It's (almost) the most wonderful day of the year!

Growing up, Oscar Sunday was a full-day event at my house.  My mom and I would lay on the couch all day in jammies and sweats, eating delicious snacks, watching the E! pre-shows from prior years, prepping for the red carpet and the show itself.  The most homesick day of my college career was Oscar Sunday of my freshman year: my school didn't have cable in student dorm rooms, but the television lounges did.  I "reserved" the lounge tv weeks ahead of time via multiple Post-Its stuck to the screen, only to be left flipping madly through the channels on the fateful day to discover that we did not get E!.  Tragedy.  Or at least it felt like one during my tearful phone call home.  (My mom: "Some girl is walking around with a SWAN around her neck!  What a nut!"  Me: "Whaaaaaaat? [sniffles] I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM MISSING THIS.") 

So I wised up, realized that spending Oscar Sunday alone and without E! was not for me, and spent the next few Oscars in a hotel (yes, really -- one of the only benefits of going to school in the middle of nowhere is that hotel rooms come very cheap in the middle of the winter!) with all of my girlfriends, piles upon piles of snacks, and basic cable.  What else could a girl ask for?  I'll never forget how one year it was so sunny and warm that we laid out on the roof of the Days Inn wearing our bras.  CLASSY.  But then, being proper ladies clearly wasn't the goal.  The goal was having the Best Day Ever, and in that, we succeeded.

It's totally silly, but I love Oscar day.  It's just so full of happy memories for me.  This year should be a great one: my mom is coming to visit for the weekend (and indulge in our sweatpants-and-snacks tradition), and we'll be watching with lots of friends.  Whoever wins (or wears a swan), we'll have a great time.

Do you have any plans for the Oscars?  If you're into the red carpet, you must see this New York Times archive of the last fifteen years of gowns.  It's pretty awesome.  Some of my favorites: 

Enjoy the show!  (And go Argo!)

(Top image of Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly waiting backstage at the Oscars via Huffington Post; Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams via EW.  Other images via the New York Times Red Carpet Project.)