And the Nominees are...

Alright well I'm a day late and a dollar short on this one, but technically, I've already blogged about this. Check out my first piece for the E! on the Q Blog, if you please. I think I wrote all of 3 sentences but I did correct the grammar & punctuation of every news outlet that posted Oscar noms and put the titles of movies in quotation marks.

However, that was an opinion-less post and this will assuredly not be one of those. There weren't very many surprises in who did get nominated but there were a few upsets and I'll get to those in a minute. First, here are my predictions for the majority of the categories.


Best Actress
I wish I could say Annette Bening (The Kids Are Alright) but I'm going to have to give it to Natalie Portman (Black Swan).


Best Actor
I'm going for Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) for an upset over Colin Firth (The King's Speech).


Best Supporting Actress
For both of the supporting roles, I'm being consistent with the Golden Globe winners from The Fighter: Melissa Leo.


Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale.

Best Original Screenplay
Christopher Nolan for Inception


Best Adapted Screenplay
Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy for 127 Hours based on the book Between a Rock & a Hard Place by Aron Ralston.


Best Director
Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan


Best Animated Feature Film
Of course I'm going to say Toy Story 3. The only other film nominated in this category that I've seen was How to Train Your Dragon and it was not my thing.


Best Picture
I'm going to say The King's Speech but it's highly likely that The Social Network will repeat their Golden Globes victory.

Check back after The 83rd Annual Academy Awards air on Sunday, February 27th to see if I'm right.

And now for the upsets.
In the Best Actor category, many people expected Ryan Gosling to get nominated for his role in Blue Valentine but his on-screen wife alone gets the nod. In The Fighter Christian Bale got nominated for playing Micky's brother, Amy Adam's got nominated for playing Micky's girlfriend and Melissa Leo got nominated for portraying Micky's mother but Micky himself, Mark Walhberg, got no love from the Academy.

Julianne Moore did not receive a nomination in the Best Actress category for her lesbian momma role in The Kids Are Alright.


Mila Kunis proved that, unlike for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, it takes more than being dirty with Natalie Portman in Black Swan to be a Best Supporting Actress nominee, according to the Academy.

Probably the biggest upset was in the Best Director category with Christopher Nolan for Inception. Really? Did they watch the movie? This is actually the second rather large snub Nolan has gotten at the Oscars for Best Director; the first was for The Dark Knight.

And there you have it, in case you didn't already know most of what I just wrote.


I'm off to work on my Oscar goal: to watch each of the movies nominated for Best Picture. I'm halfway through The Kids Are Alright right now, The Social Network is up for tomorrow night and I've already seen Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception & Toy Story 3. Only 4 more to go!


Feel free to comment and contradict me, I'd love to hear it.

An Award and a New Name!

It just wouldn't be awards season without my blog getting an award. While I've never claimed to personally be stylish, apparently my friend Robyn at Espadrilles, Lamps and Lava Cakes thinks my writing, at the very least, is stylish.

This is particularly exciting since I've felt a little less than inspired about blogging lately, though Robyn & I have talked about that together and we blame the cold weather. Anyexcuses, the requirements for this award are listing 7 random facts about yourself, and then pass the award on to a few favorite bloggers. And away we go:

1.I've been working on being more natural (but just shy of hippie natural) by not coloring my hair and ditching makeup for moisturizer & chapstick. Personally, I think I've been looking pretty good.

2. Currently, my favorite ethnic foods are Indian & Greek.

3.If I'm at home, I'm in my jammies. Right now, it's sweat pants, a t-shirt and a cotton cardigan.

4.) I have never eaten a steak (me neither, Robyn!)

5. Today, Reed & I are having sushi with my dear old friends Hannah & Alison and I'm pretty thrilled to catch up with them.  

6. I feel very content with my life right now. Would it be better if I was done with school and had a real big girl job? Maybe. But I'm at a place where I have wonderful friends, Reed & Adam fulfill my life in a way I didn't think would be possible and I'm working hard towards my goals.

