It's a Small World After All!

Yesterday, three of my friends and I played hooky (with permission from our bosses, of course) and spent the day at Disneyland! And for once, I wasn't even the nerdiest one in the group. Since we went on a weekday, the lines were pretty short. We started at California Adventure, and we rode Tower of Terror, Radiator Springs Racers (first time), California Screamin', Ariel's Undersea Adventure (first time), and Soarin' Over California. We sat through Turtle Talk With Crush, and Crush talked to me! He gave me a new nickname "Laguna Lauren" duuuuude. Then a hop, skip and a jump over to the Happiest Place on Earth for Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Space Mountain (twice!), Buzz Lightyear and straight to the front of the line for the Matterhorn (favorite!) because my friend was wearing a Matterhorn shirt. As magical as all of that was the true magic happened, coincidentally, after getting off of It's a Small World. When what to my wondering eyes should appear? Two of my favorite people, the camp directors at El Camino Pines (the second happiest place on earth!) I love that one of the first things they said to me was 'Of course we would run into you at Disneyland'.
Then, Disney magic and Christmas magic joined forces, and we got to hear a beautiful choir singing some of my favorite holiday hymns, and even some scripture readings about the Reason for the Season!

Even though I wasn't able to find a Disney Christmas mug worthy of my collection, it's pretty safe to say it was one of the best Disney Days ever!!

Lauren's Choice

Tonight I had to make the hardest decision OF. MY. LIFE!!!!
Okay...I over-reacted. A little bit...
We were playing a semi-friendly game of Apples to Apples and I was judging the round. I mean, it really shows how well my friends know me that these cards were played, but how am I supposed to make this choice:

How, I ask you...HOW?!? It's not fair making me choose...
On one hand, I have been to Disneyland 25 times whereas I've only seen about 8 Broadway shows/national tours, on the other hand I have 1,625 showtunes on my iPod, but only 403 Disney songs. I'm still really stressed out thinking about having to make this decision in real life. What a quandary!

I finally just closed my eyes and shuffled the cards and picked one at random.

Adventure Weekend Part II: The Color Run

The world is a carousel of color...wonderful, wonderful color!!
After a day full of Southern California stereotypes (beach, Hollywood, etc), my friends and I participated in The Color Run 5K. I had never done a 5K before (I mean, I've definitely walked 3.1 miles in one go, but I've never paid for it before, unless you count walking around Disneyland). That whole 'running for fun' thing has never really appealed to me. Running makes me sad, and I just don't like it. BUT! The Color Run is not your typical 5K, it is less of a run and more of a party!
Everyone starts out looking (more or less) like this:

Everyone is wearing white shirts...but don't worry, they don't stay white for long! At every kilometer there is a team of people waiting for you to jog through their station so they can throw powdered paint at you! So everyone is jogging and throwing paint, and there are these color clouds that just engulf you so that by the end you look like this:

Covered in color...ain't it beautiful?

lately...

So I've discovered that the unemployed lifestyle provides absolutely nothing to blog about. I thought trying to keep life exciting was hard before, but when you have to actually force yourself to leave the house because you've realized its 3pm and you've been inside all day, you really know something is wrong.

Last week, however, I did have a nice Disney-day with a friend. That was exciting. I'm always up for a trip to Disneyland and a catch-up with Tabby!! (More the Tabby part, though, since D-land is a crowded mess during the summer...and I'm not just saying that because she's one of the five people who reads this).

Um...I saw a community production of Fiddler on the Roof last night, that was good!! My goddaughter was in it, just as an extra, but I still love seeing her on stage!

Just trying to figure out how this 'being an unemployed adult living at home' thing works. I'm trying to be very careful with phrasing things. Like saying 'my parents house' instead of 'my house' so I don't get too comfy here and decide to never leave. I'm also trying to cut out some time for myself each day. I take my self on coffee dates, just so I can be sure to leave the house everyday.

