I'd Like to Thank the Academy

Today was a big day for me, I achieved a goal today, a goal I've worked towards for many years but finally achieved this year: I have now seen every movie nominated for Best Picture in this years Academy Awards. It wasn't easy, it took many hours, because most of the movies this year are pretty freaking long. But I persevered and today my dream became a reality. So if you'll indulge me, below is the Academy Award acceptance speech. I saw all nine movies people, I earned this!!

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I can't believe this is happening, it's such a surprise! I've worked so long and hard to reach this point and I never thought it would come. I came so close last year, but I just couldn't bring myself to see Tree of Life or War Horse, I hate horses. I didn't do this alone though, and I have so many people to thank.

I'd like to thank Red Box for having Beasts of the Southern Wild on DVD, that was the least expensive movie to see and when you're seeing 9 every penny counts.

I'd like to thank my Flickster app and my Alamo Drafthouse app for keeping my up on movie times and locations. This takes a lot of planning and I couldn't have done without you.

Of course Alamo Drafthouse your beer and Queso Magnifico got me through so many movies. I just know I couldn't have handled Django Unchanined or Les Miserables without it. You've always been there for me, movie wise and I appreciate it more than you know. Also your showing of the Oscar nominated shorts every year gives me a movie street cred I couldn't get anywhere else.

To the Arbor Theater for showing any of the movies I couldn't catch at Alamo. We see each other every January as we celebrate this time of year and I cherish those visits. I also appreciate your large senior citizen clientele for keeping me abreast of the latest Chico fashions and loudly whispering plot points, just in case I didn't catch them.

For once I'd like to thank the Gateway theater for the 3D showing of Life of Pi, the 3D helped make that movie and for once, you came through.

To Les Mis for showing me what misery truly is. 

To my thick white shawl I use as a blanket, I couldn't have made it through the long freezing hours spent at the Arbor theater without you. I know they have to preserve their over 65 audience, but it gets so damn cold.

(Cue Music)

I know they're trying to play me of, but I just need one more moment!

To Ben Affleck, thank you for making my favorite movie of the year. I believed in you, even during the Gigli days and today I am proud to call myself Team Affleck!

Finally, to my husband. My movie buddy and most importantly my financier.  I couldn't have done this without you, mainly because you paid for most of them, but besides that you share the experience and we did 8 of 9 of these together. I love that we found movie mates in each other!

Oh and of course, I'd like to Thank the Academy!!

28 Days of Love Day 4

Today was a running day for me which meant I got to listen to my very favorite podcast and what I love most today Up Your, Downstairs. Up Yours, Downstairs is a Downton Abby recap podcast hosted by a husband and wife, Tom and Kelly. They begin every podcast with "we're properly married" and I've spent almost everyday since my wedding 5 months ago trying to work this into a conversation.

I love the episodes so much I have them reserved only for running so I'm always a couple episodes behind. I don't love that, but listening to the episodes while I run get me through even the worst days on the trail so by stockpiling I almost always have one waiting. The bad part about listening to the episodes while I run is that sometimes I start laughing so hard I have to stop and gather myself. Totally worth it though.

I love that besides a basic recap Kelly and Tom add their own, often hilarious, irreverent commentary, but you can also tell how much they love the show and the characters.Today I was practically crying during their description of Matthew and Mary's honeymoon as a drug fueled rampage (not verbatim) across France. There was context, trust me, but the image caused me to pause my runkeeper and just crack up while people passed me by with concerned looks on their faces! 

Besides the great recaps, other segments of each episode include Fashion Backward where Kelly covers a fashion topic of the day generally relating to a style showcased in the episode and Tom repeats history where an aspect of the time period is taken and examined in depth. This is one of my favorites segments along with the awards handed out at the end which include the Gibson Girl for best dressed and best evasion. Finally Maggie Smith is rated on her awesomeness that episode using the Maggie Smith scale 1 to 5. 1 for a week when she was simply in a scene still being better than everyone else and 5 being a "what is a weekend" episode. 


Fans be warned: Tom and Kelly are anti Bates; something I disagreed with them about in season 1, but I was on their bandwagon by season 2. "Shank Bates!" They are however, firmly team Maggie Smith, as all should be and Doctor Who fans to boot so in my head if we ever met we'd be the best of friends. Though not really, I don't know if I'm witty enough to hang with Tom and Kelly!

As any Downton Abby fan knows, seasons are short and hiatus's long so during the "off season" Up Yours found other things to recap and discuss including Titanic and Mary Poppins! The only episodes I had to skip were the Manor House recaps because I couldn't find Manor House any where to watch. To be honest, I probably didn't look very hard, but if it can't be streamed on Netflix I'm generally out of ideas.

