Movie Night: Eloise at the Plaza

My husband and I just returned from a trip to New York City to celebrate my 40th birthday.  One of our many stops was The Plaza Hotel where we enjoyed a cupcake and popped into the Eloise store.  It was right there, perusing all the darling pink merchandise, that our next movie night idea was born.  My daughter enjoys the Eloise books, so I knew this one would be a hit.  Eloise at the Plaza called for all things girly and fun.

We ate in the dining room for this one, which always feels like a treat.  My table is an antique that belonged to my grandmother and is a unique size.  Taking out the leaf, it's more suitable for our family of four and fits more of the tablecloths I acquired before the table became ours.

So, I put down a black tablecloth and went to my wrapping paper stash for a splash of pink.  This striped paper is from IKEA.  I planned to use it as more of a runner across the length of the table, but this was all I had left.  It worked just fine.  I grabbed pink chargers, white plates, and looked through my collection of girly dessert plates.  I pulled out this set which dates back to my newlywed days.  

On a different day or in a different mood I might have chosen to donate these plates since they are a little outdated.   This day I was happy to have them!  As Eloise would say, they looked "rawther fancy."

For the centerpiece I love to use the DVD if we have it.  I grabbed the tray off my kitchen table and used a pink vase I had to hold hot pink roses.  I felt like this movie night table called for flowers and we enjoyed them throughout the following week.

For dinner, I did my best to make it both easy and elegant.  On this particular afternoon we had a school event and my son had soccer practice.  I had a brisket with bacon cooking in the slow cooker all day (not fancy but delicious).  I served it with roasted brussels sprouts and these colorful carrots I found at Trader Joe's.  I thought the carrots were so pretty.

I've had these little poofy coaster things forever and they added a flair that is surely Eloise-approved.  My kids had Shirley Temples to drink and the color fit perfectly!

While I was running around that day I picked up these mini cupcakes at the grocery store.  I served them on these NYC map napkins I brought home from my trip.

The movie was cute and funny.  We all truly enjoyed Eloise and her antics in the hotel.  The only thing is that Eloise says, "oh my lord," which I could do without.  

As a side note, I have both a daughter and a son.  Sometimes we do really girly movie nights, sometimes we do really boyish ones.  I don't stress about perfectly catering to everyone every time and they don't complain.  

Thank you for joining me today!

Movie Night: The Basics

We started our movie nights many years ago and they quickly became a family favorite.  Around Tuesday of each week the kids start asking, “What’s our movie night this week?”  Sometimes I tell them; sometimes I let them be surprised when they get home from school on Friday afternoon.  They’ll run in to look at how the table is set up.  That’s my favorite way to reveal the movie.  I’m not exaggerating when I say they usually squeal with delight!

Although watching a movie as a family to start the weekend isn’t some sort of groundbreaking idea, I want to share the details how we do this because it’s been so fun.  If you don’t have a similar activity in your household, I’d encourage you to start.  

• Step one:  Pick a night a start planning

Maybe it’s Friday night, maybe it’s Saturday afternoon, maybe it’s every third Tuesday.  If you’re looking to do something consistently I suggest scheduling it in.  I usually look ahead at the start of the month and plan movie nights for all available Fridays.  Sometimes we have other plans or things come up, but if at all possible we do our best to “protect” our Friday evenings. I find that if we don’t do this, our potential movie nights can give way to other things.  So if friends want to get together, we aim for Saturday if possible.  We also keep movie night to just our family of four.

• Step two:  Pick a movie

You can re-watch a family favorite or order a newly-released movie on demand.  I always keep a running list of family-friendly movies.  Pluggedin.com is a great resource to make sure the content is safe for your family.  IMDB.com also offers parental guides.  Many times family movies (even super old ones) will have previews that can spark your next movie night.  Although we do enjoy a trip to the movie theater, most of our movies are at home on Friday nights.  It saves money and we get to be as relaxed as we want.

• Step three:  Get creative

Not only is it predictable, protected family time for us, movie night is a great creative outlet for me as a mom.  While I’m shopping for groceries, for instance, I’ll spot a cute snack or dessert that goes with our theme.  Or when I’m parked and waiting in the carpool line I’ll search Pinterest for ideas related to our movie. It just adds a mini project for the week that allows me to have some fun and get a smile out of my family.  It's also my speed.  While I’m not the type to make 25 individually hand-crafted desserts for a birthday party, for example, I’m totally game to make four of just about anything!

Dino dirt cups for The Good Dinosaur 

Our movie night dinners are usually a splurge for us… both in cost and calories.  This is the night we’re more likely to grill steaks, have dessert, or spend extra time prepping something unique.  I often create a meal that somehow coincides with our movie.  For instance, we ordered in sushi for Mulan.  I realize that isn’t perfectly culturally accurate, but you get the idea.

That said, some weeks are just too hectic to pull off much more than ordering pizza and sending the kids to the basement to pick out a DVD they can agree on.  I highly agree with planning and crafting to the level that your schedule and sanity allow.  The goal is to make the evening a little (or a lot) out of the ordinary.   A simple pack of cute paper napkins is an easy, affordable way to create your theme. 

I know that if I'm stressing about it, I'm going about it the wrong way.  Way back when we first started movie night and my kids were really little, I was prepping for the original Cinderella.  I remember asking everyone to “leave me alone!” while I tried to make little mice out of cheese.  I quickly realized I’d missed the point.  Have fun with it, that's the whole idea!  A little creativity goes a long way and perfection is not the goal.

I’ll share a new movie night with you each Friday… so pop some popcorn, put on your jammies, and get ready for some fun with your fam!