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!!

What if life were more like theatre?

When I watch the Superbowl, I rarely know what's going on and the people around me are far more into it than I am. That's what it's like for everyone else when I watch the Tonys. (And by 'everyone else' I mean my parents).

There were times tonight when I literally squealed at the television. Like during this fabulous opening number:

Right? Isn't that just wonderful? Yes. Yes it is.

I am convinced that Neil Patrick Harris was born to host the Tonys. I don't care if he never does anything else in life but annually host the Tony Awards. 

I was a little underwhelmed by the Newsies performance, (of course the choreography was incredible, I guess I'm just overly attached to the movie). I was, however, thrilled that Matthew Broderick performed with his Nice Work If You Can Get It cast. Maybe my love for Ferris Bueller has transferred onto the actor himself, but I can't help but love Matthew Broderick, and I am thrilled that he is back on the Great White Way! Needless to say, I am anxiously awaiting the release of the Nice Work cast recording.

As much as I love the Tonys, I always get a little bummed being so far away from the 'action' of it all. The odds of me getting to see a Tony-nominated musical or play are pretty slim considering I'm dirt broke and living in Central California. At least I get a little taste of what's out there. Of course, that just makes me want to see it more.

A lot of other stuff happened too, but it's kind of past my bedtime. So...here is Neil to sum it all up for you (Please keep in mind that CBS scheduled the Tonys to run until 11, and this number didn't air until about 11:05)

aaand scene!

LA forgot what 'seasons' are...

When I think of crisp autumn weather, this is almost the exact image that pops in my head: I feel such wardrobe-envy for Emma's clothes, and this coat specifically makes me yearn for real autumn. Not this stupid Southern California crap we're going through now.

It's very disorienting to be snacking on Halloween candy and then see Christmas decorations in stores. Especially since that was last week. But I was strolling through Target this morning to get my Airbourne and my cough drops (I blame the Santa Ana winds) and I hear Christmas music and see festive decorations throughout the store. Had I not been wearing short sleeves, I would have gotten so excited. Then I stepped out into the 87 degree weather. Make up your mind, Ventura County...First off, we're being a little hasty here. Christmas is nearly two months away, and we should probably tackle Thanksgiving before we break out the snowman figurines. And then there is the conundrum I have come across in SoCal Christmases past...how I am supposed to feel all holly and jolly when I'm wearing capri pants and flip-flops? I would almost prefer a foggy Christmas season to a warm one...this is just plain ridiculous...

Also, I did my civic duty and voted...like two days ago with my absentee ballot. I'm just ready for this election to be over, I feel like we've been dealing with these campaign commercials for too long. I am so tired of these politicians acting like kids. The self-promotional ads I don't have much of a problem with...it's all the mud-slinging that's been going down between the candidates that makes me not one to vote for anyone because of it.
I also find it odd that Carly Fiorina's name sounds so similar to 'California'...in fact, I find it slightly suspicious

Waiting...

it may seem a little over enthusiastic to be posting again less than 24 hours since my original post...but I'm kinda excited about what I will refer to as a 'blah-g'.
Maybe I'll be the next Julie from 'Julie & Julia' or Betty Suarez from 'Ugly Betty'--maybe this blah-g will be stumbled upon by someone with the power to change my life. Someone who might make a movie about this, launch a sitcom, get me a book deal--who knows? But for that to happen, I think I would have to write about something exciting, and for THAT to happen, I need to DO something exciting.
It has been almost a month since my last great adventure (a two day trip to NYC to see 'Promises, Promises'), and I'm not sure when my next one will happen. So now I'm waiting. Waiting for an adventure. To what? Come find me? Adventures don't come knocking on your door...
I need to figure out a way to make adventures happen for myself. I tried yesterday.
I was going to go the beach, I had a bag packed with beach essentials-hummus and pita chips, spf 45 sunblock, 'A Little Bit Wicked' (K-Chen's bio-a perfect beach read), the People Puzzler (celeb based crosswords...yes, please!) and a floppy hat! I braved an hour long drive down the twisty, turn-y Kanan canyon, actually SAW the ocean for the first time in months (can we say 'worst Californian ever'?) and then promptly made a u-ie and headed back home. The beach was full. No parking, no adventure.

I'm working on it