Whimsic Alley

I recently heard about a Harry Potter themed store, called Whimsic Alley, located in Los Angeles. I have NO idea how I wasn’t aware of this sooner. While they were in town for Christmas, I took my parents, who are also big Harry Potter fans, to this store located on Wilshire Blvd. The large space was set up to look like a row of stores in Diagon Alley. Each little section sold different things; for instance, there was a store for robes, one for jewelry, one for wands, one for magical supplies. They also had a ton of merchandise from all of the various films. They did a great job of staying in theme with Harry Potter magic. I spent a while browsing every little item they had, and eventually settled on buying a large bag with the Hogwarts crest on it. It was a hard decision between that and a necklace with a snitch charm.

Work Christmas Party

My office held their annual holiday party this week. I wasn’t able to attend last year because I had the flu, so this was the first one I’d ever attended. We went to a really nice restaurant nearby called Buffalo Club. They had a little lounge area and long table set up for us in the back. I couldn’t decide between 2 different items on the menu, and one of my coworkers was having the same trouble with the same items, so we each ordered one and then split it! Before our food arrived, we played a White Elephant gift exchange. I’d never done a gift exchange like that before. It was a great way to handle a work gift giving situation, so that no one has to buy a bunch of gifts, no one is left out, and no one’s gift is perceived as unpopular. I ended up with a pair of AMC Gold Experience passes and a bunch of movie theater candy, which was a pretty perfect gift for me.

Utah!

Over the weekend, my boyfriend and I went to Utah. I’ve been to Utah several times during the summer, but have never been in the winter. I’ve also never really seen snow, like real live snow collected on the ground. It was SO AWESOME. It was all fluffy and white and pretty, and it was everywhere!! IIt was really cold while we were there (to me, at least) but I layered appropriately and never felt overwhelmingly cold.

We stayed at this really cool resort in Park City, the same place where Sundance takes place. While we were there, we went tubing, which was so much fun! I don’t think I could ever be coordinated enough to go skiing or snowboarding or whatever, so this was much more up my alley. All you have to do is sit in a inner-tube and fly down a hill. It was great!!!

I really want to go back someday. Utah was so beautiful in the winter.

Gym

After months of talking about it, I’ve finally joined a gym! A couple of the girls from work and I went in on it and only have to pay a very reasonable fee. Conveniently, one of the gyms is right next door to my work. It’s not one of the fancier gyms in LA, but it’ll do for what I need it for. I only know how to use a few of the machines, but hopefully I’ll be able to figure out the other ones.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Mindy Kaling recently did a book signing for her new book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And Other Concerns at the Grove. This was the 2nd book signing I’ve been to at the Barnes & Noble there, so I kind of knew what I was getting myself into. I got there early enough that I was in the 2nd group of people: not super far in line, but close enough that it shouldn’t be too crazy a wait. Mindy did a little Q&A and reading beforehand, which was pretty cool because she’s really funny and personable. The character she plays on The Office, Kelly, is one of my favorites. Plus, I really admire that she is not only an actress on the show, but also a writerand producer, and has had a ton of say on the direction of her character over the course of the show.

Anyway, after that, the signing started. I figured it wouldn’t take very long to get through the line, but then it turned out that she was spending a little time with each person, plus signing the book and taking a picture. Which is nice and all, but it made the wait time quite a bit longer! During my wait, I started reading the book and actually got through half of it! After nearly 2 hours, I made it to the front of the line! Mindy signed my book and then the employee took an awkward camera phone picture because I forgot my camera. Oh well.

Dentist

I finally broke down and decided to use my health insurance, which I’ve had for nearly 2 years without using it. Over Thanksgiving, while I was still in Houston, I went to the dentist, my first trip there in TEN years!! I was absolutely terrified that I would have cavities, or worse! One of my coworkers recently went to the dentist after nearly as long a time as I, and she had a bunch of cavities.

The ordeal was pretty much what I remembered from past visits. At the end, they gave me the good news - I had no cavities!!! WHEW. I guess I can go another ten years before I go back, then!

Day Zero Project

I’ve never been much a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. That said, I love the idea behind the Day Zero project, which encourages you to make 101 goals to complete in the next 1001 days. I feel like 3ish years is a good amount of time to accomplish some pretty awesome things.

You can find mine here.

One of my goals is to blog about each goal I complete!

Nightmare Before Christmas 4D

For Halloween, my boyfriend and I went to the El Capitan, where they were showing Nightmare Before Christmas in 4D. That’s right, a whole extra dimension! Not only was it in 3D, there were also elements of the movie that actually took place right there in the theater, jumping off the screen. This mainly amounted to fog, lights corresponding to other lights on the screen, and ‘snow’. It was a pretty cool experience and a great way to spend Halloween.

