Categories
Everything Else

The Age of Adaline

I recently had the pleasure of solo night out to see The Age of Adaline.

The Age of Adaline poster

I had heard little to nothing about the film before I cozied into the theater seat, & yet I was treated to quite a wonderful movie that night.

The Age of Adaline

Blake Lively portrays Adaline Bowman, a woman born in the early 1900s yet due to a freak accident, is permanently 28 years old. Her hair & costumes design were gorgeous (& so is she!) as we follow Adaline through memories & events in a decade of fashion.

Adaline’s love interest, Ellis Jones, is played by Michiel Huisman which I spent the film thinking “I know him from somewhere” & yes, he was in Game of Thrones! Quite the handsome guy!

The Age of Adaline Flemming

Ellen Burstyn co-stars in the film as Adaline’s daughter & as always, I love her warm characters. Harrison Ford shines as Ellis’ dad & has some stand-out, memorable scenes.

The Age of Adaline William

I wasn’t walking into this night out thinking much but The Age of Adaline made me laugh, gave me chills & I had to subtly wipe away a tear. This would be a great date night movie or a wonderful girl’s night out too!

The Age of Adaline came out nationwide April 24th. Thanks to Lionsgate for the ticket to see the film.

Categories
Family/Travel

Whirlwind Charlotte weekend

My parents came to Raleigh Friday morning surprising Lucy & Zach at daycare quickly followed by Jason & I arriving there. After items all piled into our mini-van, off Cici, Pops, Lucy, Zach & I went to Charlotte!

I love when dual event plans work out ~ I was able to split time with my Papa & also gave my good buddy B (aka Classic Annie) a baby shower!

We made it to Charlotte in time for dinner at the clubhouse Friday night, went back to the condo for dessert & playing with Papa. Saturday morning, Mom & I (with L&Z strolling along for the ride) were among the first at South Park mall for maybe the speediest shopping at 3 stores ever before dropping me off to get Papa’s car to dash to Whole Foods & the baby shower. Cici, Pops & Papa entertained L&Z for the day!

B's baby shower food

B’s shower was so fun! It was a blast to catch up with her & her family & friends, see her gorgeous house & hug on that lil baby bump. And make sure that baby G will be appropriately spoiled come July!

B's baby shower cake

I arrived back at Papa’s condo in time for dinner. (& thanks B, the leftover cake pieces were a shared hit between the 7 of us!) Then back to hotel for baths, books & bedtime.

Thanks to snoring (Dad & Mom!) I was awoken at 3:09 am. Usually, that’d mean roll over & go back to sleep but not on 4/19/15, it was #LillyforTarget morning! I managed 3 quick check outs (& lots of cart drops) & am so thankful a couple toddler pieces, 2 women’s tops, shoes, scarfs, a tote bag & a bracelet are on their way to me now. I snoozed through my alarm but made it to a Charlotte Target at 8:12am. Only to see all but one pair swim bottoms (in my size!) gone from the rack. I traded a XL girls top for a XL swim top, grabbed a put back dress for me & was handed a part of shorts for me that didn’t work for someone else. I did a quick sweep of the store & found juice glasses & a flask. I check out quick & made it back to the hotel in time to pack up & get all dressed & ready for church.

Papa’s church was a great service as usual then we enjoyed brunch at the clubhouse (where L&Z ate their weight in berries & loved sneaking off to say hi to the birds). Then just like that, we were back in the mini-van, this time in the pouring rain back to Raleigh. Whirlwind trip, but so much fun mixing family, friends & a lil bit of shopping!

Categories
Everything Else

Insurgent

Did you get swept away by the Divergent trilogy novels by Veronica Ruth like I did?! I flew through the books in a summer beach reading with babies then pumping working mom with time reading kicks.

And of course I joined millions of other women to see Divergent in film when it came out! I loved it, see my favorite characters played out in a movie was wonderful.

I was thrilled when I began seeing previews for the second movie, Insurgent! And thanks to husband staying home to keep L&Z in bed, I was able to see a showing of Insurgent last week.
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Insurgent in one word: suspenseful! I felt it was very action packed keeping up with the Divergent Tris & her allies. I loved seeing Octavia Spencer as the lead of Amity!
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The special effects were decent & lots of fighting scenes. Kate Winslet did a good job playing the power hungry role of Jeanine, evil Erudite faction leader. I love the actress & she made it easy to dislike her character!
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And just when I thought the teen romance between Tris (Shailene Woodley) & Four (Theo James) wasn’t quite holding my attention, they threw in a love scene that had my inner teenage self giggling a bit.
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It’d been long enough since I read the book that I didn’t exactly remember what happened. And that was kind of nice, except I don’t love surprises! In hindsight, it probably would have been helpful to re-watch Divergent or to re-read Insurgent so I would have not been surprised by a few scenes!

