Favorite Moments

I never once watched Everybody Loves Raymond when it was on prime time television but I've seen it in its syndicated life. I doubt I've seen all the episodes but it's a funny show. Some of my favorite episodes include the one where Debra and Ray leave their luggage on the stair landing, or the episode where they remember how they met. But one episode that makes me laugh until tears are streaming down my face - every time I watch it - is the one where Robert deliberately munks up his wedding invitation because Ray and Frank convince him Amy really wants to do the invitations and he's taking that away from her if he does them himself.

Are you an Everybody Loves Raymond fan? Do you have a favorite? Share please! :o)

And now, a clip from the wedding invitation episode. Enjoy! :o)

New favorite commercial

Have you seen this yet? Too cute. :o)

New Favorite Book

Sophie Kinsella has a knack for creating quirky characters that you love. And TWENTIES GIRL is no different.

For me it is kind of a cross between IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and BRIDGET JONES' DIARY.

Lara Lington hears a not-so still small voice in her ear at her great aunt Sadie's funeral. The problem is, the voice is coming from great aunt Sadie's ghost! Sadie wants the funeral stopped until they can locate her favorite necklace and she won't let up on Lara until she successfully stops the funeral. With no warning and no time to come up with a better plan to stop/postpone the funeral, Lara declares that her dear old great aunt (who was 105 at the time of her death) did not die of natural causes, but was in fact murdered. When pressed for specifics, she's hard pressed to come up with details, particularly considering she never really met her great aunt Sadie but the word "murder" was enough to delay the funeral.

As if dealing with the fallout of the declaration of the supposed murder isn't enough, Lara is also dealing with a floundering business and the end of her latest relationship - not to mention her meddlesome aunt's ghost. And in typical Kinsella style, it is hysterical.

As the story unfolds, the relationship between Lara and Sadie grows. Yes, there is a romance thrown in for good measure but, for me, the heart of the story lies with Lara and Sadie.

TWENTIES GIRL is about values, family and leaving your mark on the world - whether you realize you've done so or not. It's a touching, feel good story that had me laughing hysterically (thankfully I read it at home!) and getting emotional about the characters. Not only is it my favorite Kinsella book to date, it is quite possibly my favorite book of all time.

I highly recommend it.

Contest

Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a book ho. There isn't much I wouldn't do for books. The list is pretty short. For example, I won't promote an author I don't like and I won't promote a book I don't like, even if I do like the author.

Which makes a particular contest really easy for me. You see, Eileen Cook is running a contest for a $75 gift card to the book store of your choice (details here). And, if you've been paying attention, I like Eileen's books - including What Would Emma Do?

I interviewed Eileen here. I believe I'd sent Eileen the questions before I'd actually read What Would Emma Do? But, I'd read Unpredictable and loved it, so I was excited about spotlighting Eileen on my blog. In fact, I even blogged about Unpredictable here. (It should be noted that promoting Unpredictable wasn't a part of the contest - just a bonus here because I really, really liked it!) By the time I posted the blog post, I'd read What Would Emma Do? and loved it!

Shortly thereafter What Would Emma Do? was listed in my top 9 favorite books of 2008 (Unpredictable also made the list but again, it's not part of the contest so consider this another bonus thing :o) ).

And then, not long ago, I saw that Eileen has another book coming out. . . The cover is absolutely awesome and I cannot wait for it to hit the shelves!!!

But back to What Would Emma Do? So in this contest we have to promote the book and well, I know of no other way than to tell you that I've personally read it and highly recommend it. And, if you go for that bonus kind of thing and you're ordering What Would Emma Do?, do yourself a favor and order Unpredictable too. I promise you won't be disappointed. :o)

Best Kiss

I stayed home from work today because, well, I kind of wanted to. I mean, there were legitimate reasons for me TO stay home - like I came home to a busted window last night that needed repairing and I needed more poison - er medication - for Harley. And a storm is coming tomorrow, which makes it harder to get some things done (like grocery shopping). So today was a good day to get things done - so I took a personal day.

Anyway, after I got things done (actually it was all done before lunch, if you can believe that...and that was with me heading out to the vet - which is 25 miles away - TWICE - poor Harley), I decided to watch some things on my DVR.

I just finished watching Derailed with Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston. I won't spoil (much) if you haven't seen it. It's a thriller. But there is one scene in it that I loved. Owen and Aniston's characters are sitting in the bar and he says "I'll bet you $20 I can kiss you without ever touching your lips." She takes the bet and then he kisses her and says "It was worth every penny." I really liked that scene.

I also really liked the movie. It was different and not what I expected.

But I really liked that scene. I think it's my new favorite kiss scene. And I wonder, would that line would work in real life? ;-)

What about you? Do you have a favorite kiss scene from a movie? If so, please share. :-)