San Francisco 2016

This past weekend I got to visit some of my favorite people in the universe in San Francisco and had a marvelous time. It rained pretty much all weekend but we still managed to have tons of fun. Let me tell you about it.

I arrived late Thursday night so Friday Stephanie and I went to Pier 39 so we could see the sea lions. As soon as we got out of the car it started to rain but we had umbrellas (I bought a cute new pink Totoro umbrella for the trip) so it wasn't that bad. The sea lions were super cute and one even swam right up to us to check us out. They were all so lazy and sleepy, it was adorable. They looked like giant melted Milk Duds. Next we walked all around the pier and got soft pretzels to eat while we looked at all the funny little shops. We were okay until it got windy and the rain started blowing right into our faces. At that point we decided to call it a day and got Chipotle back in Stephanie's neighborhood. After lunch I was pretty sleepy so I took a little cat nap in "baby jail". They had put a baby gate in the downstairs room that I was staying in to keep the dogs from jumping on me and all of my stuff so it got christened Baby Jail, haha. For dinner we got thai food from a place around the corner and it was really good.

Kelly Anne, Kiki, Stephanie, and I

The next day we met up with my dear friend, Kelly Anne and her sister in law, Kiki, at Japantown. Kelly Anne is a fellow crafter and we met through Instagram a few years ago. We wanted to meet up at Disneyland back in December but she wound up being there just a few days before our trip was scheduled. So I was super excited to finally get to meet her. Kelly and Kiki are oh-so-cute and were so much fun. I had the best time hanging out in Japantown even though the weather was atrocious. First we went to Daiso (my fave) and loaded up on goodies. I wish they had a store in Phoenix because everything there is the cutest. After we shopped we took a bunch of buddy pics since we knew the rain was coming soon. Kelly had the most amazing camera and it made all of us look tops blooby :)

Next we got crepes at Sophie's Crepes and got a chance to sit down and chat. We all got along like peanut butter and jelly (or jelly and jelly). There were lots of cute doggies around and I was in love with all of them. After lunch we went to a purikura (a Japanese photo booth) called PikaPika and took pictures. PikaPika is my FAVORITE part of Japantown and it was such a blast. You only have about 3 seconds between photos to decide on a pose so it's kind of stressful but the photos always turn out hilarious. After you take your pictures you get to decorate them and I gotta say, ours turned out SO GOOD!



It was just such a fun day and I wish we could have hung out longer but by 4:30pm a huge storm came in and it started raining like CRAZY which made it difficult for us to decide where to go next so we wound up just going home :( In retrospect we realized we should've gone to Kiki's place and hung out or gone back to Stephanie's house since it wasn't super far away but the rain made it hard to think clearly. D'oh! At least the time we all spent together was quality time. I already can't wait to see everyone again. We're talking about a future Disneyland meet up (that would be EPIC).

On the last day of my visit Stephanie, Manda, and I went on our first cable car ride and it was super fun. We got roundtrip tickets and rode the train up Powell to Fisherman's Wharf. This day we were blessed with nice weather and didn't get rained on the whole time we were walking around downtown. By the time we got to Fisherman's Wharf we were ready for some lunch so we stopped at a place called Boudin that's world famous for their sourdough bread. It was totally packed in this place but we got our food relatively quickly. I got a margarita pizza and they both got grilled cheeses and tomato soup. After lunch we walked down to Ghirardelli Square and loaded up on chocolate. It was just a relaxing and chill day and I had a great time. The line to get back on the cable car was kind of a nightmare but at least I was in good company (there was also a guy playing guitar outside so that helped the time go by). The ride down the hill was really cool and I was surprised how hard the guys had to work to just to get the thing to stop at traffic lights. By the end of our ride it had finally started to rain but we still wanted to take some pictures in the photo booth at Forever21 (it's become a tradition) so we dashed through the rain anyway.

