The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Book Review

Mom and I went on a Mother-Daughter-Date the other day to go see "Beasts of the Southern Wild" (whatever you do, DON'T SEE IT!) and as a preview, we saw snippets of a movie coming out soon called "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". 

The trailer looks adorable and the preview indicated that it was based on a book. Since the trailer made us want to see it, I decided I would try to read the book before I saw it.

The next day I got it, interestingly enough from the high school "summer reading" table in Barnes & Noble. It's 210 pages and I read it all in 3 hours. Not because it's written poorly (it's actually written well from the point of view of a high school freshman) or anything like that, but I got sucked in and what else do you do at the beach when it's cloudy?

It's definitely a good read. I completely understand why a school would indicate it as a "summer reading" book. It's very similar to "Go Ask Alice" (which I am EXTREMELY familiar with--I wrote a HUGE paper on it last semester for a literature class I took!) since the book is a compilation of letters. I did enjoy the book but I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone other than high school/college students. I know it's a book my mom wouldn't really like and I wouldn't give it to anyone younger than college. 

Has anyone else read it? Did you school require it as summer reading? Are you excited to see the movie?

xxKatie

Movie Review: The Lucky One

I've been forgetting to write this post for some time now, but I've FINALLY gotten around to it!

A few weekends ago, the Friday during exams, I saw "The Lucky One" with two fabulous girls one night to blow off some steam while still being able to get in bed early! We had a great time catching this total chick flick together!

I really enjoyed this movie, although the beginning was a bit tough to watch--all those military scene TUG at my heartstrings like you wouldn't believe. It's a cute movie and the house is SO Pinterest-able! Every time we'd catch a new glimpse of the house, I'd be like, man I want to pin that!! I liked the plot line and I didn't feel robbed when I left the movie theatre--it was worth $10! 

I did also come across something funny recently about Nicholas Sparks movie posters:

HOW FUNNY IS THAT!?

Have you seen "The Lucky One"? What did you think of it? Like or dislike?

xxKatie

The Vow: A Review

I saw The Vow on Sunday! I know a lot of people saw it already, but I finally got around to seeing it!

I liked it, but I don't think it lived up to all the hype I had given it in my head. I had built it up to be a lot sappier, etc. than it really was. I'm quite the movie crier (anyone who saw The Time Traveler's Wife with me during sorority recruitment can attest to that...Annie and Hilary will remember it well!) and I managed to hold it together during this movie entirely.

I thought it was definitely a cute movie, but I also would advise you to go see it as a group of ladies--it's not really a date type movie in my opinion. Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams both were super sweet in this movie and I really liked the two of them in a relationship together! I don't want to ruin the end for anyone, but I wasn't a HUGE fan of the end. It was an interesting way to wrap up the entire thing.  Agree? Disagree?

I also am very curious to know how much of the family drama that plays out in the movie is true about the real couple! I listened to an interview with the couple that this movie is based on but they never talked about that issue! I also thought the family part of the movie where she was from super hipster-y to preppy was kinda funny--talk about a 180-degree change!

Did you like The Vow? Do you want to see it?

xxKatie

New Year's Eve (the Movie!)

I know with Christmas in T-minus 2 days, everyone's brains are on that, but I'm referring to "New Year's Eve" the movie! I saw it as part of a work Christmas party (so that counts as Christmas-y, right?) and wanted to share--without spoiling--it with y'all!

This was  my favorite storyline of the movie! It was sweet and silly and fun to watch. Zac Efron is as cute as ever however in a few parts he looks a little over spray-tanned! Anyway, tan or not, I loved watching these two go back and forth for their plot line.

Although sometimes annoying, the Katherine Heigl/Bon Jovi (random?) was my next favorite plot line. They were the funniest pairing of people and the fact that Bon Jovi was even in the movie was funny in my opinion! 

Third favorite wasn't this pair, but just the idea of Ludacris being an actor. This rapper-now-apparently-actor had a total of maybe 20 lines in the movie. It was just surprising to see him as an actor in a movie like this! Here's to a big cast, right?

