10 Rom-Coms For Valentine's Day

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, there is nothing better than relaxing on the couch with your significant other or best friend and watching one of your favorite romantic comedies, right? 

… So I've decided to share a few that are my favorites. :)

1. One Fine Day (buy here)

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing goes right? Or maybe the truth of the matter is that everything that can go wrong does go wrong? Yeah. That's exactly what happens when George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer get together … or don't as the case may be. After getting their kids to school late, work problems, family problems, and fish problems result in an amusing story that takes place over the course of a single day and changes the lives of two single adult parents forever.

2. Pretty Woman (buy here)

When you think of 90s romantic comedies which actress comes to mind? Julia Roberts, of course. And this fabulous retelling of Cinderella is no exception. She and Richard Gere have wonderful chemistry as the story unfolds of how a hooker fell into the arms of a rich businessman changing both of their lives for the better.

If you like this one, be sure to follow up with Runaway Bride. It's more kid friendly but just as fun!

3. My Best Friend's Wedding (buy here)

Following closely on the heels of Pretty Woman is My Best Friend's Wedding, the hilarious story of best friends who are forced to re-evaluate their feelings towards one another during a fabulous four day wedding ceremony. Will things work out? Will they find true love within one another?

4. You've Got Mail (buy here)

Nora Ephron created some of the best romantic comedies and You've Got Mail really stands out as a treasure. A sign of the times (who uses AOL anymore?), Kathleen meets Joe in a chatroom on her birthday and over time they develop a relationship unlike any other. When Joe suggests that he and Kathleen meet in person for the first time, they discover just how small their world really is.

I also recommend Sleepless in Seattle if you can't get enough of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. :)

5. Dirty Dancing (buy here)

I put off watching this movie for years and years and years because I was judging the movie by its title. There's nothing too risqué though, so no need to worry; Titanic is far worse! The movie features a coming of age drama about a teenage girl on vacation with her family. Unlike her older sister, Baby always follows the rules, does what she's told, and is a good girl. Then, when she is forced into helping a friend deal with an abortion, her entire life changes. She falls in love … with dancing … and Patrick Swayze. Can her family come to terms with her new way of life?

6. Breakfast at Tiffany's (buy here)

If you've ever read Truman Capote's short story and enjoyed it, do yourself a favor and avoid this movie like the plague.

If you haven't read the book and have no intention of ever reading it, I highly recommend this Audrey Hepburn classic.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is another coming of age story wherein Holly Golightly, a female with a bad habit of running away from everything including her problems, and most especially, love and happiness, stumbles upon a struggling writer who sets out to help her see and achieve what truly matters in life. It would seem that the beauty and glamor of life in New York isn't all it's made out to be … or is it? Will Holly Golightly ever find the life she longs for?

7. Pretty In Pink … or Sixteen Candles

Remember "the brat pack" from the 80s? While The Breakfast Club is my favorite of those produced by John Hughes and starring the lovely Molly Ringwald, I do believe Pretty In Pink and Sixteen Candles take the cake for being the most romantic of the movies.

In Pretty in Pink, Molly Ringwald's character falls for a guy on the other side of the tracks – you know, rich guy, poor girl scenario. It's love at first sight for Andie, but Blane's friends remind him every day that he's too good for her … until he starts to believe it himself. The couple breaks up leaving Andie heartbroken and Blane confused. Is he too good for her? Or do his friends have something to hide?

Sixteen Candles explores what it's like when everyone forgets it's your sixteenth birthday AND your older sister is getting married. It's a silly, contrived story that has you rolling your eyes one minute and laughing the next. Is this really what it feels like to be sixteen?

8. Once (buy here)

When an immigrant meets a singer/songwriter on the streets of Dublin, they form an unlikely friendship. She's going through a divorce and he just broke things off with his girlfriend. Over time their bond grows and develops into something more. The question is: more than what?

9. Say Anything (buy here)

Valedictorian Diane Court seems out of Lloyd Dobbler's league, but he decides to go after her anyway. What's the worst that can happen? Between Diane's father getting in trouble with the law and her acceptance to a school in England, there is a lot in store for her summer. Can she handle a relationship too?

