style crush: blake lively

source

So two weeks ago my husband and I went on a little date to see Age of Adaline. I think my crush on the star of that film, Blake Lively, began somewhere around the time she married Ryan Reynolds. I think they're adorable. I have little to no experience with Blake as an actress, because I never really watched Gossip Girl and I was a much bigger fan of Lena in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants saga. I think the majority of Blake's career has kind of slipped past my radar. But there was something about the Adaline story and character arc that I couldn't wait to see. I knew Blake would rock it, because she has this natural knack for ethereal beauty and transcendent style. While watching the movie, I totally believed that she had been living eternally youthful for decades. I could hear it in her voice and sense it in the way she carried herself. I thought the movie was stunning and I honestly can't wait to see it again. Granted, it has its flaws - a hefty handful of them. But the clothes, the timelines, the love stories. I'm all about them and am now all about Blake Lively.

source

source

source

As much as I love the style of the titular Adaline in Age of Adaline, Blake Lively's real life red carpet and street styles are always gorgeous as well. Last year she created the website Preserve, which is a digital magazine and one of a kind shop filled with handmade items all chosen by Blake. I'm personally obsessed with these hand-painted vintage boyfriend jeans after seeing them on her Instagram (here and here), and it's pretty fun to dare my future self to spend the $500 necessary to buy a pair of them. (Spoiler alert: my future self never does). I'm starting to wonder if I could find a way to DIY them...

While the site has high-priced clothes for men, women and children alike, it also has a whole "under $50" section and a pretty wide variety of price points. Either way, it's a site that's full of inspiration and I love her more for it.

Blake also had the most fantastic maternity style of anyone I've ever seen.

source

source

source

So without any further ado, proceed to swoon over Blake's beautiful clothes and have a very happy Monday. And if you haven't already, indulge in a weeknight viewing of Age of Adaline, because it's fun and sweet and quite sincerely lovely.

source

source / shop the coat

source

source 

source

source

source

source

*see all style crush posts*

favorite films of 2014

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Guardians of the Galaxy

The Lego Movie

What If

Interstellar

Fury

Big Hero 6

The Edge of Tomorrow

The Fault in Our Stars

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Honorable Mentions:

The Boxtrolls

Begin Again

I love seeing movies. While many people don't consider movie-seeing a very social experience, I love discussing movies (perhaps to a fault) and breaking down my favorite/least favorite parts about the stories. I tend to think about movies for days afterward. Perhaps it's my rather obsessive personality, which reached its height in my early teen years during the days of battling boy bands, Harry Potter books and Lord of the Rings movies. That part of me comes out again when I'm confronted with a great, terrible, or fascinating film.

My list above is in no particular order, but I will confirm that my very favorite movie of 2014 was The Grand Budapest Hotel. (And second place would actually be Guardians of the Galaxy). The rest just fall into place after that. I'm sure there is plenty of opposition over my favorite movie choice, and I'm sure there are plenty of good arguments for other greatest films of 2014, but Budapest was by far my personal favorite of the year. It's brilliant. It gets me every time.

While I could talk about these movies for a long time, I will spare you and sum up my reasons for choosing each movie with one sentence:

The Grand Budapest Hotel because Wes Anderson outdid himself in quirkiness, emotion, and meaning. (Read more here). 
Guardians of the Galaxy because it took my favorite things from Star Wars and combined it with silliness, dancing, extra sarcasm and childlike wonder. (Read more here). 
The Lego Movie because it perfectly captured the childhood war between rule following and creative rule breaking, while also making me laugh, smile and remember.
What If because I believe there is still space in Hollywood for smart and charming romantic comedies, and this movie made me remember why I love them so much.
Interstellar because I was on the edge of my seat and never wanted it to end.
Fury because it broke my heart and opened my eyes.
Big Hero 6 because it was entirely unexpected, but was incredibly creative, visually stunning and endlessly heartfelt.
The Edge of Tomorrow because it was a surprisingly perfect combo of Sci-Fi action and comedy, with just a dash of romance.
The Fault in Our Stars because it is one of the greatest, most accurate book-to-movie adaptations I've ever seen (and it made me cry my eyes out).
Captain America: The Winter Soldier because it went a little deeper and carved out extra space for meaningful character development, while also maintaining Marvel's reputation for snarky humor and great action.

For my honorable mentions, I'll just say that The Boxtrolls, while dark and strange, really revived my shock and awe at stop-motion animation. It was brilliantly done and I enjoyed it immensely. Begin Again was another winner with good music, a sweet story and a reminder of why I like Mark Ruffalo so much.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this year's many movies! I know there are plenty of movies I didn't see (I have not seen Unbroken, The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, Birdman or Boyhood), so perhaps my list would be different if I had. What are your favorites and must-sees?

