For a while now, Gigi and I have been trying to figure out how to get away. Every weekend we think about turning off cell phones, piling into the car and driving away for a couple of days. We talk about it every week it seems, then the weekend comes and goes and we haven’t gone farther than Irvine. When Thanksgiving came and we had an extra day we decided that we weren’t going to go anywhere. We would just stay home, but we would do something fun to make it an a-typical weekend. We decided we would go to Disneyland! Lately Gigi had been telling me how “magical” Disneyland had sounded so it was a perfect thing to do. A good friend of ours (Hi Jim!) works for the park and graciously took time on his day off to lend a hand with the admission costs and warned us that the day after the holiday would likely be CROWDED. We were up to the challenge though and braved our way into California Adventure.
Gigi and I have always had different thoughts about Disneyland. She goes for the roller coasters (of which Disneyland has few of), and I go for the experience the park has to offer. This trip I was determined to show her the experience side of things. Especially since she is pregnant and there really aren’t too many rides we could even go on. We had about an hour before our dinner reservations so we took a little stroll through the Bugs Life area of California Adventure. I mentioned to Gigi that I loved the details like that the building that housed the restrooms was made to look like an upside down box of tissues and the signs for the rides were discarded plastic spoons. She gave me a weird look and said, “I don’t get it.” I gave her a weird look back and said, “Honey we are bugs in a bug world.” She looked around a bit and as she did her eyes got bigger and bigger, then her smile got bigger and bigger. “OH MY GOSH! You’re right!” Her eyes had been opened and from that point in the night she started realizing that Disneyland wasn’t all about the rides.
Thanks to our friend Jim, I know my way around the parks pretty well, and I dragged Gigi all over the park that night. Much to our surprise the park was EMPTY. The longest wait we had was for the Toy Story ride and that was only about 45 min. The rest of the rides we went on, we practically walked right to the front of the line. One of our favorite areas was in California Adventure. It had a netted suspension bridge, a rock-climbing wall, tire swing races (we didn’t do that, but it looked like a TON of fun), and a nature trail. We will definitely have to go back there when we are a bit more free to behave a little more recklessly.
As the night progressed, we realized exactly why the parks were empty; it was about 40 degrees out! Luckily, we dressed warm, but we never imagined it would get that cold. By 11 pm we were cold to the bone and ready to head home. As we walked back to the car we talked about how much fun the whole night was and how much we want to go back… soon! I had so much fun showing Gigi all the little things that make Disneyland fun for me and she had a ton of fun enjoying the park in a whole new way. Together we just enjoyed a night of goofing off together getting away from the same old thing. It was a much needed and much loved night out.
Showing posts with label out-n-about. Show all posts
Showing posts with label out-n-about. Show all posts
12.12.2010
7.25.2010
Good Friends, Good Music, Good Times
This weekend was a good one. We were able to catch up with friends, see one of our favorite bands preform and eat ourselves silly at the Orange County Fair; yeah, it was pretty awesome!
On Saturday night we put June in the car, drove down to the Irvine Spectrum and met up with our friends Jim, Kevin, and Gigi's sister Kat to listen to one of our favorite bands, PawnShop Kings, perform. As always they put on a great show and since it was Kevin's first show, they found themselves a new fan.
and we got ice cream too....
On Sunday we went to the early church service and then met up with our friends Brian and Jana and their son Hunter to go to the fair. None of us are really all that excited about the rides so we just walked around, looked at the exhibits, ate ourselves silly, went to the pig races, played with Hunter, and just all around had a good time.
Jana braved the newest fair food - the Crispy Cream Chicken Sandwich
and Brian had to have the giant turkey leg.
Hunter wasn't totally sure at first.
But he quickly warmed up to the idea.
Gigi got caught up in the excitement and had to have some meat on a stick.
Then it was off to the pig races!
Rounding out the day with good times, carnival games and good friends
And now for obligatory "cute kid in hat that's too big" pictures...
Thank you everyone for such a great weekend! Let's do it again soon!!!
