California.
A new favorite place of mine.
My aunt Leanne started texting my mom and I around the end of the school year in May about a girls trip. She threw out a couple of locations that she thought would be fun. My aunt is one of the most fun people that I know. She loves her family and she loves a good trip! So it's a win-win when you get to travel to a fun place WITH family! Well she is a planner so once we picked a location, she immediately started planning our itinerary! The trip was planned to be at the end of July/early August. There was only one problem: I started nursing school on July 14th. Luckily, the first few weeks I only had to go on Mondays and Fridays for lecture and we just so happened to have a week that I only had class on a Monday! That was a huge blessing. So once we nailed down a date, the plans were set in motion!
Oh, and I forgot to mention this. We were going to California, and not just any old place in California, we were going to Anaheim. What's in Anaheim, CA? Anyone? Anyone?? That's right....DISNEYLAND!
If you don't know me (or most of my family for that matter) I am a HUGE Disney fan. I went to Disneyworld a couple of times as a kid with my family, I have always loved the classic Disney movies, AND when I went to college, my "social club"/sorority's mascot was Mickey Mouse! Well, let me take that back, when the EEE's were first founded, their mascot was a mouse. Nowadays, we claim Mickey Mouse. He's more fun anyways ;) Also, Aaron and I went to Disneyworld for our honeymoon and we are semi-obsessed. We constantly plan trips for "one day when I'm out of school" and "one day when we have the money" because right now, with school and his new job where he is technically "self-employed", we just can't justify a huge trip.
My aunt is also a huuuge Disney fan, probably one of the biggest in the entire world. She planned for us to stay at Disney's Grand Californian Resort as our "home base" --sidenote: our resort was literally a 5 min walk to the Disneyland park and Disney's Californian Adventure park. Literally right out the door of the resort. Amazeballs.
We left on a Tuesday, July 30th. My mom and I got to the LR airport and that's when we got the bad news....
I KID, I KID! But there WAS a problem. Something was leaking in the hydraulics system of the plane so take off was a no-go. We ended up having a SEVEN HOUR DELAY, which wouldn't have been that bad if we had been somewhere cool. No, we were an hour from home and stuck in the LITTLE ROCK AIRPORT. At least we weren't ON the plane for the actual delay. So once we (and by we, I mean my fabulous aunt!) got the flights switched around, we finally got on a plane that evening and got to Dallas, met my aunt, and jumped on the next plane to California! We got there about midnight, walked around the Downtown Disney area for a quick minute, and then we gratefully collapsed into our beds once we got to our room!
prior to our delay
We woke up in the happiest place on earth, or at least one of the happiest! We got up, got dressed, ate a Mickey-themed breakfast and headed to L.A.!
the happiest sight to see after plane delays and travel frustrations :)
Disney food > any other food
We drove to Hollywood Blvd., saw the famous Hollywood & Vine, and arrived at our first "touristy" stop, The Ivy! Y'all. Talk about an amazing sight. It was beautiful. I may or may not have taken a ton of pictures the whole time we were there. Just go look at the link. My pictures can't even do it justice.
[LA]
[LA]
[LA] Hollywood & Vine
[The Ivy]
[The Ivy] mom
[The Ivy] my pretty aunt
[The Ivy] and a good time was had by all!
After a yummy and healthy lunch, we headed to Rodeo Drive, every girl's dream! We didn't buy anything, but it's always fun to see a place in real life that you have only read about to watched a movie about!
[Rodeo Drive]
[Rodeo Drive]
[Rodeo Drive]
[Rodeo Drive]
[Rodeo Drive]
After Rodeo, we headed back to Hollywood Blvd., parked the car and started walking! We say many famous stars...on the sidewalk, a couple of interesting street "entertainers" (HA!) and a man walking with a boa constricter around his neck. Yes, you read that right...a man walking down the street with a SNAKE AROUND HIS NECK.
I just needed to share this photo of the saddest Minnie Mouse I have ever seen
We walked all the way down one side of Hollywood Blvd., crossed the street and walked allll the way back! We stopped in at a cute Disney-themed ice cream shop, Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store! We had ice cream and rested our feet while ooo-ing and awe-ing over everything had seen so far.
[Disney's Soda Fountain & Studio Store]
[Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store]
[Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store]
[Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store]
Did I mention the weather was perfect the whole time we were there?
To Be Continued.......
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