Milk and Cookies

Watching lately: what DVDs have we been renting

milkandcookies — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:43:08 +0000

I was going to do another ‘what’s on our televisions‘ post but I realized that I’d have to confess that I’ve only been watching American Idol, Battlestar Galactica, and Survivor for WEEKS now. How . . . lame.

So, how about we dish movie-talk instead? We rarely get out to the theater any more (although I did see Iron Man, which had a Fun Factor of at least eleven) but we rent DVDs on a fairly frequent basis. Here’s what we’ve checked out recently:

Cloverfield. I enjoyed this movie enough to see it in the theater AND rent it, and if you avoided the theater experience because you heard all the camera movement was making people hurl, watching it on your TV is much less disorienting. Totally fun monster movie, with nail-biting moments galore and some truly spectacular special effects. I rarely say this, but the DVD extras are actually worth watching afterwards, just to see what all went into the production.

Juno. You saw this, right? I think everyone saw this. Well, if you somehow missed it, I recommend you go ahead and slap it in your Netflix queue because it’s just as funny, quirky, and heartwarming as everyone says it is.

American Gangster. I knew in the first three minutes of this movie that the pacing was going to be all wrong for me: I found it slow, dull, un-engaging, and way the hell too long. I didn’t care about the characters, I didn’t believe any of the characters, and not even Denzel’s fine-ass self could save this for me.

Gone Baby Gone. Another dud as far as I’m concerned. Maybe it’s that I’ve never liked Casey Affleck, maybe it’s that the storyline was ridiculous, maybe it was the laughable dialogue, either way: BOO.

Michael Clayton. Now, as you may have heard this was supposed to be a good movie, and I was glad to discover that for me it lived up to its reputation. It wasn’t exactly action-packed, but it’s interesting, unfolds nicely, and features a pitch-perfect performance by Mr. Clooney. Two thumbs up!

Lars and the Real Girl. Here’s the little-known title of the bunch, and my absolute favorite. I am not even going to try and describe what this is about, and if you go read the synopsis you will think it sounds downright crazy and maybe pornographic, but I will say that it’s the sweetest, most charming, entirely feel-goodish movie I think I’ve about ever seen. There!

What movies have you been renting lately? Got any must-sees or must-avoids to share?

Teacher Gifts, Part One: Time to Worry!

swistle — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:38:34 +0000

I worry EVERY SINGLE YEAR about teacher gifts. I worry about it twice: once before December vacation, and once at the end of the school year. We’re heading for the end of the school year now, so I’m about a month into worrying about it already.

One of my favorite ideas is (more…)

Unique day planners

milkandcookies — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:15:43 +0000

For those of you who like tangible organization tools (as opposed to software), and you’re tired of the same old Day Runners, Day-Timers, Franklin Coveys, etc, this post’s for you. I’ve been looking at day planners recently, both because of a request to cover them here and the growing realization that the combination of two small children, a part-time office job, ongoing freelance assignments, and a swirling maelstrom of doctor’s appointments/errands/grocery lists/home and garden projects/ET-BLEEPING-CETERA is resulting in what you might call a need for improved personal productivity on my end.

Ahem. So, planners! Preferably interesting and/or unique ones! Let’s check them out: (more…)

Getting to KNOWWWWWWW You…! (Or Rather: Me)

swistle — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:25:14 +0000

There were some questions on my first post. Let’s chat!

1. Are you and Linda S. the same person? No. Linda and I also work together on her site SundryBuzz.

2. Where are the cute Target earrings?? Hidden by my hair.

3. Are these your kids’ real names now, or still the pseudonyms you use on your Swistle blog? (more…)

Sharing the Milk and Cookies

swistle — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:17:52 +0000

Until today, I’ve done all my Internet writing as Swistle, She Who Must Not Be Photographed. And today I am writing as Kristen, and my picture is up there in the banner. I feel a little exposed. Naked. Well, not naked. Bikini’d.