7.01.2010
a lost art
my birthday fell on father's day this year. ahem, correction--father's day fell on my birthday this year, thank you very much! in an effort to celebrate the grand feat of having raised my brother, sister and i for the past 25+ years, i made a concious decision to focus sunday's celebrations on my dad. after all, he IS the most incredible dad in the world, and i love the gosh darn heck out of him...
here's to you, dad...! nmw...
josh, being the ever-so-loving-and-thoughtful-guy-of-a-husband he is, thought it was important we still celebrate my birthday. i didn't push back. shocking--i know. fast forward to the following saturday, a 20-minute westward drive with a quick stop for fancy food-to-go, we pulled into newport harbor where we found a duffy boat waiting for us. yup, for US. josh and me. i didn't know you didn't need a captian on those things! better for us--it was PRIVATE. wink wink.
anywho, josh had planned the boat, the dinner, and obviously the drink selection, because he pulled 2 bottles of my favorite cabernet out of his backpack, along with (plastic) wine glasses and a bottle opener. because that's how we roll :-) i was SO IMPRESSED by his thoughtfulness, and i absolutely adored the surprise factor of it all, but it was what he popped into the cd player on the boat that really stole my heart. leave it up to josh, he made me a MIX TAPE for my birthday boat ride. I LOVE HIM!! :-)
josh is album centric. if you know him at all, or have done a decent job of keeping up with his blog posts, you'll know he is not a "shuffle songs" kind of guy. no way. because that entirely negates any effort put forth by an artist to consciously arrange their music as they wanted it to be heard--as a story, with a beginning, middle, and end. therefore, i can only imagine what a struggle it must have been for him to put multiple songs and artists on one disc, visciously tearing them away from the cozy, assigned spots on thier respective albums. it must have been heart wrenching.
unless.................. unless this was josh's way of creating his own album. and btw, whether it's true or not, this is the story i'm going with. because it's my birthday. and i can.
josh has a library of over 85 days worth of music. 85 DAYS OF MUSIC. we could be stranded on an island together for 2 full months plus a february, eating maggots and drinking salt water, and as long as we had his ipod (and a charger... oh, and speakers, too...) we'd be able to dance to a different song the whole time we were there. it's almost stupid...but it's mostly cute. :-) it also comes in handy when i'm ready for an ipod mix change. i just love that he sat down and intentionally pulled 16 different songs from 16 different albums and 16 different artists and placed them all side by side onto one, single cd. these were 16 carefully chosen songs that made him think of us as a couple, as a family, and as two crazies that love to have a good time. he thought about what songs we'd enjoy on a birthday boat ride at sunset down newport harbor over dinner and drinks, on a night full of cuddling and day dreaming :-) this mix tape was a piece of art--it was wonderful, and it melted my heart. i (un)secretly hope for another one someday (honey...) ;-)
here are a few of my favorite lyrics from the disc, for your artful reading pleasure.
...sailing around the world, please know that i'm yours to keep, my beautiful girl...
...but there ain't nobody that can sing like me, ain't nobody that can sing like me, way over yonder in the minor key....
...that i am, i am, i am the luckiest...
...i wonder everyday as i look upon your face, everything you gave and nothing you would take...
...and then when we get to the ocean, we're gonna take a boat to the end of the world...
...you and me together, we can do anything, baby, you and me together, yes, yes...
...watchin' the fire as we grow...
...ahhhuhh, ahhhuh, ahhhhhuhh...
...happy birthday, beautiful...
look for some of the birthday mix songs on our blog playlist, soon!
here's to you, dad...! nmw...
josh, being the ever-so-loving-and-thoughtful-guy-of-a-husband he is, thought it was important we still celebrate my birthday. i didn't push back. shocking--i know. fast forward to the following saturday, a 20-minute westward drive with a quick stop for fancy food-to-go, we pulled into newport harbor where we found a duffy boat waiting for us. yup, for US. josh and me. i didn't know you didn't need a captian on those things! better for us--it was PRIVATE. wink wink.
