bye bye to the bowl (for now)

so we did actually manage to squeeze in one more trip to the hollywood bowl for this summer, and it was a somewhat last-minute addition to our schedule thanks to a super duper deal i found online.  the show was a new production of "annie," which i've seen a handful of times on stage and on the movie screen.  i scored tickets for just over $30 apiece, and after the sticker shock of the valet parking price increase that we discovered last time, i scooped up shuttle tickets that cost us $7 per person, round trip.  we got to arcadia park to board the bus in plenty of time, and we were on our merry way without having to deal with traffic or parking or any kind of hassle.

we got to the bowl about half an hour before showtime, giving us just enough time to pick up some bottled water in the little market and make our way to our seats.  for $30 we had a pretty decent view:

i'd gone out to gioia cheese earlier that day to pick up some burrata and used it to top a quick salad i threw together with some arugula, olive oil, sea salt and prosciutto.  each of us had one of these to enjoy:

the bean isn't typically one to eat salad, but she adores burrata and prosciutto and so i managed to bribe her into downing that serving of arugula with it.  i think even she was a little surprised to find the she actually kind of...liked it.  heh.

the old lady had requested tater tot casserole for our main course, and i'd found the perfect disposable containers at dollar tree that i used to bake it in.  i'd wrapped the containers in kitchen towels and put them in an insulated bag, and we were happy to see that the casserole stayed nice and warm until we were ready to eat it.

and because this was an event put on by the hollywood bowl, the rules were a little different and we were allowed to bring our own wine.  tater tot casserole and stella rosa black...klassy, yes?

we managed to get one group selfie that evening, photobombed and all.

as for the show, it was okay.  there were a handful of names we recognized in the cast:  lea salonga, david alan grier, ana gasteyer, megan hilty.  and it was kind of cool that they used those big red "annie" letters in such creative ways.

they would move across the stage, rotate to reveal set pieces, light up, split apart.  they made some minor changes to the story that i didn't love, but i'm sure they had to make some changes to shake things up a little.  the cast was pretty awesome, too.

but i think that it'll probably be awhile before we head back to the bowl.  it'll have to be something really good, and it'd be awesome if we could spring for box seats.  sitting on those bench seats gets pretty uncomfortable, and we're always crammed in next to people with not much room in between us.  not to mention, it really is kind of a pain in the ass packing up and getting there, hustling to get the shuttle and then elbowing our way through the crowds when the show is over to get back to that shuttle again.  not to mention, this time i noticed a bunch of bugs that were crawling up and down the stairs next to me, and if you know me at all i'm not okay with bugs anywhere near me.  like, at all.  ew.

dang.  i sound like such a crotchety old bag, don't i?  i guess that's what happens when you're in your...late 40s.  BAH.

still waiting to be discovered

remember when i told you that the girls and i got to attend a taping of nickelodeon's double dare reboot?  we'd been told that our episode was going to be the third one of the season, so when they started airing we kept an eye on the schedule to make sure we didn't miss it.

except that it didn't exactly happen that way.  so what i didn't tell you in the last post was that the kids who were competing on our episode were - well, let's just say they weren't exactly as enthusiastic as you'd typically see contestants on a game show being.  they all struggled to answer most of the questions and performed their physical challenges rather woodenly.  and so as time went on and we didn't see our team names showing up on the tv guide, we started to lose hope that we'd ever see it.  although i suppose they had an obligation to eventually air all of the episodes that were taped, and so we just kept waiting and hoping.

finally, about six weeks after we'd sat in that live studio audience, our episode aired.  yay!  we finally had a chance to sit down and watch it the other night, and were a little relieved when the nickelodeon folks did their magic and somehow managed to edit the footage into something that was a lot more interesting to watch than what we'd seen.

they didn't pan out to the audience a whole lot, but about nine minutes into the show, we saw them:

the camera actually stopped and focused on these two for a good five-plus seconds, and i cackled all over again at the memory of the producers seating the old lady with all the kids in one of the front rows.  unlike her mother and her sister, she doesn't like having any attention on her, and as we paused and rewound to watch them onscreen again i could tell she was torn between being excited to be on tv and mortified to be on tv.  heh.  and then as we got to the obstacle course finale, we spotted them again.  only this time, the bean was easy to spot while the old lady was mostly hidden behind a sign.

as for me, i was a little disappointed (but not surprised) as we watched and the camera never came my way.  and then as the end credits started to roll, the old lady yelled out "WAIT, LOOK!" and hit pause:

yaaaaaaay.  i made it on tv after all!  hahahahahahahaha.  and if you want to see our episode for yourself, it's episode 22:  kickin' cousins vs. seeker savages.

hit up that on demand!  the shot of the girls is totally worth watching.  don't tell the old lady i told you.

cooling off down in the OC

we've been experiencing crazy ridiculous heat 'round these parts for quite awhile now.  it's nothing new, of course - i'm pretty sure i've complained here about the heat during the dead of summer plenty of times over the years.  ugh.

our usual method of trying to escape the high temperatures at home is to head to the beach, and with the bean's cheer team doing a beach day down in corona del mar, we stuck to our tried-and-true.  except that we got a really late start because everyone slept in and then got involved in various tasks around the house, which didn't get us packed and out the door until well after 1:00.  and so by the time we arrived at the beach to join the rest of the team, there was zero parking and it was already the tail end of the designated time for the party anyway.  and so we decided to head off to another beach not too far way that was a lot less crowded.

