Reviews and More

I just realized that my new theme uses different function names for wrapping texts around images in posts. For example, if I wanted an image to appear on the right side of a post in my previous theme, I typed in

class=”alignright”

But for this new theme, I have to type

align=”right”

The result here is that all the images in my archived posts will appear to the top left of the text. I hate that look, but am not about to go through six months’ worth of posts to manually correct the problem. So if you’re looking through my archives, that’s why the images float at the top like that.

When I bought my first brand-new car, I toyed with the idea of getting personalized license plates, but ended up not doing so because I didn’t want to go through the hassle of checking to see if the one I wanted was available, then applying for it, paying the fees, and finally going back to pick up the plates when they were ready.

If I had been able to carry out the entire process online — like UK residents can — then I’m sure I would have personalized plates today. UK residents are lucky because they can get their number plates from websites like NorthumbriaNumbers.com. NorthumbriaNumbers.com is an easy-to-use website that simplifies the personalization process. Customers can search the database to see which numbers are available, see a list of suggested personalization options, and order their plates right there on the site. There are even previews available so you can see what your personalized plates will look like. How cool is that? I wish we had a service like this in the U.S.!

Anyway, if you want personalized number plates, head on over to NorthumbriaNumbers.com today to get started.

The 2003 movie Under the Tuscan Sun is based on the Frances Mayes book of the same name. I haven’t read the book, but from what I gather, it’s more or less a true chronicle of what happened to the author after her divorce. The film carries a disclaimer saying that many of the events were changed to suit the script, so bear that in mind while reading this review.

Diane Lane stars as Frances. She is a writer who has just learned that her husband has been having an affair. They get a divorce, and Frances wallows for a while, not really knowing what she wants to do next. She takes up residence in a depressing apartment complex filled with other recently divorced tenants, but gets out of that situation when her friends Patti (Sandra Oh) and Grace (Kate Walsh) give her a ticket to Tuscany as part of a “Gay and Away” tour. Patti and Grace were planning to go, but when they discovered that Patti is pregnant, they decided to stay home and treat Frances to the trip instead.

On her first day in Tuscany, Frances comes upon an old, rundown villa for sale. For some reason, she thinks it would be a good idea to buy the house and take up residence there. Italy must have some VERY lax immigration laws, because all of the paperwork for the house goes through quckly and Frances becomes the proud new owner.

Of course, there’s a lot of work to be done on the house first. Here we get the obligatory scenes of walls crumbling, ceilings collapsing, dust flying, and bugs scurrying throughout all the rooms. Frances hires a group of three Polish immigrants to restore the house, and here again we get obligatory scenes of them screwing things up to the point of Frances wondering if they know what they’re doing. Yawn and yawn.

While the house is being repaired, Frances decides to deal with her love life. She’s wants to get back into the dating scene, and figures that taking an Italian lover would be the perfect thing to do. She eventually finds one and they spend a day (and night) together, but since Marcello (Raoul Bova) lives in a different city they have trouble reconnecting again for a couple of months. One day, Frances decides to go find him, and of course he’s with another woman already.

The rest of the film deals with Frances’s continuing search for love and meaning, and also addresses a few subplots involving other characters.

My Reaction: I was expecting so much more from this movie. I had read a few good critical reviews and thought I’d be treated to something special, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. This struck me as the kind of story that is much more effective as a book than a movie. I mean, nothing happens in the film! It’s a story of an average woman finding herself, and that’s just not movie material IMO.

Diane Lane was great as Frances. If a lesser actress had been cast in the lead role, I probably would have turned the movie off without finishing it. But Lane’s performance alone is not enough to make Under the Tuscan Sun worth watching. I mean, the highlight for me was seeing Cristina and Addison (Grey’s Anatomy reference) as lesbian lovers!!

I give this movie 5.5 stars out of 10 and think you should just skip it.

Back when I was a freshman in college, my roommate spent the summer house-sitting in Asheville, North Carolina for some relatives. I was able to visit her for a couple of weeks, and we had a great time out there. It was just a beautiful, safe area that was quite a change of pace from life in Chicago.

My husband and I often talk about permanently relocating to a quieter place where we would be able to raise our son in peace. Milder weather wouldn’t hurt either! We’ve seriously considered Arizona, Georgia, and Florida, and have even checked out North Carolina home values before. Now I want to check out Asheville properties as well. I’ve heard that Asheville homes are a good investment because property values in that city have been consistently rising year after year. While quality of living is certainly our first concern, we naturally want to protect our investment too. It seems like Asheville scores high in both areas, so I’m going to add it to our (growing) list of potential relocation destinations.

When it comes to fragrances, I’m not very adventurous. I’ve been wearing Lauren by Ralph Lauren ever since I was in high school — more than 15 years already! I like the scent well enough, but I’ve noticed that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find this particular product when I go shopping. Most stores are likely to carry other fragrances by Ralph Lauren (Safari, Glamorous, and Romance), but not Lauren. I guess that means it’s time to start looking for a new scent.

I started browsing for cheap perfume this morning and found a UK-based site called Send Me Scent that features a very extensive selection of popular fragrances at discounted prices.

Their top-selling ladies perfume is Prada (by Prada, of course) and I really want to try it. Prada is my favorite designer brand anyway, so I wouldn’t mind adding their perfume to my collection of shoes and purses. I think I’ll try to find this perfume in a store near here to get a sample first, and then come back to order online if the price difference is significant enough.

By the way, if any of you readers have personal experience with Prada perfume, please let me know about it! I’d love to hear what you think about it — good or bad.

As you can see, I’ve changed the look of Reviews and More. I previously mentioned that I wanted to move to a three-column theme to make better use of my sidebar space and I think this Tiga 1.0.2 theme by Shamsul Azar is perfect!

I’m going to spend the next few days making some tweaks here and there, so I ask for your patience while I test out some different things.

I’m excited about this new look and hope you like it as much as I do!