Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A few more movies and books and such

Slowly adding to the 365 movie list.... obviously I'm falling behind. What am I at like 7 now? and it's already been 31 days in 2012. Whoops. And that's 7 including the two that I'm adding right now.

Number 6 is the Royal Tenenbaums: January 30th, 4 out of 5 stars, I watched the large majority of this movie including the ending but missed about 20 minutes (including commercial time) somewhere in the middle while I was doing something for my great grandma who I was spending time with this weekend. I feel like I would have enjoyed it more had I actually gotten to see the whole part with Richie.... did he get sick? I came back to the part where he had shaved his head and had all these IV's sticking out of him and was in the little tent thing with Margot, which I thought was totally crazy when they were kissing at first because I forgot she was adopted or whatever, but still... it was weird. Other than that I liked all the characters and the storyline of the movie.

Movie number 7 was the Ides of March: January 31st, 5 out of 5 stars. I don't know why I even rented this movie because I really had no real desire to watch it at first. I hadn't heard a whole lot about the movie other than the actors that were in it and I knew had something to do with politics. I was in Meijer with my friend Nicole tonight when I stopped by the RedBox hoping to rent the Beginners, but they didn't have it, so I took a chance. I'm so glad i rented this movie because I thought it was amazing, intense, with great acting and great directing. The story was dark and twisted in a way only politics could spew, which is always intriguing besides the fact that the cast for this film is absolutely amazing.

I also finished Safe Haven, bringing up my total for books completed in 2012 to two.... Water for Elephants, and Safe Haven. I recently started Catcher in the Rye, which I somehow skipped-over in grade school, kind of like To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm also still reading Jane Eyre on my phone, which I'm really enjoying at the moment. After our next book club meeting I'll start Extremely Loud and Incredible Close which I'm super excited about seeing as I personally requested in for us to read. Too many books and so little time! I wish I could just read books for a living.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

RIP Etta James

Etta James was one of the greatest artist of her time. Her music has inspired me in every way, shape and form. Her voice, her soul, her style, Ms. James' songs have always been some of my favorite to dance to. I listen to Etta when I'm sad, when I'm happy, when I'm lonely, or just when I need something to fill my time. I thank Ms. James for sharing her gift with me and the world.



Etta's version of At Last is beautiful, but my all time favorite song is Sunday Kind of Love. I love everything about this song and will never get enough of it.


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

New Music Loves

Recently found a bunch of music I'm absolutely in love with now and I can't help but share.

James Vincent McMorrow- Higher Love cover

James Vincent McMorrow- Hear the Noise that Moves so Soft and Low

The Art of Sleeping- Colourblind

The Honey Trees- To Be With You

The Boy Who Trapped the Sun- Copper Down

Loheem- Colorfield


I hope you enjoyed these artist gifts as much as I did.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Goals For 2012

I know it's already the 9th so maybe this is a little late, but I wanted to put down some of the goals I have set for myself for 2012.


  • set aside at least an hour a day to read
  • don't eat when bored
  • compliment people more when I admire something they're wearing or what they are doing
  • meet more people
  • get out more: go study in public, go read in a coffee shop
  • get a job/save money
  • take more yoga classes and practice meditation
  • see at least one artist that I admire in concert
  • graduate from college
  • travel
  • stick with running
I hope everyone who set goals this year is sticking with them and achieving new thing. Good luck to all who make resolutions or set goals for 2012!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

A Look Back on Winter Break

Seeing as this will most likely be my last official "Winter Break," it made me realize that 2012 will bring the end of my undergraduate career (or at least I hope so). This break was really about sleeping in and relaxing and de-stressing.

I stayed in my pajamas, watched movies, and read books in front of the fire place.
I spent some wonderful time with my family.
I spent some amazing and fun times with my friends.
I caught up with people.
I went out for drinks.
I went to my favorite coffee shops.
I browsed the book store from long periods of time.
I went to see White Christmas with Sandy.
I went to see Sherlock Holmes with my Mom.
I had lunch with my cousin.
I spent New Years randomly dancing in the street.

Sometimes I miss just being home and it makes me not want to go back to school, but at the same time, I like living away from home. I like learning. I like that I still get scheduled breaks. We'll see what the semester brings. 

-S

books read: 0/50
movies watched: 4/360

Friday, January 6, 2012

365 Movies in 2012

Saw a 365 movie challenge on tumblr and thought "what the heck."

Movies I've watched this year other than Crazy Stupid Love, and that I've never seen before...

- X Men: First Stand- watched January 1st, 3 out of 5 stars. Definitely not my favorite X- Men movie.
- One Day- watched January 5th, 3 out of 5 stars. I loved the book and the movie was just ok. It just wasn't anything special.
- Singing in the Rain- watched January 6th, 5 out of 5 stars. It's hard to believe I've never actually seen this movie other than short clips, but I absolutely adored it. Gene Kelly, and the tap dancing, and the clothing, everything.
- Midnight in Paris: watched January 7th, 5 out of 5 stars. I loved the concept of this movie and of course Paris!

- New Years Eve: watched January 9th, 4 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed this movie. I am a sucker for romantic and spontaneous things, plus I'm in love with New York City.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!!


Hope everyone had a wonderful start to their 2012. I spent the night with one of my best friends, Gabby, downtown TC. We went to watch the cherry drop and dance around in the middle of the street/get smashed by crowds of people. 
Then we came back to my house and ate gummies, drank a little and watch X-Men: First Class till the wee hours of the morning. Now I'm exhausted!
Oh and I don't think either of us were that impressed by First Class. It seemed a bit slow going at times, it was super long, and I feel like they left out a lot of details or something that they could have added. The only good part was how many jokes we could make about Kevin Bacon and gingers.
Today it's finally snowing, we're supposed to get a couple inches or more of accumulation which should be good, but it hasn't even started to stick on the ground at all yet, so we'll see.

2011 wasn't exactly the best year for me. It definitely had it's ups and downs, but I truly feel like 2012 is going to be good to me. 
I hope all of your dreams come true this year.