My Red Carpet Moment at the GI Film Festival

Washington, D.C., is ripe with red carpet events where no one recognizes the people on the red carpet. Fundraisers for not-for-profits, political events (can you name your senator, much less point her out?) and various mixers all roll out the carpet and invite you -- for the price of a ticket -- to stand in front of a logo-printed backdrop while attractive young men in sunglasses point their big lenses at you.

Our red carpet moment. Photo by Micah Gold

I LOVE every second of it!

Our red carpet moment came Monday night at the GI Film Festival in Old Town Alexandria. The festival recognizes the work of directors and actors telling military stories, and supports veterans getting into the cinematic arts. My husband's company is a sponsor of the festival. Thus, the welcome to the red carpet.

Today and tomorrow, the festival will be showcasing long and short films at the beautiful Old Town Theater in Alexandria that examine various aspects of military life: the pulse-pounding adrenaline of war, transitioning back to civilian life, the courage of those who fought during WWII. And after a day's worth of film, there will be the parties. 

Adam Driver

I like the parties.

Saturday's after party will be at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with special guest Adam Driver, who is a former U.S. Marine and an actor in Girls and Inside Llewyn Davis. You may not have heard of Adam, but you will: He is reportedly the main bad guy in the upcoming Star Wars films. So...squee!

Michelle Monaghan

Sunday's party will be a champagne reception at the Old Town Theater following the East Coast premiere of Fort Bliss, which stars Michelle Monaghan as a decorated Army medic and single mother who returns home from Afghanistan. The truly effervescent Monaghan -- I loved her in Mission: Impossible III -- will be there to toast women in the military, who are being honored that night.

In Between Tip: For dining in Old Town, head away from the water and toward Vermillion. The sexy townhouse restaurant with its opulent red walls, carefully crafted cocktails and beautifully presented meals will make you very glad that you're an adult.

So, not everyone on the red carpet is unrecognizable. In fact, there was even a well-known face at our event, a face so well known for the good guys he plays that I had the impulse to slap him on the back and say, "Hey" like he was an old friend. It was David Arquette. You know, Monica's other husband. He was there to promote Monday's movie, Field of Lost Shoes, a Civil War drama that he and a lot of other Hollywood bigwigs (Tom Skerritt, Jason Isaacs, LUKE FROM MODERN FAMILY) had a role in.

I didn't walk up and say "Hi." But we hovered in his vicinity and felt cool occasionally taking glances at his good hair and bright, white shoes. 

Us with David Arquette. Photo by Micah Gold/Bespoke Mag

Other people were not so shy. Photo by Micah Gold/Bespoke Mag

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GI Film Festival

When: Continues Saturday, May 24 and Sunday, May 25.

Where: Old Town Theater, 815 King St., Alexandria, VA 22314

After parties: 

• Tickets to Saturday's film and after party = $51
• Tickets to Sunday's film and champagne reception = $26

Finding Fun Over 40

Photo by Joey L. / Sentiment from Mentors Channel.

I don’t like feeling old. Growing old? That, I’m okay with. There’s a great meme going around on Facebook about those who have the privilege of growing old. And it is a privilege, one I want to enjoy.

But I don’t want to feel old. I don’t want to feel like I’ve aged past the opportunity for adventure and inspiration and just frivolous fun. I take care of my responsibilities: I’m a good wife and a great mom, I pay my bills, I do my work, I go to bed at a proper time most weeknights, I eat right and exercise. I do all the things I’m supposed to do. So I want to make sure I’m taking the time to do the stuff I want to do.

I fundamentally believe there is value in going out. I always have. When our kids were infants then toddlers, I made a point of getting a babysitter every other Saturday night. I never knew my husband appreciated the effort until our kids were older and a man with toddlers asked him at a dinner party, “So when did you start having fun again?”

I'm actually 39 in this picture. So sue me.

“We've always had fun,” my husband said, as if ‘always having fun’ was the most obvious characteristic of a marriage.

But figuring where and how to have fun as a 40-something? It’s hard. The bar scene with youngsters half your age shouting and drinking and hitting on each other starts looking distasteful. And there’s no greater smack to the ego than being called “ma’am” in a crowded club.

So this blog is about my quest to find places and activities that don’t make me feel old and out of place or -- hell -- even if they do, they’re worth doing. I want going-out experiences that hit some criteria of fun and ease and discovery. That make my friends laugh with the verve we bring out in each other, that make my husband and I appreciate how much we dig each other.

That make me remember that growing old isn’t getting old.