December loves

Hello everyone !
Here's the last Monthly Loves post of the year ! Hope you'll like it !

Lace Dress - Burberry Prorsum
Leather Jacket - Burberry Brit
Black dress - Burberry London
Coat - Burberry London
Coat - Burberry Brit
Spring 2014 Handbag - Céline
Sandals - Givenchy

See you soon !

Alegría, Cirque su Soleil

Hello everyone !

Last week I went to Cirque du Soleil, the world famous circus from Quebec who was in Madrid with its show Alegría from the 18th to the 22th of December.

Cirque du Soleil is renowned for its bright, lively, and unforgettable performances, inspired by the beauty and power of human body.
The show Alegría premiered back in 1994 in Montreal, and since then became one of the most popular touring shows of Cirque du Soleil.
In Spanish “alegría” means jubilation, joy and Alegría, the show, is a celebration of youth, energy and possibility.
Alegría is performed by a troupe of 55 performers and musicians coming from 17 different countries.
Alegría is a Cirque du Soleil classic and an internationally acclaimed production that has entertained more than 10 million people worldwide. But it will perform for the last time on December 29, 2013.

The main acts in Alegría are :

Synchronized Trapeze

Power Track : a fast-paced gymnastic number, which is a combination of perfect synchronization and trampoline acrobatics

Manipulation

Contortion

Russian bars : acrobats jumping and performing somersaults in the air, landing on bars of merely 10 centimeter diameter held on the shoulders of their colleagues. 

Aerial High Bar : an acrobatic number on bars raised in the height of over 12 meters, which requires a massive amount of physical strength.

Cyr Wheel

Other acts include : fire knife dance, flying man ...
The characters (and some facts) are : 

Clowns

Over 100 000 paper confetti are used for the creation of blizzard in one of the clown acts.

Nostalgic Old Birds

Bird masks, used in the show to impersonate aged aristocrats, are handmade. It takes about 120 hours to make one.

The Nymphs

All artists of the show do their own make-up.

The Black Singer

 

The White Singer

Her dress weights 10 kilos !

The other characters are Fleur, Tamir, ...
Without forgetting the musicians !

I enjoyed every minute of the show, but  I think my favorite part is the Aerial High Bar act.
I had already seen Alegría in 2006, in the Grand Chapiteau, so I already knew what to expect.

Have you seen Alegría ? Did you like it ?

See you soon !

The Holiday

Hello everyone !
Christmas is almost here, so I've decided to talk to you about The Holiday, a film I watched some time ago that takes place during Christmas.

The Holiday is a 2006 American romantic comedy film directed by Nancy Meyers and starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black.

The plot is as follows : two women trade homes for the holidays.
Amanda Woods owns a company in Los Angeles, while Iris is a journalist in London. Iris has been in love with her boyfriend for over three years, despite his infidelities. When she finds out that he is engaged to another woman, Iris despairs. Meanwhile, Amanda discovers that her boyfriend has cheated on her. She decides she wants to get away for the holidays. She visits a home swap website on which Iris had previously listed her cottage in Surrey. Amanda contacts Iris about her interest. Iris quickly agrees and the two agree to swap homes for two weeks.

But Amanda grows bored after just a few hours in Surrey, and books a flight back for the next day. Iris’ brother Graham knocks at the door assuming Iris is home. He asks Amanda to let him spend the night despite the fact that he is a stranger, as he has been drinking at the pub and doesn't want to drive. They end up sleeping together. In the morning, Graham receives a number of phone calls from Sophie and Olivia, which rouses the suspicions of Amanda that Graham is a womanizer. However, at the airport Amanda decides to stay. Graham suggests they go to lunch to get to know one another better. During lunch, Amanda shares with Graham that her parents divorced when she was fifteen and since then she has been unable to cry. Graham responds that he cries all the time: movies, books, sad stories, etc. While obviously enjoying each other's company, Amanda is worried that the relationship will become complicated, and tries to keep Graham at arm's length.

Meanwhile, Iris is enjoying the stay at Amanda's house. She meets Miles. Later, she finds an old man, Arthur standing lost at the corner. She learns that he was a script writer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The two become friends.

Amanda chooses not to see Graham again but once alone in the house she has a change of heart and surprises Graham at his house. He looks extremely nervous at the door, Amanda asks Graham whether he is alone, and he says he isn't. Before she can turn away, Olivia and Sophie come to the door, revealing that they are Graham's daughters. Amanda is shocked and asks Graham in a whisper if he is divorced. He says no, because his wife died two years ago. Amanda asks him why he did not reveal the existence of his daughters to her during their sharing at lunch. Graham explains that he doesn't usually tell women about them because he doesn't know how to date and be a dad. Amanda fits in beautifully, making Graham reconsider his decision to keep their relationship strictly casual.

