A Wicked Halloween: TNBC at El Capitan

Hello everyone,
I hope you're all having a wonderful Halloween! Whether celebrating it early this weekend or today, this is one holiday that I think everyone needs their fair share of. I'd like to share with you the wonderful thins I've been doing today to get into the spirit.

This is something I've been wanting to do for over 5 years now, and when I saw the tickets drop in price I felt like today would be better than no other! I'm talking about watching The Nightmare Before Christmas in 4D at the El Capitan Theater. If you're not familiar with this theater, El Capitan is an old Hollywood theater which Disney had purchased to create as a premiere for all of their shows. Whether it's live entertainment in the beginning, or special effects through the show, you haven't quite watched a Disney film until you've seen it at El Capitan. The last I saw a show there was Pocahontas when I was shy of 9, so I think I was well over due to return.

We dressed in our costumes for the day, and I finally got to wear my Elizabethan apparel again. It was nice to see Eugene in his frocks again. I put on some spooky eye makeup to finish the touch, and we were off to the theater! I like going to Hollywood early when I can because the traffic is awful during rush hour. As planned, everything went smoothly; we even went through the side streets and made it just fine.

As they let us in early, we were greeted by Rob Richards, the official Organist of Disney. He was playing an organ on stage spell binding us with Disney classics and a little Phantom of the Opera. The side wings were littered with jack-o-lanterns and decor which was so amazing; it was the same sensation that you get when you go to Downtown Disney (I will have a post about that soon). When we had the lights dim, they started the show with a classic Disney short(1952). It was so awesome to see a classic short on the big screen! I can say that I can scratch that off my bucket list finally. When they requested us to put on our 3D glasses, I knew the main event was raring to go.

4D is basically 3D with theatrical effects. They added wind when the leaves were blowing through Halloween Town, chilled air in Christmas Town, Lighting effects to show ghost and stars, fog, and the best of all; SNOW! They had fake snow fall from the balcony at the last scene. I can't really explain the experience other than go when you have a chance! It was so charming to see childhood nostalgia redone in a creative way. It shocked me to hear them announce that this movie was celebrating its 20 year anniversary!

At the end of the show, we looked about the Frankenweenie displays they had through the theater. As you entered you're greeted by the cast of puppets that were actually used in the film. They even had a set from the film to display. When you go to the bottom floor of the theater, they had a Frankenweenie showcase. They had even more sets, props, and research treatments of the staff on display. I loved cemetery hill the best! It had Sparky's freshly dug up grave.

We left fairly early to prepare our goodies at home. Eugene and I picked our favorite chocolates and dropped then in a souvenir tub of popcorn I got from the show. We also littered the table with slices of Candy Apples and Pistachios (they had Frankenweenie on them which made me giggle). I filled a Carafe of Lemongrass iced tea to drink in goblets and we waited patiently for the Trick or Treaters to arrive.

We've still on our marathon of Harry Potter movies, but I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Hallo Eve! How are your festivities?

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Out & Abouts: Eaton Canyon

As the weather gets cooler I want to get out more. The whole summer consisted with Love rushing to my house and us dashing to a cafe for some AC and iced tea. You can guess that that got rather dull rather quickly. So when the sticky SoCal heat mellowed out a bit, I've been running a muck outdoors as much as possible. I've also been dreaming about tranquil scenery with my stressful career; rolling hills and sweet strolls through greenery and fresh natural scents.

My puppies were getting cabin fever; it's been almost 3 months without a good run. I've been feeling guilty about it but there's not much you can do when it was constantly 100 degrees outside. I wanted to make it up to them so I made sure to pull out all the stops.

I brought my pups to Eaton Canyon, which is nestled at the foot of the hills of Sierra Madre. I remembered hiking to the giant fountain and back when I was younger, and I never took Love through there. With the fog and light rain, we were guaranteed that there would be no sticky unpleasant sweat and heat to bother us. When we got there I was so surprised at how packed it was! We barely found parking, and when we did we were surrounded by groups of hikers. There was no way that we were going to have a tranquil walk with that crowd, so we opted for the next best thing and took a light stroll near the nature center.

It did the trick! I was welcomed by the sweet smell of wet earth mixed with buckwheat and sage blossoms. That smell is so heavenly to me and marks a huge chuck of my childhood. I enjoyed the sound of wildlife and the light stroll through the picnic areas and little trails. I also got to give the pups a little extra time to stroll about and sniff things without such a big crowd around us.

The trail was short so we took our time, we made sure to take every little route. One thing that was memorable was the Outdoor Classroom which was basically a small amphitheater with a fire pit. We dreamed of using it for outdoor plays in the Spring; something we will definitely look into. The thought of it was an adventure in itself. Love saw his first look at California Quails as they flew over his head and started to run in a line. A little fact is that I LOVE Quails, I think they're one of my most cherished animals. It was so wonderful to hear their little beeping noises again and share it with him.

At the end of the day the pups were completely wiped out and slept early. I hope to bring them out more to outing like this. Next time we'll take the hike to Waterfall for sure! It was just the right bit of tranquility that I needed.

-Stef

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