Book Review: The Help

I just finished The Help last night & I absolutely loved it. It is a story told by three people: Skeeter, Abileen, and Minny. It is 1962 in Mississippi and Skeeter is a White, recent college grad who returned home after college. Abileen & Minny are Black Maids who have been working in White homes for years and years.

It is the start of civil rights, before MLK made his speech & march in Washington. The rest of the country is moving forward with equality but Mississippi is a different place and behind in their ways.

Skeeter starts to question why there is still Black & White separation, why Blacks are still waiting on Whites, and segregation is still the norm. An unlikely project brings the three women together for them to work on changing things in Mississippi and for each other.

I couldn't put this book down. This book reminded me a lot of Secret Life of Bees, which was also great.

I realized that I really like stories about civil rights & equality- particularly books about slavery & the Holocaust. One of my favorite Broadway plays is Hairspray, too, because it has both of those themes.

I am super excited that The Help will be coming out as a film in August! Emma Stone(Easy A) will play Skeeter!

Turkey Sliders

Last night, we made turkey sliders for dinner. I guess our grocery store does not sell hamburger & hot dog buns during the winter because they were out of them. I picked up dinner rolls and though - perfect for sliders!

I made them in a pan on the stove & they came out yummy! We also had parmesan rosemary fries and brussel sprouts. Delish.

Last night, we watched Parenthood. I love that show. Does anyone watch? Haddie is going to get in so much trouble next week!!

Wedding Venue

We are going to look at our first wedding venue this Saturday! We are going to look at Murrieta's Well in Livermore, CA. A co-worker is getting married there this year and a friend from HS actually got married here, as well. Both loved it & said it was a great experience - a wine country wedding without the craziness and expense of being in Napa or Sonoma. Sounds good to me!

We have an appointment to head out and meet and tour the grounds.

It should be fun! We also started to create a guest list for the wedding and are looking into an April, May, or June 2012 wedding!

New Couch

We are on the hunt for a new couch. The couches we have, have served us well but it is time for an upgrade. I purchased the couches off my neighbor when I moved out of my parents house, years ago. They are in great quality but we are looking for something of our own and more comfortable.

On Sunday, we went out to a few places but didn't see anything we liked. Next weekend, we are going to look around a little more.

We would love a sectional couch. We know it would take up the entire living room but don't really care. We want something really comfy and snuggly we can all fit on! Here are some ideas of what we are looking into...We'll see what we find!

Beer Pairing Dinner

Last night, Betsy & Greg came over for a beer pairing dinner. It was fun to make and eat! Here is what we served:

Fresh Baked Bread with Pesto & White Bean Aioli with Kolsch

Salad with cranberries, pear, and walnuts with Hefewizen

Two different pizzas: BBQ Tempeh and Margarita with Amber Ale & IPA

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Coffee Stout

Everything turned out yummy & it was fun to make everything together. Erik really has a talent for making the beer!

Movie Review: Easy A

Last night, we stayed in, ordered chinese food & watched Easy A. We both liked this movie! It was interesting, cute, and funny. The star of this film is Emma Stone who you also saw in Zombie Land & Super Bad. I think she is the next hot actress - the next Reese Witherspoon.
Emma plays Olive, a typical high school girl. Other great actors in this film were Stanley Tucci(LOVE HIM-- from Devil Wears Prada, Julie & Julia), and Penn Bagdley from Gossip Girl.

One day, Olive lies to her best friend and told her she went on a date with a college guy. The friend asks (& insists) that she slept with him on the date. While Olive didn't do either, she says yes, she did. The rumor spreads like crazy thru the school.

Her gay friend, Brandon, asks her to lie for him, too. He is bullied & made fun of on a regular basis so she says she will help him. That is where everything starts to change. She pretends that she slept with Brandon and then more guys come out of the woodwork to ask her to do the same.

This movie is a unique twist on the book, Scarlet Letter. While in the book Hester was chastized for having a baby out of wedlock, Olive was treated the same for NOT sleeping around. Eventually, Olive has to take a look at her life, what she's done & decide if helping others & hurting herself is the best position to take.

This movie was a unique story, the actors were great, and the movie was a fun watch. I definitely recommend this one!

Pizza Night

Being back at work this week was tough! It seemed as if everyone was felt the week was going so slow and just trying to get through the week. Work was not even that busy this week! I guess having almost two weeks off will do that to you. Anyway...It was back to Bingo on Monday night. Good to see the ladies!

On Wednesday, Amy came over for dinner & we made our own pizzas. They were delicious & super easy to make!

