Four Things from A Very Murray Christmas

a-very-murray-christmas-open

Each year I set aside one day during the third week in December to catch up, buy those last few Christmas gifts, and add some final decorating touches before our annual Cocktails & Carols soirée. Today is that day and when I’m at home, I can promise you that A Very Murray Christmas will be playing the background. To say I was giddy the first time we watched it would be an understatement. If you’ve seen in or plan to, here are a few fun notes/facts to save you from the post-Netflix google rabbit hole!

Bemelmans Bar

A snapshot from our last visit to Bemelmans Bar | Hannah & Husband

Bemelmans Bar, located on the first floor of The Carlyle, has kicked off more than one magical evening for us in New York City. I’m particular to this bar for a few reasons but the main one is the incredible artwork that covers every inch of the place down to the lampshades.

Ludwig  his wife Madeleine (source)

Ludwig his wife Madeleine (source)

The murals were painted by Ludwig Bemelmans, best-known for his Madeline series, in exchange for lodging when he and his family lived at the Carlyle for a year and a half. My very favorite scene in the bar depicts winter in Central Park complete with snowing and ice skating. Bemelmans hand is unmistakable.

a-very-murray-christmas-bemelmans-bar

While I would argue that A Very Murray Christmas is best enjoyed while sipping champagne, here’s another idea. Maya Rudolph refers to her drink as a “soiled kimono,” and being the cocktail hour devotees that we are, we needed to know what that was.

The Soiled Kimono cocktail from A Very Murray Christmas | Hannah & Husband

The drink is a reference to one of the original writers and creators on SNL: Michael O’Donoghue. It’s a cocktail referenced in one of his “Mr. Mike’s Least-Loved Bedtime Tales,” and when Bill Murray announced his death on stage at SNL, he toasted with a Soiled Kimono. The drink is meant to be garnished with a butterfly but Maya’s is garnished with olives. To each his own.

The Soiled Kimono

Mix 23 glass costly French champagne

With 13 glass Japanese plum wine

recipe from season 3 episode 8 transcript

A Very Murray Christmas | Hannah & Husband

He’s the taxi driver.

If you spent the first half of the movie looking at the bartender (& his fabulous hair) wondering, “Why do I know that guy?” It’s because David Johansen played the taxi driver in Bill Murray’s other holiday hit circa 1988: Scrooged.

A Very Murray Christmas | Hannah & Husband

 

Real Life Conversations Between Hannah & Husband

Me: */gasp/* This is what the inside of my brain looks like.

Husband: Everyone is wearing either red or sparkly, and there’s a bari sax playing.

Me: And George Clooney serving cocktails.

A Very Murray Christmas | Hannah & Husband

Obviously I will be needing everything Miley is wearing. And silver glitter reindeer antlers.

Alright, I’m off to run errands. If you’ve seen A Very Murray Christmas: Did you love it as much as I did?

Style File: Elvis Presley

Menswear & Elvis | Hannah & Husband

It all started rather innocently with a discussion on the merits of a casual shawl collar. But quickly, I found myself down a rabbit hole filled the bold style choices of Skinny Elvis. I mentioned this in a recent post so if you’ve been waiting to talk Elvis Presley’s style and menswear, today is your lucky day!

When Husband and I first met, we bonded over our shared love of music that wasn’t popular among most high schoolers. But, as time went on we discovered that we both had a childhood love for Elvis. It’s possible you knew this if you follow James on twitter…

Follow @jamesaslaughter | Hannah & Husband

A few years ago, as a joke at Christmas, James’ dad brought over a life-size cutout of the king that now resides on our sun porch. I made Dexter pose with him just for this picture. (Reason #118 that a dog is superior to a toddler at this stage in my life.)

Dexter & Elvis | Hannah & Husband

So today, we’re going to talk about some of the king’s best style choices—the ones before the rhinestones and gold glasses.

