Friday, May 27, 2011

My Very Own Special Disneyland Trip


Last Friday, 
after dropping a weepy Ahnalin off at school,
 Don, aka my Hot Rockin' Hubby, 
drove me to Oakland airport.

He kissed me, unloaded my 
pink suitcase, 
told me I would survive the flight, 
and that it was highly unlikely
that my plane would be hijacked
by terrorists,
and drove back home.

I should mention here that
on Wednesday, just 2 days prior,
he started having fevers
and on Thursday he came home sick 
from work.
He was still really sick when he sent 
me on my way.

I felt awful leaving him, 
and the weepy Ahnalin,
who felt it was entirely unfair
that I was going to visit her sister
in Disneyland, 
without her.

But the tickets were bought,
and I could hardly wait to see my India!


After checking myself in,
(Boy! Things have changed in air travel!)
I treated myself to two 
completely frivolous magazines
and a salad to take on the plane. 

I did not take any sewing 
or smocking on this trip.
It felt REALLY weird to not be
carrying scissors or needles in my bags,
but I was trying to go carry-on-only.
I failed, however, because I 
forgot that I had full sized lotions
and sunscreen bottles 
that I would have had to throw out.
So, I checked the pink suitcase.

And Don was right.
No terrorists were on my plane.
Phew!


After landing in LAX and taking 
the shuttle to my hotel,
I just laid on the bed and read my book,
alone, for awhile.
Boy did that feel weird!
Nothing that I had to accomplish
and those wonderful Hilton beds!
 Oh yeah, believe it or not,
the Hilton was the cheapest hotel 
deal last weekend!!!!
Not sure why, but it was cheaper
than Motel 6 when I booked! 
Wahoooo!!!



My sweet girl!!

When she got off work, we stuffed all her bags
in a locker and went into the park!


India had been dying to show me 
the Mary Blair exhibit at the Disney Gallery.



Mary Blair was the artist behind so much of the 
art used in Disneyland,
especially "It's A Small World".


Not a great picture of this,
but we got to "Join Jack's Crew"
for the 3-D promo of the
new Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
We ate Fried Green Tomato sandwiches at 
the Hungry Bear Restaurant.
They serve them with sweet potato fries
and pineapple cole slaw. 
So yummy!!


We just bummed around the park a while
and then walked back to our hotel
to pass out for the night.
It was SO GOOD to be with my girl!


Saturday morning, she had to  be at work
at 7:45, and the park didn't open until 8.
So, I accompanied her to her drop off point,
and then embarrassed her by taking this picture.
She said it was a "First day of first grade" moment.
Heehee!


I walked back to the hotel
and showered and read my book some more.
Then I decided to go to an early showing of
"Something Borrowed" by myself.
I LOVED the book by Emily Griffin.
So I practically ran from my hotel
to the theater in Downtown Disney,
to make the 10:30 showing.
By the time I got there, my feet 
were covered in blisters.
I was wearing the CUTEST new
orange Teva sandals for the first time,
and had not broken them in yet. 
Not smart!

Outside the theater was this wax figure
of Jack Sparrow, 
advertising the new movie. 
I actually had to touch it to make sure it 
was not real. 
So lifelike it was freaky!!


After my movie, I walked around a while and 
then went back to my hotel to rest my feet
before meeting up with India after work.
We went right over Disney California Adventure
to go on our Cast Preview of 
the Little Mermaid Ride!!

You can't see it, but that sign reminded 
us that because this was a preview,
and the ride was not yet open to 
the public, we had to refrain 
from talking about it on "social media."
So, all I can tell you is that it
was 
AH-MAZ- ZING!!!!!!!
We went on it twice and it was
so worth the wait!!!! 
It opens next week and 
I highly recommend it.


I took this while we waited in line at the Little 
Mermaid ride.


Ribs, fries and coleslaw! 

After dinner, I saw on my Mouse Wait
was open. They had been
opening it for a few hours off and on
to test it. So, we ran over to Tomorrowland
and got in line! They closed the line right after us!
It was fabulous!!!!
It should be officially open to the public
next week.

Inside the House of Tomorrow in
Innoventions 
in Tomorrowland.


More House of Tomorrow


This is "ElecTronic" at DCA.
It is a huge dance party with the 
futuristic "Tron" theme.

After Electronica, we 
caught a shuttle back to the hotel
and stewed in the jacuzzi until the 
security guard kicked us out to close it.