10. The Notebook (buy here)

There is nothing quite like a southern romance … especially when Nicholas Sparks is involved. When Noah and Allie meet for the first time, she will have nothing to do with him. Desperate means call for desperate measures. He follows her around and even hangs from a ferris wheel in an effort to gain her attention and convince her that she is the only one for him. The romance that follows is short-lived though when Allie and her family leave Charleston and Noah goes off to war. When Allie shows up years later at Noah's door engaged the two are forced to question exactly what went wrong with their relationship and how that will affect their future.

What are your favorite romantic comedies? Do you have any favorites that I didn't list?

* I'm participating in the SITS Girls' February Writing Prompts. Are you?

Our Family Is Growing!

I'm going to be an aunt!

Honestly when my brother shared the news with me, I wasn't sure what to think. His lady love is graduating college this spring, but my brother still has another year of college.

Needless to say 2015 is going to be a life changing, life altering year for all of us.

Enter Purex Powershot.

With a new baby comes less time, less money, and more laundry. (Actually I'm pretty sure it's generically more cleaning, but that's not the point.)

Traditional laundry powder and liquid are messy and super-easy to use too much of. With laundry pods you have to worry about children getting their hands on them, chewing on them, or, even worse, swallowing a bit. Eek! :( 

The new Purex Powershot is a fantastic solution especially for those on the go and with children. The product features a no-spill detergent bottle that makes it easy and quick to measure your liquid laundry detergent. You just flip, pour, and done!  It automatically doses the perfect amount for your laundry AND you don't have to worry about little ones chewing on pods.

Doesn't it sound amazing?

One of the best parts is that I have some coupons to give away so that you can try the product for yourself! The giveaway runs from now until 2/19. Two winners will receive a coupon for a free product and 4 winners will receive a coupon for $1.50 off of the product.

Sound good?

Even better, Purex is offering their own sweepstakes where three grand prize winners will win a Whirlpool washer & dryer set and 300 second-place winners will receive a bottle of PowerShot!

So take the time to enter both! You have a lot to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway * I received a free product in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

Ten Valentine's Day Date Ideas

image: photoshop-heart-brushes-21-300x247

This is the first Valentine's Day since Justin and I got married that I won't be babysitting someone else's kids! Hooray! … Instead we get to (possibly) meet my brother's girlfriend's parents for the first time. Ahh family!

Even if we weren't doing something as awkward as that, Justin and I wouldn't probably be doing too much for Valentine's Day anyway. With this in mind I have put together a few of my favorite date ideas supposing we were going to do something…

For the really broke:

1. Spend time outdoors

Is there a gorgeous park nearby? Maybe you live in the city…

I love spending time outdoors when it's not too hot or too cold. I'm a huge fan of meandering through the woods and just talking about whatever comes to mind.

Justin and I have been known to do a lot of random things outside though. Walking through a graveyard at night has to be one of the weirdest. ;) But we also have gone to watch planes fly in and look up at the stars at the local airport park. During the summer, sitting on the dock of a local lake and enjoy the peacefulness that is water at night is always nice… And best of all are the morning picnics watching the sunrise. It is soooooo hard to get up, but it is absolutely worth it getting to experience not only the quiet of a sleeping world but also the beautiful colors of the sunrise. There is nothing better. :)

2. Spend time indoors.

If it actually gets cold where you live, I recommend staying in and just doing whatever together. And truly cherish that "whatever time". Make a meal together. Watch a movie curled up on the couch. Or just do something in the same room as your significant other. Honestly, I'm a bit of a romantic and I like laying on my husband reading while he plays on his ipad. (He says I make a good cat.) I think the key is just enjoying spending time together no matter what you are doing. Enjoying the moment for what it is without wishing for more…

Assuming you have a little bit of money:

3. Go out to eat at a new restaurant.

I love going to the same old restaurant and ordering something normal just as much as anybody, but I recommend that you go somewhere new for a night to remember. Whether the restaurant is good or bad, you won't forget it! It doesn't even have to be expensive. Ask around for recommendations. Ask google! Or Siri! Be adventurous.

