ready to run

so i have a fabulous plan for my birthday this year - while the girls are at school, i'm going to have a lovely, leisurely morning on my own at the happiest place on earth.  i'm going to get a birthday button, hop in all of the single rider's lines i can find, browse in the shops, munch on snacks, pose with all the characters...basically do whatever i feel like.  i'm excited!

i actually got a little sample of what it would be like when i headed down to disneyland for the health & fitness expo that kicks off the disneyland half marathon weekend.  i wanted to pick up the bibs for me and the bean (for the kids' race the day before the half) and scoop up one of those "i did it!" tees, and i knew that getting there early would insure the best selection of stuff.  then because i could...i got there with plenty of time to grab a snack and ride at least one ride.  whee!

the single rider's line for the radiator springs raceway ride was already pretty lengthy, a mere hour after the park opened.  although i was quoted an hour-long wait, i decided to go for it.  it was really the only ride i was interested in, and i had enough time to kill.  and because disney is so awesome at speeding up the wait times, i was speeding my way through the ride in 40 minutes.

i even had time to stop at the cozy cone for a drink...in a cup that the teen and i had been waiting for them to restock for ages.

knowing that the walk from there to the expo at the disneyland hotel wasn't going to be fun - especially in the 90+ degree heat and blazing sun - i skedaddled right outta there and went on my merry way.

as i got closer, i spied something in the distance - something i was hoping to find somewhere around 8:30 on sunday morning.

passing the entrance to the hotel, i came across a lot of excited out-of-towners who had obviously been sprinkled with magical pixie dust.

woohoo!!

i decided to pick up the bean's stuff first.

the line for my own bib was blessedly short.  and it's been so long since i registered for this thing that i'd completely forgotten that i'd ordered one of the commemorative necklaces.  don't ask me what i'm going to do with it.  i'm such a freaking sucker.

upstairs the expo awaited, along with my race shirt and goody bag.

i stopped at some of my favorite vendor booths, but didn't find anything i really had to have.

i'd registered online and printed out a coupon for a poster that i got for free.  i figured i could frame it along with my medal and hang it next to my tinkerbell one.

see that other medal to the right?  i want it.  it's what you earn with disney's "coast to coast challenge" - do a half or full marathon at both disneyland and disney world within the same calendar year and you get to take home extra hardware.  i waaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnt it.

as i maneuvered my way through the growing crowds towards the official rundisney merchandise, i heard my name and found one of my nestie buddies waving at me.  it was nice to see her - we've chatted a bunch online, but i hadn't actually seen her in person since the OC nesties' fundraiser for the l.a. marathon eons ago.

wow.  the sheer volume of folks pawing through merchandise was simply amazing.  there'd been a lot of people at the tinkerbell expo, but this was just madness.

the line to pay for the stuff was incredible.  it looked even longer than one i'd stood in for a ride just a couple of hours prior.  but in true disney style, they shuffled you through it at breakneck speed and i was on my way home in no time.

but a big ass bummer - in all the chaos, i somehow set my awesome cone cup down somewhere and forgot it.  boo!  so sad.

see you again in january, disneyland hotel.

a fair-y tale

okay, so i totally didn't wait any longer than i had to to see how my cookies fared at the l.a. county fair. despite the fact that it was a solid 95 degrees outside with a bright ass sun blazing down on us, we headed over there just as soon as we possibly could.  i'm not even kidding - the fair opened at 3...we were there at 3:30.

(and before you yell at me for taking pictures from the car, i wasn't driving.  the beauty of having a daughter who's old enough to take the wheel)

not to mention, opening weekend always offers a great deal for admission.  it only cost us $1 each to get in, and the bean was free.  of course, we had to sit in a bit of a line before we could park, and then cough up $12 to do so.

the ticket line was pretty long.  but we came across these snazzy machines - the fair's gone high tech!

i didn't realize that this was their 90th anniversary.  that's kinda cool.

the teen was hungry, so i swallowed my anxiety over finding out about those damn cookies long enough for her to find something she wanted to eat.  i was actually pretty famished myself, but couldn't figure out what i wanted to eat.  so many choices!

i actually had zero interest in that last one, but i marveled at the ridiculousness of it.  as for the teen, she found an old favorite and pounced.

the fair is full of rides you'll never catch me on.  like, ever.  i'm not so much into the idea of strapping myself to something that was trucked in days before, screwed together hastily by a bunch of carnies, and letting it toss me super high up in the air.  nuh-uh.

we walked as the teen munched, and when we finally got to the culinary styles building i was actually feeling a little nervous.  i guess it's that only child syndrome rearing its ugly head as always, but i really really really wanted to find my cookies on display with a ribbon next to it.  we split up as we circled the cases that held various baked goods inside - breads, cakes, candies.  and then the teen called out excitedly "i found it, mom!" and it took all i had in me not to jump for joy.

LOOK!!

not only did i place, but i took first AND best of division!  i can't even tell you how stoked i was, although i'm sure you can imagine.  the bean was excited too:  "mommy, you won a prize! that's so cool!"

we stood there and stared at it for a few minutes, taking pictures and wiping away sweat (oh, wait, just me).  and then we sat down on the benches and watched to the reactions from other fairgoers who came to check things out.  i think my favorite comment was from a lady who came over with her kid and exclaimed "oh, look!  mr. bill cookies!"  heh.

the bean wanted to look at everything in the cases, which was okay with me.  being the nosy nellie that i am, i was super curious to see what the other prizewinners in my division had submitted.  i only found third and fourth place, though:

because i'm not a complete asshole, i'm not going to share all of the thoughts that ran through my head as i examined a bunch of other things that were in those cases.  let's just say that 2013's fair is going to find lots more submissions from me, in all sorts of other divisions.  oh, yes.

outside, the bean begged to take a turn on an old favorite...the footsie wootsie.

this caught our eye:

the teen and i were all aflutter at the idea of planting our asses where adam levine's might have also been, but i guess this thing has been "on tour" all summer all over the place.

all three of us took a turn in it, but the bean's is the best.


by then, we were pretty much melting from the heat, so we went inside one of the shopping buildings to see all the ridiculous stuff to be had, like custom glitter rainbow tattoos:

exercise equipment:

a little something for those bad hair days:

oh, and the ultimate final resting place, if you're a huge l.a. baseball fan.

while i waited in line for this:

the girls went to see some amm-ammals.

on our way back to the parking lot, we encountered a crazy long line for the opening night's concert.

the last stop was for the bean, who wanted a hot dog.

the end.