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I'm moving!

7/30/2015

Hi all! It's very late here (2:15 AM) and i just finished packing my kitchen! The only thing left to pack is my shoes in my suitcases and I am all done! Movers are scheduled for Friday afternoon so I am getting very excited!

Because I am moving this weekend I will most likely be on a blog hiatus for a few days until we get settled. and of course I will have a post about the move and how it all went. It truly is amazing the amount of stuff a person has and how much still I have gotten rid of, including ALL of my dishes since I was not in the mood to pack them and I have had them for 4 years.

Have a good rest of the week and weekend!

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All in for 5th Anniversary Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend

7/29/2015

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Yay I am all registered for Tinkerbell Half Marathon and boy I did it big! This will be the 5th year of the weekend and I will be FINALLY earning my perfect pixie legacy, my first legacy!

Since I loved Pixie Dust Challenge so much last year, I registered for that. I also have wanted to do the 5k since it starts on Main St and Tink flies!! I decided to do that one as well especially since it will be right after I finish the semester.

And they had merchandise available so I also ordered a jacket. I figured that will be a great way to celebrate.

Over I am so excited for this weekend and it is far away.

Anyone else sign up for races today during early registration? Anyone planning to sign up in 2 weeks?

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Tuesdays on the Run: Core Work

7/27/2015

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Another Tuesday, another Tuesday on the Run hosted by our favorites:
April from Run the Great Wide Somewhere, Erika from MCM Mama Runs, and Patty from No-Guilt Life. This week's topic is Core work!

As I have talked about recently, I've really tried to step up my core work lately and I have seen myself getting stronger and having less soreness issues.

I haven't found a complete core work program I like but instead have collected about 10-12 moves that I rotate through daily as well integrate into my weight routine.

Daily I have been using:

Hip circles
Bridges
Clam shells
Planks-hands, elbows, side, etc
Squats
1-legged squats

For my weight routines I have been picking 4-5 moves to do:

Squats
Curtesy squats
1-legged squats
Planks with knee lifts and lifting weights (one at a time of course) twists: with weights in your hands, push them across your body (right hand goes around the left side) and twist to the side
Russian twists
Touch your knees: I don't know if it has a name but you lift your feet off the ground and crunch and touch the weight in your hand to your knees.

To increase the burn of the weight routine, in between the reps (I usually do 25 of each exercise) is to do a 30 second plank in between. If that becomes too much, I do a downward dog to stretch out my legs and calves.

There are definitely more advanced moves I would like to start incorporating but those will be introduced slowly. Also in all of my packing for my move this weekend, I found my ab roller! I need to get back into using it as well!

How about you? what core work have you been doing lately?

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Healthy Living 7/27/2015

7/27/2015

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EAT WELL
I did fine this week. I bought a lot of food to stock up on so I should be good for the next few weeks. Since I am moving on Saturday, the goal is to eat as much of my food as I can. I want to try and save as much as possible by not eating out.

SLEEP WELL
I wish I could have gotten close to 8 hours but that did not happen! I went out late 2x this week which didn't help and it was hot and I have been packing.

This week I have to sleep on the couch(I got rid of my bed yesterday) so hopefully I can sleep better with a fan and A/C on!

EXERCISE WELL
Last week:
Monday: Piyo Upper Body
Tuesday: rest day-my legs were so sore and heavy
Wednesday: 2 mile run
Thursday: 3 mile run
Friday: rest day because I was at a mindfulness conference-we did yoga though!
Saturday: 11 mile run
Sunday: rest day/packing day

This week: my workouts will be brief all week but I still want to make sure I get them all in. With packing and moving, I will definitely be active but I want to make sure I can have a successful move without being tired or sore
Monday: 20 min weight routine
Tuesday: 3 mile run and TINK sign up!
Wednesday: yoga
Thursday: 3 mile run
Friday: rest day because its final packing day!
Saturday: rest day because it's moving day!
Sunday: 4 mile run and more unpacking

BE WELL
This week was busy but a good one.

