[photo credit: @JohnLegend Instagram]

My blog post this week is slightly delayed by one day….for pretty good reason I believe! On Sunday I spent the majority of the day on the phone with my mother and reading all the reviews of the new romantic comedy movie premiering at the Sundance Film Festival called Southside with You.

No, I am not a huge movie buff. I honestly can’t even remember the last time I went to the theater and what I saw. Don’t worry…I did go in the last calendar year. I have heard about the Sundance Film Festival. I know Hollywood essentially relocates there for a few days to brave the bitter cold temperatures of Park City, Utah which is a dramatic difference from the warmer weather in the Los Angeles area. To be honest, that was probably all I knew about Sundance…..until last year.

For those who follow me via my social media networks, you know my brother is an actor and relatively new to the scene. Matter of fact, he really has only been acting for a little over three years. Who would have thought the little boy I used to boss around our house in Indianapolis would eventually become an actor….a pretty good one if I say so myself.  Technically, I’m the older sister even though I’m nearly a foot shorter than him and our other brother Patrick. [I clearly received my height genes from both of my grandmothers, one of which was barely five feet tall and the other is probably right at five feet!]

In late 2014, there was news about a new film in the works to chronicle the first date of the future president and his first lady. Tika Sumpter was chosen to play Michelle Robinson, and then the world discovered the name Parker Sawyers, aka the little boy I bossed around the house, who was picked to portray a young Barack Obama.

And thus the whirlwind adventure began for my younger brother.

I have said it a thousand times on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but Patrick and I along with our mother are so unbelievably proud of Parker. There are just not enough words to express how excited we are to know the world will now see his incredible talent. To see bloggers and movie critics gushing over his portrayal of Barack Obama has been so surreal. Naturally, in my mind, I was saying “DUH! We get it from our mama!” LOL!

Seriously though…we are so happy for him!! My brother is now one of the cool kids…the really cool kids.

Kudos also to the entire Southside with You cast and crew. I was able to spend a couple of days in Chicago over the summer while they were filming, and everyone was so kind and sweet to me.

I can’t WAIT until the rest of the world is able to see the great work from this amazing team in movie theaters this year!

As always, these are just a few thoughts “From My Hart.”