Thursday, March 10, 2011

Emerald City Comic-Con 2011

Pidgeon Toys Booth

This March the Mister and I headed to Seattle for Emerald City Comic-Con. It was our very first showing there! Jeff had ventured to Seattle last year as a attendee and enjoyed it so much, he pre-paid for a booth for this year.

I drove all of our loot to Seattle. It took me two days of white-knuckled driving thru wicked weather. I arrived on thursday just in time for some food fun with the rest of the gang (Derek, Jamie Baker, and Ted. With assists from Julia Lundman, Sho Murase, Brian McDonald, and...well...let's just say we had a excellent posse of hungry folks)! First up: Zig Zag Cafe

Friday opened with breakfast at Lola. Greatest breakfast ever! Made to order donuts, amazing potatoes, & maple sausage. A place so nice, we ate there twice!

Pidgeon Toy Prototypes

The booth set up was pretty smooth. The doors opened at 1:45p. It was the 1st Friday in the history of ECCC..and it was slooooow! The rest of the weekend was much better, sales wise. This convention was the 1st time we used Square for accepting payments via credit card. We actually used it to keep a record of all our sales for the weekend. I LOVE Square! I can't wait to use it again!

Saddest Bar in Seattle

When we weren't all at our booths, we were stuffing our faces with the best food Seattle had to offer:

Palace Kitchen - Clear winner: Pork shank!
The Kingfish Cafe - clear winner: Bread pudding
Smith - clear winner: EVERYTHING!!
Bonus:
Hi-Lo Cafe - I stopped here on the looooong drive home. Great service & really tasty chicken fried steak (Hey! I'm driving for two days! Now is not the time for healthy eating.)

Thx Seattle! Looking forward to next year!

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Hi-ho! It's off to Disneyland I go!

HIP_320540391.693795

Oh, how I love going to Disneyland! My first usual stop is the Tiki Room. It just takes me to the happiest place! Luckily, the day we went was sunny and very bright. It was still chilly but, not enough to stop me from getting one of these:

HIP_320540602.496508
Ambrosia! The nectar of the Gods! Mock me if you like - I just can't consider it a proper trip to Disneyland without one. The line was very long - not summer long - just long enough that if you. It didn't matter, I was happy to wait in line for my liquid gold!

HIP_320540495.618996

HIP_320542784.237030
New Orleans square was decked out for Mardi Gras!

HIP_320542823.288364

HIP_320542847.888671

HIP_320629580.282169

While in New Orleans Square, we opted to wait for "Pirates" - a favorite ride. It was moving pretty quickly but, not quick enough for a wee chap behind us in line. I engaged the youngster in conversation. His being "What are you doing?" with my reply being variations of "Waiting in line with you!". He liked my Kermit bag - he said he was a 'moofet' fan. Adorable. By the time we got into the show building, we were fast friends. In fact, he wanted me to ride the ride with him! We opted to ride in the same boat but, didn't want to force ourselves onto his Mom. He griped my hand as we waited in adjoining lines and checked to make sure I was, in fact, right behind him. I cracked him up as we pulled away by whispering "Gee, I hope there aren't any pirates on this ride!" He turned to look me in the eyes and say "There are a LOT of pirates on this rde!" We shouted to Captain Jack to hide from the pirates looking for him and just generally enjoyed ourselves. After we finished and exited, he took me by the hand again, just assuming that we'd be following him to his next adventure. Aw! His Mom told him they were going in another direction and refused to let me go! I told him we'd be in the Pirate shop for a little bit and maybe we'd see him there.

HIP_320629818.987930

I did, actually, wait in the pirate shop (Pieces of Eight) for a bit. We browsed it thoroughly! They didn't come back. We went off to "Haunted Mansion" and then dinner with our good pals Brian and Tricia at the Napa Rose. Very tasty! Once we waved them off, we headed back to the park for another two hours of rides. We concentrated on Fantastyland - my favorite time to hit that section of the park is after the fireworks!

