Over the top: HSM3 party

My friend/neighbor Hollye sent me the link to this:

It's a party that some mother who is not affected by the current economic downtown threw for her 10 year old .

They had it for the High School Musical 3 movie release a few weeks ago and I'll just say it was elaborate.

The invitations had red, white and gold M&Ms in a little case....(Wildcat colors, for those of you not yet in the know) along with a VIP movie pass thingy on a lanyard for them to wear around their neck. I don't know why they bothered with that, though, because I'm sure you could hardly see it for the red or white feather boa they had on as well.

What's that? A Boa?

Let me explain:

Here's a direct quote from the page:

"Gold purses double as gift bags (or “swag bags” in Hollywood terms!) filled with monogram jewelry and stationery, as well as plenty of HSM goodies. Chairs were backed with “Reserved” signs and red and white feather boas, which make for great party pictures!"

OK, ignore all my sarcastic jabs at the 10 year olds who don't know how good they have it. Truly, if I'm going to be honest, those of you who know me well....know....that....I....SO WISH I WAS THE 10 YEAR OLD's BFF!!!!

High School Musical 3: SIMPLY THE BEST

Just got home. I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight....I'm so excited about what I just saw.

It more than lived up to my expectations. It exceeded my expectations!

OK, first onto the details of how we did just getting there. In the first picture below, you'll see where I started to get a little nervous when I saw some construction and lane re-routing on Briley Parkway. Thankfully....it amounted to nothing. (But I took a picture just in case.)

We were able to follow my "Plan A" just perfectly. In fact, we were running above schedule as we landed in line at:

4:34 pm.

We were SECOND in line. (Yes, that's 2.) My new BFFs Kerrie (Carrie?) and Kalyn (Kalinn?) were already there. We bonded over the things we do because we love our kids so darn much...anybody else's parents sit on a cold tile floor for 2.5 hours just so you could get into see a movie? (ON A SCHOOL NIGHT, no less!)

Might we have jumped the gun a little? Been a touch too anxious about this whole thing? Quite possibly. But, Carrie (Kerrie?) and I decided the story we'd be able to tell for YEARS about this experience was worth far more than the 2 hours of our lives we might've had back if only we'd cooled our jets and shown up casually at 6:30.

And, on that note, it did irk me just a tad when people casually sauntered into the theater at 6:45 wondering which seats they would take. OK, so I'll be honest and admit it. It wasn't a sell-out crowd. There were EMPTY SEATS in the theater.

But, at least I didn't check my kids out of school early like the #3 family in line. Yes, you read that right. The people behind us checked their 2 children out of school early to get in line.

OK, back to the schedule. Michael showed up right at 6:00 pm. We were then shown to Theater #9 where I was instructed to disassemble my camera (learned how to take the memory card out) and completely shut down my cell phone. Thankfully they did not make me take it back to the car. They had a couple of security guys there with nightvision goggles to make sure nobody started recording during the movie. Yes, you read that right. Security guards with nightvision goggles. The movie doesn't officially release until 12:01 am so they wanted to make sure the moms and tweens that showed up for this didn't pirate any grainy cell-phone copies in the 3 hours between the prescreening and its actual release.

Other fun stuff: I know this will surprise you (wink wink), but I made lots of fun friends in the line. Once we got into the theater, the Dad in the green shirt started throwing out HSM trivia questions to the crowd. I added a few questions in as well, but the fun stopped just before I started the Wave. Chin up--next time...

Spent a large portion of our next paycheck to buy popcorn and cokes (but hey, the tickets were free, so it's all good), went to the bathroom one last time and....big collective sigh...the movie began.

I'm not going to give away any spoilers. So, you'll just have to go see the film for yourself to find out if Troy & Gabriella stay together in the end. It's a BIG mystery. You know how Disney is always up for pulling a surprise ending on you....so I know you have NO IDEA what the final outcome of that storyline is, right? (winking) So, you dear readers, will have to go pay $8.50 to find out the relationship status of that fair couple.

HOWEVER, I would love to say something about a few of the song and dance numbers.

My favorite, by far, was Ryan & Sharpay's "I Want it All" song. It was chock full of dazzling (bedazzled) costume changes. Catchy tune, too.

Another favorite was "The Boys Are Back." I listened to this song on the soundtrack earlier this week and didn't really go for it. Well, seeing the story & dance with it made me LOVE it. Being the mom of 2 little boys, it made me very sentimental. It involves Troy & Chad in a car salvage yard reliving their moments as little boys...sword fighting and superheroes. It was just precious...in a tough and rowdy sort of way.

And, what HSM movie would be complete without several romantic duets between East High's favorite couple, Troy & Gabriella? They were aplenty in this installment.

OK. I'm ready to hit "Publish Post."

Let me know what you think when you go see it!

Good night, Wildcat Fans.

HSM3 Line Update

This is Michael, Ellen's husband. They made it and are second in line and I can jump in with them when I get there.

The Game Plan--High School Musical 3

OK--tonight is the night! I dreamed about the movie last night and woke up anticipating great things today at the movies. Maddy wore "Wildcat Red" to school today.

