Saturday, May 4, 2013

Happy Birthday, Audrey Hepburn!


Those who know me know that I am very passionate about the things I’m passionate about. Books. Rescue beagles. Tim Riggins. Rescue beagles named Riggins. If you get me talking about something or someone I adore, I generally can’t stop, so it should come as no surprise that today, on Audrey Hepburn’s birthday, all I want to do is gush about her.

So many of us want to be like Audrey. We throw on a black dress or some cropped pants and think, “This is so Audrey!” You can’t blame us. Audrey herself once said that her look was attainable and that women could look like her by buying large sunglasses and little sleeveless dresses.  And while it’s true that we can try our best to dress like Audrey—and while I’d never, ever want to question anything Audrey has said—I just don’t think any of us will ever really pull it off. Why? Because Audrey’s beauty was not about her ballet flats or her crisp white blouses. Audrey’s beauty came from being utterly and completely Audrey. Read about her work with UNICEF, listen to an interview of someone who knew her, watch thirty seconds of her on screen, and you’ll see that her beauty came from the inside. She was unique. She was kind. She was giving. She was Audrey.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t borrow a few life lessons from her. We can dedicate ourselves to helping others. We can be humble. We can remember that at the end of the day, our families and the people we love are more important than anything. We can do the things we love. We can be ourselves, because no one else can do it better.

And, you know, we can also try to dress like her because her look will never, ever go out of style.

Today, on what would have been Audrey’s 84th birthday, let’s remember what it is that we love about her so much. I’ve shared some of my favorite Audrey quotes below. Hopefully, they’ll bring a little bit of grace to everyone’s day, just like Audrey did.

“The world has always been cynical, and I think I’m a romantic at heart. I hope for better things, and I thank God the world is also full of people who want to be genuine and kind.”

 “I walk with my dogs which keeps me fit. I talk to my dogs, which keeps me sane. I can’t think of anything that makes one happier than to cuddle and play and to start the day with a warm puppy.”

“The greatest victory in my life has been to be able to live with myself, to accept my shortcomings and those of others. I’m a long way from being the human being I’d like to be. But I’ve decided I’m not so bad after all.”

“The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—that’s all that matters.”

Friday, February 8, 2013

Fab Flick Friday: Doctor Zhivago

As I trekked down to my mailbox tonight, I sort of felt like Yuri Andreyevich Zhivago making his way through Siberia.


Okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad, but this weather is definitely making me think of my favorite snow-filled movie, 1965’s Doctor Zhivago.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Mr. Darcy: Literature's Most Swoon-Worthy Jerk

Like any good book nerd with a beating heart, I’ve had a long-standing relationship with Fitzwilliam Darcy. I’ve daydreamed about redecorating Pemberley, justified his awkward proposal and swooned over his on-screen portrayals again and again. (If your mind immediately went to Colin Firth in the lake, congratulations! Your Thursday just got a little better.) Sure, I know he’s not quite perfect, but the minute someone else points out his flaws, I immediately become defensive. Okay, he’s a snob, but he’s got reasons! No, he’s not exactly rude, he’s just uncomfortable in social situations! Fortunately, since most people I know love the man as much as I do, these arguments are few and far between, but with this week’s 200th birthday of Pride and Prejudice, I have to stop and wonder: Has Darcy given us a lifelong affection for jerks?

Sunday, May 6, 2012

I've Got Your Number: You've Gotta Have It!


If someone were to ask me to name a few of my favorite authors, I’d probably still be rattling off my list come Memorial Day. (By the Fourth of July, they’d still be getting texts from me saying, “Elizabeth Gaskell! Did I mention Elizabeth Gaskell?”) There are the authors I get swept away with (Herman Wouk), the authors I look to as old friends (Jane Austen and the Brontes), the authors I can turn to for an adventure (Hemingway) and the authors who just make me feel proud to be a woman. (Love you, Candace Bushnell!) Then there are the few – the select few – who without fail can make me double over with laughter to the point where I actually have to put the book away in public for fear of being mistaken for a crazy person on the train.

Sophie Kinsella, I’m looking at you.