I turned in my big presentation for my class so I feel much less stressed. Only two more weeks and then a bit of a break.
My conferences were both great-one of leadership and one on mindfulness
Moving has been the center of everything. I updated a lot of stuff but I need to Make a list of places to update my address.
I got boxes and started packing and it's not near as bad as I thought it would be. My goal for the rest of the week is to slowly back everything else and come up with a plan of attack. By dividing it up, I hope that it makes it more manageable.
Yesterday was my boyfriend's bday! We celebrated by packing and also going out for a nice dinner.
The special Olympics are happening at USC this week and even though it's a great event (I can't wait to go walk around today and see everything) they have been a bit MIA to staff on how it will effect operations (example-not letting us know there is a stage outside of our office that will have live music and groups from 9am-9pm every day) but today has not been too crowded. A bit noisy but okay. the atmosphere is terrific though!

How was your week?

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Magical Mickey Mondays: Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas:Jambo House Review

7/27/2015

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The gorgeous tile in the master bathroom

It is Monday so we are linking up with another Magical Mickey with John at run.geek.rundisney and Katie from Adventures by Katie. This week I will be talking about our stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas: Jambo House.

Our studio overview

When we were just down there in June, we did a split stay in 2 studios and then a 2-bedroom. Ralph and I stayed in one room and my mom and stepdad stayed in the other.

We stayed in the Value Jambo house rooms and loved it. Mara (which is basically the food court) was right downstairs and we could see animals from our first room; our second room overlooked the pool.

2 bedroom overview

The pool at AKL was fantastic! It was absolutely gorgeous and the slide was fun. We also went over to the Kidani village and checked out there pool. It was also really nice but felt a lot more crowded. Kidani Village also had a separate kiddie play area. And no worries-Kidani has drink stations by the pool and in the gift shop since they don't have a food court there.

One thing to note:these are former hotel rooms converted to studios so they are smaller than typical DVC rooms. However they are much less in points to make up for that.

They are about to do small upgrades to rooms with a rumor that they will be adding the 5th person that can sleep on a pullout bed.

The pool!

The entire resort is gorgeous! Yes, it is far from parks (minus AK of course!) But honestly MK is no further than when I have stayed at Pop Century. It truly is in a class of its own.

I will keep writing reviews of various parts of the resort throughout the next few weeks including our breakfast at Boma and amazing dinner at Sanaa.

Have you ever stayed or visited Animal Kingdom Lodge?

Our roommates (plus the minion!) for a week

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Friday Five: Favorite Summer Beverages

7/27/2015

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Hi all! Linkup Friday!! Thanks to our amazing hostesses: the DC Trifecta Bloggers (Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run, and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!). This week's topic is favorite summer beverages!

Summer is here and in full swing! It has been insanely humid in LA(75%+) this week since we had that freak thunderstorm last weekend. The humidity is really taking a toll on me and I've had a hard time sleeping and just general fatigue all week. At least in Texas, we had A/C so we could sleep! Luckily my new apartment I'm moving into next week has central air!!

Anyways, on to favorite beverages for the summer.
1. Water
I know it's lame but I had not realized how much water I have been consuming. I decided to track it with
My Fitbit and I've averaged over 100 oz a day and I still wait up dehydrated and with a headache!

2. Lemonade
Sometimes I just need some sugar and I love a cold glass of Newman's Own lemonade

3. Tea
I drink tea pretty much every day at work. It's more exciting than water and has more variety. However I have been drinking More iced tea lately!

4. Iced coffee
I love coffee but it's too hot to drink during the summer. I love to get iced coffee as it has the caffeine but is also refreshing! One great thing is Starbucks now sells iced coffee at the grocery store. It is about 5 bucks and you get 8 servings out of it so it's definitely a good deal.

5. Wine
I love wine all year around but there is something so refreshing about a nice cold glass of wine that is relaxing.

How about you? What do you find yourself drinking more of over the summer?

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Guest Blogger: 2015 Fueled by Fine Wine Half Marathon Recap

7/22/2015

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Hi all! One of my BRF/BRH just ran an incredible half marathon and offered to recap it. Enjoy!

