It's the Oscars!

I love a good red carpet as much as the next person but this year I was so disappointed in E!'s coverage.  I'm not really sure why Khloe Kardashian was a correspondent for the network -- she really had nothing important to say and was clearly out of her element.  Also, I don't know who or what made Kelley Osborne a fashion expert.  Guiliana Rancic for that matter.  The only one with street credit is the British chic with the unusual first name.  Unfortunately, she hold the microphone right in front of her face while she speaks.  Very distracting.

I don't think there were any major surprises last night.  I was glad to see JK Simmons win for Whiplash and I think everyone knew Julianne Moore was a sure thing.  I, personally, cannot believe that Birdman won Best Picture (I fell asleep during the middle of it and at the end, Coach just look at me and said, "What the hell just happened?").  I read somewhere that American Sniper should have won but voters just couldn't get over that fake baby and truly expected more from Clint Eastwood.

Most played it safe on the red carpet last night.  I don't think there were any major "misses."  A few, "mehs" but nothing terrible.  Here's my thoughts:

Really Like Faith Hill's short do! 

Love the silhouette and color!  Her hair and make-up are perfect!  She's just one of those naturally beautiful women.  She'll age well -- like a Helen Mirren!  

Love Julianne Moore! 

IDK, IMHO, Reese just seems to wear the same thing over and over.  I'd like to see her get really sexy with her gown, her hair and her make-up.  

Margot Robbie is simply stunning!  

Patricia Arquette always looks sloppy and disheveled to me but last night she really rose to the occasion!  

I'm not usually a Jennifer Anniston fan but I think she was my favorite look of the night.  

I think GaGa just finished doing the dishes

That is a LOT of dress.  And a LOT of boobs.  

 

I loved the bottom of this gown, hated the top.  The beads on top were very large and looked cheap.  Almost like an arts and craft project.  

The color and cut are gorgeous but that collar is very distracting.  I would have liked to have seen her wear a big statement necklace with lots of emeralds and diamonds.  

Let's just say I never understood the universal appeal of this Ralph Lauren gown.  I thought it was ill-fitting and in need of a good steaming.  I thought it was horribly boring and looked like a prom gown.

Gwyenth Paltrow looked incredible last night!  I loved everything about this looks!  The gown, the color, the fit, the hair, the make-up and the minimal accessories.  Such a classic and understated look!  

February Breakdown

February Breakdown, not Meltdown.  Breakdown as in "lemme break it on down for ya'"

Here we are mid-February and this family is booked solid through mid-March.  This past weekend we had the big Capital Hill Classic volleyball tournament.  Coach and KJ were at the DC Convention Center Friday night for practice and we all headed down there on Saturday to start the tournament.  I only stayed in DC one night while Coach and KJ stayed two nights since she had games today, too.  Thank God for my awesome hotel discount.  We use it a LOT during volleyball season!  The Westin City Center was nice and super convenient to the Convention Center.    After we checked in Saturday, we had lunch at a cafe before we headed down to the tournament.  Saturday we got some snow (very, very light) and walked back to the hotel in the middle of the storm.  It was only 4 blocks but man was it cold!

Guess What Day It Is!!!

It's Hump Day Y'all!!!  I'm so off schedule, yesterday was only Tuesday and I thought tomorrow (today) was Thursday.  Long week.  Very long week.  Fortunately, we have no major plans this weekend (other than hitting the Hopkins season opener).  I'd like to clean-out my closet and re-organize a bit.  It's supposed to be in the low- to mid-50's today; hope the weather holds out for the weekend!  

Southern Living magazine just published a list of bloggers to follow in 2015 (see link below): 
http://www.southernliving.com/travel/bloggers-to-follow-2015  Some of them I had already been following (I love when that happens!  makes me feel like "ha!"  I knew something before you did!!!), some I'm looking forward to following, some I won't be following at all  (sorry folks, but the gardening blogs just don't do much for me.  I do not have a green thumb at all.  I can keep a houseplant alive but that's about it).  

