minions + mcdonald's = marvelous

do you remember when i was invited by mcdonald's social media department to take that tour of their coffee roasting warehouse and do a coffee tasting?  well, last week i was super excited to receive another invitation to join them for something even more fun - a sneak preview of the new minions movie.

my invitation was extended to the whole family, and while we were excited to have the hub join us for the excursion, the old lady ended up scheduled for a shift at work at the very same time that we were supposed to arrive.  boo.  but she was good about it - she said she'd just get her manfriend to take her to see it later on.  and so the three of us hopped in the car and braved afternoon traffic to get out to century city.

the theater is in one of those swanky malls that has special charging stations for tesla vehicles and those cool little overhead lights at each parking stall so you can just glance down the aisle to see if there are any openings.  i dig that.

the theater was all minion'd out for the upcoming movie release.

when we checked in, we received three of these:

and then we waited in line for awhile before getting to say hello to some friends.

we grabbed some snacks:

and found great seats right in the center of the theater.

there was a bit of a wait while everyone made their way in, found seats, went back to the concession stands, got settled, blah blah blah.  in the meantime, the bean got the giggles and couldn't stop.

just before showtime, the minions made another appearance along with some folks from the los angeles ronald mcdonald house.  they thanked everyone for coming and did a quick drawing for a minions-themed gift basket.

now, because the movie isn't out yet, i'm not allowed to say a word about it.  however, i think i can get away with telling you that the bean and i pretty much giggled and guffawed and snickered and snorted all the way through it.  the hub - well, not so much.  heh.  and when we headed out, there was a table set up with some swag for each of us.

here's what was inside:

the movie comes out tomorrow.  and the minions are the featured toy in mcdonald's happy meals, plus they're doing some fun minions-themed giveaways.  see, i've got your weekend all planned out for you.  you're welcome.

the wonderful (wet) world of color

with a tip from delovely details, the old lady and i were lucky enough to score spots for the disney park blog's sneak peek at the all-new world of color at california adventure.  although it was on a school night, we decided that the bean would be able to handle being out late just this once, and she was excited to come along.

getting down there and checking in was easy.  we got there with half an hour to spare before check-in was cut off at 8pm.

the park was actually closed by then, and we were directed to enter through a side door.

the area formerly known as "condor flats" had been redesigned and spruced up for the resort's 60th anniversary, and it looked really nice.

because we were so early, we had time to enjoy a ride on "soarin' over california," one of the bean's favorite rides.  it'd been closed for a few months while it was refurbished, and now it has a new screen and enhanced video.

by the time we got out of the ride, we noticed that people were gathering off to one side.  knowing how crowded these things get, we headed over to join them and found delovely details with mr. DD and mama DD.  i didn't get a picture with them, but here's one of the bean:

we waited around for awhile, just hanging out and chatting, and then we were escorted through the park and around to the pier to find our spots for the show.  all of a sudden, the ponchos we'd been given at check-in made sense - we were positioned right in front, standing next to the railing that separated us from the water.

we noticed something else too - a piece of equipment in the water that was literally right in front of us.  hmmm.

the chairman of disney parks and resorts came on to say a few words from somewhere nearby, although we couldn't quite make out where he was standing.  and then he introduced neil patrick harris, who's the host of the new world of color show (and also does the countdown when you ride the california screamin' ride).  i grabbed this photo from the disney parks blog, because who doesn't love NPH?

the camera that took that shot must have been positioned just right, because it looked like we should have been right in front of him here.  we were standing right next to that ride that you see in the background.  but no - we never got to see him until his image was projected onto the fun wheel's new screen - and then onto the water during the show.

a lot of the show was about walt and the dream that led him to create disneyland.

and then look - walt and NPH together!

as the show continued on, we learned the hard way what that piece of equipment was for - especially when the breeze kicked up and sprayed us all down.

someone was very, very unhappy with this part of the show.

unexpected shower aside though, it was a pretty spectacular show.  i hear that people aren't huge fans of it because it starts off a little slow, but it picks up as favorite rides and movies are highlighted.

even the new star wars movie, set for a december 2015 release, gets a place in the show.  parts of the trailer are shown along with more pyrotechnics - which was a welcome change and warmed us up a little after the shock of the cold water.

that last fireball left an eerie-looking smoke ring that took a long time to disappear - and apparently caused all sorts of confusion outside the park.  yes, aliens took over disneyland.  duh.

