Archives for 2009

New Moon – Favorite Details

November 20, 2009 by Amy 3 Comments

Ok, yeah, I had to go back and make a list of all my favorite “little things” from the movie.

Edward quoting Romeo and Juliet
Jac0b speaking Quileute to Bella. Oh my! I think that might have been my favorite line and I don’t even know what he said!! Someone tell me! I read somewhere Taylor is not telling anyone and there are only 4 people in the world that still speak Quileute. I hope we get a translation soon!
The end! I can’t believe they ended with Marry Me
Emmett’s comment to Edward about him dating an older woman
Eric crying during Romeo and Juliet
Mike telling Jac0b and Bella he needed to go home
Alice saying I’ll be back when you put the dog out
Mike telling Bella she needed to put a little protein in there
Bella telling Edward to shut up
Edward saying you can’t trust vampires…trust me
Jac0b crying in the final scene
Loved that they kept the months just after Edward left in

New Moon Review

November 20, 2009 by Amy 5 Comments

The short version? New Moon was fantastic. It blew Twilight out of the water 100 times over.

The long version.

What I liked:

Chris stayed so close to the book. That by far is my favorite adaptation I’ve ever seen. He took all the best scenes in New Moon and then made any other subplots work around it. I recognized so much of the dialogue from the book and then there was other stuff that just made it better.
The movie was so rich. So nice to have that blue tint gone.
The acting was better. I was a little worried that the stuttering manic Kristen we saw at the end of Twilight would be all we saw of her this movie but I was wrong. She did a fantastic job. And all the supporting actors were fantastic as well. I was also a little worried about the werewolves but I felt like their acting was authentic. Even Quil and Embry were funny. Even Emily’s small part was great. And Harry! He was funny.
Charlie was amazing. He’s so funny and real.
The makeup and hair was so much better. I am in love with Victoria’s red curls!
I loved that the setting was the same. I guess I thought for some reason that her room might be different or the school or something. I don’t know. Even with all the changes, a lot of it still felt like Twilight, which was nice.
Edward’s sparkling was SO much better. I loved that one scene when they were taking them to see the Volturi and you got one small glimpse of his shoulder in the sun. I really felt like he glittered!
The cliff diving. So much more authentic than I thought it was going to be.
Bella learning to ride the bike. Loved that Jake still had a sense of humor.
The volturi. Especially Aro. He nailed his character. The fight scene was cringeworthy and even as an addition, was perfect.
The werewolves. They were AMAZING. Really. So, so, so realistic. I loved the color of Jac0b. It was so perfect. And the way they fought. Everything. It was just how I imagined and even better.
Edward smiled! It was so good to see him and Bella happy. I know he’s a tortured soul and all but in the book he IS happy.
In fact, I loved all of the Edward/Bella interaction. I felt like we got to see Edward’s devotion to Bella, not just Bella’s.
JACOB!!!! Taylor Lautner KILLED this movie. Yes, he looked um, great (17, 17, 17) but his portrayal of Jac0b was just amazing. Huge kudos to him. I loved the scene in the kitchen when they almost kiss. It nearly tore my heart out when Kristen chose Edward. Seriously, that tore me up much more than when Edward left Bella. I knew Edward was lying. But Bella? She means it. She’d pick Edward over Jac0b any day and wow, Jac0b loves her so much. And I love that Bella says she loves him but it’s just not enough and it broke my heart!

What I didn’t like:

First and foremost, the worst part of the movie was the stupid scene when Aro reads Alice’s mind and sees Edward and Bella running through the forest. Seriously? That’s how she knows Bella is a vampire? Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Makeup was a *little* sketchy. At one time I saw Edward’s hand looked a little dusty. Also the Volturi makeup was a tad weird for me.
Not a huge fan of the music placement. Seemed like good songs on their own but not entirely crazy about them in the movie.
The elevator ride to the Volturi. The music was really weird here, it was unnecessary screen time and it felt more like a ride down to the Spa.
I have to admit the kissing between Edward and Bella seemed a little awkward. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe Edward can never truly relax around Bella. But compared to Bella and Jac0b? Sorry, don’t care for much screentime of them kissing. Boo.
Jasper still seemed odd in this movie.
Alice’s scarf and outfit in Italy was weird.

The things I didn’t like were very, very nitpicky. I just felt like Chris did an AMAZING job at sticking with the book. In fact, I would almost say that I liked this as much or even more than New Moon. Then again, it was my least favorite of the 4 so possibly some things that didn’t translate well on paper went over much better visually. I don’t know. All I can say is I’m extremely happy with the movie. I wish I could write down what I loved about every single scene and all the quotes that were so funny and moving. Maybe I’ll continue to do some posts about it just to get it out of system. In the meantime, I’m trying to figure out when to get back to the theater to see it again!

Cowboy Boots: The Trend

November 16, 2009 by Amy 10 Comments

Yesterday I took a 16 year old to church with us. We’re good friends with her and her family. In fact, you may remember her as she’s the one we took with us to Disney this past spring. She had her big Sweet 16 birthday party Saturday night and on the way to church she was telling me she wanted to buy some boots with the money she got. I asked her what kind because you know I wanted to test my in-style-ish-ness and she’s planning to get a pair of cowboy boots and then those flat boot thingies that go to your knee with the straps around the top. Yeah, no idea what they’re called. I felt like I was at least a little on the right track as Scott had just mentioned last week he liked the new Cowboy Boot look and also Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) of Friday Night Lights always looks adorable in them as well.

So of course I had to do some research because while I’ve been vaguely familiar with the look, I wasn’t quite sure what kind of outfit to wear with them or what color to get. My only run-in with cowboy boots in the past have been the black fake-leather ankle-boot variety in the mid-90s and I daresay THAT would not work.

