costumes make you run faster

when we got home from disneyland, i tucked the sleeping bean into bed and snaked one of her running shirts from her closet. using some leftover material from a couple of weeks ago, i sat down at my sewing machine and cranked out a quickie top for her to wear with her sparkle skirt in the kids' race the next morning. she couldn't very well wear the dress i'd made for her because it was way too long and she'd totally trip and fall on her face. so instead she had this:

not bad for a 10-minute project, right?

the next morning, we all piled into the car bright and early and headed back down to anaheim. 

the hub headed off to find a spot near the finish line, while the teen and i stayed with our little runner. the line-up was pretty long, but the runDisney staff kept it moving. 

i've read a lot of posts by people complaining about these races being disorganized and crowded. but while the latter is definitely true, i think rD actually does a pretty darn good job of keeping things rolling. 

the older kids (7-8 years) went first, running a 400-meter dash. as we waited for them to finish, we snapped these:

the bean had already announced that she wanted to run alone this time. she's such a big girl. so when the line started moving towards the start, the teen and i wished her luck and told her to run fast and then slid out through this exit.

as it turned out, she really took our words to heart. as we left, i caught a glimpse of her making her way to the front to get the show on the road. i hadn't realized until then how far we had to go to get to the finish line.

we found a great spot to watch the runners as they sprinted by. but as we watched and waited and time went on without seeing our girl on the course, we got a little nervous. the staff is pretty good about utilizing the parent pick-up system, though. you tear off the little tab at the top of the race bib, and it's basically your ticket to picking your kid up at the finish. before you're allowed to exit, you have to show the numbered tab that matches the bib. i had ours in my pocket, so i told the teen to find the hub while i headed off to find my kid.

just as i got inside the pick-up area, my phone rang with an unfamiliar number. as i typically do, i ignored it as i scanned the crowd in search of the bean. but when the same number popped up again two seconds later, i picked it up. 

let me tell you, all those sessions of drilling my cell number into the bean's noggin really paid off. apparently, she was just standing there looking around for a bit, and another mom stopped to ask her if she was okay. her own daughter was dressed as frozen's anna and had pointed the elsa-clad bean out. so she called me and i found them just as she was taking these:

i thanked her profusely as we made our way out to find the teen and the hub. i was so relieved - i mean, even though i felt certain that she couldn't leave without me, it was still a little nerve-wracking to have lost track of her for even a few minutes. 

needless to say, she won't be running alone again for a long, long time. 

fireworks fix everything

with the teen set to volunteer for a shift at the tinkerbell half expo and the bean out of school for a teacher in service day, we headed down to disneyland for the first time since early november. armed with the brand new annual passes we got from santa last month, the pri-YES was loaded down with three very happy campers.

as we turned onto disneyland drive, we were greeted by the start line for the weekend's activities. this was for the inaugural 10K, scheduled for early the next morning. 

oh, foursquare. tell me something i didn't already know.

while our original plan had been to head to the parks for a little fun before heading to disneyland hotel for the expo, we'd run a bit later than we'd expected. so all we had time for was a quick stroll down main street before veering to the right and heading straight for the monorail station. it dropped us off at the far end of downtown disney, not too far from the hotel and convention center. 

we parted ways with the teen when we got downstairs. she followed the signs to the volunteer check-in, while the bean and i got in the (blessedly short) lines to pick up our race bibs.

from there, we headed back upstairs to grab our race shirts and peruse the offerings at the expo. 

she thought her t-shirt was super cute. i sure didn't argue with her.

i tossed a quick longing glance over my shoulder at the new balance booth. this year's limited-edition run disney shoes had mickey and goofy options for men and cinderella or minnie for the women, plus kids' versions. but as most exclusive disney items do, they were in crazy high demand with people lining up at the asscrack of dawn to get a sizing/buying appointment. 

as we walked along, something here caught my eye:

i was super bummed that i'd done the coast-to-coast challenge last year instead of this year. and why? well, because for 2014, if you do the tinkerbell and princess half marathons, your medal looks like this:

i cry. 

out in the hall, we decided to wait in the (again, blessedly short) line to take this:

in the official merchandise area, i found myself getting totally suckered into stuff i'd thought i could avoid this year. i didn't think i'd want another "i did it!" shirt since i already had two from each of the other tink half marathons i've done. but those sneaky disney people must've anticipated this because this year's version was not only a brand new design but a tech shirt instead of the cotton tees offered previously. and the running hat was super cute this year, too. 

oh, and the bean sweet-talked me into a little memento for herself, too. 

before i found more must-haves out on that expo floor, we skedaddled right outta there and into the hotel to kill a little time. my friend delovely details, who'd been there the day before and scored a jacket for me that was now sold out, was coming to bring it to me and then work a shift at the expo.

in the lobby, the bean ran into an old friend. 

the waiting area at the registration desk offered fun seating:

we strolled through the grounds, enjoying the lovely weather and each other's company. and took pictures. 

official race vehicles!

later, we made our way back into california adventure for a treat. 

the teen's shift was scheduled till 8 that night, and her sister and i spent the rest of the time at the animation academy. she was excited to add more characters to her portfolio.

