Disneyland 2018

When I was on my hiatus from blogging, we took Presley to Disneyland and California Adventure. It was also my husband's birthday trip. Usually we head north to Seattle but this year we decided to do something a little different. My husband's birthday is just a few days before Halloween and for years now he always makes a comment about how it would be nice to go to Disneyland at Halloween. Well... we never go because we go to Seattle instead and the cycle repeats of me hearing about how we should go to Disney for the Halloween décor.

Well October 2018, I booked the annual trip to Seattle and then promptly cancelled it. I then rescheduled a trip to Disney and told my husband that this year we were in fact going to Disneyland.

Since I had never been to Disneyland this was going to be my first trip there and clearly Presley's first time as well. Presley was already very familiar with Mickey Mouse because he gets taken to the Disney store several times and gets to pick a new Mickey each trip. His eyes light up and he gets so excited so I knew he'd like meeting the "real" Mickey at the park.

If you've never booked a trip to Disneyland then you are in for a price surprise! Even before the increase in ticket prices, the happiest place on earth will give you the blues once you've spent all your money on the trip. I enlisted some of my husbands family and we rented a large house via AirB&B to stay at. The owners were crazy but that's a whole different story.

We did three days in the park with 1 park each day and 1 magic morning. Maybe we didn't do our Magic Morning right but half the park's rides weren't even running during the magic morning. The restaurants weren't open nor were the gift shops so unless you just wanted to take photographs or ride the ride It's a Small World then I didn't get the point of Magic Morning.

I did appreciate the nursing room located in both parks. It was clean, easy to locate and air conditioned! They also have baby supplies in case you run out and a place to feed and change Presley who of course had many poop explosions while we were there. I also appreciated the rider swap on the maxpass (which cost extra by the way) because that did save us several minutes when we had to switch off. If you were like me, and knew nothing about Pirates of the Caribbean ride, when they offer to let your family sit in the front row- decline as you have a small child who doesn't want to be splashed. Wish I would have known that it was going to have a dip at the beginning....

The price of food, water, mickey ears etc.. well you can go bankrupt without ever leaving the park. BUT they do take your photos!

I was clearly unimpressed by this ride lol! Also I loved the new COCO ears! And Presley even got in on wearing them...

Our It’s A Small World Ride. I’m glad we rode it when we did because it shut down the next day to star the refurbishment.

Clearly my husband wasn’t digging the ride either.....

What’s your favorite part of thing to do in/at Disney? 

The Halloween Tree

Since last December, I've been toying with the item of getting a black Christmas tree. At our wedding we had guests sign Christmas bulbs  that we could bring out year after year and display. Plus our cake topper could also dub as a tree topper. I knew then that I wanted to display these ornaments and our tree topper on a tree the following season. Since the bulbs are all different pops of color, I knew that I wanted a tree that would allow these colors to pop. I got online and went to my go to Christmas tree store and that's when I saw it. A black tree. But could I sell my husband on the idea of a black tree? That doesn't seem too practical does it? Well it is....

Thus the Halloween tree was born. It doesn't just serve the purpose of being our wedding tree, it comes out early as a Halloween tree! My husband loves Halloween so doing a Halloween tree showed it's not just a Christmas tree.

This tree is 7 feet tall and came pre-lit with white lights. The fabric ornaments were handcrafted by me. If you want to see them in detail you can go here or here. The other ornaments were found at the craft store and honestly the dollar store. Items like the big orange spider and the spiders around the tree, the rat and the bats were all items I found at the dollar store. They aren't particularly ornaments but you can place them to sit on the branches. The garland is mesh used for wreaths and I found it at the dollar store. This tree took 3 rolls.

 

 

 I'm really happy with how the tree turned out. The people who have seen it so far love it which makes my heart happy. Now once Halloween is over the tree will be relocated to a different room and the decorations will get traded out for our wedding ones. So be honest. What do you thin of our Halloween tree? Do you decorate for Halloween?

Theater Thursday

 

It's Thursday and that can only mean one thing... it's Theater Thursday! Every Thursday I pick one movie that I've recently watched and review it. Halloween is quickly approaching so this week's featured movie is none other than the classic, Halloween.

Halloween hit the theaters in 1978 and starred newcomer Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode. Laurie is your typical high school teenager living in the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois. This small town however, was the site of a brutal killing 15 years earlier. Judith Myers was was killed on Halloween by her 6 year old brother who was dressed up as a clown at the time. He was placed in a sanitarium where he remained for the next 15 years. He escapes the sanitarium on Halloween and heads back to Haddonfield. He then sets his sights on Laurie.

