my top five: movies I'd want to see at TCMFF if I was going

This time each year for the last five years I'm usually packing my bags to head for Hollywood, where the annual TCM Film Festival (TCMFF) is taking place. I decided to forgo the trip this year and go to Disney World with my family instead, mostly so that I'd be having so much fun next week that I wouldn't even notice all of my friends hanging out in tinseltown watching movies without me! But I can't say it's worked 100% -- I am definitely having some withdrawal and there are a few movies being screened this year that I really wish I could see at the festival. So here are my top five movies I would want to see at TCMFF this year... if I was going.

1. Day for Night - I'm being greedy because I actually already saw this at the Film Society at Lincoln Center two years ago, but it's one of my favorite films by my all time favorite director, Francois Truffaut. And the star, Jaqueline Bisset, will be present for a discussion before the movie! This movie is a pure delight, and a beautiful ode to the art of moviemaking -- if you love movies as much as I do, you should check this out even if you won't be at TCMFF!

2. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - I think this is going to be absolutely DAZZLING on a big screen! I can't even imagine! The colors in this movie already pop off the screen when you're watching an old worn out VHS tape on a tiny tv screen at home. And Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds are a girl's best friend" number is going to be just gorgeous. Plus I'd imagine that this is going to get a really fun audience and few things are as exhilarating as watching a movie you love surrounded by people who are enjoying it just as much as you are!

3. Indiscreet - This 1958 pairing of Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant is one of my go-to movies whenever I need a pick me up. I forgot myself for a minute when it was first announced on the schedule and got VERY excited about seeing it, and then came back down to earth and remembered I won't be there. But I hope it gets a jam-packed audience because it really deserves it. It's so underrated and not as well known as it should be.

4. Love Affair -  Oh, how I love this movie!! Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne have a sizzling but comfortable chemistry and play so well off of each other. An Affair to Remember is a remake of this film, and as much as I adore it (A LOT) I think I actually prefer Love Affair. That's how great this movie is.

5. Ocean's 11 - I am such a sucker for a good heist film, and this one is a BLAST!! I've been obsessed with this movie since I was 13 years old, and my first cell phone voicemail message was Frank Sinatra's character saying "Hello, you've dialed the right number. Now please hang up and don't do it again." Words can't describe how jealous I am of every person who's going to be watching this poolside at the Roosevelt Hotel, with Angie Dickinson in attendance no less!!

I'm sure once I board my plane for Orlando all of my FOMO will stay behind in New Jersey, but the days leading up to the festival are definitely a challenge if you aren't going to be there! I'm really going to miss some of my friends, and BOY am I going to miss food from Mel's Diner (someone please get the eggs verde so I can live vicariously!)

my top five: web resources

Does "web resources" make me sound like someone who hasn't learned any new internet terms since 1996? Probably. But I'm not sure what else to call it! I've wanted to do a post like this for years (I actually have more than 5 items for the list so I'm going to have to do a part 2 soon!) rounding up some of my favorite go-to websites. Maybe everyone has already heard of them, but if not hopefully something on this list will help lighten your load or make life a little easier for you :)

1. Convert Case - You can paste text into this site and convert it into lowercase, uppercase, sentence case, etc. It's perfect if you accidentally left caps lock on while you were typing, or if you're doing graphic design work and want to test out text in all caps and lower case without having to re-type whatever you were working on. I use it constantly. Especially for custom buttons where I copy customer text from Shopify, and convert it into all caps before pasting it in Photoshop. That way I know for certain the text will be *exactly* the same as the customer entered it and there's no room for me to mistype it :)

2. RhymeZone - I do use this to find rhymes, but they also have homophones, similar sounding words, synonyms, phrases that contain the word you searched for, etc. There are just so many awesome uses for this. It's perfect if you like to write poems or if you've just written the word one time too many and need to say picture show, film, motion picture, or flick instead.

3. If This Then That - This is a website that generates recipes for internet behavior. For example, IF I post on my blog, THEN I trigger an automatic post to Pinterest. Or IF I log a movie on my letterboxd account, THEN I trigger an automatic tweet about that movie. It's a great way to be able to automate some of your social media if you want to share across platforms without having to manually post everywhere. I have recipes set up to share my blog posts to Pinterest and Facebook, as well as a cool one that downloads every photo I post to my Instagram onto my Dropbox account for backup!