Long Beach Comic Con

Over the weekend, I attended the Long Beach Comic Con. This is the first non-San Diego Comic Con that I’ve ever attended and it was, of course, significantly smaller. But there was still a lot of cool programming to attend and booths in the Exhibit Hall to check out. For instance, I went to a panel for Robot Chicken, a panel that would have been nearly impossible to get into at SDCC. The Hall was a lot smaller, but it was still packed with both booths and people.

There weren’t as many people dressed up in cosplay as I usually see at SDCC. Also, there were very few lines for things, which are omnipresent at SDCC. I felt it was definitely a good Con with a lot of potential. It would probably be a great alternative for people who want that experience, but with much fewer people.

Marilyn Monroe

This is an insightful look at Marilyn Monroe’s life and career. She was so much more than just a ditzy blonde actress and tragic figure.

Bulldog!

All this adorable bulldog wants is to bring his pool inside! Is it really too much to ask to have a indoor puppy spa?!

Animals Talking in All Caps

This is basically the greatest Tumblr ever. Pictures of animals and what they’re saying in all caps. It’s just... perfect. I literally read the entire blog in one sitting and laughed my ass off.

Stormtrooper Family Photos

This is quite possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. A Stormtrooper figurine is the parent, and a Lego Stormtrooper is the child. Brilliant!!

Lion King 3D

After the run of Beauty and the Beast 3D ended last week, the El Capitan Theater started showing a run of Lion King in 3D. Lion King seemed especially perfect for 3D, with the sprawling vistas of the African landscape that permeate this film. For the most part, it looked pretty great. I think the 3D worked better here than in Beauty and The Beast, actually.

Lion King was the first movie I saw in the theater and as such, remains one of my favorite Disney movies to this day. It was awesome to get to see it for the first time in a very long time! I can’t wait for the other Disney movies to get released in 3D!

Beauty & the Beast 3D

The El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard is owned by Disney and exclusively shows Disney movies. This month, they had special screenings of Beauty and the Beast in 3D. It will not come out to the general population for a few more months.

I hadn’t seen Beauty & the Beast in a long time, but from the first lyric, it all came rushing back. The 3D was mostly okay. Sometimes I honestly couldn’t tell if it was 3D or not. This was the first time I’d ever seen it in the theater, so that was pretty great.

Bonjour, girl!

This video is hilarious and makes me anxious to see Beauty and Beast 3D soon!!

“I can hear you bitches!!”

40 Things That Will Make You Feel Old

I feel so.... so... oooolllllddddd

Lisa Frank

Sometimes teddy bears do wear top hats!
I love this faux Lisa Frank biopic trailer so hard. I was obsessed with Lisa Frank as a kid.

Red State

This weekend, I went to a screening of Kevin Smith’s new film, Red State, at the New Beverly. He’s touring the country with the film, and doing a Q&A afterwards. I like Kevin Smith’s films, but I like his podcasts and Q&As even more. I’ve been hearing him talk about the film on his various podcasts for a while now, so when the tour finally came to LA, I jumped at the chance to see it.

The film was really good, and very dissimilar to any of Smith’s previous works. There was a lot of unexpected turns, and the ending was great.

The Q&A afterwards was also excellent. As usual, he only managed to answer 1 or 2 questions, with answers so long you forget what prompted them. One such answer was a story I had heard before, but an embellished version, so that was pretty cool.

Glee The 3D Concert Movie

My boyfriend won 2 tickets to a screening of Glee: The 3D Concert Experience. He wasn’t able to go, so I went with my friend from work who is also a big Gleek.

The movie was great! The cast sang all of their best songs, and had interstitials with some real teenagers who had faced or were facing bullying and adversity. They also had cute backstage interviews with the cast, acting as their characters rather than themselves. Which actually made the whole thing a bit meta, since the stories with the real life kids talked about the show itself, but the concert parts were meant to be as though the Glee kids were on a tour. The whole thing was really cute though, and they did a good job of making it seem as though you were at the concert.

Amy Winehouse

Wow, this is a very beautiful and fitting eulogy for Amy Winehouse by her good friend, Russell Brand.

5 Acts of Nature...

That Changed the Face of the Planet!

This list is somewhat reassuring, oddly. If all these crazy things have happened to the planet, then all the stuff that's going on now with earthquakes and tsunamis and volcanoes is just a normal part of how nature works. And NOT signs of the apocalypse or anything other stupid thing crazy people are claiming.

