Just Another day at Disneyland

So Gabe had to work on Memorial day and Parker hung out with uncle Alex so I decided to take Ava to Disneyland. I expected it to be insane but really it was not that bad. We were going to meet friends later at the park. I didn't bring my camera cause I left it at work over the weekend and my phone was dying so I only got a few photos.

 First thing we did was take a trip on the train over to toon town. Ava's new favorite show has been the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so I wanted her to see all her favorite characters. We went also on the cartoon Spin ride which she has never been on before. She liked it.

 After Cartoon Spin we went to Minnie Mouse House to take a picture of Minnie Mouse...she was Super excited when Minnie would walk by but when it came time to stand next to the characters she was a little intimidated as you can see.

 She loved playing in the house though

 Then we went to visit Mickey...she was not to sure about him either...hmm maybe 3 will be a charm??

 We went and watched the Princess show. She had so much fun running around and dancing

 LOL She got a little nervous when she realized I was sitting on the bleachers but went back to playing when I showed her I was right there watching her

 The Princesses

 She did not really grasp the concept of the maypole

Oh Goofy!! So was the third time the charm?? NOPE ...she was a little afraid of him too. Anyway after this photo our friends were all down and we went to Trader Sams for a quick drink to all meet up then we all went in the park and took the kids to go on some rides. It was a GREAT day! I am thinking I may need to go back this weekend...

The Growing Nest

Over the weekend Lisa threw Amber a baby shower for their new addition that will be arriving next month. The Theme was the growing nest. My cousin amber has a 16 year old daughter and a 4 year old son and they are expecting a girl. She will be Named Sofie!

Check out this really awesome cake!!! I did not have any (watching my weight) Everything on it was edible..even the little safety pins!

 Cake Pops as well!! I did not indulge in those either :/

 I did eat a nice plate of baked Ziti and salad though with a glass of red wine and mingled with the crowd. Michael Burns..why must you always have a sneer?

 There were fun games being played and lots of laughs. They had the living room set up like a play zone. Ava I don't think ever left it!

 Soon though the kids started to merge by the pool. What a fantastic view from this house by the way. Over looks the whole city!

 They had all the guys do a race on who can diaper and dress baby the fastest. My other cousin Candice boyfriend Layne won.

 The guys all busted out cigars after awhile

 Cute birdcage to put cards in

 Love the gift tree. Lots of cute baby things hanging from it.

 and Lots of presents!!

Amber got a lot of great items. I can;t wait to meet this new little bundle!!

Dinner At The Magic Castle

This past Saturday Gabe and I had reservations with friends for Dinner at The Magic Castle in Hollywood. We also booked a Seance in the Harry Houdini Seance room as well for after dinner.

We met up with our friends Loryn and Rhea at The frolic room first before heading over to meet up with everyone else at the Magic Castle

 I have never been before Hence it being a private club and the only way in is by coming with a member. The magic castle I believe was established in the 1960's but the Mansion was built 1909.

 There are 5 bars included in this bar as well as a few theaters where you will see magic acts and the Seance Room. We were to meet the rest of our party at the Hat n Hare pub in the basement.

 When we get in we have to check in at the front desk and then give the secret password to the owl on the bookshelf to be allowed access. The first room looks like a library. I could tell the moment I got there I was going to ADORE this place. The smell was so vintage. As we walked through the opening bookcases and into the castle you could hear Irma the Invisible ghost piano player playing the Piano in the grand bar. It was packed!! Everyone was in their  fancy cocktails dresses or gowns and men in dapper suits all with cocktails in hand. Tim Burton was there as well. I hear a lot of celebs attend this private club and also sometimes perform their own magic in the theaters.

 When we got in we saw half our group of friends having drinks in the grand room then our other friends who invited us came up to greet us. We all had a drink and then walked around a little bit to check out the castle  then to see a act in the close up room. This theater looks a lot like the close up theater but MUCH smaller...Like the size of my living room but decorated with LUSH red velvet curtains and intricate artwork.

