Tag Gone With the Wind

Of a Weekend…

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Ah… Days off with nothing firm scheduled are the best!  I went out with work colleagues for a late dinner, watched a niece play volleyball, drank coffee in the sunshine (a rare and welcome sight!), shopped and bought TWO pairs of shoes, got a pedicure, cuddled on my couch with my nephew and watched “Wreck It Ralph,” bought gifts for babies and birthdays, caught up on some TV watching, and watched “Gone With the Wind.”  And more days off tomorrow and Wednesday!

What’s Making Me Happy: 

Cover of "Gone with the Wind"

Cover of Gone with the Wind

  • I finished “Gone With the Wind” and am so glad I read it!  It is an epic novel, ‘The Great American Novel,” and it is really worth the read.  Watched the movie this weekend, in two sittings.  It is a magnificent movie, and at 4-hours it is merely a condensed version of the story.  It follows the story greatly, but the story is so much richer in the novel.  Ah, Scarlet.  Ah, Rhett.  Love them both!  After reading the Margaret Mitchell book, I really want to read the “sequels” that were written by others.  I didn’t expect that to happen!  
  • I am also excited that I finished that 960 page book so that I can finally move on to my TBR pile!  I’ve been listening to an audio for book club (“The Accidental Tourist” – slowest narrator EVER!), but I am excited to dive into some others.  Ah, books.  Good stuff.  
  • I still haven’t committed to my 3rd Quarter of 11 Things yet… but I will start that list here tonight, as almost 1/3 of that quarter is gone! Ha!
  • Everytime I get an update of the blog Des Hommes et des Chatons, I smile. Good stuff!  You MUST check it out!  Sexy men and kittens – how can it be anything but happy-making?  Go, NOW!

    hot men cats models poses

    http://deshommesetdeschatons.tumblr.com/
    CLICK IT! This is NOT a good example of the sexy!

  • THREE WEEKENDS IN A ROW OFF!  This weekend, next, and the weekend after!  Wowza!  I may get used to that!
  • The Rochester International Film Festival starts Friday night, so I’m looking forward to movies Saturday and Sunday – my weekend to work, but my “bye” weekend!  Woot!

This week has been filled with bad news and frustrating media… I’m thankful for friends who choose to share the good and to remain hopeful and positive.  It is easy to get sucked into it, for sure, but I do my best to “feed my head” with positive strategies and good news.

With that, here is my list of Things to look forward to or do in my April, May and June!

11 Things: 3rd Quarter: 

  1. Book Club – LOVE talking about books, whenever and wherever!  April 2 – with rum & Cokes, pizza burgers, and Mississippi Mud Cake!  Will schedule another before the end of May!
  2. Cosmo Girls – April brought green smoothies, chair massages, and henna!  May will bring A Cosmo Girl Party to celebrate another year of fun!
  3. A Spring Break facial – and pedicure!
  4. Baseball games and softball games – hopefully in sunshine!
  5. THE GREAT GATSBY movie!  Cannot wait!!! Maybe a party before? Group outing?
  6. Marissa’s graduation in May with a party to celebrate her Bachelor’s in Biology!  Taran’s graduation in June!
  7. Take Note! spring concert – most likely in June!
  8. New walking shoes – so hopefully many walks!
  9. Catch up on the TBR pile – as many as possible!  #1 Silver Linings Playbook!  
  10. June will bring Thursdays on First and Rochesterfest – outdoor food, music and fun!  And hopefully sunshine!  (Can you tell we’ve been without for too long?) 
  11. Strike up a conversation with a stranger (NOT a patient!) weekly (?) and WRITE about it!  Woot!  

Have anything you think I should replace with something?  What are you looking forward to in the upcoming spring months?

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What’s Making Me Happy 4/16/13

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Ah, a day off with little sleep.  Hopefully tonight I will sleep soundly, waking refreshed for a long work day!

But here’s what’s making me happy:

  • Getting through overnights at work is always good… another month until it happens again!  
  • I finished “Gone with the Wind” last night!  Woot!  It was a great book, unfortunately I didn’t have a lot of endurance with it, so I read it in shorter spurts than I would have liked.  But I can’t wait to discuss it with others who have read it and to revisit the movie.  So much to talk about!  Scarlett’s coping skill of “thinking of it tomorrow” is something I have employed… sometimes things are just so hard to face that you have to divert attention elsewhere and move forward with plans tomorrow.  It is spoken so often in the book… and it is the final sentence of the book:  “After all, tomorrow is another day.”  I’m so glad I read it.