Half full, half empty or too big

I have this giant mug I got at Disneyland, commemorating the 55th anniversary of the theme park. And by giant...I mean giant!!!

So, naturally...I can't fill it all the way to the top. Whichever hot liquid I chose to put in this cup (coffee or tea) would surly be cold by the time I was half way through. So I don't fill the mug to the top, I fill it to the middle.

Some would say the cup is half full. Some would say it's half empty. Some would say it's too big. Okay, that was literal.

I try so hard to view the proverbial 'mug of life' as half full, and lately it's been taking a lot of effort to see things that way. I'm not flipping over to the 'half empty' side of things, but maybe just the 'too big'. I feel like I have a lot on my plate right now. Work is crazy, my parents are on my case for not 'getting out enough', and I am finally facing the facts that I am too poor to care about any of that. Being optimistic just takes too much work, and I quit. And I'm over it. And I'm tired.

Just another story caught up in another photograph I found

During crazy Christmas family extravaganza of 2010, the grown-ups decided to pull out a box of old pictures...which was so much fun.
Aside from a bunch of pictures of some really stern looking German people, (which my mom has been able to trace back to the mid 1800's), there were baby pictures of my mom and my uncles, photos that gave me insight to what my mom's life was like as a teenager (there were lots of sheep), and some precious shots of us cousins with the g'parents from way back in the diaper days!
I love sorting through old pictures, and I'm afraid that my generation has gotten so digital that my grandkids aren't going to have anything to sort through. 50 years from now when I have my own crazy family Christmas gatherings, they're just going to sit in front of my computer and click through thousands pictures. Plus, I'm not really sure that I want my grandkids to see all my pictures...
I love my digital camera and its convenience. No film + immediate results means I can take several versions of the same picture until I get the exact one I want, it's great!! But I think that there is something to be said of using an old 35mm (or whatever). Film definitely limits the amount of pictures you can take, but I think it also allows you to be more selective in your photography. For instance, do I really need to take 20 pictures of Sleeping Beauty's castle EVERY TIME I GO TO DISNEYLAND?? Probably not...
I'm sure with film cameras, there were quite a few moments missed, but there were also some significant moments captured.
I had my mom make some copies for me of a few pictures of my grandparents, and they are just so classic

This my grandparents leaving for their honeymoon, something about this picture reminds me of a couple of old fashioned movie stars being caught my the paparazzi!

And here's my grandpa!
When we were going through pictures and I commented about how handsome my grandpa was...my gramma's reply was "yeah he was"...oh, Gramma

10...9...8...7...6...5...

4...3...2...1.
As glad as I am that I am starting this year with clean clothes, I hope I have something better to do next New Years' Eve than my laundry...
I hate making New Year's Resolutions because I never keep them. I should work out more, stress out less, blah blah blah…
I did make some last year because it was part of a party game. I didn't want to go too personal with my resolutions because who wants to resolve to be 'less single' in front of a roomful of people, especially a room that included my ex-boyfriend and his wife (who, btw resolved to have a baby in 2010…awk)
I have kept all the resolutions I made last year, I went to Disneyland (4 times, actually); I found an apartment; and I made it to 2011.
This year I need to make more friends, try not to be so much of a homebody, and have someone to kiss when I ring in 2012 (or at least not to spend next NYE alone, blogging in my sweat pants watching Carson Daly's schpiel on NBC)

Here's to hoping 2011 is less lonely than 2010...

