Sharing the Disney Magic with Family & Friends-DL Diamond Anniversary-DCA F&W Fest Kiosks & The End!

franandaj · May 4, 2015

Flossbolna said:
That's great! What a wonderful start!

I hope the buffet diagram works out!

I'll give you a spoiler, I mis-estimated the size of the counter.... :rolleyes1

afwdwfan said:
Happy Birthday!!!

I just hope you aren't passed out in the villa somewhere while everyone else enjoys the party.

I'm not one who passes out....usually.

PrincessInOz said:
YAY! Ahead of schedule sounds like a fantastic start.

I know you're all having a great time.

Yes, it was a fantastic start!

KathyM2 said:
Happy birthday!! Can't wait to hear about how it all goes!

Hopefully I can start telling you all soon!

eeyore45 said:
Happy Birthday indeed - My guess - - a good time was had by all!

Yes! We all had an awesome time!

Flossbolna said:
This sounds like it was all around a successful weekend! And I was really happy to hear that Fran enjoyed it so much that she wants to repeat it for her own birthday!! I know that you mentioned that she was feeling a bit insecure about the weekend because of wardrobe troubles with the boot!

The wardrobe trouble was the least of her worries, but she seemed to do OK overall.

Flossbolna said:
Sounds like you successfully re-toxicated your body at that dinner! I would have never thought that those spa treatments could have that much of an effect!

Well pretty much since I took all the toxins and moisture out of my body, Cynthia said it was like I was drinking on an empty stomach even though I'd had some lunch. It didn't take nearly as much as it normally would have to put me completely out, but we will get to that in due time! :lmao:

Flossbolna said:
Looking forward to see plenty of pictures!

I'm hoping that friends will kick in and send pictures. We didn't do so good on the picture taking front.

KathyM2 said:
Can't wait to hear all about it!!!

Coming up soon!

Pinkocto said:
Awesome that you had such a good time, I knew you would! Can't wait to hear all about it!!!!!

With all those ladies, how could we not have such a good time?

dolphingirl47 said:
I am glad that you had a good time. I loved your birthday cake.

Here the strawberry season does not start until June.

Corinna

The birthday cake was very cool. I'm still not sure what to do about it!

Leshaface said:
Oh my gosh, DH and I (and everyone!) had the best time ever! Such great food at S55, lots of wine and laughter. I have some pics that i'll email you! Can't wait to see the pictures you got though.

I'm so glad you had a good time. I can get started without your pictures since you didn't come in til the second night. I'd love to have everyone's photos to help tell the story!

Leshaface said:
Yeah, you were pretty much done by the time the entree came I think And I didn't even think about the spa treatments and alcohol I'm shocked you made it through the appetizer actually.

I had no idea that it was such a detoxing treatment. A massage usually doesn't do me in like that, but that wrap was crazy good and detoxing! I was still somewhat conscious through the dessert course. It was after that when things started to go south! :rotfl2:

rentayenta said:
Best. Weekend. Ever!

So nice meeting Alicia and all of your 3D friends Alison.

I'm so glad you had such a good time! I did too! :teeth:

rentayenta said:
And guess who is my new Facebook friend? Naked Jim!!!!

He shared the photo of all of us to his timeline so that he could friend you all when he decided to come back to FB. I guess he decided to come back sooner rather than later. He usually doesn't read anyone's posts.

Pinkocto said:
The wedding was great, but a lot of driving. I thought of you Friday, I hope you got my birthday text

Yes I did! :thumbsup2

eandesmom · May 4, 2015

franandaj said:
Wow! Last night was a lot of fun. Unfortunately there weren't many cameras out. Maybe fortunately. I did make sure we got a documentation shot. The girls (for the most part) passed out really early, but we did close down the place. There's tri tip and chicken left for lunch as well as plenty if strawberry soup! Me though? I'm going for the lambuger!

Well there is a stair shot from Friday night.....although the one Leonard posted isn't all that incriminating...

I think the incriminating photos would have happened outside the villa with some certain boys who had to run to their car. LOL!

franandaj said:
I also learned an important lesson, when you're planning an evening of eating with lots of wine pairings and drinking, don't get a spa treatment that includes two detoxifying wraps. I probably feel better over all, but thankfully to my DIS girlfriends, they got me out of there and back to the Villa, without me falling down on my face! I'm hoping that the only incriminating photos that I have are mine and no one else took any!

It's a funny thing but I think a wrap is a totally different animal than a rub or a massage in that way. It literally leaches fluid out of your body and it's like you have to over hydrate with other stuff first.

Next party should be a massage I think.

The only incriminating picture I have is of Jim! And that's pretty tame. And that's what friends are for

franandaj said:
I'll need to gather photos from other party attendees before I can fully post the TR pics, but any of you following along who were there, please send me your pictures!

