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1. I recently watched the Lifetime movie The Pregnancy Pact. Based loosely on events and the media frenzy surrounding the pregnancies of 18 Gloucester High School students, this was one of the wildest and scariest movies I've ever seen.
2. I've done some Summer season ordering. Every summer I get two pairs of my favorite flips, Havaianas. With one pair in white and one in black, I'm always ready for 'Deck Days,' time by the pool, and they look great with my seersucker. I ordered a pair of tortoiseshell wayfarers from RayBan, and love them. I want to wear them all the time. Dark wash jeans came in yesterday from Gap, a new pair of Nantucket reds should come in Monday or Tuesday, and I've got my eye on a pair of pink pinwale pants from Bonobos.
3. I've been super lucky the past couple of cold & flu seasons and haven't gotten sick at all - not even one little sniffle. I think my dedication to rigorous (read: slightly obsessive) handwashing and daily doses of vitamins has helped keep me healthy. But this past weekend I came down with a cold. I hate being sick, and am a terribly whiny patient. When I get sick I turn to my Mucinex, AlkaSeltzer Cold Plus, Airborne, Vitamin C rotation and don't give up until the cold concedes.
4. It's snowing again. Ugh.
5. My first destination of 2010 must be Washington DC. I'm not going to network or to meet elected officials or to see cherry trees (although they are lovely). I'm going to appreciate gems! One of my many interests in life is jewelry and jewels. Anytime that I'm in DC I have to go to the National Gemstone Collection in the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum to gawk at the Hope Diamond. Since I was a child I knew the importance of color, cut, clarity and carat, and because you can mine for gems in NC I've made my parents buy more than their fair share of buckets of dirt in hopes of unearthing a ruby, sapphire or emerald. (No diamonds in NC.) So I was delighted to see this article detailing the exhibition of the Wittelsbach-Graff diamond at the Smithsonian.
6. I got my save the date for the wedding of AA and MD, two friends from law school. Can't wait to see them tie the knot! Congratulations!
7. I got a new remote for the DirecTv to replace an old broken one on Wednesday. Which isn't terribly exciting, but it would have been absolutely awful to have Super Bowl Sunday without one.
8. The new season of Damages is promising. Instantly one of my favorite shows, this season brings viewers a storyline along similar paths as the Bernie Madoff scandal. It focuses on the Tobin family, whose patricarch Louis has stolen 70 billion dollars from investors in a Madoff style Ponzi scheme. Showing the fallout for both the family at the center of the scandal and the investors subjected to such a massive fraud, Damages also has the benefit of the superb acting skills of Glenn Close. I normally don't watch legal shows - it's like a doctor watching Grey's Anatomy - but I make an exception for Damages. Tune in, you'll get hooked.
9. I need to buy thank you cards I'm thinking about this one
10. Mardi Gras is the 16th. Laissez les bon temps rouler!
I'm an eat, drink, and be merry type of person, and really just love to have a good time with friends and family. And as much as I talk about (good) food, I'm also someone who loves to have a good drink in my hand. It doesn't have to be alcoholic, but it should be tasty.
(Remember that if you do drink alcohol, do so responsibly and always have a designated driver.)
1. Tea
What kind of southerner would I be if I didn't start out with tea? People might show up outside my house with pitch forks and ask me to move somewhere where they think tea comes in china cups and the acceptable sweetener is one delicate little sugar cube. (I actually do love tea in all its glorious forms, but I am partial to my iced tea.) Of course when I say tea, I do mean sweet tea. Did you know that there are places in this world where tea does not automatically mean enough sugar to make a candy addict happy? I was personally shocked to learn that tea could be unsweetened, but like grandmother always said, "there's just no accounting for people's tastes."
To get good instructions for Sweet Tea is incredibly difficult. Most families have a particular brand of iced tea blend and a particular type of sugar that they are loyal to. (To say nothing of the serving containers. Some families have crystal pitchers that have been in the family for generations for nothing other than tea. Other families will fight to the death for Mama's plastic Rubbermaid tea jug.) In fact, to get a good sweet tea recipe usually requires marrying into families that have a good recipe, the death of a near and dear relative who has perfected the recipe and finally feels ready to share at the threat of impending demise, or membership in certain clubs where it is essential to the smooth running of the organization - the Hospital Auxiliary, the Junior League, and the Garden Club come to mind.