4. Shoptagr - This website lets you bookmark items on websites and get notified when they drop in price, or come back in stock. It also can alert you when an item you like is running low in stock so you can snatch it up before it sells out. I tend to use this for items where my size is sold out. That way I don't need to stalk the page, refreshing and waiting to see if it's ever restocked. If it comes back, I'll get an alert. I also use it for pricey items that I 100% can never afford at full price.

5. Difference Checker - This website detects the difference between two pieces of text. This is great if you sometimes go back and forth with edits. I most often use it to detect changes in contract text on the rare occasions that I have to draw up a contract with someone. A lot of times someone will slip something in that I would never have noticed if I didn't have this website to compare for me. I like to think I'm eagle-eyed but I'm not *that* eagle-eyed.

I will definitely do a part 2 of this post because I am too neurotic about breaking my "top 5" format but I have a few more that I really need to share, lol :)

my top five: books I've read recently

1. So Here's the Thing by Alyssa Mastromonaco - This is Alyssa Mastromonaco's follow up book to "Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?" which was one of my favorite reads in 2017. She's brilliant and hilarious and for someone who was a Deputy Chief of Staff in the Obama White House she is incredibly relatable. As someone who suffers from a bowel disorder, her anecdotes about her struggles with IBS are at once painful to read about (because, BEEN THERE!) and reassuring. It's weirdly comforting when you know that other people suffer the same problems that you have and manage to lead a productive, awesome life in spite of it. She is literally one of the most awesome people on this planet and I highly recommend both of her books (plus every appearance she makes on podcasts, plus her twitter, plus her book events. Anything and everything Alyssa.)

Sidenote: She's also a very dedicated cat lady. I went to her book event last Tuesday which happened to coincide with Arrietty's birthday. When I was having my book signed I shared that excessive Crazy Cat Lady factoid with her. Her reaction was "F*ck yes!!" She made the book out to me and Arrietty and wrote "happy bday!" and told me that she makes cupcakes for her own cats on their birthdays! *dies* I was so excited to meet her and she exceeded my expectations.  I think I awkwardly said "I love you" when I left but I REALLY DO LOVE HER.

2. Saved on Sunday, Dead on Monday by Andy Ross - This is a short mystery novella filled with intrigue and nods to classic television, set in the world of a pimento cheese spread empire. This was a super quick read but I enjoyed it so much that I've been pestering the author on twitter to try to get him to write a sequel!

3. The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James - One of my favorite genres of fiction is "people stranded in space" and this is probably tied with The Martian as my favorite in the genre. It's about a young girl who is the last surviving member of a space mission. This is the very definition of a page-turner. I couldn't put it down! I also loved that it was science fiction set in a realistic world. When I read space fiction I don't actually like when there's too much world-building, so this was right up my alley.

4. The World As It Is by Ben Rhodes - I was trying not to make this list too Obama-memoir heavy, but looking over my 2019 reads so far, it really is mostly comprised of books by Obama staffers. I just love reading about behind the scenes and being transported back to an era that I honestly didn't appreciate enough while I was living in it. The World As It Is is the most policy-heavy memoir I've read thus far, but it was completely engrossing. I usually have this weird mental block when it comes to understanding foreign policy (specifically Middle East policy, it just seems so complicated to me) but Rhodes explained everything in such an accessible way that I suddenly found myself regaling my family with anecdotes about lifting the Cuban embargo over dinner. Rhodes book was also the first one that I've read that shows President Obama being frustrated sometimes, or moody. I am guilty of idolizing him and in a way it's almost a relief to know that he's only human.

5. Come As You Are by Walker Gibson - It's been a long time since I read a book of poetry, but when I stumbled upon this one at the Princeton Library book sale I couldn't resist. Most of the poems are fun and light, about subjects like outer space or Monte Carlo casinos. But there was one poem (actually it's the last verse of a longer poem) that really grabbed me and I've been a little obsessed with it ever since I read it. I memorized it and keep reciting it to myself to make sure it's still being properly stored in my mind.

