Candlelight & Cannonballs! (MANY MARDI GRAS MASK PICS!) Dec. 2012- Start Pg.235/#3524

[DizNee Luver]

More wonderful photos Sherry!! This one day trip is packed full of amazing shots, lots of details and I'm getting uber-excited!!!!! We leave in just over 2 weeks and I'm almost giddy!!!

Thank you for being a trooper when it comes to patience in uploading these pics!! They are GREATLY appreciated!!!

[Sherry E]

I am currently in pain and having a hard time sitting upright in a chair! That pesky (untreated) back/disc issue I've had for years is acting up. I probably did something to trigger it (though I can't pinpoint what I did or when I did it).

This is the same problem I've dealt with at DLR before, when my whole leg was in pain and it hurt to walk around. Other times, the problem manifests in a different way and it's not my leg that is hurting but rather just my entire lower back. And still other times, it's my hip and one side of my lower back that are hurting - which is the problem today (and last night). My hip and part of my lower back are in pain, and I'm having a hard time sitting down, staying upright, and/or standing up! It's the kind of pain that cannot be helped by Advil or Motrin.

So it's going to be interesting trying to soldier through sharing the rest of the pictures from 11-12-12, but soldier on I must because my next trip is due to start in 9 days and I've already said I want to be done with this current round of photos before the next trip begins (though the idea of walking around and constantly sitting down/standing up at DLR is not really appealing at this moment).

Originally Posted by tksbaskets

What great pictures at CL and so happy that the Camera Shop would charge your battery for free - and so close to the place where yummy ice cream is served.

I can understand your reluctance to go for a cone....such harrowing experiences in our past tend to stick with us. Sounds like a great trip so far~~

I'm off to see if DH left me any peppermint ice cream. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks, TK. I was shocked that Disney was willing to do anything for free, but I knew there had to be another way to charge a camera battery than to have to rent a locker.

I hope you had a good holiday.

Originally Posted by DizNee Luver

More wonderful photos Sherry!! This one day trip is packed full of amazing shots, lots of details and I'm getting uber-excited!!!!! We leave in just over 2 weeks and I'm almost giddy!!!

Thank you for being a trooper when it comes to patience in uploading these pics!! They are GREATLY appreciated!!!

Thank you, Laurie.

I can get a lot done when I'm by myself, picture-wise. I just cannot concentrate and get the same things done when I have people with me.

What I have noticed about myself is that - if I know I have a hotel to go back to - I am much more likely to end up back in the room, resting or charging a battery, and then staying in the room for the rest of the night because too I'm tired to go out again. And then I end up missing the chance to try to get at least a few halfway decent night pictures.

On the other hand, when I do not have a hotel to retreat to and I purposely arrange it so that I am not being picked up until later at night, I am forced to hang in there and continue taking pictures. Sure, I will sit down and rest here and there, or take an ice cream break or something, but I can't go back to a room because there is no room! So I have to trick myself into sticking with it!

If I'd had a hotel room on 11-12-12, I'm not sure I would have been able to force myself to stay in DCA until nighttime.

On another note, quite frankly, now that Thanksgiving is over I am glad that it is finally 'acceptable' to freely enjoy the Christmas merriment/music/decorations/merchandise now!! We Christmas lovers don't have to feel guilty or silly about celebrating Christmas! Not that I wasn't personally enjoying it 3 weeks ago - I certainly was, and unabashedly so - but I have heard so many grumpy, Grinch-like people complaining this year (more than in most years) about "It's too early for Christmas" and blah blah. Christmas is apparently a big annoyance and thorn in the side for so many, which is very unfortunate.

Some of the people grumbling about it are people who don't celebrate Christmas at all anyway, so it really shouldn't affect them to see merchandise or decorations up a few weeks early because they don't partake of the festivities to begin with!

Christmas is a major, major holiday - the biggest holiday of the year - and more to the point, it is a huge decorating holiday, whereas Thanksgiving is not a huge decorating holiday. Thanksgiving really is about that one day or one weekend in November. It's about the food. It's about the family and it's about the friends.

But Christmas really is a whole season unto itself, and not just about one day in December - it's about food, family and friends, too, but it's also about the music, the TV specials, the massive trees and miles of lights and garlands everywhere, the office parties and Santa and baking and shopping and all of that. It's a much bigger deal than any other holiday during the entire year, but I guess that's why it causes so much frustration for so many people - because it is such a big deal it carries with it a lot of stress!