 

Hot on Michael's train is his psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis. He anticipated that Michael would return back to his hometown and gets there in search of him. He meets with the local sheriff and both begin to look for him. Laurie and the town have no idea that a crazed killer is on the loose. Laurie has plans for Halloween... she's going to babysit young Tommy and Lindsey. Her friends are across the street hanging out but she's stuck inside and feeling uneasy. All day she felt like she was being watched. Young Tommy startles her when he makes a comment of seeing the "Boogyman" outside when looking out the window. What Tommy is really seeing is Michael.

 

Michael then begins to methodically kill everyone around Laurie to get to her. Laurie will have to be strong if she's going to make it through this Halloween. The only two people who know that Michael is on the loose is the Doctor and the Sheriff. Laurie and her friends don't even know what their up against.

Hello October

 

I can't believe it's October! Wow! This year really has been moving fast. October brings everything fall and although California is still experiencing 90 degree weather I can still appreciate the fall season. I have to admit though, I'm not a fan of pumpkin spice lattes like everyone else in the world. I have my own favorite things about October...

 

1. The Pumpkin House.

 

Located in Kenova, West Virginia, The Pumpkin House is famous worldwide. The owners of the house carve hundreds of pumpkins and decorate the entire outside of their house and property. They theme flashing pumpkins to music, have food vendors every night and it's all for free. I would go every year to check it out when I was living 15 minutes away from it.

 

2. The Halloween tree.

I have this foot tall tree that gets decorated for Halloween every year and I love it. It's simple, small and does the job. It has a permanent place on my foyer table for the month of October.

3. Beezy's Birthday

This month he turns the big 33 at the end of the month and I'm going to bake him the best cake! I already gave him his big birthday present but I'm sure he'll get a little something on his actual birthday. Love you!

4. Chunky sweaters.

Seriously. I want both of these and tons more. I love a good sweater and these are perfect! Maybe it's because I'm from the east coast and use to burrowing for the winter but I am busting at the seams to get into sweater weather! I hate being cold but I sure do love a good sweater.

5. Halloween Costumes.

Last year Beezy and I dressed up as Popeye and Olive Oil. This year we have to figure out our costumes. Any suggestions? I'm thinking this year we might go as something from television or a movie.

What's some things you love about fall?

Halloween 2014 is in the books

Friday night Beezy and I hit the town dressed up in a couples costume. The Kings were playing and they were encouraging fans to come to the game in costume. We did just that!

 

Beezy went as Popeye the Sailor Man, I went as his right hand gal Olive Oyl and Tesco was Casper the friendly ghost. It was pouring the rain on Friday and while we weren't too excited to dress up and head out into the rain we forged on. We have this little tradition when we go to the games. Once we get to the games, we get something to eat and drink. I have fallen in love with the mac and cheese they have at the arena. It's just so good! So we had just sat down to eat in our seats when a lady who works for the Kings comes up to us. She wants us to be a part of the half time Halloween costume contest.

Um... ok!

Halftime comes and we were able to go into center court....

We had a lot of fun and the kings even won the game! Beezy and I had never been on the court during an actual game so it was fun to go down there and see the fans in the stands the way the players do.

As for that awesome mac and cheese I mentioned, I had it at the Wednesday game too!

 

This was a good Halloween! Next year we will continue our tradition of a couples costume.

Theater Thursday

It's Thursday and that can only mean one thing... it's Theater Thursday! This week's featured movie brings an end to our Halloween themed month so of course it has to be... The Lost Boys.

Michael (Jason Patric) and his younger brother Sam move from Arizona to Santa Clara, California with their recently divorced mother and they have no idea what their in store for. When the boys get bored and start looking around town for entertainment they land at the Boardwalk. They start meeting kids their own age and start getting to know people. When the boys start to notice flyers for missing teens they begin to wonder what's making them go missing. They befriend two local teens that inform them that the town is full of vampires.

Michael and Sam don't believe them but they find the amount of missing teens odd. Michael sees a girl named Star, at the boardwalk that he finds beautiful but she appears to have a boyfriend who also happens to be the leader of the local gang (Keifer Southerland). When Michael tries to get close to her she warns him to stay away because of the gang. When Michael continues to hang around the gang they initiate him into the gang by drinking a bottle of wine. Or so he thinks it's wine...

Star warns him not to drink the bottle. The next day Michael wakes up and feels different. He doesn't know why the light is bothering him. He doesn't know why he doesn't feel like eating and he doesn't know why he wants to just sleep all day. When night falls he heads to the boardwalk and starts to get a better idea of what is going on....

Watch this classic movie! It's sure to scare you this Halloween!