Have you seen NYE? Did you like it? For me it was a fun way to kick off the holiday season!

xxKatie

One Day

I am dying to see "One Day"! It's been out in theaters for awhile and I bought the book to (hopefully) read before I see it, but I'm so curious if anyone's seen it yet??

What did you think about it? Have you "scene" it? ...ha-ha-ha! Did you like the characters? Is it worth reading before seeing? LET ME KNOW! As soon as I saw the preview for the movie I knew I had to check it out!!

And be sure to enter the Stadium Stompers giveaway before midnight tonight!!!

xxKatie

Best Movie Weekend

Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows how excited I was about all the movies on this weekend! I hung out at home this weekend while most Gamecocks were in Charlotte for the season opener and watched a bunch of movies before and after the game. It all started with Titanic:

Titanic (obviously, this goes without saying)

The next morning, Dirty Dancing came on

After Dirty Dancing, Grease was on--my absolute favorite movie of all time

(Grease 2 was next, but I'm NOT a big fan of this movie and did Operations Management homework instead.)

Last, but certainly not least, after dinner Sweet Home Alabama came on.

SO MANY GOOD MOVIES to choose from--with TV like this, who even needs Netflix?!

xxKatie

"You is Kind, You is Smart, You is Important."

I LOVED THE HELP!

I read The Help during spring break of 2010 and absolutely loved it! My Momma read it at the beginning of last year and recommended it to me and everyone she knew. It spread like wildfire at school, within our family and everyone else who heard about it! The whole time we were reading, we all agreed how great of a movie it would make!

Needless to say, when I saw it about a week and a half ago, I LOVED IT! It was so well cast, with amazing costumes and of course a DE-LISH caramel cake! Anyone remember Caroline's Cakes that I've written about? Well it makes one BIG cameo in the film! 

We cried, we laughed, and enjoyed every minute of this movie! It lives up to the book (I did like the book more!) and I'd happily see it again! Have you seen it yet? If not, go now!!!

xxKatie

Pearls of Wisdom...or Witherspoon

Get More: Movie News, Reese Witherspoon Accepts the Generation Award, 2011 MTV Movie Awards

 "I just want to say to all the girls out there, I know it's cool to be bad, I get it. It's also possible to make it...without a reality show. It's possible to be a good girl. I'm gonna try to make it cool..." --Reese Witherspoon

Cool girl Reese Witherspoon has really got it right. Besides playing some of my favorite roles in some of my favorite movies, I am a huge Reese fan. After reading her quote from the  MTV Movie Awards of 2011, I like her even more!

You rule Miss Witherspoon! Thanks for reppin' the nice girls!

xxKatie

Country Strong

Last night I watched Country Strong with 2 girlfriends and man-oh-man is this a sad one! We thought that it was going to be a much happier movie, but my favorite part was all the music. All of the songs were great! I had downloaded part of the soundtrack beforehand (before even seeing the movie) but I have an entirely new appreciation now! My favorite song was by Chiles Stanton, better known as Leighton Meester called "A Little Bit Stronger". It's a cover of a Sara Evans song, as you can watch here:





I'm definitely a fan of the LM version! The majority of the song had movie on top of it so we mostly heard dialogue but I was still lip-synching the words along with it!

Has anyone else seen this movie? What did you think, I'd love to hear other reviews!

xxKatie

PS: Tonight is my official Shag debut to the Shag community of Columbia. Wish me and my friends luck (and preferably, lots of it...). Thanks lovelies!!

I'm Going to Prom!

...Not like in high school. Not at all. I mean Disney's new movie Prom! Watch the trailer:

I will however be in full attendance for THIS prom. I will buy my ticket early, find a date (hey @SCasarella I hope you're reading), and wear a fabulous outfit. I will not be self conscious, get my hair done, wear weird looking makeup, take goofy looking pictures (actually I might....) but I will live through all of these fabulous kiddies!

