My Kind of Saturday

I had a nice day today. I saw "Mama Mia," with my sister and went in search of french pastries.

Since my sister got back from Washington state this week, she's been talking about chocolate crossaints and Vietnamese soup that she experienced while she was there. She was on a quest for these food items here in Phoenix.

On the way to the movie, my sister told me there was a French bakery near the Capitol where I work. I said, "Are you SURE it's there?" She said yes, she had even mapped it. I must've asked her twenty times if she was sure as I told her how to get to the area and said, "When you see the area, you'll understand why I don't believe it's there." Still, I was a little excited about the idea. Wow, I could go there during lunch and get a macaron.

We never found the place, believing it was probably on the corner of Grand and McKinley, but it was closed. Although the area is on the way up, with art galleries and restaurants, it's still got several years to go before it gets there. I told her that it was too good to be true because in "Le hood," homeless people and drug addicts just aren't interested.

I came home and looked up French bakery and Vietnamese restaurants. I found the restaurants on a favorite blog, the New Times' Chow Bella. The bakery on another favorite, "Feasting In Phoenix."

We went to the bakery, called "Au Petit Four." I told my sister I was going to have to thank Seth Chadwick (of "Feasting In Phoenix") for the hookup. We had found the elusive chocolate crossaint and almond crossaint, and creme brulee and palmier and cookies. Life is good. The crossaints are good too, just like Seth Chadwick said. Turns out, the bakery is near her work. Lucky.

The entire afternoon was delightful. I always have a good time with the sis. And I enjoyed the movie too, had a smile plastered to my face the entire time.

To top my day, I spoke with Pauline (Hi Pauline!) in FLA. I needed to see how she was faring with Fay. She said she'd only gotten 1" of rain in her area.

Finally, I convinced Ivan to go out to dinner at Pizza A Metro 'cause Seth Chadwick reviewed it and I knew he wouldn't let me down. Nope, found out we needed a reservation. They were booked. Probably Seth Chadwick's fault. Ivan wondered why they'd put that kind of restaurant in that area(see Seth Chadwick's review). So, we ended up going to an all-time favorite, the T-Bone Steakhouse, instead. Steak, it's what's for dinner.

Now this is my kind of day, for sure.

Don't Judge A Movie By Its Critic

This weekend, I almost missed "The Game Plan." Joaquin said he wanted to see it. I'd read some of the reviews and they were pretty bad, so I figured it would be father-son bonding time.

I changed my mind at the last minute and quickly showered and got dressed. I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed this as a Sunday family matinee and even shed a couple of tears.

Yeah, it's predictable. Yeah, it's been done. But I liked it.

Mr. Bean's Holiday

Joaquin loved "Mr. Bean's Holiday" and choked from the laughter (and popcorn) at one point. Although we got the biggest kick out of watching Joaquin, it was a perfectly pleasant movie in a nonsensical sort of way. I have a feeling we'll be seeing it on DVD in the future as well.

I don't know the history of this character. I am curious about why Mr. Bean doesn't speak, but not curious enough to look it up.

Liquids and Movies

I was so craving a Jamba Juice today but no chance to go, so I went into my freezer to get out the Kirkland bag of fruit I got at Costco, hmmm, probably a year ago. It came out great.

Ivan is healing from a bad burn caused by hot liquids from his truck spewing out at him on Thursday. He got a lot of blistering on his arm and a few on his belly. Fortunately, that was all.

It's really to hot to do anything here so in addition to trying to keep the plants alive, I've been watching a lot of movies on TV. I finally got to watch "Miss Potter". Everytime I went to the video store it was gone. I think they only had two copies. To describe it, I'd exclaim, "What a charming movie!" If I used the word charming. But it was charming, and sweet and sad too. I love the bits of animation. I believe I'd like to watch this again and again, so I think I'm going to have to add it to my collection.

