Double the Anniversaries, Double the Fun! Jan 2013 PTR | TR HAS STARTED! 2/13

[PracPerfPatricia]

Your niece is quite darling...

It was awesome that your were able to get to see your family in Boston before going to New York...

1408 - I wrote a note to myself to check that out...

I love trs about NY because its an easy day trip or weekend for us from Philadelphia...and I get good ideas...

New York cabbies are very special... I just try to go to my happy place in a New York cab and hope for the best...

I really like that Disney store in Times Square as well... its interesting-because it tends to have specific New York Disney Merchandise that you really don't see other places...


(I really miss the Dis New York store that was on 5th Avenue up towards Central Park... It closed about 2-3 years ago now...it was 3-4 floors and really had a lot of New York specific merchandise... I think they've cut back a little on that in the Times Square store... but I'm guessing there is a ton more foot traffic there... between the M&M and Hershey stores and the Toys R Us...)

I don't watch Real Housewives of NJ but I do watch Four Weddings.... and those girls can really sling some mud at each others weddings...

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Hahahaha yeah, I wouldn't have watched 1408 before the trip either!!

Yay for the massive Disney store!! I actually have not been there yet, but it looks awesome!

 

[amyrella]

Haha I know you didn't get to your NYC part of your TR yet, BUT I know exactly what creepy characters you are talking about in Times Square! Thanks for the little mini TR!

 

[__disneygirl]

Loving your updates! I live right outside of NYC and visit Boston as often as I can, I LOVE that city... honestly I love it almost as much as NYC. Don't tell NYC. haha. It just has everything and it's less dirty and crime-ridden (for the most part). Oh my beloved East coast, I will never leave you!

Your niece is absolutely PRECIOUS!! Seems like you had some great family time.

I can't BELIEVE you got unlimited vacation with manager approval. That is literally one of the coolest things I have heard in awhile.

I LOVE 1408! Such an underrated movie. John Cusack is the best!

Oh man.. I love the Disney Store Times Square, and they have some pretty good sales, but it is nothing compared to the old World of Disney Store on 5th ave! When I heard they were redoing it I thought it would be better, but it's not. The old one had tons of WDW and DL merchandise and the new one is just a more extravagant version of the Disney Stores at the mall. Plus, World of Disney was designed to look like a store at Disney World. Le sigh. I mean, I still go to the Times Square one a lot, but I just hope they bring back the extra magic that used to be there someday!

 

[mouseketeer70]

Great updates! Your new vacation plan? that is awesome!! Do you think I could convince my principal and school board to go for that plan too?
You are a brave woman...I couldn't have stayed in that hotel having seen 1408...good thing you waited to watch it!
Love the new Vinylmation! I'm seriously going to have to look into them one day. Yours are so cute!

 

[danimaroo]

Loving your East coast trip report... Your niece is ADORABLE!!!

And the Disney store... OMG!!! Amazing!!! I can see why you need to visit it more than once...

OMG I'm so glad to hear people are liking my mini-TR! I thought it might be fun to do, but also got worried that people wouldn't be interested. It's a fun way to pass the time before our trips!

I have to agree that my niece is ridiculously adorable.

The store really was super awesome and so huge!

Ahh, NYC. I do enjoy the city but I get an uneasy feeling there too! I was there last summer and we had to drive and NO NEVER AGAIN TAXI DRIVERS ARE MEAN!

Anyways...

YES, I TOTALLY knew what you mean about feeling like you're in a movie and you suddenly wish everyone could witness it! Do you know what I mean?? Those moments are amazing!

So freaking jealous of your Disney store visit! We used to have at least two Disney stores in my area but they both closed! It's heart breaking, really.

OMG I WANT ONE OF THE BRAVE BROTHERS!!! They are the cutest things ever!

Yeah, it's a fun city to visit but I just could never live there! I can't imagine going there in the summer though, ugh. It was humid enough while we were there; I remember why I disliked summers in Boston so much.

Most of my taxi drivers were okay, but they were INSANE! So nervous while driving around in those cars!

I'm SO glad you know what I mean! It was just such a good moment. I have a lot of those moments when I'm in Disney World... which is why I'm looking into getting a new DSLR so I can take video on it and make a really awesome montage of our trips!

