MOVIE REVIEW: Joy

Hello All,

Last week I went to see the newest Jennifer Lawerence movie, Joy.

The movie follows the life of Joy (Jennifer Lawerence) whose family has its issues. Joy, now in her mid to late twenties lives in a small house with her grandmother (Diane Ladd), her mother (Virginia Madsen) who spends her days in bed watching soap operas, her ex-husband Tony (Edgar Ramirez) and her two children. She is living pay check to pay check and has her fair share of difficulties. When her father (Robert De Niro) starts dating a new women, Trudy (Isabella Rossellini) Joy gets her to fund her invention.  After a few failed attempts to get her product into the big stores like K-Mart and her small town hardware shop, Tony gets Joy a meeting QVC, launching Joy's career.

Joy (Jennifer Lawerence)

In my opinion none of the actors in this movie did a bad job. They are all amazing actors and they showcased their talents well in the movie. But for me the two little girls who share the role of Joy's daughter stole the show. Aundrea and Gia Gadsby were adorable. They played the role so well and made the daughter seem so precious and lovable. I found the character and how they portrayed her to be extremely realistic.

LtoR: Joy (Lawerence), Rudy (Robert De Niro) & Tony (Edgar Ramirez)

Although this movie isn't all happy as the title may imply, this movie didn't cause me to leave the movie feeling sad either. This movie felt like real life where there are moments of heartbreak or feeling betrayed or just not having the best of luck. But Joy pushed through and David O. Russell ended the movie on an up lifting note.

LtoR: Joy (Lawerence) & Neil (Bradley Cooper)

I really enjoyed the movie but I'm not sure if its something that I would pay to see again. I think that if could got back in time I would tell myself to wait for it hit red box or Netflix because its worth seeing but not necessarily in the theaters.

LtoR: Joy (Lawerence) & Rudy (Cooper)

Have you seen Joy? What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments down below!

Where In The World Are They Now? {Gilmore Girls}

Hello All,

Today I'm doing the second installment in my "Where in the World Are They Now?" series. (You can read the Friends edition by clicking here)

Today I'm going to take you back to May 15, 2007 when Gilmore Girls aired its final episode. Gilmore Girls ran for 7 seasons on the WB which became the CW in 2006. Gilmore Girls followed the lives of Lorelai Gilmore a young mom of sixteen year old Rory as she raises her in the small Connecticut town of Stars Hollow. The show is sprinkled with many funny and interesting characters that make the show unique and one of a kind.

So, without further ado here is where I think my favorite Gilmore Girls character are today. Before I start just want to state a disclaimer, this where I think the characters are, I have no idea where creator Amy Sherman-Palladino imagines these characters now. Although we will see when the revival is released on Netflix.

Let me set the stage, it has been 8 years since the show ended. The series ended with Rory going off to follow then presidential candidate, Barrak Obama, on the road, Lorelai and Luke kissed leading fans to believe they were getting back together and Rory ended the series single after turning down Logan's marriage proposal. 

Lorelai Gilmore:

At the end of season seven Lorelai (Lauren Graham) is sending her daughter off to start her new life, going through a divorce from Christopher and just kissed Luke. I think since the series ended Lorelai has had continued success in her career as inn owner. I think the kiss from Luke lead them back into a relationship where they are happily married. She is still best friends with Sookie. After Rory left she continued going to Friday night dinners with her parents and their relationship continued to improve. The death of her father, Richard Gilmore, hit Lorelai harder than she expected it to but it showed her how grateful she was for being able to spend the last few years of his life in good standing with him.

Rory Gilmore:

After completing in her life on the road following Obama's campaign, Rory remained in Washington DC working for the blog as a political correspondent. ABC News took notice of her work and hired her on to be one of their political correspondent. Rory has worked her way up through their company and now have all the major news networks trying to get her on board. In her personal life she has a dated a couple of different men but none of them has really stuck. She goes home to Stars Hollow as often as possible. Richard's death hit Rory really hard but she was able to take a few weeks off from work and finally get to Fez, in honor of all of her and Richard's discussion about the trip of her dreams.

