MY TRIP TO DISNEYLAND!

You guys! Disneyland is the BEST!! 

I always sightly roll my eyes at all the crazy Disney fanatic people out there, but I get it now. It's just such a happy place! It instantly makes you feel like a little kid again and it truly does feel so magical.

I've only been twice before. Once when I was 5, and then once when I was 18. We didn't go that often growing up, but this time makes experience number 3 and I loved every minute of our 16 hour Disneyland day! Yeah... we stayed in the park 16 hours, but it still felt like it flew by!

We got to Disneyland about 40 minutes before it opened so we were near the front of the lines at the gate to get in. When they opened the gates, we decided to head to Space Mountain first since we figured that would only get busier as the day went on. As we were walking there, all the characters were out waving to everyone as we walked by; it was the cutest thing! Eeyore actually really startled me because I was walking along some hedges looking past at fairy godmother waving to Jeremy + I when I realized Eeyore was standing just on the other side of the hedges looking right at us. He was literally like 3 feet from me and I didn't see him until he shifted a little! It made me super laugh at the idea of Eeyore just hiding behind some hedges watching everybody walk by. I said "Oh, hi!" to him in a way too high pitch of a voice because he really startled me!

We got super lucky with an overcast, pleasant day! All my memories of amusement parks usually involve being super hot all day, so it was nice to actually wear my sweater for a good part of the day! We planned to put them in the lockers when it got hot and get them for the fireworks, but we ended up needing them more than we thought we would.

 

I'm such a fan of these Dole Whip Floats! Oh man, that was the most refreshing, yummy, mid-day treat! I could seriously have one of those everyday and not get sick of them! Thanks to the suggestion of some of my friends, Jeremy and I bought Maxpass with our tickets and let me tell you, that was the best decision we made! It's only $10 extra and lets you cut in front of all the big lines! I don't know why everyone doesn't just buy them? They must not know about them. Every time we waltzed right by a huge line I kept telling Jeremy I would have totally paid $10 each ride to not have to wait! It really was so worth it.

Some of my FAVORITE moments of the day:

• Space Mountain! We rode it twice and it was so fun!

• Seeing all the characters wave to everyone as we all entered the gates in the morning.

• Indiana Jones- that ride is so fun and just designed so well!

• My Mickey Mouse pretzel and cheese. Yum!

• Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. What a cute little bunch of birds!

• Jungle Cruise- our boat captain was so un-enthused by her job and did not deliver her lines with much pizazz and it made me laugh.

• Fantasmic! Thanks to a really sweet employee, he saw us leaning against the walkway rail trying to figure out where we could watch the show when he told us he could get us under the rope to the VIP viewing area if we wanted. He was such a kind older man and a real lifesaver in that moment. More on that later.*
• The fireworks! We ran over right before they started (because we watched Fantasmic) and another super nice employee helped us find a nice spot to watch.They really start to herd you around like cattle during those busy moments and that stresses me out.

• It's A Small World. I absolutely loved it when I was little and still love it now. I didn't realize how long it was though! It really makes me appreciate my family even more for going on it so many times when I was 5! Such a catchy little song. :)
• Storybook Land. What a cute little water ride! I love any type of boat ride really, but especially when there's cute Disney stories involved.
• Getting pizza at Pizza Planet from Toy Story! It's expensive and doesn't fill you up at all, but it was fun.
• Riding Matterhorn early when there was still a perfect crisp chill in the air and no line!
• Haunted Mansion, that ride is so fun!
• The train ride around the park. It was a perfect way to rest and see all the sights. I always love the train rides at amusement parks. That's one of my favorite things at Lagoon actually!
• Walking up to the gates in the morning with the different Disney songs playing over the speakers. That was the perfect way to set the mood for the day!

 *Back to that moment above, I don't consider myself an anxious person in the least bit but I do have weird moments that sneak up on me sometimes. I I was on the verge of a weird anxious moment when we were looking for somewhere to stand/sit for Fantasmic because the parade earlier consisted of a lot of rude Disney employees telling us we had to move, couldn't stand where we were standing, had to keep walking, couldn't stop, keep moving. Literally when we were so far out of the way from foot traffic and the parade an employee still came up to us to say we couldn't stand where we were standing. We seriously couldn't have been further out of the way of everybody, but she still told us to move. I just wanted to eat my pretzel in peace! I didn't want another experience like that for Fantasmic so that's why that older man was such a sweetheart to help us. Maybe he could sense the anxiety? haha

I just really love the overall feeling in the air at Disneyland! It's just an entire day of being truly present in each moment, and feeling like your 5 year old self again! I love the characters, I love the amount of detail that goes into each ride, I love seeing the happiness on everyone's face, I love all the cute little ducklings following their mamas around the park (are there always that many ducklings?). I just love how fun it is! From the moment you're walking up to the gates with all the Disney music playing over the speakers, to the moment you leave so sleepy, and full, and truly content, it's just a magical place. :)

It was such a fun day and I can't wait to go back! We got there at 7:20a.m. and didn't leave the park until about 10:50p.m. and I still feel like we didn't get to do everything! I tried to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse twice back in their houses and each time they were gone! What the heck kind of errands do those two have to run? Next time, I'll figure out what times I should try to meet them. I also have never been to California Adventure and I want to go there soon! Pixar Pier is opening this June so maybe I'll go sometime this summer to explore that park!

 

I love Disneyland! I can't wait to go back!  

LABOR DAY WEEKEND IN LA!

