CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

Happy holidays to all my FABULOUS friends! I hope you get everything you dream for (BUT don’t be greedy)!

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Merry Kwanza!

Now, I’m off to my Mom’s house, so that Santa can find me! Hehe….

HOLIDAY MOVIES

I don’t like holiday music! I know that sounds a bit BAH HUMBUG! or whatever, but I just can’t stand them. Stores, coffee shops, radio stations, EVERYWHERE start playing Christmas carols the day after Thanksgiving and it’s too early! They start sounding like nails on a chalkboard by mid-December (right when you are supposed to be getting in the holiday spirit). I think holiday music should be banned except for at holiday parties or on Christmas day.

I do however love HOLIDAY MOVIES. They get me into the spirit and make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Here are my top 5 holiday film favorites:

A CHRISTMAS STORY
This film has become a yearly requirement to ringing in the Yuletide. The story follows Ralphie as he dreams and schemes of getting a Red Ryder air rifle for Christmas and his slightly dysfunctional family's journey through the holidays. It also features some of the most memorable holiday moments caught on film (like a frozen pole and a tongue), as well as some unforgettable quotes ("You'll shoot your eye out kid!"). A Christmas Story is endearing and wickedly funny.

ELF
This HOLIDAY MOVIE is hysterical. The film follows Buddy (played by Will Ferrell), a man who was raised by Santa's elves. He one day discovers he's a human and goes in search of his father in New York. BOY, is he lost in the big city! This totally silly, feel-good movie had me laughing out loud from start to finish.

DR. SUESS’ HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
I love all of Dr. Suess’ books, so to see this classic come to life on the screen was spectacular. This film is funny and touching as well as visually stimulating for children and adults alike. Watch for my favorite scene where the Grinch's heart grows and Christmas spirit is triumphant.

LOVE ACTUALLY
Love Actually is a heart-warming new holiday classic. For those of us who are single during the holidays this movie can at times be heart-breaking (I cried like a baby though the majority of it), but its touching and a great holiday film that weaves different story lines of finding love and loosing love together into a beautiful bow.

BAD SANTA
This film cracks me up! Bad Santa makes fun of all the hoopla about the holiday season. It’s the perfect holiday alternative to all the feel good stuff. It’s vulgar and it’s crude, but it’s funny as hell.

Honorable mentions go to:
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
This film is replayed so many times on TV during the holiday season, it’s almost impossible to not have watched it a million times. Eventually, it has found a special place in my heart. It tells the story of businessman George Bailey who's so depressed on Christmas Eve that he's thinking of ending his life. Bailey is stopped by an angel who shows him a vision of what the world would be like if he had never been born. It's a Wonderful Life is a life affirming, touching film classic.

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS
This is one of my favorite Peanuts’ specials. Each year, I am stoked to celebrate Christmas with the Peanuts kids as they learn the true meaning of the holiday while standing around Charlie Brown's tiny tree.

Pop some popcorn, snuggle in your footy pajamas and watch these classics to get you in the holiday spirit.

HOLIDAY MOVIES are FABULOUS!

ART in NEW YORK

I graduated from Georgetown University with a double major in English and Fine Arts. My arts focus was drawing, but I appreciated ART history as well. I would wander museums and sketch or just sit and explore the brush strokes of a piece of ART. I went to France and Italy one summer and museum hopped for days. That seems like a million years ago, now. I can’t even remember the last time I went to an ART museum or appreciated the arts, BUT I do remember at one time I thought ART was FABULOUS.

While in NEW YORK last week, I decided to try to reconnect with my love of the arts. To tell you the truth, the thought of museum hopping bored me to tears, but I was determined to make an effort to see what it was that drew me to ART in the first place.

First stop: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Monday afternoon, I decided to go to the MET (as the cool kids call The Metropolitan Museum of Art). My friend Annie (we went to high school and college together) and her two children came too. Since it’s so damn cold in the winter and you can’t take the kids to go play in the park, Annie had gotten a family pass to the museum for after school visits. I got to go in free as part of the family.

While Annie checked in, Tommy (5 years old), Lucy (2 years old) and I headed into the children’s information center to play on the computers. Lucy and I shared a computer and checked out what happens when you mix primary colors on a hippo. I liked when blue and yellow made green, but Lucy was pretty stuck on just yellow.