on our way out, we saw the tables and stations set up all along the walkways for various media outlets.

it was a late night for the bean, who passed out as soon as we got into the car.  but it was worth it, since we'd gotten to see the show before the general public - which means that we won't have to fight for a spot to watch it when we return to california adventure this summer.

because we will be returning.  mark my words.

how about a yay!/boo.?

you know how i've been trying for the past few years to get in on the disney social media moms' action, right?  well, yesterday morning i opened my email and found this:

i'm going to portland, you guys!  i'm super excited to attend this conference and learn something new, meet fun people and do some networking.  i may be a pretty small-time blogger compared to lots of others, but that's okay.  this is going to be fun.

but then there's this:

i feel like some real, genuine, usda-certified 100% crap.  ugh.  i hope it passes quickly.  ain't nobody got time for this.

GO GO GO!

i was on tmz last week.

well, sort of.  it all started when i spied a tweet they'd posted with a link to some rather un-disneylike photos of nick jonas.  because he's totally her future husband, the teen asked me to send the link to her.  so i retweeted it, tagging her in the process.  and if you haven't actually seen the photos yet, i shall warn you now that they may not necessarily be safe for work.  or with small, inquisitive, big-eyed children within view of your screen.  like, this was me when i saw them:

apparently this caught the eye of someone in tmz's social media department, because about an hour later this happened:

oof.  now, we all know how much i love this kind of stuff and am usually more than willing to do silly stuff to get 3 seconds of fame, right?  but i'd been to an early barre class and hadn't had the chance to shower yet.  i was seriously the polar opposite of cute, for real.  i put off responding for a bit as i mulled it over in my head, and then decided that it would be rude not to say something.  so i came back with this:

and then...well, here.  just read this.

i had an hour to sit and stew over what i'd gotten myself into.  and because i'm just that lame, although i wasn't going to actually be onscreen, i hopped into the shower and got cleaned up.  like, i even dried my hair and put makeup on.  yup.  and instead of spending a few minutes to think about what i was going to say, all i did was think to myself "holy shit, i'm gonna be on tmz!"  sheesh.  then again, this isn't my first brush with tmz.  remember this little gem from last year?

so anyway, about half an hour later, i sat back down at the computer to distract myself and wait for the phone to ring.  i don't even like talking on the phone, people.  and as the time ticked away, i got more and more nervous.  i got all sweaty, my heart was pounding, and then the call finally came through.  the tmz staffer thanked me for coming on air with them and then gave me some basic instructions.

"okay, so when i say GO GO GO, that's your cue to give your first name, where you're calling from, and your statement."

"uh...my statement?"

"yeah!  just give us a comment about the nick jonas thing, it'll be fun!"

heh.  it was t-minus a couple of minutes till i was going to be live (at least, i'm guessing the show was airing live on the east coast since it wasn't scheduled till 4pm here) and i had no idea what i was going to say.  i couldn't say something too gushy, because HELLO COUGAR.  not to mention, i didn't really want to embarrass myself, the hub, the teen.  you know?  and so i had to think of something to say that would still be about these super unwholesome photographs of a 22-year-old kid that wouldn't make me sound like a creep and a half.  shit.

while i waited for my turn, i could hear the banter that was happening on the show.  they were discussing all sorts of hot topics - charlie sheen's latest antics, the jordin sparks/jason derulo breakup, real housewives gossip.  it was kind of cool, really - a bit like being in an audience for the taping of a show, only in the comfort of my very own home.  harvey levin was doing his thing, standing in front of the camera in his black short sleeved button-down.  other callers were giving their opinions about the topics of the day, harvey and other staffers would throw in their comments, and then they'd move on.  and then it was my turn.  ack!

as i gave my name and location, one of the other staffers chimed in.  "that's my hometown!" she squealed.  for a second, i thought of responding with "hey cool, let's hang out!" but since i was already on-air to weigh in on nick jonas in his underwear - well, i decided it was probably best to dial down the creep factor.  so i simply stuck with a comment about how i'm old enough to be the dude's mom and that hey...he sure has changed since we first saw him back in 2008.

even though i DVR'd the show that day, i hadn't watched it until i started writing this post.  i'm still cringing over it because i really just hate my voice, but i suppose it wasn't that bad.  if you care and have about 5.25 seconds to spare, my little snippet is right around 39:05 here.

i'm famous now, right?  i won't even charge much for autographs.  selfies are a different story though. those will cost you.