More Oscar Movie Reviews

Last weekend was another movie weekend. I love movie weekends! We saw Winter's Bone at home. I really liked it. David thought it was just so-so.

The lead female actress, Jennifer Lawrence gave a wonderful and powerful performance. I would give her an Oscar. This is how IMDb describes the movie: An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact. Not the most cheery of films, but so moving to watch how she keeps her family together while looking for her father. I recommend it.

The other movie we saw, The King's Speech. Wonderful is all I can say! Colin Firth did an amazing job and deserves the Oscar. Geoffrey Rush was great as well. I was not used to seeing Helena Bonham Carter looking "normal" in a movie and rather enjoyed her role.

I love all things royal. I can't wait for Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding in April. I did not know the story behind King George the VI and how he came into power. Nor did I know about his father and brother or who his children were. I also have a soft spot for people who stutter. I have worked with many kids with this disorder and wish I could take their embarrassment and pain away when they speak. I am a big advocate of speech therapy and when I see a child who hates to speak in front of others open up and face their fear, it is a powerful thing. King George faced his fear and became a better man for it. Again I highly recommend this movie as well. If I were to choose between these two film's I'd probably say check out Winter's Bone first.

Only three more Best Film Oscar movies to see: Toy Story 3, The Fighter and True Grit. I don;t know if I'll get to them before the Oscars but I hope to.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Yum is all I can say. I made some yesterday for the Super Bowl. So glad the Packers won. I had been craving it and it is so easy to make in the crock-pot, I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

Ingredients
~8 oz. cream cheese
~1-10-12 oz. can of chicken, shred (I like more chicken, so I use 1 1/2-2 cans or cook up chicken breast and shred)
~1 cup ranch dressing (can also use blue cheese dressing, but I don't like it)
~3/4 to 1 cup buffalo sauce (I use Franks Red Hot Wings)
~8oz. shredded cheddar

That's all! Put all the ingredients in a crock-pot and turn on high:

Before:

After about 30 minutes, stir:

During (I know not the most appetizing picture):

After another 20-30 minutes, stir again and you should be ready to enjoy. Turn the crock-pot to warm to keep the dip hot. Make sure everything is melted together and serve with tortilla chips and/or celery. Delicious!

After:

Oscar Movies

Since I just reviewed some movies, I wanted to see which of the Best Picture Nominees I have seen and how many more I have to go. I went over to Little Lion's Life where Colette had made a blog entry all about the Oscar nominations. Here are the Nominees for Best Picture:


BEST PICTURE
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech 
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone


The ones in purple are the ones I have seen. 5 down and 5 to go. I don't think I'll get to them before the Oscars, but now I have something to try and work towards, although of the 5 left, I only have a real interest in 2, The Fighter & The King's Speech. If you've seen the other 3, please tell me if I should check them out too.


Happy Friday Everyone!

Movie Reviews

I've been meaning to get to this all week but between my job interview (went great), a sick little boy (bronchitis) and all the other daily stuff, blogging got pushed to the back burner. Last weekend was a movie weekend and I loved it. Saturday David and I had date night so we saw a movie and had dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. The last movie we saw in the theater was The Other Guys and that was in September. We kept debating about what movie to see and finally decided on Black Swan.

It was so good! I am really glad we saw it in the theater. I wasn't sure about it but it kept you intrigued and always wondering. There were times you thought something happened and it turns out it didn't and times when something happened and you wondered if it was real. I have heard people say you either love this moveeie or hate it, there is no middle ground. After seeing it, I would agree with that. I have a dance background, so right off the bat I was interested in the premise. Natalie Portman did a fantastic job as did Mila Kunis. I think she should have gotten a supporting actress nom for the Oscars, what a shame she didn't. The supporting cast and musical score was perfect. I got lost in the movie the whole time and when it was over, I was amazed. I don't want to tell you about the story so I don't give anything away, it is a psychological thriller and I highly recommend it.

Sunday we decided we wanted to watch another movie and decided to see what was On-Demand. I love this feature with our cable but we have been using it a lot. I am wondering what our cable bill will be. Although it is winter and we're stuck inside with all the snow and cold. As we were looking at the list, I saw a movie I've been wanting to check out, The Kids Are All Right. David wasn't completely sold but he couldn't find a movie he wanted to see so we went for it and I am glad we did.

What a great cast and what a lovely story. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore are a couple who have 2 children who decide to find their mom's sperm donor, Mark Ruffalo. Watching the story unfold, you felt for the kids, the moms and the dad. Seeing their interactions and consequences for going down this path were great. I cried at one part, which I admit I am a crier, but when it was over, it was such a touching story I wanted to know more. Again I highly recommend you check this movie out as well.

