Movie Monday: Valentine Edition

umm... please forgive me for not posting this on monday. i know it's totally not fair for me to post my movie post on a wednesday and try to pass it off as a movie monday... but hey, that's what I'm gonna do. :)

Seriously though, I was GOING to post this on monday. I really was! But sometimes it seems like between going to class, doing homework, cooking, cleaning, and watching multiple episodes at a time of Psych with stewie I just don't have any free time. It's quite frustrating. hopefully the load will start to get a little lighter as time goes on and i get used to it all!

Anyways, here is your belated valentines movie monday. I know love day has come and gone, but you can watch sweet romantic chick-flicky movies any day of the year in my opinion. Also note, this is probably the only movie monday I will post that features a straight up "chick-flick", so get 'em while you can ;)

For this very special Valentine's Edition of Movie Mondays, I'm going to post my top 7 (because 10 was too many and 5 wasn't enough) favorite romantic movies (in no particular order). You've probably heard of a few or all of them, but they're still great!

1. P.S. I Love You
Beautiful story about a husband trying to help his wife move on after he has died via letters and other such things. Very touching and amazing acting :)


2. The Time Traveler's Wife
You knew I was going to sneak this one in, didn't you? I may be a teensy bit obsessed with this movie and the novel that inspired it. I have valid reasons though: I love time-travel stories, I love love stories, and I love Rachel McAdams. To keep it brief, this is a love story about a man who involuntarily travels through time and the love of his life, who has known him all her life but is stuck in the present.


3. Moulin Rouge
There was a time in highschool- somewhere in freshman or sophomore year- when I watched this movie every single night. And man, did I weep. I really love musicals, and back then I was OBSESSED with them. Also I thought Ewan McGreggor was pretty darn cute and French Bohemia? break me off a piece of that time period! haha. Anyways, this movie is definitely comical at times, but it's also really sweet and sad and exciting, what with all the modern music compilations and can-can dancers and giant elephant bedrooms.


4. Center Stage
I first saw this movie when I was 11, and it was the cool thing to like. Yknow, when we all thought we might actually be professional ballerinas someday. Anyways, this movie has an AWESOME soundtrack, some spectacular dance scenes, and a really fun romance-triangle story. It's definitely light fare, but I like it all the same. Very cute and sweet.


5. The Holiday
I think I talked about this one during my christmas movie monday edition, but it's still a great love story any time of the year. In fact, it's got two love stories at once :) Iris and Amanda trade houses for the holidays (a cottage in Surrey, England, and a mansion in Beverly Hills) in an effort to get over their lost loves, but end up finding a lot more than the peace and solitude they were hoping for. Great script and really great stars in this film :)


6. Chocolat
A perfect vday movie :) It takes place in a teensy little French town, where a woman and her child settle down to open up a chocolate shop. The conservative religious people of the town don't initially take kindly to this free-spirited woman and her shop full of temptations, but as they begin to warm up to her the whole town seems to transform. Johnny Depp also shows up as a "river rat" (as imdb puts it) and of course a little love story begins to develop. Great romance story, but seriously the various scenes of chocolate making and delicious treats are enough to make me watch this movie!


7. Music and Lyrics
I saw this movie with my best friend in sophomore year, and we loved it! We came home and downloaded all the songs haha. It's such a cute movie. I think Hugh Grant is awesome in all his films, and this one doesn't disappoint. Same goes for Drew Barrymore. Basically Hugh Grant is a fallen pop star who is trying to reinvigorate his career by recording a duet with the current charts-topping pop star. He's got writer's block though, and can't figure out how to write something that will be a hit. His plant-waterer (bad english...) overhears his struggles and gives him some input.... and everything kind of falls into place from there as the two work together to write the perfect song :) Cute, funny, and sweet.



Happy belated valentines day guys! Hope you had a great one!!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

V-day used to seem like a big deal to me back in highschool. I would make really sweet, personalized gifts for whoever I was dating at the time, we would go out to a perfect dinner, he would get me flowers and candy and all sorts of other cliche gifts- at least that's how I thought it should be. Now though, valentines seems a little silly. Why only celebrate your love one day out of the year? Stewie and I are always doing nice things for each other on a daily basis, so valentines doesn't seem like it should be that different.