The store was really cool, but I heard there was an even better one that used to exist nearby! Such a bummer yours have closed. We have 2 near our house that we frequent!

UM NO JOKE! He just sits on my desk now with Beaker and Rizzo being all cute!

no, you are DEFINITELY not the only one sucked into the Real Housewives...lol
I keep telling myself I need to stop....LOL

cool that you were back in Boston...your mom's condo does have a great view!
I LOVE the building with the lock on it....being on the North Shore I would only see it when we would head thru Boston on our way to Foxboro for Pats games, I would always look for it...never knew about it being shot at with bb guns???!!!

That Disney store must have been sooo overwhelming...in a good way!
my husband does not like NYC either...so chances of me seeing it are not good...
maybe some day I can talk him into a trip...

Hahaha, so glad you understand my RHONJ addiction! I even got Matt sucked in to watching NJ with me. This season was out of hand with Teresa!

AH I love that you understand the Lock on the fortress! Hahaha. I love looking at it. And yes, my Mom told me when I was little, and my uncle, who is a Boston cop, confirmed that it does indeed get shot at! Why people want to ruin the lock, I don't know!

It was overwhelming but in a good way! I think the only way I'll go back to NYC with Matt is if we're both required to go for work. Otherwise, he won't go back.

Yay! Looks like fun so far! I love the "watch Matt give the dogs Frosty Paws". I have a crazy pants puggle/bassett hound mix that loves her Frosty Paws, so I can imagine how entertaining that is

And I'm a RHONJ-er too. All those shows are addicting!!!

SO GLAD you know what Frosty Paws are! We actually have a code name for it, (FPs) because if we say Frosty Paws the dogs go NUTS, haha. I love that ice cream for dogs exists!

AND YES to being addicted! NJ is the only one I watch now, I used to watch NY but then it changed and it's not really great anymore.

LOVING your mini-trip reports! I would LOVE to just walk to Times Square, looks amazing. Your niece is adorable, I'm so glad you got to meet her and spend some time with your family.

YAY! I'm so happy you're enjoying them; they're pretty fun to write and also make me realize how much I did, especially in NYC!

Times Square is huge and busy and overwhelming, but definitely fun to check out.

I was so happy I got to spend time with Melina, too! She's just so cute!

 

[danimaroo]

Your niece is quite darling...

It was awesome that your were able to get to see your family in Boston before going to New York...

1408 - I wrote a note to myself to check that out...

I love trs about NY because its an easy day trip or weekend for us from Philadelphia...and I get good ideas...

New York cabbies are very special... I just try to go to my happy place in a New York cab and hope for the best...

I really like that Disney store in Times Square as well... its interesting-because it tends to have specific New York Disney Merchandise that you really don't see other places...

(I really miss the Dis New York store that was on 5th Avenue up towards Central Park... It closed about 2-3 years ago now...it was 3-4 floors and really had a lot of New York specific merchandise... I think they've cut back a little on that in the Times Square store... but I'm guessing there is a ton more foot traffic there... between the M&M and Hershey stores and the Toys R Us...)

I don't watch Real Housewives of NJ but I do watch Four Weddings.... and those girls can really sling some mud at each others weddings...

Aw thank you, I think she's pretty darn cute!

It was wonderful seeing them. I'm just glad I was able to get both trips done in one go, instead of having to fly out twice! It's a long flight to/from Seattle!

1408 is a good Halloween movie! I don't like super scary movies but that one is really good and creepy.

Haha, that cab driver was my worst one thankfully! The others weren't as bad.

I heard the old Disney store was AMAZING because it was a World of Disney! I actually thought that's what it was then I read it was just a huge Disney Store... It was still neat, but I bet the other one was amazing.

OMG, I love Four Weddings. Or well, I watch it when I'm home alone, hahaha. I watched it while I was in Boston actually! Those ladies can get crazy feisty and super judgy of each other's weddings!

Hahahaha yeah, I wouldn't have watched 1408 before the trip either!!

Yay for the massive Disney store!! I actually have not been there yet, but it looks awesome!