 I'm so thankful for the internet for brining all of these wonderful people into my life. I feel so lucky to have so many amazing friends all over the world who I can visit and go on fun adventures with. I wish I could see them more often but it's cool to be able to communicate with each other anytime online. Not too long ago I could count all of my friends on one hand but in the past few years I've met so many incredible people and I'm so lucky to have such supportive and loving people in my life. They're all so special to me and I love them dearly. Thank you, Stephanie and Manda for taking such good care of me this past weekend. I can't wait to see you both again!

Renaissance Festival

 

 This past Sunday I went to the Renaissance Festival for the first time in about 10 years. In about 15 minutes I quickly remembered why I hadn't been to the Renaissance Festival in 10 years, haha. Nonetheless, let me tell you about our day.

 

 

The day started out kind of on the wrong foot when I woke up with a sour stomach. On top of that, I decided to not wear a wig at the last minute so that meant I had to wash and curl my hair which caused me to be late to Jackie's house. We carpooled to Michelle's house and then she drove us from there. We arrived around 11am and it was already pretty warm as we entered the fair. Almost immediately people were shouting things and harassing me (this would continue for the rest of the day). I guess I'd get harassed less in these types of situations if I didn't wear a costume and blended more into the crowd but I really only wanted to go so I could dress up as an elf for the day. All day I had to endure, "HEY YOU, WITH THE EARS!" If you have social anxiety like me, you know how much we hate loud noises and how much we reallllly hate loud noises that are directed at us. So all day I was uncomfortable and wished I could hide from all these obnoxious people. :(

 

We watched two shows that day and the first one was an acrobatics show. There were three performers and they balanced on each other and on buckets and stuff. This show made me verrrry nervous. When people aren't nervous for their own safety, I get anxiety on their behalf. This show lasted about 20-30 minutes and the whole time I'm just waiting for one of them to fall on their face. It was not good times.

 

 

The next show we went to was a comedy show called "Hey Nunny Nunny" which is mostly puns about nuns and Catholicism. I'm not really into "jokes" per se so I was probably the only person there not laughing my buns off. People were seriously howling with laughter while I'm like, "Errrmmm..." Idk, maybe I've become a comedy snob. I have a pretty specific taste in comedy (ie: Larry David, Aziz Ansari, Demetri Martin, The Flight of the Conchords, Louis CK) so most comedy is wasted on me.

 

The best part of the day was sitting in these cool Sky Chairs. They were so comfy and relaxing; if I had a porch to attach one to, I'd totally get one. We just sat and chilled in these chairs for about half an hour and it was sooooo nice to be in the shade with a light breeze on your face. I didn't end up eating anything til after we left the park since I still didn't feel so great and all they had to eat was greasy fried foods (not my jam--I'm kind of a health nut). It didn't help that I'm vegetarian either so I just fasted until about 5pm and was near death. But that was a better option for me than hurling at the Renaissance Festival. The last attraction we saw was the "Living Mermaid" which had the longest line. We had to wait for about 30 mostly unshaded minutes and tbh, it was kind of a let down once we finally got inside (this is the bummerest post ever). On the way home we stopped at one of my favorite restaurants, Chopsticks Express, and I got a giant order of honey tofu (which I scarfed down in the car) just before I dropped dead.

 

So yeah, I think I'm good for another 10 years as far as the Renaissance Festival is concerned. Next week is going to be amazing, though. Next Thursday I'm flying to San Francisco to see my bunny Stephanie (Twinkie-Chan) and also to meet my other bunny, Kelly Anne (TinyTangerines) for a girls weekend. It's going to be the BEST. WEEKEND. EVER.

 

 

 

 

Sage of Wisdom (teeth)

One month ago today I had three of my wisdom teeth removed and boy, has it been rough. I got the procedure done on a Friday and by Monday the left side of my lip and chin were still completely numb so I panicked and called the oral surgeon. He explained how my lower wisdom teeth were so impacted that on a scale of one to ten, they were tens and that made their removal very difficult, however, he said the nerves were intact and "perfect" and that the surgery was a great success. He said numbness was to be expected in a case like mine but it would only be temporary and not to worry.

