Top 5 Christmas Movies

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!

Although I don't celebrate Christmas, most of my family on my mother's side which include my grandma and my mom's sister and most of my mom's aunts, uncles and cousins are all Christians that obviously, celebrate Christmas.

So even though we grew up in a Muslim household, we were taught to respect other religions and celebrate these occasions together. So to all those naysayers who says I can't wish another person Merry Christmas, you can just shove your opinions where the sun don't shine. I have faith in my faith. So why don't you?

Anyways, back to Christmas... I may not  celebrate Christmas, but I sure do love watching Christmas movies. I'm a sucker for family-oriented movies and I don't know one Christmas movie that isn't about family values and tradition. So here are some of my top favorite Christmas movies. 

1) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

In this series, Clark Griswold is really into Christmas, and promises his family the best Christmas ever. However, instead of the best Christmas ever, Clark turns Christmas evening completely around, causing a domino effect of disasters that eventually seems to drive everyone crazy.

Chevy Chase. His name is enough to make me laugh and this is my absolute favorite "National Lampoon Vacation-series".  This is high on my list as favorite Christmas movie of all time.

2) Home Alone (1990)

Home Alone, the film that catapulted Macaulay Culkin into the limelight is about 8-year-old Kevin McCallister is accidentally left behind when his family takes off for a vacation in France over the holiday season. Once he realizes they've left him home by himself, Kevin learns to fend for himself. He eventually has to protect his house against bumbling burglars Harry and Marv, who are planning to rob every house in Kevin's suburban Chicago neighborhood.

My kid sister calls this a classic because this movie was made before she was born. I'm like, classic??! How is this classic??! But then again she's 20 this year which only means that this film aired 23 years ago! Time flies, doesn't it? Just crazy when you think of it.

Another reason why I love this movie besides it's the plot and slapstick humor, is the amazing soundtrack. I just absolutely loooove the soundtrack. Can you blame me? John Williams. Hello!

3) Dutch (1991)

Dutch, (released as Driving Me Crazy in Australia and UK) is one of the lesser known and not-so-well received Christmas movies but still one of my favorite films. Either I have a thing for Ethan Embry (who plays the insufferable teenager, Doyle), or John Hughes (who also wrote and produced Home Alone). Well, I guess I'm a fan of both actually. So, don't judge me.

The film is about a down-to-earth contractor, Dutch, who volunteers to pick up his girlfriend's son from boarding school only to find out he is an insufferable, snobbish and rude teenager. His task of driving from Georgia to Chicago suddenly ends up as a hellish adventure.

Hilarious and heartwarming, I totally love it.

4) Elf (2003) 

After inadvertently wreaking havoc on the elf community due to his ungainly size, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole is sent to the U.S. in search of his true identity.

This movie.. never gets old. Actually, if you must know, Will Ferrell's character Buddy, is where I got my son's nickname. I was pregnant with my eldest when I watched this and I already knew that I was having a boy, so instead of referring to my baby bump as "baby", my kid sister called it "Buddy" and now, he's 10 years old, and still being called Buddy by close family and friends. So, now you know!

5) The Family Stone (2005) 

An uptight, conservative, businesswoman, played by Sarah Jessica Parker accompanies her boyfriend (played by Dermott Mulroney) to his eccentric and outgoing family's annual Christmas celebration and finds that she's a fish out of water in their free-spirited way of life.

This one, I just absolutely love. I guess because the family dynamics in this movie reminds me somewhat of my own family. The chemistry of everyone in this film is so natural and palpable that I just don't get tired of watching this. Absolutely a must-watch during Christmas.

So that's it! My top 5 Christmas movies! What's yours?

Other worthy mentions for Christmas movies would be: Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Prancer (1989), All I Want For Christmas (1991), Love Actually (2003) and The Holiday (2006).

Read more…

January 2014 Photo-A-Day

The January list is out! For those unfamiliar with Photo-A-Day, it's basically a photo challenge where you take a photo a day based on the prompt list for the month. This particular challenge is hosted by Chantelle, blog author of FatMumSlim.

She is a wonderful mom of 2 beautiful little girls from Down Under and you can check out her site for lots of great recipes, parenting tips and blogging tips as well. Every month she will release a list for the FMSPhotoADay challenge and I even heard there's a FMSPhotoADay App in the works. How cool is that?

Anyways, the list for January 2014 is out and I'm excited to join in. I normally join via Instagram using my phone camera, but I thought it'd be fun to hone my photography skills using my DSLR and post them separately on this blog. So why don't you all join me? Check it out and join in on the fun!

 

HOW TO PLAY PHOTO A DAY

Playing photo-a-day couldn’t be easier. It really couldn’t. Here’s how to play:
♥ Grab your camera or phone or photo-taking-device.
♥ Look at the monthly list to find the prompt for the day. {The number corresponds to the date of the month}.
♥ Take a photo using the prompt as inspiration. So for January the prompt for day 1 is ‘lunch’. So take a photo of your lunch, or people having lunch, or whatever you’re doing at lunchtime {which might possibly be lying on the couch recovering from the night before!}.
♥ Now you’ve taken a picture, it’s time to share it. This is the fun part. You can share to whichever social media platform you like, for me I like Facebook and Instagram best, oh and Twitter too. Make sure you add the hashtag #FMSphotoaday to your caption so people can find you, and others know what you’re doing.
If you’re sharing on Facebook, you might like to join our Facebook group. It’s a big, lovable community of photo-taking-people. Click here to find it.
♥ Now you’ve shared, check out other people’s photos. You can check out the #FMSphotoaday hashtag on Instagram or Twitter to find them all. OR look at the Facebook group. It’s nice to comment and get to know other photo-takers too. We’re a friendly bunch.

So what are you all waiting for?? Grab your gear and let's do this!! 

Read more…

To New Beginnings

After almost a decade of blogging, I have decided to freshen things up by changing a few things. When I first started blogging, I started with a personal blog that was a jumble of ramblings and musings on anything and everything under the sun. It was where I whined and rambled and complained and share my opinions on random things.

Somewhere along the way, in the last year, I began to suffer writer's block. But it wasn't just a block. It was a total shutdown. I lost the passion I had for writing and even the blogging community has somehow transformed into a competitive bunch of cliques -- some clamoring for event invites and money making reviews have become obligatory, so much so, that some bloggers' posts were just made up barely out of 10 sentences that did not even have a modicum of sense and personality.

I admit, even my posts were far and few in between and not in the least bit interesting. Blogging had turned into an obligation. What I loved so much about blogging has become somewhat my source of contention. I didn't even know who I was blogging for anymore.

 So I revisited my old posts and suddenly, it was all really clear to me. The reason I felt disconnected to blogging (on my personal blog) was due to the fact that I was no longer in my early 20s saddled with a toddler. I could no longer relate to the young mom I was when I started it. My journey has changed. I've turned 30 this year and now a mother of 3.

Therein lies my new chapter. I used to feel sorry for myself that all my other friends had high flying careers while there I was, with a sponge in my hand, wearing my fave fat sweatpants. JUST a housewife. I didn't even realize how bloody lucky I was. And AM. 

The Spongemom Fatpants journey, a follow up from My Sweet Escape, is just pretty much what I've learned (and still learning) after 10 years of marriage and motherhood to becoming a better partner, parent, daughter, sister, friend and person.

With that, somehow I may be able to inspire other young moms and dads, help them to becoming a better homemaker just like other inspiring moms and dads have helped me to be. Or at the very least, put a smile on their faces with one of these.


So here's to new beginnings, to a new year, and to always strive to improve our person and to be the best version of us we can be. Cheers!


Love,
Shemah.

Read more…