THE ANNUAL VALPARAISO POPCORN FESTIVAL!


Anyone who knows me knows I love three things: Suprising people, beer, and getting to drink that beer with my friends all over the world. So when Alicia (you may also know her as "blue water tower girl," "the SNL 'I'm 50 and I can kick' character," or the "Oh shit- i'm stranded in London for a week" girl) told me about her annual trek to her hometown in northern Indiana for the Orville Redenbacher Popcorn Festival - I knew this could be an unparalleled chance to do all three of my favorite things at once, all the while saluting the legendary father of popcorn - and in the heart of the midwest!!! All of a sudden, I felt like I was in the middle of a John Mellencamp song!!

Oh man, this is gonna be fun!!!!!!!

It's been my mission over the last few years to try and surprise my friends Beth and Pam with a visit, which usually proves to be a failure as Beth has some sort of freakish e.s.p.!

I have enlisted the help of dozens of people and concocted many an elaborate plan to try and achieve that heart-stopping, shrill-screaming, pants-wetting kind of surprise - but it usually ends with Beth saying, "I knew you were coming Kimmy!" Dammit!
So I thought I'd try again. But this time, I brought Leah with me (who lives in Phoenix, but ironically calls Valparaiso her hometown too!). As Leah and I hid in a hotel bathroom, knee to knee in the tub waiting for our big chance to jump out and scare them, we struggled to hold back our laughter at how absolutely absurd we must look. As the hotel door opened, we sucked in our breath, bit our tongues, and shook in anticipation.....only to hear, "Kimmy, I know you're in here - just come out! Let me guess, you're in the shower!"Daaaammmmmmit. Mark my words Beth Ann - I will get you someday - and you know it! HA

Anyway - the fun was underway! So far, Leah has surprised Alicia and Brad, Leah and I TRIED to surprise Beth and Pam, and the next day Leah was going to surprise her Mom (see - it's a contagious disease, this surprise thing!). After a few beers and excitable chit-chat - we decided to call it an early night as Alicia was running in the Popcorn Festival race the next morning (yes they have a race, too!) and we had a big day of popcorn action ahead of us!
As I lay in bed, dreaming of sugarplums (snoring), my mind drifted to thoughts of this amazing festival - like, what should I wear? Will their be anyone famous there? Will I be able to properly document this phenomenon so that you, the reader, can actually feel the popcorn ambience?

The next morning, after some great gas station coffee - we were off to tackle the Popcorn Festival with great vigor!

Immediately, I knew I chose the wrong outfit. Dammit. I wore a dark shirt on a hot sunny day, and I was carrying a jacket and purse around all day - what was I thinking? I wasn't, I guess. Take for example this lady:

I mean, she's like the paradigm of popcorn festivaling! She's really keeping her cool with that tube top and those shorts just top off an already patriotic outfit. Notice how the red fanny pack blends in a chameleon-like way to deter those pesky popcorn pick-pockets! She's brought along a nice-sized tote bag for those popcorm purchases and souvenirs....oh! And finally, a hat which serves dual purposes as sun protector and NASCAR fan identifier - a must-have in this area of the country! Note to self taken for next year's festival attire! Well-done ma'am!
Everywhere I looked, I felt my sad attempt at being festival-ready thrown in my face. Perhaps I could've gotten a little more into the popcorn spirit - this festival only occurs once a year for cryin out loud! The dedication of the local Valparaisans was, at the very least, awe-inspiring!




Next, we finally located Leah's mom in the huge mob of people! Finally! Someone gives us the reaction we were looking for!

Yeah Debbie!!! Maybe I'll just give up on Beth and Pam and come to surprise Debbie all the time!! Although, on second thought, I may not get the same response as her beloved daughter Leah and she might think I'm quite weird if I were to go to Valpo and jump out of a closet somewhere screaming, "Surprise Deb!" since I've only met her twice.
As they hugged in delight, I caught something out of the corner of my eye that made my heart leap! Could it be? Oh yes! A celebrity sighting! Ah crap! He's got security all over him. You know, I think it's such a load of crap how people think they're so big and famous that they have to be transported on a golf cart and get whisked away by dudes in yellow shirts, ignoring the (my) shouts for autographs from the devoted fans who made them famous in the first place. Whatever!

How about this guy!? He's the King of Rock n' Roll, made millions of dollars, and died (or did he?) and he's out strolling and swiggin beer amongst the simple people. Now there's a guy that appreciates his fans, who remembers what it was like before all the fame and fortune! Long live the KING!

Speaking of swiggin beer. We were in crisis mode. We could only find one bar that was selling carry-out beer and it seemed that our little secret leaked to the entire festival as the once short line morphed into a scene from a girl's bathroom line at a Jimmy Buffet concert. But if there's one thing I've learned in my life - you can always count on true friends to perfom miracles! God love ya Dr. Drunk Ash!!


As the sun began to set on this sensational day, I began reflecting on all the fun and wacky things and people I saw....
A CHICK MAGNET...


POPCORN:


MANY INVENTIVE USES FOR STROLLERS....
The munchie/munchkin mover:

The "2 in 1"double stacker stroller:

And my personal favorite, the "Whoop Ass" beer and cigarette carriage (check out her t-shirt logo and the top tier of this stroller!):


A LONG-LEGGED JUGGLING JESTER:


EARS OF CORN:


GREAT FRIENDS! (Oh snap - is that Leslie the other "London Loiterer?" Why yes!! Yes it is!! Sweet - she's another Valparaisan raisin!)



AND MORE POPCORN:


Amy: Unfortunately we were unable to find popcorn pencil erasers or bikinis made of popcorn. I, too, was disappointed, but we spoke with the girl who sold t-shirts and made clear our interests in seeing more diverse popcorn souvenirs next year. I think she was talking to someone from her sorority on her cell phone, so I wasn't sure if she was nodding in agreement with us or her friend on the phone. We actually discussed "representin" in a booth next year! We figured with beer coozies and a few unconventional popcorn concepts, we could at least pay for our airfare and hotel to attend again next year! Who's in??
On a side note Amy - did Leah give you your t-shirts yet?

Did she tell you the bag of popcorn I gave her to give you was found on the ground somewhere? Because, uhhh, that's a lie...it wasn't. I mean, not that I remember, anyway. It was from my heart. ; )

The band played their final song, the booths closed up, our cooler ran dry, and all that was left was a bunch of poooped popcorn partiers and a few kernels of corn.....


Must be time to go home. Good times girls! Good times!! I can only hope that my work schedule will cooperate to make it to next year's Annual Valparaiso Popcorn Festival!!
Speaking of non-cooperative work schedules....My visit to Indiana was cut extremely short due to an ever-changing JLO/Marc Anthony schedule. Dammmmmmmmit. This one last picture from the Popcorn Fest speaks the motto of my life:


Well, at least I made it back to my Mom's house and was able to squeeze a quick dinner in at my favorite Lebanon Mexican joint (well, the only real Lebanon Mexican joint, I guess) with some of my other fabulous Indiana friends before I had to split town! Yeah LHS girls - we finally remembered to take a picture so you could make it into my riveting, hack attempt at a blog!


Ali-that margarita is as big as your head!!! Go girl, Go!!!

More good times girls, more good times! Let me just take a moment and say that I have the best friends on the face of this planet!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see all of you again!

Well, that's it for this blog update gang! I'm out!