you got me feelin' emotions

although it's very unlike us, we actually waited an entire week before seeing the newest disney/pixar movie, "inside out."  i mean, we're usually all about heading out to watch new releases as soon as they hit the theaters.  but this time, our schedules were just so jammed that we had no choice but to wait.  at least it was worth it, though - we scored discounted tickets via goldstar to see it at the best theater ever...the el capitan.

we always park at the hollywood & highland complex just across the street, and when we got up to street level we noticed lots of activity for 9:30 on a sunday morning.

yup - ah-nuld is back for another "terminator" movie, and the premiere was apparently happening that day.  the road was blocked off, tons of equipment was being set up, and people were already camped out across the street to get the best view of the goings-on.

we had zero interest in all that business, though.  we were all about "inside out," and we were excited to finally be there to see it.

i always love listening to the disney music performed by a live organist at the theater, who then gets swallowed up by the stage when it's time for the show to begin.

the lights went down, the curtain went up:

and then the fun began.

the "music of light" pre-show was fun to watch, with dancers representing the emotions of "inside out" doing their best to entertain the crowd.

having heard from all sorts of people that it really was a very emotional movie, we came prepared - my tote was packed with kleenex, and i made sure to wear the waterproof mascara that morning.  of course, i was already boohooing at the "lava" short that came before the movie, and then found myself doing the ugly cry during at least two scenes.  i was all torn up and emotionally drained by the end, and the bean had taken one look at my tear-stained face and started cracking up.  hmph.

she's no stranger to emotions, though.  when the old lady's manfriend left after spending the weekend with us, he left her this super sweet note to find when she woke up in the morning:

she read it and promptly burst into tears.  oh, boy.  if this is an indication of what the teen years are like...we're all in for one hell of a ride.

get your jazz hands out

the bean has been working hard with her jazz dance class for months on perfecting their routine for the annual recital.  i've sat in on enough of their rehearsals to where i could practically do it with them - although nobody wants that, heh.

we'd already done a trial run on her hair, makeup and costume the week before, when we all met at the studio to do their official recital portraits.  remember the car selfie?

this time, it was a group car selfie.

while the hub joined the growing line at the entrance, i took her around back to the dancers' entrance. of course, before i let her go, i grabbed this:

we checked in at the table, and then she was gone.

VIP style, suckas.

no, but really though.  we snagged second-row seats right in the middle.  they were the closest spots we'd ever gotten for any of her dance recitals - this being her fourth one.  can you believe that?

mama wan joined us for the show, too.

it was an entertaining show - the dancers are all really good from this studio, and it was fun to watch them.  i do have to admit that sitting that close is a little awkward at times, because while you can see every detail from that distance, like a sequin falling off of a costume or facial expressions...so can the performers.  you know?  so we all had to plaster perms-grins on our faces, which was a little weird.  but it was okay.  i really like watching the dancers' feet anyway, especially during complicated tap routines.

there was a demonstration of taiko drumming, which is a new class being offered for the summer session.

intermission time!

the bean's class was fourth in the lineup after intermission was over.  like i said, i've seen this routine a bazillion times - but it's so much more awesome with the girls up onstage in full costumes and everything.  i was so excited, and even a little nervous, and i kept tearing up like the sap we all know i am.  they scampered onto the stage and lined up in their positions, ready to go.  our girl is second from the right.

these girls are so pro, man.  the music began ("in the mood") and they swung right into that routine like it was second nature.  well, i suppose for them, it really was.  i was so proud of the bean, i could hardly see through the tears.  she was doing such a great job - they all were.

and then...it was over.

after two full hours and over forty numbers later, it was finally over.  we'd seen a lot of the same dancers used over and over in most of the routines, and while they're all fantastic, they could easily cut the recital down to an hour and still be able to feature every dancer in the studio.  they each came out, hand in hand, to take a bow.

my one major annoyance was this woman, who was of course seated directly in front of me.  she would lift her hands up and wave at the dancers, most of which probably had no idea who she was.  it was so irritating, and when the bean came out to take her bow, just as my mom picked up her camera to take pictures, she started waving again.  total cockblocker.  i leaned forward, tapped her on the shoulder, and asked her really politely to stop waving so that we could take photos.  she put her arm down for about a second before she did it again.

i exchanged angry glances with my mom, waited a few more seconds, and asked her again.  i promise you, i was completely polite with my request despite my annoyance, and she turned her head and said something that i couldn't quite make out, but from the body language and the tone of her voice i could totally tell that it was something rude.