I went to my aunt and uncle's house in Southern California for Labor Day Weekend! It was a relaxing weekend to escape to. We went to the beach, collected sea glass in the sand, went to the Oxnard Farmer's Market by the harbor, went boogyboarding, viewed model homes in Ventura, ate the yummiest food, played games, and just relaxed together.

My mama + I spent some time looking for sea glass together on the beach and we found some really fun pieces! I found a yellow one which my aunt said is really rare! She said she's been looking for seaglass for years but she has never found a yellow one before. I guess the ocean just knew I love yellow!

Anti + Greg took us up to the Father Serra Cross in Ventura which was a really pretty lookout over the coastline in both directions! There were a few couples at the top sitting in camping chairs or on the grass just looking out over the views which seemed like such a perfect way to spend a morning. I'm just a little romantic at heart, I suppose.

My elote from the Oxnard Farmer's Market! How smart is this! All the delicious things about elote without the mess! Elote in a cup is my new favorite thing. They just take one of those electric carving knifes and cut all the corn off of one grilled cob and put all the ingredients on top. This photo was after I stirred it all around. :)

I really love Southern California and each time I come back to Salt Lake City, I get a little more serious about moving there. This time I've been looking into buying a home/condo near where my Aunt and Uncle live. I just love that area and I love the beach! And I was so pleasantly surprised to find that I can buy a nice condo really close to the ocean for less than 300k. Who knew I could have been living near the beach this whole time! haha

Here's to saving all my pennies for the next few months. :)

SUNNY WEEKEND IN LA!

This weekend I went to Los Angeles to help out at Forrest's company booth at the Cine Gear Expo. It was super fun and the expo was in the Paramount Pictures studio lot so it was so cool to be able to walk around and explore the lot in between helping at the booth.

 

Forrest started a company with his business partner Dan Kanes called Atlas Lens Co. They make anamorphic camera lenses and this weekend they were demo-ing them at the Cine Gear Expo. I went to be a model so when people were trying out the lenses they had something to focus on and compare. It was really fun! Anytime a huge crowd would build up someone would lean in and ask if I felt weird having everyone stare at me and I just told them I didn't mind at all. It really didn't feel weird because I know that it was all technical based. People were just trying to see how sharp the lens was and test the bokeh and flares. Plus a secret part of me always likes being on camera. :)

  

My mom and dad both drove down to see the booth so that was so nice to see both of them this weekend also! Mama actually stayed at the show both days and helped also, and my dad came down Saturday and spent the day with us. This photo was right before we started taking down the booth at the end of the show.

The expo was only Friday + Saturday so we had Sunday just to play!
We went up to the Griffith Observatory and then down to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I hadn't been there in years so it was fun to see all the craziness again! 

Also, the amount of snakes there are NOT fun! I am so terrified of snakes and people had huge ones around their necks for tourists to take photos with and I hated every single moment of that! I would see one so I would walk further away from it on the sidewalk only to be confronted by another guy with another huge snake around him right beside me. Man do I hate snakes! 

We stopped and got ice cream cones at Ghiradelli which were so yummy! I've never been the biggest ice cream fan but it was so warm outside that ice cream just sounded exactly like what we needed! I also really want to go back on a weekday to go to a showing of Jimmy Kimmel Live which is filmed on that street. 

We drove around the neighborhoods and looked at all the huge beautiful houses and Jeremy and I brainstormed how we can get rich quick so we can afford to move into a mini mansion in LA. We've yet to hit our big idea yet but it's coming, I can feel it! 

We also stopped by Tiffen in Burbank to see another little set up Forrest and Dan were doing at the Tiffen Open House. We saw Garrett Brown there (the inventor of the steadicam) who actually filmed The Shining! Those steadicam Shining shots really changed the game for the movie industry, so it was cool to see him there with his steadicams letting people try them on and do some mock filming.

 

Trips like this always light that little traveling/moving flame in me. Maybe come November or so I can think more about moving so I can have one last summer and fall in Salt Lake City. Who knows. But it sure is fun to daydream about! :)

Atlas Lens Co:  atlaslensco.com

"The Steadicam and The Shining":  www.tested.com/art/movies/457145-shining-and-steadicam

YAY FOR SPONTANEOUS TRIPS!

Last night we spontaneously bought tickets to LA for Easter weekend! And the best part is it only cost each of us $115.50 round trip. $55.50 from Provo to LA, and $60 coming back. I'm so excited! I really can't seem to make it more than a few months without going back home but I'm totally okay with that!

Seriously you guys, Allegiant Air is my best friend airline these past few years and I just feel like I need to tell everyone about it! They have the cheapest flights and the airline itself is pretty decent for being so cheap. I've never had any issues with them. When I was living in Rexburg I would fly home from Idaho Falls to San Francisco for like $80 round trip. It baffles my mind that it can even be that cheap! 

This feels like some weird ad and I don't mean it to be. I just love flying everywhere so cheap and when I tell most people about Allegiant they have never heard of it before, so just consider this a little PSA. The more you know! (insert flying star here.) haha

I'm so excited for this little trip! I just need to get out of Utah periodically for my own personal sanity and well being, and I just love Southern Calfornia so much. I love the idea of moving there in the nearish future. Jeremy doesn't care for that idea so much, but I do! I think he would like it more once he goes a few more times. ;)
 

10 days until our trip! And 10 days until we get to fly together for the first time! We've gone on trips together before, but we've driven everywhere in the past so this will be the first time we get to fly together! 

I'll be seeing you soon, warm sunny California!