A taste of Oscar Night
The other day, I shared my Oscar Night inspiration in Rawdorable cupcake form, as well as some of my other ideas for celebrating the big night. As you know, it's a family tradition around here to dress up, walk the "red carpet" (it's literally a scrap piece of red carpet or material), vote for our favorites (who we think will win the real awards) and eat foods fit for the occasion.
For example, I opted to make Wolfgang Puck's Kale Salad with Date Compote he planned to serve at the Governor's Ball. That's my plate at the top of today's post. I just had to take a pic for you. I loved the combination of kale, other greens, fresh herbs, paper-thin radishes, fennel and shallots tossed/marinated in a lemony vinaigrette, sprinkled with sliced almonds and drizzled with some aged balsamic. So good.
Oh, and the date compote took the dish to a whole new level of deliciousness. I highly recommend this recipe.
As for the attire, we opted to dress like Academy Award nominees or characters from the nominated films. I decided to go as Best Actress nominee Jennifer Lawrence (she won BTW). Here I am getting glammed up for the evening.
Since I thought my sisters could be showing up as her character in "Silver Linings Playbook," I put together some pieces from my closet (a tank top that I tucked the straps in to create a strapless bodice, a sheer slip that I allowed to slip out beneath it and a matching long narrow skirt) to resemble her possible wardrobe malfunction at the Screen Actors Guild Awards (it really wasn't a malfunction, although she did reveal the concealed sheer part of her dress).
I, on the other hand, was dealing with my own possible wardrobe malfunctions. Due to the fact that my top wasn't meant to be strapless, I kept having to adjust it throughout the night. I wouldn't say it was flattering, but posing with this cute little lady was worth it. She was going to be Cosette from Les Miserables, but a Sugar Rush character from "Wreck-It Ralph" won out in the end.
Two of the boys also went with the "Wreck-It Ralph" theme. My nephew Colin was Fix-It Felix, while my son Jacob kept it simple with an old school Nintendo controller shirt. The controller was used in the movie to type in the Contra code for all you classic Nintendo fans. My other nephew Cameron took a more grown up approach as a dapper (Hayden loves that word) James Bond.
Of course I was right about our guys. My sister April's boyfriend Jack, my hubby Matthew and my other sister Lori's hubby Darren all sported the sweats and trash bag look that Bradley Cooper wore quite a bit in "Silver Linings Playbook."
April and Jack made the perfect couple from the movie. Not only did Jack come as Bradley Cooper's "Silver Linings Playbook" character, but April dressed similar to Jennifer Lawrence's character.
Lori surprised me by having a costume change, neither costume involving Jennifer Lawrence. She started out as a character from "Les Miserables," which you'll see in our group pic, and later paired up with her hubby, representing "Argo" (yes, Darren had a costume change, too).
My mom also took on "Les Miserables" by putting together a silly interpretation (it's more like a serious tearjerker in the movie, though) of when Anne Hathaway's character is forced to cut her hair for very little money to pay for her child's care. Notice the scissors in her hair? Please kids, don't try this at home.
My dad went all out as Lincoln. Need I say more?
Here is that group photo I mentioned (just ignore the fact that Jacob is pretending to eat Hayden's arm; the "Wreck it Ralph" Sugar Rush game is full of candy). We definitely had a blast.
Hope you did, too :-)
