Disney Day!

Sunday we had a Greek dinner while doing laundry [http://www.mezzamg.com/] and later on went to the Griffith Observatory [http://www.griffithobs.org/] in the Hollywood Hills for some nice nighttime views of the Los Angeles area. When the observatory closed at 10, we went to House of Pies [http://house-of-pies.net/home.nxg].

Monday was DISNEY DAY. We did 1-day park hopper tickets so we could enjoy both Disneyland and California Adventure. We walked a bit through Downtown Disney before going to Disneyland first. After a bit of walking (picture near castle and Walt & Mickey statue), our first ride was Pirates of the Caribbean, which seemed different (added effects and more water to me - I ended up splashed more than once). We went on Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and then we went to California Adventure, where we took passes for the show at night (World of Color for the 10:15 show). Here we saw that Ariel's Undersea Adventure was closed because of technical difficulties (sadly, we never had a chance to go on and only saw the ride outside and inside entrances, with a pretty mural where you board the ride) and then went on Toy Story Midway Mania. We then had lunch (salad in bread bowl for me and Mexican for Jenn and Scott - these were tacos with beans and rice and guacamole on the side). After that we met with a Disney Vacation Club person, who gave us an appointment to talk about the program later in the afternoon. While we waited, we went on Soarin' Over California. After our Vacation Club presentation (free cold drinks and Milano cookies, plus we saw some of the Disneyland Resort hotels and new hotel in Hawaii room models while earning two free fastpasses per person), we rode California Screamin', before going back to Disneyland for a bit. We did fastpasses for Space Mountain and then Mr. Toad's Wild Ride before going back to California Adventure. Once back, we went to the TRON party (elecTRONica, where there is a dj and dancers and an outside club with music and cocktails - alcoholic and non) and then waited for World of Color. This show was being built last time I was here and it was AMAZING. We saw some fireworks at Disneyland while we waited, but World of Color was beautiful; the most gorgeous Disney night show I have ever seen. So colorful and clever with great music and use of characters. After the show, it was back to Disneyland for Star Tours, which is now 3D and has a different story (which is why we waited over an hour and the wait was that long whenever we checked). It was worth the wait. By then it was after the park closing time, so we headed back tired and happy. We may have missed out on some rides and shows, but we hit almost every great/favorite ride. It was a fun day and the park was not too, too busy, which helped.

Today might involve heading to Santa Monica for food truck dinner and checking out the pier and beach. Tomorrow is still being planned as going towards San Diego for a fair. Not sure about Thursday or Friday morning before I head to the airport.

"Can't Wait to Have My Own Show Again..."

Recent activities:
-Walked and shopped (mostly book-related when it comes to purchases...) along Third Street Promenade area in Santa Monica (Barnes & Noble, Disney Store, Sur La Table, and Anthropologie were a few of the stops) [http://www.santamonica.com/visitors/what-to-do/shopping/downtown/]. I was close enough to the beach to almost feel and smell it. I saw the pier and beach area in Santa Monica a bit when leaving.
-Ate Japanese at Torafuku [http://www.torafuku-usa.com/]: clam soup, side salad, seaweed salad, and marinated eggplant.
-Saw Conan O'Brien documentary (shown above), which was great and hilarious. :) La Bamba - a member of Conan's shows' bands - he was in the bands for both shows on NBC and is in the current TBS one - was outside the theatre as I entered; maybe he was at the showing right before. The movie theatre was a cute little place with one screen, located in Westwood/West Los Angeles - a really nice area near UCLA. There were a lot of colorful lights on the several other nearby cinemas, plus numerous nice shops and restaurants/bars/cafes (saw pizzerias, sushi bars, and American Apparel to name a few spots).
-More light grocery shopping and a tad unpacking.

DISNEY MONDAY! Also, there may be a trip to the San Diego area on Wednesday, but not too much else is that solidly-planned yet (everything else is just ideas thrown into the mix that could be done). I am glad the weather has been quite pleasant since my last time in California was rainy.

CALIFORNIA

Currently in the Los Angeles area. I am coming up with ideas and making plans for my next week here. One place in mind is a well-known Polish restaurant in Santa Monica called WARSZAWA (appropriate after my recent time abroad :-P ).

http://www.warszawarestaurant.com/index.html

My sister did not have a good enough fill of Polish food during her short stay at home in New York, so I have been wondering if we should check this place out (it would be a first time for both of us). Other than the chance to go here, we also have plans for going to the movies (new Conan O'Brien documentary released today), heading to Disney (Land and California Adventure, of course ;) ), seeing a Tim Burton art exhibit at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), maybe seeing one event at the Los Angeles Film Festival (an event about music videos directed by Eric Wareheim from "Tim & Eric Awesome Show: Great Job!"), and playing lazer tag. I will be on the lookout for more to do (possible plans to maybe see an LA Dodgers game were one item scrapped). So far I have gone to visit my sister's work (fun cooking supply and more store), helped with shopping and unpacking/apartment setup, and went to MENCHIE'S for frozen yogurt fun. We love Menchie's. :)

Little cups to try frozen yogurt flavors; do-it-yourself soft-serve and topping bar... :-D There are even fun spoons now

http://menchies.com/

More later. :)