The perfect Summertime Date: Pizza & Ice Cream

Recently I've been totally obsessed with Fleetwood Mac's album Rumors. And then when I thought I had finally gotten over it, this past week it was featured in an episode of Glee. I guess of all the albums to play on repeat, that's a good one to be stuck with.

On a totally unrelated note, it's been super hot here in the South Bay lately. Normally anything above 75 starts to make me a little uncomfortable. I don't like to feel hot, and I especially hate to sweat when I'm not *supposed* to be. But for some reason, and I think the promise of a summer "vacation" has something to do with it, I'm pretty pumped about the warm weather. Lots of shorts and tank-tops, sandals, and getting tan. I've been having fun walking around without tights or leggings on. Windows open. Sandals and sunglasses on. It's been pretty awesome.

When Nick and I were living in New Jersey one of our favorite things to do during the warmer months was walk into town and go out on a date. We'd pick out a restaurant to eat at, then get dessert (sometimes at the restaurant, sometimes at one of the many ice cream places), and walk around. We lived in a really safe town, so we liked to wander the streets looking at store fronts and houses to burn off some calories before heading back to the apartment.

A few weeks ago one of my friends from college, Taryn, was in town and we went into the Mission area of San Francisco to have some very late lunch. It reminded me of going out with Nick, except I had Charlie and 4 other lovely ladies with me instead.

We went out for pizza at Delfina with a few of her other girlfriends. It's been really hard to find good pizza here, but I have to say that Delfina's was amazing. Not New York style, not Chicago style, but definitely Italian style. We had some of the specialty pies and the regular one. All were good and put me in the mood to have pizza for like a week after wards. Unfortunately there aren't any good places close by to us.

After that we walked up the block to Bi-rite Creamery, a neighborhood ice cream shop. Affiliated with a small market across the street, Creamery makes their own ice cream, baked goods (like an amazing banana peanut butter cupcake we all tried), and candies. Flavors change daily, but when I was there I ordered two scoops; one of Earl Grey and one of Honey Lavender--considering they are two of my favorite things ever I LOVED them. I also got to try the Ricanelas (cinnamon with snickerdoodles) and Brown Sugar with Ginger Caramel Swirl flavors. Both were also very good. And all were rich...pizza, wine, and ice cream...how am I not 1,000 pounds?

So good even the pup wants a bite.

I'm wondering if you can get away with this when you're an adult?

When I was in middle school, like most young girls, I was way into babysitting. I had a few families I shuffled amongst, but mainly I sat for 2 brothers who were around my own little brother's age. They had limitless energy and often tested me to see what they could get away with. After awhile I got pretty sick of that and came up with a way to get them to do what I wanted (which was get tired and fall asleep at some point). Their parents had a finished basement which was essentially a large play room and a treadmill. No, I did not do what you're thinking. No child got on that treadmill. I was not a torturer. But what I did do was set up an obstacle course. There were different tasks around the room. Sometimes it was to throw up a ball three times and catch it, sometimes it was to do 15 jumping jacks, etc. I'd make them run that course a certain number of times, each time making up their "score" arbitrarily (so I could alternate the winner). But whoever had the most points at the end got more "money" for our next activity.

Usually when we were done cleaning up it was time for dinner. I'd make something quick and easy and while they ate I came up with something to use for money (crafting puff balls, pipe cleaners, Pokemon cards, etc. Sometimes if it was still early and I knew their parents wouldn't be home until later I made them make their money). Then we'd set up a concession stand. Different drinks, a bag of microwave popcorn, and sometimes candy. Essentially we were playing movie theater (because seriously, as an adult if you run around like a crazy person and then eat a lot and sit in front of a TV, don't you fall asleep?).

Treats in hand, Disney cartoon playing, they'd quiet down, eyes would start to droop, and either they'd fall asleep, or be ready for bed by the time the movie was done. Jackpot. They could leave me alone and I could watch whatever TV I wanted, do homework, eat the good junk food, or sleep.

