshift cake-stands and Hannah is just finishing up making paper cones for the birdseed toss. I completely failed in the cone-making process, I can't even really explain how terribly I performed. Hannah kept trying to show me how to do it, but I'm pretty sure I was way over thinking the process. 

We also got our marriage license today!

Miles was completely mesmerized by the clerk's calligraphy. Really. He kept talking about it for the rest of the day. We also got a new TV yesterday. Combining all our gift cards that we've gotten so far--we only paid $3 out of pocket for this baby. And we've been watching movies non-stop ever since Miles' set it up.

We didn't quite think through how we would get the TV home after purchasing it. The box was literally just as wide as my car. And we had 3 people to get home. So Miles squished into the little triangle crevice between the TV and my backseat. Above is a before and after picture. Before, so positive about making this trip home work. After, feet literally falling out of the car when I opened the door, and totally unamused with all my giggly picture taking. 

17 days!

Another Must See

Seriously. This is one of the sweetest, moving films I have ever seen. I was wrapped up in my blanket, tickled to death as 82-year-old Robert Malone prepared to go on his first date and as he falls in love with his new neighbor. It is the sweetest story of love, friendship and commitment. Its on Netflix's Instant Watch list and definitely now on my must buy DVD list.

I have this creeping suspicion that with school about to be completely over, I will be watching a lot more movies (like I did when I was but a wee Freshman without the faintest idea of the workload I would encounter in the years following my first in college). And hopefully I will also get serious about my "want to read" book list that has grown over the years. My first step to tackling that list is probably going to be compiling all the post-its, notebook papers and scrap sheets that have titles and authors scribbled on them to actually create a list that the rest of the world could recognize. Lists are my thang, so I should get on that asap. Don't worry, I won't spare this blog from any profound readings or enjoyed movies that I encounter. Don't you worry one bit.

Sorry, but...

I absolutely loved this movie. 

My sweet old (as in former) roommate, and now courtyard neighbor invited me to come see Water for Elephants with her and some friends. Normally I would be a total home-body loser and decline, but I felt uncharacteristically spontaneous and found myself in the movie theater (with smuggled Swedish Fish in hand) less than 20 minutes later. 

I loved everything about this movie and wish I had read the book all those years ago when it was first recommended to me. But who am I kidding....this saved a lot of time.

I wanted (almost) every single outfit Reese wore. Or at least to be able to pull off (almost) every single outfit that she wore. I think the only one I could actually handle is the robe below. And oh, how I long for such a beaut to lounge around in. 

Pictures found hereeee

Also, could I have her curls please? MmkThanks. 

I don't want to spoil anything for the non-book readers or the ones who have yet to see this movie. But I definitely yelled out loud at a certain highly intense point in the film. I'll just say...Rosie sure can work that ground stake.

I need to tone my movie watching down when I'm in public. I'm so used to exclaiming my every thought when I am watching them at home. 

Oh, Internet Memory Lane

Tonight I spent about 2 hours looking at different honeymoon options. But really....accomplished nothing at all. I also updated my instant watch queue on Netflix and decided that I am just going to spend my entire spring break on my bed watching le movies. I can't afford to do anything else (whomp whomp).

But by far the most entertaining portion of my loser night alone was clicking the "view friendship" on Miles and I's Facebook posts. I went all the way back to our first comments. Some of them I remember so well, and others I have no idea what we were talking about. For the first 4 months of our friendship, all our comments were quotes from The Office. Because thats basically all we talked about/did together--no lie, The Office is the only reason Miles and I were ever friends to begin with. So I think we're still holding on to that show for old time's sake--even though we both know there are way better/funnier things out there.

We became best friends over silly things like this:

Theeennnn best friends began to date...

Reading through all these short, awkward conversations just made me want to call Miles and talk about how dorky we both were. Then I thought about it and we definitely are still huge dorks.
Example: today I made Miles watch The Ring again, just so he wouldn't go around telling people its the scariest movie of all time (because it definitely isn't)(and he definitely used to do that)(but after today--no more!). All he had were memories from almost 10 years ago and being a scaredy little high-schooler. I mean, mission accomplished when we finished the movie. Obviously. It makes no sense at all (the movie....and Miles' deep fear of watching it again).

We're going to watch The Ring 2 tomorrow if we can find a freaking Blockbuster that hasn't closed down to rent it from. Neither of us can remember seeing it--but I'm pretty sure I did, and I'm pretty sure its going to be a waste of time to watch again. But thats all we ever seem to do. Eat, waste time &/or argue about who is in what movie/how to spell something/basic nerdy facts until we whip out our phones to prove the other person wrong (I win every time). And I love it (winning & wasting time). But only with him.