Luckily my family has a recipe so good and so easy that it doesn't require a simple syrup, or even a tea kettle. So despite the culture of secrecy surrounding sweet tea recipes, here is the H family sweet tea recipe: (Per tradition I include my favorite tea and sugar brands. If these are not available to you, or if you have a different brand that you like better feel free to change it up. But of course that means that your tea will not be as good as mine.) (I'm kidding there ... well sort of.)
You will need:
4 family sized bags of Tetley Iced Tea Blend (8 if you are using the smaller size)
1 1/2 to 2 cups of Dixie Crystals Sugar
Water (if you didn't know that you'd better not turn on the stove, you might hurt yourself)
a plastic 1 gallon drink container (you can always pour into a nicer one later - and this keeps you from committing the cardinal sin of putting scratch marks on crystal from overly vigorous or heavily repeated stirring.)
Place tea into a 4 quart sauce pan with water. Bring water to a rolling boil. Boil for two minutes. At this point, you should let the tea steep for at least five minutes, but if you're in a rush continue on to the next step. Put sugar into the gallon container. Run hot water over the sugar in the container and stir. (This saves you from having to make a separate simple syrup, and prevents the tea from being grainy or developing a syrupy bottom layer.) Pour in the tea from the sauce pan. Top off the container with water, and stir. Refrigerate and serve over ice with a lemon wedge if you like.
2. Gin & Tonic
I have a particular fondness for Tanqueray and tonic. But I've found that Bombay is also quite nice. Add a lime circle or wedge and leave it alone. It's a drink that needs no dressing up.
3. Blanton's
Bourbon. You need it for Mint Juleps and you need it for ... well you just need it. It's great for cooking - you can put it in mashed sweet potatos (yum) - and it's great for drinking - particularly on an evening when you pick up a Faulkner novel and just want to have a night in by the fire. I do love Blanton's & Pappy Van Winkle best. Sip a couple of fingers out of cut glass and cultivate your inner Kentucky gentleman.
4. Champagne/Sparkling Wine
You need no excuse to open a bottle of bubbly. Too often people think you have to be celebrating something to have champagne. You don't. It doesn't hurt if a bottle of Dom goes down with a promotion or some Laurent-Perrier is popped with 'the question', but you can have it when you're not celebrating anything at all. Actually, scratch that. Do celebrate with champagne. Just celebrate more frequently. Like on Tuesdays. After all, it only comes round once a week you know.
5. BH Blackberry Cooler
I really can't believe that I haven't shared this drink recipe with anyone before. I did a search of previous entries to make sure that I hadn't mentioned it before, and was genuinely surprised that I hadn't put this recipe up. It is one of my favorite things in the entire world, and so far is my crowning achievement in the world of drinks recipes. It is a summertime drink that is light, sweet, and seasonal.
Blackberry Simple Syrup
1 quart blackberries
3 1/2 - 4 cups water
2 to 2 1/2cups sugar
Place blackberries, (You may use frozen ones at the beginning of summer, but only if you have picked them yourself and only if they were picked the immediately preceding season.) water, and sugar into a pot over medium high heat. Bring to a boil and then lower the temperatures slightly to simmer. Reduce the liquid content for about 10 minutes allowing the berries to macerate in the pan. Remove from heat. Strain. Chill the simple syrup. (Eat the warm berries with a fresh buttermilk biscuit. Trust me on this.)
B's Blackberry Cooler
16 oz glass with ice
2 oz chilled Blackberry Simple Syrup (4 tablespoons)
2 oz Vodka (Grey Goose or Belvedere)
Lemon-Lime Soda (Sprite or similar)
Ice into glass, followed by syrup and vodka. Stir. Top with soda, stir gently once more and enjoy. The vodka is completely optional and the drink is thoroughly enjoyable without it.
Being from NC I love that our state has it's own official toast adopted by the General Assembly:
Here's to the land of the long leaf pine,
The summer land where the sun doth shine,
Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great,
Here's to "Down Home," the Old North State!
Here's to the land of the cotton bloom white,
Where the scuppernong perfumes the breeze at night,
Where the soft southern moss and jessamine mate,
'Neath the murmering pines of the Old North State!
Here's to the land where the galax grows,
Where the rhododendron's rosette glows,
Where soars Mount Mitchell's summit great,
In the "Land of the Sky," in the Old North State!
Here's to the land where maidens are fair,
Where friends are true and cold hearts rare,
The near land, the dear land, whatever fate,
The blessed land, the best land, the Old North State!
