DISNEYLAND!

Here it is, our adventurous day at Disneyland. I thought this picture was an awesome way to kick off this post because this trip was a graduation gift and we were so excited when we found that hat! Bethy's hat also suits her quite well becuase of that mad tea party she threw. So we had a wonderful day at Disneyland, it was blissful weather and all the perfectly manicured gardens were bursting with spring blossoms, which made it seem even more magical, if that is possible. We were welcomed on main street by some very entertaining street performers on Main Street and we found a shop that sold special mad tea party blended tea, I have now become obsessed with Alice In Wonderland because of Cassandra's awesome unbirthday party (click the link to see pictures from it) as you will see throughout this post.

Fantasy Land, still very magical and enchanting even for us mature college grads. We made sure to do Peter Pan's Flight first because it was closed last time we were there thus we didn't get to ride it. Then we twirled around in the mad tea cups and jumped aboard a caterpillar and went through the Alice In Wonderland ride. I took pictures of the tea party, again because of our own mad tea party, as well as the card guards because that was my assigned costume, the Ace of Hearts, and I made it look good! With a little help from Bethy of course. Then we took a flight on Dumbo the flying elephant, such a fun ride, but I would say it is waaaay too short.

Then we took a break for lunch at the one and only Blue Bayou! While we were in line at the rental car place when we landed in LA they had the cooking channel playing, and they happened to be making Monte Cristos, we both exchanged looks which showed we were thinking the exact same thing, "that looks REALLY good," Then we thought, "Hey the blue bayou is famous for their Monte Cristos, and we are going to be there tomorrow!" Thus we made a reservation and savored every bite of our delectable Monte Cristo sandwiches while enjoying the most enchanting atmosphere.

Tomorrow Land, home of my favorite ride (in the speed/thrill category) Space Mountain, its just the best I love the whole idea of flying through space, while thinking of a cool and unique thing to do in the picture they take of you. I went with the WOW this time, while Bethy didn't know where the camera was and so she says she thinks she looks like Micheal Jackson, I thought that was funny. Then we decided to finally have the Star Wars picture experience, and boy am I so glad that we did! Look at the awesomness. Then we made sure to see the Captain Eo Tribute showing, I don't think I had ever seen it before and boy what a treat it was to see it, pure 80's amazingness, Micheal Jackson sure is one of a kind.

One of my all time favorite things in Disneyland, makes me chuckle every time I see it.

California Adventure at night is so amazing, Tower of Terror is one of my top three favorite rides (again in the speed/thrill category) I get so scared every single time I ride it. We made sure to get churros, I can't go to Disneyland and not get a churro, that would be so wrong and messed up, and of course we took on the Toy Story challenge, Bethy totally beat me, I need some practice on the best form to have on that ride. Then we enjoyed the electrical parade, I had never seen it before, so it was fun to see something new. It was impressive, Disney sure knows how to go all out. Then after the parade we turned around and there were the fireworks coming from Disneyland! Gosh that place is magical every single minute of every single day.

After California adventure closed we went back over to Disneyland with 3 hours left till midnight, just like in Cinderella, when the clock strikes midnight its time to turn off all the magical Disney dreams and return to the real world. We rode it's a small world, thunder mountain, Indiana Jones and would have ridden splash mountain but we couldn't find it, and I didn't push it too much because I am still grumpy about getting soaked last time and being in freezing cold wet jeans all the way home. On our way out of the park at 11:59 we chased down Micky and Minnie who were trying to run away and got our picture with them!! It was a good way to end our amazing and magical day at Disneyland, I already want to go back!

Happy Graduation to Me!

For a graduation present I got to go to California with my sister Bethy for a wonderful relaxing weekend!!! it was amazing and I loved every second of it! We flew into LAX where the lady at the car rental place thought bethy was hilarious so she hooked us up with a cute little silver mazda 3 and threw in a GPS for free, Thank goodness!!! It came in handy many times. On our way to the hotel we stopped to have lunch at the Corner Bakery, I had never been to that restaurant before and was excited to try it! We stayed at the lovely Terranea Resort which is a blissful paradise right on the ocean bluffs. Our room had a cute patio that overlooked some of the beautiful grounds. Here are some pictures to show how nice this place is:

This is the little cafe that was in our hotel called Seabeans, this is where we would eat breakfast every morning and get yummy treats at night.

After we got all settled in our luxurious room it was time for dinner. We decided to try Nelsons, one of the three restaurants located in our hotel, it looks right over the ocean and has a perfect view for when the sun sets, and serves gourmet comfort food, what more could you ever want? We walked there from our room and enjoyed the beautiful gardens and grounds that were bathed in the golden sunlight of a setting sun.

We ordered virgin mojitos at every meal, they are just so refreshing!

We decided to walk back to our room even though we were offered a golf cart ride back, but that way we got to see all the grounds lit up at night and we stopped to enjoy one of the numerous fire pits they have throughout their property. When we got back to our room we watched the movie Leap Year and painted our nails, it was a perfect evening.

The next day we went to Disneyland, but I felt that deserved it's own post which will be up shortly. But the next day we went to the spa, which is exactly what we needed after all the exciting park hopping we did in Disneyland for 12 hours. This spa was amazing, granted I have never been to a spa before, but I think this was the place to experience a spa for the first time. When we arrived we both got warm fuzzy robes to wear and then were escorted to the relaxation lounge to wait for our full body massages, it has always been a life goal of mine to experience a body massage so I was excited to check that off the list, it felt amazing. After our massages we were lead into the upstairs relaxation lounge that had a warm fire burning and a balcony open to the ocean so we could hear the rolling waves. We had access to the entire spa for the whole day, so we enjoyed the gorgeous spa swimming pool, the three hot tubes, the warm showers, the steam room, the sauna, the cucumbers for your eyes and all the lotions, shampoos and conditioners we could handle, it was such a relaxing day. The absolutely perfect way to unwind after 18 years of school.

Tonight we dined at Catalina Kitchen. It is a beautiful restaurant with very delicious food, I was in the mood for a burger so that's what I got, but it was no ordinary burger it had some uniqueness to it that I can't really put my finger on, but it was good and Bethy got a yummy flat bread. After dinner we went to Seabeans and got gelato and a little cupcake to share. On our way back to the room they had a live jazz singer and band, so we stopped to enjoy, I love jazz music, it makes me feel classy. Tonight we watched the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnasus, the last movie heath ledger was in before he died. It was a very intriguing and thought provoking film I really liked it, also Johnny Depp was in it, and I really love Johnny Depp.

The next day we were sad to check out and bid farewell to the wonderful Terranea, but I have a feeling we'll be back. We still had all afternoon until our flight so we took a walk on a path that goes around our hotel right next to the bluffs. We found this amazing field of yellow flowers and couldn't think of any good reason not to have a photo shoot in it, so we did, It was just too stunning to pass up.

We saw dolphins!!!! I love seeing dolphins.

Our walk led us back to the hotel where we stopped to have lunch at The Grill, here we decided to switch things up a bit and order RASPBERRY mojitos, best decision ever made, they were delicious! Then we walked back up the path to our car but first we stopped off by a cute little lighthouse, lighthouses are another thing that I love, I attribute that love of lighthouses to the trip my family took to Oregon where our first hotel was in fact a real life lighthouse.

Best graduation present I EVER could of asked for!!!! Thanks mom and dad you are THE BEST!!!