The One with the WB VIP Studio Tour

When I saw that Sarah sat on the FRIENDS couch at the WB VIP Studio Tour here in Burbank I was like I HAVE TO DO THAT! FRIENDS is our all-time favorite show. I mean, my blog post titles are mimicked after their episodes and we have a cat named Rachel, a dog named Joey, we used to have a bunny named Chandler, we used to have finches named Alice and Frank Jr., and if we ever get a poodle we'll name him Ross if it's a boy or Monica if it's a girl.
Moral of the story: WE LOVE FRIENDS.

We booked our tickets earlier this week, hired our friendly neighborhood babysitter for this afternoon, and then headed out.


Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck were there to greet us.

'Sup FRIENDS merch!

Even the waiting area was filled with movie props and costumes. I was most interested in the Harry Potter stuff. Clockwise: Harry Potter merchandise / a close-up of Dolores Umbridge's costume / one of Harry Potter's quidditch brooms / costumes worn by Sirius, Ron, Hermione, and Harry. From one of the Defense Agains the Dark Arts teacher's office - I so want these for future Halloween parties.

After a few minutes of browsing, our tour guide came out, seemingly less than pleased to be there... and we loaded up into a giant golf cart.

Right away he started spouting off fact after fact after fact - I can't remember them all! These mountains are used in the backdrop of shows like M*A*S*H. Just on the other side of these mountains in Burbank is the Hollywood sign.

A jungle - used in Jurassic Park, The Last Samurai, and lots of TV shows.

This scary alleyway is where the famous upside down Spiderman kiss took place! It's also used in The Dark Knight and any likely any other movie/show with a dark alleyway scene.

Small Town USA! I swear they just cloned houses from South Pasadena.

This WB building is the finance department but it's used in many TV shows as a hospital or police department / Roree's (from Gilmore Girls) Chilton school front gates. This is also used as an embassy in  a bunch of shows like The West Wing - all they do is switch out the flag in front. We told our guide that we were mostly there for FRIENDS. When he said this patch of grass is where Phoebe ran through Central Park, Chris piped up and asked if we could stop and get out and take pictures!

Reenacting Phoebe's run: Here's the real deal: Who knows why, but after this our tour guide perked up and was happy as can be! I can't remember what this Courthouse has been used in, I just like that I caught a sun glare on camera. It's the small and simple things :)

This patch of grass is where Ross played rugby! Stop the cart!

RED ROSS! Everything about these buildings and exteriors is fake. This one building doubles as a school, library, and city hall. It's got three sides!

Welcome to Stars Hollow (now the town in Pretty Little Liars). The gazebo is missing from the center, but still, pretty cool! All of the branches on the trees can be removed and pinned in place. The plumbing is fake. The lights are just plugged in.

These roses aren't even real! We could see them zip-tied onto the branches - which are actually real. Lorelai Gilmore's house.

The back of Lorelai's house is Sookie's house. This house was used as Phoebe's father's house! Seeing all of these places makes me want to go back and watch those episodes.

This is where any exterior shots of New York were filmed in FRIENDS! I was so starstruck. The stairs where fat Monica came down for her prom! The buildings, inside and out, are just bare bones. There aren't ceilings because lights are brought in to shine down. Apparently the lights get really hot, like 150 degrees hot, so massive air conditioner vents also come down through the ceiling to fan off the actors and keep them cool and their make-up intact. Everything from the light fixtures to the handles on the cupboards and cabinets has to be brought in and "dressed" for anything to be filmed. So much work! Our guide said this was a set up for an Arby's commercial or something, but Chris thinks he was lying and hinting that something cooler was being filmed there. Everything will have to be put back once they're through - even as far as re-cementing the road! All that for a commercial!?!

At one point we had to put our cameras away to go through a sound stage. We saw where Two and a Half Men is filmed. It's a long building and the back is filled with seats for a live audience. The front is all the set ups - the main rooms where most of the scenes are filmed. Oh how I would have loved to sit in on an episode of FRIENDS being filmed! Then we went into a building full of costumes and relics from movies. The entire second floor was dedicated to Harry Potter. Perhaps the coolest things we saw were the original cover jacket artwork for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. They were so detailed and amazing! We also got to try on one of the four original Sorting Hats. I was put into Slytherin, wah wah. Chris into Hufflepuff.  There is a ginormous building full of props that can be rented out. The price is based on 10% of the item's value as appraised by an auction house.