Some people feel alone and lonely
To think this world's perhaps the only
Possible place where mankind clings --
They yearn for more unworldly things,
But if in all the universe
We're quite alone we could do worse
Than claim our own miraculous birth
On this elysian planet, Earth,
Where woods are green and warm and wet
With trumpet vine and violet:
The dew shines on the grass at dawn,
A rabbit bounds across the lawn,
And we can thank that lucky star
That makes this heaven where we are."

ps. I don't usually post reviews on goodreads, but if you just want to see what I'm reading, I do keep a running list of current reads/books I've completed on my account, here.

my top five: ways I treat myself

This has been a week (I never believed in astrology until I saw that Mercury is in retrograde and I was like, at least maybe there's a *reason* this week was so crummy!) and I thought I'd share some of the ways I treat myself when I need a pick-me-up!

1. Laying in bed and reading when I should be doing something else. Sometimes I just really need to get out of my head and relax and nothing does that for me as well as reading (especially Obama era White House staff memoirs) Bonus points if I'm also drinking a cup of maple tea.

2. Getting my nails done. I don't actually enjoy the act of getting a manicure (I'm so painfully introverted and not very touchy-feely so having someone sit in silence with me while they touch my hands is actually super uncomfortable for me) but I LOVE having a fresh manicure. I used to have the worst hangnails and cuticles but ever since I started getting my nails done that issue has gone away. Plus I love tapping the nails on hard surfaces and making clicking sounds.

3. Sumo oranges. If you haven't tried these oranges... actually don't, because they are so addictive that you'll probably end up like me and blow your whole grocery budget on like five overpriced oranges. They're so sweet, easy to peel, seedless, and not pulpy. I honestly reduced my dinner portions and have tried stretching one can of beans out into four meals just so I can work sumo oranges into my budget more often. They are SO good!

4. McDonald's unsweetened iced tea. It's the same price-point and same feeling as indulging in a giant coke without all the sugar. I get some caffeine, I get a giant cup filled with ice cubes that I can sip on to get me through a nice chunk of my day, and I feel like I treated myself but really all I did was spend $1 on flavored water. It's such a simple and cheap way to feel indulgent.

5. Trying on clothes and dancing with my headphones in. I usually do this one super late at night, like 2am, if I had a bad day. I'll put on a dress that I know I look good in, and then hop around my bedroom dancing like nobody's watching (because nobody's watching.) Pretty much the only thing in the world that cheers me up this much is my cat. Otherwise, dancing alone tops the charts!

my top five: podcasts

1. My Favorite Murder - If you're interested in true crime and you like podcasts that feel like you're eavesdropping on two friends in the middle of a conversation, I highly recommend this. My week revolves around the two episodes that they drop each week - a miniature one where they read listeners' stories on Monday and a full episode where they tell the stories of two murders every Thursday. The hosts, Georgia and Karen, are funny (they don't make fun of murder, they just make fun of themselves) and I feel like they're my friends, which sounds super creepy but I'm pretty sure 99% of MFM listeners feel the same way. (PS. If you're already a murderino, look at this.)

2. Pod Save America - This is the podcast that got me into podcasts. I started listening the month they launched, when they released President Obama's last interview as president. It's hosted by Obama staffers, including two of his speechwriters, and it keeps me sane while America is going through the weirdest, scariest time in modern history. Every Monday and Tuesday they break down the news of the day and then end with an in-depth interview. They are insanely smart, super witty, and they remind me of Obama which is *always* welcome. I saw them live at Radio City Music Hall last year and it was AMAZING. If you like the show and they're touring near you, definitely try to see them!

3. This Podcast Will Kill You - I found this one because Georgia from My Favorite Murder recommended it, actually! It's a podcast about epidemics and diseases in much the same style as My Favorite Murder, with two friends talking to each other (although it's definitely more thoroughly researched.) If you know me, you know that I'm obsessed with plague and pandemic history. I was shocked when I found this podcast because I thought I was a solitary weirdo for being so interested in this kind of thing. I guess that's one of the fun things about podcasts, even the most obscure topic will find an audience. They seem to post about one episode every two weeks or so.

