Before the Chinese New Year feast at my parents’ house yesterday, Kevin and I went to the theater and saw Valentine’s Day. It’s our first movie theater experience together since Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. (Kevin took Alex and his friends to see The Lightning Thief for his birthday, but I stayed home with the girls.) If you enjoy ensemble cast romantic comedies like Love Actually and He’s Just Not That Into You, you’ll love this movie, doubly so if you live in Los Angeles; every picturesque scene is a Valentine to this city. My favorite characters were played by Taylor Swift and Julia Roberts. One made me laugh, and the other made me cry. The rest of the star-studded cast was pretty good too. I only wish the older couple played by Shirley MacLaine and Hector Elizondo had gotten more screen time.

Categories: entertainment, movies
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So far this summer, I have done the following:

• Invited friends over for a High School Musical movie marathon!
• Invited friends over to gab and watch our kids play together
• Attended a retirement reception for an ex-coworker.
• Cleaned the house. This is the best it’s looked in MONTHS.
• Packed up most of the stuff in the living room in preparation for flooring installation. Can’t wait to be done with this!
• Conducted science experiments with the kids using a Harry Potter potions kit. Major Mom Win.
• Re-read about half of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince so far in anticipation of watching the movie next week.
• Gone to the beach for the first time in YEARS.
• Eaten a lot of oatmeal. I’m strangely proud of myself about this.
• Wrote a big progress report for a committee I’m chairing. Our work doesn’t halt over the summer, unfortunately.
• Wrote various other reports for work. Still have a few more to write. Blah.
• Made the decision to go back to school. Nervous but SO EXCITED.
• Turned one year older. And wiser.

Categories: food, harry potter, home improvement, kids and parenting, movies, work-life balance
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Friday night I stopped by our neighborhood Blockbuster and rented Marley and Me. What’s not to love about a movie with an overly rambunctious dog named after Bob Marley?

This was my favorite quote from the movie:

Arnie: Take a vacation. Go away for a couple of weeks. Take a month off.

John: Go where?

Arnie: I don’t know.

John: I live in a vacation spot.

Arnie: Then go some place where it’s painful and sad.

Having lived most of my life in sunny So Cal, I’ve had this same exact thought many, many times.

Categories: movies, pets, travel
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Warm and cozy in her new knit cap,
with funky braids like the one
Ron wore in Harry Potter movie #3

For Christmas, Ana would like a play kitchen, the two remaining items in the Littlest Pet Shop collection that we haven’t already bought her, and a pair of fur trimmed boots.

That’s right, our 4 year old wants CLOTHES for Christmas. I don’t think this request comes from feeling deprived about the state of her closet or feeling bad about her appearance. She has plenty of clothes, many that are quite fashionable, and she’s always happy with what she’s wearing when we send her off to school in the mornings because it’s usually something she picked out herself. She’s been choosing her own clothes since age 3.

I can’t relate. Growing up, I was maybe a 3 on the fashionista scale of 1 to 10. In other words, I didn’t look like I just fell out of bed, but that’s not saying much, and I didn’t start choosing my own clothes until junior high. Now I’d say I’m about a 5; I’ve come a long way, baby.

But I still consider clothes in the same category as computers and household appliances; they’re necessities, not gift ideas. I’ve only made two exceptions to this rule in the past decade: the black leather jacket I requested for Christmas a few years ago and the dutch oven I requested for my birthday. But then that was no ordinary jacket; when I put it on, I was Trinity. And this wasn’t just a pot; it’s a cauldron for cooking up MAGIC.

I will gladly buy my daughter a pair of boots if that’s what she wants, but the thought of wrapping it up and putting it under the tree feels antithetical to some basic tenet I live by.

“But that’s what she asked for,” Kevin says.

“She’s 4, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” I retort reflexively.

Except… I love boots. The first time I put on a pair of boots, they were reddish brown cowboy boots. Putting them on, I walked differently, I stood differently, I became a whole other person. Over the years I’ve owned probably a dozen pair of boots – black suede, tan leather, ankle booties, etc. held up with zippers, buckles or leather laces – and each time I try on a new pair, it transports me. Boots are MAGIC.

Maybe my little fashion maven and I have more in common than I thought. Maybe I’ll wrap those boots up and put them under the tree after all.

Categories: kids and parenting, memes, movies
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