Obligatory Hurricane Sandy post

I want to thank Hurricane Sandy for bringing rough winds and high seas so the roads are treacherous and Ricky and I can spend the day at home and be safe inside.




Not to be confused with this Sandy, though...

Stay safe, everyone!

So Meta

We saw a picture my friend Megin put up of her fiancé Jon creating a cartoon version of himself. She called it meta. Ricky decided to take it further by drawing a cartoon of himself while looking at Jon drawing a cartoon of himself. The result is pretty great.

Fifty Fifty Movie Round Up: Movies 1-5

I wanted to recap the movies in fives, and we've finished the first five, so here we go!

1.  Hamlet 2.  This is not a good movie, but we did laugh a few times.  It's amusing, and I'm glad I saw it, but I'd be pissed off if I bought it or saw it in a theatre.  Steve Coogan has a horrible American accent, but he is funny for sure.  Also, Ricky liked seeing Elizabeth Shue... but how can you not, as she's the lead in Adventures in Babysitting?  Worth a rent, but have realistic expectations.

2.  The Secret of the Kells.  SO GOOD.  I've been meaning to see this since it was nominated for an Oscar a few years ago.  The artwork is really striking, and it's a good story.  Also the perfect length of just a bit over an hour.  Strongly recommend checking out.

3.  Frankenweenie (2012 stop animated version).  Really good.  Reminded us of classic Burton, as it has a lot of neat visual elements and has the heart that a lot of his earlier pieces have (Beeteljuice, Edward Scissorhands) that perhaps some of his newer stuff does not (Alice in Wonderland).  It was nice that he brought back a lot of the veterans from his earlier pieces, like Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, and Martin Landau.  I cried like a baby, even though I KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.  Really smart and clever.  Go see this movie in the theatres.

4.  I Love You Philip Morris.  This movie is made better by the fact that it is a true story and it pretty much happened the way they portrayed it in the movie.  It's definitely weird, but also loving and fascinating.  Jim Carrey is at his best when he's not playing the manic buffoon.  He's really good at this, and is quite engaging.  And you can't not love Ewan MacGreggor.  Rent it.

5.  United.  When I finished this movie, I thought "well that wasn't amazing".  But then I found out it was a TV movie and I decided I liked it for that.  David Tennant is great in it.  Dougray Scott plays his character quite oddly.  Nice supporting role of William from Downton Abbey.  Sadly he has the same fate as William did in DA.  (hint:  he dies)  Interesting story, and they do a good job at it for a TV movie.  Worth the rent. 

True moment during Parks and Rec...

"Jerry's like me, he checks all his websites by searching for them in Alta Vista!" ~Ricky

2012 Election Night Coverage is ON

Loyal and early readers may remember that Election night 2008 I spent it making tasty food, drinking a lot of wine, and drunk dialing Tim, Michnya, and Michelle.

This year election night cover is ON.  Don't think that me being four years older and wiser and me settling down with a fiance and cat is going to make me not spend the whole night recapping the night with electoral vote counts and photos of what was going on.  We're not sure if we'll be watching it at home or watching at Erin's house with Buffalo dip.  I think for Ricky's sake, it'll depend on how well Obama is doing so he's not too bummed at a friend's house.  Either way, I think I'll be making mitten cookies and a board.  The low rent version of this...

If we watch it at Matt's house, maybe I'll send him out on the street to do off site coverage. 

I also downloaded Blogger for my phone so I can blog the night away straight from my fancy phone no matter where I am.  Technology at work four years later!  Progress!

I also took some time to reread my 2008 series and it's amazing how different things are since 2008.  Most of my friends have since gotten married and even had children.  I work at a dream job in Boston.  And I met the love of my life and we've adopted a cat that we love (perhaps too much) and are making a great life together.  So yes, Mitt Romney, when you ask if your life is better than it was four years ago... I'd say yes.

Fall update

While we weren't able to pick apples, we were able to have a few of these bad Larrys:

Mmmmm.  Seriously, this is what makes fall for awesome.

Fall Inspiration

A few weeks ago, Ricky and I drove around the North Shore to check out farms.  We had two goals:

1.  Get decor inspiration for our wedding.
2.  Find a cider doughnut.

Due to insane lines, we only were successful with goal #1.  (seriously, I'm not waiting 45 minutes in line for a doughnut)  I'm hoping today we're successful with goal #2.

We want to decorate with pumpkins and berries and leaves for the tables, namely because they're so pretty and seasonal and I'm not crazy about flowers.  I'm also not crazy about someone else making the centerpieces when I am more than capable of doing it.  As are about half of my bridesmaids.

I loved the look of the different colors and shapes of all the pumpkins piled up!  I also found a neat project where you can decopage leaves onto white pumpkins.  I'm going to get a white pumpkin in a week or so and try this myself.  That could also be neat decor around the barn itself and also lining the gazebo where the ceremony is going to take place.

I also tried to take photos of flowers and pumpkins, but I came to the conclusion that I am not crazy about the outdoor flowers that are available.  I've been seeing a lot of mums, which look a little sad and dried.  Great for a yard, but not for a table.

This is about as far as I've come with wedding plans so far.  Just some pumpkins.

Fifty Fifty

Last week, I was at a party when my friend Meg told me about this challenge she's doing, where for a year she's reading fifty new books and watching fifty new movies.  I thought it sounded like a good idea, so I decided to start as well.  From September 30, 2012-October 1, 2013 (I realize it's over a year, but I liked that it was a rounded-ish number) I'm going to try and read 50 new books and watch 50 new films.  I figure it will not only help with expanding my reading/viewing horizons, but will also help keep stress down with wedding planning.

So far, I'm in decent shape on both fronts.  For the books, I have read Mindy Kaling's book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me and I am winding down on Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.  I am lucky in that Ricky was also an English major in college, so he has a big bookshelf of potential.  (not a euphemism).  For the movies, I am also in decent shape, though I'm not worried about the movies because it's easy for us to watch a movie a week, as we have a Netflix Subscription.  We've seen Hamlet 2, The Secret of the Kells, and the new Frankenweenie movie. 

I'm lucky to have a good amount of time each day on public transportation, so it's making the reading part easy.  Are there books I should check out?  Movies I should watch? 

I'm recording dates and reviews on my Pinterest Page, but I think I'll recap in tens here as well.  Keep an eye out, since I only have 2 books and 3 movies, for this to come in a few weeks.