Next, Tommy led us through the exhibits that he likes best. First stop, Arms and Armor on the first floor (I’m more into painting and drawings, but I could appreciate his excitement over the metal clad horses). We quickly moved through the Egyptian ART (no one likes the mummies), Greek and Roman sculptures and vases (Booooring) and European sculptures (Tommy did NOT think it was a good idea to check out the naked statues). Luckily, we were able to make a pit stop to check out the modern and contemporary ART, Lucy and I admired the colors and the shapes in the Matisse and Picasso as well as other works by abstract expressionist. We also got to check out some European paintings by Monet, Van Gogh and Degas, before being led to the musical instruments section by Tommy.

Although, I didn’t spend hours staring at paintings or sketching like days in my past, this was my idea of a FABULOUS first exposure back to the ART scene (quick and painless and led by some fun kids).

Museum #2: The New Museum
Wednesday, while shopping in the village, I decided to check out the New Museum on the Bowery. It is devoted exclusively to contemporary ART and ideas. The building itself is a piece of ART and draws you in. It’s built as a stack of rectangular, aluminum boxes sitting off kilter. It looks like a FABULOUS sculpture that made me excited to see what I would find on the inside (also just excited to get out of the freezing cold).

I started on the top floor, which was an exhibit of works by Elizabeth Peyton called “Live Forever”. The two large galleries showcased paintings, drawings and prints of people ranging from historical figures (Jackie O, Frida, John F. Kennedy), celebrities (Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley, John Lennon) and the artist’s friends who are recognizable through out the exhibit. Peyton captures daily life in her ART and though I enjoyed the recognition of pop culture images (You know, I LOVE my celebrity gossip and such) I didn’t think her style was anything amazing or overly unique.

I made my way down the stairs to the next gallery with an exhibit call “To Be Somebody” with works by Mary Heilmann. The large paintings and strange sculptures were completely abstract with bold color and shapes. The catalog accompanying the exhibition said, “Heilmann’s works inject abstraction with elements from popular culture and craft traditions. Her straightforward, loose and casual approach reveals a witty dialogue with art historical preconceptions.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I’m sorry, but to me these works seemed messy and like something a 4 year old could do. The best part of the exhibit was the comfortable chairs where I rested my weary feet. Maybe I just didn’t get it, but I was unimpressed and a bit sad I spent the $12 entrance fee.

Gallery Openings:
Thursday night, a friend named Ann Joyce was having a gallery opening and sale in Brooklyn. I took the subway out to Dumbo (which stands for "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass"), Brooklyn’s bustling ART section. I met up with my stepsister, Leona to check out Ann’s photographs printed on Polaroid paper. Her photos were compelling landscapes and images of people. Ann has a unique eye and talent to catch a moment in time.

On Friday, my good friend Grason was having another gallery opening in Brooklyn (who knew I had so many artsy friends?) Sadly, I got tied up at dinner and didn’t make it, but I wanted to mention it because his sexy, urban graffiti-esque ART really moves me. I think it’s amazingly cool to view ART by friends. You can really see their hearts, their passions and their emotions. I realize now that this is why I am drawn to the arts and I thank my amazingly talented friends for helping me reconnect with that.
To check out Grason’s gallery and works visit: www.montstore.com

Last Museum: Museum of Modern Art
My last day in New York, I decided to make one more museum trip. There are so many to choose from (The Whitney, The Guggenheim, The Sex museum), but I decided on MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). I braved the freezing rain (UGH! I can not wait to get back to LA) and the ridiculous swarms of people on Fifth Ave (What recession? People are still shopping in hordes). I arrived at 4:30pm thinking they were open till 6:30pm, but I was wrong so I only had 1 hour to explore the large museum.

I checked in, grabbed a map and headed to the top floor to start exploring. I moved quickly through the 6th floor, which housed twelve series of paintings, collages, objects and pastels spanning the career of Joan Miro. It was interesting to see how the focus and form change, but not my cup of tea.

Then I headed down to the 5th floor and wandered the galleries of paintings and sculptures from the late nineteenth century to present. I started to feel that old feeling again. I was drawn in and mesmerized by Van Gogh’s looping, soft paint stokes, Pablo Picasso’s cubism and the stories told by Salvador Dalí’s works.

On the 4th floor my heart leaped. My favorite: Modern ART. I enjoyed the works by Jackson Pollack, Andy Warhol (I met him once as a child when he painted my mother and my sisters and I) and other contemporary artists. I was reminded of the playfulness and humor of ART with the life size sculptures of hamburgers and cake. I was feeling light and really enjoying ART when the loud speaker called, “The museum will be closing in 30 minutes.”

