Selecting the Perfect Box of Chocolate

Paul and I had a fun excursion to Georgetown this weekend. We decided to compare the chocolates from the Godiva shop with chocolates from Dean & Deluca. Both companies have their chocolates made by different chocolatier's in NY and then ship them to the stores. Surprisingly, the D&D chocolates created by Christopher Norman turned out to be more expensive and although the chocolates looked more artsy, the taste did not compare to the taste of Godiva. Also, the representative at Godiva was very enthusiastic, eager to let you taste samples, and informative. Godiva has improved their preferred customer club (of which I was already a member) to give more rewards. We hope this might help you pick out some delicious sweet treats for Valentine's Day. I would encourage you to try personalizing your gift by selecting what will go into your own box of chocolates. While we're not professional taste testers, we tried our best. Paul cleansed his palette in between tastings with a glass of red wine. I drank and swirled H20.

Here are our descriptions of the high caloric adventure:

1. The heart-shaped Sparkling Mimosa: Champagne and orange juice flavored chocolate cream in dark chocolate.

• Paul: Tasty orange creme; surprisingly strong flavor, but not overpowering.
• Chrystal: Buttery rich orange flavor with a champagne aftertaste. Love the heart shape. Only wishing the size was bigger! *Must have for V-day*

2. Double Chocolate Raspberry Truffle: Red and black raspberry puree in dark chocolate.

• Paul: Superb. One of the best blends of rasberry and dark chocolate.
• Chrystal: Very bold, rich, and intense flavor as if I'm biting into a raspberry. A small bite goes a long way.
  

3. Key Lime Truffle: Key lime ganache in dark chocolate.

• Paul: Not quite as the key lime flavor I was expecting.
• Chrystal: Too sweet for me.
  

4. Hazelnut Praline Truffle: Finely crushed hazelnuts in milk chocolate with toffee coated hazelnut pieces.

• Paul: Ties the raspberry truffle or exceeds it. Very rich.
• Chrystal: Milky creamy bite, delightfully smooth and light flavor. It's a good thing we only had 1 to share because these are so light and creamy that it would be easy to eat more.

Dean & Deluca:

1. Lemon Truffle: Lemon thyme flavor is enrobed in milk or dark chocolate.

• Paul: Very good lemon taste.
• Chrystal: Light zesty lemon flavor. Refreshing.

2. Passion Fruit Truffle:

• Paul: Not as good as I expected. Fruit was weak.
• Chrystal: Gross bubble gum flavor.

3. Caramel Apple:

• Paul: Tastes too artificial.
• Chrystal: I love the artistic design. It's surprisingly big enough to share. The candy coating is too sweet for me.
  

4. Champagne Truffle:

• Paul: Forgot to write down notes.
• Chrystal: Rich flavor, but lacks the champagne effervescence that Godiva's heart shaped chocolate has.

To wrap up our review and get you on your way to shop for your loved one. It's best when looking for a fine chocolate to stick with a shop dedicated to that. If you're putting together a box of chocolates we highly recommend Godiva's Raspberry & Hazelnut Praline Truffles with a few heart shaped Sparkling Mimosa's.

Publish Post

Gone Baby Gone review

When I sat down to watch this movie, I was hoping for an intense mystery movie about a search for a little girl. I can't give much commentary about this movie, because I turned it off about a half-hour into it. The language in this movie is very rough, and probably realistic. Although I was interested in this movie at first, the language just became too much of a distraction to me and I ended up opting to turn the whole thing off. Now, granted the writers and director were probably trying to show the reality of the street language. However, I don't like it when language seems to be written into a script just to merit a "R" rating. Maybe that wasn't the case, but I just found the foul language too distracting from the actual storyline to actually finish the movie. Well - isn't that real life, you say? Maybe it is, but I generally don't hang out in places where that type of language is used to that degree. It is not like I never heard foul words like this movie contained, it was just a choice to not intentionally choose to hear foul words in a movie that didn't necessarily need them to convey a story. This could have been a good movie (and maybe it turned out to be). I don't think I'll ever find out.

G.I. Joe : Rise of the Cobra Review

What a disappointment! I am sad to say I TRIED (key-work is tried) to watch this movie after watching the previews and being very fond of the toy in the 80s, and had to turn off this movie only a half-hour into the storyline. The acting is bad, the storyline is almost non-existent, and the CGI special effects almost seem like the whole thing is a giant video game. As I stated, I really enjoyed this toy when I was younger and had high hopes for the live-action movie. Maybe that was my problem. I had "high hopes". I was pleasantly surprised with the first Transformers movie and thought that this might follow in the robot movie's footsteps. However, after watching a sad half-hour of it, I realized that wouldn't be the case. It seemed the actors and their lines were over-the-top cheesy and the special effects seemed to be so overdone that it appeared the producer/writers may have been throwing in overblown special effects to make up for the pathetic storyline and the lack of good acting. I'm sorry, but I have to say SAVE TWO HOURS OF YOUR LIFE AND SKIP THIS MOVIE!! There - I said it. I would have liked to give this movie a higher rating, but I found it too sad to put a positive spin on it at all. Watch the cartoon movie if you long for a movie about this toy.

