The Best of Netflix

Summer is coming to a close. Am I mad about it? No. 

I never, ever, ever thought I’d say this, but I want summer to be over. Sure, it’s nice to not have homework or responsibilities or tests or really anything. But you know what? That’s the thing, I’d rather have things to do, people to see, and even tests to study for. I’m my happiest when I’m my busiest. I really enjoy doing. It’s not that I can’t do in the summer time it’s just that I don’t. 

Well, for 8 weeks of the summer I had a job from 8 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon working at a day camp. It was the most exhausting job I could ever imagine. Entertaining kids for nine hours a day is nowhere near as easy as it sounds. Doesn’t sound easy? That’s because it’s not. 

What did I do after work everyday you ask? 

Did I workout? No.

Did I experiment with new recipes? No.

Did I lay on my bed and watch Netflix? DING DING DING, yes. 

Because I spent a good 8 weeks of my summer coming home and watching things on Netflix, you can bet your bottom dollar that I found some super great shows / movies. Guess who’s the best blogger ever and is going to share these insider secrets with you. Me! It’s me!

Here we go:

Movies

Django Unchained
one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. It’s about slavery, love, and power roles but so         much more. The cast is amazing, the cinematography is amazing. Honestly, one of my         top five favorite movies of all time. 

Adventureland
a cute summer movie. set in the 80s and oh so relatable. a coming of age movie, kind of.         it’s funny, cute, and sad. is that what they call a “triple threat?”

Philomena
a movie I didn’t expect to be good. it’s about learning how everyone has an interesting         story. inspiring, for sure.  

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
a small town story with a long lasting affect. another inspiring one. I love movies that         leave me feeling emotionally drained, and this is one of them. johnny depp and leonardo         dicaprio are both in it if you weren’t already convinced. 

Moonrise Kingdom
a wes anderson film, so obviously it’s gorgeous. I’m obsessed with the subtle humor, the         awkward (yet relatable) encounters, and the colors. 

Clueless
honestly, if you haven’t already seen clueless this should be the first movie on this list         that you watch. a classic. 

Mr. Nobody
one of those movies that makes you think. it’s long, but so worth it. this one is about         making difference choices and how certain choices can change your whole life path.         definitely a must watch. 

Pulp Fiction
probably my number one favorite movie. so many quotable lines, so many perfect shots,         so much good. please watch it. 

Stuck In Love
a movie about love, but also about family and living in the moment. a cute indie film. 

Can’t Buy Me Love
a classic coming of age 80s movie. not sure why it’s not more talked about. 

The Holiday
when you’re in need of watching a romcom, this is the one for you. sure it’s a christians         movie, but it’s appropriate for anytime of the year. 

V for Vendetta
a movie that makes you think, super important to watch. it’s definitely not a surface level         movie. my mom didn’t like it (she thought it was too weird) but this is one of those         movies that’s about reading between the lines and understanding. 

Short Term 12
a darker movie about the darker parts of life. emotionally draining, but important. one of         the greatest (and most surprising) endings of all time too. 

The Big Short
a movie that everyone in the millennial generation should watch. the 2008 finical crisis         happened when we were alive and this movie helps break it down and make it more         understandable. phenomenally edited. 

Nightcrawler
about the media and how twisted (fake?) it can become. definitely an interesting take on         media in this age. also, jake gyllenhaal isn’t too bad on the eyes. 

Reservoir Dogs
a movie about pulling off a diamond heist. super bloody, just a warning. you’ve definitely     head some quotes from this movie before (ie “My way... or the highway!”). makes you         wonder who you can trust. 

Wayne’s World
a funny movie for sure. on the same level as hot rod (another movie to watch even though     it’s no longer on netflix). 

Sixteen Candles
an 80’s movie that you have to watch. have to. 

Best in Show
one of the most quotable movies I have ever seen. absolutely hilarious. I might relate         even more than the average person because my grandfather is a dog show judge, but         nevertheless, still hilarious. 

TV Shows:

The Office
for comedic relief. for quotable lines. for everything, honestly. 

Prison Break
for an addicting tv show. the first season is the best and then it get’s kind of repetitive. 

Scandal
for a love story. for behind the scenes in the white house. for the fashion. 

How to Get Away with Murder
for understanding how to tell a story. for a good show. first season is the best season. 

Orange is the New Black
for everything. honestly, if you haven’t watched every season by now, why not? 