Friday, December 2, 2011

Fab Flick Friday: The Take

It’s December 2nd, and you know what that means…

‘Tis the season to watch a really awesome British miniseries about a mob family in the 1980s, starring perhaps the most talented actor out there today.

And talk about a coincidence - the first installment of The Take premieres on Encore tonight!


Saturday, October 29, 2011

Fab Flick...Saturday?: I Know What You Did Last Summer

Okay, okay, so I’m cheating a little bit. First I let so much time go between posts, then I have the nerve to make a Fab Flick Friday pick on a Saturday? But I can explain. Contrary to what you may be thinking, my lapse in blogging is not because I’ve been busy watching too much Mad Men, mourning Friday Night Lights, or Google-stalking Tom Hardy. I’ve just been focusing on my – dare I say it? – other writing. (Can we still be friends?) As for the switching up of movie night – it’s Halloween weekend, and it’s cold and rainy. I don’t know about you, but that tells me it’s the perfect time to make some hot cocoa, pop some Orville Redenbacher and watch the teen slasher hit, I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Listen, don’t judge me for not picking something scarier. If you were a sixteen-year-old girl when this movie came out, you’d have a special fondness for it too.



Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Literary Hunk of the Month: George Emerson


It's sad to say that the summer is nearing its end (though I have to admit, I kind of can't wait for new Fall boots and jackets!) While my posts may have been scarce this month, I can't let August come to a close without mentioning the one book I must read every single year: EM Forster's A Room with a View.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Fab Flick Friday: The Devil Wears Prada

If you're an Entourage fan like I am, this eighth and final season is probably leaving you with a feeling somewhere between excitement for what's going to happen and bittersweet anticipation of the looming end. (How will it all unfold with Ari and Mrs. Ari? Is Vince really fine with being sober? Will Johnny Drama eclipse Baby Bro's stardom?) With only five weeks to go, I can't help but wonder what I'll do with my Sunday nights without Vince and the boys. Fortunately, I do know that any time I need my Vinnie Chase fix - I mean, my Adrian Grenier fix - I can always turn to this week's Fab Flick Friday pick, The Devil Wears Prada.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Happy Birthday, Emily Bronte!


When I read Wuthering Heights for the first time, I had to stop and remind myself that Heathcliff was not a real person. His acts had only occurred on the page, his sneer created with paper and ink. The revenge he so passionately sought, even the meticulously drawn land between the Heights and Thrushcross Grange did not exist outside of the novel’s text. It was all the product of Emily Bronte’s brilliant mind and worthy hand. As a lifelong lover of books, this concept should not have thrown me, but it did, and if I’m being honest, every time I revisit Wuthering Heights, it still does. The world is so real, the characters so complex. The sorrows, the torment, the obsessions and the hatred are so deeply felt that I have never been able to put the book out of my mind when I place it back on the shelf. If that’s not the power of a true masterpiece, I don’t know what is.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Fab Flick Friday: Legally Blonde

Warning: What I’m about to say may make you feel old.

Ten years ago this week, Legally Blonde was released in theaters.

How is this possible? Looking at the facts, I know that it’s true, but I just can’t believe that Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods has been in my life for a full decade. (Of course, I’m so glad that she has been.) To celebrate the 10th anniversary of one of the most pink-infused, girl power movies of all time, I have to honor Legally Blonde as this week’s Fab Flick Friday pick.


Monday, July 11, 2011

Posh Knows Best

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, yesterday morning Posh and Becks welcomed their fourth child – their first daughter – Harper into the world.

Can we pause for a moment and consider how fashionable this girl is going to be? Her father is the most dapper guy on the planet, and her mother wrote the book on style.

Literally.

You know what I’m talking about. That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between by Victoria Beckham.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Fab Flick Friday: Funny Girl

I don’t know what the weather is like where you are, but when I woke up today, it was pitch black outside and there was a torrential downpour. Not exactly an ideal summer morning. It got me thinking about rainy day movies, those fantastic films that make you want to close the blinds, curl up on the couch with your dog and forget about whatever may be going on outdoors. On days like this, if I have no place to be, I don’t care how hard it’s raining as long as I have a hot cup of tea, my favorite blanket, and today’s Fab Flick Friday pick, 1968’s Funny Girl.