Cracked is totally my new favorite website, btw.

Earless Is The New Earful

The bunny has no ears!

I don't know how to feel about this. On one hand, this is terrible... but on the other hand, this is adorable!

Boot Camp

Today was the last class of my first Boot Camp session!! It’s been so great, and really challenging. It’s such a great work out. Working out in a group makes me feel like I need to push myself more to keep up with everyone else. Plus, this way I don’t have to go to a gym or something and try to figure out what to do myself.

I feel so much more in shape than I was when I started, and I’ve been eating a lot healthier as well. I’ve lot a bit of weight and have more energy. I even signed up for the next session, along with a couple of my co-workers!

Dodger Game

Last week, my office took a work field trip to see a Dodger game! I’ve never seen a baseball game before, so this was a brand new experience for me. We had pretty decent seats that were in the shade, thankfully, since it was pretty warm out in the sun!

We had a ton of great food to eat, include the world famous Dodger Dogs! The Dodgers unfortunately lost the game, but everyone had a great time hanging out outside of the office on a workday!

Scent Bar

Last week, my boss wanted to have an event for some clients at a perfume mixing place. I had searched high and low for a place that could do any kind of perfume thing - mixing or matching or whatever. Finally, I found this awesome place by the Beverly Center called Scent Bar. They have every kind of popular and obscure perfume you could imagine, and the people who work there are ridiculously knowledgeable about every single perfume. It reminded me of going wine tasting, where the sommelier can pontificate about every single wine you taste.

Prior to the event, everyone filled out a questionnaire about likes and dislikes, and general personality stuff. The staff at Scent Bar then matched 3 perfumes for each person. During the event, they then spoke at length about each perfume that was chosen for each person. Then we each chose a perfume to purchase; some bought a perfume that had been recommended for them; but not all. I myself chose a perfume by Juliette Has A Gun, named Not A Perfume.

Garage Sales

The City of West Hollywood hosted a garage sale this weekend. Or, really, a bunch of people throughout the area all put on garage sales on the same day. I have fond memories of hitting up garage sales on the weekends with my parents growing up, and even having a few of our own. This totally makes me an expert on the subject, and as such, I have some suggestions for the people who, rather ineptly, tried to sell their stuff.

First of all, no one wants junk. Seriously. Don’t try to sell stuff that really should be put in the trash. One person’s trash is everyone’s trash. Seriously. Second, price everything!! Don’t make your customers have to ask what the price is on everything they are interested in. If there’s no price, I am far less inclined to want to buy something than if it had a price tag already on it. Next, have things in some sort of order. Books with books, clothes with clothes, toys with toys. Don’t just have everything in boxes for your customers to sort through. Have them laid out neatly where they are visible. Also, price things reasonably. People who come to garage sales are not prepared to lay down big money, and definitely don’t want to pay near full price for things that are clearly used.

I had thought these things would be fairly self-evident but clearly not. I didn’t even find one single thing worthy of purchase (though my boyfriend did find several books to buy). Most of my enjoyment lay in walking around parts of the neighborhood I had never been to before.

Smodcast

On Saturday, I went to a live taping of Kevin Smith’s podcast, Smodcast, at the Jon Lovtiz Comedy Club at Universal Citywalk. He’s only done a few tapings of the show live; most are done with his partner, Scott Mosier, at his home.

The show was entertaining, though I thought it wasn’t as funny as some other episodes are. The venue was pretty nice too, small enough that every seat was pretty close to the stage. They do a couple of the other shows in the Smodcast Podcast network here, and I’m looking forward to seeing them there sometime.

My Drunk Kitchen

I love this web series!! If I cooked, this is probably something like it would go.

Madame Toussaud’s

On Saturday, I went to Madame Toussaud’s, the place with all the celebrity wax figures.. Wax figures are creepy. They just are. They look like real people (some more than others), but you can stand closer to them than societal norms usually allow and stare. The best thing about that place probably is taking pictures with them.
There were singers, like Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. Actors like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Will Smith, Johnny Depp. Classic actors like Audrey Hepburn, Steve McQueen, John Wayne, And of course, Ryan Seacrest. That guy’s everywhere.

My favorites where Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh, wearing the green curtain dress from Gone with the Wind, Sarah Michelle Gellar in a classic Buffy pose (chick is SKINNY), and Jack Nicholson, looking just like he used to at the Oscars. He was even in a row of seats and everything! I sat next to him for a picture and it looked almost real.

Most of them looked pretty good, if a little unnaturally shiny. A couple looked pretty bad, either just a bad job from the start, or poor aging - like Nicole Kidman and Tom Hanks.

