La Femme in Leavenworth!

Before the beer sampler.

Leavenworth, Washington is a magical place.  It is also ludicrous and kitschy.  Leavenworth is a tiny town in the middle of the Cascade mountains that is modeled after a Bavarian village.  Yes, that means that all the buildings are in faux Bavarian style and sausages abound on nearly every menu.  Leavenworth's industry is tourism so every winter they light up the whole town with Christmas lights and every weekend they have a ceremony to turn on the lights.  K and I have gone to Leavenworth twice before and spent our third weekend there last weekend.

K and I always stay at the lovely Bavarian Lodge, which is directly across the street from the town.  We stay in the deluxe Turret Suite which is an extremely overpriced but very lovely room.  I actually think it is bigger than our apartment and the reason we choose it is twofold: 1) it has a fireplace; and 2) it has a comically large jacuzzi tub with a view of the town.  We sit in the tub at night and admire the view (and drink sparkling wine) while listening to Christmas music.  Staying at this sweet hotel in this fantastic room is probably one of the reasons I look forward to going to Leavenworth the most.  It is always important to have a bit of luxury in your life, even if that luxury has antlers on the wall.

What do we do there?  Walk around and look at the lights, eat lots of food, and drink lots of cocktails (and beer if you are K).  Surprisingly for a tourist trap, Leavenworth has some decent restaurants.  Our favorite is South, a Mexican restaurant that has killer burritos and great margaritas.  We always make sure we eat at least one German meal, usually in a basement restaurant called Andreas Keller.  This year was particularly great because we sat next to a couple who seemed to be on the worst date ever.  The first sign was that they only drank water, which in Leavenworth (or if you read this blog, anywhere, really) is a cardinal sin. K and I tried to ignore them but couldn't help but eavesdrop on  their complete lack of conversation.  It was fantastic. In fact the guy, said "This place is so cute" so many times it became a drinking game (and consequently that is our new code phrase when we spot an awkward date).  It may have been made more fantastic by our prior "happy hour" sitting outside in freezing temperatures at the Icicle Brewing Company where K bravely drank a beer sampler of 8 beers while I had one lonely hard cider.

Leavenworth is also wonderfully kitschy.  The most popular store is The Hat Shop, where people buy the most ridiculous Christmas hats in existence: there are a great variety of Santa hats, reindeer antlers, and other over the top hats to be found there.  They even have a menorah hat so all faiths can be included in the sins against fashion committed here.  Although K and I do not partake in The Hat Shop craze, I always wear my green poofball hat, so I don't feel left out.  The shopping in Leavenworth is restricted to: (1) crazy hats, (2) Christmas ornaments at the awesome Kris Kringl shop, (3) hideously ugly vaguely German home decor (including but not limited to beer steins of all shapes), and (4) "hip" items for middle aged women (read: one shoulder blouses, silly martini glasses, and inspirational wall hangings).  That said, K and I did spend a good few hours wandering through the myriad of shops Leavenworth has to offer.

But the real reason to go to Leavenworth is for the lighting ceremony each Saturday and Sunday in December.   There are usually some Leavenworth dignitaries there giving some speeches, and, after a  song or two, they light up the town. It really is a spectacular sight to see the whole town and park lit up.  Even a cynic like me always finds myself catching my breath once the whole town dramatically ascends into a million twinkling lights.  Although, I do have to confess that for me the best time to see the lights is after dinner when so many of the tourists have been bussed out and there is a quiet in the air.  After the ceremony it is a mad dash to a local bar for happy hour (or to your respective tour bus).  There really is nothing better than coming out of the cold and going into a dive bar where you can drink electric blue margaritas with people in flashing Santa hats.  As one drunken tourist told me, "What happens in Leavenworth, stays in Leavenworth."

Auf Wiedersehen!

Julie

It's Noon Somewhere...The Grinch

Midori is an interesting liquor.  The flavor is melon and it is quite refreshing, but also a bit difficult to mix.  If you look up The Grinch cocktail it is traditionally just Midori, lemon juice and simple syrup but I find the taste of that quite overpowering and unappetizing, much like the character himself.

So instead we just made a different cocktail using Midori, or any melon liqueur,  called a Melon Ball.  When we drink it in the summer, we call it a Melon Ball.  In the winter, we use the seasonally appropriate The Grinch.  This is the perfect drink to enjoy any holiday tv special!

The Grinch:

1 oz vodka
1 oz melon liqeur
4 oz orange juice
cherry
orange slice

Mix vodka, melon liquer and orange juice in a shaker with lots of ice.  You can serve this drink a couple ways.  You could definitely do it up, but I prefer it on the rocks in a big wine glass.  It would definitely work in a double old fashioned glass as well.  Garnish it with a cherry and an orange wedge.

Look at the fantastic color in the picture above (and notice Rufus in the background, whenever I get the camera out, he seriously thinks I am about to photograph him.  Total fame whore)!  This drink is a great one to serve at a party because it isn't too strong and doesn't call for exotic ingredients.  Melon liquer is fairly inexpensive and this drink doesn't use too much of it so I would whole heartedly recommend it for your next holiday party!

Julie

La Femme's Top Five...Christmas Movies

My beautiful tree this year!

It's that time of year when everyone is jolly, happy... and I get presents!  I have loved this season since I was a kid and I still love watching Christmas movies. In fact, there are some pretty great films that either take place at Christmas or are about the holiday season.  In the spirit of the season, here are La Femme's top Five Christmas movies.

