awesome flicks.

with philip traveling, i have started a list of movies that i want to watch that he is not interested in.  so, last night, i poured myself a ginormous cup of tea and went through my list til i found a good one.

 i decided on the giant mechanical man. and it was AWESOME.  it made me laugh [and yes, maybe it made me cry a little bit at the end], but it made me feel something.  movies are great entertainment of course, but for me there is no substitute for watching a movie and almost being able to identify with it.  being able to connect with a movie, kind of the way you can connect with a song.  it's fantastic.

so i thought i would share a few other movies that i connect with, for anyone who is interested in some really good movies.

the giant mechanical man

'i think you’re just great. you know what’s so great about you? you’re real. you don’t pretend like you have it all figured out, like everyone else in life. you’re real. you’re genuine and you notice things too. you pay attention, like the monkeys. i don’t know, i look at you and i can see you. i see you. i don’t know, i just think you’re great.'

our idiot brother

'i like to think that if you put your trust out there, i mean if you really give people the benefit of the doubt and see their best intentions, people will rise to the occasion.'

lars & the real girl

gus: well, it's not like you're one thing or the other, okay? there's still a kid inside but you grow up when you decide to do right, okay, and not what's right for you, what's right for everybody, even when it hurts.

lars: okay, like what?

gus: like, you know, like, you don't jerk people around, you know, and you don't cheat on your woman, and you take care of your family, you know, and you admit when you're wrong, or you try to, anyways. that's all i can think of, you know. it sounds like it's easy and for some reason it's not.  

jack goes boating
jack: this always happens.
clyde: what?
jack: whenever there's anything good, it fucks up.
clyde: it fucked up, but it fucked up because we forgot.
jack: no, you fucked it up because you made a fucking toast!
clyde: because i love you. we all love you. we forgot the food because you were being loved. that's the important thing to remember.

500 days of summer

'this is lies. we are liars. think about it. why do people buy cards? it's not because they want to say how they feel. people buy cards because they can't say they feel or are afraid to. and we provide the service that let's them off the hook. you know what? i say to hell with it. let's level with america. or at least let them speak for themselves. right?' 

away we go

'it's all those good things you have in you. the love, the wisdom, the generosity, the selflessness, the patience. the patience! at 3 a.m. when everyone's awake because ibrahim is sick and he can't find the bathroom and he's just puked all over katki's bed. when you blink, when you blink! and it's 5:30 and it's time to get up again and you know you're going to be tired all day, all week, all your fucking life. and you're thinking what happened to greece? What happened to swimming naked off the coast of greece? and you have to be willing to make the family out of whatever you have. ' 

 

beer tasting party

hey friends!  hope you have had as awesome of a long holiday weekend as i have!  we decided to welcome in fall with a beer tasting party with some friends on saturday - and it turned out awesome.  pi had the awesome idea to make it like a wine tasting.  he told a bit about each beer we drank, poured it for people in tasting glasses, and we all tasted together and rated our favorite beers.  it was a brilliant idea and it worked out great.

of course i just loved hanging out with friends, the long weekend, and getting ready for fall - our favorite season.  the prep was pretty easy, it was just difficult to narrow down the beer we wanted to try.  for food, we put out some classed-up versions of classic beer food.  fresh pretzel rolls, three mustards for dipping, roasted turkey and honey glazed ham slices, jalapeno kettle chips, malt and vinegar kettle chips, smoked cheddar and gouda cheeses, and grilled bratwurst with fresh sourdough.

table setup

wheat, oats and a vinage seltzer bottle

the sunflowers in a german beer mug were perfect

tasting in full swing

two of our favorite people ever to hang out with

looking stuff up on her phone between tastings

j & r

josh & pi

starburst taste testing - do they all taste the same?

even brew made an appearance!

love this face :)

yes, we drank a LOT.

just for kicks, here was the menu:

beer

paragon dry dock apricot blonde

fuller smith ESB

avery the kaiser octoberfest

o'dell levity amber ale

samuel smith's oatmeal stout

elysian avatar jasmine IPA

he'brew rye double IPA

rogue chocolate stout

my favorite was definitely the jasmine IPA - i am obsessed with both of those things and it tasted like a flower explosion in my mouth.  i picked the he'brew beer because i had been wanting to try it for a long time, and i was glad i finally did.  everyone brought their own picks too, so there was much more sampling long after our samplers were gone.  

yesterday we had w stay the night so we slept in and then went to see the bourne legacy.  jeremy renner movies are kind of a tradition with us, as w & i are both lusting over him currently.  and we saw him in the new mission impossible on new year's eve last year and decided we love him.

today it's all about going to the market and getting out fall clothes!  the 70s are finally in sight and i couldn't be more excited.  oh, and i guess some homework too :)

til next time! 

my awesome weekend

here were the fun happenings of my weekend in the form of a top 10 list (but not in order):

1. played mario kart with my brother & PI.
2. staropramen and becherovka at sobo 151.
3. moved stuff around in my house just for fun.
4. played taboo with my entire colorado family and my brother's friends.
5. moonrise kingdom.
6. did NO homework.
7. brunch at an awesome new spot!
8. got a little taste of fall.
9. slept in.
10. spent my ENTIRE weekend with family. 

and now it's back to reality. boooo.

i had school today again and afterwards had a quick stop in with my advisor, who did my degree audit.  all good for graduation in december!  now all i have to do is survive this semester with passing grades and i am done.