Sunday morning, I suggested
that we go to an early showing of the new
Pirates movie, but India wanted to sleep in
on those super cozy beds.
So, we hung out until check out time
and then took the shuttle back to 
the resort area. 


We ate brunch at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen
in Downtown Disney
and it was SO GOOD.
Thankfully, India's cast member discount
really helped our meal budget!
I DID take makeup to wear on this trip.
I did. 
I just never put it on. 
I wish I had for the sake of cute
pictures, but I would have cried
or laughed it all off anyway!


We shopped around a while
and I bought a few last souvenirs
for Don and Ahnalin. 
When I told Ahnalin that I would
buy her whatever she wanted,
she told me she wanted Kettle Corn!
So, that is what she got!


I asked India to say a little hello
to Daddy and Ahnalin.


I grabbed her and hugged her 
several more times......
and cried.


And then it was time for India to go 
backstage to dress for work.
I walked back to the hotel and
waited for my shuttle to the airport

My flight was late,
and I got several frantic phone calls from home, 
both from Don and other family members.
Don's fever had shot up to 103.5
and everyone was very concerned.
So my inlaws decided to drive down
from Grass Valley, to the airport
in Oakland to pick me up so that Don
would not be on the road.
They stayed over night with us
and Dad drove Don to work the next
day and stayed around so Don 
would not have to drive.
Don was sick the rest of the week,
but finally went back to work yesterday.
He is FINALLY getting better.

I had a wonderful, wonderful time with 
India. I felt terrible leaving my sick hubby
but was so glad to be with India.

Now that Don is finally getting well,
I can get my house back together, 
and get back to sewing! 



Monday, May 16, 2011

Happy 47th Anniversary To My Two Favorite Lovebirds!


Yes, they are lovebirds.....

or actually Crowes!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Thank you for modeling 
love,
committment,
respect,
and faith
to your children,
family and friends.

I LOVE YOU!!!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Move Over Mozart!


Today was Ahnalin's very first piano recital!

She takes group piano lessons at her school
with an organization called
"Move Over Mozart."

She grabbed her friend, 
and fellow piano student, Laura,
to pose with her.


Her teacher is Miss Becky and 
Ahnalin thinks she is wonderful!


Ahnalin played "Bingo".
She has played this song at least 
a hundred million times in the last 
few months, on our piano 
and every other piano she encountered.
She was so nervous this morning
that she was practicing over and over
starting at 6:00 AM this morning.

Don and I were HOPING
she would sleep in until at least 7:00
before the anxiety kicked in.

No Such Luck!

She is begging for piano lessons for 
the summer.

Ey Yi Yi!


But she did such a wonderful job at the recital!
We are so so so proud of her!
And she was proud of herself and so happy
with her performance!



Nana and Papa drove over for a visit
and brought my patio furniture,
so I tried to get Ahnalin to stay still for 
a quick picture. 

I was not too successful there!

Oh, and you may notice that
Ahnalin IS NOT wearing
a new smocked dress at her recital.

Well, I DID get the smocking done,
but then was to tired to sew the dress last night.
And I decided that since I had just made
her a new dress for the Ballet last week,
she would not explode if I didn't make a
new dress for the recital. 

She was ok. 

I still plan to finish the dress,
because the smocking turned out SO CUTE!


And, oh, India wants me 
to bring a dress for my trip on Friday.
She wants us to dress up cute for our
Mother-Daughter date!

Well, maybe I should make a new dress for me!
Maybe......

Well, just maybe!

Happy Sewing!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Disneyland- My Favorites!

 Yes, I love Disneyland.

If you have followed my blog for any time at all,
you are pretty aware of that fact!

And if you happened upon my little blog
because of the Pink Ear Pixie Blog Hop,
go ahead and poke around a bit.

 So, I had a hard time narrowing down what
I wanted to talk about in this post.

I love it all!

So I decided to talk about my favorite things!


Well of course!
My favorite place to stay at the Disneyland Resort

After many trips to Disneyland over the years,
we finally got to stay at the Disneyland Hotel 
last Summer for our family vacation
when we celebrated India's high school graduation.
It was Magical!


Who is my favorite Disneyland employee?

Why, that would be my beautiful daughter,
India!
She is a tour guide (or "Bookie" as 
they call themselves)
on the Storybook Land Canal Boats 
in Fantasy Land.


She works there full time, 
takes college classes, 
and lives in the DCP student housing.
She LOVES this program
and we are so proud of her!


