I know, I know…it’s a movie date… This was a movie date, with a little twist. I saw an announcement for a charity movie event to benefit an organization called Gabriel’s Angels. This organization provides pet therapy services to 122 partner agencies free of charge and serves over 14,800 children annually through 185 registered Pet Therapy Teams. Teams, consisting of a registered therapy dog and owner, visit crisis nurseries, domestic violence and homeless shelters, group homes, and at-risk children in after school programs and self-contained classrooms. Their efforts are to enhance the children’s emotional and behavioral development by teaching core behaviors such as trust, empathy, and respect (from Gabriel’s Angels website).

The ticket price for the event at Roadhouse Cinemas included heavy hors d’oeuvres, 2 beverages from the bar, movie tickets to Ocean’s 8, and some fun social pre-movie fake black jack. I wanted to see this movie and I like this organization’s mission, so I figured: “Why Not?!”. I wasn’t expecting to feel terribly awkward going to a movie by myself. This event was probably one of my least comfortable ones though.

It wasn’t so much the movie part of the night that was weird for me; it was the social benefit mix and mingle pre-movie part. I’m generally able to strike up a casual conversation in these situations, but this was a pretty small event and it appeared that the attendees all knew each other because of their work within the organization or because of their history of supporting the charity. It felt like a not very social, social event because, though everyone seemed very nice, people weren’t really mingling outside of their familiar circles of friends and acquaintances.

Then, I met Lucy…and her person. Lucy is the first Chinese Hairless Crested I’ve ever seen in “person”. Lucy is one of the Gabriel’s Angels therapy dogs and she is precious!!! I loved visiting with Lucy and her Mama. They were lovely.

While we were visiting, an old friend of mine appeared to say hello!! She and I worked together about 8 years ago. She and her husband were at the benefit and were scheduled to see an earlier showing of the movie than I. We had a nice little chat before their showtime. It was great to catch up with them! I seem to have randomly run into them a few times within the last several months. It feels like the universe is telling us to hang out!! 🙂

I had a fun interaction with a cute couple trying to capture a good picture of themselves for the evening. A couple of different people had taken their picture, but the girlfriend was really unhappy with how her smile was looking in those pictures. They looked cute to me, but then she explained that a friend of hers advised her that she should never give a full toothy smile in pictures. I explained that I thought that was complete bull crap!!! I quickly realized that this girl hated those pictures because she felt her restrained grin made her look constipated and uncomfortable. I told her to forget about that advice and give me her normal toothy, happy smile. Click!! SUCCESS!!! She loved the picture! I felt so sad that this beautiful girl was holding back her pure happy smile because a friend made her feel self conscious about it. The girl and her smile were adorable. I made sure to let her know how bright her smile was and told her to never try to hide it from her pictures again.

The movie itself was cute! I wanted to see it and was happy that a portion of what I paid went to a great organization. The movie theater itself was also a plus because it is a luxury kind of joint that has a full bar, big cushy seats, a full food menu, gourmet popcorn, etc. If you want something during the movie, you push a button and you can order food, drinks, etc.

I was really happy to meet Lucy and her master, to run into my old work friend and to capture a special date picture by helping a beautiful girl to believe in the power of her pure happy smile.

10 Down! 40 to go!!! Hopefully, I can get back on the ball with this self challenge of mine when my dudes get back to school. I’ve fallen off the blog/self-date wagon!!!