Making Dreams Comes True Since 2013.

You know that dream you have when you're a little kid and you wish and hope and pray that one day your parents will do something cool and keep you home from school so you can spend the day doing something ridiculously fun, like going to Disneyland?

This past weekend, WE TOTALLY BECAME THOSE PARENTS.

Eric and I decided to take a spur of the moment (planned two weeks in advance) trip to the happiest place on earth. Only, we didn't tell Pearl anything about our plan.

Due to a scheduling arrangement we had previously made with her mom, Pearl knew she would be missing school on this particular day. We told her we'd be spending the day doing something really awful and boring. As far as she knew, we'd be spending three hours in the car so that we could give a gift to our friend, Paul.

This is how she discovered we were going to Disneyland.



I'm so glad she never got upset at the prospect of spending the day doing boring stuff because it would have totally backfired to be like "Keep it up and we'll turn this car around!" Eric and I may or may not have been looking forward to it even more than Pearl, and the build up of secretive anticipation was almost enough to make us keel over.

Here are some highlights from our day.

Outside the main gates

Blending in with the natives

The view from the Finding Nemo submarine

In line at It's a Small World

Laying in Pluto's bed, pretending to be a dog 

Toon Town (my least favorite land, in case you were wondering) 

Jessie has a bit of a neck problem (maybe thyroid...?) 

Churro: The best edible item in the park

Waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise: 

She was doing some weird Fonzie thing with her thumb. I like it.

The gun shots on the Jungle Cruise made someone a little nervous 

I didn't even tell her to make a face. Apparently, this is her impersonation of a Brit. 

I think it's spot on.

It's a Small World lit up at night 

The whole day was a success! No meltdowns or complaints, except for maybe me when we were at the front gate getting ready to leave and I realized we'd have to walk all the way back down Main St. USA to look at the professional photos that we ended up not even ordering.

We grabbed dinner at La Brea Bakery, located at Downtown Disney. Our table was outside, under heat lamps, which was perfect because it not only kept us warm, but also allowed us to catch the fireworks.



As you can see, Pearl was delirious by this point.

It was a great day.

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Halloween 2013: The Big Reveal.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter or Vine, you already know what my costume was and this isn't much of a surprise. But if you don't follow any of those accounts, GET READY FOR THE MOST EXCITING NEWS IN THAT I'M EVER GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU IN ALL OF 2013!!!!!

This year, I ended up wearing two costumes. The first was kind of a makeshift throw together project for my sister's Halloween party. It's definitely not my best work, but it got the job done.

PIRATE
I found the top at a thrift store and later learned that it is the top half to a Jack Sparrow costume. It worked pretty well with some raggedy, drawstring capris from my Pippi Longstocking costume and Pearl's Puss N Boots hat. We didn't have a pirate sword, so I substituted a fencing sword.

Pay no attention to the giant spot on the door where Biscuit tries to eat the mailman everyday

In case you're wondering if I have a hormone problem, yes, I do. But thankfully not enough to cause a full grown beard. To achieve this "more than a woman" look, I had to call in the big guns with black and brown eye shadow.


DISNEYLAND MATTERHORN ATTENDANT
My office goes all out when it comes to Halloween, and our department was determined to win the title of either Best Decorated Department or Best Group Costume. In order to really seal the deal on these awards, one of my coworkers came up with the crazy-brilliant idea of Disneyland rides as our theme. Sounds strange, I know, but it really came together nicely. There was a group of about 15 of us who not only showed up in costume, but also decorated our cubicles accordingly.

The ride that I chose was The Matterhorn. Seeing as how I'd never been on this ride because I hate scary/ big/ fast/ mountainy rides, this involved some research. Somehow, I ended up coming across a photo of a Disneyland employee who was wearing a uniform that looked Matterhorny (say what?) and also like something I could piece together from the thrift store. Luckily enough, I found the PERFECT skirt and vest at the same thrift store and only paid $1.41 for the two. It was like God wanted me to pick the Matterhorn. But then God was like "That was too cheap. I know you like to spend stupid amounts of money when it comes to Halloween, so here's a rad, velvet hat all the way from Salzburg that I know you're not going to be able to resist, even though it's freaking $38. Happy Halloween, you fool."

The pins were both eBay purchases.

And just in case you want the full effect...

By the way, we totally won Best Group Costume.


GORTON'S FISHERMAN
I spotted these fishing waders at the thrift store and they fit Eric just right. The costume didn't take much effort and everyone know's who the Gorton's Fisherman is, so it was a no-brainer.

NACHO LIBRE
This is the costume that I'm most proud of. We watched the Jack Black film, Nacho Libre, a few months back and Pearl loooooved it. Some of her favorite catch phrases are "Get that corn outta my face!" and "You crrrrasy." As I was brainstorming ideas for her top-secret costume, the thought of a mini Nacho grew on me more and more. I knew it was a risky move, but I felt it was a risk worth taking. Mostly because I thought it would be bad ass.