[PHXscuba]

Animatronic duck alert!!

Loving the pictures; hope you feel better. DH had terrible sciatica in his right leg for several years from a herniated disc and I remember how miserable he was. The back surgery made him 98 percent better, which was a real relief.

PHXscuba

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice pictures Sherry. After looking at your pictures these last few days and I realized that I did forget to get pictures at certain lands and the food porn. Glad that you were able to get those pictures during your one day trip. I really like all of your food porn pics from the Candy Palace store.

Hope you get better.

[bumbershoot]

Augh, dying here at the prettiness!

Originally Posted by Sherry E

[
This Lego Belle looks stumpy, and like she's a child! She doesn't look like an adult!

They made her look like a Lego figure.

And it's interesting that (it seems) you didn't like it, because Lego started to make different Legos with girls in mind (purples, pinks, only female figures...call me crazy but I think they are going for girls here) because, I imagine, their market research showed that modern girls wanted something other than the stubby characters.

Originally Posted by rentayenta

All that fake snow is going to end up as one big kitty litter box.

That's what I thought, too.

CUTE KITTIES!!!!!!!

The ice skating place looks like the ones they have out here, so the aesthetics work for me. It really only looks festive and holiday-y and inviting at night; during the day it just looks boring and out of place.

Originally Posted by Sherry E

Let's take a look at some treats inside Candy Palace... $5 is a lot for one single cupcake. That had better be one delicious cupcake! (Why do I have a feeling that the cupcakes look much better than they taste?)

That has been my experience with cupcakes at both DLR and WDW. I've given up on them now. And I don't understand why people crave them so....they are air encased in taste-free batter. IMO.

I do enjoy the Santa ears on top of the cupcake...


[/CENTER]

So....we finally broke out the Love Actually DVD last night. And watched a bit of the Special Features on the disc, which includes deleted scenes including ones at the photo gallery that "Mark" works at (or owns? runs?).

I cannot remember if it's the proper movie or the deleted scene, but those Santa ears are reminding me of Santa hats on, um, OTHER things in the art in the gallery....

Oh it was a good viewing of LA, by the way. There was a bit of joking about Neeson, because we've been watching Craig Ferguson who teases Neeson with "quick, do whatever, there's no time" like he does in those Taken movies, but other than that, just a cry-fest. As usual the opening lines of Hugh Grant got Robert, but I had actual tears rolling down my face during the "you made the life I lead foolish too" scene.

We just never think to turn on HBO once the kidlet goes to sleep, but the DVD experience last night was good.



More from the Jingle Jangle Jamboree (11-12-12) coming up!

[Sherry E]

Originally Posted by PHXscuba

Animatronic duck alert!!

Loving the pictures; hope you feel better. DH had terrible sciatica in his right leg for several years from a herniated disc and I remember how miserable he was. The back surgery made him 98 percent better, which was a real relief.

PHXscuba

Thank you.

Unfortunately, back surgery is not an option for me. And back surgeries are very iffy anyway - sometimes they work wonders, while other times they don't work at all.

I've had the disc problem since at least 1995, but I have done different things over the years to make it worse or trigger horrible waves of pain. Sometimes the pain is mainly in my leg (like your DH had) and sometimes it manifests in other spots.

Originally Posted by mvf-m11c

Very nice pictures Sherry. After looking at your pictures these last few days and I realized that I did forget to get pictures at certain lands and the food porn. Glad that you were able to get those pictures during your one day trip. I really like all of your food porn pics from the Candy Palace store.

Hope you get better.

Thank you! Well, I wouldn't look at it as though you forgot to get pictures of certain things. I would just look at it as you were focused on other areas and didn't get around to certain things!

Originally Posted by bumbershoot

Augh, dying here at the prettiness!


They made her look like a Lego figure.

And it's interesting that (it seems) you didn't like it, because Lego started to make different Legos with girls in mind (purples, pinks, only female figures...call me crazy but I think they are going for girls here) because, I imagine, their market research showed that modern girls wanted something other than the stubby characters.


That's what I thought, too.

CUTE KITTIES!!!!!!!

The ice skating place looks like the ones they have out here, so the aesthetics work for me. It really only looks festive and holiday-y and inviting at night; during the day it just looks boring and out of place.