Kristen (not actually in bikini)

So, hi! There I am, with (more…)

Traditional diamond jewelry: yay or nay?

milkandcookies — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:40:35 +0000

So Mother’s Day is coming up, traditionally the time of year when lots of women secretly hope for amazingly thoughtful gifts from their spouses and receive . . . well, it’s the thought that counts, right? My own husband has a poor track record with this holiday, one year claiming that it didn’t ‘make any sense’ to get me anything until our son was old enough to pick it out.

(Aw, sweetie, guess what else doesn’t make sense? HAVING SEX AGAIN EVER.)

I don’t lust too heavily after gifts consisting of little blue Tiffany boxes because to be honest, I’d rather have a whole crapload of Amazon gift certificates so I can buy all the makeup, comic books, and DVDs that I want. However, ’tis the season to talk jewelry, so I thought I’d run down some of the top ticket traditional sparkly-things, and see what you think about them:
(more…)

Mother’s Day gift ideas

milkandcookies — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:03:23 +0000

I don’t know about you, but in my house almost all the gift-giving strategies fall on my shoulders, regardless of the occasion. So if you’re in a similar boat, and you maybe have a hard-to-shop for relative to consider this Mother’s Day, here are just a couple ideas for gifts that fall outside the “lovely framed picture of the grandchildren” spectrum (although frankly, those are the easiest and probably best-received ones):

(more…)

Sticking with one brand for skincare: do you do it?

milkandcookies — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:53:08 +0000

I was thinking about brand loyalty recently because I noticed that while I love Bumble & bumble hair products, I tend to buy all sorts of random shampoos. I have a stack of them in my shower ranging from fancypants expensive salon varieties to good old drugstore cheapskate brands. My basic requirement on shampoo is that it needs to smell good, I guess — I’ve never really noticed that one makes a major difference over another.

Skin care’s another story, though. I am officially fussy about the stuff I use on my face, and fiercely loyal to one particular brand, who I swear is not paying me to say so: philosophy.

I’ll admit I’m kind of a sucker for their great packaging and the fragrance of their line (lots of lavender), but I also think their stuff just . . . works. Awesomely. My favorite items:
(more…)

Decorating ideas for your work office

milkandcookies — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:08:44 +0000

My maternity leave is drawing to an end, and I am both dreading and anticipating returning to work, if that makes any sense. There are things I’m really looking forward to: being around other adults, working on projects, and having an ongoing reason to get dressed before noon a few days a week. But of course I’ll miss being around the kids, especially since Dylan has officially entered the Adorable Cooing Phase of babyhood.

At any rate, when I get back to work at the start of May I’ll need to update some of the family photos I’ve got in my office. I mean, now there’s a whole new child to proudly display. Plus, I’d like to spruce things up in general — my workplace had just moved to a new building before I went on leave, so my office is kind of drab since I hadn’t bothered to personalize it much before leaving it empty for twelve weeks.

Do you have any cool ideas for spiffing up a workspace, and including items that remind you of your family? I’d love to hear them! Here are a few things I’ve been looking at:
(more…)

Share your real-world parenting tips

milkandcookies — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:31:05 +0000

After my first son was born I remember reading a parenting book that was supposed to be a collection of tips and tricks from Real Parents Just Like You, except the advice it contained had a real pod-person feel to it and I questioned the legitimacy of contributors like “Anne, mother of 7″ who suggested that dry oatmeal was a fun sensory stimulator for young children. “Just fill a box or plastic tub, and let the good times roll!” Sure, maybe a mother of seven has nothing better to do than vacuum a metric crapload of oatmeal out of every crevice in her house, but somehow I doubt it.

I’d rather read a collection of suggestions that address real-world issues, and “My children do not have nearly enough Quaker products crammed in their bodily cavities” isn’t really a concern I’ve experienced. I still consider myself a mouth-breathing amateur at this motherhood business, but here are a few of the tips I’ve learned over the last couple years, should anyone be in the market for creating a new oatmeal-free book:

(more…)