soggy sunday

so we totally slept right through the morning and when i rolled over to check the time, it was 11:10. oops. no church for us! instead, we decided to head up to wrightwood to check out the snow and visit with the ILs. but first, we stopped at victoria gardens (seems like we've spent an awful lot of time there lately) to have lunch and do some shopping.

despite the on-and-off rain, we pulled the stroller out and headed to california pizza kitchen for some lunch. the bean was snoozing, so we got to enjoy our BBQ chicken salad and BLT pizza together, instead of taking turns like we usually do. bonus!

the rain had started up again by the time we finished, so i fished through my bag to find the bean's little hat. and of course, it was one of the things i'd pulled out to make room for something else. oops. so as we walked along, the giant "40% off" signs in front of gymboree beckoned us inside.

and $104.23 later, the bean had a new hat. and then some. heh.

victoria gardens is like disneyland - every time i go, there's something different about it. and this particular mall has two macy's, a result of robinsons may being bought out a couple of years ago. why they didn't just close one of the stores, i could never figure out. we walked into the closest macy's and found that the place was being "liquidated for remodeling". that makes tons of sense. anyway, it was a madhouse, but we forged ahead in search of new sheets (at a discount, no less). on our way to the elevator, we came upon this:

my 10-year-old boy humor kicked in at the sight of that 2nd picture, and the hub found it as amusing as i did. nothing like some live mannequin porn. that's how i was able to snap those shots - i wanted to share the sight with the kid, who's with her dad this week. haha!!

the bean was hungry from her nap, so while the hub went off in search of discounted sheets, i sat on one of those model beds in the back of the bedding department and fed her. armed with two separate nursing covers, i'm able to whip a boob out in public without flashing anyone, and i'll pretty much do it anytime and anywhere. hey, everyone else gets to eat whenever and wherever they want to. the bean's no different. and as soon as she was done, she let loose some of the most magnificently loud, juicy farts that were worthy of a couch potato who'd just downed some chili cheese fries and beer. hilarious.

we ended up leaving empty-handed. everything was picked over, and all that was left was basically shit. so we went over to pottery barn to see if we'd have any better luck there. the bean got a little restless, so the hub plucked her out of the stroller to find that all that flatulence wasn't just gas - she'd had a MAJOR blowout. i mean, shit was everywhere - right through her onesie, all over her pants, and even some in the stroller. i usually have an extra outfit for her in my bag just in case, but i'd left it in the car. thank goodness for that gymboree shopping spree! and again, be glad i didn't take any pictures ;)

once she was all changed and pretty again (she rocked this sweater), we decided it was time to grab a drink at coffee bean and head up to the mountains. the rain had started up yet again, and we were totally over the idea of rolling the bean through it, hat or no hat.

when we arrived, it was lightly snowing. and it was gorgeous! plus, it was the first time we'd been back since they moved into their new house. it was warm and cozy and homey, just as we would've expected from MIL. and she cooked up a really yummy dinner for us (no BBQ in the snow after all!) - roast pork and gravy (everything's better with gravy, right?), corn, mashed potatoes, green salad, and fresh biscuits. so delicious. and there were brownies and ice cream for dessert, too. we always feast like kings over there. and the bean was being sweet and cuddly for her grandparents, who ate it up.

when it was time to go, we were at once excited and dismayed to see that the snowfall had not only continued, but had gotten even heavier! as we pulled out of the driveway, i had visions of those news stories where families had gotten lost for days at a time in a snowstorm. yikes.

but i should've known better - the hub's been driving up and down those mountains for years, with and without snow. he knew exactly which route to take that would be plowed, and we made it down the mountain and back onto the freeway in no time. and it was kind of fun to drive through the combination of rain and snow. having grown up mostly in california, snow is a novelty for me. so, of course, i whipped out the camera and took one picture through the windshield and rolled down my window for another:

and since i didn't post these yesterday, here's a couple of pictures of the bean. i love that "sweet pea" onesie (which is what we call her), and that's her learning how to play with her worm.

i love my sweet pea.

sushi and grasshoppers and uni, oh my!

i like to think i'm fairly open-minded when it comes to eating. yeah, yeah, i've got that weird fruit aversion. shut up. but i'm generally okay with trying new things at least once.

