Fifty Shades of Grey, Darker and Freed

It seems that majority of moms learn about this book from their daughters, am I right?  I did see this book on the internet and some newspapers in the past, but never really paid attention to what it was really about or took any interest at all until I found my 20 year old daughter reading the first book.  I asked her what it was about and she replied "It's about a college graduate who has a steamy affair with an executive".  "Brittney recommended it".  Her former description did not really spark an interest in me.  It was Brittney's recommendation that made me curious.  She finished the book but I did not bother asking her if I could borrow it from Brittney.  I never saw the book again.  Now I know why.  What daughter in her right mind would ask her mom if she would like to read the book?
 
Two months later, I was talking to a friend who brought up Fifty Shades, the trilogy.  Trilogy?  I  had no idea!  My friend said it was pure porn and she couldn't put the books down!  I told her that my daughter read Part 1 and she said her daughter read all 3 books.  I demanded that she loan the books to me; that they would be perfect to read on the plane for my trip to India in December.  She said it was an easy read and I should finish them in no time. 
 
Her husband works with my husband and imagine my surprise when my husband came home with all 3 books individually wrapped in a brown paper bag!  I was hysterical!  Was it really that embarassing for her husband to carry with him on the train to work?  I guess so!  When my husband handed the books to me, he said he heard that they were pure pornography.  I got so excited!
 
Mind you, I was struggling with the first 60 pages of the book.  It sounded like it was written by a high school student.  I was ready to give up and return the books and complained to my daughter.  She agreed that the book wasn't written well.  She should know because she was the editor in chief of her high school newspaper!  But she did encourage me to read on and that the exciting part would come after page 60.  I'm a very impatient person!
 
Imagine my surprise when I got to the juicy parts!  I found myself giggling like a school girl and covering my face with the book several times!  Must I remind you that I've been married for 25 years and pretty much heard it all!  But this book made me blush and yell "OMG!" several times as I finished each juicy chapter!
 
I took a picture of all 3 books and texted them to my daughter who's away in college and she said she now wants to read Parts 2 and 3.  My friend also mentioned that Part 2 was her favorite. I ran into a woman in physical therapy reading one of the books and I just had to ask her which book she was reading.  She said she finished all 3 but is reading Part 2 again because the last book makes you go back and read the previous books for events that you could easily forget.  I'm like "Are you serious"?
I really don't want to go back and re-read the books again so I'm making sure that I remember the important events as I go along.  By the way, I finished Grey and now I'm on Darker.  The lady also said I would finish Freed before I fly to India.  I believe her too.
 
Gosh, look at how much I've written and I just started on Part 2, Fifty Shades Darker.  All I could say is if they make a movie out of this, I don't think it would be that exciting.  Movies are never as good as the book.  It would definitely be R rated, along the lines of  9 1/2 Weeks but possibly steamier.  Let's see how much more I will add to this article after completing Darker!
 
 
Holy Crap!!!!!!!

 

Laters, Baby!!!!!

Breaking Dawn Part 2

Finally saw this movie.  I didn't care if the Chronicle's little man was sleeping when the reviews came out, while another movie critic called it the best Twilight movie of all.  I had to see it for myself.  Besides, I never agreed with Mick La Salle's critiques anyway.  He's from another planet.

I must say, it wasn't the best Twilight movie ever.  There were only 2 scenes that moved me.  The clever ending with a twist which caught everyone by surprise, myself included.  It's not that we've never seen anything like this played before.  For those of you that haven't watched the movie yet, you may want to stop here.  This has been executed before in Dallas back in the 80s.  You remember that famous scene when Pam Ewing wakes up in the morning and finds her 'dead husband' Bobby Ewing in the shower as he greets her "Good Morning, beautiful"!  The whole season was Pam's dream!  How clever!  And Stephenie Meyers decides to copy that stunt but in a different fashion.  I mean, how else can you bring back the dead?  Yeah, that'll surely work for the young audiences who probably have no clue about Dallas!

