The Life of Bon: Movie Theater Popcorn

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Movie Theater Popcorn

So here's the thing with Saturdays.  I kinda like always really want to write on Saturdays.  Isn't that weird?  During the school year I won't touch my blog with a ten foot pole on Saturdays.  But during the summer I am drawn to it.  Like nothing is better for my blog than a Saturday morning and my pjs and a quiet time just to write.

Blogging has become quite complicated to me.  I'm still trying to figure out how to balance it all, and perhaps that will be a lifetime struggle.  Somehow I feel my blog week gets totally booked.  Monday I have to announce a link up, Tuesday is a guest post, Wednesday I have to show this outfit, Thursday is Throwback Thursday and Friday is the group giveaway.  When is there time left to just write?

Which is why I'm kind of in love with Saturdays on my blog.  I don't schedule anything on Saturday because it wouldn't be fair to the sponsor because traffic is down.  So Saturdays are always open.  During the school year this meant I didn't post anything on Saturday.  It was my free day.  But now I see it as my day to just write and write and write.

The pictures below were taken on Greg's 25th birthday.  The only thing Greg wanted to do on his birthday was see Pacific Rim in 3-D and isn't that such a boy thing to want to do on his birthday?  The truth is that he knew I would never go see that movie with him normally.  It would demand a special occasion the likes of a birthday.  So he took advantage of the situation, declared the only thing he wanted for his big day was to see Pacific Rim with his sweetheart.  And that is how I ended up watching a movie about fighting robots wearing 3-D glasses that give me a killer headache and eating popcorn that is way too buttery for my likes and way too expensive for me to ignore.  Ah, he's a lucky boy isn't he?

Movie theater popcorn represents a lot of the differences in our marriage.  I grew up with eight kids in my family- there was no such thing as popcorn at the theater- in fact, it was a rare day when we even went to the movies.  Can you imagine- to take ten people to the movies?  That's 100 bones just in movie tickets.  Because I was raised without movie theater popcorn, I never want it now.  I see it as a total waste of money.  Greg sees it as necessary to complete the movie experience because growing up he always had popcorn at the movies. (Only two kids in his family- they ate popcorn to their little heart's content!) A movie wasn't a movie without the popcorn!  So now every time Greg and I go to the movie we always have to decide "Do we get popcorn or not?"  Greg begs for it, I beg not and isn't it a weird world where whether or not you buy popcorn is a legitimate issue in your marriage?

Sidenote:  Strangely enough I am kind of interested in how you all were raised.  Do you get popcorn at the movies?  Or do you even go to the movies?  And what does your significant other think of the whole conundrum?

Here's another weird issue in our marriage we have to face. What kind of milk do we buy? Skim or 1% or 2%? (Whole milk is definitely not even an option. Shudder.)  And when do we throw the milk out?  See, Greg is a bit paranoid about food going bad.  He generally thinks milk is no good when it gets to two or three days before the expiration date.  Heck, in my family we'd drink it after the expiration date as long as it still smelled halfway decent.

Here's another:  how long are leftovers good for?  I'll eat leftovers for a week.  Greg only likes to eat them the day after, or maybe if we're lucky two days.  Therefore, I'm always trying to get him to eat leftovers and lying about when the food was made because I know he won't eat it if it was made five days ago.  Honesty is for the birds when it comes to leftovers.

These are the things no one tells you about before you get married.  


  1. My boyfriend won't eat leftovers either, he says that the food tastes different. Meanwhile I'm thinking - you should just be glad I'm offering you food.
    Leftovers are usually good for like 3 days if they were in the fridge and an infinite amount of time if you put them in the freezer.

    Here in Barbados milk goes off pretty fast so I only use it for a couple of days - but generally if it smells good, it is so it doesn't matter the expiration date.

    Popcorn is a must. Pop your own at home and salt it instead of butter, tastes much better and costs next to nothing. I was an only child - so we always had popcorn but it was rarely ever theater bought!

