Monthly Archives: December 2021

Christmas House 2

Ah yes, the long awaited, much anticipated sequel to “Christmas House.” The first Christmas House movie was a lot of fun. I think, if I were to go back and reflect, my favorite Hallmark movies feature a more “ensemble” style cast rather than putting all the weight on two lead characters with a romance-heavy main story. And Christmas House 2 had the potential to be even better because there was NO new romance story line. Instead, we could just focus on a potential engagement.

And gang, from the outset, this movie was funny and fun. I LOVE that our leading man, Mike, is in an intentionally over the top corny courtroom drama, “Handsome Justice” and we are graced with a short scene from the show, which was resurrected at the end of the first movie. Mike is looking forward to a much less drama filled Christmas season as last year’s dueling Christmas House decorating with his brother seemingly ended in disaster. I guess not seemingly. His roof literally fell in under the weight of custom iron reindeer on his roof. So like, he’s A LOT. Andi and her son Noah are there to pick him up to head home for the holidays. Unfortunately for everyone, Mike is approached at his trailer by his publicist, Kathleen about participating in a big Christmas decorating home show “Deck those Halls” when another celebrity cancels at the last minute. Both Andi and Noah seem excited at the prospect; but Mike is reluctant for obvious reasons.

Mike is also finally ready to propose to Andi. However, he foolishly tries to sneak into a jewelry store whilst out shopping with her? That weird magician from the previous movie is working there. He seems to be an actual magic character now. He pulls out the perfect ring for him and then Andi arrives. The magician vanishes as soon as Mike turns back around. So what’s up with all of that?

Meanwhile, Mike’s brother Brandon and his husband, Jake, are arriving from Colorado. They have two children now and Brandon’s dad has wisely pre parked a vehicle for them at the airport rather than hassling with picking them up. They have their own hilarious banter as they look for the car. Jake wants them to just focus on making Christmas special for their children. Brandon literally tosses their luggage in the back of the car. I’m SURE they’re all full of clothes.

The whole Christmas House family seems to assemble at Mike’s House? I believe he bought it from his parents at the end of the last movie. So where do his parents live? Brandon and Jake are staying next door in Andi’s parents’ vacant house. But it seems like even though Brandon and Jake literally flew across the country to celebrate Christmas with Brandon’s family, they all have their own Christmas plans. I swear there is literally a discussion where they’re all like, so what are your plans for Christmas? If I’m travelling across the country to spend Christmas with you, then that is my plan. I don’t get it.

At some point, the gang all discover that Mike has agreed to participate in this contest. They all seem more willing to participate knowing that it will not be a competition and they can all work together. Jake is even on board. However, those plans quickly go awry when Kathleen sees Brandon and Mike bickering outside a storage container of Christmas decorations. Conveniently, Mike’s competing celebrity has no also backed out so they need a new approach. Kathleen thinks these bickering brothers would make great television. And she’s absolutely right. So that’s the new plan.

Brandon and Mike each enlist a parent’s help and get to work. They are being petty at every turn and I was absolutely tickled about it all the way through. The camera crew also interviews each family member at various moments and THOSE are hilarious as well. At one point while the parents are getting interviewed, both their phones ring at full volume.

As this entire movie transpires though. I wonder how much this all costs; and who’s paying for it. I mean, simple exterior lights can cost over $100. How do they all have enough money to decorate the entire interior and exterior?

But there is also serious drama too. We get the sense that Noah’s dad is pretty unreliable. He’s promised Noah that he would be there for Christmas but nobody expects him to actually show. While attempting to time both Brandon and Mike racing through a snow maze, Zane DOES show up and Noah forget all about his timing business. Zane then focuses on inserting himself uninvited in all the family activities. He gets defensive when Andi tells him he can’t just show up unannounced. It is actually an unusual bit of contention between ex-spouses for a Hallmark movie. Usually everyone is SUPER cool and understanding.

Brandon and Mike’s bickering also stops becoming fun and they end up having a huge moment after getting kicked out of their parents’ play. I don’t know what that whole play business was about but they were the leads in a play and the whole family went to watch.

When they get home, they discover that a delivery truck has slammed into Brandon’s house and damaged a lot of the decorations.

The next morning, as a gesture of goodwill, Mike has enlisted all the neighbors and superfans of his show to help get Brandon’s house back in order. Mike is also wearing one of Brandon’s bakery shirts. Their parents are so disappointed about the night before though, that they tell the boys they are not going to help them anymore.

Finally, it is the night of the big reveal and competition. The show host arrives and Brandon fangirls slightly. However, they both announce they’ve put their differences aside and regardless of who wins, they will give the trophy to their parents. The homes are decorated beautifully and Brandon’s obviously has lots of baked goods. But then, Macie, the host announces she is ready to make her choice. Much to everyone’s delight and surprise, Brandon’s house wins! In large part due to the baked goods.

In all the chaos and commotion, that weird, actually magical magician shows up and hands Noah that engagement ring. Noah quickly approaches Mike with a large gift bag while he’s talking to Andi. Inside is the most beautiful glittery gold magic cape. And then Noah unceremoniously holds up the ring box. Mike opens it and HE is the one doing the surprised engaged face. This is probably the most disappointing part of the movie. I wish Noah had caught up to him before so the surprise for Andi wasn’t completely deflated. Oh well, he then proposes to Andi and obviously she says yes. The family looks on admiringly.

Brand and Jake have a small moment of their own, and then they announce to the family that they would like to move back home and would like to buy Andi’s mom’s house. In one final act of good will, Zane approaches and is prepared to have better boundaries across the board. However, Mike invites him to breakfast the following morning because he’s family. It’s a nice moment. And that’s that.

Overall, I really liked this one. It was a lot of fun, It was silly. It was making fun of itself in the very best way. It had some genuine heart felt moments in it as well. Overall it was a great sequel. I could see them making another one. And I would be happy to watch it! I like the Mitchells. I would like to see what other antics they could get up to. What did you think?

Guys, it’s the week of Christmas. And it falls on a Friday and Saturday which makes it really inconvenient for me because that means I can’t take any days off of work this week. And Friday is a federal holiday so I don’t even get a bonus day off this year. Oh and last weekend was birthday mania in this house with my husband and my son! So, this week, even though some of these movies deserve better, I am doing mini recaps post of all four. You don’t have time to read four full recaps, and I don’t have time to write about them. Let’s be honest! Okay so let’s get after the first one.

I didn’t know anything about this movie, other than that it aired on Hallmark’s streaming platform first. I don’t understand how Hallmark hasn’t figured out streaming yet. They have the absolute stupidest streaming service on the planet. Yes, we would all love a place to watch the Christmas Card every year. But what about the new movies? You’ll have to wait at least a year if you just have their streaming service. So now you need two platforms just to watch new and old Hallmark movies. Luckily for us that have found yet another subscription service on which to watch new Hallmark movies, they aired this on TV too; again rendering their own streaming service unnecessary.

Guys, I don’t know if the actors in this movie had fake accents or if they were just bad acting. And I hate to call out the bad acting. Or maybe white people were in charge of writing dialogue for a culture they don’t understand. Or maybe this is a “me” problem and I have some growing to do. Maybe it is all of the above. In addition, the dialogue was just like, old school Hallmark cheesy. Like VERY OVERDRAMATIC responses to relatively minor problems. I was just rolling my eyes pretty hard through a lot of the more “emotional” scenes; particularly those with Matteo and Natalia. I could tell right away that this movie should have been tucked away into the beginning of Thanksgiving week and forgotten almost as soon as it was over. This is unfortunate because the concept and the story were really creative. The story focused on the growing friendship of two women and the romantic element for both were more ancillary. I couldn’t quite tell who was supposed to be the actual lead with the primary story line.

Natalia is a former professional ballet dancer back in “Richmond” after retiring after an injury. She is an assistant (to) the choreographer but is really hoping to just be the primary choreographer. However, her boss, Ms. Kat is OLD school. She’s like Russian ballet dancer old school. When Natalia wants to spice things up for their school’s performance of “The Nutcracker,” Ms. Kat is like, I was there when “The Nutcracker” was written. Don’t tell ME how to perform it, girlfriend. Even when the choreographer is let go, Natalia still finds herself playing second fiddle. Been there, friend! They do hit a small snag in their Nutcracker prep when their “sugar plum fairy” becomes injured? Or for whatever reason can no longer perform. Natalia suggests selecting a local who has participated in some of the classes at the school.

Viv, meanwhile, is a spunky little Latin dance instructor just waiting for her shot. It seems like she really loves performing ballet but teaches everything else. Dance runs in the family as her parents own the dance studio and are former dancers themselves. She is elated when she learns she could audition for the school’s Nutcracker performance.

Ms. Kat ultimately selects a girl who is doing her BEST to be the meanest girl in all of Hallmark. That doesn’t stop Viv and Natalia from becoming friends though. They are soon running into each other at all manner of town celebrations. Viv even invites Natalia to her family’s ugly sweater and dessert party.

Natalia and Viv also meet a few nice guys on their dancing quest, Matteo and Justin respectively. However, like I said, these romance lines feel ancillary to the primary story. Just me?

Natalia soon offers to help Viv make a demo reel that she can show to dance companies. However, this blows up in everyone’s face when Ms. Kat catches them using the school’s stage to practice. Natalia is suspended and Viv obviously feels horrible. Matteo tries to stand up for Viv but that goes over like a lead balloon. This serves as the romantic tension portion of the film but I really didn’t care one way or the other.