4. Hysteria - This podcast is on the same network as Pod Save America, and it's entirely made by women (including my favorite Obama staffer, Alyssa Mastromonaco! I'm going to her book signing next week and I am SUPER excited about it!) These women are so sharp, and incredibly hilarious. They are also very insightful and thoughtful and often make me rethink where I stand on issues. Lately my twitter mentions have been making me feel very "mute all men" so I especially appreciate this weekly (Thursdays!) hour of exclusively female voices. Plus they are just very, very cool girls and (like MFM) I just want to be friends with them.

5. Why Won't You Date Me? - Each week (Fridays!) Nicole Byer talks about her love life and tries to figure out why she's still single. Even though this podcast is totally outside my area of interests (I have never dated anyone and I don't want to) I just love Nicole Byer so much and I think she is absolutely hilarious. Her energy and upbeat personality are so infectious, I always feel happier after listening to her.

my top five: hair products

Now that my pixie is grown out and I finally have a decent amount of hair to take care of again, I thought I'd share my top five hair products with you! If you're looking for something to speed up the growth process, honestly "patience" is the only thing I can recommend (and I had it in short supply, let me tell you!) but taking care of your tresses and reducing breakage is the best path to healthy, longer hair.



1. Ouai leave in conditioner. I got a sample size of this from Sephora last year and I loved it so much that I immediately bought a whole bottle (I'm saving that sample size bottle for my travels this year!) If you have knotty hair I cannot recommend this enough. I remember when I was little my mom used to use No More Tangles to help reduce the number of times I screamed "OUCH!" when she brushed my hair, but that product never seemed to work once I got older. This stuff totally erases knots, though (or at least it makes it less painful to brush through them? I have no clue how it works its magic!) Bonus - it smells DELICIOUS.

2. OGX coconut oil hydrating mist. I apply this to the ends of my hair after I dry it. I've always had very parched hair and this helps it to look so much shinier and healthier. I never apply it near the roots though or else it starts to look to oily.

3. Cake restorative scalp tonic. I've had dandruff ever since I hit puberty, my body was like "hey, in addition to pms and cramps and bleeding let's throw something else fun into the mix!" I tried those shampoos with tar in them (not kidding) head and shoulders, even prescription shampoo. But I always ended up with flakes, anyway, plus they seemed to dry my hair out even more. I finally ended up using Redken Scalp Relief which helped control itching/flakes but didn't totally fry my follicles. Then I discovered this tonic and I don't even feel like I have to use dandruff shampoo anymore. It's a little pricey but a little goes a long way and I honestly have never felt this level of itch-free since I was a pre-teen. I actually forgot what it felt like to not be constantly scratching at my scalp.

4. Redken all soft conditioner. Now that I can deviate from the dandruff section in the shampoo aisle, I'm using Redken All Soft. I had tried this in high school and loved the way it made my hair feel (all soft) and the scent is heavenly, but it wasn't long before I had to go back to dandruff-fighting formulas instead. I'm so happy that I can finally use this again now! It's the only conditioner I've ever tried that works so well you can comb it through in the shower without hitting any knots.

5. Aussie clean volume dry shampoo. For the longest time I've been ride or die Dove dry shampoo, but I recently found this volumizing dry shampoo from Aussie and I really love it! I had also tried the Living Proof volumizing dry shampoo (which was WAY pricier) and this was so much better. Living Proof made my hair feel sticky and stiff, but this literally just feels powdery like normal dry shampoo while adding some extra lift!

my top five: things I don't want to do today

As this week's reigning champion for Laziest Person on Planet Earth, I thought it would be fitting for today's Top Five installment to be five things that I do not want to do today.

1. Cook myself lunch
Last night I made "dinner for two" for one, with the intention of saving half of my meal to eat as leftovers today. But then I got really hungry around midnight and I ate it! I don't feel too guilty about it since it was mostly vegetables with a little beans and rice (maybe that's why I was so hungry at midnight, ha!) so I'm lunchless today. Solution? I'm ordering take out from The Simple Greek (sidenote - this is my absolute favorite food chain and if you have one near you, you need to try it! My favorite meal that I get there is the build-your-own pita with falafel, hummus, cucumbers, tomatoes, chick peas, olive oil, salt, and oregano. YUM!! They also have the best french fries I've ever tasted in my life. And that includes McDonalds.)

