Movie Time #3

It's been just over a month and I have more movie reviews (done my way) in store for you!  Please let me know what you thought of these movies and if you have any recommendations.

The Outsiders

I don't usually watch old movies, but somehow I stumbled upon this one and curiosity made me watch.  It has a huge cast of famous stars and it was interesting to see them all so young and in one movie.  Despite the fact the movie is 30yrs old, and times seemed more innocent, there are still common themes challenging kids today... exclusion, labeling, bad home situations, etc.  And by the way Mandy Moore is the spitting image of a young Diane Lane, it was kind of creepy!  Is it worth watching twice?  I'll probably never watch it again, but I was glad I gave it shot.

The Lake House

I tend to watch newer films because I've seen most of the old ones, but some how this flick from 2006 managed to slip passed me.  Anyone my age loved seeing Keanu Reeves & Sandra Bullock together in Speed, and with this movie you get to see them again!  It starts out slow, but then definitely gets your attention, so please bare through the beginning.  At points in the moving I found myself hoping they would find a way to be together, it really sucked me into their ups and downs.  At times you feel you know how it's going to end but they do their best to keep you guessing.  It was an interesting romance, mostly because their situation is impossible and yet made sense.  Will I watch it again?  Sure, it's a great chick flick for once every few years.

Green Lantern

Wow, wish I had something nice to say about this movie.  I love sci-fi and movies based on comics book characters.  I like watching movies with real couples or when real-life couples fall in love.  But this movie couldn't hold my attention.  I tried, gave it an hour or so - even played a game on the iPad in the background - but I just couldn't get into it.  Maybe the character itself is flawed (hopefully no comic book fanatics are reading this), because the movie tried, they brought in Ryan Reynolds, pumped a lot of money into the graphics and costumes, but no amount of Hollywood power could save this movie.  I guess I should have listened when warned about how crappy it was.  Will I watch it again?  No way, I didn't even make it through the first round!

Dark Shadows

Apparently this movie is based on an old tv show... I never saw the show so I can't make any comparisons.  To me, it was new.  It is packed with a great quirky cast, most of them can do no wrong in my eyes.  Johnny Depp was a perfect choice for the lead.  The colors, costumes, and sets were great, and the story entertaining.  There were a few good laughs along the way, especially because he is trying to adjust to the 70's and it's confusing for all of them.  Growing up I loved The Addams Family and this definitely had that kind of feel.  Will I watch it again?  I'm sure it'll eventually end up on our tv again.

The Dictator

To enjoy this movie you have to appreciate Sacha Baron Cohen's humor.  You also had to have liked the previous movies, Borat & Bruno.  He's great at creating funny characters and really giving them his all.  Whether it's staged or not I love watching people's reactions to these over-the-top characters.  I laughed so hard during the helicopter scene of this movie, if you've seen it you will not forget the count down.  His extreme humor also makes you think about how crazy real life situations are, it's deeper than you think!  Will I watch it again?  I personally will not turn it on but if happens to be on tv, sure. 
 

Rock of Ages

I should have done my research before watching this movie, I had no idea it was a musical, completely caught me off guard!  I actually turned it on to get a good laugh, seeing Tom Cruise pretend to be a rock star should have been funny.  But there was little I enjoyed about this movie, and there was definitely no laughing.  I fast forwarded through most of it and didn't even bother to watch the end.  Kind of a shame because I think Julianne Hough has potential.  I loved Grease, why can't I get into modern day musicals?  Will I watch it again?  Not a chance!
 

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

I eventually really enjoyed watching this unlikely pair, Steve Carell & Kiera Knightley.  At first I considered turning the movie off but I'm glad I refrained because it turned out to be o.k.  Despite being a little slow it was an interesting role for Carell, not his usual comedy flicks.  And I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so you might want to stop reading now, but the movie actually followed through with it's title which really surprised me.  I kept waiting for things to turn around but they didn't.  Will I watch this movie again?  There's a good chance on a night with nothing better to do I could end up watching it again.

I already have another list of watched movies waiting to be posted, still not quite sure where I squeeze all of these movies into my schedule! 

Wordless Wednesday #38

Link up here for Wordless Wednesday!

 

Our curious camera compilation can also be found here...

