So Long, January - Weekend Windup

I don't know about you, but this was a weekend fit for staying in. Cold, snow, wind ... it was nasty. We didn't exactly stay in, but we saw lots of movies.

Friday I went to see Frozen. I enjoyed it a lot and at times I had to remind myself that it was an animated movie. I do have a couple observations, which may be minor spoilers so you can skip to Saturday if you don't want to read them. First, what's with the marriage proposals after knowing each other for one day? I almost thought I was watching Downton Abbey. And then, just what the hell constitutes an act of true love? Kristoff racing Anna back to the castle to get a kiss from someone else sure seemed like true love to me. And Olaf risked turning into a puddle to stay with her! "Some people are worth melting for." Regardless, I liked it.

Have you seen this version of "Let It Go" in 25 different languages? Pretty cool.




Saturday Aaron and I saw The Wolf of Wall Street. Leonardo and Jonah were really good and the movie is reminiscent of Goodfellas, minus the violence, add a whole lot of raunchy sex. I felt it was too long, though. That night we went to our wine and supper club, where the theme was Greek food and it was delicious!


Sunday after church we did a movie doubleheader with Colin and Amy. We saw 12 Years a Slave, which was so powerful, and I'm sorry JLaw and Julia, but Lupita Nyong'o was just outstanding and totally deserves the Oscar. Then we saw Her. I was skeptical about this and probably wouldn't have made a point to see it if it weren't nominated, but we were all pleasantly surprised. It's set in the not-too-distant future so the technology is cool but still relatable. [Why is spell-check questioning me on "relatable?" It's totally a word.] When the end credits rolled, Aaron said "THAT was Joaquin Phoenix?" Yep.

We were at the Gateway Film Center so after the movies we had a bite to eat at Liz Lessner's latest endeavor, The Torpedo Room. Pretty yummy (I had a chorizo quesadilla and I loved it), kinda pricey, but we had fun. [Apparently spell-check also doesn't like ethnic foods. Go home, spell-check.] Then we went home and watched most of the Grammys. Oddly, I don't have much to say about them. Loved the Beatles tributes. The mass wedding was cool but Madonna, what the hell? Loved Sara Bareilles with Carole King and Pink with Nate Ruess. Loved Beyonce's dress (what I saw of it) but hated her hair.

And finally, just to show you how bad this stupid weather is, here's one of the closings I saw on TV:

We Turned it Up to 11

Friday

We considered going to a movie but ultimately decided to stay in. Colin and Amy came over and we watched Kill Bill: Vol. 1, which all of us had seen except for Aaron. And even though I've seen it, I was so startled at the beginning by a gunshot that I spilled my (red) wine and we had to pause for clean up. After the movie we raided the music closet and took turns playing songs. I swear, with every song Aaron turned up the volume even more. It got loud. Really loud.

Saturday

I went to a birthday party for one of our honorary nieces, who turned four.

That afternoon, Aaron and I went to see Gravity and loved it. We've become convinced that it was really filmed in outer space. (Not really, but damn, it was well done.) Colin and Amy happened to be at the same theater seeing a different movie so we met up with them afterward for a drink. In the evening we went to dinner at our next-door neighbors' house.

Sunday

After church I went with Amy D to a jewelry party (danger!) and then several of us got together at our house for chili and football.

Señor Gato took a shine to Amy D (this is a rare thing).

Monday

My weekend turned into a long one, not because of MLK Day but because Aaron and his coworkers were at the house installing a bunch of new stuff like remote control window shades and speakers and touch screens to control all that shit and more. So I felt it best to vacate the premises.

I went to the gym (sorry, should have warned you; I hope you were sitting down) and saw two movies. I finally watched Hunger Games: Catching Fire which I enjoyed quite a bit and then saw August: Osage County. Look, I like Meryl Streep but I'm not usually one to gush over her. But I'm telling you, she's outstanding in this movie. All the acting is fantastic. It's pretty dark, but has quite a few moments of comic relief, too.