and then we went to a little sushi place in san dimas, called little tokyo. i'd been reading the monkey's posts on the knot about ramen and mochi, and this wasn't quite the same, but at least it was the same ethnicity. anyway, the hub had been to this place with some dudes from the local cigar shop he likes to hang out at. and he's pretty picky about his sushi, so i knew it had to be yummy. and it's always a big plus when you walk into an ethnic restaurant and find folks from the same homeland grubbing down on the eats. right?

the menu at the sushi bar was fairly normal - your basic rolls, plus some items for appetizers like edamame, shumai, gyoza, teriyaki, tempura. fine. the hub ordered his usual - hamachi, bigeye tuna, seared albacore, and a few rolls. we threw in some beef teriyaki and wanted to give their shumai a try, but they were all out. damn. anyway, the teriyaki was really delicious - tender and just the right balance of sweet and savory. mmmm. i had a tiger roll, which is pretty much a crunchy roll, and a california roll. i guess i'm not really THAT adventurous after all.

and i'm kind of a sushi whiner (although only to the hub, never to the servers or sushi chefs) - if the roll is cut into ginormous pieces, i just can't handle it. i end up picking out some of the stuff and eating it first before i can eat the rest of it. besides, it's too hard to bite into a piece of cut roll - the seaweed doesn't break really easily, and the rest of it kind of falls apart and i end up looking like an asscheese who's a sushi newbie. so i stuffed a piece in my mouth and i couldn't even chew the damn thing, it was so big. [insert dirty joke here] and then i always feel like i'm gonna spew. but i managed to choke it down before my gag reflex kicked in. yay for me.

the dude at the end of the bar ordered some uni, and i wouldn't really have mentioned it except for the fact that when it was served i almost jumped out of my chair. god, i feel like the biggest wuss right now. but the chef put the plate on the bar in front of me, and when i looked up, this shit was right over my head:

and that mess was MOVING. good lord.

a few minutes later, i heard the dude's kid say something about grasshoppers. again, i didn't pay much attention until the chef came over with his hand outstretched, dude's kid put her plate out, and the chef dropped onto it a little pile of...stuff. the hub looked over, grinned knowingly, and said "did you see that? it's grasshoppers!"

i glanced at dude's kid, saw her pop a couple of those things in her mouth and start chewing, and i swear to you i almost ralphed right then and there. i'm not kidding, i was so grossed out i didn't want to eat anymore. and i'd been starving when we sat down.

the hub couldn't stop laughing at me. "i ate some when i came here. they're good - they cook them in some kind of sweet sauce. they served them at the restaurant in zimbabwe, too." i'm a bit surprised at the hub - remember, this is the dude who won't touch dim sum. or even consider the soup dumplings thing. but he ate grasshoppers??

oh, my good god. my gag reflex is kicking in again.

yeah, #3 for today.

what can i say, it's been a slow day.

i don't know why i just remembered this, but a couple of nights ago i dreamed that victoria beckham came to my house and we had a playdate with our kids.

and then leonard maltin came over for the sole purpose of telling me that he was a regular reader of my blog, but that i was a horrible writer. victoria told him that he was may-juh-ly styoo-pid and threw him out of my house. i showed her the "junior high" rating of my blog from the other day and she patted me on the shoulder and gave me her shoes.

and now i'm pissed off. damn you, leonard maltin. what the fuck were you doing in MY house, in MY dream, telling ME that i'm a bad writer? if i ever see you in person, i'm going to kick you in the penis.

plus, those shoes were really cute.

i have some really weird ass fucking dreams sometimes.

mah baby's growing up!

the bean's had a few "firsts" this weekend. i'm just not ready for her to pick up all these new skills! i want to keep her little and cute and cuddly. [sigh] and these things may sound silly and inconsequential, but trust me, they're HUGE.

okay, the first one is kinda gross, but i laughed my ass off. i picked out her first crusty boogers yesterday! hee hee! sorry. just be glad i didn't take any pictures. :X

and last night, i noticed her reaching for her toy. it's got squishy and squeaky and rattly pieces that dangle at the bottom, and she was using her little digits to flick the little plastic flowers back and forth. she was looking at it really intently and smiling and gurgling at it, and i just melted.

