SAG Awards 2011- Best Dressed

 Sofia Vergara in Roberto Cavalli

Hilary Swank in Versace

Tina Fey in Oscar DelaRenta

Sara Hyland in Max Mara

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{Movie Review} No Strings Attached

Natalie Portman stars as Emma in this romantic comedy opposite Ashton Kutcher as Adam.  The movie opens with a young version of Emma and Adam fifteen years ago at sleep away camp.  Emma is consoling Adam on a bench and he takes the opportunity to try to hook up with her. The two run into each other 10 years later, during a difficult time in Emma's life and then again 4 years later in a park where Emma meets Adam's girlfriend, Vanessa.  It is at this time that Adam works up the nerve to ask Emma for her phone number.  Fast forward another year and we meet up with Adam...the son of a television celebrity working for a show as an assistant, even though he has aspirations of becoming a script writer.  We learn he and Vanessa have broken up several months ago.  On a chance visit to his father we discover that Dad has started a relationship with Adam's ex.  Devastated, he gets insanely drunk and starts calling all the women on his contact list looking for the one who is willing to have a one night stand with him. He wakes up naked the next morning on Emma's couch, with no recollection to what happened the night before.The two of them end of having sex before Emma leaves to work at the hospital that morning and later come to an agreement that they would be "friends with benefits". 

Without giving away the rest of the movie, I have to say it was laugh out loud funny.  We've become so accustomed to seeing Natalie Portman in dramas that it was refreshing to see her doing another genre.  Ashton Kutcher didn't disappoint in this movie, which I didn't expect him to seeing that he is known for working in comedies.

From a scale of 1-5 Pennies for My Thoughts, 5 being amazingly good: It was pretty good.  It was filled with adult humor, laugh out loud situations, and of course, sex.  Would I pay full price to see this movie?  Maybe not. It is a great movie to take in as a matinee on a Sunday afternoon when you just want to have some great laughs with friends or cuddle with your boyfriend/husband/fiance/"friend with benefits".

I would give it 3 and a half Pennies for My Thoughts.

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Just Checking In....

Happy Saturday!

* I haven't purchased a single thing in 29 days....even though I am very proud of that, I am itching to get to a mall...PRONTO!

* Have loaded up my iPod with new tunes I have discovered. Love it.

* Looking forward to visiting some dear friends this afternoon I haven't seen in over 6 months. Being in the company of good friends is always refreshing to the soul!

* Realized no matter how old certain people are, they never quite outgrow their high school mentality...

* Extremely happy for my Lil Diva...she has been selected to sing songs from her favorite Broadway play "WICKED" in an upcoming production.  She is over the moon....and so am I.

Photo: 

Don't remember honestly where I found it. If it happens to be your blog and you know, please let me know so I can give it proper credit. Thank you!

{I Covet} Elie Saab Spring 2011 Couture Collection

Wednesday Words of Wisdom

{Color My World} RED

 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday!

Monday Muse

After the extremely cold temperatures of the past few days, I wish I could be somewhere warm and exotic soaking up the rays. I can not wait for Spring to arrive. Will be counting down the days.

This weekend was spent partially trying to nurse this wretched cold that doesn't seem to want to go away completely, and tending to errands, rehearsals, and rites of passage.

Some of the highlights:

* selected Lil Man's suit for his First Holy Communion

* completed a photo shoot with him (not an easy task) and captured the perfect photo for his invitations

* watched as he received the sacrament of reconciliation

* finally caught a glimpse of the boy Lil Diva has been crushing on. (too cute)

* spent the afternoon watching Pride & Prejudice with Lil Diva

* was surprised with a piping hot cup of green tea with honey & lemon in bed by Mr. Man

Wishing everyone a very Happy Monday and a great start to the new week!

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{Friday Five} Things I Loved About This Week

1} Receiving 2 lovely books and mini calendar from a blog giveaway I won from Misadventures with Andi.

2} Spending some quality time with my mother.

 

3} Tasting French Macarons for the very first time.

 

4} Enjoying the streets of NYC with Mr. Man, Lil Diva, & Lil Man.

5} And last, but not least, even though we were scheduled to get snow twice this week, Mother Nature decided to spare us.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

photos {1} & {3} are my own; photos {2}. {4} & {5} found here

Wednesday Words of Wisdom

If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.

- John D. Rockefeller

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Monday Muse: My Top 3 for Best Dressed at the 2011 Golden Globes

 Oliva Wilde in Marchesa

Anne Hathaway in Giorgio Armani Prive

Sofia Vergara in Vera Wang

Weekend Confession: Successful Curbing

I have a confession to make.....

I have not made any purchases since December 31st.  I  might also add, I have not touched my credit card, AT ALL, since December 31st, 2010. 

I am quite proud of myself.  Yes, I do consider myself a bit of a shopaholic.  But unlike Rebecca Bloomwood (Confessions of a Shopaholic), I do not max out my credit cards on designer shoes/clothing.  Most of the items I purchase are on sale or marked down drastically.  The key question remains....was it a necessary purchase?  Often times, no.  Most often it was purely for the thrill of the hunt. Finding something that originally cost say $100 and getting it for $20 invigorated me.  Does the item purchased go unused? No. Was it a dire necessity? Again, no.  Twenty dollars here, another there, does add up.  So I decided to challenge myself as Shannon from The Simply Luxurious Life suggested in her New Year's newsletter, dedicate a week in which you do not make any purchases.  I wanted to prove that I can be disciplined enough.   Here is the excerpt from the newsletter.