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Literary Hunk of the Month: Mr. Rochester

I don’t know about you, but in these lazy, hazy days of summer, there is nothing quite like a good book. (Of course, I say that about any time of year. For me, there is never anything quite like a good book.) Because of that, I have decided to start a new segment honoring those delectable and dashing heroes who recognize and appreciate the awesomeness in our fabulous, feisty heroines. In order to kick “Literary Hunk of the Month” off right, I have no choice but to bestow the first honor on my favorite hero from the bookshelf, Jane Eyre's Edward Fairfax Rochester.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Fab Flick Friday: Two for the Road

Fourth of July weekend. It’s a time for cookouts, jaunts to the beach, and if you’re very lucky, perhaps a long weekend away. In honor of that tradition (and because I’ve recently returned from a vacation of my own), I’ve chosen as this week’s Fab Flick Friday pick one of my favorite travel movies: Two for the Road, starring Albert Finney and my hero when it comes to everything in life, the incomparable Audrey Hepburn.



Friday, June 10, 2011

Fab Flick Friday: Dirty Dancing

There are some movies that will never get old. Whether you watch them five times or five hundred, they are always, always great.

Dirty Dancing is one of those movies.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Crush of the Week: Flashback Fun Edition - Who Doesn't Love....Zack Morris?

Zack Attack was more than a band Zack Morris dreamed up in his garage one day. A Zack Attack was what I used to get every Saturday morning when I watched Saved by the Bell.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Blossom: The Most Underrated Show of Our Generation?

My friends and I often discuss the TV shows we loved when we were growing up, and usually, the same few get mentioned. The Golden Girls. Murphy Brown. Empty Nest. We can never quite figure out why we loved sitcoms about senior citizens and news anchors when we were just kids (though I think a lot of Murphy’s appeal came from the running gag of her never keeping the same secretary for more than one episode), but one show that we often forget to mention – a show that actually dealt with someone close to our own age – is Blossom.


Monday, June 6, 2011

Flashback Fun Week! NKOTBSB - One Ticket, Millions of Memories

They say that money can’t buy happiness. The money I spent on a ticket for this past Saturday’s NKOTBSB show in Boston may disprove that.


Friday, June 3, 2011

Fab Flick Friday: Some Like It Hot

“I used to think as I looked over the Hollywood night, ‘There must be thousands of girls sitting alone like me, dreaming of becoming a movie star. But I’m not going to worry about them. I’m dreaming the hardest.’” ~Marilyn Monroe


Friday, May 27, 2011

Fab Flick Friday: Confessions of a Shopaholic

For many, Memorial Day means a long weekend spent firing up the grill. For some, it means something else:

Big sales.

In honor of that tradition, today’s Fab Flick Friday pick is Confessions of a Shopaholic – one of my favorite movies, based on one of my favorite books, involving one of my favorite activities.


Thursday, May 26, 2011

Who Doesn't Love...Robert Redford?

Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows that I adore Robert Redford.

I mean, the man can rock a turtleneck, a newsboy cap, a moustache….


He can even pull off this look. (And I don’t know anyone who could pull off this look.)


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

From the TV Vault: The Fabulous Foley Girls

If you’re a Glee fan, you’re probably pretty excited about tonight’s season finale. (The New Directions are going to Nationals!) But before Mr. Shu came along, there was another musical TV show that people like me waited in anticipation for every week. That show was called Rags to Riches.


Monday, May 9, 2011

Something Borrowed, Something Fabulous!

It’s always tricky when they make one of your favorite books into a movie. You’re ecstatic at the prospect, and hope the filmmakers do it justice. Still, in the back of your mind, maybe you think of adaptations of other books that didn’t turn out so great – the casting was wrong, or the writers missed the point, or the emotion of the piece just didn’t translate onto the screen. If you read last Thursday's blog entry, you know that I was pretty excited about the release of Something Borrowed, the new movie based on the novel by the fantastic Emily Giffin. One of my favorite books since its publication six years ago, I was thrilled that the trailer looked great, the actors seemed spot on, and best of all, the author had given the film her firm stamp of approval. This movie had to be wonderful – and as it turned out, it was even better than I expected.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Fab Flick Friday: One Fine Day

There are some things that get better with age. Vintage clothing. Certain cheeses. George Clooney.