What do you like best so far, Molly? The Buena Vista Street holiday prettiness, or the Cars Land wacky-prettiness?

Yes, I agree about the ice rink. In the daytime, it looks out of place but it is much better at night.

I don't dislike Lego Belle. It's just that I think she looks disproportionately sized in comparison to all of the other characters there. The Beast looks about the right size. Woody and Buzz look about the right size. Belle stands out to me because she seems like a child holding the hand of The Beast, with whom she is supposed to be in love!

I had a feeling those cupcakes were too good to be true. They look great but I had a feeling the flavor was not great. I guess that people just go nuts over them because of the cute Disney designs.

Personally, I am not a fan of the super-artistic cupcakes that have what looks like molded frosting on them. Those cupcakes seem to be more popular these days. The frosting looks like a hard shell, almost - do you know the kind I am talking about? I like frosting to be creamy, and not have too many ornaments and knick-knacks on it. A few sprinkles or some confetti is okay, but there are some that are sold at my local stores which look like towers of adornments (with hard shell frosting)!

I always wondered if "Mark" owned the gallery in Love Actually too. I am guessing he did, since he was the one who allowed the office party there. It's very odd to me to see the guy who plays Mark (Andrew Lincoln) in that movie - playing such a lovestruck good guy - when I am so used to him in The Walking Dead on Sunday nights, murdering people and zombies left and right (and talking with a Southern accent)!

I was never sure if Alan Rickman's character actually had the affair with "Mia," or if he just toyed with the idea. That was left unclear.

And I still wonder what the relationship between Liam Neeson's character and Emma Thompson's character was - former high school sweethearts? Childhood friends? Neighbors? Former in-laws? How did they know each other?

[Sherry E]

We left off at the Jingle Jangle Jamboree a couple of days ago. Let's continue with more from the Jamboree (11-12-12)...

As you can see, the reindeer still play a prominent role in the decorations, even though they are gone from the Round-Up...







































As I was focusing in on this photo below, I heard a clop-clop-clop noise right behind me. It was Woody! He was arm in arm with a couple of happy people, and he was trying to sneak up behind me and scare me! That mischievous Woody!

More from the Jingle Jangle Jamboree coming up!

[Sherry E]

Continuing on at the Jingle Jangle Jamboree - 11-12-12...

Billy Hill & the Holiday Hillbillies play here...









Some of the Country Bears come out to join Billy Hill and to pose with guests...

















Candy cane cotton candy!






















Ho ho ho!
































Santa Goofy is also at the Jamboree, playing Reindeer Games with the guests...














I just love it when people walk into my shot!

Coming up, we will bid farewell to the Jamboree, retrieve my battery from the Camera Shop and get back to taking photos!!

[Sherry E]

Third post for today - Continuing on in Disneyland, 11-12-12...

As I left the Jingle Jangle Jamboree, Woody was playing with some of the guests (and Cast Members). Bye bye, Woody!










Onward towards Main Street...










I stopped at Coke Corner for a Coke - keep in mind, I rarely drink Coke at home. I keep some in the fridge "just in case" but I really only drink a mini-can of Coke about 2 or 3 times a year. Literally, every day I drink water and black coffee. When it gets chilly I break out the cocoa. When I'm at Disneyland Resort, however, I tend to drink Coke with every meal except breakfast!

32 oz Coke - $3.49
Minus Annual Pass 15% discount - $.52
Tax - $.23

TOTAL = $3.20








After finishing my drink I picked up my camera battery and charger from the Camera Shop. The Cast Member behind the counter said it only took about one hour or so to charge it - which was totally unlike what happened in Catalina back in July, when the battery took many hours to charge.

I decided to high-tail it back to California Adventure, as I was not finished with Cars Land by a long shot!



On my way out of Disneyland...

















In the Esplanade...










Basically, I zoomed right into California Adventure, right into Ghirardelli to pick up another peppermint bark sample, and right back to Cars Land to pick up where I left off with the photos!








Another wonderful tree!








Look at the Car angel on top of the tree!
































The top of Mater's tree!

I'll be back with more from Cars Land (11-12-12) shortly...

[Sherry E]

Fourth post for today - Continuing on in Cars Land (11-12-12)...

Another view of Mater's tree...









Sarge's tree...









Flo's...