Haha I've actually seen it quite a few times, I just refused to watch it right before! What's funny is we watched it right before Matt's trip to NYC, and he found out he was staying there and was actually scared.

Even funnier, he was initially put on the 14th floor! They switched him to a different room because it was a smoking room, so then it wasn't so bad. But I laughed so hard when he was put on that floor initially. Poor Matt!

The store was pretty impressive and had a HUGE selection of plush toys, NYC-exclusive merchandise, and neat t-shirts!

Haha I know you didn't get to your NYC part of your TR yet, BUT I know exactly what creepy characters you are talking about in Times Square! Thanks for the little mini TR!

HAHAHA YES! I am so glad you know what I'm talking about! I'm going to post that part here shortly, but they are super creepy!

Glad you are enjoying this! Makes it worth writing everything, haha.

Loving your updates! I live right outside of NYC and visit Boston as often as I can, I LOVE that city... honestly I love it almost as much as NYC. Don't tell NYC. haha. It just has everything and it's less dirty and crime-ridden (for the most part). Oh my beloved East coast, I will never leave you!

Your niece is absolutely PRECIOUS!! Seems like you had some great family time.

I can't BELIEVE you got unlimited vacation with manager approval. That is literally one of the coolest things I have heard in awhile.

I LOVE 1408! Such an underrated movie. John Cusack is the best!

Oh man.. I love the Disney Store Times Square, and they have some pretty good sales, but it is nothing compared to the old World of Disney Store on 5th ave! When I heard they were redoing it I thought it would be better, but it's not. The old one had tons of WDW and DL merchandise and the new one is just a more extravagant version of the Disney Stores at the mall. Plus, World of Disney was designed to look like a store at Disney World. Le sigh. I mean, I still go to the Times Square one a lot, but I just hope they bring back the extra magic that used to be there someday!

Hahaha, I'm glad you love Boston! I have to say I do miss it sometimes... What's crazy though, is how much cleaner Seattle is than Boston... You can imagine my shock for NYC and all of the trash on the sidewalks! Oh man, you do NOT see that here in Seattle!

It was hard leaving the east coast, but now that I've been in Seattle for 7 years, I LOVE the laidbackness of the west coast.

It was great seeing my family; it'd been over a year and a half, so family time was definitely needed!

Oh man, the unlimited vaca is like a dream come true. I am definitely going to take advantage of it here, ESPECIALLY with Disney trips!

THANK YOU for understanding how good 1408 is! I know some people thought it wasn't scary enough but it terrifies me, in a good way. I love John Cusack! Say Anything was filmed a block away from my old apartment in Seattle!

I was kind of bummed about the World of Disney store not being around anymore! I'd heard such good things and then found out it didn't exist anymore! This store was neat, but the WoD one sounds amazing because it had park merchandise!

Great updates! Your new vacation plan? that is awesome!! Do you think I could convince my principal and school board to go for that plan too?
You are a brave woman...I couldn't have stayed in that hotel having seen 1408...good thing you waited to watch it!
Love the new Vinylmation! I'm seriously going to have to look into them one day. Yours are so cute!

Ah thank you! Glad you've enjoyed them!

I seriously almost fainted when I heard about our unlimited vacation! Just tell the school board that it helps improve workers' performance and stuff. They'll totally go for it!

I've actually seen 1408 before staying there! I mentioned it in a comment above, but last year we watched it like we always do around Halloween. The next day, Matt found out he had to go to NYC for work, and when he heard he was staying at The Roosevelt, he about died.

Even worse, when he got there, he was initially put on.. the 14th floor! Thankfully he was moved due to it being a smoking floor, but I would have panicked if I'd been put on that floor, hahaha.

Vinylmation are too much fun to collect! I highly suggest it, but it can be addicting! Right now I'm waiting on an entire tray of Haunted Mansion Vinylmation coming to me in the mail from a friend!

 

[danimaroo]

Before I start on the next part of my east coast adventures, I just wanted to say I'm super happy people are enjoying my mini-TR! It's been fun to write about and share parts of my life with you guys, and also means that when I'm done, I have some fun updates on our trips for you guys!

Okay, back to my NYC adventures!