Cheers Y'all!
I have a confession to make. I am a chronic overpacker. With a tendency to think "Oh I might need that" and being more than willing to throw it into my luggage, I usually take at least one bag completely full of unnecessary items. For me the usual culprits are shoes (because these need to be coordinated with every outfit), pillows (if I'm traveling by car I always take at least two), toiletries (I blame my hatred for travel size shampoos and having to take giant contact lens solution bottles), and excess clothing (Why only take one set of clothes for each day when you can work in at least three costume changes?).
But for my recent trip to Atlanta/Indianapolis I really wanted to rein in my overzealous packing. I started thinking about what I would be doing while I was visiting these cities. And while I wasn't particularly clear on the specifics, I was armed with weather forecasts and a general knowledge of each event planned for the trip. So to bring my overpacking under control, I came up with the concept of a "clothing itinerary".
And what is a clothing itinerary? Knowing the events for each day and the rough locations for each event, I had a mental outline for the trip, but to minimize my desire to overpack, I made a list of corresponding clothing that I would wear during the days activities. For example:
Thursday Morning - Traveling to Indianapolis from Atlanta
- Pink Oxford
- Blue Elvis sweater
- Jeans
- Sperry slip ons
- Black overcoat
- Black gloves
- Black Sunglasses
- Burberry scarf
Thursday Evening - In Indianapolis for Rehearsal Dinner & New Year's Eve
- Same as above only change out jeans for gray trousers
Friday Morning - Hotel & Downtown Indianapolis
- Blue Oxford
- Beige Sweater
- Jeans
- Sperry Slip ons
- Black overcoat
- Black gloves
- Black sunglasses
- Burberry scarf
Friday Evening - Wedding @ The Columbia Club
- Dinner Jacket
- Black trousers
- Tux shirt
- Black tie
- Dress shoes
- Black gloves
- Black overcoat
- white silk evening scarf
What my itinerary allowed me to do was to picture how my clothing could transition from one activity to the next so I wouldn't attempt to put every single thing in my closet into my suitcases, let me recognize those events that would require pieces that wouldn't be worn to anything else, and highlighted those pieces that could be used throughout the trip. For a longer trip you could also do this with a look book of pictures of each item of clothing in your luggage. Keep these "looks" on your computer and you could be ready to go at the touch of a button all with less luggage to lug through the airport or fit into the car.
Is this a little obsessive? Perhaps. But I can assure you that after this trip, my clothing itinerary will always be printed and paper clipped to my flight confirmations and maps in my travel portfolio.
To ring in the New Year, BR and I traveled to Indianapolis for a wedding! It was a great trip, and an awesome way to celebrate the coming of not only a New Year, but a New Decade. I went to ATL - BR's hometown - before we had to be in Indy so we could fly in together. So we had a cozy evening in Atlanta before heading off, and I had the best restaurant grits ever at a place called The Flying Biscuit. Deeeelish!We arrived the evening before the wedding, and were met at the airport by our law school friend, S, and her fiance J. Soon we dropped off all the luggage @ the downtown Sheraton and headed to to S and J's beautiful apartment to catch up and have a few celebratory drinks. Kudos to S for remembering my devotion to Tanqueray gin and tonics. After that was the rehearsal dinner where BR and I got to see all of the G family that we had met while in law school, and meet all of the V family. (One of my favorite things about weddings is meeting all of the various family members that pop up. It gives you such a sense of where people come from, and makes you appreciate people on a new and deeper level.) After a great meal, where I ate entirely too much fettuccini alfredo, we headed back to S and J's apartment with some of their friends to play Scene It and ring in the new year.
BR's Bridesmaid's gift. Isn't it fun?
On New Year's Day I spent most of the morning in bed, taking full advantage of being alone in a hotel room and having a 50 inch flat panel television while BR - a bridesmaid - got her hair and makeup done with the wedding party. After a great day of laziness and Starbucks, I left the hotel and walked a couple of blocks to The Columbia Club to the G-V wedding.
Exterior of The Columbia Club. it was an amazing location with super event staff.
BR and I sent one of our best law school friends down this aisle.
S was a beautiful bride!
The bar @ the Columbia Club. Fantastic Room.
This part of the Monument faces South calling Indiana's
Civil War Soldiers on to preserve the union,
welcoming them home, and showing thebroken chains of those formerly enslaved.
