All posts filed under: foreign film

Travel: Destinations in Film

I’ve seen different folks going in and out of the neighbor’s house across the street for the past month or so. And right away I realized they are Airbnb-ing (hosting) their property. It’s not that I am stalking, but while parking my car, or doing landscape maintenance, I see different folks in and out, taxis and Ubers pulling up. A call is made in the driveway and definitely a code is shared and next thing you know, the garage door opens and these different individuals, men mostly, go inside. Days later a maid service comes in to clean up and then the family of 6 return home. Which gets me thinking, where do they go for those days while a stranger is in their home? I mean the children are of school age, all under ten going to a physical school instead of online? How does this family juggle such a lifestyle? So I decided to do a search on Airbnb and discovered there are countless homes around my block alone that host vacationers or …

If My Weeks were Summed Up In A Slide Deck…

This has become a thing it seems for me…where on Fridays, I feel the need to recap…kind of sort of what I do at work with a slide deck of where things are. It almost feel like a series. Season 1, Episode 3 and so on. So with that said, here’s this weeks episode. After a not-so-unplugged time-off last week, I jumped right into my days, doing what we all need to do at our workplace. I pulled 12-18 hours days catching up and preparing for a Thursday morning presentation. I know I was running on fumes and adrenaline all mixed up into one. Because just as I felt myself crashing, I turned to some form of caffeine to get me going again. At one point at nearly 2:30 in the morning, I got into bed and turned off the lights, thinking I would get a few hours sleep. But ended up on my phone sending emails and instant messages to our teams spread across the world before their day ended and mine -on-the-clock- began. …

Food: Will Bake Cross-Buns For Easter Sunday

After forty minutes in line at the grocery store aiming to buy essentials, I was surprised to find a good portion of a pot roast in the meat section. Which of late has been only stocking up on ground beef, some turkey, and chicken. So I grabbed it thinking we’d have roast for Easter Sunday Dinner. Which I announced, the second I shed my outdoor clothes off in the garage, and took a hot steaming shower. It felt like a small accomplishment being able to treat the family to a special dinner – a variation of a British traditional Sunday roast I love when in England. But today – being Saturday, I will attempt to make cross-buns which I normally buy from my favorite bakery – on my way home from work on Good Friday, I stop by the bakery and grab a dozen perfectly wrapped in a cellophane bag, and tied with blue, yellow or green ribbon. Something I look forward to every year. For this year however, while we are all trying to …

Fashion: Carolina Herrera – Spring 2020

After the 49ers lost yesterday in the Superbowl, I needed to gear my focus onto something fancy and colorful – just to shake off the disappointment I felt after watching the game. Although Kansas City Chiefs did kick **s – so the win was well deserved. But let’s move past that and talk about these amazing Caroline Herrera, who happens to be one of my favorite designers – Spring 2020 collection On another note, what did you think about Brad Pitt’s BAFTA acceptance speech? If you did watch the Superbowl – which commercial did you like the most or the least? My favorite was Jason Memoa’s  And as I called it, the little girl singing alongside Jennifer Lopez was non other than her daughter Emme – who has everyone buzzing about her performance at the half-time show with her mum. 

Culture: Who’s Your Celebrity In-Character Crush

I thought about this topic a few days ago, when I decided to watch ‘You’ve Got Mail’, (for the millionth time) to help me get out of the funk I was in, and also to do character study for my novel. And it did, giggling, tearing up, beaming, and feeling over the moon about the idea of two people, who cross paths on a daily basis, end up falling in-love in the most peculiar of way, over the internet/and kind of in person. Realizing the influence of certain actors in character have over us. Who’s your celebrity-in character crush?  {featured image source}

Day After A Holiday…

A long weekend tends to throw me off – in that – the confusion of having that extra day to do whatever, makes it very difficult the day after to continue the norm. But here we are, and there’s lots to talk about this week. As I said here, that I planned to watch ROMA last night, which I did and I have to first say, the film won two Golden Globe awards out of three a few weeks ago and is up for a few Oscar nominations – coming our way February 24, 2019: The movie is over two hours long and filmed in black and white to perfectly depict the period the events took place (1970-71). With much detail, Cuarón chronicles the day-to-day life of a maid living with a middle-class family in Roma, Mexico.  Although, the family has its own set of troubles, and the country is in the middle of a revolution about the gaps between those living in the slums and those that are wealthy, the main focus is the …

Some Film Recommends and A Book Or Two

I realized the other day, while picking out the next set of books to read from the public library, that I have not shared what I’ve read and what I’ve watched on television in a long while. Yes, I do go to public libraries. I love them, especially this, and this location, where I spend hours searching for the next book based on recommendations from all sorts of online sites. The books I choose have to inspire me to continue to pen my next story.  So, here it is: Read:  The Cost of Living By Deborah Levy On my List: Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy   Read: Where Honeybees Thrive by Heather Swan Currently Reading: Carnegie’s Maid by Maria Benedict I have ordered The Nest to Read Next – the idea of a family feud over inheritance has sparked an interest and in reality I have picked up and put down this paperback so many times, but now I am going to finally read it.   Found this film on Netflix …

Friday Movie Night Debate and The Weekend

Every week, or Monday actually, I check the list of films being released over the week-end and decide whether it’s nachos and champagne and Nutella covered fresh strawberries, and streaming a movie or at home, or an actual going out to the movie theater night, with popcorn, a large Cola Icee and a box of chocolate covered raisins.  🙂   the better alternative. Just to give you an idea, last Friday night I decided on going out to see the American Assassin. I  appreciated the film so much that I had nothing but good things to say about it here.  Tonight, I am contemplating seeing the second installation of Kingsman: The Golden Circle,  Or a repeat viewing of the film Man Up on Netflix.   In case you are leaning more towards a night at home, curled up on the sofa, with no idea what to watch, here’s some suggestions of films I’ve seen in the past that are now streaming on Netflix Man Up Clouds of Sils Maria Sing Street Following Midnight Paris Hot …

Three Netflix Series I Recommend

If you haven’t already seen the three Netflix series I am about to list here, then please consider to add them to your list of shows to see now if you have nothing better to do, or after the holiday frenzy in your household and beyond: First up, for the history buff or someone who simply is intrigued by the royal family – the one in England of course. The Crown is a pretty solid series so far – season 1 – in telling the story of how Queen Elizabeth came to be. Her younger days when she learns how to…uh hmm.. “Queen”  as her husband, Philip Duke of Edinburgh so eloquently puts in one of the episodes. Second, Medici: The masters of Florence – a newly released series in the US on Netflix is certainly worth every penny past episode 1 in detailing the life and times of the Medici family and their mafia-like influence over Florence at the tail end of the Renaissance era. A power drama, with an outstanding cast surely delivering …

What Constitutes Beauty, or Elegance and a Sense of Style?

As a girl in my teens, and later in my twenties, I have to say I was pretty self-conscious about the way I looked, and behaved, admiring mostly actors and models for their beauty, elegance and sense of style. Without realizing at the time, that sort of thing was mostly an image relayed through photography. The real beautiful or elegant women having a sense of style roamed the streets of Europe mostly. It’s in the last decade or so I realized that beauty truly comes from within. Because if you have a beautiful outlook on life, it will show it on your face and in the way you carry yourself. Elegance and sense of style is easily learned, and managed I feel, and most any body interested in betting themselves, can obtain such stature. So, here’s a game I play with friends, sometimes over dinner or a walk in the park. The question we pose to one another is what do you think about this or that person  in fashion, certain  sophistication or sexy simplicity …