Bye Bye, 2014!

Here it is, the end of another year. And it's been a great one, a prep one, I've been telling people. You know how you feel like you're preparing for something big? Maybe how an athletic team feels in a rebuilding year? That's how I feel about 2014. 

There was a lot of great things that happened this past year. I got engaged for one! How about that? I had never thought about marriage in a real way. Not that I didn't want it, but it was not on my 'things to do.' I thought it would happen or it wouldn't. 

I got to travel to some awesome places I've never been: San Antonio, Nashville, and revisit a few favorites: Chicago, NYC, and the Emerald Coast. There is something to be said about travel, the necessity of it and the fact that the more I travel, the more I want to travel. 

I barely missed my 50/50 Challenge goal, but feel OK about it because it's closer than I've ever gotten before. If you want the truth, this year in movies was kinda crap with a few gold stars. This is how my year ended: 

Movies

#46 - Mockingjay

#47 - The Big Wedding

#48 - Wall Street

#49 - Wild

#50 - The Pelican Brief

#51 - The Gambler

#52 - Big Hero 6

#53 - Unbroken

Books

#40: Mother, Mother - Koren Zalickas

#41: The Myth of Happiness - Sonja Lyubomirsky

#42: Still Alice - Lisa Genova

#43: Swim Back to Me - Ann Packer

#44: Not That Kind of Girl - Lena Duham

#45: Yes Please - Amy Poehler

#46: The Woman I Wanted to Be - DVF

#47: Flawless - Jan Moran

#48: The Happiness of Pursuit - Chris Guillebeau

In the coming year, I will probably be more active on Goodreads as that's an easier way to keep track of progress, but really, there are so many good books out there! I hope more people decide to read in 2015. I'm so happy to be part of a fun book club that makes reading even more exciting. Is that a geeky statement?

As it is now, I'm spending my final hours on a plane from the East Coast (Florida) to the West Coast (California) and thinking about the year ahead and how fantastic it will be. Tomorrow I will meet with my friends as they create vision boards and I create a specific list of goals of all the things I want to achieve in 2015. One of which is to update this blog more often and write more, in general.

So with that, I hope that your NYE is full of everything you want it to be. My personal goal is to stay awake until midnight, but why break tradition?

I write this in the air, after some Pinot Grigio, and a free viewing of "The Social Network." I hope 2015 treats you well. I'll be talking to you soon.

50/50 Challenge: Six Weeks to Go!

Six weeks until the end of the year, which means six weeks for me to read 11 more books and 5 -- it can be done!

The only movie I've watched since my last post is "Foxcatcher" which I'll be posting a review to on Examiner this Friday. It has Channing Tatum in it, but not like you're used to seeing him, that's for sure. 

I also technically read three new books, but since The Goldfinch was such a mother of a read, I am counting it as two. I think in the 50/50 Challenge rules somewhere, the fact that it's 771 pages counts. When I got to the end and it became front heavy, things got rough. 

So, to sum up my progress:

Movie #45: Foxcatcher

I'm hoping that #46 will be "Mockingjay Part I"!

Book #36: The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
Book #37/#38: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction)
Book #39: I Can't Make This Stuff Up by Theresa Caputo a.k.a. The Long Island Medium, who I met briefly and hugged at a Warwick's book signing.

So, not terribly great on my progress, but it will be done. I will accomplish my goal and treat myself to a whole cheesecake. 

50/50 Challenge Update: Two Months to Go!

Fall is my favorite season. Wish I had taken this photo, but alas, it's from Pinterest.

Hey-o! Less than 60 days to prove that I can read 50 books and watch 50 movies in one year. OK, I'm not really trying to prove anything, but I would enjoy the accomplishment. I'll keep this update short and sweet.

Movies

41. Gone Doggy Gone 

This screened at San Diego Film Festival and it's a fun, twisted movie that pokes fun at just how much people loooove their dogs.

42. St. Vincent

Bill Murray. Highly recommend. I laughed and cried and laughed some more.

43. The Good Lie

I also highly recommend. I was pretty much teary-eyed throughout the whole movie.

44. The Best of Me

Eh. Nicholas Sparks enthusiasts will dig it.

45. Nightcrawler

One of the most original films I've seen in awhile. Not usually a huge Jake Gyllenhaal fan, but he is fantastic in this.

Books (a measly ONE since my last update)

35. Leaving Time - Jodi Picoult

Psychics. Paranormal. Mystery. It's like Jodi Picoult surveyed me and asked, "Courtney, what is it that you want?" This was one of my favorites of hers in a long time and is reminiscent of her earlier work. She has changed publishing houses and editors, which may or may not be one of the reasons. 

35 1/2. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller

I read most of the beginning and then started to read from the back, so there's a whole middle section I skipped because I couldn't get into this book, but I really wanted to. 

I know I'll reach my movie goal, but can I make it through 15 more books?