The Ladies Weekend: Bachelorette Party, Part 3

I am going back and forth between bachelorette party posts and recaps, I realize. But I want to give you the wedding recaps with actual photos from my fabulous photographer, Dorothy Hatchel and I can't do that just yet. So party posts [and other pre-wedding posts that never made it to the blogosphere!] will have to hold you over!

MY FABULOUS LADIES AND I IN FRONT OF MR. TOAD!

After a full day at the Happiest Place on Earth, my ladies and I ventured over to Disney's California Adventure for dinner at Ariel's Grotto and to see the magnificent show World of Color. Disney has a very good promotion going on where you can have dinner at one of their restaurants and get a fastpass to see WOC- cutting out sitting around for a couple of hours. So knowing that we had a section waiting specifically for us, the girls and I took our time at dinner. The spread at Ariel's Grotto was pretty decent- it's a present menu, but it included an appetizer, dinner and a dessert tray. We got started with a vegetable anti-pasti tray with fresh fruit, grilled vegetables, a selection of cheeses and some darn good salad. After that came our main course of tri tip cooked over rock salt [very good!] and we finished out our time at the Grotto with a beautiful tray of desserts. There was more fruit, mini tiramisu cups, macaroons and some tasty tarts- I was in heaven!

DINNER AT ARIEL'S GROTTO WITH MY LADIES!

After letting our food settle, we grabbed our fastpasses from our waitress and made our way over to the pier where WOC comes to life. There were hundreds of people already waiting, but we managed to have a fabulous view thanks to our fastpasses. About fifteen minutes before showtime Disney castmembers came out and got the crowd involved in a little singing contest. My favorite part of this little preview was the amazing larger than life puppets that surfed through the crowd. Tigger, Genie, Sebastian and Mike all danced and sang along with the castmembers- silly, but fun.

WAITING FOR WORLD OF COLOR

After the mini-show it was time for the main event: World of Color. Let me say that there are no words that can describe the beauty and imagery that cascades in front of you during this show. I immediately had tears in my eyes- at the very first upshoot of water. Some have critized WOC of not having a consistant storyline, but any true Disney fanatic knows that World of Color is a tribute to the show of the same name produced by Walt Disney in the sixties. WOC is meant to act as a showcase- to show you what Disney can do and how amazing their technology really is and how amazing their imagineers are. Needless to say, Disney is fabulous and they know what they're doing. I was amazed at the beauty and precision of the show- two big thumbs up for Disney as it was my favorite part of the trip.

After WOC it was time to retire for the evening because really- there is no topping that experience.

Up next: Characters galore!

The Ladies Weekend: Bachelorette Party, Part 2

PERSONAL PHOTO

Saturday morning the ladies and I dragged ourselves out of bed, changed into our Bachelorette Party gear and hopped on our early morning flight to John Wayne Airport. As soon as we touched down a shot of excitement soared through me and I couldn't wait to get to the park. After grabbing a shuttle and dropping off our bags we made our way over to the most beautiful place in the world and met up with Bridesmaid A's friend who so graciously signed us in.

The sun was shining, the music was as timeless as ever and of course there was that wonderful Disney smell that was in the air. We made our way through out the park and grabbed our fastpass for Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. There was a little sign in front of the entrance that stated the ride might be too scary for children, but the girls and I thought nothing of it. Space Mountain is usually a scary ride for kids- its fast, in the dark with lots of fast twists and turns. We didn't think the Ghost portion was going to do anything to increase its spookiness- I mean this is Disney, we're talking about. WRONG!

Let me just tell you that Ghost Galaxy is TERRIFYING!! I don't think I have ever screamed so loud on a ride in my life. It was absolutely without the question the most scary ride I have ever been on. I am sure there is a youtube video of it somewhere- if you have the guts, google it. But let me be clear that it is nothing to be played around with! It is spooky!

After practically losing our voices on Space Mountain [and most of us declaring our decision to never ride it again] we grabbed some lunch and enjoyed the park until it was time to head over to DCA [that's Disney's California Adventure for you non Disney folk] for our dinner at Ariel's Grotto and the majestic show that is World of Color.

Up next: Dinner at Ariel's Grotto and WORLD OF COLOR!