First things first, if you learn nothing else from this post learn this: Stand up proudly behind your woman in a perfectly tailored jacket and know you’re killing it. Confidence is everything.

Menswear & Elvis | Hannah & Husband

Southern boys (and stylish gentlemen) monogram, monogram, monogram.

Menswear & Elvis | Hannah & Husband

If you’re going to play a miniature instrument of any kind, it is helpful to be wearing skin-tight short shorts at the time. (I’ve been trying to talk James into a pair of these ever since I saw this picture of 007 reading on a boat last week. Beach trip!)

Menswear & Elvis | Hannah & Husband

When you’re not on a beach serenading your lady in short shorts, look snuggly. It is sweater weather: the perfect excuse to get your cuddle on.

Menswear & Elvis | Hannah & Husband

If you don’t already have a lady, but you’re looking to pick one up: Pose with puppies. Also, can we talk about those shoes?

Menswear & Elvis | Hannah & Husband

I am a fan, though I could do without the socks. I have this theory that Elvis was a shoe guy. Check out the booties in the picture below.

Also, should we even talk about the coordinating outfits? If they hook up at the end of the movie, does the hollywood ending consist of closets full of coordinating outfits?

Menswear & Elvis | Hannah & Husband

I really can’t think about this too much right now. Maybe we should just take a look at the jacket that spurred the whole conversation…

What are your thoughts on the casual shawl collar? Do or Don’t?

Jenna Elfman in Big Stone Gap

On Friday night, Husband and I did something we rarely do, and we went out to dinner and a movie. We don’t purposely avoid the movie theater, we’re just usually ice cream and Netflix on the couch sort of people. But Friday marked the opening of Big Stone Gap–a movie about the area my family hails from–so naturally, I’ve been counting down the days. (Plus, Jenna Elfman in Big Stone Gap? We’re big fans.)

The movie is based on the book of the same name (which you can purchase by clicking here), and I have to say I was a little disappointed with how the story and the relationships were translated to the big screen. One of the first reviews I read said that it would have been good for Trigiani to let someone with a little more big screen experience execute the story. But I also totally see Adriana Trigiani’s desire to own her story and make the movie where she imagined. Regardless, there are two things worth mentioning.

Jenna Elfman in Big Stone Gap | Hannah & Husband

The town really does do it up right for the holidays. Check out this picture of how they decked out this weekend.

First, Adriana Trigiani chose to tell her story in it’s homeplace. She shot in southwest Virginia where her story is set with the townspeople themselves fleshing out the cast. And it shows! Big Stone Gap shines, and you really get a feel for the landscape and the community when you watch the movie. From all the interviews I’ve read with Trigiani about the movie, I loved this line the most:

Movies are a living art form. They last for all time when properly cared for. American movies about American workers should be made in America. I love Canada, but I can’t fake Big Stone Gap in Canada.

The second thing worth saying: All hail Jenna Elfman! When you this notification popped up on my phone the other night, I completely swooned.

jenna-elfman-notifications

I mean: Jenna Elfman, you guys! Jenna Elfman who was the embodiment of this quirky, long-legged girl’s dream when she played Dharma. And, should we talk about the hair? We should at least mention the hair.

Jenna Elfman in Big Stone Gap | Hannah & Husband

Watching Jenna Elfman on twitter and instagram all weekend was amazing. She loved Big Stone Gap, and it showed–from her coverage of all the festivities (there was a parade and a red carpet) to pictures with townspeople that kept showing up in my Facebook feed!

1964 Chevy Impala convertible! #BigStoneGapMovie parade in Big Stone Gap, VA! Whoop! In theaters now! xo

A photo posted by ⚡️JENNA ELFMAN⚡️ (@jennaelfman) on

So in praise of Jenna Elfman, here are 4 things she nailed when she played Big Stone Gap’s Iva Lou:

1. Iva Lou was in touch with her sexuality. I will never understand women who shrink from this one. I love that with any character I’ve seen Jenna Elfman play, she just owns it! Iva Lou’s sexuality made her a fun, quirky character to watch and also made her a little more powerful.

