Karolyn "Zuzu Bailey" Grimes

On Saturday, December 17th Dan took me to see It's a Wonderful Life and to meet Karolyn Grimes - who played little Zuzu Bailey in the holiday film. It was certainly a fun Christmas date!

When we first arrived at the Hollywood Palms Cimema we weren't sure what kind of a line to expect. However, we were quite surprised when we found ourselves to be the second couple in line and no Karolyn Grimes in sight. Then, as Dan made a quick run out to his car, he spotted a limo as it pulled up right behind his car. The lovely Karolyn Grimes stepped out and made her way into the theater.

We stood in the little line (that nearly doubled in size about 15 minutes later) and we watched Karolyn get set up and ready to meet her fans. Just before 2:00 p.m. she was all smiles and ready for her meet and greet to begin. By this point there were about 20 people in line to meet her.

Karolyn had a lot of various photo prints to choose from. We found a lovely image that featured a large group of cast members, so we purchased it for her to sign.

I'm a nerd, I know, but I was excited to tell her that my first name was the exact same as hers! She was so cute when I told her too. "You're kidding! With a K?" She went on to say that in all her life she has met very few Karolyn's with a K - I felt special.

Just before 3:00 p.m. we went into our theater to watch the movie. Karolyn came in and introduced the film. She shared some fun stories, a few fun facts, and even took a few questions from the very-packed theater. Here are some things that she shared...

1. Before filming It's a Wonderful Life, snow in Hollywood was made out of corn flakes, painted white. However, the loud crunch of the "snow" caused a lot of audio problems, so the creators of It's a Wonderful Life wanted some new "snow." So they created "snow" out of the foam that was used in fire extinguishers and ivory soap. So if you watch carefully, sometimes you'll see suds on the cars and dripping down lights, clothes, and buildings.

2. In the scene where George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) guides tipsy Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) towards his home, Uncle Billy stumbles off camera and you hear a loud bang and crash. Shortly after, Uncle Billy calls out, "I'm all right!" Well, it turns out, a crew member dropped a bunch of props and Thomas Mitchell was simply improving the scene. Instead of getting fired, like the crew member expected, he got a "big fat" $10 bonus!

3. Karolyn Grimes' favorite scene is when George Bailey is back on the bridge, praying, begging to live again... and just as he mentions "God" the snow starts to fall. Karolyn believes in faith, love, family, and miracles.

4. When George Bailey goes into Martini's for a drink, there is a young lady with a flower in her hair, sitting behind him, singing. Listen carefully! She was the original Snow White!

5. Jimmy Stewart's favorite scene from the movie was when George Bailey first prays to God in Martini's bar.

6. Jimmy Stewart was a war vet and it was placed in his movie contract that they couldn't use his military experience to promote the movie. Karolyn explains, he was a humble man and didn't want the special attention for his service.

7. Tommy Bailey (Jimmy Hwakins) burped a lot!

8. Karolyn Grimes grew up in California, so she was very excited about seeing "snow" on the set.

9. The film was made in 1946, Karolyn was six. "Save your fingers," Karolyn playfully instructed, "I'm 71."

10. Jimmy the Crow, is the same crow that flies into the scene where Dorothy meets the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. Apparently Jimmy the Crow was a high-demand crow actor.

After the movie was over and we made our way to the exit, we noticed that Karolyn's meet and greet line had certainly grown in size. There were at least 50+ guests of all ages waiting in line to meet her and get her autograph.

It was a wonderful experience! Especially with Christmas right around the corner.

Neighborhood Christmas Party

I just realized that I never wrote about our neighborhood's annual Christmas party! Oops!

On Saturday, December 10th Dan and I have discovered that we have been blessed with some wonderful and festive neighbors! Every year the neighborhood asks 3-4 families to open up their home and be a host house for the Christmas party. Each host family is asked to provide a few h'orderves and desserts. For everyone else it is BYOB (bring your own beverage), however, each house still had a variety of drinks available. Including a creative and elaborate hot chocolate bar - an idea that I plan on using in the future. In the long run, each house had lots of food - including coconut shrimp, large spring rolls, and mini burgers, to name a few. Good thing we skipped dinner that evening. We traveled from house to house (as a group) and certainly got our fill of good food and good company.

Dan and I had a great time getting to know our neighbors during the festive Christmas party. About 30 people were in attendance. You had to be at least 18 to attend the party, but 30 was still a good majority of our neighborhood. There are a lot of new families in the neighborhood this year, so we weren't the only ones who were new to the party.

That evening we discovered that our neighbors...

1. Love to hug!
2. Enjoy a good party.
3. Look out for each other.
4. Are very friendly and easy to talk to.
5. Enjoy bargain shopping.

I think that Dan and I are really going to enjoy our little neighborhood. We are so blessed!