The coupon I used included a wax hand dip, which meant I could get a wax mold of my own hand. It was kind of cool - you made whatever shape you want with your hand (I chose to make the longhorn symbol, because why not), then dip it into hot wax. Then dip it in cold water, then dip it in dye, then let it set. They stretched it a bit so you can get your hand out, and then it’s done!

It’s one of those places that you probably really only need to do once, but you should definitely go that one time, because... why not?

Whale Watching

Groupon gives you a good reason to go on adventures for less than retail. One such adventure I decided I needed to experience is whale watching. Last Saturday morning, my boyfriend and I went to the beach at Malibu and embarked on a somewhat rickety boat. We headed out into the beautiful blue ocean, eyes wide open to catch any sight of a whale breaching the surface.

An hour later, my eyes were dry from being so peeled. No whales in sight. At all. For the whole two and a half hours. We did see some sea lions frolicking, though, and that was pretty cute.

I think the whole experience could have been improved if they added some new elements to the boat ride, rather than just sitting in relative silence, staring out at the ocean. A tour guide to impart some knowledge of the ocean in general, and the Pacific Coast in particular, would have been nice. Some more information about the homes we passed on the beach would have been cool, too. The tour we had was still pretty cool, and a new adventure to add to my list of experiences.

Sweet Valley Confidential

The much awaited follow-up to the hit (I think?) series of books that dominated my childhood has finally hit stores! Sweet Valley [fill in the blank with the numerous nouns that entitled the variety of different series] took up many of my shelves as a youth, from Sweet Valley Kids all the way up to Sweet Valley University. This new book offered a chance to see what happened to them as adults, at my age, after having followed them throughout their lives!

Sure, maybe it’s a little cheesy or campy, but it was still pretty awesome. Now if they would just do one of these books for the Baby Sitters Club series, my life would be complete.

Kill Bill

This weekend I went to a screening of Kill Bill at the New Beverly, a movie theater that Quentin Tarantino himself owns. The print was the same one they showed at Cannes in 2004; to differentiate it from the theatrical run that split it into Volumes 1 and 2, it's called Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair. This run is the first time that it has been shown in the United States. Some of the differences between it and the theatrical run version were the fight scene with the Crazy 88s was in full color rather than in black and white, the scene at the beginning of Volume 2 where the Bride addresses the audience is gone, as well as a few other different angles, lines, etc.

New Desk

For years I’ve been using a table as my desk. Which is to say, I’ve been using that table to store my printer on top of. The table is kind of weird because it’s the kind where it has wings on the sides that can be propped up to make the table bigger. So I pretty much couldn’t actually sit at the desk and do... desk-y things, whatever they may be. I took a look at the Ikea website and found a desk that was really super cute. And thus, I decided to buy a new desk.

Now, I’ve been stuff from Ikea before, so I know what kind of putting-together skills it entails. Skills I just happen to have! This desk was actually challenging to assemble, by myself at least. It required a certain amount of coordination to both hold things in place, fighting gravity, while also hammering or drilling. The hardest part was probably moving the desk into place. I built it in the middle of my living room; to move it over to the part of my living room/office was a feat. I couldn’t just push it; due to the way it was set up, it probably would have ripped off one of the legs. My ingenious solution was to actually lay down underneath it and lift it with my legs!

Phhft, those directions said a partner was required to build; what do they know!!

Vegas!

I spent last weekend in Las Vegas! Vegas is one of my favorite cities; I have a ton of great memories of going there with my family while I was growing up. I’ve probably been there more times before I turned 21 than after! Of course, going to Vegas as an under-21 is quite different than going as an over-21!

My boyfriend and I made the 5-hour drive on Friday. We checked into our hotel room at the Luxor (a hotel that I’d always wanted to stay at but never had) and then walked around the area for a while. I seem to recall that those foot-long maragaritas had been popular a few years ago; you’d always see people walking around holding enormous plastic things in various shapes filled with margarita (actually, having gotten one of those myself during a previous trip, I’m not entirely convinced that it’s real margarita... maybe just the mix. It wasn’t so great.). This trip, however, I noticed that jello shots were much more prevalent! Every corner seemed to have a table or booth selling little shots of vodka, rum, or tequila jello for a dollar or two. Needless to say, we sampled quite a few jello shots during our stay there.

On Saturday, we went to the Bellagio to see the Cirque du Soleil show, O. It was pretty awesome! There were so many amazing acrobatic stunts, and the entire stage area, which could change from solid floor to water rapidly, was beautiful. I’m a teeny bit afraid of water (with the whole drowning potential and such), so seeing the performers underwater so much was truly impressive.