Lately I've been racking my brain about whether or not I can come up with an adult version of this? Nick and I watch so many movies, it would be fun to switch it up once in awhile and do something completely silly like a concession stand and the whole movie experience. Maybe the money can be kisses...ok, I love how I answer my own questions like that!

Napa meets San Fran: The Inn on First

In celebration for our anniversary last week, Nick and I went to Napa. Just like when we went to Deer Hill Inn a few years ago, we decided to go to a hotel that was part of the Select Registry. There's a couple of places in California wine country, but we picked the Inn on First, a completely Green inn, because the food on the website looked amazing and they had a really good price for winter (which is the off season).

From the moment we booked the vacation I was really excited. Granted, celebrating my anniversary in Napa had a little bit to do with it, but the inn keeper had a lot more. Jamie emailed me right away with my reservation email which included tons of extras the inn offered and recommendations about local wineries, restaurants, and things to do. I saved the email and when we got closer to our getaway, I found that list really helpful as I tried to find a places to have dinner or to visit. We followed through on a couple of the things on the list and were really glad we did. Jamie continued to make great recommendations and take the time out to sit down and chat with us at least once every day we were there. It was a really nice touch to be able to have such personalized service.

The inn is made up of two main buildings. The main house, which is an old Victorian. The upstairs has several rooms and then downstairs has a lounge and the dining room. Both of which always have beverages and treats waiting. The other building has more rooms. Our room was in the house and actually a lot bigger than the website made it look. We had an extremely comfortable bed, a fireplace, a jacuzzi tub big enough for two, plus a separate bathroom. We also had a small bottle of champagne and truffles waiting for us. Considering we booked what we thought was one of the "cheap" rooms, there was nothing cheap about it.

Breakfast was included and each morning there was a selection of cold things (granola, yogurt, fruit, etc.) and a different hot main course. Each of the three breakfasts we ate were AMAZING. Homemade flat bread with caramelized onions, rosemary potatoes, and a fried egg; homemade focaccia with assorted veggies; scramble egg omelet corn dog (which was really corn dog breading with eggs, prosciutto, and gruyere cheese). They must have known I was coming. Everything was amazing, and the website has even more amazing looking things. Nick and I kept talking about Deer Hill and how amazing the food was there and comparing the two inns. While the feel is very different (mountain cozy warm comfort inn versus chic California airy inn), we concluded that it was nice to know there was somewhere on the West coast that had amazing food and would be a great place to run away to if we needed to relax.

All in all it was a really great stay and we would definitely (and will probably) stay there again. My family is coming in August to celebrate my brother's 21st birthday and after showing my mom the inn she suggested we go for a night or two. I hope we do, and considering the inn is dog friendly we may even bring Charlie next time!

Ok, now just a few more pictures from the website:

The Greatest Gift for Valentine's Day is You!

I don't know about you, but my budget for Valentine's Day this year is drastically reduced in comparison to last year. Normally we exchange presents and then go to our favorite restaurant in Tappan, NY, Il Fresco, and have an amazing meal (complete with a free rose for me). This year I've got class until 8pm and no money to go out to eat so we spent a minimal amount on gifts and I'll be making my smoked gouda mac and cheese along with a TBD dessert from my new cookbook that Nick's sister got us for Christmas.

In all honesty, as much as I know Valentine's Day is just a Hallmark Holiday, I'm a little bummed that I'll be in class as late as I have to be. Nick and I tell each other we love each other every day and we're constantly finding ways to show that love as well. Our anniversary is less than a month before V-Day too. So it's not like we really need another excuse to say we love each other, but why not say it? Why not make it special? I'd love to have some fun with it instead of getting home at 8:30, starving, shoving food in my mouth, throwing some gifts at Nick, and then passing out after 8 hours of reading and 4 hours of class with cooking and baking mixed in. I'm sure we'll find something to do, wink wink, but if I had all day at home and could really have some fun with the holiday I might plan something more special.

In the past I've done lists and scrapbooks for guys saying all the different ways I loved them, or showing them memories of our relationships. I'm not sure how much guys appreciate that kind of thing. While I do think Nick would find it sweet, how often would he actually look at that? Once, then it would take up space somewhere. Maybe my kids will find it when they're 20 and find it mushy and gross. Ok, so it'll get looked at twice.