4. Check out an exhibit at a museum.

Really take it in. Don't just glance through and leave. Talk about it. Every bit of it. Isn't that bit of history cool? What do you think of this painting? Did you know -----? Take it all in.

5. Do sports.

Go ride bikes on well-known trails. Go ice skating. A lot of people seem to enjoy snow skiing.

Sports are an awesome way to get exercise, connect with those you love, and have fun.

6. Movies.

As cliché as it sounds, I love going to the movies. My husband and I go all out buying popcorn and drinks. It's like a special event and we only go once every 3 or 4 months or so. Afterwards, we talk and talk and talk about the movies analyzing every little thing. Did we think the filming was amazing? Was the story worth following? Would we recommend the movie? Forget the whole restaurant and then movie date … go to the movies and then a coffee shop to discuss the movie. It helps you get to know your significant other better and it's fun making an event out of it.

7. Go for a drive.

Yes, you can plan where to go (and might need to if you have kids), but sometimes it's fun to just drive. This is another case where it pays to be adventurous!

For the rich:

8. Travel.

Go to Paris for a weekend. *sigh* Or NYC. Or California. Why are you reading my blog again?

9. Take in a play, concert, or opera.

(I'm imaging Julia Roberts and Richard Gere here.) If you really want to impress your wife/girlfriend, rent her a super expensive piece of jewelry to wear, buy her a gorgeous dress, fly her to New York, and take her to the opera in a limo. #justsaying #hinthint :)

Or for the rest of us, just going without all of the fanfare is always an option… I suppose.

And finally, for the unmarried:

10. Propose. Or don't.

Proposing is pretty cliché on Valentine's Day. But so are flowers, chocolate, and cards. Might as well go all of the way…

What will you be doing this Valentine's Day? Is there anything creative and fun that you can think of to do that I didn't include in my list?

* I'm participating in the SITS Girls' February Writing Prompts. Are you?

Disney World Vacation In the Making: Choosing A Hotel

image from Disney_Dec_2013-2783

Last week Travelocity was offering a discount of $100 off a 3 day stay at a hotel if the cost was $350 or more. So I got busy searching. I had 2 days to decide on a hotel. Meanwhile I was running up on a deadline for work AND one of Justin's friends from California came into town for a short 2 day visit. Knowing how expensive flights to California are, I knew I had to somehow fit everything into my schedule.

Before making any decisions I always do a ton a of research. It's important for me to get the best deal and the most for my money. If you saw yesterday's post, you realize that Justin and I have a lot of trips coming up in the next year and saving money is extremely important. Given the oddness of the deal (3 days), I wanted to pick a hotel in a location I knew we would be staying at for at least 3 days and that I already had a date for. It turns out the only trip I knew of that would at least last that long was our trip to Orlando in November. I had been meaning to get Justin to Disney World and a wedding in Orlando was the perfect opportunity!

One of the key concerns I had when choosing this hotel, aside from money that is, was choosing something that would be comfortable and adult friendly. I also was hoping for something that made access to the parks fairly easy. My last trip to Disney World was over 10 years ago, and I imagined that a lot had changed. Online I've heard horror stories about the need to make restaurant reservations 180 days before your visit, getting a fastpass to get on rides quickly, and how awful parking is at the park. Could it really have gotten that much worse in 10 years?

Honestly I have no idea. I have a few friends I could ask that have visited more recently than myself, but instead I just decided to live on the edge and take a chance. Make a gamble. What's the worst that could happen?

The following are the hotels I considered:

Castle Hotel, Autograph Collection - The price went from $140 a night up to $250 a night which is when I said no. The grounds look gorgeous and the hotel fancy (and modern). The best part of all: very few negative reviews on tripadvisor! 

Grand Bohemian, Autograph Collection - Another fancy hotel that was at a discount. When I went to book, the coupon didn't work. :( Back to the drawing board. 

