Free movies part 3, Charlie Bartlett

Let's talk about what happened before I even got into this movie.  These two security guards were giving me a hard time about my cell phone when I was walking in. I turned it on silent and they
wanted me to turn it completely off. I'm like what's the difference and the guy said you can't get into the movie unless you turn it completely off, that's what the ticket says. I was so pissed, I never had to do that at a free movie before and get harassed about it. Did they honestly think I was going to tape the movie with my cell phone?  I put it on silent as soon as I got to my seat.
Then these 2 girls came in late and sat next to me and they reeked of Red Bull. One of the girls pulls out a hot dog with mustard! It stunk so bad! I felt like I was sitting next to Britney Spears.

Onto the actual movie.  One of the reasons I was excited to see Charlie Bartlett was that it is one of my favorite types of movies - ones that are set in high school.  While watching it I kept thinking that this is what we wish high school was like, where the kids rule the school. The new dorky kid, Charlie Bartlett, becomes popular by partnering with the school bully by selling pharmaceutical drugs.  How does he get these prescription drugs?  By going to multiple psychatrists, lying to them about his symptoms and getting prescriptions.  Charlie then pretends to be a psychatrist by listening to the kids' problems in the boys bathroom and dispensing meds.  The movie plays this off as cute, not really dwelling on how dangerous it is to abuse prescription drugs. Sure there's reference to a kid overdosing and getting his stomach pumped, but I don't think that's enough.  The movie does have a point, that Charlie has been treated like an adult his whole life and should be treated like a kid, but it seems like it takes forever to get to that point. 

Delmonico's

One of Danny's friends said all he wanted for his birthday was for Danny and I to eat at Delmonico's Steakhouse with he and his girlfriend. How could we not oblige his birthday wishes? I started with a $12 glass of wine, a Sauvignon Blanc from Cakebread Cellars.  Not a huge steak fan, I had Seared Sea Scallops over butternut squash, brussels sprouts, purple potatoes, pancetta and hazelnuts. Pretty much everything I love in life (yes, I love brussels sprouts!).  

Danny had a steak which was basically a huge piece of meat on a plate so no pretty pic.  I have never heard him say such wonderful things about a steak, and that's amazing coming from a guy who makes steaks all day.  He had truffled cream corn on the side and said it lacked the "truffled" part.  

We were able to use a $25 gift card from Christmas, which makes me happy because gift cards burn a hole in my pocket.  All in all a great time!

Great Eye Makeup Tutorials

I stumbled upon this site, temptalia.com, that shows you step-by-step how to apply eye makeup that looks amazing!  The girl who does this, Christine, uses some of my favorite M.A.C. makeup and innovatively uses painters brushes to apply the eye shadow instead of expensive makeup brushes.  I learned a lot from reading a few tutorials.  The makeup looks intense zoomed in but when she zooms out to her whole face it looks really pretty.  The common theme in all her tutorials is to BLEND!

You may ask, why do I like makeup so much, especially the expensive department store brands? When I was a teenager, my mom became friends with the manager of M.A.C. Cosmetics at Nordstrom. She dressed like a rocker chick, but was one of the nicest people I have ever met and was an artist, so I connected with her. She would always do my makeup for free and never pressure me to buy anything. In fact, she dissuaded me from buying anything, instead offering to give me samples. M.A.C. has "events" where they introduce their new lines of makeup and she would always put my mom and I on the list to attend. The M.A.C. events are so fun! The makeup artists wear theatrical makeup all over their faces, music's pumping, and a makeup artist does a makeover on you using all the new products. As a teen, it really boosted my self-confidence to learn how to do my makeup and especially cover up pimples and oily skin. So I guess I'm trying to capture those good memories of being with my mom and feeling special getting my makeup done with my continued obsession with M.A.C. makeup.

Nobu Reso, Check!

Today I made a reservation for one of the most expensive restaurants Danny and I have been to to date, Nobu Las Vegas in the Hard Rock Hotel.  Nobu is owned by celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa and also Robert De Niro, which is interesting.  I was so excited, I even had to time it just right when I made my phone call because of the time difference.  The girl was very nice who did my reso.  She informed me that the dress code was business casual.  I never had a restaurant tell me a dress code before!  Now I'm all nervous on what to wear.  I'm thinking you can go a little funkier than business casual because this is located in the Hard Rock Hotel after all.   

Action Packed Weekend

Friday night I had free tickets to the Cleveland Home & Garden show. I used to go with my parents when I was kid so I was excited to check it out.  The theme was Bella Italia and there are celebrity gardens and sample decorated houses.  It's funny, when I was little I dreaded going into these houses, it was like torture.  Now I'm kind of interested in the decorations and furniture and such.  I ended the night with dinner at Olive Garden which I always seem to go to on Fridays during Lent and have 3 things to choose from.

Saturday night I worked and then went out to Coventry, a former hippie commune turned college bar hangout to meet up with friends. I hung out with one of the funniest guys you'll ever meet, who also is a fellow blogger about relationships.  So between laughing at his jokes and dancing at the bar/club, McNulty's, I had a great time living vicariously through my younger single friends.  We stayed till CLOSE, which I haven't done in forever.

Sunday I paid the price for my trying to-be-22-again non-stop Saturday by sleeping on and off all day and going to bed at 9:30.   

  

Animal Attractions

Danny got invited to Animal Attractions at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Rainforest exhibit because his restaurant was participating in it by giving out samples. I was all for going to this because a) free food and drinks, b) I love animals and c)It would be 85 degrees inside the rainforest exhibit. Here are some pics:

(Note: I couldn't take pics of the food because I couldn't juggle the camera and eat while standing, sorry. The food was just OK.)

frog

piranhas, Danny's fave

Let's pretend we're really in the rainforest.

Red Velvet cupcakes from The White Flower Cake Shoppe . They were really yummy, I had 2. (I took this pic for you, Nanette!)

Aww, how cute. Apparently this is going to be posted on Cleveland's Scene Magazine website.

Superbowl Gross-Out

Danny and I watched the Superbowl with another couple and between conversation we were halfway watching the game and commercials. In the post Janet Jackson boob era, the commercials were very safe, oddly many involving animals. This is the only commercial that got a reaction out of me and it totally grossed me out. Blood makes me feel queasy, even CGI blood. The best part is that it's from careerbuilder.com! Follow Your Heart - CareerBuilder.com