The Parlour Room + Shay's Birthday!

Today, my best friend, Shannon, celebrates her birthday. And this past Saturday, we partied into the night!

A group of us hit up The Parlour Room in Hollywood, a gilded, dark lounge north of Hollywood Blvd. We metro-ed our way there (yes, Los Angeles has an underground metro!), and snatched up our reserved space full of deep, comfy leather couches.




The lounge is glittered with various chandeliers, monogrammed and metallic wallpaper, and candlelight. The back half-outdoor/half-indoor section even has a fireplace! Perfect for these dry but brisk LA nights.

Parlour Room has a generous Happy Hour that runs from opening until 10 PM, of which we took full advantage. 2-for-1 well drinks and martinis (the boyfriend's favorite) were flowing freely, but I opted for the selections on their Specialty Cocktail menu: the Cucumber Cooler called to me immediately. Gin and muddled cucumber with real sugar and limes... refreshing and delicious! The Black Cherry Manhattan may have been the biggest delight of the night, and Shannon considered it a favorite. When the Birthday Girl is happy, everyone is happy!




The birthday girl!

There's something fun about reading a cocktail menu by candlelight, isn't there? Certainly adds to the sexy, party atmosphere. And blurry pictures!






Hi there, from the shadows! I certainly put my new little camera to the test in this non-existent lighting. That was half the fun, though clearly I wasn't so sure...

It was a fantastic night full of well-made drinks, good music, beautiful friends, and maybe some snuck-in Chinese food. ;) I'm so happy to have been able to celebrate this birthday with Shannon, and wish her the bestest real birthday today! Love you sweetheart! Thank you for sharing your night with all of us!

Cheers!

Through the Reels on Facebook!

Just a quick announcement today, and a little self-promotion: Through the Reels is now on Facebook!

Up until now, I'd been posting on my personal page, which wasn't being used for much personal stuff anyways. I started to feel a bit like a spammer, and thought it was time to designate a special little social networking spot for these posts and any interested readers. Now it's happened! Click below to visit and follow along!

Through the Reels is also on Google+, and I post [relatively] frequently on Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter. If you're on any of those pages, I'd love for you to visit me there!

Spread the Reels love! I value all of your support! :)

A Novel Opening

Several years ago, my sister, Stacy, started a Twitter account to honor her love of books. The concept was simple: Share the first lines from novels in 140 characters or less. That was the beginning of A Novel Opening.

I latched onto the idea, because I found that just by reading the opening lines from these known (and unknown) books, it got me itching to pick them up and devour their contents. I adore reading, but I don't do it as much as I'd like. A full stack marked "to read" sits at my bedside, and the list keeps growing, but fewer and fewer are getting checked off.

While its been 2 years since my sis began work on the Twitter account, the busyness of life took her away from it. But now she's back (with a little help from me)! Posting a new opening every day, and it's truly getting my literary juices flowing.

This post is to serve as an advertisement for A Novel Opening; an attempt to reach out to all you book lovers out there. Follow, read, and enjoy!

A few of my favorite openings posted so far:

✪ Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. — THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD

✪ Most days I wish I was a British pound coin instead of an African girl. — LITTLE BEE

✪ There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. — HOLES

✪ The moment one learns English, complications set in. — CHROMOS

✪ There was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. — THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER

Do you have any favorite books with opening lines you've never forgotten? Feel free to share with us; our collection of hundreds of first lines is growing every day!

{image via Jeremy Nelson}

Bowling, Karaoke, and Ice Hockey - oh my!

These new working hours really are taking a toll. While the days tend to go by really quickly, I'm left wondering as I crawl into my bed at 11PM (boy! things have changed since college!): Where did the time go?? I used to have loads of free time; so much so, that I didn't really make an effort to do anything with it. It was always there! Why try to fill it with stuff when I can just make plans later?

Now? not so much. My free time has become a precious commodity, and after only a month at this new, fast-paced and challenging job, I'm realizing "letting loose" is a down-right necessity! Gretchen isn't the only one who needs to run her little ol' head off for a spell! By Friday night (who are we kidding? by Wednesday morning!), my sanity is on the brink and the only cure is to find fun and interesting ways to entertain myself.

And what better way to do that than to get a little silly?

Last weekend, I tagged along with a group of friends to engage in some of my favorite middle school pasttimes: late-night bowling, drunk karaoke, and bleery-eyed ice hockey! Okay, maybe that's not exactly how those all went down when I was 11, but hey! Being an adult has its perks! I'd wanted to try out the newly revotated Corbin Bowl in Tarzana since I moved to the Valley 2 years ago, and last Saturday night, not only was it "Retro Night", it was also Karaoke Night in the bar.

Score.

Let me just say, I rocked it. At least during the first game where I kicked major ass on the scoreboard (the later games don't count because I was considerably more on the inebriated side.) Not only did my score breach a whoppin' 100 (yay!), I was whipping that 10-lb ball down the lane like my life depended on it. I was mighty proud of myself.

As the night wore on, we dined on the wonder that is bowling alley food (for me? chicken strips and fries) and I downed some of the strongest and cheapest Fuzzy Navels I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. And nothing makes bowling more fun than flashing disco lights, blasting dance music, and a steady flow of liquor.


When the games came to an end, we made our way to the bar to enjoy the epic serenades occuring in the Karaoke lounge. And who are we kidding? It doesn't take all that much to convince me to get up there myself! Derick and I crooned our way through "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum, which suited the country-lovin' crowd pretty well.

Seriously, I don't know why I don't do karaoke more often. It's so scary in such a fun way! But honestly, the highlight of the night was the middle-aged black guy who whipped out one of the most impressive versions of "And I'm Telling You (I'm Not Going)" from Dreamgirls that I have ever seen! Breaking out into FULL falsetto, this guy brought the house down, and I could not have been more wowed! I'd kill for a reaction from a crowd like the one this guy got. Of course, I'd probably have to be brave enough to belt it out and not care like him, too. But Derick and I rocked it, so I can't complain.

And did I mention that I tried DDR for the first time? Like the little boys that they are Ross and Derick stumbled into the arcade, and I couldn't escape without jumping around like a fool. It's probably not a good sign that I got out of breath during the 1st "novice" round, right? I'll just pretend everyone gets that winded.

I need more of these nights. More breaks from the reality of "responsibility" and the like... And I definitely plan to make a habit of it.