Greetings from your friendly neighborhood guest blogger! I’m Devin, Juliana’s running husband (see my adventures on her Dopey and Star Wars recaps, among others), longtime friend, and fellow Disney Crazy.

And like Juliana, I’m also a big fan of wine (I’m Jacchus to her Bacchus). In fact, I’m such a big fan that once I read about Oregon’s Fueled by Fine Wine Half-Marathon here I knew that I had to run it. I’ve wanted to go to Oregon for a while and why not explore a new wine region with an awesome sounding race with a fantastic after-party?

Yes, this was about 20 feet away from where I picked up my bib and swag.

EXPO
I use the term “Expo” generously. I was emailed ten days beforehand that there were three opportunities for bib pickup: Friday in Portland, Saturday at Erath Winery in Dundee (where the race is) and Sunday morning right before the race. Since we were flying into Portland Saturday morning, we decided to do the Saturday pickup. I had not noticed that the pickup ended at 2 (it only ran for 3 hours) so we were lucky we got there when we did!

Despite barely being an Expo (and not really having any race details – they all were on the site), this was easily one of the best bib pickups. Why? Because you got wine at the pickup! Yes, that’s right. Erath was tasting a Rose of Pinot Grigio and a phenomenal 2010 Pinot Noir (Oregon is famous for their Pinot Noir…as well as their Riesling and Pinot Grigio). And they had a quiche paired with the Rose! AND you could buy the race special – both bottles for 45 bucks…while the Pinot Noir alone usually cost 50!

This race also had arguably the best swag bag of all time. You got a cute Oregon canvas bag, a wine journal, a race sticker for your car, and tons of coupons for local wineries. Overall, there were 4 2-for-1 tastings, 4 free-tasting-for-one, and 3 free-tasting-for-two. There ended up being more coupons at the after-party and wearing your medal around town got some extra discounts. In the end, we only paid 10 bucks (plus tips) for all the tastings we did over two days (and tastings usually range from 10-15 bucks in this area). If you’d want to, you could easily spend another day or two fully exploring the wineries of the area and getting your money’s worth.

Swag bag contents (minus two coupons)

After our free tasting, we went to main room of Erath to – you guessed it – redeem a coupon for a full free tasting! Like Juliana, I enjoy some pre-race wine: it relaxes me, provides some sugars, and also makes me drink a lot of water. So Brian and I had a great time drinking wine at Erath, overlooking the terrain I’d be running tomorrow, and generally relaxing. So much so that we next went to Argyle Winery to redeem another coupon! If you haven’t heard of this winery, I’d suggest changing that. This place regularly sends wines to the White House for state dinners whenever they need a Pacific Northwest Pinot Noir.

After tasting, we went to a local pho place for dinner, which was both an excellent carb load and a fantastic way to stay hydrated and full of electrolytes. Then, we went back to the room and I stretched and rolled to Teen Beach Movie on Netflix (since, alas, our hotel did not have Disney channel…but it was so cheap and nice that I wasn’t complaining).

Our hotel was a 7 minute drive from the race start, so we left at 6:35 for a 7 AM race. And that will NEVER happen again in my entire life (until I do this race again). I got to the start line, stretched, had some water, and waited for the race to begin. Shortly before it did, they announced a charity event, where one guy starts 10 minutes after everyone else, and for every person he passes, he earns 10 bucks for charity. Normally he does about a 1:10 half, but said that last year he did this one in 1:27. So yeah, this was gonna be a tough course. In case you’re wondering, he passed me around mile 4.

RACE
Every recap I read about this race was the same: This is the hardest half marathon you’ll ever run because it’s hilly as balls (not that balls are really hilly). It’s also the most beautiful half marathon you’ll ever run because Oregon wine country is beautiful. Also, they all agreed the after party is awesome.

The race coordinator was similarly upfront about the hilliness. Unlike some races (glares at LA Marathon), the coordinators warned us about the elevation and the hills (it’s about a 900 foot increase, but I was told if you count all the ups and downs, you climb over 2000 feet) and told us not to try to PR.