    Gone with the Wind cover

    Gone with the Wind cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  • Book club with the Preston gals was a lot of fun.  We read a great book (“We are all Welcome Here” by Elizabeth Berg) and had great food – rum and Cokes, pizza burgers, cheesy potatoes, and Mississippi Mud Cake.  Yummy!  Always good to see those women!
  • Met girls from work for dinner on a Friday night!  It was good to get together outside of work and to get to know them better.  Hopefully it’s something we can do again and again!  We celebrated having a Friday off before a weekend off!  Doesn’t always happen!  Maybe this Friday we will have a happy hour after we have supervision from 6-8pm!  🙂
  • I had a terrible cold during my weekend off, but enjoyed movies and reading… not a bad way to spend a weekend off!
  • Singing is always good… love the songs we’re singing in choir!  Some river songs, medley style (“Old Black Water,” “Swanee River,” “The Old Folks at Home,” “Mood River” and more!) and some Irish songs (yay!) and “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.”  Love it.
  • Had some good days off last week before my weekend overnight work.  Good meals out, good cooking at home, good movie in the theatre (“Admissions”) and hanging out with Marissa.  Good stuff.
  • A great post-tax-day out with Beth today – delicious breakfast at Burdey’s in Peterson (cinnamon roll pancakes – so good!) followed by shopping and fro-yo!  Good stuff.

And coming up:

  • 3 days of work ahead and a weekend off.  No big plans (yet!), but just glad to have a Saturday, Sunday, Monday off!  
  • Hanging out with the kids a little as Dana and  Koni jet off to Vegas!  
  • Starting in on my pile of TBR books – #1 is The Silver Linings Playbook!  Yay!  DVD comes out 4/30, so that’s something I”m looking forward to! Also have 2 book club books going – “The Accidental Tourist” by Anne Tyler and “Sick Girl” by Amy Silverstein (for work).  Good stuff!  I’m listening to the audio of “The Accidental Tourist” and I think it’s read by the slowest narrator in the history of narrators.  Goodness.  But it’s a good book!
    The Accidental Tourist

    The Accidental Tourist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

     

  • Planning a small graduation party for Marissa is fun… it sure is something to celebrate!
  • Have so many good shows to catch up on – so glad I still have my DVR!  I’ll catch up with them sometime – so no Mad Men or Smash spoilers!

What is making you happy this week?

The 4.11

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Wine Wednesday - wacky!

Wine Wednesday – wacky!

So what’s the 411?
Does anyone say that anymore?  Does anyone call information anymore?

What info can I give you today…

  • Musinex is my friend!  I think that it has helped me feel better faster.  Crazy, eh?  
  • I work overnights this weekend so I’m in self-indulgent mode – gonna stay in  my pajamas as long as possible on Friday!
  • I enjoyed my days off and had some adventures with Marissa!
  • Watched “Admissions” on free-popcorn Wednesday.  It was pleasantly unpredictable, although the girl does end up with the guy in the end. Just a little surprising in how they got there!
  • Still plugging away on “Gone With The Wind.”  Loving it and amazed at her writing… just wish I had more reading stamina!  Hopefully I’ll binge on it tomorrow and make a big dent.
  • Have TWO “book club in a bag” sets – one for the old FC girls and one for work!  Yay!  So in the next few weeks I will be reading “The Accidental Tourist” by Anne Tyler (love her books!) and “Sick Girl” by Amy Silverstein.  Just added two more books to my already towering TBR pile!  Oh well!
  • Cosmo Girls tonight was another great time – green smoothies, do-it-yourself-henna, and chair massages.  And of course, many laughs!  Yay!
  • I will finalize my spring quarter list this weekend – we’re marching through April!
  • SOOOO looking forward to “The Great Gatsby” movie coming out!  I can’t wait!

Finally, this photo booth was just too much fun today!  Once the photos are taken, they replayed the video of you taking all the pictures!  And look at my hair!  It’s always so unpredictable… quite a flip I’ve got going on!  We laughed so hard… lots of laughs today.  🙂

25 photo booths

Paparazzi Photo Booth!

