#While We're Young

[highsummonertemptress]

Favourite female artists☮️Jhene Aiko (14/20)

[girlwithbooks]

[steampunkforever]

Going into While We're Young I was prepared for a Noah Baumbach film I didn't like. Heck, no one in it gets divorced til the third act, and the writing is devoid of that sharpness that makes his worst film (Greenberg) still good enough for me to like despite its problems. And yet, by the time the credits rolled, I found that I enjoyed this installment in the Noah Baumbach Divorce Movie Saga.

I've never not been an old man at heart, and so I've always considered my distaste for the hipsters to be the consequence of some sort of inner conservatism or whatnot. Though I enjoy Portlandia, the cultural context belongs to the cousins who I watched match trilbies with tube socks and drink horchata. Those hipsters have grown up now, and, though they continue gentrifying neighborhoods that I want to park cars on my front lawn in (they've even priced me out of all the good E30s I'd park on said lawn), they've aged out of relevance alongside their Harry Potter tattoos.

While We're Young brings it all back, reminding me that my Hipster wrath came from sheer annoyance. These people are insufferable, and their impact on graphic tees alone should be ruled a cultural disaster. These are the people that popularized the stomp clap genre and even still have antique stores trying to sell me scratched Bowie records for $25. For all the film's carrying on over 40something filmmaker neuroses, Baumbach got one thing right: Hipsters have and always will sorta suck. Fleet foxes is good, though.

I didn't enjoy this film at the jump. Baumbach's direction lacked some of the pizzazz I normally expect in his movies, and having to endure the autobiographical self-obsessions of Baumbach's tortured writer/filmmaker/storyteller/artist etc. protagonist gets old after the fourth film. We get it, you have a messed up relationship with personal and professional success. Have you tried writing about Barbies?

Yet by the last third of the film, I was hooked. Noah Baumbach, and I write this while gritting my teeth, knows how to make a sophisticated movie, and this was a solid entry into his filmography. The filmmaking was not understated, but it was definitely sophisticated in a way that I could appreciate. I'll call this a win for Noah.

[braedencox]

[tctmp]

While We're Young: Directed by Noah Baumbach. With Naomi Watts, Ben Stiller, Maria Dizzia, Adam Horovitz. A middle-aged couple's career and marriage are overturned when a disarming young couple enters their lives.

[thisischaosmagicmoogle]

Jhené Aiko - While We're Young (Official Video)

[wildchildblog]

[dyadam]

Adam as Jamie Massey. He should wear more hats like this. And I love his ear poking through his hair.

[mcforwhatiam]

Ad-Rock at NYC premiere of 'While We're Young,' March 23, 2015

(Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic)

[rrrauschen]

Noah Baumbach, {2014} While We're Young

[hamoimproviso]

Second time for this. Lovely, warm cast and a thoughtful approach to the fear of aging and the attraction of those still finding their feet, they may be a tad pretentious but hey, they are cool and trendy and you want to recapture your youth so you think you can do so by being in their orbit. In reality, you can't. Your youthful shine is gone. Best thing is to be differently cool and embrace your wisdom and find a new way of being. Only downside to the film is the need for there to be a plot. I liked the dynamic of Stiller wanting to be like Driver and I think they could have had the confidence for that to be enough, they didn't have to make Driver a sleaze. Enough that Stiller should have just wised up. Still, lovely and strong on generational envy.

[deepinthelight]

Adam Driver in While We’re Young

[phoenixspencer]

Jamie Massey (8/17)

"You said we should be open to surprises, right?"

[alj4890]

Drake's Birthday Bash

(Drake Walker x Olivia Nevarkis) in a Choices The Royal Romance fanfic.

Rating: G for nothing but Fluff

Word Count: 1,439

A/N Taking this from the storyline bff @krsnlove and I made, While We're Young, so that I could include Olivia and Drake's children, Jackson and Juliet in this. I love the thought of those two with children so much.

Party planners: @karahalloway @katedrakeohd@speedyoperarascalparty @annekebbphotography@jovialyouthmusic @sirbeepsalot @krsnlove @sillydg @walkerdrakewalker @bebepac @thegreentwin

@twinkleallnight

Guests: @gkittylove99 @kingliam2019@ask-kennaandval @princessleac1 @bascmve01 @lovingchoices14 @secretaryunpaid @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @neotericthemis @tinkie1973 @tessa-liam @moneyfordiamonds

Masterlist

The Birthday Cake

"All right. Now we'll let that cool."

Olivia wiped her hands and looked around the once pristine kitchen. It still amazed her that her son and daughter could cause so much chaos in such a short amount of time.

Her gaze settled on the two while a smile formed. Her seven year old son's dark brown hair was gray with the amount of flour his four year old sister had dumped on him when he teased her about being too short. Her daughter's face held a fine dusting of cocoa powder from her brother's retaliation.

There was nothing like watching the Nevarkis genes being passed down to these two. The kitchen showed the results of their few battles, yet her children always found a way to quickly move on and work together.

Olivia couldn't be more proud.

"Your grace?" Her butler called out from the safety of the doorway. "There is an issue that requires your attention."

"I'll be right there, Harrison."

She eyed the two that were inching closer to the cake fresh from the oven. "I'm trusting you both to wait here until I get back."

Jackson and Juliet grinned at her.

"We'll be good." Jackson promised.

"Mommy!" Juliet hopped off her step stool and hurried over to the table. "You promised to help wrap this!"

"And mine too!" Jackson called out while peeping into a bowl full of chocolate icing.

Olivia felt her heart soften at the homemade gifts they had made for their father. Jackson had begun learning how to whittle and had tried to make a little decorative, wooden paperweight. Juliet had taken another block of wood and painted it with different colors of glitter paint. They had both written their names sloppily on them. Olivia, not wanting to take away from their creations, added the year to the bottom of their presents.