Stranger Things
THE BEST SHOW ON NETFLIX. it’s a little bit on the scarier side, but so so so good. a         must watch. 

And there you have it, the best of Netflix. The real winners. Please let me know if you have any recommendations for me. I still have a week and a half of summer left so I’m trying to watch everything before the craziness of college comes back into my life.

Thanks for reading! 
xox
chloe

obsessed

I’m kind of an obsessive person. When I like something, I really like it. Here’s a little anecdote to prove my obsessiveness.

My mom is letting my brother adopt a cat for his birthday. I’m not a cat person, never have been, never will be, but my brother let me look on the adoption website with him to choose a cat. I found a cute one, his name is Mr. Biggs. Keep in mind, my brother is the one who gets to choose the cat, I was just his side kick in the looking process. However, I fell in love with Mr. Biggs. Real, true, love. He was a 20 pound cat that liked to snuggle, play fetch, and was bright orange. He’s more of a dog than a cat really, and I love him. However, my brother found a “better” cat and disregarded Mr. Biggs completely. I couldn't stop telling my brother how wrong he was in his selection and my heart actually hurts that Mr. Biggs won’t be living in our house. I haven’t met this cat, I don’t know if his description is even true, but I’m obsessed with him. I mentioned "Mr. Biggs" so many times that I am now basically banned from talking about him anymore. My family got too annoyed. 

So obviously this is just a sneak into how I obsess over things. I guess I just know what I like and don’t stop talking about it until everyone around me makes me stop or I find something new to like. So far this summer I had only obsessed over Mr. Biggs (aka the perfect cat that I should own), but recently I watched Pulp Fiction. A must see. A cinematographic masterpiece. Pure art. A new obsession.

I read every article I could find about it. Theories upon theories. Reviews upon reviews. Screen shot after screen shot. I truly became obsessed with the movie. When I learned it was a Quentin Tarantino movie I decided to make it my summer goal to watch as many of his films as possible. 

photo via

I watched Django Unchained last night, and once again, I loved it. It was a cool story, it was beautifully filmed, each shot was perfect, and the script was so cool. Not to mention the cast was perfect. If you’ve seen either of these two movies please let me know so we can have a conversation about them. If you have a Tarantino favorite, I’d also love to know. They're both on Netflix, so I promise they're easy to watch. Go do it, please, so I can obsess over them with someone.

Long story short, I'm obsessed with Quentin Tarantino and his films. He's so cool. For real. 

Thanks for reading
xox
chloe

My favorite Summer Books

It's official: we are finally completely and totally moved into our new home! Moving definitely has its ups & downs and one of the brightest upsides, born out of necessity during my many seemingly endless weeks of being internet-free (a downside for me) has been rediscovering my love of reading, in actual book form. I've forgotten how absolutely addicted to books I had been... and how exciting it is to discover a new author. Just in case you're still looking for good summer books or beach reads, these are a few that have kept me up late into the night, wide awake in the middle of the night, and up in the wee hours of the morning. (If you saw the circles under my eyes, you'd know I was not exaggerating.)

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

From Amazon: "An Amazon Best Book of the Month, April 2013: This knowing, generous and slyly sly new novel follows a group of teenagers who meet at a summer camp for artsy teens in 1974 and survive as friends through the competitions and realities of growing up. How these five circle each other, come together and break apart, makes for plenty of hilarious scenes and plenty of heartbreaking ones, too. A compelling coming of age story about five privileged kids, this is also a pitch-perfect tale about a particular generation and the era that spawned it. --Sara Nelson"

Although it's been called "genius" by the Chicago Tribune and "wonderful" by Vanity Fair, my superlatives are more along the line of sleep-wrecking, thought-provoking and and discussion-inducing. I truly want to drop everything I have to do and start reading again... since I'm only on page 142/469, so I shouldn't be reviewing at all yet - but I can tell you I've woken up twice over the past 3 nights at 3 in the morning just to read what happens next, which is odd since it's not an action-filled book and each chapter doesn't end with a cliff-hanger. But the writer's style keeps my interest since the timeframe jumps from decade to decade and hints are given about what happens to characters. I will definitely be reading more of Meg Wolitzer's books.