and then, this morning, i was doing some laundry (yay). i threw the clean, dry towels in the basket and plopped the bean right on top of them. i was chattering to her as i always do, talking about what else i needed to do, making faces, and i was smiling and leaning down to give her a smooch. and then she looked right at me, gave me the biggest, sweetest smile, and laughed. this was most definitely a new trick, and i got her to do it a few more times before again melting into a big puddle of motherly pride right there in the living room.

she's started doing one more fun thing - aside from her (now) usual cooing and gurgling and "talking", she's figured out that if she moves her tongue around while she's using her voice, she can make cool new sounds. woo-hoo! again, probably sounds really lame to you, but it's really fabulous to me.

this concludes the cutesy portion of today's post. you may now continue with your regularly scheduled blog reading.

nothing to do.

this is quite a treat. we have absolutely no plans for this weekend! no parties, no errands, no shopping, NOTHING. we're seriously just laying around the house, still in jammies, being absolute bums, and hoping for more rain. the living room/sunroom has windows from floor to ceiling, plus half the ceiling - and it sounds so lovely when rain is pounding down on them. aaaaah. and so whenever we're blessed with precipitation, laying on the couch wrapped up in a fluffy blanket in front of the tv is our favorite place to hang out.

i'm also playing around online, looking at gymboree classes, paying bills, balancing the checkbook, and walking down memory lane disneyland-style at yesterland.com. this site is so fun - there are pictures and descriptions of rides and attractions that are long gone. some of them are a little bittersweet as they remind me of being at the happiest place on earth with my dad, but it's still fun to look at them. yes, i'm partially a disney freak. but my freakishness extends only to a love of the disney parks - california AND florida. i'm hoping to get to disneyland paris one day, but the hub looks at me funny every time i mention it. after all, it's not like we don't have easy access to disneyland from home - if and when we make it out to europe, i'm sure there are going to be a zillion other things to check out ;)

now we're debating going up to wrightwood to see the ILs and have a BBQ. i laughed at the idea of a BBQ in the snow that they've forecasted for the mountains this weekend, but the hub reminded me that his dad would BBQ in a hurricane if he felt like steak. ha! funny 'cuz it's true.

mmm, trader joe's

unlike many of my buddies, i'm not really a trader joe's regular. it's not that i don't like their stuff, it just doesn't often occur to me to head over there. but every time i do go, i find all sorts of yummies that end up in my cart. too many, usually. ooh! like sweet and salty nutty trek mix! OMG. that stuff is so delicious.

we're going to a dinner party tonight with the hub's partner and the rest of his teammates and spouses. i'd asked the partner's wife if i could help, because i knew she'd be a little frazzled at juggling it all - prepping, cooking, cleaning, plus taking care of their two VERY active and rambunctious boys. so she assigned me the task of picking up dessert, and she mentioned the tiramisu torte that she'd served before from trader joe's.

the kid, the bean and i wanted some breakfast, so after hitting up the burger king drive-thru (and scooping up one of my beloved mocha joe drinks), we headed over to TJs. the kid wanted to sit and eat her breakfast, so she volunteered to wait in the car with the bean. and that's a good thing, because then i knew i'd have limited time to browse.

i still managed to pick up about four packs of cookies, plus two of the tiramisu tortes. these butter almond cookies are so delish. the kid and i GRUBBED on these at the hub's grandparents' house one night and so i had to pick some up. mmmmm, cookies.

but then i got home and read an e-mail that told me the guest list had increased, and could i bring three tiramisu tortes? poop. i sure don't mind - these things are all of $7 apiece - but that means a second trip. one that's not as rushed. which means i'll have plenty of time to browse all the aisles and find lots and lots of snacks and treats and things. uh-oh. looks like i'll get some of that trek mix after all. [dancing a jig]

i'm about to take the kid to meet up with her dad, and then the bean and i are going to have sushi lunch with the hub. oh, yum. i can't wait for some crunchy rolls.

and, i decided to return the sling i bought yesterday. i've actually got a different one that'll work just fine and fit nicely in the diaper bag. that way i can look for other fun stuff to buy in the store instead ;)

i'm a marketer's wet dream.

warning: there's a whole lot of baby gear talk in this post. i will totally understand if there's a sharp drop in my stats for today's entry as a result. now, on with it:

so i let myself get suckered into buying more baby gear. and i do mean sucker. i mean, if it's shiny, sparkly, snazzy, or interesting in any way, shape, or form, i'm buyin' it.

