Just in Cases

If my recent trip to England has shown me anything, it's reminded me that I desperately need to make friends in Chicago who will watch Love Actually with me. Jeff is Not a Fan of that movie, to say the least, but it holds a very special place in my heart, and my customary annual viewing in New York is just not enough for me.

During my semester in Japan, I must've seen the movie at least six or seven times. The library at my Nagasaki university had some of those couch-and-TV viewing stations set up for students to watch films, and a limited but still decent selection of English-language DVDs.

For reasons that still aren't entirely clear to me, some of the American students studying abroad seized on Love Actually as the perfect movie to address our Christmas-season-induced homesickness. (Why, when all of us were American, did we choose a movie featuring the Christmas vistas of London, a city none of us had ever visited? And when most of us were from the Northeast and/or Wisconsin, i.e. places that often get snow on Christmas, why a movie with scenes in the south of France? I may never have an answer.)

Viewing it through my wiser, older eyes, I can see that 1) the guy who shows up to Keira Knightly's flat is still a massive Creepazoid, 2) many of the other characters are much less sympathetic than I initially thought, 3) I want to visit Wisconsin in spite of the way it's shown in the movie, and 4) Billy Mack and his manager are me and my college roommate. (I'm the manager. She's the cool one. And their platonic bromance still gets me a bit misty.)

In any case, living in a city with genuinely distinct seasons has helped to soothe the feeling of missing out on Christmas. Even so, I’m still missing home, and looking forward to watching my favorite movies with my nearest and dearest next month.

In the meantime, I’m dying to find a sweater like the winter-white cowlneck that Keira Knightly wears, and perhaps find a role as First Lobster in a bonkers Nativity play. Though I’m sadly lacking in both the oddly cropped cozy sweater and the opportunity to wow the world with my dramatic talents, I do have plenty of festive outfits up my sleeve! I’m starting off my month-plus of shameless red-and-green with something subtle (for me): this green velvet skater dress I got from Modcloth last year, layered over a burgundy top. Don’t get too used to it, though: the skirts will get bigger, the colors brighter, and the prints louder from here on out.

Dress: Modcloth (old)

Longsleeve top: Pinup Girl Clothing (old)

Bunny brooch: Nuclear Novelties

Belt: Trashy Diva (old)

Shoes: Gap (really old)

What’s your favorite Christmas movie?

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