I had already resolved that I was not going to go all out here. I typically hover around 2 hours for my half time, but I didn’t want to feel sick after the race and I wanted to be able to walk around Portland on Monday and Tuesday. Most importantly, I wanted to be able to enjoy that wine. The wine festival began at 9 and went till 12, so my thinking was even if I finished at 10, that was 2 hours of unlimited wine tasting.

One of the easier hills of the course

Luckily, the weather gods were on my side this time. Whereas I had read in prior years that it was in the 90s and humid, this year it was in the 70s.

The race began with an uphill climb. Definitely not an easy start, but again, I expected it. Shortly though, we were already in our first vineyard. And it lived up to the hype. Getting to watch the sunrise over the vines as hot air balloons rose into the air was a sight that my picture will not fully do justice to. I knew then that, no matter the hills, this was gonna be a great run.

The next few miles were fine. We didn’t run through any more vineyards yet, just along the backroads of Dundee. It was still gorgeous though running near the trees and greenery of the Pacific Northwest. This Jerseyan-turned-California definitely misses green.

I also loved the wine-quotes, running-quotes, and Oregon wine trivia along the course (apparently the area grew the first American strain of Pinot Grigio back in the 80s). Stuff like this always brightens a race.

There were definitely hills though. And the branches of the trees provided much needed shade, but also blocked my view as to when these would end. And the answer to that seemed to be “never.” A lot of hills went on longer than I thought, curving out of my initial view, only to reveal that when I thought I was done climbing, I wasn’t. As a result, I made sure to have a Margarita shot block at every water stop (there were 7 in total). I didn’t want to get too low on electrolytes. I also had Gatorade at each one, but it was very watered down. Thankfully, the volunteers encouraged taking more than one if anyone wanted to and they were well stocked. Also, shout out to this race for having Clif shots at every fuel stop. I’ve never seen something like that before!

For the first 5 miles, I was averaging an 11 minute/mile pace. It’s definitely slower than my usual 9:30ish one, but again, lots of hills and not trying to PR. I knew that the worst was still to come.

And I was right. Around mile five, there was a huge hill, both in steepness and length. It was a high incline – so much so that everyone around me gave up trying to run it (we had already conquered quite a few hills by this point)…and it didn’t end. Every time it seemed to plateau or at least reach a more reasonable incline, it would soon start up again and get more vicious. And it was in the sun.

Even the hills couldn't break my mood though!

At least when we reached the top, we were now in the wineries. And nothing is more invigorating than running past rows of beautiful leaves and grapes. I will warn people (as I was warned) that if you run this, watch your feet. You are running in functioning vineyards: that means uneven dirt, gopher holes, and more.

The running did not get any easier though. Oregon grapes thrive on hillsides, so the vineyards meant a lot more going up and down. And, because of the uneven ground, I couldn’t even go all out running downhill; I had to focus my muscles even more on staying balanced.

At some points, I swore the Devil himself had designed miles 5-9 of this race. But just when I'd get annoyed at the next hill, I'd look around and be so happy that I was running through vineyards. So yeah...still totally worth it.

Hills! Hills! Hills as far as the eye can see!

After another three miles of winery running, we finally hit the big momma of hills. I had seen this one in the distance after passing the mile 5 hill and prayed that it wasn’t coming immediately afterwards. Thankfully, my prayers were answered, but that did not make it any more fun when I got to it. I put the Teen Beach Movie music on full blast and tried to run some of it, but I only made it up a third before that became a tall order. The hill was huge and full of people, but none of us were running. By now we all seemed to realize that there were better uses for our energy and that no one wanted to wreck themselves here.

I will say to anyone who runs this, though, turn around on these big hills. The view you get makes the climb almost worth it (see below).

After this hill though, the rest of the race was a fun blur. It was mostly downhill or flat, with a few mild uphill moments, and the views remained fantastic. And, at the final water stop, someone was giving out Swedish fish. What’s not to love?