2. Clean my humidifier
As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I got a humidifier this week! This particular winter has been so dry in my house that I decided to cave in and get a nice humidifier. It's only been a couple days but it's SO worth it already. My nose hasn't been stuffy or dry, my skin feels better, my lips even feel less parched, and the air feels soft somehow!?! It's beautiful! The only problem is that you have to clean humidifiers once a week and I decided my Humidifier Cleaning Day would be Saturday which means I have to clean it today. But I don't wanna.

3. Paint a shelf
I got a vintage shelving unit that I have to freshen up with a new coat of paint and I'm VERY excited about how it's going to turn out once it's done. I'm very excited about putting it up in my room and finally getting that pile of "things to put on the shelf" off of my floor. But do I feel like actually putting in the effort to get the shelf from "needs a coat of paint" to "painted and beautiful"? Not quite.

4. Taxes, ugh.
I'll be honest, this has been on my to-do-list for exactly 6 weeks now and it is 100% not getting done today. I actually did very good with record keeping last year, for the first time in my whole life, but it's still my least favorite thing I have to do every year. And the amount of days I have left to "put it off until tomorrow" are dwindling quicker and quicker.

5. Write this blog post
Normally I schedule my posts at least the day before they have to go up, but not today! Normally I keep a blog planner where I map out what "top five" I'll be doing each week. Not today! After I finished my morning work, I frantically looked around my room for something, anything, I could categorize into a list of five items. But more than anything else, I just kept coming back to my to-do list which contains a multitude of must-do tasks that I don't actually feel like completing. At least now I can cross off one of them, though! ;D

my top five: things that are making me happy

This year I've been trying to be more deliberate in how I spend my time (ie. not wasting away hours scrolling through twitter or pinterest.) I've been focusing on things that always make me happy, and trying to do, well, more of that. It's really been brightening my mood considerably -- as long as I am doing one of my happy activities, I'm usually good.

First up is reading. I LOVE reading but in 2017 and 2018 I really didn't devote that much time to it. I always have a deep regret when I look at my goodreads account at the end of a year and see that I barely finished any of the books I started (I have a terrible habit of starting a book, getting halfway through, and then starting another book.) So far this year I've read 10 books and I'll be so disappointed in myself if I end up slipping as the year goes on. I enjoy reading so much, I just need to be deliberate about how I spend my time to make sure I work it into my day.



Arrietty!! She really should have been first but blogger uploaded the photos in this order and I don't feel like changing it (so lazy omg.) Literally nothing in this entire world makes me happier than this cat. She is the absolute sweetest creature, so adorable, so affectionate, and so silly. I have very few humans in my life that love me (or even like me, lol) but this sweet sweet darling loves me *almost* as much as I love her, and I feel so incredibly grateful for her every day.



Third is cooking! Ever since I started eating healthy back in September I've been enjoying cooking so much more than I used to. Most days I stick with a variation on the same meal (zucchini noodles, tomatoes, broccoli or asparagus, and chick peas.) but a few times each week I'll try a brand new recipe. I listen to podcasts or audiobooks while I cook, and just let myself totally enjoy the experience of cooking dinner. And when I'm done, I eat at the table instead of in front of the tv or computer.

A few recipes I've tried recently that I am head-over-heels in love with -- carrot cake baked oatmeal (I am avoiding eggs, so I subbed in 1 tbsp. chia seeds and 1/3 c. water),  kale and wild rice bowl (I used a quinoa/wild rice combo, and skipped the feta cheese), and butternut squash kale salad with chickpeas and cranberries (I made this into more of a hot meal by combining everything in a skillet, and I used frozen butternut squash noodles!)



