a few of my favorite things...

Favorite Album: Lykke Li - Youth Novels

I can't tell you how many times my cubicle neighbor at work has told me turn my music down in the last two weeks. It's all because of this album. I can't help but sing along and dance in my seat. My two favorite songs on the album are "I'm Good, I'm Gone" and "Little Bit" which can both be heard here on her MySpace page. I just saw that she's on tour and of course she's not coming here. Lame.

Favorite Food: Annie Chun's 

As a single lady who is constantly on the run...hahaha, just kidding. But seriously this stuff rocks! See where it says "Ready In 1 Minute"? Annie is not lying. It literally takes a minute to cook and it's soooo good. I have everyone in my office hooked. It's not too pricey either. About the same as a Lean Cuisine. There are a ton of different flavors but the Chinese Chow Mein is my favorite! Also, if you like sticky rice but find it kind of a pain to make. Well you're in luck. There is also a sticky rice bowl that she has that also only takes 1 minute to cook. And it's good sticky rice. Check out the website here.

Favorite Movie of 2008: Slumdog Millionaire

If you haven't seen this movie yet, do it. Do it now. It's up for numerous Oscars this year including best picture. This is the first year that I've seen all the nominated pictures and it definitely deserves to win. I love anything Danny Boyle directs but this is by far my favorite of his. Just see it. You'll love it. You can see the trailer here. Oh, and the soundtrack is great too!

Favorite Movie at the Sundance Film Festival: Push - Based On The Novel By Sapphire

So this year the big winner at the Sundance Film Festival was Push. It's based on a novel by the African-American poet Sapphire. I've never read the book and to be honest I don't think I will. This film was definitely hard to watch at times. The story centers on an illiterate and obese African-American teenager in 1980s Harlem who is pregnant with her father’s child — for the second time — and is also abused by her mother. It's not a true story, thank goodness, but you have to think that this kind of stuff happens ALL the time. Like I said, it was very hard to watch at times but at the same time it was so inspiring how the main character, Precious Jones, rose above. The girl who played Precious was amazing and it was her acting debut. She had never done anything before. But it was the performance by the actress Mo'Nique who blew my mind. I had no idea she had it in her. She's a comedian who I had never really been that impressed with. She plays the villain in the film and she does an amazing job. I don't care what movies come out from now until the end of the year but I believe she should win the Oscar for best female lead. And it wasn't until recently that the movie even got picked up by a distributor. There was talk that maybe it wouldn't get picked up because of the subject matter but I'm so happy that Lionsgate finalized the deal this week and bought the rights for 5.5 million. It now it looks like Oprah and director/actor Tyler Perry are behind the film so you know that will help it a ton. Read this article to read more. Others who make cameos: Mariah Carrey, who surprisingly was awesome! (I never thought those words would come out of my mouth about her acting) And the gorgeous Lenny Kravitz who I fell in love with a little more if that was even possible. I highly recommend this film but if you choose not to see it I would totally understand and if you hate it I would also understand. 

Loves,

Lou