My Week With Marilyn

February 18, 2013 By 4 Comments

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I am ashamed to admit that I watched ‘My Week With Marilyn’ for the first time this past weekend.  I am so sad that I spent the last year of my life without this movie in my life.  Michelle Williams’ performance/transformation/embodiment of Marilyn was so beautiful and awe inspiring… that it inspired me to do more research on the iconic Hollywood actress, Marilyn Monroe.

Growing up as a young girl, aspiring to be an actress, the image of Marilyn Monroe represented “the dream” for me!  She was “it” – movie star, glamorous, loved, captivating.  I accepted her at face value.  I never knew much about who she truly was behind the naive, “dumb blonde”, sex symbol persona that she played to the public.  I don’t really know if I wanted to know because what I did know was that it was dark and troubled.  I now have a whole new level of admiration, appreciation and empathy towards her.  HER wit, HER empathy, HER desire to be taken seriously as an artist is so admirable (to say the least).  She was smarter than she ever led on to be… which is why she was so successful.  Her role as “Marilyn Mornoe” was the BEST performance she ever gave.

I have decided to spend a week with Marilyn.  I will review the movie and research the production process, and  I will also dive into who Marilyn was as a person, an actress and an Icon.

I BRING YOU… MY  WEEK WITH MARILYN.

Me

Free Marilyn

I leave you now with these two images.  Above is the image of Marilyn that Michelle Williams had above her bed as she grew up as a girl.  Marilyn looks so free, happy, innocent, alive and at peace.  I believe this is one of the reasons why Michelle was able to dive into the heart of Marilyn and show us who she really was.  This was the Marilyn she knew.  She could have been easily fooled or distracted by the other woman in the other white dress… Marilyn Monroe.

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*Photo Credit 1, 2, 3*

Filed Under: Allison 4 Comments

Struggle: Learn your lesson the first time.

February 17, 2013 By 1 Comment

Life is easier when you… learn your lesson the first time. Well that’s easier said than done.

There has been a recurring theme in one aspect of my life that pops up every once in a while (vague – I know). Well, it came up again this week.  I needed to make a decision to follow one instinct or another.

I was reminded of something Tom Shadyac spoke about in his class at Pepperdine (that I totally crash).

We were analyzing the movie, Groundhog Day.  (I am sure you all know Groundhog Day.  Bill Murray keeps living the same day over and over again. Until, he learns his lesson and finds his true self.)

Tom Shadyac pointed out that, “Life’s going to throw the same obstacles at you until you get it right.”

Today, I followed the other instinct.  Yay me!

Take a look at your life and see if there are any recurring obstacles… Maybe you haven’t learned your lesson yet!

Filed Under: Allison 1 Comment

My Valentine’s Day

February 15, 2013 By 5 Comments

Mondays and Thursdays are my busiest class days of the week. You can usually find me frantically speed walking around campus, getting from one class to the next in just the nick of time. But, despite my busy and hectic day, all of my Valentines made my Thursday extra special.

After my first two classes, I had 30 minutes until the next set of two classes, which I spent…frantically speed walking around. I grabbed lunch to-go. I stopped by the dining offices to pick up this lovely package of chocolate covered strawberries.

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Then, I stopped by the mailroom to pick up a sweet package from my sweet mom!

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She even put a little something in for Natalie and Hannah too!

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By the time, I picked up these deliveries and ate lunch I had three minutes to spare to get from my room to my classroom. And to my surprise, I made it to class on the dot!

Once my classes were finished, I had one last delivery to pick up. Colin had a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me! Fresh flowers are probably one of my absolute favorite things. He knows me well.

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When I got back to my room, I found this little Valentine Hannah left for me on my desk.

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I indulged in some of those Valentine’s sweets while I waited for Natalie and Hannah to get back from their classes. Once the school day finally came to an end for all of us, the girls and I jumped in the car and headed down to Santa Monica for a dinner and a movie date!

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We have a tradition in my family to eat Chinese food on Valentine’s Day, so the girls and I chose to continue the tradition by eating at P.F. Changs. Oh, how I love eating food from a place other than the caf.

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(^^Let’s try to ignore my “middle part”)

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And since it was Valentine’s Day, we were in the mood for a love story…so what better movie to pick than the movie Safe Haven based off of a Nicholas Sparks novel?! The movie definitely hit the spot! And if you are ever in the mood for a love story, I would certainly recommend it.

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After the movie, we headed back to campus, got cozy in our matching Valentine socks that my mom gave us, ate a few chocolate covered strawberries, and called it a night!

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Thank you to all of my Valentines who made my day special, especially the ones who did so from all the way across the country! I love you so much.

I hope your Valentine’s Day was full of love and I hope you have a HAPPY WEEKEND!

Filed Under: Caroline, Holidays 5 Comments