Have you all been praying & fasting like I asked? We really must get into the movie! Here's what we're up against, according to the confirmation email we got about our tickets:

"Please make note of the following:
SEATING IS NOT GUARANTEED and is on a first come first served basis.
Camera phones, cameras and recording devices will not be allowed in the theater. "

I've given this a lot of thought and this is what I finally came up with about 11:30 last night:

3:30 pm Start getting ready. Get diaper bag together; snacks and games for us while we wait.

4:00 pm Drop Will off at Vicki's (my M-i-L) house. Kids & I drive to the theater.

4:30 pm Park. Go in and survey the situation. Find out if they'll let us hold Michael a place in line. Call Michael and let him know what's up.

4:45 pm Take cell phone back to car. They will not let you bring it into the theater if it has a camera on it.

4:55 pm Assume position. Take our place in line. Yes, this is 2 hours before movie starts, but we are committed fans! Play Uno, color, eat goldfish, play I-spy a bazillion times, befriend other fans, make note of things to blog. NO DRINKS. We will not leave our place in line to potty.

5:45 pm Michael joins us in line.

6:45 pm Seated in theater with popcorn and a big Diet coke.

7:00 pm Take a deep breath. Relax. Show's on!

9:00 pm Come home and blog a non-spoiler revealing review.

OK, so that's what I want to happen.

Here's what I DON'T want to happen:

3:30 pm John's bus is late; busdriver gets lost in our neighborhood.

3:45 pm Find John in the next subdivision over.

4:00 pm Will has blow out diaper. Must bathe him head-to-toe. Must change my clothes as well.

4:30 pm Take Will to Vicki's. He has a separation anxiety moment and won't let go of my neck.

4:45 pm Drive to movie theater. All lanes blocked on the highway except one. They're paving.

5:45 pm Arrive at movies. Notice that line is already wrapped around Opry Mills, down the sidewalk beside Barnes & Noble and onto the General Jackson showboat.

7:05 pm Doors shut in our face. The people in front of us were the last to get in.

7:30 pm Arrive home to blog my depression away.

High School Musical 3 COUNTDOWN is on!

OK, I've held this in as long as I could, but now I am about to burst and must tell you my big news:

I got tickets to a private screening of HSM3 on THURSDAY NIGHT (yes, before it opens on Friday).

I just saw a preview for it on TV this morning and got goosebumps and tears in my eyes. (No, I'm serious.)

One small catch--I need you all to begin praying and fasting now that we get in. It's apparently a big deal and is first come first serve to those who have the vouchers--must get there early to get in.

Anybody have a sleeping bag I can borrow on Wednesday night?

Cinderella's Castle: A soap opera

There was a brief period of time last week in which my camera went missing. (You'll notice an absence of blog posts toward the end of the week).

Friday night (the night the Chocolate cake showed up), I mentioned that I wanted to take a picture. Madeline disappears and shows up just moments later with the missing camera. I was so glad to see it that I didn't question what she was doing with it.

Upon downloading the photos later, I discovered that I have a budding photographer under my roof.

She has a Cinderella castle in her room that is home to Troy & Gabriella from High School Musical, Cinderella, Prince, Belle, Prince, Barbie the Island Princess, Strawberry Shortcake, and the nun, Miss Clavel from the story Madeline. I always say that Miss Clavel is the "chaperone" or the house mother. Maddy plays with the castle a lot and always has the dolls arranged "just so".

So, when the camera went missing, I discovered she had decided to document the different moments of the dolls' lives. Here's what she captured on camera. I may provide a bit of commentary for some of the photos. These are just a FEW of the pictures--didn't want to overload your server with the actual amount of photos that she took.

First, you'll notice the self-portrait at the top of the blog entry.

Here's the whole group in two different poses. You'll notice Troy & Gabriella together in the top photo at the top of the staircase, but Troy has taken up with a scantily clad Belle in the photo on the bottom. Take note of Miss Clavel, the nun in the photo on the top as well.

In the photo on the top, Prince seems to be getting a footrub from Belle. Now look in the next photo and Miss Clavel has shown up so they are behaving more appropriately since his feet are now on the floor.

Is a wedding about to take place? The foot-rub couple are posed at the top of the staircase, ready to descend and make an entrance. Miss Clavel is the bridesmaid.

Troy seems to have broken up with Gabriella and is now courting Barbie, the Island Princess. Cinderella is consoling Gabriella in the photo on the top. In the next photo, Cinderella has asked for a moment alone with Troy to confront his carelessness in handling Gab's heart. He is ashamed of his behavior and cannot even meet her gaze.

If you see anything else happening in the backgrounds of the pictures that I missed, please post a comment and tell me what else is going on.

All Things High School Musical

I'm officially in countdown mode for HSM3's debut at the big screen. October 24 is the big day and I am a big fan. If I were buying school supplies for myself, you better believe I'd have a Trapper Keeper with Troy on the front of it. Oh, what's that? They don't make Trapper Keeper's anymore? Well, whatever--I've said that I was born too early...this could've been my "thing" when I was growing up, so now instead I live vicariously through my children's HSM experiences, pretending to be there for them, but if you know me well, I'm actually there for ME.

A bit of a reality check, however...one day I casually and humbly mentioned to someone that I thought I would make a good Gabriella or Sharpay in a local production of HSM. They replied, "it's much more likely that you'd be cast as Gabriella's MOTHER." Thanks.