Jenna Elfman in Big Stone Gap | Hannah & Husband

2. Iva Lou was smart. Jenna Elfman always manages to perfectly marry quirk and brains. Like any smart woman, Iva Lou knew that orchestration was a stronger tool than pushing.

Jenna Elfman in Big Stone Gap | Hannah & Husband

3. Iva Lou was a touch superstitious. And really, most of my favorite women from our region are. (On next week’s reading list: Chinese Face Readin’.)

4. Iva Lou was a fierce friend. It is fun to watch the women in this movie interact: Elfman, Ashley Judd, Whoopi Goldberg, and newcomer Erika Coleman. The movie is as much about their relationships as anything else.

If you go see Big Stone Gap, I’d love to hear what you think! Tweet me, post on our Facebook wall, or just comment below.

Tomorrow, I’ll be posting about some of my favorite podcasts, which will include… Jenna Elfman’s 😉

TGIF! (S?)

The weekend is finally here! *cheers* *applause* And I am happy to report that Husband is home, and there are paint chips hanging on the wall.

TGIF! | Hannah & Husband

Huzzah! It’s the little victories, you know?

In addition to a paint store visit and lots of football, this weekend will include Mindy Kaling’s latest, Why Not Me? 

TGIF! | Hannah & Husband

One chapter in and I’m remembering exactly why I loved her first book so much. Have you read either?

A favorite line from chapter one…

TGIF! | Hannah & Husband

Boom! #nailedit

In other news, Stephen Colbert also #nailedit with this.

Finally, in lieu of our usual TGIF! links from around the interwebs, I wanted to share three documentaries I watched this week that were amazing. Two of which were about men I already admired and the other about a performer–spoiler alert: that one was my very favorite.

Walt Disney American Experience

This week, PBS profiled Walt Disney on their American Experience series for two nights. Altogether, it’s a four hour documentary, which sounds tedious, but instead, it was engrossing. I’ve been a Disney nerd for years, but I’ve never seen such a balanced profile of Walt Disney the man–the capitalist, the obsessive, the guy that’s maybe a little racist. There was amazing footage from the studio, the strikes, and the early days of the parks that I’d never seen. If it piques your interest at all, it’s worth a watch.

Jim Henson In His Own Words

Before night 2 of Walt Disney, I caught the last five minutes of this one and had to look it up too. In Their Own Words: Jim Henson, also a PBS doc, is a profile of a completely different type of creative. The doc focused on Henson’s story and interviews with those closest to him. I was interested to hear that both Disney and Henson struggled with wanting to be artists for all, not just artists for children. But while Disney was often seen as a harsh manager, Henson’s people talked a lot about love.

I Am Big Bird

And speaking of Henson’s people, carve out time this weekend to watch I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story. It’s free streaming with Amazon Prime right now, and it’s one of my favorite documentaries to date!

 

Random, Happy Things

Fact: I have been down for the count with a summer cold for the past few days. But while doing some work on my computer, I ran across this picture and decided it was as good a time as any to share some random, happy things with you.

Random, Happy Things | Hannah & Husband

I took the picture above when we went to an event for Southern Living at Boone Hall Plantation in Charleston, South Carolina. The post that covered said event not only includes a picture of me with my natural hair color (WHAT?!) but also a recipe for bourbon-and-cola bundt cakes that I’d completely forgotten about. You’re welcome.

Hannah and Husband for HGTV Urban Oasis 2015 | Hannah & Husband

Speaking of travel, I’m back on the HGTV Dreams Happen Blog today talking about the location of the HGTV 2015 Urban Oasis: Asheville, NC. Today’s post highlights 3 restaurant interiors (including the Early Girl Eatery pictured above) and how to bring their look into your own home. I found some great Etsy shops while working on this post so go show them some love! (Yay, small business!)

