31 Days of Film - Day 5: Movie that reminds you of someone

Another Mel Brooks classic makes the list with day five's prompt. Robin Hood: Men In Tights was a movie I didn't want to like - and for the longest time I didn't. It is my best friend's absolute favorite movie. She knows it backwards, forwards, and upside-down. She knows the choreography to the title song. She was so sad when I said I just couldn't find what she found funny about it.

And then one day I actually sat down and paid attention to it. And I fell in love. It IS Mel Brooks' humor, after all, and the subtle (and not so subtle) parodies of all prior Robin Hood movies are hilarious. I don't know why I didn't like the movie sooner. It leaves me in stitches.

It also makes me really miss Erin. With her being in Montana we don't get to see each other much, and she has a busy life that leaves little time to actually chat these days. I miss my friend. I watched this movie today and thought of her. We have 40 days until our Disney trip and I cannot wait. As excited as I am for Disney and SoCal and VACATION, I'm more excited to see her. It's been over a year. It's overdue. WAY overdue.

48 days till Disneyland 2014!

The prompt today is "what are you looking forward to" - and I think we all know what I'm looking forward to most - my Disneyland trip in September!

So what better way to celebrate that by giving you the "Cast of Characters" that will be going on this trip.

Probably my favorite set of Mickey ears EVER! Maleficent!

Tonichelle - aka, ME! This will be my fifth trip to Disneyland and 11th trip to a Disney park. The last time I went to Disneyland was in 2012 right after Carsland opened (we were there during summer vacation. Oh. My. Word. Do not recommend!). I'm pretty familiar with getting around the parks, but still haven't seen and done everything.

I am the trip planner/coordinator (by default). It's actually one of my favorite parts of a Disney trip - the planning. As much as it's stressful when trying to make sure everyone's wants/hopes get met or at least acknowledged, I just love doing all of the booking and coordinating. Crazy, I know. I have spreadsheets, and folders, and notebooks filled with the plans. It's the most organized part of my life!

I've been a huge fan of Disney my entire life, that I've gotten to go to the parks as many times as I have over the last few years (I only went once as a child, and once as a teen, the rest has been in adulthood!) has been a blessing. I love the history and nostalgia far more than the new stuff, so Disneyland holds a special place in my heart (as previous blog posts have shared). That I'm walking in Walt's footsteps makes Disneyland that much more special and I can forgive that it's less inclusive than Walt Disney World.

I am the first of our group that will make it into SoCal. I get in several hours before check in for the hotel, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll have our room ready early, otherwise I'm going to be smelling like airplane in their very small lobby for hours.

Gotta admit, they are pretty adorable together. Disgusting.

Erin & Wess - My "beastie" and her boy. Back in 2010 on the Road Trip From Hell we decided that to celebrate our 30th birthdays we would do a Disney cruise. It was something neither of us had done yet, and so we wanted to try something new. We also decided that since we went to Disney World on my birthday (January 2009) that we'd go around Erin's birthday this time. Considering Erin does not do birthdays very well (think Joey in "The One Where They All Turn 30") I figured she'd have more fun with the Mouse and company. It'd take her mind off of it a bit.

But as time drew near for the trip, we began pricing it out and it we kept wanting the park experience again. Then Erin met a boy. *cue dramatic music* Things changed. The two quickly fell in love (disgusting) and before long there were wedding bells. I headed for Montana and watched my best friend marry her best friend. But, before their wedding day I made the announcement to Erin and Wess that I thought that instead of a girls only trip, that Wess should come along with us on the 30th birthday celebration. I think I shocked both of them as I had been pretty adamant that it needed to stay a girls only thing. But, the three of us were getting along, and Wess has never been to a Disney Park.

We need to fix that. So the two of them are coming, and Erin and I just laugh like crazy evil people because we know Wess has NO idea what he's getting into with the two of us at Disney. The poor man. He'll need a lot of prayer this September for his sanity. But I have a feeling he will have a great time.

Erin and I met our freshman year of high school and became fast friends. We still don't know how that happened exactly, but Erin says it's too late for me to ditch her now. They say if you remain friends after 10 years you will always be friends. This year marks our 15th year of friendship. We're stuck with each other. And I am SO glad we are. I can't wait to celebrate with her. It's been over a year since we last gave each other a hug and smacked each other, we've only a month and a half left to go... the countdown is going to take forEVER.

Wess and Erin get in late on the 14th (many hours after me) so I will hopefully get to nap while I wait for them to make it to the hotel and then WATCH OUT ANAHEIM!

We've been great friends for 10 years, and we'll finally "meet!"

Aimee - my beautiful friend from Buffalo! We met online during our days as massive Star Wars fangirls (okay, well, nerds). It was about 10 years ago and it was through our greatestjournal accounts. It's crazy to think how much we've grown and changed and our friendship is soooooo unlikely, but thanks to "social media" and the interwebs here we are. I've made some pretty great friendships over the years online, but Aimee holds a special place in my heart. She's definitely one of the people I trust with a lot, and she keeps me honest! Ha ha. She definitely keeps me laughing.

Aimee coming on this trip happened rather... quickly... back in December. I blogged about it back in May. Aime and Erin share the same birthday so they will be the birthday twins on this trip. It will be Aimee's first time to the West Coast. We'd joked for years that we'd no doubt end up meeting for the first time at a Disney Park and now it's HAPPENING! I think I'm more excited for THAT than actually GOING to Disney!

