I’m more than ready to get back to normal, though, and I’m going to continue on with my Walt Disney World trip reports. I have about 3 or 4 more entries planned. Bear with me.

Today I’m revisiting the 2 days we spent at EPCOT on Mon, 11/28 and Sat, 12/3.

You know you’ve arrived at EPCOT when you see the park’s icon, Spaceship Earth.

The first area of the park that you come across is Future World. I have to admit that a lot of the rides & attractions in Future World are either boring or SUPER outdated. But we gave (almost) everything a chance and found a few that were particularly memorable…

Like Test Track. My favorite EPCOT ride. It’s a vehicle simulation ride that ends in a high-speed drive around the exterior track. SO AWESOME.

Living with the Land is a boat ride through the Land pavilion’s greenhouse where you can see the various crops grown on site. Look at that 9 pound lemon! I have really distinct memories of going on this ride when I was 10 with my parents so I love this ride for the nostalgia factor.

Over at the Innoventions pavilion, we went to Club Cool to sample Coca-Cola products from around the world. Free of charge!

Krest Ginger Ale from Mozambique (much stronger ginger taste than I’ve found here in the US) and Lift Apple from Mexico were the stand-outs to me. Stay away from the Beverly (Italy). Trust me. It is TERRIBLE.

Innoventions also features various interactive exhibits and rides, one of which is a video game playground where we created a game starring… ourselves.

Here we are on screen. LOL. We had to perform a series of actions (running, jumping, dancing) that were then inserted into the game. HILARITY. We got such a kick out of this.

Spaceship Earth (aka the ride inside the giant golf ball) was a pleasant surprise. The ride itself is ok at best (it takes you back in time to track advancements in human communication) but the end is pretty entertaining. The ride is equipped with interactive touch screens where you answer various questions and somewhere along the way your image is captured. Then your future is revealed to you in a series of images. Ours were HIGHLY AMUSING. Well, technically, it was Rob’s future because my picture didn’t get taken for some reason. It ended up being MUCH better this way.

OH MAN. This was THE BEST. We could NOT stop laughing.

After we had our fill of Future World, we made our way to the World Showcase, which is my favorite part of EPCOT. I LOVE to travel so this part of the park is right up my alley. Plus, there’s such a wealth of dining options. There’s only 2 rides in the World Showcase (in Mexico and Norway) so we did lots of exploring. Just taking in the sights, checking out the food & drink offerings, and browsing in the shops (that actually sell non-Disney merchandise!). Some of my favorite pics…

The Canada pavilion is so beautiful.

We had dinner at the signature restaurant in Canada, Le Cellier Steakhouse, where we had the BEST service. From start to finish, it was a great experience — all our courses were timed perfectly and everything we needed was anticipated. I wish I could remember our server’s name because he was outstanding. I also discovered pina colada rooibos tea here and I’ve been looking for some ever since.

Hopping over to the UK!

I’m a sucker for France. The view on the bridge as you approach the pavilion is so gorgeous.

On our first day at EPCOT, we had lunch at Les Chefs de France where we had yummy onion soup and we also got to see…

Remy! He goes by really fast so I only got this blurry shot of him. Grrr.

Making silly faces in Morocco.

My favorite pavilion — Japan! It’s so peaceful. It also doesn’t hurt that there’s a sizable Mituskoshi store where you can find all kinds of Japanese items — from toys (Domo and Hello Kitty!) to candy to kitchen accessories (chopsticks, delicate plates and teapot sets, etc).

From the World Showcase looking across the lagoon to Spaceship earth.

Ciao!

Germany is easily my second favorite pavilion. It’s so picturesque. And I just love the energy here. Because of the lack of rides in the World Showcase, many adult guests participate in drinking around the world where you have to consume an alcoholic beverage in each country before moving to the next one. That means 10 different drinks! As you can imagine, Germany has a variety of beers to choose from so the crowd is really spirited and happy. LOL. Because I don’t drink, I was drawn instead to…

Karamell Kuche! It’s a Werther’s store that’s packed with not only packaged treats but FRESHLY MADE goodies. It’s like heaven. Seriously. We went a little crazy in there and bought fresh caramel corn (sinful), a caramel & chocolate-covered strawberry, caramel roll with marshmallow cream (AH-MAY-ZING), and a chocolate with sea salt. It was all FANTASTIC. I want to go baaaaack.