Movies! I have to admit I did not do great with my movie intake in January, but last week I made it a goal to watch one movie every night. I recently got this floor cushion (it reminds me of a Winnie The Pooh-printed one that me and my brother used to have when we were little!) and I've been laying it on the floor in front of my computer, filling up a bowl of popcorn, and enjoying a nice relaxing end to the day. My favorite new-to-me movie that I watched so far this year was Zodiac. This movie is 157 minutes long (!!!) but it felt like 90. It was so gripping and well-made that the 2+ hour running time zipped right by.



Lastly, Disney World! Me and my mom are going to be there April 10-16 and it's time to start planning! We can book fast passes and restaurant reservations starting next week! It's been two years since I was in Disney World so I'm incredibly excited to be going back. I loved Disneyland and Disneyland Paris but Disney World is my favorite, where I feel the most at home. Whenever my brain starts drifting into unhappy territory, I just start thinking about dole whip and the small world ride, the Paris pavilion at Epcot, my favorite broccoli slaw sandwich in Liberty Square, the smell of popcorn wafting through the air, the song It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow from the carousel of progress. Only two months to go!

my top five favorite: disney pins

I've been collecting Disney pins since 2011, when I started a (currently unbroken!) streak of visiting a Disney park every single year. I'm going back to Disney World with my mom in April and pin trading/shopping is at the top of the list of things I'm excited about! Normally I stalk all of the Disney news sites for pin updates and new releases (yes, I am THAT kind of pin collector, lol!) but I haven't even peeked since I booked my trip last fall. I want to be surprised and see what new pins await when I actually get to the resort.

Anyway, all that being said, I thought it would be fun to pick my top five favorite pins from my collection. This was SO MUCH HARDER than I thought it would be. I left out a lot that I really, really love... so I might need to do a Part II to this post ;)

First up (haha) is my UP house pin! This was a Christmas present from my mom a few years ago. The floating house with the balloons is, in my opinion, one of the most visually stunning and beautiful images that Disney has given us. I think this was a limited release pin which is actually sad because the image is so iconic and well-loved that it should really be more accessible.



I got this pin at the Disney soda fountain shop in Hollywood. I was so excited when I found it! 101 Dalmatians pins aren't easy to come by (well, at least non-Cruella pins are hard to come by. I can't for the life of me understand why most of the pins for this movie feature the puppy-killing villian?!) and Anita ones are SUPER hard to come by!



I got this pin in a Beauty and the Beast mystery box about five years ago while I was in Disney World. Most Belle merchandise features her in the yellow ballgown, but I've always preferred the casual independent bookworm iteration of her character, and I get super excited whenever I find something that shows her in her village attire. I was lucky enough to actually get two of these in the mystery boxes, so one has a permanent spot on the lanyard that I wear to the parks, and one lives comfortably at home in my collection.



Eating at Disney parks is up there with pin collecting as one of my favorite parts of visiting the parks. And eating pineapple dole whip is the best part of eating at the parks (and churros. and nutella waffles from Sleepy Hollow. oohh and hot pretzels!) I have stood in such long lines to get one little scoop of dole whip and it has ALWAYS been worth it. I love it when Disney immortalizes park food in pin form, and this just had to be in my top five.



Last but not least is this 50th anniversary Small World pin! This was a limited release cast member pin so I had to buy it on ebay. My favorite part of It's a Small World is the Mary Blair design, so pins that incorporate that are must haves for me. And my Grandmom actually saw the ride at the New York World's fair in 1964! This was a little more money than I'd normally pay for a Disney pin, but I couldn't pass it up. It's my most cherished pin in my collection.

my top five favorite: romantic comedies (1990-present)

When I decided to make a list of my top five romantic comedies I realized I'd HAVE to break this list up into classic movies and modern movies because there was just no way to narrow it down to five otherwise. As a classic film fan, it's actually going to be even harder to pick just five pre-'80s films but I can cross that bridge when I get to it. Today I'm just talking about modern (1990-present) movies -- in no particular order.



Never Been Kissed (1999) As long-time readers already know, I've been single for my entire life and I've never even been on a date. I've come to terms with it in the last couple years and I'm pretty happy and contended settling into a life of certain spinsterhood but for most of my teens and 20's I would SO live vicariously through this movie, and even now I root so hard for Josie.



