get your kicks

i know it wasn't too long ago that i was saying i was almost at 10,000 page views.  and now i'm nearly to 11,000.  that means i'm averaging about 8 views a day since i started this blog.  with leaves me this question: who in the world is reading this??  say something so i feel less stalked!

ok, as promised here comes some pictures of cars land (in case that video was too sicky for you).  it definitely made me sick.  or maybe it was the hot dog and powerade overload that i had for dinner.  at any rate, i am a woman of my word, if nothing else and so here you go.  there are a few other pictures of other things too... b/c i go above and beyond for the 11,000 times someone is looking at this.

route 66.  the start of our journey.

my drawing of goofy.  though honestly, he looks naked without his hat.

the special light up mickey ears i wrote about before.  only $24.  save your pennies!

my minnie mouse.  the entire thing turned out narrow.  weird.

welcome to radiator springs!

stanley!

the story tellers statue.  a young walt and mickey make their way to california.  love it.

route 66 at night

ok that's all the pictures for now.  enjoy!

radiator springs

here is a quick video of radiator springs racers. and below is my attempt at making a walk through tour of radiator springs.  warning: i'm walking through and the video is super shaky and will give you motion sickness.  also, i took this on my ipod so the it's cut into short segments and i didn't really line them up right so it repeats part of it and a section of it is cut out in the middle.  but you can get the idea of what's going on. and don't worry... i don't actually run into the pole.  you'll see what i mean.

watching these videos makes me realize i'm really tall.  i don't notice when i'm just being me.

hugs are overrated, just fyi

the other day i was in one of the rooms in the dream home and a little girl puts this on



and i realized 'obx!  i love the jobro!'  i had heard this song one time before but it was during a conversation discussing the lyrics "next time i see you i'm giving you a high five 'cause hugs are overrated, just fyi."  and i was too caught up in the hilarity of that to really listen to the song.  i also really like their song "hello beautiful" but only b/c it's about a guy who wants to visit a girl in california.  and i'm a girl in california!  tah dah!  ok, so enough pretending like i'm 12.

i had a mini epiphany about commitment yesterday... really i knew this before but i forget it all the time.   ok, so here is some insight into how my brain works and how i decide things.  so i was working next to where we have some honda crvs on display.  people can get in the crvs and pretend to drive them.  anyway, i was thinking 'it would be super funny if i got on the floor of the backseat of the car and then when someone sat down in the drivers seat i could jump up and yell BOO!'  i realized that would really only work if i was totally committed to doing it.  scaring someone in a crv at disneyland isn't something you can half do.  and then i decided i wasn't that into it.  also, i probably would have gotten in trouble.

and then i thought, you know what, there really aren't very many things you can do successfully if you aren't totally committed to it.  my example for this always is, you can't half do the running man.



that is the running man in case you live under a rock and you didn't know what i was talking about.

the running man is something you just can't make your body do unless you're willing to go all out with it.  you're either doing the running man or you're just looking like a dummy... or something.  and i know this applies to improv and being good at a job and relationships and basically everything that makes a person happy and makes a person grow.  basically to everything in life.

and then i thought yes.  i am into that.  i want to commit to things and people and life.  so, yes.  not that i have anything in particular i was deciding whether or not to be committed to but i suppose that i'm making commitment a priority.  i'm committing to commitment.  no big deal.

in the next couple weeks i need to start researching art programs.  i need pep talks, friends.  pep talk me, please.

day trippin'

after three months of working at disneyland, i've realized i don't ever have to be ashamed if i trip and/or fall.  because people seriously do it ALL the time.  i'm constantly watching people fall around me.  and usually they aren't even tripping on anything.  just their feet.  one moment they're walking along and the next they're on the ground and i'm asking if they are ok.

blanket fort.  seriously, i want to make one.  we got a new bookshelf in the living room and it would be super handy for building a fort.

i'd like to either be living in a city city... or some place with lots of trees and dirt.  i was driving home today and the radio was talking about taking the train from san francisco to oregon and i got super jealous.  i really want to go up to the redwoods and go hiking and just sit in some dirt for a few days.  trees and dirt, that's what i want.  i super want to go camping these days but that's not going to happen any time soon.

moments

people like to come up to me at work and tell me what walt disney would think of things.  i think it's kind of presumptuous to assume you know what walt disney would want for certain things.  today some man was telling me that walt would be happy the park is thriving but would be angry that the hotel was so expensive to stay in.  i just smiled and gave him tips for bidding on priceline... which was the only reasonable response i was able to come up with.

i really love it when someone comes into the dream home and plays music that isn't lady gaga on the piano.  i don't know what beginning piano students used to learn, but now it's only lady gaga.  today we had a man who was plying disney music.  he was playing the intro music from up and i nearly started crying.  what a sucker.