Tuesday, I got all ready for work and was ready for my first day in the NYC office! I was super excited to wear my new black crochet TOMS!

I met my co-worker AJ downstairs in the hotel lobby before we set off… and on our walk over, we passed by the Empire State Building…

Theeen got lost. We were given the wrong address, but eventually after walking into random office buildings on the street, we found it, hahaha.

Unfortunately, my feet were KILLING me since we walked way more than normal and I was wearing my new TOMs. Thankfully, I had my pair of Chucks with me and put those on later in the day, haha.

Obviously work was work. But the office had a great view of the Empire State Building!

For lunch, we tried out Ben’s Kosher Deli and it was deeeelish! I got the open faced turkey sandwich, and it was basically Thanksgiving dinner… so I only ate half of it.

After work, our NY co-workers took AJ and me out for bowling in Times Square and dinner at Guy Fieri’s new restaurant.

Bowling was super fun! I grew up in Boston so all we had in my town was something called “candlepin bowling”. Basically, the bowling balls are way smaller, there’s no holes for your fingers, and the pins are straight. Oh and you get 3 tries to knock down the pins, not 2. I think it’s way harder.

Anyway, this was only my 2nd time “big ball bowling” ever (aka, normal bowling to everyone who didn’t grow up in a tiny town south of Boston!)… and I came in first on my team! I was kind of surprised, haha.

After bowling, we headed next door to Guy Fieri’s new restaurant that just opened up a few weeks ago… and obviously ordered pretty drinks!

Dinner was pretty decent! Definitely still working out kinks there and it’s definitely overpriced, but that’s kind of expected in Times Square.

After dinner, AJ and I decided to go off shopping on our own while everyone else headed home. We had some exploring to do!

We stopped by Walgreens to pick up some drinks and stuff for later, then looked around… We spotted Toys R Us and knew we had to check it out!

We were greeted by this massive ferris wheel and holy cow, what a huge store. I mean, it was kind of overwhelming, but in an awesome way.

We wandered around, and spotted these MASSIVE boxes/containers of Nerds and Sweetarts! I told AJ it reminded me of the massive “bonus” boxes on Super Market Sweep. (I know, if you couldn’t tell, I really loved that show)… We then recited the whole ending “…when you hear the beep, think about all the fun you could be having on SUPER MARKET SWEEP!”), and I made him take a photo with them for scale, hahaha.

We then noticed the ginormous dinosaur for Jurassic Park. It was kind of terrifying.

AJ was sad that they didn’t have ANY Jurassic Park stuff, since he loves Jurassic Park (and actually owns a Jurassic Park pinball machine), but then we stumbled upon Lego HULK and all was okay again in the world.

We also spotted a Master Chief from Halo, of which AJ is a huge fan, so I made him get in a photo.

Of course I couldn’t leave empty-handed! I don’t know if any of you watch Adventure Time, but it’s pretty much the funniest cartoon show ever.

Anyway, Matt’s been planning on going as Finn from the show for Halloween, and I spotted Finn’s hat AND sword, so I knew I had to surprise Matt with them when I got home. I think he looks pretty darn cute:

Oh and don’t even worry about it, as I’ll be going as Jake (the dog), Finn’s partner in crime, so yeah, I’ll show off our costumes from our Halloween Party at work once they're done, I promise!

ANYWAY, I also picked up a Wreck-It Ralph action figure for my desk at work!

As a huge video game nerd, I can’t wait for that movie!

Anyway, after I picked up my stuff, we left the store and decided to go check out the Disney Store again, of course.

THIS is where we had a run-in with the creepy characters I mentioned earlier!

So, apparently random people dress up in character costumes and walk around Times Square, looking all innocent, but in reality are waiting to prey on unsuspecting tourists.

You think to yourself, “OH! Hello Kitty! I want a photo with her!” All is well, until after you snap the photo, Hello Kitty is no longer friendly until you pay her money for the photo you just took.

It’s insane! They carry bags around with them and everything. I was pretty aware that these were super creepy characters, and slyly took photos of them from afar, so they wouldn’t chase me down looking for money.

OMG, talk about the creepiest Pluto and Woody EVER!