What’s the 411 with you?

 

 

 

 

 

What’s Up?!

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What I’ve Been Watching:

  • Smash (NBC Tuesday Nights) – It’s so fun to watch this show about putting on a Broadway show.  There’s much that is predictable, but the music and locations are so fun.  
  • Late Night with Jimmy Fallon – Still loving this show and never miss it.  Prince was on Friday night and that was a blast!  He looked like he was having a great time, which doesn’t seem typical Prince to me.  He was smiling so big… maybe being on Jimmy’s show makes everyone feel that way.  I know I am always smiling throughout his show… good stuff!
  • Eulogy (from Netflix) – a very fun movie with a lot of people in it!  Ray Romano, Hank Azaria, Debra Winger, Zooey Deschanel, Rip Torn… and more.  The patriarch of the family passes away and the oldest granddaughter is asked to read his eulogy.  His four children have different views of him and their relationships today are strained and difficult.  Pretty good stuff.
  • Undertaking Betty (from Netflix) – Brenda Blethyn is so fun.  This is a crazy story about a small Welsh town with two funeral homes in
    Plots with a View

    Plots with a View (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    competition with each other.  One funeral director reaches out to his unrequited love and they decide the only way they can be together is if she fakes her death.  Very crazy.  And Naomi Watts?  Christopher Walken?  Craziest.  🙂

  • The Commitments (from my library) – While watching Once with Deadra, I read that Glen Hansard was in The Commitments – one of my all time favorite movies! – so I had to watch it again.  Still an amazing movie with amazing songs.  Glen doesn’t have a big role in the show and doesn’t sing much at all, but it is a strong movie.   What are the chances – two of my favorite movies of all time have a few things in common!

What I’ve Been Reading:

  • Gone With the Wind – Finally started this and about 100 pages in.  I’m sure that I have watched the movie in its entirety only twice in my life, but it’s amazing how it is so firmly in my mind as I read it. I can hear Scarlett’s mama’s voice in my head as I read the words.  I can picture the barbeque (which I’m just coming up to) and Scarlett and her admirers. I look forward to reading more and then having a viewing party!
  • My City, My New York: Famous New Yorkers Share Their Favorite Places – A fun little “guide book” that Sarah bought and I borrowed.  I’ve been taking notes, Troy, so will have some little additions to my itinerary when I visit next!

What I’m Listening to:

  • “Nice Work If You Can Get It” has a great Broadway Cast Recording!  Love the Gershwin tunes!
  • Noisetrade is introducing me to a lot of new musicians for the cost of my email address.   – just downloaded a SXSW sampler. Love samplers!
  • NPR Music also has a free download of 100 songs featuring artists who will be at SXSW.  Love NPR!  Good through the beginning of April!
  • Still listening to my weekly stash of podcasts – Pop Culture Happy Hour, Satellite Sisters, Wait, Wait!, Filmspotting, The Moth, …
  • Listened to a few hours worth of Gaelic Storm via their youtube channel – good stuff!

What I’m Looking Forward to:

  • It’s March!  Spring is right around the corner!
  • Gaelic Storm this weekend – can’t wait!  “What’s the rumpus!” Guess I’m going to find out!
  • Cosmo Girls Thursday – stargazing!
  • There are some movies that I look forward to seeing (Oz! Admission!), but many of them are on DVD already (Anna Karenina! Celeste and Jesse Forever!  The Sessions!)!  More to come on that front!

What about you?  What’s up?

 

 

 

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Snapshot of a Sunday

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What I’m Reading: I finished The Great Gatsby for book club next week.  I look forward to discussing it and eventually seeing the new movie this

84 Charing Cross Road (film)

84 Charing Cross Road (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

spring!  I have done some book ordering lately, so a bunch of new books arrived.  The first that I picked up and devoured was 84, Charing Cross Road.  Wow! I learned about it through the blogger Wallace who reads it for her birthday yearly.  It was so intriguing and only available in print (no virtual book this!). I’m so glad I bought it, because after I lend it to all my friends to devour, I will re-read it yearly!  It was tempting to re-read it immediately after finishing, but I will let it out of my grasp for a bit.  So unexpectedly fun!  I will now look for the movie based on the book!