  2. We always got popcorn at the movies when I was a kid. Now, I always campaign to not get it because I think it's a waste of money. My husband HAS to get it though. Like he can't go to the movies without it!

  3. I love this post. These are the tiny things you never think of discussing before you get married because you are drowned in trying to figure out solutions to big differences and hard choices.
    My husband doesn't believe in leftovers. In my family of 6, whenever Mom cooked, she always made sure to have enough to at least pack Dad a lunch the next day. Justin's family--you ate it all before someone else did. It's been interesting slowly introducing him to the concept.
    Luckily, milk was easy. As long as it is fresh, we can't taste the difference, so we always buy skim milk.
    And with popcorn...both of us hardly ever actually got sodas and popcorn at the theatre...we'd typically go after lunch to a matinee or after dinner, so we are typically full. But, sometimes, we sneak in candy we bought at the dollar store.
    Our Fairy Tale

  4. We rarely got popcorn. Maybe if it was just my dad and I but other than that I like to take my own snacks or a water bottle. Food at the theater is so overpriced. We drink milk at least to the expiration date, maybe a couple days after. Leftovers are totally fair game for up to a week. Then it's time to clean the fridge out.

  5. We made our own popcorn and brought it to the theater. We also brought our own drinks and candy. (I honestly didn't realize until I was out of college that you weren't allowed to do that!) I still like to treat myself to movie theater popcorn and a coke icee when it is a movie I have been really looking forward to.

  6. I'm from a family of 4, he's from a family of 6. Neither of us are used to getting popcorn and we both see it as a waste of money. Plus, it's SO.GREASY!

    Milk is where we run into problems: I don't like to drink it alone and grew up on both organic, unpasteurized milk and skim milk. I prefer skim on my cereal now. He grew up with 2%. What do we buy? Skim. Because I'm the one who does the grocery shopping ;) Plus, it's cheaper! We try to use it within a week of opening, but if it still smells OK, we'll still use it in a pinch.

    My husband and I are both no strangers to leftovers... however, I only eat them for a week afterwards and he will eat them as long as they look as smell good. We were on vacation with his family a few years back and his parents got food poisoning from leftovers so you'd think he'd learn a little bit of food safety - NOPE. Leftovers will forever be a difference of opinion in our house!

  7. The best blogs I enjoy, personally, are the ones where people mention they 'just write' - yours is no exception.

    Love this :O) x

  8. as a child i remember seeing exactly one movie in the theater and it was just my mom and me - Titanic. and we got pop corn but took our own candy & drinks. if husband and i go to the movies we get a small pop corn b/c i like a few bites but he loves it. and we bring our own drinks & popcorn.

    with leftovers, i eat them for a week. husband doesnt eat any leftovers. with milk, we go by smell if the exp. date has passed. no fight over the type of milk - 2% only.

    usually we pass on movies in the theater and wait to have a movie night at home with RedBox or Netflix later on.


  9. Love your Saturday posts. Do what you love and the rest will fall into place. If you love writing posts then share them as often as you want. you won't hear any complaints from my little corner of the world :)

  10. NO! buying anything at the movie theater is DUMB! they already charge sooo much for tickets, i refuse to pay anymore. i always stop at cvs and get a bigger box of candy for $1.00. i've even smuggled bags of chips or bottles of drink into the theater in my bags before. and when i go with guy friends, i usually end up smuggling their food in too. i may enjoy that crazy, huge, extra buttery popcorn but the guilt i feel over spending $12.00 for it isn't worth it.

  11. I totally think that movie theater popcorn just completes the experience! Hubby never wants to get it because he claims it's gross, yet he ends up eating more than I do... interesting. My hubby is the same way when it comes to milk and leftovers too!

  12. We go to see a movie almost every Tuesday (it's cheap day) and popcorn is necessary for my boyfriend, however skittles are my must have!! Skittles and occasionally peanut M&M's :)
    I'm the picky one when it comes to milk...and my boyfriend hates not finishing any food so we rarely have any leftovers to worry about!!