 Before the show started we went outside for a photo since photos are not permitted inside. There were 12 of us altogether

                                                                    The LED lighting      

 After our first show we got to watch and WOW it was pretty amazing we were ready for our dinner reservations which were at 9:45. I ordered a Beef Wellington with prior lobster bisque and on the side lobster mac n cheese...heavenly! One thing we splurge on that my husband and i see eye to eye on is dining out...when we dine ..WE DINE!

 After diner we went to see another show and it was fantastic!!! By the time that show was over it was time for our Seance which was at Midnight! Of course the Seance was a not like a REAL Seance. It was almost like a ride. So entertaining and we were all laughing having a blast. It was so nice of our member friends to also get us each a commemorative Harry Houdini collectors Silver coin from the Magic Castle and we were also offered to come back anytime! I know Gabe and I will Definitely come back!! We are actually considering becoming members ourselves.

 After the seance we went down to the basement for a quick look at things. Down there they have the Model of the Dancing ghost in the dining room from Disneyland's Haunted Mansion and a Haunted Mansion sign. It was the model from what they wanted to do for the Real thing...SO AWESOME

                                                    Also even though it was closed we went and checked out the Hat n Hare pub..which had all these cabinets full of white rabbits displayed. There is so much history here at the Magic Castle and it is just AMAZING!! Looking forward to coming back real soon!!

Just a casual day with a little luck

A couple weekends ago Gabe and I and Ava decided to wake up early and head out to get some breakfast. We decided to check out this old diner we always drive by called HUFFS. When we were on our way to Huffs we drive pass a yard sale and then saw another one and another one. I then realized that neighborhood was having block sales. Now I am a fan of junk collecting..or for better words .TREASURE HUNTING.

Luckily for me My husband is the same way so we made a detour to breakfast and checked out some of the yard sales. In the middle of the neighborhood was this BRIGHT TEAL mid century ranch house and a very old couple sitting with a couple of fold out tables and boxes. I knew THEY MUST have something I would like and Boy did they!

I first walked up and saw that they mainly had old vintage Christmas decor out. Nothing so vintage in the style I prefer but still some cute items. As I was talking to the I noticed they have a few large boxes behind them not out on display filled with vintage material. Upon closer inspection I realized ..wait those are clothes and some look vintage. I asked if the clothes were for sale and when they said yes and told me for how much I asked hoe much for everything and they gave me it for a STEAL!!!

Anyway there is some really great stuff in there but so sad for me most of the clothes were sizes 1-3. I am a size 9. So tonight They will ALL be going on Ebay. I got them for a excellent price so I am going to be listing them for really cheap. I will be totally satisfied if I got ten bucks for each one. I am also going to be offering free shipping on them. Of course there are some very special pieces that will go for more.

 Any old diner I come across with an old sign like this I must pay a visit to

 I LOVE COUNTERS!!

 Afterwards I stopped by the mall to pick up some Face stuff from Macy's and Detergent and Shampoo from Victoria Secret ( LOVE LOVE LOVE Victoria Secret detergent and shampoos)  I got Ava a cookie too for being a good girl.

 Oh I thought I would throw this in today's entry as well. Parker's Mother's Day gift to me. It was a nicely decorated box with some charms to add decoration to it

with a home made card and a baggie of home made Lavender Bath salts.
I just love my Parker.

Girls Wine tasting Trip Part 2

Sunday morning we were hurting pretty good. Thankfully I had no headache but everything else ached. I knew first thing is first..FOOD..NEED FOOD.

We all showered up and walked over to Paula's Pancake house again for something to eat before packing up our bags and heading out to the vineyards.

 Paula's Pancake house was like a 30 min wait ( I swear...that place is always packed..you would think it was the only restaurant in Solvang) Since we had to wait a bit we had free vouchers for coffee and a danish at Olsen's bakery next door that we got complimentary from the hotel so we went over there to pick up our danishes to go and a coffee to go as well. I bought a Cheese Pull apart bread to take home.

 I was gonna order the Eggs Benedict ( old faithful) but decided to live on the edge and change it up a bit. So I got the California. It was a omelet with a green chili in the middle and cheese with avocado and sour cream and fresh salsa..which still none of us could get over the fact they charge you there for salsa..in LA it is like a condiment. Anyway it was damn good.

 So do we looked like we tied one on the night before??