Bedrijfsetentje

Business Dinner = Bedrijfsetentje

This weekend my family's company hosted a dinner party, something they try and do at least once a year.  We've gone to an array of restaurants through the years, one of the most memorable until now was Landgoed Wolfslaar.  It's a Michelin Star restaurant located in a beautiful old villa tucked away in the woods.  This years choice was also quite unique, we dined inside an old windmill.  De Meulen is a quaint restaurant attached to a historical windmill called De Korenaar.  I wish I could say this post was about the delectable food (I'll include a couple pics thanks to a colleague Suzanne) or all of the lovely people that work at our company but it's not.  It's about my outfit (my husband is probably rolling his eyes right now).  I knew right away that I wanted to wear an unworn black dress that has been hanging in my closet for over year.  It's a great dress, skin tight yet forgiving, falls just below the knee, and has a boat neck.  I've pulled it out many times and yet it always seemed just that bit too much.  Finally I had an event to wear it to, the only problem was, it's sleeveless and it's very cold here.  This meant I was going to have to layer it up in order to wear it to the business dinner.  I'm not into fashion, and have very little understanding of clothes, so the best idea I had was to wear a cardigan and pantyhose.  (Of course I also asked around hoping someone would have a better suggestion but nothing suited me - even asked Party411.)  I made my husband watch as I tried on at least 6 different cardigans and boleros, all of which he just laughed at, saying I looked like the preachers wife.  I eventually settled on a small silvery bolero (aka shrug), it was the most flattering of all the unflattering cardigans, if that makes sense.  Once dressed for the party I realized I had completely dulled the outfit down.  The black dress, black pantyhose, and black heels all blended together.  And the bolero kept me semi warm but took away from the neckline and fit of the dress.  But no matter what, I knew I wasn't too flashy and I was more on the conservative classic side of style.  Being that I am the GM's wife and daughter-in-law of the owners it was appropriate.  Then as everyone filtered into the party I realized I was dress like all of the women about 20 yrs older than me and that all of the women my age were wearing skin tight black pants (also an option I had shown my husband)!  Arg!  People tried to be polite and say that I looked nice, but I know what they were thinking, ha-ha!  Besides the uncomfortable pantyhose which I hated from the moment I struggled to put them on, I also had to suffer through shoulder pain.  Somehow the day before the party I hurt a muscle in my shoulder, the pain slowly grew until I could barely move my right arm (and I'm right handed).  I managed to feed myself during the dinner, but my husband did have to pour my water and help me with my jacket... in the end he looked quite the gentleman.  No matter the outfit or pain, it was a lovely company dinner and I look forward to the next one... thanks to the in-laws for a great party!

Dog Diapers

For many of you this post is going to seem ridiculous, and for others, you're going to completely understand.  Our Wheaten Terrier is in heat at the moment, well the end of it, luckily.  We have full intentions of getting her spayed but here in The Netherlands they make you wait until the dog has gone through its first cycle to make sure it reached full hormonal development.  The States feel different, they encourage you to get your dog fixed before the first cycle in order to prevent certain diseases.  We aren't thrilled to have to deal with a doggy cycle.  Even though we also find it cruel to deprive her the chance of ever having puppies we know it's something we just couldn't deal with, we're barely getting through this.  I have a toddler, so obviously we survived all of her bodily functions, including diapers.  But dog diapers are completely different (I'm gagging right now).  It's a brilliant idea, as long as you're not the one dealing with it.  My husband took the easy road, because I'm a woman I supposedly have more understand around cycles and I have to deal with the diapers, thanks!  I had no idea what to expect, I checked online and apparently this can last 1-1.5 weeks, that's a lot more doggy diapers than I bought.  The dog absolutely hates the diapers, understandably.  The first day she stood for around 2 hours because she didn't want to sit or lie down wearing the diaper.  Over the past week she's grown more accustom to them, even though we haven't.  I'm not sure if I bought the wrong size or not, but these expensive diapers kept breaking and before I knew it I was almost through the pack.  Then it came to me, I had an unopened pack of diapers left over from my daughters potting training days.  I compared the sizes and it was a perfect match, all I needed to do was cut the hole out for the tail.  Last night we tried the Pampers on her, and she is much happier with them.  The Pampers are more flexible and give around the legs, they're obviously meant for active toddlers.  The dog has much more freedom now, it shows in how she lays and plays.  I wished we had used baby diapers from the beginning instead of torturing her through the stiff dog diapers.  I would say next round we'll use them again, but there will be no next round, we'll be making an appointment at the vet soon to get her fixed.  But I thought I'd at least pass the tip on to other dog owners suffering through heat. 
It wouldn't be a usual post if I didn't include pictures.  The first picture is when Maggie is bathed, brushed, and with long hair.  The other picture is when she is trimmed and stuck in a miserable dog diaper, poor dog!

If you're interested here are a couple other posts about our puppy, and there will definitely be more to come:

Dog Debate

Puppy Maggie
Puppy Class

Freebies (aka Monsters)

Freebies!!!  Who doesn't love getting a free sample of something???  In Dutch freebies or samples are called "monsters".  Sounds funny to an American, but so what, I love "monsters"!
 

