Dinner with the A-listers

This one time, Matt and I scored an invitation to be seat fillers at the 17th Annual Critics' Choice Awards. So we got our first babysitter, dusted off our fancy clothes, and enjoyed a gourmet dinner with Hollywood's A-listers. True story.

The awards show was held at The Palladium on Sunset Boulevard, and the guest list included faces that even I am familiar with.

At one point in the night, Matt and I were just a few feet away from George Clooney. When he walked away, Matt whispered to me, "That is one handsome devil." Haha. That Meryl Streep also ages quite well, we learned. She was beautiful in person.

Our arrival was slightly less glamorous than the celebrities', but you know. Matt looked more dashingly handsome than anyone on the red carpet anyway. As for myself, I was just thrilled to have an excuse to wear this dress again and relieved I was able to make it out the door on time. Turns out, it is quite the challenge to get ready for a formal affair with a baby in tow! Putting your hair in an updo while wearing your baby in a Bjorn is particularly difficult. Go figure. And let's just pretend I had time to properly iron the ruffles, mmmK?

The entrance was lined with posters from all the movies nominated for Best Picture.

(PS- cameras weren't allowed, so you'll have to excuse all the cell phone pictures.)

We were given a little sneak peek at the seating chart. Each movie had its own table for its nominees and as seat fillers, we were curious to find out where we would be for the night. I ended up at the Midnight in Paris table, two seats away from Owen Wilson's name card (too bad he had to leave after presenting). Matt ended up at The Artist table, approximately 12 inches away from Meryl Streep. The Help and The Muppets tables were also our neighbors, along with Michelle Williams, Leonardo DiCaprio and the like.

Taking our seats:

Matt took a quick picture during a commercial break. Commercials are rather fascinating things. Everyone gets up and makes their rounds, socializing as much as humanly possible in that short period of time before the lights start flashing to return to your seats. This leaves little time to actually eat one's dinner since, as we were politely informed, commercials are obviously the only time you can pick up your fork. (Imagine if the camera caught you chewing! The horror!)

Speaking of dinner, it was to-die-for amazing. It consisted of filet mignon and salmon and other things I can't pronounce, and it was all delicious. And the company was lovely, as the producers at my table were all so gracious. One kindly poured me a glass of the very-expensive-I'm-sure champagne and good-naturedly declared he would be offended if I didn't drink it. I laughed and told him he would surely be disappointed then, because I don't drink alcohol. He was shocked to say the least, but was appeased when I indulged in dessert. As if I could ever say no to sugar.

Both Matt and my tables won awards, and it was fun to cheer for our tablemates. The Artist actors were especially excited about their wins, whistling, taking pictures, and recording everything on their phones. Those cute French, didn't they know the whole thing was on TV?

Oh, and speaking of TV, here's a quick screenshot just for kicks and giggles.
Me, Matt and Meryl. No big deal.

It was such a fun night! Not too shabby for our first post-baby date, eh?