I have some. Not a ton but some and will definitely send. I know the whole table has food porn and cake porn from Friday. LOL

franandaj said:
It was soooooooo much fun and even though I am totally wiped out and ready for bed like you wouldn't believe, I would do it all over again if I turned 50 again. In fact Fran had so much fun that she is talking about renting the Grand Villa for her 65th, but I think we might ramp down the food a bit, I think we went a bit overboard this time!

She definitely said that! I heard her, twice.

Maybe one cake....and yeah, probably about half the food. So yummy though. Especially the strawberry soup, cake, mushroom soup and Death Star!

Oh and the wines at Steakhouse 55. Drool worthy!

Leshaface said:
Oh my gosh, DH and I (and everyone!) had the best time ever!

Daniel was hilarious! I'm just bummed I didn't get to talk to you more

rentayenta said:
Best. Weekend. Ever!

What she said!

rentayenta said:
And guess who is my new Facebook friend? Naked Jim!!!!

LOL!

Justin is mine...haven't heard from Jim yet.

franandaj said:
I'll give you a spoiler, I mis-estimated the size of the counter....

Hey, it made for some creative furniture rearranging!

franandaj said:
I'm not one who passes out....usually.

And, you didn't pass out.

franandaj said:
Well pretty much since I took all the toxins and moisture out of my body, Cynthia said it was like I was drinking on an empty stomach even though I'd had some lunch. It didn't take nearly as much as it normally would have to put me completely out, but we will get to that in due time!

Yep. Wraps I think may be the worst for this. They always warn about it with treatments but I've never really noticed a thing other than the one wrap I had.

franandaj said:
The birthday cake was very cool. I'm still not sure what to do about it!

Can you freeze any of it? Take some to band practice? OMG it was SO yummy and spectacular!

franandaj said:
He shared the photo of all of us to his timeline so that he could friend you all when he decided to come back to FB. I guess he decided to come back sooner rather than later. He usually doesn't read anyone's posts.

I didn't see that picture!

All of your friends were SO much fun! A hoot and a half.

franandaj · May 4, 2015

So the party sort of began on Thursday. I picked up Jenny (@rentayenta) at the Long Beach Airport and after a field trip we headed over to her hotel for one night to pick up Jill (@jedijill). The three DIS ladies would be spending the first night at the DoubleTree Orange where Jenny got an awesome rate. We decided that the four of us (Jenny, Jill, Fran and I) would get some lunch and we would drop the two of them off at the parks. Cynthia (@eandesmom) would be arriving later that afternoon.

We had wanted to lunch at the Pinks location at Knott’s Berry Farm. About 18 months ago Fran and I had dinner there before Knott’s Scary Farm, and it was good. The night before through texts and things we all decided that Pink’s at Knott’s was a go. So we headed over there only to find that it had closed. So we ended up at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken dinner restaurant.

See we really were with Jenny and Jill!

My chicken and dumplings came with a salad and biscuits.

The Chicken and Dumplings were phenomenal! But way too much. I should have just split Fran’s meal.

However Olga really seems to like the Chicken and Dumplings. Fran got the three pieces of chicken meal

Jenny and Jill split the two pieces of Chicken meal and ordered the all white meat so that they got two breasts and mashed potatoes. They split the salad and cabbage side a proclaimed it perfect for the two of them.

We took them to the parks and were able to get Jill a park pass. I found out that I can help out of towners buy park passes at whatever the So Cal discount rates are, so I’m happy to help out folks from out of town get the current specials like a So Cal two day discounted pass hopper. So if you’re coming out and there is a special for So Cal residents, I can buy up to five of them! :thumbsup2

We went into DCA and there was no one at the Pals statue so we took a pic with the PP photographer.

And then they went on their way and I went back to the car where Fran was waiting. We had a mission at Costco. And then after we unloaded all the groceries, we ordered food from a local Thai/Sushi place. My parents had gone out to Disneyland and met up with my sister and family. They got back just as we got home, so they helped carry in and then we ordered dinner. We got a lot of sushi and didn’t finish it all (go figure). While we were doing this the girls were at Trader Sams.

I’ll give them a chance to post some of their pictures if they want from this night before I get to the next day!

Pinkocto · May 5, 2015

Tons of fun being had already! And the girls got to go in the park already, I'm green with envy

Captain_Oblivious · May 5, 2015

franandaj said:
The night before through texts and things we all decided that Pink’s at Knott’s was a go. So we headed over there only to find that it had closed.

D'oh!

franandaj said:
So we ended up at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken dinner restaurant.