This part of the monument shows the personal drama of war
as a young soldier lays down his plow and leaves his distraught
parents behind to take up arms.
It was a privilege to watch Ms. SG make the transition to Mrs. SV, getting to meet the G and V families, and making my first trip to Indiana. Despite the frigid New Year temperatures, and the threat of lake effect snow, all of the Hoosiers that we met were delightful, and I have nothing but the best to say about all of the mid-westerners that BR and I met on our adventure.
Upon our return to ATL - following a nerve-racking landing that featured seven hard banks and 20 minutes of shaking - BR and I began an evening of running around Atlanta with her darling friend K (who took us to AND picked us up from the airport - LOVE HER) to prepare for a party evening with BR's Georgia crew. It was a wonderful evening courtesy of BR and her fab friends, and a great way to close out the New Year festivities.
Of course now I'm back at home and am planning to get out of frigid WNC for somewhere a little warmer. So, where shall I go in 2010?
After spending the weekend in Indianapolis at a dear friend's wedding - details will follow - and being out in the frigid temperatures of WNC today, I'm ready for warmer weather. Like really ready. So ready that I look at weather websites and hope that the temperature will suddenly spike and we'll be back in the 70s again. I look at the weather of locations south of here and feel jealous for those who reach above 50. I look at travel websites and think about leaving for milder climes. So ready that I even know what I'll be wearing when I make my escape.
Let me know if you want to go with, I'll save you a deck chair.
What with being snowed in - at over 12 inches in WNC you're "snowed in" - I've watched a ton of movies over the past three days, and because it is the Christmas season, I've been getting in the mood by watching some of my favorite holiday movies.
So by December 25th I will probably have watched all of these movies. Here's the list and some of my favorite quotes.
1. The Ref - a crazy Connecticut family becomes involved with a skilled thief cum hostage taker cum family therapist. Dennis Leary, Kevin Spacey, and Judy Davis star. Story by Marie Weiss. Screenplay by Richard LaGravenese and Marie Weiss.
Lloyd: [referring to their son] In the ninth grade we said he could get a part time job. Are you ready for what he did? He started an escort service for the football team, and he gave out my mother's phone number!Caroline: And I still say getting laid by an 18-year-old linebacker is just what she needs!
Lloyd: You know what I'm going to get you next Christmas, Mom? A big wooden cross, so that every time you feel unappreciated for your sacrifices, you can climb on up and nail yourself to it.
2. It's A Wonderful Life - The Frank Kapra classic starring Jimmy Stewart. Screenplay by Frank Capra, Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich.
Annie: I been savin' this money for a divorce, if ever I got a husband.
Clarence: [in book inscription] Remember, George, no man is a failure who has friends.
3. Christmas Vacation - Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, and Randy Quaid lead a castful of zany Griswolds. Bonus points for a supporting cast including Doris Roberts, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Julliette Lewis. Written by John Hughes.
Margot: And why is the carpet all wet, Todd?
Todd: I don't know, Margot!
Clark: Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f___ing Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse.
4. Miracle on 34th Street - My favorite is the original 1947 version with Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, and Natalie Wood. Story by Valentine Davies, written by George Seaton.
[Doris is trying to convince Susan there is no Santa Claus]
Susan Walker: But when he spoke Dutch to that girl.
Doris Walker: Susan, I speak French, but that doesn't make me Joan of Arc.
Doris: Would you please tell her that you're not really Santa Claus, that actually there is no such person?
Kris Kringle: Well, I hate to disagree with you, but not only is there such a person, but here I am to prove it.
5. Love Actually - with a fantastic ensemble cast, this film weaves tales to prove that love actually is all around. (And Christmas too of course.) Written by Richard Curtis.
[to a portrait of Margaret Thatcher]
Prime Minister: You have this kind of problem? Yeah, of course you did, you saucy minx.
Karen: So what's this big news then?
Daisy: We've been given our parts in the nativity play. And I'm the lobster.
Karen: The lobster?
Daisy: Yeah!
Karen: In the nativity play?
Daisy: Yeah, first lobster.
Karen: There was more than one lobster present at the birth of Jesus?
6. The Holiday - Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, and Jack Black lead in a tales of how the holidays are spent when you take a break and find Mr./Ms. Right in someone else's life. Written by Nancy Meyers.