Anyways, I still love any chance to celebrate a holiday so I'm decked out in a pink dress and grey and pink thigh high socks^^

I made stew breakfast this morning (egg-in-a-hole. have you had it? it's delicious. It's also called bird's nests I think), and in about 15 minutes we're going to go to the zoo. And that's our big valentines date! Cute, isn't it? Neither of us have a ton of money, especially since xmas was just 2 months ago- but the zoo is only 7$ a person, and seriously- so much fun.

Tonight we might go to dinner but we'll probably just split the cost :) simple, easy, fun, sweet valentines day. I'm excited! What are your guys' plans for today?

Anyways, I'll be back with a movie monday later today- probably a list of a few of my favorite lovey-dovey movies- but for now I just wanted to wish you a wonderful February 14th. Hope it's lovely!

Love,
Em

30 Day Challenge- 19

 Day 19 - Disrespecting your parents.

My parents are awesome. They are both so wonderful, talented, kind, compassionate, intelligent... I could go on and on. I think my sister and I are the two luckiest kiddos around to have been blessed with such amazing parents. I love them so, so much.

But yeah, I was a teenager once. I guess technically I still am one, for the next 3 months or so. Seriously, though, I'm scared to death to have a teenage girl someday. My sister and I certainly weren't the worst out there, but we definitely weren't the best either. Freaking teenage hormones, man! and self-consciousness, and the need to impress all the other little 15-year-old's and of course the need to find the perfect boyfriend so that you can have the most perfect year and go to the most perfect prom ever. All while starring in the school musical, obviously.

There were definitely times when I was a huge B to my parents. At the time I felt like I was totally justified in my actions, but in retrospect I feel terrible about it. I don't know if it would have been avoidable though... I mean, I think all teenagers go through this period of being moody and rude in an effort to be the coolest they can be. Seriously, I think people should stop worrying about the terrible twos and start freaking out about the terrible teens. I would take a screaming, toddling, destructive baby over a bitchy, hormonal teenager any day. At least a toddler can be reasoned with :)

Anyways, I feel so remorseful about the way I sometimes treated my parents back in highschool- but I think I've told them this and now we're the best of friends so thank goodness all that crap is over :)

Love you mom and dad!

Sometimes... and an ode to the end of 211.

Sometimes people act in foolish ways.
Sometimes you can know someone and really not know them at all.
Sometimes people stop listening to their hearts and hear only the sadness and pain inside of them.
Sometimes people get lost.
Sometimes you have to accept that there is nothing you can do.
Sometimes people get stuck on their high horse and can't figure out how to get down.
Sometimes you have to just leave.
Sometimes all you can do is hope that someday they will heal.
Sometimes you have to start from scratch.
Sometimes something that was once so wonderful can turn rotten and curdled in old age.
Sometimes you just have to let go.


I'm sure we've all been in a situation where we are grasping at the bits and pieces that are left of a friendship, a relationship, a project, a place, a dream. We'd love to save it, to make it right, to get out a needle and thread and sew the pieces back up into what they were before.

Unfortunately this isn't always possible- everything changes, and few truly wonderful things can last forever. there comes a point when we have to stop reminiscing, hoping, trying... and just let go, move on, and start anew.

This is how I feel about the situation I once had in Prescott. I had many best friends, we were all extremely close, we had a wonderful place that we spent all our time at, and there was no drama, no backstabbing, no two-faced-ness. With time, though, we've all drifted away, people have done atrocious things that none of us would have expected, and honestly... we're barely even friends anymore.

 This past friday was 2.11, which we celebrate because the apartment number of the apartment that we all stayed at was 211. I had high hopes of spending time with dear old friends and reminiscing about the wonderful times that had passed, but honestly I was pretty disappointed.  Sure, I still had some fun... but none of the people that actually deserved to be there were there. We didn't talk about the good ol' days. We didn't really talk about the real 211, the 211 that mattered, at all, because the pieces were missing. I felt like what we were celebrating was fake, an image concocted by other people who really have no idea what made 211 worthwhile and important in the first place.

Is it really worth celebrating something when the whole meaning for celebration has gotten lost? Is it worth devoting a day to remembrance when no one who can actually remember the best parts wants to celebrate? Somehow I don't think so.