anywho, josh had planned the boat, the dinner, and obviously the drink selection, because he pulled 2 bottles of my favorite cabernet out of his backpack, along with (plastic) wine glasses and a bottle opener. because that's how we roll :-) i was SO IMPRESSED by his thoughtfulness, and i absolutely adored the surprise factor of it all, but it was what he popped into the cd player on the boat that really stole my heart. leave it up to josh, he made me a MIX TAPE for my birthday boat ride. I LOVE HIM!! :-)
josh is album centric. if you know him at all, or have done a decent job of keeping up with his blog posts, you'll know he is not a "shuffle songs" kind of guy. no way. because that entirely negates any effort put forth by an artist to consciously arrange their music as they wanted it to be heard--as a story, with a beginning, middle, and end. therefore, i can only imagine what a struggle it must have been for him to put multiple songs and artists on one disc, visciously tearing them away from the cozy, assigned spots on thier respective albums. it must have been heart wrenching.
unless.................. unless this was josh's way of creating his own album. and btw, whether it's true or not, this is the story i'm going with. because it's my birthday. and i can.
josh has a library of over 85 days worth of music. 85 DAYS OF MUSIC. we could be stranded on an island together for 2 full months plus a february, eating maggots and drinking salt water, and as long as we had his ipod (and a charger... oh, and speakers, too...) we'd be able to dance to a different song the whole time we were there. it's almost stupid...but it's mostly cute. :-) it also comes in handy when i'm ready for an ipod mix change. i just love that he sat down and intentionally pulled 16 different songs from 16 different albums and 16 different artists and placed them all side by side onto one, single cd. these were 16 carefully chosen songs that made him think of us as a couple, as a family, and as two crazies that love to have a good time. he thought about what songs we'd enjoy on a birthday boat ride at sunset down newport harbor over dinner and drinks, on a night full of cuddling and day dreaming :-) this mix tape was a piece of art--it was wonderful, and it melted my heart. i (un)secretly hope for another one someday (honey...) ;-)
here are a few of my favorite lyrics from the disc, for your artful reading pleasure.
...sailing around the world, please know that i'm yours to keep, my beautiful girl...
...but there ain't nobody that can sing like me, ain't nobody that can sing like me, way over yonder in the minor key....
...that i am, i am, i am the luckiest...
...i wonder everyday as i look upon your face, everything you gave and nothing you would take...
...and then when we get to the ocean, we're gonna take a boat to the end of the world...
...you and me together, we can do anything, baby, you and me together, yes, yes...
...watchin' the fire as we grow...
...ahhhuhh, ahhhuh, ahhhhhuhh...
...happy birthday, beautiful...
look for some of the birthday mix songs on our blog playlist, soon!
2.17.2010
the latest happenings on the johnson front
not sure how many of you care to hear what we've been up to, but i'm pretty sure i have a few far-away family and friends that check up on our blog and see how we're doing, so i thought i'd post a little update of the past few months.
theBIRTHDAY
josh turned __ (blank on purpose) on january 19th. and we're obviously very proud... just kidding--the guy may be racking up the age-points, but he's still as playful as a young chap and i love him to peices! we hit up javiers mexican restaurant for dinner with a few pals, followed by a visit to the yardhouse. josh was testing his new age at the nearest bar. eh, he sort of passed.
theBIRTHDAY
josh turned __ (blank on purpose) on january 19th. and we're obviously very proud... just kidding--the guy may be racking up the age-points, but he's still as playful as a young chap and i love him to peices! we hit up javiers mexican restaurant for dinner with a few pals, followed by a visit to the yardhouse. josh was testing his new age at the nearest bar. eh, he sort of passed.
theCITY
we entirely lucked out this month and got the opportunity to travel for work together, and to no better place than new york city! okay, i misrepresent...we went to new jersey. i owed a visit to a project out there, and josh spent a day in his new jersey office working on a project with his boss. as soon as we were done with the work, we jumped on a train and planted ourselves in that freezing city for 3 days. this trip was fairly mellow for NYC--it was cold, and unless we had a plan of where to go and exactly how to get there, we weren't the most eager to simply roam around aimlessly. strangely enough, our initial plan had been to have no plan, and hadn't realized how much the cold would hinder us from "just hanging out in the city". ultimately we made it to a couple museums (the MoMA was our favorite!), the new york library, rockefeller center, and some random bars and restaurants. for those "how i met your mother" fans, we visited a bar called mcgee's, which provided the concept behind maclaren's in the show.