Emily Gilmore:

After the death of Richard, Emily (Kelly Bishop) went through a depression.  After a couple of months of depression Emily got herself back on track. She threw herself into her work at DAR. The death of her husband made her relationship with Lorelai and Rory stronger, as well as causing her to full embrace Luke into their family.
Richard Gilmore:

Richard Gilmore (Edward Herrmann) passed away in 2014 (Editor's note: The dates above are the years of actor, Edward Herrmann's life). After having many heart problems, Richard passed away of heart disease. Before passing he spent as much of his time with the 3 women of his life. As well as never missing any piece of writing with the byline of Rory Gilmore. One of the highlights of his last years of life was walking his daughter down the aisle and giving her away. 

Luke Danes:

Luke was always a big supporter in the lives of the Gilmore Girls. And nothing has changed. Rory loves coming home to see her mom and step-dad. He also is super involved in April's life. Luke's Diner is still the #1 place to eat in Stars Hollow. Luke started renting out the apartment above Luke's because he no longer feels the need to have the apartment above the diner.

Sookie St. James:

Sookie's food at the Dragonfly Inn has become famous all over the country. People come all over the country to eat her food. She has been feature in both Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray's magazines. Her and Jackson are still happily married and she loves being a mom. They finished after baby number 3. She is very active in the school, especially baking for the the bake sales. Her and Lorelai are still best friend. Sookie and Rory were co-maids of Honor at Lorelai and Luke's wedding. 

Lane Kim:

Lane became a mom young and fully embraced it. Her twins are now eight and both super into music. Lane became the manager of the music store in Stars Hollow and is currently teaching a young version of herself how to play the drums. Now that the twins are in school full time Hep Alien is working on recording their demo. Zach has gone on a couple of different tours throughout the years but has never missed a major event (i.e. birthdays, kindergarten graduations) of the twins. 

Dean Forester:

The last time we saw Dean (Jared Padelecki) he and Rory had just broken up and he wasn't taking it well. I believe that Dean eventually did graduate college with a degree in business management. Dean had a hard time seeing Rory, Lorelai and anyone who who reminded him of Rory. Soon after graduating college Dean moved back to Chicago. He recently met a girl who he has gotten him to forget Rory. He hasn't returned to Stars Hollow since moving out. Although he is pretty sure he saw Rory once as he was walking into work one day, but he can't be 100% sure.

Jess Mariano:

After seeing Rory in 2006, Jess (Milo Ventimigilia) started working on his next novel. During that time he has his one serious girlfriend who wasn't Rory. He was getting ready to propose when he ran into Rory. After talking to her for a many hours he realized that he didn't love the girl he was seeing as much as he had always loved Rory. Although they aren't dating Jess has kept in touch with Rory. He also published another novel with great success. 

Logan Huntzberger:

After Rory turned down Logan's (Matt Czuchry) proposal, Logan returned to California where he threw himself into his work. For a couple of years Logan reverted to his old way when it came to women. But eventually he met a girl who gave him a run for his money and he fell head over heels for her. They are now planning their wedding. A few years after the break up Logan reached out to Rory and they became friends again. 

Paris Geller:

Paris (Liza Weil) went to medical school before realizing that her heart wasn't really in it. After taking a year off to find herself Paris started back at Yale at their law school. She is now defense attorney at a high power law firm where she is on the fast track to becoming partner. Her and Doyle are happily married and living in the city. They have talked about having children and agree that having two in the near future makes sense for them. Paris is already working on getting her childhood nanny to move to the city to take care of her children.
Michel Gerard:

Michel (Yanic Trusdale) was the every sassy but completely lovable (once you got to know him) concierge at both the Independence Inn and the Dragonfly Inn. I think that to this day he is still working at the Dragonfly Inn and as much as he gives Lorelai and Sookie a hard time he loves them so much. After the death of of his other dog, Michel decided to adopt two more because he couldn't bare to go home an empty house. Michel also feel in love with the person of his dreams (Editor Note: Michel's sexual orientation was always slightly a question mark and I don't want to imply a preference either way). He also finally was able to meet Celine Dion. 

Kirk:

Kirk (Sean Gunn) eventually married Lulu and they had twin girls. One who much like Kirk marches to the beat of her own drum and one who is a drama queen. After Taylor Doose got sick the town decided to make Kirk Vice Selectman of Stars Hollow. Kirk also published a self help book "How to Hold a Job at Every Business in a Small Town". 