Random Thing #3: My family is from a small town in Virginia called Appalachia (population: 1727). It is one of the most gorgeous places on God’s green earth and right next door is Big Stone Gap. Well, we’ve been stoked around here since the rumor started that Adriana Trigiani had decided to turn her Big Stone Gap novels into a movie. When the stars were announced, I got really excited and now, after much anticipation, there’s a trailer!

Big Stone Gap will come to theaters on October 9th. Until then, here’s a link to pick up the books. (Fun Fact: My grandparents are mentioned in book #2.)

Alright, I’m going back to the couch and episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. See you tomorrow.

TGIF!

Hello & Happy Friday! Since I haven’t done a round-up of random links in a few weeks, I thought it was high-time to share all the things I’ve had bookmarked. Here goes…

The Fire Wire on the grill in action. | Hannah & Husband

The other night I took my cooking to a new frontier: The Grill. We’ve had so many amazing goodies in our CSA basket, and there’s something about veggies in the summer that’s just begging for that little accent of charcoal. If you look at the peppers and onions in the picture above, you’ll see that they make a circle. That’s because I used my new favorite kitchen doohickey: the fire wire. It’s a long, flexible kabob skewer, and you can order one here for under $10.

Jon Batiste's Social Music

It is rare that I listen to an album from start to finish, but today I listened to Jon Batiste’s Social Music.

It.

Was.

Phenomenal.

If you have Amazon Prime, you can listen to it here, or the album’s on Spotify. His version of St. James Infirmary is absolutely incredible, which is rare for a song that is covered by everyone in the genre. If you recognize his name but aren’t sure why, he will be the house band for Stephen Colbert’s new Late Show.

Wayne White in The Bitter Southerner

We are big fans of Wayne White (who you may remember from this post). Recently, The Bitter Southerner did an excellent profile on the artist that’s definitely worth a look–even if it’s just to swoon over the photography by Kendrick Brinson and David Banks.

Finally, it’s national tequila day! Here’s a little something to get your celebration off to a good start.

Happy Friday!

TGIF!

TGIF! | Hannah & Husband

I’ve been overloading instagram with floral goodness lately. #sorrynotsorry

Whew! Serious TGIF! this week, y’all–who else desperately needs a weekend? As much as I hate to admit it, life totally took over this week. This means two things:

1. While I have sorely neglected Hannah & Husband posts, I have a backlog of stuff that will be super rad for next week.

2. Today’s links have to be extra fabulous, which they totally are.

As I’ve mentioned, Springtime is in full force here in East Tennessee. I have been spending most of my time on the front porch reading and fawning over the rose bushes while Husband works on the car. Also, I have an unquenchable desire to watch Mel Brooks movies lately.

I just can’t seem to get that song out of my head! Anyway, here are a few fab links from around the interwebs to round out your week. Enjoy!

We have been following photographer Foster Huntington (& his glorious treehouse) on instagram for several months now. However, this week Brain Pickings posted about a previous project of his called The Burning House that I found fascinating. The premise is this: Foster asked people from all walks and backgrounds what objects they would take if their house was burning down. The results are varied and beautiful. Click here to view the tumblr. Click here to buy the book.

I already can’t wait to see this documentary! Then yesterday, Carroll Spinnery did an AMA. Confession: It is the only AMA, I’ve ever had the patience to read because comments on these things make me dizzy.

If you’re new to the concept as well: AMA (or Ask Me Anything) is an interview conducted by the internets on reddit. You can follow the blue line on the left to differentiate question from question.

Ugly Renaissance Babies | TGIF! Hannah & Husband

As a former art school student (& lover of art history), this buzzfeed just made my day exponentially more awesome: A Day in the Life of an Ugly Renaissance Baby. Bonus? There’s also a tumblr.

Day. Made.

Have you seen Kevin Delaney on The Tonight Show? It’s kind of old news, but we just saw this clip last week. He’s kind of amazing. As is his beard. As is science.

