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Welcome to my very first trip report! It's going to take me awhile to cover two whole weeks, but I'm sure I'll finish sometime before we ring in 2011. First, a brief introduction to ME (and my husband):I'm Lauren - he's Brian. We're both in our late 20's, work full time and live in New York, about an hour from NY. We got married in May of 2007 and bought our first house together in September of 2008. We have two old men beagles and an adorable angora rabbit. We're both nerds who enjoy stuff like Star Wars and video games. And I'm a HUGE Disney fan. Obviously. And that about sums it up!
Us on our last trip to WDW together in May 2009
When I was ten, my best friend's family moved to California. And ever since then, I've wanted to visit. Well, it took me a long time to get there, but better late than never! Brian also has a friend who moved out there, and he also wanted to visit. It was a trip we kept putting off because of the money and time commitment. And while the topic of going to California came up early in 2009, we initially dismissed the idea (again) because of those concerns. But then I decided - you know what? Stop putting it off, and just go already! Otherwise the day is gonna come where you REALLY can't go! So I figured if we went right after Christmas, we'd be able to take a 2 week trip by using the rest of 2009's vacation and the rest from 2010. I explained all of this to Brian, and he finally went for it! We were on!
All the planning was on my shoulders. Of course. I plan all our trips. Most of them involve Disney World, which I'm extremely familiar with. This time though, I was planning a complicated trip involving many places I'd never been before. It was a bit overwhelming.
Oh, right. The complicated part. Well, since we decided to do two full weeks, I decided we better make the most of it and see as much as we could in that time. My friend now lives in the San Francisco area. Brian's lives in San Diego. Those two places were a long way apart. I couldn't visit California without going to Disneyland. And Los Angeles was so close by it would be silly NOT to visit... And we both were interested in seeing the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, which is not far from San Francisco. So that's how we ended up with this schedule:
December 26th, 2009: Fly to San Francisco
December 28th, 2009: Drive to San Jose
December 29th, 2009: Fly to San Diego
January 3rd, 2010: Train to Anaheim
January 6th, 2010: Train to L.A.
January 9th, 2010: Fly back to New York
Yeah, it was a bit busy. And complicated. And it scared the hell out of me. But it ended up working out well for us.
So I relied heavily on Trip Adviser when planning this trip. I did a lot of research on the different hotels, and searched the internet for the best prices on said hotels. I'm happy to report that Trip Adviser did not steer me wrong - we liked every place we stayed, and would definitely stay at any of them again.
But something weird happened with this trip. Normally I'm an overplanner. I start planning waaaaaaaaaaay ahead of time. Even when there's not much I can do. So this time, instead of doing that, I decided to wait. And wait. And wait. And then all of the sudden so many things started happening in my life that before I knew it, the trip was days away and I hadn't done the extensive planning I would have liked to do. (Mostly involving places we wanted to visit while on the trip.) So I was a bit nervous that I hadn't planned enough. But I'm the easily stressed type!
Packing was also a bit difficult. I figured Southern California would be warm, but not warm enough for shorts. And I was sure San Francisco wouldn't be warm enough for a t-shirt. I must have looked at the average temperature chart dozens of times. I even went out and bought a new carry-on size piece of luggage. I had never been on a 2-week trip before in my life - never mind packed for one!
The day before we left was obviously Christmas. That morning we opened our gifts, had breakfast and finished packing some last minute items. Then we said good-bye to our dogs (Brian's dad would be arriving soon to take care of them while we were gone) and headed down to my mom's house to celebrate with family. (We had dropped our rabbit off with her the day before - she got to bunny-sit!)
We had a very nice Christmas (I got my Flip Video camera I knew I was getting!) and after everyone left, we showered and got ourselves organized for our 3 a.m. wake-up time. We were sleeping over since my mom's house is closer to JFK than ours is. Then I tuned into some Christmas movies that were still on TV and tried to get some sleep around 10. I actually managed to sleep much better than I thought I would.