We went into a warehouse full of famous cars.

Lots of Batmobiles. The guide said these all actually drive, neato.

The character wall! I've only seen this from outside the gates - it was fun to see the entire thing straight on. We toured through Ellen's stage. Been there - done that :) We saw her parking spot and offices.

And last but certainly not least, the main reason we went on this tour - FRIENDS!

Before we walked into Central Perk our tour guide looked straight at me and said, "Don't freak out!" Haha. He knows me well. But really, I can control myself :) AHHHHHH! It's NUTS how big the room looks on TV, and even in these pictures, but really the square footage couldn't have been more than 600 feet! It was cramped and tiny and squished! It's such an illusion!

The coffee bar / Chris typing on Chandler's old-school laptop / I'm Rachel! / Where Phoebe sang oh so many awesome songs.

Detail shots.

I asked to sit on the couch and the guide said we're not supposed to, but I argued and said that's why we were there(!!!), so he kindly obliged and even took our picture. 

My life is now complete cuz I sat on the FRIENDS couch.

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The One with The Host Book Signing with Stephenie Meyer + Actors

I've read the Twilight books. I've read The Host. I've been to a couple of Twilight-themed midnight book releases, movie watchings, and movie premiers. I'm not quite the avid fan that I used to be, but when I saw on Stephenie Meyer's blog (yup, I read her blog...) that she'd be in town for a book signing along with some of the actors from the upcoming The Host movie, I reeeeeaaalllly wanted to go! It didn't seem very feasible though because I'd have to take Fox and Jane with me and I knew it'd be a looooong day. But, I coaxed my friend Veronica into going with me, her two kids, and sister, not to mention she's 7 months pregnant, so I hoped for the best and off we went!

I hardly slept last night (see previous post... I still can't believe we're moving to Germany in 4 months!) and then my chinchilla woke me up at 5:40am. Yes, the chinchilla! She was bouncing around because one of her shelves had fallen down. So random. I was going to wake up at 6am anyway, so I just started getting ready, and was actually glad for the extra 20 minutes. 

The Grove Mall is only 15 miles away, but with LA morning traffic I was counting on it taking at least 45 minutes to an hour to get there. We (me, Fox, and Jane) left at 7am and got there at 7:30 - not too shabby! The line was already about 75 people long. Some people drove all the way from Arizona last night and camped out. We met a group of flight stewardesses that flew from HAWAII to go to this event. I sure hope they came all the way over to the mainland to do other things besides just this book signing because that's a little intense!

While waiting outside for nearly two hours, Fox needed to run around and get out some of his pent up energy (if only I could bottle an ounce of his enthusiasm!) so I snapped some pictures of pretty flowers while he ran around.

Barnes & Noble opened up at 9am and they started letting groups of about 20 people in at a time. We took advantage of the Special Events sign photo op as we inched our way towards the doors. Fox looks thrilled. We made it! This was a wristbanded event and in order to get a wristband you had to buy a The Host book. I don't own a copy, so I was happy to get one! This is the line to buy said book:

Once we had our books in hand and wristbands we headed up to the third floor where the kids area, bathroom, and cafe were - all the essentials! AND, the book signing took place on the third floor so it was a win win all around! The downtime between 9am and 2pm was what I was most worried about with Fox and Jane. What was I gonna do with them? There was this train track toy in the kids area and I KID YOU NOT Fox stayed right here and played for FOUR HOURS! He must have walked three miles running around and around and around it! Why oh why don't we have one of these at home??? Every time I went to check on him he'd say, "No! Have fun! Bye Mommy!" Whatever floats his boat! The time passed by quickly and I was in good company so it was just a fantastic time hanging out. I need not have worried all along :)

Looking down below outside, they set up for a taping of EXTRA - the girl in the blue dress is Maria Menounos (I think?)

Later Stephenie Meyer and actors Max Irons, Jake Abel, and Diane Kruger showed up. Saoirse Ronan was SUPPOSED to be there (and I'll be honest, she's what put me over the edge for actually getting the guts to go) but she missed her flight (or did she?), gosh dern it. You can kind of see them all standing under the white tent.

