Just finished flipping through my issue of Country Living that arrived today (I always do a good flip-through before settling into the articles I want to linger on) and just adored this photo of a simple bright kitchen. My favorite part? The antique cutting boards. I love how their warm patina looks against the stark white walls. Don’t they just make you want to whip out a loaf of oven-warm french bread and cut through it’s crustiness right then and there?

I may be waxing poetic about food because I also just finished watching the film “Julie and Julia” which is not only a very romantic love story about Julia Child and her husband Paul, but a love story about food. And of course, a story about blogging (although I slightly felt that it gave blogging a bad name). But the food… the food was to die for. Every pan and dish looked absolutely delicious. Meryl Streep said she gained 15 pounds during filming! Made me want to melt some butter just watching it.

Of course, since moving in together and really since the lay-off, Ryan has been the cook around here. Tuesday night he tried a pad thai recipe that I found on A Chow Life, another Seattle-based blog that is rather addicting and equally butter-melting tempting (seriously gorgeous pictures of food!). And we had our “first cooking disaster of 2010″ as Ryan has dubbed it. I think somehow the sauce got screwed up, like our tamarind wasn’t the same kind or something. The sauce was bitter. Or sour. Or something. We ended up making pizza.

But it got me thinking about it tonight, watching Julia Child suck it up chopping onions for the first time. And watching Julie Powell drop a whole stuffed chicken on the floor. Cooking is full of mistakes waiting to happen. You just have to pick up and move on. Dust that bird off and stick it in the oven, so to speak. Kind of the way life can be too. So we’re going to try the recipe again sometime, make a few tweaks, and experiment.

Today was just a cooking-themed day, I guess, because I also finished the book “Kitchen Confidential” by Anthony Bourdain. And let me tell you, the floor isn’t the only place that chicken has been. Yep, the one you just ordered for dinner. But Tony is another one of those people that loooooves food. And that butter-melting urge totally comes through in his writing. (Side note: I have a totally gross crush on Anthony Bourdain considering he is twice my age and the quintessential bad boy. But a guy that can cook, loves food, loves travel, and can WRITE? Call me, Tony!).

It’s been a tough week, heading back to work for my first “full” week since the holidays and since my “full” week turned into four days due to staff reductions. I am definitely not a morning person and my current commute requires that I be one. So I’ve been grumpy and not very productive. But nothing beats the nights that I come home, open the door while totally exhausted, and smell whatever wonderful concoction Ryan has going on in the kitchen. My favorite time of day is coming home.

What about you? What cooking experiences have you had lately? Do you wish you did it more? And have you ever made anything from Mastering the Art of French Cooking?

(If you haven’t had enough “Julie and Julia” lately, Design Sponge’s ‘Living In’ series just featured the same film! Check it out.)

For reference, some of my favorite movies are: American Beauty, Chocolat, Almost Famous, Under the Tuscan Sun, and Benny and Joon.

Any recommendations?

I’m loving the mostly-photo blog, F**k Yeah, Marilyn Monroe!  Hundreds of photos and movie stills of the actress, and a sprinkling of quote-worthy sound bites.

Perfect dash of glamour for your day, I think. Enjoy!

(PS don’t forget to enter my giveaway!)

Audrey – by Magchunk on Polyvore.com

Sunday night I rented “Priceless”. It’s sort of a take on “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” but set on the French Riviera. Irene (Tautou) is a beautiful woman who makes a career out of wooing older rich men (sound familiar) and is determined to marry one and be set for life. Then she meets Jean, a hotel worker who instantly falls for her. They share a romantic night (she mistakes him for a rich man, naturally), and when she realizes her mistake, he won’t let her go. He too becomes a call-boy (?), and the two trade tips in getting expensive gifts out of their *ahem* sponsors. But of course, he’s just waiting for her to realize she loves him, which she does, and they run away together on his new scooter.

In the meanwhile, Mme. Tautou wears some spectacular slinky dresses.

Recipe for looking like a French woman:

1. Subtract 10 pounds. Maybe more.

2. Add one cigarette. Ok, 40.

3. Don’t do your hair.

4. Add smokey eyeshadow/liner

5. Mix in a dozen silky dresses that are about 1/4 of an inch away from falling off all the time

6. Add strappy heels

7. Bake for 1 hour on medium-high heat

8. Garnish with a sultry glance and serve to your male lover(s) to great fanfare and success.

Photos from IMDB and Audrey Tautou Fansite. But there are many other outfits in the movie, so rent it!