Anyways, I decided it's time to let go of that part of my past that I was still carrying along with me. I met wonderful people, had wonderful times, created wonderful memories, and that is enough. Instead of being irritated that all this was tainted by unfamiliar faces and the passing of time, I'm just going to set down these annoyances and wishes and keep going. the friends that I made there that matter will always stick around. The best memories will stand out long after the others have faded. But that's all I need- a fond memory.

So here's to you, 211. Thank you for the times.

A Mexico Winter

Yes, I am FINALLY getting around to telling you about my mexico trip. a month later. it's been busy, ok? and editing all those photos is no quick and easy feat!!

This is going to be more of a picture post that an explain-y post... I'll basically just give you a quick rundown of the best moments :)

My family was in mexico for a spiritual sufi retreat. We flew into peurto vallarta and spent one day there. We had dinner on the beach and walked around a bit and slept at a really cute and low-key hotel. The next day we had breakfast at a nice open-air place and then walked around some more- and then that afternoon we went back to the airport to meet up with our group. There were, oh, about 30 of us... and we all piled onto a tour bus and drove about 1.5 hours to Chacala, a really wonderful and really small rural jungle town nestled right on the beach. The retreat center was about a five minute walk from the actual town, and was so BEAUTIFUL!!!! open air dining area, wonderful rooms, a garden, a beautiful spa... rural but at the same time luxurious. it was probably one of the most amazing places I have ever been.

Anyways, we spent a full week there- the food was fantastic, the sufi stuff was enlightening, the ocean was beautiful and a great temperature, and the people were all so wonderful! My sister, myself, and the only other young girl there made friends with a bunch of the people that worked there. One night we hung out up at the spa with some baby pacificos, another night we made a campfire on the beach... it was such a wonderful, fun time, and the people were so awesome :)

speaking of baby pacificos, it was really nice being able to go to a restaurant or the bar at the retreat center and order something to drink :) I had a really delicious pina colada when my fam went out to dinner one night, and i swear the coronas taste better in mexico. haha^^

I spent a lot of time laying out by the beach reading, listening to music, writing, etc... we took a hike up the mountain one day which felt sooo good and was really beautiful.

I seriously can't wait to go back. I had such an amazing time and I really want to see everyone there again! hopefully i'll be able to go back for many years to come.

Here are (a ton) of pics:

mint nail polish! and 30 day challenge-18

 Last night, i dreamed that i painted my nails with mint green nail polish. Then, at the store today, i saw some! So i bought it and painted my nails haha. What is with mint green nail polish anyways? why is it a trend? i mean, its cute, but its still an awfully weird color to put on your nails.

anyways, today's challenge is:
Day 18 – Something that makes you laugh.

do you guys like how i've managed to stretch this 30 day challenge into like 45 days? haha.

there are lots of things that make me laugh... so here are just a few:

1. Eddie Izzard's Dressed to Kill performance. I love his british historical humor.
2. Nick Swardson. Any of it.
3. This picture of me trying to take a picture of the 2010 drawing on my ankle last year:

4. textsfromlastnight.com
5. a lot of the people that post on craigslist
6. natalie tran's community channel:

7. Viral Video Film School:

8. Family guy. Cliche, but it's so good.
9. the 211 video i made last year.
10. psych. probably one of the best shows ever, i'd say. also parks and recreation.

Movie Mondays: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

 Hey everyone,
today's movie monday is going to be short and sweet because I'm really exhausted right now and I still have homework to do. I went back and forth about whether to use Eternal Sunshine for a movie monday, because I feel like a lot of people have already heard about it/seen it. It's one of my favorite movies though and I'm too tired to try to think of a different movie to do, so ESOTSM it is :)

 I love this movie so much. I can watch it over and over again and I literally never get bored with it. Kate Winslet is hands down one of my favorite actresses, and Jim Carey totally nails this dramatic role. It's so, so good.

The story centers around Joel (Jim Carey), who gets involved with Clementine (Kate Winslet). The two have a somewhat turbulant relationship which ends with a nasty breakup. The next time Joel sees Clem, she appears to have no recollection of who he is.