1. A Christmas Story (Bob Clark, 1983):  This may be a completely obvious choice (especially for someone my age), but I find A Christmas Story to be utterly charming, funny, and evocative of an America I never knew.  When I was younger, I was more drawn to the story of Ralphie and his quest for the Red Rider BB Gun (with a compass and this little thing that tells time), but when I watch it now, I am more impressed by the performances of Melinda Dillon and (especially) Darren McGavin as the Old Man.  There is something in his performance that I find profoundly moving; his gruff exterior and sometimes blustery temper barely conceal the devotion and sacrifices he makes for his family.  The movie does a great job of capturing the magic of Christmas for children, but the last scene also captures how lovely it can be for the grown ups as well.  Fun bonus fact: Bob Clark also directed Black Christmas, one of the rare Christmas horror movies (and, per K, it is on our list to watch this year).

2. White Christmas (Michael Curtiz, 1954):  White Christmas is a strange little movie.  It is directed by the definition of a journeyman director, Michael Curtiz, and features well known Bing Crosby headlining a decidedly non A-list supporting cast of Danny Kaye, Vera Ellen, and Rosemary Clooney.  The standout  element may well be the wonderful music of Irving Berlin.  The story is familiar to anyone who has seen a handful of studio musicals of the 1940's and 1950's.  A song and dance act (Crosby and Kaye) must put on a show to save an inn run by an old friend.  Along the way, they fall in love with two beautiful sisters.  Shenanigans ensue, including a hilarious, bizarre, Irving Berling song sung by the sisters about being sisters (with my favorite line being, "Lord help the mister, who comes between me and my sister.  And Lord help the sister, who comes between me and my man") and a dream ballet-esque number dedicated to choreography (with lots of jazz hands!).  Of course, in the end, we get to hear old Bing the title song, and I found myself utterly charmed by this funny little movie.

Je t'aime mon boo.

3. Un Conte de Noel (A Christmas Tale) (Arnaud Desplechin, 2008): No La Femme list would be complete without a Frenchy movie on it.  This particular one is a three hour film about a family reuniting on Christmas after the mother has been diagnosed with cancer and is in need of a transplant.  If someone wanted to see a movie that had every element of filmmaking that I love, I would recommend this one. It has a wonderful, natural script, amazing, subtle, and true performances, a little bit of whimsy, and a sure directorial hand.  Arnaud Desplechin weaves together about ten different plots about different members of the Vuillard family. Desplechin is a deft director who uses many narrative techniques to move the story along, including Brechtian monologue aimed directly to the camera, an omniscient narrator, and humorous or bizarre vignettes.    There are two performances I would be remiss to leave out in this increasingly long post.   Emanuelle Devos has a relatively tiny role as the lover of Henri (Mathieu Amalric), but there is something wonderfully delicate and fragile about her. From the way that she speaks to the way that she moves and I cannot take my eyes off her in any film, but here I find her to be a shining beacon of life (there is a moment where she laughs and it seems so organic and joyful.  Perfection).  The other reason to watch this movie is Mathieu Amalric. As the black sheep of the family, Henri, Amalric is mischievous, charming and a little bit dangerous.  Amalric is a subtle actor in a big role and he gives Henri incredible nuance and gets us on his side, even when we know he is the black sheep for a reason.  This movie is so varied and so full of wonderful details that I could go on infinitely.

4. It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946): It's a Wonderful Life may be the most depressing "Christmas" movie ever, and it seems to have little to do with the holiday.  Yes, the climax takes place around Christmas, but really the story of George Bailey is a story of a man living the quiet desperation that Hemingway spoke of.  Every time George tries to leave Bedford Falls, something holds him back: an obligation, falling in love, his foolish uncle, his responsibilities, etc.  It's a Wonderful Life is a movie about living with disappointment and trying to learn to accept that maybe your life won't be big and great.  But of course, its a movie, so at the end, it is!  Jimmy Stewart is undeniably winning in the lead role and I can't get enough of the scene when George and Mary  (Donna Reed) share an ear piece on a long distance phone call and slowly begin to express their love for one another.

5.  The Snowman (Dianne Jackson, Jimmy T. Murakami, 1982): A nostalgia pick, The Snowman won the 1982 Best Animated Short Oscar. This was a movie I watched every year as a child.  A thirty minute silent film, this is the tale of the title character coming alive and taking a little boy on a magical journey to meet Santa.  The centerpiece of the movie is when the little boy and the Snowman fly through the air to the accompaniment of a haunting child's song.  The movie begins with a bit of live action and a narrator and ends with the inevitable.  I don't remember finding this movie sad as a child but now when I watch it, I find it to be profoundly so.  Seek it out and share it with your children (or if you don't have children, watch it yourself!).

I hope this list will inspire you to discover a new favorite holiday classic!  I am always on the lookout for a great Christmas movie to watch this season.

Julie

It's Noon Somewhere...Apple Cider Sangria

Since Thanksgiving is only two days away and that means Christmas is almost upon us, I wanted to share a fall sangria that would be perfect for a cozy Thanksgiving evening.  I made this for K a couple times last month and if he hadn't filched all my brandy, I would be making it again tonight (I am much too lazy to go and get the supplies I need on this gross evening)!  It is a rainy, yucky night here in Seattle and this sangria sounds perfect right about now.