  13. When you have a large family it's also expensive to go out to eat, so when my family did go we never wasted our money on soft drinks, we just got water. My husband does not understand this concept and always gets a large drink. It's just such a waste of money to me, I'll never understand it.

    I think anything you buy at the movie theater is a waste of money but I splurge on popcorn on special occasions.

  14. My husband and I keep two different kinds of milk (skim for me, whole for him), two different kinds of butter (Country Crock spreadable for me and real butter sticks for him), and two different kinds of peanut butter (jiffy for me and whatever is cheapest for him) in the house at all times. There are some habits you just can't break!

  15. We didn't go to the movies very often growing up even though there were only two kids. We rarely got popcorn. My mom was the person who would take you to the gas station or Walmart before the movie and buy candy to sneak in. Once I was old enough to date, the activities of choice were either bowling or movies. We always got popcorn. Several years ago the local theater started selling a bucket for a flat price that you could refill for like $2 all year. Bargain!

  16. We also didn't go to the movies much. There were just 4 kids, but still, that's expensive! I don't really like the taste of movie popcorn and having the smell on my hands the whole time, so I don't get it. I do like to get a drink sometimes because we never get soda anyway!

  17. Milk: If you buy organic, it stays fresh longer ... but it's definitely fine at least UNTIL the expiration date. :)

    There were four kids in my family, so we never WENT to the movies. As an adult, I usually don't get it because it's too buttery for my taste, too expensive, and too many calories. (Now, when I have PMS ... it's a different story. I get popcorn and some kind of chocolate and a Diet Coke. ;))

  18. This may seem really random, but after I read your post today I thought your husband looked like the little kid from this commercial. The little red head kid who smacks his forehead is really funny.


    always. not nearly as often as i used to do so. and not applicable (but if i had one, i would hope he would insist on popcorn).

  20. Love the REAL posts. :)

    Milk in our house = 2%. Movies we would sometimes get popcorn and candy. As we got older we would bring our own. Shhh.
    Leftovers....varies depends upon what it is. Something I personally won't eat as a leftover....

  21. I think movie theaters are a total waste of money, the bf loves them.

    I am very particular about expiration dates and only eat leftovers from the fridge within two days. Longer from the freezer, the bf could care less about dates.

    Oh the small problems in life.

  22. Seriously, the weirdest things :P Growing up we went to the movies maybe once or twice a year, and definitely didn't get popcorn or candy or anything, "it's way too overpriced" you know. :) Now we splurge sometimes, but we usually both at least get a drink. I could honestly count on one hand how many times we'd been to the movies in the two years we'd been together and then this year, all of the sudden I think we've doubled that number and will add another handful to it by the time 2013 ends. :P


  23. Growing up I lived in a small town and the movies were just about the only thing to do, we always got the kid's pack which was smaller versions of popcorn, candy and drink.

    Now, my husband and I go to the nice cheap theatre almost weekly (its $2 and the movies aren't that old. we saw Gatsby two weeks ago.) If we ate dinner home we get popcorn, if we went out we don't :)

    We have also have no shame bringing in our own food...subway, egg name it.

    He wont touch leftovers and I'll pick off any questionable parts before eating if need be. Its funny the things marriage brings about :)

  24. Totally get what you're saying! 8 dollars for a small tub of popcorn?! Ridiculous! Thankfully in South Korea they don't believe in capitalizing off of their customers, and a popcorn is a mere $3.00. Large Coke? 2.50. Thank freaking goodness. I lived in Portland, Oregon before moving here, and we always went to the movies on Tuesdays. Our local theater had half price movies and snacks on that specific day! There was nothing better!

    Growing up, I remember going to the theater maybe once every 6-8 months or so. Usually for a birthday. We almost never got snacks. My parents weren't made of money, and it was breaking the bank just to get us in the door!!!

    -Amanda | Living in Another Language

  25. Movies? In the movie theater? Not even the dollar theater?

    Popcorn at a movie?? What's that?!