As I was explaining this whole thing to AJ, he turned and we saw this creepy Tweety Bird wannabe, and AJ stopped to try to take a photo of it from afar. As soon as he did, Creepy Bird (as I called him) started walking towards AJ looking for money.

I screamed “RUN AJ! RUN!” and ran off down the street, laughing my face off as we ran away from the creepy bird, hahahaha. We couldn’t stop laughing at how ridiculous it was.

Fortunately, we were saved by the Disney Store, and wandered around there for a bit.

We didn’t end up buying anything this time, but AJ was definitely impressed with the store.

We left there and were both pretty tired, so we started to head back towards W 45th, when I remembered the Swatch store, so we stopped by there.

I couldn’t help myself and ended up buying a new watch. Green is my absolutely FAVORITE color in the world, so when I saw this watch I knew I had to have it.

What’s neat about the watch is that no watch is the same, because in every watch, the gears are different colors. It’s super comfortable and I totally love it.

After that, we headed back to The Roosevelt, then parted ways after a long first day in the city!

Next up: I attempt to hail a cab at 5pm in the pouring rain in Times Square, and explore a new part of New York City!

 

[DnA2010]

You quoted Supermarket sweep!!! I still watch re-runs of it!

 

[Terkina]

once again a great update. Time Square doesn't sound nice with the characters haunting you for money if you take a picture with it. Other than that it looks like you had a great day and night in New York

 

[sunnysideup3]

AHHHH! Supermarket Sweep. I LOVED that show. Watched it every day with my brother while my mom made dinner. That bring back memories!!

Those people in costume are super creepy. I have a friend who lives in NYC with a daughter Eli's age and it's hard to tell them to not get excited about characters when they see them, so they pretty much avoid Times Square.

Love the green watch!!!

 

[407-W-DISNEY]

I always forget we are the only ones that have 'candlelpin' bowling! I call it, 'big ball bowling' as well....lol
did you grow up watching 'candlepins for cash'..or something like that...It was on saturdays mornings...

Your night out sounds fun...YES! RUN from those characters in TS!!
my co-worker went to NYC not long ago and told me all about them...GROSS!

 

[marDgreen88]

Aw! I haven't really been to Times Square since my first time in NY, which was like... 8 years ago. Hahha but when we went to the Toys R Us, we rode the ferris wheel and you KNOW I had to be in the Toy Story car!

I don't understand why anyone would want to pose with those characters. They're terrifying. I also don't understand how they think they can get paid to stand there in a costume. They have no right to chase people. It's ridiculous.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Those Disney Characters in Times Square are just soooo wrong... especially when you've seen the real ones in Disney... they're just creepy...

Bowling in Boston is different than other places? Really?

I looked up 1408... and I'm going to def rent... sounds really good...

That Toys r Us has the biggest selection of Wonka Candy... makes me want to break into one of the songs from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... the Gene Wilder one... I liked both but the Wilder one was sweeter... although the Depp was probably closer to the book...

That Dinosaur is creepier but if they had some of those Raptors peering around corners....

What kind of food does the Guy Fieri Restaurant serve?

 

[fanofWD]

Awesome update! I loooove Adventure time too, and think your costumes are fab, but would never be able to convince my DH to do that with me (he's not into AT) but all's well as we are going as young Carl and Ellie from UP! Creepy Bird killed my DH and I! I can just picture you guys running away through times square from a massive yellow bird

PS We both are also super excited about Wreck-It Ralph...opening weekend baby!

 

[__disneygirl]

Ahh that's so awesome that you lived right near where they filmed Say Anything. I love that film too. All John Cusack movies are boss, basically. Did you see that about a week ago he went to a Peter Gabriel concert and walked on stage with a huge boom box and Peter Gabriel held it up in the air? That did my fangirling heart some good. LOL.

I'm surprised your TOMS hurt you so much! I've heard they're super comfortable. Maybe you just have to break them in first?

That is so funny that bowling is a very different thing in Boston! I had no idea. Very interesting.

