Sunday, May 18, 2014

Labor Day


 

While recovering from another round of the crud ( double ear infections + throat infection woo-hoo) I rented the film Labor Day staring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin (you know the older brother, Brand, from The Goonies).  I had wanted to see this film while it was in theaters but my husband doesn't have quite the enthusiasm for depressed yet romantic movies.  Labor Day is based on the novel by Joyce Maynard.  I've read a couple of Maynard's books and really enjoy her writing.  The fact that she had an affair with JD Salinger decades ago makes her even more interesting to me( I have a serious love for JD Salinger).

Labor Day feels like something exotic that you discover in your own home.  Those days when you are at home, deliberately, trying a new recipe, starting a new book that has been on your shelves for years, sitting in your sunny backyard, listening the trees rustle and watching the sunlight flicker through the limbs.  It feels like your on vacation but in your own home.  Frank is an escaped convict who hides out for Labor Day weekend in Adele's home. Adele and her son are living a depressed life full of the mundane or less.  Frank awakens their lives by showing them how to live again, within their own lives over the holiday weekend. There is a love story that develops between Adele and Frank but the biggest love story is how this family started to fall in love with living again.  Fixing things with their own hands, making a pie from scratch, learning to play baseball in the backyard. It sounds so simple but to those who only live in a shell of their lives, it was fresh and new.

To some degree, I could relate to these feelings that Adele had.  She, depressed from a broken marriage, lived with the confines of a few small places -- a monthly trip to the store, the permanent spot on the couch, within her own head.  She was merely existing, a prisoner in her own life.  Isn't that how life becomes when you allow yourself to get caught up in the ego, commercialism, Corporate America, keeping up with the Joneses.  It has for me several times in my life.  This was a good reminder to live.

Labor Day is slow.  Deliberate.  Fantastic.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Birthday Haul

My birthday was a few days ago and I celebrated it with my husband, daughters, and mom.  We went to Bonefish Grill and I got my fill of bang-bang shrimp. I wish I could say it was a great day but work managed to crap all over it earlier in the day so I tried to make the best of things.  That's another post for another day. Suffice to say, my job craps over my life quite a bit these days.

I've been meaning to share my birthday surprises from my husband and daughters.  My family is supportive of my kawaii addiction and bought me several kawaii gifts. 

First, were 2 mini putty erasers, Tuxedo Sam (lemon scented) and Hello Kitty (peach scented).  These things smell like my childhood.  They were silly little add-ins that my girls picked out but the moment I opened them, I went back in time when Santa stuffed my stocking full of Sanrio surprises; mini pencils, erasers, and clips.  My stocking was my favorite part of opening presents each year!


My oldest got m a Hello Kitty Ugly Doll plush.  I also have a love of ugly dolls.  I only have one that sits on my bookshelf so now he's got a neighbor. 

My youngest got me a Hello Kitty Nanoblock kit.  I recently discovered these at Imagine That Toys and I can't wait to assemble it. 






My big present was from my husband, a Hello Kitty Fuji Instax camera with 3 boxes of film (Twin Little Stars, my fav!, Rilakkuma, and Hello Kitty).  I'm sure I'll fly through the film but I can't wait to take some pics.  It's funny as I am still considering opening a Kawaii store, Instax cameras were recently added to my list of items I'd want to sell.  Now I have one all for myself!  Of course, I'm sure my girls will try to steal it at the first opportunity.