and okay, i may have been a little bit happy to learn how to draw olaf, the funny snowman from "frozen."

when we finally met up with the teen, i was bummed to hear that her experience was a little less than magical. because we'd both misread the fine print, she didn't end up receiving a free park ticket for her service. turns out she'd have needed to work TWO shifts to earn it. and she was also really annoyed at having been treated rather like crap by some of the run disney staffers. she said she was yelled at for things like daring to fold shirts on the table and having her back turned briefly as she reached for more work to do. i mean, god forbid anyone think she was ignoring them for half a second. 

as it usually goes when working with the public, she encountered her fair share of rudeness from the people who were coming to pick up their race shirts. she got yelled at again, this time by expo attendees, for not allowing them to exchange sizes, pick up extra shirts, and other things that were explained in detail both on the website and in the race programs provided to all attendees. and while she's not necessarily put off of volunteering in general, this experience definitely soured her outlook on it a bit. ugh. 

at least we capped off the day with dinner together in the parks and a view of the fireworks as we left for the night. 

mad for plaid

when it came time to decide on a costume for this year's tinkerbell half, i was torn between a few different ideas. but after having worn tink-esque getups for the first two years, i knew i didn't want to be a green fairy again. instead, i debated between the cheshire cat and mr. smee.

then after perusing a couple of blogs and websites, i thought it might be fun to try something completely different. at disneyland, there are cast members whose sole purpose at the parks is to conduct guided tours. there are a few different ones available to the general public for a pretty penny (on top of the already rather exorbitant park admission fees), but the "plaids," as they're called due to their uniforms, can usually be found escorting celebs and other VIPs. 

i consulted with the teen and my friend delovely details to get their opinions on my costume idea, and after getting a resounding "yes!" from both of them, i got to work finding the necessary elements for my outfit. 

when i sat down at my sewing machine, here's what i had to work with:

the skirt was easy. just a length of the plaid fabric (which i'd had to order via etsy all the way from jolly old england), an elastic waistband, and it was done. as for the navy vest, i used this tutorial and some knit fabric. since it needed to be lined, i got the bright idea to cut up a couple of the hub's unwanted race shirts. i was hoping that the quick-drying material would help keep me from getting too sweaty during the run. 

i ran into a couple of mishaps making that vest - like miscalculating the width of the front pieces and having to cut it apart and redo it almost from scratch. ugh. and in my frustration, i got a little careless with my rotary cutter and ended up slicing right through the back piece that i was trying to salvage. 

even worse? i managed to also cut right through the dining room tablecloth. poop.

and even after i was done, it was still ever-so-slightly too tight. but it was done.  pretty sweet, huh?  haha. 

you used to be able to order a personalized name tag just like the ones that real cast members wear at disneyland, but that hasn't been an option in years. ebay came to my rescue, although not quite as i'd hoped for. but hey, for $5 i became "emily from el toro."

as for the gold "D" pin that the tour guides wear, i had no choice but to try and make one using some glitter foam and a template i printed out. ebay didn't come through that time - unless i was in the mood to shell out $315 for a real pin. it came out okay, though:

i got lucky one last time on ebay as i searched for a hat to wear. i was beginning to think i'd have to make it myself, but one more search turned up a navy wool cap that worked perfectly. the real one has a tiny gold castle charm attached to the front, though. i thought i might be able to find a castle-shaped earring, but couldn't find one. instead, i settled for this - a charm meant for a bracelet or something that was far too big, but it worked. 

along with my white long-sleeved lululemon running top, i tried it on to see how it looked:

not too bad, if i do say so myself.

anniversary fun

i still love crappy chain restaurants.  especially when they throw out fantastic deals to celebrate their anniversaries. case in point: the old spaghetti factory, offering full dinners for $4 and $5 for their 45th.

the closest OSF to us is in duarte, just a few cities away. the building was the original schoolhouse, which was converted to the school district headquarters for awhile before it was finally turned into the restaurant. 

the teen used to love this place when she was little. her most favorite thing was their mac & cheese, which is something she and her sister have in common. as for me, i always go with the "manager's special." that way i get to pick two sauces for my pasta, and i almost always get the browned butter with mizithra cheese and meat sauce. tonight was no different. 

to wash it down, i opted for something new. can you guess what?

did you guess right?

it's a beverage and dessert all in one!

the hub opted for spaghetti with an italian sausage. heh.

looks about sixteen kinds of wrong, huh?

dinners always come with dessert here, and given the choice between spumoni and plain old vanilla, well...

we'd gotten lucky enough to pick a night when lilcee and mini cee were free to join us. the girls had a blast sitting next to each other while lilcee just shook her head at the hub's and my antics at the dinner table. 

not too bad for dinner for five, right?

i'm kind of amused that our cheesy bread appetizer cost more than our entrees. but yeah...you get what you pay for. i guess my fond memories of this place are mostly of how much the teen loved this place...and the time she waited so patiently for her dinner only to have the server drop the whole plate on the floor right as he was bringing it over. muahahaha. 

but anyway, hey - if you're looking for cheap dinner that you don't have to make yourself, tonight's the last night for the anniversary deal. go get you some.