Zoomed in a wee bit closer. Diane Kruger is in the red skirt, Stephenie Meyer is on her right, and the boys are on her left.

Setting up for the book signing.

Jane had to take both of her naps in the Bjorn. She didn't seem to mind and woke up happy and refreshed!

At 12:30pm we lined up for the book signing. Those with gold wristbands got to go first, followed by those with blue wristbands, and then we were some of the very first ones with white wristbands.

Somehow, someway, after 7 hours of waiting, this girl still had a smile on her face. Fox was happy too. Wow!

Here they are at last!

Stephenie looked so pretty!

We weren't allowed to take pictures once we passed a certain point, so this is the best I got of Max Irons, Jake Abel, and Diane Kruger.

Here I am showing off my kids - everyone's looking at them, Stephenie included! I told her Jane is her youngest fan :) PS - I'm wearing the free The Host t-shirt that we got for being amongst the first in line.

And, at the end of the day, I have a signed The Host book by Stephenie Meyer herself and a wonderful day of memories!
I can't wait to go see the movie in two weeks!

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The One with We're Moving To...

Guess I shoulda waited just a couple more hours before writing that last post :)

Holy cow. 

Oh my gosh. 

Seriously?
Is this really happening?

I'm so excited.

Now it's planning time!
Gotta get shots, passports, tickets, find a house...
And I better brush up on my German!
I'm still kind of, okay, a LOT, in shock.
My hands are shaking from nerves and excitement.
We don't know exactly where in Germany yet - we'll get official orders in the mail "on or around April 15th."
There we go with the "on or around" business again!

Holy cow. 

Oh my gosh. 

Seriously?
Is this really happening?
I'm so excited.

Auf wiedersehen!
(That's goodbye in German!)

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The One with Waiting for THE Email

I've been on pins and needles all week. 

Patience has never been my strong suit. 

I think co-workers can attest to that - I email, instant message, sometimes even call or text when I need something... sorry!

You see, tomorrow is that day that we could potentially find out where we're going to be moving to in July for the next four years (or we could move around, I don't really know).

A screenshot straight from the email:

Tomorrow is 15 Mar 2013!

I was hoping the "or about" would mean before March 15th, but alas, no such luck. 

I had a dream last night that we were getting stationed in Tennessee.

There wasn't even an option for Tennessee!

I am so hoping and dreaming of living abroad!

Come'on Germany!

Or Belgium!

Or Italy!

Or Japan!

Geez it's so hard to concentrate and try and go about my day doing normal things when my future is only an email away!

I barely even slept last night I'm so anxious!

Okay. 

Deep breath in. 

Deep breath out. 

Relax.

Everything is going to work out for the best.

Repeat. 

In the meantime I'm going to hit "refresh" on Chris's email every 10 seconds :)

Stay tuned!

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The One with Disneyland 3.13.13

I took the kids to Disneyland all by myself today. Husbandless. Friendless. Just me with Fox and Jane. It was.... an adventure? Really, it was fun, I mean, it's Disneyland. But wow.  I'm e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d. Chris has been at a 7am-6pm rotation all week. Is school over yet? Two more months... I decided that to make the time pass by faster we'd hit up Dland. I set my alarm for 6:45am and we were out the door at 8am. The tram ride is one of the best parts - Fox just lights up cuz he knows exactly where he is. | The trees are all in bloom. Main Street.

Fox appropriately wore his Mickey Mouse hat today.

It wasn't terribly crowded upon opening at 9am, but I kept seeing groups of kids there on Spring Break. Is Spring Break always in March? I thought it was in April? So by the time we left it was super crowded. It always is though, haha. | A stained glass window reflection at the entrance of Pinocchio. 

Pinocchio | Everything was going dandy, great even. We had gone on Snow White, Pinocchio, and the Casey Junior Train. Then we got in line for Dumbo... We were the first ones to not make the cut for getting on so we had to wait another round and Fox had a tantrum to the extreme. And then they had to let a wheelchair rider get on and that took another 7.35 minutes. I think Fox gets his impatience from me - which is in turn from my dad. Thanks Dald :)

Once we were on Dumbo, Fox did not want to put the seatbelt on and had yet another screaming tantrum. People were staring at me... I just whispered words of comfort and what nots and he calmed down, buckled up, and we took off. | Standing in line for the Storybook Boats, we saw a momma duck with lots of babies. Awww sooooo cute!

