an extraordinary date night with the girls

did you ever watch zoey's extraordinary playlist on NBC?  it was a super cute show that ran for two seasons with a cast that included jane levy, skylar astin, and mary steenburgen.  i was super bummed when it was cancelled because there was still so much story they could have told.  plus it was very glee-like, and you know how much i loved that show.  but while the regular show was cancelled, somehow they got the roku channel to pick them up to do a christmas movie, which gave the fans hope that maybe they'd get picked up for at least one more season.  as of right now i don't think anything has been confirmed, though.  bummer.

so anyway, when i saw a post on twitter that was offering free tickets to a screening of the christmas movie, i jumped right on it.  it was going to be at a movie theater somewhere in downtown l.a., with the creator of the show, the cast and other key people present. i managed to secure three seats, and although neither of the girls had ever seen the show they were game to go with me.  thank goodness, because it would have been kind of sad to go all by myself. 

the theater was located in one of those newer trendy shopping centers in the financial district, and it was pretty easy to find and park (which is always my concern when heading out to the west side).  

since we'd arrived early, we walked around a little to check out what shops and restaurants there were.  i'd read that the theater was one of those dine-in spots, so we decided to just head over and see if we might be seated early.

the staffers there were friendly and helpful and directed us to a spot in line for check-in.  there weren't too many people there when we arrived, but it got busier as time went by.  the red carpet was behind us:

at the check-in desk, i showed our e-tickets and our proof of vaccination and then we were handed tickets with our assigned seats plus masks to wear while inside.

we stopped at the bar, but found that it wasn't yet open for business.  oh well.

upstairs there was a fun photo op, and since we still had plenty of time and there weren't too many people in line we stopped to take a picture because why not?

we went into our theater and found our seats, where we each had a bucket of popcorn and a special themed menu along with the other regular menu items to order from.

i had to try the spiked hot cocoa served with two sugar cookies, while the old lady opted for the spiked eggnog.

the old lady had the buffalo cauliflower bites for her appetizer:

while the bean went for the non-spiked hot cocoa and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.  hey, it was the christmas season.  cookies are kind of required like every day, right?

the food was typically overpriced, but at least it was decent.  i only got a picture of my pizza, but i don't think you'll have any trouble visualizing a plate of chicken tenders and a salad, right?

i'd given the girls a quick summary of what the show was about, although the movie also kicked off with a nice little recap of the storyline so that anyone could watch it even if they hadn't been fans of the original show.  the movie was just as cute and fun as the show, and they said they enjoyed it.  when it was over the creator of the show and the cast assembled for a Q&A in an adjacent theater, and someone set up a laptop to stream it for those of us in the other theaters to see.

it was a school night and we got home kind of late, but it was worth it.  at least i think it was.  heh.

fourteen years later

the girls and i had every intention of heading down to the 'land yesterday afternoon, but when the old lady got home and we were just kind of hanging out, the thought of driving down to anaheim (likely in traffic, and most definitely to a park full of families finally out of school for the summer) just didn't appeal anymore.  not to mention, the bean was happily snoozing away on the couch and looking really comfy.

when she woke up, we tried to come up with something else fun to do - her cheer team was having a fundraiser at a local mexican restaurant.  but it didn't sound good to any of us, and that idea was vetoed pretty quickly.  we revisited the idea of going to disneyland even just to grab some fun treats and maybe watch fireworks, but the laziness won out.  and then as i was perusing the showtimes for the local movie theater, i found it:  an incredibles doubleheader on the IMAX screen.  there were still a handful of seats available, so i bought our tickets using the app and that was that.  even better, the IMAX shows always have assigned seats.  i hate having to find seats when we're walking in at the last minute.

we had just enough time to feed the dog, grab some mcdonald's grub so we wouldn't be hungry, and walked in just as the first movie started.  apparently when it's a special event like that, they don't prolong it with a bunch of previews, and i was glad that we had all seen the first incredibles movie plenty of times so we hadn't missed a thing.

it was fun to see the movie up on the big screen again, and i hadn't realized that the first one was 14 years ago.  that's a long time to wait for a sequel.  when it came to an end, the girls headed out to grab something to drink and a small popcorn for us to share while i stayed in my seat and waited for the next movie to start.  the intermission wasn't very long, and i was a little alarmed when the theater went dark again and the girls weren't back yet.

the writer and director of the movie appeared onscreen to introduce the movie, along with some commentary by the cast.

i'd forgotten about the adorable-looking short that we'd see before the movie started, and the girls still weren't back.  yikes.

they finally returned to their seats a couple of minutes into the short, and i was finally able to relax and enjoy.  i won't spoil it for you, but i will tell you that i definitely cried at the end.  heh.

movie time!

i really liked this one.  they picked up right where the first one left off, and even though it was a little longer than a lot of animated movies (almost 2 full hours!), i was completely entertained through the whole thing.  the bean said she really liked it too, although the old lady wasn't sure if she liked it or not.  but since she'll get another chance to make a final decision about it when she takes her special friend to see it.

it comes out in full release tomorrow.  go see it!  you'll love it.

friday full o'fun

so on friday, the bean got to skip school in the morning so she could attend a fun event at the local all-girls' high school.  she's part of their "lucy cubs" program for girls in grades K-8th, where she's pen pals with one of the seniors.  she's received a few super cute cards, including one on her birthday, and so she was pretty excited to attend the first "lucy cub day."  they were going to get to meet their pen pals, go through stations on campus where they'd do activities in science, dance and art and then have lunch together.

there was a super fun photo op when we got to the check-in:

guys.  class of 2026. holy crap.