The Ladies Weekend: Bachelorette Party; Part 1

Authors Note: I interrupt the wedding recaps to share some much belated pre-wedding posts I've been meaning to share. Enjoy!

I realized that I promised you pictures from the bachelorette party- between battling a cold and falling down some stairs [another story for another post] and the craziness that is the week of a wedding I just never got the chance to sit down and write out the details... Forgive me! But alas- here were are about two weeks post wedding and five weeks post bachelorette party and I finally have the time to gab about all the fabulousness that was the Bachelorette Party!

The party started Friday night with my Maid of Honor picking everyone up and driving us to her friend's house which was closer to the airport. Because we were flying out so early the next morning, MOH thought it might be a good idea to sleep a little closer. We arrived a little before 10, had a few welcome drinks with her friend and proceeded to open our goodie bags.. And let me tell you- they were fabulous!

PERSONAL PHOTO- HOW AWESOME IS THAT SHIRT?

Inside the bags were candies, necklaces, buttons and matching shirts. We made the executive decision that everyone would wear their shirts our first day in Disneyland. Finally at about midnight we decided it was time to get some sleep. Making sure the alarms were set for 4am, we changed into our jammies and grabbed some shut eye.

What did you do for your bachelorette party?

Next Up: Disneyland, Day 1

Bachelorette Party Cometh!

In t-minus ten days I will be on my way to my bachelorette party... in DISNEYLAND! I find myself constantly surprised that it is coming up so soon. But that doesn't mean I am any less excited! These pre-wedding events keep reminding me just exactly how close we really are to wedding day. Eek!

The current plan is to drive to down to one of my maid of honor's friends' house Friday night and sleep over. Early Saturday morning me, maid of honor yankee and two of my three bridesmaids are all hopping on a flight down to Orange county. As soon as we land we will head over to Paradise Pier, drop off our bags and trek over to the most magical, special, joy filled place ever! DISNEYLAND! [Can you tell I'm a little excited?]

So while Mr. Yankee jumps off a building, shoots guns and drinks himself silly, I will be sitting through Haunted Mansion Holiday, eating at Rancho del Zocalo and making my friends wait for ridiculously long periods to watch World of Color with me.

I have no idea what else is in store, but I am sure we will have a great time. I know the girls hope to get me smashed while in Southern California, but I am hoping to save the drunk fest for when we return and can have more participants. And I hope my bridesmaids will look at this time as a mini vacation rather than a "bachelorette" party. It will be nice to hang out, recharge and experience the awesomeness that is Disneyland together.

SOURCE

The Honeymooners

source

The honeymoon... as traditional and America as Apple Pie. And something that was very important to me when figuring out the wedding budget. Our budget had to include our honeymoon because there was no way I was going to delay it. As you can guess, the honeymoon has been a subject of much discussion and strategy as Mr. Yankee and I tried to decide what we could afford and where we really wanted to go. My bucket list includes places all over Europe, United States and Canada; Mr. Yankee- well, lets just say that I am the travel planner in this partnership. Mr. Yankee and I set up some basic ground rules for our honeymoon:

1. Within our measely budget
2. A place that we both had never been before
3. No beaches! (getting married in October pretty much took care of no beaches with everywhere being in the middle of hurricane season and Mr. Y and I having already been to Hawaii)

Originally the idea was to go to Disneyworld; it's within the United States, would be a great, fun, giddy vacation and would be away from a beach- perfect! I also liked that Disneyworld had a great number of different activities. We could horseback riding or parasailing if we truly desired. Plus, me and disney?! Sign me up! I got to work pricing the trip and was a little shocked at how much a 10 day trip to Disneyworld was going to cost.

source

While I was okay with going over our budget for our honeymoon, I wanted to make sure I did it for the right vacation. So it was back to the drawing board- if I was going to pay almost 5000 for a Disneyworld vacation, could I do the same for a European honeymoon too?!

