Another hobby?!!

Ok, technically (look out JUSTIFICATION coming through!) it is an existing hobby. It is just getting more attention. I had just upgraded my camera to this:



And here are "her" first shots.
Happy Birthday Emma!




I will be controlling myself and not turn this blog into a photo gallery...

Poncho Sanchez at Steamer's in Fullerton

I've seen Poncho Sanchez in concert before but it has always been in a large venue and filled with loud and usually drunk people which took a lot out of the "let's go watch Poncho Live!" experience. So, when I found out that he was going to be at Steamer's in Fullerton, I jumped at the chance to get tickets. Steamer's is a great place to watch bands up close. The accoustics are great and Terence and his staff are awesome!
Poncho and his band did not dissapoint. Even though it was their second show of the night, they were still rockin' the house. They played a lot of music from their upcoming CD "Do It".






I just wished that I had not left my camera in the car. These were all taken with the camera in my cell phone.

Minnie and Friends Breakfast

My god-daughter, Amanda had a birthday last week. I made reservations for the Minnie and Friends Character breakfast in Disneyland's Plaza Inn. The food was not too bad...

Ok, so I was playing around with the berries. They also has the usual breakfast fare: eggs, sausages, bacon, etc... Oh and "make your own omelettes". But really, the cool thing was that the characters are all there and come to your table for photo ops and signing autographs (if you' re into that...).




The other characters present were Captain Hook (though he was leaving as we got there), Eeyore, Tigger, Winnie the Pooh, the Fairy god-mother (don't know her actual name), Chip and Dale.

Amanda had a plan (well, sort of a plan) on how to spend the day. Since we've been going to Disneyland more or less once a month since June of last year, we have the luxury to take it easy when we do go. We try to come up with themes so we don't get burned out. This time we went on rides we've either never been on or haven't been on since "forever".

So...
Snow White's Scary Adventures - First time


Then there was Alice in Wonderland - Also the first time.

I noticed that they never say anything about keeping your head inside... "Off with their heads!"

Space Mountain - Ok, so we just like this one.


And Buzz Lightyear - Running competition...

Amanda says that she is using her "It's been a while" card. I don't know, over 260, 000 points spread? uh huh... Heheheheh.

Apparently, there was/is some cheerleading competition going on at the convention center because the park was full of them. I always listen in on conversations going on around me at the park, it is hard not to listen, especially in lines. In the line to Space Mountain, it said it was a 45 minute wait, there were these two girls behind us that not only kept talking the entire time without taking a breathe but the tangents their conversation took left me dizzy. Amanda and I were wondering at what point of the conversation would my sister, Celia break in. I thought when they started comparing the movie 300 to American History X was when she would call then idiots but it was already far into the 30 minutes mark...
My Disneyland Ju-ju is still 100%. Since I've gotten my Annual Pass, the park has never been insanely crowded. Today, I heard people complaining that it was "Sooo crowded".
In fact there was one couple who were having this conversation:

Husband: Ok, this will be the last time we ever come here on a Friday.
Wife: Or during Spring Break.
Husband: We can't come during the summer, it is just too
crowded.
Wife: It's just ridiculous...
Husband: The best time would have to be in October.
Wife: but not too close to Halloween...

It went on like this as they leisurely walked down Main Street. I was thinking "What the...?"






For lunch, we went to Cafe Orleans. We had the Monte Cristo, Crab Salad Sandwich and Pomme Frittes (garlic fries). The fries were great and the sauce it came with awesome but the sandwiched were just ok. I had heard so much about the Monte Cristo but I didn't know what kind of sandwich it was. It did not live up to the hype and the crab salad sandwich was just..."eh".
BUT! we also had these! Mickey Beignets!

YUMMMM! One word of warning... When you pop them in your mouth, do not inhale. They put a lot of powdered sugar on these babies! I was coughing powdered sugar for a while.

We also checked out the show at the Golden Horseshoe.





Lots of corny jokes, hillbilly humor and true to Disney fashion, talented musicians. Great show to watch when you want to slow down a bit.

Disneyland is really geared towards the kid and kid at heart. While waiting for the parade to start one cast member started talking/playing with a family and before you know it all the kids within earshot were doing their best Peter Pan flying impersonation. Other cast members joined in and one of those many cheerleaders in the park that day.




Then the parade arrived. I've seen this parade already but I love a parade!





Funny thing about Chip and Dale, Amanda and I were wondering if there is really a difference between them. At the time, neither of us knew but she pointed it out after she saw the pictures that one has a brown nose and the other black. Now to figure out which is which?

We were able to stake out great spot in front of the castle for the fireworks even though it was already pretty late (gotta love that ju-ju).


Then this happenned...



Oh well, next time.

The Getty Villa Museum

I went back to the Getty Villa last Saturday.


















There was the Family Forum, where you can design/paint a vase...


Hank showing us how he really feels...


and I have no idea...

Hello? Korea calling...

I got a phone call the other day. My phone showed that it was an unknown number and I was thinking of letting it go to voice mail. At first I did not recognize the voice and I was thinking, "Oh great! Another telemarketer (I had gotten one the past week)!"

"Hello, It's Mollie!"

Mollie is currently serving in the Army and stationed in Korea. I had met her under rather sad circumstances as she was in town to attend her friend's funeral who died in Iraq last year. I was with the Patriot Guard Riders and we made sure her stay here in Los Angeles was as painless as possible. She had mentioned coming back to visit sometime this year, though nothing was planned out yet.

It took a while to register, then I'm thought, "She's in town!"
I had a list of a bunch of things to do when she came to town and I'm screaming in my head, "No fair! No warning!" I calmed down a little and learned she was still in Korea. She was warning me of another package she had sent me.

I was thinking the last time she sent me a package...


We spoke for a while and got caught up a little. Turns out she has been pretty busy and will be receiving her Associate of Arts Degreee soon... Woohoo!
We have been keeping in touch through emails since she was here last year and I've even spoken to her mom (through emails) a couple of times (that's how I found out about your snowflakes collection, Mollie).

So the package arrived yesterday. It was not as large as the last one (no Big Wheel this time). The theme was still motorcycles and she also included a few things for my sister, Celia and her love of all things "Hello Kitty". Great another friend feeding her addiction, hahaha. So here are the contents of that package...

1. 2 motorcycle sculptures
2. 2 sets of small flags (American an Patriot Guard Riders) to mount on the cycles
3. A package of Fig Newtons (she read #89)
4. A bunch of Hello Kitty stuff for Celia.
5. A hot glue gun (she even sent one to make sure I would be able to mount the flags to the motorcycle sculptures!).

So here they are:

Thank you Mollie! It's unfortunate that there are restrictions to what I can send you through your APO address. Reading the rules and regulations, it is hard to know what is allowed and not allowed.

It is always great talking to friends and this was no exception.