she said they'd done some fun ballet moves during the dance class, worked on an art project that would be displayed at the school during their open house next month, and made some pink sparkly slime as the science activity.

and during lunch, she happened to run into a freshman who'd been her cheer sister when she was on the squad at school.  they got to sit together and she was so excited to spend some time with her.

i took her to school when the event was over so she could get caught up on her weekly tests and things, and then later on when her sister came home from work we headed out to catch a showing of "a wrinkle in time."

we loved that movie, by the way.  it's totally worth a trip to the movie theater.

later still, we were joined by the old lady's special friend for a trip out to K-1 speed - site of the bean's last birthday party.  we signed up to do a race together, and i was a little startled to learn that she'd grown so much since october that she was tall enough to drive the adult cars with us.

the headgear is so attractive.

we had a blast during our race and stopped for a couple of pictures on the way out.

for dinner we ended up at a brand-new dumpling house, stopped at a super popular boba tea spot and then went home to crash for the night.

i'm not sure we could've packed any more fun in that day if we'd tried.  good times.

well hello there, 2018

we kicked off new year's eve day with some homemade bacon waffles.  the batter we used was so fluffy and lovely that by the time i finished making everyone's plates and got around to my own, i had just enough for this cute little mini waffle:

that's okay though, because that also meant that i got to use up the rest of the bacon.  heh.  and i poured myself a lovely mimosa to wash it down with:

the hub had had the bright idea to have the bean invite a handful of her friend over to celebrate the new year, sleepover optional.  we gave her a limit of 5 friends to ask, but being totally last-minute we were only able to get 2 of them to come over, with just one available to spend the night.  one friend was spending the night on colorado boulevard with her family to watch the rose parade the next morning, another had a family gathering and then one girl had to drop out at the last minute.

we'd actually had a bunch of grand ideas for NYE - we'd looked at hotels, considered vegas, debated a cabin up in the mountains...and ended up staying home like we always do (which isn't a bad thing, because it's always nice to be comfy and cozy without having to deal with the craziness out in the world on new year's).  we headed to party city to pick up some decorations and fun party supplies, stopped to grab some snacks to serve and then headed back home to get the house ready for a fun evening.

i mean...someone had to test out the photobooth, right?

and the bean laid out her party plan on paper.  gotta love it.

of course, when her friends arrived, all those well-thought-out plans went right out the window as they squealed with joy at being able to spend some time together doing nothing but having fun.  they hung out in the bean's room, stopped to eat some pizza and ended up playing a fun game on the floor for awhile.

they disappeared for awhile into the bean's room, where i later discovered the hard way that they'd pulled out her slime collection.  one of the girls came out with a big ass clump of pink slime stuck in her hair, and so we spent the next 15 minutes working on getting it out.  "we can just cut it out," she said.  um, no way was i going to send anyone home with a chunk of missing hair.  luckily, a combination of ice and then warm water got it all out with minimal damage, and they went back to playing until her dad arrived to pick her up.

meanwhile, the hub and i were hanging out on the couch, drinking the most delicious hot chocolate i'd made in the instant pot and watching ryan seacrest do his best to entertain the crowds freezing out in times square.

we got the bean to stop and pose for a second so we could snap our annual new year's eve photo:

and then she and her friend picked a movie on tv and got comfy on the couch.

the hub and i moved to our room to keep watching seacrest, where i naturally fell asleep because comfy warm bed.  it looked like this was going to be the year that i slept right through the countdown, but luckily the girls started up with the noisemakers a few minutes early and i got up with two minutes to spare.  they'd headed outside with the hub to shoot off the confetti cannons, and i was briefly concerned about waking up all the neighbors.  but at the stroke of midnight we heard all sorts of firecrackers and fireworks shooting off all around us, and so we let them run around hooting and hollering like crazy people for a few minutes.

when we went back inside i saw the fort that they'd built in the living room while i snoozed happily in my bed.

the next morning, we all got up and i decided it was the perfect morning for not just waffles, but cinnamon roll waffles.

it was fun watching the hub and the old lady go at it with the new game we'd just bought.  thanks mom - this is one of two family fun board games we picked up with those target gift cards!

and later, when the hub headed off to check on how the lounge was doing after a couple of days away, the bean finally got to have a playdate with one of her friends while the rest of us went to the mall to do some exchanges and spend some christmas cash.  how great are these $560 christian dior sunglasses??

okay, not really.  i actually thought they made me look like johnny depp in the willy wonka movie, which made me laugh.  but check out these mickey jelly shoes i spied in the shoe department:

i think maybe they were playing hide and seek.  heh.

when it was time to pick up the bean from her friend's house, we took her straight over to my cousin's house to exchange presents with the kids and drop her off for a surprise sleepover.  they were all elated to see each other, and it was nice to see them all.  after grabbing some delicious mexican food to go, the old lady's special friend headed home to get some rest before going back to work the next day while the two of us headed to the local movie theater to catch a showing of "pitch perfect 3."

we definitely enjoyed this one more than the sequel, which had been pretty bad.  and now i've almost seen all of the christmastime releases on my list - jumanji, the greatest showman, pitch perfect 3 and the last jedi.  the old lady and i will probably go see that last one next week, when the bean goes back to school and our lives go back to normal.

it's so hard to believe that the holidays are over and we're in a brand new year.  i know i say it every year, but MAN, 2017 flew by like it was nothing.  time just moves too fast for me these days.  i just need everything to slow down a little so we can take everything in and enjoy it all.

which, of course, means that all that's going to happen is that it'll all go by even faster.  gah.