7. I've very quickly fallen in love with my new internship. I think radio might be a possible career path.

Fascinating for all of you, I have no doubt. I nominate the following others for the Stylish Blogging Award:

1. Bekah at Matters of Merry Making

2. Chandler at Chandler Pritchett

3. Amanda at Because I Said So

Boom! It's Celebrity Babies!

this post is a request from my fellow celebrity stalker and one of my lady loves, Ronni Jupson.  don't worry, for the few followers who also aren't bff with Ms. Jupson, I will provide a visual.

 the mollie fontaine lounge for Ronni's 21st birthday.

I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn't 2004 again because the Celebrity Baby Boom is in full swing again and Kate Hudson managed to catch the wave both times around.

We'll start with Goldie & Kurt's progeny since I've already mentioned her. Already mom to 7 year old boy (who looks kinda like a girl) Ryder with rocker ex-husband Chris Robinson, Kate has gotten herself knocked up again by another musician, Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy.This is slightly irritating because, if anyone besides me remembers this far back, Kate was seemingly pregnant for about two years last time around. She is atypical from the usual pattern of celebs pretty much waiting for the baby to crown before they even confirm they are pregnant. For Kate, I believe the sequence of events was she took an early response pregnancy test, her publicist called TMZ and then she let the baby daddy know.

This one is one of my favorites.

Victoria & David Beckham, or Posh & Becks as our friends across the pond refer to them, recently confirmed they are adding another baby to their brood of three boys (Brooklyn, Romeo & Cruz). At this point, I think they're just trying to form their own soccer team. I love seeing Posh preggo, it's like seeing a stick figure swallow a watermelon.

Yes, I know that Selma Blair (who I love), Jodie Sweetin, Pink, Alicia Silverstone and Ivanka Trump (is she really a celebrity?) are pregnant but I'm more interested in the babies that have recently seemed to appear out of thin air.

Owen Wilson confirmed last week that he and his nameless girlfriend were expecting a child and then 5 days later, out comes baby Robert Ford Wilson which was a way more normal name than I was expecting after all of his mental health problems.

Also on the where-did-they-come-from baby list is Faith Margaret Kidman Urban, which if you're quick on the uptake, is the daughter of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban.

 

 

Nicole Kidman & baby Faith

Born December 28, 2010 via gestational carrier (is surrogate a dirty word now? I feel like this may be Camille Grammer's fault) her famous parents decided to keep mum until after the Golden Globes but just as the Oscar buzz really starts to kick up. Not that they don't love their daughter but you have to love the timing, it's pretty much a publicists dream.

Model Miranda Kerr & Baby Flynn with Husband Orlando Bloom.

While this is neither a pregnancy or a surprise, I'm including it because I just love this picture. 

A natural moment in motherhood, though I never looked like that when I nursed Reed but hey, I'm not a super model! And it's way better than the People magazine photo shoots done eight weeks after the baby is born.

Since I'm already on the topic, I'll comment on the elephant in the city of Memphis as of late.
I recently posted that there was another blog titled Memphis Mama and according to every national news outlet, there's a lot more than just the two of us with a claim to the name. Frayser High School has reported 90 girls who are either pregnant or have given birth since this school year began.
While that's terrible and very sad, I'd like to comment on something that's being left out of every news blurb being said about the topic: Several of these girls were transferred into Frayser once they found out they were pregnant because of the school's funding for student child care. They don't all reside in the same school district, Memphis City Schools are currently herding all the pregnant girls. 

Still sad and terrible, but it's not exactly accurate reporting if you leave that detail out. You hear me, The Today Show?

Lastly, Kim Kardashian? Please keep your sex-tape-having-hugeass opinions to yourself. You aren't famous because anyone cares about your opinons on the societal issues plauging America. Spritz some of your perfume on, wear a tight skirt and call it a day.

First Day on a Brand New Internship

A few friends/blog readers have called, texted, facebooked and smoke signaled to ask how the 1st day of my new internship went. However, different friends have different priorities; Por ejemplo, even though Robyn & Ellie are sisters they were concerned with varying aspects of my first day. 

Ellie wondered how the work was and if everyone was nice while Robyn was mostly just worried about what I wore. She tends to be the most concerned out of anyone with how cute I look at any given point. 

