Friday Night Fancy

Last week dragged by incredibly slow, didn't it? Was it just me? It just felt like it was a time warp or something and I was trying to catch up by running underwater. Wow, that sounds kind of depressing, huh? Please note, this is not a cry for help. In fact, it served as a fantastic juxtaposition of the weekend -- which is always a good thing.

On Friday night, I met up with Kate at the Disneyland outlet store (where they sell overstock theme park merchandise for pennies) to see what treasures were lurking there. Lo and behold:



I almost fainted when I saw this. And for $50?! I immediately grabbed an employee and screamed I NEED ONE OF THESE! RIGHT NOW! HURRY! HURRY! You see, I have been worshipping this particular piece of art for over a year now. The original piece created by Michelle Valigura has been on display at the gallery inside Disneyland for a long time (too long!) and I covet it so hard it nearly cracks the glass case. I don't have a picture of the price tag, but I am fairly sure that it was $650. (The second piece that is still in the gallery, the pirate guy, is priced at $900) So when I saw this listed for $50 and a tag that said "save 15%" I immediately went bonkers. They must have mislabeled the price in the system as $65 instead of $650!! As it turns out, no they didn't. Disney just did a SHITTY job of advertising the fact that replicas of the original piece were made in a limited quantity and had been for sale for $65 all along. I would have GLADLY paid twice that price if anyone had ever bothered to tell me that these were available. Ah well. In the end, I've got one of my very own and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg.

Thank you Michelle Valigura for creating beautiful things!

After scoring the find of the century (plus, some good Christmas presents), Kate and I headed over to Disneyland. Our timing was impeccable. We arrived just as the fireworks were ending and 99% of the people were leaving. And as we twirled in delight at having the park all to ourselves, we spotted Chris and Jamie who were having a similiar late-to-Disneyland night with their son. We chatted with them for a few minutes and then left them to eat dinner while we walked around the entire park (exercise!) and rode a couple of rides without waiting in a single line. Up side: no wait. Down side: hard to converse (at least for Long Winded Mia).

It was a lot of fun and perfect timing and an awesome Disney trip.