SAG Awards

While I didn't watch them live, I did make a point to watch the SAG Awards. Here are three of my best dressed:

photos from E!Online

1. Lupita Nyong'o does it AGAIN! I can't explain how much I love this dress, but I bet I wouldn't like it nearly as much on most other people. She is just so stunning I can't stand it. And congrats on the SAG win!

2. Amy Adams - I love blue and I'm a huge fan of asymmetrical features. I didn't see any red carpet stuff so the first time I saw this was when she was onstage introducing American Hustle and I'm pretty sure it took my breath away.

3. Jennifer Lawrence totally redeemed herself from the Golden Globes dress debacle. I love this.


Three of my worst dressed:

photos from E!Online

4. Oh Edie Falco, what the hell? This is just strange, and it doesn't help that the pose is extremely unflattering as well.

5. I've seen this one on some best dressed lists, but really, Kerry Washington? And honestly, I wouldn't like this even if she weren't pregnant.

6. I was struck by how grown up Abigail Breslin is in August: Osage County, but this dress is way too old for her.

Golden Globes and Other Weekend Stuff

Such a lovely weekend! Friday night we went to Mike & Amy's (you know, our friends who recently moved here from Atlanta; Mike & Aaron have been friends since they were 12, yada yada yada) for dinner. We enjoyed an outstanding meal and a bit of wine, including a bottle of Sting's wine:

I think I decided it was time to leave when this happened:

Nah, that's just how they are.

Saturday we saw American Hustle. This led to the realization that we should not drink beers before going to the movies. Between that and the warm temperature in the theater, we were both dozing off. We think we liked the movie, though. I can definitely say that the acting is terrific and I loved the soundtrack as well.

OK, let's get to the Golden Globes. I watched them on delay so I avoided all social media last night. I adore Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (congrats to Amy for her win!) and I thought Tina looked spectacular, especially in that first wine-colored gown (but her red carpet gown was hideous). I think the only part with them that I didn't like was the whole "this is my son Randy" thing. Awkward.

I liked that there were some surprises, although the surprises of Andy Samberg and Brooklyn Nine-Nine just baffle me. I watch the show, but I don't know that it's worthy of beating the competition in those categories.

I haven't seen any of the "big" movies except for American Hustle so I don't have a lot to say about the winners there, but Leo and Matthew's wins could shake things up in the Best Actor category for the Oscars. That category appears to be loaded so I'm curious to see who gets nominated.

How to appear drunk but hilarious and fun: see Emma Thompson.

How to appear drunk but a big hot mess: see Jacqueline Bisset.

Some of my best dressed:

Picture 1 via; Pictures 2 - 4 via

Reese Witherspoon. I don't care what anyone says (and honestly I don't know what anyone's saying about her), I love this dress. It's simple, it looks great on her and I adore the color.

Lupita Nyong'o. I know 12 Years a Slave is going to be hard to watch, but I'm excited to see her performance, and she is just stunning in this dress. And probably in a burlap sack as well.

Olivia Wilde. She wins the pregnant chicks fashion award of the evening.

Uma Thurman. She made E! Online's "worst dressed" and her red carpet picture isn't great but I thought that onstage last night she looked fabulous.


Some of my worst dressed:

Picture 1 | Picture 2 | Picture 3 | Picture 4

Amy Adams. How clever of her to dress like her character. But, no. I just don't think this does anything for her. And onstage she looked totally washed out, as though she had zero makeup on.

Lena Dunham. This just speaks for itself.

Jennifer Lawrence. I still love her, but this dress? Ugh.

Edie Falco. The cut, the fabric, everything. Hate it.


In other news, after a lot of binge watching on Amazon Prime, I'm finally completely caught up on Downton Abbey (the American showing of it, of course). I won't spoil anything from last night's episode except to say, "Holy SHIT," but I'd love to chat about it with you.