I was in a pretty foul mood yesterday, which is why I decided to delay posting until today. So yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, which I have always found funny because most places in Mexico do not celebrate it at all, but in America its widely used as an excuse for people to go out and get drunk. Never the less, hubby and I usually make our way down to our local "Mexican block" to enjoy the festival that is usually happing there. A few years ago, it was excellent it was all latino bands, with a bunch of vendors selling goods, pretty authentic mexican stands, ect. It was awesome. But in the few recent years, it has changed almost drastically. I dare say majority of the people that go down there are predominantly non hispanic, which has caused the venue to change and cater to their "tastes." Now there is usually three stages, one with latin music, one with local music and the last stage has a DJ who usually plays only hip hop. The stands now sell Mexi-American food and it has genuinely just gone down hill taste and culture wise, in my honest opinion (not to mention how ridiculously crowded it gets). Obviously, it can still be a lot of fun and I am happy that the vendors and local area restaurants are making a pretty penny off of this. But it just takes some time getting used to.
At anyrate, this year we skipped because weather was pretty bad, and because hubby didn't really want to leave the house. So instead, sister in law and long with my mother in law and my niece and nephew decided to go to see a movie. I wasn't sold on the idea of going with them without my husband, just because they love to speak spanish and while I understand, I often just feel left out of the conversation. But my son loves both his cousins and so, I couldn't possibly deny him the opportunity to see both of them. When we got to the theater, I was really worried about movies - as I can think of only a handful that are out that I find appropriate for my three year old. Thankfully, The Great Wizard of Oz was still there, unluckily it was in 3D only and I spent WAY more money than I planned on two movie tickets. I don't understand this morbid fascination people have with 3D movies, some are awesome, but a majority could totally go without. While we waited we played in the arcade and Ducia ended up getting a couple of dinosaur toys, and winning quite a few games. I, myself, was pretty excited after winning a bonus on those "lighting catch" machines. Now for the fair warning, this may contain some spoilers, so if you're really set on seeing this movie without any surprises - stop reading. The movie was actually pretty good. The 3D effects were surprisingly well done and it was done very beautifully. Especially when we first arrive in Oz. I will say I am not a big fan of James DeFranco, I cannot for the life of me, think of one film where I thought, "He is such a good actor." (Maybe in Spider Man...) But in this movie, I want to think it. He sells the part of the deceiving, con artist magician very well. I have read that Johnny Depp was to be considered after Robert Downey Jr. turned down this role, and I must say that I think he probably would have done a better job than DeFranco. Anyway, I love how the story starts out much like Wizard of Oz, in Kansas and in black and white, and moves on to being in colour as we get into Oz. Oz, himself, meets Theadora (Mila Kunis) who is a very innocent and naive witch and of course Oz takes advantage and she (very quickly) falls in love. Oz makes his way to the Emerald city to me Evanora (Rachel Weisz) who has tricked everyone into believing that she is the good witch (even her sister!). Now, Rachel Weisz plays this role to perfection. She is very on point with using a bitter sweetness with a healthy amount of maliciousness. Mila Kunis also plays the part of the naive little sister very well, she has a very innocent look about her. So, Oz and Theadora get to the Emerald city, and when Evanora sees Oz, she very quickly jumps to the conclusion that he is not at all the great wizard that was prophesied to come to Oz. She, none the less, offers him up the kingdom and all its riches in exchange for him to kill the "wicked witch." Off Oz goes with the bellhop flying monkey he rescued earlier (who is a very good part of the film), eventually they meet up with a little girl made of China glass who is also a hilarious part of the film.When they finally get to the dark forest, Oz attempts to destroy the "wicked witch" by almost breaking her wand and that is when we find out that the "wicked witch" is non other than Glinda (Michelle Williams)- The Good. I will say, maybe its from me watching Wicked every single chance I get, but Michelle Williams character is so bland. Glinda here is nothing like the upbeat younger Glinda in Wicked, and she doesn't hold all the charm of the Glinda in the original Wizard of Oz. Glinda takes Oz back to her city where he learns that Evanora is the true wicked witch, and she is the one that killed Glinda's father. All the while, back in the Emerald city Evanora watches on with rage, and lies to her sister about Oz. This causes Theodora to become SO enraged that she accepts her sisters offer to become wicked (green skin and all). Now this is the part in the movie where it kind of loses me. First off, it is insane that Theodora falls so deeply in love with Oz within the first few days of meeting him that she just goes off the total deep end and wants to become totally in completely evil. But I suppose that is also due to her young and innocent nature, maybe this is truly the first time Theodora experienced loved. But more importantly, I didn't feel that Mila Kunis sold that role. It just didn't fit her, or her character. And so, with one bite Theodora, in a moment of clarity realizes that her sister was truly the wicked one but alas, it is too late to turn back. She has joined the dark side. Well, and from there, its all quite predictable. Glinda and Oz organize a way of leading Glindas people to over throw Evanora, while Oz is still battling the selfish, deceiving man that he is. In the end, good wins out and Theodora is banished from the Kingdom, while Evanora is defeated. All is well that ends well, I suppose. Spoilers, over. Overall, I found myself enjoying most of the movie, Ducia slept through most of it. I did so want to love it, the great effects, some of the better characters, but I think the whole Theodora thing just blew some of it for me. It was one thorn in my side that jaded the better half of the movie. Would I see it again, sure. I don't know if I'll be rushing off to buy it when it comes out on DVD, but I wouldn't be opposed to getting as a present, or buying when I stumble across it.