Happy New Year!

love is not a triangle

I think my first cognitive experience with a fictional love triangle was in 1998.
All of my fellow 90's-kids will join me in a collective groan when I mention that this love triangle was set in a snowy cabin on a little show called Boy Meets World. The triangle participants? Beloved Topanga Lawrence and brillow-headed Cory Matthews and the forever-after despised Lauren what's-her-face.

I honestly can't even see Linda Cardellini in anything without giving her the stink eye. She destroyed a piece of me I didn't even know existed at age 10. I am forever damaged by her home-wrecking. Unfortunately this plot disaster was not the end of young adult love triangles in TV and literature alike. And I hate it. With a fiery passion that I can scarcely contain.

Here's why:

1. Love Is Not A Triangle.

I won't judge those of you who totally buy into the cheap-ploy that is the love triangle. (Yes, I will).
But love is not a triangle. You cannot be in love with two people at once. And if you say that you can, all that means is that you need to redefine "love". Because there is absolutely no love involved when someone is torn down the middle between two people, leading them both on and completely at a loss about which one to choose. The answer should be neither because both of those peeps deserve better. A love triangle thrives on selfishness and jealousy. It's pathetic and upsetting at best, and downright evil at worst. That's not how love works.


2. People Have More To Offer

A really common story arc is for a girl to be torn between the "good guy" and the "bad guy". Or a guy who is the best friend, who has been there for her for all of time (a.k.a. the "safe" option), and the bad boy who is exciting and usually horrible. She can't decide, she's so confused. Gordo or Smooth Italian Guy, Lizzie? Topher Grace or Tad Hamilton, Rosalee?

The truth is, people don't function in those extremes. People (and yes, that includes teenagers) are complex beings. I have no appreciation for a 17-year-old who has no clue who to choose between a leather-wearing, parents-hating rebel and an argyle-wearing valedictorian. I'm not saying that hormonal teenagers don't date around and have different crushes every week, but don't paint a portrait of a passionate love story with a character who has two opposite choices that they "love" equally. That's not a thing, and it makes me hate everyone.

3. Girl Power

Love triangles are the worst because they completely strip my heroines of their strength and respectability. They play upon a really terrible stereotype of flaky, cruel, mindless, indecisive females. The reason why love triangles so often hang on a woman who is love-struck and dumb is because nobody would believe a man to be that fickle and obnoxious. And if he is, he wouldn't be the hero! A man in that situation is a jerk. You can't have your heroine be a jerk! Do not support this behavior in our fictional representatives.

I want to read about young women who are strong. The way Katniss should have been. Instead of playing on her strengths and bringing out the hear me roar potential in her, the series dribbled her down to a shell of a person who had no social skills, was intent on killing herself, and whose only interesting plot design was whether or not she would choose Gale or Peeta. What a waste.

Especially in reference to YA fiction and literature, I want characters that are smart, engaging, relatable, and revolutionary for our young people. I want to read about young women (and men) who are good. Who struggle, sure, but who are loyal, especially in love. That's what I want out of a love story. Love. Is that so crazy?


4. Today's "Love Triangle" Isn't Even Right

The current teen drug of a love triangle somehow evolved from the original triangle, which was A loves B who loves C. That I can appreciate. There is heartache and unrequited love, which is always compelling and actually realistic. Take The Holiday, for instance. Iris is in love with Jasper, who is in love with somebody else. But he loves to tease her and torment her and stay "friends" because he is a jerk. People who can't decide and have two love interests are jerks. They're unfaithful and miserable fictional morons. Nobody roots for Jasper, amiright?

There are countless examples of brilliant, heart-wrenching stories of unrequited love. I will take the brilliant, tragic Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities any day. I can root for those people, I can emphasize and grieve and cry with those people. I've met those people. I've been those people!

5. It's Lazy Storytelling

You know what stories I love the mostest? The ones that don't utilize lazy, immature plot devices to hook me. Ones that have authentic gumption and content and don't need to throw in frilly sex drama to fill time. I want characters and worlds with real plots and real stories to tell. I guess what I'm saying is that Harry Potter is king. To quote my friend Bonnie,

"You know why Twilight and Hunger Games had love triangles?

Because Harry Potter didn't need one."