Disney's Art of Animation Resort - I love drawing. I think Disney animation is the bomb. I've been wanting to go to this hotel since I learned of it's existence a million years ago… For the low price, early entry to Disney Parks, and transportation to the parks, I was all in! … Until I started booking. A stay in the Ariel room? Umm… no, thanks. (To be fair, I'm not sure I would have liked that as a kid either.) Given the name of the hotel, I want to see lots of drawings covering the walls! I don't want a girl with bright red hair or a purple evil queen watching me sleep. Creepy, right?! 

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa - This was the top recommendation I read about for adults visiting Disney World. And then I saw the price. Even on a good day $500 for one night is a bit much. That's what I paid to see the eiffel tower from my hotel room in Paris! I'm certainly not paying that to see a mouse!  

Disney's Dolphin & Swan Hotels - Offered together, I heard fantastic reviews about these two. These were another instance where I saw the price and immediately did a detour.

I was trying to consider any hotels that I did not have status at and thus would not be losing point opportunities.  Transportation to/from the park so that we wouldn't have to deal with parking also seemed like a good idea. And being able to access the park early since we would only be going for one or maybe two days also seemed worthwhile.

We ended up going with the Port Orleans Resort – Riverside. It looks like a nice property although perhaps a bit old. I like that you can take a boat to Epcot, which is my chosen park to go to. (I think all of the science, culture, and history make for the most interesting park experience.) I'm also hoping we get to explore Downtown Disney which I would have never done as a kid. I'm interested in seeing Disney through an adult lens, which, unfortunately for my possible future kids, will probably play an important role in whether I ever go back. Is Disney a worthwhile and educational experience for children? Is it enjoyable as an adult? Or do you leave feeling taken advantage of?

Have you been to Disney World as an adult? Have you stayed at any of the hotels I mentioned? And/or most importantly, did you take advantage of Travelocity's deal? Share with me in the comments! I'd love to hear about your experiences!

2015 Goals

image from Jamie's Rabbits

As much as I love my readers, this blog post is mostly for me.

You see, at the beginning of the year I wrote down a few new years goals. This post is just an update on them and a chance for me to check in and see what I've done in the past 4 weeks.

• Read more.

I think I've decided to read approximately 1 book a month for fun. (And hopefully review 1 book a month for the blog program I'm part of.) So far this year I have read…

these books for fun:

1. the After series by Anna Todd (review here)

Yes, I started it at the end of 2014, but I finished it in 2015. That counts right? The first book was read for One2One, but I read the other 2 for fun. I just couldn't stand not finishing the series. It was literally driving me crazy! 

2. A Lion in Paris by Beatrice Alemagna (review here) 

Definitely a children's book, but I'm still counting it because any reading and critical analysis of books should count (in my opinion). 

3. I Sold My Soul to the Devil For Vinyls … Pitiful, I Know on Wattpad (review to come) 

After reading Anna Todd's series on Wattpad, I realized how easy and how much fun it was to have books on my phone that I could read on the go … or late into the night when I was suppose to be asleep. (Reading under the covers so as not to wake up the hubby FTW!) I will definitely be continuing to find new books on Wattpad in the future to read simply because they are so much easier to get my hands on and so fun to read! 

4. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (review to come)

I have been wanting to read this book forever and over Christmas I finally got my hands on it! Justin couldn't say no since I had an Amazon gift card and the total cost of the book was a penny (for hardback!) plus shipping! It was an intense book and easy read. I can't wait to review it!

and this book for my blog program (Blogging For Books):

1. Refinery 29 by Piere Gelardi and Christene Barberich (review here) 

Enjoyable, easy, quick read, but I'm hoping for something better in February… 

• Take More Pictures, Edit More

One of the things I struggle at the most is getting color correct after capture. I decided during January to submit some photos to Photographer's Edit and see how they did handling my images. I was surprised at what I got back. They seemed to suggest that the majority of my images did not need color correction. (WHAT?) But it did give me a bit more confidence… Justin has encouraged me to go ahead and try printing at Costco to compare and contrast their ideas of correct color to mine. Did they actually do anything? Is it a service worth exploring further? Are my eyes just that screwed up? 

