Time of My Life

Undeniably, i'm sure that either you have heard the following converstaion or have had the following converstaion:

person a: What your favorite movie?
person b: "Dirty Dancing"
person a: OMG! I love that movie too!
person b: I know right!
person a & b: "I've had the time of my life..." or "Nobody puts Baby in the corner"

Now here's the thing, this conversation may have gone differently but the jist of it is the same and weather you hears or participated, probably depends on your sex. If your sex is female, then you most likely particpated in said conversation. Unless that said femail happend to be me.

Up until Friday I had never actually seen Dirty Dancing. Yes, I know, I feel like a shame of my entire sex glaring down on me. To make things worse, I have seen "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights." Yes... even more shame for me.

So when I found out that Friday night (last Friday night) there was going to be a showing of it out at the California Plaza, and that it was going to be a free event, I figured it's now or never. The Boyfriend graciously scored brownie points by indulging me and taking me. To which he questioned "How have YOU not seen this movie?" I really don't know, darling...I really don't know.  

We picked a spot to stand (as seats were taken) and the show got started. I call it a show because they even had dancers recreating the moves. It was actually a really great experience. There were cheers and hollers the moment that Patrick Swayze walked on screen. And more cheers at poignant moments in the movie...but the final most fiery cheers came during the "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." scene. Totally get it now.

I'm glad this is how I got to see this movie. On a big screen, surrounded by people that love it on a (rather chilly) summer night out. Had I seen it at home on a boring Sunday afternoon, alone it might not have been the same. And I would have been like, "What's the big deal?" I'm off to buy my Baby/corner t-shirt...Not really but at least I can finaly join in on the conversation above.

♥always,

Over The Weekend: Mexico, Murder and Magic

This past weekend I was sick and tired. Of what? Nothing, I was literally sick and tired. The days before this weekend I had to travel back to back for work and on top of that I caught some weird flu-like thing. So my weekend started of  Friday night at home dying on the couch and watching Charmed on Netflix. Saturday morning though it was time to hit the road to Tijuana. I am sick and tired of doing that. Not literally, figuratively. But good new... The braces are coming off sometime in the next few months! My biggest fear was that I would be 30 and still wearing the braces my 25 year old self was told would take two years. 

While standing in line to cross the border back from Mexico, we had the most obnoxious, loud-mouthed and foul language-d person ever behind us. An we were privy to his lovely conversation about how he doesn't give a "f" about not having any money to his name he is going to get "f-up" tonight and how he got "laid" the night before and well all kinds of other information that I will not repeat. Do you know how awkward it is to just listen to someone rant on about stuff like that and a person that uses explicit language to describe everything and anyone and themselves. So sad...and annoying!

But the worst part about my little Mexican border crossing experience is that I got stuck and was not able to cross the border because I forgot my passport, I was panicked and and didn't know what was going to happen to me... well I could have gotten stuck and I could have panicked and not known what was going to happen to me because I did forget my passport but the border person just looked at my ID and said have a nice day and I was on my way home. Sorry for the dramatics but it sounded boring otherwise.

The plan was to be home by 3pm but thanks to traffic I actually got home like at 4:30 right on time to be late to a Murder Mystery Dinner in Downtown. Marissa and I had purchased a Groupon for this moths ago and it would not be a genuine outing with Marisol if we weren't running late. I threw some clothes on and we were on the freeway headed for Downtown. The closer we got to the address and once off the freeway we realized that we were not exactly in the social area of Downtown. It was in the fashion district area and the streets were abandoned. We didn't even know where to park. When we finally found the place it was just an Italian restaurant on a second floor of a building that was a real puzzle to figure out how to get up there. We finally go seated and were a little thrown at how odd it just all felt. The "actors" were in 20's style clothing and so were some of the people in attendance. Having just read the confirmation email a few hours earlier that day we missed the part where they encourage you to dress up. I love dressing up but I did not feel left out at all in this scenario.

This was our view.

