Cougar Town

My husband and I recently started watching Seasons 1 and 2 of Courtney Cox's Cougar Town on Netflix.  One of the cutest shows I've seen.  I totally want to be in their cul de sac crew.

Oh, and I really want a necklace like Courtney's character. 

 I found one on etsy.  Adore.

Two to Watch - Ondine and The Joneses

A few of you lately have been asking if I've read anything good lately.  I'm still plodding away on the extremely long last installation of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn (I know, I know - really intellectually stimulating) but we watched a couple of good movies the other night that I thought I'd share.  I don't remember hearing about either of them when they were in the theaters (but then again, I could have just been living under a rock).  Either way, I think they were both worth watching.

The first was Ondine which stars Colin Farrell who is an Irish Fisherman who catches a girl in his fishing net one day.  His handicapped daughter, Annie and he befriend the girl whom they believe is a Selkie, or mermaid.  It took me a few minutes to get into it but the end was well worth it - it took me for a turn that I didn't even remotely see coming.  It sounds fantastical but in the end you'll see it is grounded in reality.  I really recommend it.  Here's a review for you to get more info.

The other one we watched (aptly named for our family!) is The Joneses which stars Demi Moore and David Duchovney (who I've become a big fan of since we started watching Californication).  The wealthy and seemingly perfect Jones family has the envy of everyone around.  But they've got a very bizarre little secret...watch it yourself to find out!

Have you seen any good movies (in theaters or at home) lately to recommend?

Happy New Year to all!

Blast from the past

Yesterday I was reminded of three things that I hadn't thought about in AGES since I was much, much younger.  It is funny how things happen in threes, isn't it?

First, I was reading Jamie's blog and saw her post about bajas.  Do you remember those?  My brother and I begged my Dad to buy us one when we were visiting Cherokee, NC and I think we were them every day for one winter.  They were so itchy...why did we think they were so cool?!

Then, later that evening, my husband and I were looking through the Netflix instant stream on the tv and were having trouble agreeing on a movie (par for the course).  We both got to Center Stage and were so excited about it.  I forgot how good (and cheesy!) that movie was.  The weirdest thing was how old everything looked all of a sudden - it was like I was watching a movie from the 70's or something.  Still love it!  If you haven't seen it, watch it!

And then, right before I was hitting the sack, I got an email from my friend Reeves who reminded me of this French rap song that we used to listen on repeat when we were in high school (on mixed tapes obvi).  Her sister had a French exchange student who told Reeves about this song.  If you haven't heard it, you should listen to it...is it that good or is it just that it brings back memories?!



Have you been reminded of anything lately from your past that you had forgotten all about?

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Sweet By and By

I'll give you some advance warning: Neither of these recommendations are particularly uplifting, nor cheerful.  They are, however, both meaningful, poignant stories that truly touched me.  And I came across both purely by accident - or luck.

When I was at the beach with my family, I was browsing through the Quarter Moon Bookstore in Topsail, NC (adorable if you ever get the chance to visit!) and came across The Sweet By and By by Todd Johnson.  I clearly didn't read the back as well as I should have - I read something about five friends and set in NC and was sold.  If I had bothered to read the entire synopsis on the back cover, I would have realized that these friends were not your average chick lit subjects since the story took place in a Nursing Home in NC. 

The characters are witty, funny, and real.  It is not a typical book I would read but I ended up loving it.  One of the best things I took from the book was something one of the characters talked about: One of the worst things to think about/talk about is aging and death yet it is something we all go through.  For all those NC girls, it is also a fun read to hear about parts of our State! 

And, as if old people in a nursing home wasn't cheery enough, I got The Boy in the Striped Pajamas on Netflix last night.  It was one of those that Netflix more or less "picked" for me based on my ratings of similar genres.  I usually prefer reading about WWII as opposed to films because somehow it is almost too gruesome to watch but this movie was fascinating.  (And I found out when researching for this post that it was based on a book so I can only imagine that is a great read!) 

It was set in Germany during the Holocaust but told the story from the perspective of the son of a Nazi Officer.  Bruno is 8 years old and his father moves his family out to the country so that he can oversee a gruesome concentration camp.  Bruno is torn from his friends and the life that he knew but has a great imagination and makes the best of things by exploring all around the countryside.  He eventually finds his way to the concentration camp and sees a little boy in "striped pajamas" on the inside of the fence that he befriends.  I can't give too much more info but let me assure you this is a powerful, wonderful movie!

Funny.

