Seeking out Beauty...

Everything was beautiful at the ballet....

I'm not usually a stick in the mud. I have a sense of humor.  But I am SO SICK of this meme-obsessed, stare-at-my-phone-all-day, flaky, YouTube-celebrity-worshipping stupid generation. I know I sound like an old person standing on their porch shaking their fists at those "damn kids" but it really makes me sad when I see all the beauty fading from the world in favor of trendy nonsense.

Which is why I've been actively seeking out that beauty. After a less than wonderful work day yesterday, I looked up what was going on locally that I could attend to unwind from my day. And what luck! The American Ballet Theatre was performing Sleeping Beauty a mere 20 minutes away. I adore Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, and the Pacific Symphony was going to be providing the music for the dancers. Yes please! It was a beautiful evening.

Cinema! Art! Dance! Music! Literature! Theatre! I want more!

Hola Marzo!

Rabbit rabbit!

I love my Audrey Hepburn calendar...turning over to a new month and seeing her beaming luminous face makes the world seem full of possibilities. And what's on the docket for March? Work, movies, and most importantly the TCM Film Festival at the end of the month! Not sure yet what days we'll be able to go...depends on Craig's schedule. I'm determined to go with or without him...this will be my fourth or fifth year in a row. 

I've found heaps of new piano music too from estate and garage sales to digging through the stacks of music at my parents' house. A lot of it is from musicals so I'm going to force my sister to sing along. I don't have to twist her arm much though...she's a ham!

So my life right now is work (little toddlers keep me on my toes!), movies (watching constantly, writing for This Cinematic Life, and starting our film club), cooking (have I mentioned how much I love sweet potatoes in everything?), piano (of course), and spending all my money at Old Navy and Target whenever I get a chance, naturally. 

I'm also trying to make my Girl Scout cookies last as long as possible! Thin Mints from the freezer, can it get any better than that?

February

Remember when I was like "Woo 2015 I'm totally going to update regularly!" Yeahhh sorry about that.

It's been a pretty good month. We went to the AMAZING Hollywood Costume Exhibit up in LA, we saw "What We Do In The Shadows" which was totally hilarious, and we had our first meeting of La Lune Film Club. I had higher hopes for the turnout and the discussion, but it's still early and we're still getting settled. Next month's theme is First Films, and it's looking like it might be Breathless which I haven't seen in ages. But we'll see!

I just realized all my fun updates were movie related. Ain't it always the way?

But! I'm not ready yet to share the super fun news. You have to wait a few months (and no, it's not quite what you think it is). 

And now I'm trying to buy Comic Con tickets. Wish me luck!

Rhapsody in Blue

I'm big on traditions! On Fridays at work lately I've been playing Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" (which is probably my favorite strictly instrumental piece of music) and it puts me in SUCH a good mood. I feel like I know every single note like the back of my hand. Here's to the weekend!

January!

Not bad so far, January! I've been trying to fit in more outdoor time in the form of neighborhood strolls, remembering to take photos along the way. The rose above is from my mom's front yard, isn't it beautiful? In addition to stopping to smell the roses, I've been to two weddings already this year, watched a fair amount of movies, although not *too* many because I'm trying to have a life. Went to a screening of Rushmore at the Frida dressed like Max Fischer, which was pretty amazing, and I made these awesomely unhealthy wet burritos which I want to eat for dinner every day now. 

Craig and I are also planning vacations and film clubs and perhaps an even more exciting adventure...here's to 2015, off to a pretty okay start!

Hello, 2015!

2014 was kind of a bust. I only wrote 14 or 15 posts. The year sucked. I don't miss it one bit. So here's to 2015!

Okay, it wasn't ALL bad...Craig and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary, we took a little weekend getaway to Palm Springs over the summer, and saw lots of excellent movies and art shows and performances. 

Out of sheer curiosity, let's see how I did on my resolutions from last year...

Stop reading comments and message boards.  This one was HARD, and I didn't completely succeed, but my little voice told me to stop anytime I started reading something stupid and negative.

More parties! We helped host an Oscars party, we had our 5th anniversary party, a Star Wars themed pool party, our annual Halloween party, and our first New Years Eve party. Not bad!

Buy clothes and shoes that actually fit and are comfortable! This one is actually still a resolution of mine. A combination of eating better and being sick (eep!) means that I unexpectedly lost a bunch of weight and a lot of my clothes don't fit. So that means more shopping, yes?

Cook! I actually cooked a fair amount in the first part of the year, and then slacked around the holidays. I made a pretty decent Asian tempeh dish so far this year, and I'm looking forward to trying new recipes. 

Do something different and physical. Exercise? Blech. This is one I always have trouble with. I'm on my feet a lot in my job as a toddler teacher, though, so it's not like I'm a total blob. Dance parties at work? Yes please!

Ignore everybody. I'm still letting my insecurities run my life. Must work on this.

Disconnect and reconnect. Less Facebook, more Face-To-Face time. I'd like to continue this, definitely. 

Say yes! Well, not to everything...

I think I'll let this year's resolutions come about more organically. Hooray for 2015!

Losing track of time. The days go by so fast. Halloween was greatly anticipated, many movies were watched, and then whoooosh! Gone. And I have nothing to say. My health problems have rattled my nerves, and I always feel as though I'm running out of time. I don't know what to do with this blog, as it feels like I'm constantly playing catch-up in every aspect of my life, and I'm letting the film blog slip too, and the curriculum I have to write every week for work.

I guess I'm just trying to say that I'm alive even though it doesn't feel like it sometimes.