disneyland - november 2013

oh right... i mentioned last post that i would post all the other pictures "next week"...  well, i intended to do this much sooner than now, but it is still within the week, right?  yeah, well here goes!
we drove down saturday morning, leaving san leandro around 6:45am, so we got to our hotel and checked in around 2 something, and then were in the parks by 3.  we headed straight for cars land, hoping for a fast pass to radiator springs, but they were all out for the day.  first ride we hit up was the mater's tractor pull.  cutest little short wait ride in the park for sure.  and it's actually fun (unlike the tire ride... erika and i found that one dull back in may)
hit up toy story mania, because that ride is awesome.  jenny beat me, but not by much!  so hah. here is my ever present feat of this trip.  never ever have i gone on an upside down roller coaster, and leading up to this trip i told myself "i'm 25 now... let's get this over with" and that, plus a 10 minute (probably less) ride wait, and that can now be crossed off my bucket list.  it freaked me out a bit, but i survived.  and i may consider doing it again.  but nothing more than this one loop as of right now.  anything more is a little too intense to even begin to think about!
a few years back (like not long after graduating high school) i bought this mickey mouse sweatshirt from hot topic.  turns out, at some point after that jenny bought the same one not knowing i had it.  well, they had to make an appearance on this trip, so after a failed attempt to eat at the rainforest cafe, we donned our sweatshirts and headed in to disneyland for the remainder of the evening.
this blog post brought to you by the number "5"
a jaunt back to our hotel, and then we settled in for the night.  alarms went off at 9 am, and then it was back to the fun.  ran and got our fast passes for radiator springs, and hit up some character spots in california adventure.  unintentionally, quite a few characters.  it was like we found there secret hiding place.
so obviously, i had to make sure i got this picture... and i did. hazah!
if i didn't admit to myself about how i buy mickey ears and then never wear them again, i probably would have bought these as my souvenir this trip. but i resisted the urge, telling myself about my super awesome toy story mickey ears that i already have waiting for me at home. and it worked. so he headed over to hollywood area to look for a character or two... and KABLAM we found a bunch. probably could have spent hours there just rotating through random character appearances. the onlyone we didn't get that was out while we were there were the mary poppins penguins. we weren't quick enough for them.
so i guess we were surfing?? i clearly didn't get the memo on that one
jenny was trying to speak raccoon, but i had to translate for her. when it was finally understood that he was asking what she was celebrating, she got the good ol' thumbs up from mr. raccoon
as far as getting to do all the rides we wanted to, we got lucky and got everything in over the course of a day and a half... of course with the exception of thunder mountain railway, which is STILL closed.  grrr.  hopefully all the renovations means it will be up and running again next time i'm there.  i miss that rickety roller coaster.  as far as all the other "taken on the ride" photos, those are all on my phone.  perhaps i will post them in the instagram post for november, just so they get seen in all their entertaining glory.  and so disneyland can be stretched out for just one more post.  :)
so this was one non-disneyland stop i made sure had to happen.  and was basically my only souvenir purchase.  and a delicious souvenir it was.  i LOVE the show ace of cakes (so sad it no longer airs) and when duff started a west coast bakery plus this little cake mix studio, i knew i wanted to go.  originally i wanted to do the whole sit down and decorate your own cupcakes shabang, but with not knowing what traffic was going to be like on the way home, bought 8 cupcakes (i shared with my family, don't you worry) and jenny bought a whoopie pie.  they were delicious, and made a fantastic week of desserts for me.
the trip was a nice break from reality, and well worth the get away.  it now tops the list as my longest drive ever...  boy am i glad i have my rav4 now.  my corolla would never have made it!  alas, now it is still back to the continued reality of school, work, and more work.  and crafting!  at least there is a little bit of goodness in there.  gotta get ready for these holidays that are sneaking up on us.  ack!

