Movies

I'll try and do a mini post under this heading every now and then to let you know what I've recently seen. So if you don't care; feel free to skip it!

Saw Iron Man 2 and was super disappointed as I loved the first one. Of course, watching Robert Downey is a joy but aside from him the movie was a real dud.

Loved Robin Hood; highly recommend it. It had just enough of everything to interest my H, my teenage son and me. Russel Crowe was great, of course. There was some fascinating English history to appeal to us history buffs, and then at the exact moment your attention was starting to drift, wham, an awesome fight scene-castles being stormed, arrows flying, damsels in distress, and lots of swords , mud and blood.
City Island. This is one of those films they don't make enough of. I hope the word of mouth spreads and this film goes from an art house favorite to a big hit so the studios will make more of these kinds of movies. No special effects, no fight scenes just real people, great dialogue, great story. Funny, sad and all around worthwhile. Iron Man 2 (CD/DVD)

spa vacation

Just back from an awesome vacation with my mom and daughter at Woodloch spa. It was my Mom's birthday present to my D and me. Great present! The place was not too far, an easy 3 hour drive and was incredibly beautiful. The dining room and all the hang out rooms had huge windows looking into the woods. The exercise rooms were on the 3rd floor with floor to ceiling windows which make for a beautiful work out atmosphere. The staff could not have been nicer from the guys who parked our car to the dining room staff, front desk and spa folks. The food was amazing. All 3 meals were included and you could order whatever you wanted. The food was delicious and since the portions were small you could easily eat everything on the menu! So between the 3 of us we ate every appetizer, entree and dessert. We had some wonderful treatments including yummy body wraps, facials and massages and spend relaxing time in a hot tub on the outdoor deck overlooking the woods. There were couples there as well which surprised me as I couldn't imagine my husband hanging out at a spa for 2 days. It was a wonderful thing to do as a mother daughter trip ( thanks mom!!) We met 2 women who were sorority sisters 40 years ago and still vacation together which pleased my D. My only complaint? We had to come home!

Marriage

Thinking about marriage lately. Not sure why. Maybe because someone asked me about a caterer and I realized I was too far from Bar mitzvah throwing stage to know one and that I couldn't envision needing one until wedding stage; hopefully more than a few years away. Or maybe it was when a friend tried to find a couple's bridal registry on line and along with their registry discovered more information than she bargained for, including their wedding details, honeymoon destination and the price they paid for their house. Wow, the information age has really changed the wedding process!

So while planning a successful wedding might have changed I suspect that having a successful marriage has not. I thought it might be great to ask friends and family what is the one, or two, pieces of advice they would give their children on picking a mate and having a happy marriage. Positive or negative advice is fine. My hope is that this becomes a larger collaboration. Please pass on your advice and that of your friends and family. Feel free to send them this piece. You can email it directly to me at css1222@gmail.com or leave your advice in the comment section. I promise to organize it and pass it back on to everyone. Thanks!
Below I've passed on a few gems from some first ladies (excuse any paraphrasing). I thought their advice really rang true.

Betty Ford; On Marriage
Marriage is always a 20%/80% deal. Sometimes you're 20 and he's 80 and sometimes it's the other way around.

Babara Bush; On picking a mate:
Find someone you love to be with and someone who shares yor hobbies.

Michelle Obama; On picking a mate:
Start out with someone you respect and trust. Be sure you generally like the other person, like the way they think, like the person they are. If you are with someone you trust, respect and like, you will have that foundation you need for when you hit those inevitable bumps.

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