movie night with the girls!

last week, i hosted a little girl's movie night. it was SO FUN & couldn't have been easier to do:

first, i sent an email/text to a few good friends to find a good night for everyone.

then, i pulled out all my best chick flick dvds. i knew how accommodating / indecisive we'd all be trying to decide which one to watch, so i decided to make it a democratic process and have voting on my chalkboard. a "heart" was for a movie you'd be excited to watch and an "x" was for a movie you'd recently seen/weren't in the mood for. the goal was to find the movie that had the most hearts and no x's! father of the bride was the winner! we were quoting it all night long... goodness i love franc.

finally, i pulled together some super simple snacks: sour patch kids, strawberries, break and bake chocolate chip cookies & puppy chow (chex cereal, peanut butter, chocolate chip cookies & powdered sugar). we pulled out some bottles of wine & our pile of favorite blankets to relax with. i wanted people to really feel at home in our family room.

one of my favorite moments was when one of the girls walked in, saw the spread of snacks and exclaimed "we should do this every night!" we'll definitely be doing it again soon.

being elmo.

a quick addition for your netflix que (& it's available to watch instantly!): being elmo! ryan & i decided to give this documentary a try the other night & LOVED it. what an extraordinary story -- especially encouraging that no matter what your passion is, or where you're born, you can make it into a meaningful career & something that impacts so many others. it's heartwarming & made us laugh out loud a bunch of times.

the descendants.

last weekend we went to see the descendants. the movie lived up to all the praise -- not only was it an aunthetic storyline, but the acting was superb & i just got lost in the storyline. instead of george clooney being GEORGE CLOONEY, he was a grieving, hurting husband, a struggling dad of teenage girls, and a native hawaiian struggling to make the right decision for his family. ryan & i had a really interesting conversation after it over pizza -- definitely a thought provoking movie for any married couple to talk through.

one funny side note -- we took ellie with us. the whole reason we went was because i was talking with some women at bible study about going to the movies & how much i missed it (i thought it wasn't worth paying a babysitter for three hours just to see a movie...) and they exclaimed, "ellie is the perfect age!! take her with you!! she'll sleep thru the whole thing -- the loud noises & dark theater will rock her to sleep."

& so, off we went (say no more!) -- we sat in the back of the theater & sure enough she slept, but ellie is a noisy sleeper. she makes all these grunts & coos. during the loud action packed previews this was not problem at all, but the descendants is a QUIET movie -- no soundtrack, no loud noises, just george clooney's soothing voice. so EVERY sound our sweet baby made seemed to bounce off the walls. there were only two other couples in the whole theater & they never turned around, but ryan and i kept looking at each other horrified at the noises she was making & shaking our heads about what rookie parents we are...

moneyball.

on a rainy weekend, ryan & i finally saw moneyball and absolutely loved it. i'm a big fan of michael lewis (remember this amazing book?) & think the acting in this is incredible (oh jonah hill, you're great). i'm a sucker for a real story told well so we all can learn from it. seen any good movies lately?

me too.

i can't think of many things that have built buzz as quickly as downton abbey seems to have! everywhere i look or go, countless conversations over the past few weeks -- have all led to downton abbey. well, count me among those who are hooked. season one is on netflix on demand & you can quickly catch up on season two online. i warn you though, be sure you have some time on your hands -- it's pretty fantastic.

love & other drugs.

we recently picked this for our movie night & really loved it. i thought the previews made it seem like all comedy, but there was a much deeper plot i really appreciated. have you seen it?

p.s. i recently heard someone say anne hathaway might be the audrey hepburn of our generation -- the more i think about it, the more i think it might be true!

movie nights.

 

this week has been rainy & gloomy in virginia. on top of that, ryan & i have been fighting off colds (our third of the winter). so, two nights this week we nestled down to watch a movie. we LOVED both these movies. crazy heart touches your soul. tangled is so entertaining -- we just love animated movies (if you're been watching modern family, we are so phil & claire...). have you seen any good movies recently? we're absurdly excited to see hop!

no strings attached.

friday night, ryan & i went to see this movie. honestly, we went because we love going to the movies, like the two lead actors & wanted something mindless after a long week. it totally exceeded my expectations. i actually thought i might be pretty offended by it -- instead it definitely had depth & the last time i laughed that hard in a movie theater was for the hangover. the period playlist scene had me howling! bottom line, for mature audiences only, but great movie! if you've seen it, what'd you think?

the king's speech.

if you see one movie, you really must see this one. it is incredible. what was your favorite movie this holiday season?

white christmas.

remember this post? well, it wasn't the weekend, but monday morning, virginia became a white wonderland. it was so fitting because over the weekend, we watched white christmas. maybe i've been living under a rock, but i had never seen the movie, and it. is. amazing. i laughed & cried -- it just set the right tone for this season.