I thought I'd be back to normal in a week or two...NOPE! The pain was so intense and I would wake up 4-5 times a night in horrible pain. There were days when I'd come home from an 8 hour shift of having to talk on the phone and smile all day and just cry for an hour because I was in so much pain. I don't like to take medication but I had no choice but to take the pain pills they prescribed me. However, those didn't even alleviate all of the pain. I'm pretty sure they had to remove some of the bone tissue in order to extract the teeth because my recovery has been a very slow one and my jaw bone still aches. Besides the pain, though, the loss of feeling in my face has been distressing me the most.

On the 5th of this month I went back in for my follow up appointment and a different surgeon assessed me. He said that the extraction sites were healing "wonderfully" and then he did a test on me to see how bad the paresthesia (numbness) was. He pretty much poked my chin with a small needle and asked me if I could feel it then he dragged it up/down or left/right and asked me which direction it was moving in. I passed all the tests and he confirmed that the paresthesia was only slight at this point and that that was a good sign. He said if my face was still completely numb it would be cause for alarm but since I have regained a lot of feeling that it should only be temporary. Then he said I could feel back to normal in a week or in six more weeks (yikes). So today I hit the 4th week and am just ready for this to be over. I had pizza last night at a friend's house and my jaw still hurt a lot afterwards. I was also really self-conscious that I might have food on my face that I couldn't feel.

I hope that the doctor was right and that my nerves will heal themselves because this honestly has been such a nightmare. I've never experienced so much pain before and it's been so scary not knowing if I'll ever get all of the feeling back in my face again. If I had it to do over again, I don't even know if I would've had the procedure. Before they did the surgery they told me that there was a 15% chance that I would have nerve damage since my wisdom teeth sat right on top of the nerve and were fully developed since I'm in my 30s but I never thought that I'd actually fall into that 15%.

Before the surgery I was pretty hopeful that 2016 was going to be the year I started dating again and possibly started a new relationship but now that my face is all jacked up...I don't know when I'll feel up to it. A guy online messaged me just a week after the procedure and wanted to take me on a date but I told him about my situation and said I'd need some time to recover. At first he said he didn't mind waiting but then he started messaging me everyday asking me if I was well yet. It put too much pressure on me to heal quickly that I just stopped talking to him. It would've been nice to have someone to go out with on Valentine's Day but I don't really want to go on any dates until I've healed.

So that's what's been going on with me for the past few weeks. If you can send any positive energy my way, I'd really appreciate it. I just want to feel like myself again :( You don't really appreciate your health until something happens to compromise it.

Disneyland Part 2

A wild Twinkie-chan has appeared!

Sorry it's taken me forever and a day to continue my Disneyland story but I had my wisdom teeth taken out the week after I got back and have been feeling pretty shitty ever since (which I will write about in my next post). The second day we went to the park we got a pretty late start. We didn't leave the hotel until about 11:30 and got to Downtown Disney around noon. Stephanie needed caffeine in a bad way so we stopped and she got a latte but then we remembered that they won't let you back into the park with a beverage so we hung out in Downtown Disney while she had some breakfast. We entered the park around 1 o'clock and it was pretty much pandemonium. I had never seen so many people at Disneyland in my LIFE (and I've been going every year since I was a bebe). A huge parade was starting on Main Street so they had to herd all of us through this secret door I'd never been through before and we all migrated towards Tomorrowland. As a person with social anxiety, this was a pretty uncomfortable situation. We were completely walled in a sea of people and everyone was pushing and shoving in every direction.

Gramma Courtney needs a sammich

Somehow, we managed to get to Space Mountain where we'd hoped to get Fast Passes but of course we were waaaaaaay too late for that. The standby line had an estimated 80 minute wait so we decided to bite the bullet and just get in it. Well, 140 minutes later we finally got to ride it and I was about to drop dead from not having eaten yet. Stephanie's friend Danielle (ahoymiss) also happened to be at the park that day so we met her at the Jolly Holiday and I got another caprese and tomato sandwich. I was really excited to meet Danielle since I'd been following her on Instagram for a few years (she has one of the dreamiest IG accounts ever). She was there with her bf and his family so they could only meet us for a late lunch/early dinner but it was a very nice visit.

