Blogmas day 5: "No more talk about our Lord's complexion at dinner, please", mrs Kehoe - Brooklyn

Halloooo!!

Saturday morning was off on a great start... Without electricity in the house. It absolutely baffles me as to where all that money went to. I only topped the meter up on Wednesday! I guess either someone watched a lot of television or they left the lights on. Again. Anyway, eventually someone bother to go out and put new money on the meter. I guess we're fine. For now...

The day started of layed back. I watched Man Up again whilst eating breakfast, followed by some YouTube videos. Then I had a bath (after I cleaned first of course) and then I had all the intention of tidying my room, but instead I ended up fumbling with the layout of my blog. I really wanted to add some falling snowflakes x) And whilst I was at it, I changed the header as well. It is hardly anything innovative, but it looks so festive! ^^

At 5.15pm I had agreed to meet my friend at Leicester square. I had a voucher to see the movie Brooklyn, 2 tickets for the price of 1. That was £4.5 a ticket. Bargain. And yes, I went to the cinema in the evening. Quite unusual for me, I know x) It was the only time they screened the movie we were both available x)

After the movie we went for a delicious bite at Pizza Express. I have to say, they really know how to make a pizza! And now I'm home, writing this blog post as soon as I can 'cause I'm really tired and I'd like to go to sleep^^

So here is my quick review on the film :)

Brooklyn

2015
Director: John Crowley
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Domhnall Gleeson,...
Lenght: 112min= 1h 52min
Genre: Drama, romance

1951, Eilis is an Irish young girl who's struggling to find a future in Ireland. Her sister Rose makes an arrangement for her so she can go to America to start a new life. When first arriving in Brooklyn, Eilis struggles with the adjustments and has a lot of homesickness. When she starts to settle down, she falls in love with a young man. When life back home catches up on her, she decides to go back to Ireland to visit her mother and her old friends. Soon she'll have to decide whether she'll stay in her hometown or return to the big city across the pont.

I saw this trailer a while back and the main reason why it sparked my interest is because it is about a girl who moves a way from home to another country. Something I can really relate to. She has to make a decision whether to return to her home town or to stay in her new found life. A choice that I will have to make too, sooner or later. Well, she has to make a decision between two guys, whilst I mostelikely will have to make my mind up with no other to disappoint than myself.

The is an adaptation of the book by the same name written by Colm Tóibín. I haven't read the book, but is definitely on my TBR list now ^^

This pictures takes you to quite the extremes. You have some very heavy emotional scenes where you can hardly keep your eyes dry. And then you have hilariously funny scenes where it is impossible not to chuckle at the very least. If I had allowed myself to actually cry, I think I'd be an emotional reck when I left the theatre. Seriously though, this movie is proper funny. Julie Walters, who plays mr Kehoe and Tony's little brother have by far the best lines. They delivery them on point and in all seriousness which makes it even more funnier.

The clothes are beautiful and you can tell there is an evolution in the use of colours. But that might be me paying too much attention to details x)

It is not quite a spoiler, but I will tell you that I was kind of disappointed with the end. I had hoped she'd made a different choice. Which told me subconsiously something about my plans in the future...

As we went to see the movie, the theatre was quite packed. Not something I'm really used to and I usually don't appriciate it. This audience however was amazing. It was a laugh-out-loud-at-the-right-times-without-any-annoying-crips-bags-noices kind of crowd. With movies like these, you attrack more an audience who appreciate a good picture. It's not like Mockingjay or Kingsman or the Avengers for that matter, which are huge block busters and attrack the annoyingly loud people as well. This was a good experience.

As per usual, I've linked below the trailer, some clips and some interviews :)

Trailer

Interviews

Clips

Oh, here is the manditory picture of my ticket ^^

Thanks for reading day 5 :)

xo - Sara

Blogmas day 4: being nominated for a Liebster Award!

Halloooo!!

And welcome to blogmas day 4.

To my surprise this morning I woke to a notification that someone had left a comment on my previous post. Since this only happens once in a blue moon, it is always a moment of excitement, closely followed by a moment of anxiety and stress (what if it is a mean comment?) and then ultimately pure curiousity makes me push that button to read the comment.

Follow blogger Breakfast at Kiki was the person who made the start of my Friday wonderful. She informed that she has nominated me and 9 other bloggers for the Liebster award. Thank you so much for this Kiki!

To be honest, I had never hear of this award. Why should I? I'v only been writing a blog since March 2014, not nearly long enough to be well informed of all the abouts in the blogging world. So I did some research and what I learned made my heart all warm and fuzzy.

