Halloween Time is one of my favorites at the Disneyland Resort, not jut because of the delicious food, but because the whole atmosphere of the parks is full of celebration. I absolutely love all of the fall and Halloween themed decor at both parks. Not only is it fun to look at and explore, but it makes for some pretty awesome photo opps. These are just a few of my favorites!
Cars Land, aka Radiator Screams, is probably my favorite location during Halloween Time (and Christmas for that matter). Radiator Screams is still relatively new to the Halloween scene, and it is jam-packed with adorable details. You could spend a whole day there taking pictures and still not find everything. But these are a couple of the must sees!
Well friends, September was our first full month living in Orange County. I can’t believe it has been so long already. Time flies y’all! Overall, I had a pretty productive month, all things considered. I’m getting into a new groove and while I am finding some of my creative outlets to be a little stifled (hello, stress) I think I am getting back on track. So here we go!
On the moving front: The best news of the month is that we accepted an offer on our house! We are just starting the escrow process, but overall, it is looking like we will be done with LA (sob!) by the end of the month. And this should be the last month we have to pay rent AND mortgage! Score! With the end of the LA house on the horizon, I’ve started to look a little bit more seriously for something to buy in Orange County. It’s an exhausting process, but I’ve found a couple of neighborhoods with potential so I am excited for the possibilities.
On the goals front: Overall, I’m not mad about how the month went. I met my reading goal (duh) and my workout goal. And I actually came relatively close to most of my writing goals, so if nothing else, it was a major improvement over the past couple of months.
On the writing front: I sent out three queries this month, and I received a partial request from one, so yay! I also still have my full manuscript out with one of my dream agents. Positive reinforcement is awesome and even those small victories have me hopeful for the future. I managed to write almost eight thousand words on my YA manuscript this month, which was short of my goal, but about 7999 more words than I’ve written recently, so I’ll take it as a win. I also got a lot of work done on my wedding planning book, which I’m hoping to have done by the end of this month.
On the reading front: Are y’all ready for this? I read FIFTEEN books this month. Oh yeah! Still not going to accomplish my yearly goal of reading all the books I own, but I’m making some progress. I read: Before She Ignites, The Girls, Crooked Kingdom, Grace and Fury, The Wedding Date, Two Dark Reigns, Surprise Me, Lovely Dark and Deep, Now I Rise, The Guernsey Literary…, Replica, Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising, and Intercepted. I loved so so many of these books, but my favorites were the Grisha Trilogy (Shadow and Bone, etc.), Crooked Kingdom, Now I Rise, and Intercepted. Lots and lots of good books this month!
On the movie front: I didn’t see any new movies last month (boo). I feel like I finally have some time to check out some new movies this month, and there seem to be lots of good ones that I am looking forward to seeing coming out so I plan to take full advantage of my AMC membership for the first time!
September was all about getting settled and back into my routines, so October is going to be about kicking ass! Bring it!
Fuck. This week sucked. This week has been emotionally brutal. I’ll only stick to the the major, but damn, so much has happened this week that has made me just wanna punch someone in the face, and I’m just really feeling it today. I watched the Kavanaugh hearings yesterday and experienced all range of emotions from disgust and anger to nausea and deep, deep sadness. My social media timelines have been full of stories from survivors and it’s just so hard to think that this is where we are right now. I’ve been spending the majority of the past couple of days focusing on the bad, and while I know that ain’t going away any time soon, I gotta spend a couple of minutes thinking about the good stuff or I’m going to curl up in the fetal position and not get out of bed for a while, and I have a four year old, so that shit ain’t gonna fly. So to pull me back from the brink, here’s a list of things that make me happy.
My husband. I have never been more grateful to be married to a (straight, white, middle class) man who understands male privilege. Who listens to my stories without judging, without inflicting the male perspective, without defense of his gender. It’s refreshing to say the least.
Wine. It helps.
YA authors and their books. The only time I haven’t been consumed by angry thoughts the past couple days has been when I am escaping into a book. I’ve been reading everything by Leigh Bardugo and she rules and you should go read all her books.