That’s right, friends – Dr. Doug Ross turns fifty today!


Thursday, May 5, 2011

Author Spotlight: Emily Giffin

Every once in a while, you find an author whose words you immediately fall in love with. For me, that happened the first time I ever read Emily Giffin.

If you’ve never read any of Emily’s books, you may want to stop reading this blog right now, go to the nearest bookstore, and buy Something Borrowed. Or Baby Proof. Or everything she’s ever written.



Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Who Doesn't Love...Jordan Catalano?

When I was thirteen, I fell in love…or something.

He was brooding, elusive, endlessly frustrating, and, of course, the most beautiful boy any teenaged girl had ever seen.

Obviously, I’m talking about Jordan Catalano.



Monday, May 2, 2011

Flashback Fun! Merril Bainbridge


Not to go all Office Space on you, but I’m sure some of you are suffering from a case of the Mondays.

While there may not be an easy remedy, thinking back on simpler days of yore may brighten your mood just a bit. With that in mind, allow me to introduce a new segment I like to call… Flashback Fun!

First Up: Merril Bainbridge

Saturday, April 30, 2011

A Day of Joy: The Royal Wedding

Well, what a day yesterday was.

There was so much hype leading up to the Royal Wedding, but nothing could have prepared us for the thrill of the actual event. Now that the coaches are off the streets and the hats have all been put away, let’s take a look back on some of the day’s best moments.



Thursday, April 28, 2011

If Only We'd Gotten An Invite...

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a royal wedding tomorrow.

Squeal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unless you’re a baron, a Beckham or the butcher from Bucklebury, chances are you’ll be watching from the comfort of your couch like me. So while we polish up the tea sets and stock our remote controls with new batteries, let’s look back on some fictional TV weddings we all wish we’d been invited to.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A New Breed of Feminist: Candace Bushnell

For many, hearing the name Carrie Bradshaw conjures up images of Sarah Jessica Parker running through the streets of Manhattan in her Manolos, and that’s understandable. SJP played Carrie brilliantly through six seasons and two movies, and her fantastic portrayal launched the character into iconic status. But for me, when I hear that name, I think of the real life Carrie, the true feminist and cultural icon, Carrie’s creator, Candace Bushnell.

Monday, April 25, 2011

It's Royal Wedding Week!!!!

If your DVR is filled with specials about the road from Bucklebury to Buckingham Palace….
If you’re just as excited to find out what Posh and Becks are wearing on Friday as you are Will and Kate….
If you know what a fascinator is….
…You’re not alone! You’ve simply got Royal Wedding Fever. (More commonly known as RWF.) With only four days to go until the big event, symptoms of this syndrome may be getting stronger. As someone who is equally inflicted, let’s see if we can get through it together.

IT’S ROYAL WEDDING WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Excuse the outburst. It’s one of the many side effects.)

Friday, April 22, 2011

Fab Flick Friday: High Society

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the Royal Wedding is one week away.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In honor of the big event, it seems only fitting that my first pick for Fab Flick Friday be High Society, a movie starring our very own American Princess, Grace Kelly.



Thursday, April 21, 2011

We Girls Can Do Anything! Right, Barbie?

I’m sure you’ve heard those people who say, “I’d never let my daughter play with Barbie.” Maybe you are one of those people. If you are, I’m sure you’ve got your reasons – and, hey, that’s your prerogative -- but as someone who grew up with every inch of her room packed with Dream Houses and plastic Ferraris, let me vouch for the merits of my homegirl in pink.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

I Enjoy Being A Girl

        
Like anyone, I have my share of pet peeves. I can’t stand it when people, trying to sound intelligent, use “I” when proper grammar calls for “me.” Loud cell phone conversations in public places drive me bananas, and don’t even get me started on the whole “It is what it is” phrase. (When will people stop saying that?) But all of these are nothing compared to the one thing that not only irks but infuriates me beyond all others – when a fellow female, in a tone dripping with snideness remarks: “You’re such a girl.”