HIP_320629738.044139

Guess who I spotted climbing into a car on "Snow White"?! Of course, by the time we got off the ride, they were gone! Still, funny to see them again, right?! Well, we saw them again on "Peter Pan"! This time we walked right past them. I couldn't help myself, I tapped my little friend on the shoulder and waved as we walked past. His face lit up like a perfectly decorated Christmas tree! It was all that I could have asked for, His pushing his way back through the line to grab my hand was a surprise and his Mom graciously asking us to join them was a unexpected delight! He insisted he'd tried to find me (his mom told us they'd found Mickey and Minnie and delayed the trip back to the Pirate shop. He was very upset with Mickey for 'taking a nap' before his turn for photos. Especially since the wait meant he lost me! AW!) The two of us rode "Peter Pan" together followed by "Pinocchio". Dumbo was the follow up. As we we headed for "Mister Toad", his Mom laughingly told him he had to share me with my husband. His response? "But, I like her!" The kid was irresistible! After that ride, him Mom said it was time to go. We hugged and smooched all around and his little shoulders slumped as they walked away. I thanked Jeff for sharing our time with him and Jeff said "How could I not? You two were having such a wonderful time together!! He loved you instantly!" Such a sweetie.

I hope my little pal had as much fun in Fantasyland as I did!

HIP_320632523.194168

The next day we were supposed to catch a early flight. Luckily the airline notified us that it had been cancelled before we left the hotel! We checked our bags and ran back to the park for a little bit more fun!

HIP_320628745.599981
First stop - lunch!

HIP_320628612.856690

We saw a ton of character out and about - Alice and the Mad Hatter, The Fairy Godmother, Snow White, Cinderella were all out - not to mention Goofy, Mickey, & Minnie! We saw the princesses all head out with the Fairy Godmother at the same time but, I was too slow to snap a picture. Instead, not two minutes later, I snapped Ariel heading out to join the others. Prime Princess viewing at the Plaza Inn, people - that's all I'm gonna' say!

HIP_320629131.452877
The Happiest Face at the Happiest Place!

Surprise! You're going to Disneyland!

HIP_320540535.740339

The Mister surprised me with a quick trip. It followed almost immediately after our North Carolina jaunt. The only info he would tell me was that we'd be gone for the weekend (Oscar weekend!! What was he thinking?!) and that I needed to pack a bag. He told me to include one 'going out' outfit. Something casual. But, that I'd need walking shoes as well.

What were we doing?!

We arrived at The London West Hollywood (following some drama with our original hotel...nothing crazy, we just decided we'd rather stay somewhere else). It was a GORGEOUS hotel! I had my first celeb sighting of the weekend: Top Chef head judge Tom Colicchico! (I'm guessing he was eating at Gordon Ramsey at The London).

HIP_320443732.432203

I was in love with our room!

HIP_320443380.715257
A gorgeous balcony. Too bad it was too cold to use it!

HIP_320390228.416023
Jeff has his reading ready to go on our HUGE bed!

HIP_320390007.918471
Jeff is tweeting on his phone while I snap this picture with mine.

HIP_320389786.216635
This is the shower. It's HUGE, has two shower heads on either side and is oval. I loved it.

HIP_320389830.078027
The sink area.

HIP_320389666.733525
The delicious tub. This bathroom was big enough to get lost in!

HIP_320389747.449434
Comfy robes to use. We totally used these!

HIP_320443509.186959
Here Jeff is modeling the comfy robe and talking to a pal. He's saying "I really hope my wife isn't taking a picture of me to post on the intewebs." What he doesn't know won't hurt him.

What were we doing in all this luxury?

HIP_320520920.835660
We got invited to a pre-oscar bash! My sweet hubby planned the entire trip as a lovely surprise! I had NO idea! It was a great party! Lots of congrats flowing. There were fun speeches (Rickles was the stand out!) and touching moments. We wished everyone the best of luck and left a little early...I could've shut the place down but, we had further fun planned:

A trip to Disneyland!!