oscar night

We settled in tonight for the red carpet arrivals so we could analyze each dress and hairdo. Our thoughts so far....

The Good

• A lot of nice strapless gowns and only a few ladies tugging them upward (yes, we saw you Cameron Diaz)
• Natural skin tones instead of orange
• Many flattering red dresses (Katherine Heigel, Anne Hathaway)
• Nice and easy up-dos considering the rainy weather
• Also making my good list is Jennifer Garner looking lovely in black and Keri Russell in a gorgeous champagne

The Bad

• Unlike many of the lovely up-dos I mentioned, Cameron Diaz looked like she came from the gym in a messy ponytail
• The unfortunate dress of Daniel Day-Lewis' wife/date
• Jessica Alba who rarely misses made the wrong dress choice in my opinion. She already had a baby bump and didn't need feathers creating more forward motion

The Unexplainable

• What the hell was Gary A-Busey thinking accosting Laura Linney and Jennifer Garner?
  
• Seth Rogen and the other hairy elf he was with

The show is off to a painfully slow start....did not care for the Jon Stewart opening. He can do a lot better so hopefully he'll redeem himself later on.

tidbits

I watched Harry Potter 5 around Christmas and found myself forgetting some details in books 6 and 7 so I decided to re-read them. I've been within 100 pages of finishing book 7 for almost a week. I can't bring myself to do it. I hate the sad, empty feeling after you finish a good book. *sigh*
I am glad we have the upcoming movies to look forward to. I can't think about NO more Harry Potter after that though.

We watched Knocked Up this weekend and I must say I didn't love it. Like might even be too strong of a word. I can't quite put my finger on what it was I didn't like. Probably a combo of the Katherine-Seth combo which just seemed all wrong and the distracting language/scenes in the uncut version. No one ever needs to see a baby crowning unless it's YOUR baby for pete's sake.

The Assassination of Jesse James just arrived...I still haven't had the courage to watch A Mighty Heart (the Daniel Pearl story). I liked the book a lot and I'm afraid Angelina is going to ruin it for me.

Have you seen the best song performances lined up for Sunday's Oscars? I'm thrilled Glen and Marketa will sing "Falling Slowly" from Once. The August Rush song should be great too. I think Amy Adams is super brave for singing a song from Enchanted.

a hairy topic

There’s an article in today’s Chicago Tribune about the beard trend. Apparently there’s a beard boom that I didn’t really notice since the husband has had a beard since the day I met him.

Anyone who knows how I met Ben knows I wasn’t quite sure about the beard at first. I mean, how many 22-year-olds do you know with a full beard? Ben has great hair genes. His dad has a beard for as long as Ben can remember.

I came to like, even love, Ben’s beard and get a little sad every summer when he shaves it off. The summer we lived in Santa Monica Ben tried something new. He shaved, but not his beard. He had a great short buzz cut all summer and kept the beard. The above picture overlooking Manhattan Beach is one of my favorites.

I don’t know a lot of ladies who love bearded men as much as I do. A recent friend commented upon seeing a photo of Matthew Fox that he was so hot, but she hated her husband’s scruff. Therein lies the problem, you only have to admire Matthew Fox from afar, but you have to kiss your husband. Hmph.

The beard looks great on a lot of guys so I hope you ladies out there give your guy a chance to try it. If you hate it just keep in mind that it’s only temporary. As fast as you can change outfits, your man can shave!