Entertainment | Hip to be Mom

Spiders up our legs

Jun 082011

Back in December, on New Year’s Eve to be exact, the kids and I were at Universal Studios Hollywood. Being that we’re a movie freak family, there’s no better treat than actually being at the original theme park itself.

Universal Studios Hollywood is an actual working movie studio which means that even as we were riding the tram on the Studio Tour of the 400+ acres of the park, there was actual filming going on in some of the movie sets and sound stages. Which is pretty exciting because, I mean, who knows who you might just bump into?

Raine missed the larger-than-life King Kong we saw on the tour the last time we were at Universal Studios. She was 3 years old then and still remembers how much she loved it when King Kong opened his mouth and let out the sweet scent of strawberry! Anyone remember that part of the tour? It’s been replaced by King Kong in 4D now, of course.

The Bates Motel where they filmed Psycho is still there and spooky as ever . We also made an extended tour of Wisteria Lane where Desperate Housewives is filmed (man, I would never have guessed those weren’t real houses!), and watched the cars used in Fast and Furious do some pretty fast action. Great stuff.

And until today, we’re still talking about Shrek in 4D – how we jumped when spiders crawled up our legs, how we loved having water squirted in our faces and being tossed about in our seats. Man, you gotta love 4D!!

Barring the standing in line for over an hour to get in, during which we almost fell asleep on our feet, the experience was well worth it. We would’ve gone another round if the lines weren’t so crazy long.

What’s your favorite memory of Universal Studios, or your favorite theme park? Will you be visiting any theme parks this summer?

Doin’ the Fast Five

Posted by Clairity 2 Responses »

May 232011

We got free tickets to go watch Fast Five. Yay us! Dream come true. Have you ever known us to say no to free movie tickets?

I didn’t think so.

Fast Five takes off where Fast and Furious 4 left off with Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) marching off to jail. Now Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) bust him out of jail and they all end up on the wrong side of the law.

So, right! Where was I before the power to the whole street got cut without warning? I mean, if you wanted to fix the cables, couldn’t you just have told us ahead of time?

Anyhow, this is the sequel that brings back all the characters from the previous 4 shows. What that means is that I’m going to have to watch them all again to get the whole picture. Not a problem there since we’re nuts about Paul Walker (can you feel the temperature rising in here?) and Vin Diesel’s cute smile. ’nuff said!

Oh, and there’s Lt Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson). He was the funniest. I mean, his character isn’t supposed to be funny, but there’s something about him that looks like he’s been run through a body acne wash and then dipped in a bucket of oil that makes him look almost… too funny.

Okay, I don’t want to spoil the fun for you. Suffice to say, there’s tons of amazing chase sequences (not just of cars, mind you!) from start to finish. Go watch it yourself and tell me what you think. If you like fast cars and heart-stopping excitement, you’re so gonna love it as much as we did. Oh, and be sure you stick around after the movie credits at the end because there’s more!

Learn Something New Tuesday

Posted by Clairity 6 Responses »

Apr 192011

Every now and again, I come across a meme with questions that are close to my heart. So here goes…

1. Are you annoyed by people who don’t type correctly?

Yup but only because I’m pretty critical of myself too. I’m uber particular about speaking and writing properly. I think it has paid off though. All my 3 kids are prolific writers and confident public speakers.

2. Are you a grammar freak?

Afraid so. You’re looking at the resident grammar police.

3. Do you love the popcorn at movie theatres?

Gotta have it! I think there’s a reason they always have that popcorn aroma wafting out at you once you step in.

4. Where is the best place to go buy pizza?

That Italian restaurant on the right side as you walk into Downtown Disney, Anaheim – sorry, can’t remember the name.

5. What was the last award you received?

No idea. Do I even qualify for one? Hmmm.

6. Are you a beach person or a mountain person?

Beach but I don’t like the sun but at least there’s cute blond beach bums to check out. That’s 2 ‘buts’ in one sentence. Hey, where’s the grammar police?

Anyhoo, it’s my first time participating in Learn Something New Tuesday. If you want to play, hop over to Life with the Dietrich’s.

Playing catch up

Posted by Clairity 5 Responses »

Apr 162011

Looking at me, you’ll never guess I’m a couch potato. Well, most times, I’m not. I just depends where I’m at. But believe me, there is a couch potato, albeit a little one, inside.

Our TV is undoubtedly the laziest on this side of the planet. It just sits there and does nothing. We gave up on it a long, long time ago simply because there’s nothing to watch, or rather nothing that appeals to us. When my kids were little, they watched some Saturday morning cartoons. But once they outgrew the cartoons, they too gave up on TV.

But when we’re in Hiptown, California, we’re couch potatoes. Totally! So many good shows, so little time!

Right now, we’re hooked on Chuck. Sometimes you just want to watch something light, nothing that requires your brains or heart to work too hard after a hectic week. The plots are simple yet each one is exciting in its own way, and so funny too I’m sure our neighbors can hear us laughing.

I really like Chuck and Sarah as a couple but Ellie and Captain Awesome, now that’s an awesome couple. Really cute!

Anyone else a fan of Chuck‘s?

Guess who we met

Posted by Clairity 6 Responses »

Mar 302011

Like they say, you never know who you might run into… in a theme park, for instance.

We were strolling around Universal Studios, Hollywood when who should drop in on us (literally!)… but Zorro himself!! One minute he was right up there by the bell tower, the next he was sliding down that rope and landed right before us in a deep sweeping bow! Wow, what a gentleman!

And then on our first day at Disneyland, we’d just gotten a table at a super-crowded outdoor restaurant when we saw a flurry of little kids all headed in one direction. What’s going on? we were wondering. Then we saw Darth Vader with a handful of his Storm Troopers (is that what they’re called? any Star Wars fans out there?)

We also bumped into Snow White’s evil stepmother who, by the way, was very mean and went around shouting at people who were in her way . Dang, I can’t seem to find the picture I took of her!

My girls were thrilled to have their pictures taken with Princess Aurora, Sleeping Beauty, Princess Jasmine and Rapunzel with Flynn Ryder, of course. They have a big, big crush on him because in person, he really is pretty cute and yes, Skye is smitten that he did the ‘smolder’ for her when she asked!

Anyways I love that theme parks aren’t just about distinguished key chain gifts, uber cute soft toys that are so hard to resist and expensive food, and that there are indeed surprises for kids to look forward to in the form of real life characters popping up when you least expect, or even walking beside you in the crowd!

Who did you/your kids meet on your last theme park visit? Anyone interesting that we might know?

A Supernatural week

Posted by Clairity 4 Responses »

Mar 212011

Dang these cold, rainy mornings, how I love ‘em! But it’s Monday and I wish I didn’t have to drag myself out of bed. Dang Sam and Dean too, we’ve been doing late movie nights this whole past week trying to catch up with an entire season of Supernatural.

If you are, you’ll simply have to agree that Sam and Dean are super-addictive, I tell ya, and not just from the global warming point of view . As soon as we’re done watching one episode, my girls will go, let’s watch the next one, and the next, and the next, and that’s how we ended up going to bed way past 1 am practically every night this past week.