And now I’m left confused where this series will go next, I might have to read the final book again before that film comes out!

Insurgent is out in theaters everywhere as of last Friday March 20th. Have you seen it yet? What did you think?

In exchange for my review, I was able to see Insurgent early on behalf of Lionsgate.

Categories
Everything Else Motherhood

Cinderella Girls Night!

I had the pleasure this week to take a few rare bits of ‘me time’. First a work trip away from home one night where I was able to reconnect with coworkers & had a hotel room all to myself!

Next up was a midweek ladies night! I need to do these way more often & I was overdue to reconnect with my friend Kristen. Dinner & a movie one on one time was lovely when usually we’re either online chatting or juggling our 5 kids between us! I think the waiter came by 3 times before I’d stopped talking long enough to open my menu!
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We rushed our bills & made our way into our seats just in time though. And as I’d heard rumored, we were treated to seeing Frozen Fever as the 7 min short story! Lucy & Zach will love it & will think Anna’s birthday day & the new song are so funny & cute!
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Cinderella stars Lily James as Ella starting as a beloved child growing up in an idyllic small farm life with dotting, dear parents.

I loved seeing such a beloved fairy tale in real life live action. The set & scenery were gorgeous!
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The make up & costume designers for the step-mother & sisters (Cate Blanchette, Holliday Grainger & Sophie McShera) as well as Ella, did an amazing job. Those ladies did a great job playing disliked characters!
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Helena Bonham as the fabulous Fairy Godmother was spectacular! She was gorgeous & perfect for the role.
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Someone else gorgeous was the Prince (the handsome Richard Madden) & Ella! I want to try on that glass slipper! Her ball gown will inspire lots of girls in blue dresses this summer & fall!

Speaking of girls, moms take yours to this film! It opened everywhere Fri March 13th! Beware there are 3 deaths & it’s 105 minutes. I don’t think Lucy could sit through it yet, but there were a few older toddlers & many little girls completely enchanted with Cinderella. Make it a sweet mother-daughter movie afternoon.

Or go like I did with friends! You don’t want to miss seeing your childhood favorite on the big screen. Cinderella made me believe in magic, fairy tales & happily ever after. And as Ella’s mom said, to help me to remember to teach my children to always “have courage & be kind”!

Categories
Everything Else Reading

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

I might’ve squealed when the invitation to see the latest in the Hunger Games series as a ‘media representative’. It’s so cool where this lil ‘ole blog has helped present me with opportunities.

I continued to be giddy as I left Jason at home to handle bedtime solo while I went to the movies alone. I ended up running into two other awesome local mom bloggers (hi Erin & Andrea!) & I crashed their party. Over shared candy, popcorn & caramel corn, we chatted about rewatching the prior movies & our love of Suzanne Collins’ novels. And how excited we were for this film!
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And Mockingjay part 1 did not disappoint me in the least! The film follows along the book (as best I recall from reading it close to 3 year ago) taking you from Katniss waking post her second trip into the Hunger Games to a bit of a suspenseful cliff hanger stopping point.

I don’t always recall movie soundtracks, but this one was really good. A couple songs days later have been stuck in my head. After you watch the film, I think you’d agree.

The actors all lived up to hype. I’m ‘team Gale’! And I might’ve swooned a little at Liam Hemsworth as he did a great job, but Josh Hutchinson as Peeta was excellent as well. And Jennifer Lawrence playing Katniss helps her grow up in Mockingjay into a strong relucent hero role.

I’m so thankful to see Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Game Keeper & will be wondering how they’ll do the last one without him. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch comes a little late but provides funny one liners. As does Elizabeth Banks as the beloved Effie as she tries to get Katniss Panem audience ready. And Julieanne Moore joins the cast this time around brilliantly playing the District 13 president Coin.

My favorite scene was the two trips Katniss makes back to her destroyed District 12. I laughed at her discovery when she goes into her former home. And Katniss’ song, while she, Gale & her film crew eat lunch by the water during her second trip, is still so beauty & hauntingly memorable days later.

Did you go to the movies opening night? Weekend? What did you think about book turned movie adaptation? What was your favorite part?