I started asking around at work for anyone who knew a European travel agent. After a couple of days, I was given a name of a travel agent who specialized in European vacations. At this point, I let Mr. Yankee take point. I tend to get really excited when it comes to planning a vacation and I wanted to keep my game face on to get the best deal possible; this is where Mr. Y comes in. He is very even tempered and doesn't get excited over much outside of new video games, so I knew he would do fine. Shortly after Mr. Yankee shot off an email, we had shiny brochures in the mail from Brendan Vacations that described both guided and independent vacations. I would be lying if I said I didn't immediately swoon; I'm such a sucker for a shiny brochure.

source

Mr. Yankee proceeded to set up a time to meet and discuss details for our desired vacation and, after a small delay due to unforseen circumstances, we met with Irma (our new travel agent) to map things out. And so where, you might ask, did we decide to go?!

source

ITALY!!! Or to be more specific, we'll be seeing the magnificent cities of Venice, Florence and Rome. It will be 9 days of history, food and pictures and I am so beyond excited about it!!! Our travel agent is so awesome that she was able to get our air, hotels (which all come with a free continental breakfast every morning) and airport transfers for under $5,000!!!! The only thing left to purchase is train tickets (to get from city to city) which she will purchase for us the month before the wedding. And the best part?! It's EUROPE! I have dreamed of going to Europe my entire life and now I will get to see these amazing historical cities as I start my new life with my husband.

How did you decide on your honeymoon?! How do you prepare and plan your vacations?!

So wait.. We're getting married?

I have been with Mr. Yankee (ha- he would die if he knew I referred to him in that context. He is not as big a fan as I am. Whatevs) for 4 years next week. It's been a great ride. But before meeting Mr. Yankee I was the one member in my female group of friends who was adamant about two things: I was not mother material and I was never. ever. going to get married. ever. ever.

Yes, I needed to add those two ever's for emphasis. You see- I come from a broken home. And not to say that every person who comes from a broken home will be immediately against marriage. But that was my experience. It had a lasting impression on me and my opinion about relationships. I saw the pain my mom went through raising me practically on her own and the hardships- both financial and emotional- she went through during the divorce. And I made a promise to myself that I would not put myself in that situation. I would be independent and live my life and I would either find someone to hang with or I wouldn't. And then I met Mr. Yankee.

Mr. Yankee is everything that I am not- left-brained, casual, easy going, patient, analytical, a gamer, a runner. But somehow we fit. We are two peas in a pod and I do not think I could have found someone who fits me better. And so this is why I was so uncharacteristically happy to be proven wrong on December 7th, 2008 when Mr. Yankee asked me to marry him in my favorite location- Disneyland.

Our engagement story is one that is both funny yet extremely embarrassing for me to share. You see- I had been waiting for Mr. Y to propose for what seemed like forever. At the time he proposed, we had been living together for 2 years and had purchased a home together in August of 2007. I thought the proposal would have come 6-8 months after we purchased our home. But alas, the fates aligned and decided that Ms. Yankee needed to learn a little more patience. Needless to say I was on edge. Silly fates. Anyway... It was our first day of a 4 day Disneyland vacation and Mr. Y and I had just arrived after a long drive from the Bay Area. We decided before committing to any one attraction we would walk around the park and stretch our legs a bit. Mr. Y grabbed our backpack and we took in Sleep Beauty's Castle, walked the length of Fantasyland and finally made our way to New Orleans Square and sought out "our" spot; the benches located right next to the old french fry stand between the Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. We sat for a few minutes in perfect silence as we took in the crowd. I was just about to ask Mr. Y if he was ready to take on our first attraction when he asked me what was to be a very leading question.

"Does my honey know how much I love her?"

I thought nothing of this as he usually asks me this question and, thinking I was being ever so clever, quickly responded with, "Yeah, I'll believe it when I see a ring."

I know, I know! So terrible. Utterly wrong. What a way to spoil the mood. But honestly- how was I supposed to know that this would be THE moment Mr. Y decided to propose? Without missing a beat, he responded with, "Well.. Actually, I think I might have something in here for you."

And after nervously digging through our backpack, Mr. Yankee produced a very beautiful box with a very beautiful piece of jewelry inside. As he got down on one knee, half of me was wondering what the heck he was doing while the other half was scolding myself for ruining what was sure to be a perfect engagement moment. And as he asked, on one knee in my favorite place in the whole world, to marry him I was so overcome with happiness and love that I felt like I could fly.

I of course said yes, and walked around Disneyland for the next three days with this look on my face:

and thus, the "wedding planning" begun. I still wonder how I got here. To this place of taking the necessary steps towards marriage. But I do not think I could have chosen a better partner. And hopefully he feels the same way.