plan to be surprised.

There are a few movies which will alter the course of an evening in our little apartment. If {cv} is out of town, I will always leave on You've Got Mail and Forrest Gump. If he's here, Love Actually and Dan in Real Life make the cut. Dan in Real Life is the most recent addition to this list. In case you haven't seen it, Steve Carrell plays the widowed father of three girls. I won't divulge too many details, but these four words from the last scene of the movie struck me last night: plan to be surprised.

Without giving away the entire storyline, I can still give this quote a little context. Steve Carrell's character, Dan, plays a newspaper advice columnist and shared a snippet of one of his columns:

Dear Readers, for most of you, this is my first column in your paper. In the future, I will be answering your questions, but today I want to break from my usual format and talk to you about the subject of plans. Not so much my plan for this column, but life plans, and how we all make them. And how we hope that our kids make good, smart, safe plans of their own. But if we're really honest with ourselves, our plans usually don't work out as we had hoped. So instead of asking our young people "What are you plans? What do you plan to do with your life?" Maybe we should tell them this: Plan to be surprised. {quote found here}

We attended a college graduation party for one of my cousins yesterday, so this movie struck a little closer to home. For so long, I've been a planner--wanting to always know what is coming next. When we were long distance, I needed to know when our next visit would be. When I was in college, I needed to know when my next paper was due. Over the years, I have learned firsthand how exhausting these plans can be. The truth is that the "plans" I had for myself at 18 sound downright boring compared to the life I lead today. I never dreamed about a life in Rhode Island--alongside {cv}, my best partner in life--surrounded by the most amazing friends and family imaginable. No offense to international lawyers, but I'm pretty glad my 18-year-old dreams didn't come to fruition. 

What movie do you find on TV and always watch to the end? 

{Please also tell me I'm not the only one who takes movies this literally!} 

Have a great Monday, friends :) xoxo {av}

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you've got mail.

On Thursday night, I'm fumbling with the remote in the tiny gym in our building when I happened to find You've Got Mail showing on AMC. There are a short list of movies that {without fail} will derail my plans...and You've Got Mail is on that list. Set in NYC, it only seemed appropriate to share my love of this movie after a fabulous little weekend in the City. {I cannot wait to share my photos with you later this week!}

I'll admit: the cinematography is nothing to write home about and the storyline is a little far-fetched. But, at the end of the day, I cannot help but love the banter between Joe {Tom Hanks} and Kathleen {Meg Ryan}. The movie also addresses a "new" phenomenon in 1998 {though not so foreign in 2010}: the idea that you really can connect with someone online.

{Image via IMP Awards}

It's the ending of this movie which will forever make me stop in my tracks. The last two and a half minutes of You've Got Mail are, in my opinion, 150 seconds of pure perfection. Kathleen prances out the front door of her brownstone, down a beautiful New York City street in the height of springtime. She wonders into a flower-filled park, where she plans to meet this man who has captivated her heart over email throughout the entire movie. Their meeting in the park always, ALWAYS makes me cry. Tears of happiness, of course.

Maybe it's because "Over the Rainbow" is playing. Maybe it's Kathleen's face when she realizes just who this mystery man is. Maybe it's the spring day that I would love to repeat on a daily basis. Maybe it's that movie kiss. Whatever it is, it's magical to me. Take two minutes tonight, in the midst of all the holiday craziness, and watch the clip. You'll be glad you did.

Enjoy the rest of your night...I promise more tomorrow. 

xoxo {av}