I snapped this photo a few weeks ago and uploaded it to twitter noting that SC prom season was in full swing! In high school, our school newspaper highlighted all the sweet ways that the boys asked all the girls. It was A BIG DEAL, and not to toot my own horn (or the horn of my date, I guess I should say) we were featured in the paper for my prom cupcakes!

I cannot wait to see this movie and am counting down the days until April 29! Just Monday a friend of mine and I (Colleen--we were talking in shag about a certain convo a few weeks ago...) were talking about prom in high school and it reminded me of this fabulous movie! I cannot cannot cannot wait to see it!! Anyone else thinking of watching?

xxKatie

Happy February 14th

I've been thinking about my Valentine's post for a few days now and it's taken me a long time to get my thoughts into words. This is quite the holiday, let me tell you. I'm not a huge fan of Valentines Day, but I don't really dislike it either. I'm not apathetic towards it, but after all it is a holiday and we all know that I love holidays. I have friends who are ridiculously stressed out over this holiday, friends who just plain hate it, friends who are bummed that they don't have better plans, friends who just want it to be over already, and friends who don't know February 14th from March 29th from December 8th. They run the entire spectrum. Don't stress about making your girlfriend dinner, don't stress about having class until 8, don't stress about that clingy guy you just met, don't worry about being single tonight, don't worry about being stood up tonight, don't think about what your ex is doing tonight, and if you're all reading, I hope you know who you are! Tonight I plan to come back from Shagging, snag some cupcakes on the way home, pop in Valentine's Day just for the heck of it and snuggle up with some of my favorites. For a Monday, it sounds pretty darn good to me!

For #FabFeb, take all the pressure off today and instead of thinking of it as Valentine's Day, just think of it as February 14th! I wish you one of the BEST February 14th's that you've EVER had! Think of all the super special people in your life and tell them how much they ROCK. Go call your mom and dad and tell them how much you miss them and love them. Go BBM your sister and tell her how cool she is and that you'd be hard-pressed to find someone as awesome as she is to be related to. Go tell your roommate thanks and that she is the bomb for putting up with your forgetful ways of leaving the cookie sheet out when you make pizza rolls or chocolate chippers before bed. Go call you aunts and uncles and thank them for the countless pink and green and cupcake cards that you got for your birthday. Go text your littles and tell them how inspiring it was to see them grow and learn everything right before your eyes and that it was all them (us 'bigs' have very little to do with it). Go tell your 3 guy neighbors that they're fun to live by and seeing them on the stairs everyday puts a smile on your face. Go tell your boss that her happy smile makes working on even the hardest days that much easier. Go tell your mentor that his funny words and late night trips to McDonalds are what college is all about. Go write to all of your readers and tell them how they've changed your own writing and that your blog wouldn't be anywhere without them. I am thinking of each and every one of you today! I'll be sending good thoughts to all of my friends, family, and followers for the rest of today and the rest of #FabFeb because you are all the best!!

Think of everyone on your list and go MAKE their Valentine's Day. Hopefully they'll then pass it on, and we'll start our own #FabFeb pay it forward type deal, because that's what today is all about!

xxKatie

My Next Roadtrip/Vacay: Starr's Mill, GA

Anyone recognize this little place?

How about that view? Maybe from a Rom Com in Alabama?

Some people visit the city that One Tree Hill was filmed in, some people go to the place in Maryland where Runaway Bride ran away, but I want to find Deep South Glass! I LOVE Sweet Home Alabama and this part of the movie. When Melanie sees Jake and puts 2 and 2 together and realizes he's a glassblower because that's how he fell in love with her, I swoon! 

Wouldn't this be a fun mini-road trip? It's only 207 miles! (Only...jeeze!)

xxKatie

A New Gatsby?

If the new Nick Carraway looks anything like this guy, sign me up. So attractive. I originally saw the Robert Redford version of TGG in 11th grade and just about fell in love with him. Whether he's like that in person or not, I have no idea, but Nick Carraway a la RR, you're delightful.

