Disneyland: Where A Kid Can Be A Kid...Right?

So maybe I don't know the Disneyland slogan. And maybe when I got there last month I opened my arms and said, "Ah, Disneyland - where a kid can be a kid!" And yeah, maybe Bryan looked at me and said, "Uh, that's not the Disneyland slogan." And sure, I may have said that as I was walking underneath the 'Where Dreams Come True' banner. Maybe a kid can only be a kid at Chuck E. Cheese, but I say there's one too many spokesmice telling me how to have fun.

I've never been to Disneyland as a kid. I've only been as a 20-something-year-old who often gets mistaken as a kid. On my second visit to the Happiest Place on Earth (because I know that Mr. Cheese doesn't make this claim) I decided that everyone should come here in the period of their life between being a kid and having a kid.

Here are five things to do when you're kid-free in Disney...

1. Spend some time in Fantasyland: I know, if you don't have kids why would you spend time in the "kiddie" part of the park? I'm telling you, these rides are like watching old school Disney movies. As you ride in the little train car, you travel through different rooms that feature different scenes in the movie. Except they cut out big important (but usually scary) scenes so it makes no sense how the main character got out of harm's way. The best example was the Snow White ride. You're traveling along as she meets the seven dwarfs, as the Evil Queen talks to the mirror, as Snow White eats the apple, as she goes into her deep sleep, and then in the next room birds are chirping and she lives happily ever after. Wait - huh? What about the part where...? Doesn't matter! She lives happily ever after. Next ride! I would also suggest going on 'The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.' I'm not sure what type of mischief Pooh was getting in after I stopped watching these cartoons, but apparently he has a really big drug problem now.

You'll feel like a giant in these tiny cars (or if you're me, like a normal-sized person)

2. Ride the teacups: Speaking of acid - the Mad Tea Party teacups are also in Fantasyland and a must for a classic Disneyland experience.

Bryan refused to spin the teacup because he is a little girl

3. Try a Dole Whip float: Actually, try every food and treat that you want. When you're a kid you have to get permission and when you have kids you have to pay twice as much for everything because there's more than just you - but when you're in the golden Youngest Senior Citizen age you can eat a Dole Whip float whenever you want!

Delicious Dole Whip floats that we may or may not have waited 30 minutes in line for

4. Catch the parade, but only for a few minutes: Bryan and I were able to watch a few minutes of the daytime parade sitting on the bridge in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle. When you don't have kids you don't have to try to find a spot on the street so they can see all the characters dance by. The music is loud enough that you can hear everything for a few songs and then be on your merry way.

Perfect view from the castle bridge

5. Leave the park when you want to leave: Sometimes the best part about Disneyland is leaving Disneyland. We had fun, we ate the food, we rode the rides, we took some pictures, but now my feet are tired. When you're kid-free in Disneyland you can leave whenever you feel like it. Just remember where you parked or you will be walking around the parking garage for 25 minutes trying to remember what Disney character floor level you parked on.

Bryan's reaction after the second time the Indiana Jones ride was shut down for maintenance as we were waiting in line

What I Talk About When I Talk About Trying to Run: Part Two

I've got two more 5k's under my unattractive running belt, which I haven't been wearing because I'm not sure if I'm supposed to wear it on my waist or around my stomach. I've seen it done both ways and the real runners look great, but I just look like I'm rocking a mini-fanny pack. Rocking is the wrong word. You know that arms crossed, slightly swaying motion you make when you're trying to be cool at a concert? That's me with my mini-fanny pack.

What to keep in your mini-fanny pack:

• License or some other form of ID
• Cash (I usually only keep $20-$40 in case I need to catch a cab or buy ice cream)
• Credit card (In case there's a buy two get one free special on the ice cream)
• Insurance card (For when your heart stops because you're eating a pint of ice cream after running)
• Phone (Because it's more important than my left arm)

I'm sure there's other stuff that's important to keep with you, but that's what I typically carry with me if I'm running outside. If I'm running by myself I always tell someone where I'll be just in case. I also have been known to take a picture of myself pre-run and send it to Bryan so he knows what I'm wearing (and he's always impressed with my running outfits - bright pink shorts and a red shirt). Better safe than sorry...that someone doesn't get to witness my awesome color combination. I don't usually take a picture of myself post-run because I don't have enough energy to push the button on my phone. Sadly, my pink shorts have been hidden away in my closet as we've been in week 54 of winter. 

March 2014 - NWF5K

March is a great month for running in Chicago if you like wearing green and drinking beer. Since I was going to be out of town the weekend that most races were taking place, I decided to find a race in California and came across The Natasha Watley Foundation 5k in Woodley Park, CA.  Natasha Watley is a two time Olympian who founded the NWF to help fund softball leagues for inner city girls. My love for all things Olympics combined with my need to find a 5k made this an easy choice. 

Unlike January and February's 5k I was not sick for this race. I had actually been training for weeks prior. The weather was beautiful and the course through Woodley Park was night and day from the freezing/snowy weather back home. I was able to run my fastest 5k since I started running last year! Also, this race had the best free stuff of any race I've done. They had free food and coffee, lots of vendors giving away samples, and even gave us a nice bag too.

I also got the opportunity to meet Natasha Watley! Her arms were as big as my giant head.

