Countdown to VDay

valentine airplane

With only one week to go until the big day, I thought I'd share what my kids ALWAYS make for their classes. Always. Trust me, don't even hint at the possibility that there might be other ideas to try, just for a change. They will look at you in horror as if you have suggested that their birthdays should be skipped. They love these & they're sticking with them. So it is written, so let it be done.

{Disclosure: yes, I did post about this last year. If you already read about it [and you know who you are, all three of you from back then] skip ahead to the list}.

These airplanes are so, so easy and always gets a lot of comments from their friends. All you need is two lifesavers, a stick of gum, a roll of smarties, and a longish thin elastic band per valentine. We also usually put a couple of heart stickers on the wings and attach a white tag on a string with a message.

You can pretty much deconstruct how to assemble these little numbers from the picture. We usually start by threading the elastic through the two lifesavers, then we put the smarties through the middle between them. Next we slip the gum through the elastic loops. After a while you get into a good rhythm and it's quick and easy. (I originally got this idea years ago in FamilyFun magazine. I just checked and they talk about them here.)

**************

Just for fun, I've been putting together a list of my favorite romanticish movies. Are yours on here?

An Affair to Remember (old version with Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr)
Dr Zhivago

Ice Castles (because I loved it so much when I was 9. Xanadu too.)

Pride and Prejudice (both versions)

Possession (and I loved the book)
Truly Madly Deeply

Chocolat

A Walk to Remember (because Lauren is obsessed with this one right now)

Amelie
Funny Face

Elizabethtown
Wimbledon

Gone with the Wind

Sabrina (old version)
Somewhere in Time (four words: Come back to me. Also a favorite from my early years.)

Casablanca
Roman Holiday
Once

I know I'm forgetting some...jump in with your own, too, please!

A little more hometown love

I did a little happy dance when I opened my mailbox today and found my hometown of Logan, Utah, featured in the Sundance catalog.

My childhood growing-up home was a block and a half away from this theater in Logan's historic district. I saw so many classics of the 70s and 80s here. Amadeus. Short Circuit. The Hunt for Red October. Star Wars & ET (although those last two might have been around the corner at the other theater, the Capitol, which is now an Opera House. Yes, in Logan we have an Opera House. Because we are that kind of community, that's why.)

^
I miss these wide streets
(it would make driving in Boston much easier).
According to the catalog, this Citroen van is also for sale
for $29,000.
Truth be told, we don't really see that many of those
around Logan. Plus it's parked illegally.
By the way, as far as I know
(correct me here, Loganites)
Sundance Film Festival has never ever
held showings in Logan.
But it's a good idea, Robert Redford!

^
And if they did hold the Sundance Film Festival here,
I'm almost positive tickets would be
more than $5 for adults, $3 for children
as the sign above indicates.
Do they even let children in to the SFF?
{I love the art deco tile, though!}

^
l) view up Center Street to the mountains
c) these green seats are very uncomfortable
r) again, this marquee is just for show.
There should be an asterisk that leads you to this message:
To get to Sundance,
take a right at the corner, go 100 miles,
take a left at SLC, go 20 miles and
exit at Park City.

images scanned from the Sundance Catalog

Best two hours of my week...

Introducing my 11-year-old daughter to Roman Holiday. The minute I saw the dvd cover at the rental store, I knew. Tonight's the night I introduce M. to the wonderful world of Audrey Hepburn. The joyful, innocent, delighted-with-life mood of the movie exactly fits M's approach to life right now. She loved it. Watching it through her eyes? In a word, magical.

Solo cinema

It's not a secret that I love movies. Love watching them but also love the big screen cinema experience. A bunch of strangers in a room going through the same story and emotions at the same time...I. love. it. With the added bliss of popcorn and junior mints, too. Ever since my favorite movie friend moved away, I've even been indulging in a little mid-day cinema therapy by myself now and then.

At first it felt kind of strange to park in the lot and walk up to the box office alone: "One ticket for...." (And the first time it actually required a pep talk phone call from my brother. I called to see if I was crazy. He said no, so I went.) But I love it...it feels decadent and indulgent which is just what I need now and then! I always come home feeling recharged and alive, marveling and envious at the creativity and artistry that is cinema (usually--not always so creative or artistic--there are clunkers).

One snowy afternoon in Harvard Square, I sat in the semi-darkened theater with 6 strangers--all of us solo. Something happened to the projector so we sat there for about 15 minutes, chatting and (since most of them were retirees) reminiscing about those classic grand cinema theaters and memories of bygone movie prices. One guy remembered that his mom would get a plate or a dish each time she came to the movies as some kind of promotion. Sometimes if she didn't like the movie, she would send him to pay the 5 cent admission and buy the dish since it was such a good deal.

It's still a good deal for me...much cheaper than therapy or other expensive habits. Just a little movie outing now and then...is it too much to ask? Guilt free?