I’ve only been to the Sundance Film Festival once before, when Shawn’s film IGNITE played. That year, everything was overwhelming and new. This year, I came with a plan and everything was exciting. I didn’t get to see all the films I wanted to (Room 237 for instance, and V/H/S) but I was really please with what I did see. That’s not to say I loved every film I saw either, but I thought I’d share a few of my thoughts.

YOUNG AND WILD
I have to say this was my personal favorite of what I saw at the festival. Written and directed by Marialy Rivas, Young and Wild is fun and racy while also being surprisingly serious. It is the story of a 17-year-old Chilean girl with an unrestrained sexual appetite, a devout evangelical family and a blog to talk about it. Go figure I’d like a film about a blogger. It was entertaining and touched on more than just the obvious; really a story about family, love and finding your way. It had a realistic, honest tone, but was laced with the playful writing of youth. I hope this film finds a larger audience and hopefully winning the World Cinema Screenwriting award will help make that happen.

THE END OF LOVE
This film, starring and directed by Mark Webber, is a sentimental portrait of a man struggling to raise his young son on his own after the death of his child’s mother. For the most part, this film has staggeringly authentic scenes that make you feel as if you’re watching an expertly shot and well edited home video. This is due in part to the fact that Webber’s real life son, at 2 and a half, is not really acting but rather being filmed in situation. And let me tell you, that kid is a charmer. The overall emotional tone is touching as you see Webber’s struggle to keep his life together. The End of Love manages to capture something rare and true in the depiction of this father and son, something that draws you into the story. I wish more films could be in touch with this sort of realism.

WRONG
An absurd look at a fantasy life in Los Angeles, Wrong, gives you a glimpse into the strange world of Dolph after his dog is stolen. The film is much like a bizarre dream, with oddball characters and nonsensical settings (an office that rains indoors, a man that repaints random cars for no reason). It is for sure an amusing trip and is at the same time unremarkable. I definitely enjoyed the curiosity of it all. As a side note, I would recommend checking out this fun short by the director Quentin Dupieux’s (aka Mr. Oizo).

COMPLIANCE
Already there is controversy around this film as it spawned a handful of hecklers at various screenings, including ours. To be honest, I am almost tempted to not mention it at all just to not give it any more press, but my blog doesn’t really count as press so I shall continue. Also, I’m going to include a spoiler so you can just skip this if you want. The big complaint about Compliance is that this film uses rape as entertainment and is thus exploitation. Personally, this isn’t even my problem with the movie Even though as a feminist I oppose the concept, I think it was shot and edited in a way that at least attempted to avoid this. My problem with the film is that it is boring. It’s boring and predictable and not worth the time it took to watch. It defends itself by the fact that it is based on true events and attempts to be a study of the individuals involved. Unfortunately, it never fully captures the motives or intentions of any of the characters and has the emotional depth of a bad tv movie. Instead of watching this film, I propose you instead read about the true events it is based on and you’ll get the full horrific effect. Some things don’t require artistic reinterpretation. That being said, Shawn thought it was compelling and interesting so there’s that.

p.s. These photos have nothing to do with these film, except that I took them in Utah.

Happy Sunday everyone. It’s the first full weekend at home I’ve had in awhile with all the adventures, events and celebrations of the last few months. It’s been so nice to actually get a few things done around the house (I did SO MUCH laundry yesterday) and focus on the things I care about.

For one, that means more home-cooked meals. I’ve been feeling a little bit like a scavenger in my own kitchen recently, but that changes this week. I’ve made a plan for a few healthful and tasty meals over the next week and bought supplies and ingredients. A little bit of planning in advance goes a long way.

This morning we had my favorite pancakes. I’m more of a waffle girl than a pancake girl but these are just so good; they have exactly the right amount of sweetness and fluffiness. Full disclosure, I had these for dinner earlier in the week too. Oops.