Watch this…

Finally, I leave you with this picture of our front porch just because it’s pretty!

Happy weekend!

 

Hers & His

Hers

Reading

Have you ever been in the midst of a conversation and thought to yourself, “Am I actually losing brain cells right now? Didn’t I used to be smarter than this?” I felt this way the other night when I was watching the engagement party episode of Parks & Recreation and found myself analyzing the top 5 reasons I thought it was one of the best examples of situation comedy ever. (Seriously: the unity quilt… We’re a twizzlers family…? Come on!)

So when I started reading My Fair Lazy this weekend I thought, “This is soooo the book I need right now!” It begins with the writer, Jen Lancaster, sitting across from her idol, Candace Bushnell who says she’s really into Baudelaire at the moment. Jen wonders, is baudelaire is a type of noodle? At which point, she decides to culture up.

2 Things:

1.) You may remember that I fell in love with Jen Lancaster last fall when I read The Tao of Martha. Now, thanks to my friend Beth’s fabulous recommendation, Jen is officially on my ‘favorite literary people’ list, and I will be reading all of her books in good time.

2.) A warning: Jen’s books are not good for bedtime reading as you will wake up your bedmate with laughter.

Watching (About Reading)

This week, the New Yorker debuted the trailer for B.J. Novak’s first book. As if I wasn’t already excited enough to read this one, Mindy Kaling co-starred in the trailer making those two my favorite BFFs on the inter webs.

Watching (& Eating)

Things I already believed, but now buy into wholeheartedly after a couple days of processed foods while on vacation. Make things at home.

His:

Reading

I’ve been rereading a book of essays that I forgot I had already read, and I’m finding it quite forgettable again. Hannah bought me a couple of classics that I never got to in high school that I can’t wait to get to. Perhaps Catcher in the Rye will will finally change my life forever.
HOUSE OF CARDS

Watching

I finally started watching House of Cards. I don’t know why I waited this long. Princess Buttercup comes to the dark side to join Congressman Keyser Söze. Inconceivably (see what I did there?) addictive, as Netflix shows have tended to be.

Listening

Sometimes you just need to listen to some fun music, and this week NPR released 600 suggestions for your cabin fever playlist. Thanks NPR for the suggestions, but I’ll just stick with Tower Of Power. 

Hello, Gorgeous!

I hope that the chaos of the holidays has been enjoyable for you & yours! Here at the Slaughter house, we were hit with a bit of sickeness just after Christmas which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We’ve spent the past few days resting on the couch watching old movies & episodes of Coach. But now that our break is coming to a close, I thought this blog better get back in the swing of things. So here are a few New Year’s links to get your week started off in style!

Watch:

How about the quintessential New Year’s movie? When Harry Met Sally.

The movie that teaches us several important lessons to carry with us into the new year.

1.) It’s important to know & articulate what you like.

2.) Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.

3.) Hats should be worn with confidence–because years from now you’ll probably wonder what in the world you were thinking.

Hats should be worn with confidence because years from now, you'll wonder what in the world you were thinking. | When Harry Met Sally :: Secrets of a Belle

4.) The perfect go-to karaoke song is always “Surrey with a Fringe on Top.” (You’re welcome.)

Finally, everyone loves Meg Ryan. Everyone.

Wear:

A statement piece,* of course! Lately, I have been eyeing the piece above from Ban.do.

*A statement piece is an eye-catching (but attractive) accessory. It says something about the wearer to the rest of the room… “I am confident.” “I am fun.” “I am certifiably insane but at least I’m having a good time.”

A good tip to follow when wearing a statement piece for the first time: Tone down the rest of your outfit from dress to hair to make-up so that the statement piece is not competing for attention.

Drink:

Something bubbly… might I recommend a bottle of Veuve?

Listen:

One of Husband’s very favorites…

Til next year! xoxo*