disneyland in instagrams

yes, you read that right.  an instagram post of JUST disneyland photos.  last weekend was a whirlwind of a trip, but i took plenty of photos to show for it.  still catching up on sleep, but here is an instagram summary of disneyland 2013... the second time :)
- the trip was all formulated after two break ups, and jenny being gifted a two night hotel voucher from her travel agent aunt who suggested a girls weekend.  well, a very girls weekend it was.  drove down saturday morning, checked in to our hotel (that wasn't as swanky as advertised) and then walked to the park.
- a battle with will call machines being down, and then we were in to the parks.  we were hoping to get fast passes for radiator springs racers, but they were long gone.  decided to deal with those the next morning.  spent a little bit of time in california adventure.
- toy story mania round 1.  jenny won this one, but not by much!
- i was feeling exceptionally brave, and with a 10 minute wait (probably less than that.  we got swept right in and on the ride) i experienced my first upside down roller coaster.  it freaks me out a little bit still, but i would probably go on it again in the future.  well, at least that one.
- we wandered through to the other side of the park, and the pixar parade was happening. got a quick snap of my main hero before wandering through the rest of the park and eventually onward to downtown disney.
- the idea was for dinner at the rainforest cafe, but it was a hot mess.  stopped by the lego store for a few pictures, and then headed in to disneyland for some pizza port.  mmm pizza.
- for the first time EVER it was appropriate for me to get a happy birthday button from town hall.  so yeah, i was all over that like no other.  jenny got a "i'm celebrating" button, which all the characters saw first before mine.  and awkwardly pointed at her.  haha.
- hidden mickey?  maybe?  randomly seen after a troop of hooligans in front of us for splash mountain pointed it out.  so yeah, i instagrammed it.  like a boss.
- mickey mouse pretzel.  need i say more?
- i'm pretty sure i've seen the "believe" holiday fireworks show more times than anything else done at disneyland.  okay, that may be a slight dramatization...  i feel like it used to be narrated by julie andrews though.  or maybe that's the voice i expect to hear in my head.  she's like the disney version of morgan freeman as far as narrations go.
- monday we wound our way through LA traffic after hotel check out and swung by duff's cake mix... and boy was i excited to FINALLY be able to taste some charm city cakes style goodness.  of course, it's still on my bucket list to make it to the show location in baltimore, but this totally hit the spot.  and makes me want more more more.
- i mean SERIOUSLY?? a rex cake?  wait, a rex that is BOWLING cake??  no way could mr. cake boss come up with something of this caliber.  i saw a screen cap of this on a show or something (i follow duff on twitter... so that may have been where i saw it) and when i saw this cake in the store still... HAD to take a picture.
stay tuned for next week's collection of stretch armstrong pictures, plus some character photos!

schuhfest 2013

the day finally came!  betsy & dillon tied the knot a week ago yesterday and it was a b-e-a-Utiful ceremony.  i walked in the blue goose, and the entire place had "betsy & dillon" written all over it.   so fabulous.  everyone was so welcoming and friendly, it was fantastic.  the ceremony was so personal and memorable.  dillon's grandpa officiated, betsy's grandpa did a tying the knot ceremony, and the bridal party was basically blood relative or "might as well be related" aka jenny.
they were perfection.  betsy had basically been hands off with the whole wedding planning process - working full time, going to beauty school to be a professional pretty skin maker (because i cant figure out how to properly spell estitician to save my life, and spell check can't figure me out) so it has been quite a bit put on by her parents... and boy did they do a fantastic job.  that entire ceremony set up?  her dad made it.  and the cupcake tower, and about a million other things to turn the blue goose in to a lovely wonderland for their big night. and she was grateful, and so happy
betsy and her dad danced to butterfly kisses. yes, it was that perfect. when i heard the song come on, i couldn't think of anything better for her. jenny said it has always been "their song". gah. adorable
the flower girl was a little one that betsy has nannied for over the years, and you can tell she idolizes betsy. at the bridal shower, she sat right next to her the entire time, helped carry presents over, and was so excited to show betsy the pearl necklace she got from hawaii.  so sweet.  i hope my some day flower girl is as precious as she was!
here's the cupcake tower her dad built. awesome, right??
these are the same cupcakes that the tea house had for the bridal shower that jenny threw.  they were so delicious, they cancelled their original cupcake order for the wedding and ordered these.  i could have eaten them for days... SO GOOD.
oh look, i really was there!  i had so much fun at the wedding.  i spent most of the time chatting it up with jenny's mom, probably telling her somethings i shouldn't have... sorry jenny! ;)  i met dillon for the first time that night, and he was exactly has i had envisioned him in my head.  a perfect gentleman, and the perfect match for betsy.  the way she talked about him at the bridal shower, every gift saying "oh dillon will love this... dillon picked this out... i can't wait to show dillon" a smile radiated across her face, and you could see this was like a love never before.  i am so happy for them, and cannot wait to see their lives grow together.  it was a fabulous wedding indeed <3