Currently, my favorite ride is
"Soarin Over California"
which is a hangliding style adventure
where you get to experience the beauty 
and fragrance of our beautiful state.
Yes, I said fragrance, because you can actually
smell the orange groves, ocean air,
vineyards and desert dust!


However, "Soarin" just may be moved
bumped off the pedestal on
May 21!

Why is that?

Well.........

The Little Mermaid  MY princess.
Why?

Well, of course,
she is a redhead that sings and loves the ocean!

She is me!


This was my Mother's Day present from India.
Do you see what is peaking behind the
pin cards?

That would be a preview ticket for me!
YES!!!!! 
I get to ride the new Little Mermaid ride
in Disney California Adventure
before it opens to the general public!!!!!!!!!

You see, my Hot Rockin' Hubby
and my India put their heads together
to buy me plane tickets to go next weekend
for a special time, just India and me!
And the previews for the ride are that weekend!!!
YAY!!

Oh, and look closely at those pins India sent me.
The Tinkerbell pin on the right 
is a special pin that only cast members can purchase.
Special me!


My favorite food in Disneyland
is Dole Whip. 
When we were there visiting India in March,
it rained like crazy on her day off.
So we donned our lovely pink ponchos
and got our Dole Whip at the 
Tiki Room anyway!
SO YUMMY!


Because I sew most of my daughter's clothes,
and all of their costumes,
it is hard for me to decide which is my favorite
Disneyland outfit.
This one is pretty close to my favorite!
For Halloween 2009, 
both of my girls chose to be 
Alice from Alice in Wonderland.
Ahnalin has worn this in Disneyland several times!


I made her this outfit for our trip last summer.
I LOVE the appliqued I made for the top!
I was able to customize it to make
the little girl look like my Ahnalin!


And this one......
do you have any idea how hard it is to find
Dumbo clothes for little girls!
Dumbo is Ahnalin's favorite movie.
I have sung the lullaby
"Baby Mine" to her every night
since she was placed in our arms.
So she begged for a Dumbo dress
I loved making this special outfit for my baby!

I have made many more.
And as I love to design
custom garments for clients,
I love to make special Disney 
outfits for other little girls!

If you would like to talk to me
about creating a special outfit for your 
little princess,
You can leave me a comment
and please include your email address.
Or, you can convo me through my
I will contact you and we can create
magic together!


And look, do you see me?

I mean, the Goosegirl?

When we went in January,
we got to see
It's A Small World 
still dressed up in it's holiday finery.
I was thrilled to see the Goosegirl all fancy!


I could go on and on. 
Disneyland is a special place for our family.
We have made many wonderful,
happy memories there over the years.

Thank you for letting me share a few pieces of Disney Magic
that are so special to me.


Thank you for reading the very last blog in the May Disney Blog Hop. But this is not the last stop! The Pink Ear Pixie has a special surprise for you. Follow the pixie dust!

http://www.thepinkearpixie.com/follow-the-pixie-dust.html
 
If you did not see all of the other stops on the
Pink Ear Pixie blog hop,
you can start over by going to the first stop!


"Pixie Stop" #1 ~~*~~*~~* Coupon Savings in the South - http://www.couponsavingsinthesouth.com/
"Pixie Stop" #2 ~~*~~*~~* A Bunch of Hicks - http://abunchofhicks2.blogspot.com/
"Pixie Stop" #3 ~~*~~*~~* Sports Parenting - http://jbmthinks.com/
"Pixie Stop" #4 ~~*~~*~~* One Year to Disney - http://oneyeartodisney.blogspot.com/
"Pixie Stop" #5 ~~*~~*~~* By Word of Mouth Musings - http://www.bywordofmouthmusings.com/
"Pixie Stop" #6 ~~*~~*~~* Ellie Inspired - http://www.ellieinspired.com/apps/blog/
"Pixie Stop" #7 ~~*~~*~~* Living In the North Pole - http://followinggod-northpole.blogspot.com/
"Pixie Stop" #8 ~~*~~*~~* Goosegirl Sews - http://www.goosegirlsews.blogspot.com/



Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Blog Hop Tomorrow with the Pink Ear Pixie!


Tomorrow I am going to be a stop
on the Pink Ear Pixie Disney blog hop!

I have never been a part of a blog hop before,
I am am hoping I do it right.
But, everyone knows how much
I love all things Disney.

So, hop on back tomorrow for some fun!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Friday, May 6, 2011

At The Ballet


Ahnalin and I got to go to the 
San Francisco Ballet on Tuesday night!

I can't even tell you how wonderful it was!!