In case anyone is new and confused, I started a radio internship this week with 96.1/107.5 The Q here in Memphis. I'm interning for the morning show so listen on your way to work, blog readers of the Mid-South.
To answer Elspeth's question, yes, everyone has been super nice and not all that intimidating. I feel pretty relaxed and at home, particularly for only working one day thus far. Now, I'm sorry to disappoint but as I didn't want to totally freak out everyone & to retain a modicum of professionalism, I didn't take pictures on my first day. I will, however, be ganking pictures from Facebook as to provide visuals of what everyone looks like.

Look, it's Maney! He hired me and I think he's already regretting surrounding himself with yet another woman. However, he seems reasonably impressed with my work ethic, though I have a sneaking suspicion that previous interns have lead him to be impressed that I tied my own shoes and can type up a resume so who knows?

It's Riley & Alexis Grace!
I actually met Riley a few years ago when I interviewed her for a journalism project about people in local media and I thought "Who better for me to interview than a Puerto Rican woman?" It turns out, no one because I got an A and had fun doing it. In an attempt to find me a nickname that isn't Rocky, Riley thinks it should be Mini as in Mini-Riley. I'm taking it as a compliment. If you have suggestions, Maney is taking them on Twitter @ManeyandRiley. Please be nice. 

The American Idol fans will recognize our hometown girl Alexis Grace from a few seasons back and, in case you didn't know, is part of the Q morning show. She was really sweet and we bonded over a mutual love of Dr Pepper & the fact that Adam is our favorite barista at Starbucks. Also, we're both mama's and I'm pretty sure Reed is in love with her adorable daughter Ryan :)

Hopefully I'll get to the point where I can take pictures real stealth-like and show the super secret inner workings of the studio to my wonderful blog readers.

Adam & I are sleepy so goodnight and good luck, all. 

I Have an Emergency!

It's noon on a Saturday. Reed is napping, Adam is at work and I'm lazy which means I'm on the laptop being less than productive by way of Google. And then I saw THIS.

So now I need a new name for my blog. It's not like I thought it was the most original name but I checked her archives and she's been blogging for much longer AND she has more kids, so I think she has rights to the blog title.

Suggestions from followers and GO!

And for reading and thinking for me, you get some gratuitous adorableness from little man reed :)

In his Thomas the Tank Engine big boy undies :)

Silly baby.

You've Got a Friend in Me

Two posts in one day! How impressive. Well, I'm impressed anyways.

When I was a young lass, I fancied myself as a guy's girl. And while I can still hang with the boys with the best of them, after six years of all-girls school, three years in my sorority and four years of working at a female dominated tanning salon, I have realized that I am indeed a girl's girl.
And while I often mention my lady loves, we are all incredibly busy and it's a treat when I get to see any of them.

I manage to see my dear Robyn the most out of my fabulous group of girlfriends lately, due to a similarity in scheduling and also since reed is marginally obsessed with her and always wants to go see her. Sadly, her little sister and my best friend Elspeth & I sometimes don't get together unless our resident party planner Molly plans an event. Despite our penchant for talking on the phone pretty much daily, I miss her.

So today before school kicks off, we decided to have an Ellie & Raquel (& Reed) day. 

 We kicked off our day with an adventure to Collierville to show Ellie where her Television & Culture class is since they hide that campus from you for some reason (and for those attentive readers, yes I did take the same class from the same teacher in Collierville last semester. She's ridiculous). Afterwards, we had lunch at the Germantown Chili's due to the random chance that Ellie had a gift card.


But the true excitement of our BFF date was once we got back to my apartment. Reed went down for a nap, Adam retired to our bedroom to play a video game and Ellie and I turned into 17 year old girls.


In the midst of getting our impurities out via face mask.

I should preface this with the fact that elspeth & I are a teensy bit obsessed with face masks because they are so heavenly. if you can't see the bottle, this one was Alba and it felt fabulous, hence the excitement on our faces.


the after shot.
We took this picture ourselves because Adam is not a photographer and his turned out even worse. but trust me, our faces felt great, especially after the help of a little Proactive Green Tea moisturizer. And look how pretty Ellie is with no make-up!