lodi grape bowl - 2013

the last few years, erika and i have made it a point to make it out to one of the competitions for del oro.  the last two years, it had been the folsom competition we went to, making it super convenient and local.  well, they decided they weren't going to compete at folsom this year, so we had to make plans accordingly.  between my all over the place work schedule & disneyland trip we were left with minimal weekends.  so last saturday we trucked out to lodi for the grape bowl competition.
erika and i reminisced about our lodi going days.  the last time the band competed there was my junior year of high school (fall 2004) and i would have to say it was one of my favorite stadiums to compete at.  maybe it was the memories of setting up "camp" at a park next to the field where there were swings and play equipment.  of course, what high schoolers wouldn't want to play on a playground?  there was the year we competed and then drove home right after because it was the homecoming dance... and i was lucky enough to sit next to my "crush" on the bus ride home... oh geeze.  spirit wars in the stands, the "barn" of a locker room that the guard changed in, delicious gazzolo cooked dinners, you name it.
being that our sisters are one grade apart, as erika and i were, this is the final year for our "sisters" picture.  insert a little tear here.  it has been fun going all these years to see their show each time (this year's show is samurai) but next year will be totally weird without a sibling at del oro at all.  people keep asking my parents what they're going to do... mind you they've been volunteering to make stuff for the program & drive since my freshman year in 2002, and markham was in concert & jazz band for two years before that.  basically a total of  14 years involved with the programs.  crazy, right?
the band did pretty well. they were one of two bands in their division, so that made things easier for them. overall, they placed:
guard: 2nd place
percussion: 1st place
division: 1st place (score of 89.5 while the other group had a 67.5)
they beat the entire division above them's scores.  not too shabby.
i believe it's down to just two more competitions (napa this weekend & fairfield next weekend) and then it's on to winter season.  whoo hoo!
good job del oro.
good job sisters.
good job aileen.