Iris: I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. And how it can actually ache in places you didn't know you had inside you. And it doesn't matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night going over every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell for that brief moment you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he'll see the light and show up at your door. And after all that, however long all that may be, you'll go somewhere new. And you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And little pieces of your soul will finally come back. And all that fuzzy stuff, those years of your life that you wasted, that will eventually begin to fade.
Arthur Abbott: Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend.
Iris: You're so right. You're supposed to be the leading lady of your own life for God's sake! Arthur, I've been going to a therapist for three years, and she's never explained things to me that well. That was brilliant. Brutal, but brilliant.
7. Elf - Will Farrell, Bob Newhart, James Caan and Zooey Deschanel make a new Christmas classic. Written by David Berenbaum.
Gimbel's Manager: Why are you smiling like that?
Buddy: I just like to smile, smiling's my favorite.
[Buddy sees the mail room for the first time]
Buddy: It's just like Santa's workshop! Except it smells like mushrooms, and everyone looks like they wanna hurt me.
Buddy: I passed through the seven levels of the candy cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.
8. The Homecoming: A Christmas Story - This was the pilot for The Waltons, which I loved when I was a kid. Screenplay by Earl Hamner Jr. adapted from novel by Earl Hamner Jr.
John-Boy: Grandpa, do we got something to show we own Walton's Mountain?
Grandpa: You can't own a mountain anymore than you can own an ocean or a piece of the sky. You hold it in trust. You live on it, you take life from it, and once you're dead, you rest in it.
John-Boy: Christmas is the season where we give tokens of love. In that house we received not tokens but love itself. i became the writer I promised my father I would be and my destiny lead me far from Walton's mountain. My mother lives there still. Alone now for we lost my father in 1969. My brothers and sisters, grown with children of their own, live not too far away. We are still a close family and see each other when we can. And like Miss Mamie Baldwin's fourth cousins, we're apt to sample the recipe and then gather around the piano and hug each other while we sing the old songs. For no matter the time or distance, we are united in the memory of that Christmas eve. More than 30 years and 3,000 miles away, I can still hear those sweet voices.
9. The Bishop's Wife/The Preacher's Wife - The story of an angel sent to help a minister's wife and her family. Could you choose between Cary Grant and Whitney Houston. I think not. (Well generally Cary edges out Whitney, but she sings in The Preacher's Wife which makes it a draw.)
From The Bishop's Wife - book by Robert Nathan, written by Leonardo Bercovici, Robert E. Sherwood, Charles Brackett (uncredited), & Billy Wilder (uncredited)
Professor Wutheridge: God Bless you!
Dudley: Thank you! I'll pass that recommendation along.
From The Preacher's Wife - adapted from screenplay for The Bishop's Wife by Nat Mauldin and Allan Scott
Jeremiah Biggs: Just because you can't see the air doesn't keep you from breathing. And just because you can't see God doesn't keep you from believing.
10. Ernest Saves Christmas - The wacky tale of how one man - one crazy, man - saves Christmas when Santa Claus is looking for his replacement. Story by Ed Turner and screenplay by B. Kline and Ed Turner.
Ernest P. Worell: I am one with the Yuletide, know what I mean?
Ernest P. Worell: Ahh. Smell those Christmas trees. You can keep your "Channel" Number 5, just give me a whiff of the old lonesome pine. That symbol of brotherly love, that centerpiece that all mankind gathers round to share the cranberry sauce shaped like a can.
11. Home Alone - Modern holiday classic. Written by John Hughes.
Kevin McCallister: I took a shower washing every body part with actual soap; including all my major crevices; including in between my toes and in my belly button which I never did before but sort of enjoyed. I washed my hair with adult formula shampoo and used cream rinse for that just-washed shine. I can't seem to find my toothbrush, so I'll pick one up when I go out today. Other than that, I'm in good shape. Kate McCallister: I have been awake for almost 60 hours. I'm tired and I'm dirty. I have been from Chicago to Paris to Dallas to ... where the hell am I?
Ticket Agent: Scranton.
Kate McCallister: I am trying to get home to my eight-year-old son. And now that I'm this close, you're telling me it's hopeless? This is Christmas, the season of perpetual hope. And I don't care if I have to get out on your runway and hitchhike. If it costs me everything I own, if I have to sell my soul to the devil himself, I am going to get home to my son.
12. Die Hard - There are Christmas decorations and lights, and Christmas is mentioned a couple of times between explosions. So it counts. Starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman. Screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Stephen E. de Souza.
John McClane: You throw quite a party. I didn't realize they celebrated Christmas in Japan.