The Liebster award is a sort of letter chain. Unlike the old letter chains, nobody is going to die if you decide to ignore the 'challenge'. You will not have 8 years of bad luck when you don't nominate other bloggers. However, if you get nominated and you accept it, you have to answer some of the questions the person who has nominated you has asked. By answering these qustions it allows readers who don't know you (yet) to get a litte insight to who you are ^^ In return you nominate 5-10 other bloggers with a maximum of 200 followers and ask them a few questions. If they accept the nomination, they will answer the questions and nominate 5-10 other bloggers. It is all about supporting bloggers who haven't the recognition you think they deserve. It is all about supporting each other. Like the images says: let's discover new blogs :)

The questions Kiki from Breakfast at Kiki's asked:

1. If you could have a conversation with anyone past or present, who would it be?
Either J.K. Rowling since she is the reason why my childhood was beyond awesome. Or Jane Austen as she was a women ahead of her time.

2. Who is your fashion icon?
Since I'm not really into fashion, I don't really have an icon... Might be the reason why my style is so basic x)

3. What decade do you think you belong in?
Hmm. I'd like to believe I'd belonged in a different time than 10's, but I'm afraid I'm too independent to be able to belong in a different decade. I mean, the right for women to vote isn't even 100years old!

4. What is your favorite book?
It's like asking a parent who their favorite child is. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare are a few.

I've just noticed that all these books are written by female authors. Interesting.

5. If you had an extra $1000, what would you spend it on?
Traveling!

6. What is your dream job?
Unfortunately I haven't discovered that yet.

7. What was your worst splurge?
Since I can't remember my worst splurge, I conclude that I haven't made one. Yet. Knock on wood!

8. What is your holy grail beauty product
Sleep

9.  What is your favourite thing about blogging?
It's a little spot for me to return to. It's my escape from reality, whilst it is actually my reality ^^ I have 100% creative freedom as to what I put out there and what I don't put out there. Everything is possible and nothing is manditory. It gives me an opportunity to write down my thoughts and opinions on books and movies as a help to 'recover' from possible hang overs. And my weekly blogs just provide me with such a lovely diary of what I've been up to this past year and 9 months.

10. If you could wear one ensemble every day, what would it be?
Jeans, t shirt and baggy jumper.

I hereby like to nominate:
Pink Pastel Heart
Outlandish Obersvations
Ginger next door
Guy Writes
Urban Grannies

And these are my lovely questions for you x)
1. Watch only your favorite movies for the rest or your life or watch each movie only once?
2. What would your super power be?
3. How did you end up blogging?
4. Are you a traveller or more a stay at home kind of person?
5. If you could travel through time, what time periode would you choose and why?
6. Current favorite music artist?
7. Summer or winter?
8. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
9. Harry Potter, the Hunger Games or neither?
10. What comes to mind when you think of the universe?

As with every letter chain/nomination, there are some ground rules.

- In a new blog post, link and thank the person who nominated you
- Include the Liebster Award sticker in the post
- Nominated 5-10 other bloggers who have 200 or fewer followers who you think deserve the recognition (You can use Bloglovin' follower counts)
- Comment on those bloggers' websites to inform them that they have been nominated
- Answer the 10 questions asked to you by the person who nominated you
- Create 10 new auestions for your nominees to answer.

Good luck! :)

It was such a lovely surprise to wake up to and I really enjoyed answering and creating these questions. It makes you think about things you'd normally never think about x)

Blogmas day 4 is a wrap!

Thanks for reading! 
xo - Sara

Blogmas day 3: Home is where my books and movies are.

Hallooo!

I swear! I had all the intention of buying Christmas presents for my cousins. I thought I had an idea, until I stood in the store and realised just how stupid it is. Now I have to come up with something else... Suggestions? Anyone?

I ended up having a little shopping spree for myself though. New trousers (which I needed anyway), a Harry Potter t shirt (which I didn't need) and a new winter jumper (which I wanted). I also bought a little bit of 'homeware'. Not of my usual habit, since I don't actually have a home. I have a room in a house that I'm sharing with about 7 other men... But, all my stuff are in this room. My books, my DVD's, cloths, fairy lights, tea, etc. So my room kind of is a place I can call home. Sort of. Anyway, I saw this in Primark and I basically could not not buy it. I had a vision of a book/DVD shelf with this standing between my collection. I'm expecting to have this for a long time until I finally own a proper book/DVD shelf.

My home is were my books and movies are.

My current view

Apologies for the poor quality of the photo. It's about 11pm and I can't be asked to get my big Canon 450D, or even my compact Canon for that matter, as it is in my bag on the floor, far away from my bed. I am nearly ready to go to sleep and if I start taking images now, I probably won't be asleep by 1am... I guess I could have taken the pictures as soon as I got home, but as per usual, the idea for this post came to me about 23min ago. I literally thought I had nothing to mention for today's post and almost uploaded my Winter Wonderland post when this idea popped into my head x)

Et voilà, blogmas day 3 all done :)

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Blogmas day 2: 'Fuck the past!', Nancy - Man Up (movie 'review')

Halloooo!!

