hanging out with princess anna

i was hanging out at home minding my own business when i took a peek at my twitter feed and spied something that caught my eye:

so, of course, i followed instructions and hit "retweet."  and then as i usually do, i promptly forgot all about it until i went back a little later to see if there was anything interesting going on.  a notification that said i had a direct message came up, and when i clicked on it i was super excited to find this:

talk about great timing, man.  with the bean at grandma camp, i didn't even have to scramble for childcare, which can be really tricky with such short notice.  this was happening literally the very next day.  and the very first thing the old lady and i thought of was...what the hell were we going to wear to this thing?  it's not like we're regulars at things like hollywood premieres.

we made a beeline for the mall (maybe two malls) and although there wasn't really much that caught our eye, we managed to find something we thought might be suitable for the occasion.  you know how when you go shopping and don't really want or need to buy anything, the stores are jam packed with all sorts of awesome stuff you love?  and then when you desperately need something, you can't find a damn thing you like?  yeah, that.  ugh.

the premiere was in westwood, which is kind of insane to get to from our house.  especially on a weeknight, when the traffic is super intense and annoying.  we gave ourselves plenty of time (or so we thought), and with about half an hour till the time that we'd been given to arrive, we saw this:

there were so many people out - paparazzi, lookyloos, people just trying to get from point a to point b.  finding parking at the lots we'd been told were available was miserable, because they were all full. we somehow managed to find an empty spot a couple of blocks and through a whole foods parking lot away, and made our way towards the will call desk we'd seen as we frantically drove by in search of a place to leave the car.

there was this fun photo op, but we didn't have time to stop.

yay for getting our tickets in time!

finally, we were there.  on the pink carpet.  alas, not with any of the celebs in attendance, but that's okay.  it was cool just to be there.

if you look in the middle of this picture, you'll see a tall dude with his head down wearing a gray hat. see him?  it's dax shepard!

on our way into the theater, we grabbed our free popcorn and soda.  we were both really hungry and hadn't had time to stop anywhere for dinner first.

finding a seat wasn't too hard, although since we'd arrived so late we were stuck off to the side way up front.

the old lady had spotted one of her favorite comedians, chris d'elia, as we were making our way to our seats.  she was so excited and had to call her special friend to tell him who she'd just walked past.

oh, did i mention?  we were also invited to the afterparty.  you know, no big deal.

from inside the theater, we got to see what was going on outside with the stars of the movie out on the real red carpet.

and then they all came inside and stood at the front while their director came out and said a few words about the movie.

see that shadowy figure in the middle?  that's twitch from "so you think you can dance" and the ellen degeneres show.

and then taking a seat behind us was kendra wilkinson.

the cast came up to speak to the audience too - mila kunis, kristen bell, kathryn hahn, and christina applegate.  i guess jada pinkett smith wasn't available.

you probably know by now that the movie is hilarious.  the old lady and i gigglesnorted pretty much all the way through it.  and when it was over, we made our way back out to find the car and get to the W for that afterparty.  there were still tons of people outside, waiting to catch a glimpse of the celebs.

the W was just a mile or so away, and it only took a few minutes to get there.  they took our tickets at the entrance and then we were in.  with our growly stomachs, we made a beeline for the buffet.

and then we managed to find a seat with a great vantage point of everyone walking in and milling about.  it was already pretty packed in there with folks who looked like they might have been part of the crew, some who looked like administrative/office-types, others who were really trying to be part of the hollywood scene, and a random table full of older asian ladies.  well, and then there was us.  ha.

that guy in the white shirt and baseball cap is russell simmons.  he's the only recognizable face we saw the entire time we were there.

when we decided that we were tired and ready to go, we headed towards the back to see what was there.  that's when we realized why we hadn't seen any other celebs...they were protected behind the rope.

we never did make it to the bar, either.  losers.

one last look around:

and that was that.  not a bad way to spend a tuesday evening, huh?  thank you, virgin america!  it was pretty fantastic!

and the winner is...

comment #14!

and that is:

congratulations, kelly!  i hope your family of disney fanatics loves their fun treats.

i gotta say, i kinda figured there would be more interest in this thing.  you people are usually all over the giveaways!  oh, well.  i've got bundles of fun beauty samples that i'm thinking of giving away too.  i wonder if they'll be more popular than the disney baking gizmo.

you tell me.

cashing in a prize

well, not me.  remember my first cookie giveaway (that was a comment recordbreaker!) ?  cara, my winner, deferred her prize for a few weeks so that she could bring the cookies to a wedding shower she's attending this weekend.  and so after trading a few emails, i finally got to put her winnings in the mail.

the shower invitation was in green with a daisy theme.  simple, but pretty.  so i figured it would be best to just follow its lead and do green daisy cookies.  now, at this point, i had gotten it mixed up and thought it was a baby shower.  i was all set to do cute little baby faces as the centers of the cookies and was going to try making them ahead of time like the letters on the "due in october" cake pops.  thank goodness i went back and double-checked the details...that would have been pretty bad to be giving out baby themed cookies.  imagine the confusion i would've caused?  yikes.