In Google-ing fun Valentine's ideas I think my favorite thing I came across was the scavenger hunt. You start off with a note left for your honey giving them a clue or direction. Each time they find a note there is another clue which eventually leads them to some amazing surprise at the end. You can get other people involved and have your S.O. drive all over town eventually winding up at a restaurant, hotel, special spot, or back at home. You can make it a smaller affair and have them travel from room to room in your home or around your yard. You can leave presents or a picture at each clue. One person also had a puzzle and her husband had to put it together to figure out where to go at the end. I actually really wanted to do a scavenger hunt when I took my B-Pics (I told Nick I booked the hotel room as a surprise for him to relax from all the stress at work), and have him arrive at the hotel as the last thing with dinner waiting in the room. But I opted not to do that because it was already a complicated enough affair to orchestrate.

I still haven't given up hope that one day I'll be able to put something like that together with many intricate plans and steps all leading some place where I'll be waiting with a bow on my head. "Happy Valentine's Day! Your gift is me!" Isn't Nick lucky? Hahahaha.

And if you really must buy something, I think any guy/punk rocker/Cancer survivor/vulture enthusiast would love this t-shirt from People Like Me. All proceeds go to help my friend, Kerry Kelemen, in her battle with cancer. And it's a way cool design. Why wouldn't you want to buy it?

Who knew it could be so romantic?

Normally when you think about looking at old family photos and home movies you cringe. You get the picture of a middle aged dad standing next to the TV with the remote as he describes each scene in painful detail as people fall asleep on the couch. Seriously, no one cares about the guy who made wire desk ornaments next to the Virgin Mega Store in London; and did you even watch this before you transferred everything over? There's a whole scene of us walking in the city and all you can see is your boob, your foot, and the sidewalk. By the way, tube socks and shorts were never a good look. (Yes, these are real life scenarios I have had to watch.)

Before we moved I looked at all the albums I own and realized I had way too many. And a good half of the photos were nearly identical repeats, of people I didn't care about anymore, or blurry shots of my foot as a four year old, or my Pixie Tails in the sink. I decided to take those out and mix in Nick's photos to try to tell a chronological story of our family. (Saying "our family" still gets me giddy even though it's just us and the cats.) As a kid I loved to look at pictures of my parents when they were young, and even then their disorganization drove my OCD crazy. I knew we had to be different. I went to Michael's when they were having one of their 20% off sales, picked up three matching jumbo photo albums and set to work.

So maybe I'm a little bit like my dad, but when I reorganized all of our family photos recently I was really excited and wanted to show Nick. He tried to get out of it, whining that he had to do work on his computer, it was too late, maybe tomorrow. But I persisted and we sat down to flip through it. Maybe it was because there were pictures of himself he hadn't seen in a long time, or maybe it was because he was looking at his wife being a cute baby, but he got really into it. Before you knew it we were laughing with a glass of wine, sharing stories, and then we got to the most recent pictures and it was all over. We put the albums away and Nick said, "I can't wait to share these with our kids one day." And I agreed as we both smiled with that look in each of our eyes.

Who knew looking at baby pictures would be such a romantic (and cheap) way to spend a Friday night?

Something tells me after this entry, you'll think Nick and I are 80 years old...

...but we're not. I swear. We are not 80. That would defeat the whole purpose of the "young" part of this blog title. My friend Sarah often reads my blog and tells me I already sound like an old woman, so I'm sure after this I'll really be in for it.

One thing Nick and I like to do is walk. I have to admit, when it comes to paying attention to conversations, I am more the man in that respect and when we take walks it helps to focus me so I can actually pay attention to what Nick is saying. Plus being outside and exploring the neighborhood is always fun. So the last time we were in downtown Palo Alto, we took a long walk from end to end of the main road and on some of the side streets too (it also serves the purpose of checking out restaurant menus for ideas about where to go next time, or what kind of specialty shops we may want to visit one day). While we were looking in the storefronts I noticed one had posters of movies from Classic Hollywood in it and realized that it was a theater that only plays those kinds of movies.

