the one where i'm a full-on friends nerd

so we all know how much i love friends, right?  like, it's almost always on in the house at any given time of the day.  it's what i usually have on for background noise whenever i'm working on cookies or sewing a project or whatever i happen to be doing because i don't have to give it my full attention but can still keep up and laugh at all the jokes.

because this year is the 25th anniversary of the show's first season, there's been lots of merchandise and extra airings of the show and fun stuff like that.  like, lego announced that they were releasing this back on september 1st:

and i had it marked on my calendar because i wanted to head to the lego store in downtown disney that day to grab one for myself.  i was also planning to check it out online as soon as i woke up that day, which i did.  i had one in my cart and then for some reason totally lagged on pulling the trigger, and so of course when i remembered again and went back to it, it was on "backorder" status.  dang it.  so we headed down to anaheim later that afternoon and as we were on the tram from the parking structure i jokingly said "wouldn't it suck if they were sold out??"

well, you can guess what happened next. 

we walked into the store, the old lady asked the employee at the entrance where we could find it in the store and he said "ohhh...we just sold the last one."

WOMP WOMP.

while we were walking towards the entrance to disneyland i pulled it up on my phone again and went ahead and placed my order on the website and hoped for the best.  i was so bummed.

that doesn't mean i don't have any fun merchandise, though.  like, i picked up these comfy sweats at target:

and i stitched these coasters out on my embroidery machine (i even use them, like every day):

and then i got a super random email about an anniversary event happening on three different dates where episodes of the show and a blooper reel were going to be shown on the big screen at various movie theaters.  i hit up the old lady to see if she'd go with me, and we ended up buying tickets for a local theater where they bring dinner and drinks to your seats on the final date of the event.

while we waited for our grub, we played trivia via the questions displayed on the screen.

we were sitting in a particularly dark corner of the theater, so i don't have any food photos to share.  it was pretty basic anyway and would have made for boring pictures - chicken tenders, fries, salad, pretzel bites, dessert.  it was all pretty tasty and reasonably priced though, so i'd totally go back.

they showed us clips from interviews that had been shown on "extra" throughout the show's ten-season run which was different from the blooper reel we were expecting, but that's okay.  it was entertaining nonetheless.

and then it was showtime!

we kicked it off with "the one with chandler in a box."

"the one with ross' wedding, part 2":

"the one where everybody finds out."

and lastly, "the one where ross got high."

i know it seems kind of dumb to go watch something i've seen a zillion times in a movie theater, but it was really fun.  even the old lady said so.  seeing it all blown up on a huge screen brought our attention to little details that are easy to overlook when watching it on a tv (or on my phone, which is often the case), and it made for a really fun evening together.

in the days leading up to the show's actual air date anniversary, TBS network did a livestream trivia game via twitter that i just so happened to be home for.  it consisted of something like five rounds with 6 or 7 questions each, and because i am a super nerd i sat there and played the entire thing.  i was often the first one to respond, and i got all but one question right.  it was really fun, and i was extra excited to receive a direct message from the network later that afternoon asking for my shipping address so that they could send me a prize. 

two days later, this was delivered:

and OMG GUESS WHAT WAS INSIDE??

even funnier?  that backordered set from their website actually ended up coming through.  and so now i have two.  i'm considering putting the other one on ebay.  heh.

the old lady and i are having a ball putting the set together.  it's divided into several bags and there are full, detailed instructions.  we've got two bags left and then i can share it with you.  i don't even know where i'm going to put the damn thing when it's done.  that's okay, though.  it's all fun and games.

and it's not over yet!  the warner bros. studio tour announced something called "friendsgiving" coming next month, where they're offering a special friends-themed version of their studio tour capped off with a full thanksgiving meal served in their commissary.  and yes...of course i snagged tickets for me and the old lady. 

it's going to be SO MUCH FUN AND I CAN'T WAIT.

wrapping up bean's birthday, 12.0

so the bean's actual birthday went by in quite a blur.  tuesdays are typically pretty busy for her anyway, and this one was no exception. 

