December is for really bad Christmas movies

I'm a big fan of bad Christmas movies that run on Lifetime, ABC Family and the Hallmark Channel. No really, I can't get enough of 'em.

Check out the links for the full December schedule and below are some highlights. 24 days of B-list movie stars, recycled plot lines and low budget sets. Set your DVR's!

(Lifetime's got some really good ones this year!)

Christmas in Boston (ABC Family)
A repeat from last year. The acting is...well, you should watch for yourself.

Pen pals since the age of 15, Gina and Shawn have created a friendship based on letters and snapshots. Now, as adults, they finally get the chance to meet in person -- but Gina and Shawn sent pictures of their best friends instead of pictures of themselves.

Picking up and Dropping Off (ABC Family)
Didn't they make this movie with Michelle Pfiefer and George Clooney?

What happens when a single father who is picking up his son and a single mother dropping off her daughter continue to run into each other at the airport? Jane and Will are about to find out. Scott Wolf and Amanda Detmer star.
Chasing Christmas (ABC Family)
I love modern takes on the Christmas Carol!

Ever since his wife left him for her dentist on Christmas Eve, Jack has boycotted the holidays. Now his relationship with his 16-year-old daughter is at risk, and the spirits step in to rescue Jack from his terminal bah-humbugs.

Holiday Switch (Lifetime)
Another fave of mine from last year. It's Jamie from Charles in Charge! Except with a boob job
A struggling housewife finds herself wondering what her life would've been like if she'd married the one who got away. A fluke accident gives her the chance to find out. Nicole Eggert stars.

Ebbie (Lifetime)
A classic!

The classic story of "A Christmas Carol" is given a major makeover as Ebbie must face the demons of her past, confront the reality of the present, and fight the phantoms of her future, in order to reconnect with the goodness inside herself. Susan Lucci stars.

The Christmas Wish (Lifetime)
NPH and Whoopi re-unite for this Christmas tale.

Based on the novel by Richard Siddoway. When Will (Neil Patrick Harris) returns home, his grandmother (Debbie Reynolds) asks him to locate a woman that is mentioned in her late husband's diary. Finding out the truth about this mystery woman makes Will's grandmother's wish come true.

A Diva's Christmas Carol (Lifetime)
I haven't seen this one yet, but I love me some Vanessa Williams!

Based on "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. Ebony Scrooge (Vanessa L. Williams) is one of the world's most successful pop singers, but she is personally miserable and makes those around her equally unhappy. During Christmas, Ebony is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past (Kathy Griffin), the Ghost of Christmas Present (John Taylor) and the Ghost of Christmas Future.

On the Second Day of Christmas (Lifetime)
Mark Ruffalo, before he hit it big.

Bert (Mark Ruffalo), a determined security guard, ends up with his life forever transformed when he nabs a pickpocket team of a young woman (Mary Stuart Masterson) and her six-year-old niece, Patsy (Lauren Pratt).

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Hallmark)
Henry Winkler. Nuff said.

Jennifer Cullen (Brooke Burns) is a single, working mom who has become somewhat of a Scrooge when it comes to the Holiday season. Even her six-year-old son Brian is having trouble believing in Santa Claus. When Jen’s Uncle Ralph (Henry Winkler), a retired police officer, comes to visit for Christmas, he brings along a new friend, a nomad and Jack-of-all-trades named Morgan Derby (Warren Christie). The two met on a flight, and Morgan’s plans to continue on to Denver are cancelled when he finds out the city is completely snowed in. Jen is wary of the stranger, but at Ralph’s request, agrees to let him stay the night. She warms up to Morgan, especially when she sees how he interacts with Brian. Uncle Ralph approves of Morgan, too, but Jen’s boyfriend Richard isn’t nearly as receptive. Meanwhile, Morgan has started to really like Jen, but if she can’t manage to make Christmas about anything more than business, Morgan will be on his way to Denver, and she’ll have missed the opportunity that was right in front of her. Uncle Ralph has done what he can to keep Morgan around, but it’s going to take something more than that to get him penciled into Jen’s long-term plans. Jen just needs to learn “how to do Christmas,” and it turns out Morgan is the perfect one to teach her.

The Christmas Choir (Hallmark)
An age old story of transformation.

Peter Brockman (Jason Gedrick) is a successful-but-spiritually lost accountant whose life is turned on its head when he begins volunteering at a homeless shelter run by the caring-yet-cantankerous Sister Agatha (Rhea Perlman). Amazed at the musical prowess of some of the shelter’s occupants, Peter sets out to organize them into a choir, singing holiday tunes in a local subway station. Though the singers and Peter each go through their own difficult personal trials, they slowly begin to learn to trust in each other and the power their music holds. “The Christmas Choir” is inspired by the true story of a man volunteering at a homeless shelter who saw a way to help the men living there by creating a choir from their surprising musical talents. The group, which went on to record several albums and tour the world, experienced such success that the singers where able to gain the financial security and personal confidence to leave the streets forever.

**Fine Art Friday**

Last week Lo and I went on a very fulfilling date...if only she were a dude!

First, we checked out The Whitney. On Friday nights, from 6-9 PM, it's pay what you want. Now, personally, I think $5 minimum donation is acceptable but walking up and saying "So it's free, right?" is not so much. But that's just me.

At any rate, we went to see the William Eggelston photography exhibit, and got an extra bonus with the Alexander Calder exhibit.