By the time we finished eating it was already dusk so we took barely any pictures that day (to my great disappointment). We made our way over to Adventureland and got in line for Indiana Jones and then things got wacky for a while. First of all, the line was out of control. They had us wait in this labyrinth of a line over by the Jungle Cruise before moving us back to the regular line. When we got in the normal line, though, they turned all the lights on super bright and said that the ride was temporarily closed due to a "routine procedure" so either somebody barfed all over the ride or there was a celebrity on it because they turned the lights on like that and repeated that same message 4 times. Most people left the line but we decided to tough it out since weren't in a big hurry to go on anything else.

I look a little cray cray in this photo

I think all day we only managed to go on a grand total of eight rides. If we hadn't gone the day before too I think we would've been majorly bummed by this but since we'd already gone on everything Friday it wasn't that big of a deal. One thing of note that happened on Saturday was that Stephanie had her first Dole Whip. I wish we'd been able to get one during the day when it wasn't freezing but the line is always a nightmare during the day so when we passed by it again around eight o'clock  there was NO LINE AT ALL. We hoped we could find somewhere inside to sit and eat them but there really isn't any indoor seating in Adventureland so we had to just freeze our buts and guts off outside.

The rest of the night is kind of a blur but what I do remember is that we went to Denny's afterwards for a late supper. I was dying again from lack of protein so I decided to order the loaded veggie omelet since it said it has 20 grams of protein (daaaaammmn!). My whole life I've hated eggs but after being forced to eat so many both in Thailand and in England (both places weren't very vegetarian friendly so my protein options were pretty limited) I've kind of developed a taste for them. Stephanie wound up ordering one too and we both inhaled them! I rarely eat all of my food but that day I was a member of the Clean Plate Club.

Accidental Matching

The next day our flights were scheduled in the late afternoon but check out was at 11am so we killed some time at a Coffee Bean and Tealeaf across the street from our hotel. Luckily, it was really slow on a Sunday because we hung out in there for like, 2 hours. Before we knew it, we were saying goodbye at the airport and going to our separate terminals. I honestly missed Stephanie the moment she left and when I got to my gate and checked my Instagram she had left me a comment saying she missed me already too, haha! I'm so glad that I've found someone who I get along with so well and who is so much fun to be around. We're talking about going to Japan this fall for her birthday so that's my next adventure I'll be dreaming about. I've wanted to go to Japan my whole life so that would be an amazing trip to get to take together.

I hope 2016 treats you all well and that it's filled with lots of good times and lots of adventures!

Xoxo,
Courtney

Disneyland Part 1

 This past weekend I went on holiday with one of my favorite humans to one of my all-time favorite places: Disneyland. The park was insanely crowded due to the Christmas season and the 60th anniversary celebration but we still had tons of fun. Let me tell you about my mini-break with my very good friend, Twinkie-Chan.

 Since neither one of us wanted to drive solo to Anaheim, we both decided to fly to LAX and meet at the airport. From there we took a Super Shuttle to our hotel. There was a buttload of traffic so it took us over an hour to get there but that was cool because we hadn't seen each other since June and had lots to talk about. It was a little weird though, because we had a family sitting behind us who basically listened to our entire conversation (I hate when people do that). When we got to the hotel, Stephanie had some little gifties for me so I opened them before we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. She got me this suuuuper cute Pikachu camera, a lapel pin, some lip balm and a book and some candy. I love her lots!

 On Friday I was pretty much up with the dawn since I'm used to having to be at work at 8am but Stephanie is a creature of the night so we didn't wind up getting to the park til about 10:30am. Since the line to Space Mountain is my absolute LEAST favorite to wait in, we immediately got a Fast Pass from there and then hopped in line for the Matterhorn. I hadn't been on the Matterhorn since fall of last year so I was totally surprised by the update to the ride. When the yeti was staring at us from behind these ice windows I'll admit that I emitted a little shriek and then when you see him up close I let out a big shriek. I pride myself on my Disney knowledge and expertise so I was shocked that I hadn't heard anything about the new yeti.