So, I mentioned in yesterday's blog post that I work full time and I probably most likely won't be feeling like visiting places in London after a long day sitting at my desk. The occasionally night in is bount to happen and then I would probably write about a trip I made a couple weeks back or something like it. That was the plan for today. Off on a great start, ain't I. Blogmas day 2 and already feeling like a cozy night in. I had planned to upload a blog post about my trip to Winter Wonderland in Hyde park last Sunday, but before I uploaded that blog post I decided to watch a movie. Man Up to be precise. And, well, you'll have to wait a bit longer for the Winter Wonderland blog post.

It's not really your classic blogmas topic and it is not a Monday, but hey! It's blogmas and it is my damn freaking blog so I can do what I like.

Today I left work on time for once so I was home a bit earlier than I usually am. Unfortunately I had to run some errands (read: pay the gas and electricity meter and buy food) so I didn't have as long a night in as I had hoped. Anyway, instead of rewatching an episode of Green Wing, I thought it appropriate to watch Man Up. I bought this movie last week, it's been on my 'to watch list' for ages as it looked like such a funny movie. And it delivered :)

Man Up

2015
Director: Ben Palmer
Cast: Simon Pegg, Lake Bell, Ken Scott, Harriet Walter,...
Lenght: 88min= 1h 22min
Genre: Rom com

Meet Nancy, 34, single and exhausted of her friends and family constantly trying to set her up with random guys. She's tired and has excepted that it probably will never happen for her. Until a guy, Jack, mistakes her for his 24year old blind date he's been waiting for in Waterloo station and Nancy... just goes with it. They end up having a chaotic first date of a life time which neither of them will probably ever forget.

Man Up is a rom com. There is no point in beating around the bush. Man Up is a rom com in all its rom com glory. They embrace the classic story points a rom com has and run with it.

The main thing that had me hooked after the first 15min was the in-cre-di-ble script. They make freaking movie references! It's very witty and sharp with a lot of theories and truths. Yet again I surprised myself with how well I was able to follow the dialogues. Eventhough I keep learning new words every week, it's still surprises me how well I understand the English language x)

Lake Bell (Nancy) and Simon Pegg (Jack) are movie gold. They have obviously chemistry. On screen that is. Their interaction. Their dialogues. It all feels so natural and genuine. More real than a Nicholas Sparks movie ;) Although, Nicholas Sparks is only romance, not comedy. You can't compare apples with pears, yadiyadiya.

It is a British movie, unlike the usual American film. It is set in my beloved London so it was wicked to actually see all of the locations and know where exactly in London they are x)

Like any other rom com will do, this movie leaves you with a smile on your face and a warm fuzy feeling. This particular movie leaves you also behind with a certain feeling of hope and optimism. Unlike a Nicholas Sparks movie for example, this storyline is more likely to happen than having your high school sweetheart being sent to prison for 8 years for unintentional murder. Don't get me wrong, Sparks covers topics who are a reality to many people too: interfering parents, cancer, wanker of an ex husband, war, etc. Just not in a silly playful kind of way. Mind you, it would be pretty weird to act like someone else's blind date, but I mean in terms of the actual date :)

The trailer :)

This is definitely a movie I'm going to suggest for the next movie night with my friends x)

This is it for day 2!

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

Blogmas day 1: Outlander season 2 teaser and Leicester square Christmas market/fair

Halloooooo!

It is that time of the year again! I'll be blogging every day throughout the month December right up until Christmas day! Happy 1st of December!! ^^ And what a start! A teaser trailer has been released for the second season of Outlander! But first:

I remember this day last year like it was yesterday. Pretty easy one to remember to be fair. It was the world premiere of the Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies!!! One last time. Also, on this day last year I saw the movie Love, Rosie with Sam Claflin and Lily Collins. Happy memories ^^ Allow me this little throw back ^^

Only last week I bought the extended edition of the BOTFA. Now I have the 3 extended DVD boxes. It's going to one hell of a blogmas ^^

My kind of trio

Today I went to Leicester square. The same place were it all started last year. I know I know, I'm the sentimental type. Anyway, just like last year the Christmas market/fair was in full action. I say market/fair, because on the one hand you have the idyllic cozy Christmas stalls and on the other hand you have the fair games where you win giant minions and unicorns. Not really my cup of tea to be honest. Aaah, well, at least it was covered with father Christmases and fairy lights :)





A little side note for this year's blogmas. Unlike last year, I am currently working, full time. This means that I will only be able to visit places and do stuff after my workday. Knowing myself, I know that I probably won't be up for it every day, so there might be a couple of blog posts about my past weekend or other stuff and not about what I actually did that day. Well, evening more like. During the day I'm obviously working :)

Then, probably the most exciting news for today: a teaser trailer for Outlander season 2 has been released!!! *breath slowly, breath slowly*. I'm currently reading the book (Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon) and safe to say I'm already STOKED for season 2!

That's it for the very first blogmas of 2015 :) Only 24 days til Christmas!

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara