LA Countdown: Disneyland

Ahhh the happiest place on earth. I love Disneyland. LOVE it. Some people don't care for Disneyland, think it's cheesy or hectic or crowded. I get that. My love just trumps all of that. Actually, that's not true - my love EMBRACES all of that. I love the cheesiness, the chaos, the excitement of just being in the park. 

One of my other great loves? Free stuff. I will take pretty much anything, if it's free. So when a friend of mine who works at the park called to say she could get us in at no charge the following day, I just about fainted. One of my all time favorite places fo' free? SIGN. ME. UP. And park hopper passes, at that! We had only been planning to shell out for Disney, but we got to see CA Adventure as well! Hot diggity dog.

"Hi Mom"

DVC is a champ, not only did he go with me, he was a gamer the entire day. We explored every inch of both parks (save for the canoes, BARF, it's not a ride if you have to propel yourself), but I'm getting ahead of myself...

"Embark on a bold expedition into excitement and intrigue!"

Swung immediately left into Adventureland (all you "right turn enthusiasts" may kindly exit the blog now) and walked immediately onto Indiana Jones. BOOM. This day is getting off to a great start. DVC manages to spot two hidden mickey's on the way to New Orleans Square (sorry, Dad), where we walk immediately onto Pirates. BOOM. Half an hour later we are walking right onto Splash Mountain. BOOOOM. We are SO good at Disneyland.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da cheerful pre-plunge...



Slightly less attractive and sitting in a puddle, post-plunge.



One of my favorite spots in the park when I was a kid was the Country Bear Jamboree, which is no longer there now that Winnie the Psychedelic Shroom-trip Pooh Bear took over the neighborhood. *tear*  We ran into the old gang at the petting zoo (where naturally I was forcing Dave to admire the cow with the Mickey on it's flank) and CAN YOU BELIEVE IT nobody was even trying to get pictures with these dudes?! What is wrong with people these days.





Making friends everywhere we go.



By noon we'd made it halfway around the park, so we cut back through the castle and headed for the BEST EVER corndog cart in the world: the Little Red Wagon, right at the end of Mainstreet, tucked into a corner behind the Carnation Cafe (where cousin KK introduced me to the bomb cobb salads what what!).





Best corndogs you will ever eat in your life.
Seriously. I would know. 



When Dave dubbed these "Stephenson handcuffs"
my first thought was to be offended.

Then I realized that was RIDICULOUS. Ain't no shame in corn dog lovin'.

What to do after corn dogs?? Teacups of course!!

Good ol' Alice.

Stood in line for Mr. Toad (weird that this was the only one we waited for all day?) and DVC got some of his road rage out. Waved at Pluto ambling by, caught a glimpse of the Evil Queen peeking out the window high above, tried to convince DVC he NEEDED an embroidered Peter Pan hat, then crossed over to California Adventure to wander for a bit. Hit all the major spots, highlights include: stumbling upon a Newsies parade (!), cream cheese jalapeño stuffed pretzels, a Hollywood Blvd much prettier than the real thing, coaster seats behind a tiny little boy and his ancient grandpa who both laughed hysterically the entire ride. Then back to Disney for another go 'round during the parade (crowd control, suckas!). It was an exhausting, wonderful day, and my cheeks hurt from grinning as we padded slowly toward the parking lot (Goofy 8H!, remembered with the help of obscenities, ala Leigh Stephenson).

A visit to Captain EO?

Up!

Magical Mainstreet USA

We are (apparently) quite fond of barfing photos.
Always a class act.

Sick Day

Stayed home from work today. Feeling bleh.

The cure?

 

+

+

 

All better!

 

How to Cook Anything

Came home to THIS GUY cooking up a storm tonight.
Amazing what a brand new cookbook and a little Jay Z will do...

Bacon macaroni & cheese from scratch?
Parmesan breadcrumb crust?!
Don't mind if I DO!

Magnifique!
(If he suggests home-made mayonnaise, though, I'm outta here.)

Also, I'm deathly ill. Boo.
Ok, not really, but I've got a mean case of sniffles.
Comfort food was definitely in order.

Packing will 'ave to wait 'til the 'morrow!

LA Countdown: Pink's Hotdogs

Every time we drive past this hotdog stand on the corner of La Brea and Melrose I am intrigued. There are some curious tourist traps in LA and I've been eager to find out what the deal with this place was. Line around the block? For hotdogs?! I mean, I consider myself a hotdog connoisseur (a flag I wave without shame), but I'd barely consider waiting that long on line (see what I did there? New York, here I come!) for anything, much less a HOTDOG. After a marathon run of House of Cards (anybody else hooked??), we decided on a whim that a midnight visit to Pink's was in order (actually I'd been planning to casually suggest this outing for the majority of the day, but deciding to get hotdogs "on a whim" feels infinitely better than planning your entire evening around it).

We did a drive-by to check line length. The queue outside looped around several times and ran along the sidewalk about 50 feet, nearly curving around the edge of the building to the parking lot. Are these people crazy? They must know something I don't know. I was ready to bail, but DVC insisted we stay and get something out of having ventured across town in the middle of the night (driving anywhere in LA is inevitably a pain and must be made to seem worthwhile if at all possible to prevent deep depression from setting in). So we bundled up and braved the light mist to join the eclectic crowd. A pair of body builders waited in front of us, a family with 4 small children (at midnight! tsk tsk) behind us. The odd collection of people thrown tightly together is enough to keep one entertained during the wait - high school kids coming from a school dance, an elderly couple holding hands, a bunch of suits smoking cigars, one badass chick in line all by herself. Finally made it to the front and went with a bacon chili cheese dog and a Hollywood Walk of Fame special (chili, shredded cheese, tomatoes, onions, mustard). And fries, natch.

Oh. Em. Gee. There is a very good reason people wait around for days for these dogs. AMAZING. And HUGE. I only got through about half of mine (but the second half was just as good for breakfast the next morning!). All future superlatives will be described as "the Pink's hotdog of ___."

Happy heartburn!!!

LA Countdown: The Getty

Now that the countdown to the big move is on, we are systematically working our way through a checklist of must-visit spots in Los Angeles. A natural place to start - the lovely J. Paul Getty Museum!

Ever since moving here, this has been one of my favorite spots in all of Los Angeles. The Getty is always my go-to suggestion when a few free hours pop up on the weekend begging to be filled with something (anything!) other than walking to The Grove for the umpteenth time. You all know I'm a big fan of anything free, the architecture and views are stunning, PLUS a tram ride up the side of a mountain? Sold. I go so often that sometimes I don't even venture into the galleries, just pop into the museum shop for fun postcards and sit in the outdoor cafe with a book, journal or coffee.

Plan of attack.

Fountain of youth.

Eyes on the Pacific.

DVC and I went on one of our very first dates here - summer of 2009, eons ago, crazy! We sat near the floating gardens and watched an old man shamelessly digging for gold. Knuckle deep. It was disgusting. But memorable!

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