highs and a low

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I was all set to publish a Happy Things entry and then I got some truly upsetting news.

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*

a day at the animal kingdom

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In today’s installment of my Florida trip report, we’ll be visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Our park of choice for Fri, 12/2.

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.

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off to hollywood

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Happy New Year Everyone!

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)…

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visiting hogwarts

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Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! We had a whirlwind few days of eating, visiting family and friends, eating, opening presents… did I mention eating?!? Thought I’d share a little family pic we took before heading over to my cousin’s on Christmas Eve…



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…

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back to reality + miami beach

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So I’ve been back home since Saturday and have serious vacation withdrawal. It was such a FANTASTIC trip. I miss waking up early and looking forward to new adventures (as opposed to waking up and dreading work). I miss the warm weather (I guess I’m a wimp because I am FUH-REEZING in CA). And I miss DISNEY. So much so that I’m trying to convince Rob to take a quick trip to Disneyland this weekend. Hee!

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).

november’s happy things

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I meant to post this entry before vacation but ran out of time. Better late than never…

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. 🙂

this and that

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Oh man. 2 weeks into November and this is my first blog entry? YIKES.

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?

new fall tv

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Now that a month has passed since the start of the season, my TV schedule has started to shake out.

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…

birthday snaps

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This past weekend was the first time in a looooong while that I haven’t had to work over the weekend. It felt INCREDIBLE.

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!

Trip Report: Vancouver Highlights

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This past weekend was probably the most productive 3 days I’ve had at home in a long time. Ok, so technically the house isn’t technically clean yet. BUT! We got rid of A LOT of the mess that’s accumulated these past few months, purged the pantry, pulled out weeds in the yard, and did some re-decorating in the office (moved around furniture and started putting up shelves and artwork on the walls). Phew! I feel accomplished. Still so much more work to do, though.

I have a lot of TV to talk about but I’m going through vacation withdrawals so I thought I’d post some pics and write up some thoughts from our recent anniversary trip (click pics for bigger)…

Whistler, September 28 – 29



Driving on the Lion’s Gate Bridge through Vancouver heading towards Whistler. We had FABULOUS weather our entire stay (cool but with the sun shining). And to think I was worried it would rain!

After we reached the halfway point, we decided to stop at Tim Horton’s to pick up coffee and a snack. Weeelll, we decided to use a credit card for payment since we hadn’t picked up the local currency yet. Unfortunately, they only took Mastercard, which OF COURSE, is the only type of card we don’t have. EEEKKK. I think the employees felt sorry for us, though, since we had already ordered and were about to leave to find an ATM with our tails between our legs… and they proceeded to GIVE US our coffee and food FOR FREE. I have never felt so simultaneously embarrassed and grateful all at the same time. SONICEOMG.



Getting closer! You can see the mountains!



Arriving at Whistler Village and being welcomed by the Inukshuk.



Before it got too dark, we took a stroll around the Village and found the Olympics rings. I’m a HUGE Olympics junkie so this was so exciting for me. 🙂



So I pride myself on doing thorough research when making vacation plans. But I totally messed up in Whistler. The entire reason we made the extra trip there was to take the Peak 2 Peak gondola up to see Whistler & Blackcomb Mountains. I somehow missed the fact that the gondola was closing for the end of the season a mere 3 days before we arrived. ARGH. So yeah. That’s why the above pic is completely empty. We were there and didn’t even get to go up on the mountains. EPIC FAIL. I was so pissed at myself. Oh well. Gives us another reason to go back? I guess?



Instead we did some more wandering around the Village. We went back to Olympic Plaza, tried the coffee at Blenz and admired the mountains from afar.



The views on the Sea to Sky Highway back to Vancouver were so beautiful.

Vancouver, September 29 – October 1



I love walking along Robson Street. It’s so vibrant and has such great energy. It has the feel of a big city without losing its intimacy.



We had such a fantastic time biking along the Seawall last year that we did it again. Sadly, Rob injured his foot while biking (he used the wrong part of his foot to pedal) so we had to take it easy the next few days. Regardless, biking the Seawall is probably my #1 favorite thing to do in Vancouver besides eat.



Speaking of eating, our beloved Japadog was closed! Waaahhhh.



But we more than made up for it with nommy meals at Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar and Hapa Izakaya among others.



No Joshua Jackson sighting but we did see this notice for Fringe filming as we walked from Chinatown back towards Downtown. So cool!

All in all, we didn’t do much but still had a FANTASTIC trip. It reinforced my love of the city and I can’t wait to go back again. Next time I’d really like to explore the Kitsilano and Granville neighborhoods, possibly visit Victoria, and actually go to Whistler when the gondola is open (d’oh!).

Now I’m finalizing our plans for our next trip to Orlando & Miami, which is just over 6 weeks away. I’m totally counting down the days…