Movie Mania + more

Saturday

Chris' second most anticipated film of year, "The Dark Knight Rises", came out this past weekend (in case you've been living under a rock) and we purchased advanced tickets for Saturday morning at our nearby ArcLight Cinemas. If you live in the Los Angeles area I highly recommend seeing your movies at an ArcLight. They have reserved seating, extra wide comfy chairs, you have a "host" who introduces the movie before it starts and makes sure the film projection is up to their standards, and they serve caramel corn. Yum.

Reserved seating = Getting a seat you really want (I like to sit behind the handicapped section so I can put my feet up)

Drool.

Plus I have a higher than normal aversion to idiots in movie theaters and ArcLight really does try to curb those numb skulls...
Anyway, I really loved the movie. I thought Christopher Nolan did an excellent job of ending his trilogy. Yes, it was long and they could've shorten up a few of the scenes, but overall I thought it was a great, dramatic movie. Tom Hardy's Bane was a good villain, even with his semi-Sean Connery accent. I won't spoil anything but I have to say that I did shed a tear (and so did Chris!), but I left with a smile.


On a darker note, Chris and I would both like to offer our condolences and prayers to those affected by the Aurora tragedy. I mentioned this same thought on my Facebook, but I'll say it again: it's such a shame, and it's so scary to think that this happened to innocent people, people who were excited to see TDKR just like us! I hope justice is served quickly and that insane killer is either put away for life or given the death penalty (if Colorado has the death sentence). My mom was worried about us going to the movies so quickly after the incident. I told her that we can't live in fear - we have to have constant vigilance (thank you Mad-Eye Moody) to be aware of our surroundings, but we can't be frightened to live our lives. I've also just seen that Christian Bale is in Aurora visiting the victims of the shooting. I think that is such a nice gesture, and the right thing to do, not only on his part, but I'm sure on the studios part since I'm sure they had a say in it as well.

After the movie, we had a quick bite at Five Guys (way better than In-N-Out in my opinion) and went home to play with the pup for a few hours before our evening excursion.

Saturday Night

We received some movie screening passes for the upcoming Ben Stiller movie, "The Watch" over at the nearby Fox Studios. Even though Chris and I have both lived in southern California for all of our lives (except for that one year we lived in Las Vegas), we both still get star struck and are fascinated by Hollywood and the movie/television industry. So a chance to visit the Fox Studios lot and see a free movie? We're in! Chris and I have been to a few movie screenings before, it's usually just a lot of waiting in line, seeing a sometimes unfinished (aesthetically) movie, and then filling out a questionnaire at the end. This time was a little different. Yes, we had to wait in a line, but they showed the film in a tiny studio theater that only held 100-120 people, it felt like we were watching a movie in someone's mansion's screening room, and we didn't have to fill out a questionnaire. Plus there were a bunch of studio peeps in there watching it as well. Oh! and a creepy-creeperson kid who was filming the audience the whole time...We're not allowed to say anything about the film, but I'll say that I loved it - it was so funny! Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller are their usual funny characters, and in my opinion, nailed it. Fox Studios is only a few miles from our place, but we've never been over to that area before. To get there we drove through a neighborhood called Cheviot Hills, aka Chrissy's new dream neighborhood. If you watch "Modern Family" the Dunphy's house is in Cheviot Hills. We weren't allowed to bring our iPhones with us (awww), but Chris took some pics while we were still in the car:

Promo for the movie outside the entrance of the studio

Fox's "New York" street

Julie Andrews welcomes you to the parking garage

Map of the lot

Two movies at two different theaters in one day was a definite first!

Sunday

Sunday was chill for us, our main event of the day was Chris' brother Adam's engagement party in Thousand Oaks. Adam and his fiance Haley held their party at their new house up there in the late afternoon. Driving up there the temperature soared to the triple digits in our old area, Woodland Hills. Back home it was in the low 70s! Everyone knows I am not a hot weather person! I don't know how I lived in Vegas for one year and the Valley for three!! LOL! Thousand Oaks is a little cooler than the Valley and Adam/Haley's home was really nice. We got to meet a lot of family from Haley's side of the family. From the Gallis side of the group there was his mom and dad, Joy and her boyfriend Chris, the Stevens', and the Yanaga's. For some reason we didn't take any pictures while we were there, but Haley is going to try to send me the group shot someone took - so I'll try to post that here if I get it! They're not getting married until next July, so I'm sure I'll be posting about more events in the future!

