movies | Left Coast Contessa

I already have gushed plenty about how much I love summer. This Friday was particularly awesome because I got to hang out with Bloggers and sing songs at the top of my lungs here…

Who doesn’t love that? Friday there was a Grease Sing a Long at the Hollywood Bowl.

Basically you get to watch the movie outside, on a big screen and singing is highly encouraged. I love musicals so I fully participated in the loud singing.

But first, I high tailed it over to The Alcove to pick up my dinner.

I’ve been to The Alcove several times but I’ve never blogged about it before.

After looking over the menu I knew exactly what I wanted! I also grabbed an iced tea.

And this cookie. Isn’t it beautiful?

Then I made my way over to the Bowl to meet up with Kaitlin, some of her friends and Kelley and her husband Irving. I always have a fantastic time with these ladies!

Thanks, Kelley!

For my dinner I had the blackened salmon sandwich. This sandwich, like all sandwiches at the Alcove was pretty much amazing. Look at the HUGE portion of avocado. I have been eating a ton of salmon as of late and this sandwich continued to feed the obsession.

There was also spinach and a lovely spread on the sandwich. On the side there was an apple and pear slaw. It was unconventional and crisp. Perfect health conscious side dish!

I brought one of my favorite summer adult beverages: Sam Adams Summer. This reminds me of summers in Boston and it was the perfect pairing for a night at the Bowl.

Then we settled into our seats. One of the best parts of the event was the people watching. There was a costume contest and there were tons of people who got really into it. The actress that played Frenchie was the MC for the contest and they did a little tribute to Jeff Conway who died recently.

As usual, Grease was fantastic. It really holds up on a 5th or 10th viewing. It was fun watching the movie with the peanut gallery all around. Anyone who has seen Grease as an adult and as a child knows that the movie is actually really dirty. It was fun seeing all the adults laughing and all the little kids being confused by the adult themes.

Going to the Bowl was a great way to kick off summer. I can’t wait to make it back!

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?