o, woody.

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it is no secret that i love woody allen flicks. i blame this on my mother, of course, who insisted that we watch every single one of his films one summer. we attended this 'education' sometime in the 80's between the last days of school and the first of summer camp down the road. we ate grape popsicles, lazied in the air conditioned family room, giggled when actors kissed, and pretended to get 'it' all. i did not understand bananas, everything you always wanted to know about sex, or even much of manhattan but i sat there, absorbed as much as i could, and used movie quotes during my parent's dinner parties to appear all smarty-pants.. i remember those dinners fondly and often wish i could click my feet and return to them for just a moment. all of us together plus loads of friends and colleagues, my dad alive, happy, and proud of my mom effortlessly kicking everyone's butts at trivial pursuit, all the men blessing our meal over coffee and my mom's famous russian tea cookies, us girls in the kitchen chatting it up and washing dishes.. good times, good times. (more on our family dinners + recipes another time)

right. so woody allen plays a big part in my childhood memories and as an adult i have seen every single one of his films - even the less popular ones like melinda, melinda.. because i love his unique ability to tell stories? because they remind me of my mom's cheesy lasagna and my father's contagious laugh? no matter. either way when i saw that mr. allen has a new film coming out, to rome with love, i was incredibly excited and already planning my evening around it. here is a link to the trailer for your pleasure.. o, and the cast looks amazing too.

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+ woody allen reading his classic very short stories here