To continue my adventures in Culinary Cinema, I watched "Eat Drink Man Woman." This story revolved around a man, a Chef losing his sense of taste(I know the feeling), and his three daughters, each of which brings an interesting announcement to one of his elaborate Sunday dinners. Next on my list, the remake, "Tortilla Soup."

Just chillzin...

Still trying to keep cool. You know it's hot here, but add 49% humidity and whoa, you're pouring sweat. At night. While sitting. I always forget that it gets worse before it gets better.

I'm addicted to cutting my hair. Like myself. Almost every day. Even my hair doesn't grow that fast. Must stop now. I don't think this is a side effect of the steroid shot, but you never know.

We went to see "Transformers" at the theater Sunday. Wow, did I enjoy it. As much as, or more than, "Cellular." I know, they're totally different movies, but similar in feeling somehow. The parents were a hoot. I wish they had more airtime, yet I realize the movie is called, "Transformers," not "Sam Witwicky's Parents." Joaquin said he was a little scared, but like I said before, give him an Icee and some popcorn and he'll sit through practically anything.

Oh, I forgot, I watched "Hudsucker Proxy." Another movie that I thoroughly enjoyed this weekend and may have to add to my collection. It was recommended by the computer, you know, "if you like this, you might like this." Some bad reviews, with serious people saying things like, "[M]ade of parts borrowed (or lifted) from Capra, Hawks and Sturges." Actually, I think that was the point of this movie. These people just didn't get it.

A Day In A Blur

I had breakfast on Saturday with my friend, Peggy. That's really about all I did. Once again, Joaquin went to the pool. This time his dad took him. Ivan tried to show off his diving board skillz and came back injured. Figures.

The picture above is from this morning. The "Pussycat Swallowtail Butterfly." Just kidding, that name is from an episode Gilligan's Island. (The Greatest Sitcom ever.) I don't know what kind of butterfly it really was.

Today was "Ratatouille" day. Ivan thought the movie was geared more toward adults than children but Joaquin said he enjoyed it. All I know is that I really enjoyed it, and that's what really counts. No?

After the movie, we headed over towards Joaquin's reading class. His last one. *sniff* I hope we can keep it up as he is doing really well. He's actually reading! On his own!

His instructor, Cathan Bordyn, is really involved in the theater program as ASU as an instructor and actor. Amazing that he can bring himself down to the kids' level. I forgot to ask if he knew Joaquin's cousin, Jonathan, who is currently enrolled in the theater program at ASU.

Each class was enjoyable. Although we were allowed to leave for the two hours the kids were in class, we stayed. It was that entertaining. They read some, he reads some to them, they act out the story they're reading, they do some phonics games, like they have to clap when he says a word that rhymes, like pig and jig or tic-tac-toe, where each team has to come up with a word that ends in "ig," "oy," etc. to get an x or an o. Fun.

After class, we went to Desert Ridge Marketplace. This is where I'd meet my friend Pauline for movie day. I really miss Pauline. *sniff*

Speaking of movies, at "Ratatouille," we saw a trailer for a new Catherine Zeta-Jones movie entitled "No Reservations." I kept saying, I saw this movie! I saw this movie! Ivan said, "Okay, okay..." It was a foreign language film called "Mostly Martha," a movie that was recommended on the Rotten Tomatoes website. I really enjoyed this movie even though I know I lost some of the essence in translation to subtitles, so I can imagine how good it really was. I hope the CZ-J movie does it justice.

I was thinking about chef movies and remembered another I really enjoyed, "Simply Irresistible", with Sarah Michelle Geller. It appears this is a remake of another German film. (Those Germans appear to like their chef movies.) This was a really nothing movie, but I swear I'm totally enthralled each time I watch. I love the scene with the vanilla flowers.

So I'm wondering if I could have a chef movie marathon when "Ratatouille" comes out on DVD. I enjoyed the BBC series, "Chef!," that used to play on PBS, but I'm not sure if I would include that in a movie marathon. This is something I'll definitely be looking into more.