My Top 15 Favorite Romance Movies

February 12, 2016February 11, 2016 Jenna Patrick4 Comments

I confess…I don’t celebrate in Valentine’s Day. The Accountant and I decided many years ago that it was one holiday we would sit out. Flowers are expensive, it’s impossible to get a table at a restaurant, and we’ve just used up all our other gift ideas at Christmas and my Birthday. We don’t even exchange cards or say Happy Valentines’ Day anymore. It’s as if the entire holiday doesn’t exist in our world.

But being that there is this holiday called Valentine’s Day and most Americans will be celebrating it this weekend, I thought that I needed to do something romancy related on the blog this week. So here you have it…

Jenna P’s Top Fifteen Favorite Romance Movies!

#15 West Side Story

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Why I love it? There’s something so intriguing to me about forbidden love. Romeo and Juliet, Guinevere and Lancelot, Tony and Maria. Sometimes these stories end well, most the time they don’t, but one thing’s for sure – they always remind us that true love can be found anywhere and anytime.

#14 City of Angels

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Why I love it? Seth gives up eternity as an angel to be with Maggie. There are a lot of guys who wouldn’t even give up a baseball game. And even after she dies, he still thinks the short time they had together was worth it. How stinking beautiful is that?

#13 Say Anything

say anything

Why I love it? This Scene, of course! Admit it – you’ve had dreams about Lloyd standing outside your window with a boom box blaring Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes. One of my all time favorite songs!

#12 Titanic

Titanic

Why I love it? A girl who seemingly has everything gives it all up to be with a guy who has nothing – including a heartbeat. Rose could’ve gone back to her old life after Jack dies, but she doesn’t. He showed her there was more and she was determined to find it, even if on her own.

#11 Sweet Home Alabama

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Why I love it? I LOVE love triangles, especially ones that take place in the deep south! You know someone’s heart is going to get broken and there’s no way to stop it. Watching Melanie choose between her past (Jake) and her future (Andrew) was both enjoyable and sad.

#10 A Walk to Remember

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Why I love it? Love turns bad boy good, and gives dying girl her last wishes. What’s not to love? Plus it has a killer soundtrack.

#9 Tangled

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Why I love it? Two words – Flynn Rider. I don’t care if he’s a cartoon. He can rescue me from a tower any day! LOVE him. By far my favorite Disney hero.

#8 Some Kind of Wonderful

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Why I love it? Boy searching for true love finds it not with the most popular girl in school, but with his childhood, tomboy best friend. Awwwww…..

#7 50 First Dates

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Why I love it? Adam and Drew are just awesome together. And could you imagine the patience it would take to make your significant other fall in love with you every single day? Double Awwwww…..

#6 Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast

Why I love it? You know a movie is special when, after seeing it for the 100^th time and knowing he’s going to jump up in just a moment, you still cry when he gives out that last breath. Gets me every single time, even when we watch it live at Hollywood Studios. My kids make fun of me.

#5 The Notebook

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Why I love it? The TENSION between Noah and Allie! That is all. Okay, maybe I like looking at Ryan Gosling too.

#4 Jerry Maguire

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Why I love it? Football, love, a journey of self-discovery? You had me at Hello.

#3 Definitely, Maybe

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Why I love it? Ryan Reynolds – SWOON! And there is something so sweet about a girl helping her single dad reunite with the woman he should’ve been with all along.

#2 Silver Linings Playbook

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Why I love it? It’s amazing to me how two people who are so completely broken alone can be so completely complete together. Plus, I love Bradley Cooper. LOVE him.

AND…#1 on my list…

Chasing Amy

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This is one of my favorite movies of all time, for one simple reason – the scene where Holden finally confesses to his lesbian friend Alyssa that he’s in love with her. They are in his car. It’s pouring down rain. She’s just bought him a cheap painting from a hole in the wall diner. And out it comes.

“I love you. And not, not in a friendly way, although I think we’re great friends. And not in a misplaced affection, puppy-dog way, although I’m sure that’s what you’ll call it. I love you. Very, very simple, very truly. You are the epitome of everything I have ever looked for in another human being. And I know that you think of me as just a friend, and crossing that line is the furthest thing from an option you would ever consider. But I had to say it. I just, I can’t take this anymore. I can’t stand next to you without wanting to hold you. I can’t, I can’t look into your eyes without feeling that, that longing you only read about in trashy romance novels. I can’t talk to you without wanting to express my love for everything you are. And I know this will probably queer our friendship – no pun intended – but I had to say it, because I’ve never felt this way before, and I don’t care. I like who I am because of it. And if bringing this to light means we can’t hang out anymore, then that hurts me. But God, I just, I couldn’t allow another day to go by without just getting it out there, regardless of the outcome, which by the look on your face is to be the inevitable shoot-down. And, you know, I’ll accept that. But I know…I know that some part of you is hesitating for a moment, and if there is a moment of hesitation, then that means you feel something too. All I ask, please, is that you just, you just not dismiss that – and try to dwell in it for just ten seconds. Alyssa, there isn’t another soul on this fucking planet who has ever made me half the person I am when I’m with you, and I would risk this friendship for the chance to take it to the next plateau. Because it is there between you and me. You can’t deny that. Even if, you know, even if we never talk again after tonight, please know that I’m forever changed because of who you are and what you’ve meant to me, which – while I do appreciate it – I’d never need a painting of birds bought at a diner to remind me of.”