i had some store credit at right start, and an hour-ish to kill while the kid got her five cavities filled. yes, i said five cavities. i sure didn't envy her one bit, but i tried to convince her that it would be no thang - at least it wasn't a root canal or some other form of dental torture. anyway, i dropped her off and went on my merry way.

i walked into the store with the sole intent of picking up a little pouch to stick in my bag that would hold a couple of diapers and a travel pack of wipes. i knew exactly what it looked like and had a good idea of which area of the store to find it in. but the moment i walked in, i was drawn to the sale signs all over the place, and from there i was lost.

i've written before about how much i love my moby wrap. that thing is a godsend, and i don't know how i lived without it. but it's kind of a pain in the ass to take anywhere - there's no quick and easy way to throw an 18-foot piece of brown material into a diaper bag, nor is it exactly simple to tie the damn thing around me out in public. i'm forced to either tie it on before i leave the house, or get it all dirty as i whip it around me in some parking lot or restroom. meh. so i found this sling, which seemed pretty compact and easy to put on:
it even has pockets and things for me to throw keys, cell phone, and money into. sweet. so i scooped it up and kept shopping.

remember the hooter hider i talked about a few days ago? the poor bean gets all sweaty and uncomfortable under that thing, no matter what the weather. what can i say, she's a sweaty monkey like her mom. so when i saw this:
i was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. it promised discreet nursing while keeping the bean from getting overheated under a blanket or cover. plus, it had a built-in burping pad. sounds stupid, but that's handy shit! so despite the unfortunate name - "slurp & burp" - i grabbed one and moved on to the next rack of colorful (and totally unnecessary) crap.

i ended up spending my merchandise credit, and then some. oops. the hub is going to KILL me when he finds out i came home with yet another bag of handy-dandy stuff. oh, well.

i picked up the kid and we were finally off to meet up with my BFF, out in BFE. and when we got there, she had quite a spread ready for us: grilled chicken and veggies, wild rice, green salad, more veggies and dip, crackers with cheese and salami, and cookies and brownies. yum. once i sat down to get my grub on, i didn't stop munching till i got up to give her and the kids our christmas presents. heh.

we spent some time catching up and playing with the bean as the kid tried not to look bored as hell. i gotta give her props, because she did really well. not once did she utter the words "is it time to go yet?" but she looked pretty relieved when it was finally time to go.

and what did we do next? more shopping. we hit up paper source, gap, urban outfitters, victoria's secret (old town pasadena, if you couldn't tell), and then stopped at the mall on our way home to do a couple of gift returns. i also got to test the new sling out, and i'm on the fence about it. i think i'll give it another shot and if the bean still doesn't dig it, i'm packing it right up and taking it back.

tomorrow, i promise to talk about stuff that won't make your eyes glaze over. hell, i'm probably making this promise to absolutely no one, because i highly doubt that any of you have actually gotten this far. old mcdonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o. you are my sunshine, my only sunshine. the wheels on the bus go round and round. why? because no one is reading this shit anymore. even i'm bored with me. blahdedy blahdedy blah! lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

i've officially lost it. i better go to bed.

hello, '08. how YOU doin'?

i spent the first day of 2008 doing a whole lotta nothing. we slept in till 10:00. all of us - including the bean. ain't that great? and then while i hopped in the shower, the hub took the kid and the bean to pick up some starbucks. mmmm. a caramel macchiato is my favorite way to start my day.

BIL showed up right as i was turning my flat iron off, all decked out in his new nikes and USC tee. he and the hub were headed to pasadena to watch the trojans kick ass at the rose bowl. i'm not really an SC fan, but even i know that their football team is damn near untouchable. and he had a tee for the hub to wear to the game, too. cute. he was really, really excited to be going to the game. i had a feeling that it was more to check out the cheerleaders than the game, but i could be wrong. maybe.

and then after the menfolk were gone, the kid and i got to work taking down all the ornaments from the tree and putting everything christmas-related back in the boxes. it seemed like we'd just put the stuff UP - and a little of that post-christmas depression set in again with every festive item i packed away. another holiday season, over and done with. [sigh]

and when we were done, the kid took a quick shower and then i took her to her BFF's to hang out. on the way there, i rattled off a conversation that i was certain would take place later in the day:

[cell phone rings]
me: "hi, babe. whatcha doing?"
kid: "nothing. so, mom, i'm pretty sure you're gonna say no, but i got invited to spend the night. can i?"
me: "is your room clean? do you have any homework to get done?"
kid: "i'll come home early tomorrow and take care of it. pleeeeeeaaaaaaase, mommy (she knows she can get damn near anything she wants if she calls me "mommy" like when she was little)?"
me: "okay. what time do i pick you up in the morning?"

she cracked up - because she totally knew that would happen. "you know me too well, mom."

um, duh.

after dropping her off, the bean and i headed out to the hub's grandparents' for a BBQ. the ILs had called me yesterday to invite me over, while we were standing in line for "tower of terror", and i'm not one to turn down a big fat steak.

but i was running late, so i got onto the freeway and zipped right over into the #1 lane, doing about 85-ish.

and then i saw it.

that familiar light bar across the top of a black-and-white chippie car, about three cars behind me in the next lane over. shit.

i took my foot right off that gas pedal and prayed for the speedometer to inch back down to about 70. and then the chippie got right behind me. damn. i really loved erik estrada back in the day, but this was most certainly not ponch back there.

my heart was totally pounding in my throat as i kept my eye in the rearview, waiting to see if the light bar of doom came on. i was down to about 67 mph, no light bar, and he got back over into the #2 lane. then he got stuck behind the geriatric driver in front of him in that lane and got back behind me. crap. and then he finally signaled and got over into the carpool lane. i gave him a cheesy, toothy, sheepish grin as he sped past me, and he caught my eye, shook his head in amusement, and sped off. oh, happy day! i'd managed to escape a fine and boring ass traffic school. yay for me! except for that i was stuck with the theme song from "chips" in my head for the rest of the day.

i got to the grandparents', the bean got passed around, i ate a lot of steak and some yummy, soft rolls and butter, and then at 7:00 the call from the kid came. and because i'd already recited the conversation earlier, the call went a little something like this:

me: "hi. yeah?"
kid: "yeah. okay?"
me: "sure. love ya."
kid: "love you too. see you tomorrow."

ha! and it seems that FIL's been doing some planning for NEXT year's NYE. he pulled me aside and said "how do you feel about going to new york for new year's next year?"

again, i say - um, duh.

and so now, i'm assigned the task of researching hotels at or near times square.

and you know it'll be here before we know it. you know this.

it's just another day, right?

okay, let me backtrack a little and tell you about our sunday. it really wasn't THAT exciting, but you get to hear about it anyway!

the bean got a bath and then dressed up for church:

that whole outfit was a gift from one of our dearest friends on the day she was born, and i meant to put it on her for christmas, but i forgot all about it. oops. and now she's almost grown out of it. double oops.

after church, we headed out to pie 'n burger for breakfast - the kid was in the mood for one of their roast beef sandwiches, and i can never turn down a stack of their thin pancakes. so delicious! and while we waited for our table, we watched this crazy ass asian heffa go off on some poor unsuspecting dude on her way out. they happened to be leaving at the same time, and all of a sudden she turned on him. "don't harass me in the restaurant!" she said, and then threw her cash down onto the counter and snarled "thanks for the great service."

the dude just took off as if nothing had happened, and the lady behind the counter, having no idea what was going on, gave her a puzzled look and said "um, thanks for coming in?"

we and the other folks waiting for tables just kind of looked around at each other and chuckled in amusement. and then five minutes later, crazy asian heffa came back in, started growling at the same lady behind the counter, and this time she said "no. get out of here. we don't need your troubles in here." and CAH, with her cell phone to her ear, shouted "why? because i'm in a white ass community?", spun around, and stormed back out. we all looked at each other in slightly shocked silence before cracking up. there was a black couple standing behind her, along with other asian folks, plus us. "white ass community" indeed. i was also amused to hear the counter lady refer to CAH as "oriental". i haven't heard that word in a long time. heh.

we decided to head out to the grove for dinner. we like eating at the farm of beverly hills, and thought the kid would like to give it a try, too. although she was in one of those rebellious pre-teen-y moods and all she wanted was a salad. booooring. i went with the fried chicken with truffled mac & cheese (i'd wanted this the last time i went to the farm but chose something else), and i was sad to cut into the driest chicken i've had in a long time. but that mac & cheese - mmmm. it made up for the chicken. it was so delicious, and i even got the kid to try a little. of course, she loved it, but didn't want to admit it. hmph.

