we love fight night

the hub throws a stinky cigar/fight night party with his old man friends at least a couple of times a year, and this gives me and the girls a chance to do a quickie overnight staycation.  we usually head down to anaheim - shocking - and pick a hotel near the 'land.  this last weekend was no exception, although this time the old lady was out in the desert with her special friend and so the bean was left alone to hang out solo with her mom.  poor thing.  heh.

this time, we decided to try out the anaheim majestic garden hotel.  i've been here once, probably about 15 years ago when it was still a sheraton-owned property.  we pass it every time we go to disneyland and it's just across the street from where we enter the parking structure.  the bean thought it looked like a castle when we got there.

this boosted her theory a little when we got inside:

and we got excited for a second when we saw this, thinking that maybe we'd get to participate too.  magic morning is where you get to enter the park an hour earlier than the general public, and i thought it was only for guests at the disneyland-owned hotels.

alas, it turned out to be just for guests who'd purchased a 3 or more-day park ticket.  annual passholders not included.  boo.

when we opened the door to our room, the bean was super excited to see that we got our own beds:

and then we giggled at the shitty view from the window.

because it was crazy hot, i told her to put her swimsuit on and took her down to the pool so she could have a little playtime and cool off.

and then we headed back to the room so she could shower and we could catch the shuttle to the parks.

we didn't get there till about 8:30, and our main focus was to head to the plaza inn and get some of their delicious fried chicken for dinner.  mission accomplished:

by the time we finished eating, it was almost time for fireworks.  we hadn't gotten to watch fireworks in a long time because they were always getting canceled due to high winds, so we decided to grab a spot on main street in front of the castle and watch the show.  i'd missed it, and even managed to catch the pyrotechnic hidden mickey:

 we decided to get in line for big thunder mountain railroad, and the line was only 20 minutes long.

by then it was getting kind of late, but we were in between shuttle pick-up times.  with time to kill, we went into fantasyland and did the pinocchio and mr. toad rides before picking up a late-night treat in the form of a mickey-shaped rice krispy treat topped with m&ms, and then caught the 11:15 shuttle back to the hotel.

she was passed out no more than five minutes after we walked through the door.  it may have been a late and very abbreviated disney visit, but it was definitely a successful one.  and we were heading over for rope drop the next morning since we were right there.

so much love for the disney.

fabric + coffee = life

much to the hub's consternation, i've got a pretty fat stash of fabric that i've squirreled away in storage cubbies and several plastic storage bins.  there's some seriously awesome pieces of clothing just waiting to be sewn up with all of it, and i'm trying my best to get through as much of it as i can.  i've even cleared out a good majority of my closet to make room for the things i want to make for myself, and i have a running list in my head of pieces to make for both of the girls as well.

so i've mentioned before that i'm in a handful of facebook groups for fabric websites, and they're always running great sales and specials and stuff like that.  sincerely rylee is one of my favorite ones, and on occasion the owner will do a giveaway for something cool, like a new sewing machine or store credit or some highly sought-after fabric she's got in stock.  the contest is typically pretty easy to enter - just place an order and leave a comment on the post with your order number, and you're entered to win.  sometimes it doesn't even require a purchase at all.  anyway, i happened to be browsing my facebook feed when i came across one such giveaway, and this time the prize was a breville espresso machine.  we all know how much i love my caramel macchiatos, and so since i'd been eyeing one of her clearance fabrics anyway i made a purchase and entered my order number.

you can guess what happened next, yes?  i'm pretty sure that the hub never imagined that my fabric addiction would ever result in anything as awesome as this:

if you can't tell, i was SUPER excited and couldn't wait to bust it open and play barista for the first time.  of course, i had to wait because espresso after 4pm just isn't a great idea for me, and i had to go to the store and pick up some supplies first.  but the very next morning, it was on.

here's everything that came in the box:  the machine, filters for one or two shots of espresso, a measuring spoon, some sort of pod holder that went right into a drawer, a cleaning tool and a cup for steaming/frothing milk.

and my supplies:  starbucks espresso, vanilla syrup and caramel sauce.  i'll probably try some recipes to make the syrup and sauce myself at some point, but for now i'm going with the easy way.

after perusing some recipes online for copycat caramel macchiatos, i measured out two spoonfuls of coffee into the filter and pressed it down.

then i filled the water tank, turned the power on and waited for the heating light to go off.  you turn the dial to the coffee cup to start the process of making the espresso and then turn it back to "stand by" to make it stop.  since there wasn't just a button to push for it, i used my measuring cup to make sure i made the right amount that i needed for my drink.  i guess i should just bust out a couple of shot glasses like they do at starbucks, huh?  probably easier.  and look a little cooler.  heh.

did you know that those lines on the starbucks cold cups aren't just part of the design?  i sure didn't.  i poured in 1 1/2 tablespoons of vanilla syrup and then filled the cup to the bottom green line with milk.  on top of that went the freshly brewed espresso, a cupful of ice, and then a drizzle of caramel syrup, and voila:

i'm pretty excited, you guys.  it's a really simple process, the ingredients aren't hard to find, and this is so much cheaper than dropping $4.65 a pop.  and it tastes exactly the same!  and i have cute cups to use...like this one:

i've also made drinks for the hub and the old lady, who've agreed that my version is just as good as starbucks.  and i can't wait till it gets cold so i can try my hand at lattes and cappuccinos and all sorts of fun drinks.