Aimee is just as big a Disney nerd as I am, so I want to make sure that Disneyland is a special event for her. I'm sure it will be, but I have a feeling Wess and Erin will judge our fangirliness on all things Mr. Disney ha ha. Aimee gets in the day after the rest of us, and is only spending a few days (she has something called a job, psh!) but they'll be jam packed with Disney as well as the beach and a little bit of Hollywood. Gotta make sure that if she comes all this way she gets to experience the Pacific!


So there you have it! 48 days till DISNEY and BIRTHDAYS and FRIENDS!!!!!!!

These are a few of my favorite things!

Day 11 has me listing fifteen of my favorite things, so here we go...

1. Photography. Mainly portrait, sport, and travel photography, but I love being able to document life.

2.Country Music - not the stuff from my grandfather's era, but 80s-today? Oh, yeah. Love me some country music!

3. Pugs - specifically the ones I've been blessed with in my life. I miss my Yuka girl every day. She was my heart, and there will most likely never be another one quite like her. No doubt she's tearing it up at the Rainbow Bridge.

4. My "Niece" Haille Rae. She is such a beautiful young lady. I was so blessed to be added into her family (granted I am related through my aunt but minor detail). I miss her, and wish we were closer so we could hang out like we used to. She's the funniest kid I know, and super smart. I'm so proud of her.

Taken a few years ago, how quickly they (kids and dogs) grow up!

5. My "Other Niece" Delaney. She's high energy, crazy, and highly entertaining. She is her momma through and through. She's a Disney Princess and a Pirate all rolled into one. I can barely keep up with her, but one thing about her - she's never boring! I am loving watching her grow up.

6. My Best Friend in the entire world - Erin. She is the Joey to my Chandler, the Larry to my Bob, the Dale to my Chip. She's my partner in crime, the one who's always willing to go along with a crazy idea or adventure. She's my sister from another mister (and the daughter my mother never had - my mom's words there, yup, feel the love). I miss her as she's all the way away in Montana, but when we're together we make up for lost time. Here's to another 15 years of friendship! Guess at this point we're stuck together for life!

7. Sled Dogs - I could say the Iditarod, but really it's the sled dogs (and most of the mushers) that I love. Sled dogs are AWESOME.I grew up loving the Iditarod and its stars, and after working for mushers for the last 7 years, I can definitely say it's gotta be one of the most awesome lifestyles. But the dogs... oh, the dogs.

Mitch Seavey's Iditarod Champion dog Pentecost in 2013.

8. Disney Parks - comes as no surprise, right? I've been to Disney World and Disneyland - and am going to Disneyland again this September. I'd love to visit the other four Disney destinations, they're definitely on my bucket list!

9. Figure Skating - I love watching it. No, I can't skate. Don't really care to learn, either. The idea is nice, but I have trouble balancing on two feet, I don't need to add blades to them. So I will watch and admire those that can do the most amazing things on those blades.

10. TACOS!!!!! As I said on one of the other prompts - I LOVE TACOS! My mom makes the best, but really I'm not too terribly picky about my tacos. Love me some Taco Bell. Love me some Playa Azul (local Mexican food place). Yum... TACOS!!!!

11.  The TV Show Terriers from FX. It was 13 episodes before it was cancelled. It makes me sad that there aren't more (though honestly if it hadn't been cancelled, Michael Raymond-James wouldn't have gone to Once Upon A Time, I'd have never seen Terriers because I'd have not fallen in love with MRJ). It's a good show, entertaining, and MRJ is freaking adorable as Britt Pollack.

12. Broadway Musicals - they can be on stage or in movies. Either way I LOVE them. I love some I haven't even seen, just heard the music. My iPod is filled with showtunes, and I have a movie musical collection. I'm a big time nerd, so this is no surprise either, right?

13. Alone Time - I LOVE being alone. I love the quiet. I love not having to answer to people, talk to people... listen to them eat/chew/talk with their mouths open. Watch what I want to, when I want to, how I want to. Give me my pets, and that's all the interaction I really need. If I need human interaction I can go online.


14. Historical Fiction - I love novels that use real historic events as the basis of their books. Favorite era is the Civil War for that type of reading, but I've been known to read a good Revolution piece, as well. I love reading in general, but when I can put my love for history into an "entertainment" form it's even better.

15. Spielberg movies. With the talk of Spielberg being an evil dinosaur trophy hunter this week on social media, I just thought I'd throw that out there. As I said in another prompt, I LOVE Spielberg. Love his work. Even when it creeps me out (ET) or makes me bawl buckets (War Horse). Gah. Love it!

65 Days till Disneyland!

Dateline: To Catch a Predator

Anyone who knows me or my best friend knows we're a little bit... off. Erin and I have weird things that we like. One of them is To Catch a Predator - a defunct series Dateline produced a few years ago catching men who are perverted enough to solicit minors for sex. You may remember the series.

Anyway we call it 'Pervy men' and get super excited for Sunday nights when MSNBC typically runs about three hours of specials. They're all repeats - the series was cancelled/ripped from the dateline headlines after a scandal happened in Texas surrounding the operation - but we can't help but watch them over and over and be shocked at teh stupidity.

Well, now we're watching one that says it's new - and there are a few we don't recognize - and we are now planning to stay up late to watch them. Is that sad or what?