Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Why the Rabbit is the Best Part of FOX's "The Masked Singer"

OMG, you guys! We HAVE to talk about FOX's "The Masked Singer"!!! LOL!

I think this is the stupidest show I have ever liked. And considering the stupid stuff I've liked in the past, particularly delivered by FOX, that's saying something. LOL

I was looking forward to the show when I saw commercials for it, finding it intriguing enough to want to check out, but I didn't think I was going to like it as much as I do. lol

I then realized that I like it because it combines two of my favorite entertainment elements: performance and mystery.

Based on South Korea's "The King of the Masked Singer," the premise is that celebrities dress up in these amazing outlandish costumes designed by Marina Toybina and perform musical numbers for a celebrity panel consisting of Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, and Nicole Scherzinger, and host Nick Cannon. Everyone then has to guess who the celebrity is behind the mask.

Sunday, January 13, 2019

A Perfect Christmas List Movie Review

IMDb
I didn't want a whole year to go by before I shared this, so here is a review of my favorite Christmas movie this year!

Well, technically today is final day of the Christmas season for us, given that it is the Baptism of the Lord, so it's not too late after all! :D

So as you know, this Christmas season I've made it a point to watch as many cheesy Christmas movies as I can and have done so thanks to ION and ION Life. A Perfect Christmas List (2014), directed by Fred Olen Ray (who actually directs a number of these types of films), was playing back to back practically daily and I always found myself watching it every time, pretty much having it memorized by now. 

Ellen Hollman plays Sara Edwin, a children's book writer who has come home for Christmas because her grandmother Evie, played by "Happy Days" star and now retired actress Marion Ross, has taken a fall and sprained her ankle. Sara often keeps a distance between herself and her family because she has a tough relationship with her slightly overbearing and judgmental mother Michelle, played by Beth Broderick, who constantly pushed Sara and believes that she could have gone onto greater things had she gone to Harvard. Michelle overhears Evie talking with her doctor but mishears the conversation, believing that her mother is dying when really she is just moving out of her condo into a suite at the country club. It's one of those comedy of errors things. Think "Three's Company." 

Evie convinces Michelle and Sara to engage in a Christmas list, which is suggested to be inspired by one of Sara's previous books, to make this holiday a perfect one and to secretly reunite the constantly feuding mother and daughter. Michelle is happy to oblige to please Evie because she believes that her mother won't be around for another Christmas.

Part of the reason why I love this one so much is the cast, particular Sara's parents who bring me back to the 90s. Beth Broderick is best known as Aunt Zelda from "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" while Richard Karn, best known as Al Borland from "Home Improvement" and the host of "Family Feud," plays Sara's dad and Michelle's husband Tim.

As sweet as the story is, there is also plenty of corn and cheese served up in it as well. Here is a fun list of observations I have made about this film after multiple viewings. :) There are some spoilers in this post, so you have been warned!

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Cheers to New Beginnings 2019!

Happy New Year and Happy Anniversary to Taking it One Stef at a Time! :D

I'm excited about 2019. 2018 was somewhat of a difficult year for myself and my family, but a lot of good things happened too. I'm excited to see what this brand new year of new beginnings has to offer. I anticipate a lot more good things. The future is open and bright.

Oftentimes when I think of new beginnings, especially the new year, I feel like it's often a need to make an automatic switch to be a new person. However, I have to keep in mind that improving myself is a process and an ongoing project. Changes don't happen overnight. But it is a brand new year and I am excited to see what new experiences and successes I can accomplish. I am blessed to have gotten this far in life and I'm looking forward to what's next.

I'm also looking forward to contributing more to this blog again, depending on what I want to do with this blog further. I think I've been doing pretty good so far even though I was kind of on hiatus for a bit back there LOL. This month is also a great time to kick off my series of blog posts detailing my life lessons throughout my first ten years of adulthood so I hope to start sharing those soon. I think they're probably ready. I just have to tweak them all a little bit but I'll be hopefully sharing the little by little. Maybe I'll also resume other things as well, like my YouTube channel and podcasts. I haven't posted on them in like a year so I'm not sure if I'm going to return to that or not but we'll see.

It's nice to have a clean slate and to try to have a more positive outlook with less concerns and needless worries than before. I enjoy incorporating this mindset. I feel good and have good feelings about this new year. I have a list of resolutions that I'm planning too so I'm hoping I can keep up this momentum.

Once again, happy New Year to you all! Let's make this a fantastic one! :-)

-Stef :)