Tag Archives: cheap

Another Week Another Hollywood Bowl Adventure (or Trying To Enjoy The View From The Cheap Seats

Posted on September 2, 2014 | 6 comments

I was just at the Hollywood Bowl a week ago but I made another trip up that way this past Saturday. I had tickets with my friend (and neighbor) Amber to see the John Williams show!

I’ve been going to the John Williams show for several summers now. It’s so great and he has done the music to some of my favorite movies.

Amber and I bought our tickets pretty close to the show night, so we actually weren’t able to purchase seats next to each other. We did find 2 seats in the same row that were about 4 seats apart. So we bought those and hoped for the best.

When we got there, fortunately the group that had the 4 seats between us were willing to move over 1 seat so Amber and I could sit together (people at the Bowl tend to be nice like that). Even though we had seats almost all the way in the back, we had a very nice view of the stage.

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Well, it was nice until right when the show started. Then the group that had the bench seats right in front of us came in. And I swear that the guy sitting in front of me must have been 7 feet tall. This photo is of my view of the stage with him sitting in the bench below me and me holding my phone on top of my head to take the photo.

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You can see the glow of the stage but clearly my view was completely blocked. I tried to lean from side to side to see, but that always didn’t work (he moved around a lot too).

Even though I couldn’t really see anything, I was enjoying the music a lot. There were quite a few things different this year compared to last year’s show. There was a choir on stage and later a children’s choir joined them. Also, there was a segment dedicated to the Olympics and that was very cool.

During intermission, Amber offered to switch seats with me so I could see the second half of the show. I was so grateful to her for doing that for me! I switched just in time for the Star Wars segment of the show, which is always a highlight for me.

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I need to get a lightsaber before next year’s show!

There were 4 or 5 encores after the show ended, but the very last thing that was played was the music from “ET”. I was terrified of ET as a child (my brother used to hide the VHS case to the movie under my pillow to scare me), but now it’s one of my favorite movies. And the music is so powerful that hearing it played live brings tears to my eyes!

And as I’ve seen every year (and loved every year), at the very end of the show there is a rainbow on the sides of the Bowl.

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It was such a wonderful show this year! I’m already looking forward to next year! And this show was Amber’s first time at the Bowl, so I’m glad that she got to see something amazing for her first time there!

I might be going to 1 more show this summer (I’m still looking for people to come with me), but even if I don’t, I picked amazing shows to see at the Bowl this summer! I’m never really disappointed with what I see. And every time I’m there, I’m so grateful to have such an amazing venue so close to where I live!

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Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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This Weekend’s Shopping Adventure (or Still Trying to Find Some More Cute Dresses)

Posted on August 17, 2012 | 2 comments

I’ve previously posted about how tough it can be to shop when you don’t fit into a “standard” size. I’ve got a few more events coming up in the future where I need some nice clothes, and I don’t have anything that would be weather/event appropriate. The event I’m most excited about is in October when my friends Marie and Chris are getting married! I’m traveling to Houston for that, and I want a fun dress to wear to their fun wedding.

On Saturday, Kiyonna is having their Sweet 16 Shopping Event. Everything is 20% off if you go shop at their boutique above their distribution center in Anaheim. Of course, I RSVPed for that event and I’ll be doing a bunch of shopping tomorrow. I’ve bought clothes full price at the store before and I’m excited to save some money this time!

I’m grateful that I’ve found a few stores where I can feel relatively confident that even if I won’t find what I’m looking for, I’ll find clothes that I can try on and that fit. That’s pretty important.

I hate the feeling of going in a dressing room with my arms full of clothes that I can’t wait to try on only to find out that not a single thing fits. Normally after that happens, I don’t even want to continue shopping, I just leave the store feeling defeated.

But I know on Saturday that I’ll be able to find clothes that fit. And I’ve been looking online and have found several dresses and tops that I’m super excited to try on. I’ll have to report back on Monday to let you know what I got (and what the damage is to my credit card).

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Default ThumbnailRenting A Dress (or Testing Out Gwynnie Bee) Default ThumbnailWedding Dress Outing (or Helping A Friend Find The Perfect Dress) Default ThumbnailShopping Adventure Results (or Why Do Things Have to Be Backordered?!?) Default ThumbnailJust Because I’m Not Skinny Doesn’t Mean I Don’t Want To Look Cute (or More Shopping Drama) Default ThumbnailAnother Adventure In Bra Shopping (or I’m Glad I Took Another Chance) Default ThumbnailMaking My Friend Try On Wedding Dresses (or I’m So Glad She Found The Perfect Dress!)

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Shopping

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Liza with a Z (or How to Go to the Hollywood Bowl on the Cheap)

Posted on August 14, 2012 | Comments Off on Liza with a Z (or How to Go to the Hollywood Bowl on the Cheap)

This past weekend, I went with my friend Krista to the Hollywood Bowl to see Liza Minnelli!

 

It was an awesome night. There were some technical difficulties before the show started, so it started about 45 minutes late. But Liza ended up performing the entire show without an intermission to make it up to the audience. She also performed barefoot, which I thought was pretty funny.

Going to the Bowl is one of my favorite summer activities. It’s outside, you can bring your own food and alcohol, and you can normally go pretty cheaply.

For most shows, I’ll just show up at the box office before the show and ask for the cheapest seats. Sometimes you can get them as low as $5 or $1 when it’s one of the classical nights.

For this show, I had gotten an email from Goldstar about tickets for only $13 for pretty decent bench seats. Those were way cheaper than we could have gotten at the box office the day of, so we went for them.

And I never park at the Bowl. It’s ridiculously expensive and since it’s stacked parking, you might be stuck in the lot while you wait for the people in front of you to leave. I’m a huge fan of the Bowl bus. It leaves from a bunch of different places around the city (I get the one that’s only 6 blocks from my house), and it’s only $10 round trip.

So for a $13 ticket and a $10 bus ride, I had a pretty amazing night.

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Comments Off on Liza with a Z (or How to Go to the Hollywood Bowl on the Cheap)

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Fabulous Lunch Food (or Enjoying Champagne on a Beer Budget)

Posted on July 24, 2012 | 1 comment

I’ve mentioned previously that I pack my lunch for work most days. This is for two reasons. One is that we only get 30 minutes for lunch, so I don’t want to waste time going out and getting food. The other reason is that I’m cheap.

I can’t afford to spend $8-10 four days a week for lunch. I’m trying to save money, and one of the easiest ways is to not go out to eat. If I’m going to splurge, it’s going to be on something wonderful, like my dinner at Magic Castle last week.

But bringing a lunch to work can be boring. I do have a fridge and microwave there, but there are only so many ideas in my head for lunches. I’ve gotten bored of sandwiches, even if I add lots of veggies and use nice bread and lunch meat. I’m currently bringing picnic style lunches: some yogurt, a little piece of cheese, some crackers, some fruit or veggie, and something sweet to end the meal with. I haven’t figured out the cost per lunch yet, but I know it’s cheap. And I know that the calories are under 500.

But those picnic lunches are starting to feel a bit tired. I think that I can only do the same type of lunch for like two weeks before it gets boring. So I’m asking you all for some fabulous lunch suggestions. I don’t normally have leftovers because when you get home from work at 9pm, the last thing you want to do it cook dinner.

So please, comment with some lunch suggestions! I can really use them!

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Posted in Food

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