My Top 20 Favorite Romantic Movies

Being a mighty queen is about far more than being a financial success or fantastic in the working world.  A might queen is someone who is living the most fabulous and happy life they can.
Living a good life should not be just work, work, work! There should be plenty of down time, plenty of entertainment, and plenty of stop and smell the roses time.

One of my favorite ways to sit back and a enjoy a little time is to watch something completely romantic and just let myself go. Watching romance sometimes requires suspending judgement for a little while-don't fuss that no man is really like that-truth be told, no woman is either. Just sit back, go with the formula plots and manipulative music and let yourself feel.

So in no particular order, let's go!

1. Flashdance. She has an amazing apartment in an old warehouse, he's weathy, there are a lot of cool dance routines, and it is sweet. Yeah, she's way too young for him, but let's just let this fantasy play out.

2. The Bridges of Madison County- It may be sad, but Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep are just so real.

3. Bridget Jones Diary-Bridget is crazy and quirky and totally relatable. You just have to love her and the men in her life.

4. The Notebook-Come on. When they finally get around to getting it on, you are literally DYING.

5. Silver Linings Playbook- Bipolar Disorder is real and I have real-life experience with people close to me fighting this battle. This movie was really touching at showing that even with a serious mental disorder, people are people and everyone is worthy of love.

6. Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightley version)- Oh God, really. Just watch it.

7. P.S. I Love You- P.S. I loved this movie. The clothes, the romantic men, the scenery. It was just fantastic. The book although VERY different was great, as well.

8 The English Patient- Every since I saw the Seinfeld episode where Elaine hated this movie, I have felt a bit of shame in loving it, but I LoVE IT. My favorite movie ever. Unfortunately I have watched it so many times, my brain cannot handle watching it again.

9. The Holiday-Oh the houses. The houses were absolutely to die for in this. Jude Law isn't half bad and even Jack Black seemed kind of sweet (and totally the one I would have ended up with-I am much more of an Iris than an Amanda).

10.  The Fault in Our Stars-I just love this sweet, sad love story.

11. A Walk to Remember- Nicholas Sparks strikes again. This story is so sweet-The girl is amazing, the boy becomes amazing. Love it.

12. Twilight-I know. I know as a respectable woman I am not supposed to like this kind of drivel. But let me tell you, it is romantic. Sorry. The music is a major driver in stirring my emotions and Robert Pattinson can come stalk me in my bedroom anytime.

13. Pretty Woman-I mean who doesn't dream of being pulled off the streets and with a wealthy man with gorgeous rented jewelry?

14. Runaway Bride- Julia Roberts and Richard Gere continue their fascinating chemistry in this movie. I could totally relate to Julia's character. It is so easy to mold yourself into what someone else wants instead of taking the hard steps to be the you, you are meant to be.

15.Romeo and Juliet-Claire Danes and Leo Decaprio version. It's a completely weird take on such a dramatic piece, and I loved it.

16. Out of Africa-Such a beautiful movie.

17  Witness- I love this older movie from the looks in Harrison Ford's eyes to the roll in the fields.

18.

19. Pretty in Pink- I loved this movie, from the clothes to the lifestyle to the yummy sweet romance.

20. 10 Things I Hate About You-Unbelievable and enjoyable.

Emptiness is just full with totally different letters and more them

There is this statue, one which I have seen floating around the internet to represent the feeling of losing someone close, such as child.


I have been thinking on this quite a bit, and I am not sure that is the word I would choose. I recognize my experience is different than others. My child was not tiny, not flawless, not helpless in the traditional sense of the word. My grief was not totally unexpected; it was a grief waiting to happen in the back of my head for some time. But how does one feel empty?

I am blessed to have other children and grandchildren and a life so busy, more busy than my introspective self would like at times.

I don't feel empty.

I feel guilt. Guilt rising like a tidal wave, threatening to drown the land around it, but then logic and reason and self-love and kindness, pushes back gently and firmly and wraps me in her arms.

I once read that nothing is ever as bad as we fear or as good as we expect. And I do believe that. We just steady ourselves and keep to the middle as much as we can and keep on going.

When reason starts to rant at the futility, I feel the presence of love surround me and I know whatever the reason for all this *everything around us*, existence, Universe, whatever it is, it isn't futile. There are shadows and mysteries and energies not yet understood and God is good to me.

So emptiness is not what I feel. I feel remorse. I feel embarrassment, I feel frustrated at brain chemicals which determine so much of our daily lives, but by gosh. Life is full.

Prostituting Oneself

Or otherwise what may be known as professional growth.

Tonight I plan to help my daughter with our live sale on our in-stock clothing items. To do so is hard for me-it is too personal-it shows how much I want our business to be successful. Now if we fail, people will know I cared and pity me (or laugh-but we don't worry about those people). It is scary because most businesses don't make it and we are still about 200 sales away from being out of the red! Although I have considered raising prices so at least theoretically we are just 100 sales away. We are priced fairly low, but who can compete with Walmart and Penneys? It is hard. We have to try and pull in the people who WANT to support small business. Also maybe not even worry about the cheapo shoppers (of which I am). Maybe we need to focus on our audience-hip moms and dads who want unique boutique clothing that everyone won't be wearing.