Couldn’t resist taking a picture in front of the Christmas tree!

And of course another picture in front of Spaceship Earth for good measure.

Even though we had almost 2 full days in EPCOT, there’s still so much we could have done. I would have loved to check out other restaurants in the World Showcase (Via Napoli in Italy, Biergarten in Germany). And I wish we had time to sign up for the segway tour around the park. I guess these are things that will go on my list for “next time” (whenever that will be).

EPCOT Rides/Attractions Count:
Spaceship Earth – 1
Ellen’s Energy Adventure – 1
Mission: SPACE – 1 (green/mild version)
Test Track – 3
The Seas with Nemo & Friends – 1
Turtle Talk with Crush – 1
Living with the Land – 1
Journey Into Imagination with Figment – 1
Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros – 1
Maelstrom – 1
O Canada! – 1
Impressions de France – 1

For more pics from our time at EPCOT, check our Flickr here and here.

Early Thursday morning I was woken up by a phone call from my aunt letting me know that my grandma (on my mom’s side) passed away just a few hours before. I guess it’s because I was still half asleep but I lay in bed in a total daze. I was stunned. It wasn’t until I woke Rob up to tell him that it really hit me. It’s like it wasn’t real until I shared the news.

My grandma lived with my parents and me growing up and she practically raised me. She introduced me to the Lakers (I know, can you believe it — that wasn’t Rob’s influence), soap operas (the ABC soaps were our favorites – One Life to Live, General Hospital), and books — all still some of my very favorite things. I’m not very good with words and it’s even harder for me now to express how much she means to me. I will miss her very, very much.

I’d still like to share my original Happy Things post — I write so infrequently nowadays that I can’t let it go to waste…

1. Dinner with Friends. Last Saturday night, we had a few friends over to watch the Lakers/Clippers game — Rob made gumbo, I made rice krispies treats, and our friends’ brought over alcohol and 50 McDonald’s chicken mcnuggets for appetizers. There were only 5 of us and we managed to eat ALL of the nuggets before dinner. LOL. For the record, I only had 2. Possibly 3.

2. The aforementioned rice krispies treats. Even this non-cook can’t mess them up. Nommy.

3. Belated Christmas celebration with BFFs. Lunch, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and the Golden Globes. Super low key and easy. And I can’t forget the presents! I am so spoiled…

4. Going to a basketball game at the Staples Center for the first time. Thank goodness for job perks because we had AMAZING lower level seats. Too bad it was a Clippers game, LOL (hopefully someday I’ll get to see the Lakers!). It ended up being a pretty boring game (they were playing the Dallas Mavericks and both teams seemed a little low energy) but it was a lot of fun to watch a game live.

5. My blog turned 10! TEN!!! I’ve been blogging at this domain since 2002. WOW. Happy Blog-iversary to me.

Hope all of you are well! *HUGS*

I LOVED Animal Kingdom.

There will be a ridiculous amount of photos in this entry.

Like Hollywood Studios, this park doesn’t have a huge number of rides or attractions but there is such an INCREDIBLE level of theming and detail that it more than makes up for that deficit.

I pretty much walked around in a constant state of awe. Like with my jaw to the floor. It’s AH-MAY-ZING.

We made a beeline to Asia to hit Expedition Everest first thing in the morning.

I had a feeling I would LOVE this ride…

And I did! It’s a roller coaster but it doesn’t throw you around like some older coasters do. It’s a very smooth ride. The ride vehicles even go forward AND backward! So exhilarating. It catapulted to my Top 3 rides EVER (for the record – Space Mountain at Disneyland, Forbidden Journey at Wizarding World of Harry Potter and now Expedition Everest).

