the oscar countdown: day four - some fast facts about mr. oscar

with the oscars just hours away (well a lot of hours...), here are five trivia facts to use to impress your friends on sunday (or maybe they will come in handy in a game of quizzo??)

picture via people.com, photograph by Bob D'Amico/ABC

• charlie chaplin's movie limelight won an academy award TWENTY years after it was produced.  a little known rule of the academy awards is that the film must be played in los angeles for it to be nominated and it was not shown in la until 1972.  crazy!!

• ever dreamed of walking the red carpet? well pick up some red fabric and lay it down in your local mall.  kodak theater, where thousands of fans gather to watch hollywood's royalty (and maybe heidi montag/pratt) walk the red carpet each year, is actually in a mall!  yes...you read that right, luckily for the celebs if they need a quick snack before the oscars they can pick up a pretzel from auntie anne's on their way in.  

• the real name of the statute is in fact not oscar, but instead the academy award of merit (i dont know why that name didn't stick).   the statute is 13 1/2 inches long and it weight 8 1/2 pounds.  sounds like a brand new baby to me.

• if you are married, there is a legitimate reason why you should be happy you are not nominated for an oscar. 60% of all women in the past 75 years who were nominated for best actress got a divorce some time after receiving the nomination.  i was surprised when i read this but then quickly thought of 3  break ups of recent nominees...reese witherspoon, kate winslet, and sandra bullock.  i wonder if these husbands were worried about mrs. witherspoon, winslet, or bullock.

• wish that the oscar nominations were a little steamier this year?  well to get this fill, check out midnight cowboy...the only x-rated movie to win an academy award for best picture.  for those of you who don't know, according to imdb this 1969 movie is about "a naive male prostitute and his sickly friend who struggle to survive on the streets of New York City" and features a young dustin hoffman and jon voight.

these fun facts were found at people.com, about.com, and neatorama.com

a toast to andy warhol

how sweet are these? dom pérignon's tribute to one of the most influential artists of all time, andy warhol. in this limited edition collection, vintage 2002 bottles of the premiere champagne have been made over with warhol's colorful silk screens.

the bottles come in three colors - red, yellow, and blue. it sounds like a beautifully delicious celebration!

images via freshnessmag.com

the oscar countdown: day three...hosts of oscars past.

the closer it gets to the big day on sunday, the more commercials there are featuring james franco and anne hathaway...i don't know about you, but these make me literally "lol" every time.  they are so funny, attractive, and smart (can you tell i have a major crush on both of them? totally normal.)  as i get excited to see how they will be as the hosts of the night, it makes me think of former oscar hosts.  here are my top 3 favorites...are there any that you would add to this list??

1. ellen degeneres - host of the 2007 oscars

maybe it is just because i looooove ellen, but i thought she was hilarious.  her sense of timing, creativity, and witty humor made these oscars extremely enjoyable.

2. steve martin - host of the 2001, 2003 oscars, co-host with alec baldwin of the 2010 oscars.  

steve is an academy awards host veteran.  as he is in all of his movies, he has a natural sense of coolness and humor that make you crack up at his jokes and he acts like it was not a joke at all.  his dry sense of humor and ability to poke fun at all types of celebrities always makes the oscars enjoyable when he is the host.

3.  whoopi goldberg - host of the 1994, 1996, 1999, 2002 oscars

this was a close call between whoopi and billy crystal (and while i looooove billy crystal), whenever i think of the oscars and past hosts, i always think of whoopi dressed up as queen elizabeth and then giggle to myself.  she was the first african-american female to host the academy awards too, talk about being awesome.

all pictures via access hollywood

why cards are so special to me

i was at my dad's house tuesday night going through some things and i came across a box that had a bunch of old cards in it. some were recent, from my 23rd birthday last year, and some were older, going all the way back to my high school graduation in 2005.

i can't decide which ones are my favorites, because i love them all (hence why i saved them)!

maybe it's the card my boss and his family gave me on the day of my high school graduation. they wrote the sweetest note about me being "beautiful inside and out". they had known me for many years, but unlike true family members, they had no obligation to say those things about me...so it meant that much more.

or maybe it's the cards that ainsley, jane, steph, and i sent each other the summer after high school graduation telling each other how sad we were going to be without our crew all together, how much we valued our friendships, and all throughout freshman year of college having countdowns until the next break when we could all come home and be together.

maybe my favorites are the cards from my dad because he always signs them "with love, a very proud daddy".

or maybe the most special is the last card i received that was signed "mom and dad" - my 20th birthday card.

some of the best are the ones i receive from my college roommate, erica. we don't get to see each other or talk much but getting her birthday cards and christmas cards in the mail every year always makes my day.

a lot of people don't put time into picking out a card, or writing anything special in it. after all, isn't that what the card companies are for? but i'm urging you to reconsider. these are the things that people (or maybe only me) save and come back to at random points in life. these are the things that bring you back to special moments in your life and remind you who was there with you for them. and that's what makes them all special, and worth keeping.

bieber fever part two...the utilization of social media to create a teen sensation

like jess mentioned yesterday...we have a serious case of bieber fever right now.  after seeing never say never, we are determined to score some sweet tickets for his next tour.  i have to admit that prior to seeing justin perform at the grammys and then in his movie, i was under the impression that he was just another teenager that was mildly talented but had a mega-company like disney or nickelodeon backing it up (yes, i really didn't know much about justin besides his killer haircut).  but after seeing the movie about his rise to fame, i have come to two conclusions: 1. i hope my child grows up to be as cool as the bieb and 2. there really are no limits to what social media can do (especially when combined with millions of overeager teenage girls). 