It was a wonderful way to end winter break.

Ladies, go call all your best girlfriends and tell them you love them. Personally, I'm too lazy to pick up the phone so Ronni Jupson, Robyn Haire, Ellie Haire, Megan Wilson, Molly Foreman, Heather Pennel, Amanda Drescher & Lori Tenney: I love you all very much :)

Snowmagedeon 2011

The first Memphis snow has come and needs to be gone by tomorrow. I'm not kidding, I've got things to do. School starts Thursday.

Reed thoroughly enjoyed the snow, however. He kept telling Adam & I that he needed to go on an adventure in the snow, which was pretty adorable.

You can't tell but Reed is wearing a Thomas raincoat, hat, rainboots & longjohns. He was thrilled to pieces. 

You talkin to me?


The Snowman that got demolished before it was finished by a neighbors dog. Reed was sad.

wearing daddy's gloves.

I hope everyone else had a good snow day, reed was thrilled about it. I've figured out that I'm not so much into snow days if I'm not in school (the University of Memphis starts Thursday) & especially not if reed was supposed to go to school and I had a lot to do that day.

But my apartment is sparkling clean thanks to being stuck indoors most of the day :)

It's Splitsville Time in Tinsletown

Tragedy has once again struck the collective of celebrity romances and it's time for me to write about it.

Just a week before Christmas, People Magazine's Current Sexiest Man Alive and the GQ Babe of the Year announced that they were splitting up. I assume there was simply too much vanity & hair products in this relationship but supposedly, it was simply that they never spent time with each other due to work. If that's the reason for your marriage ending, you are pretty much saying "Hey, I love my career more than I love you. But it's been fun." 

Scarlett & Ryan in happier times.

Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens.
 I'm not particularly upset about this one, though the Disney Darlings were fairly adorable together. It's still sad to see a years-long relationship end, whether I have an abnormal attachment to this particular couple or not, but I'm actually still surprised they survived the Vanessa Naked Picture scandal.

This is the one I'm truly upset about lately. 

Macaulay Culkin & Mila Kunis
These two went their separate ways after 8 years of dating, which always blows my mind that people can spend that amount of time together and then just throw it away. For celebrity couples, these two were pretty low key without being obsessive about privacy and just utterly adorable. In some pictures, they look a bit like a lesbian couple since they're both so tiny and pretty. I will miss them. 

If only I wasn't so enthralled with the goings-on of certain celebrities, I wouldn't be so upset when they had real life problems. Currently, I'm also pretty obsessed with Seth MacFarlane (the creator of Family Guy & American Dad) and trying to find out what he does besides a lot of voices and sing Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra. It's my new project, at least until school starts back up.

Stay Tuned.

It's the New Year, but not the New Decade. Got It?

I hope everyone has enjoyed the first few hours of 2011 and had a lovely end to 2010 (side note: is this the year we start saying twenty-eleven instead of two thousand eleven?) 

This year Adam, Reed & I rang in the New Year at The Pennel's with the Pennel family themselves, the Pritchett's and Allen. It was decidedly a step-up from last year where we watched Ice Age 3 and Adam fell asleep at 11:30pm and Reed was thrilled to have Buck, Theodore & Leila.

Generally, I don't make New Years resolutions anymore because they're rather grandiose and I set myself up for failure. However, after hearing my friend Heather's new year's resolution, I think I'm going to take a crack at it. Heather's resolution is "to be more sparkly" which is probably the most fab thing I've ever heard. So in keeping with the idea that low pressure resolutions are the way to go, here we are:
 

To wear more headbands & earrings.
I look fabulous in headbands when I put a modicum of effort into my hairstyle and every girl needs a good pair of earrings now and again.

 

 To drink more water and less coffee.
I do pretty well with the water thing but I could always do better. God knows I need to cut back on coffee. 

 

To work out more. Inside the gym and out.
I want to work out, not because I feel like I need to lose weight, but to feel better and have more energy. 

 

And lastly, to play more and worry less.
It's too much pressure to clean house and stress over school, constantly. Sure sometimes, you have to but not to the point where you can't enjoy playing with your kid. 

 

What are some of your new year's resolutions?