The actors seemed scattered and not well rehearsed. The food was bland which was a disappointment because I thought well at least we will have a good meal if the show is lame. One of the actors had a really bad headset type of microphone and it hurt my ears to hear him speak. It was just not what we expected but we tried to make the most of it. When it came time to solve the murder, our table had it down. However, we thought, no way too easy there has to be a twist so we created a twist and were sure that we were right or at least somewhat right. Until of course the simple version that we had come up with at first was the actual solution. But at least I got to hang out with my super cool friends Marissa and Henry. Who's Henry, why he's the pimple on my forehead that Marissa named Henry. It was over in about two hours and we headed back home. I was able to take this cool photo of Marissa on the abandoned streets of LA right before my phone died.

On Sunday I went to see Harry Potter with Veronica. Why? Because we are geeks like that, not even her kids wanted to see it. We liked it, it made us laugh, cry and feel suspense. But what did we talk about during and afterwards? Not the cinematography or the special effect, nope, we talked about how we were both ready to go ape crazy on the ladies sitting behind us with the loudest popcorn bag ever! I had images of me in a King Kong state of mind ripping the bag into pieces while at the at the same time scaring the heck out of these people. Veronica had more graphic images of telling them to eat it of the floor, I like the way she thinks. I really wished I could whip up a "popcornus dissapearus" spell à la Hermione but whatever... I'm not magical. *Side note, for those that are real hardcore HP fans, I looked it up. The correct spell would have been "Evanesco" but come on you know you like like "popcornus dissapearus" much better.

♥always,
Marisol

Book or Movie?

Usually when a movie is made from a book it's because the book is pretty darn good or really popular. I have a dilemma. Should I read the book then watch the movie? Or watch the movie then read the book? One thing I've learned is the book is ALWAYS better. There is more room for back story and character development. I've always loved reading. Since I was a child I had the ability to turn the characters, settings and plots into a movie in my head. I can see it as I read it. So for me it never gets boring because it's coming to life. It's like a 3D imagination.

I usually like reading the book before the movie comes out and get really excited when a book I've already read becomes a movie. However, when I do that, I'm always disappointed with the movie. Like seriously disappointed. I invest too much in my imagination and when the movie comes out it falls short and they cut so much from the book that I feel jipped. That's why I'm starting to think, I should watch the movie then read the book. Then there are those times where I watch the movie, thinks it's alright and then read the book and get totally hooked. That is how I became a Twilight fan. Damn proud too!

So here I am about to go see a movie about a book I just finished reading. I'm sure your seen/heard about it. It's called The Help. It takes place in the early sixties in Jacksonville, Mississippi. It tells the story of one young white girl trying to write a book about the black maids that work in whites homes and raise white children while dealing with the whole "separate but equal" BS that was around at that time.

I don't want to be disappointed. I want to love this movie like I loved the book.

I'm going in with high expectations but not expecting the grand movie, complete in depth the way I created in my head. I'm sure I'll love it. Anyone else going to see it? Anyone else read the book? What's your preference, book-movie or movie-book?

♥always,
Marisol

Movie Review: Bridesmaids

I went to see this movies with my fellow bridesmaids and BFF Bride recently, and by recently I mean a few weeks ago. I though it would be fun to watch since it's almost time for the wedding...

I had heard positive reviews and how super funny it was, like a female "The Hangover" and blah blah blah. It sounded like it was getting over hyped. I was hoping the movie wasn't just a bunch of women behaving raunchy and trying to make a movie like the boys. So walking in my expectation were low. Honestly....I loved it. Freaking Hilarious! I was laughing the entire time. 

Now for my official review which is always weeks after said movie is out and is based on a criteria I completely made up in this review of The Town and I may or may not change it for this post because again, I just made it up. Here goes:

ACTORS/ CHARACTERS: A+
I loved all the leading ladies in this movie, they all did a great job. I think my favorite was Melissa McCarthy just because I have never seen her play that type of role and she did it so well. Kristen Wiig was Kristen Wiig, I loved her but I feel a little bit of a typecast coming on. It's like Vince Vaughn, you see him in one movie it's like you've seen him in all his movies, still really, super funny though. The leading guy in the movie was weird though. He did a good job but something about him was just off for me, I can't even explain it. 

STORY: A-
Girl asks her BFF to be her Maid of Honor, Maid of Honor does not have her life together at all and feels like she is loosing her BFF to new Frenemy that has everything going for her. Maid of Honor looses it as her life starts to spiral out of control and so hilarity ensues. Heartwarming ending where all ends well.  It was a really fun story. A little typical chick flick but the humor was so great that it can be overlooked, but not super chick flick-y that men will run away. Don't you love how technical I am?