mixing, rolling, cutting, and baking the cookies is practically like second nature to me by now.  as for the royal icing, i decided to use up the remaining mix i'd bought for those letters.

this would prove to be a move i completely regretted.  oy.  why i didn't just stick to my usual recipe, i don't know.  well, yeah, i do.  the mix was super easy, and i let my laziness get in the way.  never again.

it seemed okay at first.  i only had to mix two colors - different shades of green.  i outlined and flooded the cookies in the lighter color.

after giving them some time to dry a bit, i went back over them and outlined the petals in the darker shade.

so far, so good, right?  but then i mixed up a bit more of that royal icing mix to make the white centers and started filling them in.

still no biggie, right?  except that when i finished the last cookie and went back to check on my handiwork, i realized that the white icing was too thin.  it was bleeding out of the center and onto the petals.  hell and dalmatians.

i didn't have time to redo them, so i just had to go with them.  i decorated the rest of the cookies i'd had to ignore when i ran out of light green icing and started cleaning up.

but i had a little dark green icing left.  i decided to play a little and see if i could make something work.

heh.  i'm such a cheater - but i was all excited to find a new way to make fun royal icing transfers, plus a new use for that iPad.  woohoo!

and then the next morning, i wanted to throw those cookies out the window.  not only had a lot of them bled in the middle, but those damned centers cracked.

so angry.  so, so, pissed.  but again, i had no choice but to continue on.  i wrapped them in cellophane bags, tied them with green satin ribbon, packed them carefully in a box with a ton of tissue, and shot cara an e-mail to give her the heads-up.

they look nicer all dressed up, though.  and when i sent cara a few pictures, she didn't seem to mind the imperfections that were completely stressing me out.  lest you wonder why i was so freaked out, you should know that she ordered an extra dozen cookies from me in addition to the free dozen she'd won.  so not only had i fucked up her prize, but she was paying for half of them.

but i decided that no way was i going to charge her for these things.  nuh-uh.  and when she found out, here's how sweet she is - she not only covered my shipping charges but threw in some extra bucks anyway.  thank you, cara.  you're awesome!  i just hope you doesn't regret that when the box arrives and you get to see the cookies up close and personal.  bah!

so, the moral of this story:  don't stray from a tried-and-true recipe.  especially when it's not just for fun.  lesson learned!

a sweet sendoff, and a winner!

so it's been almost two weeks now since i left my super fun job at dots cupcakes.  while i'm really loving this time to spend with the bean and the teen, i miss my friends at the shop.  and the interaction with all sorts of fun people (and not-so-fun ones, too).  well, and the easy access to cupcakes all. the. time.

my last day came all too quickly, and with it being the weekend before valentine's day, the shop was bustling with activity.  there were tons of orders to fill, lots of prepping to do, and the phone was ringing off the hook with people placing orders for pick-up on the big day.

my boss took off mid-morning to run some errands, and when she returned, she was bearing gifts.

"i'm sorry your going away party isn't so great, we're so busy!" she said.  and since i wasn't expecting anything but maybe a hug, i was pretty overwhelmed.  and along with those gorgeous flowers and balloons, i got a fun starbucks care package - complete with the makings for iced caramel macchiatos and a gift card that'll last me a month.  so awesome.

and because it was so busy that day, i didn't have time to dwell on stuff like "this is the last time i'll ever do [insert task here]."  i'm pretty grateful for that, because i managed not to tear up at all.

but let's face it - it's not like i won't be back.  i love those cupcakes, and i'm in pasadena often enough to stop in now and then.  and, she just announced her engagement - with a rock that would sear your cornea if you looked at it too long.  yay!

i wanted to send her something nice to thank her for everything, and what better way than with some cookies?

i managed to get them into the box with enough tissue stuffed around them in the hopes of getting them there all in one piece.

i dropped it off at the post office, and a few days later, i got a text that said they loved the surprise (and ate them for breakfast).  woohoo!  i guess that was a good practice run for shipping - locally, anyway.

now let's see what happens with packages shipped much further away.  random.org has chosen my winner for the latest cookie giveaway, and here she is:

yay, mrs. b-p!  basketball cookies it is.  i'll drop you an email to get all the details, unless you want to do it first.

i'm lazy, remember?

winner winner, chicken dinner

the teen, as you might have guessed, is a member of the official jonas brothers fan club. when we set up the membership, we provided my e-mail address for all communications, since she didn't check hers all that often ("i don't really need to look at it that much, mom, all my friends either text me or i see them at school all the time.").

last week, i received an e-mail announcing that a special sneak preview of the JB's new 3D concert movie was going to be screened, with tickets available by invitation only. each fan club member was allowed to submit for themselves and a guest, plus a parent if they were under 16 or something like that, for a random drawing. and so, of course, i completed an entry for the teen and BFF, hit "send," and promptly forgot all about it. she wasn't home last week, but i knew without a doubt that she would bust a nut at the opportunity.