justin in one of the first videos posted by his mom on you-tube. check out those mad beats.
video via you-tube

justin bieber, the you-tube sensation turned teenage phenomenon really owes his success to 2 little websites - you-tube and twitter.   what really amazed me about his success story was that he really became famous and gained a fan base before having hit records on the radio or major record companies backing him up.  instead he relied on his talent and dreamy good looks to gain the traction that ultimately lead to him selling out madison square garden in under 22 minutes.  this success is purely based on marketing through a channel that didn't exist when he was born and in the same way the beatles are known for triggering the british invasion in the u.s., justin has established his legacy as being the first performer to truly become a success using social media.  

justin and his momma pattie, she seems to be an awesome role model for her son. 

picture via pop on the pop

i am by no means a music expert, but i think that justin bieber makes for a really cool case study in how you can use social media to define your brand, expand your business, or even establish yourself as the biggest teen sensation of the day.  it is always amazing to see what are the by products of the evolution of technology and if it means that more people as talented as the bieb are able to get famous, then i say never say never to what is possible (too cheesy?) 

the oscar countdown: day 2

with alanna's permission, i've stolen her thunder a little... she had the great idea of dedicating a post each day this week to the upcoming academy awards, and as i was browsing the internet i came across an article featured on thehuffingtonpost.com that combines two things i'm sweet on: wine and the oscars!

gregory del piaz of snooth.com tells us the appropriate wines to pair with some of this year's oscar nominated films. there's a black swan chardonnay from australia for (you guessed it) black swan, inception pinot noir for inception, true grit petite sirah for true grit - yes these are all real brands of wine! the most clever selection - albeit the most morbid - is an australian shiraz called "the dead arm" for the film 127 hours. the irony of this wine? it's a screw top.

check out the whole list of wines here.

the oscar countdown

with less than a week till the big day, i decided to write a post each day dedicated to the big show on sunday.  first up i thought it would be fun to look back on last year's winners, it is crazy to see how much has changed in just a year.

 first up: mariah carey.  at this time last year she was enjoying being a newlywed with hubby nick cannon and now just a year later she is very, very pregnant with twins.  i am guessing that those babies will have a blinged out butterfly-themed nursery. 

next - miley cyrus...in the past year alone, miley became legal, tried out "salvia", started in the worst movie ever (the last song), and had to suffer through her parents' breakup.  seems like a lot of lows and highs to me.  oh and she starred in never say never, i guess it was an excellent year after all.

not only did penelope cruz look smokin' hot last year, she also had a pretty awesome year.  she got married to javier bardem and gave birth to a son, rumored to be named leo...love!

and finally with by far the most dramatic year since the oscars...sandra bullock.  that girl deserves an oscar just for handling everything she was dealt this year with such class, she is truly an idol.  having to deal with someone like jesse james not only cheat on her but then get engaged all in one year (to someone who looks-wise at least is the polar opposite) and finding out she has to raise a (very cute) baby as a single mother...she handles everything flawlessly.  clearly i am a fan.  i hope that this year treats her a little better!

can you think of anyone else that i forgot??

all pictures from just jared

i love all things letterpress

this print seems like the perfect mantra these days, as we are in the awkward age of still figuring out our lives and expected to be real adults.  i hope we are making the right decisions each day.

picture via etsy

confession: i've got bieber fever

(paramount pictures movie poster image via fandango.com)

yesterday on our day off, alanna and i went to go see justin bieber: never say never with our friend ainsley. i definitely recommend that you see it! despite being the oldest people in the theater without children, i didn't feel creepy - the movie was done documentary style so it made it easy to say you were just there to learn about one of the up and coming artists of our time. (plus, once the lights dim in the theater, no one can tell how old you are anyway) but the real reason we were there? you guessed it...bieber fever. i have it - bad! the kid actually has an amazing voice and is super musically talented. the movie really portrays how hard he worked to get where he is and how much he appreciates his fans.

i'm trying to decide what my favorite part of the movie was... it's a toss up between seeing so many baby pictures and home movies (adorable!) and the fact that it was in 3D so every time justin sang into the camera and reached out his hands, it was like he was singing and reaching right to you (*sigh*). clearly i'm having trouble deciding whether i want to be this kid's mother or his girlfriend (when he's legal of course...).

after the movie, i went home and downloaded ten more of his songs from itunes and made a playlist dedicated entirely to the biebs. alanna has already asked me to put the songs on her ipod, too.

a week late but...

here is quick look into who i thought was the best dressed at the grammy's last sunday.  i love the red carpet at the grammys because people are more willing to go out of the box and wear awesome, cutting edge fashion.  these were my top picks...any other favorites??

 

eva longoria looks hotter than ever, i think being single suits her

 paz vega is not a household name, but i am really digging her white mini dress...and those shoes!

 giuliana ranic is a red carpet expect by now, i love the red ribbon!

 okay i might be the minority here, but i think janelle monae's outfit is beyond cool. i love that blazer. 

 juliana hough is radiating, maybe because ryan seacrest had a secret date planned for valentines day

 LOVE selena gomez...and not just because she is dating justin bieber

 

you can't have the best dressed of any red carpet without heidi klum, i dont think it's possible for her to look bad.  

and last but certainly not least...

lady gaga. she is a genius. 

all pictures are from style bistro.