Joseph Takagi: Hey, we're flexible. Pearl Harbor didn't work out so we got you with tape decks.
Hans: The following people are to be released from their captors: In Northern Ireland, the seven members of the New Provo Front. In Canada, the five imprisoned leaders of Liberte de Quebec. In Sri Lanka, the nine members of the Asian Dawn movement ...
John McClane: [listening on the radio] What the f__k?
Karl: [mouthing silently] Asian Dawn?
Hans: [covers the radio] I read about them in TIme magazine.
13. Auntie Mame - Although the musical version, Mame, does have the song "We Need a Little Christmas," I like the non-musical version with Rosalind Russell much better. An orphaned boy is sent to live with his non-conformist trend-setting flapper aunt. Screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green adapted from the novel by Patrick Dennis.
Mame Dennis: Well, now uh, read me all the words you don't understand.
Patrick Dennis: Libido, inferiority complex, stinko, blotto, free love, bathtub gin, monkey glands, Karl Marx ... is he one of the Marx Brothers?
Mame Dennis: This will calm you down.
Agnes Gooch: Oh, no! Spirits do the most horrible thing to me. I'm not the same person!
Mame Dennis: What's wrong with that?
Agnes Gooch: Will it mix with Dr. Pepper?
Mame Dennis: He'll love it! Drink!
Mame Dennis: Oh, Agnes! Here you've been taking my dictations for weeks and you haven't gotten the message of my book: Live!
Agnes Gooch: Live?
Mame Dennis: Yes! Live! Life's a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!
14. All I Want for Christmas - Two children attempt to get their divorced parents back together for Christmas. Will it work? Lauren Bacall and Thora Birch star. Written by Thom Eberhardt and Richard Kramer.
Ethan O'Fallon: Now look, Hallie, you can ask for toys, parakeets, hair care products, I don't care. But you may not ask for anything to do with interpersonal relationships! Got it? This is Santa Claus, not Dear Abby.
Lillian Brooks: We've got rats. You wouldn't know anything about vermin, would you Tony?
Lillian Brooks: [on the phone] I've just returned from a very expensive night at the Carlyle to find a $1200 bill from your branch of Rodent Murder Incorporated and no rats.
Man on the phone: Do you want the bodies?
Lillian Brooks: No, I don't want the actual rat bodies. I want proof that you found something in this house other than a grade A sucker.
15. The Lion in Winter - Set at Christmas 1183, this tale imagines the family gathering of the Plantagenets, Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine for the Christmas court at Chinon with their children. Royal intrigue is mixed with family drama as Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn lead the cast in the 1968 film adaptation that includes the motion picture debut of Anthony Hopkins. (Glenn Close and Patrick Stewart starred in a good remake that aired in 2003 on Showtime.) Adapted for the screen by James Goldman from his play.
Eleanor: In a world where carpenters get resurrected, everything is possible.
Henry II: [to King Phillip of France] I found out the way your mind works and the kind of man you are. I know your plans and expectations - you've burbled every bit of strategy you've got. I know exactly what you will do, and exactly what you won't, and I've told you exactly nothing. To these aged eyes, boy, that's what winning looks like!
Eleanor: And when you die, which is regrettable but necessary, what will happen to frail Alais and her puny prince? You can't think Richard's going to wait for your grotesque to grow. [implying that Richard will kill the child.]
Henry II: You wouldn't let him do a thing like that.
Eleanor: Let him? I'd push him through the nursery door.
Henry II: You're not that cruel.
Eleanor: Don't fret. We'll wait until you're dead to do it.
Henry II: Eleanor, what do you want?
Eleanor: Just what you want, a king for a son. You can make more, I can't .You think I want to disappear? One son is all I've got, and you can blot him out and call me cruel? For these ten years you've lived with everything that I've lost, and loved another woman through it all, and I'm cruel? I could peel you like a pear and God himself would call it justice!
I'm sure that there's someone out there going "And where is A Christmas Story?!" Because it's on for 24 hours on TBS every Christmas Eve, I've left it off. White Christmas didn't make the cut because it's on 24 hours on AMC. My belief is that once something can take over a channel for 24 hours it goes without saying that you'll watch it at Christmas. BTW the leg lamp is atrocious. And hilarious. But I'm sure that I've unintentionally left off a few classics and threw in a few odd ones, but get some popcorn (not the microwaveable kind because apparently it has chemicals that are really really bad for you) and watch your favorite Christmas movie.