I ended up finishing at 2:35:03 (11:51/mile). Overall, I was happy with my result. I had been shooting for under three hours initially, and then adjusted it to 13 and then 12 minute miles. All the hills added well over 2 minutes to my average, but I had expected worse. And – more importantly – I felt great afterwards. I will say that this race was the toughest course I’ve ever ran and, if it and the LA marathon had the same weather one way or the other, it would be even harder than the LA marathon.

On Monster Hill

POST-RACE
The finish line had waters, fresh blueberries, strawberries, and bananas (I wouldn’t be surprised if the first two were local they tasted so fresh), bagels with peanut butter, Clif Nut bars, and corn and sweet potato chips. All of these were great…but I’m noting the lack of Gatorade. I’m lucky I checked my own (and my trusty can of Progresso soup…I always at least drink the broth after a big race) or else I would be in no condition to taste wine for the next two and a half hours.

I picked up my wine glass (included in the registration cost along with the after-party ticket) and medal, got my checked bag, and changed into the race shirt (which was okay – it was tech, but the front was blank and the back just had the name and date of the race, no design). I had intentionally worn an old running shirt that was on its way to the trash/donation basket anyway and threw it out after the race. I didn’t want to schelp that around for the next two hours.

While I’m about to extol the amazingness of the post-race party, I will say it also houses my biggest critiques of the whole race.
1. The aforementioned lack of Gatorade means if you didn’t prepare, drinking wine after a hard race would not be fun.
2. There was no changing tent so the tasting area was piquant with BO…again not fun when mixed with wine and post-racing tiredness.
3. There were more free chips around the area, but no real food. I’m not saying it needs to be included in the cost of the registration (it’s a bargain as it is), but I would’ve paid for some food truck food easily.

But all that is minor in comparison to the awesomeness of the party itself. First, let me reiterate that it’s included in the cost of the registration (which is only 85 bucks) and add that any extra person’s ticket is only 25 bucks. You both get a souvenir wine glass. And there are about 20 top-notch wineries doing unlimited tasting pours. I think I tried between 15-20 wines while there (which would be about 50 dollars if we were paying for tastings) and we bowed out with about 40 minutes left (due to the above issues…particularly #3). Of course, the wines were delicious. This wasn’t the cheap stuff – there were tons of fantastic pinots, and also some interesting Chardonnays, Rieslings, and various Roses.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
This was easily one of the best races I’ve ever run in my life. It’s up there with the Disney World Marathon and the Star Wars and Avengers halfs. It’s well-organized with great energy and a gorgeous course, has a fantastic after party, and is a bargain (seriously, the amount we saved on wine tasting was easily the cost of the race!). Sure, it’s also the hardest thing you’ll run, but if you go in with that mindset, you’ll have a great time. Also, nice to know that every recap I read about prior years was dead-on (even if the course changes every year).

I give this race an A+.

POSITIVES

Gorgeous course
Great communication from organizers (though perhaps they could do it a bit earlier)
Tons of fuel on the course
Friendly volunteers
Easy start line (getting to/parking/time needed/etc) and started on time
Great mile markers (they were all wine bottles!)
Fantastic Swag
Afterparty is not to be missed
A lot of bang for your buck!!!

THINGS TO WORK ON

Shirt could be better (though if that keeps prices down, so be it)
Cups on course could be bigger/Gatorade could be stronger
Gatorade post-race
Changing Tents Post-race
Food Trucks at Festival
Earlier communication about logistics

My dirt-line

TOOHEY’S TIPS

Take your time. This is not a PR race and you’ll be miserable if you treat it like one.
Don’t wear your favorite racing gear. It’ll get covered in dirt and you may want to ditch your shirt.
Check Gatorade and maybe even food before the race so you’ll feel good for the afterparty
If you want to visit Portland (and you should because it is a magical heaven on earth), do it the days before the race. Many museums and other attractions are closed on Monday and Tuesday.

When's your next half? What's your dream half?

Thanks Devin! I want to do this race so bad now but sadly it will most likely have to wait at least 2 years (you know that whole dissertation thing starting next summer...). Now I am craving a glass of wine!