on our way there i saw this car in front of us and recognized it immediately.  if you're a "real housewives of orange county" fan, you might know who was behind the wheel:

and if you're not, well, the name vicki gunvalson will probably mean nothing to you anyway.  heh.

we ended up in huntington beach, where the bean was super thrilled to frolic in the water and cool off while we relaxed in a couple of chairs and enjoyed the ocean breeze.

later on, we connected with the old lady and her special friend and had the hub drop us off here:

(the hub doesn't love the fair, like at all, so he headed on home and left us to enjoy all the deep fried crap we wanted)

our first stop was to cram ourselves into a photo booth, which is something we've always talked about doing but always forgot.  too bad we didn't all actually make it INTO the finished shots.  ha!

i got myself one of these "over 21" wristbands, just in case i decided to take advantage of my status as not-driver-just-passenger.

i wanted to see the cookies and other baked goods that were submitted for this year's competition, so we went into the culinary arts building.  i'm not quite sure what was happening here, but it's pretty funny especially considering the old lady had already had at least one beer before we got there and hadn't had much to eat that day.

there are a lot of folks who don't know the difference between a macaron and a macaroon, so this was kind of fun to see.

there were quotes from famous culinary icons all over the building, and this one was particularly poignant.

we also love looking at the tablescape competition entries, and these two were our favorites:

the bean got to indulge in something i don't typically let her order:  fried cheese on a stick.

the old lady went big and ordered the chicken in a waffle.

it's hard for me to resist a plate o'bacon-wrapped drumsticks.  so i don't.

and the special friend bucked the trend and opted for the only healthy item on the menu:  a chicken kabob served with hummus and pita, which actually looked really good.

there was a cheap trick concert happening in the hangar.

we browsed through the shopping buildings, which is always one of our favorite activities at the fair.  it's so fun to look at all the stuff for sale, and i was pretty proud of myself for managing to walk out of there without buying a single thing.  although this booth was interesting...only in the OC would you find authentic louis vuitton and chanel at the fair.

the bean loves the footsie wootsie machines.  i'm not gonna lie, i would've hopped onto one myself if i'd had another quarter.

and she was super excited to find this vendor.  it's her favorite at the l.a. county fair, and who doesn't love fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and milk?

obligatory ferris wheel photos.

i hate carnival rides because they're so rickety and i really don't trust them, so the bean was super stoked when i gave in and bought a ride card so she could go through this fun house.  i don't remember what i said at this point, but it must've been really funny because this lady totally cackled at me.  i'm just here to spread joy, people.

she had enough credits to go down the goliath slide:

and play at least one game.  she went for the one game that guarantees a prize, which basically takes zero skill aside from being able to pick up a rubber ducky.  sheesh.

back at the chicken charlie's booth for a treat, we eyed the krispy kreme cheeseburger as it was served to another customer.  the old lady had really been tempted to try it this year, but chickened out and ended up really glad she had as she looked at it.  blech.

we shared a deep-fried twinkie, and while it was pretty tasty a bite or two was more than enough.

one last photo op before we called it a night.  i'm so thrilled that the bean is in the "too cool to smile for pictures unless you bribe me with something really really good" stage.

and now we have just a few weeks left until the l.a. county fair opens.  the bean has a painting submitted for the art competition, while i'm mulling over design ideas for this year's cookie entry.  i really want that pink 4th place ribbon, guys.  maybe this will be my year!

can't say no to the 626

so we've been going to the 626 night market for a few years now.  it's always a good time, and we always eat all sorts of fantastically delicious food there.  and even though after the last time we said that maybe we'd skip the next one because the vendors are pretty much always the same...well, we can't ever resist the call of the night market.

we decided to head out to arcadia for the july weekend a little later in the evening, like we'd done last month.  it's been insanely butt ass hot, and although going at 4 helps to avoid the giant crowds and catch a lot of the vendors when everything is fresh and fully stocked, the allure of cooler evening weather was a bigger draw for us.

the bean spotted this as soon as we walked in, and she just absolutely had to have one.

her sushi "taco" consisted of a crispy seaweed shell filled with sushi rice, krab mix, fresh chunks of salmon and cream cheese cubes coated in a seasoned sesame seed mix.  she devoured it quite happily.

she washed it down with an old fashioned lemonade, topped with a pretty flower.

the old lady really wanted to try the "flamin' spam musubi," featuring crispy fried spam dipped in a hot cheetos batter, but they were already sold out of them.  bummer.  but she consoled herself with a refreshing strawberry watermelon juice drink served in a giant baby bottle.  looks ridiculous, but considering the purchase included free refills she was all about it.

we decided to stop here and grab some snow crab fries:

they were fairly spicy, so the old lady's special friend got to enjoy most of them.

they stopped here for cups of spicy seasoned roasted corn in a cup:

while i decided to try a new-to-us booth that offered fresh crab rolls.  it was pretty delicious, but not quite as good as my beloved lobsta truck's version.

here, the old lady ordered a ramen burrito and got a chance to spin their wheel to win a prize.  she let her sister do it, and she was pretty stoked to win a 6-pack of indomie ramen noodles packed in a cute little tote.

we capped off the night with a stop at ridges churro bar for an ice cream sundae.  this was the "nutella nut" - vanilla ice cream drizzled with a nutella glaze and topped with chopped nuts and a churro.  you can see how that went over.

the next night market is scheduled for a couple of weeks from now, and while i can sit here and say that we could easily skip it and not miss a thing, we all know better.  besides, it only lasts through summer, which means there'll probably only be one or two weekends left.  gotta squeeze it in as much as we can while we can, amirite??