La La Down Memory Lane

This weekend Mr. Bell and I went on a date and saw La La Land. This particular weekend was already feeling pretty special for us: 10 years ago this exact weekend Mr. Bell and I met. We went on a ski trip with our college Bible Study group and became fast friends. We celebrated his 21st birthday  at the end of the weekend once back with a few of his friends which now included me and my awesome roommate (who I made tag along more than once to spend time with my new crush!)

This weekend was also Mr. Bell's 31st birthday. As he said, "I feel like I'm officially 'middle age'. I have a steady job, we have a full, busy family, and life is just moving down its path and we mostly know where that path is going."  How the Lord has taken us all over and through a lot of changes to get to this point!

I am always intrigued to see some of the Oscar nominated films so we went and saw La La Land. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face. To see so many familiar sights and emotions and dreams and realities from the past was overwhelming. I sat there trying hard to not zone out from the movie, but also wanting to enjoy the momentary memories the scenes were causing.  Did anyone else see Miss Patty's dance hall when they walked around WB?  While Ryan and Emma walked around the studio I thought of what filmed in the sound stages they passed. I thought of the time Christian Slater winked at me while taking a break by stage 19. I thought of another time I was on the lot very early and saw a William Shatner almost fall asleep while riding his bike down the same street. I smiled at the memory of being behind the scenes for so many magical moments created for television and pushed aside thoughts of how I could maybe someday return because I didn't want to miss the movie while daydreaming on my own.

I also found myself giddy watching their story unfold in similar ways to ours. Okay, so not really, but we did adventure around Hollywood and all the same places in a convertible just like they did. We did go to parties with 'serial networkers' who can't wait to tell you how they are hoping you can make their dream a reality. We even had our own 'living in a musical' moment at the Griffith Observatory ;)

Lastly, I made sure to tell my amazingly talented husband that even though Ryan did a fine job, he's lucky Mr. Bell is no longer in the biz because he's an actual triple threat unlike most of Hollywood these days! (Actor, Singer, Dancer)

Until rest time - Mrs. Bell