I found the leotard, tights, shoes, and cape on eBay. Eric ordered the mask through Corazon Fair Trade. I bought an old, silky negligee from the thrift store and cut out rectangles for the knee pads.

Man, I love Halloween. It's going to be a hard day when Pearl finally outgrows my obsessions.

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Have I Mentioned I Loooove Halloween?

As you may or may not have noticed, things have been slow in the cooking department. We actually made a totally bitchin' and blogworthy recipe last night, but wouldn't you know, the stupid camera battery was dead.

So instead, I'm going to post vague photos of our Halloween costumes and beg you to play along.

I went to the thrift store today and fell in love with everything in stock. Do you know how hard it is for me to see racks of perfectly recyclable colorful/ vintage/ creepy costumes and not buy them all?

It's very hard, okay.

I think my obsession with costumes stems from growing up in a poor-ass household. When other kids were wearing highly flammable, silky, one-piece "Barbie" costumes, I was dressed like a geisha or a housewife, all made from my own wardrobe fixins. Growing up broke makes you resourceful. It also makes you want to hoard everything in sight, making for difficult and embarrassing situations at the thrift store during Halloween time.

Where am I going with this?

Nowhere really.


So this year, my office is having a theme for Halloween. And that theme is...........

Disneyland.

Yes. That's right.

We all had to pick a Disneyland ride and not only come up with a costume for it, but also decorate our cubicles accordingly.

I'll admit that at first, this sounded like a cuckoo idea.

But being that I love dressing up, especially when I have a predetermined goal in mind, the idea soon turned into an obsession.

I'm just about done with my costume, and although it's pretty subtle in the spectrum of all things Disney, I'm very happy with it.

Here's a shot of part of the fabric. I know it doesn't show much, but I think it's pretty easy if you know the lay of the (Disney)land. Can you guess which ride I went with?

Eric's costume came together like a dream. We were at thrift store, looking for my Disney stuff, and I spotted this gem hidden amongst the coveralls and robes.

Can you tell who he's going to be? Hint: It's a pop culture character.

And last, we have Pearl. This costume is a complete surprise and she has no idea it's coming. That's partly because I love surprises and also partly because I didn't want her to turn down my awesome idea. With that said, I felt like this was a safe bet because I know she loves this movie.

Can you guess Pearl's costume? Hint: It's a movie character.

Do you have your costume lined up? Tell me what it is so I can get jealous and start thinking of ways to replicate it next year.

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Disneyland 2013.

Remember last year, when we went to Disneyland and I posted a million photos that nobody cared about?

I'm doing it again.

We took our annual trip to Disneyland last month and guess what, it was hotter than hell. Like seriously. LA happened to be having a crazy, record-breaking heatwave. Which explains why we look like we just swam through a tsunami in all of these pictures.


DAY ONE

We hit up the shops at Downtown Disney and then drowned our empty wallet's sorrows at the hotel pool. With nothing to do during the whole ten minutes that it took the front desk to check us in, the girls got bored.

I'm bored. 

I entertained the girls by sweating profusely and showing off my corpse legs. 

They finally got their room keys and were stoked to start the "real" vacation.

LeT's PaRtY.

That night, we raged in the pool and stayed up late eating exotic foods, like hot dogs and snickerdoodles. I didn't take any pictures because I was busy chillaxing in a boiling hot jacuzzi that was filled with little while floaty things that Vicki pointed out were probably from an exploded diaper.


DAY TWO

We made it to the California Adventure entrance just a few minutes after they opened and were in the park in under 15 minutes. It was during that period that I began to question my earlier decision to spray every bare-skinned surface of my body with Hawaiian Tropic.

The girls plan their attack.

Yay! We're here!

Taking a breather to watch this mouse party like it's 1929.

Pearl, daydreaming about Ghiradelli waffle cones.

I'm pretty sure she was in the process of giving backwards peace fingers, but the timing on this one turned out to be spot on.

Chilled treats were necessary. It was uncomfortably hot. 

Tate, Vicki, and cousin Hope 

Pearl's favorite snack. Bleh. I can't wait till she outgrows this obsession. 

Celebrating her 7th birthday!

We had the power misters going all day long.

This photo is one of my favorites because of the context. Hope told Pearl about this ride called Goofy's Sky School. I think maybe Hope had learned about it from a classmate or something. Not knowing anything about it, both girls were excited. I, on the other hand, picked up on the screams coming from the area and decided to sit this one out. Eric and Tate went with the girls while Vicki and I sat in the shade. I managed to snap the photo above as they went looping by, but I couldn't tell if Pearl was enjoying it or not. Turns out, she hated it. Apparently, she started screaming right from the start and was in full bawl-mode by the time they got off. Lol.

Dinner at The House of Blues.

Watching beignets being made at Jazz Kitchen Express. Mmmm, so good- like a doughy pillow of powdered doughnut. But better.

Beignets. It's a must at Downtown Disney.

Can you tell we're exhausted and dripping with sweat? Of course you can.

On the way back to the parking structure. The heat had melted Pearl's spirit.

The end of another wonderful family vacation.

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