We made a pizza with pasta sauce, mozz cheese, mushrooms & green peppers

Then, we made a BBQ Chicken pizza with BBQ sauce, chicken, red onion and cheese. This was the best idea we have had in a long time. This pizza was amazing!

Here is the finished veggie pizza.

We also had some of Erik's Hefewizen beer with dinner and overall, this meal was great!! Perfect mid-week dinner for the first week of 2011.

For 2011...

2010 was a great year and 2011 is destined to be even better!

Things I learned in 2010:
#1 - Keep Calm & Carry On. It will all work out; it always does. Always.
#2 - Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but doesn't get you anywhere.
#3 - A day/walk/drive without a plan can lead to fun discovery of new places
#4 - Having money in the bank feels better than a new pair of shoes
#5 - Help each other out. You never know what someone is going through. A smile or a helping hand can brighten someone's day....and yours.

For 2011:

Do
-Live in the present. There is no point in worrying about tomorrow or 5 years down the road, right now. Live for today.
-Work on trying to stay calm. I feel like I got this one down at work but when it comes to stuff at home, I fly off the handle too easily which is pointless.

Visit
-Continue exploring CA and the West
-Try to get to Yosemite, Bodega Bay/Sonoma Coast, San Luis Obispo
-Wedding venues! We're going to start looking for places to get married...
-Continue to try new restaurants in SF & Bay Area. We have so many!

Read
-25 books

Play
-More Golf
-More Tennis
-I love doing both and would like to get better at each sport

New Years

New Years Eve was so much fun. We went to Marla's for an Engagement/New Years party. We ate a ton of food and had a lot of fun. It is always a lot of laughs when we all get together.

We had pizza, dips, buffalo wings, and...edamame. Nice mix of food! haha


Marla & Khai

Tara & Erik

Typical photo of Me & Marla, with Khai laying there in the middle refusing to get his photo taken

Marla, Me, Kimmy. Jessica gave us these scarves that we were cracking up over.

Jaime and his girlfriend, Laura. I assume Laura thinks we are all totally nuts. We have all known each other for years and years and so, are bouncing off the walls when we get together.

Marla, Me, & Souk taking a fake nap on the couch. Around 11pm, I said I was tired and wanted to take a nap. haha

Me & Tara

Khai & Souk


Scott & Kimmy

Me & Kimmy

Brothers!

Khai wearing, what I think is, a ribbon from a christmas gift

Happy 2011!!

It was a very fun night & a great 2010. Here's to a great 2011!

Alumni Hockey

Last week, Erik played in his HS Alumni Hockey game. Yes, he brought his hockey stuff all the way from CA to play in this game. The Alumni played against the current HS team. The Alumni won and Erik said he felt a little bad playing against the "kids".



Erik - 3rd from the left

Erik & his old teammates

We all went out to watch Erik play - my parents, his parents, his brother & girlfriend, Kimmy & her boyfriend, and Marla. We were joking that Erik is the "Hometown Hero".

The Ref was funny because he was older, wore these funny goggles, and took a long time to bend over & pick up the puck. ha.


Post game

After the game, we went out for a few drinks. It was good to meet up with more of our friends. It was a fun night.

Movie Update

One of my other goals in 2010, was to watch 50 movies and I ended up watching just over 60. I really do love seeing movies. Movie Night each month is something I definitely look forward to plus with Netflix and On Demand, movies are at our finger tips!

1. 500 Days of Summer
2. Julie & Julia
3. Up In The Air
4. Good Night & Good Luck
5. Post Grad
6. I Love You, Man
7. My Best Friend's Girl
8. Love Happens
9. All About Steve
10. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
11. Valentine's Day
12. Billy Elliott
13. Vicky Christina Barcelona
14. Role Models
15. Alice in Wonderland
16. Clash of the Titans
17. The September Issue
18. Where the Wild Things Are
19. The Backup Plan
20. Sunshine Cleaning
21. Everybody's Fine
22. Boogie Nights
23. Breakfast with Scot
24. Sex & the City 2
25. It's Complicated
26. When the Levees Broke
27. Crazy Heart
28. Easy Rider
29. Rachel Getting Married
30. Last Chance Harvey
31. The Good Guy
32. Then She Found Me
33. The Color Purple
34. Happy Tears

35. I'm Reed Fish
36. Eat, Pray, Love
37. Leap Year
38. Kite Runner
39. Falling Up
40. Smart People
41. When In Rome
42. The Town
43. The Lovely Bones
44. The Social Network
45. Nothing But Trouble
46. Haunting in Connecticut
47. American Werewolf in London
48. Wicked Little Things
49. Wolf
50. Zombieland
51. The Thing
52. Shaun of the Dead
53. Surrogates
54. Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone
55. Harry Potter & Prisoner of Azkaban
56. Trading Places
57. Going The Distance
58. 17 Again
59. Sundays at Tiffanys
60. Merry Daughter of the Bride
61. The Fighter
62. Black Swan

Right now, I am dying to see The King's Speech!