GAWD. THIS PARK. It’s just gorgeous.

We made our way to Dinoland to ride DINOSAUR.

Hated it. It uses the same ride vehicle and track layout as Indiana Jones at Disneyland but it is NOT nearly as fun or exciting. Not to mention that the “storyline” is also pretty lame. Oh well.

Each of the Disney parks has its own “icon” — and at Animal Kingdom, it’s the Tree of Life.

Again, so much detail. Look at the animal carvings on the bark!

We even found Simba as we were admiring the tree.

Over in Africa, we experienced the Kilimanjaro Safaris where we toured the savanna to see various African animals.

The trip through the safari is aided by a guide who points out the animals as you approach them. And in between scouting for animals, they’re also keeping up with the ride’s storyline that has you trying to save a baby elephant from poachers. It’s pretty cheesy, I have to admit. But luckily, we had a really great guide who embraced the “cheese.” Heh.

I was amazed at how close we were to the animals.

The next land we visited was Camp Minnie Mickey (kind of a lazy name, or is it just me?) to watch The Festival of the Lion King, which is a 30-minute stage show featuring singing and dancing (it’s more of a variety show versus a retelling of the story).

It was entertaining but sadly, none of my pictures turned out. Too much movement!

Another reason for visiting Camp Minnie Mickey was that I wanted to see all the character Christmas trees. They’re sprinkled throughout the land — and they’re so cute! A few of my favorites included Minnie, Pluto and Chip & Dale…

Stitch, Pocahontas, Meeko, Mickey, Donald Duck, Goofy and a few other characters had trees as well.

While there, we also got to see…

Thumper and Chip & Dale! Love these guys. I REALLY wanted to get a picture taken with Thumper but I was feeling really awkward and self-conscious that day so I passed. UGH. I regret it.

After the fuzzy animals, we went to see real animals along the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and Maharajah Jungle Trek.

By this point in the trip we’d been at WDW for 5 days and had gone the entire time without having some sort of Asian food or rice. Hey, we’re Filipino, rice is a thing! So luckily I had the foresight to book our lunch at Yak and Yeti, which serves Asian-inspired cuisine.

OH MAN. THE FOOD TOTALLY HIT THE SPOT.

We had rice with our meals! SO NOMMY. AND THE DESSERT! Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons drizzled with a honey vanilla glaze. INSANELY GOOD.

We walked off our lunch by exploring Asia. Seriously, this land is like candy for the eyes — it’s so visually interesting.

I mean, the detail on that truck! It’s just an ice cream stand!

I wanted to get another ride in on Expedition Everest so we headed in that direction. Like the rest of Asia, this ride is so gorgeous…

I can’t remember why we were posing like that. I think we were supposed to be scared. We just look crazy. LOL.

To cap off our time at the Animal Kingdom, we decided to take in a couple of shows. Flights of Wonder was an amazing show featuring exotic birds but sadly, Finding Nemo – The Musical was SUPER disappointing. And I’m pretty easy to please! The singing was fine but the acting made me cringe. It was so bad that I was actually happy when my boss started sending me text messages during the show. We took that opportunity to leave early so I could take care of some work. CRAZY, I KNOW.

We missed Rafiki’s Planet Watch (an area of the park with a petting zoo and a peek behind the scenes) and Kali River Rapids (no interest in getting drenched) but otherwise we covered the park pretty well. Looking back I would have loved to have another half day here. Hindsight and all that.

After leaving the park, we headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at their signature restaurant Jiko.

It was pretty dark in the restaurant but it was a refreshing change from the hustle and bustle of the park.

From start to finish, this was probably one of the best meals we had at WDW. The menu is inspired by African, Indian & Mediterranean cuisine so flavors are bold and unique. Everything was scrumptious.

Sharing a pic of our dessert because it’s my favorite part of any meal. Here we had coconut bread pudding (front) and chocolate/coffee mousse (back).

And a parting shot of the lobby of the Lodge. I loved that all the parks and resorts were dressed up for the holidays. It was such a great time to visit!