However, Ms. Kat’s heart ends up growing 3 sizes when she realizes how much Natalia has prepped for the performance; there is almost nothing left to do by the time she gets suspended. Then, Ms. Kat wanders by Viv’s dance studio and sees her. She gets a burst of inspiration. Ms. Kat comes to her senses and hires Natalia back. She tells her that she panicked because the original choreographer had actually been working for two different companies while employed with her. But she knows now that Natalia is not like that.

It’s the night of the big performance and Viv has promised to meet everyone there. But she is nowhere to be found at show time. Natalia is wearing the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen in a Hallmark movie. When the performance ends, Ms. Kat calls Natalia on stage and announces that she’s been selected to be the principal choreographer for the company. She forces her to make an impromptu speech and it goes about as well as any impromptu speech of that nature goes. Natalia ends with thanking “everyone she’s ever met.” Then Ms. Kat hands her another card to read, which announces Viv doing a special “sugar plum twist” dance. Justin has merged the original song with some more modern music. Viv comes out in the cutest little red flare skirt situation and does her thing. It’s a huge hit.

Viv’s family hosts an after party and EVERYONE, including Ms. Kat is there to celebrate. Was this planned? They seem like really good sports to plan to have such a party knowing their daughter wasn’t going to be in the ballet? Or maybe it is Christmas Eve and this is just the party. I know everyone was dying to know-Justin and Viv are going to make their relationship work but I’m not sure what Viv’s next career steps are. Natalia and Matteo have their own moment outside where they Kiss and the movie ends. It is at THIS moment when I realize that Natalia and Matteo are the primary romantic leads because their kiss ends the movie. So, there you have it. What did you think of this one?

Sister Swap: Christmas in the City

The last movie of the weekend was part 2 of the Sister Swap series. I knew I would like the whole story line once I saw both parts.  I actually really liked the concept of these two movies and it was fun to see similar scenes from Meg’s perspective throughout. Let’s dive in.

I still don’t understand why, but Meg loads up her tuba and heads to SLC to play in a brass band on the street. She stops to get some fun Christmas hats and runs into Joe. We know from the last movie that Joe works for Jen at her restaurant. They have an awkward exchange that includes Meg knocking over a few breakable items.

Then she plays the tuba with the brass band. I still don’t know if that is something she always does, if she just decided to hop in with them at the last minute or if she specifically joined that year for something fun to do. She hadn’t played since high school so, again, I DON’T KNOW. But luckily, she did bring some fun Christmas hats for Jen and Jen’s son, Simon.

Back at Jen’s restaurant, Umber & Sprig, Meg re-meets Joe. Meg makes joke after joke and Joe doesn’t understand any of them. It’s too bad. Later, Meg and Jen walk and talk about Meg’s future plans to go to Paris indefinitely. We saw this same walk and talk in the last movie as well. Meg and Jen break off and Meg continues walking with Alex, another employee at the restaurant. They stop at a tapas food cart I would very much like to experience for myself. Alex has eyes for the cart owner and Meg reveals that she has no chill.

That night, the sisters have a hilarious exchange where Meg wonders if she should stay in SLC a little bit longer while Jen heads to their hometown of Hazelwood. She tells Meg she will need to borrow some clothes if she stays. Jen laughs because Meg is currently wearing one of her sweaters. This was so amusing because it is something both my sister and I would do.

So Meg decides to stay and Jen and Simon head out. Meg finds Joe in the SLC Christmas Market? Looking at some garland for the restaurant or for the big party. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Umber & Sprigs will get to host a big party and a magazine will award $25,000 to the charity of the winner’s choice. So I think he’s getting garland for that. Anyway, he almost gets a big old strand of mistletoe. I’ve never seen mistletoe like that but I suppose that’s how it comes. Anyway, they head to the restaurant with their plain garland.

At the restaurant, the gang is decorating cookies because during the holidays, every patron gets a free cookie with their order. That’s cute. Meg is super helpful and I think super annoying to Joe. She is PERKY that’s for dang sure. She’s also a very SILLY GOOSE. She has tons of fun ideas that sort of clash with the very fancy party Joe wants to plan. She wants a cookie decorating station (LOVE) and a photo booth (NEUTRAL). Joe decides to take her to the food bank to help put things in perspective (I think.) To show her what they’re trying to raise money for.

At the food bank, the manager tells them all about what she could do with the prize money. She would like to make the food bank more of a grocery store experience where people could select items instead of being given a big, prepackaged box of food. Anyway, it’s very admirable and definitely gives Meg perspective. But she still wants to do all her fun activities.

Back at the restaurant, Meg also meets one of Jen’s regular customers. He often eats alone and Meg can’t help but stop and chat. She learns he has a daughter but that they don’t really see each other. Joe is like, Meg can you get back to doing whatever it is that you’re doing?

Shortly thereafter, Meg talks to Jen about staying in SLC to help with the party. Jen agrees and Meg goes to share the happy news with Joe. He’s as thrilled as Joe can be. There is lots of work to do! They head to a tree lot to look for Christmas trees. Then they make wreaths with the scraps. They both ask an employee for help in finding the chonkiest tree on the lot as a surprise for each other. I am not sure what the intention is of surprising each other with a tree when they went to the tree lot to get a tree. But here we are.

They also make sure to spend lots of time at the food bank. They even invite that lonely patron who’s name I can’t remember. While the restaurant boxes up the food bank items, Meg learns more about this man and his daughter. She decides to meddle. Then they learn the restaurant’s chef is officially leaving and it seems like she’s leaving immediately. Wouldn’t there be a transition period in a job like that? I guess not. Anyway, now Joe and Meg need to head to another chef he knows to see if she would consider working for them. They show up without an appointment during the lunch rush. So, Joe and Meg decide to take a carriage ride while they wait. They have a MOMENT or two. Unfortunately, it was all for nothing because Jesse doesn’t want the job. So now they’re back to square one. But at least they got that carriage ride!

Then they realize they’ve each selected trees for each other and now have two trees. They decide to take one of the trees to Hazelwood for the Madison theatre. They have another MOMENT while they decorate the tree. Then yet ANOTHER moment outside right before the tree lighting. Jen sees them and gets their attention and spoils it. We see this scene before where they nervously try to explain everything they’re up to and tell her they still don’t have a chef. So Jen panics and decides to go back with them to SLC to find one. The next morning, Joe learns for the first time that Meg plans to go to Paris indefinitely after the holidays and seems a bit miffed. Meg tells him she’s not really sure about any of it right now.

We see that whole thing play out in the last movie too. Now we know more about the Tapas cart guy, Martin. Anyway, they decide to hire him and Meg and Joe have a moment where they wonder if there’s anything between them. Her plans still seem so up in the air that it’s hard for them to know!

Meg goes back to Hazelwood for the big movie night and we see the scenes we saw last movie again, where they decide to go into business together. Meg heads back to SLC after the movie.

I am not sure if this happens before or after the Hazelwood movie night, but at some point, a lot of the restaurant employees all go ice skating together. Alex and Martin are there and talk about whether it would be awkward for them to work together and be dating. They ultimately decide they can figure it out. I think this is a mistake but nobody in these movies ever listen to me. Meg and Joe have ANOTHER moment where they don’t kiss under a giant garland of mistletoe because Meg still isn’t sure what she wants to do.  

On the morning of the big party, Meg wakes up to a big snowstorm and the news anchors are encouraging people to stay home! But it’s the night of the big party! Somehow, this snow doesn’t stop her from going to the food bank where Joe is already at work. At the food bank, the cookie decorating station and photo booth are all set up. But I thought the party was supposed to be at the restaurant? What is the point of having it here? Is there another party at the food bank? Joe also tells Meg that he is taking a full time job at the food bank. It is his passion and he says its “more hours” but does that mean more pay? Surely it cannot? Anyway, that’s not always the point, is it? This works out really well for Meg though, because she and Jen basically agreed the night before that she would take over Joe’s job at the restaurant.

Then Joe gets a call informing them that the parties have all been cancelled and they are just going to split the winnings amongst the 3 contestants. It’s not enough for all the plans the food bank has, but it’s better than nothing. Then Alex and Martin arrive with all the food. I am not sure why. Maybe to feed all the volunteers and have a mini party? BUT THEN, Meg has a different idea and I think they agree to have all 3 restaurants host a combined party in a new location that everyone seemingly is able to attend. Meg seems to have no trouble getting around as she’s changed her clothes and everything. And Jen, Simon and their parents even made it. Apparently the news anchors were being a little dramatic when they told everyone to stay inside and make brownies.

I think the party is going really well. Our lonely patron stands up and makes a speech, announcing he will provide the remaining funds for the food bank-whatever they need to accomplish their grocery store idea. He also reconnects with his daughter. So everyone wins there. And finally, Joe and Meg have their moment and they KISS. And I think there is more merriment after that because I feel like Meg has to tell her sister that she kissed him. And that’s the end of that.

Like I said, I really applaud Hallmark for doing two movies like this. My preference would have been to have them play back to back rather than one weekend after another because well, I watched four movies between them and I can’t be bothered to remember a movie a week later. I love the Williams sisters and I loved seeing them together. Petition for more silly sister moments in these movies going forward! I think the downside of stretching out this story is that both movies were just the teesny bit slow at times. I did accidentally fall asleep watching this one and had to go back and see what I missed. Hence forgetting the order of things! Give me break. Anyway, what did you think of this one?