It is a richer sangria than what I usually like.  Essentially, you make a simple spiced apple cider mix that to create a sort of cold mulled wine.  

Apple Cider Sangria:

1 bottle of Red Wine (I would use a Tempranillo or a Rioja)

2 cups of apple cider

1/3 cup sugar

cloves

cinnamon stick

1 orange

1 apple

1/2 cup brandy

1/2 cup orange juice

Begin by heating the apple cider on the stove with sugar, cloves, a couple cinnamon stick, the zest of one orange and a couple orange slices.  I let it simmer for about five or ten minutes until all the flavors are incorporated.  Strain it into a pitcher.

Once your cider has cooled, add the bottle of red wine, the brandy and the orange juice.  I also cut up an apple and put that in as well some grapes if you have them.

Refrigerate for a couple hours or up to one day.  Garnish with orange and a cinnamon stick!  

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Julie

La Femme Recommends...Margaret

Kenneth Lonergan's long awaited second film, Margaret came out last year to little fanfare to the general public and huge praise from the internet film community.  Well, I am happy to say that I am finally a member of #teammargaret after watching this moving, messy and sprawling film.

Margaret is the story of New York teenager, Lisa, played wonderfully by Anna Paquin (although as a True Blood watcher it was a bit of a trip to see her look / play so young again!).  Lisa witnesses (and in a way contributes to) a bus accident that kills a woman who dies in Lisa's arms.  She spends the rest of the movie trying to process what happen and we see how this affects the various relationships in her life as well as see her forming a new relationship with the best friend of the woman who died.  Oh yeah, plus it takes place in post 911 New York City.

Because Margaret in many ways is an unfinished film, it is definitely messy.  But in a lot of ways, I think that is Lonergan's point; the movie is fundamentally about the complexities and messiness of human existence.  There are million story lines going on at once; there are story lines that are dropped or not giving very much time and the relationships between the characters can seemingly change from scene to scene.  I'm actually having a bit of a hard time describing the movie without going in a bunch different directions.  I could talk about the relationship between Lisa and her mother, or her mother's burgeoning relationship with a dashing man, or Lisa losing her virginity, or the classroom scenes.  I could go on.

I loved nearly all the performances in Margaret (Paquin, Jeannie Berlin, J. Smith Cameron and Jean Reno, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo plus a Culkin).  Lonergan has the balls to make most of his characters annoying, volatile, desperate and vulnerable, especially Lisa.  And that is what gives Margaret so much of its emotional power.  We all the characters struggle for meaning and purpose in their life and struggle to connect with other people in the world.  In a way, I'm glad that Margaret ends up being so disjointed and strange, the flaws only make it feel more true.

I think why Margaret ultimately worked for me, is what the movie is ultimately about is the terrible discovery that the world doesn't revolve around you.  That everyone else around you in the world aren't just players in your own personal drama.  That everything doesn't happen to give meaning to your life. It is a hard lesson to learn, and I am not saying that sarcastically.  Perhaps it is one that I haven't even completely learned myself.

Do yourself a favor and become a member of #teammargaret

Julie

La Femme's Thoughts on...The Master

This is the freaky face Joaquin made the whole movie.  

I have a feature titled, La Femme Recommends where I expound on a movie I have seen that I think others would benefit from watching.  Well, this time, I saw a movie that so confounded me that I am not sure if I can recommend it (also I am trying to expand this blog from just being about drinking and movies so I want to start a new column about my other thoughts (yes, I get that this is still about movies, but it is a bit more abstract? maybe?)).   Weeks after seeing this film, I can honestly say, I haven't been able to completely parse my thoughts on it.

The Master is in my circle at least (that being some people I know and a lot of Internet friends I haven't met), a huge deal.  It is P.T. Anderson's follow up to 2007's There Will be Blood and stars Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.  The movie is about, well it is sort of about everything, but the story follow Phoenix's Freddy Quell, one of the mos t f*#$ed characters to carry a mainstream release in at least ten years.  Freddy is the epitome of what society would consider a lost cause.  Much like myself, he is an aspiring mixologist, unlike me he likes to use paint thinner and developing fluid to make his cocktails. And this is really the tip of the iceberg.  Freddy at once seems to be a total misogynist, a narcissist and a sociopath.  Hoffman's, Lancaster Dodd is the opposite, completely put together, elegant, oh yeah, and the leader of a new age "cult" The Cause.

For any Whovians, this is not The Master this movie refers to. 

When they meet, it is in some ways like they are meeting their exact opposite, but in some ways they are meeting their doppelganger.  K, our friend S and I spent a lunch after watching the movie trying to figure out what the point is.  Like many of my best ideas, I just went ahead and stole K's thesis which he told me in the car ride home.  At the end of the film (not really a spoiler, this isn't a spoilery kind of movie), Dodd tells Freddy that when he finds a way to live life without serving a master that  he should share that with the world.  Therein lies the thesis, Freddy may seem to be free and serve no master but we see his tortured soul.  His master is woman (or sex, maybe that is the more honest thing to say).   Throughout the movie, I was completely disgusted in a way I have never been watching a P.T. Anderson movie before.  I just thought, what is with all the gross sex stuff.  But I also think that great art and great films should make you feel uncomfortable and weird and displaced.  The Master did just that.  It completely showed Freddy's dysfunction as a man and contrasted it with Dodd's dysfunction.  I honestly can't say what this movie said about women.  Women were at once victims of men's sexual obsession and at the same time, the ones in complete control.