RAGE.  damn, she was lucky i didn't yank her stupid hair out of her damn head and smack her on her stupid face.  i'm getting all riled up just thinking about it.

we made our way out of there soon afterwards and headed off to the side entrance to pick up our little dancer.  the old lady and her manfriend had brought flowers, which she happily accepted.  he's one of her favorite people, and he probably has no idea that he actually has TWO girlfriends.

the hub was already in the car, so i got a post-show photo with her, just the two of us.

she's decided to do another year of jazz, so after a bit of a break for summer, she'll be at it again in august to hone those skills and start working on the new routine for next year's recital.  and then we'll get to do this alllllll over again!

the flux capacitor was...fluxing

one of the old lady's all-time favorite movies is "back to the future."  so when we saw that the hollywood bowl was going to do a screening to celebrate its 30th anniversary (WUT) with a live orchestra playing the soundtrack, we bought tickets as soon as they went on sale.

as we've always done in the past, we hit up the shuttle that picks up in arcadia.  it's the only way to go to the bowl - driving there and trying to deal with the stack parking that's the only option is a nightmare.  this way, we just sit back in the air-conditioned bus, relax, and hang out while we breeze through the traffic and get dropped off right in front.

it was an odd day, weather-wise.  out of nowhere, between being butt ass hot and humid as all hell, we were getting gigantic raindrops that dried as soon as they hit the ground.  while i don't really mind the rain, the hollywood bowl doesn't allow umbrellas and i wasn't really all about sitting on a wooden bench in the rain, with both girls and opening up the possibility of getting sick.  meh.  luckily, the rain didn't follow us to hollywood, and when we arrived it was still warm and humid, but no more drops.

one of the deloreans was on display as we got off the bus.  obviously, it was quite popular with the crowd.

if you look really closely in the middle of this shot, you'll catch a glimpse of that fabulous 4x4 truck that marty was so excited to find in his garage at the end of the movie.

the bean has only seen parts of the movie here and there.  she wasn't all that excited about this outing, but she put her game face on and followed along.

she was pretty amused, as we all were, at the folks who came dressed in costume.

our seats were pretty easy to find and in a great spot - right in the middle of the theater.  we'd stopped to grab a few of the $1 seat cushion rentals, hoping to save our asses from going numb on the benches.

we were happy to get settled and start munching on the dinner we'd brought along - but first, let me take a selfie.

the old lady had a delicious korean bbq rice bowl, and there were poke bowls for me and the bean:

taking note of the obnoxiously loud group sitting behind us, i snapped this...just in case.

we didn't use it, although the noise didn't stop throughout the entire movie.  and then there was the family of four who arrived to take the seats next to the bean, crowding her and eventually asking me to move over because the one on the end of the bench was apparently falling off.  i explained that i didn't have any room to slide over, since there were numbered seats next to me.  "well, just move over so that we can fit on the bench and if they come to get their seats we'll move back."  grrrr.

despite the annoyances, we tried our best to sit back and enjoy the show.  after all, who doesn't love watching marty's antics with doc brown?

the folks holding tickets for the seats next to me did arrive, by the way, just as the movie began.  luckily, they just sat right down and didn't notice that i was encroaching upon their territory.  they were politely friendly (as much as one needs to be when sitting in close quarters on a wooden bench) and just enjoyed the evening.

it was well past the bean's bedtime when the scene faded to black halfway through the movie.  this flashed on the screen, and then the lights came up.

and then i looked over to find this:

she was such a trooper, man.  she slept right through the second half of the movie despite the hooting and hollering of the audience and woke up so that she could walk down the hill to get to the shuttle.  as we made our way through the crowd, we got stuck next to some dude who had a gigantic cooler slung over his shoulder and kept weaving from side to side, nearly crashing into her several times without even noticing what he was doing. i literally shoved his ass to the side at least half a dozen times to keep him from knocking her over.  ugh.  i don't like people.

thankfully, the shuttle was easy to find and had plenty of seats when we got there.  the bean crashed for the entire ride home, and then slept some more in the car.  it was almost midnight when we got home, and having gone on a field trip to the roller skating rink earlier in the day, she was just done.

maybe one day she'll actually see the end of the movie.