Guys, here we are, still trying to make Godwink happen. This is the fourth? installment and it’s called “A Godwink Christmas: Miracle of Love.” I have only ever heard this phrase in Hallmark movies and from Kathie Gifford. Even though I think the whole premise is stupid, I haven’t outright hated the last few movies because they are based on true stories. But the first hour and a half of this movie were SO BORING. Also, I looked up the real story from which this movie was based and the “Godwink” didn’t have anything to do with how they met!

So, in the real story of “Joy and Eric,” Eric injures himself in the same way as they show in the movie (again at about 1:36 in the movie). He is fixing a break cable on a truck and the emergency brake snapes and rolls on him or something? Anyway, his liver is severely damaged. The “Godwink” is that the surgeon who operated on him had just happened to watch a seminar on repairing traumatic liver ruptures. So that all happened for real. The problem with the movie, is that Eric and Joy were about 3 months away from getting married when is in the accident. In the movie, obviously they change this to them meeting. Unfortunately, the story of Joy and Eric meeting (which I couldn’t find on the internet) seems to be the most boring part of their story. Eric goes on to have an incredible career with InterVarsity, the National Prayer Breakfast and a few other religious writing organizations. And he and Joy have been married over 40 years.

Like I said, the story of Joy and Eric meeting is SO boring. It is not a Godwink at all. They just met at an intern program after college like 90% of people do. They both wind up at a two week intern/fellowship type program in Wisconsin right before Christmas. Both of them are at crossroads in their lives. Joy is about to become a nurse practitioner (or has just finished her schooling.) Eric is also finished with school and doesn’t know what to do next. He wanted to be a pastor but that doesn’t seem to be working out. Joy has a very overeager boyfriend named Danny who seems to want to marry her dad just as much as he wants to marry her. He also has been aggressively pursuing fixer upper homes for them. Talk about putting the cart before the horse. Anyway, both Joy and Eric wind up enrolling in this two week program which takes them both to Wisconsin.

They arrive at the airport at the same time and each think an approaching ride share is for them. They discover they’re going to the same place. Is that a Godwink? No. Because usually people going to the same place like that end up arriving at similar times even if they’re coming from different places! If that’s a Godwink, I’ve had about a million. Anyway, so that’s that.

There are four people in this program and they each have a mentor. I only ever see Joy and Eric’s though. Anyway, one of the other people in the program is training to be a chef and the other is a computer person. I don’t know. Upon settling in, they do exactly what I would do and head to find the town’s most famous baked good. KRINGLE! I am very excited for them. Except, Wisconsin kringle looks different than the Swedish kringle I make. It seems to have a lot more set up frosting and it is certainly looks more like bread. Have you had Swedish kringle? It’s an almond flavored pastry that we always have at Christmas. I would love to try this Wisconsin business for comparison. It seems this version comes in multiple flavors.

Alright now that we’ve got the kringle taken care of, we get to work. Okay, there was one thing I liked about the first part of this movie. The characters celebrate Advent and light a candle each week. I’ve never seen Advent even mentioned in a Hallmark movie. The Christmas traditions are largely secular. So, I liked seeing the Advent candles. If you have never heard of Advent, it is the four weeks leading up to Jesus’s birth, celebrated in most Christian churches. I think Protestants and Catholics both do it? Each Sunday, we light a candle that represents a different theme: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. A fifth candle is lit on Christmas Day. It is all meant to allow us to reflect and remember the anticipation of Jesus’s birth. If you have ever had an Advent calendar, that is really what its purpose is. Though those have been secularized as well! Anyway, it’s a lovely tradition and I enjoyed seeing them celebrate it.

Okay, so the gang’s project is to fix up a house for a family that lost everything in a fire. The wife is pregnant and due any day. All their belongings seem to have been lost as well. So here was the part that was confusing. They’re working on this project but also they’re doing things more in their skill set-like Joy is working in a clinic, Sadie is helping the organization with its website, the chef who’s name I can’t remember is cooking and then Eric is supposed to be writing articles (for who or what, I don’t know!!).  And then they’re building this house.

Along the way they get these extra assignments like trying to buy all the furniture for the house or put some nice touches on it. Surely we haven’t entrusted these young adults to a full home renovation? I honestly don’t know. However, Eric seems to have really found his passion in all of this and is just whipping out these great articles right and left. Everyone is just so impressed.

They also do all sorts of things to help the family that’s about to move into the house. They invite all the neighbors to a party the night the family moves in to welcome them to their new neighborhood and get it all decorated for Christmas. They buy the family’s son Charlie an ENORMOUS television and gaming system for his room. I would have been ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS. Look, if you ask my kids what they’re favorite thing to do is, they will tell you its video games. They play video games about 15 minutes a day if they’re lucky. (I told you I was a fun and breezy mom.) If some youth took that response and ran with it and made my child a video game themed room, I would have had some words to say and then made THEM be the ones to tell them that the TV and gaming system would be moved elsewhere. My young children (who seem close to Charlie’s age) absolutely do not need this nonsense in their room. I love the rest of the house! It is gigantic! I hope this family doesn’t get dinged on the property taxes, etc…

So, after all that, Eric and Joy catch up outside. Eric tries to kiss her and that’s when Joy finally seems to remember about poor Danny back at home. After they wrap up the project, the team all heads home. Eric is going to stay for a little bit and help some trucking company over the rest of the holidays. Joy tells him she’s not sure what’s happening with her boyfriend and Eric tells her to just figure that out on her own time.

Back at home, poor Danny talks her ear off. He has all kinds of plans for the next few days and Joy and I both feel overwhelmed. So then she finally tells Danny she wants to break up. And then for some reason, she has to immediately head back to Wisconsin. But Christmas is like, days away at this point so I don’t know why she can’t just call Eric and tell him how she feels. But instead, she calls him and tells him she wants to talk and wants to tell him about Danny in person. As someone with mild anxiety, this type of phone exchange would KILL ME. Don’t do that to people. Anyway that’s the plan. She is planning to fly there that day.

Eric realizes he has to salt all the roads before she gets there but his truck won’t start. And THAT my friends, is when this movie finally starts to get interesting. And gang, at this point, we have about 25 minutes left in the movie, including commercials. But it is as this point when it finally turns into a good movie. One of the surgeons in the hospital had just happened to watch a seminar on traumatic liver injuries. Joy rushes to his bedside and his vitals seem to improve whenever she’s around. They realize this after his parents arrive and shoo her out. His vitals immediately decline after she leaves. So, she comes back in to the room and he ends up pulling through.

He is ready to leave the hospital on Christmas Day. Joy arranged a little surprise party for him, and her dad arrived! Boy these people are just traveling no trouble during the holidays. Lucky them! Anyway, then Eric and Joy kiss and that’s the end.

So, guys you know where I stand on this one. It was a yawn fest for the majority of the time. I hate the term “Godwink.” I also feel that the term downplays what happened to Eric! I mean the fact that a doctor had just happened to learn a procedure that would ultimately save his life! That’s a straight up miracle. I would have liked to see the actual story. Seen them as a couple and had more time at the hospital and then their wedding with his arm in a sling. I think that would have been a better movie. It doesn’t have to always be a meeting someone romantic story does it? What did you think of this movie?

ROB THOMAS. First Howie Day. Then Train. Now ROB THOMAS? What year is it? Truly, are my friends from high school running Hallmark now? Rob Thomas is shepherding us through a “A Royal Queens Christmas.” I never in my life thought I would see the day. Since when is Rob Thomas is a Hallmark fan? And has Rob Thomas really had the same haircut for last 20 years? These are the questions that plagued me early in this movie. What is happening over at Hallmark? Does the same thing that happens to the cherished actors of my youth also happen to the pop stars of my youth? One way or another they find their way to Hallmark? I guess. Okay let’s get after this one.

This movie takes place in Queens. Don’t worry if you didn’t catch that right away. YOU WILL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH. Also, people with Italian heritage seem to live in Queens. DON’T WORRY YOU WILL FIGURE THIS OUT TOO. Right out the gate, an Italian lady is Italian ladying; trying to set up her eligible son with our leading lady DD. Actually, it’s unfair of me to say this is just an Italian lady thing. I think it is just a mother of a single person thing. So, forgive me. Also, DD’s sweater is amazing so no wonder this woman wants her in her life. Meanwhile, our prince, Collin just wants to play the piano.

Next, we viewers witness the saddest Royal tree lighting in history. After that sad display of Christmas, Collin learns he will be heading to New York, you know, a place with a rich royal tradition, to announce himself as an emerging Head of State.

Back at home, DD has a super Italian conversation with her motha. She was in the military and is now trying to figure out what’s next. The mom even says capiche just in case you didn’t believe they were really Italian.

In New York, Collin just wants to play the piano in the lobby of his hotel. Then, somehow, he smashes right into DD and smashes all the pastries she’s carrying. DD and her cousin Zoe are hoping to win the bid to provide pastries for the “Children’s Charity” function later that week. Collin offers to pay for the damaged baked good and she tells him he can’t just buy his way out of this. But like, that’s kind of exactly what he could do. She takes the smashed pastries back to the kitchen and tells her side of the story to the chefs in charge, one of which is Eddie, Zoe’s long time fiancé. They all agree that even though the pastries are smashed, it likely has not altered their taste. That is my baking motto in general. It may not be pretty but it will taste good! DD negotiates pretty hard to secure the pastry gig.