Three weeks or so later, I am still puzzled over this movie but I can definitively say that I think it is an important work of P.T. Anderson and an important exploration of male perversion and relationships.  I wouldn't say it is for everyone to see, but anyone who sees it will have a strong reaction.

Also, it introduced the world to the insult Pig F&*#, so there is that.

Julie

Dustin Hoffman Marathon: Part 2

We have concluded our Dustin Hoffman marathon: awards have been handed out (the esteemed Hoffies), toasts have been made and the champagne bottles are empty.  Here are my thoughts on the back half of these six films.

Kramer vs. Kramer (Robert Benton, 1979):  Kramer vs. Kramer was the only film in this marathon I had seen.  I have fuzzy memories of seeing this when I was younger on television but I certainly couldn't remember it well enough to use my impeccable critic skills to analyze its merits.  After watching it again, I can definitely say that Kramer vs. Kramer is a good old fashioned melodrama in the best sense.  Dustin Hoffman is Ted Kramer, a hardworking dad to an adorable mop headed little boy, who is left by his wife, Joanna (Meryl Streep, in a solid supporting role).  Joanna gave up her own career to be a stay at home mom, something she feels she was forced into by Ted (and by society.  The 70's feminist message, while still relevant in some ways, seems hopelessly archaic in others).  The movie does read as a bit dated with talk of her having to leave her family to become an independent working woman, but the transformation of Hoffman from a caring but distant father to a capable parent is affecting and sweet.  The court battle at the end is handled fairly well.  The very last seen was a little too neat for me, but otherwise a solid film.

Isn't she lovely?

Tootsie (Sydney Pollack, 1982):  Tootsie is a ridiculous 1980's comedy.  Everyone knows the basic premise:  Dustin Hoffman in a dress!  As Michael, a difficult New York actor that can't get a job, Hoffman is serviceable.  But as Dorothy, the character Michael creates to get a role on a soap opera, he is magical.  Charming, open, funny and flirtatious, Dorothy is a great film heroine.  She stands up to the men who try to degrade her and, along the way, makes friends with her costar,  Julie (Jessica Lange), who she helps to  take charge of her own life.  Tootsie is cute and really isn't that funny (there are a couple choice moments) but I couldn't get enough of Dorothy.

Ishtar (Elaine May, 1987):  Yes, this is one of the most notorious flops of all times and yes it isn't that great of a movie, but I am glad I watched this for at least one reason.  The opening of the film is absolutely genius: it shows our two heroes (Hoffman and Warren Beatty), a pretty terrible songwriting team, working on their song "Dangerous Business" (see the video above.  I will warn you that you may have this song in your head for weeks like I have).  It is funny and really shows the creative process well and completely endears us to the lead characters right off the bat.  It tells us everything we need to know about them and their relationship.  In fact, the first hour or so of the movie is actually pretty great, showing their struggles to work together and trying to achieve their dream of success a la Simon and Garfunkel.  It is only when they go to Ishtar to perform at a nightclub and unwittingly become embroiled in a scheme to topple the corrupt government does this movie become worthy of its reputation.  I liked the chemistry between Hoffman and Beatty and I thought Beatty was really wonderful as a dumb lump of a man.  Anytime they were singing or working on songs, I was completely engaged; the rest of the time, I was bored silly.

This turned out to be a pretty fun marathon.  Our next marathon will cover the films of David Cronenberg.

Cheers,

Julie

It's Noon Somewhere...Lemon Drop

This is what happens after a couple lemon drops.  Proceed with caution.

If I had to pick my all time favorite cocktail, I would probably go with a Lemon Drop.  Every time either my Dad or K ask me for my cocktail order and I say Lemon Drop, I see their faces droop a little. The recipe that both my Dad and K use is known as the Nelson Lemon Drop since it was developed by  my Dad.  And although it is delicious, as they will both tell you, "it's a pain in the ass".  This drink requires quite a few ingredients, plus you have to squeeze the lemon (and you really have to get all that juice out of it!) as well as sugaring the rim of a glass.  That may be true but it is also refreshing, sweet, tart and packs a surprising punch! I think a lemon drop is worth the trouble every time. Plus, it can cause the extreme joy seen above. :)

Lemon Drop:

1.5 oz Citron Vodka
1.5 oz Triple Sec / Cointreau
1.5 oz Sour Mix
1.5 oz Lemon Juice (I usually just use the juice of one lemon)
1 teaspoon Powdered or Super Fine Sugar


Mix all ingredients in a shaker and strain into a chilled glass with a sugared rim.




I sometimes do a variation with lime and that is quite tasty as well.

 It is the perfect drink to enjoy while the weather is still warm (of course, for me it is a year round drink ).

Cheers!

Julie

Five Things I Love This Week

1. The West Wing: K and I don't watch a lot of t.v. shows together but we have watched a couple together either live or on DVD and we both enjoy the experience of watching it together. So after K gave up on Breaking Bad, (I soldiered on alone on that one) we decided to watch another show together.  After much debate, we decided on Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing.  It takes us a long time to watch shows and this is a long one (so it may take us years, literally) but I had forgotten how great it was.  All of the characters are so rich and Sorkin's writing is as ever intelligent and quick. Plus, in this election year,  it makes K and I feel extra American and makes me wish once again we had a president like Jed Bartlett.

