Weekend Recap: In which I bake (twice!) and iron something.

Remember that recent incident with Costco and the Kitchenaid? Apparently, the hubs did some research and found that, even without the mail-in rebate, the price was a pretty good one. So he went back and bought me the mixer!! We're calling it an early Valentine's present and the color only makes it more appropriate - it's red! To match our kitchen.
I. Love. It.

To break it in, I decided to start with something quick-and-easy and you just can't argue with a double batch of Ghirardelli Triple-Chocolate Brownies. I know that some people wouldn't really consider this "baking" since it involves a mix but jumping into 'sourdough bread from scratch' with the machine right out of the box seemed a bit over the top.

Don't worry - I'm not about to turn into one of those bloggers who cooks and bakes all the time and then documents it for the world one step at a time. Just thinking about taking a picture of each and every ingredient as you add it to the mixing bowl wears me out. Not to mention the editing and the uploading... I have a lot of respect for those bloggers (and enjoy their recipes!) but I just don't have it in me. 
I'm also far too impatient for a blog post like that. Just ask my mom - I want to jump in, get it done, and enjoy the end result as soon as possible. And lick a beater dripping with brownie batter somewhere in the middle.
All that to say, the brownies are fantastic and I had enough faith in my new mixer to whip up some more banana bread to get me through the week. I'm sending the hubs to work with a plate-full so we don't eat them all. Having them for dinner was bad enough.

Oh, and I went to Disneyland with my mom. Again. I know, I'm spoiled.
Mickey on Small World (one of his favorite rides, I think):

I'm seriously considering creating a topiary like this one in my front yard:

No matter how many times I see them, I'm always excited when the bells chime and these little guys prance around the circle to mark the time:

Then I came home and did productive things. Like, "four loads of laundry and weeding in between rainstorms" kind of productive. And I was forced to iron the sleeves of a shirt because the makers didn't think it was important to sew the cuffs down. They flip inside-out every time. I loathe the iron. But Earnest wasn't about to help - he was too busy getting grey furballs all over the clean laundry.

And that's the weekend!
On to February!!



Images by me. Please don't use without asking first. Thanks!

Weekend Recap

In which I travel far and wide, play in the yard, and am disappointed by Costco.

Let's start with the traveling, shall we?
My mom and I had a random psychic moment this past week - she emailed me late Thursday night and before I had even read her email, I had texted her early Friday morning. We were almost simultaneously considering a day at Disneyland! After that cosmic moment, we couldn't refuse the calling and headed off early Saturday morning for a day at the park.
Oh, and we took my sister.

Toy Story Ride in 3D - it's all about the glasses.

The Animation Studios in California Adventure has some great activities! Here you can draw your own string of Mickey balloons following a pattern they provide...

Then put it in this spinny thing and watch the Mickey balloon rise and fall!

Me and my pal.

After my little excursion, the hubs and I decided to head to our local Costco on Sunday afternoon. He'd been there the day before and spotted a great deal on a Kitchenaid mixer. It was a Professional series. In red. Be still my heart.
Costco was offering an instant rebate of $40 off plus the hubs had seen a mail-in rebate coupon for an additional $40. This was enough to get us thinking about making the investment. It didn't take long for my little head to start imagining throwing cookie ingredients in the bowl and coming back an hour later to perfectly warm, just out of oven cookie deliciousness. (I know, I know... that's not really how they work...)
Unfortunately, the rebate coupons had expired and, despite the fact that there was a huge sign advertising the rebate and a whole stack of coupons, Costco wouldn't honor them. The manager we spoke with thanked us for pointing them out and then gave us a lame excuse - something about 'the manufacturer is responsible for the coupons on the shelf' and the fact that they've been sitting there for over two weeks after they expired isn't Costco's fault and they refuse to be responsible for them. I worked retail long enough to know that ultimately, you are responsible for what is on your shelf. Whoever does nightly recovery in those aisles should know to take a look every once in a while and update their signage.
Too bad for us - we didn't get a red Kitchenaid mixer.
And too bad for Costco - they could've made a sale over $200 just by honoring a $40 coupon. I'm sure that $200 is nothing to them in the grand scheme of their daily sales but their attitude just left me disappointed. They've always been so good about honoring their prices and overall customer service. I guess I caught them on a bad day.

But the hubs bought me flowers (awwwww!) -

And I got to spend several hours in the yard Sunday afternoon in glorious weather - followed by an amazing sunset. Not too shabby for a weekend in Southern California.

Images by me. Please don't use without asking first.