The day pretty much ended with a trip to the frozen yogurt shop and a few episodes of Doctor Who at home. I've been getting into it lately. I've watched a couple of episodes randomly, and decided that I should indeed just watch it all from the beginning. Jose is actually starting to become a fan as well.
I will now say, that I am quite literally falling in love with the "Straighten it out" product. I asked to borrow SIL's flat iron and thought my hair looked wonderful after I straightened it with the iron (even though it works just as well with just the hair dryer).
This is what it looked like the day I straightened it:
And it has basically stayed that same way since. Its obviously not something that I think you should use every day, especially since it requires you to blow dry and hot iron your hair for it to work. But on occasion I can totally dig the straight look.
Now, on to the 4th of May! Since we had not made plans to go down to Cheeroke Street on the 5th, we thought it would be nice to invite out a couple for on the 4th. Both days ended up being gloomy, but on the 4th at least it didn't rain all day. Being the cautious people that we are, we decided against going down there on the 4th and instead made plans to go out to eat at a mexican restaurant. I had been dying to go to Las Palmas since it opened, but upon reading their reviews changed my mind. They had almost NO moderate reviews. It was either super awesome, or super bad. I can't say that I have ever had my friends review that place, but they do often go there for drinks and karaoke, which just wasn't the atmosphere we were going for. So we chose an old favorite: Mi Ranchitos. Jose and I used to go there all the time when we first started dating, many of the servers knew us by name, and we had our "regulars." But we stopped going out to eat so much after Ducia was born. So, we show up at Mi Ranchitos and it was really busy, we grab a table, and what do you know - one of Joses friends works there and we got sat in his section. We hadn't seen him for a while, so that too, was a pleasant surprise. Anyway, as soon as our friends get there we get some margaritas and order our food. Jose got a monster glass of Pina Colada, it is pretty crazy how fast he can down, what seems like a gallon of that stuff. Ha ha. I have known Meredith since elementary school, so basically since I moved here from Russia. For a while even, we hung out with the same group of best friends, just hanging out on a trampoline at someones house, and though we may not have always been on the best terms, we were never bitter enemies or rivals or anything. Although, I think both of us were somewhat of "mean girls" when we got a little bit older. She ended up transferring, I believe at the end of middle school, but in high school we ended up once again hanging out with the same group of people. Although, from her recollection her life was a bit more dramatic than mine. And while I did hang out with that group, and they did have A LOT of drama, I was never really in the middle of it. At least not to my knowledge (who knows what was happening behind my back). Meredith and I reconnected a while ago, and we started having monthly lunches/early dinners. I met her husband - Semir. He is from Bosnia and he is a very nice man. Once in a while we do things in a group setting, like double dates or going to the zoo. Its aways nice to be able to catch up with friends over whats going on in their lives and everything. Since it was Cinco De Mayo weekend we ended up doing shot specials, which was fun. We had like four rounds, and by the time we were ready to leave (which was about three hours after we came) Meredith was feeling giddy, and we had enjoyed awesome company and great conversation. Not to mention the amazing food that they have at Mi Ranchitos. I usually order the Camarones al mojo de ajo, which is shrimp in garlic sauce with rice, beans and a side of tortillas. Never ceases to leave me full. Talking with Meredith and Semir, I realized that maybe I should start having game night with some of my friends. Meredith and Semir do game nights, and its so rare to find people that still do that. I, personally, whip out Apples to Apples, Uno and Bullshit at every party that we host at the house. So it'd be nice if we could make a regular thing out of it. Just grown ups, though. Sometimes I need a break from my own little one.