AK Rides/Attractions Count:
Expedition Everest – 2
DINOSAUR – 1
Pangani Forest Exploration Trail – 1
Festival of the Lion King – 1
Kilimanjaro Safaris – 1
Maharajah Jungle Trek – 1
Flights of Wonder – 1
Primeval Whirl – 1
Finding Nemo: The Musical – left early

For more pics from our day at Animal Kingdom, check our Flickr here.

I’m good at making New Year’s resolutions buuuut not so good at keeping them so I’m not going to bother this year. Instead, my “theme” for 2012 will be to use what I have and try to rein in any extraneous purchases (unless I have a gift card ). The goal is to save more money that we can use on the house, to travel or to keep for a “rainy day.”

So that’s the plan for 2012.

Now let’s go back to 2011 again to continue on with my Florida trip report — this time I’ll get started with our time (10 nights!) at Walt Disney World. Specifically Disney’s Hollywood Studios which we visited on Mon, 12/5.

Again, this will be a pic heavy entry. I think all of my planned WDW entries are going to be.

I’m starting with DHS because it’s my least favorite of the 4 main Disney theme parks. While it’s nicely themed (come on, it’s Disney), it doesn’t have the same charm and depth that the other 3 do. At least to me. The park is supposed to evoke Hollywood in the 1930s/1940s and while it may look the part, it also feels a little thrown together. Like all the pieces make sense individually but not so much together. I DON’T KNOW. AM I EVEN MAKING SENSE?! There’s also significantly less rides and attractions in this park so it feels lacking in that way too. But we still managed to have a great time.

The main entrance…

Instead of Main Street, we walked down Hollywood Boulevard and saw the park’s icon…

Mickey’s Sorceror Hat! YAY.

We arrived right before the official park opening in order to join the HORDES of people heading to Toy Story Mania in Pixar Place. This was INSANE. I think 99% of people in the park were headed there too. I wish I had a picture of the crowd because it was RIDICULOUS. But once it hit 9am, the Disney cast members led the entire mass of humanity over to the ride in a (fairly) orderly line. I knew that Rob & I wanted to get on the ride at least twice that day but I wavered over riding first and then getting a Fastpass or vice versa. If you get there at park opening, my recommendation is to RIDE FIRST. The Fastpass line gets long immediately because people are cramming multiple tickets into the machine. The standby line is still walk-on at this point.

We were in such a rush to get on the ride that I didn’t even get a chance to really admire Pixar Place until later in the day. It’s amazing how much it resembles Pixar’s headquarters in Emeryville, CA (I used to live right by it!).

Next we headed to Sunset Boulevard and…

Tower of Terror!

Of all the rides that are duplicated in Disneyland & Walt Disney World, I FAR preferred Tower of Terror at WDW (all the other rides are the same or are better at Disneyland, in my opinion). Tower of Terror had an amazing “pre-show” before the drop sequence where the doors open and the entire ride vehicle moves forward into the hallway. SO COOL. I’m pretty sure there are more drops too. LOVED IT.

Other rides/attractions we checked off our list that morning…

Star Tours (after which Rob found this Boba Fett hat to try on, hehe)…

The Great Movie Ride (this was kinda lame, I’ll be honest)…

The Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream exhibit (awe-inspiring — really enjoyed seeing memorabilia from Disney’s life and models/artifacts from the parks)…

Rock n Roller Coaster (AWESOME dark coaster with 3 inversions — so fun)…

And before breaking for lunch, we managed to catch the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (sufficiently entertaining and surprisingly funny).

I LOVE FOOD. And believe it or not, the dining options at WDW are far better than traditional theme park food. I mean, WDW definitely has its fair share of burgers and hot dogs but they also have a lot of varied selections in both their quick service and table service restaurants. So I did a lot of planning when it came to the dining throughout our trip. And I found that 50′s Prime Time Cafe at DHS serves comfort food, specifically fried chicken. So OF COURSE I made a reservation.