 After breakfast we checked out and loaded in the car and off to some more Vineyards. We offered to drive Mary to the train station so she had more time to check out the vineyards with us.
We went to Beckman and it had beautiful grounds...the wine was OK..nothing though that GRABBED me. We took this picture on the property.

 We saw Lots of animals on this vineyard. Came across a cute little frog in the bathroom sink, then driving out saw a huge jack rabbit and then right after this deer! The deer was terrified and I felt really bad for it cause she looked wounded. If you blow up this picture you can see a neck wound on the poor dear ( deer) PUN intended

 Our next stop was Bridlewood..one of my favorite places to stop..it is so beautiful and I have always enjoyed their wines. On the road to Bridlewood we saw a HUGE turkey Vulture. I could not help but think "which way did he go George ..Which way did he go?"  When I saw him fly away.

 At Bridlewood we did a wine tasting which I loved everything they poured. We noticed these awesome horse drawn carriages on the property and asked our Wine pourer about taking a ride and she said we could go on the next trip so we got the Whole Carriage to ourselves. I bought a bottle of cab for the trip. Pictured above is Charlie and Oprah.

 We hopped in the carriage and poured ourselves a glass of wine and grabbed some smoked almonds and dried apricots to snack on along the way.

 Cheers to a beautiful day and a horse drawn carriage tour of the whole Bridlewood property and a delicious bottle of cab!

 This place is so much bigger than I thought! Just fields and Fields of grapevines. It was a bumpy trail here for a little bit.

 Jen!!

 Then they showed us the houses that the winemakers live in that are on the property and gave us some history about Bridlewood. It actually used to be a horse Hospital and rehab center for Thoroughbred race horses. The wine room was not built new but was in fact a hospital. They also told us about Bob Eubanks and How he also Had a lot to do with the property and some of the buildings...Wish I was listening better..hey I was a few sheets to the wind by this point.

 There was quite a few bridges..They also had a HUGE lake and a area with picnic benches under the lush trees by the lake..Which they offer to their wine club members to come and picnic on the property

 Horse butt!

 So nice. They stopped there for a bit and we just took in all the scenery and drank our wine.

 The carriage went for a jolt once the horses started up again and Toni had white pants so we tried to keep any red wine from getting on the gals wearing white.

 Self portrait...Thank goodness I had my big hat..The sun was Blazing!

 Wish it would never end

 Back at Bridlewood . We went back inside after our trip and finished up our wine tasting

 Don't go!!

 After our wine tasting we sat on the lawn and watched nature

 Relaxing in the shade by the flowers.

 Our next plan of action was to go back into town and check out the stores to pick up some souvenirs for the kids. But we all did want to taste at Wandering Dog. They had SO MANY different flights.
This was mine...I did the sweet tooth...so good!

 I liked all 3 of mine

 Jen did the champagne tasting, Toni did the Red, Mary just had a glass and Thelma had sparkling water since she was driving but she did have a couple sips of mine.

 You would think that this was our last stop but Nope it wasn't. Afterwards we walked over to Solvang to check out a toy store for the kids but I just HAD to drop by Lion's Peak because it used to be my favorite and I used to be a member but I have not been there in Years and I wanted to see if it was still good. They did a 9 wine wine tasting for 20 bucks so Toni and I split one and Thelma and Jen split one.  Afterwards we all were starving but knew we had to hit the road to get Mary to the train station in time So with one quick stop at the chocolate Shop to buy my Kids a BIG GIANT Candy apple we were off. Oh we did have to go by Burger King and mow down a few burgers. I also got a CROWN!!

 Back to the real world

 LOL this is like a REALLY bad photo but I just had to laugh at it..bunch of buzzed girls on our way home..I was so buzzed, and beat down and haggard at this point.

 We did managed to get Mary to Santa Barbara train station and we made a pit stop out there to buy road sodas and munches. We also took in the eclipse as well cause a bunch of people were outside taking photos and watching it. It was a strange eeriness in the air at that moment.

OWWWW..MY eyes...Bright light!!
We finally got home at about 9:15 at night. What a LONG trip back home.
I had such a blast and it just went by way to quickly. Next time...and there WILL BE a next time..we are staying 2 days!