Yes. I like Harry Potter. I’ve read all the books and seen all the movies (some at midnight- but not since early college or late high school). Yes, I realize this makes me a nerd. But I’m also in law school so you already knew that.

At least I have friends who have the same idea.

We started this fantastic night at a California institution: In & Out Burger.

If you’ve never had In & Out then do yourself a favor. Get on a plane to LA asap and get one. It’s the only fast food that I like. They use fresh ingredients that are never frozen and little touches like toasted buns make the burgers special.

The menu is super simple,

but the glory of In & Out is that there are still a million ways to order your burger that aren’t on the menu! Like protein style, animal style, and grilled without meat. They also have the freshest fries (which can be ordered animal style as well).

I’ve interrogated the calorie counter for In & Out many times and in order to maintain some semblance of health I decided not to get anything animal style (which includes 1000 Island sauce and grilled onions) and to split regular fries with Catie because the fries come in around 400 calories.

I got a cheese burger with just grilled onions.

Obviously it was delicious. As mentioned above, Catie and I split fries.

French fry excitement.

My only only only gripe with In & Out, and I don’t know if So Cal people will agree with me or not, but not all In & Outs are created equally. For example, the Westwood In & Out isn’t as good as the Sunset Blvd In & Out. Actually, I think the best In & Out is in West Covina. It was also the first In & Out I went to, so my perception may be skewed on that. What location do you think is the best In & Out?

After In & Out we made our way to the ArcLight. For those of you that are not familiar, the ArcLight is the greatest movie theater of all time. Why, you ask? Well, there is assigned seating, the chairs are like lazy boys, the service is tops and they have the best amenities including, but not limited to, bathrooms, gift shops, and obviously the snack bar. While I think The Landmark at Westside Pavilion is also awesome, the ArcLight is the clear winner in my opinion.

We got there early with plenty of time to go on the “bathroom ride”, the “snack bar ride”, the “gift shop ride” and ogle the display cases.

Catie with some HP costumes.

We also saw some Burlesque costume.

You know it takes a legend to make a star! Is anyone else excited for Burlesque? It looks campy and fantastic, everything I want in a movie. Also they guy who played Volchok from season 3 of the O.C. is in it! How could you not want to see that magic?

Speaking of magic, back to the purpose for the trip to the ArcLight. We made our way to the “world famous cinedome” for the movie.

All the times I’ve been to the ArcLight, I’ve never seen a movie in the dome! The theater is like an IMAX theater but without the movement. It is huge and there really isn’t a bad seat in the house.

At the movie I snacked on popcorn with real butter!

Best movie popcorn ever! It’s never stale and is always topped with fresh, real butter. Yum!

Overall, the Committee had a great time at the movies. Harry Potter was very good and exciting. I have to say, it was so action packed it was a little stressful to watch. In a good way. I’m very happy it is being presented in two movies. It would have been a lot to watch all that action in one film. Have you seen Harry Potter? What do you think?