Nick and I love movies regardless, but there's something about the idea of seeing an older movie in the theater that's kind of exciting. I don't know if I'm the only one who does this, but I wonder about the kinds of people who would have seen the movie first hand back when it was first around. Social lives, political climate, clothes, the whole works. I know there's pictures and books you can read that would tell you those answers, but it's a lot more fun to day dream and wonder.

We made up our minds that once the schedule came out we would try to see movies there. I guess that makes us lame, because we're more interested in sticking to that movie schedule than the one at the local AMC theater, but 1. it's cheaper and 2. we have Netflix. If we really want to see a new movie in the theater we will (I am already frothing at the mouth for the new Harry Potter), but just for the effect of going to the movies after dinner? I'd rather have the experience of going to Stanford Movie Theater (for less money). Plus there's a lot better restaurant options in Palo Alto than there are near the major movie theaters and the mall.

The theater was renovated, in the late 1980s, to look like it did back when it first opened. So there is ornate decoration inside, an old style ticket box office (that only takes cash), old posters and newspaper advertisements in the gallery, and a wurlitzer organ that plays in between movies, during intermissions, and along with silent movies. I assume film reels are either originals or preserved versions as the version of Notorious (directed by Alfred Hitchcock) that was saw was full of scratches and jumped in a few places. I have to admit, considering it was part of the experience, I didn't even mind that the picture quality wasn't HD perfect or in color.

Now that we have a copy of the schedule on the fridge we're planning on going again to see a Charlie Chan movie. Ok, so this definitely makes Nick and I a couple of losers, but as long as we're having fun I don't really mind.

Movie Review: Date Night

In keeping with our Nick's birthday themed posts, tonight's entry is about the movie we rented that night.



I am a planner, everyone in the whole who has ever met me knows this. So for Nick's birthday, since it was just the two of us, I wanted to make sure everything was really perfect. It's hard to have your birthday be at a time when you don't know too many people and you're away from your family and friends, so I didn't want him to be thinking about that at all. A couple weeks ahead of time I skimmed through our Netflix cue to see what we had on there. Should I pick something action packed that any guy would be into? Should I pick something schmaltzy and romantic because Nick is a softie at heart, and the whole night was kinda like a big romantic evening? I eventually decided that something lighthearted would be good and opted for a romantic comedy with emphasis on the comedy. Date Night starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell seemed like the obvious choice, especially because with two comedians at the top of their game, I was expecting it to be intelligent and not just stupid.

Well I'm not going to lie, I was not disappointed. Fey and Carell star as The Fosters, a couple who is a little burnt out from raising the kids and working. They have weekly date nights, but there's little spice to their marriage. Prompted by a close couple's divorce, Carell's character decides they need to do something different to "save" their marriage when in reality it was never that broken to begin with. They head to NYC to try to get into a restaurant that's impossible to get a reservation at, and when they steal another couple's reservation they are struck with a case of mistaken identity and hilarity ensues as they try to survive the night.

Fey and Carell play their characters perfectly with the flair that you might expect from the two of them. Perfect comedic timing, great chemistry, with a bit of honesty thrown in. When you watch them fight, or goof around, you walk away feeling like "wow, that could be me and my significant other." (We laughed hysterically and both said this as they did a "stripper robot dance.")



That being said, this movie is not without it's star supporting characters either. Mark Wahlberg plays a shirtless security expert, Will.I.Am makes a cameo as himself which leads to a hilarious scene, and Mila Kunis and James Franco star in a scene as the couple The Fosters stole the identity of for a night.

Overall, I'd give the movie 5 stars because it has everything you'd want in a date night movie. You laugh, you love your partner a little bit more after it, and you have a good time watching it. I think this is one DVD we may end up adding to our collection.

Nick's Birthday Dinner - Red Wine soaked Buffalo Steak with Caramelized Onions and Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes

So in continuing with the theme of Nick's birthday I thought I would share our activities for the evening in a series of entries. First up, what I made for dinner!

