Movie Review: Oz the Great and Powerful

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Anyone else love The Wizard of Oz? I’m actually a huge fan of the movie, as it was a family favorite growing up – you know, we didn’t have cable so it was one of those movies ALWAYS played on regular television. We all know the story of Dorothy and her band of friends, as they triumph over the wicked witch. Her red shoes and the yellow brick road leading the way the Emerald City, dodging the wicked witch’s evil sidekicks – mean flying monkeys.

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Well Oz the Great and Powerful, starring James Franco in the lead role as Oscar Diggs, a struggling con-man/magician from Kansas, is told from his point of view as he’s transported from the gray small-living Kansas town to magnificent land of Oz. The king of Oz has been killed by the wicked witch, but before he died he told a prophesy that a wizard named Oz will come to their land to defeat the wicked witch and free all of the people in the land of Oz. Oscar sees his opportunity to gain riches in this new land, as he’s full of trickery and pranks, so he fits well into the role of the mysterious wizard/savior for the people of Oz.

Along his journey, he’s joined by a crew of unlikely misfits including China Doll (literally a China doll that he happens upon after her village is destroyed by the wicked witch), Finley, a flying monkey, and Glenda, the good witch. This movie is a bit different than the original, not just in the character point-of-view (as this takes place before Dorothy’s big adventure), but also because it involved sisters Theodora and Evanora – who are both wicked witches that Oz and the people of Oz must defeat to win their freedom.

It was a great movie – a bit different than the original. Definitely a great movie to rent at home and settle down in. You’ll be ashamed of the selfishness of Oscar, but then cheer for him as he finds the good in his heart and uses his skills as a magician to try to defeat the wicked witches. You’ll adore his sidekicks, and you’ll love the theatrics of the movie, even though the visuals, at times, are a bit over the top. Great movie to rent, though!

Wedding Love: The Ring

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Something that I’ve struggled a little bit with over the past few months is wanting a non-traditional ring. I do not have an engagement ring – we do not have a great proposal story (we really were just assessing our life/relationship and decided together that we want to move forward and build a family together and basically spend all of eternity together).  Without an engagement ring, I  want a little bling on my finger and do not want a plain band. A girl deserves a little sparkle, right?

Where I struggle is when you see a wedding band on a woman, your first realization that this woman is taken is by seeing the rock on her finger and a band right next to it. That’s the natural way most women stand out from your run-of-the-mill left ring-finger-wearing ring versus “The Band”.

Traditional rings – source

And I realize that “the ring” is my ring and I shouldn’t be worried about what other people think – but I know I’ll be proud of my marriage and want to indicate to the world “I’M TAKEN!” Ha! When looking for rings, I spotted an AMAZING infinity/twisted band that I immediately fell in love with on Pinterest. I wasn’t able to track down the original source of the band (believe my I tried) but knew that a twisted back was what I really wanted. It has a tiny bit of bling and a bunch of uniqueness that I adore.

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But because I wasn’t able to track down that beauty from above, JP and I headed to the mall to find an alternative that works. Unfortunately, finding even an infinity band is very hard! There are limited choices available, so if you’re a girl looking for something a little bit different, I’d recommend looking for unique websites like Blue Nile or even Etsy to help with your search – don’t go to the mall!

Lucky for me, I was able to find something that I really liked and was right in our price range, which I was excited about. It’s no dream band like above, but it’s definitely something that I really like and that’ll have deep meaning once it’s a part of my big day which I’m super excited about! The ring I chose is a bit of a loop band with small diamonds around the loop. It kind of looks like this sweet ring below:

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How did you pick out the ring for your big day? Any tips or things to keep in mind when searching for your wedding band?

Love is in the air!

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JP and I had a BLAST this past weekend celebrating the wedding for two great friends of ours, Pam and Erin. We were also excited that we were able to check out another wedding so close before ours, as we’re still trying to narrow down some logistics! Ha! Always great to be doing homework!

The day started off warm and sunny but started downpouring at about 4 PM, with the ceremony starting at 5:30 PM – not good for a wedding that’s scheduled to have a ceremony outside! I felt so bad for the girls but they had a Plan B which was having the ceremony in the Atrium of the hotel their reception was at and it all turned out lovely. They were a pair of beautiful brides, with loving speeches from their sisters and close friends, and touching moments all night long.

Their DJ had all of the guests on the dancefloor all night long, and I’m not going to lie – I LOVED their photobooth and their signature drink (Something Blue with Hypnotiq, ginger ale and white wine … yum-o!!!). We had so many great laughs and were even able to chat up the brides a few times during the night which was awesome! Here are some pics from our night out!

JP and I

JP and I

The beautiful brides!

The beautiful brides!

Table 17 w/Erin .. adorbs!

Table 17 w/Erin .. adorbs!

 

 

Guest Blogging Today!

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Happy Sunday everyone! I’ve been having a blast at the wedding of some great friends and enjoying the weekend – but today I’ll be guest blogging over at Plucky’s Second Thought, a blogger series hosted by Jess! She has a week filled with insight from some of the best out there in the blogging community to help YOU develop a better blog!

Check out my post today and let me know what you think! You can also enter to win some AWESOME giveaways all week long! Have a great weekend!