Our Movie Theater Viewing Party, Showings at 3:35pm & 7:05

Life of PI (and more) Movie Night w/ Bigelow Tea…

Since I homeschool my daughter, I have to be especially diligent in setting up fun stuff for her and her friends. So, the other day I decided to rent our building’s movie theater and have a movie night (afternoon, actually). Since I was already going to participate in a promotion for Bigelow Tea while watching the Oscar-winning Life of PI, it seemed like the perfect time to do both.

First, I had to pick up all the necessary supplies. I headed to Walmart to buy my copy of Life of PI on DVD/Blu-Ray and some Bigelow tea. A trip to Walmart is always a full story on its own. You can check out my Google+ album to see a detailed record of the journey. Next, I needed to prepare things to get this party started.

I laid out the food, put out the plates, and started to brew the tea. I also baked a few special treats for the viewing party. It was all made from scratch, well, except the croissant dough. We had bite-sized versions of sugar cookies, chocolate croissants, and Rice Krispies treats (some plain, some covered with a layer of chocolate). Our guests began to arrive. As you know, I’m usually careful about posting children’s faces but one kept popping out from between the seats.

Per the norm, I got stressed pretty quickly from arranging things. So, I poured a nice cup of Bigelow Constant Comment to relax while my husband took over. Well, kind of. As the projector warmed up, the kids couldn’t help but make shadow puppets…that is until a neighbor brought their dog to visit. With plates full of goodies and no more distractions, it was time to pop in the Life of PI as we dimmed the lights.

Well, we quickly found out that the Life of PI is not the type of movie you show to a bunch of 8-12 year olds on a jovial Saturday afternoon. I’ll tell you more about that later. Instead, we put in a different film that we knew the kids would love, cleaned up, and cleared out. They all had a great time and many of my treats found a home in their tummies.

After all the kids went to their respective homes, we went back to ours as well…but only for a short time. My family and I just wanted to bring a few items back to put away and then we were off to the theater again. With fresh cups of tea in hand, we refilled our snack plates, reclined our seats, and nestled in to watch our second featured film.

I don’t normally like fruity or spicy flavors in my tea but I like Bigelow’s Constant Comment. There’s just a tiny hint of each in this rich black tea, just enough to make the blend refreshing. No wonder this is the tea that started the Bigelow family-owned business back in 1945! No, I’m not a tea history buff but after I heard a bit of history behind Bigelow and Constant Comment (see the ‘our story‘ page) I was intrigued by what made one blend of tea so popular for so many decades. Now I know. I love the fact that this brand continues to stay close to its family roots and how intent they are in creating a common source of enjoyment versus just selling tea, as evidenced on their blog.

Earlier, I mentioned the appropriateness of Life of PI for children. It’s not that kids shouldn’t watch it but it’s just not a children’s movie. Some are under impression that PG means for kids, including me. I figured it was a simple story of a boy, a tiger, and working together to survive at sea with a bunch of cool graphic effects. Nope, WAY off. Based on a book of the same name, this is more about a young man’s search of God through various religions and how he copes with horrendous events brought on by the desperation of self-preservation. No blood is shown but animals graphically eat each other though you don’t actually see it. I say graphically, then, because the brutality of it is clearly expressed by the scenes, the expressions of onlookers, and very obvious audio. One instance is even depicted through silhouettes of the animals at a distance.

This is a definitely thinking movie that will cause you to weigh which story PI tells is true – the one with animals and islands or the one where four survivors experience pure savagery. If you are into deep movies that will spur on conversation concerning the meaning of life and using religion as a way of coping with trials, then you’ll really enjoy this. It was a bit ‘heavy’ for our family, though, since we turn to movies when we want to relax and just unwind.

You may wonder what Bigelow Tea and Life of PI have in common. From now to March 29th, entries are being accepted for the Life of Pi Relaxing Moments Sweepstakes. You can win a Blu-Ray player, Bigelow tea, a Life of PI DVD, or a Walmart gift card. Nice, right?

We really had a great time on our movie afternoon/night. In fact, it was so nice we plan on doing it again soon. Maybe next time we’ll run a full-day marathon 🙂 Care to join us then?

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Bigelow Tea #CBias #SocialFabric #AmericasTea . All opinions are my own.