Eating in Times Square is the worst! The only place I'll ever even consider going is the Hard Rock Cafe and that's only because they have a Beatles-themed lobby and in general just have amazing rock and roll artifacts that I love so dearly! Next time you're in NYC, you should hop a train down to the village, aka home of some of the best food in the WORLD. Also, did you go to Earl of Sandwich? I've been meaning to get over there for MONTHS. I think it's on 52nd street, and then there's one on Wall St too, if my mind serves me right!

hahaha my friends and I call those characters the "bootleg" characters. At World of Disney, they would have real Disney characters from time to time, but I haven't seen that happen at Disney Store Times Square yet. Hopefully they will bring it back!

 

[danimaroo]

You quoted Supermarket sweep!!! I still watch re-runs of it!

Hahaha of course I did! I'm kind of obsessed with that show... but the real question here is... WHERE ARE YOU FINDING RE-RUNS?! I would so watch re-runs of that show!

once again a great update. Time Square doesn't sound nice with the characters haunting you for money if you take a picture with it. Other than that it looks like you had a great day and night in New York

Thanks! And yeah, if you can avoid the characters, you're a-okay. It's if you take a photo with one that you have to be careful. It was pretty funny though running away from Creepy Bird.

We had a fun day/evening! My next NYC update involves exploring a DIFFERENT part of NY, which I'm excited to get to!

AHHHH! Supermarket Sweep. I LOVED that show. Watched it every day with my brother while my mom made dinner. That bring back memories!!

Those people in costume are super creepy. I have a friend who lives in NYC with a daughter Eli's age and it's hard to tell them to not get excited about characters when they see them, so they pretty much avoid Times Square.

Love the green watch!!!

Hahaha, yeah, it's kind of the best game show ever. Well that and Press Your Luck. THAT one was my absolute FAVORITE when I was little. NO WHAMMIES, NO WHAMMIIIIEEESSS... STOP!

I can imagine it's super hard with kids, and unfortunately, most people think it's totally okay... until the sketchy guys come along demanding money!

I love my green watch! I wear it every daaaay... Like I am right now.

I always forget we are the only ones that have 'candlelpin' bowling! I call it, 'big ball bowling' as well....lol
did you grow up watching 'candlepins for cash'..or something like that...It was on saturdays mornings...

Your night out sounds fun...YES! RUN from those characters in TS!!
my co-worker went to NYC not long ago and told me all about them...GROSS!

AHH YAY! I'm glad you know what I mean about bowling, haha. I am 99% sure I watched that show; or well, flipped onto it when I was trying to get my Saturday morning cartoon-watching on, hahaha.

Our night was indeed fun! Those characters really are the worst; I just HAD to take photos to show you guys the horror!

Aw! I haven't really been to Times Square since my first time in NY, which was like... 8 years ago. Hahha but when we went to the Toys R Us, we rode the ferris wheel and you KNOW I had to be in the Toy Story car!

I don't understand why anyone would want to pose with those characters. They're terrifying. I also don't understand how they think they can get paid to stand there in a costume. They have no right to chase people. It's ridiculous.

Haha it's fun, but it was a bit overwhelming at times. I didn't even see the Toy Story car! But of course you would ride that one, DUH!

Yeah, those characters are whack. Yup, I just said whack. But seriously, they're terrible and need to just go away. I DID think it was funny picturing us running away down the street though, hahaha.

 

[danimaroo]

Those Disney Characters in Times Square are just soooo wrong... especially when you've seen the real ones in Disney... they're just creepy...

Bowling in Boston is different than other places? Really?

I looked up 1408... and I'm going to def rent... sounds really good...

That Toys r Us has the biggest selection of Wonka Candy... makes me want to break into one of the songs from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... the Gene Wilder one... I liked both but the Wilder one was sweeter... although the Depp was probably closer to the book...

That Dinosaur is creepier but if they had some of those Raptors peering around corners....

What kind of food does the Guy Fieri Restaurant serve?

They really ARE wrong! They're so fake it's sad. Like, I'd expect to see them at that crazy fake Chinese Disney World that's now abandoned.

Bowling is different in Boston! It sounds weird, right? That's why "normal" bowling was so new and different to me!

1408 is a gooooood Halloween movie! Creepy, not gory, just kind of scary and eery!

The fact they had an entire AREA dedicated to Wonka candy was insane! And pretty awesome. I enjoyed both movies as well, though Depp was pretty creepy!