Reunion

Last Tuesday, after dinner, we were lucky to meet up with my friends Marc, Steve, & Jim whom I haven't seen in a long time! We used to do everything together and hang out all of the time after we all moved home after college.


Then, we all moved...We went to CA, Jim went to DC, and Marc went to Switzerland!

It was very fun to reminisce and laugh together again.

Marc and I went to college together & him/Jim/Steve went to HS together. I met Marc at an 'Accepted Students Reception' before we went to college.



Erik, Kimmy, & I - we must have 100 pictures of us like this. Wait - here's two more just like it:





Jaime & his girlfriend, Laura

It was a fun night - hanging out with everyone. Hope we get to see these guys again soon!

Engagement Dinner

Last Tuesday, my parents hosted an engagement dinner for Erik & I. It was so much fun! We went to Sage in New Haven, CT. It is a great restaurant right on the water.

We had a great dinner. Erik and I shared lobster and salmon which was delish!

It was nice to get everyone together to celebrate!

Us with Grandpa & Grandma - they have been married for 60 yrs!!

Us with my parents - I think they have been married for 35 yrs

Us with Erik's parents - also married approx 35 yrs!

Kimmy & Scott

Us with the future Best Man & Maid of Honor

Our parents

Me & Grandma

Movie Reviews: The Fighter & Black Swan

Last week, I saw two movies & my last two movies for 2010. First up, The Fighter with Mark Wahlberg. After being snowed in all day, we went to the movies as a family to see this. This movie was more of a story between two brothers with a layer about fighting over the movie rather than a movie about boxing. I think that the title of the movie refers to the activity of

boxing but also how each brother was a Fighter in his own right. This movie was shot in an interesting way where the focus was on the character speaking at the time, letting anyone or anything in the background become unfocused. I felt this forced the viewer to focus on the people and relationships with others.

Dicky is the big brother who was a famous boxer who, despite his drug troubles, trains his younger brother Micky as a boxer. The brothers are from a working class family in Lowell, MA where they have different Fathers and plenty of sisters. Although Dicky was on his way to move out of this situation, Micky is the one who ultimately fights his way into a better life for himself.

I thought this movie was similar to The Wrestler. The Wrestler was a story about a guy who lost his career and his relationships in his life. He worked hard to rebuild everything. I thought that Christian Bale did a great job in his part in this film. I won't be surprised if either actors are up for awards this season. Recommend!



I also saw the much anticipated, Black Swan, last week. Ironically, this film had the same director as The Wrestler and the Director has said that Black Swan his a companion movie to Wrestler. Both films showcased a troubled lead in a demanding, physical career.

Nina(Natalie Portman) is a trained ballerina for the NY Ballet who is desperate to get the lead role in a production. She is on her way to getting the lead when a new girl, Lily, joins the company & Nina feels challenged by Lily. Worried that Lily will take her spot in the company, she begins to freak out. She starts thinking that Lily is after her, starts seeing things, and is overall paranoid.

The main theme throughout this movie is Nina v. herself. She struggles to flourish in a challenging role, move out of her mother's house, or make friends within the company due to the limits & control she tries to keep over herself. I thought this movie was interesting and shot beautifully. Recommend, but know that it is a little creepy!

Hello 2011

We are back in SF after a great week in CT. We really had a great week of seeing friends & family. We got snowed in, saw a couple movies, went out to fun dinners, hung out with Kimmy a ton, saw Erik play in an alumni hockey game, and had a fun party at Marla's for New Years Eve.

It was painful to get out of NYC in terms of airport delays & a bumpy flight all of the way back to CA but we made it. I picked up Evie today and we are so happy to see her. I missed her so much!!

We did a bunch of errands today, cleaned up all of the holiday stuff, and are ready to get back into the routine.

Also, I am not upset & not eating depression dinner. I have been doing a lot of thinking over the past few months and I know that being in CT is not where we need to be right now. Being out in SF is the perfect place for us to grow, learn, explore and have our life together.

I will post more from last week & pictures soon! Happy New Year!