Well, that ends part one. Not to exciting yet, I know. But next we'll get to the part that actually matters - you know. The Trip!
Okay, it's that time of year. (Obviously) Every year I tell myself I'm gonna watch alllll these Christmas movies, and I never do. Oh, I manage to squeeze one, two - maybe even three in there. But I never watch as many as I'd like to.
Until this year. I've actually watched 8 of the movies on this list! Plus I've watched other movies and TV specials that didn't make the list/couldn't make the list. (I didn't include TV specials, otherwise forget it!)
So without further ado, my top 10 favorite Christmas movies of all time.
10. The Santa Clause
I've always had a soft spot for this one. You gotta admit it's pretty original - Santa dies so this working single dad gets stuck being Santa and has a year to accept it. Meanwhile his son runs around telling everyone he's Santa, and everyone thinks he's warping the kid's brain. Funny and touching - all the things a good Christmas movie should be. I even like the sequel, I must admit.
9. A Christmas Carol
I like the old school one starring Alistar Sim - it's my favorite version that doesn't involve puppets. Everyone knows the story here - unless you're secretly from Mars. It's the most classic Christmas story out there. Seriously, it's a brilliant story - far and away the best thing Dickens ever wrote in my opinion. ...And I don't like anything else he wrote, so that's not hard. But I love, love, LOVE a Christmas story, and yeah, I read it. Under my own power. This version sticks pretty close to the book, which is why I like it so much. "Bah! Humbug!"
8. A Christmas Story
"You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" There's a reason this movie is shown in a 24-hour marathon every year - it is hilarious! Oh, little Ralphie's quest for a Red Ryder BB gun never gets old. Who can forget Flik's tongue getting stuck to the pole? Or dad's "major award"? Or the Bumpass' dogs? There are just so many memorable scenes. Most memorable is probably the scene with Santa, where Ralphie grips onto the slide for dear life to tell Santa what he wants, only to get a shoe in the face. Ho ho ho!
7. Muppet Christmas Carol
Muppets? Songs? The story of A Christmas Carol? Yes, please! The Muppets can do no wrong in my book. And they certainly brought their unique sense of humor and their entertaining tunes to this version of the classic tale. Gonzo and Rizzo are great as the Narrators. And Statler and Waldrof as the Marley Brothers? It's packed with great stuff.
6. Bad Santa
This isn't your typical Christmas movie. It's rated R.
And for good reason. The main character is a drunken criminal named Willy who robs malls every year with his accomplice after he's been playing Santa and has had a chance to scope out the place. There is foul language and sex all over the place! But there are tons of laughs - and there's definitely heart here too. This is such a well written movie - you will root for Billy Bob Thorton's character despite his many, many faults. If you haven't seen this one, you're really missing a great movie.
5. Home Alone
If you were a kid in the early 90's, you've probably seen this movie many, many times. I know I have. What kid wasn't captivated by Kevin's fight against the evil burglar's? Plus he got to eat all that junk food and set up all those cool traps! This movie puts a smile on my face every time. And I even like the sequel. But those other movies were never made as far as I'm concerned.
4. Miracle on 34th Street
Colorized? No. That new one they made back in the 90's - hell no! How dare they! The original is an amazing film with a smart script and fantastic acting behind it. There was a reason Natalie Wood was a top child actress - she was brilliant. Just look at her face when Kris Kringle tells her he's really Santa Clause that first time. I absolutely love the scene where all the letters get dumped on the judge's desk. This is the kind of movies they made before they could rely on stupid special effects.
3. It's a Wonderful
Life
Another old school classic. Watch poor George Bailey's life get messed up time and time again! But in the end, he realizes how much he's has. Jimmy Stewart is an amazing actor. You really feel for George at every twist and turn. And the part where he and Mary are sharing the phone - now that's real sexual tension for you! Also, if you don't at least have tears in your eyes by the end, you're a robot.
