Paranormal Activity 2: Trailer

Say WHAT? I'm so excited! I just watched this trailer on its Official Website, and I'm embedding it here, just to make it super easy for you guys to watch, too!

In case you didn't know this about me, I'm a sucker for scary movies. I love them. I love pretty much all of them. And Paranormal Activity scared the ever livin' out of me in the theaters. Needless to say, when Paranormal Activity 2 hits theaters, I WILL BE THERE.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

I have this problem. Oftentimes, I want what I can't have. This could be any number of things. Stuff, talent, job, whatever. Really, more often than not, it turns out to be stuff.

I only WISH this were my closet!

And sometimes I end up with stuff I shouldn't just because I couldn't say no in the store. My closet is full of things I rarely use but do so enjoy looking at. And today what I'm talking about is...shoes.

Yes, shoes.

I have countless pairs of shoes, many of which I never wear. Specifically, heels. I LOVE high heels. But I don't usually have occasion to wear them. Or, for the more casual pairs that I own, I could wear them, but then I think, "Oh, but my tennis shoes would be so much more comfortable." And so it goes, I have all of these cute shoes that gather dust in my closet, but that I'm proud to own.

But there are just as many times that the shoes I see, and need want, are just out of reach. And by just out of reach, I mean way too expensive to buy. I stumbled upon a pair of those shoes this very day!

And here they are! New Alexander McQueen Mutli-Buckle Ski Ankle Boots. (I know, right? Long name.) Feast your eyes!

              

Are these not some freakin' fabulous shoes? I fell instantly in love. Ah, the genius of Alexander McQueen. Even though it's likely* I'll never own a pair of these (*read "certain") I can still ogle them, right? I mean, daydreaming doesn't cost any money, at least not last I checked. Which is good, because with a price tag of $1495, all I will ever be able to do is dream about these boots.

So, in the spirit of fantasizing about things that I wish resided in my closet, here are some shoes that I would swoon over—and probably trip in—if only I could call them my own.

Dolce & Gabbana
Lace Peep-Toe Pumps
$575.00

Prada
Loafer Platform Pumps
$750.00  

Yves Saint Laurent
Tribtoo 105 Pony Hair Pumps
$880.00 

Miu Miu
Jeweled T-Strap Sandals
$730.00

Christian Louboutin
Venus Orlato Suede Ankle Boots
$1,395.00

Fendi
Liberty Peep-Toe Platform Pumps
$790.00

Alexander McQueen
Stretch Ankle Boots
$850.00 

Giuseppe Zanotti
Lace Silk Peep-Toe Slingbacks
$650.00 

Yves Saint Laurent
Tribute Sandals
$760.00 

Kors Michael Kors
Double-Ankle Strap Sandals
$350.00

Giuseppe Zanotti
Studded Lace-Up Ankle Boots
$850.00

Christian Louboutin
Alta Bouton Ankle Boots
$1,495.00

Christian Louboutin
Armony Ankle Boots With Removable Cuff
$1,395.00

Dolce & Gabbana
Lace Ankle Boots
$745.00 

Wicked

So, one of my best friends is getting married in July. And yesterday was her wedding shower and her bachelorette party! Which, by the way, was really fun! And I'm likely to do a separate post about that all together, considering I have several pictures commemorating the occasion but am currently lacking the cable necessary to plug my camera into my laptop to download said pictures. :-)

But on to the subject of this post: Wicked!

For Christine's bachelorette party, a group of us headed to Dallas to see Wicked! I had never seen it before, and I'd never read the book it's based on, either, so I was going in blind. I was somewhat familiar with a couple of the songs, but not well enough to sing along. So the whole thing was completely brand new to me, and it was fabulous!

I'd been to the Music Hall at Fair Park before when I went with my parents to see Fiddler on the Roof, and I think it's a really great venue. We had balcony seats, so it was easy to see everything going on onstage. I only had complaints about the hoard of young ladies sitting in front of us—WHY would you pay for tickets to a musical and then proceed to text the entire time??—but that's nobody's fault but theirs, and perhaps their parents for not teaching them better manners.

 The stage was incredible, the sets superb! I thought the style was really cool, especially the bubble Glinda floats around in. Very creative stage design. And the costumes were great as well! Colorful, unique, and from what I can tell based on pictures from the Broadway production, spot on to the originals, or whatever you'd call them.

And the actors themselves were amazing! Elphaba and Glinda both had very very good voices. It really makes me wish I were a better singer! (and dancer!) But it wasn't just those two that were great performers—the whole cast was really good!

I also loved all of the little tie-ins, explanations, and comments that referred to or embellished on events in the classic, which of course is The Wizard of Oz. I'd list some of them, but like I was telling my Mom, I really think they're the most exciting when you discover them for yourself! Needless to say, I left the theater ready to re-watch The Wizard of Oz. You'll totally look at it in a whole new light! I also left the theater very thankful that I already own the original Broadway cast recording of the show. Yes, it really is that good!