Every once in a while I go in search of freebies online.  I wouldn't say they're as common here as in The States but you can still find them.  One website I use is ProefMonsters.nl  (I pulled it up to get the link for you and they had an offer for dog Dentastix, great!  Signed up and invited friends too!)  Now if you're not in The Netherlands this site will be of little use to you, but I am sure you can find one of your own.  My last round on this website has delivered at least 2 freebies so far:
 

I'm really happy with this one, it arrived a week or so ago!  It's a lid for cottage cheese.  Sounds so simple yet I didn't have it.  We often open a container of cottage cheese, eat half, and then leave it poorly sealed in the fridge.  Usually it gets tossed out because we don't trust our sealing capabilities (if we bothered at all).  Now, thanks to Danone's nifty little lid, we can rest assure that the cottage cheese will be good the next day and if we happen to tip it over (happened before) there will not be unwanted cottage cheese juice all over the fridge!  Thanks Danone!
 

My other freebie arrived today in the mail, it's a small mixed sample pack of labels/stickers from Avery.  Since I no longer have an office job I almost never print things out on stickers.  Even though I do occasionally feel like getting organized I can't bring myself to buy a pack of expensive labels at the store.  Again, through the freebie website I only had to give my address, wait a couple weeks, and voila, I now have stickers for my printer.  I'm just curious how long it will take me to get the hankering to actually get labels printed out and stuck on whatever the project of the month might be.  I do have some storage boxes in the shed that could use labels!!!
 

Hope you all find a website of your own and start signing up for freebies.  They're extra rewarding because they take so long to arrive that you tend to forget about them!

Wordless Wednesday #37

Link up here for Wordless Wednesday!

 

Our curious camera compilation can also be found here...

Song Singles

Don't expect this to take long, but I had to get it out there.  There are two song singles out right now that I keep playing over and over, can't wait until the actual albums are released.  They're 2 completely different songs, different genres, and different feels but both are worth listening to!

Wow, wait a minute, I just did my research and apparently both albums are already out, I guess I've been living under a rock.  I can't wait to get my hands on them.  Anyway, I still love the debut singles and will continue to play them out!

 

The first and definitely my favorite :

Home sang by Phillip Phillips (what a name, but easy to remember, ha-ha!)  And the album I intend to listen to pronto is The World from the Side of the Moon  His style is unusual and it was obvious he was a star from his audition on American Idols.

 

And the second song :

Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys  Apparently from the album also titled Girl on Fire.  Now this song grew on me, at first I thought she was way off and had no interest in the song, and now I find myself belting it out around the house!

Hope you check them out!

SAHM I AM

SAHM = Stay-At-Home-Mom

I am a Stay-At-Home-Mom and it completely suits me and my family.  But I also understand being a SAHM isn't for everyone.  I hear a lot of working moms say I'd go crazy being at home all of the time or I go to work to get a break.  Luckily, I don't feel this way, it's important to be happy in your job and take pride in it.  See...

...I was a homebody before we ever decided for me to be a SAHM.  Don't get me wrong though I am not always home, there's always something to do out of the house (required or not) besides my tots schedule keeps me busy enough!

...I do get breaks, naptime and bedtime.  Sure a lot of naps are spent cleaning or exercising but I get my time in, how else would I maintain this blog?  And basically the daily duties end once my tot goes to bed for the evening, this time is for me & my husband or for whatever else floats my boat.

...I wear pajamas often.  But this isn't a new tradition since becoming a SAHM, for as long as I can remember the moment I step foot in the house the normal clothes go and I slip on my pj's.  I'm like superman stepping into a phone booth, it happens that fast.  Being a pj-wearer worked out to my benefit, because I don't feel bad about staining them with cleaning products, kids paint, or food.

...I find that being a SAHM plays right into me being frugal.  Sure we could have sent my kid to daycare while I worked part-time but at the end of the month I'd have barely any money to show for it.  Daycare is outrageously expensive!  And now I have the time to cruise for sales, saving even more money at the end of the day.

...I've also heard that becoming a SAHM means losing your social life.  This isn't true, well, it could be if you let it but that also applies to someone who goes to an office/job.  Sure I liked some of my old co-workers over the 15yrs I did go to "work" but I didn't go there to socialize, I went there to make money.  And I have plenty of adult conversations (another myth I hear).  Plus, I'm a parent whether I have a career or am a SAHM, there's no need for me to go out every week.  And to be honest, there are enough people in the family to watch my tot if I do get the urge to paint the town red.

So again, I feel very lucky to be a SAHM.  And I truly appreciate all of the hours my husband puts in at his work to make this happen.  And just so you know, I do respect women that Work-Outside-of-The-Home (there's usually a big misunderstanding between SAHM's & WOTM's).  I can't imagine doing it all, keeping the husband & kid happy, food on the table, house clean, shuffling to & from the family activities, and managing a 40hr a week job, props to you!

Here are a couple fun articles I found about being a SAHM:

5 Myths About Being a SAHM
10 SAHM Myths Debunked

I definitely feel this subject is worth coming back to, so keep your eye out for a follow-up!