Yay Disney!

I am still such a child at heart. What other 33 year old do you know who wants to spend their birthday in Disneyland. Probably not many. But I celebrated the best birthday ever! My whole family, including mom and dad, my bro and his girlfriend and of course my hubby...it seems like a dream!

Ivan and I met Shayne and Scarlet in L.A. for a night on the town before heading to Anaheim. We arrived starving so went to a place that Ivan knows well called the Urth Caffe, which had a gorgeous courtyard out back and had a nice selection of healthful foods and drinks. Smoked salmon platter, grilled portobello pannini, salads, beef dip all on beautiful breads and bagels.

Scarlet was able to get us hooked up with a fantastic rate at the swanky W hotel which was awesome. The rooms were gorgeous, with the exception of the glass in between the bathroom and the bedroom. It's worse at the W in Montreal because the entire wall is glass...in LA there is just a strip of glass with some frosting in the middle. So basically if you are taking a dump, the person in the bedroom can see you...SICK! And if you are having a shower, the person in the bedroom can watch....sexy maybe one time, but really, I am not a porn star when I have a shower at all...I may fart if I choose, and bending down to wash my feet is not sexy when my boobs are waggling about....I simply want some privacy when I am showering....god forbid...what if you were staying with a friend, parent or sibling....those peeps in Montreal...real comfortable with their nudity I guess.

Anyway, as I mentioned the LA hotel was a bit more discrete with wide strip of glass and frosting in the middle....but unfortunately, as Ivan, Scarlet and I were enjoying our sparkling vino, we could see Shayne's feet and gitch as he worked over the can. Don't stay here if you have issues with privacy. Otherwise it's a total pimpin hotel.

Ivan and I went to Trader Joes, which is a chain of specialty grocery stores across the U.S. I would say it was kind of like a Choices market...lots of unique items, fresh foods and cheap booze! So we stocked up on snacks, vodka and wine, then barged into Shayne and Scarlets room to start the party.

We all went out to Geisha House for dinner, which was really fun. Fabulous ambiance, but average food, in fact the whole trip consisted of average food. This is the place to go if you are young and hot....no star spottings, but lots of wannabees. The sushi rolls are the way to go, but the lamb chops were certainly worth mentioning. The dynamite shrimp was more batter and spicy sauce than shrimp. Go for the cocktails, music and people watching!

We went back to the W lounge for a drink afterwards which was also hopping, and had a really sexy atmosphere outside. The next day we stopped at some random cafe for brunch, which I don't even remember the name of, and really isn't worth mentioning...there are lots of places to eat, and don't forget you are in the states so the portions are huge!

We met up with mom and dad at the Anaheim Marriott which is a perfect place to stay if going to Disney. It's only about 10mins away and there is a shuttle that costs only $4 per person to go back and fourth all day. Mom and dad had been chilling a few bottles of bubbles to celebrate my birthday so we cracked those, talked and then headed over to P.F. Changs for my bday dinner. I had been hearing about this place for many years from various people that it is such a good place for Chinese...well clearly those folks have not had good Chinese food!!! To be honest, there really wasn't one thing that stood out to me, out of all the dishes we ordered. It was really just Americanized, deep fried, salty chow....not recommended at all unless you think sweet and sour pork is authentic. But the Sake was good and the company was great, and that's all that mattered to me that night!

The next day was DISNEY! I wanted to go on my actual birthday, but each Friday in October they close early and have trick or treating for the kiddies and a special parade, so instead we opted to go for the full day on Saturday. I made everyone get up early to grab a quick bite and head to the park. I was thinking, since America is in the middle of a recession, the weather is chilly, and its in October, the park should be ours for the taking... but NO WAY...it was more packed then we have ever seen it! Due to Scarlet's amazing hook ups we were able bypass the line onto Space Mountain and ride it twice...such a great ride!!! We spent the day enjoying the rides..getting soaked on Splash Mountain, singing along in the tiki tiki room, floating down the river in Pirates, escaping bad guys on Indie, flying through the stars with Peter and enjoying every second.... I felt like I was on cloud 9. Mom and dad tuckered out around dinner time and the four of us continued on to do as many rides as we could before closing down the park. For the first time, we watched Fantasmic from start to end with front row seats, then snuck onto Indie for one last adventure to end a perfect day.

I don't care what anyone else says...Disney IS the happiest place on earth...you can just feel the magic in the air and everyone has a smile filled with joy and excitement once you walk through those gates...I can feel the tingle in my heart just thinking about it, and I look forward to taking my kiddies there one day. But today, I feel very grateful to have been with my whole family in the Kingdom of Magic which is a memory that I will forever Enjoy!