WATCHABILITY: A+
You will not be bored, I promise. You will be laughing the entire time. Women will relate, specially if you have ever been a bridesmaid, maid of honor or ever had to fight for your bff. Men, you will just laugh, trust me.

FAVORITE SCENE: The wedding dress shop disaster.

FAVORITE LINE: "It's happening...it happened" and "What kind of name is Stove anyway?" and " Female fight club. We grease up - surprise! Beat the crap out of her."

OVERALL: A+ Go watch it, it's worth the $11.25 or whatever your local theater charges these days.

♥always,
Marisol

Over the Weekend: Dance Attack, Sushi and BAD Movies

I love busy weekends like the one I just had. The only little problem is that I feel tired all day Monday. I suggested nap time at work after lunch but my boss just didn't go for it.  Co-workers were disappointed as well.

I'm going to start with Saturday night. Only because this is my favorite picture of the weekend! I went to dinner with my friend, Marissa at Hara Sushi. Best sushi EVER!! It's this small, crowded and loud place in LA but so worth it. Plus very easy on the price! We then went to the west side pavilion to watch Something Borrowed. It was funny but not original. Very predictable and obvious. In the end we felt conflicted rooting for Jennifer Goodwin's character, she slept with her best friend's fiance. He cheated on his fiance with her best friend. No matter the situation, that is not OK. They played it well though, because Kate Hudson's character is very vain, selfish and not likable. Oh well. Still had a good time with my friend and was entertained.

I started my Saturday morning by working out.............. now that you are done reacting,  I got up and went for a run at the track on Aviation. Of course by run I mean jog....or walk a lot and run a little. Hey, the point is I got up and got moving! Around 11am we (we includes The Boyfriend and his nephew aka The Nephew) headed over to the Santa Monica Festival. We were planning on just taking The Nephew to go see Ozomatli do their Ozokids music show and then leave but we ended up staying the whole day. There were lots of vendors, giving free samples, lots of arts and crafts for kids and of course the always present food trucks. Some of Gerardo's friends also joined us that day. We of course took the nice fancy camera to take lots of photos but some one forgot to bring the memory card. So all I have a few iPhone shots:

The Nephew had a grumpy "I don't want to be here" face for most of the morning until he was promised a new transformers toy to have fun. When asked what his favorite part of the day was "Throwing the man in the water."

I call this one, Firemen on Break.

We stood in line for half an hour just to get a hot dog. You gotta love those food trucks. We laid down on a blanket to have lunch only to have front and center view to the Dance Attack show. Um...let's just say there were men in cheetah print leotards and hot pink unitards prancing about. If you don't know what a unitard is then you don't ever need to. We left tired, but happy. Oh and I scored new pretty hand made jewelry thanks to my date :)

Sunday did not go according to my plans but it was still a pleasant day. Late morning, went to two mother's day lunches (more on this later). I spent the evening watching a really, really, really bad movie. If anyone ever asks if you want to watch "Cyrus". Run! I'm serious. Overall this entire weekend was mostly not what I planned but sometimes it can turn out better that way.

♥always,
Marisol

What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?

Remember that line? It's from my favorite scary movie. Yup, Scream. Scream 1 to be specific. The not so scary movie is my favorite scary movie because it's the last scary movie I watched.

1997 was a fun and memorable summer, it was the summer between Junior High and High School. Most of that summer I spent it at my best friend's house listening to CD's and watching movies. One day we decided to watch Scream. I was a little apprehensive to watch it but we sat down on opposite sides of the couch and let the show begin. By the end we were almost sitting on top of each other.

Then...her phone rang.

Right as the credits were rolling and the eerie music played, her freaking phone rings?? "Answer it!" said Doreen. "You answer it", I said,  "It's your house!" She picked up the phone and said hello. It was my mother calling to let us know she was picking me up...we were able to breath again. The movie really is not that scary, it's actually more of a thriller/suspense type of movie and even a little funny. Plus you are left trying to figure out who the killer is, I like a good mystery. Also, I say it's educational. I now know that in order to survive in a slasher movie setting I need to follow these 3 rules:

1. You can never have sex, Sex = Death!
2. You can't drink or do drugs; they are sins like number #1, duh!
3. Never, ever, say "I'll be right back."