  26. I'm like you, movies were a rare occurrence during my childhood and definitely no popcorn was involved when we went, but I sort of got both experiences actually because in my later teen years when I was the only child left at home (and let's be honest, still now as well considering that I haven't left my parents basement yet.. ha!) movies just don't seem to be a big deal anymore. And now we've switched roles popcorn wise because now my mom's always like "lets get food!" and I'm like "noo calories!" haha no but in all seriousness it is interesting to see both sides of the coin.

    I'm with you on the leftovers thing too by the way. I say if it doesn't smell bad, it's good to go! haha

  27. Bop, Mom was on board with the popcorn thing when the free refills feature came along. She'd get one huge bucket and we'd all share as long as she could go back for more. And you forgot to mention how Mom used to pop popcorn at home in the microwave and then stuff it into her oversized purse and sneak it in. Haha. And she'd always sneak candy like a big back of licorice in as well. She might as well have just taken a dang cooler in there.

  28. You crack me up. Those are legitimate marriage concerns. Just yesterday the husband and I were debating rims. Yes rims for a car. Because he looked at a truck to buy and while the rebates and deal was great, he confessed he wouldn't buy the car because of the rims... Seriously?
    And I ate movie popcorn as a kid once, and it made me so sick I never touched it again. I'm an only child and my mom and I went to the movies a lot, but no popcorn for me!
    PS: I love writing on Saturdays too.

  29. My fiance and I always get popcorn at the theatre... but we bring our own candy. And our own water bottles. We are definitely that couple. We do have the exact same argument with the milk though. I'm all about 2% because that's what I grew up with and on the rare occasion I do want milk, that's what I want. He, however, likes skim and it doesn't cut it when I want cereal. Sometimes we compromise, and sometimes I let him win the Milk Battle because maybe that means I get to choose the cereal? Sigh.

  30. Years ago hubby would eat leftovers but not any more although he will often say keep that I will have it later and then I end up throwing it away.

  31. my family never ever got popcorn! and so now i want it ALL the time. It's like a luxury! But at the same time I don't get it very often out of habit i guess. The husband got it growing up, so he doesn't really care whether he gets it or not.
    As for milk... I buy a half gallon of skim for me. and a half gallon of 2% for the husband. It works for us.
    And I hate hate hate leftovers. Sometimes we will eat them.... but most of the time we don't.

  32. I will not eat left overs after a day or 2. my hubs will eat them for a week. I got popcorn the hubs did not even go to the movies hardly, but he is the one who wants it now and I am the one watching the money.

  33. Well, we had three kids in the family and my mom didn't work, so we rarely ever bought popcorn. Typically, my mom would stock up on candy and snacks from the gas station or grocery store, and smuggle them in her purse. She set a great example for me--as a college student I would even smuggle real food into the theater, and I recently introduced my husband to the concept when I walked in with a bunch of food from taco bell hidden in my purse. HOWEVER, since I do feel some guilt over it, I will buy popcorn from time to time. Since I didn't really grow up with it, it makes it feel like a little luxury I can afford.

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  35. Movies are one of my favorite activities - we usually go at least once a week. And movie theater popcorn (or just popcorn in general) is one of my all-time FAVORITES. I cannot, and will not, see a movie without having popcorn. My boyfriend knows this and plans accordingly. Is it bad that I can polish off a medium popcorn by myself? Probs, but I can't imagine not eating that stuff! <3

  36. how funny. we went to movies growing up, and my mom was always a popcorn buying fan. but i didn't really care either way. now, my husband really likes popcorn, but we both have a hard time forking out so much money for it a lot of times. if one of us was to get it (or think it's more of a necessity, anyway), it would be him, not me. i can do without. i'd rather splurge on some chocolate. or just sneak some of my own chocolate in my purse ;)

    and the milk! i grew up on skim, he grew up on usually 1%, so now we drink skim all the time and he's fine with that. he didn't really care to switch. i'm all for drinking it up to the date, but once it hits that date, i smell it before i use it every time, and once it has the faintest weird smell - down the drain it goes. hubby might still drink it for another day or two....

    isn't it funny to figure these little things out in a marriage?

