2011 Best Picture Showcase

Again this year the Academy Awards are showcasing 10 best picture nominees.  AMC theaters holds a 2 day event to show all 10 best pictures.  Here are my thoughts on the 10 movies:
Toy Story 3: The movie is cute and funny, but it’s the 3rd in the series and not worth the nomination.  Still a good movie for kids and adults though.
127 Hours: James Franco is up for best actor and he did a fantastic job.  The movie reminded me a bit of Cast Away where you needed a solo actor to keep you interested in the movie.  The arm cutting scene was intense and I really didn’t watch much of it.  I liked it and think it was worth the nominee as well as Franco and think he has a good chance at winning.
The Kids Are All Right:  I didn’t know what this movie was about and although I think the acting was good, I really didn’t feel interested in the story.  Not sure if this one deserved the nomination, but I do think Annette Bening did deserve the best actress nomination.  Mark Ruffalo is up for best supporting actor but I don’t think he should win.
True Grit:  I’m not much of a western fan, except for Tombstone.  This was a little slow and boring for me, but I can see why it was nominated.  The Coen brothers like the more dark and gloomy films.  I doubt it will win but if you like westerns you will like this.  Jeff Bridges is up for best actor, but I still think Franco will win this.  Hailee Steinfeld is up for best supporting actress and she was good, but I don’t think she will win.
The Fighter:  This could be compared to Million Dollar Baby with the kid that makes it big.  Christian Bale’s acting was great and is up for best supporting actor and I think he will win.  Amy Adams plays the girlfriend and Melissa Leo are both up for best supporting actress.  I think Leo would deserve it more than Adams.  Overall I liked the movie and it is one of the front runners to win for best picture.
Winter’s Bone: This was another movie that I didn’t know what it was about.  It was very gloomy and cold and I felt like I was there.  The movie was slow but I see the interest in the best picture nomination.  John Hawkes is up for best supporting actor and he was good, but I don’t think he will win.  Jennifer Lawrence is up for best actress and I think she has a good chance of winning.
Black Swan:  Everyone told me this was very disturbing but I actually didn’t think it was too disturbing.  It was a darker movie and it gave me goose bumps when it ended.  Very good movie but I don’t think it will win.  Natalie Portman is up for best actress but I don’t think she will win.
Inception:  This was my second time watching and since I didn’t have to concentrate as much on the story line I was able to see more details.  It is a good visual effects movie and makes your head hurt when trying to understand, but I would be shocked if it won best picture. 
The Social Network:  This movie was funnier than I expected it to be and I enjoyed it.  It has a lot of hype to win but I don’t think it should.  Jesse Eisenburg is nominated for best actor but I don’t think he was as good as other actors up for nomination.
The King’s Speech:  This movie also has a lot of hype for winning and I do believe it deserves the win.  Colin Firth is up for best actor and Geoffrey is up for best supporting actor.  Both were great and I would like to see both win.  Helena Bonham Carter is up for best supporting actress and I always enjoy her performances but I’m not sure she will win.
Overall this was a good year of best pictures, but I think they need to go back to 5 nominees.  I will be watching tonight to see who wins and I always enjoy the Oscars. 

Here's a video from Yahoo that goes through some of the nominees:

WW 6 weeks in

I joined Weight Watchers online 6 weeks ago.  During the first week I realized just how much food I was eating.  It was a major adjustment to not grab those pretzel M&Ms and not enjoy all the goodies in the break room at work.  But when I’m given only a certain number of points I feel like I would be a failure to go over, so I was determined to stay on points.  By week 2 I was getting into a routine and had already lost a couple pounds.  After the third week I thought I had it all figured out, but I didn’t lose any weight.  That was a major bummer.  So I joined a WW challenge online where for the entire month of Feb you have to track everything and not go over your total points for the week.  No problem I thought.  Then after the fourth week I only lost 0.5 pounds.  That was another bummer, but it was a loss.  It was then that I went back to measuring out everything again and really think before putting anything in my mouth.  By the end of the fifth week I had lost another 2 pounds.  However, I had to bow out of the challenge because I went to a baby shower and dinner at my MILs house on the same day and didn’t track what I ate although I did make good choices.  So this past week I have been out of the challenge and I have been very worried that I would be up for the week.  My weigh in was this morning and since starting 6 weeks ago I’ve lost a total of…

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10.5 pounds!!! 