Notting Hill review

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope all my readers have had a great chance to eat some turkey, enjoy time with friends and family, and reflect on all the blessings we have been given.

While visiting family this week, I happened to sit down and watch Notting Hill with them. I personally like Hugh Grant's acting a little more than Julia Roberts but must say this movie was a pleasant romantic drama/comedy about a movie actress (Julia) who falls for a simple bookshop owner. I'm not positive this would be considered a comedy or just a romantic drama with some funny moments - but it still seemed to work well. Both Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant were very good at playing their roles, and they were supported by several very talented actors/actresses who made the whole story work really well. Although I don't think this was as good a movie for Hugh Grant as Two Weeks Notice, I do think he played his part well and it made for a good fairy-tale story about two people who have great chemistry together. There are a few off-color jokes throughout the story, but overall I think this was a very well-made and funny story that makes for a great overall movie. Two thumbs up.

Entertainment & Escapism

I was reading "The Simple Dollar" blog this morning and came upon a great post that I highly recommend. It is:
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/11/08/what-is-escapism-how-does-it-cost-me/ .
If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend you do before continuing my discussion below.

I would like to talk about it on my own blog in fact. Basically Trent (author of The Simple Dollar blog) talks about the difference between entertainment and escapism. I found the contrast very interesting and it made me think about my own media habits. Do I watch movies, listen to good music and play video games just to escape reality? Or are these ways for me to relax and have some fun in life without necessarily trying to escape reality? I believe personally, that I waffle sometimes between one and the other. I do enjoy movie, games, and good music but I think that the key to know if I am drifting from edifying entertainment into mindless escapism is one question: Am I trying to fill a void in my life with this activity? Every time I choose to sit down and invest time in a game, movie or listening to music I have to look at the fruit of the time spent. If I come away from the time, feeling more lonely, saddened and/or purposeless - that is a red flag that I have crossed into the land of escapism via entertainment. However, if after the time I feel like I've gained perspective or grown in my understanding of others and can then continue normal life-duties with a new perspective - I think that is well within the realm of edifying entertainment. Also, being a Christian I need to ask myself - is this something that I can glorify God doing/watching/listening to? Entertainment should never be used to fill a void. It does it poorly when used for that purpose. What entertainment can be useful for is to help bond with other people in your life, and keep your mind actively evaluating things instead of dwelling on the negatives in your life. I am a firm believer that you should never turn your brain off while allowing media to be seen or heard in your life (which is very prevelant in escapism). Everything listened to and watched should be evaluated and thought about. If the messages are agreeable - think about ways it could affect your own life, and if the messages are false/disagreeable you should be able to actively filter them from a solid worldview of Truth. In all these things, as a Christian I need to keep in mind what Paul says:

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. - Ephesians 5:15-16 NIV

Nights in the Rodanthe Review

Another Nicholas Sparks book makes it to the big screen. I decided to add this movie having seen 3 others movie adaption by this guy : 1. Message in a Bottle, 2. Notebook , and 3. A Walk to Remember. However, out of the four movies, I think this one was the lamest. This movie in many respects resembles "Message in a Bottle", but it came off a little more cheesy and formulaic. Basically the plot is Diane Lane's character is hosting a bed and breakfast in the Outer Banks, NC and Richard Gere's character comes to stay there to try to resolve some lawsuits he has with the family of someone he was a doctor for. During this time, he falls in love with Diane Lane's character and they have wonderful times at the beach, blah...blah...blah....BLAH. Ok, at this point (without giving away what happens) let me start to give my two cents - this movie is very formulaic and kind of boring. The character development just doesn't seem developed enough despite being well-acted and the plot is too simplistic. The movie is 1.5 hours, yet I think you can find better things to do with your time than to watch this movie. The overall messages conveyed from the movie are not very pro-marriage nor do they seem to accurately convey that love is committed in good times and bad, not just when you have butterflies in your stomach and are constantly day-dreaming about your lover. So my last words on this movie? Skip it.

