Inside Oprah's Ultimate After-Oscars Party

Today is the one and only - Oprah's [last ever] post-Oscar show. My gal pal Whitney just so happens to be at the show right now. She sneaked a quick shot of the Kodak Theatre and sent it to me. In her excitement,  I received the photo twice and four of the same message: "Inside the Koak Theater - about to see Oprah!" Gotta love her enthusiasm. Heck, I'd definitely repeatedly send the message if I were there. It's Harpo we're talking about here!

Whit also happened to fill me in on the phenomenal celeb guests who are in California for the taping of the show. None other than Anne "Dance of the Brown Duck" Hathaway, Melissa Leo, winner of  Best Supporting Actress and acceptance speech infamy, and funny Brit man Colin Firth, who rolled out last night with a Best Actor win for his st-stupendous role in The King's Speech. Sorry, I just couldn't resist. And spoiler alert: pop sensation Katy Perry lends her music to the show with a special performance. Sounds like a star-packed party to me.

Catch the show in all of its glory later today at 4 PM EST.

The Oscars Has a First Name. It's J-A-M-E-S

It's coming. This weekend.

The Oscars!!!

Here come the beautiful gowns and handsome tuxs sweeping down the red carptet, all the sparkling jewelry, oh and two amazing hosts: Team Franco + Hathaway = Francaway? Yes and yes.

James and Anne have been prepping all year for their gig as presenters at this year's 83rd Annual Academy Awards - they sweated it out at Oscar Boot Camp training and everything.  Such dedication they have.

I am a huge - and when I say huge, I mean huge - James Franco fan. Tristan + Isolde, Annapolis, Date Night, Spiderman, Spiderman II, even Spiderman III - you name it, I've seen it.

 Who wouldn't love a man with a stuffed bear? I mean, really.

And Anne Hathaway is as lovely as ever. Should be really fun to have such a young pair of actors presenting.There were so many great pictures/performances this year:

The Black Swan

The Social Network

The King's Speech

 James! in 127 Hours

And tons more great pictures/actors have been nominated. Hope you have a relaxing weekend! Will you be watching the Oscars? What are you most looking forward to seeing? Any predictions on winners? My amazingly lucky friend was fortunate enough to score tickets to the filming of Oprah's next show - this Monday. As in the post-Oscar show. Ahhh! She's promised to give a full, detailed report - including whether Team Francaway makes a guest appearance. Holy jumbalaya, I hope they do. And that she gets to meet James. And give him a hug for me. Sigh. Will keep y'all posted.

Update: Unfortunately for me and all the viewers out there, James was unable to guest star on Oprah's post-Oscar show. Why, you ask? Oh, because of this little thing called earning his doctorate in English. At Yale. No big deal. With the multiple degrees he already has, he could probably earn in his sleep  sleeping during lectures.

[Images via: here]

Fingers crossed, 

Lorin

Oh, Lighten Up [Your Hair, That Is]

I can't take it much longer. My leg has developed this annoying twitch that won't go away, my head feels like there's a drumline using my sinus cavities for rehearsal space ... it can only mean one thing: spring fever! Yep, that's my WebMD, self diagnosis explanation for it. One more dreaded side effect: my formerly auburn locks are going, going, outta here.

It was fun being a redhead. Previously to this past fall, I was always a Mary Ann, never the Ginger.

Now that the dulldrum of winter is [almost] behind us, I think it's time to finally say hasta luego to the fiery hair color and lighten up a little bit, like these brunette bombshells here:

Will be going full-fledged chameleon and passing back into the lighter, browner side soon. Sometime this month. Actually, now that I think about it, Saturday afternoon is looking look a good a time as any ...

[Images via:  here, here, here, here, here, here]

If Only Your Boss Was This Funny

27. This is the number of things on my mental to-do list. So far, I've only crossed off a few, including: "wake up," "make coffee," "get dressed," and "go to work." Oh, and "blog about my ridiculously long to-do list." Done.

On days when it seems like there's no remote chance to accomplish everything, I think it's super appropriate to take a little break. Sneak a few minutes at work to just breathe. And YouTube something hilarious, such as Demetri Martin's witty flip chart jokes.



So make like a kid and give yourself a personal time out. Funniest 9 minutes of your day. Guaranteed.

[Image via: we heart it]

My Favorite Fill-In-The-Blank Ever Is ...

Hey, y'all!

Have you ever stopped by Beth Moore's blog? Watch out - you will instantly be encouraged/challenged/or both. For reals. She and the other amazing women at Living Proof Ministries share about everything from how God's working in their lives to leading an online scripture memorization challenge, Siesta Scripture Memory 2011. More about that here.

Just yesterday she posted a fun link asking readers to list their favorite something - anything from their favorite dessert recipe to favorite Bible verse or favorite ever place to visit [for me, that would be NYC. Hands down]. Over 1,500 favorite responses makes for a really neato assortment of things that will brighten up your day. Think of it as 1,500 reasons to smile. As if you needed that many.

"But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful." [Psalm 68:3]

[Image via: we heart it]

Same Old, Schame Old

True story - we're alll creatures of habit. On any given day, we're likely to do the exact same kind of things we did on the weekday before it. You may be wondering - what does this girl know about anything? Working in an environment where people are forced to make at least 6 to 8 decisions in a row (aka a coffee shop) has given me a teeny bit of insight into the subject matter.  What size drink? Decaf or regular? Whip or no? Skim or soy milk? You want a muffin with that? What kind? and the questions continue. 

If I was a bettin' girl, I'd bet you all my tip money that almost every single one of our regular customers consistently orders the. exact. same. drink. they. always. do. Sure, getting a medium skim latte with an extra shot is can be a down right dandy routine to settle into. But no variation ever?

Honestly, the thought of it all sounds like a major-snooze fest, am I right? Which leads us to today's tip for sprucing up your Monday. We shall:

dare to be different

 Yes, you can. I pinky promise that it's not as hard as it may seem.

You can

• take a different route home from work (traffic allowing)

• strike up a convo with someone who looks like they're having a rough day

• order off the other side of the menu 

• trade your pilates class for a kickboxing one instead

• call that old friend the Lord put on your heart

• switch up your reading genres. Like fiction? Pick up a biography

• share the story of the love of Christ with your coworkers

• hold off on your usual caffeine fix; order anything else

• sign up for that class/volunteer organization you've been meaning to join for forever

The Lord reminds us in the book of James that we should live every day like it's our last. "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." [James 4:14]

So what are you waiting for?  You may just discover the unexpected joy that doing something out of the ordinary can bring. And if not, that everyday routine will be waiting right where you left it.

Yours truly,

Ms. Mix-It-Up-Alot

[Image via: we heart it]

Dear Presidents, Thank You For Everything You've Done. And For the Day Off.

Whew. We made it. The looong weekend is finally here.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. 

Explore. Dream. Discover."

-the original Huckleberry Finn himself, Mark Twain

Have a lovely four (count 'em 4!) day weekend!