April:

When we last saw April she was living in New Mexico with her mom where she eventually started to thrive. During her four years of high school she continued to thrive but her favorite parts of the year was when she got to visit her Dad in Connecticut. She recently graduated from Columbia University as Pre-Med and now is studying at Harvard Medical School to become a researcher. She has continued to remain close to her father, Luke. She also became very close with Rory after Rory visited her when she was on the road for Obama's campaign.

And that is where I believe the character's from Gilmore Girls are today. If you were a fan of the show where do you think they are now? Let me know in the comments below.

BOOK REVIEW: Hunger Games - Catching Fire

Hello All,

Remember last week when I wrote my Hunger Games review and I said that I was flying through the books? Well I already finish the second book in the series, Catching Fire and I figured that this is the prefect time to write a book review. 

This book was just a captivating as the first one. I loved the story of the time before the Quarter Quell and getting to know what Katniss was like after the games and how they really effected her and Peeta. There also this weird comfort during the time pre-games, I'm not sure how to explain. I guess Suzanne Collins did such a good job at writing the traditions of the Hunger Games that I felt like a was a citizen of Panem and watching the Hunger Games was something that I did every year.

Once again the romance of the novel swept me up. It broke my heart that at the beginning Peeta and Katniss were barely talking. But as the book progressed their dynamic came back. Every time Peeta said something sweet to Katniss I swooned. He is just so sweet and so in love with her and so confident that he couldn't love anyone half as much as he loved her. 

Once again I didn't see the chemistry between Katniss and Gale that would possess people to be #TeamGale. In this book they talk about how during the Hunger Games the Capitol came up with the lie that Gale was Katniss' cousin. And I feel like in the back of Katniss' mind she looks at Gale like her cousin. But hey that's just the way that I'm reading it.

My major complaint when it comes to this installment is the fact that the end of the book, namely when they are in the arena. It moved a lot slower than the time in the arena in the during the first book. Especially because there were so many events jam packed into what was supposed to be a short period of time. But yet it dragged on for what felt like forever!

All and all I really enjoyed this book. I have (while I'm writing this) 10 days before the semester starts (about a day when this published) and my goal is to finish reading the final novel because even though I've seen the movies and know how they end, I want to finish the series and really know how it ends.

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Have you read Catching Fire? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments down below.

BOOK REVIEW: The Hunger Games

Hello All,

Leave it to me to finish the one book I needed in order to cross off one of my 2015 Goals on the first day of 2016. But I finished it and I wanted to review it. I know that you can find reviews for this book all over the internet, but I wanted to share my opinion on it. 

Right around Thanksgiving I went and saw Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. I left that movie wanting to either watch all four of the movies or read the books. I bought the first novel back before going on my 2014 Disney Cruise with the idea that I would read it on my trip. But I read The Fault in our Stars instead. I kept looking at the book with the idea of reading it. Almost every trip I have gone on I have packed the book with the idea of reading it. But I always got side tracked with another book. But when I moved home this break I started reading it.

There was something about the first chapter. I always had a hard time getting past the first chapter. Not because it wasn't good. But actually because I couldn't picture it. But after seeing the movies I really could picture what was going on. And I started burning through those chapters like nobody's business.

When you look at how much happens in the book you would think that it would last forever and move slowly but it didn't.  This book is beautifully paced. There a perfect combination of life before the games, life after the games and the time during the games. There is also a perfect amount of time between each kill. I never got to point where I wished things would start moving faster.

As much as I loved the action my favorite part of the book was the romance. Peeta and Katniss have chemistry from the beginning. And Katniss confusion between how she feels about Peeta and how she feels about Gale is extremely relatable. Plus every time that Peeta did something sweet or romantic I got all smiley like it was actually happening to me. And then wanted to yell at Katniss for being too dense that she can't see how much he loved her.

I have already started reading the sequel, Catching Fire and have been blowing through the second one faster then I flew through the first one. I can't wait to finish the books and re-watch the movies. I also was super impressed by how much of the book was included in the movies. There were only a couple of big storylines that I notice were missing but other than that it was well converted.

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Have you read The Hunger Games? What did you think of the book? Let me know in the comments below.

