DAY 9:

DAY 8:

DAY 7:

DAY 6: Paella and The Sting

DAY 6:

PAELLA! One of my all time favorite dishes to make and eat is paella. Our family makes it with chicken, chorizo, sea bass, squid, sea scallops, shrimp, mussels, clams, and the famous bomba rice that makes the whole dish work perfectly. I was a good sunday to make paella because it was about 45 degrees outside, and although that is a little nippy, it is perfect when making the paella out on the grill. But before I can get to paella, the rest of the day happened before I even started prepping for dinner.

It was the first sunday of the New Year, which means epiphany Sunday, and that means church. It was a good church lesson, with singing and readings about the magi (three kings). it felt good to get back to church, especially since this was one of the few Christmases that I have not attended Christmas Eve service.

I met my friends for lunch/brunch after at a place called Versailles. It was great to catch up with my friends, but I thought the lunch/brunch was not worth the overpriced food. (Below is an awkward candid shot taken while Sarah and my attentions were diverted)

Not my finest moment.

After some serious shopping at Whole Foods and our local fish market, it was time to give my puppy some love.

DAY 5: Hitchcock screening...PART 1

DAY 5:

For Christmas, my dad decided he was going to culture my sister and I by making us watch a ton of old movies. He purchased about 25 blu-ray DVDs which we can watch over our break, and tonight we had our first screening. The movie showing in our movie theatre tonight was "North by Northwest" directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Although I have to say that Cary Grant is one good looking 54 year old, the movie didn't really make sense to me, I thought the concept was a little dry. It was about an 2 hour and 15 minute movie on a concept that could have been covered in a one hour television show. I want my movies to move me, to challenge my level of thought, to make me question the way I approach something. I found myself almost falling asleep during the movie, and even though it has had its moments, I couldn't help but think that the movie is drawn out. I am seriously hoping that tomorrow nights movie is a little bit better than tonights. 

DAY 4: The September Issue meets Devil Wears Prada

DAY 4:

As part of my christmas gifts, I bought a gorgeous royal blue Kate Spade bag thanks to my grandparents. I have always loved crazy colored bags because I tend to wear a lot of black and neutral colors so I use my bags as a pop of color. This bag is just gorgeous, and matches my new royal blue obsession. It looks great with a fabulous black outfit and I just love it. I have been getting a lot of compliments about it when carrying it around town, which had me thinking about fashion today in general. Thanks to this, I was prompted to watch two great movies after hanging out with some friends. 

First up was the Devil Wears Prada, which is a great movie featuring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci. Witha to die for cast, it combines my love of fashion with a great movie. This movie, based on a book, is claimed to be based off of an experience with the fashion queen, or devil depends on who you ask, Anna Wintor. A couple years back, Anna Wintour and the people at Vogue were followed around in preparation for their September issue, which is the biggest of the year. So because I watched the Devil Wears Prada, I had to follow it up with The September Issue, just to keep the streak going.

Fashion is a religion. This is the bible.

January fashion magazines are notorious for being some of the thinnest, flimsiest issues of the year, due to the fact that there really is nothing new to promote because it is still winter, and not yet time for resort wear or spring. After my fashion flick marathon, I am in need of some retail therapy tomorrow to carry me over until the spring. Warmer weather, please come back into my life!

DAY 3: Skyfall for the newest Bond movie

DAY 3:

A couple days ago the Producers Guild Awards list of nominees was announced and there was one major surprise on their top 10 movies list. Out of the list below, I have seen four of the movies.

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Django Unchained

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Moonrise Kingdom

Silver Linings Playbook

Skyfall

Zero Dark Thirty

I saw Argo a couple months back and loved it. It was a constant thriller that kept me on my toes even though I knew what was going to happened in the end. I am also a huge Ben Affleck fan (only when married to Jennifer Garner). I saw Les Miserables as part of a special advanced screening in DC. I went by myself and was surrounded by all different types of people as I sobbed my eyes out. Eddie Redmayne is perfect, although I really wish that the Soundtrack on iTunes featured "A Little Fall of Rain" because I think that is some of his and Samantha Barks best work besides "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" and "On my Own". I saw Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook in one night and they were both awesome. Lincoln was so iconic Speilberg but also so History Channel that I loved it. It was scary how well Daniel Day Lewis played our American hero. Silver Linings Playbook was a work of genius on the part of Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. Jennifer Lawrence showed with this performance that even though she is a big blockbuster superstar (Hunger Games and sequels) she can still rock a great indie roll that takes a lot of character depth. 

But the reason for all of this is the big surprise on the list is Skyfall which my mom and I went and saw tonight! The rest of the movies on the list I do not really care to see, except Zero Dark Thirty, which hasn't come out yet.

Skyfall Review:

DAY 2: More Resolutions...

DAY 2:

Today was all about my high school friends. I was really excited that tonight I was able to spend my night with six of my closest high school friends. It is always great to meet up with them when we are home because it gives me the opportunity to take a walk down memory lane, but feel a little bit more grounded at the same time. We had dinner at Ginger Man and then dessert at Meli Melo, both of which were really good. So as a result of this great dinner and all of us heading back to our respective colleges, another New Year's resolution is to stay in better contact with them throughout my second semester and over the summer. 

LEO'S CORNER

DAY 1: New Day, New Year, New Possibilities

So it is a new day with new beginnings. But today isn't just any day, it is also the first day of the New Year. And my goal for the year, or rather my New Year's revolution is to blog everyday of 2013. But in order to blog about something every day, I have to do something interesting EVERY DAY. No more laying around in bed for the entire day, no more casual sundays of only watching the NY Giants getting their asses kicked, this is the beginning of a New Year and a new lifestyle.

SO.....

DAY 1:

Day 1 was kicked off by one hell of a concert. All I can say is that you know it is going to be one hell of a year when you ring in the New Year with Coldplay, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow. It was a concert filled with all of the people I love and admire the most. I almost died when I saw Gwyneth Paltrow dancing hardcore to all of my favorite Jay-Z and Coldplay songs. WHY is she sooooo perfect? Although they are a little grainy, here are some photos from last night.

This was the first time I have been to the Barclays Center and I was very impressed by how nice the exterior and interior are designed. The crowd was huge out front before the doors opened, but once they opened everyone dispersed to one of the many bars throughout the arena, because it was New Years Eve.