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Showing posts from June, 2016

Review: New Salads and Noodle Dishes at Noodles & Company {+ a giveaway!}

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*Disclosure: I received a free meal at Noodles & Company in exchange for this post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. Noodles & Company just released two new salads, in time for summer, and they've also been revamping their menu a bit. I've been a huge fan of Noodles for a while now (their pasta dishes are super tasty!) and I was excited to stop by the Royal Oak, MI Noodles along with some other local bloggers to try out the new salads as well as some of their more classic pasta dishes. We started off with their Korean meatballs , with Gochujang sauce, which are new on the menu, so I had not tried them yet. The sauce they are in has a bit of a kick, but I don't usually like spicy foods and I found them to be very tasty - I will definitely order them again at some point for an appetizer.

RECAP: Cinetopia 2016 movie reviews {Detroit + Dearborn}

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Another year, and another Cinetopia Film Festival in the books! This year, I was unfortunately out of town during the festival's second weekend, so I tried to see as many movies as possible during the weekend before and the week previous. The Henry Ford Giant Screen Experience (Dearborn, MI) was a new venue this year, so I was able to see some movies there and some at the Maple Theater (Bloomfield Hills). Saturday, June 4th: Henry Ford Giant Screen Fatima. This movie was a little slow for me, and was about a divorced immigrant living in France, who has two daughters, ages 15 and 18. The 18-year-old was a med student and Fatima (title character) worked as a housekeeper to put her through med school. The movie would have been stronger in my opinion if it only focused on one daughter, not both. 3.5 out of 5 stars. Speed Sisters . This surprisingly ended up being one of my favorite of the fests, and it focused on Palestinian women who were speed racers. The Henry Ford Giant Scr

Movie Review: Finding Dory

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Finding Nemo came to theaters in 2003, when I was in high school, and now, thirteen years later, we have its sequel, Finding Dory . Although Nemo and his dad Marlin are still present in this film, the focus is on Dory - specifically, her past, and when she realizes that she does have a family; she's just forgotten about them. The movie starts when Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) is a tiny fish, and being raised by her mom, Jenny (Diane Keaton) and dad, Charlie (Eugene Levy). They teach her to remember to say "I have short term memory loss" to anyone who asks, but they worry about how she will do on her own, when she's an adult. One day, she gets swept away by the current, and although she tries to find her parents, eventually she forgets whom she is looking for. Years later, a memory gets sparked, and she remembers them; of course, now she must find them, and Marlin (reluctantly, again) agrees to swim cross-ocean with her and Nemo.

Movie Review: Central Intelligence

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When I saw the trailer for  Central Intelligence , I was psyched about it - I love Kevin Hart's movies and The Rock is always great too, so I figured that any movie starring them both would be hilarious. Although some scenes were funny, I unfortunately checked my watch a few times during this film, and it could have been much better than it actually was. The movie opens in 1996 as Calvin Joyner (Hart) receives an award in front of the entire student body and his fellow soon-to-be-graduating senior class. However, bullies have grabbed obese Robbie Weirdicht (Hart) from the gym shower, and they throw him naked into the gym, to be ridiculed in front of everyone. Calvin quickly gives Robbie his varsity jacket, to cover himself, and Robbie escapes from the gym. Twenty years later, Calvin is working at a job that he's good at, but dislikes (an accountant), and is married to his high school sweetheart, Maggie (Danielle Nicolet). Maggie wants to attend their 20 year high school re

GIVEAWAY: Alice in Wonderland PJ Wardrobe {ends 7/1}

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This post contains affiliate links. A few other bloggers and I have partnered together for this giveaway - that "Running Late is my Workout" shirt is so cute! Good luck! Welcome to the Alice In Wonderland Summer Pajama Wardrobe Giveaway! Sponsored by: Richard Leeds International Hosted by: Southern Mom Loves Are you excited about the new Alice In Wonderland movie coming out? These new PJs by Richard Leeds International are the perfect way to get ready. They feature all of your favorite classic characters, so you can dream in style before catching the big flick. Holly from Southern Mom Loves reviewed these hot new pajamas (available at Target), you can see her full review here , and then enter to win a full Alice In Wonderland PJ wardrobe below! 1st Prize: 1 (One) winner will receive one of each chemise design and one of each short set design for a total of 8 PJs! 2nd Prize: 2 (Two) winners will each receive 2 chemises and 3 short sets! 3rd Prize: 16 (Sixteen) w

Movie Review: Now You See Me 2

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I reviewed Now You See Me back in May 2013, and I gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars. This film is even flashier than the first, if that's possible, and still very enjoyable; there have been some shakeups in the cast, but the additions help round out the new cast nicely. The Four Horsemen have been separated for a year after their stunts in the first film, and Thaddeus (Morgan Freeman) is still in jail. They try to make their grand re-appearance at a tech conference, hypnotizing the leader, but then a tech genius (Daniel Radcliffe) disrupts the conference; when the Four Horsemen escape, they suddenly find themselves in Macau, where the genius has a proposition for them. The Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, and the newest addition, Lizzy Caplan) are not in a position to say no, and they must find and steal private information from a locked vault. At the same time, FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) has just been exposed for being involved with the Horsemen, an

DOUBLE GIVEAWAY: Chasing Grace and Awakened, on DVD {ends 6/14}

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Two new films, Chasing Grace  and Awakened , have just hit DVD, and you can win both of them here! About Chasing Grace : A tragic accident threatens to destroy a pastor’s family and sets into motion a complex betrayal between two brothers, while exposing secrets no one wants to face. Pastor Jonathan Matheson lives in a world of black and white, yet finds a way to navigate the “grey in-between” to work to his advantage, while facing one of the most tragic moments of his life. Set in small-town America and woven inside a tale of redemption, “Chasing Grace” is a story of how one family takes on the burden of guilt in order to make sense of their loss. While pointing the finger of blame at his brother, Pastor Jonathan also chooses to hide from the truth while trying to escape his own personal demons. “Chasing Grace” is loosely based upon true events and provides a powerful story about the redeeming power of forgiveness.

GRAND OPENING: The Container Store, Novi, MI {June 2016}

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I had the pleasure of attending a blogger preview at the new Container Store (Novi, MI) today, and it was a fun event. I'm definitely "Type A" when it comes to personality, but sometimes that isn't reflected in my living space, to put it nicely ( I can sometimes be a bit messy... ), so The Container Store is definitely a place I will be frequenting. The Container Store reminded me a bit of IKEA, but not as chaotic - everything is organized neatly (as it should, being that it's a store devoted to organization!) and things are easy to find. We were treated to lunch and then a tour of the store, and I mentally bookmarked some things that I'd like to go back and buy, as the store wasn't actually open for business today - its grand opening is this Saturday, June 4th, around 9am.