Truly amazing and elegant and gorgeous
and incredible!

The tickets were a gift from another 
designer friend of mine.

 a gown designer who now lives
in the Los Angeles area,
won the tickets to the ballet and then
was unable to use them.
She graciously sent them to me on Sunday night!
(You can click on the link and go to her Etsy store
and see the beautiful gowns she makes!)

When Aria posted to my facebook page,
she asked me if I was available on Tuesday
and if I could make Ahnalin a special dress
quickly enough! 

Why, yes!
Yes!


Ahnalin adores ballet and wants to be a ballerina
when she grows up.

And the ballet was "The Little Mermaid"
which is one of my favorite stories,
so that made it even more special!


So, I went stash diving and remembered
this fabric!

My friend, smocking genius Janet Gilbert
had sent it to me a few years ago
because her darling daughter
no longer liked these kinds of prints.
Lucky me!

There was only 34 inches of this darling print
and I knew that Ahnalin was going to 
want to twirl like the ballerinas!


So I dug deeper and found
a half-yard remnant of this pink swirly print
that blended reasonably well,
and started to work!

I machine embroidered the word
"Ballet" on the bodice piece and
cut it to the shape of Ahnalin's favorite style.


The rest of the dress is just rectangles.

I did manage to figure out a way to add tulle,
because this was a dress for a ballerina!

Ahnalin HATES tulle.
She takes one look and starts itching!
Every time!

But I wanted it for this dress.
So I sewed up the petticoat to 
attach inside the dress,
and sandwiched the tulle between the lining
and the skirt fabric.

She was skeptical, but
now loves it.


So, on Tuesday, right after school,
I quickly finished
the dress (well, I sewed her into it
 just like I did for this dress.)

And we headed down to San Francisco.
Don't laugh too hard at me, 
but this was the first time I drove across the 
Golden Gate Bridge myself. 
I was VERY nervous but I made it.

We met our dear friend Ryan,
who treated us to dinner
She then she pulled up 
Hans Christian Andersen's 
"The Little Mermaid" on her Kindle,
so that Ahnalin could read the story.
Because this was different than the Disney version
and the SF Ballet had posted on their website
that it was not recommended for children,
we wanted her to be prepared.


Ahnalin started to get sleepy so I let her take 
Bunny into the War Memorial Opera House 
with us.


When I got this shot, 
I was shocked at how grown up she looked!
My 6 year old all of a sudden looked so mature!

Oh my!

Wait! Did she sneak my lipstick???


This was the stage.
The blurry blog at the bottom is a giant shell.


She was SO EXCITED!!!
She looked around and realized
that she was the ONLY CHILD THERE!


Oh my! 
I reminded her that everyone else there
was accustomed to sitting still 
and that this was a HUGE GROWN UP TREAT!
So, she needed to sit still and not talk during 
the performance.

We then heard an announcement
stating that the performance
was being filmed for 
PBS Great Performances,
so there would be 2 intermissions 
instead of 3! 
Perfect for us!

We were also told to put away all cameras, 
so I couldn't take any more pictures until after
the performance.


 This is Ahnalin after the performance. 
She was totally enthralled!

She behaved PERFECTLY!
And I don't mean perfectly for 
a busy kid with Sensory Processing Disorder!
I mean, she sat still the whole time,
staring at the dancers,
totally swept away into the beauty
of the ballet!

This photo shows her dreamy, yet sleepy
expression after the ballet ended. 
The whole experience 
was a beautiful dream come true!
The ballet was a gift.

Thank you Aria and Janet and Ryan!


Ahnalin wore her dress again 
this morning when her school
had "Moms and Muffins"
to celebrate Mother's Day.

Five minutes after this picture was taken,
she was chasing after a "SO CUTE!!" boy
and slammed into my coffee cup.
She now is wearing her pink ballet
dress, covered in coffee. 
Sigh. Oh well.
She loves her dress and she may as well enjoy it!

--------------------------------------------------------------

In other news,
India got a concussion at work the other day
and now is trying to heal from that.
She is in pain and struggling
and I want to be with her.

And we are also continuing to deal with the 
fallout from having our accounts hacked.
I just want that all to go away, 
but our bank is doing ridiculous 
things to us, and we were the victims,
not the perpetrators.
I know that somehow this will
all work out, 
and we will survive it.
But it hurts and is embarrassing,
and makes us look like flaky, 
irresponsible people,
in addition to costing us money.

We would appreciate any prayers you could
send our way.

Thank you so much.
Sivje