Lauren Locks and the Three Bears

I'm very persnickety. I always have been and I always will be.
Sometimes being picky is an asset. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's just there.
I spent, like, a hour today at Target picking out a Christmas card. It wasn't even for me, but I had to find one that wasn't too cheesy, or too schmaltzy, or too whatever. I had to find the ONE card that was just right
I am always looking for that 'just right' thing. It kills me because, sometimes 'just right' only exists in my imagination...Maybe I should learn to let go of silly things like Christmas cards, but I think there are some areas where I can still afford to be picky, such as:
My hair. We don't always get along, my hair and I, but I at least try to get it 'just right'. Last year I got this horrible hair cut...I wish I'd been pickier with the hair dresser.
Shoes. They have to be cute and comfortable. They can't be just cute. They can't be just comfortable. If my shoes aren't both, forget it. The true test...can I stand a whole day walking around Disneyland AND want to post the pictures on Facebook? Obviously this test isn't for EVERY shoe, I have some heels that I wouldn't wear to Disneyland...but don't upset my feet too much for normal day-wear.
Purses. Can't be too big, can't be too small. I hate purses that are just one big pocket, but I also hate purses that are so structured getting everything in and out is like a jog saw puzzle. And if it's my day-to-day purse, it has to be a neutral color so that if I'm wearing black, brown or blue I'm not going to clash.
And last but not least...
Boys. For me this is where my pickiness comes in as an asset...mostly. I turned in my rental car today, and the cute enterprise guy was driving me over to the body shop to get my car. Commence small talk. Then he said 'hella'. Maybe I'm too picky, but that's a deal breaker (not that there was a 'deal' or whatever, but y'know)
HELLA?!?! Who says that?! Ew.
Am I being too harsh?

homemade caramel corn

...makes a big mess!!
But it tastes delicious and will be the perfect thing to sneak into the theater tomorrow night for Deathly Hallows!!



It also makes my house smell like Disneyland!!

Career change...

...don't get me wrong, I really like my job, but I think I need a job that comes with a fat paycheck and a TON of time off.
A job that would allow me to spend my days at Disneyland and my nights at Broadway shows.
Or maybe, I can work during week days, go to Broadway shows in the evenings and Disneyland on the weekends.
Okay, I don't need to go to Disneyland EVERY weekend, or even a Broadway show EVERY night, but it'd be nice to have the option. Besides the fact that I lack both the money and the time to make that lifestyle possible, the geography of the United States and my inability to apperate negates the time/money argument entirely.

There are a ton of things that don't thrill me about living in Southern California, and of course proximity to Disneyland isn't one of them. In fact, I visited the Happiest Place on Earth just this weekend, and as an annual passholder, I appreciate that it only takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get there. One of my biggest beefs with my SoCal location though, is lack of proximity to the Great White Way and the theatrical options New York provides. Not just Broadway, but off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway. Theatres upon theatres upon theatres filled with acting and singing and dancing. L.A. does the movie thing, I get that. There are a couple theatres in Hollywood that get Broadway tours (like the Ahmanson where I'm going to see Next to Normal in December-ish). But only mega-shows get the tours, and the tours don't necessarily get the new shows, or the revivals, or the names, (although Alice Ripley will be Diana in N2N, and I saw Eden Espinossa and Megan Hilty in Wicked in LA and Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp in Rent in SF) Also never appearing LA? The shows you only want to see because the actor made famous for playing the wizard formally known as 'the boy who lived' will be starring in a musical.
So, I'm trying to figure out a plan of attack for the revival of Anything Goes with Sutton Foster as Reno, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with Daniel Radcliffe as J. Pierpont Finch (if I do see this expect a full report on Harry Potter vs Ferris Bueller), and the show that has me constantly watching clips on YouTube: Catch Me If You Can with Norbert Leo Butz as Carl Hanratty and...wait for it...wait for it...
AARON TVEIT as Leonardo DiCaprio Frank Abagnale Jr.
Now for a bombardment of video clips so you can be excited as I am about this:

And if Aaron's voice isn't the most perfect most beautiful most sexiest thing you've ever heard in your life...you're lacking a pulse.

And now you shall deal with me, O prince...