Later that afternoon we met up with my friend, Melanie (owner of Femme de Bloom) and her friends Matt and Jasmine (who were all super nice and fun). We all went on Indiana Jones together and then stopped at the Jolly Holiday Bakery for a late lunch. I got a tomato and caprese sandwich that was hella good and a lemonade. I'm happy that Disneyland has started offering a variety of vegetarian options even though I ate this sandwich two days in a row because it was that yummy. As soon as the sun started to go down it got windy as heck and really really cold so we had to haul ass to our lockers and change. Luckily, I'd brought my fleece leggings, gloves and my down jacket or I think I would've died. It got down to 43 degrees that night but it felt like 35 to me. But I shouldn't complain because we thought it was going to rain all day and it never really did. Both of us would have been in a tight spot if it had rained. My hair turns into a frizzy mess and Stephanie's hair spray solidifies when it gets wet.

One major bummer of the trip is that we kind of failed in the picture taking department. I think we got maybe 30 photos total when normally I take 100+ (I'm especially disappointed in myself since I had about 4 cameras on my person the whole trip). But I guess it's proof that we were having a good time since we didn't have time to take a million pictures. On the last trip I went on I took about a thousand photos since the person I was traveling with pretty much didn't talk to me the whole time (yikes!). I am disappointed we didn't stop and get our pic with Donald in his Christmas sweater, though. We kept thinking we'd see a whole bunch of characters but ultimately wound up being trapped in lines most of the day.

That night was a momentous occasion for Stephanie because she had her very first DOLE WHIP. We'd passed the stand several times that day but the line was too gianormous. That night when we were making our way over to Pirates of the Caribbean we passed it again and there was NO LINE (probably because it was cold as hell outside) so I managed to talk her into one. Later that night we were talking and Stephanie said she'd never been on the Disneyland Express so of course we HAD to go on it. I told her it had the Grand Canyon and dinosaurs and was really kitschy and weird. Once we got on the train I worried that I'd talked it up too much and she was going to think it was the lamest thing ever (also, I'd forgotten the dinosaur part was between Tomorrowland and Main Street when we had wanted to get off at Fantasyland--oops!) but luckily she dug it! She was like, "TOTALLY WORTH IT!" It was adorable. We had planned on staying til close but by about 9:30pm we were starving again and frozen so we left the park and boogied over to the nearest IHOP. I got a cheese quesadilla in case you wanted to know.

We went to the park again on Saturday so in my next post I'll tell you about day two! Thanks for reading!

Xoxo,
Courtney

Disneyland Bound

Winnie-the-Pooh Disneybound

This Thursday I will be taking a mini break and returning to my favorite place on Earth: Disneyland! Even though I was last at the park in October of last year, it still feels like AGES. I've been going to Disneyland every year (often twice a year) since I was 5 months old and I honestly never get tired of it. It's just such a magical place for me and it's always been a secret dream of mine to work for Disney in some capacity (mostly as a voice actor tbh). I wanted to enroll in their college program back when I was graduating from ASU but they told me that you can only apply if you're still currently enrolled in classes (but then a girl I graduated with got accepted into the program the following semester so I don't know how that works). Anywho, I'm super excited about this trip because I'll get to be reunited with my bunny, Stephanie (aka Twinkie-chan) and I also get to meet my internet bunny, Melanie, (owner of Femme de Bloom) for the first time.

Miss Twinkie-chan

I last saw Stephanie in June when I visited her in San Francisco. We had been internet buddies for a while (and she's been my craft hero for about 8 years) but got along in person like peas and carrots (not peas and guac). I absolutely adore her and can't wait for our first holiday trip together. She's never been to the park during Christmas time so I'm excited for her to see all of the decorations. Disney spares no expense when it comes to Christmas decorations and how they transform the Haunted Mansion into the Nightmare Before Christmas is pretty amazing.

Miss Melanie

My darling Melanie and I met through Instagram about 2 years ago. I'm amazed by all of the wonderful people I've met through Instagram. I've made so many friends and hope to get to meet more of them in person in the future. Melanie is such an inspiration to me, she really is a marvel. Not only does she go to school full time for a PHD in Psychology but she also teaches and runs a very successful craft business. On top of all of those achievements, she's 100% adorable and is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. I'm so excited to spend some time with her at our favorite place and take 10 billion buddy pics. It's going to be THE BEST DAY EVER!