As you probably know by now, Nick and I don't really eat meat. For all intents and purposes we are vegetarians, but when the meat is raised/treated ethically and there's no hormones, etc. pumped into it, then we will eat it. And since one of Nick's favorite things in the world is steak, I decided to make him a steak dinner (with meat carefully selected from Whole Foods of course).

For the steak:

-Red wine
-Olive Oil
-Rosemary
-Minced Garlic

For the potatoes:

-depending on size of potatoes, about 1 to 1 1/2 potatoes per person. I like Yukon Gold the best for just about every potato recipe ever.
-salt
-milk
-butter
-smoked gouda cheese

For the caramelized onions:

-For two steaks, half of an onion
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 2 TBSP vinegar
- 3 TBPS sugar

1. First I combined some good quality red wine (as Rachel Ray always says, if you don't want to drink it, then you don't want to cook with it), a few fresh cloves of garlic that I chopped up, some fresh rosemary from our herb garden, and a little bit of olive oil in a bowl. I let the steaks soak for about an hour on each side. NOT IN THE FRIDGE (cooking your meat when it's cold messes up the time it takes to cook and the texture). I have meat loving cats, so I usually stick it in the microwave for safe keeping.

2. Next I boiled the peeled potatoes in salted water. Depending on size of potatoes this could take up to 45 minutes. The key to non chunky potatoes is cooking them longer. So I like to make sure the potatoes are so soft when you try to lift them out of the pot (with a fork or tongs, they are already breaking apart).

3. While the potatoes were boiling I got to work on my caramelized onions. Slice up the onion real thin, then put in your pan with the other ingredients. Cook on medium-high for a few minutes until the onions start to look a little cooked/opaque (stir often), then put the heat down to medium-low until the onions look like they are cooked, then turn the heat down to the lowest setting and forget about them. They'll need to cook for about 30-45 minutes to get that nice dark brown color you see at the restaurants.

4. Since all of these things take a while to cook, I spent some time setting the table, making my cupcakes etc. You can keep close to the onions if you want, but once you set them on low and forget about them, you probably have a good 30 minutes to yourself before you have to pay attention to anything again.

5. By now just about everything should be done cooking. You can turn off the potatoes and put them into your pot/mashing bowl/whatever. But the longer you cook those onions the better (just remember to keep them on the lowest setting so they don't crunch up), so don't worry about turning those off. Turn on your grill pan that you're going to use for the steak. Next mash with your masher, a lot (I don't use a ricer because again, the longer you cook your potatoes, the less you have to worry about chunks). Add your milk and butter (I did half a stick of butter and a 1/3 of a cup of milk for 3 1/2 potatoes) and a generous amount of salt. Give a good stir, you can add more to taste.

6. By now your grill pan should be super hot and you can put the steaks on there. I usually dump a little bit of the soak on the pan before putting the steaks on there. Then dump the rest on top. Cook for 5 minutes on each side for medium.

7. While the steaks are cooking grate your smoked gouda cheese. You need at least half of a cup, but you can add more if you want to bring out the smokey flavor more (I usually do more and flavor to taste). Because your potatoes are still very hot, the cheese should melt find. But if you want you can always stir everything in and either put your pot over heat again (or nuke if it's in a bowl) then stir some more.

8. Once your steaks are done you can transfer them to the plate. Put some caramelized onions on top and blue cheese if you want (I chose one that smelled a little bit sweet and it tasted awesome). And of course potatoes to the side.

You can serve the same red wine as you made the meal in if you want. And for all your non-red wine drinkers (like myself), don't be afraid to cook with it. It just enhances the flavor, doesn't overpower it. So you can still enjoy the steak too!

I set the table with lots of candles, played some jazz in the background, and it was almost like we were at our own little romantic bistro. (Who says men don't like to be wined and dined too.)

And just to let you know, you can enter into the contest until Thursday and I'll announce the winner on Friday night.

A Surpringly Affordable Romantic Getaway

When my husband and I were still a relatively new couple we relished every moment we were able to spend alone together. I still lived at home (in a very full house with my parents, brother, aunt, grandmother, 2 cats, and 2 dogs), and he lived in a studio in the same multi-family house at his mother and brother. It seemed that even when we were alone, there was always someone knocking on the door asking for something or wanting to hang out. Don't get me wrong, we're very social people, but sometimes you just want to be with your honey and no one else.