Collin can’t help himself. He starts playing in the lobby and gets tips. Collin’s longsuffering assistant, Whidby tells Collin his dad is desperate to retire and it’s time to start getting serious about stepping in for him. How does Queen Elizabeth stay in authority until she’s 110 but every other Head of State wants to retire early? Oh, and Collin HAS to be married to take over. That’s the rule.  

DD’s dad calls her as she is leaving the hotel to tell her can’t play piano for her children’s choir. Conveniently, she hears Collin jamming out in the lobby. Collin, formally introduces himself, making up a last name on the fly when a St. Bernard happens to stroll by in the lobby. Not your best, Collin. DD asks him to play that night for choir rehearsal to make up for smashing the pastries. He agrees and they just head right to rehearsal. Everyone is feeling really brave to travel to Queens together. Luckily, neither lead murders the other on the way. At rehearsal, Collin thinks the arrangement they’re using for a children’s music program is a bit dull. DD starts singing “Tradition” and Collin has a meltdown as he deals with his own personal demons on that matter. He whips up his own version of Joy to the World and the kids are able to follow right along! Okay after 2 seconds of practice, they’re done. DD fills Collin in on all the neighborhood’s Christmas traditions. It does all sound really lovely. Oh, and then just a casual mention that she was in the military. DD’s dad, Mickey, arrives and invites Collin to dinner over DD’s objections. Has this family mentioned they’re Italian? Collin agrees and leaves his poor assistant hanging.

DD keeps her scarf on during dinner. DD calls her mom, Ma. And she refers to her that way when talk to Collin. She’s not Collin’s mom, DD. After dinner, Collin makes a joke about using dry towels to dry dishes and it goes right over DD’s head. Collin keeps telling people he works for his family business. He says he’s in “management.” That’s cute. DD gives him some largely unhelpful advice considering his situation. After the dishes are all done, Collin plans to head out, but “Joey D” says the roads are too bad. They offer to make up the couch for him. Can you IMAGINE! I am a peasant; but I am also in my thirties. So, I have no interest in sleeping on a couch under any circumstance. Whidby is understandably concerned about this whole situation but what can you do? Collin asks Whidby why he doesn’t have a surname. But he probably does! Queen Elizabeth and her family all have surnames even though they don’t ever use them.

Surprisingly, Collin gets a good night’s sleep on the couch in Queens. He must be under 30. Whidby, meanwhile, is fully dressed and having a lovely breakfast. He should just enjoy himself. DD fills Collin in on a neighborhood tradition of being paired with a kid to make snowmen after the first big snowfall. I have questions. Who does the pairing? How many kids are there? Is school cancelled? What if the first snow does not produce the right kind of snow for snowmen?

Anyway, at this point, Whidby realizes he will have to go retrieve Collin because he likely has no plans to return on his own. However, this royal pair are just on their own in NYC. Whidby doesn’t have a car or driver to get himself to Queens. And the concierge at the hotel can’t help him because all the cars are taken for the big event. That seems unlikely. Anyway, Whidby has to take the SUBWAY. Can you imagine?

Back in Queens, Collin and DD definitely make a snowman out of real snow. Then Zoe arrives. She slept in “for once in her life.” And that is why I could never run a bakery. I don’t want to get up in the middle of the night to get everything ready.

Zoe and her fiancé have been engaged for 2 years and together for TEN. What in the world. Do they even like each other? Whidby arrives, creeping around a tree, to watch Collin and DD in the midst of a snowball fight. Collin obviously lost track of time but tells DD that he will cover the remaining rehearsals for her dad. Whidby is like, wait what now? We have family obligations you silly goose! But Collin doesn’t want to do any of that. At rehearsal, DD and Collin realize they both got piano Christmas tree ornaments from their grandparent. Isn’t that just the darndest thing?

After rehearsal, we get a little Christmas tree decorating montage as the whole gang decorates the neighborhood tree. It is WAY better than the royal tree from earlier.

Later, somehow, Collin is tasked with putting the star on the top of the tree at the hotel? Cool. Collin has some IDEAS for Christmas traditions back home.

DD admits to her friend Zoe that she likes Collin even though he’ll be leaving soon. Collin calls her up to do some sightseeing. They really get to know each other. DD shares about her old boyfriend. It’s boring. Then DD takes Collin to a very intensely decorated bar. It is the most Hallmark decorated venue I’ve ever seen! Apparently, they leave it that way year round.

Oh finally. Rob Thomas checks in again. Rob’s Christmas album was inspired by Hallmark movies. Did they REALLY. If he did, that is honestly really wild. He had them playing in his studio to feel Christmas vibes while he recorded. This is so amusing to me I can’t even articulate it.

Uh Oh. Collin’s parents have arrived. Early. And they’ve brought Adriana, Collin’s childhood friend. A woman Collin considers a sister. They think it would be super fun to surprise Collin at the children’s art program.

Meanwhile, Collin is dressed as the world’s most pathetic Santa. He didn’t even bother stuffing his jacket with fluff. Or are they all dressed up as no reason? DD’s family included him in their secret Santa exchange which is sweet. But they get him the ugliest keyboard scarf. He is much too polite about receiving this gift. He kisses DD on the cheek and then his parents show up. They are not pleased with how he’s dressed, etc… Also, DD’s grandma was the only one who bothered to google Collin and knew the whole time he was a prince.

DD is obviously mad and doesn’t think he can play the Christmas program. He’s like, no I can still play the piano. And she’s like no you’re a prince. And he’s like, yeah and that means you can count on me to meet my obligation. And she’s like, oh now it’s an obligation? And he’s like wait, what? No I just told you I’d do it still like I planned? And she’s like no, the kids will just sing acapella. And Collin and I have NO idea what just happened.

Later, DD’s family tells her to get a grip.

Collin’s parents want him to spend the whole day with Adriana. He tells them he agreed to play at the recital that night, but his parents tell him to cancel it so he can go to dinner with Adriana. So, he does agree to hang with her during the day. She just wants to SHOP. However, she is a fun and breezy gal and tells him they can just eat after the recital. I would prefer to eat BEFORE, but that’s just me.

Collin makes it in time for the recital and DD is absolutely FRIGID to him. The kids have hand motions and dances for the songs. It’s fine. And Collin gets to play his jazzed up versions of each song too.

The next day, I LEARN FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT DD HAS A DOG. Also, her mom gives her a nice little pep talk and then reads her text messages. She hides DD’s ornament in her jacket pocket. I don’t really know why.

Meanwhile, Collin gets a little pep talk of his own! But his is about marrying Adriana. The silver lining is that they would like him to play the piano at more royal events. They are doing their best though aren’t they?

Ava’s mom (a recital participant) comes into the bakery to talk to DD about bringing in more art and music programs into the school-after school enrichment programs. She wonders if DD might be interested in setting up some programs like that? Oh, and don’t forget that DD is still pretty salty about the whole Adriana business.

DD arrives AT THE HOTEL after ignoring all Collin’s calls. She’s there to supply all the pastries for that general children’s charity event. Whidby manages to send Collin a coherent text that DD is there. Luckily, Collin makes it down to the kitchen in time to catch DD. He tells her how he feels about her! DD is like, who cares? Then she mixes some metaphors but tells him there is just no way to make it work. I mean, she’s not wrong. I think Meghan Markle has taught us all a lesson about the downsides of marrying a prince. After that whole mess, Collin runs into Adriana. Luckily Collin and Adriana feel the same way about each other-that they DON’T like each other that way.

Collins parents know that Collin and Adriana don’t want to marry each other but they are going to make them get married anyway. This is very Charles and Diana isn’t it? Except maybe Adriana is Camilla but Charles doesn’t actually want to marry her, he wants to marry Diana? Is that how it works?

It’s the night of the big generic Charity Ball. This is where Collin’s parents plan to announce his engagement. Except, instead, they announce that they’ve realized they are not very old and don’t have to retire to hand over more formal obligations. They casually discuss his possible abdication as well. I hope it doesn’t have generations of repercussions like it did in England! Anyway, Collin rushes off from the party to find DD.

DD and her family are down at the Wishing Tree. DD’s mom wants her to put the piano ornament on the tree. I would never. That seems like a cherished heirloom! Collin makes it just in time for DD to open her eyes! He whips out HIS piano ornament. Collin presumes that DD’s wish was about him. They each hang their piano ornaments on the tree and then they KISS. I don’t think they have any discussion about how they would actually make such a relationship work and who would go where. But SEMANTICS! Not for us to worry about.

So, that was that movie. It was not too bad honestly. I don’t love royal movies because they are SO unrealistic and all the networks have to make up fake countries and jump through all these hoops to make it feasible that the royal would meet and marry a “commoner.” And again, like, is the goal for this woman to be scooped up and taken to these random countries to live alone? Is that the dream we’re all supposed to have? To uproot out whole lives? It just doesn’t do it for me. But all that aside, I liked these two actors. I liked them together. I love a good Christmas bakery. And I love piano music. So that’s where I’m at for this one. What did you think?