We were almost to the front of the line for Storybook Boats when it closed down. Tantrum number three ensued... holy moly. Meanwhile Jane was being a good baby as always, thank goodness. To appease and distract Fox we went on King Arthur's Carousel. He LOVES that ride. I was scared he wouldn't want to get off like he's done in the past, but he did, and I was grateful.

Casey Junior Train | View atop Dumbo | Mr. Toad's Wild Ride | It's a Small World

Fox was good throughout the entire It's a Small World ride (Jane fell asleep) until we were about 5 boats from disembarking and then he wanted to play in the water and I said no and he had a tantrum. This is more tantrums than he usually has in a day so I figured something must be up. I planned to get him some food. But then, as we were exiting the ride, there's a toy store. Always trouble. I let him wander around for a few minutes and then I said it was time to go and once again he flopped to the floor and screamed bloody murder. I picked him up to take him back to the stroller and once I got there I noticed one of his shoes was missing. Perfect. So we had to go back to the scene of the crime and ask the gals at the register if they had a shoe. Thankfully, someone so graciously found and returned it. I don't know what we would have done if he had lost his shoe! Left? Bought some shoes? I'm just glad it didn't come to that.

We needed a breather so we got some lunch. I really don't want to complain, but lunch was the only time Jane was fussy. Fox was good. Jane was bad. Can I get a break? :) I was determined to have a good time though, and trudged on with the day. Exiting It's a Small World | Haunted Mansion | Winnie the Pooh | Tiki Room

We ate at the French Market which is right by the train and since Fox loves trains of course he wanted to go on it. Gladly! He even remembered there are dinosaurs and loved going through that part.  Another Fox incident: While on the train, Fox was playing with his cars (because he still likes to carry toys around at all times) and accidentally dropped one of the cars off the back of the train. Well shoot. I told him sorry, we'll just have to forget it! But, we were at a stop, and he was freaking out and screaming, so we got off, told one of the employees, and after the train left she went across the tracks and retrieved Fox's car. We waited for the next train and got back on so we could ride it back to our stroller parked across the park. Der.... Waiting outside The Haunted Mansion. I love that Fox loves ghosts :) | A pretty fountain.

Fox still didn't want to go on Pirates. Sad! It's one of my faves! At this point we'd been at Disneyland for 5 hours. It was hot (my car said it was 94 degrees!!!!!), crowded, and we were all tired. So we made one last stop at the Tiki Room. I was standing in the shade with Jane when I looked up and saw that Fox was moochin' a Dole Whip from these nice people! What a ham! Jane conked out during the performance.
Two minutes into our drive home, Fox conked out.

Ok. So. All-in-all, it was fun. Super fun. Minus all the tantrums. I'm thinking I'll wait a few weeks or months before I attempt taking them both by myself again :)

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The One with the Confetti Layout

I had a layout up on the American Crafts blog yesterday!

TODAY

Journaling says: On a warm and sunny day in January, I took Fox and Jane outside to our "patch of grass," set them down together, and snapped away. I love watching them watch each other and interact together. Love them!

How to: Trim patterned papers, photos, and a transparency sheet into hexagons. Figure out the placement and loosely adhere the hexagons in place. Punch confetti and borders from patterned paper, patterned vellum, corrugated cardstock, and glitter paper. Trim the border pieces into individual shapes. Sew the transparency hexagons onto the layout, leaving a hole for pouring in the confetti (add small wooden veneer shapes to the mix), then finish sewing them down. Embellish the hexagons with stickers, sequins, and other embellishments. Add a wooden veneer word for a title and stamp the date below. Write journaling on an empty hexagon. 

Supplies: Cardstock, corrugated cardstock, patterned paper, patterned vellum, glitter paper, mini album page, stickers (ampersand, cameras, hearts, label, number, sentiments, words), star paper clip), date stamp, ink, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Transparency: Office supply; Sequins: Craft supply; Wooden veneer: American Crafts (word), Studio Calico (airplane, birds, boat, car, stars); Punches: EK Success (confetti), Martha Stewart Crafts (butterfly confetti, butterfly border, heart confetti, star confetti, train border); Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

I loving the confetti trend! I hope it sticks around for awhile!

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