theMORNINGS
josh and i have stumbled upon some new found time, recently. mornings. how about that?! turns out, there's lots one can do at 6am, and we're learning it together. eagerly, i might add. i think the jet lag from NYC has yet to fade, and we're hanging on to it tightly. mornings have recently consisted of a long walk with the dog, a yummy breakfast and the today show, or an early start at the office. i've always had an appreciation for mornings, but managed to easily sleep through them. now that josh is finding how beautiful the early part of the day can be, i'm finding myself NOT sleeping through them anymore. it's nice, june loves it, and i would highly recommend mornings to anyone! a little word of advice, though--do yourself a favor and hit the sack before midnight.
theBOOK
our valentine's day was fairly low key. it consisted of church, lunch, errands, and the gym. later in the day, we buckled down and got serious--threw a steak on the grill(pan) and sat down for a romantic dinner. after dinner, we moved to the couch, and josh read "catcher in the rye" to me. it was so simple, and so sweet. i absolutely LOVED it; well, until i fell asleep in chapter 6, that is... i can't wait to be read to more...such a nice treat! and this book is an awesome classic :-)
theWEEKEND
we are heading up to bishop, california to (finally) do some outdoor climbing. josh, june, and i will hit the road saturday morning and meet a couple friends of ours on the rocks that afternoon. i am SO looking forward to sometime outside, away from the hustle bustle, and spending time with friends. we'll post some pics when we return!
12.21.2009
those special moments in 2009
this has been a WONDERFUL year! before we jump into 2010, i thought it'd be appropriate to highlight a few special moments that could easily get lost in the memory banks without a gentle reminder...
a little slideshow for your viewing...
a little slideshow for your viewing...
7.24.2009
Sure, why not?!
Two words have been used to describe me in the past: stubborn and hard-headed. That’s just absurd, don’t ya think?!
I am going to Comicon on Sunday. That’s how I know I am not stubborn, nor hard-headed. Attending Comicon (an annual Comic/Fantasy Convention held in San Diego) is my proof!
I’m a realist. I have no imagination. I don’t like things that don’t make perfect sense. Fantasy does not peak my interest, whatsoever. Star Wars gave me nightmares as a kid. I have walked out of a number of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter-type movies in my lifetime. I teased kids with imaginary friends in elementary school.
“So why the heck are you going, Gigi?” you may ask.
Well, because Josh asked me to. It was presented to me as “an opportunity to do some incredulous people watching” and “have a $20 day-cation”. Who says “No” to a deal like that?! Not to mention, I’ll take any opportunity to spend the day in San Diego with the hubby rather than with coworkers and clients (no offense to any of them…)
Here’s the real kicker--I’m getting excited to go. Josh has done an excellent job of bringing to light that my stubbornness is typically predicated by the fact that I haven’t given something a chance. (My parents probably told me this exact same thing 349 times over the past 25 years, but unfortunately I wasn’t listening, or I was busy saying, “I know”, and moving on. Sorry, guys. Please forgive me…) Josh is a total “techy”, and I have always given him a hard time for it. However, lately, Josh has subtly encouraged my little bit of techyness to surface. He’ll take apart a computer a put it back together, and a little part of me wants to know what all the pieces do. He once asked me to try watching an episode of LOST with him, and it turns out it’s one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen! I’m so hooked! He’s pulled his phone out to do “on-the-spot research” about 100 times now, and I’ve recently noticed myself doing it. I now somewhat find entertainment in the occasional video game; there are days I am more active on Twitter than he is; and I actually “wikihow-ed” something the other day. It’s amazing what marriage does. I’ve learned to like “techy”.
So when I say I’m excited, it’s not because I can’t wait to wear my Star Trek costume, it’s not because I’m hoping Spiderman will be stuck in the upper corner of the convention center somewhere, it’s not because I’m curious what The Hulk feels like in person, and it’s definitely not because I’m excited to see how much Harry Potter and his friends have grown in the past ten years. It’s really because I’ll be giving something a chance, and I’ll probably like it more than I think.
Being open-minded is really quite exciting!
I am going to Comicon on Sunday. That’s how I know I am not stubborn, nor hard-headed. Attending Comicon (an annual Comic/Fantasy Convention held in San Diego) is my proof!
I’m a realist. I have no imagination. I don’t like things that don’t make perfect sense. Fantasy does not peak my interest, whatsoever. Star Wars gave me nightmares as a kid. I have walked out of a number of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter-type movies in my lifetime. I teased kids with imaginary friends in elementary school.
