things that make me smile

This classic popping up on my iTunes....



... as it did today while I was paying bills. Yes, Nat King Cole can even make giving away money and doing math enjoyable ;)

the perfect rainy day food

The skies opened up today and it rained and poured most of the morning, afternoon and evening. But there were a few breaks in the downpour, and I took advantage of one to drive to Thousand Oaks to visit the puppies and have dinner with the 'rents. Good thing I did! Mom made this super-delicious portuguese kale and sausage soup from the Williams-Sonoma Soup & Stewcookbook I gave her a few years ago. It was delicious! 

And the recipe has finally proven that there is a good reason for the existence of kale :)

Yumminess in a giant soup mug

The recipe can be found on page 73 of Williams-Sonoma Soup & Stew if you have it

things i'm looking forward to

Tomorrow is the official start of spring, so to celebrate let's look at all the cool stuff I'm looking forward to that is coming... along with the warm weather :)

1) Playoff hockey (assuming the LA Kings make the playoffs. Otherwise, we'll forget this entry) because once the playoffs start, anything can happen.... especially if you have a superstar baby goalie and a bunch of forwards who are finally beginning to score some goals ;)

 

2) May 4, 2012 so I can see this super-awesomeness on the big screen in super-surround sound with a giant bucket of popcorn as the Summer Movie Blockbuster Club kicks off its 2012 season :)



3) My summer TV guilty pleasures, including Game of Thrones (below) starting on April Fool's Day (I hate that Joffrey kid. I hope he gets his head chopped off too... karma's a bitch), True Blood (helllooo Alexander Skarsgard!) and the train-wreck known as Big Brother (I just can't not watch. I've tried, really I have!)

the only good part of this week

This week has sucked. Sick, tired, ticked off at people. But I had one bright spot on Wednesday night when I returned to the Saban Theatre for the final evening of PaleyFest 2012, featuring the entire amazingly awesome cast (well, minus Lily) and executive producer of Modern Family. 

They shared stories from the set, profusely (and rightfully) praised their incredible writing staff, and showed us an unfinished preview of the upcoming "Election Day" episode, where we find out if Claire wins her seat on town council and finally gets her beloved stop sign. Hi-lar-i-ous!

things i think about when i'm home sick

I woke up all achy and tired and congested today, so I stayed home sick. I popped a Nyquil and took a good nap till texts about emails about work awoke me. After dealing with said emails, I checked out the Tivo guide and saw that my favorite of The Lord of the Rings trilogy -- The Two Towers -- was on, so I started watching that. Upon getting to the almost-end, I was reminded of how much I LOVE this scene...



I have seen that movie at least 20 times and I still get chills when Gandalf appears at the top of the hill at dawn "at first light on the fifth day" with Eomer, and they charge down the hill "To the Keep!" to save the day, as the sun rises behind them and blinds all the evil, icky Orcs and Uruk-hai, as the score crescendos. So awesome!

So then I started thinking about other movie scenes I love and can watch over and over and over again and still get goosebumps from. I'm sick and medicated, so I've only remembered two so far...

I call this one, "Neo and Trinity KickAss." I love this scene because it is the epitome of cool. Cool music, cool choreography, cool special effects, and not a single emotion shown by the two rebels on a mission.

 


And from my favorite movie of all time... "The Escape" from E.T. To quote a YouTube commenter, "5:30 = the most magical moment in cinema history." I LOVE this scene, have since I was 10, and get really ticked off at John Williams when he doesn't play this music at his summer Hollywood Bowl concerts.
(Sadly, the quality of this clip sucks, and it's from the special edition where Spielberg replaced the agents' guns with walkie talkies. But I have the original version on both DVD and VHS [and yes, I still have a combo VCR/DVD player to play it on], so I'm good ;)



More will come as my head clears and I think of them.

What are your favorite goosebump-enducing movie scenes?

an adorkable evening

I've already raved on here about how much I love New Girl. And tonight, after spending an hour and a half at PaleyFest watching the cast and creators answer q's, make fun of each other and -- in the case of Jake Johnson (Nick) -- recreate awful dance moves to the show's theme song, I can say that I love it even more! 

Who's that girl? It's... Liz!?!? Jess seriously IS based on show creator Liz Meriwether (below, 2nd from right), who is a total dork. And watching her and Zooey Deschanel sitting next to each other, answering questions, giggling and picking on "the boys" was kinda freaky. 

The cast seems to get along awesomely and hilarity ensued as the evening wore on, with costars basically throwing each other under the bus in attempts to make the others sing, dance and strip. (Only the aforementioned dancing actually happened though. Boo!). They also took cash from their own pockets to fill up the "douche bag jar" when saying something, well, douchy. (And yes, Max Greenfield [Schmidt] put the most cash in ;). Overall, it was a great evening and one of the most entertaining TV panels I've attended. 

PS: They showed us a sneak peek at tomorrow's episode, titled "Injured." It was both hilarious and heartwarming. Watching TV shows in a theater full of people vs. at home in your living room alone adds a whole new level of entertainment. If you've never watched New Girl, tomorrow is a great one to start with. It gives a glimpse at each of the five main characters' idiosyncrasies, as well as the crazy yet loving dynamics that exist amongst "the fab five," as a fan called them tonight. 

things that make me smile

Returning home on a Monday night to find these hanging on my garage door, personally delivered by my dad. Time to go make some tea to dip my trefoils in :)

once upon a beautiful sunday

Once Upon A Time...

 I went to PaleyFest at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills to see the cast and creators of a show about storybook characters cursed to live in small-town Maine talk about their awesome show. We got a sneak peek at tonight's episode (and part of next week's too!) and learned some tidbits of storyline secrets... in as much as executive producers who were also the head writers of LOST will share anything (ie: We'll learn what Snow did to so tick off the Evil Queen "soon-ish" and hints to how to break the curse have already been dropped, but no info on what they are. Argh.)

Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swam), Josh Dallas (David/Prince Charming), Ginnifer Goodwin (Mary Margaret/Snow White) and Ed Kitsis (Creator/EP) on the big screen

Robert Carlyle (Mr.Gold/Rumplestiltskin) 

Lana Parrilla (Regina Mills/Evil Queen)

... on a BEAUTIFUL Sunday

From Beverly Hills, I took the 10w to Pacific Coast Highway, which was packed with people hitting the beach to enjoy the 80-degree weather in March. But if you're going to sit in traffic, you might as well do it when this is the view to your left.

Then I took Malibu Canyon Road back to the 101 and to Thousand Oaks to visit my parents and their pups for dinner. 

Seeing (and being licked by) these two faces is a great way to end a great Sunday :)