AND OMG IT WAS SO NOMMY AND FANTASTIC AND SERIOUSLY SOME OF THE BEST FRIED CHICKEN EVEEERRRRR. A++++

I’m drooling just thinking about it right now.

No, really.

After that amazing lunch, we set out to conquer the rest of the park.

You’d think that a park with a Hollywood theme would have a solid Studio Backlot Tour. But aside from the water and pyrotechnic demonstrations, there just wasn’t much else to see. I guess it’s because the park is no longer a full time television and motion picture production facility so there’s really no “behind the scenes” areas or cool props/artifacts to showcase.

We wandered over to the Animation Courtyard (love this Sorceror Mickey topiary)…

But by this point in the day, our energy level was low (it didn’t help that it was HOT) so we didn’t even feel like participating in the Animation Academy, which is one of our favorite attractions here in CA! We decided to catch the last showing of the Beauty and the Beast musical to sit and recharge. It was excellent!

Sadly we missed a few of the other stage shows (the Lights Motors Action stunt show, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and the American Idol Experience). They’re scheduled very close together making it difficult to run around the park to see all of them. That just means we have to make another trip to WDW. Hehe.

Before we left the park, though, there was one very important attraction we needed to see. The Osborne Lights!

PHENOMENAL.

The lights are a seasonal display on the Streets of America and they dance along to holiday music. It’s SO beautiful.

Dinner was at Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club Resort…

Where Rob & I both had the New York Strip Steak. Yummers.

Exploring the Yacht Club before calling it a day. Even Disney’s resorts are attractions to themselves.

I MISS WDW SO SO MUCH.

DHS Rides/Attractions Count:
Toy Story Midway Mania – 2
Tower of Terror – 1
Star Tours – 1
The Great Movie Ride – 1
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular – 1
Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream – 1
Studio Backlot Tour – 1
Rock n Roller Coaster – 1
Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage – 1

For more pics from our day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, check our Flickr here.

Now to FINALLY get started on my Florida trip report! YAY.

I’m going to start with our visit to Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure. Where we visited The Wizarding World of Harry Potter on Thurs, 12/1. !!!

WARNING: PIC HEAVY ENTRY! (Feel free to click each pic for bigger).

Walking up to the entrance…

I PRETTY MUCH STOPPED IN MY TRACKS.

The Hogwarts Express! SQUEE!

Then Hogsmeade. It’s so detailed! STUNNING.

And finally…

HOGWARTS. As we were walking up to the castle, I suddenly felt so overwhelmed. Everything looked absolutely perfect and I couldn’t believe we were actually there!

We went on all 3 rides in the Wizarding World, the best of which was Forbidden Journey. It’s not a roller coaster but it’s definitely a thrill ride — the ride spins, twists, and drops you every which way as you soar through Hogwarts with the trio. It’s AH-MAY-ZING. Probably in my Top 3 rides EVER.

It even features a fan-freaking-tastic queue where you see…

The Mirror of Erised…

Professor Sprout’s greenhouse…

the House Points…

the Sorting Hat…

Dumbledore’s office…

And finally the Defense of the Dark Arts classroom with the trio!

After the rides, we explored Hogsmeade and came across…

Ollivander’s (there’s a “show” where you can see a muggle select a wand but because of the store’s looooow capacity, the line is ridiculously long)…

Dervish and Banges…

Zonko’s…

Honeydukes! All the stores are themed impeccably but they’re not designed to hold many people at all (I believe this was something that J.K. Rowling insisted on to be realistic to her vision). We visited during an off-peak time and it was STILL crowded inside the stores (the rides were all walk-ons, though). I don’t even want to imagine what it would be like in the summer.

For lunch, we ate at the Three Broomsticks so we could try butterbeer! YUM. I got frozen and Rob got regular… I made the better choice. Hehe. The frozen butterbeer is FAR better. But it’s VERY sweet so I couldn’t finish it. This is the best picture I have of the butterbeer (frozen is in front in the souvenir cup)…

Eventually we made our way around the park to visit the other “islands” — Seuss Landing, Jurassic Park, Marvel Super Hero Island (The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man is a MUST-DO ride), etc.