Recent Weekend Recap

Well, lookee here! A weekend recap from the most recent weekend! And it's only Tuesday! We're making progress.
Once again, I was down south in Long Beach visiting the parents+sis. This makes who-knows-how-many weekends in a row and they were still begging me to stay!
Saturday's Holiday Open House - I made pumpkin pie bites to go along with the bajillion other sweet and savory goodies my mom put out. They had between 30-40 people stop by!

Pineapples for Hospitality

Manger Scene in Window

Merry Christmas Tree!

A Pink Friend. He can type on the computer and play the piano. Very talented little guy.

On Monday, my mom and I got a little crazy. We ventured out... in the rain... until it started pouring. I also got to play with my mom's iPhone to take these pictures! Sorry for the not-so-great quality but we haven't uploaded any nifty picture apps to her phone. Yet.
Disneyland Christmas Tree

On the bus, staying dry. 

Oh, and I decided to become an elf until Saturday. Sound good?

Weekend Recap

I'm a little behind... this recap is actually from last weekend. These past weeks have been so crazy-busy that pictures from last weekend didn't make it to my laptop until today. Whoops!
This current weekend is just as busy as last weekend and at the rate I'm going, you won't hear about it until Christmas!
Regardless, the hubs and I hopped in the car last weekend to head south and meet eight - yes, eight! - of his friends at my favorite place - Disneyland!

It's snowy and Christmasey and full of Holiday Spirit and I love love love it!

I want to make one of these for the birds that live in our tree!

The Hubs went home after Disneyland but I stuck around LA to hit up Unique LA and Renegade with my mom and sister on Sunday.
I always feel awkward taking pictures at these shows so I didn't take very many. I did get to meet Danni from oh, hello friend - she had booths at both Unique and Renegade so it was a treat to meet her. I said hello and then followed it with something incoherent and crazy like, "oh my gosh i've been following your blog forever and you have the cutest blog and i love your stuff and your wedding was darling and your mom is so cute and i pray for her all the time" and she was sweet and gracious in return. I bet she gets that all the time...
Anyway.

I always seem to gravitate toward paper goods and this show didn't disappoint. A few of our favorite booths belonged to:
Sycamore Street Press
Joie Studio
Paper Pastries
Dee & LaLa
RockScissorPaper
luludee
The Art of Brittney Lee

Some images I snapped: 
A fun little acorn tree - love the red baker's twine.

Encountered this little guy as decor for a booth. Don't you just want to scratch behind his ears?

LOVE their booth and business! What a cute little scooter!

The day was surprisingly clear and warm for December in LA. 
How amazing are these views from the penthouse?

You can see all the way down to the port of Long Beach!

Also love this turret -

And this super-fun bike rack - 

I hope you're all having a great weekend! I'll try to be better about my recaps... maybe a resolution for the new year...?


All images by me. Please don't use without asking first. Because they're just that awesome.

Busy Busy Busy!

I've been here, there and back again and it's so nice to be home! After a brisk bike ride this morning I sat down to organize some photos from our Family Day on Tuesday. My brother is home for a few days before a long deployment and it was so nice to goof around with him again! 

Being the family that we are, we all hopped in dad's car and headed to Disneyland. 

Fun shoes! Even though someone said I had man feet. :-(

 Happiness is a mint julep in each hand!

 Halloweentime!

 Me and the bro.

 I love goats!

Riding along

 I'm in trouble. What possessed me to get in the teacups (something I don't normally do) with a guy who turns valves for a living???

 Yes. Definitely in trouble. Tip: If you focus on one thing, it helps. Don't watch the world moving around you or you will get sick!

 

I love my family!

Not a Packer.

I don't like to pack for trips.
You might think this dislike has deep-seeded roots in my childhood; from those days when we lived out of suitcases, traveling to-and-fro across the nation; un-packing the car at a new destination every evening, re-packing the car every morning, when we knew to bring the sleeping bags first and the pillows last.
But you would be wrong.
I don't like to pack because I can never decide what I am going to want to wear in two days when faced with an empty suitcase today.
The process usually goes something like this:
Look up the weather forecast for my destination and plan for 10 degrees up or down, just in case. Lay out the choices. Put things in a bag. Take things out of the bag. End up just putting it all in the bag, to the tune of "six options for three days with extra socks and undies, just in case."
For example: I'm headed to Disneyland with the family on Tuesday. Weather forecast is low to mid 80s. (Niiiiiice!)
I know I want to wear my favorite navy blue shorts because 1) they're super comfy, 2) they are exactly the right length on me, and 3) they won't be all see-through if I happen to get soaking wet on a water ride. But what to wear as a top? Since it's going to be warm, I might want a tank top. But I've been wearing tanks a lot and my shoulders are already a bit burnt from Friday so maybe a short-sleeved shirt would be better. Should I wear the Mickey tee? It is Disneyland, after all. But my shoes have Mickey on them and I will probably wear my red Jesse cowboy hat (from Toy Story) so I don't want to go overboard on the Disney theme.
Maybe I should just wear my favorite striped tee with the buttons on the sleeves?
Too many choices!!