I'm sitting by the window curled up under a blanket today here in WNC. I'm watching the first snow fall of the season, and am so glad that I don't have to be out in it today. So far we're at three inches and the snow just keeps pouring down, which is very little on the whole, but quite a lot for us here in WNC.
The Christmas Card List
So this Christmas I've been keeping a list and checking it twice - my Christmas card list. Christmas is one season where my type A tendencies definitely come in handy. This year with a stack of Christmas cards to send all by myself, I knew that I had to be organized. So with my knack for creating spreadsheets in Excel, I whipped together my Christmas card list complete with name, name of significant other, street address, city, state, zip, and any special information that needed to go into the card; all sorted alphabetically. Of course there were people I wanted to give a card to but didn't have addresses for, so I broke them down by location of delivery. It's probably a bit much, but my system makes me feel efficient while doing something that I love to do to make Christmas a little merrier.
A New Gentleman's Guide to Guy Gifting
A friend recently asked me - a dedicated shopper/gift lister - what to give the man in her life, and I couldn't resist sharing the list with everyone else. Because no man - unless he's been very naughty - deserves to get a glittery snowman sweatshirt from someone he loves.
So what do you get that man of yours? It really depends on what kinds of things he likes and what his interests are because the key to a successful gift is personalization. Is he into sports? What kinds of books, movies, television does he like? Are there any activities that he's really into? (I.e. hiking, camping, fishing, sailing, riding, rock climbing, cooking - okay that's a hint for me)
So if it's for your husband, boyfriend, father, brother or just that guy you like these are my suggestions:1. If he likes a drink buy a flask that can be engraved. (Things Remembered is great for this, as is Aspinal of London.) You can personalize it with an inside joke, favorite quotation, your and his initials, the date of giving, anniversary or anything that's special to the both of you. One of my favorite gifts of all time is a flask with "A man needs something to believe in. I believe I'll have another drink," engraved on it given to me by Miss BR.2. Tickets to a favorite sporting event or cultural happening that you can both go to and enjoy together.3. A cologne that you like and associate with him. Scent memory is one of our strongest, and when he's wearing it he'll think of you. You could also include a card explaining why you chose that cologne. (Of course I vote for something by Creed, but be sure and choose something that you love.)4. A silk bow tie from Aspinal of London. These come pre-tied, look much more expensive than they are, and are perfect for any formal occasions that you'll attend together.5. A wallet. He'll think of you every time that he uses it. I suggest the Brown Croc & Suede from Aspinal of London b/c you can personalize it for an additional $15 with his initials. (I'm a total sucker for a monogram.)6. A picnic basket. Yes it's cold at Christmas, but you can do an indoor picnic in front of a fire, and any time you use it afterward, you'll think back to the first time that you used it together. Bonus points of course for candles, a good bottle of wine, and music that includes some of your favorites.7. Something that you've made for him. This of course depends on what you can or want to do. You shouldn't do this if it's going to stress you out and become more about what he thinks of the gift vs. the thought that you put into it.8. A DVD box set of his favorite TV Show that you've never watched and he doesn't have. You can watch it together and he can introduce you to something that he likes.9. The Canoe Eena Large Duffle. At $75 it's a v. nice weekend bag, and you can put in brochures of places that you'd like to go with him. Or if you are looking for something in a more expensive price range, Filson, purveyors of outdoor gear since 1897 makes luggage that any guy (especially this one) would love to receive.10. A print of a painting or photograph that represents him to you. I would make sure that this was framed, and would definitely include a card that explains why this picture represents him to you.
Of course if you want to send me anything i would be happy to accept any of the following:
1. The new Samsung Dual View camera. (Because I really need something small to maneuver around parties and social functions. It has nothing to do with the ease it provides for self-portraiture.)
2. an 8 oz. flagon of Selection Verte by Creed with an atomizer.
3. Men's Gold Driver Venetian loafer by Sperry & Limerock or Fontana Drivers from Sebago (feel free to contact for size and color preference.)
4. Guilty Pleasure TV: Gossip Girl Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD and Season 1 Volume 1 of Glee (which comes out after Christmas, but I'm willing to wait.)
5. A large copper roasting pan or a new Le Creuset french oven.
But whatever gifts end up under my tree, Merry Christmas Y'all!
UPDATE: We're at 9 inches of snow at my house. 15 inches in West Asheville. And it's still snowing.
