Hilltown House: February 2013

Top Ten Favorite Things - February

Top Row:
1- Blake's Simpsons/Thomas hybrid Valentines Day shirt
2- Birthday dinner for Brian and getting to spend time with the best little neice
3- Whenever I can make this scenario happen in my Springfield
4- Blake's enthusiasm to take a bath each night

Middle Row:
5- Amish Pickles from the Famer's Market...super spicy but soooo good
6- This Awesome Oscar poster that DJ Mike shared with me...test your knowledge of Best Pictures
7- Valentines present from Jon - book of one of my favorite painters

Bottom Row:
8- First dress from Rent the Runway for our grown up Valentines Day dinner
9- Smoked tuna tacos from Alma de Cuba.....I could eat a dozen of these every day
10- New dress and shoes from Target's Prabal Gurung collection...is it Spring yet?

My 2012 Academy Awards Ballot

My favorite day of the year is fast approaching!!! Sunday is finally Oscar Day!!! While counting down the days, thought I'd share my ballot for this year's awards. These are not necessarily what I think are the Best Movies and Performances of last year, but who I think will win. So if you're looking to put money on it - here are my best educated guesses for the Oscar class of 2012.....

Best Picture - Argo
Best Director - Steven Speilberg
Best Actor - Daniel Day Lewis
Best Actress - Jennifer Lawrence
Best Supporting Actor - Robert de Niro
Best Supporting Actress - Anne Hathaway
Best Animated Feature - Wreck it Ralph
Best Foreign Film - Amour
Best Original Screenplay - Zero Dark Thirty
Best Adapted Screenplay - Lincoln
Best Costume Design - Lincoln
Best Original Song - "Skyfall"
Best Original Score - Life of Pi
Best Documentary - How to Survive a Plague
Best Documentary (Short) - Five Points
Best Makeup - Les Mis
Best Production - Life of Pi
Best Film Editing - Argo
Best Cinematography - Life of Pi
Best Sound Editing - Zero Dark Thirty
Best Sound Mixing - Les Mis
Best Visual Effects - Life of Pi
Best Animated Short Film - Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare" (ok, so I'm a little biased on this one)
Best Live Action Short Film - Bukazshi Boys

If you'd like to print out you own ballot here's good link

And here's my Oscar Factoid of the day to amaze your friends with -

The number one indicator of who is going to win Best Picture...it's not what won the Golden Globe, it's not what has racked up the most awards that season....it's whatever film wins BEST FILM EDITING. Almost 70% of all Best Pictures have also won this. So if you see Lincoln pick up this prize early in the night, go ahead and make the bold statement that it will also win Best Picture with confidence!

My Favorite Academy Awards Dresses - 2000s and 90s

One of the things I like to do in my spare time (yeah all that spare time I have nowadays!) is work on my archive of Academy Awards fashion over the years. Unfortunately, trying to track good images down prior to the early 90s is very hard, but one day I hope to put together an amazing library from the 20's - today and share it somehow. While that is still in the works, enjoy some of my favorite looks from the 2000s and mid-90s - the early 90s were still way too 80s for my taste!

Can't wait to see what this Sunday's Red Carpet has in store.