i wanted to record my most embarrassing moment before i forget what it is.  i have this problem that when people ask 'what's your most embarrassing moment?' i can't think of what it is.  but now i have one.  actually it happened in like september or october of 2011.  i was out to dinner before comedy sportz practice with a few of the other players.  we went to the pho restaurant that was in the same shopping center as the theater so that we would make it to practice on time.

anyway, we're sitting there and the waiter comes out and says something to one of the girls about how he came to a show and then points at me and is like "i remember you, you were really funny.  i would date you."  anyway he walks away and we were laughing about it and i was like 'whatever, he's just joking around.' but my friend was like no he is serious and she calls him over and was like 'are you serious because she thinks you're joking.' meanwhile i'm turning colors and shouting 'DO NOT ANSWER THAT!!!'  in the uproar he says something along the lines of no i'm serious and she tells him not to come back until he has some flowers and his phone number written down.  at this point i'm dying and i'm just like seriously, we can never have pho ever again (and i'm pretty sure that was the last time i had pho).  after lots of threats and telling everyone they weren't allowed to talk about any of it ever again the guy comes over with some of the green plants they use in pho

yeah, i'm talking about that  leafy green plant on the plate

  wrapped up in a paper napkin ring with his phone number written on it.  at which point i basically died and sank of the table for the remainder of the incredibly uncomfortable meal.  and that is the story of that.  the moral of the story is, if you want to embarrass me, just ask strangers (or really any person, for that matter) if they want to date me while i'm standing there... and then i will proceed to die.  BOYS!

second most embarrassing moment was when i had my work birthday lunch at red robin with my boss and the general manager of the restaurant.  at the end of the meal they went to sing their dumb birthday song and they make some joke about how you turned 21... but i was only turning 23 and i looked 12. so it wasn't funny and everyone i work with just thought i was seriously turning 21.  and i nearly started crying.  which only made it more embarrassing.  the end.

i don't know why i felt the need to share that but i did.  and so now, you must share your stories of your most embarrassing moments.  and hopefully your stories involve things that are embarrassing for normal people... and not just ACK I'M AFRAID OF BOYS!

cars land has opened

fueling up at flo's

meeting kachow

james' favorite... mater

radiator springs... it looks even more amazing in person

last week we had our cast preview of cars land and james went with me.  we weren't allowed to take any photos but luckily they had the photo pass people standing by to take pictures (as a surprise, they gave us all the digital copies for free!  amazing!)  so anyway, here are some photos to check it out!  i'm planning to swing by tuesday night after work to get some night shots so that you can all see how wonderful it is.

also, it's difficult to tell but either james is tiny or my hands are HUGE.  check out the picture of us with lightning (kachow, as james calls him).  when i look at my hands they look normal size but i must have giant hands.  i will now begin being paranoid about that.

oh, also i saw these people wearing these light up mickey ears tonight and i was like hey cool ears.  anyway we talked about it for a while and it turns out the the hats are programed to go along with the world of color show and during the show they like flash along with the music and change colors with the show.  and now i realllllllly want some.  also the man worked for the news and he reminded me of nate (he was talking about live spots and he had nice teeth, hahaha) and it made me miss virginia.

here we gooooOOOOoooo

i was driving to work today and in my head i pictured when i got home from work tonight... and in my head i saw myself sitting on the couch crying into a bowl of soup.  and then i was like dang, that's the most depressing idea ever.  crying into a bowl of top ramen.  it's sad and poor.

that show america's next food network star or whatever is on.  the show said i get to vote on who wins the last episode.  i've already decided that i'm voting for alton brown.  i know he isn't competing but i'm going to write him in on the ballot.  i love alton brown.

i also love mo rocca.  have i mentioned that lately?  mo rocca is hilarious and i love the sound of his voice.  i could listen to him all day.  MO ROCCA!  i want mo' mo rocca!

there was an earthquake tonight.  but i didn't feel it.  because i was on the stairs.  and stairs are immune to earthquakes, i guess.  i went upstairs and one of the new guys was like 'does the building normally shake?' and i was like uhhmm no, what?  and then some other people came over and we all decided it was an earthquake... and that was confirmed by the internet.  what kind of world do we live in when we can't use our bodies to decide if there has been an earthquake?

on my drive to work today i decided i'm going to write my book and i'm going to use my wine adventures friends as the main characters.  if that's not ok, they need to speak now or forever hold their peace (you know who you are).  nothing?  great!  i will now make you famous.

who wants to go see prairie home companion at the hollywood bowl with me in july?  everyone does?  ok great, let's go!

do a google images search for anne burrell.  and come back.  i'll wait...  ok, what in the world is up with her hair?  i think she must be cruella de vil before she loses her mind for puppies.  if you were going to lose your mind for something, what would it be?  i think i'd lose my mind for bubbles.  i love bubbles.  BUBBLES AND MO ROCCA.  heck yes, i would lose my mind for that.

the results

these donbrons are ready for their close up

so the donbrons are finished.  they look more or less the way jessica's do when she makes them.  i'm thinking i should have used a slightly smaller dish but oh well. 