We're going to try to visit the OC Fair this weekend and we may have another excursion of sorts during the week...

xx, Chrissy

Dockweiler State Beach

Yesterday we had a beach day over at Dockweiler State Beach with some of our friends. Dockweiler is nice because it's really close to where we live and it has a ton of fire pits. When we went last month we were able to get there around 10:30-11am to claim a pit. This time Chris and I headed over around 9:30am and managed to snag one of the last available spots! I think because it's now officially summer everyone and their mother is heading to beach (plus it's been super warm this past week). So we arrived way before our group showed up and had to wait for Kelly to get there with all the chairs and umbrellas!

Just sittin' and waitin'

The weather was also kind of...bleh.

Overcast (marine layer), very low visibility

Kelly didn't show up until after 12:30pm but she brought all the beach gear we needed. Shortly after our friends Candace and Sean made it from Palm Springs, and Alex arrived with his brother Louie. The weather was still overcast and chilly so we stayed huddled in a circle for a few hours. Candace made some pulled pork sliders and brought her crock pot - we started a small fire, put the crock pot on the logs for a few minutes, sliced up some Hawaiian rolls, and served up lunch :)

Top: A bit of sunshine came out on Kelly; Alex, Louie, Sean, Candace, Kelly, and Chris
Bottom: Kelly and Chrissy huddled together; Kelly and Chris making some drinks

The sun finally broke through the marine layer around 5:30pm. The minute there was a bit of warmth the whole beach went down to the water. Candace, Sean, and Alex actually went in the ocean - it looked way too cold for me, but they said it was fine. Candace even said she got hot swimming! I walked down to the shore when I heard there was a pod of dolphins swimming nearby. I was able to catch some glimpses of their fins, but it was too hard to capture on film (sorry!).

Beach dwellers looking at the dolphins

Crowded beach with the Hyperion Water Treatment Plant in the background

Candace and Sean swimming

As soon as the sun started to set it was a mad rush from our group to go and grab those sunset pictures with their iPhones so they could post them on Instagram!! 

These are all pictures that Chris took :)

Then came the best part: the bonfire! For dinner we brought hot dogs from Costco and this nifty hot dog grilling contraption I bought from the dollar bin at Target. We all sat around the bonfire for the rest of the night, staying warm, playing with the lighter fluid, and listening to the conversations from the groups around us. The beach was packed all day with LARGE groups of people. The two groups next to us included a group of 20 or so younger Asian volleyball players celebrating someone's birthday. The other group must have had near to 100 with them. The weird thing about them was that even though they had a fire pit that they claimed earlier in the morning, the majority of them stayed in the parking lot where they had set up a tailgate party complete with a barbecue grill and a large Lakers flag. Oh, and a strong smell of marijuana permeating the air that would waif over to our spot every few minutes, hahaha...

Our bonfire

Sean entertaining us all with the lighter fluid

Chris and Chrissy

The beach closes at 10:00pm, so we packed up all of our gear and goodbye until our next bonfire!

Entrance/Exit to Dockweiler State Beach

I really like Dockweiler, it's easy to get to - not only for me and Chris, but for our friends it's a straight shot off of Imperial Hwy from the 405. Los Angeles International Airport is directly behind the beach so you get to see all the airplanes take off. Yes, it's noisy, but it's pretty neat to watch (I should've taken some photos!!). Parking is $10 and there are no in-and-out privileges which sucks, because we have to leave halfway through the day to go and take Bruce out for a walk. And by "we", I mean Chris. People from all over visit this beach. There are "vendors" walking up and down the sand selling goods; in the daytime they offer umbrellas, boogie boards, shovels and pails, etc. At night they sell light up/glow items, similar to what you can buy at Disneyland. The bathrooms are kind of gross - just a heads up, there are no doors in the bathroom stalls. Prepare to be watched by small, barefooted children...ew. But even with those issues, I think it's fun. When the weather is clear you can see all the way north to Malibu and south to Rancho Palos Verdes. If you get there early and claim your spot, the hours can fly by. Oh, and also prepare to be asked MULTIPLE times by late beach-goers, "Are you using your fire pit?" "Are you going to be here all day?" My snarkiness meter was so high after being asked over and over, that when someone came by around 2:00pm (they had just pulled into the parking lot) and asked if they could share our spot, I snapped at them and told them, "No! We all got here at nine this morning, you should've come earlier!" o.O