Whew! Guys, this was one of the most anticipated (by me) movies of the season. I love Charles Dickens. I love Kris Polaha and I’ve loved Brooke D’Orsay since Royal Pains. However, I usually hate Hallmark’s attempts at reenacting “A Christmas Carol.” I wasn’t sure what this was going to be, but I was HOPEFUL. So, let’s dive in to “A Dickens of a Holiday.”

Our leading lady, Cassie, is in her hometown of Dickens, Ohio after a season of personal hardship. Luckily for the town, she’s also agreed to direct the town’s 100^th Anniversary performance of “A Christmas Carol,” part of the town’s annual Charles Dickens themed Christmas festivities. Her mom has embellished her accomplishments to anyone who will listen which makes Cassie a little panicked. Cassie is recently divorced and put her career on hold to help her ex-husband with his career. I am not sure what he does. Cassie once directed an off-Broadway play. So that’s where we are with that. As Cassie talks to the mayor about the play, she realizes that the sets need to be repainted. Did you know that ACE HARDWARE sells paint? And also that they sponsored this movie?

Meanwhile, our leading man, Jake, is a BIG-TIME action star. He’s currently filming the third installment of his movie franchise. He’s doing all kinds of intense stunts like laying on an immobile car with a wind machine blowing in his face. So THAT’S how they do it! However, Jake is tired of being an action star and wants to be taken seriously. In fact, he wants the lead role of the movie adaption of his mom’s favorite book. His manager is kind of dismissive about this dream but promises to try her darndest to get him an audition or meeting with the director. PS, Jake got his start at ACE HARDWARE. He said it was the best job he ever had. So, there you go.

Back in Dickens, Cassie gets some bad news. The man who has played Scrooge for the last 100 years has completely lost his voice. This condition has come on abruptly, with no warning, one week before the show. This really puts them in a quandary. Well, wait. What about the understudy? Cassie unhelpfully let him go to Jamaica (he inexplicably WON a trip?) because their Scrooge NEVER misses a show. So yes, they really are in a pickle. Scrooge immediately has an idea. What about their hometown hero, Jake Dorsey? Yes, THAT Jake Dorsey, originally from Dickens, Ohio. The mayor encourages Cassie to track him down and ask.

Luckily for all of us, Jake’s nephew is already cast as Tiny Tim and Cassie knows their family. Jake’s brother Craig is very doubtful that Jake will come back to do the play. He can’t even bother to come home for significant family moments! But he gives her the number anyway.

Cassie struggles to work up the courage to call Jake. Not only is he a famous movie star, she also turned him down for Prom back in high school. I wonder what business Jake has asking a middle schooler to prom but that’s neither here nor there. (Kris and Brooke are 5 years apart! Keep up!). With the help of a bold assistant, Cassie accidentally tries to Facetime Jake. Jake’s assistant unhelpfully accidentally answers the call. Cassie and Jake have an incredibly awkward exchange where Cassie inadvertently tells Jake that directing is more challenging than acting which is SURE to win him over. So that’s the end of that.

Cassie heads to rehearsal to break the news to the cast. Since there isn’t another soul in town who could play the part, the only logical thing to do is cancel the whole show. However, right in the middle of this speech, the one and only Jake Dorsey arrives. No notice; just shows up. COOL. So anyway, I guess the performance is back on. However, not everyone is happy to see him. In fact, his brother is down right ICY. He is even MORE upset when he realizes that Jake is staying at a hotel instead of their house. But, when you blow into town without notifying anyone, I guess that’s what happens. Cassie tries to fill him in on all the additional responsibilities he will have as the play’s star but Jake is not really into any of that. He’s not into doing costume fittings, he’s not interested in promoting the play; I’m not even sure he’s interested in rehearsing the play or his lines. So that’s fun. Cassie strongly encourages him to do more than the bare minimum for this performance. Cassie also gets a sense of how truly EXTRA Jake has become in the time since leaving Dickens. His poor assistant is tracking down better sheets and his specific face moisturizer from Cleveland. Within earshot of Cassie, Jake tries to say the HOTEL brand moisturizer is fine. Guys, I am a peasant and I’m not putting the hotel moisturizer on my face. I’m taking it home with me. But I’m not putting it on my face. Also, at one point he calls this hotel a “B&B” and I assure you that it is NOT.

The next morning, without knowing whether or not Jake is there, the mayor announces that he will be playing Scrooge. Everyone is disappointed when he’s nowhere to be found. But like, maybe you should check before embarrassing yourself like that. Jake arrives to the Christmas market later, on his own time. He is not very concerned about missing any of his obligations. However, when “Father Christmas” can’t make it last minute, Jake does agree to step in. So, that’s something. As Santa, he learns that all his nephew wants for Christmas is for Jake and his dad to get along. Jake regrets his expensive headphone purchase for him. But, the conversation does cause Jake to reflect.

Cassie is always scheming and coaching people without their knowledge. She invites Jake to help his nephew with a gingerbread contest. However, when Craig arrives to pick him up, we see that he is still feeling pretty ICY towards Jake. Jake wants to talk, but Craig is like, no we just talked. So, bye.

However, Cassie isn’t done with that little relationship! When Jake invites her to dinner, she suggests they eat at his brother’s restaurant. Craig hilariously tosses a menu at Jake, which I feel a guy might do whether he is happy or angry with his brother. Sneaky Cassie asks the boys what their favorite item is. The boys reminisce over their mom’s chicken pot pie. The pie works as it usually does and warms both of their hearts a little. As luck would have it, a horse drawn carriage is waiting for them outside the restaurant. Well, isn’t that a coincidence!

Jake continues to work on his lines with various cast members. These local theatre people have NO chill and try to record him for their own social media. Cassie shuts them down quickly. In the words of Tanner girls, HOW RUDE. He throws some of the actors off too because he reads the lines differently than the man who seemingly invented the character.

Jake’s star power has attracted some big time press coverage for the play. CLEVELAND news networks are interested in driving down to interview Jake about the play. For some reason, they do the interview at the ice skating rink. Oh, I remember why. Jake’s assistant thought it would be “FUN.” Jake makes sure to give Cassie a shout out. Cassie is basically forced to admit she hasn’t seen any of his movies. After they get done with the interview, Jake discovers that Cassie hasn’t gotten a Christmas tree. So, they head to Ace Hardware. Guys, did you know that ACE HARDWARE sells Christmas tree? It is really THE PLACE for helpful hardware something or other. So they get the tree. And they have just the loveliest time decorating.

That chicken pot pie business seems to have softened the Dorsey Boys heart enough to make some Christmas cookies because Craig invites Jake AND Cassie over for dinner. For some reason there are like 12 wine classes on a table. And I’m not sure who they’re all for. Maybe they’re at the restaurant. Maybe Craig and his family live at the restaurant?  I don’t know. I was doing laundry, etc… during various points in this movie. Anyway, there are a lot of cups. Jake asks Craig if any of his old stuff is still at the house and Craig leads him away to the garage. They reminisce and have a long overdue heart to heart. Then Jake finds a mixtape he made for Cassie in high school. What year did they supposedly graduate? They must have been on the tail end of mixed tapes.  

One day before the big performance, Jake’s assistant tells him that he’s secured a meeting with the director of that movie Jake wants to do. He saw some footage of Jake rehearsing. He is elated. The only problem is that he has to attend this exclusive Christmas party ON CHRISTMAS EVE which happens to be the next day. Oh, it also happens to be the night of the performance. You know, the play without which he wouldn’t even be on this director’s radar? Surprisingly, everyone agrees he has to miss the play to go to this Christmas Party. Is everyone insane?! Don’t you think the director would be so annoyed when he found out that Jake missed the play he was rehearsing for to attend the party? But even Cassie thinks he should go.

The next day, he stands outside with his assistant and asks him if he really should go to the party. Despite not answering him, Jake promotes him to manager. The assistant replies, that’s right! I’m Mr. Manager. But Jake reminds him that we just say “manager.” Anyway, what will he decide!

Hours before the play, Cassie informs the cast that SHE will be playing Scrooge. Very progressive. MOMENTS before the play begins, Jake arrives. He tells Cassie he’s really grown fond of the role and wants to do it. But like, obviously he didn’t leave so, why was he LATE? Isn’t that actually worse? That he decided not to leave and then didn’t get to the play on time? Like Cassie was fully in costume? And I imagine it would take some time to put his stage makeup on? So Rude. But, no one except me is annoyed at this and the play goes off without a hitch. Everyone is so pleased with all the lessons Jake learned at the after party. Outside, he tells Cassie that he just wants to be wherever she is! So that’s sweet. They KISS and that’s the end of this bad boy.

Guys, I just don’t think Jake learned enough lessons in this movie. He shouldn’t have even considered leaving for that party in LA! And when he decided he wasn’t going, he should have arrived to the play on time.  Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed this movie. I just think we need to keep Jake a little more accountable for his actions. HE REALLY NEEDS IT. But I loved these two together. I loved that they were working on a play. And there were a lot of fun moments. I think they were probably grasping for some kind of drama and I probably just didn’t find it believable at that point. What did you think?

Sister Swap

Well, this is a fun little thing Hallmark is doing. Sunday’s movie was part 1 of a 2-part movie experience of a set of sisters. The sisters are played by REAL LIFE sisters, Ashley Williams and Kimberly Paisley-Williams; two queens of Hallmarkland. Let’s dive in to part 1!