I also made a broccoli quiche for dinner last night. Despite making the world’s worst pie crust, it was really satisfying. Even for dinner. I think the secret is extra broccoli and fresh herbs.

Just a little announcement, Cute and Delicious is now on Facebook, so you can like it HERE and keep up with new posts and other discussion. Yay!

What are you making for dinner this week?

It was a real treat to visit Park City and experience some real winter. It was snowy and cold and beautiful. We didn’t make any snowmen or throw snowballs but we did walk around as snowflakes wafted gracefully down on us. It left me dreaming of snuggling up in a cozy cabin, shutting out the rest of the world.

We also dug my car out of the snow (twice!) and had one of the scariest drives ever down from Park City to Salt Lake on an icy road, so I guess it wasn’t all magic. I suppose it’s easy to be romantic about winter when it’s 80 degrees here in Los Angeles. What do you think, do you love snow?

I’ve had this blog for a long time now and it’s been many things: a place for recipes, a place for wedding planning, a place to share photos and a place to connect with people out there in the world. It’s never had a specific thing it’s supposed to be, it just is whatever I want it to be at the time, which is fine. I’ve love this blog and it’s so important to me and all the things I learned at AltSummit really clarified for me what I want this space to be.

I’m not going to tell you all my plans all at once, but I will share that Cute and Delicious will be very much the same, just with more awesome. A new look is even on the way.

Besides all the thoughtful talks I heard and things I learned, by far the best part was meeting so many amazing, warm, eager, open-hearted and inspiring women. It’s one thing to connect with people through the web but being able to meet people in person to solidify relationships and make new friends in real life really just meant more to me than I can say. Everyone’s enthusiasm sparked something inside me and filled me with such happiness.

I’ll share a little more in detail what I learned this week. Then I need to get to the other half of our amazing weekend: Sundance! Fun things. For now, here are a few photos from Alt!

In approximately 4.5 hours I’ll be getting up to drive to Salt Lake City to go to Alt Summit and then to Sundance. At this moment, I’m nervous and a tiny bit stressed with what needs to happen before we hit the road. At the same time, I’m really excited beyond belief to meet people whose blogs I’ve admired from afar or those who I chat with on twitter. This weekend is going to be filled with two of my favorite things, blogging and films. Pretty much it’s a dream come true. I have a feeling this may be one of those life altering moments.

Anyway, not much to say as I have to get back to packing but I just wanted to say, if you’re going to be at Alt or Sundance this weekend and you see me, please say hi. I’d love to meet you.

In exploring Pennsylvania, we were brought to The Black Bass Hotel in Lumberville. In an area rich with revolutionary history, this hotel sided with the British and still boasts a decor reflecting this. The bar held giant displays filled with china and memorabilia dedicated to the royal families through the years. It was beautiful.

I keep trying to come up with the words to describe how totally in love with Veggie Heaven I am, but I think it’s fairly clear from the photos how utterly amazing this restaurant is. It’s a little spot in New Jersey we go to whenever we’re in the area (which is not all that often). We visited this year the day after Christmas and the whole place was packed. I’m sure you can imagine why; vegan sushi. We’re not talking about your average cucumber rolls and tofu tempura. They have spicy “tuna” rolls, seitan eels rolls and a bunch of fancy combos like the Dynamite Roll. Every dish is just spot on for flavor and while there are tons of vegan offerings here in Los Angeles, there really is just nothing that satisfies my sushi cravings like Veggie Heaven.

So much pizza. So much delicious pizza.

What’s your favorite kind of pizza?

January was filled mostly with wedding planning. I sent out our handmade book wedding invitations. My mother and her friends threw me a beautiful bridal tea party filled with exquisite china and scones. We also celebrated vegan pizza day. Yum!

February was the month we got married. So that was the best ever.

We started March on our honeymoon in New Zealand. We hung out with alpacas, went camping and hiking and had an amazing time. When we got back, I introduced you to these little creatures in our home and we made toadstool terrariums. I also shared photos from our rehearsal party with Seabirds Truck and took you all on the adventure of making our wedding cakes.