Now time to relax at home and do some chores...

xx Chrissy 

Sunday Coasting

Sunday was my day to decide what to do. Chris had mentioned that Slater's 50/50 had a burger of the month that was 100% ground bacon...off to Huntington Beach we went! Once there I decided against the heart attack on a plate and went with their classic 50/50 burger (1/2 beef, 1/2 bacon) with a LOT of onions. Chris, who is still skinny, ordered the 2/3 lb. bacon patty and added PB&J and sriracha!

Chris' "Modified Dee Snyder"

Chrissy's "Onion Lover"

We did NOT finish our lunches...

After lunch we decided to drive back home along the coast - we made our way past the crowded Huntington Main Beach and stopped at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve. There is a small parking lot right off PCH on the East side of the road with a trail and a bridge that cuts across the wetlands. We didn't see a lot of  "creatures", save for some pigeons and tadpole-looking-fish-things, but it provided some beautiful scenery!

Top: View looking northwest; Chrissy next to the "Nesting Area"
Bottom: Chris on the bridge going east over the marshes; opposite view on the bridge looking west

We didn't walk around for very long, we hopped back in the car and continued along PCH. Along the route we passed through Sunset Beach, Seal Beach, and Long Beach. Then we got to drive over the two bridges that connect Long Beach and San Pedro: the Gerald Desmond Bridge and the Vincent Thomas Bridge. Usually driving over any type of bridge is a tad unsettling for me, I could hear in my head, a conversation I would always have with my mom when I was younger when driving over a bridge: "Mom, when did this bridge last collapse?" "Yesterday." :/ It was neat to go over the GDB though because Safework is working on a project there to replace it!

Then we were in San Pedro, making our way up to Rancho Palos Verdes (RPV). Neither Chris or I had ever been on this road before. Usually when people drive up and down the coast they take PCH and it doesn't take you along the coast near RPV. Crusing along Rancho Palos Verdes Dr. my eyes were bulging out of my head - the houses were incredible!!! And the views!! Driving north along the road there weren't too many scenic overlook stopping points but we did make a pit stop at Wayfarer's Chapel. Designed by Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright), this chapel is breathtaking! I had wanted to get married at this chapel but as you know we ended up in Vegas (!).

Top: The view looking southwest; the backside of the chapel
Bottom: The inside of the chapel; west view; the back area of the chapel

Chris enjoying the westward view

The glass and wood chapel itself it quite small, but the grounds are lush - lots of grass, pine trees, a rose garden, and lots of benches to sit and enjoy the view of the Pacific Ocean!

We continued along Rancho Palos Verdes Dr. with me screaming every 1/4 mile or so, "What do all these people do for a living?! I want that house!...and that house!..." Finally we found a scenic overlook that faced the north side of the bluffs stopping point so we could get out a take some photos. There was some haze/smog/marine layer over the coast so we couldn't see too far, but if we squinted we could make out the Hyperion Water Treatment near Vista Del Mar!

Dangerously close to the edge...

The patented "hand on hip" pose!

Zoom! Zoom!! I can see my house! (No, not really...)

Looking north toward the beach cities of Los Angeles

After this spot it was a straight shot along the rest of the bluffs back to PCH and back home! Yes, it would have been a LOT faster to get home using the 405 (Chris' idea), but after the three-hour Sunday afternoon drive, we both decided it was well worth the time it took exploring a section of southern California we (natives) had never seen!

Our route back home

xx Chrissy