I haven't actually printed yet despite the fact that we go at least once a week to Costco. For that matter, I haven't printed images from my huge October editing spree either. Overall this lack of desire to print-and-see has slowed down my desire to edit by the nth degree. I'm aware that I should print but I'm also scared and worried to see the results. 

In a few weeks CreativeLive will be airing Photoshop Week. I will definitely be tuning into that to see how to take my photos further.

• Pay off Debt.

You'll hear about this next Monday. Why give it away?

• Travel more.

image from Mike Paws

This is soooooo happening this year.

Here's the schedule so far…

Feb. - Asheville, NC (Biltmore House)
Mar. - Nashville, TN
Jul. - Charleston, SC (maybe?)
Aug. - Germany
Sep. - Gainesville, FL
Oct. - Somewhere on the beach in FL for a wedding
Nov. - Orlando, FL and Disney World (more specifically Epcot)

We have so many wedding coming up. I'm doing my best to book travel early and save where I can but it can be difficult, time consuming, and overwhelming.

• Health

Not in the cards yet. :(  

Walking has been replaced with working and socializing. I have a new job for one. And two, Justin and I have been trying to spend more time with friends and family. Technically this was last year's goal (2014), but I still think spending time with family and friends is important.  

Eating has been replaced with celebrations. A new baby! A birthday! A friend quitting a job! Plus, Justin's been sick so quick and easy is the way we've been going. Eating on the road? Yes. Having time to sit down for a meal? No.

How have you been doing with your 2015 goals?

* I'm participating in the SITS Girls' February Writing Prompts. Are you?

Frites Review

"Fritz … Frightz … Fry-tez…"

A few Sundays ago my husband and I offered to prepare a large meal for a "coming out" of sorts for my brother. (No, he's not gay.) We had bought Anne de la Forest's book Frites during Anthropologie's 40% off sale items promotion and we thought that one of the fry recipes in this book would perfectly compliment the ribs Justin would be making. Having never studied another language, my brother had no idea how to pronounce Frites nor did he understand what they actually were. I can only imagine what images the word "frites" was conjuring up in his mind. After all, the cover of this cookbook doesn't necessarily give it away…

Forest's book Frites has been one of the most surprisingly essential books I have ever owned on a particular subject, especially fries. Covering everything from how to peel a potato to which types of oil you should use and including recipes where she encourages you to allow the fries to reach a certain temperature and provides background information on that specific recipe all make this cookbook a practical and helpful guide to the art of fry making, which is notably more complicated than I was even aware of!

Justin used the Belgian Frites recipe for this particular family dinner which is currently my favorite. Even my step-grandmother, a supposed expert in cooking, came away from the dinner begging Justin for the recipe. What did he do different than her? What could she improve on? (Justin is trying very hard to obtain the greatest-grandson-that-never-was award. I do believe that so far he's exceeding her own blood grandchildren in nearly every way except for the fact that he hasn't produced any heirs yet. *sigh*)

Nevertheless, the following is the recipe we used. I highly encourage getting your hands on this book and trying some of the many other delicious recipes if you like the Belgian frites! You won't regret it!

(And by the way, in case you are wondering, the meal went wonderfully. News was shared and everyone was happy, which is exactly how all meals that offer frites should be!)

not quite done…

Belgian Frites

Ingredients:

1 kg (2.2 lb) Bintje, Yukon Gold or Similar Potatoes

2 litres (8.5 cups) of cooking oil

1/2 tsp of table salt

1/2 tsp of sea salt crystals

Recipe

• Peel and wash the potatoes.

• Cut them into medium-sized sticks with a kitchen knife or potato cutter.

• Wash them thoroughly by leaving them to soak in cold water for 30 minutes. Repeat this process several times to remove all of the starch (the water used for the last soak should remain clear) and then dry them carefully with a clean, dry cloth.

