ZAPPED! AshleyV holds the key to my heart! <3
HEART DON'T FAIL ME NOW. Here comes a big one, y'all.....
K, so I'm currently prepping several upcoming zaps (a storm is brewing......), and am getting packages left and right containing stuff I've ordered for said zaps. So when my mom handed me yet another padded envelope, I casually opened it without even looking at the return address - I just assumed it was from eBay or Etsy or Amazon or something...
But lo and behold:
WHAT??? Someone dared to zap ME???? I quickly snatched the envelope again and looked at the address. All I needed to see was that first name....
@AshleyV. Why that little.....
After several moments of feeling sufficiently guilty - since this is now her SECOND zap in a row without me returning fire, because I'm STILL taking way too long to finish her RAK which I was *supposed* to send last month, and now I'm losing at zap tag ugh - I caved in and begrudgingly opened the card.
Ok, right off the bat that's +1 point for the pun. Damn, you know me too well.
"...thought I remembered (hopefully correctly) that you really liked the 1997 film."
"...thought I remembered (hopefully correctly) that you really liked the 1997 film."
"...thought I remembered (hopefully correctly) that you really liked the 1997 film."
"...thought I remembered (hopefully correctly) that you really liked the 1997 film."
"...thought I remembered (hopefully correctly) that you really liked the 1997 film."
Huh.... *do* I like the film? Hang on...
...
(Obligatory Gus photobomb. Because he always has to squeeze his way into my posts somehow.)
Ok first of all, I promise I never handle film without gloves. Don't judge me haha. I just happen to have two separate reels of the Anastasia theatrical trailer (DON'T JUDGE ME, IT'S FOR CRAFTING PURPOSES) and therefore could afford to spare a section of strip for a quick pic.
Also, I'm totally justified in owning all the different editions of the DVD because I need to make sure I have every behind-the-scenes special feature and directors' commentary and everything. I NEED ALL THIS STUFF DON'T JUDGE MEEEEE.
But the piece de resistance of all this.......
My replica "Together In Paris" necklace from the film. Which I wear EVERY. DAMN. DAY.
Oh, you don't believe me? Hold up, let me quickly scroll through every single photo in my Instagram archive.....
I always wear this because the film is so very special to my heart, and because it's my ultimate dream to write/direct a live-action adaptation of the film (with elements of the stage musical and my own original concepts mixed in.) Whenever I feel beaten down and like my filmmaking dreams are never going to come true, I can touch the necklace and feel a little more hope.
ANYWAY! I do have a point with all this long-winded gushing and TMI background info, lol. I just feel the need to impart how much this film means to me, and by extension, how much this zap means to me.
I'm sure by now I've sufficiently made myself look like a crazy, over-obsessive fangirl, but honestly, this film helped me a lot as a kid. Without going into even more TMI territory, I grew up in a bad home environment and felt deeply lonely for years. So a story about an isolated young woman, who led an extremely lonely life but was still a survivor, and even found out there was actually something special about her, connected with me in a way I probably didn't even understand.
One other quick anecdote that I think perhaps is the most powerful thing I could share about this whole thing: Those dolls pictured above are actually from my childhood. After my mom left my dad we had to move around a lot, and we lost a lot of personal mementos in the process. During one particularly difficult move, my mom tried to save as much as possible by renting a storage unit, but because she was a single mom with 3 kids to raise, she understandably missed a payment, and the contents of the unit were auctioned off. She felt so devastated and like she let us kids down (even though I've NEVER felt that way about her. <3 ) Then, a few months later, a woman came by our house. She had purchased a couple boxes from our unit and, realizing the personal nature of the items, actually *tracked us down* to return it all. In one of those boxes were my beloved Anastasia dolls. Like in the movie, she found her way back home... idk, I feel so cheesy typing this, but I'm honestly tearing up just thinking about how magical that moment was, and the kindness of this total stranger.
TL;DR this movie brings up a friggin' reservoir of feelings for me, so my reaction to Ashley's zap was basically the following, except x 1,000:
(CONTINUED BELOW BECAUSE SERIOUSLY I NEED TO GUSH SO MUCH MORE ABOUT ASHLEY, DEAL WITH IT GUYS.)