Oh, all right, if you have to.

franandaj said:
I found out that I can help out of towners buy park passes at whatever the So Cal discount rates are, so I’m happy to help out folks from out of town get the current specials like a So Cal two day discounted pass hopper. So if you’re coming out and there is a special for So Cal residents, I can buy up to five of them!

You're always so helpful to those out-of-towners! :rolleyes1

franandaj said:
We had a mission at Costco. And then after we unloaded all the groceries, we ordered food from a local Thai/Sushi place. My parents had gone out to Disneyland and met up with my sister and family. They got back just as we got home, so they helped carry in and then we ordered dinner. We got a lot of sushi and didn’t finish it all (go figure). While we were doing this the girls were at Trader Sams.

Hmmm...I'm thinking they got the better end of this deal.

franandaj · May 5, 2015

Pinkocto said:
Tons of fun being had already! And the girls got to go in the park already, I'm green with envy

I was a little envious too, it would have been nice to stick with them, but I had people to feed the next day!

Captain_Oblivious said:
D'oh!

Oh, all right, if you have to.

It wasn't a bad trade off!

Captain_Oblivious said:
You're always so helpful to those out-of-towners!

Thank you! :goodvibes

Captain_Oblivious said:
Hmmm...I'm thinking they got the better end of this deal.

Me too.....

franandaj · May 5, 2015

So I'm having a dose of reality here. Today is the first day back in my regular life. Once my parents left yesterday we couldn't help but run out the door to go celebrate "May the Fourth be with you" out at the park. We picked up all our special merchandise, and lucky we got there when we did! They were selling out of that stuff quick! XL T-shirts were already gone, and they were running low on many of the other sizes too! After getting our stuff we had some lunch and rides.

Today, I'm doing laundry, dishes, paying bills and I even need to go to the grocery store. :sad2:

And I'm back on my crappy eating plan as of this morning. I thought that I could milk it another few days, but unfortunately some of the blood work on my last tests was either ordered incorrectly or the lab ran the wrong tests on it, so I have to go back and run some more tests. I'm giving it a week for all the whatever I did to get out of my system!

So now all that is left of the Happy Birthday weekend is reliving it here, telling it to you all!

dolphingirl47 · May 5, 2015

franandaj said:
So we ended up at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken dinner restaurant.

Oh, it is years since I last had a meal there. What a nice place for lunch.

franandaj said:
We went into DCA and there was no one at the Pals statue so we took a pic with the PP photographer.

I love this photo. I wish we had taken a group photo there in November.

Corinna

dolphingirl47 · May 5, 2015

franandaj said:
Once my parents left yesterday we couldn't help but run out the door to go celebrate "May the Fourth be with you" out at the park.

That sounds like a lot of fun.

franandaj said:
I thought that I could milk it another few days, but unfortunately some of the blood work on my last tests was either ordered incorrectly or the lab ran the wrong tests on it, so I have to go back and run some more tests. I'm giving it a week for all the whatever I did to get out of my system!

I hope that all the test results will be positive.

franandaj said:
So now all that is left of the Happy Birthday weekend is reliving it here, telling it to you all!

Relieving it all is part of the fun.

Corinna

KathyM2 · May 5, 2015

Do share more!!! So far it sounds great. That was a LOT of mashed potatos though!!! And that salad and biscuits even looked good!

PrincessInOz · May 6, 2015

Checking in to celebrate this birthday bash vicariously.

It looks like a ton of fun and food already!

Leshaface · May 7, 2015

franandaj said:
See we really were with Jenny and Jill!

Such fun girls they are!

franandaj said:
The Chicken and Dumplings were phenomenal! But way too much. I should have just split Fran’s meal.

Ugh, these look delicious!

Okay, is this the restaurant located directly outside of Knotts? I remember when we had done Knotts Scary Farm (BTW, NEVER doing that again!) we had gone to such a delicious restaurant, that I thought may have been outside of the park but on the same grounds.

franandaj said:

Great picture! Still haven't seen the pals statue :blush:

franandaj said:
So I'm having a dose of reality here. Today is the first day back in my regular life. Once my parents left yesterday we couldn't help but run out the door to go celebrate "May the Fourth be with you" out at the park. We picked up all our special merchandise, and lucky we got there when we did! They were selling out of that stuff quick! XL T-shirts were already gone, and they were running low on many of the other sizes too! After getting our stuff we had some lunch and rides.

Today, I'm doing laundry, dishes, paying bills and I even need to go to the grocery store. And I'm back on my crappy eating plan as of this morning. I thought that I could milk it another few days, but unfortunately some of the blood work on my last tests was either ordered incorrectly or the lab ran the wrong tests on it, so I have to go back and run some more tests. I'm giving it a week for all the whatever I did to get out of my system!