I rushed down and through the third floor photography, architecture and design then rested my weary feet for a minute on the second floor media area showing huge, moving images on the walls of people, flowers, worms. I felt like an ant dwarfed by the movement around. “Please move towards the exits,” the speaker called again and I bundled up to head back into the cold vowing to return again to continue my exploration of ART at MOMA.

I think, for sure, I have rekindled my love of the arts.
ART in NEW YORK is FABULOUS!

THANKSGIVING

Each year, my family gets together for a BIG THANKSGIVING feast. We’re an extremely close-knit bunch (which I am VERY thankful for). Never once in my many (many) years on this planet have I NOT spent THANKSGIVING with them. THANKSGIVING is FABULOUS!

This year, we decided to spend THANKSGIVING at my oldest sister Rhonda’s apartment. Rhonda lives in New York and so Wednesday (the day before THANKSGIVING) Evan, Peanut and I (Brody had to stay home because he’s too big to travel) hopped on a plane eastward.

We bundled with our coats, hats and scarves (It’s COLD on the East coast in November) and headed up to Connecticut where Mom and Ross where already cooking in the kitchen. We made a quick trip to the grocery store to gather supplies then got to work. Mom made stuffing and gravy. Ross made Mac & Cheese and I baked homemade sweet potato pies (Evan just watched).

I had a mellow night hanging with my bros and watching TV, then I hit the hay in my childhood bedroom. I don’t know what it is about being in the room you grew up in, but I slept like a baby, so hard and deep that I could barely drag myself out of bed in the morning.

When I finally pulled myself from under the covers, I took Peanut for a long walk. He loves running in the grass and playing in the leaves. Then I cooked up some crescent rolls (pie and crescent rolls are my two dinner additions every year), then we packed up the car and headed to Rhonda’s. (Rhonda and her husband Rodney have a nice tradition where they invite all of their friends to stop by throughout the day to eat). My dad was already there and my sister Tracee arrived soon after.

When we arrived, we helped set up, then we dove into the food. I packed my plate with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, greens, sweet potatoes and Mac and Cheese all slathered in gravy. I gorged myself with two heaping plates full (you know, I love to eat) and when I finished I could barely move (I still haven’t learned how to pace myself when it comes to good food)! We hung out and laughed till the sun went down, then we packed up our leftovers in tupper ware and headed back to Connecticut (Tracee, Rhonda and dad came too).

We hung out in the kitchen (the family meeting spot), watched silly videos on Youtube and ate sweet potato pie (I found one tiny spot in my belly that wasn’t full). We all headed to the movies, but mom had to stay home to pack because she had an early flight the next morning. We saw Four Christmases, which was FABULOUS! It made me laugh till my stomach ached and I even shed a tear at the end. I LOVE Vince Vaugh and Reese Witherspoon!

After the movie, we headed home and watched TV till my eyes refused to stay open anymore (Evan was already snoring on the floor and Rhonda on the couch). I snuggled in my bed thinking of all the things I have to be thankful for:

I am thankful for my family who is always there for me. They give me strength and support and make me laugh until my stomach hurts.

I am thankful for my friends who I can be myself with, who I can tell my secrets to and confide in.

I am thankful for my health and the health of those close to my heart.

I am thankful for Peanut and Brody who drive me to my wits ends with the barking and peeing and pooping in the house, but I wouldn’t feel complete without my little shadows.

I am thankful for my talent, my passion and my strength to not give up even when things get tough. Who knew life wasn't an easy road? I am thankful for the support from my friends and family (blog readers and myspace friends too) to continue to follow my dreams.

I am thankful for my book deal with Harper Collins and for my literary agent and writing coach that believe in me, keep me motivated and remind me that I CAN succeed.

I am thankful for my spirit and my humor. Even when I wake up and I’m feeling down, I refuse to give up and wallow in it. I am happy to be a pleasure seeker and happy to be able to find a way to always smile.

I am thankful that Obama was elected president. It gives me hope and inspires me and I’m thankful that our nation has come so far in acceptance. We are ready for things to change!

I am thankful to be alive. I thankful for everyday I wake at the beach and the sun is still shining. I’m thankful for sweatpants, Ugg boots, US Weekly and a tea latte at the Coffee Bean. I’m thankful for bacon that I just adore, for Sunday family time, snuggling in my bed and ladies nights out. I’m thankful for margaritas, fast food and warm goat cheese salads.

I’m a lucky girl and I’m thankful.