Happy Memorial Day

Disneyland

The day after seeing Carole King and James Taylor, my parents and I headed off to Disneyland! We were going for the a few days to Disney's California Adventure's Food & Wine Festival. The trip was to celebrate my parent's anniversary.

First things first. The trams that take you to and from the parking lot now have doors on them! Did somebody fall out? Although it had only been about a month since my last trip to Disneyland, I hadn't actually been on the trams during that trip... so I am not sure when they were installed. Sometime since the New Year.

We went straight to DCA to see if we could catch a Food & Wine cooking demonstration... we were in luck! It ended up being someone who was not the person on the schedule... and much to our dismay, it was the same chef that we saw last year... and even more disappointing? He did the exact same recipe!

After that we walked around DCA to see how the new changes were coming along. Disney's World of Color show is set to open very soon!

After that, we decided to give the cooking demos another shot. We had a great experience watching John Sarich, who is the Culinary Director from Chateau Ste. Michelle.  He gave some great tips, cooked up some excellent food, and was very entertaining to watch!

The next day we headed straight to the Captain EO Tribute and Space Mountain.

After that, we went to ride Star Tours... for the last time before it closes to make room for Star Tours 2.0! It will be a bummer to not have Star Tours anymore, but I am excited to see how Star Tours 2.0 turns out.

We rode on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. I got a great score, but was unable to beat my all-time high [which is over 625k!].

We also went to watch Aladdin [mom's favorite!] because there rumors keep swirling around about it going away to make room for a Toy Story musical.

Of course, we couldn't miss riding on Toy Story Mania!

And... we saw Chef Robert Irvine from Food Network's Dinner Impossible!

All hail the mouse!

One of my favorites... Winnie the Pooh!

And, Mickey!

What a wonderful trip!! I'm already looking forward to my next visit!

Carole King and James Taylor

That's right folks! I packed my bags and flew down to Arizona for a few fun-filled days!

My Dad picked me up from the airport, and we headed straight to lunch at one of our favorite spots: Ted's Hot Dogs! We started going here back in Buffalo, NY (where Ted's and my Dad are both from)... and when I was in college, we discovered that there was a location outside of NY in none other than Tempe, AZ! What a [wonderful] coincidence.

Later that evening, my parents, their friend Jill and I headed out to see Carole King and James Taylor! What an amazing evening... it was soo fun to be able to see them on tour.

Happy Birthday to Rachel!

Happy 25th Birthday to my cousin, Rachel!

Zac and I were so happy to be able to celebrate with Rachel. She had a party at her house the night before her actual birthday that we got to attend. Yay!

We had yummy food, drinks, and cake!!

What a fun evening!! Rachel sure knows how to put together a great party.

The next day Zac and I headed back up to the city to celebrate more with Rachel and her friend, Tom. We went to the Toronado for beers and sausages. YUM.

For some reason I don't have any pictures from that night - send me your pictures, Rachel!

Happy Mother's Day

Zac and I visited with my Grandmother, her sister and her brother-in-law for lunch on Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers out there! :)

When we got home to my Grandma's house, we helped her watch a DVD that my mom had made and given her last Christmas. When my cousin and Aunt were traveling in Australia [I think a year or two ago], they happened to be eating at a restaurant where Rachael Ray [of the Food Network] was filming a show... my mom recorded the show and put it on a DVD. My grandmother was very excited that we were able to [1.] play the DVD... [2.] find Rachel and Marsha on the show... and of course, [3.] she was very excited when I was able to pause the show and pose for pictures with them on TV for about ten minutes. Technology... so fun!

SLO Visit

The day after Chris and Karla's wedding, we met up with our friends Chris and Ninah, their baby Violet and Dayes, who had driven up from SoCal for the wedding weekend as well. We went on a walk in Morro Bay and hit up Top Dog for coffee and breakfast. It was so nice to catch up with everyone, and to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Trying to get two dogs to stay put for the same picture is always a challenge...

Parker giving Violet some kisses.

Zac and his younger brother, Marcus. We think Marcus finally passed Zac in height! If he hasn't passed him yet, he is awfully close...

Chris and Karla Get Hitched!

Our good friends Chris and Karla got married on Saturday, May 1st. What a wonderful celebration. We are so happy for you guys! Congratulations!

The kiss!

Husband and wife!

Chris, Ninah and baby Violet!

Zac and I with the happy couple!

Boys will be boys...

What a fun night! Congrats, Chris and Karla! :)