Yesterday T-bone had head shots taken for Miss Amory 2015 with the ever talented Mr. Blake McCollum.  Blake did her Miss Metro Jackson head shots last year but this year the session was part of her Miss Amory prize package.  She's been a busy pageant girl the last couple of days . . . last week she and her director Bo finalized her evening gown, head shots yesterday and this weekend she'll be crowning the new Miss Metro Jackson!  Her new evening gown is spectacular and I was so, so sad that I couldn't be there to help her shop but I'll be in Oxford in a few weeks to spend some time with my girl!  

KJ is continuing to be spectacular  -- she's still playing club volleyball two nights a week with tournaments on the weekends and she's luv, luv, luving high school lacrosse practice the other 3 nights.  She's exhausted but loving it.  And, she made the honor roll again!  She's taking all honors classes and is officially a two-sport Varsity athlete.  I am SO proud of this girl!  

The other night Cosmo & I saw "Whiplash" with the incredibly talented JK Simmons.  
Cosmo wasn't sure what to expect and I knew only a little bit about the movie.  It was great and JK Simmons was phenomenal.  He's a very underrated actor (who didn't love him as Juno's dad??  And what about those Farmers Insurance commercials??)  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2582802/?ref_=nv_sr_1  I love awards season and always keep a list of movies, particularly independent movies, that sound interesting.  I do the same with books, too.  If I see a book review in a magazine or someone mentions a book, I write it down.  

Speaking of books, here's some info regarding the soon-to-be-published book by Harper Lee: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31127009  Still not sure how I feel about this.  Listen, I love a great book just as much as the next person but do feel that some things should just be left alone (that 3D Jaws movie always comes to mind!).  "To Kill a Mockingbird" is beloved and I just don't want the second book to be panned and torn to shreds by critics.  

Super Duper

Super Bowls are usually overrated, horribly boring games.  I have to say, last night's game was much, much better than I had anticipated.  Yes, we still hate Tom Brady in our house.  That's never going to change but honestly, the Pats played smart and deserved the win.  I can NOT believe the Seahawks didn't just hand it off and run it in.  What in the Hell was Pete Carroll thinking???

I honestly did not watch one single commercial so I can't comment on any of those but I did think Katy Perry's half-time show was great!  I'm not a big Katy Perry fan (I don't think she's that great of a singer.  Entertainer, yes.  Singer, not so much) but I was pleasantly surprised and think she'd be great to see in concert (I remember a couple of years ago T saw her at the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil in B'ham and said she was fun).  I loved her costumes and thought the first one was a little Hunger Games-ish but when she came in on that Tiger??  Wow!  And that gown she wore as she floated over the stadium???  Amaze-balls!  Looked straight out of Miss America!  I was most looking forward to Lenny Kravitz and was terribly disappointed in his playing time.  IMHO, Lenny Kravitz is a rock God and could have handled the half-time show on his own.  The biggest, best surprise to me was Missy Elliott.  She looked great, sounded great and totally stole the show.
http://kfor.com/2015/02/01/missy-elliot-steals-super-bowl-halftime-show-from-katy-perry/   While Perry did a great job when she was on stage solor, she looked like an awkward white sorority girl trying to keep up with Elliott during their shared stage time. And I hated the whole hair flinging thing with Kravitz.

KJ said her favorite half-time show wasn't Katy Perry or Beyonce but Madonna from 2012:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmqiP3OXC74

Meanwhile, Coach said this particularly year (1991???) was his own personal favorite:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSJ8T2wlISo

Snowmaggedon 2015?

Woke up this morning to a light snow fall.  And I do mean light.  We are to get some accumulation but nothing compared to our northern friends.  KJ had school as usual, no delay or anything.  Which is good.  They haven't had to use a snow day yet!

This weekend was #LaxCon in Baltimore.  Cosmo attended this year as a "civvie" and not in an official capacity.  Which is just fine with me.  He was able to catch some of Coach Danowski's presentation which is always a highlight and he met up with some college friends.  So funny how once lax gets under your skin, you're a laxer for life.  All of Cosmo's college buddies, high school buddies, still play or coach in some capacity.