My 2016 Goals {Introduction}

Hello All,

I can't believe that's in 2016 already! For the last two years (2014 & 2015) I have come up with a list of goals to try to accomplish in the the new year. I focus on goals rather then resolution because I'm not looking to change myself I am looking to make a my year a memorable year. Every year I share my goals in the beginning of January and then check-in at the end of March, June, September and December so I can see how I am doing on those goals.

1. Go to the gym 2 times a week

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Most years I make a goal to start eating better and going to the gym. But this year I'm going to focus on going to the gym. I feel like 2 times a week is a manageable number of days to go to the gym every week. Plus I can work it into my schedule and maybe even work up to going more then twice a week. In the past I have enjoyed going to the gym but was bad at keeping up with it.

2. Either cross or start planning to cross 3 items off my Bucket List

Like a said above I want to make my years memorable and I want to live a life where I collect memories instead of things. So, this year I want to try and complete 3 items off the list. And if I can't complete them I want to at least start planning the items, like planning a trip. I think that this goal is should be pretty accomplishable. Actually looking over the list again I can tell that 3 items is very much accomplishable. 

3. Finish 1 Blanket for my 180 Blanket for 180 Days

Every year the number of blanket I want to make goes down but this year I am determined to finish at least one blanket. I really want to do something good in the world with my talents and I have the talent to make blankets so why not make blankets for sick kids.

4. Read 6 Books That Aren't for School

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I love to read books and I read almost every night before I got to sleep when I'm home. In 2015 I got so close to finish 6 books but came up one book short. This year I want to try and finish the 6 books. In fact its less then a week into the year and I already finished my first book (keep an eye out for the book review). 

5. Start Recording My Budget

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I found a format on Excel that helps you keep track of how you're spending your money. This year I really want to do a better job of keeping track of how much I'm spending and where. Because in the next year I would love to work towards buying a new car and start planning my first European adventure. 

6. Get My Room At Home in Check

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At this time next year I will most likely be moving back to my mom's house, pretty much for good. Because of that I want my room at home to seem just right so I can enjoy it when I'm living at home again.

7. Go on 5 Blog Worthy Adventures

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I love sharing all the adventures I have on this blog. And this year is bound to packed with some awesome adventures. I can't wait to share all of them with you guys!

8. Work my butt off at school

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I only have two semesters left in college and I want to make them count. I want to get the best grades that I possibly can and I want to make sure that I'm proud with how I leave school. I learned a lot this last semester about putting school first and I plan to bring that into this coming semester.

9. Come up with fun content for the bloggy and my YouTube Channel

I feel like sometimes I let my blog and especially my YouTube channel seem like my lowest priority. And although I have some priorities that come before these outlets they are both still really important to me and I want to come up with some really cool content.

I think this year I'm going to end my goals with a solid 9. I think that all of these goals are manageable and trackable. I am so excited about 2016 and I have such a good feeling about this year. 

What are your goals for 2016? Let me know in the comments below.

2015 In Review

Hello All,

Happy 2016! Where did the time go? How is already 2016? This past year as been awesome, stressful, happy, great, exhausting and fast. I can't believe how fast it went. It feels like just last yesterday I was writing 2014 In Review and now its time to say good-bye to 2015. So, let's take a look back at this year.

So, without further I ado I want to share what I've done. This year I...

-Start my Junior Year: Spring Semester

-Had a Semester where we went six Mondays without having classes

-Went to Disney over Spring Break

-I Turned 21 in Disney

-Saw Cinderella (movie review here)

-My friend Tori came to visit me at school

LtoR: Me and Tori

-Celebrate 2 Years of Blogging

-Saw The Longest Ride (Movie Review Here)

-I did a Walk for Organ Donation

The Team

-Went Hiking with my Roommate, Megan

-Made a a Confession about Blogging

-Saw Pitch Perfect 2 (Movie Review Here)

-Saw Train Wreck (Movie Review Here)

-Went to a Red Sox Game with Mama J and two of my cousins

LtoR: Mama J and I

-Explored Harvard

-Celebrated Amelia's 21st Birthday

-Moved back to school

-I Fell in Puppy Love

-Start my senior year

First day of class selfie

-Got my first Macbook and of course decorated with a Bulldog sticker

-I fell and sprained my ankle

I also rocked a really weird tan line this year

-I went Pumpkin Picking

-Went to Homecoming

-Saw Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 (Movie Review Here)

And that is everything that I've did in 2015. I can't wait to see what 2016 has in store.