The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

From The Boston Globe: “An engaging tale about art, cupidity, and a Faustian bargain . . . Shapiro convincingly depicts the rarefied art world that lionizes a chosen few and ignores the talented, scrabbling outsiders on the fringe. Shapiro is adept, too, at showing the white-hot heat of an artist engaged in creating a painting. She knows art history, painting techniques, and how forgers have managed through the centuries to dupe buyers into paying for fakes . . . Inventive and entertaining.”

The Goldfinch revived my love of art, but The Art Forger sealed it. It's a mystery wrapped up in a love story wrapped up in an art lesson. Again, I had to know what happened next, and any story that can keep me on my toes is a book that I will recommend.

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

From Amazon: "...Kate's in the middle of the biggest meeting of her career when she gets the telephone call from... her daughter’s exclusive private school in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Amelia has been suspended, effective immediately, and Kate must come get her daughter—now. But Kate’s stress over leaving work quickly turns to panic when she arrives at the school and finds it surrounded by police officers, fire trucks, and an ambulance. By then it’s already too late for Amelia. And for Kate.

An academic overachiever despondent over getting caught cheating has jumped to her death. At least that’s the story Grace Hall tells Kate. And clouded as she is by her guilt and grief, it is the one she forces herself to believe. Until she gets an anonymous text: She didn’t jump. Reconstructing Amelia is about secret first loves, old friendships, and an all-girls club steeped in tradition. But, most of all, it’s the story of how far a mother will go to vindicate the memory of a daughter whose life she couldn’t save."

Having teens, I thought I needed to read this book. Do I really know my kids as well as I think I do? Could there be a "school life" that I know nothing about? It was a good book that made me want to keep an open avenue of communication with my kids and wonder about being a teen today.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

From People: "There's rich, there's filthy rich, and then there's crazy rich . . . A Pride and Prejudice-like send-up about an heir bringing his Chinese-American girlfriend home to meet his ancestor-obsessed family, the book hilariously skewers imperial splendor and the conniving antics of the Asians jet set."

Another book that's been on my reading list forever that I finally got around to reading! I loved it for the education about a culture I don't know about. It was a fun read.

On my bedside table to read next are The Heist by Daniel Silva and Flash Boys by Michael Lewis (a little yin & yang!) and at the rate I'm plowing through The Interestings, I'll be reading at least one of them this weekend.

What book recommendations do you have?

xo ~kim

Valentine's Day Date Dreamin'

Nothing, absolutely nothing, makes me happier than to get lost in a great book or movie. One that makes me forget where I am and what I'm doing. One that tells a love story in a unique way and touches me so deeply that I tear up a little, maybe even so much that I sniffle, and finally have to dig around for a tissue after when I can no longer pretend I have something in my eye. After watching the trailer for Winter's Tale, I've decided it's the romantic movie for my Valentine's Day date this year… and since it opens in theaters February 14th, I'm planning my perfect Valentine's dream night around it.

My dream Valentine's Day would be something like this…. it would begin with a flower delivery from from Lavender Hill saying, "Surprise, guess who's coming home tonight?" {My hubby commutes from the west, so this would be the perfect start to the perfect date, obviously!} I'd have his favorite drink to greet him, the only kitchen-ly duty I'm good at, and since he was a like a fish to water during our  bourbon tasting, I'd make him an old-fashioned. Then we'd head out to his choice of restaurants because he's the foodie. We have so many amazing restaurants in Louisville like Proof on Main or 610 Magnolia, that I'm happy anywhere he chooses as long as there is champagne involved.

But I'm in charge of entertainment. We both love a good tearjerker movie, so the highlight of the evening will be 2 hours of uninterrupted romantic escape at Winter's Tale. It's the perfect night to see a romantic movie about crossed destinies and romance through the ages. Plus, what a cast! I'm a huge fan of Colin Farrell, who is always the perfect mix of charming and witty. And it also stars Russell Crowe, consistently tough, and Jessica Brown Findlay, who we all might know better as Lady Sybil Crawley / Branson from Downton Abbey. An Oscar-worthy cast, right?!

I'm even pinning Valentine's ideas here to get ready. Follow along!

And if all goes well, the night of romance may just be beginning when the movie ends….

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by WB Winter's Tale through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about WB Winter's Tale, all opinions are my own.