The movie begins with Jen and her son, Simon, watching an old home video in front of her Uncle Dave’s old movie theatre in her home-town. Simon is now a teen. They are planning to head back to this hometown to help get the theatre ready for sale. However, first they have to head to Jen’s restaurant for something that I can’t remember.

At the restaurant, they learn they are going to be featured in some big Christmas promo. It is quite prestigious. But wait, Jen is supposed to be heading to see her parents. How can she possible go now? But her staff assures her that they can handle the prep work. Outside, they are surprised to see Jen’s sister Meg, playing the tuba with a band putting on a street performance. As the sisters walk and talk, the reminisce about their Uncle Dave, who recently passed away and Meg’s upcoming plans. She was originally planning to go with her Uncle Dave to Paris. She thinks she might still go and stay for a while. She is very much trying to figure out what is next for her.

Later, back at Jen’s house, Meg thinks she might hang out in Salt Lake and help with the restaurant prep while Meg heads on to their hometown to help their parents. This seems to work for all involved.

Jen and Simon head right to the theatre, “The Madison”. While standing outside, they run into Jen’s pal and former debate partner from high school, Eric. Guys, if Mark Deklin had been on MY debate team in high school? I would have maybe tried harder. I don’t know. I didn’t see any Mark Deklins on any debate team I ever participated in or competed against. Anyway, he’s planning to help do the necessary repairs on the theatre before it’s sold.

Inside, Jen meets their very peppy realtor, who assures her that she is in fact, the best in town and she’ll find them a buyer. The theatre has fallen into disrepair over the last six months that it’s been closed. I am not sure if it was like that before Uncle Dave died or not. But the heater doesn’t work and neither does the rickety old projector.

Jen’s parents own a bakery and are busy with their own Christmas prep. Jen’s mom is doing her best to hold it all together as this is her first Christmas without her brother. She tells Jen she wishes she had just one more Christmas at the Madison.

It doesn’t take long for their realtor to arrive with an offer to purchase the theatre! The only problem-it’s a chain that likely will modernize it and get rid of all that “old theatre” charm.

Later, Jen, Eric and Simon wonder if they can’t pull off one more movie showing at the Madison for Jen’s mom. The next morning, Simon is the only teen in all the land up before his mother and is busy chatting with his grandparents. Jen gives her mom a miniature Christmas village version of their bakery to put on the mantle. She is so pleased. Then, Simon almost spills the beans about hosting one more movie at the Madison. Jen pulls him aside and tells him she doesn’t want to get her parents’ hopes up about it if they can’t pull it off.

Jen and Eric start strategizing what they need to do to pull off such an event. They work on getting the projector up and running and plan to just supply blankets for the family in lieu of traditional heat. However, things get tricky that night at the snowman building competition outside of the theatre. Jen tells her mom that they are going to host a little family movie night there and she is thrilled. But when she asks a friend about fixing the projector, she essentially blabs to the whole town. So now the pressure really is on!

Meanwhile, Meg seems to be having an absolute blast helping at the restaurant and things seem to be going swimmingly. Eric and Jen continue to work closely together to get things ready for the movie night. While they scope out the work yet to be done, Jen realizes that the basement of the theatre is big enough for a restaurant. She daydreams about turning the theatre into a restaurant/theatre combo, but dismisses it several times because it would be too much work and money on top of running her existing restaurant.

It’s finally time for the show. The potential buyer is there, ready to see the theatre for himself. It seems like everything is going to go well! For about two seconds. Then, I think the projector or maybe the popcorn machine catches on fire and the power goes out. I’m not sure. Anyway, the whole theatre has to evacuate. Well, that sort of took a turn, didn’t it?

In spite of all the chaos involved in fixing the theatre, the Swift Family makes time for some fun Christmas traditions. They each get an ornament each year that reminds them of something that happened that year. Sometimes they’re homemade and sometimes they’re purchased. It is a cute little moment and Eric and his daughter participate as well. Debbie makes an ornament out of her brother’s watch. Her husband buys her an ornament that says “Hollywood” on it in anticipation of their upcoming trip. And I don’t remember what everyone else gets.

Meanwhile, Simon has gotten involved with some local kids who are involved in their school theatre program. He seems to be having a blast with them and has become really invested in this whole theatre business. By some miracle, they discover a brand new projector in a locked closet so movie night round 2 seems to be in order. Simon and the kids are playing some old home videos one afternoon when Eric and Jen arrive. While watching the home videos, they talk about coming to the theatre in high school and then, THEY KISS! Very unexpected.

Later, they decide they should probably talk things out. However, after a phone call from first her head chef Victoria (a little HIMYM easter egg?) and then her sister Meg, she realizes she needs to head back to SLC to find a new head chef for her restaurant. Simon is upset because he is really enjoying their time in her hometown. So, Jen heads to SLC alone. Much to her surprise, Meg and the restaurant manager Joe, really do have a handle on things. They taste test the work of a food truck owner near the restaurant and decide to offer him the job. Jen shares her silly dream of the theatre/restaurant with Meg and Meg offers to give Jen her Paris money to help. How much Paris money does she have?? Jen insists that she keep that money to find her “next thing.”

Since the restaurant matter is all settled, Jen makes it back in plenty of time for the next movie showing. It also seems like the wheels are really in motion for this theatre chain to buy the Madison. Unfortunately, they plan to completely renovate the place. They are apologetic about it though! So that’s something. Jen and Eric talk briefly about their relationship as well. Jen tells him she likes him and sort of pitches a “long distance” sort of relationship. Eric shuts that down pretty quickly, telling her that he and his daughter need stability. Basically, she’d have to commit to living there. Jen is a little taken aback but understands.

Okay, now it’s time for the second attempt at the movie. Meg has arrived just in time to watch it as well. The movie begins with a little clip of old family videos that makes Meg emotional. She steps out. Jen follows her to the lobby. They reminisce about the theatre again and are both sad that it’s going to be sold and renovated. Jen brings up the theatre/restaurant idea again. Then, at the same time, the girls both wonder if they shouldn’t just go into business together! I think this means that together, they’ll both run the restaurant and the theatre/ restaurant. Meg had already decided not to go to Paris because she loved being in Salt Lake so much. After the movie, the girls share the news with everyone. Eric is probably the most delighted of all. They chat again about their relationship and then kiss big time and that’s that! We will get to see Meg’s story this Sunday.

I really liked this movie. It was really fun to see Ashley and Kimberly together. My only complaint is that I wanted to see them together more. To pull this story off, there were a lot of facetime calls to connect them. I do love the idea of telling one big story from two perspectives. It will be fun to see that side of the story on Sunday. I loved the old theatre vibes as well. In the town where I grew up, the sign for “The Grand” theatre still says, “Our Screen Talks.” I love that they’ve kept that nod to the past for so long. I loved Kimberly and Mark together as well. Mark was absolutely WASTED in that boring old movie he was in last year and he was supposed to be falling in love with the most wet sandwich character of all time. And I HATED IT for him. So I was much happier to see him in this. Also, Kimberly Williams-Paisley has the audacity to pretend she’s 50 years old? FIFTY? No. 35? Maybe. So, anyway, yes I loved this one and I can’t wait for round 2! What did you think?

Well, our third movie of the weekend is the long anticipated “Our Christmas Journey.” This movie specifically focuses on a family with a child with autism. I was actually really reluctant to watch this one because I expected it to be super emotional and I just HATE watching emotional movies. But, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries continues to knock their movies out of the park and I’m really glad I didn’t skip this one.

Holly Robinson Peete plays Lena, a divorced mother of a son with autism, Marcus. Her entire world is caring for him. She has a daughter named Maya as well. The family is getting ready to go somewhere for Christmas. Their family includes Lena’s mom LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY FROM SCRUBS!!! Her name is Robin in this movie. Anyway, they are planning to head somewhere else for Christmas. Maya is upset because she was cast in her school’s Christmas program but will not be able to participate. It is pretty clear that Marcus is her mom’s main priority because when Maya arrives to help decorate Christmas cookies, Lena and Marcus immediately leave so he can do something else.

On the morning they are supposed to leave, Lena procrastinates so Marcus can do some coloring and she can do some laundry. However, when they arrive at their destination, we learn that they’ve missed an important meeting with some sort of program for Marcus. Have to wonder if that is intentional. There to great them at the guest house, is Lena’s ex-husband, Rick. The kids are happy to see him. Rick is anxious for Marcus to try this school/program but Lena is not at all.

Lena focuses on making sure Marcus’s room has all the familiar items he needs to feel comfortable. Before they leave for the trip, Lena explains again what they are about to do and everything ahead of them.

Rick and Lena take Marcus on a tour of the school maybe the next day. The kids all seem to enjoy what they’re doing. However, Lena panics when the tour guide informs her that Marcus will have to stay over the weekend to determine whether he’s a good fit for the program. This seems like a bad idea to spring on both an autistic child and their family. Even Rick seems surprised about it. It takes everything in Lena to agree. However, she soon tries to sneak back to make sure Marcus has something to eat for lunch. She is outed by a happy, barking dog and the program director sends her on her way. The lunch order business is a pretty funny scene actually. She places such a strange order that I wonder if Marcus gets some of his “quirks” from her. But she was actually just ordering something for him. Rick picked up on it immediately. Rick also lets it be known that he is single again, after breaking up with his girlfriend of 2 years. So, that is some interesting information, ISN’T IT.

