Confessions of a Shopaholic

This past weekend I watched the movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic .  My expectations were low; I was not expecting a work of art or anything even close to it.  To my surprise, it was not as idiotic as I thought it would be; it was actually quite enjoyable.  It is about a young journalist is obsessed with fashion and shopping.  After getting laid off from her job, she decides to try her luck at one of the most prestigious fashion magazines.  When going for her interview, she notices a green scarf that she decides she must have.  The girl is already up to her eyeballs in debt and has maxed-out her credit card.  In a desperate attempt to purchase the scarf she goes to a hot dog stand to ask the vendor for change back claiming that she has to purchase the scarf for a sick relative.  While holding up the line, a handsome young man gives her the twenty dollars so that he can just get his hot dog and move on.  As it turns out she misses the interview, but the receptionist tells her that another financial magazine is holding interviews and that magazine may be her ticket to the fashion magazine.  She shows up to the interview with the green scarf on and low-and-behold the man interviewing her is the man from the hot dog stand.  She lands the job and ends up writing a great article about being a conscious buyer (which she is anything but).  I would recommend watching the movie to see what happens.  It is a movie filled with laugh out loud humor and still has that chick-flick feel.  The movie was based off of the book, which I heard was less than satisfactory so I don't think I will be reading that.
 Even though this was a feel-good silly movie, it does bring up a the topic of debt and shopping.  Many Americans are facing the problem of debt and the nagging calls of debt collectors.  It is widely talked about subject.  Even Oprah has had shows focused around debt and money issues.  Some say that some of the problem with shopping and debt lies in your brain. In the movie, the main character even tries to go to shopaholic anonymous , which really does exist.  Spending money when you don't have it really can be an addiction for people and it can end up ruining your life, just like any other addiction.

The Lovely Bones

While wondering through Target, I stumbled upon The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.  I noticed on the book the little sticker that said "Now a Major Motion Picture." I then knew I had to read it before the movie came out.  Don't let the cover of the book trick you.  The cover makes it look like a romance or a book that only women would enjoy.  This is not the case; I would recommend this book to anyone.  My boyfriend noticed the title of the book and said he saw the trailer for a movie called The Lovely Bones and wanted to know if it was based on the book I was reading.  After I replied "yes," he was shocked and even said that the movie looked interesting (coming from him this is a semi-big deal).  The book is about a 14 year old murder victim and how she is adjusting to heaven.  In heaven, she is able to watch her family cope with her death and she is able to see her killer.   I purchased the book last week and I have already finished it.  The only critique I have on the book is the ending; I think that after reading such a good book, it was such a disappointment to conclude the book with a so-so ending.  Even with the mediocre ending, I am anxious to see the movie that hits theaters January 2010.  I watched the trailer and I definitely see potential.

Here is the trailer if you're interested:

The Proposal

Today I watched The Proposal with a couple girlfriends.  It came out on DVD on Tuesday.  For those of you who have not heard of this movie, it is about a woman who forces her assistant to marry her to avoid being deported.  The Government suspects that the two are marrying to avoid the deportation and they are forced to take a trip to his parents home in....ALASKA (which I would really like to visit after watching this movie)!  To find out what happens, I highly recommend watching this movie.  It definitely had some laugh-out-loud moments and a really cute plot.  Warning to all of you chick-flick haters...this movie is NOT for you.  It had all of the elements of a chick flick (including the predictability), but the thing that made it stand out was some of the unsuspecting comedy thrown in there.  I did not think that I was going to enjoy this movie as much as I did, but now I could see myself watching it again in the near future.  It was a great movie to watch with the girls or a nice date movie!

"Broken Bones" Summer People

Broken bones / Summer people from jon walley on Vimeo.

Summer People is a great local band (Binghamton and surrounding areas).  If you haven't heard any of their stuff, here's a music video created by Jon Walley.

On Target: How the World's Hottest Retailer Hit a Bull's-Eye

When was the last time you actually sat down to read a non-fiction book?!  This was the questions my professor asked us the first week of classes.  My response: Not in a while.  For the class we had to choose a non-fiction book and write a book report on it (yes a book report...I guess you still do those things in MBA classes).  The book I chose was On Target: How the World's Hottest Retailer Hit a Bull's-Eye by Laura Rowley.  I was dreading (and I mean dreading) reading this non-fiction book.  No romance... I mean what kind of book is this?!   Despite my lack of enthusiasm, however, it needed to be done.  So I begin reading it and guess what?...it was not bad at all!  I actually enjoyed it to some extent.  This book reinforced my love for the one and only Tahrzay (sp?).  On Target discussed many aspects of the retailer: Target's appeal (why is it that you like browsing around Target and wasting time, while you can't get out of Wal-Mart fast enough?), their advertising and promotion tactics (including their bullseye logo), its service and technology, history of the store and the family that started it all, some of their guides for growth, Target's philanthropy, and challenges it faces.  As I walked into Target yesterday, I had a greater appreciation for what Target does and what it stands for and you can bet that yesterday won't be my only trip there this week!

My Very Own BLOG!!!

Ok so I've decided to start my very own blog.  I am currently taking an E-Business class and we have been discussing Web 2.0.  I find this whole thing very interesting and want to learn more, so I figured the only way to learn more is by doing it!  So here it is... my very own blog!  I think I'm going to wing the whole thing and see where it takes me.  Wish me luck!