Seriously, though, how cute are these shoes?
(Yes, the tags are still attached. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep them or not and they are technically half a size larger than I normally wear because Crocs skip from size 9 to size 10 but after wearing them around today on my hot, slightly swollen feet, they will be perfect. Ta-da!)


What happened to the good 'ole days when people had two outfits: One for "every day" and one for Sundays and weddings? It may be time to purge the wardrobe a little.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, I brought four shirt options. Just in case. My sister might want to borrow one, after all.
Two days. Multiple options. It's just the way I roll.

Vintage Disney

What a delightful little vintage film from Disneyland!
I can't wait to go next week with my family.

Home Movies At DisneyLand - 1956 from Jeff Altman on Vimeo.

Found over on Much Love where Diana from our. city. lights. is guest posting and gives us a nice little introduction to Kodachrome Film.

Sometimes I'm a little bit crazy...

Like when I volunteer to do Grad Nite. Again. I always get sucked into it by friends and I have a great time but the next day, I'm worthless. All I can do is take small series of naps with random eatings in between until I go to bed for real around 8pm and then finally wake up feeling like a "normal" person on Saturday morning.
This year was particularly fantastic because one of my best friends was also a chaperone and she was in a wheelchair due to recent ankle surgery. I know, poor her, what a bummer to be injured but SCORE! to the handicap line. She was also given an extra-wide wheelchair by Disneyland so we were able to double up on the capacity when we got tired.
I didn't take any solid pictures and I'm not sure how my friends feel about having their pics posted to this here blog yet... but I'll be sure to take more next time!
Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for my next nap.

The Birthday Boy gets a Birthday Weekend

Since my hubs was gettin' all growed up and turnin' 30, we kicked off the birthday weekend in style - at Disneyland, of course.
We've been to Disneyland many many many many (times a bajillion) times but this time we explored the Disney Kennel Club because we had Sammi with us. I was quite impressed by the Disneyland kennel and would definitely recommend it for those of you who find you must travel with your four-footed friends.
I also got to take a survey in a secret room off Main Street that they say used to be Walt Disney's room! Or office. Or something. He spent time there. How special am I?! My favorite question was when it asked how many times I'd visited Disneyland since it opened in 1955. I chose the last answer option: 50+.
Then we spent 4 hours traversing what is normally a 2-hour drive thanks to a fuel tanker that caught on fire and may have overturned but that definitely closed a freeway and routed traffic all over and around in a congested fashion, sometimes at a complete standstill. On a holiday weekend when traffic is already bad. Nice, fuel tanker. Real nice.
Anyway, here are some photos to remind me of the happy times:
Hubs driving like a crazy man - a crazy OLD man, I guess I should say:

Turns out I'm not a King. And I don't have big muscles. Darn.

Obligatory awkward Matterhorn photo (Note the birthday button! If you're ever celebrating something at Disneyland (birthday, anniversary, etc.) be sure to stop by the information booth and ask for a button! The button lady said I was so nice to find my hubs a birthday button that I was awarded an "Honorary Citizen of Disneyland" button. Hubs was going to argue with her about how nice I was but I told him to be quiet because I've always wanted to be an Honorary Citizen!):

Hubs and his "I'm getting older" contemplative face with wildflowers in the background:

Cute couple on the Casey Jr. Caboose:

What a weekend!

My darling husband took Friday off of work just to hang out with me!
So we did what all people who live in Southern California do every day and spent the day at Disneyland.
I got to ride on the front of the double-decker down Main Street and knew the answer to every question the driver asked! He said I was the best tour guide ever. Except for himself, of course...

I promptly got soaked on Splash Mountain...

And then dried in the sun while eating too much pizza...

And popcorn...

I even got myself a little Mickey Mouse who lived in my purse all day and then almost got eaten by Sammi when we got home. Whoops! Gotta keep him on a shelf, I suppose...
Since we had all day to peruse the parks, we spent quite a bit of time looking at the foliage. It changes quite frequently - they must have a host of gardeners and landscapers!
My favorites were the strawberries growing in Tomorrowland...

and the flowers near Walt and Mickey at the end of Main Street.


It was quite a day and I can't wait to go back!
The perfect beginning to a long weekend - and the fun we needed before two days of work around the house and yard (more on that to come...).