It's My Life

Another Oscar Season has finished. I feel a little sadness today knowing that it is over. I am also holding my eyelids open today because I am so tired!  I will never for the life of me understand why the Oscar's do not start until 6:30 Central Time. Hasn't anyone else figured out no matter how quickly you que the music to cut off the acceptance speeches the show is NEVER going to end on time.  I will say this, this was a great Oscar season. I absolutely loved 7 out of 8 nominations. I was inspired by some of the true stories behind the movies and found myself researching and learning more about the real life moments. This was our 19th year celebrating Oscar. One one hand 19 years seems so long but on the other hand, it feels like it was just a few years ago. So many things have changed in the past 19 years. We started off with little hope of seeing Documentary Shorts, or Live Action Shorts, or even Foreign Films. Then we found ourselves running down to independent t...

Happy Oscar Sunday! It has now been 18 years since I started my love affair with the golden statue. I love his movies and I love his fashion and I love his night! I managed to squeeze in all eight Best Picture nominations  by midnight last night. I am not a movie critic so I know nothing other than what I respond to. So, here are my reactions to the movies: The Grand Budapest Hotel: quirky and fun. I wish I would have re-watched it again since I watched it so long ago. Boyhood: Impressive that everyone dedicated so many years to making this movie. Beyond that, I did identify with Patricia Arquette's role  as she watches her son grow up and moves on. This is the chapter I am in with my own life. Other than that, do I dare say, I just thought it was okay. American Sniper:  I love Clint Eastwood. I love Bradly Cooper. It was a good movie and I enjoyed it. Selma: I loved this movie. I did not really think about the controversy of nomination snubs until I watched t...

 Here is a recap of our Oscar Night! Who else had a party guest show up wearing a burqa? I did! This is my cousin Wendy. (She is a retired Marine and her husband is retired Navy.) Before her husband retired he was stationed in the Middle East and he brought her home these articles of clothing. (I felt the need to tell you all she was in the service too because I thought she would want me to point that out!) Anyway back to the burqa....how so Argo and even Zero Dark Thirty was this! Wendy welcomed everyone to the party in her burqa. We started our evening early...red carpet coverage started at 4:30 our time. Cocktails and appetizers were in order. Our menu was outlined in a previous post,  Road to the Oscars: What To Eat . The top two photos are the Sweet Potato Lettuce Wraps and the Love Potion Martini's. Both were very yummy. The lettuce wraps might have been the supporting actress that stole our show. They were hot and cold, soft and crunchy all at the s...

I am happy to report, I am down to 16 movies left to watch. Where are you at in your list? Best Picture/Actor in a Leading Role/Actress in a Leading Role: I have currently seen 5/9 Best Picture nominations. {I am seeing another today but I have not counted it yet!} Beast of the Southern Wild you can find at the local Red Box. I am totally smitten with that cute little girl who was only 5 at the time of making this movie. Djando Unchained . Okay, first let me say, I don't know how I feel about Quentin Tarantino movies. I liked Pulp Fiction . Not so much other things. Will admit to not watching Kill Bill . This movie is typical Quentin. Blood. Or at least fake blood. Lots and lots of it. Over the top moments that you just can't help but laugh at. I liked the story line. I really liked Christoph Waltz, if I had a mustache, I think I would be grabbing at it. Les Miserables  was wonderful! Having never seen it on Broadway or even off Broadway, I assume it is pretty ...

My husband went fishing this weekend, which left me no time to catch a last minute movie, I focused on preparing for the Oscars. I had a few friends over to have dinner and watch the 84th Academy Awards.  Tracy made these chocolate dipped strawberries. They were worthy of the red carpet, so she named them, Red Carpet Berries. After that, we had 9 food dishes inspired by the Best Picture Nominations.  Baked Brie en Croute: From the movie, Midnight in Paris. Tracy actually made two: one raspberry and one apricot. Super yummy and way easy!  Blue Hawaiian Punch: From the movie, The Descendants. The punch needed to be non-alcoholic for two reasons: 1) the BFF is pregnant, and 2) everyone was driving home afterwards. I will tell you all this punch was amazing and I look forward to the summer day when I can add some Malibu Rum to it and sip away! Wanna make it too? Here is the recipe: 2 packages of any blue Kool-Aid 2 Cups of Sugar 2 Quar...

I am on Day Two of a movie marathon. I am hoping to squeeze one more in before I go back to work on Tuesday. I thought I would give you a heads up about a few more movie's that are nominated. The Artist  Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), Supporting Actress (Berenice Bejo), Art Direction, Cinematography, Best Director, Film Editing, Music, Original Screenplay. This is the "silent" movie that your peers might be talking about. It is a through-back to "old Hollywood". Days of black and white, silent movies. I really thought I would have to suffer through this one just to mark it off my list. But this is why I see the nominated movies, you never know when you are going to find something you would not normally watch and fall in love with it. The general story follows a man, George Valentine, who is a silent film star. He helps out an upcoming actress, Peppy Miller. They fall in love but two things keep them apart. The first i...

Well, have you seen any nominated movies yet? I have finished about everything on DVD. It is almost time to start living at the movie theater. One of my dream wishes in life is to be a voting member of the Academy. I think it would be so cool to have all the nominated movies sent to my home. I would pop some popcorn, crack a diet coke, and watch every movie from the comfort of my bed. Don't judge my dream! I am going to continue to introduce you all to movies that are currently up for Oscars. I thought I should get this post up early because the rest of my week is devoted to one big SUPER BOWL PARTY!!                                                  The Tree of Life:  Nominated for: Best Picture, Cinematography, Best Director (Terrence Malick).  What can I say? It has been nearly a week since I watched this movie and I am still not sure I full...

Have I told you all how much I love the Oscars? Well.... I LOVE THEM! In the middle of all the birthday excitement this week, I almost forgot it was nomination day! Thankfully I have some good friends who reminded me! {You know who else forgot? My BFF!!} Let me give you some history: Way back in 1998 I remember watching The Academy Awards ceremony and for the first time ever, I had actually seen several of the movies nominated. So had my BFF. I remember us saying to each other that the show was not so boring to watch when you actually knew something about what they were talking about. An idea was born. Right then and there. We made a decision to see as many of nominated movies as we could each and every year.  Well, then we got confident and we started guessing out of all the movies out there, which ones did we think had a chance to be nominated. It changed our moving watching habits. {Well, mine anyways!} I had children and sneaking off to see a movie was like gold. So...

 So much excitement and anticipation in those five words! I LOVE it!! We paid tribute to our favorite hobby tonight and I thought I would provide you with pictures! To honor the 10 Best Picture Nominations: 1. Appletini's from The Social Network . We started the afternoon watching the Before the Red Carpet on E! and then the Red Carpet Coverage on E! and then switched over to the Red Carpet on ABC. I love all the pretty gowns. My favorites: Anne Hathaway, Hailee Steinfeld, Reese Witherspoon, Hillary Swank, and Sandra Bullock.  Some of my least favorites: Annette Benning, Cate Blanchet, Christian Bales (let's all hope that beard is for an upcoming role!), Marisa Tomei, and I hate to even think it but Nicole Kidman (I really did not like the dress). 2.  Venison Stew from The Winter's Bone. I grew up eating venison but I have not had it in years. I would really like to thank my friends, the Honeysuckles because they are the ones that provided us with the deer meat for th...