My Oscar Favorites

Monday, February 28, 2011

So of course I watched the Oscars yesterday from start to finish and loved every minute of it. There were a few moments that I found a little uncomfortable, and some wins I didn't agree with, but that's true of every year. Lets start with arguably the most important part of the Oscars: fashion. Here are my top picks:

#1: Jennifer Lawrence
Her dress was so simple but it fit her beautifully. I'm a big fan of simple dresses and she looked just flawless. The only thing wrong with her? It kind of irks me that she was in Winter's Bone. My college professor's friend wrote this film and as students we had to use it for scene studies. We all hated it terribly and dubbed it "Winter's Boner." Ironic that it was nominated for best picture....



#2: Amy Adams
I'm a huge fan of Amy Adams. I think she's a terrific actress. No, I did not see The Fighter, but I loved this dress! The blue brought out her eyes and I'm a huge fan of sequins. At first I thought the necklace was too much, but overall, I really loved this look. You didn't see any other blues of this color on the carpet either.


#3: Halle Berry
I mean come on, does this girl ever NOT look good? No. This dress was the essence of Oscar glamor and she looked flawless. There's really no need for other words.


#4: Hillary Swank
I loved this dress! Usually, I'm not a fan of feathers, but this was really elegant and very "Oscar night."




#5: Celine Dion
Although this was a really simple dress, she looked really stunning. I would kill for that hair! The dress was also very age appropriate.


#6: Scarlett Johansson
I'm not sure this really qualifies as an Oscar dress but I really liked it, especially the opening in the back.


#7: Sandra Bullock
This is a classic Oscar dress and I thought she looked really good, though I would have liked to see er wearing a more dramatic earring or necklace.


#7: Mila Kunis
Once again, not sure if it is really an Oscar dress but I loved it! The lavender is really unique and the lace is so feminine. I wasn't expecting to see her in something so soft.



Honorable mentions:

Reese Witherspoon. I loved her hair and earrings, but I thought her dress was a bit bland.

Michelle Williams: The nude color looked really good on her and I loved the sparkles, but I wasn't so crazy about the high neck, which made too many appearances, I think.

Anne Hathaway. She looked really good in the red dress she arrived in, and I'm going to consider that her official Oscar dress despite the 8 costume changes, all of which I loved.

Jennifer Hudson. She looks terrific! The red looked great on her and she seemed really happy. I wasn't a huge fan of the cleavage though.


And now onto the bad. My opinion seems to be clashing with celebrity fashion police on some of these but I just cant figure them out. Here are my top picks for worst dressed:

#1: Nicole Kidman
It pains me to say this because I like Nicole Kidman, but what was going on with this dress? It washes her out and is unflattering. I don't like the red shoe with it, I don't like the hair, and I don't like the little man tagging along behind her. I'm disappointed, Nicole.




#2: Cate Blanchett
Lots of people seem to like this dress. I can't understand why. Ok, the color is good....but what's with the big circle on the chest? And the yellow on the back with the cut off cape-looking thing?



#3: Florence Welch
Remember those dresses your mom used to make you wear when you were five that itched and zipped up the back so you couldn't get them off yourself and you were claustrophobic and couldn't breath and your skin turned red??? That's what this is. But worse.


#4: Marisa Tomei
Ok. This just looks like a cat got a hold of one side of the dress and tore it to shreds but she decided to wear it to the Oscars anyways.

#5: Gweneth Paltrow
I know a lot of you won't agree with me on this, but I think this dress sucked. What is with the rectangular neckline? She looks like she was trying to promote an upcoming film which takes place in a future in which women dress really badly. I will admit I like the silvery color, but the design totally turned me off. And her hair. And her awful performance which was painful to watch much less listen to.


Honorable Mentions:

Mandy Moore. I liked the dress until the camera panned down and the glitter ended. It was just weird.

Penelope Cruz. She always looks fabulous! So then why did she look like she was going to the prom? I'm not going to say anything about her cleavage being too much because I know she just had a baby. And I guess I just said her cleavage was too much.



An interesting year for Oscar fashion that's for sure. A lot of red and a lot of high necklines. I thought Anne Hathaway did a good job hosting. I really liked her even though some people are complaining that she was a bit over-the-top. I mean come on people, she had to do something to counteract the weirdness that is James Franco, right? Speaking of which, he's a weirdo. I'm not sure what else I can say about that. You know who really freaked me out? This guy:


I literally had to put down my cheese and cracker.

Now, onto the awards. Yay for Natalie Portman and Collin Firth! Both totally deserving. I'm really happy that The Social Network didn't win for best picture and that it was The King's Speech. While I thought that Black Swan and Inception would have been better picks, I still enjoyed The King's Speech and thought it was well done. I was happy that Inception won best visual effects, but thought it was also deserving of best score; Hans Zimmer is a genius.

Going back to The Social Network: can someone tell my why this movie was so special? I can't believe it beat out Black Swan for best editing, nor that it won best picture at the Golden Globes. Besides the fact that the film is incredibly relevant, I honestly can't remember one thing that I thought was outstanding about the film.

Inception was an interesting choice for best cinematography; I would have liked to see Black Swan win, or even The King's Speech, but I am happy Inception picked up some awards; it was definitely deserving.

Well that's it for another year! Can't wait to see what comes next.

Disney tunes

Friday, February 25, 2011

Currently, I'm sitting at my desk listening to a playlist of the best Disney songs that I found on StumbleUpon, the website which I find myself visiting increasingly each day. It's a very gray rainy day but that's ok because it's not snowing and it's not freezing.

Work has been really fun lately. I've been staying later, but I'm getting to know the people more and I really enjoy my coworkers. We have a new intern who I'm teaching phone duties so that I can hopefully take some time to go and sit in with the editors and learn some things.

