Movies for a snow day.

Might have seen a few of these
bumper stickers growing up. But yeah! Snow!

Since Birmingham is incredibly hilly and has maybe 2 trucks that throw sand down for the entire county- we usually play hard defense with snow storms (Or is it offense? I don't watch football that much). Here in Jefferson County everything shuts down 24 hours before the wintry mix threatens to stall out your car and prevent you from getting the VIP bread.

But! Sometimes we here folks get lax (and tired of getting made fun of). Like this past January where we were told there was going to be a light dusting of snow only to get 2 inches of ice without warning - everyone forgot for a second we were in Alabama - went to work and school (Ha Yankees! See! We Ain't Skeered!) and then (whoops) couldn't get home until the sun thawed it all out two days later.

JTS's drive home the next day. This is what happens when
you combine ice with no salt or sand and drivers that
have no experience with winter conditions.

Ever since that debacle (JTS narrowly avoided spending a night on his office floor and stayed at a friend's house) we have decided to go firmly back to our Alabama roots, Yankee laughter be damned. In the past two weeks school/work has been cancelled for 5 days I think? We are told to sit home, stay off the roads, and wait. And wait. And wait. And, as usual, nothing happens. It's just cold and grey (Birmingham is truly the ugliest city in winter) and then comes the hour's worth of snow. I remember rolling dirt into my snow to make a better snowman as a youth.






So it got me to thinkin' about my favorite winter movies. Movies that give you a warm cozy feeling and make you want to curl into a window seat in a Connecticut farmhouse and read your favorite book as you watch the flakes fall.

Here are my favorite snowy winter movies (in no particular order) that make it easier to pretend it's actually snowing.

1. Beautiful Girls - If you've never seen this movie hop on over to Netflix and get it. A super young and extremely talented Natalie Portman, Michael Rapaport before he got weird looking, and a cast of female leads to break your heart. They tried to make a t.v. show out of this move, October Road, that, like a lot of shows now, was just starting to get good when they canceled it. But I think you can watch it on Hulu and it is well worth it.

2. Little Women - I don't really need to sell this one. Lovely cast, lovely story, lovelier Christian Bale. Enjoy with a cup of cocoa, a quilt, and a knitting project.

3. Wonder Boys - I keep meaning to read the book but I just love this movie SO much I can't make myself. I spent so many years in the academic world of English majors I can relate to the literary institutions (and people) this movie pokes the gentlest fun at  (like "Word Fest"). It makes snow seems so warm and funny.

4. Grumpy Old Men - My brother and I loved this movie so much that we could quote Burgess Meredith lines hither and thither. Funny, sweet, and endearing.

5. The Family Stone - This movie gets panned all over the place but I love a sweet, wholesome movie. Get out the tissues! First for the cringing, then for the sadness, then for the sweetness. Also, good with cocoa. Or red wine.

Digging Out of a Moving Box Avalanche

Never underestimate how much time it takes to move (or do anything really) with a baby.

We've been in Birmingham for an official week and we are still trying to find a place for everything which is pretty difficult after house living since 2008 and suddenly moving into an apartment.

You learn a lot about yourself in a move.

For example, I realized I have an obsession with collecting the following:

1) Sets of dishes. I have 5 sets. Yes, 5. I love them all SO much I can't get rid of them even though I know it's an absurd amount of dishes.

Casual Wedding China, Gien "Toscana"

China I bought directly off this hotel's dining room table
before Prague switched to the Euro.

JTS's Fiestaware

Fancy Wedding China, Raynaud "Alle Royale"

My mom's Hadley

2) Glasses. I have 5 sets of drinking glasses. This does not include the wine glasses, the martini glasses (I think the last time anyone had a martini at my house was never), the tervis tumblers, and odd plastic cups picked up a long the way.

3) Dresses. Specifically summer dresses. Living in Miami for two years means a 365 day possibility for dresses and I used it to it's full advantage.

Besides the personal hoarding then come the things that you don't know what to do with but can't get rid of like odd bits of monogrammed silver  (tiny silver debutante plate - I'm looking at you! - can you turn that in for money? Is there cash for silver programs out there? Is there anyone else out there named HILTY that would like it?), the decorative acorns I got on sale and thought would look so awesome in a bowl on my dining room table (What was I thinking? I'm not a squirrel.) My collection of owl figurines (No, that's not a typo).  My collection of Gilmore Girl and Murder, She Wrote DVD's (You still can't stream that whenever you want. So in a basket they sit). My husband's collection of proper bowls to serve tapas in (because, of course, you have to use proper tapas bowls for your olives). The graphic design books. Oh Lord, the design books.

And on and on.

The older I get the more I realize how much this stuff drags me down. I feel physically and mentally drained just looking at it, shuffling it from corner to corner, packing it, protecting it, etc. I recently started to get rid of lots of my books because at the end of the day I knew I was keeping them on the shelf to "show" how well read I was. But then there are the books about how to make organic bath products and the books about how to quilt that I haven't been able to let go because I'm totally gonna do that some day!

No really.

I am.

Insomnia

I've gotten ants in my brain pants recently. And I simply cannot sleep at night.

What time am I writing this? 2:09 AM, Eastern Time. So forgive me if I'm loopy.

I blame the baby - because that's easy.

But honestly, it doesn't take much to keep me tossing and turning. And honestly, that baby has discovered how to roll over and she now cries on the hour every hour and, as any mom out there knows, your brain is suddenly hardwired to jolt awake at any whimper so after a couple of hours of this I'm unrelaxed central.

I'm getting very excited about my move. I'm excited about all the possibilities that living in a city that doesn't cost your second born affords you. I'm excited to have that extra financial room to breathe. I'm excited about being around friends again. I'm excited to be so close to the pan-handle of Florida, the lake, and some of my favorite food. I'm excited for 'Lil D to get to experience some of the things I loved about childhood. I'm excited to explore Birmingham as a newbie. It's gotten a lot of good press out there recently. I'm excited to use this opportunity to put the ghosts of my childhood to bed. To embrace my future. To embrace the monogram and the hairbow.

While I consider Virginia my home (really I do) this is a nice spot to land in.