Word. Good stories don't need love triangles, which create this weird, perverse, and unhealthy conflict in young people (and middle-aged women). The character core of Harry Potter was even made of two guys and one girl, and there was no triangle-ing. That is fantastic. They were too busy actually living. Growing up, fighting evil, and showcasing bravery, friendship, loyalty, strength, intelligence, fortitude and all of those other great adjectives. Those are heroes, ma friends. 

To sum up: love triangles are the living worst, and they ruin stories. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on love triangles and their prevalence in YA fiction nowadays, and if you adore them I promise I won't hate you... but you won't be able to convince me that they're cool. 

the whole world

Necklace (shop!): Sheinside
Sweater: LOFT, Skirt: Ruche

Do you remember that rather fabulous teaser trailer for The Boxtrolls that gave an inside peek at the making of stop-motion animation? 

That's the first thing I thought of when I got this globe necklace from Sheinside, (And also, that it's adorable and only $6!). 

I remember seeing that trailer for the first time and being absolutely fascinated and awestruck by the intricacies of such an endeavor. Even after seeing (and loving) the strange, charming, dark, stunning, steampunk, oddball movie in all its glory I couldn't wrap my mind around the hundreds of hands and hours it must have taken to create such a masterpiece. 

I grew up watching claymation Christmas movies and adoring hand-drawn animated movies and videogames. There is something really overwhelming about envisioning the actual artists behind those stories. Especially because of the advancements that have been made in filmmaking and animation, and the overall modern preference for digital artistry. I'm not saying that CGI isn't art, but I am saying I would rather have seen a hand-drawn Frozen. 

I know it's not realistic to demand hand-drawn everything, because the creation of digital animation is rather wondrous. There's no denying it. It saves a lot of times and produces much more detailed results, I'm sure. And it still requires artists. And in reality it would probably take 20 years to develop a hand-drawn movie at the artistic level of these concept images. 

Even so, I think people have come to the erroneous conclusion that people don't like 2D movies anymore simply because they aren't made as often. Princess and The Frog, Disney's last hand-drawn animation, didn't do as well as Tangled, so that must mean people are just done with hand-drawn things. Horrible flawed logic. No, no. 

I think there are a few reasons why Tangled performed better at the box office, and I'm very sure the reasons are things like Zachary Levi. And better music, and a valiant horse named Maximus. 

There are still plenty of artists out there who are loyal to the olden days though, and who long to revive, restore and relive them. People like Tim Schafer who crusade to keep classic adventure games alive.

They create these marvelous stories for us to be a part of, and they quite literally have the whole world in their hands. 

So, there's hope, and that's all I need. 

the ugly button-up

This week has been rather record-breaking when it comes to skies-that-make-me-love-arizona. 

Big, never-ending, whimsical expanses of blue and puffy white. Several times this week I've had to pull over on my way home from work just to take a second and look at the sky, wide-eyed, without crashing the car. 

I'm sure the sky here has always been this humongous. I think I just treasure it a little more, it catches my attention a lot easier. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that jazz. 

It's definitely a main reason why I love Arizona, and specifically this hometown of mine. I don't think I'm meant for city life. I just love the sky too much. I love the space, the land, the desert wildlife. They're all my peeps. 

In other news, this entire outfit is from another batch of shopaholic gifting. 

We went up to her apartment this week for a night of fun-hopping. We went and saw What If with Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan, which was positively delightful, by the way. It's going on the rotation for sure. We then went out for sushi. But before all that, we were at the apartment, and she dives in to her room for a sec and emerges with a large pile of clothes for me. Including a dress she bought on her birthday weekend in May. I was there. 

I'm not kidding when I say this entire outfit, either. Shoes, skirt, blouse, sweater. 

When I pulled this denim top out of the pile, I wrinkled my nose a tad. The shirt is sleeveless, and it's so long I almost mistook it for a dress. I hopped up and put it on over my shirt, which revealed that the hem hits me right below my bum, and showcases quite an extensive amount of my underarm area. The armholes are excessive. 

My shopaholic friend burst out laughing. "Oh man, I don't know. I'm not sure what I was thinking with that one!"

I don't know what that means to you, but to me it was like, challenge accepted. I knew right then that I had to try and wear it and make it work. It'd an odd little reject of a shirt, but the patterned denim is really cute, and I can already imagine the sweaters I can layer over it in the winter with the collar peeking out. 

I feel like maybe there's a life lesson in here somewhere. People and things can always surprise you, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, keep your mind open to potential, shoot for the moon, etc. I think it's really a gift to see things for what they could be. Like a rundown shack turned dream home. Live your life like the Property Brothers. 

Besides, no one has to know that if I yanked my skirt down in this outfit I'd be ready for a hoe-down version of a Risky Business dance number. 

Have to save that for a rainy day.