So, Joel finds out that Clem has gone to this doctor's office that specializes in altering people's memories. Basically, you go to their office, they map out your brain, you go home and throw out everything that reminds you of the person you want to forget, and then you take some sleeping pills and the technicians come to your house in the middle of the night and perform a procedure with lots of wires and computers to erase all your memories of a person from your mind. Crazy, eh?

Joel decides that he's going to get the procedure done too, but halfway through having his memory erased he changes his mind. The majority of the movie is a race through Joel's memories of Clem as he tries to wake up or hold onto a piece of her.

It's a fantastic movie, it really, really is. One of my very favorites. I know I say that every week but seriously, this is probably like top 3 :)

Here's the trailer:



I will say that that trailer doesn't really do the film justice though... For some reason I couldn't find a really good one :( anyways, watch this.

A quote

I'm doing homework right now (boatloads of it), and found a quote that I thought was particularly interesting in the midst of my philosophy reading. I like it because it reminds me of many people in the world today, who become attached to a belief and refuse to acknowledge that anything else might be true.

The passage I was reading is from an essay titled "The Ethics of Belief" by British philosopher and mathematician William K Clifford (1845-1879), originally published in Contemporary Review, 1877.  

"If a man, holding a belief which he was taught in childhood or persuaded of afterwards, keeps down and pushes away any doubts which arise about it in his mind, purposely avoids the reading of books and the company of men that call into question or discuss it, and regards as impious those questions which cannot easily be asked without disturbing it- the life of that man is one long sin against mankind..."

just something to think about on this chilly saturday afternoon :)

30 Day Challenge- 17

 Day 17 - Your highs and lows of this past year.

This year has been a pretty crazy one! A lot has happened and changed since February 5th, 2010. I had my telethon job at LC, which was ok sometimes and a bummer at other times... My mom and my sis came to visit me (separately) in Portland, both occasions were really wonderful... The last few months of school and packing and being away from my friends and boyfriend in portland were kind of rough, but in retrospect I'm so glad I spent the year up there. I got into the media arts program at u of a which was pretty sweet, I got an awesome job at mama eddas and met some of the most wonderful people ever (ups!)... I had such an amazing summer full of friends and trips and fun... school has been pretty good so far this year, I'm happy to be where I am, although the super ridiculous hot weather was a downer for a bit (and now it's abnormally cold!!)...
September, October, and November seemed to fly by in a whirlwind of school and little trips and holidays here and there... in December I spent a whole month with my family which was so, so, nice. We went to mexico and I absolutely fell in love with the place we were staying. A big downer was that my grandmother fell ill during this time and passed away about a week after we got back, so that was really difficult. On the upside though it meant I got to see a lot of my family that I otherwise wouldn't have seen for quite a while. Now stewie and I are back in tucson living our simple daily lives, and I'm quite happy with where I am. I am so excited for the future, too- greece in june, head chef at the youth retreat in july, being a junior in the fall with only 2 years left till graduation (!!!!!!!!)... It's been a good year, and I think the next one will be just as wonderful :)

<3
Em

30 Day Challenge- 16

Day 16 - Your views on mainstream music.

Stewie and I were just talking about this this other day, actually, when a mumford and sons song came on the radio.

We are both agree that mainstream music is typically mediocre- poor lyrics, crappy instrumentals, no creativity, and a very high chance that the artist neither wrote the song nor can sing it half as well live. so, we've grown to pretty much automatically dislike mainstream music, not only because of the above reasons but because it's just generally "uncool". It's much more hip to like indie underground stuff that has some soul to it.

Plus, these indie bands aren't "sell-outs", like so many mainstream artists- meaning, they didn't compromise the message they wanted to send or the style they were going for in order to appeal to the masses and get famous and make lots of money.

But then there's always the dilemma of some of our fave indie bands becoming mainstream. For a long time Kings of Leon and Modest Mouse and bands such as these were mostly unknown to the general public... but now you hear their songs on the radio very frequently. Do we stop liking them just because they're more mainstream? well, that would seem silly and shallow.... so as long as their music is still good, i keep listening.

So in summary- I don't like most mainstream artists and I do like a large number of indie artist. When an indie band gets "discovered" and becomes mainstream, it's ok but only if their music is still good and they haven't compromised their style.

The end :)