In April I finally was able to share the beautiful photos from our wedding. We found a new place to live, packed, moved and then had a huge, wonderful, fancy Easter brunch.

In May I did a lot of cooking. I made fresh bread, chocolate chip cookies, and mint infused vodka. I also finally got my own camera. We celebrated Memorial day with BBQ and s’mores.

In June a tragic thing happened, our favorite restaurant, Pure Luck, closed its doors forever. We went to the second Vegan Beer Fest, ate awesome food and sampled a ton of great beers. Kim and I launched A Moveable Feast, a vegan secret supper club. I started making our wedding quilt, even though I’d never made a quilt before. I started writing a little bit more about films I love like The Piano and A Woman Under the Influence.

July was filled with fun events. We attended the Renegade Craft Fair in downtown Los Angeles. Plant Based Parties had a kickoff dinner and we sampled some great vegan delicacies.  To top it off, we threw a Batman birthday party for Shawn’s brother, Kyle.

August was exciting because I performed my first aerial silk routine since I was a teenager (and even posted a video). I made possibly my favorite pizza ever. There was a little glimpse into our home and some of our collections. Not to mention, Kim and I pulled off an amazing Spanish style secret supper.

In September, I finally shared a few rooms of our home, including the bedroom and dining room. I made some more crazy dishes like fried green tomatoes and vegan nutella.

October was huge. To start it off right, we went to the horrorthon at the New Beverly. Our film, Brainwashed Love, was in the LA Femme Film Fest. I made lentil loaf. I decorated the mantle with smiling pumpkins and made cute bat cupcakes. Then of course we had our 4th Annual Halloween Horror Movie Marathon, which was crazy and a huge success. Plus, I made Shawn his very own black velvet cape.

November held some life-changing experiences. We had a fantastic Thanksgiving at Madeleine Bistro. I turned 28. We went to AFI Fest and saw some of my favorite films of the year including Snowtown, Oslo August 31 and Kill List. It was so inspiring to see such well crafted films. Then, we went to our dear friends’ wedding in Ojai, which I attempted to dye a dress brown for.

And finally we’re in December. This past month was full of celebrations for holidays and friends. I finally finished our wedding quilt. We went on a really nice little trip to Palm Springs. I got a surprise delivery from a new friend. Last, but not least, we spent the holidays on the East Coast with Shawn’s family and had quite the adventure. I’ll get to share some tidbits from that over the next few days including some fantastic restaurants we went to.

Looking back, this past year has been filled with wonder. I feel truly lucky and fulfilled. I can’t wait for what this year brings, as there is so much in the works. I’m nearing the finish of writing our second feature film, a psychological thriller set in the woods, that I’m so excited about and honestly really proud of. Both Shawn and I have a few short projects that we’re going to put together as our major goal of the year is to make more films. We’ll be going to at least two film festivals in the next few months and in just a few weeks I’ll be attending Altitude Design Summit. Major stuff. I love it. Hooray for 2012!

The end of the year is truly upon us and only a few hours remain of 2011. It seems everyone is excited about the new year and things to come as am I. 2011 was a major turning point for me as it is the year that Shawn and I got married. A lot of other cool stuff happened too. I see a little roundup of the year coming in next few days.

I’m sure that 2012 is going to hold many magical things as we already have a few things planned, and after our little winter vacation I’m feeling inspired and content.

Generally speaking I’m not much of a resolution type of girl, but I do have a few this year, both big and small. On the small end, I want to keep track of the films that we watch this year, so I can look back at the end of the year. On the slightly bigger end, one of my other goals is to live life more simply.

Many things will be happening on the blog in the next few weeks. I have lots of lovely photos from our recent trip to share and hopefully there will be a bit of a redesign in the near future.

Wishing you you all a wonderful new year!

Much love,
Alix