I heart LA

I wrote this post in March and never posted it. But I will now. I find it interesting. Most others probably will not. I'm so glad we got to stay in LA!

Lately the threat of having to move away from LA has been more present than ever. It's made me think about how sad it would be to leave this beautiful place! I love living in LA. The weather! DISNEYLAND! Our friends in the ward who we love so much! So many things to do and see. The mountains, the beach, and the desert all in one place! It's amazing. I have started to get prematurely homesick for it all. I've made lists of all the things we need to do and see right now in case we do have to leave. And I think about all the things we've already done here and how lucky we are! And I realized that I never blogged about one of my favorite nights ever, which happened last fall, a quintessential LA experience: going to a movie premier!

Jack is an assistant at Samuel Goldwyn Films. Sometimes he gets to go to movie screenings and film festivals and fun stuff like that. Back in October he got tickets to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I had never heard of it, but I always trust Jack because he knows my movie taste and he never fails me when taking me out to the movies. His company co-produced it, so everyone got tickets to the premier. We have been to premiers before for his work, and they were no big deal, just independent films most people haven't heard of at regular theaters. So I thought that's how it would be. But this one was way more fun!

I dropped Molly off at the Ackermans' place and took the train down to meet Jack in Hollywood.  It's always fun to take the train, but even more so when you're alone, wearing your favorite dress, and going to meet your handsome husband for a date. He was a sweetie and presented me with McDonald's chocolate chip cookies at the top of the escalator. Have you tried them? Three for a dollar and so good! Do not doubt. Anyways, off we went to the Chinese Theater and there was a red carpet and everything! They hurried us right past it and we went on in to find our seats. Everything there on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is historic and iconic, but also touristy and cheesy. That's how this theater is. Even the bathroom is fake-fancy.

Before the movie they had some speeches. People stood importantly in the front while we all clapped. Jack was spotting obscure actors left and right, but the only people I recognized were the actors from the movie who were up front. We saw Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, and Sean Penn. And then the movie! I didn't know how much I was going to like it. I already had all these thoughts swirling around in my head about quitting my job and making some big changes and then I watched the movie and I was like, I can do anything! Life is amazing! Nothing can stand in our way, Jack! Being on a date with your handsome husband and away from your sweet baby child is so rare, and can put one in that kind of mood anyways. So with the great movie and the train and the cookies and being a little star struck with the celebrities, I was getting carried away with joy. That night actually turned out to be a bit of a turning point for me. Some thoughts were planted in my head that have turned out to be great ideas and have prepared me a lot for the coming year. Do you think Heavenly Father inspires personal revelation through movies sometimes? Even slightly hipstery silly movies? Maybe so.

If we ever have to leave LA, I will miss it a lot. I love (almost) everything about it. But my very favorite thing about LA is who I get to live here with, and those two (soon to be three) will be coming with me if we go. So I think we'd be able to love a new place just as much. But maybe we'll stay here forever! Nobody knows! Well someone knows. But not us.

Long hair and favorite dress in the fake-fancy bathroom.