K, so I'm currently prepping several upcoming zaps (a storm is brewing......), and am getting packages left and right containing stuff I've ordered for said zaps. So when my mom handed me yet another padded envelope, I casually opened it without even looking at the return address - I just assumed it was from eBay or Etsy or Amazon or something...
But lo and behold:
WHAT??? Someone dared to zap ME???? I quickly snatched the envelope again and looked at the address. All I needed to see was that first name....
@AshleyV. Why that little.....
After several moments of feeling sufficiently guilty - since this is now her SECOND zap in a row without me returning fire, because I'm STILL taking way too long to finish her RAK which I was *supposed* to send last month, and now I'm losing at zap tag ugh - I caved in and begrudgingly opened the card.
Ok, right off the bat that's +1 point for the pun. Damn, you know me too well.
"...thought I remembered (hopefully correctly) that you really liked the 1997 film."
"...thought I remembered (hopefully correctly) that you really liked the 1997 film."
"...thought I remembered (hopefully correctly) that you really liked the 1997 film."
"...thought I remembered (hopefully correctly) that you really liked the 1997 film."
"...thought I remembered (hopefully correctly) that you really liked the 1997 film."
Huh.... *do* I like the film? Hang on...
...
(Obligatory Gus photobomb. Because he always has to squeeze his way into my posts somehow.)
Ok first of all, I promise I never handle film without gloves. Don't judge me haha. I just happen to have two separate reels of the Anastasia theatrical trailer (DON'T JUDGE ME, IT'S FOR CRAFTING PURPOSES) and therefore could afford to spare a section of strip for a quick pic.
Also, I'm totally justified in owning all the different editions of the DVD because I need to make sure I have every behind-the-scenes special feature and directors' commentary and everything. I NEED ALL THIS STUFF DON'T JUDGE MEEEEE.
But the piece de resistance of all this.......
My replica "Together In Paris" necklace from the film. Which I wear EVERY. DAMN. DAY.
Oh, you don't believe me? Hold up, let me quickly scroll through every single photo in my Instagram archive.....
I always wear this because the film is so very special to my heart, and because it's my ultimate dream to write/direct a live-action adaptation of the film (with elements of the stage musical and my own original concepts mixed in.) Whenever I feel beaten down and like my filmmaking dreams are never going to come true, I can touch the necklace and feel a little more hope.
ANYWAY! I do have a point with all this long-winded gushing and TMI background info, lol. I just feel the need to impart how much this film means to me, and by extension, how much this zap means to me.
I'm sure by now I've sufficiently made myself look like a crazy, over-obsessive fangirl, but honestly, this film helped me a lot as a kid. Without going into even more TMI territory, I grew up in a bad home environment and felt deeply lonely for years. So a story about an isolated young woman, who led an extremely lonely life but was still a survivor, and even found out there was actually something special about her, connected with me in a way I probably didn't even understand.
One other quick anecdote that I think perhaps is the most powerful thing I could share about this whole thing: Those dolls pictured above are actually from my childhood. After my mom left my dad we had to move around a lot, and we lost a lot of personal mementos in the process. During one particularly difficult move, my mom tried to save as much as possible by renting a storage unit, but because she was a single mom with 3 kids to raise, she understandably missed a payment, and the contents of the unit were auctioned off. She felt so devastated and like she let us kids down (even though I've NEVER felt that way about her. <3 ) Then, a few months later, a woman came by our house. She had purchased a couple boxes from our unit and, realizing the personal nature of the items, actually *tracked us down* to return it all. In one of those boxes were my beloved Anastasia dolls. Like in the movie, she found her way back home... idk, I feel so cheesy typing this, but I'm honestly tearing up just thinking about how magical that moment was, and the kindness of this total stranger.
TL;DR this movie brings up a friggin' reservoir of feelings for me, so my reaction to Ashley's zap was basically the following, except x 1,000:
(CONTINUED BELOW BECAUSE SERIOUSLY I NEED TO GUSH SO MUCH MORE ABOUT ASHLEY, DEAL WITH IT GUYS.)