April 2014 - The Race That's Good For Life

So remember earlier when I said I was finally not fighting off a cold for March's race? Well right after that race I got yet another cold and was knocked out for three weeks. A year ago The Race That's Good For Life was the first 5k I did. I was a bit disappointed that I was not able to train for this year's race, but I'm glad I was able to run with Bryan and two of my friends. Using the walk/run method I was able to complete my 4th 5k of the year with my 3rd fastest overall time.

I'm currently training for May's 5k and am looking forward to running one on my birthday. Last month I was running for pizza, this month I will be running for birthday pancakes. Wish me luck!

A Long Time Ago We Used To Be...

…really into this awesome show called Veronica Mars. Last year I donated $25 bucks to become an official Kickstarter Backer for the Veronica Mars Movie Project. It was a no-brainer for two reasons. The first being that I love this show and the idea of bringing these characters back to life in any form was something I wanted to get behind. The second reason is they sent me an Official Veronica Mars Kickstarter Backer T-shirt. I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt (good=free). If there was a third reason it would be this.

As an official backer I have been receiving updates from the show's creator - Rob Thomas. In one of the email updates I received, Rob mentioned the cast would be at PaleyFest in March. PaleyFest is the ultimate TV fan festival. They have live moderated panel discussions with the casts of various shows at the Dolby Theatre (i.e. where they host the Academy Awards). Uh…you had me at ultimate TV fan festival. I bought tickets and started dreaming of warmer days with temperatures that didn't start with a minus sign.

Bryan and I decided to make a mini-vacation out of the trip and explore LA/Hollywood/Southern California. The last time we were in LA we didn't have much time to explore anything, so we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get out of Winter and defrost for a few days.

The following are some of the things we did on our first day in LA. I'll blog more about what we did on the other two days as well, but like most of our trips we crammed it too full to talk about everything in one post. If you find yourself in LA/Hollywood or want to go to PaleyFest next year, here are 5.5 things I would recommend.

1. Spend Time at The Getty: Our vacation started at The Getty. We spent time at The Getty last time too, but it's so beautiful and free (only $15 to park). Bryan spent the first part of our visit trying to recreate pictures that we took the last time we were there.

Left: Our visit in 2011 / Right: Our visit in 2014

Last time we visited The Getty we took the Garden Tour which I highly recommend. As we were walking around the gardens I remembered a lot of what the docent shared on our first visit. This time we decided to do a Focus Tour of the Impressionism paintings in the Galleries. They were also doing a special exhibit on Jackson Pollock's Mural, which was amazing. Photography wasn't allowed, but here's a link to the exhibit on The Getty's website - http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/pollock/.

2. Check out the LA views: It was a beautiful day and it was the first time seeing no snow on the ground in months for us.

3. Stuff Your Face at In-N-Out Burger: A must when you're in California. I've had In-N-Out Burger a few times, but for some reason it was the best "burger" I've had that night (I order a grill cheese with lettuce, tomato, and pickle). Bryan ordered some time of double x double or triple x triple or whatever they call it on the secret menu that he loves so much.

4. Stand Where the Famous Stood: Last time we were in Hollywood we couldn't visit Chinese Theatre because they were holding a special event so we spent some time being tourists before heading into the Dolby Theatre. This totally reminded me of that scene from My Girl 2 except I was not with my cousin who I later (spoiler alert) creepily made out with in the airport in front of our parents (who are brothers). Did anyone else think that was weird? 

5. Show Up Late and Bring a Sweater: We finally made our way to the Dolby Theatre for Veronica Mars. We got there an hour early because I'm a psychopath and felt like I was going to miss something if I didn't get there right when the doors open. For future reference, there is no point to get there an hour early because nothing happens and because they blast the air conditioning so you'll be sitting in an empty theatre watching your toes turn blue. There was also this guy who was "organizing" the people who were waiting to get into the theatre by Paley Center members and non-members. The Members got to go in before the non-members which I, as a non-member, did not know about. We non-member losers got pushed to the side by the guy working the front door as he let the Members in He explains to us, "See folks this is why it pays to be a member." Then about 20 seconds later he let the rest of us in. Did I not mention that there were only like 15 Members? Wow - it really PAYS to be a member. We could have saved seconds.

Move out of the way, we're trying to take a picture!

The Veronica Mars Discussion started off Rob Thomas introducing a video/documentary that covered the whole Kickstarter process and the cast at different events. Pretty cool stuff, but about 20 minutes too long. I feel like I'm complaining a lot here, but at this point I was freezing and was waiting to see and hear from the cast not watch a movie full of details and clips that I had mostly seen before.

But then my frustration quickly disappeared as the cast walked out on stage. I had to keep stopping myself from watching the screen above them and remind myself that I can actually look at the person talking because I'm sitting in the same room as them!

5.5. Catch a Midnight Movie: After the live panel discussion we went back to our hotel to power nap before heading to see the Veronica Mars Movie showing. Let me just tell you now - that did not happen. At this point we had been awake for almost 20 hours, we flew across the country, walked for hours at The Getty, drove in LA traffic, consumed a million calories of fast food, and sat through a live panel discussion. By the time the movie would have finished we would have stayed up an entire day. It would have been awesome to say that we did that, but I am the Youngest Senior Citizen after all. Don't know what Bryan's excuse is...