Back from their trip

We had a very nice time with J.D., including a trip to Sushi Bar and Bombay House while he was here in Bloomington.

Of course, while he was here, we had a casting discussion for the Latshaw TV movie. I proposed Mario Lopez (most recently on Dancing with the Stars and Pet Star) to play the part of J.D., while Chuck thought Jerry O'Connell (from Crossing Jordan) would be better. I don't think J.D. was crazy about either idea. :) Any votes?


Lenny got to have a big chewy bone while the boys were away on their trip. Chuck is actually considering taking him off the vegetarian diet, because he's had some stomach problems in the past few weeks.

The Oscar round-up

Here it is - Kelley's Oscar Awards fashion report! I have a Top 10 for both best and worst dresses. Since it's hard to go wrong in a tuxedo, I have two favorite men's outfits, but no "losers." So let's start with them!

I'm always fascinated by watching all the different types of tuxedos at awards shows, trying to pick what Chuck might look good in while conducting. :) I'm his celebrity stylist.

LEONARDO DiCAPRIO

Leo could have worn jeans and a t-shirt and still managed to look elegant, but of course he went formal. I loved his tuxedo - I think it was a different kind of material than tuxedos usually are made of. It looked like it had some texture to it - not quite velvety, but something like that.

DJIMON HOUNSOU

I loved Djimon Hounsou's tuxedo. I loved the detailing around the lapel and the pocket, but most of all I loved that it was brown! It was a great new color spin on the tuxedo without looking crazy. LOVED it.

So on to the dresses.
My favorites were (in order):

1. ANIKA NONI ROSE

My absolute favorite dress was the one that Anika Noni Rose wore when the "Dreamgirls" sang during the show. She had a really fun silver dress on for the red carpet, but I thought this red one was stunning. I want that dress!

2. PENELOPE CRUZ

Penelope absolutely looked like a Best Actress winner. Because she was nominated for a big award, I think she had a little more leeway in wearing a "bigger" or more eye-catching dress, and this was a great pick. She kept her hair and jewelry very simple and let the dress make the statement. I loved the swirling pattern on the top, and the shape of the dress in general. At first, I was a little skeptical about the feathers, but in the long run I think they gave the skirt an interesting texture, and made the dress stand out more in a positive way.

3: REESE WITHERSPOON

Reese looked fabulous, as you can see. No explanation needed.

4: QUEEN LATIFAH

I am always impressed with Queen Latifah's choice of dresses. She has a fuller figure to work with, and always looks great. What I love about this dress is that it's a feminine take on the tuxedo - the stripes are like those on tuxedo pants, and it has a cummerbund.

5: JENNIFER LOPEZ

Next, I liked Jennifer Lopez's dress. At first glance, I thought she was perhaps pregnant - I caught a weird angle of the draping of the skirt. But that was not the case. While I wouldn't wear this dress, I thought she looked absolutely iconic in it. And her hair looked beautiful!

6: TIPPER GORE

I am letting a non-movie star on to my top ten list. It was Al Gore's big night, and his wife looked great. I think her gown was a deep brown, and the sleeve over one shoulder was very elegant. Not as flashy as some others, but very "first lady." (Second lady?)

7: ABIGAIL BRESLIN

How cute is Abigail Breslin? She looks like a little girl dressing up as a princess - I'm sure she must have felt like one!

8: RINKO KIKUCHI

Rinko Kikuchi redeemed herself after her pink poodle-dress fashion disaster at the Golden Globes. She looked very elegant in this beautiful black lacy dress, and her hair was beautiful.

9: JADA PINKETT SMITH

My only complaint about Jada Pinkett Smith's dress was that she looked like an Oscar herself! Maybe that was her goal. It is a really pretty color on her, but it does border on resembling C-3PO a little bit. I loved the shape of the bottom of the dress. Also, I've seen her at a lot of awards shows with really severe hairstyles - pulled back really tightly - so I liked her hair better here. Their whole family looked good!

10: CELINE DION

Well, I didn't see everything that is showing in this picture when Celine was on TV, if you know what I mean. I loved her dress, though, and I love the green color. The pin on her hip was very pretty.

The next three left me with an overall positive impression, but I'm not putting them on my favorites list.

BEYONCE KNOWLES

This dress would be perfect if the sash across her shoulder wasn't so prominent and if the slit wasn't so high. But who am I to criticize Armani?

NICOLE KIDMAN

Nicole Kidman's dress was a case where I didn't really like her dress, but she looked very striking. It had a big "WOW" factor. I don't think it would look as good on anybody else. And the bow was nowhere near as frightening as Charlize Theron's dress was last year.