The second scene that moved me and actually brought tears to my eyes was the introduction of all the characters from all of the Twilight movies, coupled with the background music of Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years".  How touching. 

 

You know this is the end of the saga and there will be no Twilight movie coming out next year.  Ms. Meyers, please write another book!  There's so much to write about!  How about Renesmee's life as a teenager, her relationship with Jacob.  Billy wondering why Bella never grows old as he gets older.  I'd like to see Bella suck the life out of a human in her quench for human blood.  Or Renesmee screwing up in school, giving proof that she's half mortal and half vampire.  She's just a teenager who hasn't been around for decades unlike her vampire family! 

I would have loved to witness Edward and Bella's vampire sex.  Bella confronts Edward that he was holding back during their honeymoon when he broke down their matrimonial bed.  But since all the hype already happened in Part 1, they had to tone it down big time in Part 2.  The whole house would have been shaking off the ground and the residents of Forks probably thought it was an earthquake. 

After watching Breaking Dawn Part 1, I did go on Wikipedia to find out what happens in Part 2.  It sounded boring, with the Volturi headed to Washington to kill Renesmee and Aro finally realizes that she does not pose a threat to the Volturi.  I thought, how could you make a movie out of that?  But, they did do a fantastic job, especially the scenes where they showed some of our favorite characters dying one by one.  No!  Not Carlisle!  Not Emmet!  Not the two wolves!  Who were they, anyway?  Jane (Dakota Fanning), yeah, she deserves to die, that evil bitch!  It was a long 10 minute battle and in the end, as it can only happen in the movies, does everyone come out alive and well.  How?  Go see for yourself! 

I'd like to buy all 4 dvds as the final chapter becomes available.  My favorite Twilight scenes of all time are:


#6      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EsNmAvXyVQ

#5      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDkKX50q9HU&feature=player_detailpage

#4      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsE-hrOX5z0

#3      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2ayEiB6qcg

#2      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCYpTtBg5PU&feature=player_detailpage

#1      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=527bawsDr6s&feature=player_detailpage

Edward and Bella, may your love flourish for a thousand years!

San Francisco Giants

So the Giants won the World Series.  It was more exciting during the playoffs and after the 2nd straight win against Detroit.  After that, we knew it would be a sweep.  I wish Detroit beat us twice to bring the final games home.  But what do you do?  We just have an awesome team.

School proclaimed Wednesday as a holiday this year.  It's about time.  Two years ago, they wouldn't even allow the students to take off early to watch the parade downtown.  My son was in college back then and drove home for 7 hours with his friends to watch the parade.  Since it was the Giants' first win in God knows when, no one was sure where the best spot would be to see the players.  They opted for Civic Center and ended up not seeing the players properly.  Should have hit Market Street early. 

I asked him if I should even bother going in to the city to watch the parade.  He said if I wanted a good spot, I should be on Market Street by 7-8 am.  Parade starts at 11 am.  I'm better off watching the whole thing on tv, don't you agree?  The last time I subjected myself to all the madness in San Francisco was during Fleet Week and made the mistake of boarding a Muni bus with shoulder to shoulder people on board.  Two days later, I developed a bad cough and cold with green phlegm.  Lovely!

Here's to the San Francisco Giants!  Here's to the awesome new players like Pagan, Pence, Crawford, Belt, Scutaro, Theriot and Blanco.  All the new guys were instrumental in winning the series.  Here's to the veterans like Zito, Cain, Vogelsong, Lincecum, Romo, Sandoval, Posey and Bumgarner.  You were all just as instrumental in this win.  It was definitely a team effort by all.  We are all so very proud of you and you all deserve it.

I love my Giants!  You make us proud!

Fantasizing about LVs again.

