When I found out I was pregnant for the first time, I secretly started reading message boards, blog posts, and pretty much anything related to newly pregnant women. Oh, and watching movies! I hadn't seen Riding in Cars with Boys since high school, so I thought it might be fun to follow along with a pregnant women's story from another vantage-point: a knocked-up teenager in the 1960s.

The dramady starts out like a teenage romance with all the nostalgia of the 1960s. But things quickly change when Beverly (Drew Barrymore) gets too involved and finds herself in quite a predicament- pregnant! An embarassment to her family. A ruin to her own dreams. And she has decided she does not want to marry the father, a deadbeat teenager going nowhere in life. But her parents have other plans.

The movie ie enjoyable, for sure, but it's really sad to watch Beverly's hopes plummet as she takes care of the two helpless men (one a baby, and one a husband) in her life instead of following her own dreams. It's majorly disappointing to see how conditional her parents' love for her seems to be. But through the years, lots of things change, mistakes are made, lives are changed, and people change- for better or for worse. The movie's like taking a 2-hour jaunt through the wreckage and revival of someone else's life, with lessons to be learned and shenanigans to enjoy along the way.

What a whirlwind life has been the past few weeks! We moved house, I wore my mother's clothes for two weeks until we unearthed my own, I've been sick, babysitting my brother's dog, living without internet (until two days ago- yippee!), and not realizing today is Valentine's Day until logging onto Facebook! Oh my. Life can be pretty overwhelming at times, without Valentine's Day expectations thrown into the mix, am I right?

Well, as a kick-off to getting back to regular posting, I thought it would be fun to share with you this Shirley MaccLaine musical I fell in love with over the weekend. Shirley MacLaine in a musical?! Yeah, I know! But she is phenominal. By far my favorite role of hers I've experienced.

Sweet Charity is the perfect Valentine's Day musical, if you ask me. MacLaine's character, Charity, is full of life and love, and seems to spend it all in the wrong places. She's a happy go-lucky girl who thinks someday a dream guy is going to rescue her from her life as a dance hall hostess. But everyone around her thinks she's crazy. She might be crazy, after all, but watching her kooky character unfold on screen makes you fall in love with her and her silly ways.

The musical was so fresh and quirky- unlike anything I've ever seen. I was actually engaged in the song and dance portions (oftentimes these are my popcorn/bathroom breaks), and emotionally the movie has me both laughing and crying- sometimes in the same scene!

This musical comes with a few unexpected bonuses as well! Check out how Shirley MacLaine's character, Charity, stretches her wardrobe by dressing up and down the same black dress throughout the movie. Impressive! Also, I think Sweet Charity really shows us how much fun life can be if we smile, sing, and even dance through the lonely and difficult times in life. I think I might try that more often. :)

As a married lady now in my late twenties, it's awfully easy to look at romance between youngsters with a heavy dose of skepticism. Far too quickly I forget the very real feelings of first love- when the heart first finds a match, and all the seriousness of love and feelings of adventure quickly follow. A Little Romance perfectly encapsulates these feelings with a beautifully nostalgic look at a charming little romance between an American girl and a French boy.

A Little Romance is more than just a character study of two kids so in love. Quite a little adventure unfolds for Lauren and Daniel, thanks to the unexpected involvement of the interesting old man they meet at the park- Julius, played by none other than Laurence Olivier. The shananigans which follow are much more believable than what you might have seen when the Olsen sisters visited Paris back in '99, and you might be surprised when you relate much more to the children than you do the adults. Just like a trip back to Junior High, actually!

Diane Lane shines in her debut role as a lonely girl with a high IQ and innocent affection for the quirky French boy who first introduces himself to Lauren with (capturing my heart) so many references to Bacall and Bogie. "Call me Bogie," he says. "Why?" "Because they belong together."

All in all, there's not much I can say without ruining the fun along the way, so I'll just tell you that A Little Romance is a refreshing and very charming look at the innocence and freedom of first love. Set in Paris and Italy. So, what more could you want?