Unfortunately, while a lot of photos were taken that evening, none were taken by me. So here is a photo of our Christmas card wreath. It is really starting to fill up!

Exhausted...

Ever since the week of Thanksgiving I have been working more hours than usual at Williams-Sonoma - mostly closing hours. Don't get me wrong, before I go any further, I am very grateful for the hours and the extra income. Also, I enjoy working at Williams-Sonoma. I adore the folks that I work with and I've had some lovely chats with with friendly shoppers. I'm just getting to a point where I am physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.

During the week I usually have about two days in which I work a full day at job numero uno, then travel to Williams-Sonoma to work another 4 or 5+ hours. Plus, I usually have a lengthy shift on Sunday. Once again, I would like to praise God for the hours and the income, but Lord, please give me the strength that I need in order to fully appreciate your blessings.

Thanksgiving Weekend 2011

I had been looking forward to Thanksgiving for some time! I was guaranteed three days in a row of no work! No obligations! Time to be with family, friends... and time to rest and relax!

Thursday, November 24th was Thanksgiving! Dan and I set an alarm so that we didn't sleep too late that morning. Casually, we got up and got ready for the day. After a light breakfast we gathered our desserts to take over to my parent's house. Dan baked a pumpkin pie and I made some pumpkin ice cream cookies (I made the ice cream and the cookies) and some pumpkin dessert squares (using pumpkin butter from Williams-Sonoma).

We arrived at my parent's house later that morning. Dad had the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on TV and Mom had the turkey in the roaster. I love the sounds and smells of Thanksgiving!

Dad and Dan worked on some Christmas lights outside while my mom and I watched some specials on TV - and I did a little web surfing. That afternoon we were joined by Dan's parents as well as the rest of the Koval family (minus Kathleen and Brad, who were in Minnesota).

As dinner rapidly approached, things got super busy in the kitchen - just as expected. My dad took on the task of peeling all of the potatoes so that we could have mashed potatoes. He was quite the trooper and did a wonderful job! The Tamie brought some fresh fruit and other goodies for everyone to snack on. It was delightful! I love fruit!

After dinner (which was at 3:00 pm) we gathered for our usual sorting through the Black Friday ads tradition. We sipped coffee and enjoyed dessert and we went through ads and Skyped with Kathleen and Brad - it really felt like they were there! We even managed to take care of our Secret Santa drawing. The whole evening was a blast!

On Friday, November 25th we set an alarm so that we could do some light Black Friday shopping. No, we didn't get up in the middle of the night to begin our Christmas shopping. I think that we set our alarm for 8:00 am. Our main reason for shopping "early" was so Dan could get back at a reasonable hour to work on our outdoor Christmas lights.

We picked up some chairs for our kitchen island at JCPenny and replaced our broken wine decanter with a new one (on sale) at Williams-Sonoma. We also picked up a few sale items from Williams-Sonoma as well.

Later that day, Dan and I started decorating our house for it's first Christmas! While Dan was bringing up the Christmas decorations from the basement he managed to slip in a surprise gift for me - what a sweetheart! Dan had gotten me a new building for my Disney Christmas Village!

The weather wasn't too cold, so Dan spent most of the day hanging up Christmas lights. Me on the other hand, I desperately needed a nap! So I layed in bed and watched a few movies on Dan's laptop. When I woke up it was dark and time for me to start getting ready to go out.

That evening we went out to dinner with my dad's extended family at Hua Ting Restaurant - a new holiday tradition. As usual, the food was delicious and the company was wonderful. Certainly an evening well spent!

My Great Aunt Lorraine and Great Uncle Bill gave us a "little something" for our tree. We opened the gifts when we got home. Since there were two gifts, we each got to open one. Inside the lovely wrapping paper were two "first home" ornaments! A lovely addition for our Christmas tree!

That night, Dan and I finished putting together our island chairs and then put up our Christmas tree. We decorated it while watching The Original Christmas Classics DVD series. It was a beautiful way to end the evening.

Saturday, November 26th we finally slept in - for real! We didn't have any real plans for Saturday, so it was a perfect day for more decorating and relaxing.

Sunday, November 27th I lead the worship music at our church with Tim. That afternoon I went to work at Williams-Sonoma. Honestly, I love helping guests find Christmas presents for their loved ones. You can't go wrong with Williams-Sonoma!

We I got home from work Dan had successfully hidden the pickle ornament on our Christmas tree. This is a fun tradition that we take turns doing each year. This year it was my turn!

After I located the pickle, Dan brought me a little bonus gift for me to open. It was some new figures for my Disney Christmas Village! What a fun surprise!

All in all, Thanksgiving weekend was a wonderful holiday break. In fact, I woke up Monday, well-rested and ready for work!