KJ had a v-ball tourney on Saturday.  I did not go because I had a hair appointment.  I know that sounds so incredibly lame but I had an appointment last week but had to cancel to drive to NY for the funeral.  So I rescheduled for Saturday not realizing she had a tournament.  I've been in MD since September 2013 and have not had my hair highlighted since leaving B'ham.  I was in desperate need of a cut, too.  I was starting to look Amish or like one of this Morman sister wives.  Ick.

Saturday night we watched the Interview on Netflix.  It was better than I thought . . . typical Franco/Rogen set-up -- lots of F-bombs, completely over the top, but I still chuckled.  After Bagel Boy took care of us on Sunday morning I caught up on Black Sails which premiered season 2 Saturday night.  I like the series a lot and this season looks like they'll be filling in some blanks with flashbacks.  Plus, they had a quick little preview of what to expect when Outlander returns in April. Squee!!!

American Sniper

SPOILER and DISCLAIMER:  Wednesday Cosmo and I saw American Sniper.  I am one of the most patriotic people on the planet.  These are my feelings on the FILM, not a reflection on the heroic men and women who serve in the armed forces.  The following is not a political commentary in any way, shape or form.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the movie so I'll break it down into small bites:

Direction:  I think Clint Eastwood is brilliant and did an amazing job capturing the essence of the daily struggles of the US Marines and Navy Seals in the Middle East.  As you're watching the movie, you can't help but wonder how you would react given the same circumstances.  I thought the best, most compelling scenes were when Chris Kyle was on the rooftops having to decide to shoot or not to shoot.  It really came down to "Them or Us."  Again, how would I respond if I were in his shoes?  Could I shoot that small boy about to pick up the rocker launcher?  I thought the worst scenes involved his wife and his life States-side.

Screenplay:  Personally, the writing sucked.  I did not read Chris Kyle's book so I don't know how closely the screenplay followed the book.  I found the dialogue to be a little hokey and simplified and left a lot of unanswered questions:  How come he never wore his uniform when he was home (i.e., his wedding, at a comrade's funeral?).  Could he really blatantly disobey orders, jump off the roof and decide to join the ground forces?  What happened to his brother?  In the middle of combat Kyle picked up the phone and called his wife?  If that was my husband, I'd be yelling "put down the damn phone you fool!!!"  Why was Kyle honorably discharged . . . in the movie, his CO clearly said, "hold fire, stand your ground."  I felt as if Kyle was, at times, more concerned with personal demons (going after the Syrian sniper and the Butcher) than the overall mission at hand.  I also would have liked to have seen a little bit more about his PTSD and how he tried to assimilate to civilian life and his relationship with kids.  And what about claims that he shot at Hurricane Katrina looters?  What about that whole thing with Jessie Ventura?

Acting:  Regardless of my attitude towards the script, I found Bradley Cooper's portrayal to be outstanding.  He truly transformed himself.  His performance was credible and believable -- Chris Kyle he was just a kid from Texas who dreamed of being a cowboy.  And Bradley Cooper honored him brilliantly.  However, I hated the interaction between Kyle nd his wife.  Again, it felt forced and dumbed-down (and I hated the way she said, "baby" in every scene).

And last but not least, I need to address the elephant in the room -- that fake baby!!!  Geez Clint!  Get a real baby in there!

Turn Down for What???

OMG I'm dying.  Seriously.  I think my eyeballs have melted right out of my head.  My skin feels like parchment paper and my tongue is swollen to 10 times it's normal size.  The ladies in my office have the heat cranked to almost 80 and they all have the little space heaters under their desks turned on.  I keep my house thermostat set at 67 during the winter.  I feel like I'm working in the Amazon . . . the heat and humidity are killing me and I have a splitting headache every day I come in.  I've been drinking at least three or four 8 oz. glasses of water a day but it's not helping.  It's like Africa hot in here.  I may have to come into work naked tomorrow.