Islands of Adventure is such a picturesque park.

I can’t wait until the Wizarding World makes its way to Hollywood! I LOVED it. There were so many times where I’d stop, look around and find myself absolutely stunned and speechless. The Harry Potter series means a lot to me and it was incredible to have such an immersive experience. I can’t explain it. If you’re a fan, I highly recommend a visit. It won’t be one you’ll soon forget.

Ride count (for my reference):
Forbidden Journey (WWoHP) – 2
Dragon Challenge (WWoHP)- 1
Flight of the Hippogriff (WWoHP) – 1
The Cat in the Hat (Seuss Landing) – 1
The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley (Seuss Landing) – 1
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (Marvel) – 1

For more pics from Islands of Adventure & WWoHP, check our Flickr here.

Anyway, I’m currently weeding through all our pictures and hopefully I’ll get around to sharing some of them here with a trip recap.

To ease into it, I’ll start with Miami Beach…

Ok, I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t love Miami Beach. That’s not to say we had a bad time. I just don’t think we really gave it a fair shake. We only had 2 full days at the end of our trip there (I planned it that way so we could relax and take it easy after conquering the theme parks in Orlando) and I did very minimal research as far as sight-seeing. So we pretty much only saw the 2-3 mile area around our hotel, which included the beach, Ocean Drive, Collins Ave and Lincoln Rd. It didn’t help that we missed Disney like crazy. Seriously! Rob even admitted that maybe we should have stayed in Orlando for the entire 2 weeks.

The one thing I DID research was the food. So while we didn’t really see anything major besides the gorgeous art deco hotels and the beach, we were VERY well fed. We had AH-MAY-ZING Cuban food at Puerto Sagua, NOM-MY crab claws at Joe’s Stone Crab and DELICIOUS burgers at Shake Shack.

In any case, I’m glad we took the time to visit. Even though we only took ONE picture of ourselves the entire time we were there. OOPS.

Here it is…

Next I’ll post some pics and thoughts about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! (Preview: SO GREAT).

Aside from Thanksgiving, November brought some fun Happy Things my way (of the material variety).

1. Our Christmas tree!

2. The Kindle Fire Rob gave me for my birthday arrived and I love it. I think it’s great for the price point and particularly if you’re only interested in consuming media. I brought it along on our trip and so far I’ve used it to play games, read books, and watch TV (The Wonder Years is available on Amazon streaming!). The only downside is that because it’s backlit, my eyes definitely get tired after reading for long periods of time. So the Fire isn’t going to replace my original Kindle, which features a much easier on the eyes e-ink display.

3. We’ve lived in our house for over a year now but still have yet to finish furnishing our master bedroom. I’ve been looking for a vanity table to store my girly stuff and I finally found one! Now we just want to get a ceiling fan and floor-length mirror in there and we’ll be all set.

4. About a week prior to our trip, we received Mickey mail (aka our Disney vacation confirmation). I’m pretty sure my excitement skyrocketed. And I had good reason — so far, it’s been an AH-MAY-ZING trip.

5. I actually planned ahead and ordered and received our Holiday cards. Woo hoo! If you’d like one, let me know in the comments and I’ll send you an email!

Now it’s December, Rob & I have had a fantastic first week of vacation and we’re looking forward to the second. I can’t wait to share highlights and pics of our trip when we get back.

Seriously, life has been pretty low key lately. Nothing exciting to report. But I’ve missed writing so I thought I’d do a random “this and that” type of post. A brain dump if you will.

Starting with some TV & Movie thoughts…
- I officially stopped watching Ringer. I couldn’t stay engaged. Not even the eye candy that is Ioan Gruffudd could save it for me. That’s just sad.
- But I’ve quickly replaced it with Once Upon a Time. This show is miles better. MILES. I’m a sucker for fairy tales anyway so this spin on the genre is so interesting to me. Plus, I’m kinda loving all the little nods they give to each story — like in the most recent episode featuring Cinderella, Henry racing to beat Regina home and losing a sneaker on his way up the stairs. I see what you did there, show. All in all, good stuff.
- OMG. Has everyone seen the Hunger Games trailer? I’m a fan of the books, particularly the first one, so this trailer has made me unbelievably excited. I especially love how it focuses on the set up and ends with the countdown. I got CHILLS.