Return To Me (2000) This is my favorite modern romantic comedy, and I think it's criminally underrated. It takes what could have been a really uncomfortable, tragic hook and turns it into an incredibly sweet and charming movie. The supporting cast is perfect, and David Duchovny and Minnie Driver are the most adorable couple of all time. This movie is so heartfelt and sincere and just absolutely lovely.



You've Got Mail (1998) It says a lot about how much I love this movie that there are elements to the plot that annoy me SO much and I still rewatch it at least once or twice a year. It's so endlessly quotable, the seasons are so vivid (I always think of it as a fall/winter movie but the spring scenes are just so spring-y, too!) and it just doesn't get better than Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks (except maybe David Duchovny and Minnie Driver, lol!) Also I just support any movie that involves Greg Kinnear.



Music and Lyrics (2007) I just discovered this one recently and fell so head over heels for it that I watched it twice in the same day. Hugh Grant plays a fallen pop idol and the songs from his fictional 80s band are so insanely catchy. Plus his chemistry with Drew Barrymore is fantastic and even though the movie dips into "stahpppp, just talk to each other and sort things out!!!" territory at one point I wasn't even mad because the whole thing is just so adorable.



Romantics Anonymous (2010) This French film is about two incredibly, painfully shy people who start dating and all of the anxiety and setbacks they go through to make it work. As a introvert on the level of Hermit, I related to this movie so much and it was such a joy to watch a romantic pairing that wasn't easy and casual and laid back. The comedy is even funnier if you're super shy yourself because you can imagine EXACTLY what the characters are going through and how awkward and bumbling their situations are. Even if you're an extrovert, though, I highly recommend it. It's super sweet (it involves chocolate, so I mean that literally and figuratively!)

my top five favorite: albums

Even before itunes and ipods and spotify I used to prefer building my own playlists (with mixtapes!) to playing an album start-to-finish, but there are always some albums that I think are so perfect that I happily play them uninterrupted, the way they were intended to be heard.

First up is Power, Corruption, and Lies by New Order. One of my all time favorite albums, although I tend to play one side more than the other and I tend to go over and put the needle back on "Your Silent Face" over and over again.



This post could have easily been five Killers albums but I wanted to limit myself to one and give some room to other bands/artists. And narrowing it down to one was VERY DIFFICULT.  But ultimately Day and Age has my heart. Honestly whatever album "Dustland Fairytale" was on was going to get my vote, but when you add in "Spaceman" and "Human" it's basically a shoe-in. (Runner up would probably be either Sam's Town or Battle Born.)



This is the soundtrack for the movie Borsalino. It's just a super fun jazzy '20s-'30s inspired album and I put this on all the time when I need to get some pep in my step for the day. If I need to clean up or get dressed for a late shift at work after I'm already done in, this does the trick. It also reminds me of the movie (which I love!) and that's always a fun bonus when you listen to soundtracks :)



I first heard this when I was staying at The Polynesian in Disney World two years ago and I ended up downloading the album to listen to on the plane home, and then I found an LP on ebay to listen to on my record player. My favorite song on the album is "Pineapple Princess" followed closely by "Hawaiian Love Talk." It's just so fun and bubbly and, especially in the winter, it's nice to be transported to Hawaii (or a Disneyesque version of Hawaii, I guess, lol!)



Last but not least, my favorite Frank Sinatra album -- Moonlight Sinatra. This has spun around my turntable so often that sometimes I think I should buy a backup. Whenever I decide to put this one on, I just can't stop. I keep flipping it over, playing, flipping over, playing, until it's time for bed. My favorites on this album are "Moonlight Serenade" and "Oh, You Crazy Moon."

my top five favorite: perfumes

I feel like this one is going to be tough to explain *why* exactly these are my favorites. Scent is just such a hard thing to describe. But if you're at a perfume counter anytime soon, I highly recommend testing these out!



Acqua di Gioia by Giorgio Armani - This is pretty much the only perfume that I wear in the summer. It's really light and fresh it and just makes me feel like I'm about to go to the beach every single day.