 Maybe that's why I call it my favorite scary movie, because it really isn't a scary movie. I hate scary movies. I despise horror films. I always say I'm a chicken and I've admitted freely with no shame. I hate the feeling they give me, movies are to entertain me not scare me or leave me feeling disturbed!

But it's deeper than that; it's not just a genre dislike. My dislike/hate/despise comes from a sad place. Back to when I was 6 years old. Being the child of immigrants that had no real friends and family living nearby, I was left with a baby sitter while my parents worked all day. I guess they felt somewhat comfortable that they were leaving me with a friend of a friend that was a mother of 5 and had experience in baby-sitting. I don't really have many memories of that time, or even of that lady. Mostly because I was so young and because I completely believe that I have blocked most of them out. I have three very distinct memories of those days. One involves the movie Freddy Krueger. This lady had 5 kids (from a 7 year-old to a teenager.) They loved scary movies. They asked if I wanted to watch it and taunted that I was too big of a baby to watch it...I of course said I was not a baby and could handle a scary movie. I had never seen one before. My parents didn't watch that stuff. But it was just a movie so how bad could it be?

Well, it was bad. Very bad, I was scared and didn't want to see it anymore. Only the other kids didn't let me go. They forced me to watch it. Literally, they held me down on the couch and covered my mouth so I wouldn't scream. I cried the entire time while they made fun on me. The torment did not end there. The threaten to all beat me up if I told on them. So the terror continued. After Freddy came Jason. Then more tears and nightmares. They finally got bored and stopped forcing me to watch those movies. I never told my parents. To this day, they don't know. It would just make them feel bad. Good thing my Mom got pregnant and became a stay at home mom :)

Buzz kill, huh? Sorry to drag you down. But that's why I don't like scary movies. So my friends, the next time a scary movie rolls around, don't ask me to go. I won't. Maybe I should grow up and face my fears? It's not about that! I know Freddy's not coming for me. It's not about confronting my bullies, or even forgiving them. Watching a scary movie is not going to make me feel any better. It's just going to make me feel crappy, leave me unsettled and feeling something dark in my heart. Those memories don't hurt me anymore, I'm fine now but the trauma they inflicted definitely made me not like scary movies. It's my choice to watch what I want to watch and I choose to NOT watch scary movies. I choose to laugh, to cry, to think, to learn, to dream, to feel like a kid sometimes and specially to see books I've read come to life.

What prompted this sad little story? Seeing the commercials for Scream 4.  I can't help but laugh a little. Seriously...SCREAM 4! Poor Sydney Prescott. How much more can a girl take?

I have decided that this is one "scary" movie I can handle watching, at least for old times' sake with my BFF.  Although I'll still be scared and will need her lap to sit on. Gotta go my phone is ringing. But don't worry I'll be right back.

-Marisol

The Town

Watch it! It was GOOOOOD.

  

Alright so this one is little old now, and you all probably saw it already. Is it even in theaters still? I think you can still see it at the dollar theater around town. It really shouldn't be called the dollar theater anymore. I think the last time I went there is was like $5. Actually, I think the nearest one in Hawthorne is not even open anymore. Remember when it was $1 to get in? Hence the "Dollar Theater" nick name. I remember I went to see Star Ship Troopers at Pacific Theaters back in in High school and it was $5 to get in. Ah the good all days. Wow...I just told a back in my day story. Hmm better save those for another ten years when I start getting all weirded out about turning 39. Then it's only a hop skip and away to 50!

Back to The Town. My Ratings (which I am making up as I write this):

Actors: A!

Great performances!! The only one that seemed a little flat to me was Blake Lively. It felt like any other pretty actress could play this part. But Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner were just great!

Story: A!

It has a good flow, there are no super slow, drag parts to it really. You know where this movie is headed most of the time so its not like there is some big twist or unexpected surprise but it was never meant to be that type of movie, I think.

Watchable: A

Definitely keeps you going, no boring parts even the slower scenes. I found myself caring about the mains characters and their relationship. Definitely very entertaining and worth the time.

Favorite Scene: The nun scene! You''l know what I mean.