and as we finished dinner, it was time for "snow". it was the same soap-y kind of stuff that they use at disneyland, but it was fun anyway.

okay, so i know you're absolutely dying to know what we ended up doing for new year's eve. right? right?? i know you are. you haven't been able to sleep for thinking about it. well, we considered lots of things, including a party in downtown l.a. thrown by chris brown (the kid LOVES chris brown), but that was for 18+ only. she was so stinking bummed about it. i was sad for her, because by the time she hits 18, do you really think chris brown will still be the shit? i think not.

"so, wan-nabe family, what did you to do to ring in 2008?"

we went to disneyland!

yup. the last time the hub and i were at disneyland for new year's eve, it was ridiculously crowded. we managed to ride maybe one ride, and spent the whole night waiting to get into the blue bayou restaurant for dinner. so, i know, it's crazy and fucktarded, but that's where we ended up.

well, sort of. we figured it would be much less crowded at california adventure, and our favorite ride is "tower of terror" anyway. and it turned out that it was our only option, because as we pulled into the mickey & friends parking structure, the electronic marquees announced that disneyland was sold out.

SOLD OUT.

how many folks do you suppose it takes to sell out fucking disneyland?? i went to snap a picture of the sign, but i was too late. you'll just have to take my word for it. we looked around at all the cars in line to park with us and groaned at the idea of them all going to california adventure with us, along with those who were already inside. and we weren't able to buy our tickets online, so i was dreading the line just to get those.

well, surprise surprise - it took the hub all of two minutes to stand in line and scoop up our tickets. and getting in was painless as well. the kid and i found it weird that this kiosk was right next to the ticket booths, selling rose bowl souvenirs. is it weird? or are WE weird? i mean, it's not like disneyland and the rose bowl have anything in common...or do they?

there were definitely lots of visitors in the park, but it didn't feel like it, as evidenced by the mere 40-minute wait for "tower of terror". the kid and i got fastpasses for that ride (we don't wait in line if we don't have to), and were pleasantly surprised again - our time was only 45 minutes away.

the hub and the bean had gone off in the hopes of securing a reservation for dinner at the vineyard room, which is the best restaurant in the park. the kid even ate shrimp there - and that almost never happens! but as i'd been told on the phone, they were booked solid. boo. after trading a couple of text messages, we found them sitting at the bar in ariel's grotto. the hub was halfway through a coors light and the bean was happily snoozing in her stroller. the kid and i got some ice cream, sat down to relax, and life was good.

when it was time to get in line for "tower of terror", the kid and i found ourselves stuck behind a pair of honeymooners wearing wedding mickey ears that look like this:
only they didn't look as cute as this :X yes, that's a precious moments figurine. and i said the couple wasn't as cute as it. that should speak volumes. the family in front of them struck up a conversation with them and we overheard them say that they had just driven out from utah to disneyland for their honeymoon. now, i love disneyland, but it was awful hard to keep from laughing my ass off at the thought of honeymooning there. and it didn't help that they looked like they were about twelve years old. AND couldn't stop talking about how they couldn't wait for "their favorite part of the ride". and [gagging] they kept mackin' down every, oh, about five seconds. ew. now, i know they were newlyweds, but gross. keep that shit in your disneyland hotel room, yo. okay, enough about them. back to us.

we ended up seated in the middle section of the ride - right next to the honeymooners and behind the family who'd befriended them. and once the ride started, the kid started up - "oh mah gah, we's f'nna die!" "oh, snap. i want to LIVE!" "holy crap, i'm scared!" "mommy, hold me!"

i was giggling so hard, i could hardly concentrate on the ride. and i was so excited - i hadn't been able to ride anything fun like that in a year and a half! and when the ride was over, the mom of that family turned around and thanked the kid for making the ride even more fun than it already was. she loved that - she thought she might've pissed folks off, but that groom turned to her and said something similar. ha!

when we got to the end - you know, where they show you the picture they take of you on the ride? - the kid mumbled "mom, watch me get all ghetto right now", found our picture, and whipped her cell phone out to take a picture. bwahahahaha! it was hilarious. and here it is. do you see us?