We love Netflix.  It allows us to watch shows like Lost and 24 in back to back episodes.  We also love getting movies.  My favorite thing about Netflix is also my husband's least favorite: I control the queue.  I try to pick things that he will like peppered with a few chick flicks when I think I can squeeze them in without him pitching too much of a fit. 

Every once in a while I'll pick a good indepdent that makes us both really happy and last night was point in case: Mike Judge's Extract.  If you haven't seen it, we both recommend it.  If you aren't familiar, Mike Judge is the genius who created Office Space, King of the Hill and Beavis and Butthead (not my favorite but other people like it!).  Many of the characters from Office Space pop up in Extract. 

Extract stars Jason Bateman and a scraggly looking Ben Affleck.  Every time I thought I could see another generic plot turn happen, I'd be wrong!  It kept us laughing and very entertained.  Here's the synopsis provided by IMDB:

Joel, the owner of an extract manufacturing plant, constantly finds himself in precarious situations that steadily worsen by the minute. First, his soon-to-be floor manager acquires a serious injury in a machine malfunctioning accident that subsequently endangers the wellbeing of his company. Second, his personal life doesn't fair much better when he takes the advice of his bartending friend Dean during a drug-induced brainstorming session on how to test his wife's faithfulness. Finally, compounding these catastrophes is new employee Cindy, who happens to be a scam artist intent on milking the company for all its worth. Now, Joel must attempt to piece his company and his marriage back together all while trying to figure out what he's really after in life.

Check it out. 

My new favorite show

Finished day 1 of my big meeting week.  One day down, three days to go.  Woohoo!   Turkey tacos and low key dinner for us tonight.  While the meat simmered, I settled onto the couch and we started watching TLC's show Inedible to Incredible with Chef John Besh.  I've never heard of this guy but oh my gosh, this show is hilarious.  I don't know how he can keep a straight face. 

Here's the premise:

A seemingly normal person thinks they are a great cook.  They torture their family and friends with dishes they concoct and finally somebody can't take it anymore and they call in Chef Besh for an intervention.  First, he has them cook their specialty dishes and he tastes them (ew).  Then he explains what is gross about the food.  Then he teaches them how to cook something similar (but normal).  After each dish that he teaches them to make, they have to taste their old dish.  Then they have to recreate the new dishes and the taste test goes to their friends and family. 

Here's an example from the episode I saw today:

Deven's dish specialties:
cornflake and strawberry (overcooked) burgers
adult baby food finished off with frozen meat balls and cheese
turtle steak with fig newtons (it isn't turtle meat but instead some kind of charred mystery meat in the shape of a turtle)

Chef Besh teaches her to make:
burger sliders three ways (pork, chicken and beef)
green salad with vinagrette
grilled skirt steak with a fig glaze

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode (these are all from the lady learning to cook):

[referencing the adult baby food]: These vegetables can cook for hours.  They don't burn.

[referencing how long she cooks the turtle steak]: I cook it until the smoke clears.

I never knew you should taste things as you go along.  Don't throw crap into a pot and have people taste it for the first time when you serve it.

[after learning how to make a normal burger on a grill, not in a pile of grease]: At least I won't burn the crap out of it.  It's good to know when meat is done.

I have made love to every piece of this meat. 

I'm actually embarassed that I have fed you any of my slop.

Um, Devon, yeah you are.

Fingers Crossed!

I am addicted to American Idol.  It is my guilty pleasure and I don't care who knows.  It all started back when I was living in the UK watching Simon Cowell's original Pop Idol.  The only shows better than that at that time were Ready Steady Cook and Cilla Black's Moment of Truth.  I don't know how on earth those didn't make it to America...

Anyway, unfortunately I am like those annoying people who complain about politics ALL the time except they didn't exercise their right to vote.  I don't spend the money to vote on American Idol, I just prefer to yell at the television like a crazy person.

That said, if I were going to vote, it would be for Lee.  He's awesome.  So, here's hoping for a big win for him tonight!  Too bad I was too busy at book club drinking wine last night with the girls to get to see their final performances.  First show I've missed all season.  Sadly, I'm not kidding.  My husband said Crystal smoked him last night.  We shall see...

Watch It: Taking Chance

Taking Chance (1998). Based on a true story. Kevin Bacon plays Lt.Col. Mike Strobl who volunteers to take the body of Marine Chance Phelps (age 19) back to his small Wyoming home town.

I never heard anything about this movie before we watched it but I loved it (and my husband did too!) and highly recommend it. Keep a box of tissues nearby; it's powerful.

Check out the USA Today article about it here.