moments with the media.

it's awards season in LA...and i've been watching movies non-stop. kind of. isn't it funny how millions of people get excited because of someone's...acting ability? at least for me, i've never seen anyone hold a party for when the winner of the nobel/pulitzer prize is announced. it's as soon as the SAG awards/goldenglobes/oscars roll around that the popcorn gets popped and the dress analysis begins. 

i don't know. 

maybe it's cliche, and maybe it's a little bit silly. but i can't wait to host an oscar party, one day when i finally get the chance to watch it on my own tv. this amazing blogger did it so well, that i think it will be fun to have one of my own. thus, lots of thoughts about movies, and what makes a movie good. is it really the acting? or is it the story? the characters and the setting and the script writing? or, is the value of a movie simply in the eyes of the beholder?

i mean, i have a few favorite movies. it's such a form of excitement to love/learn from/enjoy quite a few that tell stories about: 

the heartbreak of poverty. 

the fragility of young love. 

the power of hate. 

the sweetness of friendship.

the spontaneity of the unplanned life.

the disjointed solidarity of family.

the beauty found in a mistake.

and...i can't wait to watch this one. if you have, tell me how it is. because i'm extremely excited. 

do you have any ideas? what are your favorite movies, and have they affected you at all? the way you look at the world, or maybe, the way you don't? 

{{ps. i'm tired of michelle williams being jipped out of an oscar. i mean, seriously!?!? (check her work out here and here and here)}}

iconic movie moments.

i simply can't get enough of this movie.

a couple of years ago on halloween, a sweet friend and i curled up after our late starbucks shift to enjoy a bit of the 80's. i seriously think i am in love with this film, and if you haven't seen it, then you reallyreally should. this is the closing scene from, "the breakfast club" one of the iconic films john hughes brought to life oh so many years ago. {a few of the others include, "sixteen candles," "pretty in pink," and "some kind of wonderful."}

*keep in mind that these should have been "r" rated by today's standards. my mama was right in keeping me from them for awhile, but now i finally get to bawl my eyes out every time i see judd nelson raise his fist in victory because he finally got his girl. um, pass the pint of ice cream. i'm a fan.

what about you? i would just love to hear about a girly/funny/sweet movie that i can curl up with when autumn finally gets to LA.

visiting seattle grace.

you all are going to laugh at these photographs, and i am sorry. but this was just so exciting! how do you NOT blog about a visit to seattle grace, of "grey's anatomy" fame? even though it is only in LA, not seattle...and closed on the weekends. it's the sepulveda ambulatory center, and it's fairly far north of the city in {wait for it} north hills.

i'm not crazy about going to movie sets or anything, and i don't stalk hollywood boulevard for all those premieres that go on and on and on. since i do have to plan around oscar/emmy traffic, however, i think it's okay to have my fill of the entertainment industry every once in awhile. here are a couple of pictures from this pretty little hospital on the hill, i hope my other "grey's anatomy" fans are with me when i say that this made for an incredible saturday morning.

i think you all know what i will be doing thursday night.

{remember these benches?

 {an alzheimer's clinic? this might have made me very happy because of this}

remember the days...

...when a saturday night meant picnics and swimming and too hot soccer games? yeah, i miss them, too. summer is still hot, but it's filled with high utility bills and car stick shifts that burn through sweaty hands. to cool off a few weekends ago, a couple good friends and i spent a bit of time in a hollywood cemetery.

valencia is a darling place to live, but not very temperate. so...i like to head down into LA to cool off. it's usually a good five to ten degrees cooler, which is a huge difference for me (i can't take the heat. at all.). if you're in the LA area, make sure to speed right past valencia and head down towards the beach or downtown, where there are millions of little coffee shops (this one is my favorite!) ready to stick an iced chai in your hand and let you cool off in their icy air conditioners.

or.

spend some time in a cemetery.

okay, well. it might sound a bit morbid. the hollywood forever cemetery is located on santa monica boulevard, right in the heart of the city. it has expansive lawns, high walls covered in ivy and tombstones that look like they're straight from the movies. which, of course, they actually could be since the cemetery grounds back up to paramount studios.

every saturday night during the summer, cinespia hosts a movie night on the lawns complete with a dj and wine before the film. they show movies from every decade, but we decided to go the night that they screened, "sunset blvd." not only is the movie super old and eerie, but the film took place right in the heart of hollywood. it was so fun to watch a grainy black-and-white that was filmed mere blocks away. whenever they mentioned something that was iconically, "hollywood," (aka: the sign, hollywood blvd, etc) everyone started cheering and clapping.

so. much. fun.

it's exciting to know that we live a mere twenty minutes from one of the most talked about places on earth. if you get the chance, ditch the touristy stuff and come hang out with us locals in a cemetery. we don't bite, promise!

if you do come, however, here's a couple tips:
1. come early, leave late. traffic is intense.
2. don't park in the cemetery. it's way too expensive. (we parked for free on N. Gower Street!)
3. bring some snacks. the atmosphere calls for them, honestly.
4. you can't forget those tiny lawn chairs! you can't bring big ones, but you won't see without a little one!
5. people watch. have fun. listen to the crazy music. it's really a great place to be.

ps: we're headed back to see one of the last movies of the summer, "dirty dancing," on september 1st. so, if you have the chance, make sure to pack a picnic, grab a blanket and drag some girlfriends along for a night to remember.

{i really like these people)

(waiting for the show to start}

{too short to see. i was teased, a lot.}

{movie time}

adventures on monday nights.

mondays are supposed to be boring. they're supposed to drag you out of bed, slap a cup of too-cold coffee in your hand and make you stumble into the office. but, of course. they don't have to be like that. when i was in high school, my little brother and i used to drive to school together. sometimes it was good, other times it was a bit angst-y. then i read somewhere that if you go through your life hating mondays, you end up hating 1/7 of your life.

okay, okay. pretty understandable, right?

but who wants to hate that MUCH of their life? It's kind of a lot, if you think about it. so little brother and i started going to starbucks every monday. it was a treat that we could look forward to, and it has since morphed into a tradition that i keep myself.

sometimes monday will be movie night. other days, i'll drag the best friend deep into the city with me, like this week. with our soon-to-expire groupon, we made our first trip to actually watch a movie at grauman's chinese theater. you've all heard about it.  it's the one place on hollywood boulevard where you can stick your hands into the germ infested hand prints of the stars. (if you're still unsure, you can check it out here, here, and here.)

it was kind of hot, and lots of crazy. hollywood is always amazing (i would LOVE to spend some time living in those hills...), but on mondays the amount of tourists fall dramatically. we only had to step off the stars on the street once for a camera wielding family, and there was only one parking mishap with a snotty lady from kansas (you can't ignore someone in an la parking garage, for ten minutes. we'll knock on your window).

okay. so it's friday...you can spend some time planning your monday adventure. i've been thinking about mine all week.

(family time in hollywood. *note: no cameras!) 

 (our flirty chewbacca friend. he insisted on a picture.)

 (taking a picture with my fellow blonde)

 (best friend)

(the theater. huge and gorgeous.)

(yes. we were the nerds loving the powder room...)