Festive Christmas Movies

Our Christmas tradition is a bit off-kilter since involves Will Ferrell and bb guns, but that's how our family rolls. We  have a Christmas tradition of watching silly Christmas movies and quoting lines from them out loud. All day long. Truth be told, we probably quote them all month long. And when there's a smelly basement or the mood strikes and we're on an escalator, in an elevator, or in the Lincoln Tunnel (or even just thinking of it) you might catch us quoting "Elf." It's an obsession, but since there are 4 of us in the family, we can't all be crazy… can we? What are your favorite Christmas movies and traditions?

Orphan Train: Author Interview with Christina Baker Kline

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing the author of a my new favorite book - the one I can't stop talking about, or thinking about - Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. Interviewing her was such a cool experience and I learned so much about her, the book (what inspired her to write it!), and the life of a best-selling author.

A little background about the book from the Booklist review of The Orphan Train:

A long journey from home and the struggle to find it again form the heart of the intertwined stories that make up this moving novel. Foster teen Molly is performing community-service work for elderly widow Vivian, and as they go through Vivian’s cluttered attic, they discover that their lives have much in common. When Vivian was a girl, she was taken to a new life on an orphan train. These trains carried children to adoptive families for 75 years, from the mid-nineteenth century to the start of the Great Depression. Novelist Kline (Bird in Hand, 2009) brings Vivian’s hardscrabble existence in ­Depression-era Minnesota to stunning life. Molly’s present-day story in Maine seems to pale in comparison, but as we listen to the two characters talk, we find grace and power in both of these seemingly disparate lives. Although the girls are vulnerable, left to the whims of strangers, they show courage and resourcefulness. Kline illuminates a largely hidden chapter of American history, while portraying the coming-of-age of two resilient young women. --Bridget Thoreson

When you were in high school did you enjoy writing? Yes, I loved writing, but I wrote more poetry. I actually never finished a story until I got to college. I tended to write more poetry. Studying poetry in college helped me to become a novelist, and become more aware of language as I am writing.

Did you enjoy doing research in high school for projects or papers? In high school I liked learning things, but I was never one of those people who would disappear because of it. I used the research to get inspired for the writing part. I typically research until I have a strong sense of the story and have a good plan, and then start writing and then go back and fill in the gaps.

Because Orphan Train has so much history in it, how long did it take you to research and plan for the novel? It took around three years to research, write, and revise it. I actually learned about the story a decade ago because my husband’s grandfather was an orphan on a train and he was featured in an article on orphan trains, and that was how I first heard about them.

I read on your website that you used to be a personal chef, caterer, and cook. How did you transition from that to being a novelist? I did that in college and in grad school. I had already been cooking at a summer camp in Maine and then I worked as a private chef for a writer and his wife in Martha’s Vineyard after my junior year in college. I also worked as a caterer in grad school and I have always been really interested in cooking. Writing novels is the thing that I love the most and my other interests have supported. It’s easy to get caught up in other things and not leave enough time for your writing. I also love being out in the world and interacting with other people, and I like having multiple things going on at once.

What was your dream job when you were in high school? I wanted to be either a book editor or magazine editor and I still think it would be a really fun job. I do love what I’m doing, but I still do edit for other magazine and books.

Do you have any advice for someone that wants to become a writer? One thing I would say is to be sure that you have skills and develop skills that you actually like. I have been able to teach and edit, so I have the qualifications that I need to do other types of work. You need to make sure you have something else as well, because you can’t count on always making a living out of it since there are great years and others that are harder to make money. Sometimes writers say you shouldn’t get a job in the same field and that you should do something like waitressing, but I would much rather have a job in this field, like working with other writers. I find that so much fun.

Where do you get inspiration from for your characters and books themselves? From everywhere. When I’m working on a novel anything can work itself in, like dinner party conversations. I can fill the book with anything I want. If I overhear something at Starbucks it could go in.

What is your favorite book that you’ve ever read? I have a bunch, a number of them are 19th century books, I love Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary. I also really love Virginia Woolf, but I read everything, a lot of contemporary books. I want to know what the other books on the top lists are like.

Do you have friends that are also writing or that you’ve met through writing? Yes, in fact I was just talking to one on Facebook. I do. I have a lot of writer friends. I really love that aspect and it’s really important to be a part of a community.

Thank you so much, Mrs. Kline, for taking time in your busy schedule to talk to me! I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed the Orphan Train, and if you would like to see more reviews on the book, check them out here.

Have you read Orphan Train? What’s your all time favorite book?