“So why the heck are you going, Gigi?” you may ask.
Well, because Josh asked me to. It was presented to me as “an opportunity to do some incredulous people watching” and “have a $20 day-cation”. Who says “No” to a deal like that?! Not to mention, I’ll take any opportunity to spend the day in San Diego with the hubby rather than with coworkers and clients (no offense to any of them…)
Here’s the real kicker--I’m getting excited to go. Josh has done an excellent job of bringing to light that my stubbornness is typically predicated by the fact that I haven’t given something a chance. (My parents probably told me this exact same thing 349 times over the past 25 years, but unfortunately I wasn’t listening, or I was busy saying, “I know”, and moving on. Sorry, guys. Please forgive me…) Josh is a total “techy”, and I have always given him a hard time for it. However, lately, Josh has subtly encouraged my little bit of techyness to surface. He’ll take apart a computer a put it back together, and a little part of me wants to know what all the pieces do. He once asked me to try watching an episode of LOST with him, and it turns out it’s one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen! I’m so hooked! He’s pulled his phone out to do “on-the-spot research” about 100 times now, and I’ve recently noticed myself doing it. I now somewhat find entertainment in the occasional video game; there are days I am more active on Twitter than he is; and I actually “wikihow-ed” something the other day. It’s amazing what marriage does. I’ve learned to like “techy”.
So when I say I’m excited, it’s not because I can’t wait to wear my Star Trek costume, it’s not because I’m hoping Spiderman will be stuck in the upper corner of the convention center somewhere, it’s not because I’m curious what The Hulk feels like in person, and it’s definitely not because I’m excited to see how much Harry Potter and his friends have grown in the past ten years. It’s really because I’ll be giving something a chance, and I’ll probably like it more than I think.
Being open-minded is really quite exciting!
5.15.2009
This is how you do it...
Goin' to the Angels' Game: "Josh n Gigi Style" 
1) arrive late:
bottom of the 2nd. less traffic, fewer lines.
2) wear maroons and grays
...just in case the guys in bright red don't do so hot...
3) walk in and go straight to your seats
it helps if your tickets are in the diamond club. no stairs, no crowds.
4) order from the waiter
beer brought to you is much tastier than beer you went and stood in line for... (TIP: don't order "non ballpark food" from a ballpark. stick strictly to nachos, hot dogs, and beer.)
5) watch the Laker game
access to a restaurant with a TV showing other (action-filled) games is a must!
6) leave early
sometime before the top of the seventh is a safe time to go. the goal is to make it out sometime before they make you stand up and sing...
______________
don't get me wrong... the game wasn't AWFUL by any means. we had a good time for the few hours we were there. josh and i have been enthralled by the action found in the NBA playoffs lately, so we did feel a bit out of place watching such a slow-paced game. we got these ticket "spur of the moment", so i don't think we were really prepared for the relaxed nature of the evening. next time!
4.16.2009
"sleepwalk with me" mike birbiglia
our buddy, angelo, is celebrating his 26th birthday this weekend, and we thought we'd treat him to a night in LA with comedian, mike birbiglia (www.birbigs.com). as it turned out, it was a real treat to ALL OF US! his skit, "sleepwalk with me", had us all riled up--i haven't laughed that hard in a long time! and to top it off, the guys were stoked about the chance run-in they had with another favorite comedian of theirs, eddie izzard. they were words away from inviting the guy to join us at chipotle, but thought they'd leave the man with his privacy...
josh, angelo, and jim
these three were cracking up at each other's jokes the whole night... i'm not sure they needed mike birbiglia to make them laugh, but he sure was funny!
glad i got to join the boys last night. we had such a blast!
after coming home late from LA, we woke up this morning to find our puppy sleeping on her bed like a princess, pillow and all! this dog has SO MUCH PERSONALITY.
josh, angelo, and jim
these three were cracking up at each other's jokes the whole night... i'm not sure they needed mike birbiglia to make them laugh, but he sure was funny!glad i got to join the boys last night. we had such a blast!
after coming home late from LA, we woke up this morning to find our puppy sleeping on her bed like a princess, pillow and all! this dog has SO MUCH PERSONALITY.
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