Movie #37 - Beautiful Lies

I had an urge recently to watch a French movie.  A trip to the movie store provided me with Beautiful Lies, a comedy starring Audrey Tatou.  Such a good choice, and I watched it a second time with my mum.  When reading the back cover, I was struck by 2 similarities to Amelie (which was my fallback option if nothing took my fancy).  1 - Amelie/Emilie.  2 - both characters are trying to help other people.  Oh, and they both fall into the love story department.  Some other thoughts:

This is about family relationships, and personal relationships, with a love triangle thrown in for good measure.  A daughter trying to boost her mother's mood, increase her self-esteem so she can deal with what's to come.  A daughter trying to make her mother into an approved version, no longer embarrassing to her.  A mother trying to mourn the ending of her relationship (even 4 years on), be sad when she wants to be, enjoy what comes her way.  A man who loves the daughter but sees the goodness in the mother.  A man who wants to please, who is very human, emotionally and intellectually intelligent.  And all of them show, to varying degrees, how our preconceived hurts can affect our responses in new situations.

Of the 3 main characters, I like the mother the best.  That said, I can really understand why Emilie reacts the way she does.  And for all I don't really like Emilie's character (after the fabulous opening, my next impression was that Jean is wasting his affection), her intentions regarding her mother are good, and she was put in an awkward position by a cowardly father.  Actually I rather like Jean too.  It's just he is so stupidly in love with Emilie - I associate that behaviour more with females but it doesn't mean I like it.  It's such a relief when his true colours shine through, his intelligence and kindness and integrity.  Maddy (the mother) is the sort of person I can see myself becoming.  And that's not all a good thing, but a recognition of my personality and the knowledge that all women become their mothers.

There are 2 strong support roles - Sylvia, the salon co-owner; and Paulette.  I'd actually (gasp) forgotten her until I rewatched with mum.  She is fabulous.  Highly strung, wanting to be nice to people and do the right thing, reminiscent of Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter series - I'd be happy to watch a movie with her story as the lead.  She has some of the best lines!

Emilie has a wardrobe akin to what I'd like my wardrobe to be.  She was pretty skinny in this, though.  Actually, apart from the mother's mad dash into town in her nightie, and her "I'm sad" clothes, the wardrobe in this is ... I'm having trouble finding a word.  I want it.  That is all.  One of the best lines is about clothes.  Emilie is frustrated by her mother's depressed mood and says to her, "Look at you!  It's spring, and you're in sweatpants!".  So French.

I laughed so much in this, and it's not often I'm ready to watch a movie again within a matter of days.  The music is just right, the scenery rather delightful (French Mediterranean), and did I mention the clothes?  Yeah.  However... After both viewings, I was quite upset.  Not as the credits were rolling, but later.  I still don't quite understand Jean's love for Emilie, and how she managed to redeem herself in his eyes.  Maybe being that beautiful just changes all the rules of life.  Or maybe I missed something vital both times.  Although maybe having someone beautiful fall in love with you might change how you feel about them.

June Spending

Budget, smudget.  My excuse: stocktake sales.  Plus there's less of me than before...  But still, please don't hate me!


June 1 - I was so relieved we'd started a new month, I spent more than half my budget in the city the first day:
Target: Leopard stockings; Marle stripe stockings - $7 each = $14
Lifeline Adelaide St: Table Eight skirt (below left); Jeanswest dress (not pictured) - $26 each = $52

Subtotal $66

June 8, and I was really on the hunt for new boots.  On the way to finding my new brown boots, I found - finally! - the colour block stripe stockings in my size at Target, $7; and cowl neck tops from Tokito...on sale... I love this brand, and these tops are so beautiful to wear.  I couldn't decide on a colour so bought one in navy and one in purple (according to the label - I think it's more mulberry, myself- pictured left).  $45 each = $90

Total = $163

I did also find the new brown boots, on sale - a very good sale indeed.  I'm cheating a bit here, not including them in the total as they are not only a high-price item and guaranteed to put me over just on them alone, but footwear is important.  Given the state of my other boots - they still look fine but I don't feel fine after a few hours in them - I count these more as a replacement item rather than a more frivolous extra.

And now, to appease my guilt at such over-indulgence, I think I'd better make yet another resolution: if I go over budget, I need to donate the same amount of excess to a charity.  I have to give my dad credit for this idea - years ago he started a similar scheme, so if he bought a shirt, for example, he'd donate the same amount of money to a charity.  It really makes you think twice about the word 'need'.

Let Me Count the Ways

How did I change today?  Let me count the ways...