Meanwhile, Robin is working her own Christmas magic for the owner of the guest house where they’re all staying. The owner lives there with her son. Her daughter goes to the academy too. I believe it’s all called Hope Hills?  Anyway, the owner of the guest house is really having a tough time because this is her first Christmas without her mom. So, Robin tricks her into doing all kinds of Christmas activities to raise her spirits. I think it helps quite a bit.

Maya is also doing her own thing. She gets pretty close to the guest house owner’s son. He is good about including her in all kinds of fun activities and introducing her to other siblings of Hope Hills. That whole storyline is really lovely.

After a day or so, Marcus is able to check in with his family over zoom. Since Marcus is nonverbal, the program director explains to the family that he will be participating in the school’s Christmas program as a reindeer. Then, Marcus hits the table with his hand a few times and Lena gets concerned. BUT she has no reason to be because Marcus was only trying to coax THE BEST GOOD BOY up to the camera. This fluffy golden retriever is the same one Marcus seemed afraid of earlier and the same one that outed Lena trying to sneak Marcus some lunch. So, in general, I think we can ALL AGREE that this dog knows what he’s doing.

Rick and Lena continue to reconnect but Lena wonders if anything has really changed between them. Rick is still a busy business boy and Lena is still wholly devoted to Marcus. They have several moments, including winning and charades and dancing together at the Christmas dance. But, they reach a breaking point when Rick receives a call at 10pm on the night of the town Christmas Tree Lighting to leave the next day for a meeting. When Rick tells his boss that he’s out trying to figure out his son’s schooling, his boss is like, isn’t that women’s work? Get to Chicago!

However, at the airport the next morning, Rick sees a happy family seemingly headed somewhere on vacation. Meanwhile, Lena receives a call from the school and goes into a full panic. When she arrives the school, we learn that Marcus needs a band aid but that its protocol to tell parents. I’m not sure why she didn’t tell Lena this over the phone to save her from that full meltdown, but here we are. When she heads into the doctor’s office, Rick is there. He decided not to go on his mini trip. So things are maybe looking up for them. After Marcus gets his band aid, the program director tells them that Marcus is accepted to the program. Lena is still not sure. She is so worried about how other kids will treat him after a truly harrowing experience with him as a child. Basically, a bunch of kids tried to drown Marcus when he was younger. This experience seems to have prompted Lena to be extremely protective of all of Marcus’s interactions with others. Rick is confident that this program is the right place for him.

On the night of the Christmas program, Lena wants to see how Marcus is really doing. Backstage, she sees a very nervous Marcus, but also sees Morgan, the guest house owner’s daughter, encouraging him and settling him back down. I think Lena has seen what she needs to see! Marcus does a great job as a reindeer during the performance and is very proud of himself afterwards.

After the program, there is an after party at the guest house for all the families. Rick tells Lena that he took/or is considering taking a job as the school’s marketing director, which would allow him to see Marcus every day. He asks her to move there with him. They kiss in front of everyone and everyone is happy about it. And that was that!

Whew, guys, there really wasn’t much room to make fun of this movie. It was really lovely and I know Hallmark took great care to include an actor with autism and to depict the family accurately. Obviously, it looks different for every family but I think they did a great job here. I loved seeing Lena as a mom, even if she was maybe a little too protective-but we could see where it came from. I liked that Maya had a chance to share how all of that made her feel, because I think that is really common of siblings of special needs kids. Overall it was a really great movie! What did you think?

A Very Merry Bridesmaid

Well, here we are again. I don’t know what it is; maybe it’s the fact that we started a week early? I don’t know but I am out of gas. Like completely out of gas. I’ve had trouble finding the motivation to write these up which is pretty unusual. This has long been one of my favorite silly hobbies. But lately, these recaps have just been something to get through. I’ve really been enjoying watching the movies though! That’s what’s weird. Anyway, let’s get after it.

Our movie begins twenty years in the past. Our leading lady is about to turn 10 and is struggling being left out by her brother and his best pal who are both 12. She gets some advice from a woman who I realize much later is supposed to be one of those 12 year old boys’ grandmothers. She could easily be his mother. This advice basically creates an anxiety problem in Leah for the rest of her life. The grandma explains there are several milestone birthdays in your life where you should stop and reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re going. Apparently 10 is the first one. Guys, the “milestone birthdays” is like the most common phrase of all time and yet, this movie introduces it as a brand new concept. Like every single human for the last century hasn’t viewed turning “30” as a significant birthday and felt overwhelmed with whether they’ve accomplished what they wanted to by then. Anyway, Leah heads home in a state of panic, crippled by this newfound requirement to determine whether she’s accomplished enough by each new milestone age.

Flash forward twenty years, and Leah owns a store with items from all around the world. I mean, that’s not bad for an almost 30 year old right? Anyway, her brother is about to come into town for his wedding. He is getting married on Christmas Eve, which also happens to be Leah’s birthday. If that is not the most inconsiderate thing across the board, I don’t know what is.

When Leah’s brother Paul and his fiancé, Julia arrive at home, the family learn that all of Julia’s luggage (including the DESIGNER WEDDING DRESS SHE CHECKED) is lost. Not on a different flight. Not on its way by the next day. LOST. And gang, NO ONE REACTS APPROPRIATELY. They’re like, dang that sucks but airlines, right? LOL. But also, privately I would be saying to my family, this woman should have insisted she carry on that dress! Absurd.

So, Paul’s best friend and former next door neighbor, Drew, has also just arrived home. He likely smells like patchouli oil and is only missing white person dread locks. He is a world traveler. Just bopping around, not knowing which way is up. He and Leah have a lovely little afternoon chat by his fire pit. He remembers that her birthday happens to be the same day as her brother’s wedding. And not only is it her birthday, it is her 30^TH birthday and he seemingly vows to make a big deal about it. No one else in her family seems to care or remember.

Paul’s wife Julia has a mixed bag of a back story. Both her parents died but little tidbit has kind of turned her into a bridezilla. She MUST: get married on Christmas Eve, wearing the same designer as her mom did, and at her childhood home. Well, this home was up for sale or something? So that was out the window. But, she is still able to inconvenience every single one of her guests by scheduling their wedding on Christmas Eve. Couple that with the fact that likely everyone of their guests will have to travel since most of their friends are likely in Boston. This couple just seems SUPER FUN. Okay so second, her wedding dress MUST be this specific designer. Look, no one is more devastated than I am about her dress being lost. But at this point, we’ve got to come with a Plan B and she seems pretty reluctant to do that throughout this movie. As for that third point, Paul has a great but also TRULY TERRIBLE idea to surprise his fiancé with both a MAJOR purchase and a wedding venue change. Yes, he has secretly bought his fiance’s childhood home. Later, he tells her “we” bought it but I don’t know how that’s possible without her signing anything.

So, to accomplish this insane surprise, Paul enlists the help of his family. Instead of them demanding he turn around right now and discuss this major financial commitment with the person with whom he is about to enter a formal partnership, they’re all like-sure we’ll help. HOW IS ANYONE GOING TO LEARN ANY LESSONS?

For her part, Leah is having a mild existential crisis. She is about to turn 30 and laments to her friends that she has not accomplished anything; or at least, she hasn’t accomplished all that she hoped she had by 30. Guys, Leah owns her own store. She lives in a gigantic home with immaculate decorations and furniture. And, she drives a Volvo XC90. I think she’s doing JUST FINE. Her main complaint is that she hasn’t travelled as much as she wanted to. She definitely COULD travel. However, her dad had some heart trouble on and off for a while and it made her afraid to go very far.

Drew is solely focused on celebrating Leah’s birthday. And thank goodness because he is the only person who seems to remember. First, he takes her on a horse drawn carriage ride through town. Despite growing up in this town, she’s never gone on one! I think they might do some holiday baking as well but I can’t remember now. They also spend a ton of time working on a gazebo in the backyard of Julia’s childhood home.

Leah also helps Julia find a wedding dress. Her friend happens to be a stylist and finds the perfect one. I am not sure how she found one that was just Julia’s taste after Julia searched every dress shop in town but here we are.

Finally, we have the big financial commitment reveal. Julia is quite panicked until she sees what he purchased. She’s like, you bought this house? And he’s like, no WE bought it. And she’s like how could WE buy this house if I wasn’t involved at all? Did you forge my signature? Are you really going to make such a gigantic decision for both of us without talking to me? How can I possibly marry you if you don’t view me as an equal decisionmaker in this family? And then she calls the wedding off on principle. OH WAIT NO. No one learns any lessons because the end justifies the means. I GUESS.

So then we have the wedding and Leah remains a dutiful solider, celebrating her brother’s wedding instead of her own birthday; which has already likely always been downplayed because it’s on Christmas Eve. So now, Leah gets to share her birthday with our Lord and Savior and her brother’s anniversary! SO GREAT.

At the tail end of the reception, the family finally acknowledges Leah’s birthday and they gift her all of their airline miles which is a pretty generous gift! Do they have a separate birthday cake for her though? Or is the wedding cake doubling as a birthday cake? We NEVER find out. However, luckily for all of us, after the wedding, Drew has one more surprise planned.

