Happy Friday...and Super Bowl Weekend!
plus: the lives of ex-presidents; all about situationships; and the fishy "recipe" that generated many feelings...
Happy Friday, and Super Bowl weekend! I’ll be shamelessly watching on Sunday for the commercials, half-time show, and of course, the main event. I’m planning to make Chicken Pot Pie Soup, which is Sunday night appropriate but untraditional as a Super Bowl meal, and the best hors d’oeuvre ever (with ketchup.)
This week, I’ve got a great TV series, podcast episode, and at-home date night idea for you. And while I’m not in the business of giving negative reviews, preferring to tell you only what’s good, I have thoughts on some new shows I had very high hopes for and was disappointed in.
In case you’re interested, I’ll share my unvarnished opinions in the Comments and I’d love to know what you think too!
📺 Why Women Kill: I highly recommend this stylized, sometimes ridiculous, very dark dramedy about three women, in three different decades, who reside (consecutively) in the same house in Pasadena - and who find themselves motivated to murder. Written by Marc Cherry, the creator of Desperate Housewives (and formerly a writer for The Golden Girls), the 60s and 80s costumes and settings are fabulous, and the underlying theme of how our behavior is driven by the era we live in, is compelling. Plus (or minus depending on your feelings about TikTok): a reliable source (my teenage daughter) tells me that “everyone” on TikTok loves this show!
🎧 WorkLife with Adam Grant: Power, purpose, and the American presidency with Jared Cohen: Cohen, author of Life After Power (to be released next week) discusses lessons on purpose and happiness - and how to handle huge life transitions - drawn from the lives of seven US Presidents after they left office; an intense and unique experience of going from the most powerful person in the world one day, to life as a regular person, the next.
💌 At-Home Date Night for Friends or Lovers: Dinner and a Movie! As you may be aware, there’s a Hallmark holiday on the horizon (Wednesday, February 14), and if you’d like to celebrate/commiserate with a friend, family member, or lover, here are 6 ideas for a cozy Dinner and a Movie night (recipes included!) to spend with one of your favorite people, at the most convenient cinema, aka your own house!
👓Looking for something else to watch or read? More ideas here:
📆 February 2024 Recs // 📖 Books // 📺 TV Shows // 🍿 Movies
In Case You Missed It: Your Teenage Daughter When You Are Working from Home // A lovely Valentines Day Tradition // I love it when TikTok designates a name for an ordinary activity // How one company made a 4-day workweek work // Elizabeth Holmes is making celebrity friends in prison // What is a “Situationship?” // A recipe for fish generates MANY feelings (and truly hilarious comments) and the most fun I’ve had on Instagram in a long time // Moms commiserate over middle school (their kids’ not their own) at
//That’s it for this week. I’ll be back on Tuesday with some hot tips on how to get the kids (all of us, really) into some offscreen fun…😎
Have a sweet weekend!
xo Amelia
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The two shows I was excited about, but disappointed in are Feud (Capote vs. The Swans) and the TV series remake of the Angelina Jolie x Brad Pitt movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I wanted to love both – Feud has an all-star cast of fabulous women, and while I found the acting strong, the storyline dragged, and I struggled to like or root for any of the characters. I so wanted to love this!
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the movie, is a favorite of mine for its action-packed portrayal of a couple of assassins in an unhappy marriage and I was thrilled to watch this remake, especially because Sharon Horgan, Sarah Paulson, and Parker Posey cameo, BUT – and this may be because I’m Gen X and not the target demographic - while Angie and Brad smoldered in the original, I detected zero to no chemistry between Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in the remake. More complaints: not enough death-defying action! Way too much talking!
Thank you for the shout Amelia!