Drake had insisted that he didn't need anything expensive when he and Olivia first married. He told her how much it meant to him whenever someone made him something instead.

"To actually take the time, knowing I'm on the person's mind, means more to me than a pair of diamond cufflinks or whatever people give dukes." He explained.

So Olivia, with some help from Hana those first couple of years, began the tradition of making his birthday cake from scratch and finding a way to make something special for a gift.

Having listened to his stories about the chocolate cake he and his mom and sister used to make for his own father, she decided to continue that tradition just for him. Once Jackson was born, she included him in helping with the cake. She even set Juliet's bouncer on the counter when she was born to be a part of this yearly tradition.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but making a cake for a man she actually loved with the two most important people in their lives was one of her favorite days of the year. She had missed out on those sweet bonding moments with her own parents. Now she felt like she was given a second chance to experience all the sweet times with a family all her own.

"We'll wrap them when I get back." She gently brushed Jackson's hair out of his eyes while patting Juliet's cheek. "Promise." She said when she noticed they were about to demand such from her.

*************

"I can't wait to decorate it." Juliet propped her elbows on the counter next to the cake. "Can you, Jax?"

Her brother swiped some chocolate icing out of the bowl with his index finger. "I can't wait to eat it."

The two tried to remain patient.

"Ugh!" Juliet dropped her head on the counter. "Mommy's taking forever!"

"Yeah." Jax nudged his sister. "Jules, why don't we go ahead and decorate the cake?

"But we always do it with Mommy." She pointed out.

"Yeah, but she's busy." He argued. "We could help her."

Juliet perked up at that. There was nothing she loved more than helping her mother.

"Okay!" She hopped down and pushed her step stool to a set of cabinets. "You put the icing on and I'll pick out the stuff to make it pretty."

Jackson highly approved of this idea. He'd be able to taste test the frosting as much as he liked while putting it on the cake.

"You need a knife." Juliet told him while searching for bags of candy. She waved her little hand in a motion of smoothing something down. "Mommy uses one, remember?"

"Mommy always uses a knife." Jackson replied. "So does Daddy with Mommy's cake."

Juliet returned to his side and dumped her found treasures on the counter.

His eyes widened. "What's all that candy for?"

"The cake!" She struggled with opening the bags. "Jax." She grunted. "Open."

He rolled his eyes. "I have to do everything."

"Nuh uh."

"Uh huh.

Juliet glared at him. She blew her bright red curls out of her eyes and pushed the bags towards him. "I'll finish the frosting while you open these."

"Don't use it all!" He cried out when she dumped the rest on top of the cake. "Now we can't lick the bowl."

Juliet rolled her eyes. "The cake needs the frosting."

"Aww." Jax pouted as she swirled it around with a butter knife.

"Now." She pushed her hair out of her face, leaving chocolate icing smears in its wake. "Time for the best part!"

Her excitement was contagious. Jax began to smile again as he helped her unwrap all the candy.

"Daddy's cake is going to be the best one yet!" Juliet exclaimed.

****************

"Harrison said there was an issue in here that demanded my attention." Olivia told Drake as he cornered her against the closed study door. "Was he wrong?"

"There's definitely something in here that demands your attention." Drake leaned down to kiss her.

Olivia hummed her half hearted disapproval. "I usually deal with that something at night. Once our children are asleep."

"It's my birthday." He whispered, kissing her ear.

She melted against him when his lips met hers again.

"Is it?" She teased. "I had no idea."

He deepened the kiss then tugged on her apron. "Oh really? Is that why you are wearing this?"

"This old thing?" Her smirk turned tender. "Perhaps it is for you." She nipped at his bottom lip. "Perhaps not."

The two met again in a more passionate exchange.

Drake caressed her cheek, his lips curing at the evidence that she had been baking. He loved knowing that the once believed cold hearted duchess had taken to family life with a fierce tenderness. Each time he witnessed it, it made him fall even more in love with her.

"I can't wait to see my cake." His thumb brushed some flour from her cheek.

Olivia stilled in his arms. "Oh god. The cake!"

She pushed him away to jerk the door open.

"Liv?" Drake was hot on heels. "What's wrong?"

"I left Jax and Jules in the kitchen." She told him.

"Oh god." Drake muttered, picking up the pace.

The couple burst into the kitchen, anxiously looking about.

"Surprise!" Juliet squealed.

"Happy Birthday Daddy!" Jax yelled out.

The two stood behind a cake covered in different candies. Suckers were intermingled with candles, setting off the very kaleidoscope of chaos that they could only conjure.

"Isn't it pretty?" Juliet asked. "I put all our favorite colors." She beamed up at Olivia. "I put a lot of red for me and you, Mommy."

Drake couldn't help but smile. The cake was nothing short of a diabetic coma waiting to happen. And yet, he thought it was the most beautiful cake he had ever seen.

And all because the three people he loved more than life itself had a hand in creating it for him.

"It's gorgeous." He held his arms out, lifting both his children into a tight bear hug when they ran into his embrace. "The best cake I've ever seen."

"I put the frosting on." Jax boasted. "Jules picked the candy."

"I helped with the frosting too." Juliet added. "And Jax helped me open the bags."

Olivia stood quietly, observing the two sharing all that they did both cake wise and for his presents. She had to fight the sentimental tears when they then bragged on all she had done to help them with their projects.

"What do you think?" Jax asked him.

Drake squeezed his children again while settling his attention on his wife. Holding Olivia's tearful gaze, he smiled. His voice was full of emotion.

"I think I'm the luckiest man in the world."

[ju-juice]

Jhené Aiko - While We're Young [8D AUDIO]

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