HELEN MIRREN

Even though Helen Mirren looked very nice, and her dress was age-appropriate (unlike her chest-revealing Golden Globes dress), I was underwhelmed. She knew she was going to win the Best Actress award - this was her evening to shine! She should have gone with something more interesting. She could have made Oscar fashion history!

So now we'll move over to the negative end of the spectrum. This list is in order from not-so-bad to horrible.

10. ANNE HATHAWAY

(Valentino) The problem, of course, is the big black bow. It was not flattering to her figure because of how the bottom of the bow was angled on her dress. Plus, there was a big bow on her butt, too! I think she had good intentions, but it just didn't work.

9. JENNIFER HUDSON

(Oscar de la Renta) The whole hour of the red carpet coverage before the Oscars, I was praying that the gold shrug thing was not actually attached to her dress, and that she would take it off for the ceremony. And, thank goodness, she did! But again, for one of the big stars of the evening, the dress was not very exciting. Maybe a different color would have changed that. She did almost have a fashion disaster on stage while singing - there was almost a wardrobe malfunction moment because she got really into the singing, and almost popped out of her dress. Yikes!

8. MAGGIE GYLLENHALL

This dress is just trying too hard. I hated the shoulder strap that attached front and center, and I don't like the blue and black combination.

7. JODIE FOSTER

Snooze. Not only was this dress boring, but it fit really weird. It had a kind of belt, and all the fabric above the belt was kind of bunchy. And a boring color.

6. GWYNETH PALTROW

Gwyneth was wearing Zac Posen. I was actually surprised there weren't more Zac Posen dresses on the red carpet - I think only hers and Portia de Rossi. Last year I think he had a lot of dresses at the Oscars, including Felicity Huffman's, who was up for Best Actress. I really wanted to like Gwyneth's dress, but I just couldn't. I don't like the top - it looked like she put on her shirt backwards - and all of the lines draw your eye directly to her stomach. What bugged me the most is that she was really adamant about keeping all of her hair swept in front to that one side. Why? To hide the ugly dress? Did she spill something on it?

5. CAMERON DIAZ

A lot of people said "good for Cameron" for "taking a risk" - well, fine, but the risk didn't pay off. Ugly dress! And does she ever do her hair? It always looks like that.

4. EVA GREEN

I have no idea who Eva Green is. Maybe she was in a "Living Dead" movie because she really looked like a zombie!

3. KIRSTEN DUNST

I just felt bad for Kirsten Dunst in this dress. It was kind of sad. It's Chanel couture.

2. JESSICA BIEL

I just really didn't like this. It was kind of 80's, with the yucky black belt, and it wasn't a nice or interesting shape. Ew!

1. MERYL STREEP

Meryl's Prada dress (how appropriate) gets the Worst Oscar Outfit award. What was she thinking?

I think I've been watching too much "E Network" on TV because I'm starting to sound like their annoying fashion commentators. Of course, my opinions are much more valid, right? :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the Oscars if you watched the entire long ceremony, and if not, I hope you enjoyed my little fashion round-up.

Weekend plans

Well, it's me and Lenny all by ourselves tonight. Chuck went up to Chicago today with his old buddy J.D., to hear two symphony concerts. They heard the Chicago Symphony this afternoon, and they are going to hear Mahler 5 performed by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra this evening. J.D. is kind of a Mahler fanatic, and Chuck really wants to conduct Mahler 5.

New niece!

I have the good news to report that our fourth niece, Elise Latshaw, was born yesterday. Yay! That brings the Latshaw/Boros munchkin count to 7.

Update

I am supposed to inform everyone that Chuck did not actually shed tears at the end of Dreamgirls; rather, he "snuffled" a little bit.

Grammy review

Well, the Grammys (Grammies?) happened a couple of weeks ago, and we're now almost upon the Oscars, so I feel compelled to give a fashion report. So for all of you who are waiting on pins and needles for my fashion opinions, here we go! I do not claim to be Nina Garcia, but I like fancy dresses, and this is what I thought. (And of course, there will be an Oscars follow-up when the time comes.)
BEST DRESS went to Mary J. Blige, wearing a sparkly gold dress by Michael Kors (the Project Runway judge). She looked fantastic in this dress. I hate belts, but this just looked great, and she won a ton of awards that night. I loved her hair too! She wins my fashion award!




My other picks for best dresses went to Carrie Underwood (the country singer) and to Shakira. Carrie went with the metallic/sparkly trend (not sure who the designer was). Shakira wore Carolina Herrera in a modest (for her standards) red empire waist dress. I would wear that in a second! However, I would never ever be willing or able to wear any of Shakira's other outfits. As she says, "Hips don't lie!"




