Love Day

I may be in the minority when it comes to Valentine's Day: I love it. I always have, even when I was a single girl living alone I'd bake a bunch of cupcakes, pass them around and run a super-fancy rose petal bath for myself. I'd listen to Sarah McLachlan by candlelight while dreaming of the man I'd someday marry. I've always loved love and all things romantic. My husband is a violinist and that's really all I needed to know. Well, that and his first emailed words to me which were, "You make me want to sing," based only on my profile picture and a little blurb about how incredibly electronically challenged I was. I love that man.

This Valentine's Day was beautiful. First, being the mom that I am, I searched for a themed t-shirt for my little son to wear. I finally found one on Etsy (all handmade items, like a creative version of eBay) that fit his style but happened to have a massive red heart on the front with a MOM banner across it. I won't be able to dress him in shirts that proclaim his love for me for very long, so you better believe I'm taking advantage of it while I can. I also bought an outfit that has a "Mommy" heart tattoo patch sewn onto the shoulder. What can I say, he's a hard-core fan of mine.

Rhys and I went on a real Valentine date and had dinner at Sushi Roku in Pasadena while my mom watched Jude. I'm aware that I look about 5 months preggo in the picture she took of us before we left but I assure you I am not. It's just the weird way my top bunched across Rhys' blazer. (Or it could be the chocolate kahlua cake habit I've formed, but let's just blame it on the blouse.) He brought me a gorgeous burgundy orchid plant that I'm going to do my best to keep alive. And I bought myself a little something random: a cherry blossom Moses basket from Babystyle. What? They're going out of business! I had to get it. I will have a baby girl...I will have a baby girl...

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Movie Monday

I've had a few requests to start a movie review on my blog since I'm such a film fanatic. I see a Tuesday matinee by myself every week (heaven!) and we watch about 15 DVDs a month. I'd like to just have a Movie Recommendation List instead, with a very brief comment on each. Okay I guess that's technically a movie review, but I'm not going to include bad films unless they are REALLY bad and I feel the need to vent about it. There are so many mediocre movies out there, I'd be on here all day.
In my opinion these are all little gems that are worth a watch.

Last Chance Harvey~ This is such a sweet little film, it is innocent and honest and makes you feel great about the deep connections you find with the most unexpected people in your life. The speech Harvey gives during his daughter's wedding had me crying and crying... if you know me well, you'll know why.
The Reader~ This one is rich and deep, about two people who have a strange loving bond for their entire lives based on just a short amount of time they spent together when they were young. It's amazing. And it's Kate Winslet, you can't go wrong.

Iron Man~ What a shocker this one was. Yeah I know, it's old news but I have a kid, remember? There was a handful of months in which I never rented a DVD (gasp!). But this was one of those movies I loved so much that I spent another couple hours watching the second "extra features" disc. My jaw was on the floor just about the entire time. I was expecting another Transformers or Hulk, but no! This one has style, sensitivity and heart. It just so happens to also have robots.

RENTALS:

Henry Poole is Here~ A surprisingly perfect little indie film that experiments with faith and religion. It's perfect no matter which side of the God fence you find yourself on.
Vicki Cristina Barcelona~ Oh my word. This is the best road trip with your girlfriends you'll ever go on.

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Rain Dancing

Ah, the rain. It brings out the worms and my truest, happiest self. Jude and I have been busy doing nothing these cloudy days... splashing through puddles, making hot chocolate, picking out which knit hat to wear from an overly stuffed and ridiculously unnecessary hat rack, watching snails, pretending it'll be like this forever. Even though he doesn't look much like me I now know he is my child. This kid loves rain.

And I've finally started doing some of the things on my to-do list that I never thought I would. I've made two new recipes a week for dinner from the stack of cookbooks I'd never previously cracked open. I ordered, organized and filed the 500+ pictures of Jude I've taken since October. I even started making barrettes for myself because I can never seem to find exactly what I want in a barrette. It could be the fact that my hair is as thick as a brillo pad (and not much softer, thanks Mom!) but clips just don't stay in. Here is one I made with Swarovski crystal detailing.

I also joined Facebook after being peer pressured into it from my BBC girls (you know who you are). I was very hesitant to start another online venture, but it was immediately fun to reconnect with friends from high school and beyond. I actually started a true friendship with a guy who terrorized me during my first three years of high school (it would have been all four years but he moved away our senior year. I considered it God's graduation present.). Well I guess we terrorized each other, it was an all-out war. If anyone had told me back then that I would come to cherish Randy Heckman as a friend I would have stabbed them in the neck with my No. 2 pencil. But here we are.

So that's what I've been up to lately. Lots of bubble baths, good food, chocolate kahlua cake, rain, cozy scarves and movies by myself. My motto for this year is: I survived 2008, I'm going to enjoy 2009. So far, so good.

A few favorite images from the past few weeks:

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And I will leave you with a video montage of Jude's best dance moves:

The Many Moves of Jude

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