For one of our meals, we ate at the Burger Bar at the Mandalay Bay. I had this amazing candy cane martini, because I love peppermint. It even came with a candy cane garnish!

We had a champagne brunch buffet downtown at the Paradise Garden Buffet at the Fremont Hotel and Casino. I love a breakfast buffet because I love breakfast food, and unlimited amounts of it is the perfect amount. There was almost limitless champagne, which was also pretty great. Tiny little glasses, but it was never less than half full thanks to roaming waiters with bottles of champagne. We had planned to do the zipline across Fremont Street, but after all that food, it seemed like a less than ideal situation.

On the drive back to LA, we encountered snow!! Not a lot of it, and not pretty fluffy snow, but even slush on the side of the road is more than I've seen in many years!

Reusable

I have to come to terms with the fact that I’m turning into my mother. Growing up, my mom always saved EVERYTHING. I have memories of having to open my birthday presents ever so carefully so that she could save and reuse the wrapping paper! This is evidently a hereditary thing, because I can also remember my grandmother washing and reusing plastic bags and tin foil.

Which brings it around to me... I recently found myself looking at a lightly used plastic bag and thinking, “I could totally reuse this.” And I did! And I’ve done it many, many times since then. Other things I save for reuse are tissue paper (for gifts, just like my mom!), gift bags, grocery bags, loose screws and nails. And why?! It’s not like any of these things are terribly expensive and can’t be replaced! And I find it slightly odd that I will be frugal in this area, and yet splurge on a pair of heels. Maybe that’s why I do it - to have a few extra dollars to pay for those shoes!!

Simon's Cat

Simon's Cat

Simon’s Cat is the cutest cat since Garfield. This animated fluffball gets into a bunch of trouble, and then innocently says “Meow” with his cute big eyes wide.

Making Soap

For my job, I sometimes have to plan events. Not big ones, just little things to invite a handful of clients to and give them a good time. Last week, we had one at the Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica, a really cute craft store that offers a bunch of different crafting classes. The one I planned for our clients was the glycerin soap making class. We didn’t make the mix from scratch, rather, we used a hot glycerin mix and then personalized the soaps we made using different shaped molds, colors, scents, and mixed in elements like oatmeal! It was a lot of fun choosing from all the details to make your own special soaps. I must have made around a dozen soaps in all different shapes, colors and scents!

I think everyone had a good time. We also served food and drinks, and of course, everyone was able to take home the soaps they had made! The Urban Craft Center was so great. I’m looking forward to taking some of their other classes on my own sometime.

Fruit Ninja

10 Real Life Lessons of Fruit Ninja

Fruit Ninja is one of my favorite game apps! This article about the 10 real life lessons that you can learn from it is surprisingly insightful. My favorite is number 5: that which is critical is often random, referring to the fruit that you slice that turn out to be worth more than the others. It comes out of nowhere, looks like all the others, yet gives you 5 times the point of any other fruit.

Lord of the Rings marathon

Over the weekend, I attended a Lord of the Rings marathon at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. They screened all three movies (the extended versions!) from 6pm to 1am. LOTR is one of my favorite movies (well, trilogy of movies) of all time. I could watch them over and over again and never tire of it. You’d think it would be difficult to sit through so many movies all in a row, but to me, they are so enjoyable that it was very easy. We made sure to get good seats: up in the balcony, right next to the ledge - plenty of leg room as well as a place to put your feet up. We also brought snacks, energy drinks, and plenty of water - essential to being able to stay energized and awake til the very end! They gave us 20 minute breaks between films, which was just enough time to go to local convenience stores and restaurants to get something to eat quickly and stretch your legs.

The movies just flew by, to me. I never once felt bored or antsy. In my opinion, it’s because the movies are just that good - so engaging and beautiful that, despite the fact I could probably recite dialogue along with the characters, I still enjoyed the experience of seeing it yet again. An added bonus was that I never actually saw the first two in theaters, so it was great to be able to see them up on the big screen.

Frenemies

Frenemies are usually a bad thing, but I've found the exception: The Frenemy. This chick is my new lady crush. I am ridiculously envious of her hilarious and unique writing style. It's like she takes my inner monologue and makes it more funny and less pathetic. She makes me believe that I'm not alone in this weird subset of modern 20-somethings: we are not teenagers anymore, but we're not married olds with kids. We're somewhere in between and we are confused, malcontent and a little bit drunk. I LOL at every post and usually save them so I can quote them to friends later on.