2. Elf
Elf is everything a great Christmas movie should be - original, clever, funny and it makes you believe in the magic of Christmas. Okay, call me corny, but I really love this movie. Will Ferrell is always awesome, but he's truly endearing as Budd the Elf who meets up with his real dad in a human world he just doesn't understand after being raised by elves. Sure, maybe the ending is a little corny, but I think the best Christmas movies have a little of that too. Plus, "You sit on a throne of lies" is one of the best lines ever.
1. Christmas Vacation
A small paragraph is not enough to truly convey my love for this film. I can quote large sections of it. Basically the whole thing is one awesome scene after another. It's hilarious and endearing - the best family related Christmas movie ever made. Well, in my opinion anyway. All Clark Griswold wants is to throw a fun old fashioned family Christmas - but his family and boss keep getting in his way. By the end, you'll be singing along with everybody else. And you gotta love Aunt Bethany and Uncle Lewis. And that squirrel.
Right now my house is like Christmas exploded. Seriously. There are plastic tubs of Christmas related crap strewn in every direction. I'm spending my week working late...yay...so hopefully this weekend I'll be able to tackle my holiday hell and put up my tree, town etc.
Since I don't have much time, here's a quick run down of what I've been up to:
- Thanksgiving was good, although I didn't pay as much attention to the parade as I would have liked. Every time we did look it was another music star we'd never heard of - they always parade (haha, intended) out these up and comers they want to get exposure for at the parade. The whole thing really has gone so commercial. My dad was laughing because one of the floats was sponsored by Jimmy Dean sausage, or something ridiculous. Well, it's kinda sad but kinda necessary. The parade don't pay for itself after all. Just look at the balloons - they're pretty much all corporate mascots. But I still think a corporate parade is better than no parade.
- So...we got up at 5 a.m. for Black Friday. (We almost didn't get up on time at all because of an iPhone alarm snafu, but I digress.) Anyway, we get to the mall around 5:30 and the parking lot is PACKED. Seriously. It was re-fucking-diculous. I could not believe what a scene it was. It was NOTHING like that last year. So we go inside, and the line at Best Buy wraps around the entire store. Meanwhile, the same stuff is selling online for the same prices. Haha. But I leave my husband online with some stuff anyway, since we're already there and all, and my sister and I go to Old Navy. Line is to the back of the store. I'm not too impressed with the merchandise for sale, but I find a few things, she finds a few things, and she stands online while I check out Target. Another line that wraps around the store. "Fuck this", I say, because I am not about to stand in a line like that for a $10 pack of pajamas (which I was able to buy the next day, with no crowds, thank you very much.) Apparently there was 2 fist fights in Target, and while I thankfully did not see any such displays (seriously, people?! Seriously?! It's stuff! Not the last lifeboat off the Titanic!) I did see a cop. So I go to J.C. Penney. And omg, it was nirvana in there. So not crowded, found pretty much everything I wanted, and checked out quickly without waiting on a line that stretched on endlessly to a department I didn't even know existed. Thank you, J.C. Penney. They ended up getting more of my business because of the chaos at Target. I returned to Old Navy after this, where my sister was still waiting online (she was finally at the front) and had only been recently joined by Brian, the Best Buy line survivor. Once we were finally done there, it was on to Express (totally fine) and Bath and Body Works (crowded, but certainly manageable) before we headed to Modells. That store was also pretty quiet. Then we went home and shopped online. This was my fourth Black Friday, and I've always said the craziness was worth it...but this year I don't really think it was. A lot of the stuff was available online. I don't know if I'll get up early again next year.
- Have you seen Million Dollar Listing on Bravo? It deserves a post all to itself, but I certainly suggest watching it if you should stumble across an episode.
- Streaming Netflix? Amazing. How did we ever live without this stuff? It's so easy to get spoiled isn't it? Remember VCRs? I shudder just thinking about it. We had a separate device just to rewind the tapes!
All right, well that about does it for now. I've seen no good movies lately, I'm behind on my TV shows and podcasts, and I've got a trip to California coming up in 24 days and a major holiday I still need to buy for coming up in 23. And before all of that I need to get some sleep.