How stinkin’ beautiful is that, huh? And guess what? It worked!

chasing amy

So there you have it. Agree or disagree, these are my favorites. Haven’t seen one? Pop a bag of popcorn and pick one up! You won’t be disappointed!

What are your favorites?

Jenna P

Who makes it happen? YOU make it happen!

Time Management

It’s All About Efficiency

February 4, 2016 Jenna Patrick2 Comments

Happy Thursday Everyone! We are getting ready to make a 7 hour drive north to Columbus, Ohio for a gymnastics meet this weekend (Go Spotacus!), and as I was packing my suitcase and staring at my computer longing to be writing, I figured I could spare a few minutes blogging. That should give me enough of a fix to last a few days.

Today was supposed to be my writing day. I’ve been super busy at the day job the past few weeks, we had a meet in Orlando, and last week was Spot’s birthday which pretty much means a week long “gala”. Like Mardi Gras without the beads. Homemade pancakes one day, a movie another, dinner out at her favorite restaurant another. I mean, I usually just got a birthday card and my mother’s mediocre (LOVE YOU MOMMA) rendition of happy birthday. What is with this?

Any who, we’ve been busy as always so I haven’t really had a chance to write much. And Jenna P without writing time is like a hangry toddler three hours late for her nap. I had planned to write this morning before we head up to Ohio, which was enough to keep me from having a meltdown this week. But then, as my family was saying their goodbyes on their way to school and work, it happened.

“Mom, I didn’t have a chance to pack. I was at the gym late last night,” says Spotacus.

“Me neither. And I didn’t pack any movies to watch in the van. Can you get some? Make sure you get GOOSEBUMPS,” says Minnie. “And can you charge my tablet? It’s somewhere in my room.”

“Oh yeah. My phone too,” says Spotacus.

This is on top of all the other TO DO items I had. Like packing for me and my husband, getting the van ready, etc… Maybe if I was a little more selfish I could just say, “Sorry. You knew we were leaving. This should’ve been done.” But instead, I looked longingly toward my computer for a moment, took a deep breath and said, “Sure. No problem.”

I could’ve gotten mad and started screaming, but here’s the thing – they are kids. Spot was at the gym an extra two hours last night working beam routines. Minnie was at home trying to finish up all her homework to hand in a day early since she will miss a half day today and a full day tomorrow. The Accountant is in the middle of month end at work, so he’s pulling some extra hours at work. We had a client deadline today, so I had to work some extra hours to get my design done. So I do what I have to.

Point is, no matter how hard I try to plan ahead, things always come up. That’s called BEING A MOTHER. That’s called BEING A WIFE. That’s called BEING EMPLOYED. That’s called LIFE. I can’t change that. But I can change the way I approach my writing time, which is why I’m coming up with a new game plan, or maybe revisiting an old game plan.

Starting next week, I’m going to start writing every day for at least an hour in the mornings. I will do this before the girls get up and the whirlwind of potential obstacles can even begin. My brain is pretty much turned to mush at night from doing math all day at work, so writing after they go to bed isn’t an option. I’m just going to have to suck it up.

It will be an adjustment, but my hope is that I can retrain myself to write in short sprints, which is really the problem when it comes down to it. I’ve gotten into this habit of thinking I can’t write at all if I don’t have two or three hours to devote to it. But I think the reason I need two or three hours is because I go so long in between writing that it takes a good bit of time just to get back into my story. Maybe if I write every day I won’t have to do that. It’s all about efficiency. I can’t make more time, so I need to learn how to be more efficient with the time I have.

If you are having a hard time squeezing in time, try it with me! I’ll check in on Facebook and Twitter about how it’s going, and I would love to hear from any of you. After all, misery loves company. Dragging my butt out of bed will be so much easier if I know somewhere out there, someone is doing the exact same thing in the name of words. And if you have any other ideas on how I can be more efficient, I’d love to hear them!