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Tuesdays on the Run: Alternative Ways to Support Running

7/21/2015

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Another Tuesday, another Tuesday on the Run hosted by our favorites:
April from Run the Great Wide Somewhere, Erika from MCM Mama Runs, and Patty from No-Guilt Life. This week's topic is on alternative ways to help yourself from running.

I tried really hard not to get injured while running, as I am assuming most people do, and I have decided that by placing a premium on every day care. This includes things such as core work(which I'll talk about next week on the linkup), stretching and rolling. Along with these, I also focus on things such as making sure to sleep enough, eat healthy and hydrate hydrate. By placing a premium on my health, I am making sure that I am prepared for my workouts and not worn down.

One thing I have been using as part of my stretching routine is the contraption above. it is used for posture but you see the 2 nods on it? i use those to stretch my butt to prevent piriformis or sciatica from coming back. It definitely hurts so good but for just a few minutes a week, I have been able to keep everything at bay.

I did just get an Amazon local voucher for a chiropractor that I need to go and use. I think it will be good for me to have and get adjusted as needed. I also got a few deep tissue massages that worked wonders and I definitely need to get another one again! Maybe I will schedule one for next week.

What do you do to keep yourself in top physical shape?

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Healthy Living 7/20/2015

7/20/2015

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Time for some weekly accountability! I will recapping how I have done on the 4 Well Rules over the last week: Eat Well, Sleep Well, Exercise Well and Be Well. I have decided to link up with Tara of Running n Reading as I love linkups. Make sure to check out the other bloggers there too!

EAT WELL
Overall I did well. It was so easy working from home and eating as I had portioned everything.

The main concern Im having right now is my food going bad! My apartment is so hot during the day, that all my fruit is going rotten! I bought some peaches on weds I never got to eat because they all went bad. Ugh what a waste of money!!

This week I need to get through all of my food. I bought a lot of it and I'm worried about it going bad before I can eat it. One good thing is I won't need to grocery shop much this week and we can be eating healthy.

SLEEP WELL
I got my new Fitbit so I am back in action on sleep. It has a new update so it's so much easier to track sleep and see how I'm doing. I averaged about 7.5 hours of sleep last week but my goal is to get closer to 8 hours for this week.

EXERCISE WELL
Last week:
Monday: resistance training with my new resistance bands
Tuesday: 3 mile run
Wednesday: 20 min weight training
Thursday: 3 mile run
Friday: rest day because I'm going to Disneyland for the 60th! Walked 20,000 steps
Saturday: Pasadena 80s run 10k in :59:38
Sunday: rest day
-while working from home, I was able to get in a 20 min walk each day which was great. When I got back home, it gave me energy to complete more work.

This week:
Monday: Piyo Upper Body
Tuesday: 3 mile run
Wednesday: 20 min Weight routine
Thursday: 3 mile run
Friday: 2 mile run
Saturday: 11 mile run
Sunday: rest day with lots of stretching
-I want to make my core work and stretching a priority this week. I have a lot of miles on the docket and want to make it through them without too much soreness

BE WELL
This week has been great! I saw Ant man (hilarious movie!) and got to celebrate Disneyland 60th which was truly beyond words.

I had a reunion with my masters cohort and it was beyond incredible. I got to meet everyone's fiancées and husbands and meet everyone's kids. It's amazing how much we have all changed since we started the program 7 years ago!

I loved working from home and made huge leaps and bounds on some projects and feel much better going into this week.

I have 2 conferences this week at work: one on Thursday afternoon and one all day Friday so those will definitely break up the week.

Big news: I'm moving in with my boyfriend August 1st! We spent yesterday going to ikea and finding a bookcase we like and some pictures to hang up as well. We're going to order them next week to be delivered after we move in. I also need to get on it and make sure all of the gas, electric and Internet will be transferred over smoothly. And I've been going through everything and getting rid of a lot but I still have more to go! I need to start packing ASAP!