oh!  i should share this too:  so, there are only about 34 kids in her whole 6th grade class, split up into two separate homerooms.  while others choose to bring a birthday treat for just their class, she wanted to share it with everyone, and so she'd busted out three dozen cupcakes using my tried-and-true cake and frosting recipes after we got home from that disneyland extravaganza.  she did a fantastic job, with my only contributions being a little math to help her calculate measurements for half a batch of frosting and then piping it on the cupcakes for her.  because of a deal she'd made with another girl in the class who shares her birthday, she brought them in the day before.

after she'd devoured those red velvet pancakes for breakfast, she got herself ready and headed off to school.  in her absence, i managed to go to target to pick up a few decorations and a couple of last-minute presents and then headed home to get everything wrapped and decorated. 

she usually heads to her math tutor right after school, but when she said she didn't have any math homework that day i decided to let her off the hook and headed straight home instead.  she was pretty excited to see the decorations and gifts that were waiting for her, and after she was done with the bit of homework she still needed to do she got herself ready for cheer practice and then we headed out to grab her a poke bowl for dinner.  i'm sure she would have loved to go out for sushi, and i felt bad that we couldn't do a proper family dinner on her actual birthday, but she seemed satisfied with what we were able to do instead.

and then finally, it was time to open presents.  we kicked it off with some fun stuff from the old lady and her special friend - of course, almost everything she got this year was BTS/BT21-themed.

there were also some very nice cards, plus a pretty sweet e-gift from her lola.

meanwhile, her daddy decided to try on one of her new sweatshirts.  heh.

her big gift this year was something i don't think she saw coming.  we've gone back and forth about getting her a phone of her own, because while it'll be awesome for me it also opens her up to all sorts of other things.  i gotta say though, it's really nice to know that i can reach her as soon as the last bell of the day rings (since phones have to be turned to silent and left inside their lockers during the day).  there have been plenty of times when i'm running a few minutes late and just need to let her know, and this is going to make life a lot easier.  needless to say, she was pretty damn excited.

and of course, like we always did with her sister, we pranked her a little with several layers of gift wrap and then stuffed inside a wrapped cereal box that was also stuffed inside a bigger amazon box.  it's always more fun that way.

we tortured her with a few group photos before heading off to cheer practice, because that's also fun.

then when she got home, there was ice cream cake.

and that's a wrap on the bean's 12th birthday!  she was super stoked, and now we've got a year to figure out how to wrap our heads around the fact that she's going to be a teenager.  holy crap.

a very goofy brunch

the next morning, everyone woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to do a little pre-brunch shopping in downtown disney.  the moms wanted to pick up some souvenirs for the little sisters at home, and so once everyone was all packed up and the bags taken down to the bell desk for storage we said goodbye to our fun disneyland hotel suite and headed on out of there.

the 50th anniversary celebration for the haunted mansion is well represented with these fun decorations in the elevators and a huge photo op along one wall near the lobby.

sisters.

in the disney dress shop we found a display of the $600 heidi klum-designed ears.  yes, that's right - SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS.  yowza.

after everyone had their purchases in hand, it was time to head back to the hotel to meet up with the guys for brunch at goofy's kitchen.

of course, we had to take this:

inside, the hub and the special friend had already checked us in and ushered us towards the photo op with goofy.

we were shown to our table, which happened to be in a quiet little corner that was pretty close to the grub.  once we'd picked out our seats, we headed over to the buffet to check it all out.  this was the first thing that caught my eye:

um, yes please.  and we all know i eat like a toddler with no supervision, so this was my first plate:

as everyone else trickled back to the table to start eating, we were greeted by an old friend.

this is my most favorite picture of that entire morning:

after i'd wolfed down that plate of deliciousness, i headed back to the buffet and eyed the dessert bar.  here, you can see too:

pluto was the bean's favorite character when she was little.  i don't know if she remembers that, but she seemed pretty excited to see him when he came to visit our table.

i never remember which one is chip and which one is dale.  either way, one of them came over to say hello.

it was a fun, loud, delicious brunch and a lovely way to wrap up what had been a pretty phenomenal celebration of the bean's 12th birthday.  we parted ways as we waited for the valet to bring the cars up, and half an hour later we were home.

thanks for another wonderful weekend, disneyland!  see ya real soon!