Frozen yogurt. Not as good as ice cream, but I can eat a buttload of it and not feel guilty, and I need to eat my feelings right now.
My Favorite Murder. It seems like it should make things worse in my head these days, but it doesn’t.
My kid. Sometimes you just need a baby snuggle, and a glimpse into a future where men are raised right.
Moms. I asked for help with a special, meaningful, not my business so I won’t explain project, and my Facebook moms group killed it. The power of moms is going to save this country.
Survivors. I read your stories. I hear your stories. I believe you.
Kamala Harris. I’m looking forward to voting you into the White House someday.
Game of Thrones. Thanks for letting me slip into a fantasy world of horrible pretend people when I need to escape from the real ones.
What’s making you happy these days? Leave me a note so I can hopefully focus on the positive for more than five minutes at a time.
During our summer time trip to New York, we stayed at the Gallivant in Times Square. Originally, we (and by that, I mean me) wanted to stay in the West Village (I WILL run into Andy Cohen one of these days), but for some reason or other, the week we chose to visit was super popular (not sure why because it was hotter than balls) and thus super expensive. The Gallivant was one of the more reasonably priced hotels still conveniently located, and overall, it was a great choice for us for this trip. The best thing about it was definitely the location. It was in Times Square, but not directly on Broadway so it wasn’t as crazy busy/loud/bright as some of my Times Square stays have been. We were within a block or two of the major subway stations and were able to get around really easily. The room was small, but that’s to be expected. The hotel staff was friendly and helpful, rooms were clean, and most importantly, the AC worked well.
We have been residents of Orange County for less than a month, and I am already missing LA something fierce. Don’t get me wrong, being ten minutes away from Disneyland is a lifelong dream (and saving me a ton of money on gas!) but I am definitely jonesing for some of my LA hot spots. I know I will continue to find awesome places here in the OC that can fulfill my pseudo-hipster needs, but for now, I’m going to take advantage of my LA work days and hit up these favorites whenever I can!
While on our trip to New York in July, we were able to hit our twelfth baseball stadium on our tour (if you’re new here, one of our goals as a couple is to visit all thirty baseball stadiums across the country (and Canada!)). We visited Yankee Stadium a few years ago, but we didn’t have a chance to make it out to Queens on that trip, so we made it a priority on this trip. And it was an extra special trip because we went on our anniversary and our first date was a baseball game at Dodger Stadium. Awwwwwwww. Citi Field is definitely one of the nicer stadiums we have been to, and we both really enjoyed the food and drinks, and the cheap tickets! Here are some highlights!
Fall is just around the corner (even though in SoCal it still feels exactly like summer) and I for one, am so excited! I love everything about fall and despite the warm weather, I still like to pretend I’m going to be cuddling up with my flannels and football. Fall calls for a shift in clothes, food, and self-care, and these are some of my must have items for fall.
Kiehl’s Lip Balm: Not going to lie, this stuff is bomb all year round, but especially as the weather get drier, my lips need a little extra TLC. This is hands down the best lip balm I have ever used.
Halloween Food and Drinks at Disneyland: I mean, this is just a duh right? One of the things I look forward to most about fall is all of the delicious treats at Disneyland!
Cute Booties: I got my first pair of booties last fall and I am still obsessed with them. I wear them with everything in the fall, from dresses to skinny jeans. They are my go to fall shoe!
Good Books: Of course, good books are a constant in my life, but I love a particular kind of book during the fall months. I like books that are a little darker and heavier and I tend to lean more toward fantasy in the fall months. Right now I am reading Now I Rise by Kiersten White and I plan to tackle the next book in the Outlander series soon.
Fantasy Football:This is my fourth year playing fantasy football and my third year doing two leagues. I won my league the first year I played, but since then things have been hit or miss. I’m hoping for a bit of good fortune this year!
Red Wine: Summer for me is all about white and rose, but I do love me some red wine! I am looking forward to indulging in some tasty reds in the coming months.
Cute Wine Glasses: And of course, you gotta have something cute to put the wine in! I’m all about fall-themed wine glasses, from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Happy Fall.
We still have a few more days until fall is technically upon us, but I am looking forward to the season to come!