I'd like to thank...

Colette over at Little Lion's Life for nominating me for the following award:

She has a great blog and always inspires me with her craftiness. I haven't met her IRL, but think we would be great friends. We have a lot of the same hobbies and interests in common. She is having a Twilight themed graduation party and I would love to be there, just hearing about all her preparations, I know it will be amazing! Don't think I'm a stalker Colette ; ) I'm getting up the nerve to attempt her yarn and felt wreath for our front door. I'll get to it. As part of this award, you have to mention seven things about yourself, so here I go:

~David & I did not live together before we got married.

~I took tap, ballet and jazz dance for 10 years. I loved it and am thinking about starting one of them up again.

~In high school I was on the track team and I HATE to run. I did shot put and discus, which if you knew me, you would know I have no upper body strength and am not built for those two activities. I think my coach let me stay on the team to amuse himself. Why did I do it? 1) I didn't have to try out and 2) knew my senior year I would get a varsity letter and at that time in my life, that's what I wanted.

~I love art and will work in any medium but hate drawing. That is my weakness in creating art myself. Clay is my favorite medium to work with.

~I am a picky eater, textures of some foods bother me. Two examples: all beans except for green beans disgust me and I can't stand mushy vegetables.

~I have never lived out of state or even out of the area I grew up in. I would love to move but family obligations will not allow that to happen now. I am jealous of people who have gone to school out of state or have moved.

~I have a passport and have never been anywhere to use it. My dream is to go to Italy. I have friends who go there at least once a year and have family over there. They have offered to host us but we have never done it. One day we will.

You are also supposed to tag seven bloggers, most of mine have been tagged already, but here are the ones I'd like to know more about:

Hyr @ a day in hyr life
Robin @ Since Everybody Else is Doing It
B @ R&R As Is
Megs@ Ramblings of a Designer

I did it!

I got a couple things accomplished in the past couple of days. The phone interview went great and I have an in-person interview Tuesday! Whoo hoo, one step closer to my dream job. The woman I spoke with also told me there were hundreds of applicants which I figured and they were narrowing it down to the Top 10 and then the Top 2. So if nothing else, I made it to the Top 10 which I am pretty proud of.

The other thing I accomplished is getting a pair of jeans that fit in the size I currently am. I went to Old Navy to look at some clothes for Ayden and figured why not look for jeans. I tried a couple pairs on and found a perfect fit length wise. I got their Flirt style and am happy with them. Hopefully they'll wash well and still fit the way they did in the store. It feels so nice to have a pair of jeans I like and fit well. Hopefully soon I will be back in my regular size and be able to fit in my favorite jeans.

It is almost the weekend ladies!

Procrastination...

Today I have a phone interview for my dream job, I should be preparing for it, but first I wanted to update my blog and maybe check some emails and see what is happening on Facebook, you get the idea. Procrastination is what I do best and my answer for when they ask "what is one of your weaknesses?" You would think after 20 some years I'd stop waiting until the last minute to do things and eliminate the panic that ensues, but no, not yet. When I was writing my thesis for grad school, I always waited until the last minute to begin writing. If a chapter was due Monday, I'd start on Sunday and usually something would go wrong and I would freak out that it wouldn't get done on time, but it always did (thank God). I did prepare some yesterday and I don't want to be over prepared, but this is MY DREAM JOB!!!!

Ever since I stayed at the children's hospital in our city, I knew I wanted to work there and help kids. Now I should of gone to school to be a nurse or some other position that would allow me to work there, but I didn't. I went to school to be an art therapist, which is an amazing profession, just not where I live. Rarely are there full time positions open and those that have them never leave. I think the last time this position was open was 2002. I applied for it then, but no luck. So for today, my goal is to get an in-person interview. At 2pm EST, please send some positive vibes my way!

On to other things. For two days now I have gotten up at 6am to walk on the treadmill. Let me tell you, I am not a morning person and when the alarm goes off, I just want to curl up under the covers and sleep for another hour. I also discovered while on the treadmill, that I am more out of shape than I thought. I used to be able to walk at a 3.5-3.7 pace. I am currently at a 3.3 pace and am out of breath when I am done. It feels great to have exercise out of the way, but I need to get back to where I was. I also only walk for 30 minutes and before I would go for at least 45 minutes if not an hour. So I will take it day by day and get back to where I need and want to be.

I still need to go shopping for jeans and think I will attempt it this week. I hate jeans shopping. Anyone have any brands they love? I need tall and they seem harder and harder to find in a store. I don't want to order online because of the hassle to return them. We'll see what happens.

That's all for now, off to prepare for the interview, or do something else ; ) I hope you are all having a great day!