Haha, if those raptors peered around the corners, I'm pretty sure every little child would run out of Toys R Us screaming.

The Guy Fieri place serves I guess American for the mostpart? It's okay but DEFINITELY overpriced, that's for sure. I will say the nachos as an app were pretty tasty.

Awesome update! I loooove Adventure time too, and think your costumes are fab, but would never be able to convince my DH to do that with me (he's not into AT) but all's well as we are going as young Carl and Ellie from UP! Creepy Bird killed my DH and I! I can just picture you guys running away through times square from a massive yellow bird

PS We both are also super excited about Wreck-It Ralph...opening weekend baby!

Haha thanks! I can't wait to show how they look on Halloween. They're starting to shape up pretty awesomely.

That's too bad your husband isn't into it though; that show makes me laugh SO hard every episode!

However, CARL AND ELLIE?! So awesome. You MUST show me photos!

HAHA I'm glad someone else thought it was as funny as I did; I was laughing so hard once we got away from Creepy Bird.

AND YAY FOR WRECK-IT RALPH! I hope it's good!

Ahh that's so awesome that you lived right near where they filmed Say Anything. I love that film too. All John Cusack movies are boss, basically. Did you see that about a week ago he went to a Peter Gabriel concert and walked on stage with a huge boom box and Peter Gabriel held it up in the air? That did my fangirling heart some good. LOL.

I'm surprised your TOMS hurt you so much! I've heard they're super comfortable. Maybe you just have to break them in first?

That is so funny that bowling is a very different thing in Boston! I had no idea. Very interesting.

Eating in Times Square is the worst! The only place I'll ever even consider going is the Hard Rock Cafe and that's only because they have a Beatles-themed lobby and in general just have amazing rock and roll artifacts that I love so dearly! Next time you're in NYC, you should hop a train down to the village, aka home of some of the best food in the WORLD. Also, did you go to Earl of Sandwich? I've been meaning to get over there for MONTHS. I think it's on 52nd street, and then there's one on Wall St too, if my mind serves me right!

hahaha my friends and I call those characters the "bootleg" characters. At World of Disney, they would have real Disney characters from time to time, but I haven't seen that happen at Disney Store Times Square yet. Hopefully they will bring it back!

John Cusack really is awesome. I need to re-watch Say Anything since it's been a few years now. And yes, I heard about that awesomeness with the boom box! I would have died if I saw that live, haha.

Usually TOMs don't give me any issues! I have 3 pairs, but the problem with these was that #1 It was my first time wearing this pair EVER, #2 We got lost and so we ended up walking a LOT around New York that morning, haha and #3 My feet were rubbing against the bottom and were feeling sad. They were super comfortable otherwise, and I know I can wear them again, especially since they're now broken in!

Haha yeah, it is VERY different and I think way more difficult!

Times Square doesn't have very good food, I agree! And don't you worry, my next update involves me exploring a different part of NY, where I ate some AMAZING food. I WANTED TO GO TO EOS SO BAD! But I just didn't have time. Wompwomp.

OMG those characters are so ghetto. Ugh. I would LOVE if the Disney Store had REAL ones. Then the fake ones would go away maybe!

 

[danimaroo]

I know some of you guys were maybe excited to read the next little excerpt of my mini-TR, buuuut I wanted to take a short intermission because this weekend involved our 5th annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch, along with putting up all of our Halloween decorations!

Matt coordinates this Pumpkin Patch trip every year, and we seem to always get a great turn out!

You can’t find me in that photo because I was taking it!

The fall weather finally decided to show up this morning, so it was raining REALLY hard the whole time we drove to get breakfast. Magically, the rain let up by the time we got to Craven Farm, and Matt was a pretty happy camper.

Our first stop was inside the little barn to check out the animals/pumpkin displays. This year they had a Harry Potter theme and a Cinderella theme… So obviously I got a photo with Cindy’s carriage.

I tore Matt away from the kitties (thankfully I don’t think the ones we saw in the barn this year were up for adoption, so it was easier telling Matt that no, we could not add another pet to our family), and then we kind of just roamed around for a few.

We got a photo in front of a Pirate ship, of course.