He leads Leah to that gazebo they fixed up for seemingly no reason; or was the actual ceremony out there? I can’t remember. Anyway, he has one last mini birthday celebration planned, including her own birthday cake! What a relief!! Anyway, he is not going to another country after Christmas? Or is he and is she going to? Anyway, he is going to put together this like cultural educational experience right in that town and would like Leah’s help. I gotta be honest, I heard him explain this dream of his and I never understood what he was talking about. It was like, a school? Or just a curriculum that focused on a variety of cultures? He talked about kids all staying in the same place rather than traveling around? I just couldn’t keep track. But regardless, Drew and Leah kiss and are likely going to be in close enough proximity to make a relationship work. So that was that!

As you can probably guess, I didn’t pay a ton of attention while this movie was on but I enjoyed it overall. That’s been getting me through the last several movies-not paying a ton of attention and not letting it become one more thing I have to get through. Just too much going on! Anyway, what did you think?

Well, Hallmark made its annual Hanukkah movie and it aired this weekend. I was actually disappointed they only did one this year because I think they’ve done at least two in past years. I don’t know if they ever get it right guys. I do like learning about Hanukkah but I have to just take these guys at their word. I know Hanukkah was kind of early this year, but I do also think this movie should have been mixed in with the Thanksgiving movies because I think it ended up airing on the very last night. Again, I don’t know! I am not going to be able to comment on the authenticity of this movie, so I just have to take it all at face value. Let’s dive in.

The movie begins with our leading lady, Sarah, going on about 1000 coffee dates with a bunch of duds. ONLINE DATING AMIRITE? Finally, she sits down with a very nice guy with a British accent so, win-win. This seems like the right time to disclose to you all that our leading lady’s voice was SO DISTRACTING that it colored by opinion of this movie. I don’t like to make judgments about things people likely can’t control but I hated her voice and it annoyed me every time she spoke. I went and watched a clip of an interview with her from a few months ago and her voice doesn’t sound like that. So, did Hallmark make her do that? Was it a choice? Whatever it was, I HATED IT and I’m glad to know it’s not the voice she’s stuck with for life. Okay so let’s just continue with the recap.

Sarah is an eye doctor. Luckily, her office has a punny name, which I think is an opportunity most eye doctors miss. She tells her friend and assistant about all these terrible dates she’s been on and how she finally met a nice guy over the weekend. Her long-time best friend, Daniel, is doing some renovations on her office as well. He promises to get them done by the last night of Hanukkah. Though, it does seem like he has more than a week’s worth of work to do. Maybe that’s just my opinion.

Sarah has recently broken up with her long time boyfriend, Paul and is finally ready to put herself back out there. It seems that as soon as she’s put this thought out into the universe, she basically has to fight eligible men off with a stick. One such man has entered the eye doctor shop to get his hundredth pair of glasses because he is such a silly goose and keeps losing them. He shoots his shot while he’s there and asks Sarah to coffee.

Sarah is also on the board of her local Jewish Community Center. They are planning a Hanukkah dance. I assume this is as realistic as any other Hallmark movie where the lead is planning a Christmas dance at their community center. So I am going to just run with it. Sarah’s ex-boyfriend, Paul is also on the board had she had a difficult time seeing him there. Sweet Daniel reminds her that she’s too good for him.

Soon it’s time to get the family together for the first night of Hanukkah. I really would like to try the whole gamut of Hanukkah food. I spent this scene looking up recipes for latkes. I will probably outsource the jelly donuts. Sarah’s assistant joins them for the evening and we get A LOT of exposition about Hanukkah in this scene. They pass it off as Sarah’s niece explaining things to Sarah’s friend but WE ALL KNOW why they’re doing it. I wonder if the assistant and Sarah’s brother are going to get together later but they DON’T! It’s really a missed opportunity. At the end of the night, there is a giant bouquet of white roses on the porch for Sarah. There is a card attached but it is unsigned. Sarah reveals how basic she is when she says its her favorite flower. Her grandma was likely very basic as well because I think it’s her favorite too. MY favorite flower is all-purpose. HAHAHA. Couldn’t help myself.

Sarah deliberates on who it might be. She has a few leads, considering she’s dating nearly every man in town. She meets Adam, the simple man who can’t ever find his glasses, for coffee the next day and plans to quiz him to see if he’s the secret admirer. We learn that Adam is insanely wealthy. So wealthy that he wants to fly Sarah to San Francisco (from Seattle) for dinner some time. Oh, did I forget to mention that one of the conditions for selling his company was getting to use the corporate jet whenever he wants. That is a pretty significant and open ended expense to include in a buyout. Are we sure there are no conditions on such a privilege? It cannot possibly include flying a woman to San Francisco to impress her.

So Sarah really likes Adam now too. What a quandary she’s in now! It is also the second night of Hanukkah. And with that, she receives a second gift. I BELIEVE she gets a watch this time. It is just a boring old watch! I don’t know. But everyone just loses their mind over the watch so maybe it’s just not my style. I mean, I say this as someone wearing a TRULY BASIC Apple Watch Series 3 on her wrist as we speak. The next day, she is certain that it’s Nigel, that British guy from earlier. He arrives at her office to take her on a picnic, after she told him she didn’t have time for lunch. I am not sure how someone has time for a picnic if they are too busy to go to a sit down restaurant, but I suppose that’s neither here nor there. Also, if I may, I would not be stoked about an outdoor lunch in Seattle in late November/early December. Again, I suppose that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, Nigel seems indifferent about her new watch. So that’s quite a little conundrum, isn’t it.

At some point in this movie, Paul also tries to start getting back together with Sarah too. I mean, what is happening? Never have we had so many guys competing for one lead’s attention. And they’re all perfectly nice! Well, except maybe for Paul. But really, the only problem with him is that he’s exactly as advertised-a busy business lawyer boy.

Alright guys, I don’t remember what order the rest of the gifts arrive because I was doing some massive Christmas cookie baking prep while I watched this movie. But I’ve got a great big picture sort of sense of this movie so just chill.

So anyway, the next gift she gets is a picture frame. The family just loses their mind over this frame too. They’re like, dang this guy really gets you. It’s an empty picture frame so I just don’t understand. She struggles over what picture to put in it.

Despite having all manor of interested and available men at her disposal, Sarah enlists Daniel’s help in helping her practice dancing for the dance. It really seems like an excuse to hang out with him and is not something you would just ask a friend to do! In a rare moment at Hallmark, they dance to a recognizable pop song from my teenage years. The kind of dancing they practice is…not complicated.

Sarah and Daniel also do a bunch of cooking for her family’s Hanukkah festivities. HE was given her grandma’s famous recipe for something. I can’t remember which thing it is. But, he seems to be just as good at cooking and baking as he is at construction related tasks.

Meanwhile, Sarah kind of uses the poor guys that are trying to date her for her Jewish Community Center Board member obligations. She suckers Nigel into catering their dance after their original caterer was “double booked.” I tell you what, I’ve never know so many vendors to plan so poorly as they do in Hallmark movies. She also cajoles Adam into donating like, every toy he’s ever helped invent? I think? Daniel grows increasingly frustrated that Sarah has not guessed that the secret admirer might be him, despite NEVER suggesting himself that he is interested in her.

Sarah agrees to have coffee with Paul after his incessant requests. He’s finally made partner which means he has time to re-think his priorities. He takes a poorly timed call from “the office” right in the middle of telling Sarah he’s changed.

Sarah invites Nigel to one night of Hanukkah to plan the menu for their upcoming event. He wants to make everything “Jewish fusion” because his specialty is fusing cultural foods together. With what he plans to fuse traditional Jewish food, we don’t know. I think I hear him mention raisins at one point?

Sarah’s remaining gifts, in no particular order are: a menorah, glasses that look just like the ones her grandma used to wear, a jewelry box that plans a very meaningful song to her, and chocolates.

Daniel finally looses it and tells her that he’s been giving her the gifts. She tells him that she has always loved him but didn’t realize he felt the same way. But since she never once considered that he might be the one giving the gifts, he’s now mad and is over it. He is also considering moving to Aspen to do some construction jobs so that’s in the mix as well.

Sarah ponders all of these things in her heart as she gets ready for the dance. It is a FORMAL event. However, before getting completely ready, she decides to rush over to tell Daniel how she feels one more time. On her way, out, she tells him she doesn’t have a date to the dance. She wears a dress she describes (among other things) as Hanukkah blue. I swear she says it’s velvet or velvet-y soft? But it looks like shiny formal dress material. I mean, I love it on her, but it is not what I would consider velvet-y soft. Unfortunately, for Sarah, she is surrounded by all these well meaning suitors. She has to tell all of them that she is in love with someone else. They are chill in that Hallmark way that all people are chill when the lead tells them they like someone else.

As “Collide” plays again, Daniel approaches Sarah and they dance. After the song ends, he tells her he has her final gift. I genuinely wonder if he is going to propose but he instead gives her her own grandmother’s promise ring. I have to google to see if this is a “thing” in Jewish culture but I don’t know that it is; anymore than promise rings are “things” for super young evangelical couples. In conclusion, it seems to be a strange gift. But, Sarah is happy to get it and they kiss BIG TIME right out in front of everyone at the dance.

So, overall, I liked this one alright. I really liked the concept-the mystery gifts every day. I felt like we got a lot of glimpses of Hanukkah food. But the leading lady’s voice really took me out of the whole thing. I also think I liked last year’s Hanukkah movie better. Remember that one? With Ben Savage? So, I guess in conclusion, Hallmark-keep at it with these Hanukkah movies and just like, keep making them better, okay? What did you think?