2. Kate Spade Wallet: I got this gorgeous wallet for my thirtieth (eek!) birthday in July and have been loving it ever since.  I adore the gorgeous blue color and the polka dot (!) interior.  Plus, I love all of the pockets in the wallet and the wonderful zippered closure.  It is my first truly adult wallet and I always feel extra fancy pulling it out!

3. Meeting Jason Baldwin: Last week I had the privilege of meeting someone I admire very much.  While at a store, I recognized a customer as Jason Baldwin, one of the West Memphis Three.  If you don't know the story of the West Memphis Three, it is amazing, inspiring and very tragic.  In 1993, three young boys were found murdered in the woods in Arkansas.  Three outcast teenage boys were convicted of the murder with no physical evidence and an extremely weak case.  Their wrongful conviction for nearly 20 years was chronicled in the Paradise Lost documentary series (like most documentaries it is not truly unbiased, but it tells the story really well and shows the amazing lack of evidence and the ridiculous trial that led to their conviction and imprisonment).  The three now grown men were freed last year with an Alford plea.  I have been following the case since 2001 and was thrilled to be able to spend a few minutes with Jason and tell him how much his story meant to me. The fact that he was kind and seemed genuinely happy in his life filled me with joy and awe.  If you don't know about this story, please seek it out.

Clearly I am not the next Helmut Newton. 

4.  Steve Madden Studded Flats: I knew I needed new black flats when I realized mine were completely worn out on the sides (how does that even happen!?).  So I did what I always do, I perused my personal bible, Nordstrom.com.  I found these fabulous flats for less than fifty bucks!  They are perfectly on trend for fall (studded!) and so far are wonderfully comfortable!  

5.  Salmon:  Yes, I am from the Pacific Northwest and I have eaten salmon all my life (in fact, when I was a child, sharks were my favorite animal, so every time we had fish, my parents told me we were eating shark.  Why I wanted to eat my favorite animal, I will never know). I have always loved many different kinds of seafood, but have always found salmon to be too fishy for me.  But in the last few weeks, I have made two salmon recipes that I actually enjoyed (which with salmon meant that I ate all of it without giving half it to the dogs or K).  Plus, they have been easy to cook so part of my fear of cooking seafood has been alleviated as well.   I have been on the lookout for yummy recipes on Pinterest and my large collection of cookbooks and can't wait to try some more! 

La Femme Recommends...Kill List

I don't care about spoilers.  At all.  Often times, I have read the Wikipedia page before I even see the movie.  I just believe that knowing how the plot of the movie unfolds, doesn't affect the quality of the viewing experience and that people shouldn't be so uptight about spoilers.  There is something to be said about going into a movie cold and being blown away.  That is exactly what happened to me with Bean Wheatley's Kill List.   

 Kill List is not the best movie I've ever seen, it doesn't have the best performances or best script, but it may be one of the ballsiest.  The less you know about Kill List, the better.  If you are interested in watching it, don't look at the trailer, don't look at the poster, just watch it.  Kill List is the story of Jay (Neil Maskell), an everyday seeming guy who clearly loves his wife and child but can't really find a good way to provide for them.  And so, after he returns from serving in the army, he and his mate Gal (Michael Smiley) go back into their former profession, contract killers.  All I will say as with most "final job" movies, is it doesn't go as planned.  But where Wheatley takes it, is not where you imagine.

The real reason to watch this movie is to see just how ballsy and f&$#d up it gets (I should say that I am not one for shock cinema, but I think Wheatley plays it so well that the movie is worth seeing).  Wheatley builds suspense perfectly in the film, and also does a great job of disorienting the viewer.  The final 20 minutes of the film are shocking, exciting, and terrifying.  I won't say much more but I will tell you that the imagery at the end is so striking and so haunting that sometimes at night, when I have to use the bathroom, Kill List is the scary image I can't stop thinking about.  

Julie

It's Noon Somewhere...Tequila Sunrise

Tequila and I have a strange relationship.  It is the one liquor that never fails to knock me over quickly so sometimes a margarita isn't the best option since K makes them strong!  So while we always have tequila in the house, sometimes I like to mix it up and have something other than a margarita.  A Tequila Sunrise is a great option because it is beautiful, refreshing and doesn't pack too much of a punch.

Before we proceed, one word on the quality of liquor K and I use for mixed drinks.  In general, when you are making a cocktail you want to have a decent quality of liquor but it is rarely necessary to use top shelf liquor, those should generally be reserved for sipping.  I actually find that the quality of your mixers is more important than your liquor.  A decent tequila makes a fine margarita but a terrible margarita mix makes a terrible, sugary one.

A Tequila Sunrise depends not so much on the quality of the tequila but on the orange juice.  I am almost always a proponent of fresh squeezed juice and usually always use fresh citrus.  With this cocktail, I don't, mostly because it is a pain to squeeze that much juice and I don't have a juicer.  Therefore, it is important to use pulp free orange juice or else you will have a chunky cocktail, which isn't good for anyone.

Tequila Sunrise:

1.5 oz Golden Tequila
4 oz. orange juice
splash of grenadine.