Theater Thursday

It's Thursday and that can only mean one thing... it's Theater Thursday! It's October and that means it's all Halloween movies this month. This week's featured movie is, Halloween!

This 1978 classic movie still frightens people to this day. The star was an unknown girl, Jamie Lee Curtis. While she had a famous mother and father she was still an unknown actress who was getting her first big break. From the moment the piano music starts you are thrilled and scared to the wits. Now what's the movie actually about?

Jamie Lee Curtis stars as Laurie, a young high school girl living in Haddonfield, Illinois. It's Halloween and she's stuck babysitting for the night. Her best friend who lives across the street is doing the same thing. What makes Laurie feel scared is the fact that they live in the town of where the Michael Myers tragedy occurred years before. A small boy named Michael, stabbed to death his sister and boyfriend. He was then taken to a mental institution where he was to stay for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, for Laurie and the town he has escaped and in his terrorizing mind he only has one goal.... getting back to Haddonfield.

The evening stars out like any other Halloween evening, high school teenagers trying to scare each other. Laurie frightens faster than most and doesn't want to play along. When she thinks her friends are starting to play jokes with her she isn't happy. The town however, starts to realize it's not just teenagers causing the problems. Will Laurie live through this night of Halloween? Watch the classic and find out!

Theater Thursday

It's Thursday and that can only mean one thing... it's Theater Thursday! Since we're in October it's a Halloween themed month of movies! This week's featured movie is, Scream.

In 1996, Scream hit the big screen. Scream came to the box office when horror films had died down. There hadn't been a movie that really scared the teen generation of the time. That all changed as soon as Drew Barrymore hit the screen. Wes Craven brought a new story to the screen that related to teenagers.

 

High school student Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) was going through a hard time. It was the year anniversary of her mother's brutal murder. Her dad was going out of town and her relationship with her boyfriend was rocky. In her sleepy, little town of Woodsboro everyone knew who she was because of her mother's death and the scandal that went along with it. When the town is shocked once again with the surprise double murder of two teenagers Sydney and the rest of the town are put on edge. Since her dad is away she's entrusted with her best friend and their family who includes a man in law enforcement.

What Sydney learns very quickly is that these two teens murders have far more in common with her than she ever imagined. Now the killer has his eyes set on her and anyone else that comes along in his path. The town goes on lockdown, setting a curfew for all of it's residents. This is meant to protect them but will it? Who is murdering these teens and why? Who will make it through the weekend of this nightmare anniversary?

 

Watch this classic horror film and find out who dies and survives.

 

This movie launched all of the horror films that followed. There has even been 4 Scream movies made to date.

Theater Thursday

It's Thursday and that can only mean one thing... it's Theater Thursday! Now that we are in October this month's movies are going to be Halloween themed! This week's featured movie is my favorite Halloween movie... Hocus Pocus!

Hocus Pocus hit the big screen in 1993 and was a smash! Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy star as the three Sanderson Sisters. These wicked witches use to take children and experiment on them until one day they stole the wrong child, a young girl named Emily. The town rose up against them and sought them out to kill them. The Sanderson sisters though were clever. Right before they were to die they made a spell that if a Virgin would lite a candle they had left on Halloween night they would come back to life. Over the years their house was turned into a museum that held that candle. Locals didn't believe the candle was true but no one ever lit it. It was in the museum and a part of the towns history.

Then Max and his sister Dani move to town from Los Angeles, California the week of Halloween. Trying to make new friends and impress a girl he tours the museum with, Max decides to set a match to the candle. He doesn't believe the ridiculous story and he's going to prove it. The candle sparks and instantly they realize he made a huge mistake. The Sanderson sisters are back!

The rest of the night they set out about town on Halloween trying to figure out how they can stay alive while Max tries to figure out how he can right his wrong. The results are hilarious!

If you've never seen this cult Halloween move, check it out! You won't be sad!

Halloween 2013

Before this place becomes all Christmas all the time. Let's talk about Halloween!

 Note that vintage coat....
 

I ended up hanging out with a group of friends. We all gathered to watch some Halloween movies and pass out candy to trick or treaters. Once that was done for the evening we ended up going downtown to a place that's fun and I had never been to called Faces.

Faces has multiple rooms that all play different times of music. They have a hip hop room, salsa room etc. They also have a downstairs and an upstairs. They also had a costume contest taking place for Halloween. Someone in our group entered and ended up placing 4th as Wonder Woman.

 

Clearly I rocked some vintage 1970s clothing... It was a good time but it reminded me that sometimes I'd rather just lay in bed and watch television. I did see some great costumes though! Hope everyone else had a Happy Halloween!