The best:

I’ll admit, Anne, that since seeing you in “The Princess Diaries” I can’t really take you seriously. But you looked gorgeous.

The worst:

Sorry, Kate! you know I still love you. But the dress, and the hair… Oh well. At least you won, right?

The bridal:

Random thoughts:

Not my favorite Natalie Portman look, but it fit her like a glove and she looked lovely, as usual.

Tina Fey showcased the bod and rocked it. Better not let Boyfriend see these!

Did anyone else think that Amy Adams has looked particularly WEIRD lately? She looked totally run down at the Golden Globes, and here she looks like she’s been dead for 2 weeks. I mean, I adore her (redheads unite!) but what’s going on with that girl?

Ok, Freida Pinto (of “Slumdog Millionaire”) is probably the most gorgeous woman alive (even wearing that hideous dress!). You can tell that co-star Dev Patel thinks so too…

Love Jennifer Aniston’s hair.

Why, Beyonce?

I almost put Marisa Tomei in the “bridal’ section, but I love the intricate pleating too much to mock it.

Dear Guidance Counselor, I want to be Diane Lane when I grow up. Love, Magchunk.

Go to The Huffington Post to see more photos.

“Shopaholic” stars Isla (“Eye-lah”) Fisher as 25-year-old Rebecca Bloomwood, a journalist with an actual shopping addiction and tons of credit card debt that she seems to ride like a wave. While trying to get her toe in the door at the ultra-exclusive Alete magazine, she lands a gig at Successful Savings magazine, where she applies the lessons learned from her fiscally-responsible parents, and is an overnight hit (with readers and hunky boss played by Hugh Dancy).

The non-spoiler: Debt is the enemy. As her 12 credit cards reach their limits and with minimal funds to pay them off (and still dashing into Prada before a Shopaholics Anonymous meeting), Becky is more and more frantic. She’s dodging the “evil” debt-collector, lying to her friends and love interest, and generally is a mess.

Critics have been quick to over-look the negative portrayal of debt, focusing only on the shopping scenes that (rightly so) are grossly over-indulgent. One critic goes so far as to say it is “Probably the most ill-timed and appalling insulting movie in recent memory.” Wow, ok. I actually found Shopaholic brilliantly timed–a young woman who very quickly has to learn to live within her means, pay off debt, cut up her credit cards, and value her relationships with her family and friends more than objects. I think there are a lot of young (and not-so-young) people who are coming to the same revelation right now. Yes, it’s told in a fun and colorful (and light-hearted) way. Yes, not all the details are maybe exactly accurate to the magazine-publishing world. Yes, the romance is a little contrived. But it’s a movie, and a comedy at that. But it certainly serves to communicate an important topic at the same time. Debt is bad. Shopping can get out of control and things are not your friends. Carrie Bradshaw could learn a few lessons from this movie.*

And the fashion. It’s classic Patricia Field (from Sex and the City). Over the top, every color possible, every designer possible, all in the same outfit. Now, I don’t take her styling to be a guidebook to my next shopping trip. But we could all use a dose of color now and then. And she’s truly a costume designer–these are the clothes of a shopaholic. But they certainly are eyecandy, especially in some of the closet scenes. (I’m drooling over that dresser too). Plus, this movie totally makes me want to grow out my red hair and curl, curl, curl! Isla has the exact shade of auburn I’ve always dreamed of…

Basically, if you like fluffy, fun, girly movies and love clothes, and are maybe in a little too much credit card debt, you’ll like this movie. If you’d prefer an exposay on the corrupt financial underbelly, watch CNN and save yourself $7.

Did anyone else see it? What did you think? And wasn’t that white skirt and jacket she wore in Miami to die for?

*Hypocrite alert. That same reviewer who called Shopaholic “insulting” gave SATC one of her top reviews. Hmm, a movie with tons of shopping, marrying a rich man who will give her the giant closet of her dreams, and much more sex. Personally, I liked both movies.

*UPDATE* If you’re interested in “Shopaholic” more as a catalog, then shop Becky’s clothes at Bluefly.