Black Opium by Yves Saint Laurent - For the longest time this was the only perfume that I wore. I got it right before my trip to Paris and Rome in 2016 and it's always reminded me of that trip ever since. It started smelling different on me after I got sick in December 2017, I guess my body chemistry was off, and I started experimenting with some other scents. I tried it again late last year though and it smells good on me again (yay!) so it's back in my daily rotation again :)



Princess by Kilian - I got this as a sample in a Sephora order a few months ago and completely fell in love with the scent! I can't describe exactly how it smells except that for some reason it is very nostalgic to me. Not in a "this smells like the body spray I got at CVS when I was 13" way and also not in a "my old lady relatives smelled like this when I was little" way -- I honestly can't pinpoint what it is, but it reminds me of being ~14 and I like it.



Replica By the Fireplace by Maison Margiela - This is my all-time favorite scent right now. You know Bath and Body Works Marshmallow Fireside candle? It smells exactly like that, except as a sophisticated smoky perfume and not a candle. I way over-spray this whenever I wear it because I just want to be able to smell it on myself all day long.



Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford - One of my favorite youtubers mentioned this last year and I immediately got a sample, loved it, and then quietly lusted after a full bottle for about 12 months until the Sephora Rouge sale cracked my willpower and I finally got a little 30ML bottle for myself. I only wear this one once in a blue moon because it's so expensive, but man it smells so good. It's a really unique vanilla scent and I adore it!



Honorable mention -- my favorite actor, Alain Delon, used to have a line of perfumes and I HAD to own one. I got this off of ebay and it's definitely old and does NOT smell good but the bottle has his name on it so it has a very prominent spot in my perfume tray. It's called Samourai Woman (after his film Le Samourai) and the bottle is really pretty. I'd love to know how it smelled when it was new :)

my top five favorite: purchases in 2018

I decided to temporarily put "un deux trois" on hold because I just don't have the time to take that many outfit pictures right now, but I thought in the mean time I would resurrect another old blog series to take its place on Saturdays for a while.

For my first (well, not first ever, but first for now, lol!) post I thought I'd round up my top five favorite things that I purchased in 2018. As much as I love my dresses and fun accessories, all of my favorites in this post are totally random items that have nothing to do with clothes.

First up is the mannequin that I bought when my local Sears closed. I've always liked mannequins ever since I was a kid (probably a combination of that movie A Mom for Christmas - where a mannequin turns into Olivia Newton John - and the fact that my parents owned a t-shirt business and let me keep two of their old mannequins!) When I saw that Sears had all of their displays on sale I HAD TO HAVE ONE. This one reminded me of the Venus de Milo and I named her Marie.



I got this book stand a few months ago and it makes me so happy every time I look at it! I've been collecting movie tie-in paperbacks for ages but I never had a way to display them in a way where you'd be able to actually see their cool covers. This stand is technically for postcards but it fits two mass market paperbacks per pocket!



In January I got these drawer units for my work area and my life improved about, um, 400000% Everything is neatly organized and blissfully hidden from view. I use the bottom drawers for things that I don't need as often, and then the top drawers contain everything I need to pack orders or make buttons on a daily basis. Not only did this improve the aesthetics of my workspace but it made for a perfect backdrop for my outfit photos AND it streamlined my workflow. So happy I got these!



I had been thinking about getting an elliptical for years. Whenever I go to department stores I try them out because I think they're so fun, but they're usually large, bulky, and black, and I just didn't want that in my room. When I found this one, I was sold. I was casually looking at exercise equipment on the amazon app while I was in the McDonalds drive-thru with my dad, and there was literally a five minute gap between me saying "omg they have a pink elliptical!" and "I just bought a pink elliptical!" haha! I use this every single day for 10-20 minutes and it's held up very well. Sometimes I have to tighten the screws a little, but otherwise it's very sturdy. Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone and I made it even MORE pink than it came by spray painting the black foot peddles and covering the black arms in pink duct tape ;)



Last but not least, my plants! I am so glad that I became a plant lady this year. Some of them cause me a little stress (why are the leaves falling off?? I just watered you!!") but overall they bring me so much joy and I enjoy seeing them grow and flourish so much! I don't have room for any more of them right now, but when I eventually have a bigger place I am definitely going to have plants EVERYWHERE. I can't wait.