About 2 weeks ago I was in a Holiday Mood. So I decided to do some pre-holiday time decorating. Never mind that it was a week and a half before thanksgiving, I was in a Christmas mood. I took some white Xmas lights, and ran 2 strands of them around our large front window. I then took some Silver Bulbs and hung them with some holiday looking ribbon from the lights. I staggered them height wise, and it looks quite nice when you walk in the door, flip the light switch and it is warm glowing lights that come on and not just a lamp.
(Half of the Front window)
I also have a large collection of "mini" sized Christmas Bulbs. (they are silver, pearl and frosted glass) I decided to place them in a spare Martini glass and display them with our "Birdie Santa". Our Santa is on display all year on the table, but it now looks even more festive with some holiday spirit behind it. I also placed a few "mini pedestal compote" dishes with holiday Mint M&M's around the room (much to Johns delight!), and it really made the room feel like Christmas was coming.
Well John Had his birthday on the 20th, (a Tuesday) and I decided (on Sunday) that it would be fun to throw him a surprise birthday party. So I scrambled around and in 2 days I managed to pull off a party :) It was a lot fun. There was a nice size turn out, (about 11 adults and 2 kids) and it was a nice relaxed evening.
We had drinks, and food and john was excited to see the cake that he had been drooling over at Costco. It was a fudge Macaroon caramel cake thing.It was super rich, chocolate, and covered in toasted coconut, caramel and fudge hunks. Just his style :)
In the midst of the rush to get things taken care of (and be a good hostess) I didn't manage to get pics of any of the party. I did get 2 shots, but none that had John or the "partyscape". Sorry!
Then 2 days later it was Thanksgiving. We headed over to my parents house for dinner. It was a lot of fun, food and laughing. At the dinner was My parents, My younger brother (because to call him my "little" brother would be to ignore the fact that he towers over me at 6 foot 3), My younger sister, her boyfriend, My grandmother (moms mom) and my uncle (moms brother), John and myself.
And last but not least, my sister, her Husband and their 5 kids "joined" us Via Webcam. Us "kids" spent a good deal of time in front of my brothers computer so we could talk and laugh with them and see how the children reacted to being able to "see" us while we were talking to them. It was a great deal of fun to see them react to us in that way.
(John and I on Thanksgiving)
Both my brother and sister made pies for this thanksgiving. Usually I, or my grandma, is in charge of making pies, but this year I ducked out and (gasp!) purchased a pre-made pie pumpkin pie from costco. So my brother (who at 16 can bake as well as my mom and myself!) (sorry mom, but you have to admit that his Toffee is better than anything any of us has ever made!) So this year Chris made a pecan pie, and my sister made a peach pie. They were very proud to contribute pies this year......
Of course- they had different ideas as to who had the best pie.
(Chris and I after dinner)
My brother and I got a little loopy after all the turkey and pie, and somehow ended up in the bathroom for a "Zoolander" inspired photo shoot. Crazy glasses- check. Messed up hair- check. too much sugar and nothing to do- check. Crazy photos to last forever- check!
(THE "ZOOLANDERS")
The day after Thanksgiving was pretty Mellow. Yeah, John and I went out and did some shopping, but nothing really all that drastic. We are not the 4 am door buster types..... we were the 1:30pm- after a good night sleep and a tasty brunch- kind of shoppers. I think we did score a few good deals, but nothing that I would have woken up at 3:30 am to get.
Then the day after that (Saturday) we headed on down to Anaheim to go to Disneyland. It was a pretty nice drive and we got off the 101 outside of Ventura and so we missed a lot of the holiday traffic (if there was any). We got to our hotel (the Ho-Jo) around 4Pm and it was nice to get there and have time to relax before it got dark.
Our Hotel was RIGHT across the street from Disneyland (no joke- our balcony view was Tomorrowland and the Matterhorn) and so we admired the view and then went out looking for food. We ended up at Islands. It is a great Grill and we do not have any around where we live. I have only been there a few times, and it was a favorite of John's when he was living in LA, so it was a perfect place to go and unwind (With a tall mug of passion fruit Iced Tea of course!).
One nice thing that has changed about Disneyland since we were last there (in May) was that the "finding Nemo" Ride had finally opened. It was a LONG LONG line, and after it looked like it had died down some we finally got in line.
It was "only" 75 minutes before we got to get on. Lucky for us it was a warm but overcast day- I know that I would have not been able to stand in the hot Anaheim sun for that long for just 1 ride. The ride was a update of the old yellow submarine ride, and for the last 3 years we have been going, this is the first time that they have been up and riding around- the ride was closed even from view- and it was nice to be able to see the blue lagoon again with the yellow submarines riding around.
It was "only" 75 minutes before we got to get on. Lucky for us it was a warm but overcast day- I know that I would have not been able to stand in the hot Anaheim sun for that long for just 1 ride. The ride was a update of the old yellow submarine ride, and for the last 3 years we have been going, this is the first time that they have been up and riding around- the ride was closed even from view- and it was nice to be able to see the blue lagoon again with the yellow submarines riding around.
I also saw this sign, and my first thought was "Yeah- that is always a good Idea" no matter where you are. They should post these on every roadside- not just at Disneyland.
"Always a Good Idea"
While waiting for the Firework show to begin, I decided to play with the slow night speed on my camera.
I set it for night shots, focused on some lights in the distance, and was playing around with making "light storms". (this happens to be the Top of the "Carnation Cafe") I got a lot of cool shots, but this was one of my favorites..
I set it for night shots, focused on some lights in the distance, and was playing around with making "light storms". (this happens to be the Top of the "Carnation Cafe") I got a lot of cool shots, but this was one of my favorites..
On the way home, we were stopped at a red light and I looked over and look what I saw! A Bobs Big Boy! Those are SOOOOOOO hard to find. I used to go to one here in town when I was quite young, and my grandparents would take my family and I out to breakfast from time to time.
I remember that my grandpa purchased a Bobs Big Boy Piggy Bank for me, and I still have it (somewhere) to this day.
I remember that my grandpa purchased a Bobs Big Boy Piggy Bank for me, and I still have it (somewhere) to this day.
The BBB in our town closed years ago, but John and I still go to eat in the cafe where it used to be, and I am always reminded of those "good ole days". It was nice to see that they are still around in some places (even if the Bob statue is smaller, and is considered a "express") :)
Well- That is about it for now.... I need to go get ready for bed, Put the flock to bed, and make sure that John doesn't stay up to late working on his PC.
I hope you liked all the photos, and I will try to not take so long to update things so that you do not have to spend 20 minutes trying to catch up :)
I hope you liked all the photos, and I will try to not take so long to update things so that you do not have to spend 20 minutes trying to catch up :)
Good night!
1 comment:
Ahhh, Bob's Big Boy, those were the days....
Mom
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