Mix the Tequila and the Orange Juice in a shaker with ice.  In the bottom of a frozen martini glass, put a splash of grenadine (probably about a half teaspoon to a teaspoon).  The more grenadine you use, the more the drink will resemble a sunrise.  But I find to much grenadine can make it syrupy.  Carefully strain the cocktail mixture into the martini glass.



 Enjoy this beautiful cocktail and imagine you are on a deserted Mexican beach!

Julie

La Femme Goes Glamping

I'll admit it, I am prissy.  I don't like to get dirty, I don't like to sweat and I don't particularly like to be out in nature. So as you may have guessed, I am not a big fan of camping.  I've never done and I never plan to.  That said, after having a wedding and a three week Portuguese / Parisian honeymoon in April, K and I didn't exactly have the cash needed for a nice long summer vacation this summer.  So we decided to cash in a gift certificate and went glamping!  What is glamping you ask?  It is glamorous camping, which basically means that you stay in some kind of a tent but it has a bed, a bathroom and electricity!

So two weeks ago, K and I drove over the mountains to Quincy, WA and spent two nights in a yurt at Cave B Inn and Spa.  The yurt was quite large with a king size bed, large couch, and small refrigerator and coffee maker, and wi-fi!  The bathroom had a real toilet and shower and although it was probably the worst shower I've ever taken, I was glad to have a real shower.  The resort also had a beautiful pool area where we spent a lot of time; they also have regular rooms if you aren't into yurting it.  The view from our yurt was gorgeous so we spent both evenings with appetizers, wine and music, enjoying the gorgeous views of the vineyards and the river beyond it.

Cave B Inn and Spa was a beautiful facility in a gorgeous location.  The main problem with our stay was the limited dining options in the area.  We spent two nights there and had a dining credit for $100 so we had dinner one night at Tendril's restaurant.  I am not a food critic and won't pretend to be but I will say that I love dining out and I go out enough to know good food.  Tendril's food was perfectly acceptable.  My Carrot Riesling soup was lovely, my steak was overcooked for what I like.  I requested medium rare and it was definitely medium.  The main problem with the restaurant is it wildly overpriced.  My steak was $42.00!  Since Quincy is a 25 minute drive away and the options are fairly limited (we did drive into Quincy for lunch one day at Casa Jalisco and it was surprisingly good family Mexican food); we would have eaten at Tendril's again but didn't want to spend the money for food that wasn't worth it.  So instead, we had a little picnic out on our patio, which was a lot of fun.  Next time, I'd bring along our portable grill and have a cookout. 

Cave B Inn is also a winery.  I drink a lot of wine but am by no means an expert.  The wine was perfectly adequate and the tasting room was lovely looking.  The Tempranillo was my favorite and we ended up buying that, a white and a rosé.   All in all, Cave B Inn was a perfect weekend getaway for K and I.  It was relaxing, beautiful and hot!  K and I are already thinking of spending a few days in a yurt next year.

Julie   

La Femme's Top Five...Summer Movies

It is finally summer and I had a little getaway in Eastern Washington last week.  All this Vitamin D got me thinking of movies that perfectly capture that certain tone and feeling that summer has: carefree, joyous, endless and sometimes sweltering.  Here are five that I enjoy.

Raise your hand if you know the movie referenced!

1. Do the Right Thing (1989, Spike Lee): Do the Right Thing is about how a city in a heat wave can be like a pot about to boil over; at first everything seems harmonious but look away for a minute and there is a big mess. Taking place over the course of a single day;  racial tensions rise in Brooklyn when Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito) asks Sal the white pizzeria owner why there aren't any black people on his wall of fame (which shows famous Italian Americans).  As the day gets hotter, the cast of characters, (including Spike Lee himself as pizza delivery boy Mookie and Radio Rahim, he of the Love and Hate knuckles above, shout out to Night of the Hunter!)  get more and more frustrated with the inequality they see around them.  Though this is absolutely a movie about prejudice and racism; it is also about what a hot day feels like and how even the issues can spiral out of control when you are so hot you don't even want to move.

2. Dazed and Confused (1993, Richard Linklater): This is a movie I definitely remember watching on my summer vacations in middle school.  This is the second movie on this list that takes place in a single day, in this case, the last day of school (the best day of the year!).  We follow a group of kids on their last day of middle school in Austin Texas in 1979 and of course, they end up having a memorable night with the older high school kids.  There are so many people in this movie who would go onto bigger and better things, including Ben Affleck, Adam Goldberg, Parker Posey (love her!) and of course, Matthew McChonaughey as the eternal Wooderson (I have embedded a clip for your enjoyment!).  This movie creates a nostalgia for a time that I have never experienced, but I think that the movie perfectly captures the excitement and anticipation of summer vacation and the way summer nights can hold an adventure that you never expected.

Lisa P.  K's favorite character.

3. Adventureland (2009, Greg Mottola): This is bound to be a controversial choice since K and I watched this movie together and he promptly declared it one of the worst movies he has ever seen.  I found it oddly affecting and funny at the same time.  Jesse Eisenberg plays, James, who in the early 1980's has just graduated from college and is planning on going to graduate school in New York City in the fall.  His parents tell him they can't afford to send him and he has to get a job for the summer.  So he works at the local amusement park, Adventureland.  This movie is your typical coming of age story, with Eisenberg falling for Kristen Stewart's Em.  Ryan Reynolds also gives a strong turn as the hotshot of Adventureland.  This movie captures both the drudgery of working in the summer at a dead end job and the fun and camraderie that is formed in those transient moments.