So that year, for my birthday, we decided to take a little trip to celebrate. The year before my mother and her twin went on their annual birthday ski trip to Vermont and stayed at a little inn that they both raved about, yet always finished each sentence with, "but it would be so much better if you went with someone you loved." We decided it would be the perfect spot for us, booked ourselves a two night stay, and hightailed it outta there.





From the moment we drove up to Deer Hill Inn, we were giddy with delight. We were both pretty young, and had never really went anywhere with a significant other before. So that combined with the picturesque inn we saw in front of made us really excited.



Even though it was April, walking in we immediately felt like we were in a warm and cozy cabin in the middle of winter. Warm fireplaces glowed, all kinds of treats (chocolates, fruit, and cheese) were set out, and kind faces greeted us. The staff at Deer Hill is still the best I have ever encountered at any place I've ever stayed. Run by a lovely couple and their office manager, they were always asking us if they could get us anything and loved to just spend a few minutes chit chatting at breakfast or in the afternoon.





Speaking of breakfast, the food at Deer Hill was amazing. One of the owners is a trained gourmet chef, and the thing I was most upset about when we left was that I'd never have food that good ever again. This was almost 3 years ago and I'm still not sure I have. Every meal from the included breakfast (you can either eat in the dining room or pay at an $15 for room service) to the afternoon tea (which included scones and muffins, just provided because we looked hungry) to our amazing 4 course dinners (ever night was a different menu), was made with the best ingredients from local farms and specialty shops. We never ate lunch, because we were never hungry. And I don't think I was hungry for about 3 days after we left. Needless to say my first full meal after the trip was a huge disappointment and when we sent my parents there as a thank you present for paying for our wedding I begged them to bring back some muffins.





The room itself was just a cozy as the rest of the house. We had a jacuzzi tub plus a separate shower stall, an incredibly comfortable king sized bed and couch, a fireplace, and a small flat screen tv. Even though my mother had packed us a basket of food to take (which included 2 bottles of wine, cheese, crackers, etc.) in our room there was even more complimentary food waiting. Cookies, fruit, bottled water, and fresh bread. Again, it's impossible to be hungry at Deer Hill.

The inn, which is located in West Dover, Vermont, is really close to all kinds of skiing as well as a huge national forest that you can go hiking in. There's also horseback riding and two small artsy fartsy towns you can spend an afternoon in. You can fish or play gold during the summer or go to the local theater to see plays or concerts. So there's definitely quite a bit of options of things to do during a long weekend. Or you can take in the romantic inn and never leave your room. Up to you.



Our whole weekend (including two 4 course dinners with drinks, breakfast in bed, Maple Syrups, and stuff to take home) was around $750 (a little steep, but this was our "vacation" for the year so we didn't care). But we stayed in the largest room they had. Other rooms start around $150 a night and go up to $300 and I found that sometimes if it's an off season the prices can be even lower than what is stated on the website. You could do a whole weekend for around $500. Although there's also a bunch of other cool packages they have that are worth looking into as well.

Here's just a few of the rooms they have (note that the prices listed here are for the peaks of each season and they change depending on the week you want to go and it's cheaper to stay in the middle of the week than on a weekend, so if this is too much, ask the manager if there's anything in your price range and they'll work with you. We stayed in the Tamarack Room and paid A LOT less than what's listed here):






I cannot recommend the inn enough. Visit the website if you're interested, you won't be disappointed if you go.

**All pictures courtesy of Deer Hill Inn's website.

Movie Review - Cheri & Why Netflix is awesome

Is it ok if I review a movie that's a little bit old? I'm going to decide right now that it is, this opens up the floor for me to talk about Classic films and semi-new films (at least for me) that I find to be worth talking about.