I have another 10 pounds to lose before my next goal but I have regained my confidence that I will do it.  It would be great to lose more than that, but I don’t want to make my goal seem too far away.

Cake & Bake

Do you have a favorite store?  I mean one where you go in looking for something in particular and next thing you know you have been there for an hour and bought way more than you intended to?  That store for me is Cake & Bake.  It’s out in Germantown (where Giggles used to be). 

It is a pretty small store actually, but there is so much to look at.  They have a whole wall of cookie cutters!

And a wall of sprinkles (or if you prefer to call them jimmies)!

 

And even a wall of to-go containers to put your goodies inside.

Behind the wall of containers is a wall of frozen desserts, breads and sugar cookies just waiting for you to take them home (sorry, no picture).  The main reason I go there, and now my secret is out, is for the pre-made frosting.  It is impossible to get black or red frosting to look those colors, but somehow they can do it!  I was there on Saturday and you can see they were all out of red frosting probably due to Valentine’s Day.

 

There is so much more, but I was getting some side-eye glances from the workers as I used my cell phone camera.  So do you have a store like this where you just lose yourself and all concept of time?

Hulu

A while back I heard of a website called hulu where you can watch tv shows, but I never thought much about it.  Recently, however, the only tv show Jamie and I watch together, House, did not record properly on the DVR.  So I looked up hulu and saw they have a lot of shows from past seasons.  To watch a current season I would have to sign up for hulu plus.  They have a free 1 week trial so I signed up and planned to cancel before my credit card was charged but I found Grey’s Anatomy!  I used to have Netflix and would get past seasons of Grey’s but I canceled that a couple years ago.  So I let the free trial lapse and I’m couldn’t be happier to be watching Grey’s again.  There are also other newer shows that I just haven’t had time to watch and now I can.  Jamie and I are actually thinking of getting rid of cable and using hulu instead.  We haven’t made the switch yet, but if we do I’ll report back on how that goes. 

Blizzard of 2011

It isn’t often that we get Blizzards, but today it shut down most of SE Wisconsin.  We got about 14” of snow but the wind was so forceful that the drifts were 2-3’ in some places.  Jamie braved the weather and took care of the snow, then Jake and I got bundled up in snow pants, jacket, hat, gloves and boots for some snow fun.  The snow bank at the end of the driveway was about twice the height of Jake.  I put Jake in his sled and pulled him around the yard, which was hard because I kept sinking down to my knees!  I remember seeing pictures that my parents took of us kids when there were huge snow falls, and although we didn’t get quite that much, it was still fun to get pictures of Jake with the snow.

   

Charlie got out of the house and tried to escape.  He didn’t get very far though.  He’s probably wondering what happened outside!

When I’m on a diet, everyone needs to be on a diet

One of the hardest things about being on a diet is all the people around me not on a diet. If everyone was on a diet at the same time then the temptations would be gone. Instead of passing Culver's and seeing the flavor of the day being Kit Kat Swirl, they would have cauliflower with low-fat cheese sauce. The chocolate cake and caramel corn in the break room would be replaced with apples and yogurt. My husband wouldn't come home from the grocery store with ice cream and Fritos. There are plenty of good healthy foods out there, but its so hard to pass the up the Girl Scout cookies that come around this time of year.

The great thing about Weight Watchers is that you can eat all the food you love, just in moderation. I just find it easier to not eat the temptation food at all otherwise once I have a taste it is much harder to resist.