The tower of tires at Luigi's looks better and more festive in the actual Disneyland holiday commercial than it does in person...










Good ol' Stanley is wearing his Santa hat and carrying a sack of 'toys'...

Coming up - we take a look at the unusual trees inside Sarge's Surplus Hut (and I still want to call it Sarge's Sunglass Hut!)...and dusk falls on Radiator Springs. BUT! How will my sunset/after-dark photos turn out? Will they be blurry blobs, or will they look halfway decent? Stay tuned and find out!

[kaoden39]

Hi Sherry!

I love the latest updates.


Scotty has always had back problems. He started going to a chiropractor with a soft touch and he has done amazing things with Scotty's back. And with his in between pain he uses an Arnica rub I got for him on Molly's recommendation. I love the Arnica, it is the only thing that has ever helped my shoulder.

[PHXscuba]

Originally Posted by Sherry E

This one is my favorite!! Great lighting.

PHXscuba

[Sherry E]

I was out walking around this morning, hoping it would help my hip/back/leg pain. (It did not help.) I walked to Ralphs and instantly darted to the ice cream section to see if they had gotten in the real peppermint ice cream (not that Slow Churned business).

Here is what I discovered:

1. Ralphs now has the full fat and Slow Churned/half fat varieties of the pumpkin ice cream;

2. Ralphs has the full fat Egg Nog ice cream on the shelf; and

3. Ralphs only has the half fat/Slow Churned peppermint ice cream - and again, there was not even a tag to indicate ever having the real stuff in stock. So now I am wondering if this is going to be a year without peppermint ice cream in my freezer. It's not worth it to get if it's only the Slow Churned kind.

I even stumbled upon some other nondescript ice cream brand called "Simply Seasonal" or something similar. And what did this brand offer? Pumpkin ice cream and egg nog ice cream...but no peppermint!

Where is the justice? How can there be plenty o' pumpkin ice cream and egg nog ice cream to go around, and not one single carton of real peppermint stick ice cream? It's almost December!

It's not like the clientele at my Ralphs is overly health conscious (even though it's Los Angeles and there are a lot of fabulously fit people around here), and thus, Ralphs carries more half-fat than full-fat ice cream. Not so! After all, someone raided the snack cakes and hoarded all of the Hostess products, leaving none for anyone else. It can't have been a fitness buff who took all the Twinkies, Ding Dongs and cupcakes!

Originally Posted by kaoden39

Hi Sherry!

I love the latest updates.


Scotty has always had back problems. He started going to a chiropractor with a soft touch and he has done amazing things with Scotty's back. And with his in between pain he uses an Arnica rub I got for him on Molly's recommendation. I love the Arnica, it is the only thing that has ever helped my shoulder.

Thank you, Michele!

You know, I actually tried a product with Arnica in it about 7 years ago. It didn't help my pain - but then again, I was in so much agony that even Vicodin didn't help! It was torture.

I'm willing to revisit the Arnica and give it another try. I can't take this ongoing pain while trying to do everyday things - like sit in a chair!

Originally Posted by PHXscuba

This one is my favorite!! Great lighting.

PHXscuba

Thank you, PHX.

I think that was one of my 'accidental' good shots. I really didn't intend to crop it/frame it that way. I wanted to get the Stanley statue in the foreground. BUT...there were 9 million people lurking around that area and the photo would have been full of their heads. So I just aimed upward instead, to get more of the mountain range.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention! Tomorrow is the day when those of us who entered the Candlelight Processional lottery will find out if we 'won' our chosen dates/times. So, we shall see what happens! I was just watching Kurt Russell in "Vanilla Sky" when I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night, so maybe that is a sign that I'll get a CP seat!

[kaoden39]

I hope you find some relief. That sucks about the ice cream. Have you seen the seasonal jello pudding instant pudding flavors? They have candy cane and gingerbread. I am going to make parfaits tonight and I can't decide which one to make. :/

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice pictures from Cars Land Sherry.

Good luck to all the DISers that might get tickets for the CP this year. I would have entered as well, but I wasn't planning on going on those dates so I didn't enter this year. Speaking of ice cream, I got to try the Holiday Waffle Cone Flavor Crushed Candy Cane with Peppermint Stick in the Ice Cream which was very nice. Got to try something different during this trip. They didn't have the Peppermint Ice Cream when I was there which I was looking forward too after we talked about it.