So now all that is left of the Happy Birthday weekend is reliving it here, telling it to you all!

Ooh, I want to see what you got from the SW merchandise! :hyper:

And huge blah to the diet. But I giggled at "i'm giving it a week for the whatever I did" :rotfl2:

franandaj · May 7, 2015

dolphingirl47 said:
Oh, it is years since I last had a meal there. What a nice place for lunch.

Brunch, lunch or dinner, it's a great place overall!

dolphingirl47 said:
I love this photo. I wish we had taken a group photo there in November.

We should have definitely taken one there.

dolphingirl47 said:
That sounds like a lot of fun.

It was crazy packed. We ended up leaving relatively early cause we were exhausted.

dolphingirl47 said:
I hope that all the test results will be positive.

Me too!

dolphingirl47 said:
Relieving it all is part of the fun.

KathyM2 said:
Do share more!!! So far it sounds great. That was a LOT of mashed potatos though!!! And that salad and biscuits even looked good!

I'm working on it! It's tough finding time with all the chores I have been behind on!

PrincessInOz said:
Checking in to celebrate this birthday bash vicariously.

It looks like a ton of fun and food already!

The kitties just polished off the last of Mrs. Knott's cooking yesterday.

Leshaface said:
Such fun girls they are!

Leshaface said:
Ugh, these look delicious!

Okay, is this the restaurant located directly outside of Knotts? I remember when we had done Knotts Scary Farm (BTW, NEVER doing that again!) we had gone to such a delicious restaurant, that I thought may have been outside of the park but on the same grounds.

Yes, it's outside the park in the "Marketplace" area. And I totally agree with you on NOT doing the scary farm again.

Leshaface said:
Great picture! Still haven't seen the pals statue

How can you have missed it? :confused3

Leshaface said:
Ooh, I want to see what you got from the SW merchandise! And huge blah to the diet. But I giggled at "i'm giving it a week for the whatever I did"

I'll post some pics of the merchandise. I'm not doing very well on the diet. We have a coffee shop type place here that features a different cuisine each night of the week. Our favorite is Wednesday German Night, I had Rouladen and hash browns with a side of spaetzle, not exactly diet food. :rolleyes1

Flossbolna · May 7, 2015

franandaj said:
Our favorite is Wednesday German Night, I had Rouladen and hash browns with a side of spaetzle, not exactly diet food.

I know I am behind on commenting, but just had to jump in and say that I approve this dinner choice!!! And the Rouladen and hash browns are gluten free! :thumbsup2

Loved the pictures from the Knott's restaurant! I know you already recommended it to me for our next trip and I think we will make sure to visit it! The food looks delicious!

rentayenta · May 7, 2015

I am so sorry I haven't checked in since we have been home but life has been crazy! I was thrown three very big unexpected curve balls at work and am in the process of making some BIG career decisions. I hate making those. :sad:

Love the pics so far. Happy to have bought the kitties lunch. :lmao:

Mrs. Knott's was good but not as great as The Plaza Inn which sadly we missed this trip. It was a fun lunch! It was nice to meet Jill and Alisha (later during the trip) finally and catch up with you and Fran. :grouphug:

And of course see Cynthia again!

I have LOTS of pics from Trader Sam's but mostly of the booze. party:

It's a hella fun bar for those that haven't been!

mvf-m11c · May 8, 2015

Nice to see some pictures from your birthday weekend and with the DISers. You are off to a nice start during the trip.

I will have to stop at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken dinner restaurant one day. The same thing with Jenny and saying that I should go to Super Mex. I will have to decide on what places to try when I am in SoCal.

dolphingirl47 · May 8, 2015

franandaj said:
I'll post some pics of the merchandise. I'm not doing very well on the diet. We have a coffee shop type place here that features a different cuisine each night of the week. Our favorite is Wednesday German Night, I had Rouladen and hash browns with a side of spaetzle, not exactly diet food.

It may not be diet food, but this is truly the food of the Gods.

Corinna

EJ4Disney · May 8, 2015

I can't wait to hear all about it. I sure thought of all of you.

afwdwfan · May 8, 2015

I'm glad you had such a fun birthday celebration and I can't wait to hear all about it! Seems like it must have been quite the epic weekend for all involved.

Lunch looks great. Even if it wasn't the first choice. Nice of you to arrange transportation and help with getting park tickets!

I'm sorry you're back to the regular day to day stuff now, but at least you got some good food and quality time with friends and family. Again, I can't wait to hear all about it and I really hope some of those incriminating photos find daylight. :rotfl:

MEK · May 8, 2015

Alison - your birthday celebration looked like such fun! I have to admit that I enjoyed each and every FB post and picture. What a wonderful way to celebrate. Looking forward to hearing all about it with more pics!

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