Eggelston is one of my favorite photographers, mainly because his composition is so poised, that even though he takes pictures of the often mundane, his images are still gorgeous. He was one of the first fine art photographers to shoot in color and his process (which I don't fully understand so I won't extrapolate here) makes it so the colors pop vibrantly. It's not so much that the saturation is pushed, it's that the color is part of the story.

As for Calder, I was so pleasantly surprised by this exhibit. I'd never heard of him before, but his fame comes from all the wire sculptures he did (a lot of them were dubbed the first "mobiles"), but what made the exhibit so fantastic was all the toys he handmade and the full functioning circus he fashioned out of wire, cloth and other materials. The best part was that the circus "performers" were actually functional, thus being one of the first "performance art" pieces ever constructed. And lucky for myself and the other adults and children in attendance, this performance art didn't involve a naked person smearing themselves with feces.

These images don't do the exhibit justice, there are wire sculptures hung so that the light hits them and makes beautiful silhouttes on the wall. And the circus is shown on video performed by Calder himself.

I highly recommend both exhibits. Lauren and I left with Eggelston postcards, and I almost never buy anything at museum gift shops anymore.

**Snapshot Wednesdays**

Hey hey, it's Wednesday!

You know what that means! A dose of fun in the form of a snapshot.

Below is one of the best pictures I've ever taken. It was taken at my bff Lo's 25th Birthday when we rented a limo to Atlantic City. The attire was "Miami Glam," and Lauren looked like a movie star while our friend John looked like a bodyguard. Hence the Paparazzi photo!


Enjoy!

Thanksgiving is Here...Well for me at least

Hey blogowers (get it, like followers?)

Today is Tuesday and I am embarking on an almost week long family holiday.

To most, this sounds like a nightmare, but to me it means good food, free booze, fires in the fireplace, and a lot of sitting around in a warm house with a blanket.

But for those of you who don't like your family that much, or who have to deal with lots and lots of relatives and insanity, here's my Survival Guide to Holidays with the Family:

* Ear Plugs--especially good if you have nieces and nephews of the "shrieking" age

* A spare car--always try to take an extra care if you are going to a relative's house so you can leave when you want

* Netflix--when all else fails in the conversation department, a blockbuster film or a comedy are good crowd pleasers

* A good book--so you can be pretending to be engrossed in it when Uncle Ned tells you the same story for the upteenth time

* Running/walking shoes--For anyone leaving New York and going to Suburbia or Small Town USA, enjoy the trees and fresh air while you can!

* Booze. Stock up before Thursday. Nuff said.

Most importantly, just remember that while holidays are stressful, they are at least a break from work, break ups, house cleaning, cat poop and responsibility.

Have a happy and warm Thanksgiving and I'll be sending through **Snapshot Wednesdays** and **Fine Art Fridays** as planned this week.

Mwah!

30 Going on 13

Hey Hey,

Yes, you guessed right, this post is all about how my best girlfriends and I went to see the YA sensation Twilight yesterday.

We did it up in style that only 30 year olds obsessed with a tween novel-turned movie can. We started out with brunch at Audrey's with excellent Bloody Mary's (get it, bloody!), yummy bagels, and chicken sausage. YUM.

Then we took the bus to the movie theater and were the first in line, with gaggles of teenager gals behind us. Our cover story? We brought our daughters to the movie but they didn't want to sit near us. Bahahahaha.
At any rate, we followed up the awesome movie with margaritas and Thai Food.

To those "haters," I say, if you can't embrace your inner child (or inner tween) and make a fool out of yourself, well, then you may as well call yourself a hipster. ;-)

**Fine Art Friday**

As of today, November 21st, 2008, "Faux Art Fridays" will officially be called "Fine Art Fridays."

Because let's face it, it's not fake art, it's real art. And Fine Art describes this stuff much better and Fine, like Faux, starts with an "F."

At any rate, check this photographer out. His name is Gregory Crewdson. His work is a comment on suburbia, he sets up very dark scenarios with eerie twists.

The work is very cinematic and he travels with a DP to light each scene.

Beautiful stuff.

(For more on this artist, check out the profile on NPR.)

A Potluck Party

So this was intended to be a "bake-off," but there was no judging or prizes, so therefore I call it a "Pot Luck."

Everyone brought something baked or half-baked that they could finish up in the oven. We had Quiche, Mac n Cheese, Cheesecake, Key Lime Pie, Fallen Chocolate Cake, Acorn Squash, and tons and tons of wine and my contribution, mulled spiked cider.

But it had a fun twist--it was at a photographer's studio! And it just so happens that this awesome photographer, Steve Giralt, also took the wonderful pictures posted here.

Now I know that not everyone is lucky enough to be friends with awesome photographers with their own studio. So...I've heard about other people renting their work studios out for parties. Check out a few of these for your next party (not all of them are studio spaces, but could work):

Laura Little Productions

Neo Studios

The Brooklyn Lyceum

It's a great idea for weekends since photo studios are rarely booked for weekend jobs. I'll do more research and get back to you!

By the end of the night, I was building a jenga-like sculpture out of wine and booze bottles and other trinkets. And we all watched Obama on 60 minutes.


















Great Sunday Night. And perfect for the cold weather evenings up ahead! Nothing like comfort food and good friends to get you ready for a Monday.