For several years, I've been visiting Louis Vuitton's website, picking my favorite bags and deciding what to get.  I even you tube them to get people's comments.  These are/were my choices:



Popincourt Haut.  I'm a lover of square bags but not a lover of oxidized leather.  Besides, this bag was discountinued.  Too bad.  It even had a zipper.


Brea MM Vernis.  Still on the top of my list. Do I really want to live with that shoulder strap getting in the way all the time?  It does look fab, though!




1st choice.
Neverfull MM.  Everybody and their uncle has this, both fake and authentic.  So why am I drawn to this?  I like how it's boxy and I especially love the strings at the sides.  You can toss everything and anything in there!  Yeah, right.  Me who hates carrying a bag that weighs more than 3 lbs.  That's the look that I prefer.  Cinched at the sides, creating a square look as usual.  But that beautiful leather will eventually oxidize.  Solution?  Get the Damier Ebene below.




Damier Ebene.  No oxidizing and the red interior looks hot. 





Cabas Rivington.  Looks like the Neverfull but the best part is you can zip it at the sides and voila, it looks square!  I know it'll be hard to find stuff in there since it's so deep.  Maybe not since it doesn't have a zipper.  They should make this in Damier Azur and Monogram Multicolore. 




Speedy 30 Multicolor.  Who wouldn't love this?  But you can only wear solid colors with this bag.  Why doesn't it come with a strap?  You can't be holding that bag on your arm forever! 




Hampstead MM.  I've been eyeing this lately.  Square and not very common out there.  Nice, isn't it?  Perfect around the shoulders too.  Forget it.  Just crossed this off my wish list.





Delightful GM.  Never really noticed this until a co-worker brought it to my attention, because of the hardware.  Very nice but it will be too massive for my frame.  GM stands for ginormous monster. 




2nd choice.

Wilshire MM.  Go figure.  It's boxy.


Again, maybe one of these days..............

No more pedis for me!

Had a pedi last month at a place I've been going to for 5 years.  3 weeks later, my toe started hurting and it was red and throbbing.  Paid a visit to my podiatrist and he said I had an ingrown toe nail.  He warned me against getting pedis and allowing anyone to use their tools on my feet because these places never sterilize their tools and he has seen so many infections. 

   Dr. Dobbs gave me 3 shots on my big toe to numb it.  That was painful.  I didn't feel the last 2 shots though.  He then inserted a ginormous needle at the base of my toe and asked if I felt it.  When I said no, he said it was safe to start the procedure. 

I'm not gonna go through the gory details but here's a video of something similar that was done on my foot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QESGRKlehhM&feature=player_detailpage#t=39s

    Seriously, I think it was just a classic case of an ingrown toenail instead of a toe infection as a result of the pedi.  But who knows.  Now, I feel hesitant to get another pedi.  But it feels so good!  What to do?  Ensure that they sterilize their tools?  How?  My daughter says they always use their tools from a sealed plastic bag which they open in front of you.  I've never noticed it.  That doesn't mean anything.  Or maybe  I should just stick with one pedicurist from now on.  Trinity. 

The ultimate life

Wouldn't you just love to live this life?






































But I wouldn't want my head chopped off in the end!  It was good while it lasted, Marie.

Darcy books on my list

A letter to my 25 year old self

Here's a letter I would have written to myself back when I was 25.

Dear Me,

Don't spend your energy worrying about things ... everything always turns out all right. Pay attention to your gut; it's rarely wrong.  Don't be upset or depressed when things are not perfect; life is a combination of good, bad, happy and sad days and experiences.  Don't be afraid to have an opinion or disagree with someone who has a different point of view; your voice counts.  Don't give up your values or principles for a man; the right man will love you just the way you are.  Don't lose yourself; laugh as loud as you want and be every bit of yourself as you are.  Don't sell yourself short; you won't always be the smartest, but you will work harder than anyone else.  Don't spend what you don't have; you will always have what you need.  Don't give up on love; you will find it much later in life and it will be worth the wait.  