The most disappointing aspect is the overall lack of support. I *know* it is a tough field to break into. Being told this isn't helpful. If you are truly concerned about me, then share my business. A like and share is free!

That said, this isn't a bitchfest. I am so so grateful for the people who have shared our posts and commented. I know I can't depend on Facebook friends for keeping my business afloat. But those who share and tag and comment-they are the true jewels. Getting your name out there as an option in the busy world of stuff everywhere! is hard. Those people make a difference. I vow to be more supportive of those who are taking a chance. Another hard part is, since we are not part of a multilevel marketing organization, but doing this on our own, the lack of support and knowledge is hard. It is all trial and error, and it isn't easy! But it is fun.

So tonight I will be the peddler on the road showing my wares, enticing strangers to purchase. It is weird. It is painful. Is it necessary? Obviously the real fear isn't looking pushy, but noone watching. But I guess it can be recorded.

Awoke at the depressing hour of 2:30 a.m. thanks to Gabe. Can't wait for this Friday to be done!

Losing it!

My weight loss has dropped off to only about a pound a week this month. While I know that is a still a good, healthy drop, it seems frustratingly slow, especially since myfitnesspal predicts a slightly greater loss.
Looking back at the month, I am trying to figure what is going wrong. I think first, I have been slipping a few extra bites here and there. A bite of this, cleaning this up on a kid's plate, or just a nibble of that could add up to 100 calories over the course of a day. These bites and tidbits do not tend to get logged. Additionally I may have had too many higher or at maintenance days.

Because watching the pounds drop is fun for me, I want to keep making progress at a steady pace. I need to watch those bites-as in cut them out completely. So no more stray Ramen noodles for me! Also, I am not sure about the calorie count of my baked goods. I can whip up chocolate chip cookies and brownies in a matter of minutes, and while I try to estimate the number of calories in a bite of brownie batter (me, afraid of salmonella? Ha! I laugh in the face of salmonella!), I might be getting more than I think. On the other hand, I AM still losing weight, so I might need to just cut myself some slack. I guess it always falls off fastest the first month.

I am one of those people who gets an idea (in this case weight loss) and wants it to happen yesterday.

And myfitnesspal is just invaluable. It isn't THAT big of a deal to log calories, despite what I told myself when I wasn't losing weight. It isn't THAT big of a deal to go to bed a little hungry.

The hardest part is keeping the weight loss mentality. We have all lost weight and regained it. It is maintaining focus and remembering the skills you have to continue practicing to keep it it up.

The Joys of Madame Chic

I have written about Jennifer L. Scott's writings before on other blogs, I know. However, this morning, when my phone and the computer had been hijacked by short males, I found myself searching for a book and picked up my trusty At Home with Madame Chic. I was first introduced to Jennifer's writings through an eBook Lessons From Madame Chic. As a lover of all things French, fashion, beauty, lifestyle (Taryn may be right-I may be a Sensor after all, or an INFJ (sigh), the are known to like the finer things), I instantly loved this book. I cringed when she cringed over the reception of her worn and holey pajamas, and I rejoiced at the idea of just doing things more beautifully.

I am not going to lie. I am currently sitting in a room with cheerios, a wet diaper and numerous crumpled papers strung out on the floor. However this mess happened when I was at work, in my defense. I will clean it today, but I work fulltime and as Alec's first words were this morning, "Mom home?" I am home, and I am taking it easy this morning.

If you like the idea of living with grace and as Jennifer puts it, "Poise," these books are just a good read. I like her understated style and she is someone you would just relish and invitation for morning coffee and a long talk. In addition to her books, she has a facebook page and a Youtube channel! Look up The Daily Connoisseur if you get the chance.

Or click the affiliate link above to help cover this blog and we can talk about the book together.

Feet First

I have been busy lately. Although my heart longs to sit and write all the swirling thoughts, reality has kept my hands on the wheel. And frankly, writing the thoughts isn't always helpful. When others are involved, you have to do a lot of assuming to figure things out, and if you assume the worst, well you might be quite wrong about someone's intentions, and if you assume the best, well you might again be wrong. As much as I love to think and figure things out, when it comes to other people and why they do what they do, I think a good lesson learned is shrugging it all off with a head shake and a "Whatever."

We are trying to basically be the people we want to be. So as an outdoor enthusiast in my mind, I am trying to take the kids out and hiking more as a family instead of waiting to be in shape or until they are older. We are just going to do it and see what happens.

The online clothing store we started has branched into the catalog online and also more direct social media sales.We are still very much in the red, but we are learning new skills and it is fun, too. Eventually we may have to pull the plug, but the things we are learning can be transferred to new endeavors. I love the problem-solving aspect of running a business. Trying to figure out what will work,what will get people to look, how to make it profitable (profit margins are not as big as you'd think). It's all interesting. The tax stuff is confusing, though.

So I only have a few minutes before I have to pick up these darling middle schoolers from PE. Cheerio!

Midweek Planner Look

Here is a quick snapshot at my week so far. I am trying to leave the notes on the left margin for recapping what happened.