I feel like this movie will be very hard to top. Scenes like this will be very hard to replace and they'll have to do one STELLAR job to convince me.

Rumor is that Leo DiCaprio (speaking of him...did anyone catch Titanic over the weekend...? I always get sucked into it and it starts SO late on TNT.) is set to play the new Nick. Personally I think Brad Pitt should be the leading man...RR and BP look so much alike! Agree?

I just think it's a very risky endeavor (that I will more than willingly go see several times) to take on such a classic movie. It was made in 1974, and that's nearly 40 years later and movie making has certainly changed. I wonder what it'll be like. 

Whew...he's so good looking. I have absolutely no idea how old he is now though (oops!). I'm very interested in any more rumors of a new Great Gatsby movie. This will probably call for reading the book again. It's definitely one of my favorites from high school! I am very much pumped about this new Gatsby! I can't wait to find out the cast and preorder my tickets!!

xxKatie

Valentine's Day Movie

Spoiler Alert!!

Hey everyone! I hope you're having a most wonderful Valentine's day snuggling with your loved ones and maybe watching a little bit of the Ralph Lauren drenched Olympics!! Last night a girlfriend and I went on a whim to go see the new movie, Valentine's Day. I'm sure as you all have heard, it snowed a BUNCH here in SC which was unbelievable! The snow ruined a bunch of my weekend plans so we decided to catch a movie so that we weren't bored on a Saturday night. I though that the movie was adorable and would recommend it to anyone! I'd give it 8.5-9 out of 10 stars for a few reasons:

The Bad: Taylor Swift is an awful actress. I'll admit I listen to many of her songs, but acting is not her forte. I'm sorry but she is only reinforcing a reputation of being a silly teen girl when she plays the lovestruck, dumb blonde who loves her boyfriend for being attractive and a stellar track star. Also, (spoiler alert!) the writers make Ashton Kutcher sad. He is just not a sad actor, he's silly and goofy and smiley and just not sad, but he has to be sad and I wasn't used to that.

The Good: I didn't catch the final twist (if you have seen the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about!!) at all. The people sitting behind me apparently did, but I didn't catch it and I ended up crying at the end! I love both of the plot lines of the characters here: Bradley Cooper and Julia Roberts. My favorite couple though was the oldest couple who has a massive fight after having a non-awkward (but would be awkward in real life type situation) conversation with Emma Roberts' character. I also really liked that McSteamy and McDreamy were featured in the same movie! Yet again, McDreamy is still a doctor and his same character (but somehow I can't get his Mazda 6 commercial voice out of my head) from Grey's Anatomy. Another aspect that I liked were the combination of all the stories. There was a huge intertwining of all the couples which added a great dynamic to the movie and it all made sense from the very beginning of the movie since the relationships were established early on. PS: the soundtrack is AWESOME! Make sure to listen to all the great remixes and fabulous classics that they feature throughout the movie. I think Jennifer Hudson sings a song in it, and she was super!

The movie overall was very reminiscent of Love Actually, but just an American version. Unfortunately I wonder if some of the characters were lifted right from Love Actually (cough cough the little boy who doesn't understand love without a mother cough cough).

I would recommend this movie if you'd like to see a cute chick flick about relationships and Valentine's Day (and even some anti-Valentine's Day). It is very cute and definitely worth the ticket price as long as you hit up CVS for your own movie snacks like we did!!

xxKatie

Invictus

So I have been snowed inside my house for almost two days!! It is so unexpected because snow like this never ever ever happens in Maryland!! My family decided that we needed to get out of the house today, so we did some family Christmas shopping--I got the best present for my little sister, she's gonna love it (hopefully), but I can't say what it is until Christmas--and then we all went to go see Invictus tonight. It was so good, I'd give it a great review! If you haven't seen it yet, definitely put it on your to-do list (as you should The Blind Side, especially my Southern College bloggers-you'll love Leann Tuohy (she happens to be a KD also!). Anyway, Invictus was so so so good. I didn't know much about the setting of the movie, what it was about, etc, but I would recommend it to everyone!

