finding a new happy place

we all know what a sucker i am for a good novelty, right?  like, as soon as tickets for the museum of ice cream became available i was right on it.  and so when i heard about another pop-up called the "happy place" coming to the l.a. area that was in the same vein as that one, i snagged tickets and timed them so that our visit would kick off the bean's week-long thanksgiving break.

it turned out to be a family outing as the hub was able to join us as well, and we decided to head out to l.a. early that morning to have breakfast together before our 10:30 ticket window opened.  urth caffe happened to be right down the street from the bright yellow building housing the museum, and so that's where we sat down to enjoy some grub.

the hub's latte looked like it had a butt on it.  heheheh.

and my go-to at urth caffe is always the pizza catona - fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, burrata cheese and prosciutto topped with arugula.  it's SO good.

the happy place was a short walk down the street from the caffe, and when we got to the entrance the last few 10:00 ticket holders were entering the building.  our tickets were scanned in and then we got in line to wait our turn.

across the street was a really cool old building that used to house a furniture company i worked for back in the day at one of my very first office jobs.  it had been rehabbed and remodeled and now it looks like it's maybe one of those live/work type things.

when we entered the building, we paused to watch a quick introductory video that encouraged us to stop and look at everything, touch stuff, enjoy the snacks and just have fun.  okay!

we walked down this hall:

and found our first snack - yellow and white m&ms that matched the room and the giant high-heeled shoes that were covered in the little candies.  or maybe they were plastic.  i don't know.  they were fun either way.

in the next room i realized that i had apparently misled the hub somewhat, as i heard him mumble to himself "this isn't a real museum, it's just a bunch of instagram props..."

but i had to get him to pose with me at least once more, in the next room that featured this:

the old lady took a turn too:

and while the bean's first shot here should have been really cute, it was inadvertently photobombed by the girls who sat on the lips-shaped couch in the corner.  oh well.

so we took this one instead.  way cuter.

...clap your hands!

cake pops were being handed out in the birthday-themed room just beyond that.

bright yellow flowers filled the next room, where there were several ladders to climb for a great photo op.

i wanted to wait for the opening in the center of the display, and i somehow kept getting cockblocked by this woman who constantly jumped right in front of where i was going in several different rooms.  she was apparently one of the suckers who paid $200 for the VIP ticket, and she made it clear that she felt entitled to ignore basic rules of society and manners and just do whatever the hell she wanted.

whatever.  we still got our turn.

the upside-down room was super fun too:

you see my friend in the background of this one.  heh.

there were a few more photo ops in the next room:

before we got to their equivalent to the museum of ice cream's sprinkle pool - the pot of gold that you could jump into.

we waited on the "grass" off to the side and watched the others in front of us take their turns.

when it's your turn and you walk up those steps, there's a button to push when you're ready.  in front of you is a screen that gives you a quick countdown and then their camera takes a boomerang video of you as you jump into what turns out to be a pot of hard plastic coins that didn't feel great landing in.  still...you do it all for that 'gram, right?

the hub definitely wasn't feeling it, but the girls and i weren't going to let that opportunity slide past us.

i lost a shoe and had a little trouble getting my old ass outta there, but i managed.  and in the next room we got to make confetti angels.

and in the last exhibit room was the confetti dome.  they let you go in there for about 30 seconds at a time.  nothing of substance, just pure silliness and fun.

the girls got a couple of popsicles from the truck inside the last room:

we browsed the merchandise in one corner:

and for just $5 you could take home one of those hard coins from the pot o'gold that you jumped into (we didn't, in case you were wondering).

a final photo op:

and that was it, unless you wanted a rainbow grilled cheese sandwich from the food truck parked outside.

the sign at the exit said that there was an elevator for the parking structure (and presumably a way to get back out to the front of the building), but the doors were locked and we ended up having to walk around an entire block to get out there.  not a huge deal, i guess, but super inconvenient.  it was the first day that it was open to the public though, and so hopefully they've fixed that by now.

there's another pop-up coming next month called candytopia...we've already got our tickets for that one.  it promises to be one sweet experience (har har har).  i can't wait!
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