Bonjour fake out Louis Garrel!

4. Summer Hours (2008, Olivier Assayas): I once heard someone refer to this movie as "Antiques Roadshow: the Movie".  And while that is a little unfair, the film does focus on what happens to a valuable decoartive item collection when the matriarch of the family dies leaving her idyllic home and precious collection to her three children.  I know that sounds like a total snoozefest, but the characters are so fully drawn and the atmosphere is so perfect, that the movie is completely compelling, you care what happens to the teacups and teapots!  This home is a European fantasy, out in the country, sprawling, sun dappled but her three children are of a new, global  era, and don't see the same need for the home, to them it is a museum of memories.  Melancholy, pensive and spectacularly beautiful, Summer Hours, perfectly expresses the fleeting, ethereal moments that summer can have, and especially the memories of summer, and the memories of childhood.  Charles Berling is fantastic and the final scene will knock your socks off.

5. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955, Ingmar Bergman): Delightful may not be the first word that comes to mind when people think of Ingmar Bergman, but this film is exactly that.  A Midsummer Night's Dreamesque story of mismatched lovers who will end up properly matched after a summer's night at a Swedish country estate, this movie has a light, sweet tone that I wasn't expecting from Bergman.  Starring my absolute favorite Swedish actor of all time, Gunnar Björnstrand , Smiles of a Summer Night deftly swings through the different social strata of early 19th century Sweden, and does so with wit and humanity. It also shows what it is like to live somewhere where summer days literally do go one endlessly (this is something I can definitely remember from the summer weeks I spent in Sweden).   This film is simply put, magical.

Enjoy of one these movies on a long summer night (I recommend a Rosé to accompany them)!

Julie

Dustin Hoffman Marathon: Part 1

My husband, K and our friend S started a tradition a few years ago of doing movie marathons.  Each of us take turns picking a theme and then we watch six or so films in that category and then at the end we have a little awards ceremony (well, we drink champagne and talk about our favorites in various categories).  We have done a bunch of different marathons: Italian Neo Realism, Woody Allen, Road Movies, Conspiracy Movies, Astaire v. Kelly and most recently Godard v. Truffaut.  S chose this time and he picked Dustin Hoffman movies (or alternatively to sound fancy: The Films of D. Hoffman).  We are halfway through the marathon so I thought I'd do a little recap of the three we've watched so far.

This was the most ridiculous picture I could find.

1. Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 1969): Fun fact:  Midnight Cowboy was the only X rated movie to win Best Picture; that makes is sound much more racy than it is.  Jon Voight is Joe Buck, a country bumpkin who idolizes the masculinity and rugged individualism of the cowboys of the American west.  After leaving his podunk town he journeys to New York City to become a male prostitute for the high class ladies who are yearning for a real man to come into their lives and satisfy them (or so he thinks).  In case you couldn't tell, he is perfectly naive and unprepared for the city and can't find any clients that fit the above description.  He meets Dustin Hoffman's conman, Ratzo Rizzo, and an unlikely friendship forms.  I generally enjoyed this film but I wasn't prepared for some flashbacks and psychedelic touches; I always thought it was a much more straightforward story.  Hoffman's performance was a bit more over the top than I expected and Jon Voight's performance was much more nuanced.

I love a man in an untied bow tie.

2. Lenny (Bob Fosse, 1974): Lenny is a biopic of comedian Lenny Bruce and his rise to fame and infamy told from the perspective of all of the people in his life: his mother, his wife and his manager.  Dustin Hoffman gives his best performance of the marathon so far as the titular character.  I loved the sensitivity and sweetness he infused into Lenny the man, while also showing us the great flaws that this man had. As Lenny the performer, he had the right infusion of vulgarity and glee.  Bob Fosse is one of the great American directors; I think he has such flair with the camera and with editing (Stop reading this blog and see All that Jazz, so great) and as with his other films I have seen, Lenny has a vibrancy and kinetic energy that brings the film to life.  So far, this has been my favorite of all the movies. Plus, I am a sucker for some pretty black and white cinematography.

Feathered hair!

3. All the President's Men (Alan J. Pakula, 1976):  Confession:  I really have no idea what Watergate was.  I hoped that by watching this movie, I would understand it.  I didn't.  Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman are Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post journalists who brought the Watergate scandal to light.  I think this is a solid movie, the performances are strong; Jason Robards as the editor in chief stands out, but I feel that both Redford and Hoffman don't have that much character development.  I understand that this is the point and the film is a procedural, but both Redford and Hoffman bored me a bit in their performances.  It was also too long and too dry.  Also,  I found the weird ending where one second their lives are in danger and the next everything is tidily wrapped up a bit contrived. And I still don't understand Watergate!

So far from this marathon, I realized that I don't like Hoffman as an actor as much as I thought I did; I have been underwhelmed by two of his three performances.  Hopefully, the next three will change my mind.

Julie

Five Things I Love this Week

1.   My Madewell polka dot skimmers! I have been coveting these adorable shoes since March and I finally bit the bullet and bought them (on sale, no less!). They are proving to be a bit difficult to break in, but I love them anyway and do think they are going to be super comfortable (even though they run really small and I have had my husband's shoe tree's in them when I am not wearing them).  They are super versatile and look adorable with tons of looks.  I have already picked up out my next pair of skimmers (they are striped!).