And some random personal notes…
- Just under TWO WEEKS until our trip to Orlando & Miami. The days can’t go by fast enough.
- I was bored with my hair so I decided to get another digital perm. I suck at styling my hair so YAY for easy “wash and go” styles.
- I convinced Rob to bust out the Christmas tree and decorations over the weekend. YES, I realize we haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving yet. But since we’re not hosting for our respective families this year AND we’ll be on vacation after the holiday, I figure we might as well get as much use of the decor as possible. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
- Because this entry is all text, here’s a random (and LOL-worthy) pic of us playing our new favorite game Dance Central 2…

FUN FUN. And how are you all doing?

Quick thoughts on the new shows I’m watching…

Revenge
LOVE THIS SHOW. This is *so* what I wanted Ringer to be. Sure, it’s pretty much a primetime soap but the revenge angle gives everything additional meaning. And to think I was worried about how the show would sustain the storyline. I’m loving Emily’s tactical takedown of the Graysons (oh man, Victoria is wickedly awesome) — and of course, Emily VanCamp’s portrayal of the hatred underneath the sweetness. As far as the love triangle, I LOVE Daniel. And I’m sad that he might be dead. Please say it isn’t so. Since they never showed his face in the pilot, I’m holding onto hope that the body might be Tyler (can’t stand him anyway). I’m finding Jack to be a tad bit *too* noble for me (selling his boat for his dad and all) but I have a soft spot for Nick Wechsler (Roswell!) so I hope they do something more with his character. Overall, GOOD stuff.

Hart of Dixie
So great to have Rachel Bilson back on TV (I still miss The OC). Love her. This is your typical CW show. It reminds me of both Gilmore Girls and Everwood though not quite as good as either one. So far, the characters (particularly Lemon) and the storylines are kinda cliched but the show is so charming that I find myself not caring. I love the unlikely trio of Zoe, Wade and Lavon and surprisingly I don’t ship Zoe and George (I wish I did, though, I’m a sucker for Jason Street — I mean Scott Porter). A show very rarely makes me smile the way this one does so I’m on board. I need a fun, light show in my life anyway!

The New Girl
I’ve said before that I’m NOT a sitcom person. I don’t know why. I just don’t find most of them that funny. It’s possible I don’t have a sense of humor. BUT. I downloaded this pilot free on iTunes and watched it on the way to Vancouver and thought it was HILARIOUS. Jess is a little *too* quirky for me but I don’t care cause I love the guys. So excited for it to return tomorrow.

I’d like to check out Once Upon a Time too. I’m only 2 episodes behind so maybe I’ll be able to catch up? I’ll need something to replace Ringer and Grey’s Anatomy since I’ve lost interest in both…

So I celebrated my 32nd birthday 2 weeks ago. YAY for birthdays! Not so much for getting older. Waahhhh.

I didn’t do much of anything to celebrate but I did make a few requests and got super-spoiled by Rob.

I asked for home-cooked spaghetti for my birthday dinner and he threw in some pretty freaking amazing fried chicken. SO GOOD.

Dessert was my FAVORITE banberry pie from Polly’s Pies. This pie also reminds me of my mom — so it’s really special to me.

Then we spent this past Sunday morning at Disneyland. Got there bright and early to try the new Star Tours (verdict – AWESOME! I wanted to go a second time but it closed down right after we got out) and Little Mermaid rides, hit a few of our other favorites (Space Mountain, Buzz), and also meet Mickey’s pal…

Pluto!

I love that Rob will humor me and take pictures with characters. Hehe.

I have one more birthday gift to look forward to next month when the Kindle Fire Rob bought for me arrives. SO EXCITED! Can’t wait to take it on vacation to Disney World. Only 34 more days!