How was your week?

celebrating Disneyland's 60th!

free cupcakes to celebrate Disneyland's birthday

crazy race in the humidity and then rain! But I got my back to the future medal!!

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Magical Mickey Mondays: Celebrating Disneyland's 60th

7/20/2015

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It is Monday so we are linking up with another Magical Mickey with John at run.geek.rundisney and Katie from Adventures by Katie. This past Friday was Disneyland's actual 60th anniversary. There was no doubt in my mind that I would want to be there so I took the day off work (I was lucky to be working from home this entire week so I was able to make up those hours before and after) and headed down bright and early at 6am. Lucky for me, there was very little traffic and they actually let people in the park at 6:45am so we walked right in at 7:10.

castle was blocked off so this was the closest we could get

The whole atmosphere was beyond words. They had cast members lining both sides of the street giving everyone high 4's with Mickey gloves and thanking us for being there to celebrate. All of the characters were out in their diamond clothes with crazy long lines. Oscar, the chef at Carnation Cafe whom worked on opening day, was out taking pictures with people. It truly was one of my most magical experiences at Disneyland EVER.

When we walked in, we got a commemorative map, newspaper from the OC Register, a button that says-I was there July 17, 1955. I plan on framing all of them because they are just awesome!

Our plan was to ride Peter Pan but with a 70 minute wait, we skipped it and wandered around finding the photo stops and also got in a quick ride to see the Hatbox Ghost at Haunted Mansion. After, we wandered into tomorrowland were it was SO CROWDED and there was an insane wait for the free cupcake they had. We went to see the last sign in Toontown and found a cupcake area with NO WAIT so we had to stop. The cupcakes were awesome and the icing was buttercream and sugary (no, they weren't gluten free and they made my stomach a bit uneasy but so worth it).

Even though it was 8:30, the park was crowded so we headed over to DCA where there was no one. We stopped for some pictures and then got a fastpass for radiator springs, waited less than 10 min for toy story and only 5 for California Screamin. We also had another cupcake because why not?!?!

They had these signs all over celebrating disney history. my favorite was the parking lot one in DCA since it used to be where you parked!

We decided to watch the rededication from DCA. There was no way we would be able to see from DL (people were camped out from when it opened) and we knew we would be staring at a screen anyway. We got a view right by Carthay and got to sit in the shade which was great!

They had the President of DL come out and speak and then had Richard Sherman talk a bit about working with Walt before playing "Feed the Birds" which was sung by Ashley Brown who played Mary Poppins on Broadway. That song is so appropriate as it was Walt's favorite song and the Sherman Brothers used to play it for Walt every Friday afternoon.

They had members of the Disney family and other Legends there they briefly introduced. After all of that, they had us sing Happy Birthday and characters run out of the castle.

Richard Sherman played "Feed the Birds" (Walt's favorite song that he would go and play for him every Friday) and Ashley Brown (mary poppins on Broadway) sang. It was truly amazing

Afterwards, we went to do the tour of Carthay circle which is free and starts at 10:30. They take you around the restaurant and explain all of the pictures, room decor and more. So many hidden jewels In that restaurant like did you know that the evil queens face is sketched in the wood of all of the tables?

The park was a bit crowded and we were a bit tired after getting up at 5:30 so we got coffee and shopped a bit before walking over to Trader Sam's for a drink and lunch. I had a fantastic margarita and a pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato fries.

We then went back to the park to ride Radiator Springs where ALL of the effects were working for the first time in forever!

posing with the sign in DCA. NO crowds there

After, I walked over to Disneyland to meet my friend Melody as I haven't seen her in awhile. It was getting warm so I left and it took me about 2 hours to get back to Pasadena where I had to pick up stuff for my grad school reunion and pick up my bib for my race the next day.

Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better day! I would have loved to stay until evening but knew it would get very busy and with a race the next day, I knew leaving early would be for the best.

One other thing-they asked people to dress up (aka Draper Day) so I wore a comfy dress and flats. I definitely should have worn more supportive shoes as my legs were hurting by the end.

Anyone else visit Disneyland on Friday for the 60th?