It was time to do some research. And where else do you look except the celebrities? Oh yes, I could go to the mall in the “big city” but that would require much more time and effort and well, I’d turn into those old people-watching stalkers with coffee sitting on the bench. This way I’m just a middle-aged celebrity stalker sitting in front of my computer. So here we go.

First and most popular seems to be wearing cowboy boots with a dress:

What I learned:

The dress should be cute and flowy or at least A-line and a few inches above your knee. The boots should be mid-calf and a mid to dark shade of caramel brown. Black is ok if you are wearing a black dress.

Next is similar but with a skirt:

What I learned:

That’s not the best outfit on Rachel but I did learn that red boots are ok. Also, you can go a little longer with the skirt but it should be very flowy.

Next is super short shorts:

What I learned:

I will not be wearing boots with an outfit like this. Although it is super-duper cute on them, I just probably should leave that alone. But the point? Wear the short shorts and the boots on the high side of your calf. Color doesn’t appear to matter. Who’s really going to be looking at the boots with shorts this short anyway?

Next is boots with pants:

What I learned:

We’re still tracking with the brown/caramel with some red thrown in and mid to high length boots. But in order to get this trend right, you need to wear skinny or close to skinny jeans and tuck the jeans into the boot. Wear a cute, longer top and layer it with a jacket if it’s cold.

Next up is patterns:

What I learned:

Do not do patterns unless you want to look ~~unstable~~ ~~eclectic~~ ~~bad~~ or you are Taylor Swift and you are on tour.

So in summary, since we are going into winter here, I’d recommend either caramel or red boots with your skinny jeans tucked in. Or, if you are feeling like you can brave the cold or are having 75 degree weather in November, go for a skirt or dress and layer with a sweater or jacket!

And I’m not sure why I did all this research because when I asked said 16 year old what to wear with them she said a high-waisted flowy skirt or tuck them into your jeans. I should have just listened to her. *sigh*

*Update*

After a little more research at my favorite shoe retailer, Nine West, it looks like they’re going a little shorter for boots this winter but still are saying tuck your jeans or even leggings into them!

Fall

November 14, 2009 by Amy 1 Comment

Tea Party

November 14, 2009 by Amy 2 Comments

And no I’m not talking politics! The girls had their combined birthday tea party with their friends last night. They had 7 friends join them at the Celebration Cottage at Miss Libby’s for crafts, dress-up, tea and of course cake and presents! This was a great birthday year. All the girls were old enough to be left without parents and had a blast together on their own. You can imagine that 9 girls 5-7 would be almost uncontrollable in a full room of dresses, shoes, gloves, wands, fans, hats and purses. And an entire other room with jewelry, make-up and hair accessories. And while they were somewhat controllable, they were pretty excited.

The only downside I saw about the whole night is none of the kids seemed hungry so actual tea time was probably the least interesting to them and also my camera died right before the cake! I did what I could though. In the interest of the The Internet I picked some pictures where the other girls’ faces weren’t in full view. We still got some decent ones to share!

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Skipping and Adopting

November 13, 2009 by Amy 5 Comments

I just remembered a dream I had last night. And I know it’s boring to hear about others’ dreams unless you’re in them but here we go.

I have this recurring dream that I’m in college, I forget a class and then the exam comes, I’m reminded somehow of the class and then I freak out when I don’t know any of the answers because I haven’t been in class for weeks. I worry about how I forgot, where the class is and how to catch up. I don’t think I ever find out how it turns out.

Last night I had the same dream except this time I purposely didn’t go to class. And also, I was in high school. When I went back, my friends wondered where I had been and I couldn’t remember my locker and couldn’t remember the combination to the locker. I also couldn’t remember the layout of the school or where my classes were. I remember desperately trying to find a map of the school. I think I had to go to the office to get a print-out of my class schedule so I knew what to do, which is similar to my original recurring dream.

Seems the main changes are that I’m purposely failing vs. just forgetting and that I’m younger.

In other dream news, I had a dream this week that two parents gave me a baby and I was holding her, I stepped forward a few steps and when I turned back around the parents were gone.

I doubt all this means that I’m going to go back to high school only to purposely skip class and adopt a child. That first one always makes me wonder its meaning though because of its frequency.

TGIF!

November 13, 2009 by Amy Leave a Comment

I’ve got lots of good news today . Let’s start with this lovely screencap. Two of my favorite Idols EVAH made it to the Gorgeous Guys list from the CMAs this week.

And speaking of Danny Gokey, I found out this week he will be at Coyote Joe’s (a country bar) in Charlotte in a month. I’m ecstatic. I haven’t been to Coyote Joe’s in over 11 years. Before that, it was mine and Scott’s weekly go-to place. Well, multiple times a week really. Too bad I didn’t blog back then. I’m sure you would have loved to see video of us couples’ line dancing.

In seriously serious good news, I found out my contract at work got extended for the next year. The sort of bad news is they’ve already told me I will not be extended after that. So basically I have 59 weeks of work left.

I attended my first cycling class in almost two years last night. It was fabulous. I knew I was in the right class when the first song was Paper Planes from Slumdog Millionaire. I feel great today, no muscle soreness at all.

Tonight is the girls’ birthday tea party with their friends. It’s the same place they went a few months ago so it should be a good time.

Our Friday Night Lights podcast (go Subscribe!) has been picked up by a distributor which basically means they host and manage it for free and put ads in it and we both make money. Yippee!! And why aren’t you watching the show yet??

All good news from my world…TGIF!

Lexi-ism

November 12, 2009 by Amy 2 Comments

I sit down beside Lexi who is playing games on the computer and she holds her hand up in the stop position and says: Mommy. School did NOT work out good. No playground. No gym. And look (throwing her foot up on the table) my feet aren’t long enough.

Sent from my iPhone

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