106 days!

just sayin'.

not much going on today.  just finished watching the daily show with philip, having an ipa on this gloriously cool and overcast day.  jon stewart had jason bateman on his show and they were exchanging some banter about how they bumped into each other on the street a few weeks back.

which has me wondering...

why don't i ever run into this guy in the streets in ny???

just sayin'.  :)

happy wednesday all.

successful uneventful weekend

effortless, original. annie hall.

happy sunday all!  it was a glorious weekend here at the scarano-isbouts household.  we kicked it off with a (surprise!) saturday morning off of work for me, which was much needed.  on the way home from work, we stopped at our favorite liquor store to pick up some wine.  in california last weekend, my sister introduced me to the amazingness that is boxed wine.  it's quite the trend now i hear; it's cheaper, bigger and lasts longer (that's what she said!) than a regular old bottle of wine.  so we were browsing around some of the boxes of wine and i happened to find one of my favorite open-up-just-because bottles in boxed form.  SCORE!  so we ordered a pizza, cracked open a box of wine and put on annie hall (one of my all-time favorites).  perfect night.

shakespeare & co in paris

so saturday morning was, as usual, cleaning day.  philip washed the car and i gave the kitchen some much-needed attention.  mom came over in the afternoon and we did some serious shopping.  so i know you will all think i'm crazy... but i'm going to let you all in on a secret.  for cheap cheap cheap, fun home decor, check out hobby lobby.  don't shop online, you definitely need the browsing factor.  the first time my mom brought me i thought she was a lunatic - that's for old lady arts and crafts supplies.  but i was wrong.  there is a lot of crafty supplies but there is also some AWESOME finds.  after a few very successful hours shopping (photos of my finds below) we went out for sushi and saw the newest woody allen, midnight in paris.  SPOILER ALERT: best movie ever!  i love owen wilson as the woody-substitute, and the trip reminded philip & i so much of our trip to paris two years ago.  obviously, no time travel, but otherwise that was me in paris!  all throughout our trip, i constantly dragged philip around to cafes, bars, bistros, bistros, anywhere that was a hotspot for the lost generation of the 20s.  we had wine on the streets outside of chez georges and flipped through stein and hemingway novels at shakespeare & company.  it was absolutely brilliant.  for those if you who don't know, i'm a huge woody allen fan.  i just love his movies, and his dialogue is fantastic.  and even when you think his movies can't get any better... i just learned that alec baldwin is starring in the next woody allen - shot in rome!  my head just exploded.  ANYWAY, after the movie we went back to the house and indulged in more chicken wine... and mom ended up staying over :)

this morning, while nursing our hangovers, we did a bit more shopping.  and MORE great finds!  first stop was world market, which you all know how much i love.  i definitely picked up the best find of the weekend... a gorgeous mirror, photo down below.  then we ventured further down to home goods, which i have heard such good things about from bianca and my step-mother-in-law.  more scores!  but the best part is, i'm finally starting to feel happy about the living and dining rooms.  things are finally coming together now, looking more settled in.  i'm just so happy.  and we finished the weekend off with some homemade mojitos at our neighbor's house in their gorgeous backyard.  and blogging.  simply lovely :)

10 best movies

well, my cold yesterday has turned into a full-blown something awful and i'm stuck home on the couch.  in honor of my resting and watching movies i thought i would post another 10 best: my 10 favorite movies.  these aren't in order.  half of them were bombs so don't be surprised by my awful taste...

1.  vanilla sky

my all-time favorite, hands down.  the trippy love story of all love stories.  say what you will, but i love tom cruise.  and penelope cruz is enchanting.  i had to write an essay on this movie my freshman year of college, and after watching it over and over and over i fell head over heels.  "the sweet is not as sweet without the sour."  "the little things... there's nothing bigger, is there?"  "every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around."  "...the saddest girl to ever hold a martini."  i cry every time i watch this move and i love it more every time too.

2.  wicker park

"love makes you do crazy things.  things you'd never see your self doing in a million years."  another lovely fanatical love story.  and josh hartnett is crazy hot, so that's a plus too.  it's actually suspenseful... the first time philip watched it with me he kept asking, "is he going to find her?  just tell me if he finds her." it's unbearable and the ending is satisfying every time.

3.  jack goes boating

this is what i have the pleasure of watching today while home sick.  it should be noted that i am obsessed with philip seymour hoffman and think that everything he does is pure genius.  including this film.  he's soft spoken, shy, sweet, innocent even.  and all he wants to do is make her happy.  it's so romantic how much he does for her.  the scenes where jack is being taught how to swim by his best friend will have you forgetting you're watching a dramatic story about love of all kinds.  and the soundtrack is killer - fleet foxes, grizzly bear, DeVotchKa, goldfrapp.  perfect for a rainy day.