as it got cooler, we put the bean into a warm, snuggly pooh outfit. i know it's cheesy as hell, with the little ears and all, but it was cute on her, and it kept her warm! and even though it wasn't the "real" disneyland, she got her first set of mickey ears.

it was snack time, so we found the nearest churro cart and picked up a couple of those crunchy, sweet cinnamony treats. and as we were joking around, pretending to feed one to the bean, some dude walked by and remarked in a thick drawl "aww, look, it's her first chii-rro."

chiirro?? the hub and i exchanged puzzled looks and the kid said "that is SO WEIRD. he's, like, the third person i've heard today say it like that." and then i caught sight of the sign on the cart. i guess that if you just glanced at it and weren't familiar, that "u" could look like two "i"s. i guess.

heh.

and i gotta say, i love how disneyland turns the kid into a little kid again. we were walking through the back end of the park, killing time before our next fastpass, when she spied a cart loaded down with glow-in-the-dark necklaces, handheld spinning marquees, and this:

oh mah gah, she kills me. comedy.

we had a 7:45 dinner reservation at ralph brennan's jazz kitchen in downtown disney, but once 7:00 rolled around we realized we were pretty damn hungry and decided to head over and see if they'd take us a little early. the hub went in to sweet-talk the obviously frazzled hostess while we sat outside and did a little peoplewatching.

this was the tree we were sitting under. it looked pretty cool, so i took a picture of it (and us), of course.

while the kid traded text messages with her BFF (who wasn't able to join us because her parents decided they were going to have family time), i pushed the bean back and forth in her stroller in a sad attempt to prolong her nap. i was hoping we'd be able to pull off an entire dinner without having to play "pass the baby" back and forth across the table.

and for the most part, i was pretty successful. the noise in the restaurant helped a lot, and then someone dropped something and woke her up. damn. but before that, we managed to enjoy appetizers and be entertained by the kid's perusal of the kiddie menu. here she is with her grilled ham and cheese, with a little mac & cheese on the side:

yup, those are "happy new ears". heh.

once we were done stuffing our faces, we headed back into the park (cutting through the fabulous grand californian hotel and wishing again that we'd have managed to finagle a room) and found santa. since he was all done delivering toys for the year, he was dressed for vacation.

the kid and i decided to ride "tower of terror" one more time, while the hub and the bean set off in search of a good spot to see fireworks once the clock struck 12. although it was so damn windy, we were pretty sure they'd have to cancel fireworks - not that any of the employees knew, though. we asked a few and nobody seemed to have any idea. we've been to disneyland in the past on nights much less windy and ended up not seeing any pyrotechnics for that very reason. but we were there, and it was new year's eve, so we were determined to ring in '08 somewhere in the park.

our timing kind of sucked, though, because we caught the tail end of the electrical parade and EVERYBODY was headed to "tower of terror". boo. but we got there, and found that it was quicker to wait for the fastpass time than to stand in line. so while we waited, we hung out at the power 106 dance party.

with less than an hour left, we joined the hub and the bean, who was sleeping soundly, on the bridge overlooking the lake and the "paradise pier" area. the kid and i decided to grab hot chocolates and ended up standing in that line for longer than anything else we'd waited for that day! sheesh. to kill time, i had her take a picture of the giant christmas tree. she was getting antsy and was ready to ditch the idea, but i wanted some damn cocoa.

the hub texted me to ask if we'd gone back to lake arrowhead for our hot chocolates. "it's going to be 2008 before you finally get back here with that shit." grrrr.

and when midnight finally came, it felt rather anticlimactic for me. it was fun, there were lots of people around, the bean woke up briefly to loudly protest the screams and horn-blowing, and i kissed the hub and the kid. it just felt weird - but i guess that really, it is just another day, right? we watched the sad little fireworks display that went off from the lake and then got the hell outta dodge.

we maneuvered our way through the crowds (once again avoiding the masses by cutting through the grand californian), managed to get on the very first tram that came our way, and walked right into a waiting elevator at the parking structure. we snapped the car seat into place, buckled up, and were on the freeway before i could even catch my breath! and half an hour later, we were pulling into the driveway.

it was a fun day, quite painless, and easier than i could've dreamed. happy new year, indeed.