1. I woke up to find I'd been Timelined.  I do appreciate Facebook giving me a preview before forcing me to change, and giving me the chance to remove or hide things before the enforced changeover in a week.  Switching to Timeline was something I was actually considering doing over the holidays, but I didn't get around to it.  Normally I resist the Facebook changes until it is forced upon me, but with such a long build-up for this one, and so many friends already using this method (willingly or not), I was just about ready to make the switch on my own anyway.  Now though, I have the dilemma of deleting old posts from certain people I'd rather not remember, or keeping them there.  It is a part of my life, after all... More thought required.  2. It did spur me to stalk an ex friend though, and my feelings were not so upset as they have been.  Maybe, in time, we could be friends again.  No promises though.

3. I had a wonderful sleep in, thanks to the public holiday.  After yesterday's coffee diet (I worked out today I had 5, 2 of them doubles - youch!) I was only a teensy bit worried about sleeping, but I was so exhausted I had no problems getting to sleep.  And I slept.  Woohoo!  I even had a lunchtime nap.  Super.

4. I did not wear jeans today.  I love jeans, but wore a knit dress and tartan stockings instead.  Perfect.

5. I just ran.  Recently I've been trying to go as fast as I can, working out where to sprint, aiming for a certain distance in a certain time.  Tonight, I admitted to myself I am a slow runner, and I just ran.  I also did not walk, except for the first 10-20 metres after my 2 drink stops.  There are some bits that I have been walking because my brain stops telling my feet to run, but most of me knows that's unnecessary, so tonight they were run.  My overall time was better by 2 minutes than my previous best time for that distance.  'Nuff said.

6. I experimented with outfits and stockings.  More will be revealed about me and stockings in good time.  I know it's hard to believe, but I think I need more shoes.  And another pair of boots. 

7.  Ooh, I'm surprised I didn't remember this before.  I planned.  Last week I was in a grizzly grump of a mood, feeling very much over everything even though it was only week 3.  On Friday I investigated some options of things I could do, but today I had so many more ideas.  Including (so excited!) a potential getaway.  Only for a night, but I think being not in Brisbane will be good for me and my brain.

8. Oh, and yeah, I baked.  That's not new... and it was using very ripe bananas - also not new.  Find the recipe here for these Coconut, Chocolate and Banana muffins.  I used Green & Black's 85% which was maybe not the greatest choice - it is quite bitter, but Lindt Lindor was a less appealing option.  Next time I think I will mix in 1/4 cup cocoa for an even bigger chocolate hit.  I am also not a huge fan of the coconut - I was trying to think of a decent substitution, but maybe if I just omit it, it might just make not so many (the recipe makes 36 mini muffins). 

February Spending

This month, I stayed within my $100 clothes and accessories budget.  Yay!

Here's how it went down:

February 3 - coffee and shopping trip with Jeannie

Navy splatter beads

Lifeline West End:

Flowered Jay Jays skirt $6.50
Sportsgirl blouse $9.50
Crossroads shirt $7.50
Navy flowered scarf $3
Wooden beads $4
Grey beads on chain $4
Navy splatter beads $4.50
Total = $39

Vinnie's West End:

Temt skirt

Gino Tricot skirt $8
Temt skirt $6
Subtotal = $14   Total = $53










February 10th

Lifeline Adelaide St
Much sought-after nude mock croc heels $25

Grand total $78

Total for year = $187.66

Wardrobe Reorganisation Part 2

As promised earlier, there was a second, just as drastic, change to the wardrobe reorganisation.  After moving the chest of drawers down to the living room, I now had the space to install these hanging thingies.  They are *so* good.   The previous arrangement had everything now in the hanging things folded on the shelves (to the left, not pictured).  Which was ok... Except I only ever used the top few layers of clothes.  And it was hard to find anything not at the front. 

Now, though.... ah, bliss.  Surprisingly, it is much easier to put away my clothes.  Not surprisingly, it is much, much easier to find anything.  I'm not sure how I'll go when the cooler months arrive as I'll need space for bulkier clothes, but I'll sort out something then.


The main impetus for change was accessories.  I eventually found this hanger, intended for pants, which is perfect.  I can display all my necklaces (except for pearls), I can access them easily, I can see them easily.  Next step is to arrange them by colour, of course.

Not pictured are the shelves to the left.  Jeans, shorts, and workout gear occupy the lower 2 shelves, earrings and more delicate necklaces on the top.  The ease of finding workout gear is an unexpected joy.  Instead of searching through a jumble of stuff to find everything required, now I only need to look there to see an item in each pile, and search the laundry for any missing items.  So much time saved!  I am slowly becoming a convert to organised space.  Which doesn't really gel with the OCD compulsion I have, but I just didn't have anything in place before.  Now, though...