Iris finds out that the Screenwriters' Guild wants to throw a grand celebration in Arthur's honor, but he is reluctant to go mainly because he cannot walk without the assistance of his walker and does not want to embarrass himself. Iris encourages him to go because it's a real honor, and promises to help him prepare to attend the award function with her. She undertakes an exercise program with him, determined to help him walk without his walker.
Iris and Miles have slowly become friends, and begin to spend more time together.
The day of the ceremony Iris and Arthur arrive and are very surprised to find the hall filled with people all standing and applauding his achievements. Miles arrives and asks Iris for a date on New Year's Eve. Iris responds that she will be back in London by then. Miles replies that he has never been to London. Iris responds that she would love to spend the evening with Miles.

Meanwhile, Graham confesses his love for Amanda on the night before she is scheduled to depart. Amanda insists it is over, she is certain a long-distance relationship will never work. On her way to the airport, she cries for the first time since she was fifteen years old, and returns to the house to find Graham crying. Amanda tells him that she has decided to stay until New Year's Eve with him.

Iris and Miles celebrate the New Year with Amanda and Graham and his daughters, enjoying the evening laughing and dancing together.

I personally liked more the story with Amanda and Graham than the other one, but nevertheless, I think it's a nice movie you can watch during Christmas !

See you soon !

Text source : Wikipedia

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Hello everyone !

Today I'm going to talk to you about a film I watched a couple of weeks ago : Crazy, Stupid, Love.

It's a 2011 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa and starring very famous actors and actresses such as Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, etc.

Click on the images to see full size

Here's a bit of the story : Cal Weaver is a middle-aged man who learns that his wife Emily has cheated on him with a man called David, and that she wants a divorce. After moving into his own apartment, Cal goes to a bar night after night, talking loudly about his divorce, until he attracts the attention of a young man, Jacob Palmer, who seduces women every night.

However, a young woman named Hannah recently rejected his advances.

Jacob takes pity on Cal, and offers to teach him how to pick up women. Using Jacob's teachings, Cal seduces Kate at the bar. After this encounter, Cal manages to successfully seduce other women in the bar.

He sees Emily again at their son Robbie's parent-teacher conference. But he discovers that the teacher is Kate, who reveals to Emily that she and Cal slept together. Emily leaves in disgust and begins actively dating David.

Meanwhile, Hannah, a recent law school graduate, is expecting her boyfriend to propose marriage while they celebrate her passing the exam, but he does not, which hurts Hannah's feelings.

Hannah returns to the bar where she originally rejected Jacob's advances and kisses Jacob passionately. The two return to Jacob's home to have sex, but end up talking to each other all night. Jacob starts a relationship with Hannah, and he becomes distant from Cal.

At the same time, Robbie tries to win the heart of his 17-year-old babysitter, Jessica, who actually has a crush on Cal. On the advice of a classmate, she takes naked photos of herself to send to Cal and hides them in her room.

Later, Emily calls Cal and the latter to try and win her back. Meanwhile, Jacob returns Cal's calls and asks for advice about starting a real relationship.

Jessica's mother discovers Jessica's naked photos addressed to Cal and shows them to Jessica's father. He rushes to the Weaver residence to confront him about the photos.
Jacob and Hannah show up at the house, and Hannah is revealed to be Cal and Emily's first daughter. Cal is appalled that Jacob is dating his daughter, and forbids her to see him.

At that moment, Jessica's father shows up and attacks Cal. Jessica arrives and tells her father that Cal knew nothing of the pictures. Then David also arrives on the scene. Cal, Jacob, David, and Bernie then get into a scuffle which is soon broken up by the police. Cal starts spending his time at the bar again and receives a visit from Jacob, who confesses that he is in love with Hannah. Cal refuses to approve of their relationship.

At  his eighth grade graduation, Robbie gives a pessimistic speech about how he no longer believes in true love and soul-mates. Cal stops him and instead begins to recount his courtship with Emily to the audience, saying that  he will never give up on her. With renewed faith, Robbie reaffirms his love for Jessica, to the audience's applause. After the ceremony, Cal gives Jacob and Hannah his blessing. Jessica gives Robbie an envelope containing the photos of herself to "get him through high school". Cal and Emily have a laugh talking about the events that have transpired the past year.

And finally, here's the trailer:

I think it's a very funny movie, I really enjoyed watching it, so you should watch it if you still haven't !
See you soon !

 

Text source : Wikipedia