The Scarlet Pimpernel Review

Due to my interest in Zorro, I noticed that Netflix recommended "The Scarlet Pimpernel" movie to me, so I added it to my queue and this weekend actually got around to watching it. Although the movie is about 2.5 hours, I found that I enjoyed the story and that the acting wasn't terrible. I think Jane Seymour is an excellent actress, and all in all, I thought this movie was pretty good. Basically the story is about an Englishman who is trying to save people from death during the French Revolution (I think). To do that, he (the Scarlet Pimpernel) must come up with a dual lifestyle much like Zorro, Batman or Superman in order to continue his job while remaining unsuspicious. To me this movie came off as a cross between "Pride and Prejudice" and "The Mask of Zorro". The first movie I'm not particularly fond of, while I love the Zorro movies. This movie had enough of the Zorro-like theme to keep my interest, but it had enough romance and fancy dancing to keep Chrystal's interest. So to sum it up - great movie. Out of 5 stars this movie wins a solid 4 in my book.

Vital Signs Review

I caught this movie on TV and as I started watching it, quickly got pulled into the whole story. While not perfect, and not very much like the comedy "Scrubs", it still seemed to be a fun movie with believable acting in my opinion. Basically the story follows several med students as they compete to be the most promising student in med school and prove to their supervisor doctor that they are the most qualified to practice. Although this sounds somewhat boring, I found it entertaining and watchable. I've never actually been a practicing medical student, so that needs to be weighed in light of all that, but I think it was accurate enough that it didn't have me scoffing about the unbelievability of the whole storyline. It did come off a little like a soap opera, but it seemed to work in my opinion. Definitely don't rent this movie if you are looking for unpredictable endings or a movie that goes in new directions, but if you are content to have a semi-believable medical story - you may just enjoy "Vital Signs". Also, I dock this movie several points due to some inappropriate love scenes.

2 Fast 2 Furious Review

After watching the 4th movie in this series, I decided to go back and watch the in-between sequels that Hollywood has produced and see if they were worthy additions to the "Fast and the Furious" movie series. I really like the first one, and the 4th movie I consider one of the better sequels I have seen, so I gave the 2nd movie a shot. I have to say honestly that I thought this movie lacked some ingredients of the 4th. I don't know if it was the exclusion of Vin Diesel or just a storyline that seemed a little less involving and more far-fetched, but something just didn't deliver in this movie. The main actress in this movie was also in the movie "Hitch" so I recognized her from that. Paul Walker is back and I'm glad that he agreed to come back for this one, because I think his character is a pretty important part to the whole "Fast and the Furious" series. Although this movie had its good moments, it just didn't live up to how well the 4th in the series executed (in my opinion), and could easily have been skipped over in my opinion. Still, if you like fast car movies and want to see some, but not all, of the ingredients from the first movie, you may want to check this movie out. I would give it one out of two thumbs up.

State of Play

This movie caught my eye, and I decided to throw it onto the queue and see how it delivers. Surprise, surprise! I thought it was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. First of all, the acting is phenomenal. Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, and Rachel McAdams all do exceptional at drawing you into an interesting story. Second of all, the story itself isn't too predictable. I like the fact that this movie kept me guessing all the way to the very end. Even when I thought I had figured it out, I learned new information until the credits rolled. Thirdly, this movie wrapped the mystery all up without feeling overly cute and predictable. It was an intelligent drama with a great storyline, and wonderful delivery. I highly recommend this movie, "State of Play".

The OC: Season 3, 4

I, Chrystal, was sick almost all of September. During this time, I was grateful for our many channels and embarrassed to admit hours of reluctantly watching SOAP network (what else is on during the day). Then I have to admit that I am hooked on season 3 of The OC. I think this show is a modern spin on Beverly Hills 90210. The show focuses on 4 designer clad teens and their parents. The main story line is about Ryan Atwood, a rough high school student from Chino, CA., that gets adopted by Sandy Cohen, an affluent Attorney General. Ryan has to adapt to his new environment and learn to mesh with the rich kids to make the most of the opportunity. Season 3 ended with the death of one of the main characters. Season 4 started with the young adults still processing the grief from losing a friend, but moving forward with their lives pursuing jobs and college. I love the witty humor between the characters and the great acting!

