Man, oh man, have I been busy these past few days. Check it out.
Friday
Went to a holiday party of an interactive agency I work with regularly. It was at a quirky little art gallery in Culver City. Met some fun people, including my co-worker's friend who was basically an alternate contestant for this season's Beauty & The Geek. He would have been one of those guys who would have easily been de-geeked with a mini-makeover.
Saturday
Met Jolene and Kay for an early -- 8 a.m.! -- breakfast at Urth Cafe. Jolene is a huge fan of bread pudding and had heard that Urth regularly runs out of it on the weekend, hence our early arrival. By the time we left, there was a line out of the door. It goes without saying, but those two gals are great and I enjoyed spending time with them. And the bread pudding was sublime!
And I didn't mind getting up early because it was a nice way to jump start the rest of my plans that day. I met justJENN and her beautiful family at the 3rd Street Promenade to stroll through the Farmer's Market, give her boys their Christmas presents (I love those little guys!) and lunch at a brand new outdoor cafe right outside the Apple Store (can't remember the name of it, but the food was good despite the really slow service).
I also did a bit of holiday shopping for myself. I picked up my gift that will technically be from my mom. We're at a point now where my brother and I just tell my mom what we want and she'll just pay us back after we buy it. It's much easier for all involved that way. This year I asked for an iPod Shuffle because, lord help me, I am going to become a regular runner. I know the gym is going to be NUTS after Jan. 1 with all the peeps and their short-lived-but-long-enough-to-muck-up-my-gym-experience resolutions to get in shape, so I'd like to avoid it as much as possible. I bought a (Product) Red special edition Shuffle in red. It's so cute and light compared to my video iPod.
Saturday evening I prepared a super sweet and yummy punch and some Broken Glass Jello, both recipes courtesy of justJENN. Our oven is sadly still broken, so these no-baking recipes were perfect for the Sunday potluck.
Sunday
Attended the SFAM potluck at Wan's gorgeous home! Lazy Nanette says to read WeeMo's extensive photo-filled recap here. I received a very lovely necklace/earrings set and Hello Kitty band-aids -- being clumsy never looked so cute! -- from Christy, my Secret Santa. I also walked away with a kick-ass white elephant gift from Winnie - a ninja key cap!
As the SFAM resident ninja, it was a given that I'd be swiping that as soon as it was my turn.After the brunch, Brent and I headed down to Anaheim. We stayed the night at the Marriot just a few blocks from Disneyland after I got a great deal via Orbitz. The hotel was great and I'd definitely stay there again.
That evening we ventured to Downtown Disney and had a dinner that was much better than expected at Naples Restaurant. Brent had the gnocchi while I had the pumpkin ravioli. Yum!
We caught a late showing of I Am Legend. Overall, I enjoyed the movie although I did identify an obvious plot hole, while Brent pointed out something else strange about the ending. (If you've seen it, don't spoil it in the comments. You can send me an email if you want to know what I'm referring to.)
Monday
So, if hadn't guessed by my Sunday notes, Brent and I spent Monday at Disneyland! The last time we were there was December 2005. And in February 2006, my lovely bestie Shelby gave us two park-hopper gift certificates at my bridal shower. As we spent most of our 2006 vacation time on our honeymoon and a lot of our 2007 vacation time in Italy, we just now got around to finally putting the gift certificates to good use.
We started in California Adventures. We rode some rides and saw the 3D Bug's Life film. We got to wear these nifty bugified glasses.
I loved the bugified posters in the theater lobby, including two parodying two of my favorite films.
After the film we headed over to the Tower of Terror. I knew it was scary, especially since it caused Jodi to inflict bodily harm to her hubby, but I still had no idea it would be as terrifying as it was! But in a good way! We screamed, then screamed, then screamed some more!
Then we headed over to the main park and had a fabulous time spending the rest of the day and evening there. It wasn't too packed so the longest wait we had was for the park's newest ride, Finding Nemo (which sadly replaces the beloved submarine ride). The wait for that was about 45 minutes. The ride itself has been updated with some storylines related to the movie and some impressive underwater animation.
We rode the rest of our favorite rides -- Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Matter Horn, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan, A Small World, Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. And ate our favorite Disney foods -- beignets, fritters, chowder and gumbo in bread bowls, churros, etc.
We saw the 9 p.m. Fantasmic show, followed by stunning fireworks, then took our tired selves home. The day was so much fun and we really appreciated Shelby's generous gift. Thanks, Shelb!
Monica: [about the erogenous zones] Now, most guys will hit uh, 1-2-3 and then go to 7 and set up camp.
Chandler: That-that's bad?
Rachel: Well, if you go to Disneyland, you don't spend the whole day on the Matterhorn.
Chandler: Well, you might if it were anything like 7.
- Friends
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