The Oscars are on Sunday!! My picks are for Black Swan and The King's Speech. I thought they were the best, though I haven't seen True Grit or 127 Hours. Frankly, I'm not sure why Social Network did as well as it did. I didn't find it that good and I honestly can't say I was impressed by anything about it. I did like The Kids are Alright, but it doesn't stand out in my memory as much as the others do. I don't have plans yet for the Oscars. I might invite a friend over to watch or something, I don't know.

On a sadder note, Jake, my cat had a lump removed yesterday which we think might be cancer. Poor little guy is so sickly. I hope he recovers well and turns out to be ok.

Friday came so fast this week! We should have three day weekends every week, that's my verdict. Tonight I think I might be having cocktails with some friends from my past internship, and I look forward to that. I'm really anxious to get out living room set up so that I can have friends over and not feel embarrassed about the apartment. It's difficult to make plans during the week because sometimes I have to stay late for work, but I really don't mind because I could really use the overtime right now. I figure it's best to stay late and save up in the winter months when I don't want to be outside.

I've been feeling stressed out lately, though I'm not sure why. Everything has been going my way and I've accomplished everything that I've wanted to and everything I came here to do. For right now I'm pretty satisfied. I suppose I'm feeling a little homesick. I miss my family and my house. I'd like to spend a pool day with the fam boogie board surfing. Oh yes, I do miss the California sun and I'm so looking forward to my next visit...whenever that might be. I'm not used to not being able to jump on a plane and fly home for the weekend. I was looking up flights yesterday and to go next month it would cost me $700!!! Oh well. I'm sad that I'm missing everyone's birthdays, but I think my sisters are going to visit in July so I'm looking forward to that. Now if only I could get my dad out here...

I guess these uneasy feelings could be due to a lot of things. This year has been one of the most stressful in my life. I've graduated from college, moved 3 times, (once across the country), been unemployed and job searching, been discouraged in the job hunt, lost my cat I had my whole life, about to lose my childhood dog, have a cat with cancer, and two ailing grandparents who haven't had the best years themselves, health-wise. On top of this, paying bills and learning how to live independent is difficult for a first timer. And man, working 5 days a week up to 10 hours a day really wears on a person! In Tucson I just wanted to be out but I do miss the days of one class and then an open schedule. Oh well. That's life I guess.

Now who wants to come visit me in New York?

Spring is in the air

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Everyone has been saying that February is the most brutal month. "You think it's bad now...wait till February." But I have to say the weather has really been lifting my spirits. I never thought that I would speak a sentence like, "it's gonna be 40 degrees?!?! Sooo warm!!" But let me tell you, it's a lovely 44 degrees outside. I might just go lay in my bikini in Central Park. Well, maybe not quite yet.

My room mate is going to be gone this weekend and, as much as I love her, I'm really looking forward to spending some quality time alone. I don't think I've had a nice alone day since I got back from winter break. I'm going to clean the apartment to my liking, cook nice dinners, go grocery shopping (and put the groceries in my full-sized fridge!!!), and go for jogs/walks along the Hudson. Yes! And tomorrow is Friday so the weekend is almost here.

This last week was good. The dreaded Valentine's day was this past Monday, but I did not go without! My mom sent me a really really awesome snake ring and a new DVD to workout to. And I got roses and chocolate on the big day from a very good friend of mine. Very thoughtful and surprising. The roomie and I had planned on going to dinner and then out to a club on Monday. Her friend from high school was in town and we thought we would get a bunch of girls together for single fun. We got all dressed up and went out for dinner, but near the end of the meal we all felt too tired to go clubbing. It was a Monday night after all.

Work has been good. Honestly, sitting in the same chair for 10 hours a day is really starting to wear on me, but I just need to be patient. I really like my office and all the people in it, and I want to stay here and advance in this company. We'll see!

New Yorkers beware: Rapid Realty

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

So everything has been going great. I'm almost completely settled into the new place. Roaches are under control thanks to my mom purchasing the "roach hotel." It's worked wonders, although it is gross to find dead roach bodies, but I suppose that's what vacuums are for. Once my room mate sets up her bed we can begin to get all of her things out of boxes and really get settled.

Work is going really well. I persuaded two of my friends from my summer internship to come and look at my new office and I think they want to bring projects here in the future which is great. It will be so nice to see my friends in the office and I really think it helped to earn me some brownie points at work.

The past few days have been wonderful! The weather has been great (a warm 40 degrees!) and it has really lifted my spirits. I can't wait till spring!! I went for a run on Sunday and worked out this morning. I'm feeling good now that my life is starting to figure itself out.

Now for the griping. As you may recall, it took K and I three weeks and many threatening emails and phone calls to convince Rapid Realty to finally give us a check for our Brooklyn deposit refund. After taking an hour to get to the Brooklyn office and waiting for three for an incompetent woman to write a check, K and I thought we would finally be through with them. Ha. Upon returning home yesterday I received a copy of the check in the mail; it had bounced. Fuck fuck fuck. I was so pissed I could barely speak clearly as I left an irate message on the woman's cell phone. I then proceeded to call the office and handed the phone over to K who told her that she would be a check for our owed amount plus the bank fee I have been charged to us or we would be going to small claims. I really really hope we get this money. I will be thoroughly upset if this does not work out. Our treatment by this company and, in particular this woman, has been completely outrageous. I don't understand how one person can treat another this way. I can safely say that I will NEVER deal with them again and I warm everyone else against them. This is just ridiculous.

Anyways, griping aside, Valentine's day is coming up and I am really excited. K's friend C is going to be in town and the three of us are going out to dinner and then out after that. We're putting on fancy dresses and celebrating the couples' holiday as singles. I'm sure it will be a blast!

More later...