(excuse my shift key) but Maleficent is the most bad@$$ Disney villain of ALL TIME!!!
Easily my favorite villain, and definitely up there with my top 5 favorite Disney characters ever! She's just so...evil, but in such an intriguing way. She is just so subtly evil, she doesn't really raise her voice or lose her temper. She has this quiet, calm evil about her that is just so much scarier than anything else. She is in complete control...and she can turn into a freaking DRAGON!!! No wonder she's the self proclaimed 'Mistress of all Evil' and the star villain in Fantasmic! You'd think there'd be mugs upon mugs dedicated to her. But no. The bad guys very rarely get their mug on a mug. Except during Halloween time at Disneyland. The villains run rampant throughout the park. Their misdeeds are celebrated, and they get to be featured on souvenirs!
It was during one October jaunt to the park that I bought this mug. It says "You're Wicked Awesome" which is quite lame; but it has Jafar, Cruella, Captain Hook, Ursula, Scar, MALEFICENT, and the Evil Queen on it. Maleficent is clearly the star of this mug, because she is color and everyone else is in black and white. She is 3D and everyone else is flat against the mug. Because she rules all!

This is the last of my Disneyland mugs, I promise.
Although, I can't promise I won't come back with another one when I go in two weeks!
I've got a two-day trip planned with my best friend (and Disney partner for life) AllyJo! We've booked our room and we're all ready for 'the time we went in September'*. I am most excited for World of Color!!


*Three years ago, we went in October (not the October I bought this mug), but even still we refer to it as 'that time we went in October' so we decided, to avoid confusion, we can't go together in October anymore

TGIF??

It has been so long since I have had a day off that has actually been a 'day off' that I have no idea what to do with myself this weekend.
I honestly don't know how I am going to occupy my time today or tomorrow. My apartment is clean, because I had company last night. So I don't need to clean. I went grocery shopping earlier in the week, because the company I had last night was for a dinner party. So I don't need to grocery shop. My children's sermon for this Sunday is written. Check.
I almost want to go to Disneyland since I have my pass, but I'm not sure how much fun it would be to go by myself. I guess I could read. Or watch a few DVDs. Or organize the files on my computer. Not sure what else there is to do.
I was going to use today to prep for having my girlfriends over for dinner tonight, but we bumped that to last night.
Two of my college roommates came over and I made baked ravioli (which was delicious...ifIdosaysomyself). I hope we are able to get together more often, esp since one of these girls is moving to The OC soon...which means instead of 20 minutes to get from her house to mine, it would take 1 1/2 hours...sad day. It was so great to have them over last night, it was almost like college all over again. 'Family Dinner', walking to 'sevies' (7-Eleven) for dessert and massage trains in front of the TV!! And what did we watch after our 'grown-up dinner'?? Glee, of course...duh!
My mug doesn't tie-in with any of this, so instead of trying to bridge the gap between the above paragraph and the photo below, I will use this sentence as an awkward segue. Here is my mug of the day:

I got it at the Rainforest Cafe...the frog's name is 'ChaCha', which I found amusing, since my newspaper-nickname in high school was Cha...because since there were two Laurens, that's what they would write on the assignment board. (Opinion>golf carts on campus>Cha)...and eventually they started calling me that too!

The Second Star to the Right...

You could say I have a slight 'Peter Pan' complex...that is to say, I have a fear of growing up.
I always have. Growing up seems like moving on from certain things and adding on a lot of responsibility. Honestly, part of me would be quite content as a perpetual seven year old. (That would be the part of me that doesn't drive, vote or enjoy an occasional glass of white zin.)

There is a poem I read in, like, 4th grade or something. It was about a girl who was turning 11, but she looked at as adding an 11-year-old in to the mix with a 10-year-old, a 9-year-old, an 8-year-old, etc. So yeah, I am a 24-year-old, but I'm also all the ages I have been.
I guess my inner child just surfaces more often than most. Or maybe my outer grown-up just goes away from time to time. Which isn't always helpful. I can't always put responsibility on the back burner so I can watch my Disney movies, but...y'know...every once in a while can't be bad.