Jennifer Hudson's outfit was a disappointment for me. She looked amazing at the Golden Globe awards (where she very deservedly won Best Supporting Actress) in the blue dress (though someone needs to iron for her!). But her red body-hugging Roberto Cavalli at the Grammys was not very flattering, in my opinion. The picture is actually at a very good angle.


I was also disappointed with Mandy Moore's outfit. I like her just for the reason that she was born in our old hometown of Nashua, New Hampshire. But this dress was a loser.


Another well-dressed starlet worth mentioning is Scarlett Johansson, wearing Monique Lhullier. And the reason she is worth mentioning is because she is going to play my character when Hollywood makes a bio-pic about Chuck, once he's a world-famous maestro. If she's not available, I'd settle for Sandra Bullock. :)

And who did Chuck pick to play himself? Neil Patrick Harris. AKA Doogie Howser, M.D.

Not Brad Pitt, not Tom Hanks...Doogie Howser.

So feel free to write to me and let me know which celebrity you'd like to have portray you in the movie, or if you have casting ideas for other people in our lives. It will of course have a limitless budget, so pick any celebrity you want. :)

Reviews

For Valentine's Day, Chuck finally agreed to go see "Dreamgirls" with me. The ladies in my office had been planning an outing to go see it, but it closed in our local theaters yesterday, so I had a limited window of opportunity. The verdict: Two thumbs up! I just loved all of their different outfits and Supremes-esque dance moves. But the singing was also really good. It's based on a musical, so if you don't enjoy that kind of movie, you might not enjoy "Dreamgirls," but even Chuck thought it was pretty good. (He cried at the end during the final song! Hee hee!)

And in all of the Buckeye madness, I somehow managed to neglect to blog-review my 2006 pick for Movie of the Year, which was: ROCKY BALBOA! If you are a Rocky fan, you MUST see this movie. My dad's fondness of Rocky rubbed off on me in a big way when I was little, and I was really in a Rocky-inspired mood preparing for my big audition. (The Rocky music is even my ringtone on my cell phone.) Chuck gave me a Rocky t-shirt and I was a big dork and wore it to the movie theater. The only thing I can compare it to was seeing the Star Wars movies in the theater (well, just the third new one) because it incorporated so much of the older movies (1 and 2) but it was ALL NEW!!! And when the theme music started at the beginning, it was just like hearing the big Star Wars fanfare.

So, am I a bigger dork for wearing my Rocky t-shirt, or for comparing my life experiences to Star Wars? :)

Two inches of snow!! Oh no!!

It is snowing here, and people are freaking out. People only drive in snow about once a year here in Bloomington, so this is a really big deal to them.

Finally, some news about Project Runway. The earliest it might possibly come back is JULY!!!!! Bravo hasn't even signed on for Season 4 yet.

The good news is that Tim Gunn is getting his very own show on Bravo. I hope it will be good, but I'm not optimistic, as much as I love Tim Gunn.

The Maestro

This is Chuck conducting the CIP during the Christmas concert last December - he just got some pictures from the concert.

Congratulations Colts!

We had a busy weekend. The CIP had a concert on Saturday night, featuring a tribute to Frank Sinatra. Chuck didn't conduct, but he will be conducting on the next CIP concert, in March. I'm playing piccolo in the two CIP concerts after that one - including BEETHOVEN 9! I also got a local Bloomington gig at the end of February, so things are going alright for me.

When we came home from the concert Saturday night, we found Lenny curled up on the couch. He won't sit on the couch while we are home unless we actually pick him up and put him on it; I think it's just a show so we will trust him while we are out...Busted!! He had rearranged all the pillows to make himself comfortable.

I am feeling a little less confident about my chances at IU - I don't think I'm going to hear anything until after all of the auditions are over in March, so I've stopped holding my breath.

We started our chamber music coachings with the flute professor this weekend. It's tough because I feel like I'm still auditioning, every time I see him! And since I don't have a lot of time to practice, my chops aren't in great shape and I don't sound fantastic. I'm a little frustrated, but it was a good coaching.



We spent Super Bowl evening at our friends' house, the Matravers-Keenes. They have a NEW 50" high-def flat screen TV - it was pretty cool! And of course, everyone was thrilled that the Colts won. It was not as exciting as a Buckeye victory, but people were setting off fireworks in Bloomington as I was going home.

Next weekend, Chuck has an ad hoc! The conductor who was supposed to have it got a little too overwhelmed, so Chuck is filling in for him. I was kind of relieved before when I thought the ad hocs were over - but no such luck. So I am on pizza and Rice Krispie treats duty this weekend, in addition to playing. He's doing Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto, and Carmen Suite #1 by Bizet. (There's a big flute solo in the Bizet!) So this week will be full preparing for that.