  37. We had three kids but no money but I think we always got popcorn. But what's funny is that I don't feel like I have to have popcorn at the movies now and my hubby is more of a nachos guy. He can't see a movie in the theater without nachos.

    Thankfully when it comes to milk we are on the same page - 1%.

    And I feel like leftovers are good for a solid week but then they must go. And I always smell and give a really good look before eating them even if I just made them yesterday!

  38. Whenever we go to the movies (which isn't really often) we sneak candy in from Walgreens. Everything is too overprice inside!

  39. Bonnie, you and I-and Greg and my husband--are so much alike! We went out of town last weekend and saw two movies while there. Since it was Zach's birthday on the 25th (he turned 29), I let him choose--The Conjuring and Pacific Rim (in 3-D, too--but only because there were no seats in 2-D).

    My family very rarely went to the movies, not because there were a lot of kids at home, but because we didn't have a lot of money. (I do have lots of siblings, but there are all at least 13 years older.) I remember I did get to see Titanic FOUR times, but it is because my mom's boyfriend at the time took us once, the next week my mom and I SNUCK popcorn (I had kept my Titanic popcorn bucket from the week before!), I went by myself (in the daytime, but I was, like, 12), and one other time. My brother just had a sister, and they all still like to go to the movies when we are all down...but now we have to buy our own stuff. *lol* We usually all sneak in candy and Cokes from Walgreens. :)

    I did grow up on whole milk, but my husband grew up on skim or 1%, which he doesn't like. So we buy 2%.

    Also, I LOVE leftovers, but I have to fight to get my husband to eat them because, like Greg, he is afraid of spoiled food. He also says it's because his mom NEVER throws things out, so the fridge is always overflowing with old food. *lol*

  40. My husband is the opposite and will eat leftovers for DAYS. I'll let it slide for a bit but it reaches a point of 'that's not okay and needs to be thrown away'. And my favorite, 'if you get sick, it's not my fault, I told you it was bad.' Wife of the year over here.

  41. i literally cannot go to the movies and NOT get SOMETHING to eat/drink. otherwise, why am i even going to the movies? could just rent one and watch it at home. going to the movie theater is the whole experience - big screen, snacks, immersion. le duh!

    also, i never eat leftovers, even if i say i will...hardcore picky eater and i just cant do it.

  42. Oh my gosh! I love this post! Casey and I were just talking about this last night! I grew up with just one brother and Casey had 5 siblings. He can count on one hand the times he went to the movies growing up while I can't imagine a month going by without visiting the big screen. Even today, when we get together with my family, we go to the movies (we are going to see Planes altogether next weekend) and with his family, we always meet at his parents' house for a DVD and homemade dinner. My mom always buys popcorn and there were days that she and I could eat a whole bucket ourselves!

    As for leftovers, I also am picky and throw way too much food away for Casey. I accidentally threw away some week-old bread without batting an eye, and he was like, "Hey, I was going to eat that!" Oops.

  43. Anonymous2:32 PM

    My friends and I had a ritual. We would go to the movies, usually not get any snacks except for on special occasions and then hang out at Barnes and Noble right next door until our parents picked us up. Sometimes B&N was better than the movie...

  44. Remembering my childhood, as far as the movies are concerned, consisted of mostly my grandmother and I going on a Friday to see a random movie with a bunch of candy and popcorn. It was our thing and we LOVED to act as though we were in a ride simulator with one of the opening credits to the movie theater. Since then, I have always been a fan of popcorn.

    Ironically, I've been twice to the theater with David and we haven't gotten popcorn, but on the third we got popcorn since we were celebrating our son's first pair of underwear after learning how to fully potty in the toilet ( Soon I will devour all the candy and popcorn I want!