Other books that I now own include: A Week in Winter (Maeve Binchy‘s final book), Apple of My Eye (same author as 84, Charing Cross Road but about NYC! Yay!), Silver Linings Playbook (hope it’s as good as the movie), and How to be a Woman (Caitlyn Moran – British comedian, cheap book!).  Gone with the Wind is waiting to be started, but I think it will wait until after I read Maeve’s book.  It’s only fair, right?  Gotta pay respects.  I learned that my 13 year old nephew is reading GWTW so there is further incentive to get started on it!

What I’m Watching: Last night I watched Beasts of the Southern Wild.  It is so fascinating.  I didn’t love it, but I was moved by it.  I am amazed by the community who lives in the Bathtub and I’ll have to do some research on that.  The little gal did a great job and will be fun to watch in the future!  I’m also excited to see the final episode of Downton Abbey.  I won’t see it tonight (as I’m going to the Book of Mormon!) but I’ll watch it as soon as I can.  Last week’s episode was great and feel-good.  Hoping for a good ending to this season!  Can’t think of anything else that I’ve watched lately… I also bought the (cheap) Blu-Ray DVD of Becoming Jane, which I remember liking a lot.  I’ll watch that along with the latest Pride and Prejudice movie sometime soon – maybe this week during my overnight-shift-self-care routine.

What I’m Doing: Last week I hosted a baby shower and it was a lot of fun.  Great to socialize with co-workers outside of work and fun to meet the mama-to-be’s mother and sister.  Good food, good times.  I took a few days off this weekend, so I shopped for shoes (ugh), had coffee with SDL, and had a slumber-party with VN; I watched littlest nephew play BB, ate taco pizza and watched Rochester Roller Derby with Marissa, Gracie and some friends.  And now I’m heading to the Cities (well in a little bit) to stay with Deadra and John and to have a delicious dinner before seeing the Book of Mormon!  Yay!  Can’t wait.  We’ve been looking forward to this for quite some time – anticipation of great events is always fun!  And I’ll still get to choir and book club this week – sounds perfect, eh?

That’s about it for me!  What are you Reading, Watching, and Doing?

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First Monday in 2013!

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2013

2013 Here We Come!

The New Year feel has settled in.  I think I’ve already gotten used to typing 2013 at work!  

So now it’s time to think about my 2nd quarter of 11 fun things to do and look forward to!
(I think it needs a new name! It’s so cumbersome! 44 Things Quarter 2?) 

My FALL list was not completed: I did NOT shop early for Christmas or play accordion weekly.  
But I don’t feel regrets or guilt about not accomplishing things…
it just means that other things popped up and pushed them out of the way!  

So my WINTER list of things to do or look forward to starts here: 

English: Persusasion (Jane Austen Novel). For ...

English: Persusasion (Jane Austen Novel). For Sir Elliot, baronnet, the hints of Mrs Sheppard, his agent, was very unwelcome. Français : Persuasion, dernier roman de Jane Austen. Sir Elliot n’apprécie pas les conseils d’économie de Mr Sheppard, son notaire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

44 Things – Quarter 2 (Jan-Feb-Mar)

  1. A January mini-vacation at Deadra’s, including many movies and much wine!
  2. Read “Persuasion” by Jane Austen with Wallace’s readalong in January 
  3. START reading “Gone With the Wind” in February – it’s so large I’m not sure I can finish it in two months!  But it’s after “Persuasion”!
  4. “The Book of Mormon” with Deadra and John in February!
  5. Host a baby shower for a work colleague at my house on February 13!
  6. Gaelic Storm in March with Kristine!
  7. Social-ICE in February!
  8. Walk at least twice weekly and do yoga once weekly.
  9.  Spray Tan!  Get the look of a summer glow!
  10.  Pick a closet and clean it out OR
    watch all of the Oscar nominated movies (which would you rather do??)
  11.  Invigorate book club and plan ahead for the year

Well, that wasn’t what I thought it would be, but there you have it!  I am maybe forgetting some of the things that I know that I will be looking forward to!  Yikes… I started writing this down somewhere.  And I’m still kicking around a list of THINGS for 2013, sort of like last year’s list.  It may be an over-arching list, or maybe a theme word or statement for the year… still thinking about it on paper.  

How about you?  How do you feel about resolutions?  Would you rather pick a theme WORD or STATEMENT (ala Let ‘er Rip) than set goals?  Do you avoid these altogether?  

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