The Soloist Review

Paul's Review:

I just got this movie from Netflix and decided to see it hoping for a inspiring true story from two noteworthy actors. Before I go into it any further though, I have to vent a little. One thing that bothers me (quite a bit actually) is when you watch 30 TV ads for a movie that frame the movie in such a light that you come expecting a completely different movie than the movie delivers. I think the people who put the ads together for "The Soloist" did such a thing. The ads made it look quite a bit different and to come expecting a certain type of movie, when in reality the movie is very different than the previews lead you to believe. Overall I like both the actors Robert Downey Jr, and Jamie Fox, however the script and story (at least in the movie) left me disappointed. I haven't read the book so I refrain from commenting at all on that. Although there was talent in the acting, it didn't keep the movie from feeling slow and ultimately leaving you more down than you expected to be. Like I was telling Chrystal, there are two types of stories 1. the true stories that are very real, and 2. the fictionalized fairy tales told in a real life setting. I realize that is a very broad generalization but let me finish.... This movie definitely fits the first category a lot more than the second. If you go into the movie expecting realism instead of completely inspirational moments, you may like it. Otherwise, save your time and money and leave this movie alone.


Chrystal's Review:


Paul told me about this movie and I was intrigued by the plot because it is a true story and involves music. About 10 minutes into this movie, I realized that the plot was moving was very slowly. Sadly, I actually fell asleep once or twice, but was able to catch up to the story. I guess it would be unrealistic to show a relationship with a reporter and mentally disturbed homeless man happening quickly, so art was imitating real life. I suppose real life is not an action thriller most of the time. The movie focuses on what we learn when a selfish divorced reporter (Robert Downey, Jr.) "puts himself out there" and befriends a mentally ill homeless man (Jamie Fox). The movie does an amazing job highlighting that all relationships take work and commitment. I love how the movie points out that friendship is demonstrated not only in words or good intentions, but faithful action. The Bible says, "Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is really faithful." Proverbs 20:6. We also know that our Savior, Jesus, was called a "Friend of Sinners." The reporter in this story takes a lot of personal risks to befriend the homeless man; someone on the outskirts of society. So, I loved the acting and some of the key moments, but too slow to keep my interest or watch again.

Fast and the Furious review

OK, first of all let me start out by saying that I haven't seen all the Fast and the Furious movies. I only watched the first one all the way through, and thought it was entertaining - but never got around to watching and reviewing the 2nd and 3rd movie. From what I heard/read they didn't seem to really live up to the first movie, and frankly I never saw the need to take the time to watch them. When I heard that the 4th movie of the series was going to bring back all the original cast, I thought it would be worth checking out - and to be honest - I'm very glad that I did. Vin Diesel is back and so is Paul Walker. All the cast is pretty much back from the original movie, and guess what? The plot is decent as well. My expectations were pretty low for this movie, but I walked away pleasantly surprised at how well the story fit together. You could almost consider this movie the "true sequel" to the first movie. The plot was semi-believable (how believable do you expect from this series?), the cars were fast, the action was fun to watch and the ending was very well put together. I won't give it away, but I thought the way this movie wrapped itself up was the best I have seen since I watched "The Bourne Ultimatum". I really liked this movie, and if you enjoyed the original movie at all, I think you should definitely check out this one. Chrystal really enjoyed it as well, so I'm giving it two thumbs up.

Taken Review

Are you ready for an andrenaline kick? Taken may be the ticket for you. Basically the story involves Liam Neeson as a retired army guy that can really enforce security and protect important people, and his daughter. In the movie, he is divorced and really loves his daughter but doesn't get a lot of time to see her and spend with her. She is a typical 17 year old who wants to live it up and travel all over, while he is more cautious and protective as her dad. She ends up taking a trip overseas and doesn't tell him the whole story which opens the door for her to get kidnapped by some guys intent on selling her into the sex-trade market. This movie was really fast paced, and I felt developed enough of the characters that you really felt for Liam's character and sympathized with his love for his daughter. Good acting, and excellent action scenes make this movie fun to watch as well as intense. If you like movies that keep the action coming or TV shows like "24", you most likely will enjoy "Taken". I recommend it.

Innerspace Review

A classic movie directed by Steven Spielberg from the 80s. Innerspace is the story about a pilot that goes on a mission to be miniturized and injected into a bunny rabbit. However, things get dicey, and instead of being injected into a rabbit, the pilot (played by Dennis Quaid) is injected into a character played by Martin Short. Although this movie is classified as a comedy, I didn't find it that funny. Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan both play in this movie, and I thought that Martin Short did the physical comedy parts very well. However, it almost appeared that this movie's target audience may have been under my age. It is cute and relies on a lot of physically comedic scenarios to try to keep the laughs coming, and I found it OK - but not great as far a comedies go. I think my favorite Martin Short comedy still has to be "The Three Amigos". I believe that movie came out in the 80s as well. Of course one reason I may consider "The Three Amigos" a better movie was that my first watching of it was when I was quite a bit younger. Some movies leave a lasting good impression on you when you are young, but don't seem as impressive when you rewatch them several years later. 1 thumb up.