i told her about it in a text message later that night, and of course she was excited at the prospect of seeing the movie before anyone else, and at the el capitan theater to boot. but i warned her that it was a long shot, just like the meet & greet contests we've entered before. and then i reminded her that i would be more than happy to take her to a midnight showing when the movie premiered to the general public, at the end of the month. she was happy.

but not nearly as happy as when we got home on friday after school and i opened my e-mail. i read it aloud to the teen, who stared at me in shock:

"GET EXCITED, because you and a guest have won a seat at the JONAS BROTHERS 3D MOVIE SECRET SCREENING SUNDAY. FEBRUARY 8TH! We couldn't be more excited to share this experience with some of our biggest JB supporters. Don't forget to show your Jonas Brother love and rock all your best JB gear. You got it, rock it!"

and then the squealing began.

and continued, for a solid five minutes.

it only ended when i reminded her to call BFF and tell her not to make any plans for sunday. she grabbed the phone and this came out, all in a rush:

"ohmygodyouwon'tbelievethisyouandiaregoingtotheelcapitan
onsundaywe'regonnaseethejonas3dmoviebeforeanybodyelse
ohmygodohmygodohmygod!"

and then i could hear BFF's squealing from where i sat, five feet away. heh. i mused aloud that perhaps the JBs might make an appearance, but that it was a long shot since the grammys were the same night, across town at the staples center. they were nominated for best new artist, so i thought there was a chance, albeit a slim one.

so yesterday, we hopped in the car, picked up BFF, and headed to hollywood. on our way, we passed the pantages theater, where the teen and i'll be headed in may to see dirty dancing on stage.

as requested, the teen donned her official JB concert tee, plus nerd glasses and fuzzy zebra JB tote bag and buttons.

as we drove past the theater in search of parking, i was a little surprised to note that there weren't hordes of excited fans standing in line outside. i turned into the parking structure for hollywood & highland, just across the street, found parking easily, and then we headed out.

when we got to the el capitan and made our way to the entrance, the security guards directed us to the alley just down the way to join the line. that explained the lack of folks out front, and i was a little concerned about what we would find when we got there.

but my worries were unfounded, as we got in the line of maaaaaybe a hundred other lucky winners. we stood there for probably an hour, with the girls excited and me freezing my ass off, and then when a couple of cameramen came by, the screaming began. they panned over the line, with the crowd cheering and chanting "jonas! jonas! jonas!" and amazingly, my outgoing, attention-whoring teen and BFF hunched their shoulders and avoided the camera when it came near them. ugh! the teen even tried to cover up to hide her JB paraphernalia, although the lady who was working with the cameramen pointed and smiled and called out "i see you over there, you can't hide!"

i told her "i don't get the camera shyness. they're HUGE fans and saw the jonas brothers in concert SEVEN times last year!"

her eyes got as big as salad plates at this tidbit. "oh my goodness! you ARE big fans! i'll find you later," and she winked at them.

i thought the teen was going to shank me with those dagger eyes.

the e-mail i'd received also said that no cameras or cell phones with cameras were going to be allowed inside, and so i hid my iPhone inside my wallet. heh. the teen stuck hers down her shirt, and BFF left her phone in the car. and as the line finally moved and we got to the entrance, we saw that they weren't fucking around with that - they were taking cameras and holding them until after the movie was over. damn. and so i didn't take a lot of pictures - i didn't want to have to check my phone in. eff that noise.

after we found seats, i went and got some snacks and drinks, and when i returned, the girls were sitting next to a couple of ladies who were munching popcorn out of special JB-adorned buckets. i hadn't seen them at the concession stand, so i poked the teen and told her to ask them where they'd gotten them - i would've headed back to buy them for the girls, who i knew would totally want one.

"oh, we're media," they said. "they just gave these to us." and then one of them eyed the girls, decked out in their jonas gear, and said "but if you'd like, we can give them to you when we're all done."

the girls happily accepted, and i thanked them - that was nice. as i settled into my seat and dug into my own popcorn, i noticed sam rubin, ktla's entertainment reporter, sitting in front of us with two little girls. and that was the extent of our "celeb" sightings for the day. oh, well.

the movie itself was a JB fan's wet dream - tons of concert footage, a peek into the brothers' lives during the day and backstage, with most of it set in new york city. i thought it was interesting that the movie seemed to be set completely in NYC, even though we knew that the concert footage was all shot at the honda center in anaheim - at two of the shows we'd seen last summer. anyway, it was fun to watch in 3D, and the sound was so clear that it really did feel like we were at the concert all over again.

afterwards, the girls posed in front of the movie ads (passing ushers were heard snickering as i snapped this, but we didn't give a shit):

ignored the request to return the 3D glasses:

and then we headed back across the street to pick up a couple of cream puffs before heading home.

i got my parking ticket validated, we found our way back to the car, and i paid my whopping $2 for parking. woo-hoo!

free movie, cheap parking, good times.