I'd recommend that you see it while it's in Dallas (if you're in the area, of course) but we went the day before the last day it ran. But if it happens to come to where you are, and if you're interested in having a really fun time with a really cute musical, grab some tickets and enjoy a night at the theater!

iRead iBooks

So, I recently downloaded the new software update for my iPhone, which graced me with the new iBookstore. And can I just say...I love it! They have a plethora of great books, classics even—and for free! Mind you, not everything is free. But already I've downloaded several great books at no cost to myself!

They are as follows.

Moby Dick, by Herman Melville.
White Fang and The Call of the Wild, by Jack London.
Common Sense, by Thomas Paine.
The Trial, by Franz Kafka.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works, by Edgar Allan Poe.

                                        All for FREE!

And they're actually pretty pleasant to read on my iPhone. Some news reporter—who no doubt thought she was being ever so clever—made some sort of comment to the effect that iBooks are great, but reading them on a tiny screen is not. I beg to differ, Ms. Reporter Lady. I was skeptical at first, but I opened up The Call of the Wild, started reading, and was hooked. Mind you, I don't think you can ever do better than actually cracking open a book and giving it a read, but nevertheless I read through all of The Call of the Wild, all on my iPhone, and all in a couple of days.

And on that note, I'd read The Call of the Wild as a kid. I'd forgotten how sad it actually is! But I still enjoyed it thoroughly. I'm partial to anything involving dogs, especially when told from their point of view. I always find it interesting to see how an author breathes life and personality into a dog. Being a dog owner myself, trust me; I know dogs are full of personality. But I still love seeing that personality come out through writing. (Side-note: One of my favorite authors is Dean Koontz because he always writes the best dog characters!)

Anyway, if you have an iPhone, I recommend trying out iBooks and the iBookstore! Free classics! What could be better? And if you don't have an iPhone, that's fine. Because books are always out there, just begging to be read. What better time than the summer to kick back with some literature and soak it up?

Me, I'm tackling the big white whale now. Moby Dick. This will be my third attempt. So far, I've always fallen short. (Which didn't pan out well considering the first two times Moby Dick was required reading for my Literature courses...)

Maybe this time will be different. It would be fitting for me to finish and love Moby Dick, as my favorite coffee got its name from Captain Ahab's coffee-loving first mate, Starbuck. ;-)

Happy reading!

*Edit: I've been asked who did the artwork for this Moby Dick picture. His name is Tim Neely. 

I love this picture, too, so here's where you can find the artist! Here's a link to his blog!

Also, clicking on the picture itself will take you to his blog.

To Infinity, and Beyond!

Yep, you guessed it. I finally got to see Toy Story 3 today! And it did not disappoint me in the least! Of course, I loved the first two movies. I can't believe how long it's been since they first came out. I mean, really! When did I get so old?! But either way, I got to revert to being a kid again tonight when I went to see the third fun-filled installment to the successful Pixar series. I even brought along Mom and Dad. Gave me that legit "I'm a kid, and thus my parents have taken me to the movies!" feel. We were joined by Matt Bukaty—friend, composer, fellow-blogger. (Check him out! You won't regret it.) We're good at being childlike and immature together.

As expected, pretty much the whole old gang is back! Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye. And of course, Slinky, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, and our favorite little alien trio. Barbie also makes an appearance!

But among them is a slew of new, fabulous and colorful creations. And I'm not gonna lie. I pretty much wouldn't mind owning all of them.

Insert PicSpam! Here is just a few (okay, several) (okay, more than several) of the new faces in Toy Story 3. I LOVE THEM.

Ahem...

Enjoy.

So yes! These are some new faces, in no particular order. They're wonderful. There were so many new toys in Toy Story 3 that if I could have found all of their pictures.... Goodness, there would have been hundreds. It was fun to see new toys outside of the classic clan.

One of my favorite things about Toy Story 3 was that, as a fan since the franchise started, Pixar stayed true to their original characters. For kids who haven't yet been introduced to the amazingness that is Toy Story 1 & 2, well they just get to fall in love with these guys for the first time. But for those of us who know and love Woody, Buzz, Rex... None of them fell short of the great, fun personalities they've always been.

The plot is cute. Very. I laughed out loud a number of times. Two of my favorite characters ended up being Barbie and Ken. And, of course, it wouldn't be an adventure if the gang didn't get into a little trouble.

I won't give away any plot points. I hate nothing more than having a movie ruined for me before I even go, but I highly recommend seeing this. It's lighthearted, it's cute, it's fun. Sometimes there's nothing more relaxing than kicking back and reliving your childhood. And if you've never seen any of the Toy Story films, now is as good a time to start as any!

