Friday, May 31, 2013

Video Tour 1

It's a good thing I decided to clean and photograph the house yesterday, because early this morning our basement flooded. So now my previously organized basement is a swampy mess now while we try to get things dried out. "Oh, the joys of homeownership" - says everyone. But I digress...

Haven't done one of these before...but I thought you might be interested in a walk-through of our little house. So here it is: our first video house tour. Please feel free to ignore how awkward I am, and the occasionally disorganization/messiness and super-sorry about the shakiness...







So after the kitchen's completed, and maybe after we paint the outside of the house (definitely after we clean up the now-super-messy-and-wet-flooded-basement...) we'll do another one so you can see the changes!

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya


P.S. Here's that link for the video, in case it doesn't work on here.



Saturday, May 25, 2013

"And I like large parties. They're so intimiate. At small parties there isn't any privacy."

It's May.

Which you, obviously, know. But once again, I've forgotten about this little blog of ours. It's hard to update when day by day things feel the same. But let's try again, shall we?

The title - it comes from Fitzgerald, of course. If you haven't seen Baz Luhrmann's version of "The Great Gatsby", you need to stop reading this immediately and go see it. Then purchase the soundtrack and get back to me.

Brilliant, right? But that's only if you like Luhrmann's directorial approaches (I'm obsessed). Otherwise I imagine you said the same thing as the old ladies sitting behind James and I in the theatre: "Well that was weird." Yup. And Perfect. With a capital P.

I could go on about it forever, but you really just have to see it. And let's face it, you're not that interested in my obsessive discussions about a movie based on a book most people pretend they've read but - actually - haven't - or - maybe - they - did - in - high - school - but - let's - face - it - that - doesn't - really - count. However, I feel that you should be interested in my other suggestions on things you should be watching (because I have fantastic taste in film and television, let's be honest - when I'm not taking a mental breather while watching trashy/flashy TV like "The Vampire Diaries" and "Gossip Girl" - hey, everyone's got their guilty pleasures - mine just involve super attractive people on the CW).

Film:

The Great Gatsby - 2013 (if you didn't catch that already)

Lawless - 2012 Bootleggers. The Depression. Gangsters. Tom Hardy. You literally cannot lose.

Pitch Perfect - 2012. Okay, I know, I know. Really? No, not great cinema. But HILARIOUS. Seriously. I can't even think about this movie without chuckling to myself. It's kind of sad actually.

Tron: Legacy - 2010 This movie is totally underrated. Daft Punk's soundtrack is stupid-good. Plus it's totally fun, looks unbelievable, and did I mention it's just really awesome? Oh, and Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde? Win for everyone. Can't wait for Tron 3.



Television:

Bates Motel (A&E) - based on Norma/Norman/Normal Bates, and Hitchcock. Scarily brilliant acting, wonderful cinematography, and subtle throwbacks to "Psycho" that'll give you the creeps. I'm obsessed with this show (Watch the entire season in two days? Check.)

Hannibal (NBC) - bet you can't guess what this one's about. It's Hannibal before he was known as the Cannibal. But the real winner is the main character, played by Hugh Dancy - very alluring character. Captivating plots, and just the absolute perfect amount of He Who Must Not Be Named** without overdoing it (like he himself did).

Doctor Who (BBC) - duh. Start with the reboot season in 2005, and fall in love with The Doctor. In a month, after you've maniacally watched all 7 seven seasons, be thrown off by the best thing you will ever see in this season's finale. HOLYCRAPICANTWAITFORTENTOCOMEBACKFORTHE50THANNIVERSSARYSPECIALINNOVEMBER. Yup. That just happened: All caps AND no spaces. #toodamnexcited

Game of Thrones (HBO) - Everyone has already told you to watch it, so just do it already.




** I HATE HATE LOATHE Entirely the following man. I feel that every directorial approach he took was wrong, stupid, and horribly, unbelievably taken as genius - of which he is most definitely NOT. His name will nevermore be uttered (written?) by me except for this one time so you are on the same page as me: Stanley Kubrick. *shudders*


And since we're covering entertainment...and it is me...

Books:

The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen. I can't quite describe this book, other than it's beautiful, dreamy, mysterious and lovely. Quick read, too. Just read it.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - I've probably mentioned this one, and I'll keep mentioning it because it's literally my favorite book. The imagery is literally unbelievable. Gorgeous. And I'm always a fan of rotating narratives.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This author is fantastic, and of her three books, this one is the best. Be prepared to have your mind BLOWN halfway through. I feel like "having the rug pulled out from under you" is totally overused, and yet perfectly describes this novel.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Memoir by my favorite blogger, Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess. Hilarious. Awkward. Honest. So, so good. And non-fiction - always an educational bonus!

Game of Thrones (and the rest of the as-of-yet-incomplete series) by George R. R. Martin - better than the show, naturally, and he has MASTERED the rotating narrative. It's disgusting it's so good. Love him. Love his writing. LOVE LOVE LOVE his characters.


Okay - now that you all have things to catch up on...get on that already and then get back to me so we can geek out together. In the meantime, we'll be completely destroying our house (aka remodeling the kitchen), so I'll be back soon with updated house photos and demo plans!

But seriously, go read/watch all of that - I'm not kidding when I say I have excellent taste in these things.

Love,
Vanessa (And Stephen and Anya, of course)