Peter and the Starcatcher

On Black Friday hubs and I had our season tickets to see Peter and the Starcatcher after I finished work. Unfortunately due to some food poisoning which was probably from the sliders a food truck near work were giving away for free we weren't able to go. But thanks to the very kind people at SHN we were able to reschedule our show for matinee on Saturday. In hindsight we probably should've chosen the evening show on Saturday as the matinee was plagued with children who like to kick the seats in front of them.

The show is based on the book, which is a prequel to the Peter Pan story. Everything about this play is minimalist from the set and props are minimal as they invite you to use your imagination and the small cast that of people playing multiple characters. With that being said they do an amazing job using what few props and costumes they have to create an amazing story.

Although this is primarily a very kid-oriented play there were a lot of very adult jokes that had us lol-ing. Disney has put their name on a lot of different musicals, but this is probably the most grown-up friendly one we've seen so far. Highly recommend!

Stella & Dot Trunk Show

Last weekend a friend and I hosted a Stella & Dot trunk show at my house. I had been trolling their website and adding item and after item to my wish list. While trolling the website I saw that you can host a trunk show and I thought it'd be a great excuse to get some friends and family together and maybe help people get some things checked off their Christmas list. It was so much fun to just hang out and try on all kinds of different jewelry while sipping on some champagne (of course).

The products our stylist brought to the trunk show were absolutely beautiful. There were a lot of jewelry pieces that I remember being unimpressed with in the catalog that really won me over in person. Their handbags impressed me and were surprisingly high in quality. And their scarves...oh their scarves...so big and soft! I must say after seeing all those items in person I have a lot more things added to my wish list.

CW: Sutton Necklace ($128) - super cute statement necklace that can be worn multiple ways, Sanibel
Reversible Pendant ($69) - necklace that can be worn long or short with a reversible pendant, Stackable
Deco Rings ($49) - cute set of 3 simple rings, Luxemborg Scarf in Ceruleun Tiger ($59) - super soft and luxe
scarf perfect for the fall/winter, Serenity Stone Cuff ($49) - perfect for tiny wrists, Getaway Bag ($138) - this
big bag unzips to unfold an even bigger bag perfect for a weekend getaway.

This is the last week to shop our trunk show. It's perfect for checking gifts of your Christmas list or a little something for yourself. Be sure visit our trunk show online and select our trunk show by searching by my name (Lauren Honda).

Porgy and Bess

The next show hubs and I saw this theater season was The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, which won an award at the last Tony's for Best Revival of a Musical. As season ticket holders we were invited to a special behind the scenes event where the director, Diane Paulus, discussed some of the background and history of the play and we got to watch some of the tech rehearsal.

Porgy and Bess started off as a novel by DuBose Heyward, which was then translated into a play and then later an opera, before being made into a musical. As a whole I thought the show was very good. Since the musical was adapted from the opera there was a lot of operatic singing, especially by the female cast. which at times made it very difficult for me to fully understand what was going on. Granted that is no fault of the musical...my ears just aren't used to that style and I found it hard to follow at times. Even with the operatic singing I still understood the main storyline, I may have just missed some of the underlying nuances.

Most notably the actors were amazing! In fact they were so convincing that the actors who played the villains literally got booed during the final curtain call. I don't know what was better...the fact that the audience booed them or that the actors loved it. LOL

Tale of a Bridesmaid

When hubs and I got married in Hawaii another great thing happened - our friends who were there for our wedding got engaged. A year and a half later we finally got to see them get married! Not only did we get to see them get married but I had the honor of being one of her bridesmaids.

Hubs and I had already been dating for about a year when I met the bride in one of my college classes and we hit it off instantly. I remember she used to come to my room to have me do her makeup before she went out on the weekends....man does that bring back crazy memories. We watched her date different guys that just weren't right for her and we watched her date her now husband. There is something absolutely amazing about seeing a couple you've watched blossom and grow together get married. It may be one of the most touching things I've ever experienced.

The wedding day was a crazy long and tiring day...even more tiring than my own wedding day. We started our day at the bride's home in San Jose at 3am...no jokes...three.in.the.morning. UGH...I must really love that girl. After we were all dolled up and dressed there was a traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony hosted by the bride's family. Then we made the long drive to Stockton for the traditional Chinese tea ceremony hosted by the groom's family before the wedding.