Be present everyday and savor every moment, whether it is joyful or painful; there is a lesson in everything.  Everything happens for a reason.

Be kind, be generous, be grateful, be content, be happy.  You'll be just fine.

Love,

Me

 You know that fear that you have about producing ugly children?  No worries, they all turn out to be gorgeous!

This post is inspired by the latest issue Oprah magazine ... HOW TO GET BETTER WITH AGE.

Oprah writes a letter to her 21 year old self

My favorite song

You've got to hide your love away

John Lennon

Song facts:

It was rumored that this was the first gay rock song, a message to Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who was gay. In the part of The Beatles Anthology, that covers Epstein's death, this song is played, giving credence to the idea that this song was indeed a song about hiding one's homosexuality.

 

John Lennon told Rolling Stone in 1971, that when he wrote this, he was just knocking out pop songs, without expressing his own personal emotions to any great extent: He explained: "I was in Kenwood (his home at the time) and I would just be songwriting. The period would be for songwriting and so every day I would attempt to write a song and it's one of those that you sort of sing a bit sadly to yourself, 'Here I stand, head in hand...'"

Lennon then went on to say how listening to Bob Dylan was beginning to influence his songwriting around the time he wrote this.  He recalled: "I started thinking about my own emotions - I don't know when exactly it started like 'I'm a Loser' or 'Hide Your Love Away' or those kind of things, instead of projecting myself into a situation, I would just try to express what I felt about myself which I'd done in me books. I think it was Dylan who helped me realize that - not by any discussion or anything but just by hearing his work - I had a sort of professional songwriter's attitude to writing pop songs; he would turn out a certain style of song for a single and we would do a certain style of thing for this and the other thing.  I was already a stylized songwriter on the first album. But to express myself I would write Spaniard in the Works or In His Own Write, the personal stories which were expressive of my personal emotions.

 

The line "feeling 2 foot small" was written "feeling 2 foot tall." Lennon sang it wrong but liked it and left it that way.

 

Session musicians played flutes. It was the first time outsiders played on a Beatles record.

 

Lennon's friend Pete Shotton came up with the "Heys" in the chorus.

My Boring Weekend

Saw this movie.  Enjoyed it.  I love Emily Blunt.  I don't think she ever appeared in a movie with an American accent.  I guess that's her charm.

My hobby.  Makes me happy.  Really.

Here's a present I wrapped for someone I don't even know.  Going to her birthday party this weekend with a friend.  If she only knew the time I spent searching for the gift and wrapper.  I'm not complaining 'cause I really enjoyed it!

Did a ton of laundry.  You can tell a man invented this.  Really?  Just out of curiosity, I had to try them on.  My damn feet couldn't tell the difference between left and right!  I mean, who does this?  Are these meant for morons?  Do you think the mothers out there have the time to search for the left and right sock to put them together on top of the zillion other things we have to do?  My husband even had the nerve to tell me once that I bundled two left socks together!  I gave him a dirty look and told him he should do the laundry and folding from now on.

One of the 5 loads of laundry I did today.  Why am I doing your laundry?  Am I a bad mother or a tired mother?  I put in 50 hours of work this week.  I shouldn't have to do any housework on top of that.  I'm not superwoman.  Hello????

Me:  You know, you should be able to wash the tupperware and frying pan instead of leaving it in the sink.

Son:  I'm soaking it so it'll be easier to wash.

Me:  Yeah but no one makes any attempt to wash these things around here.  You all expect me to wash all the pots and tupperwares.  Not fair!

Silence.

4 hours later, son finally washed them.   :)

I'd rather iron and do laundry all day than research for this.  I'll pay $20 to any takers out there.

Just hand over the chocolates and no one gets hurt.

I went to the kitchen to get a drink of this but it's all gone.  You all understand me when you have that certain craving right?  All I can say is I live with a bunch of vultures.

At least they took me out to dinner Friday and Sunday.  Ate leftovers on Saturday.  I shouldn't complain.