I could go on and on about how much I love this podcast so I urge any Downton Abby fans to seek it out on iTunes or whatever pod caster app you choose. You can also follow them on Twitter @5maggiesmiths.

28 Days of Love #3

I have to admit, I love the Super Bowl. I love football as well, obviously, but I do love how it all culminates into one event. Even years when I have little to nothing invested in the game, it's still an event. A time to gather with friends, eat fun "game" food and drink some beer!

I love that it's one of the few things we have left as a group that well all watch. With so many channels and the internet and ways to view whatever you want it's very few things left that we all watch together.

We watched the game with friends and as we drove home I loved knowing the extra traffic were mostly people doing the same thing. I loved seeing the extras cars in the neighborhood and the extra lights on in house, uncommon for a Sunday night and knowing we'd all just watched the same game, been bewildered by the same blackout and anxiously awaited each commercial break. It was a fun game this year and I can't wait for next year!

28 Days of Love: Day 2

I love the Alamo Drafthouse! Anyone who spends any time of my Facebook or Twitter page knows that Isaac and I spend a lot of time (and money) at Alamo Drafthouse seeing movies. We both like watching movies and Alamo is the place to go in Austin. I can't think of a better way to watch a movie than with dinner, a few craft beers, many of them local or a glass of wine. If you need something sweet to end the evening I recommend the cheesecake or...the Guinness Milkshake. Just typing this reminds me I have not had a milkshake in a while and I may need to remedy that soon.

I have a confession to make though, I have lived in Austin all my life and I was well into my 20's before I visited an Alamo Drafthouse. I know, I hang my head in shame.

The thing I always notice about Alamo is just the overall atmosphere. I don't think I've ever had a bad experience there. Everyone is always so cool and "Austin" that it's always a fun place to be. It's also a nice opportunity to keep our money in local businesses and that's always a good thing.

I think my favorite thing about Alamo though is that my first visit was with Isaac, we'd only been "going out" a couple weeks when he IM'd me one afternoon at work (yes, we met at work and I'm in HR. We're now married and we don't work together anymore so get past it) to make Friday plans. He suggested a movie at Alamo and I had to fess up that I had never been. He was shocked and decided right then and there that's what we were doing. We saw the Bank Job, had the Porky's Pepperoni pizza and shared a pitcher of beer. That was that, we've hardly ever gone anywhere else and now I consider it "our place". What's not to love about that?

Another date night at our closest Alamo Drafthouse

28 Days of Love

January has been a long, rough month. We spent over 2 weeks with only one car while 3 different mechanics tried to figure out what was wrong with Isaac's car. It ended up being relatively easy and inexpensive to fix, but as anyone in a house with two adults with thier own schedules sharing a car can be difficult. Throw in Carolina and her schedule for a few of those days and it was frustrating. I missed a couple weeks of runs that led me feeling anxious and a little down. Isaac and I both took on new job responsibilities in January and learning something new is always challenging. I find my self most days  feeling like I'm in a dream where you show up to school naked. I keep waiting for people to realize I have no idea what I'm doing and sometimes feel like a fraud masquerading as  benefits specialist.

I can say, while knocking on every piece of wood in the house, we have at least avoided illness so far this year and for that I am extremely grateful.

So with January finally over, I wanted something fun to do on my blog and thought about Valentines Day and I decided to do something I love every day. I know Valentine's Day isn't a real holiday, but I love to celebrate anything and with the Oscars at the end of the month I have high hopes that February will be much better than January.I plan to keep it light, obvuiosly I love my husband, my parents and my friends, I want to find smaller things, products, places, little things that make me happy on a daily basis.

For day 1 I went simple: I love Friday. Who doesn't? Best day of the week. At approximately 5pm  I get to remove my badge and I'm done. But even before 5, Friday is best. On Fridays our HR group takes turns bringing breakfast so there's always something at look foreward to Friday mornings. Every other Friday is pay day and everyone seems to be in a better mood all day. Lots of wine glass emoticons go back and forth on Friday!

Friday evenings are either just Isaac and I which means DVR clean out night catching up on everything we've missed during the week or a night out at Alamo Drafthouse cathing a new movie we've been waiting for as well as a pint of beer and something fun to eat.

Or Friday evening include Carolina and there's dinner at home and usually an evening watching a family movie or a Doctor Who marathon. Evenings end with hot chocolate and everyone falling asleep in a clump on the couch.

Even on nights when Friday doesn't end up the way I thought I would or how I wanted it to, it's still a Friday and I'll always love that!

For more about my love of Friday see here!