CCW: getting beautified with the beautiful bride, traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony with the bride's
family, traditional Chinese tea ceremony with the groom's family

The wedding ceremony was held in our alma mater's church which is absolutely beautiful. Hubs and I contemplated getting married there as well, but the impracticality of asking my large family to fly out to California for a wedding trumped our emotional and nostalgic desire to get married there. The ceremony was nice and short and the couple wrote their own heartfelt vows...some tears were definitely shed. After the ceremony I hung back to take pictures with the bridal party while Hubs and the friends that were staying with us went to help set up the reception site.

the new Mr. & Mrs.

The reception was a traditional family-style Chinese wedding banquet. Hubs and I were seated at a table with our friends and a couple of our classmates from pharmacy school. We all had a great time catching up, but after my early wake up call I was pretty much done once the reception program was over.

CW: the newlyweds first dance, obligatory selfies, fellow pharmers at the wedding 

Watching our friends get married truly touching. I'm glad that I've been lucky enough to see them grow into the wonderful couple they are and witness them make their vows to one another. It really reminded me of how much I love hubs and the vows we made to one another. I am truly blessed to have found my better half.

Birth Month Getaway

Hubs and I took off for a weekend getaway with another of our couple friends to Las Vegas to celebrate the 3 out of 4 of our birthdays that take place in October. All of us wanted to take a quick vacay, but unfortunately none of us could swing getting away from work for more than just the weekend. So we settled for a quickie weekend trip to my favorite vacation destination.

We got in late on Friday and went to Holstein's in the Cosmopolitan for a late dinner. Last time we were in Vegas our friends introduced us to this place. They have great burgers with interesting twits and original spiked milkshakes. It makes for a perfect go-to for a late night bite. (For a place that's known for it's night life we had a really difficult time finding places to get late dinners). After dinner we walked along the strip and made our way to Aria where we took a quick bathroom break. In the few minutes we were in the restroom hubs sat down at a slot machine with $20 and ended up with $200! Luckily this set the tone for the rest of our weekend.

L to R: Nom Nom Burger (kobe beef, cheddar cheese, and potato chips - minus 1000 island dressing) with
Black Cow Float (Coca-Cola, vanilla ice cream, cherry pop rocks, 3 olives cherry vodka),  Major slot
machine winnings

We spent Saturday afternoon doing some damage in the malls and then went to see the new Cirque du Soleil show, Michael Jackson: One. Hubs and I have been dying to see this show since it opened. As huge Michael Jackson fans and huge Cirque du Soleil fans we had high hopes for this show. The show exceeded any all expectations I had for the show. It was a great combination of dance and acrobatics. Definitely a must see for any Michael Jackson fans. I can't wait to see it again!

On Sunday we had to end our vacation and head back to the real world. But not before hubs and I hit up the new craps machines that we'd seen around the casinos. I inherited a love of gambling from my Dad who inherited it from my Grandpa. I love playing craps, but sometimes the dealers are a little intimidating; which makes the craps machines perfect for me. Jason's good luck from Friday night kept up on Sunday morning as we walked away from the craps machines up about $200. WOOT!

The weekend was too short, but still fun nonetheless. It was great to be able getaway and spend some time with some great friends. Hopefully we can do it again sometime soon.

Happy Howl-oween!

Wishing everyone a fun and safe HOWL-oween!

Hope it's DINO-mite! (see what I did there?)

PS...check out the super cute Halloween goodie bag my parents sent for Lulu. 

It's been less than 48 hours since we let her play with these new toys and she's already successfully ripped the blue monster's head off and torn through the rope on the candy corn. How one dog could be so destructive is baffling to me.   

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

I must've been a good person in my former life to end up with such a great man as my husband. A guy who is willing and never disgruntled to take me to a musical. In fact, he's so great that he actually purchased us season tickets to all the musicals stopping in San Francisco this year.

The first show for us this season was a musical making a pre-Broadway debut in San Francisco, Beautiful. The musical is about Carole King and follows her career as a young song writer and then as a Grammy winning singer/song writer. If Jersey Boys is a musical for my grandparents generation, Beautiful is a musical for my parents generation. I wonder who a musical of my generation would be about...probably Justin Timberlake. LOL

We didn't really know what to expect for this show, but I was surprised to find that I recognized so many of the early songs she wrote as well as a lot of the songs from her Tapestry album. (Thanks, mom and dad). The first half covered a lot of the songs she and her husband wrote together, but fell a little short in the plot development. As a whole, the play was really great and the actress who played Carole King was a superb singer. Looking at the program, we did notice a lot of songs were cut from the second act which was probably a good idea to keep the plot rolling along. It will be interesting to see what the final production looks like once it reaches Broadway.

On a totally unrelated note, we'll be taking off for a super quick getaway with our friends for a Las Vegas getaway. I am so excited to get away even for just a weekend. Wish me luck on the craps tables!