• One Week of No Spending

         -Initially this may seem like a difficult task, but when Oprah and Suze Orman suggested

           this for their debt diet, I couldn't help but ponder if this should be something for

           everyone to do. Think about what it requires for a moment: planning ahead, being

           aware of your priorities, creativity and discipline. We are all capable of each of these

           things, some with more work than others, but we are all indeed capable. So pull out

           your grocery list and plan a week ahead for meals one week, stay home on that one

           weekend and play board games or read, and slow down. You might be surprised at

           how it not only helps out your wallet, but instills an opportunity for lovely moments to

           transpire.




After reading this, I decided to take on the challenge. What did I notice?  It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  In fact, I was able to extend it.  It has now been 15 days and counting. Not sure how long I can last, I am hoping to make it till the end of the month, if not more; but the mere fact that I accomplished a whole extra week on top of the challenge is impressive to me, and to Mr. Man!

By the way, if you haven't checked out Shannon's blog yet, I strongly suggest you take a peek.  Her blog is so full of inspiration and ideas, it would be a crime not to share her blog with others.

Have a nice weekend!

Wednesday Words of Wisdom

“I don't understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little - if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that's the day she has a date with destiny. And it's best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.”

-Coco Chanel

Monday Movie Review: Black Swan

I am a huge Natalie Portman fan....since the very first time I saw her performance in The Professional at the tender age of 11.  So it was no surprise I wanted to see her performance in The Black Swan.  An added bonus, the movie is about the world of ballet. 

There is only word to describe what I thought of the movie.....Riveting!

Just when you think Natalie Portman has shown us what she is made of in her prior movies, she once again shocks us with what else she has in her arsenal.  In interviews she states she trained a full year prior to filming the movie, so who you see dancing is not a stunt double, but Miss Natalie Portman.


The storyline, a well disciplined, dedicated dancer who dreams of becoming the lead ballerina in the company's gripping performance of Swan Lake, takes you through the many experiences a dancer goes through when competing for the top spot.  They worry about weight gain, battle anorexia, constantly work on their technique and deal with jealousy from fellow company members.  These experiences are enough to push some ballerinas over the edge.....and Darren Aronofsky seamlessly displays this in such a way that you feel you are standing right beside Nina (Natalie Portman's character) as she spirals out of control.  Natalie Portman delivers such a believable performance that you forget this is a character she is portraying, not real life.

I would be shockingly surprised if Natalie does not receive the Oscar for this performance.  The acclaim the film has been receiving thus far is incredibly well deserved.  It is definitely worth watching.

Thrifty Thursday: Zoya

I have a confession to make.

I am a bit of a "like" addict on Facebook.  When I am on, I tend to run the brands and things I love on the search bar to see of there is an official FB page for the particular product.  To some this may seem "nerdy" or "pointless".  Let's just say I sometimes run into some pretty good discounts or bargains doing this "nerdily pointless" activity.

Like today.....

I'd just finished polishing my nails and still had the bottle of nail polish in front of me when I logged into Facebook.  I looked at the name and thought....you guessed it... "Wonder if they have a Facebook page?"  I typed in "ZOYA" and sure enough, they do.  But even before I liked the page I saw four letters that always perk me up F-R-E-E. Free?  Free what?  If you "like" their page, you get a special code for 3 bottles of your choice nail lacquer!

Are you still here?  What are you waiting for?  Offer is only good through January 7th.  You pay only shipping.  Happy shopping!

P.S. In case you were wondering which colors I selected....I picked up Marcella, Flowie (pictured above) and Hermina.

Wednesday Words of Wisdom

It's nice to be important, but important to be nice.  I honestly try to live my life everyday from the point of view of gratitude and appreciation.

- Miranda Kerr

Monday Muse : The Late Edition

 *Sorry, this is a day late....my physician gave me an antibiotic to cure a sinus infection I have been battling.  Let's just say the meds, made me feel ten times worse! I was literally down for the count yesterday.  I seriously need to decipher how to have my blog post automatically. Any help would be greatly appreciated!*

I love books.

My family and friends are very much aware of my obsession with fashion, and makeup; perfume and music.... but when all else fails when deciding on the perfect gift for me, a book will always be very well received. Since my birthday and Christmas are about 7 weeks apart, I can always count on getting a fresh pile of books to read.

2010 was no different.  I am brimming with excitement to lose myself into the world of words.  I have a healthy selection of different genres from autobiographies, suspense, to inspirational.  These are the books I will be reading for the next few weeks.

* James Patterson Cross Fire

* Nicholas Sparks Safe Haven

* Syrie James Dracula, My Love

*Sophie Hannah The Wrong Mother

* Ricky Martin Me

* Pamela Keough Are you a Jackie or a Marilyn?

* Jordan Christy How to be a Hepburn in a Hilton World

What are you currently reading?

 Photo: China Vogue

Happy New Year!

 It's hard to believe that another year is behind us!

Our year started off a bit rough....but we remained positive and optimistic that things would soon look brighter, and they did.  I was able to accomplish some, not all, of the goals I aspired to do within 2010.  Since last year's list was a great motivational one, I decided I would keep it for 2011.

As for goals for my blog, I decided I wanted to give it some direction....I have discovered how much I love knowing what I can look forward to on a particular day at some of the blogs I follow, so I decided I would adopt a bit of a format for my little cyber home.  I figured I would start off small with 3 days (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) following a particular schedule.  As always, Wednesdays will continue to be dedicated as Wednesday Words of Wisdom.  I can not live without quotes and sayings that motivate my soul.  It brings a smile to my face to know that those same words are well received by someone else as well.

I can not wait to see what 2011 has in store!