As I have mentioned several times already, Nick is away on a business trip this week. Generally when he's gone I try really hard to squeeze in as many friend hangouts as possible (before you go around thinking I only hang out with my friends when my husband is not around, I usually I make it a rule to hang out with at least one person a week--gotta keep sane somehow!) and cue up some things on my Netflix that I think Nick won't enjoy that much. Usually these consist of really lame movies I'm curious about, romantic comedies, and period films (especially BBC miniseries). All the genres most commonly known to the female persuasion.

Before I start my review, though, let me gush about Netflix for a moment.

For those of you who haven't jumped on the bandwagon (and I'll understand if you're supporting a local vendor) why haven't you? It is so incredibly convenient, fast (they get to and from the local warehouse within 2-3 days) and far cheaper than Movies on Demand/Payperview, Blockbuster, etc. For $8.95 a month we get unlimited internet downloads to our computer (and if you're willing to pay $100, you can get an electronic device that will let you stream then straight to your TV) and unlimited DVDs to our house (as long as only one is in your possession at a time). If you watch one movie a week and there's 4 weeks that month, it works out to under $3 a movie. I'd say this is the ideal package for a couple with no kids. Sometimes you are too busy to watch, so having one DVD around is a challenge, but if you have a regular movie night tradition on Friday nights then you've got your movie all lined up. If you have kids or you watch a movie every day, you can pay a little bit extra to have up to 4 DVDs floating around your home. Well worth it in my opinion.


2009
Starring - Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates

Cheri came out about a year ago, and it was one of those movies that I actually really wanted to see in the movie theaters. But since it came out around my birthday and Easter things, as usual, were too hectic and we never made it out to see it. It was promptly added to the Netflix DVD cue once it was released on DVD and since I didn't think Nick would enjoy it, I saved it for a time when he was away (he travels every few weeks or so for his job).

I'm still undecided as to whether or not I think he would have liked the movie. Nick is somewhat of a softie. He's one of those rare guys who is actually in touch with his emotions, so he's not afraid to say things like "I cried during the Notebook" (although if you ask him now he'll deny it) or like an occasional Romantic Comedy. We watched Confessions of a Shopaholic together (the perfect Christmas gift for me this past year) and he laughed the entire time because he genuinely thought it was funny. So I know a movie like Cheri would have gotten to him on some level. The ending is not typical Hollywood, and no doubt he would have felt moved enough to well, put the moves on me in an effort to express his undying love for me. But the storyline was a little bit weak and I found myself working on last night's blog entry through the first 30 minutes or so of the movie.

We start off in turn of the Century Paris. A courtesan (which is basically an extremely high priced prostitute) is getting ready to retire when she is pulled back in the business to set her frenemy's son on the path to healthy living and skilled love making. She was the best courtesan of her day because she never fell in love, but this young boy bedazzles her and steals her heart (right away you have to wonder what this boy in pale makeup has that other strapping men didn't). Things become complicated when he has to get married and neither one can let go.

The love affair between Cheri (Rupert Friend) and Lea (Michelle Pfeiffer) seems a little far fetched. I believe it more when they are not in the same scene pining away for each other. Before that, even during their most intimate moments when Lea can be honest, and not play the mind games she feels she must play as part of her profession, seem a little forced. Maybe it's because of the age difference? Or maybe it's because how the two characters met and their previous relationship make it a little weird (imagine having an affair with your Godparent). But once the couple was apart I actually started to care about their well being (Lea more so than Cheri) and wanted things to work out for the best. They weren't played poorly, I think I just had a hard time believing it (although the horrible fake British accents Michelle Pfeiffer and Kathy Bates had might have added to that as well).



Storyline aside, the scenery is gorgeous as are the costumes. Movies always score major points with me if there is breathtaking set design and cinematography. The world of Cheri was bright and opulent, much like the main characters within the film. The scenes in the gardens or by the seaside evoke the accessory heavy and detailed Victorian lifestyle (and gave me decorating ideas) and the bedrooms have an airy romantic feel to them.





Overall, I did like the movie. It was visually stunning, and the storyline got me in the end. But the start was slow, and because of its sad ending all it did was make me even more lonely for my husband. But on the bright side, if your husband is a softie like mine, you'll probably get laid in the name of undying true love. So extra bonus points for that one.

3.5/5 Stars