Seasonal Flicks

Sassy recently posted on FB that she was watching her favorite Christmas movie, The Santa Clause. It is good - family friendly with nuances that make it relatable for adults, good elf representation, and Tim Allen at the height of his career (it came out the year Sassy was born).

I have a few of my own faves:

• Miracle on 34th Street (only the original 1947 version with Natale Wood and Edmund Gwenn) I love the mom - independent and principled
• The Family Man I'm a sucker for Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni is one of my favorite actresses - they have great chemistry here; a modern day Dickens/Capra redemption tale; one of the best lines is "welcome to earth"
• The Family Stone Genius casting - multi-layered authentic family dynamics 
• Love Actually Quirky, multi-layered with mostly happy endings all around; again, genius casting (Andrew Lincoln!); bonus points for use of one of the best Christmas songs ever (Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You)
• National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Two words - Clark Griswald; this is why Chevy Chase is an icon

I know a lot of people would add Die Hard and Elf here, but they don't quite make my favorites cut. This year I'll likely be on my own Christmas Eve so I'm going to watch a classic that I've actually never seen (shocking!) - Meet Me in St. Louis.

Unlimited Possibility

Royal History

This is a very concise and entertaining history lesson on the British monarchy.

Monthly Book Review: Oct/Nov 2016

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue – Story of Cameroonian immigrants trying to make their dreams come true in America. The descriptions of life in Africa and what they were willing to do here to make a better one made me appreciate my good fortune. I felt disappointed by the ending at first; however, came to realize all the characters had dreams – some realized, some not. Loved the narration.

Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory – Ms. Gregory seems to have a cult following so I thought I’d check her out and what could be better for me than a book mixing royalty with history?! I really liked this story of Henry VIII’s first wife and two sisters from the perspective of his older sister, Queen Margaret of Scotland. Women had power but had to wield it behind a man lest they be branded crazy. Sadly things haven’t changed much in 400+ years have they?!

The Girls by Emma Cline – A thinly veiled fictionalization of the Manson cult. A recommendation from a fellow Audible lover, I found it “meh”. Too many metaphors for me – felt the author was trying too hard; however, I could relate to the descriptions of the main character’s sense of longing and awkward adolescence.

Girl at War by Sara Novic – Very good. A young Yugoslavian girl discovers by blunt force that ethnicity (Serbian vs. Croatian or Bosnian) makes a big difference in a small world and that there are many facets to being strong.

Next Up:

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
You by Caroline Kepnes
The English German Girl by Jake Wallis Simons
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Relly

Monthly Book Review: Sept 2016

Better late than never, right?! :)

I didn't read as much last month - lots going on and I've been enjoying the beautiful Fall weather with friends and family.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane - I've been racking my brain for how to describe this one and all I come up with is "weird". I liked the first half and then ... it got weird. I stuck with it thinking there had to be something I was missing that would be revealed. Sadly there wasn't. I don't get it - maybe it's over my head - so two thumbs down.

Elizabeth II: Life of a Monarch - a good biography with excellent narration. The most interesting tidbits were about Princess Margaret, Elizabeth's sister.

The Lake House - Kate Morton may be my new (to me) favorite author. I really liked last month's The House at Riverton so chose this one and it did not disappoint. After reading two of Kate's books, I detect common themes of being careful how you judge as you don't know what goes on behind closed doors and the truth has different perspectives. I agree with both. I love a good period drama and the author likes to keep readers on their toes by adding some curveballs that delight until the very end. Win!

Night Road - This is by the same author as The Nightingale so I was expecting WWII theme. I was completely and pleasantly caught off guard. It gets a little too conveniently all sewn up with a tidy bow at the end but I really liked the story. I will definitely be looking to see if there are other Kristin Hannah books.

Secrets of a Charmed Life - I'm 2/3 through this one and it reads like a Kate Morton book so I like it (author is Susan Meissner and majority of the story is set in WWII).

Bonus:
I saw The Girl on the Train with a girlfriend last weekend because I just had to see how Hollywood handled it. I liked it - very true to the book and I would likely think it even better had I not read the book (the books are almost always better than the movie!).

Ink

The kids, particularly Sassy, have been on me for quite some time about getting a tattoo. As I am not into voluntary pain that's a tall order for me. It also freaks me out to think how a tattoo would look on old, crepey skin. And where would it go?

I told Sassy once many years ago that I'd get a fleur-de-lis tattoo with her. She has yet to dial it in that sometimes parents lie to their children to get them of their back.

So tonight at dinner Sassy brought up the three of us getting a tattoo. Something symbolic. I may be able to get on board with that. Thus began my search for the appropriate symbol. 

First I submitted this -

Then I sent this -

Then this -

Sassy's response was "In the search bar are you typing elf fantasy?"

I replied "LOTR" for Lord of the Rings.

I got "Lol mom lol".

My last attempt was this -

Evidently I'm getting "warmer" :)

Better Out Than In

I recently saw this on Facebook -
If you avoid conflict to keep the peace you start a war inside yourself.

Amen.