Both Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon (whom my mom and I love) were great actors in this flick!

Check out this photo of my street from my window:

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is covered in about 2 feet of white powdery snow. It will probably freeze over tonight, and make everything unsafe, but it sure does look pretty!

Tomorrow I have this HUGE GIGANTIC alumni dinner that I'm hosting for the class of 2009 from my high school. I absolutely cannot wait since I've been planning for like a month. It is going to be so much fun to see everyone (or the people who can make it) and hear all about the different college stories. My fabulous mom designed the coolest cake for everyone to see also. I'll take photos for you all to see. I'm going to wear my pink tweed forever21 skirt that I just got the other day with black tights, a black turtleneck, and some type of black shoes. The shoes have changed because now they have to be ice/snow/precip safe for sure!!

I'll be sure to tell you all about the party tomorrow! I'm SO excited!!

xxKatie

Groundhog Schmoundhog

So, whatever groundhog result means more winter was apparently what we got, but let me tell you, that ground hog was pretty incorrect. Now, I hope I'm not jinxing the weather, but it has been SO unbelievably nice here! As the weather people say, it has been "unseasonably warm" recently and I love it! It makes me so so so excited for spring break and lacrosse season! The other day, we had a "free dress" day at school, meaning we can wear whatever we want and you pay a dollar for it. Usually there's a fundraiser behind it, but some weeks the money just goes to student council. Anyway, I was able to wear my new black Jacks to school and they were fahhhhbulous! I love them!!!!!

My mom finalized our spring break plans, and I have to be here one of our two weeks because the boys have like 80 games (just kidding!) that I have to statizize (I'm the stats girl). I think they have 3 or 4 games and then they head down to Atlanta, GA, for some warm training. When they go there, my family and I are heading to Arizona! I can't wait! It is going to be so much fun. We're staying at this resort that's like a water park and has all this cool stuff and then one day we're going to the Grand Canyon. I've never been West before and my parents got really excited about it too! Then when I get home, we start school a few days later and the season picks right back up where it left off!

There is so much going on right now that I have to write about. Last night, with my friend Caroline, I saw He's Just Not That Into You. Oh my goodness! It is so cute! you must go see it! The cast is fabulous and I don't care what the critics say, but it is great! There is a huge Love Actually vibe because (without spoiling) there are a bunch of couples that the movie follows, but the couples never like interact with each other (I'm pretty sure...minus like 2 couples). Anywho, it is adorable and a must-see!!

Also, today I got a new pair of running shoes! I love them! They are bright blue, white, and turquoise! I have gotten into working out at least 3 times a week since cross country ended and I lift and do cardio each day. I actually am seeing results and my dad seems to be pretty proud of me! He says now that I've gotten carrots (poking fun at my muscle size) I have to look forward to getting sweet potatoes!

I'm sorry that I haven't really been writing too much, but school is just nuts! I've been at college after college every weekend and have yet to make a decision, and I won't really know until about mid-March. I will be sure to keep everyone posted!

Happy Valentine's Day Eve!

xxKatie

Love Actually: Greatest Movie I've Seen in Awhile

As a movie reviewer on rottentomatoes.com says, Love Actually is "ten romantic comedies rolled into one". It's a British flick all about love...actually! It starts out with a narrator, aka "The Prime Minister" who is Hugh Grant (and fabulous) and he says,

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

I mean who wouldn't already be melting, and we're probably three minutes into the movie. Some of the taglines are "All You Need Is Love...Actually", "Very Romantic. Very Comedy.", and "The Ultimate Romantic Comedy".

My ultimate favorite movie scene from any movie is in LoveActually. I don't want to give any of the story away, but this should motivate you to go see it, enjoy:


Go out and rent/buy/download/TiVo/DVR this movie as soon as you can. Definitely in my top 5!
xxKatie