october - instagram lookback

hello again, my not so massive blog following!  it's that time again for a little instagram look back of the month!  october was pretty action packed each and every weekend, that's for sure. and for the first few weeks, november isn't going to be less crazy.  awesome, but not less crazy.  woo hoo birthday month!  and funny thing, this month's instagram post is generally a collection of weekends for each row.  here we go!
- right away, the first weekend kicked off with a portrait session in old sacramento.  a few of my cousins made their way up from the bay area to get some photos with their boys and it made for a fun morning!  the day was followed up with a bridal consult, adventures with jenny, bridesmaid dress trying/ordering and some pre-bridal shower crafting.  all in all, very busy very productive day for sure.
-betsy was celebrated.  jenny rented out a tea house out in auburn, and even though i'm not a tea enthusiast, i can say it was the perfect place for betsy.  classy, elegant and fun.  this was the banner we made the day before, and she asked if she could use it at the wedding.  so sweet.  she was so genuine and stinkin' adorable all day, and i cannot wait to celebrate with her on her wedding day JUST TWO DAYS AWAY!!!
- following the bridal shower, i jammed home, changed out of my tea party best to head on down to gmas house to celebrate october/november birthdays (november because i'm a loner)...  in particular for october, kent who was there on his birthday.  lisa was in town for her friend jenny's wedding and we made the best of it.  lorelai and i got in some good swing time in the back yard, and had some cupcakes.  i didn't have any instagrams from the day i went to hang out in modesto, but it was equally as fun, with some hardcore fabric shopping thrown in.
- the following weekend i crashed at jenny's so i could be halfway to santa cruz to second shoot a wedding that saturday.  while i was out shooting, jenny bought muffins at costco, and sunday morning i pulled this one out, which happened to be smiling at me.  oh so cute... so i ate it.  and it was delish
- we headed out to the city and got our tourist on.  thanks to the bart strike, we had to drive in and endured the crazy traffic just to get through the stupid toll booth.  we parked near the westfield mall area and walked ourselves down to pier 39 in traditional style.  ate lunch at the wipeout place right at the entrance to pier 39 (they had good pizza, fyi) and then wandered around.  the view to alcatraz was pretty clear, which was impressive considering all the fog we were seeing elsewhere.  overall, a pretty worthwhile weekend.
- the next day, it was time for a family portrait session with my bride & groom from last september.  they've added an adorable little girl to their family and of course i couldn't say no!  the weather was fantastic, and the evening went great.  those will show up on the freeze frame blog once i get more sneak peeks going :)
- yeah, school is still chugging along pretty hard.  it was right around midterm time, which meant i had a few different tests going on all within the same week.  chaotic, but so glad for take home tests.  has definitely made the transition back in to school a whole lot easier after two years out of the groove.  yes, i am still enjoying my classes...  i've had to map out the next few semesters for one of my classes, so now i have a clearer vision of what is ahead for me.  i'm sure there will be more on that chaos later.
- i attended my first murder mystery dinner this month... and i was assigned the killer!  i killed jenny on the first round though...  sorry jenny.  i was a little unclear on the rules, but i could have killed a few more people without even knowing it.  it was a whole lot of fun, and i'm so glad melissa has invited me to these fun events.  since i totally slacked at doing a blog post on just that, here are a few photos from the evening.  some swiped from melissa because i didn't get a whole group photo on my camera :(
let's see if i can name what everyone is...
queen of hearts, alice in wonderland, the prince of persia princess, dick tracy, consuelo, walt (breaking bad), van gogh, zombie survivor, wonder woman, minnie mouse, zombie (warm bodies gender swapped) pikmin, green lantern, another something pikmin, sexy gandalf, dr. who... and yeah, don't know what that last one is...
- yep.  it came around to being that time of life again.  it was time for a change, and so i had chris' sister jolee do the hair chopping deed for me.  with a few pinterest photos for inspiration, 8" was chopped and is waiting for me to find the address to mail in to donate.  i will totally be going back to her for all my hair needs... and you should too.  just sayin' you should check her out on facebook & yelp.  she's awesome.  and i totally should have posted the picture from the day she cut my hair, but i don't think it's on my computer right now... with all the stuff coming up these next few weekends, there will be plenty of updated photos.  i'm sure of it.  for now, you can enjoy some fake trick or treating, starring myself & aileen, sneak attack by mushu.  originally dad was just going to fake give her candy, but then we pointed out he was the one with a pocket full of whoppers.  happy day after halloween y'all :)

airplanes & postcards ruffle apron - betsy's getting married!

are you all thinking what i'm thinking?
if you are, it's probably something along the lines of "FINALLY..."  because that's how i feel about getting a real blog post up.  no joke.  and i'm super pumped about this one... and the next one to come too.  but more on that later.  obviously.
dearest betsy is getting married in less than three weeks (eeeps!) and a week ago yesterday jenny hosted a fabulous tea party bridal shower at the power's mansion inn tea room and once i got that invite, i knew i had to make something for her.  i made this apron previously in 2011 for a different friend and absolutely loved how it turned out then.  when i thought of what i could make for betsy, it seemed right up her alley.
when i think of betsy's style (and look at her pinterest.  haha) it's very vintage/classy with a splash of color here and there.  like taylor swift, but prettier.  true story.  the girl loves her pearls!  the husband to be is a pilot, so i thought that would be a perfect starting point for the "theme" of the apron.
the postcards & stamps came inspired from betsy's love to travel.  there was a time where she was working for a company that involved her traveling all over the nashville area.  pretty sure i remember her saying she met nicole kidman!  she also did some traveling in europe with a friend back in 2011.  and now with a pilot of a husband, i'm sure they've got plenty of great plans ahead of them.
when a project turns out better than i imagined... i can't help but mentally high five myself.
this is one of those kinds of projects for sure.  not to brag or anything...
here is part two of her gift.  i wish i knew how to make these... or had the patience to do so.
but i just love these hangers so much.  i bought one for erika last year (that i clearly did not blog a photo of) and it got such rave reviews that i decided betsy totally needed one too.  and the result was the same.  these hangers are fabulous, and every bride should have one to hang her wedding dress on.  the vendor i've used is handcrafted affairs.  be sure to check them out!
as usual, i forgot to get something... and that would be a card, or at least a gift tag to tell her who the present was from.  i remembered i had these initially for the next project that will be blogged, so i remembered last minute and put one on here as well.  my grandma got them for me years ago, and i need to remember to use them!
it should be mentioned that jenny did a fantastic job hosting the bridal shower. betsy was given little detail as to what to expect, and when she walked in the place, she was beaming with excitement.  she was truly a bride who appreciates everything & everyone that has been involved in the process of her wedding planning.  her big day is just a short while away, and i cannot wait to celebrate that with her as well!
once again, for the original apron tutorial (metric style): click here