2.   Lena Dunham's Remembers Nora Ephron. I promise, I am not a huge Lena Dunham fan (even though I already recommended Tiny Furniture on this blog), but I heard about her piece in the New Yorker about Nora Ephron on the Slate Culture Gabfest.  I read it and found it to be very moving and again confirmed my suspicions about Dunham's amazing writing talent.  I have never been a huge Ephron fan but was saddened and surprised to hear about her death.  Dunham wrote a beautiful piece about getting to know Ephron and the influence she had on her life, both artistically and personally.  It was a perfect tribute to Ms. Ephron and  shows the solidarity and mentorship of female artists in Hollywood: truly inspiring.

3.  Battleship Pretension podcast:  The truth is, this is something I love every week. When I worked in an office, I listened to about 10 podcasts weekly; now I listen to about two or three.  Battleship Pretension is one I never even considered anything but essential listening.  David Bax and Tyler Smith have the best chemistry in podcastland and I love the topics they cover each week.  They aren't a movie review show, instead they are a topic based movie podcast (some of the most recent episodes have covered Movie Presidents, Comedy as Coherence and the composer Carter Burwell).  I have learned about so many great movies from them, they are super funny and make me feel like I have two great friends to discuss movies with (ask my husband, I often say to him, "Baxy said this was good, you would love it!").


4.  Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present: Every Monday HBO shows a new documentary and I recently caught up with this one directed by Matthew Akers.  I didn't know very much about Ms. Abramovic, I had read a few articles about her in Vogue and the New York Times and remember her performance art piece being mentioned in Sex and the City.  I had heard about her show at MOMA in 2010 but mostly remember hearing about the naked people in a doorway one needed to squeeze through to see the exhibit.  Hearing her speak about her sometimes controversial work was fascinating and I found some of her pieces incredibly interesting (especially her work with her partner / lover Ulay).  I must admit, I am particularly susceptible to hero worship and I think this film fed into the idea of Abramovic as a sort of performance art goddess.  That being said, once they get to the footage from the MOMA show where Abramovic sat in a new piece where any museum visitor could sit in a seat across from her and look into her eyes, I found myself unexpectedly moved.  I loved watching the footage of museumgoers sitting across from the artist and looking into her eyes; I loved their varied reactions of laughter, tears and enigmatic faces (also the moment when Ulay comes and sits in the seat across from her, I totally cried).

I need a colorful checked sweater dress!

5. Anna Karina's sweater dresses in Made in USA:  I may have named my blog after a JLG film but I am certainly not about to pretend that I love all of his movies (some of them are freaking weird!).  Recently my husband and I (sort of) watched this Godard movie.  While he may have been swept away by the homage to 30's crime films, I was swooning over Karina's amazing sixties wardrobe, mostly consisting of curve hugging, colorful sweater dresses.  Come this fall I can only hope to find some as cute as the one Karina rocks in this film.

La Femme's Crafts-Front Door Wreath

Some of my wedding details.  I either ordered them from etsy or forced my poor husband or mother to do them :)
Photos courtesy of Angela and Evan Photography

When I was planning a wedding, I had grand crafting plans.  In reality, a lot of the diy elements of my wedding came from etsy.com.  Everything else, I guilted my much craftier husband into helping me with and ultimately doing for me (and my mom.  Two days before the wedding she was convinced we did favors, so she and my dad spent an afternoon making and filling favor boxes).  Since the wedding,  I found that I miss the planning elements of the wedding.   Now on pinterest, I had to look at food and home decor!  So I definitely wanted to do a couple more crafty projects around the house.

Of course the problem with that is that my home decor style is anything but crafty.  I like some artisanal items, but with my limited crafting ability, I was afraid that anything I tried would look homemade and terrible.  That is when I thought of trying a wreath for my door.  That way, I didn't have to worry about it clashing with the rest of my house, and if it turned out well, I could do them for different holidays, seasons etc.

That lead me to making a yarn wreath for my front door. One of the semi failed projects for my wedding were yarn letters.  I made five.  A J, a K and an I DO.  Only three of them ended up at the wedding and in the 800 or so photos I got from my photographer there were exactly zero (you don't see any of them above!).  But this project actually turned out pretty well and it was really easy.  

Yarn Wreath with Felt Flowers

Supplies:

- 1 foam wreath

- yarn (you can do one color or stripes like I did)
- felt (I used one color for the flowers and one for the leaves)
-glue gun

It is almost so simple that you don't really need a tutorial.  You simply wrap the yarn around the foam wreath.  Wrap it tight and as evenly as you can.  I made marks for where I wanted the stripes.  I just eyeballed it and didn't care if it was even.

Finally I added some felt flowers (there are tons of better tutorials online if you are interested in making these).  This is the part I was scared of doing but it was actually really simple and I am pretty happy with how they turned out.  I cut out a bunch of different sizes of circles, then you simply cut a spiral through the entire circle.  I wrapped it into a flower shape as tightly as I could and then I simply hot glued the end.  I free formed some leaf shapes in the green felt and strategically put them under.  I then laid it out the way I wanted it and hot glued them on.

Here is the finished project! I did it in the span of a few afternoons while watching the Real Housewives (and maybe enjoying a glass of wine.  I don't believe in crafting without liquor!) and I think it probably took me three hours to complete.

Julie