The Oscars!

Cate Blanchett: Pretty great.

Grateful for a night in the living room by the fire H. built. Fun to be with him, Leonardo DiCaprio-obsessed Figgy, two of her friends, Sug--and Punch, for the first hour or so.

The kids bought ice cream, brownie bites and a jar of hot fudge and we all had some. It's nice when they can start buying things themselves, even if something small.

I know my friend and fellow blogger Kim and her friend, Liz, will have serious observations about the way the Oscars went. They're wise critics. My takes are more frivolous but fresh in my mind:

PRETTY GREAT

• Cate Blanchett's sweeping blonde hair, porcelain skin, goddess dress, dangling earrings [though H. and I, and Steve up the block, seem to be the only people I know who hated the movie "Blue Jasmine."]
• Angelina Jolie's luminous look and ethereal, tinsel-y dress.
• The effervescent actor who played Patsy in "12 Years a Slave" in powder-blue gown--and her meaningful speech. [Her performance in the film was raw and unforgettable.]
• Host Ellen's funny lines, costume changes, pizza skit. I personally was craving a pizza delivery and tempted to run to QuickChek for Fritos and onion dip, but resisted.
• Sidney Poitier's elegance and passion, and the history he holds.
• The real Philomena, sitting in the audience.
• Christian Bale. What a good-looking man. Like my college boyfriend's Aunt Lucy used to say, He could park his shoes under my bed any day.
• Matthew McConaughey--I like that he likes God, and said so, but do fear his speech may have been too religious for some. Nevertheless, he's so sexy with that drawl.
• Songs: Performance of "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler and of "Let It Go" from "Frozen."
• Laura Dern sitting proudly next to her Dad.
• Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, gorgeous from head to toe. [Did you see his loafers on the red carpet?] Wow, just read that she's 5 feet tall.

FAIRLY ODD [with a nod to how hard it must be to be a celeb and have everyone Monday-morning quarterbacking your outfits]

• Whoopi Goldberg's getup, like a white blouse stuffed into a strapless black dress.
• The dress the excellent co-star in "Blue Jasmine" wore--it made her look like a child somehow in her chair in the audience. Too big and eighties-formal; she got lost in it.
• Brad Pitt's almost buzz cut. I guess I've never forgotten how good-looking he was as the young, blue-eyed bronco in "Thelma and Louise." But heck, he is a father of six now.

That's all. Good night, stardust ballroom. Signing off from an ordinary New Jersey living room where the snack menu included microwave popcorn and tea. No bubbly or caviar!

TCOY

1. Curled hair on hot rollers. It looked a little weird and clownish this time, but I liked the feeling of taking care of my hair. Cate Blanchett I'm not.
2. Still can't shake this weird cold/flu I've had for two weeks. Headache, tired, congestion, etc. I slept for hours this afternoon while H. was with Punch. I'm grateful for that. Guess I shouldn't be up blogging at 1:36 a.m., though.....
3. We made soup for supper, ours with chicken, H.'s without.
4. Fresh air for an hour or so with Rowan and Punch outside, while they pedaled or scooted by and I played toll collector, accepting pieces of snow from them and wishing them a safe trip. Punch said she was heading to South Carolina, to see her husband, four children and older sister. :)