Conspiracy Theory review

I caught this movie on TV a few weeks ago, and actually was able to watch the whole thing through finally. I know my siblings have enjoyed this movie, but I had never gotten around to actually watching it. I liked this movie about Mel Gibson being a paranoid oddball who loves Julia Roberts character and confides in her what his theories are. The acting is well-done, and the movie has bits of humor sprinkled throughout with intense action scenes to make a pretty well-balanced movie to watch. One unique thing about this movie that I have to add, is that it actually motivated me to find out more about the classic book "The Catcher and the Rye". This book has a significant part in the movie, and made me want to find out more about the plot that surrounded it. Movies that actually pique your curiousity in reading the classics don't come around all the time - so that caused my evaluation of this movie to be a little higher than average. Good suspense, decent comedy parts, and an intriguing story make for a good movie in my opinion. 1.5 thumbs out of 2.

Lars and the Real Girl review

This is one of those quirky yet recommended movies that came out recently. I had heard some good things about the overall message and added it to my Netflix queue. I'm sorry to say I could not finish the movie. The message may be really good in the ending, yet I just couldn't bring myself to finish it in this slow-moving drama about a man who basically treats a life-size doll as his best friend. I think the acting was pretty well done, I just struggled to relate and stay drawn into the storyline due to the oddity of the whole plot. Sorry Lars, I lost my patience with you. As I watched Lars take his doll to the doctor, and to get a haircut, as well as to a holiday party, my mind began pondering the 1.5 hours I will never regain as I sat watching this movie. Not a very fast-moving or typical movie, yet if you have the patience, you may find it very rewarding. I didn't have the patience so therefore I give "Lars and the Real Girl", 1/2 thumb up out of two. Sorry Lars, I never did find out if he ended up going out with a real girl. Oh well.

Escape From Alcatraz

A classic Clint Eastwood prison movie. I just watched this movie and grew very fascinated with the Alcatraz prison as a result. I thought the acting performances were top-notch (what more can you ask from Clint Eastwood?) and the story was compelling enough to really draw you in. Basically Clint Eastwood plays a character that was sent to the Alcatraz prison due to poor behavior at other prisons. Alcatraz was known for being a maximum security prison with little hope of ever escaping successfully. Clint Eastwood plays the cool and collected prison inmate who won't let other prisoners take advantage of him, yet earns the respect of many within the prison. He slowly forms a plan to escape and I'll leave the rest for you to watch. Overall I thought this was a very well done prison movie, that kept me engaged, made me curious about other Alcatraz movies (there were many made in Hollywood), and wrapped up the story in a well-done way. Another thing I liked about this movie was that it seemed to show the poor conditions and sad states of prisons without becoming overly depressing and dark. I felt the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" was a little too dark and depressing. "Escape from Alcatraz" seems to avoid that problem while still giving you a feeling of realism from a maximum security prison movie. Two thumbs up in my opinion.

Fireproof Review

Chrystal and I rented this movie after hearing many positive reviews of the message and presentation of this movie. We were not disappointed. In this movie, Kirk Cameron is a fireman who doesn't really have a good marriage and heading down the road to divorce. As he talks to his parents, he decides to take the challenge of his dad, who gives him a "love dare" to practice learning how to love and care for his wife. This begins to work some great changes in his life as well as his wife's. We weren't expecting too much out of this movie because we knew that the production costs were probably a lot less than many hollywood movies - yet Kirk Cameron did a great job in his role and overall I believe the movie really delivers. Marriage isn't always a walk in the park as many romantic comedies portray. Times do become tough, and trials can threaten to disrupt a marriage. Yet this movie I believe accurately shows that with God's help - a marriage can be healed and can glorify God. Two thumbs up for a great movie with a great message!

Vanilla Sky Review

Pure genius. I saw this movie after taping it off of TV, and have rewatched parts of it almost 6 times! Now granted I saw the edited for TV version, and I can't endorse everything about this movie, yet the acting, the soundtrack, and the storyline get an exceptional rating in my opinion. Tom Cruise is a rich young man who has a lot of money and everything he ever wanted in life. However, due to some friendships in his life, and some bad choices, his life is changed forever. I won't say much more than that, but I loved the deeper meanings in this movie. Don't watch this movie expecting a chic flick, because you probably will be very disappointed, however - if you like movies that make you think about life - you will probably enjoy "Vanilla Sky" very, very much. Again - the acting is phonemenal, and the soundtrack was superb. I'm a big fan of directors that can match a good story with great songs. "Vanilla Sky" definitely does that with unexpected twists and quotes that will leave you thinking you need to rewatch this movie to really "get it". Two thumbs up!