The mission gears back up

We had a big day planned for Dec. 30, and there were a few changes to plans, but it wasn't without its moments.

First we planned on late breakfast at one of the good breakfast places we know about on 17th St. in Costa Mesa. But getting started at 10:00 we knew that if there was much of a wait, we might be getting behind. But on the way, a CHP officer decided Jane needed to be reminded that the speed limit is 65 mph. At least now we know that the speedometer is fairly accurate - it read the same as what the cop said we were going.

That took a bit of time, so we decided to go directly to the shopping center across from UCI where our first movie was playing and eat at Britta's Cafe, an upscale eatery that we rarely get to, and have never been to for breakfast. Jane loved her Monte Cristo (almost made her forget about the ticket) and my zucchini, shallot and goat cheese omelet was excellent.

Then we went for a brief stroll through the Saturday morning farmers' market and picked up a few veggies and headed for movie one of the day, Pan's Labyrinth, a blend of real world and fantasy world (but is it really fantasy?) Exceptional effects, and a very good story to go with it.

There's a Trader Joe's there too, so after the movie we went to pick up a few things, but they were out of the heavy cream that isn't ultrapastorized that Jane had to have. So before our next movie (since we had some time to kill) we found another TJ's and found it there.

The next film (this one showing by South Coast Plaza) was The Painted Veil. It got something of a lukewarm review in the paper, but since it has great scenery and is Edward Norton, Jane didn't really care what the review said. It is worth mentioning, though, that when we were getting ready to see Pan's Labyrinth, Jane issued a preemptive complaint, hoping that the story has enough of a satisfactory ending not to make it a downer. My response was, "What, a story about a loveless marriage in the middle of a cholera epidemic won't be a downer?" She seemed to think that since they end up finding love for each other, it'll come out ok. (Spoiler - divert your eyes if you don't want to know) The guy gets cholera and dies. Yeah, real happy ending.

Then we went to Buena Park for papusas at Nancy's Papuseria. These are a Salvadoran treat - a thick handmade corn tortilla stuffed with filling. Really tasty. We also had a cheese empanada and a carnitas taco. Everything excellent -- and cheap.

Then we came home, watched the funniest commercials for the year (we taped it earlier in the week) and some shorts that we taped of PBS.

The count so far: 10 movies from the list (plus a DVD and some shorts), 1 film eliminated because of bad reviews, 3 museums, 1 play, 1 speeding ticket.

And we aren't done yet.

The mission concludes here