september - instagram lookback

hah. each time i do one of these posts, i think i try and procrastinate it a little bit longer, since i like to tell myself "there is NO way that this month could be over already!" and then the calendar proves me wrong...  and my homework assignments that just happen to keep on coming one after the other.  well... here's september, and there was no sleeping through it like there was for green day.
- new phone!  after a weekend of my phone dying on me while i was working a wedding, it was time to commit to a new phone.  so now, i have myself a droid mini, which really isn't THAT small... but it compares in size to my droid 3 that i had, minus the slide out keyboard since that was one of the first things to die on me.  so far, it's been fantastic.  i guess anything would be compared to a phone that has a mind of it's own and calls people on it's own.
- i had another bridal show this year, and trekked out to yuba city for it.  erika came along with me, and that made the day much more enjoyable (as well as productive.  i think i got more leads at this show because there were two people to talk to) i talked to a lot of brides, gave out a lot of hand outs, and even got to wear my new dress from old navy.  sawheet!
- that same day, after the bridal show was said & done (this is the real reason why erika was with me...) we headed out to concord to see the backstreet boys.  yes my friends, you read that correctly.  the drive was super easy, parking was INSANE, and the wendys was disgusting with no AC and no ice (personal complaint there).  but the concert was great.  dj pauly d was there... you know, that jersey shore guy? that's all i can tell you about him.  jesse mccartney totally aged well, is still adorable, and sounds fantastic.  and the backstreet boys were just as great as always.  played a lot of the "original" songs, which made life so much easier, since we both failed to get the newer albums.  all in all, well worth it!
- jenny & i went and saw "meet the millers" which i was prepared to be let down by...  most people i had heard it was a "stupid funny" kind of movie... but i thought it was fantastically hilarious.  sure, jennifer aniston is in her 40s and plays a stripper... but man, is there anything that woman can't do?  fantastic.  i would totally go see it again.
- forced myself back to the gym, and started watching dancing with the stars as a reason to be there...  i was rooting for bill nye of course.  alas, this past monday he was sent home and out of the competition, but boy did he put an awkwardly brilliant valiant effort in to his dancing.  yeah, i'll still keep going to the gym... even if it is just to work out.
- wedding invites make me so excited, and this lovely couple is one that i cannot wait for!  betsy is fantastic, and i'm positive dillon is a lucky fella to have reeled her in.  her bridal shower is this upcoming sunday, and i can't wait!  so much wedding goodness in this next month i can't wait :)
- ahhh the fabric store.  my happy place in town.  did a little bit of shopping to finish up a project that's being delivered soon (aka blog post on that soon as well) and got some ideas for future projects.  amy also has a wedding coming up, as well as a few of my favorite people are due in march with babies... so i can't wait to get crafty with all that fun stuff.
- see?  i went to the gym more than once.  as well as going back to the gym, i've also been using my library card more.  trying to churn out some leisure reading mixed in with all the school books... apparently "leisure reading" means reading & walking on a treadmill.  hey, i'll take what i can get.  p.s. that book is pretty good so far.
- another gift that has been sent on it's way (and according to my usps receipt should be arriving today!) but i always have these little tags that my grandma bought me way back when, and i always forget to use them.  they're totally cute, so i should really try harder to tag my stuff!  i feel so stuck right now that i really have no crafting to do at this very moment.  i should take care of that.