Just because you're lucky (and apparently I have a lot to say which is a shocker since I'm usually so brief), there are two parts to my Birthday weekend. I can feel your excitement from here! So take a breath, sit down, and enjoy part one:
My mother was one of those moms who tried her best to make events special. Our house was decorated for almost every holiday, even the little ones. My birthdays were always special because my mom planned them that way. When I grew up and moved away to college it was up to me to make my own birthdays special. I began to realize that it was harder than it sounded! I’ve had some great friends who made the day special for me with surprise parties, dinners out, and surprise visits, however this year I wanted to plan something extra special for myself.
I turned 25 on September 16th. While I wasn’t too happy about the number because now I feel that I’m closer to 30 which for some reason just isn’t cool (you round up once you hit 5, ya know!), I was happy about the actual day! Mr. C asked me what I wanted to do and I couldn’t think of anything. Then I remembered that I could get into Disneyland FREE on my birthday! I absolutely LOVE Disneyland. Don’t even get me started on Disneyland at Christmas time. That’s just the best thing EVER. Literally – EVER. Don’t even try to think of anything better because you simply can’t. Anyhow, I figured Disneyland on my birthday would be amazing so I started searching online for registration info. I searched and searched and after coming up empty handed, finally emailed someone. Apparently the getting in free thing was only last year. Oh crap. By that point I had my heart set on Disneyland and had requested the time off so we figured what the heck, let’s go anyhow!
We arrived in Anaheim late Wednesday night, planning to get up early for Disneyland the next morning. Thursday morning I woke up super excited, ready for a fun day at Disneyland! After showering I rummaged through my suitcase and realized that I didn’t even bring along the shirt I had planned to wear. While this was not the end of the world, I was a little frustrated since I hadn’t really brought extra clothes and it was so early to be having issues already. I picked another shirt and after breakfast we headed over to the park. I’m a pretty clumsy person and I tend to simply not pay attention to what I’m doing. With this in mind, please try not to lower your opinion of me when you read the next sentence. On the way to the park, I ran into a giant pillar. Now, Mr. C knows that I don’t pay attention so I still maintain that he should have been looking out for me! Regardless, I hit my hand on the pillar and it hurt so bad I started to believe I had broken it! I held it together and we continued walking even though my hand was throbbing. At one point I started to believe I had actually broken something since the pain was not going away. We arrived at Disneyland and paid for our tickets. That’s when we saw the sign that said Space Mountain was closed for the day. Incase you are unaware, Space Mountain is like the best ride in Disneyland. At this point I wanted to sit on the ground and to cry like a little kid. I forgot my shirt, my hand hurt, Space Mountain was closed, and it was my birthday! After asking around, we found out that Halloween officially began at Disneyland the next day, which is why the ride was closed. I wasn’t sure I wanted to miss out on Space Mountain but it was my birthday and I was supposed to send it in Disneyland! After some debating we decided to swap our Thursday and Friday plans which meant that we’d head to Hollywood instead. I didn’t really have a clue about what to do in Hollywood but we decided to check out Grauman’s theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
We headed off to Hollywood, a drive that seemed to take FOREVER! Mr. C was super sweet and let me nap on the way there. By the time we arrived, my hand was a little sore but much better. We parked and made our way to the theatre. After spending about 30 seconds looking at it, we decided we were done with that attraction! The Hollywood Walk of Fame took about 10 seconds. Although it was cool to see the stars with names and all that, it would have been way more exciting if there was a star with my name on it! Since that wasn’t realistic, we decided to find something else to do. We spotted Madame Tussaud’s Museum, somewhere I’ve always wanted to go, and decided to go for it. The museum was pretty cool! At first it was just creepy because the figures looked so realistic. It took a couple seconds of serious staring to figure out if the figure was an actual person or the wax figure. We got some great pictures and had a lot of fun.
By the end we were starving and headed to a cute little flatbread restaurant where we had the most fun people watching. People in Hollywood are just plain WEIRD! At this point, we realized that we were over Hollywood and decided that the beach was a great idea instead! The only problem was that we had no suits, towels, or shorts. The clothes we did have were in our hotel room, over an hour away. We figured the most logical thing would be to run to Target, buy some stuff, and then head over to the beach. Target was only a few miles away but it took about twenty minutes to get there. Once there we were overcome but the awesomeness of the 3 story store. I don’t know if you have been to a mulit-level Target but it’s pretty amazing. They have escalators….wait for it…..FOR YOUR CARTS!!!! OMG! I don’t know who thought this up but it’s the coolest thing ever! The shopping was a little harder than we had anticipated though because apparently it’s Fall now and people don’t go shopping for beachy dresses, suits, or beach towels. I ended up with a tank top and some workout capris and Mr. C got a super wrinkly white t-shirt and some plaid shorts – not exactly beachwear, but it was the best we could do! We ended up buying some bath towels (because apparently beach towels are not a year round item!) and then headed to the attached mall to find me some cheap flip flops. Apparently flip flops are also no longer in season? I wear flip flops for 10 months out of the year so I’d like to talk to whoever decied this. Whoever you are, listen up – flip flops are ALWAYS in season, therefore stores must be stocked with them ALWAYS!!! After flopping on the flip flops (did you catch that?!?), we decided to just head over to the beach with what we had. Mr. C thought it would be weird to change in the Target bathrooms so instead we changed in the parking garage. In the car. Because that’s not weird at all, huh?
Finally we were ready and set out for Venice Beach which like everything else, was a much longer drive than expected. We arrived around 4:30 and it was FREEZING! It may have been cold but we were at the beach, so we were happy. We sat in the sand together and watched the tide come in. We watched the birds running out of the water when the tide came in, and laughed at how they never learned the predictability of the water. It was actually the best part of my day. The second to best part was watching this guy and his girlfriend. They walked down to the water in their jeans, sweaters, and scarves. I’m not exaggerating here. It looked like they were in the arctic. The guy had a plastic bottle and after watching him throw it in the ocean numerous times we realized that he was trying to fill it with water. Mr. C and I were cracking up. We thought about helping him but honestly it was just too funny. He would throw it in the water but then the tide would come up so he’d run back because of course he couldn’t get his feet wet! The tide would go down then and the bottle would be empty because it had basically been floating on the top. Finally the guy found a surfer and asked him to get the water. Mr. C and I were laughing hysterically by this point. We were trying to not be rude but it was just so hilarious. I can only imagine what the surfer thought. We have no idea what the water was for but this guy was ECSTATIC once his little water bottle was full of water! He added a bunch of sand to the bottle so perhaps he wanted to make his own beach? Either way it was hilarious. So, thank you mystery man who made us laugh until we cried!
Finally it got too cold and we decided to take off. We drove back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We walked through the lit up trees to Downtown Disney and ate outside at a wonderful Mexican restaurant where they sang to me and we tipped more than we ever have because the service was simply amazing. I wish I could show you pictures of the delicious food but I simply cannot remember to take a picture before I start eating. I did think if it at the end but by that time I had devoured the fish tacos and only had beans and rice left. I just assumed you didn’t want to see a picture of that. You’ll have to take my word that it was just amazing. After dinner we walked around, shopped, and just enjoyed the weather, music, and fountains. My 25th birthday was nothing I had planned it to be, however it was even better. It was the perfect day to remind of a couple invaluable lessons I’ve learned over the years:
1. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and be flexible
2. Spontaneity makes for the best days. Even if something doesn’t work out, the planning and anticipation is sometimes the most fun.
A wise man once said that there's no such thing as a perfect plan, just going with the flow that worked out perfectly. Sounds like you two had a lot of that!
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