Stephanie and I will be going to the park again on Saturday and it'll be my first time going to the park 2 days in a row. Last year I did one day at the Magic Kingdom and then one day at California Adventure but this time we decided to do two days at the Magic Kingdom. California Adventure was cute but since tickets for both parks are the same price, we'd rather spend an extra day at the Magic Kingdom.

I found out recently that two other internet bunnies of mine, Kelly Anne and Andrea are going to be at the park close to the dates we'll be there but we're going to miss them by a hair. Such a bummer. There needs to be a day where all of my internet friends all meet at Disneyland and I get to hang with all of them at once. That's the DREAM.

Now I just have to decide what I'm going to wear. AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

Courtney and Jaden's Grand Day Out

Last Friday I got to spend some time with a very special girl, my darling Jaden. I have known Jaden since she was three years old and now she's (believe it or not) thirteen! Jaden was the first kid that I've really gotten to know and is like family to me. I grew up with an older brother who has always been very cold and distant to me so I'm happy to have found the baby sister I've dreamed about. It's been so fun watching her grow up and see how much she's changed over the years.

This particular Friday night I was feeling a bit lonely. I had worked my shift all by myself (and it was a very hectic day) and when I got home I remembered that all of my friends were either out of town or working the late shift. I like to doll myself up as self care when I'm feeling down so I put on some makeup and a new dress and had a mini photo shoot. I posted the pic above on my Instagram account and my lil Jaden immediately commented on it. Then I thought, "JADEN! Maybe I could hang out with Jaden!" I texted her and asked her if she had any plans, she said she didn't and we decided to go to the mall (my other girl friends--minus Melissa--hate going to the mall). I picked her up and we made a beeline for our favorite store, Hot Topic. I remember when Hot Topic opened when I was in high school and I never thought that I'd still be shopping there in my 30s, haha! It's not my fault that they have everything I like u_u

Anyway, J and I were gushing over the Disney section and one of the sales girls came up and talked to us. This particular girl always chats my ear off whenever I'm in there. Her and Jaden started talking and she then asked us what high school we went to!!!!! Jaden thought it was SO COOL that this girl thought she was in high school but I just started laughing like a hyena! The girl looked at me puzzled and I told her I was 31 years old. She told me that I looked GREAT and that made me happy. The rest of the time we were in the store I felt a little self conscious, though, since my age had been revealed and everyone could see me freaking out over Steven Universe stickers. But what can I say? I'm young at heart and that's part of my charm. Beneath my breast beats the heart of a 14 year old girl (not literally, of course). They have a bunch of Studio Ghibli stuff there now (my weakness) so I finally caved and bought this No Face plushie I've been wanting for ages.

Next we went to Barnes and Noble and looked at all of their Pop Dolls and then I perused the manga section (they had "My Love Story" and I wanted it SO BAD). Target was last on our list of stores to hit and it was tops blooby! Target is my favorite store. My only constructive criticism is that the women's section is just "meh" and the girl's section is "omg". Why do all the cutest things have to be in the kid's section? I don't get it!!!!!!

Anywho, Jaden got her very first eyebrow pencil and then we got kid's meals at Rubio's (I don't have a very big stomach so kid's meals are perfect for me). After dinner we went back to my house and Jaden watched her second Studio Ghibli movie and my all-time favorite, "Howl's Moving Castle". I love getting to share movies and shows I love with people. And it's great that she's at an age now where she can appreciate Miyazaki's movies. When the movie was over I took her home and gave her some of my smaller dresses that I've outgrown and she was so excited to wear them. The next day she sent me a selfie in one of the jumpers. It was the cutest! So yeah, it's great having someone in my life that I can be a positive influence on and who also helps me be more positive as well. Jaden is so energetic and so much fun to be around. I'm very lucky to have someone like her and her wonderful family in my life.

Only 5 more days to go til I leave for London! YAAAAAAY!