Yeah--the 'editing' sucks. I don't have photoshop, just paint shop...but you have to see the full panorama of this mug to get the effect.

And I'm going to Disneyland next month...I'm already gearing up!!

"Ella the girl of the cinders...

Did the wash and the walls and the winders,
But she landed a prince that was brawny and blue eyed and blonde.
But I honestly doubt that
She could ever have done it without that
Crazy lady
With the wand.
Cinderella had outside help,
I have no-one but me;
Fairy godmother, godmother, godmother...where can you be?
I haven't got a fairy godmother...I haven't got a godmother...
I have a mother...a plain, ordinary woman."

Cinderella always has been and always will be my favorite fairy tale. Ever After to Ella Enchanted (the book...don't even get me started on the movie "version"); Disney to Rodgers and Hammerstein...and almost everything in between. Don't ask me why. But it's the reason I bought this mug. The 'Once a Princess, always a Princess' phrase I could take or leave...but it's a Cinderella mug and that sold me!


Alas, I am still waiting for my Prince Charming...

Though the mountains divde and the oceans are wide

...it's a small world after all!!
This has got to be one of my top 5 Disneyland rides!! I don't care how annoying most people think that song is, it is music to my ears when I hear it. "There is just one moon and one golden sun, and a smile means friendship to everyone"...pure poetry!!
I think that if everyone adhered to the values they learn on the 'happiest cruise to sail 'round the world', peace between nations could be achieved. If we realized that 'there's so much that we share// and it's time we're aware// it's a small world after all' we'd see that there is no reason to fight when we're not all that different to begin with. With that being said, I give you mug number 6:

This ride has always held sentimental value for me. I remember going to Disneyland with my parents when I was about 7 or 8, and going on this ride with my dad at least three times. The line was short, so we'd get off and then get back on, and that really stuck with me. Hate on this ride all you want. That just makes the line shorter for me!

And I killed a black widow in my apartment. I saw her, chilling on my heating unit, and then hid in my bedroom for a while. My rational half was saying that I was much bigger than this spider, and letting it keep me in my bedroom out of fear was ridiculous. The other half was shouting "but it's going to eat me and I'll die". My rational half kinda won as I killed it with a shoe from the farthest distance possible. I don't like living by myself if it means I have to kill my own spiders.

I'm not all here...myself...

Mug numero dos for this little project.
This is my Cheshire Cat mug-another Disneyland purchase. Another overly large vessel for my morning caffeine fix, without which (much like the Cheshire Cat) I kind of fade in and out of existence. Well my mind does, anyway...my body stays where it is. Which is good. Over the past few years I seem to have become increasingly dependent on caffeine to live. I'm pretty much a grumpy-gills with a killer headache if I don't partake. It's not psychosomatic...and I'm pretty sure I need it to live.

While I'm not what you would call a 'cat person', I do however like this cat. And this mug because of it. Especially when I stick it in the microwave, and all you can see is his mysterious smile and big eyes looking back at you...creeeeeeeepy

Mug Shots

I have 31 coffee mugs. There are 31 days in August. This obviously means that I need to use a different mug every day this month when I have my morning cup o' joe. Also, I will be deviating from the whining that normally takes place on my blah-g. Lucky for you (although, my only reader is currently off being a secret-agent for Jesus, so lucky for who? I don't know)
Aaaanyway, I decided to start this venture with one of my favorite mugs. I bought this one at during the 50th anniversary year at Disneyland. One of my favorite things about this particular mug is that it pulls double-duty and can stand-in for a soup or cereal bowl--which it often does.
This was one of my justifications for the purchase of this mug (I usually don't have to justify buying mugs, but my boyfriend at the time told me not to buy it because it was kinda expensive-whatevs)




It has the original Disneyland logo on one side, and a retro-tastic map of the Happiest Place on Earth on the other side. And it's teal. And I feel like I could swap it with one of the Mad Tea Party teacups and no-one would notice. Because it's huge.