• Heat the fryer to 140ºC (284ºF), Place the dried potato pieces into the basket.

• Lower the basket into the fryer and cook for 7 minutes. Lift out the basket, shake well to toss and drain the frites and leave to cool for 30 minutes.

• Reheat the oil to 170ºC (338ºF) and cook a second time for no longer than 3 minutes. Your frites should be perfectly crisp.

• Remove the frites, shaking well to drain them. Then tip them into a large bowl lined with kitchen paper.

• Salt generously with table salt. Add a sprinkle of sea salt just before serving.

* Don't you love January break? Today's post brought to you by the phrase "on your plate".

** I'm not getting paid or compensated in any way for this review. All opinions are my own.

Frontier Airlines Review

Photo taken by Andreas Traxler located on planespotters.net

Up until recently, all of my trips around the US have been taken by car. My parents didn't have a lot of money when I was growing up … or at least not enough extra in the bank account to splurge on plane tickets. I don't feel like I missed out on anything in particular. We lived (and still live) within driving distance of many fantastic places. Road trips to the Alabama Space Station, the Tennessee Aquarium (before Georgia had one), Disney World, Savannah, Charleston, and even DC were all within our reach. Throughout my entire childhood I never flew anywhere … until I went to New York City in high school shortly before 9/11. 

I digress.

The point is that I haven't had a lot of experience flying.

In September I spotted a "deal" for a flight to DC, a place Justin and I had been wanting to visit for a while. Justin has friends that live there. They had been down to see us at least twice since moving there, but we had never been to see them. Of course, the deal was with the badly reviewed Frontier Airlines. Prior to booking I read horror stories about cramped seating, lost luggage, and flight delays. The stories were enough to make you reconsider any desires you may have had. The practicality of it was that Justin and I didn't (and still don't) have a lot of money or time, but friends are important to us. We worked out the logistics, booked the flight, and decided we would make do with whatever came from it.

To be fair to Frontier, Justin and I avoided as many of the negatively reviewed aspects of Frontier as possible. We paid more for the extra legroom provided in the emergency row seats and we did not take in checked baggage. (Do you really need any if you are only going to be gone for a weekend?) Planning for only one carry-on, we paid for it in advance a few days before our flight, a price approximately $10 lower than what would be charged at the gate.

With all of the upcharges, we ended up spending approximately $50 more per person on this flight per person than we had initially planned on. If I were to do it again, I would skip the carry-on bag fee and just take two personal items. Truthfully, we could have fit everything we needed in those for two nights. Nevertheless, the flight went well. The plane seemed old, but the seating certainly wasn't uncomfortable for the two hours we were onboard. And while we were expecting the airline to charge an arm and a leg for beverages and snacks, we were surprised at the decent pricing that seemed similar to what you would pay at a vending machine.

My main take away, and the only downside to the whole experience, is that if you need to speak to a gate agent, you might as well forget it. At both Hartsfield (ATL) and Dulles (IAD), the gate agent only arrived a mere 10 minutes prior to boarding. I have no idea if that is typical for smaller airlines, but my experience with Delta and Air France was that gate agents were ready and waiting up to an hour before take off offering upgraded seats at discounts and helping to solve problems. (Perhaps that's only necessary with international travel?)

Anyway, given the low rates that Frontier offers (most recently I was considering $98 RT flights to Denver from Atlanta), I highly recommend flying with them. You aren't going to be treated like royalty, but do you really care about that on a two hour flight? The main things you should be aware of when flying with them is that 1) they charge for every single upgrade including food and drink (which isn't bad if you don't need too many luxuries), 2) your flight may not be on time (one RT flight with them is hardly enough for me to tell how consistently on time they are and whether online reviews I've read are worth anything) and 3) the best way to make sure luggage isn't lost is to solely bring carry-ons (which is true of any airline). If you keep those things in mind when flying Frontier (and get a cheap enough rate), you should have an enjoyable flight.

Have you flown with Frontier before? Did you have a good experience?