Silver Screen Dream: Reel Romance

Fabulous Felt Filmstrip Barrettes

Top: Candie's, Kohl's

Cami: Macy's

Skirt: Delia's, Dolls Kill

Shoes: Ami Clubwear

Wallet: Betsey Johnson

Belt: Wet Seal

Necklace: The Tote Trove

Last week, I read a novel by a new (to me) author, which is always exciting.  It's called Waiting for Tom Hanks, and it's by Kerry Winfrey.  The main character is Annie, a Midwestern rom-com-obsessed aspiring screenwriter who's waiting for Mr. Right -- which, to her, means a guy like Tom Hanks.  (Quick aside.  Annie's fixation isn't as weird as it may seem.  I remember reading a Glamour article that said when women say they want Tom Cruise, what they really mean is they want Tom Hanks.  Of course, this was back before I gave up on magazines.  And before Tom Cruise jumped on that couch.)  But when Annie scores a gig as an assistant on a movie set, she collides, coffee cup in hand, with alpha actor Drew Danforth (meet cute, check!), causing her to rethink her plans for landing a self-deprecating copilot.  Sure, Annie has misgivings of the classic rom-com heroine's but-this-wasn't-the-plan! variety.  But she also has the classic feisty BFF who Will.  Not.  Let.  Her.  Squander this opportunity.  So, she and Drew strike up a friendship that turns into more.  Their rapport is surprisingly easy, which I didn't quite trust, as Hollywood is reputed to be something of a dream-crushing shark tank.  But I banished my inner cynic, choosing to believe that love could bloom between a girl who lives with her Dungeons and Dragons-playing uncle and a guy who gets paid to French models.  Drew encourages Annie in her screenwriting endeavor, going as far as to talk her up to the director.  It's sweet and nice and something that you wish could happen.  Still, their romance isn't without problems.  For one, there's the ever-present paparazzi (so pesky!), and for another, Annie discovers a secret about her dead mother's past (somehow, these things always surface).  It forces her to shake her fantasy -- i.e. all those things she thought she wanted -- to get to her reality.  Which, this being a rom-com, ends up being a lot like her fantasy anyway.

Waiting for Tom Hanks is breezy and quirky and has lots of heart.  And something Annie said stuck with me.  She loves rom-coms in general and Nora Ephron rom-coms in particular because they're not about everything being sewed up at the end.  They're about women finding a partner to help them weather life's storms.  It's not that the guy is the be-all-end-all.  It's that having someone along for the ride makes the ride easier.  And I think that's something that everyone - whether they watch rom-coms or sci fi or anime -- can agree on.

And now for a walk-on from my Fabulous Felt Filmstrip barrettes!  Black and yellow and solidly square, they represent any movie anyone wants to see.  I like that they have that old-fashioned, outdated tech look, like, say, a rotary phone or boombox.  I mean, no one wants a cute little likeness of an iPhone or Alexa, right?  Unless maybe it's a barrette of what Alexa's face looks like.   

I'll tell my people to get on it.