So go! Bring a friend! Because the toys are back in town. ;-)
Happy movie-going!

Happy Father's Day!

I don't know about you, but my Dad is AWESOME. I try to tell him that often, but today Mom and I teamed up to make Dad feel extra special. Those extra special privileges include (but are not limited to) picking the lunch venue, dictating the days activities, and being all around pampered. Of course, since my Dad is awesome, he didn't demand pampering of any sort. But it's nice to spoil the man largely responsible for making me who I am today.

I'm so proud of my Dad. He does so much more for me than I ever could have asked for, and he's always been there for me no matter what. He'd stand by me in any pinch and he'd listen to whatever I had to say. Over the years we've had more than several very good discussions. Here recently we even embarked on a Daddy/Daughter road trip chock full of good times, good talks, good everythings.

I hope all of you out there with stand-up Dad's like mine took some time to really say thanks and to let him know he's appreciated. Having a strong, dependable, "look up to"-able father is so important. And no matter how old I get, I'll always be Daddy's Little Girl.

Since this post is all about Dad's, mine in particular, I'll recount some of the days events. We all had a really great Father's Day.

It started out with lunch. Saltgrass was the first option, but by the time we got there... Well, let's just say the food is good, but we didn't want to wait an hour. (Seems like everybody had the same idea—let's take Dad out!) ;-) So we ventured over to Matt's Rancho Martinez, which serves up some pretty yummy Mexican food, if I do say so myself. We talked over lunch and stuffed ourselves to the brim.

Then we waddled to our car, bellies full, and drove around a bit. After we got home, we pretty much had a siesta. I took a nap. In fact, I'm pretty sure all of us did, at least briefly. Next on the agenda was going to the movies, but not until later. After my nap, I joined Dad on the sofa and we watched part of a Western, which was undeniably fun.

We finally roused ourselves again and headed for the theater. It was my third time to see Prince of Persia, but the first for Mom and Dad. As usual, Dad made witty comments during, and I had to try pretty hard not to chuckle too loud to be polite. :-)

By the way, Mom and Dad really liked Prince of Persia. (And obviously I did, too. Again.)

It may not sound like much. Not a big, event filled day. But it was spent with loved ones, and we loved what we did, and that's what really matters.

I love you, Dad! Thanks for being everything you are, and for always being there for me. For putting a roof over my head, for putting cool gadgets in my hand, and being an all-around awesome man. You've taught me more than you could ever know—and that doesn't look to change any time soon. I'm always learning new things from you. I love you so much, World's Greatest Dad!

Movin' On Up

Literally. That's what more or less the past week of my life has been consumed by. Moving. On up. To a third floor apartment, which let me just tell you, isn't fun when it's over 90 degrees outside. Just sayin'.

Since Tuesday, myself, along with my Mom and Dad, have been moving me out of my old apartment and into my new one. Who knew you could accumulate so much stuff!? And thank goodness I had help, or I might never have managed. The only thing we didn't move ourselves was the sofa. Up three flights of stairs? No sir. We had some movers do that one.

And several days later, I'm still not settled in completely. But I am in nesting mode, so pretty much all of my energy is going to tidying up, decorating, etc. I've got some pictures hung, thanks to a lot of help from my Mom, I'm all set for furniture and decor, it's just not all in place yet. But I'd say I'm at least 80% finished. Which is fantastic, because as of today I have less time than I'd like to just kick back and do nothing. My online Spanish class started today, and I have a feeling it's going to be a rough course for me to take. But, for whatever reason, I have to take a foreign language. Yeah, so I can graduate with a degree in ENGLISH. Not sure about that, but I suppose my only other option besides taking it is to just...not graduate. And that's not going to happen.

So I'm going to suck it up and do what it takes to pass Spanish. No me gusta. I'm kind of (a lot) scared because I took Spanish 1 & 2 a while ago...so now I'm down to 3 & 4. But I don't remember much from the first two, so it's going to be a bit (a lot) of a challenge. But we'll see. I have high hopes. That is, when I'm not stressing about feeling so pessimistic about it. Ha.

Anyway, that's my life the past few days. I'm very excited because I have some company coming in toward the end of the week. Tucker is getting used to the new apartment with me, and so far he's been quite the little trooper. But for now, that's all I've got. So I'm going to leave you with some pictures from the whole hectic ordeal that is the move.

Enjoy!

My OLD room, and some stuff in the process of being moved.

Unpacking my dishes proves to be quite the mess!

Tucker is tired from the trip, and all the excitement!

Dinner break. Delicious Mexican food from Ninfa's!

Hello new sofa! I love it. It's so comfortable!

Brand new remote for a brand new TV!

A corner of my new room, decorated and ready to go!

Tucker wants to know if it's time for bed yet.
It is.