Favorite Line: "Hey, this is for you." Need to see it to truly understand why it's my favorite line. Oh and also, " 'I need your help. I can't tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it later, and we're gonna hurt some people'..."Whose car we takin'?' "

Overall: Watch It. Or at this point rent it when it comes out.

End Of The Road aka Day 20 & 21

Yup...Boys II Men know what I'm feeling...this song is so appropriate for me right now, you don't even know. Is it ok to take a deep and emotional love song between a woman and a broken-hearted man and use it to completely express your feeling for a house you lived in for 3-weeks? Wait..don't answer that!

So it has come to pass that our little 3-week adventure in house-sitting is over. Tuesday was day 21. The day we packed up our one bag and left Veronica's house never to return again...except when we visit and go back to guest status. But our last day really was on Monday since that was our actual last night sleeping there.

Monday was planned out as follows: Sleep in...make some b-fast...get massage...buy camera...shower..head to Santa Monica...hang out...have a nice dinner...watch a movie...go to bed. At least that's how it played out in my head before I woke up. It went more like this: took for ever to wake up...ordered b-fast from Denny's...cleaned house up...got massage!...bought camera!...went home...showered...fell asleep.......ZzzzzZzzzzzZzzzzzz...ate Ramen for dinner..watched Real Housewives of Jersey and Sixteen Candles...went to bed dreaming about Jake Ryan. Oh Jake Ryan... contemplating Photoshoping my face into Molly Ringwald's in this picture:



No special ceremonial moment about the end of our journey, nope just some TV and the excitement of finding Sleepy Time tea on our last night there. I can't believe we didn't find it before.  Apparently, after a massage you don't feel like doing absolutely anything at all. So, Thank You!, to the kind peeps at Massage Envy for completely zonking us out for the rest of the day. This place is a somewhat affordable location to get a massage, at least if it's your first time there anyway. Man...I needed one bad. It was hard for me to concentrate and relax at first but by the end of the 50 mins I was almost asleep. I'm gonna have to set up a money jar and deposit "massage" money in it. I figure they are really good for you, it's pampering and it feels great. If I cut some of the bad stuff in my life like, McD's pies, chai latte's from Coffee Bean, my magic breakfast sandwich less times a week, and no more Target! I can't walk into a Target and just walk out...no...I always end up buying some thing I need want need...alright just something, period! Take all that and in about 2 months I can go get another massage :) Although I prefer going to The Massage Spot. It's a little less pricey than Massage Envy and less of the fancy appeal but I love it there. Ariana had a Massage Envy gift card so that how we ended up there.

Oh yeah, did you catch that part about me finally buying a camera? How Ironic that I buy it on our last day LOL! I'm also going to promptly return it back to Best Buy. See I'm a Canon girl. Always have owned one and never had a problem with one. My last one was murdered recently But  I went and bought me a Nikon.

The one I was going to buy was this Cannon SD1400 PowerShot. In  pink and everything, but they only had the silver in store. I would have to order it online. Plus it was a little over my budget...


So I bought the Nikon - Coolpix S4000. Nothing wrong about this camera...it even has a touch screen AND it was like almost $100 cheaper, but again, I'm a Canon girl. Always have been always will be. This camera just didn't do it for me. Everyone has their opinion, but I should have listened to my gut.



I was more than happy to find out that a new model Canon came out so therefore my sweet little pink camera went on sale!! Woohoo! What do I like second best to free??? SALE!!!! So I'm gonna order that baby and return little Nikon to Best Buy as soon as I get the package in the mail.

But back to saying good bye...We left the house Tuesday evening...we were really sad. You see both of us have just come to the end of the road in very long...loooooong...serious relationships. Our stories are not the same but a breakup is a breakup. Being there was like therapy for us. It kept us busy and it also gave us a place to talk into 2am in the morning when need be. It was a break from reality, and an opportunity to let our emotions run free without having to explain to anyone why we were crying or why we were sad on any given moment. We also had lot's of fun! Lot's of laughs and definitely a brand spanking new friendship...the kind you know will be for life. So thank you Veronica!! Thank you so much!! Really, you did us a favor.

Now I'm left wondering what to do about this here blog??? Get ready my readers...I'm gonna be needing your input soon.

So today's post I leave you with a little sum'n sum'n to watch, I hope you really enjoy the music:

End Of The Road from Marisol Barrera on Vimeo.