Then we all made our way over to the corn maze!

It’s tradition I always get a photo of Matt entering the corn maze, haha.

It’s an Alice in Wonderland themed corn maze. You’re supposed to go through, find the 3 rooms, and make your way out. We got super lost, but eventually found our way through.

It wouldn’t be a trip through without a photo op here though in Room 1!

And yes, those are our friends Bruce and Amy who are coming with us on this year’s Disney World trip!

After we finally got out of the corn maze, our next stop was the Pumpkin Sling Shots!

As you can see, Matt takes this very seriously, haha. There is something so satisfying about sling shotting little pumpkins and trying to get them in boxes out in the field.

The most important part of the Pumpkin Patch was our next stop… Picking out our pumpkins in the Pumpkin Patch!

It actually didn’t take us very long to find our pumpkins… or for me to insist on taking photos!

I got this nice one of Bruce and Amy!

I think this best explains my relationship with Matt…

And theeeen this was my favorite photo of Matt and me.

We picked out our pumpkins; I think they both pretty fantastic choices!

Soon after we grabbed a few more little pumpkins, some cider to bring home, and headed out just as the rain was starting to come back.

Talk about awesome timing!

We had a great time with everyone, and the pumpkin patch is one of our favorite fall traditions!

After we got home, we headed back out into the rain to put up all of this year’s Halloween decorations!

We saw that Haunted Mansion door hang and knew we had to have it!

Little Frankie is happy to be back in action.

Those pumpkins in the upstairs windows are a new addition this year… We love them though, they add a fun element to our house!

We also put in these eyes that light up and blink! You can see one in the photo above, and below!

It wouldn’t be Halloween at our house, though, without…

THE PUMPKIN KING!

Matt was outside fixing something last night and a family was driving by. They slowed down and put down the window, as one of the kids in the back said, “THAT’S SOOO COOOOOL!” and the Mom commented that she loved the blinking eyes!

Our house is pretty much the only one that goes all out for Halloween every year, so I think people like it.

I’ll be sure to post our pumpkins once we carve them, too! I maaay be doing a Disney one, surprise surprise.

So yeah! We had a good weekend, though it’s sad to see it go by so quickly. Wompwomp.

On Disney trip news… We’re still dealing with getting over the fact that Splash Mountain will be closed during our trip. I’m pretty mega bummed out over it, but also not surprised because they tend to close Splash down in January, and it IS in need of some TLC…

But still, my heart is broken that I won’t be able to ride Splash at night while MSEP is going on and the castle is all lit up. There’s something so special about that to me.

BUT! It’s okay; we did Disney in 2011 with no Splash, no Star Tours, and other refurbs and still had an amazing honeymoon, so we’ll be okay… plus, it’s just ANOTHER reason we should try to do a 2nd 2013 Disney trip, right?!

Our trip to Disneyland is creeping right up on us. Matt made all of our dining reservations when we hit the 60 days mark!

We are eating at Blue Bayou on Friday the 30th, and Carthay Circle for the World of Color package on Saturday the 1st!

I am SO excited to be eating at Blue Bayou, with it being the quintessential Disneyland restaurant experience. And Carthay Circle sounds like it’ll be fantastic, PLUS we’ll have tickets for the first World of Color show that night!

We have to wait until the end of this month to book our Holiday Time Tour, but we’re both super excited for it.

OH! And we also just both switch our Chase Debit cards to the awesomely new DISNEY DEBIT CARDS (by Chase). When we heard about it we were like, um, duh, why wouldn’t we switch to that?

You get all of the benefits of the Disney Visa Credit card (except the 1-2% cash back), including discounts and all that other stuff. We’d considered the credit card in the past, but would rather keep using my JetBlue AMEX for stuff to rack up air miles.

Plus, who DOESN’T want a card with Cinderella Castle (my choice) or vintage Mickey Mouse (Matt’s choice)?!

Anyway, I promise next update will continue my NYC trip report, but I just had to share our fall festivities and latest updates in our trip stuff!

 

[sunnysideup3]

WHAAAATTT??? There's a debit card??? Guess who's switching from BMOHarris!

LOVE LOVE LOVE your Halloween decorations!