Month: December 2010

Happy New Year Y’All!!!

Happy New Year Y’All!!!

Happy New Year!!! I have spent the evening with my sweetie, my sis, Alex, and our niece, V. Alex has never heard of or seen the television series called Ruby, so we have watched 4 or 5 episodes this evening. I LOVE RUBY!!!! She is 

New Year’s Eve!!!

New Year’s Eve!!!

Good afternoon! Here is the day! The last day to get whatever it was you wanted to get done during the year 2010 – if you haven’t gotten it done by now, you’ve got some work to do. As for me, I am getting ready 

Sister Time!

Sister Time!

My sister, Alex and our niece V just left for the evening! I ALWAYS have so much fun hanging out with Alex!!! She is sooooo much fun! Tonight we watched Amelie, me for the hundreth time and her for the first! I sometimes worry about letting one of my friends watch one of my favorite movies, in case they hate it and think I am crazy. Well, Alex is different, first off she KNOWS I’M CRAZY, so we are cool there!!! πŸ˜‰ and of course, she LOVED IT TOO!!! It is so much better to watch these movies and have someone to share the laughter with!!! It multiplies your joy!!!

After wowing audiences all over Europe, Amelie, the story about a young woman on a quest to make things better for the people around here, arrives here on domestic shores. The film’s straight moral compass and overreaching sense of whimsy and fantasy are what draws audiences to it.

It is a nice escape from both other movies and events in the real world. ThisΒ  film is from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who always manages to make each film of his look distinctly unique. Here, Paris looks warm, inviting and welcome, matching to tones of Audrey Tautou, who plays the title character. Amelie is a shy young woman, who frequently delves into the world of fantasy. In fact, Amelie plays in a way like a fairy tale complete with narrator.

Amelie discovers a forgotten box in her bathroom. It contains the childhood mementos of a small boy who lived in her apartment years ago. She vows to find the owner and return the box, and if he reacts positively, she will keep doing things to help people. The man tears over with joy, and a new hero is born. She looks at the people around her and decides that she will be the person to make their lives better. Amelie concocts a plan to set up two lonely people, help an elderly painter who lives in her apartment, and help her father emerge from the cocoon he built around himself after the death of Amelie’s mother.

Along the way, she also has time to help a blind man across the street while describing to him the unseen world around him, and to fall in love with Nino, another dreamer. Nino collects torn photographs found underneath picture booths and reassembles them.

Amelie fancies herself as Zorro (in some amusing black and white sequences), which is a fitting description. One of her main projects is to wreak revenge on Collignon, the local grocer. He mercilessly mocks his assistant Lucien. She steals the key to his apartment and does little things to make his life miserable. All of Amelie’s actions, including this one, are to make others feel better. Granted, the actual things she does to Collignon are mainly for laughs. Jeunet and co-writer Guillaume Laurent play these events off more as pranks. Collignon is never truly hurt, only his pride suffers.

One of the reasons Amelie works so well is because of Tautou. She gives an engaging performance, and Jeunet frequently focuses close-up on her face. Tautou is a young actress with an elfin face and perfect alabaster skin, round, expressive eyes and a cute pixie cut. She has a slightly crooked smile that embodies everything that her character is about. Amelie also enters the mind of the title character, bringing forth her fantasies for the audience to see. The animal pictures on her wall talk about her with sympathy, and she turns into water when Nino leaves the room. All of Jeunet and Laurent’s characters are slightly off-kilter. These aren’t typical ‘movie’ characters in that they are not conventionally beautiful or perfect, they are normal people with normal problems. It makes them stand out in Jeunet’s fairy tale world, and it makes it easier to identify with them, and makes Amelie’s efforts all the more meaningful.

I would highly recommend, if you get the chance, to take an hour or two to watch this lovingly charming film – you will not be disappointed!

Have a FABULOUS evening! πŸ˜‰

Needing Some Inspiration!

Needing Some Inspiration!

I have had a long day and am finding that I am having a hard time relaxing for the night, so I thought I would just post some pics that are inspiring me right now. Enjoy… Always chic! If only we could all take this 

60 Day Life Makeover – Part 2

60 Day Life Makeover – Part 2

Good morning! I have been giving a lot of thought to the idea of a 60 day life makeover! Goals, to be successfully achieved have to be measurable, have a target deadline, and have to be believable! A timed life makeover challenge could be a 

Quote of the Day!

Quote of the Day!

“Confidence is going after Moby Dick in a rowboat and taking the tartar sauce with you.”
-Zig Ziglar

What a FABULOUS quote!!!
-Christina

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60 Day Life Makeover???

60 Day Life Makeover???

Do you think it is possible to completely change the direction of your life in 60 days???? This idea has been running through my mind all day! I know that it is possible to change your life in an instant, but is that decision something 

Good Morning!!

Good Morning!!

Heading back to work after a 4-day weekend is rough, but I am excited to see my co-workers and find out how their Christmas’ went!! Christmas for us was much different than it usually was, and I was worried that those changes would be a 

Home!!

Home!!

It is true what they say, “There is no place like home!” As much fun as I had hanging out with my family, I am so thankful to finally be home, with our two girls, and lying in our own bed – oh yes, I have said it before and I will continue to say it again, it is the small things in life that bring me the most pleasures!!!

Anyways, I will tell you all about our weekend tomorrow, as for now my sweetie and I are planning on doing sone reading in bed with the girls until we fall asleep!! HEAVEN!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!! πŸ˜‰
-Christina

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Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to you all! I pray that you have had a FABULOUSLY memorable Christmas day, and that you go to bed tonight with a happy smile on your faces! Have a FABULOUS evening! -Christina Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.