the cookies, on the other hand, are not great.  i'm not having much luck with cookies these days (the other day i went to make chocolate chip cookies and forgot about how you add the ingredients in a certain order until it was too late... it was terrible).  i followed the instructions but i think the recipe is just terrible.  they taste like biscuits with jelly on them... which, really, that's what they are.  that teaches me to ever listen to someone who claims their "family loves these sugar free cookies."  that's got liar all over it.

it seems like i'm almost ready to reopen the lemonade stand.  i just need to find a few investors and then we're good to go.

also, i remembered this story while i was taking a nap...

disneyland makes me feel like a freak.

going to costuming is a drag most days b/c appearently i have abnormally long arms and legs.  lets start with the pants... i can't wear women's pants at disneyland b/c they are all between 6-10 inches too short for my legs.  10 inches is almost a foot shorter than me... just in the legs!  so i have to resort to using men's pants.  some days i will get lucky and will find an inseam that fits but usually i have decided between 2 inches too short or 4 inches too short.  and what's more terrible is we aren't allowed to ever wear shorts in my department.  the costuming people always want to tell me to just wear shorts... if only i could.  i wouldn't have to worry about my ridiculously long legs and maybe i'd get some color.  two birds!

the other day i went to get a jacket and i about flipped out.  all the women's jackets were 3/4 length on my arms.  they were a good 4-6 inches too short for my arms.  are my arms seriously 6 inches longer than every other woman's?  how is that even possible?  and i know i'm not like the world's tallest woman.  what are the women who are taller than me doing?

also, the jackets they have us wear... they go from size medium to size xxl.  no large, no extra large.  i feel like they're missing a huge portion of the people in that building with the sizing options.  the medium is like i grew a fur coat and the xxl is like i crawled inside a grizzly bear and wore it to work.  neither is great.

baking day!

i often start to write blog posts in my head as i drive home from work and then when i get home i think of more important things like sleep.  i'm currently working on baking two types of delicious desserts.  hopefully i will have some pictures up when they turn out fabulously.

in other news, i really enjoy boats.  if i ever have an opportunity to ride on a small boat i always gladly seize it.  i don't think boats happen enough in my life.

which brings me to this: i decided, the other night, that when i reach my 120 days (happens in july) i'm going to apply to transfer to the jungle cruise.  and we all know what happens when i decide something.  sooner or later it happens.  and my life will be nothing but small boats and small boat joys.  i look forward to this greatly.

i've nearly certainly talked about this before but i will talk about it again, because i enjoy talking about the same thing over and over.  i think what makes disneyland so interesting and fun for adults is the group pretend.  there aren't enough opportunities for adults to pretend and play together and when you're at disneyland you feel you have the freedom to do that.  for example, indiana jones the ride.  the ride itself isn't very scary.  but i have never been on it and had the group of people not act like it is super scary and like you just survived this crazy adventure... when really we all know what's going to happen and we all know we're not going to be eaten by a giant snake or crushed by a rolling rock.  but what makes it so much fun is pretending that we're really there.  the point of this is to say, why don't we all get together and pretend more often, hmmm?

i really want someone to come over and make a blanket fort with me.  who wants to do that?  come on over!

we went to the cars land preview on friday.  i'm not really allowed to say anything about it until this coming friday, so i will just say it was awesome.  i will hopefully have a picture or two to share on friday.  stay tuned for updates.  i'm hoping to drop in after it officially opens and take some pictures to share (i know a person or two who is antsy to see what it's like).  though really, i think it's one of those you have to be there to really appreciate it kind of places.

ok, this cold i have wears me out so it's nap time.

hmmph

i was watching that show mystery diners, or whatever it's called, tonight and it reminded me that bartenders are shady.  i had almost forgotten about that, seeing as how it has been over a year since i have had to work directly with any bartenders, but seriously i'm pretty sure all bartenders are thieves. 

i was driving home from work today and i was angry about something and replaying it in my head and suddenly my brain pictured the person who had ticked me off getting a pie in the face.  it cracked me up.  my brain is awesome.  i think people should be punished by being pied publicly.  that seems fair.

the first time i typed 'publicly' i wrote 'pubicly'.  that is not the same... at all.

the thing i admire most in life is a person who is a hard worker.  in other news, once a person has spent a little bit of time with me it becomes very easy to know what i'm thinking just by looking at my face.

i have been having this fight with my brain lately:
me: you need to stop calling everyone you see a moron.
my brain: wanna bet, dummy?
me: yeah, what's your deal?  you think you're better than everyone else?!
my brain: yes.  also, these people aren't nearly as interesting as your other friends.
me: FACT.

there was a point today when i thought to myself 'if i don't get some chocolate right now, i'm going to flip out.'  it made me think that maybe i was dealing with dementors.  when i went to the vending machine it gave me an extra candy bar.  i considered that a high five from the universe.