sincerely rylee, you've got a customer for life.  FOR LIFE.

the last hurrah before 4th grade

the bean's school always chooses to start on a tuesday.  i think it's weird, but whatever.  since it was the old lady's day off and we needed to get the bean good and worn out so she'd get to bed on time, we got up early and headed down to disneyland for rope drop.  we'd had pretty much zero bedtimes all summer long, which was pretty lovely for all of us, but now it was time to get back to business and fall back into the old routines.

because she hadn't been in awhile, it wasn't too hard to get her to get up and ready that morning so we could get to the gates by 8am.  we even had time to stop at starbucks for some breakfast before weaving through the morning rush hour traffic.  parking and boarding the tram was surprisingly easy, and when we arrived at the front gates and checked the disneyland app we realized why - the park didn't actually open until 9.  d-oh.

and across the way, there was already quite a large crowd for california adventure...and they weren't even scheduled to open until 10!

we decided to kill sometime and walked around the world of disney store for a bit.  disney recently released some rose gold sequined minnie ears that i really want, because rose gold is my jam, but they've predictably sold out resort-wide with no restocking in sight until at least october, according to cast members we asked.  boo.  and so after we wandered through the store we headed back to the gates to join the lines.  a little before 10, they started letting guests in to make their way into the parks and wait for the ropes that guarded the entrance to the various lands to drop.  as we usually do, we made a beeline for tomorrowland to get fastpasses for space mountain.

our first ride of the day was the matterhorn.  we hadn't been on it in awhile - they recently installed fastpasses for it and all it seems to have done is slowed the line down.  you used to be able to get in the standby line even when it was wrapped halfway around the mountain and still be on the ride in about half an hour.  but now, with fastpass guests given priority, the process is much slower and takes closer to 45 minutes.  oh well.

the disneyland railroad had also recently been reopened after an extensive, year-plus long redo.  the line to board the train at main street was crazy long, but we got on at the tomorrowland station with almost no wait and just one family ahead of us.

it was fun to see the changes they'd made along the route during the long overhaul.  of course, we still couldn't see into star wars land yet (which was the reason for the closure to begin with), but that's okay.  we were just glad to have the ride back.

by then, we were ready for some grub.  having seen a post about their current seasonal "milk & hunny" funnel cake, we knew we wanted to head over to the hungry bear restaurant for lunch.  it's not a typical spot for us, so it was nice to try something different.  and along with our cheeseburgers and fries, we also picked up their seasonal offerings.  here's the funnel cake - it's drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and honey and topped with whipped cream (mickey-shaped, of course) and some sparkly golden sugar.

this was their lavender sparkler - lemonade with lavender and elderflower syrup.  i don't like food and drink with floral notes, but the old lady digs it and said this was really good.

another ride recently reopened after a long time-out was this:

there's no track or anything for this ride.  you literally sit in the canoe two by two and use those oars to row your ass around the rivers of america.  and if you're stuck with people in front of you who either have no rhythm or just simply get bored or tired and decide they're not going to row anymore, you get quite a workout.  not that that happened to me or anything.  hmph.

space mountain was a blast as always.  it was the first time in forever that the bean had gotten to ride it without any special overlays, and she was surprised at how different it was when it was back to normal.  she's also the one who dictated our photo pose, which i'm sure you can tell.

we stopped to look at snow white's grotto and let the bean check out the wishing well on one side of the castle before we left for the day.

mission accomplished!  we'd done over 12,000 steps that day and she plopped into bed and fell asleep right at 8:00.  works like a charm.

sunday brunch = mimosas. always.

the morning after the wedding, we decided to head over to the biltmore to enjoy a little sunday brunch.  it's so pretty there:

it was cloudy and overcast, and we were seated outside next to the fire pit.

you know it's gonna be a good time when your brunch includes unlimited mimosas or bloody marys.  i do love a good bloody mary, but they're so filling.  so i mean, i GUESS i'll just have a mimosa.  heh.

the buffet was set up inside, and we were excited to go and check it out.  we found an extensive create-your-own-omelette bar, all the goodies for a nice charcuterie plate, hand carved meats, piles of shrimp and crab legs, sushi, caviar, and even a kids' buffet with pb&j sandwiches, chicken fingers, you name it.  and then there was a full dessert bar on the way out.  it was brunch heaven.

we took full advantage.  prime rib, sushi, caviar, crab legs for brunch?  and capped off with ice cream and cake?  yes please!

when we'd stuffed our bellies as full as we could, we made our way back out to the front to wait for the car.  the bean and i were both reminded of fantasyland as we looked up at the ceiling:

who doesn't love a pretty door as the perfect backdrop?

oprah's palatial estate is in nearby montecito.  you know we had to at least do a drive-by.  

the property is pretty gigantic, and most of it is hidden behind some very tall hedges and things.  you'd expect no less, right?

we stopped in camarillo to do a little outlet shopping on our way home and found it totally packed with back-to-school shoppers.  we looked in a few stores, but with most of the lines stretching to the back of the store we decided to just grab a drink for the road and get the hell outta there.

it was a pretty quick trip, and i hope we get a chance to go back soon.  santa barbara is such a gorgeous area to visit, and it'd be nice to spend a little more time exploring next time.  add it to the list.