tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23560641377780347132024-03-05T22:43:02.963-08:00Ivy Leaves & Flame TreesLaurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-51607451338522147482012-08-31T05:53:00.002-07:002012-08-31T05:56:18.271-07:00SoftiesI've been busy lately, it might not seem like it from my lack of blogging, but honestly I have! <br />
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I've been spending the last few weeks sitting on the floor in my loungeroom, watching Buffy and sewing, sewing, sewing! I love making softies, and I really love the idea of making characters from live action movies and tv in to adorable little calico creations.<br />
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Two of my great loves at the moment are Game of Thrones (which you can see from <a href="http://ivyleavesflametrees.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/game-of-pies.html">this</a> ) and The Avengers. So of course, my latest softies paid hommage to those two great loves. <br />
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From Game of Thrones: Eddard (Ned) Stark, Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen<br />
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And from Avengers: Loki, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man<br />
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These are all available for purchase <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/FlameTreesIvyLeaves">here at my new Etsy shop!</a>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-45887336094313655202012-08-26T19:16:00.002-07:002012-08-26T19:19:43.882-07:00Cupcake DriveAs a follow up from my <a href="http://ivyleavesflametrees.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/pie-drive.html">Pie Drive</a> and upon request of friends, I recently had a Cupcake Drive. <br />
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In much the same style as the Pie Drive, four flavours of cupcakes were available at 6 for $12 or 12 for $20. We had: <br />
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Lemon Meringue Cupcakes</div>
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Wagon Wheel Cupcakes</div>
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White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes</div>
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Malteser Cupcakes</div>
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Though not as profitable as the Pie Drive, it was still a great week! If you would like to order any of these cakes, or others, please visit me at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/flametreebakery">Flame Tree</a></div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-21718999944716168362012-08-26T18:55:00.003-07:002012-08-26T18:59:19.722-07:00Being Medieval - 2012 styleThe <a href="http://abbeytournament.com/">Abbey Medieval Festival</a> is an event I look forward to every year. <br />
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There's nothing quite like it. Sword fights, a castle, oil wrestling, gypsies, spiced mead served from a cauldron, venison pie, jousting, toffee apples, camels, cannons, hearty stew, ladies in amazing dresses, knights in shining armour, fire twirling, archery, dancing, stilt walkers, falcons, mulled wine and so much more!<br />
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<a href="http://ivyleavesflametrees.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/ye-olde-and-totally-awesome-medieval.html">Last year</a>, Stacie and I made dresses, and couldn't face making new ones again this year. So we opted for some sweet headdresses instead. I was really happy with how my horned creation turned out. I got lots of comments, and we were asked for a photo at least 30 times! Fun! <br />
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I've become a bit crazed about archery ever since The Avengers came out. I'm intensely attracted to <a href="http://www.goodgirlsgonegeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/hawkeye_in_the_avengers-wide.jpg">Hawkeye</a> so when given the chance to have a go, I was pretty excited. </div>
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Until next year Medieval Festival.....Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-53540332831879961092012-08-26T18:32:00.000-07:002012-08-26T18:33:35.171-07:00Pie Drive!I left my job in May, did I ever mention that? I left because 4 years of office work was enough for me, my poor little creative brain couldn't handle days of looking at numbers and talking to customers about products I didn't care about. So I left, and have been absolutely loving my life of baking, drawing, sewing and reading ever since.<br />
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I don't however, love not having money. That's been a bit lame really. Luckily though, I have wonderful friends that love baked goods, and that were happy to support me. With this in mind, I created a facebook event called:<br />
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The Baking for Ballet Pie Drive</div>
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(so called as I needed money to continue with my beginner ballet adventures)</div>
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Four pies were available for purchase, and three kinds of macarons.</div>
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Banana Split Pie - Banana, Chocolate and Peanut Butter</div>
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Ruby Pie - Chocolate, Raspberry Mousse, Grenadine Jelly</div>
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Winter is Coming Pie - Chocolate, Black Cherry, Meringue</div>
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Comfort Pie - Pumpkin with Salted Caramel Pecan Glaze</div>
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Spiced Cinnamon Macarons</div>
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Red Velvet Macarons</div>
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Salted Caramel Macarons</div>
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Now, when I made this event, I was expecting maybe 6 orders from my closest friends because they felt like they needed to help me out. I certainly wasn't expecting to a total order count of 54 pies and 302 macarons! So began a week of frenzied pastry making, tears over failed macarons (and cheers over all the successful ones), dancing, singing, whisking, melting, egg separating, and salted caramel sneaking. </div>
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The two most uttered phrases from friends picking up their baked goods were 'The house smells AMAZING!' (which I loved) and 'Oh Lauren, you look sooooo tired' (which was true, but not as loved.)</div>
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The week also consisted of a lot of driving and trying to navigate city streets, as every night was open for deliveries to those friends living further away. I am so grateful to my friends Kirsty and Rachel for accompanying me on the deliveries, reminding me to collect money, keeping track of orders and to Rachel for driving around the city and southside on the final night because I was so exhausted I thought myself in danger of crashing the car.</div>
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Thanks to everyone who supported this crazy but really fun endeavour I had more than enough money to cover ballet for the rest of the year and be able to live like I had when I had a job.......for a while at least (more on that in my Cupcake Drive post)</div>
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I'm sure that I will hold another Pie Drive one day soon. It was a great experience and I did really enjoy seeing all of this on my table every afternoon. </div>
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If you, dear wanderer, live in the Brisbane area and find yourself wishing for something sweet, please visit my new page on Facebook - <a href="http://www.facebook.com/flametreebakery">Flame Tree</a> I'd love to bake for you!</div>
Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-35134455919570150712012-07-08T20:23:00.001-07:002012-07-09T01:19:16.959-07:00The Night Circus and Paper ArtA few months ago I noticed a book with black pages, a pretty cover and an alluring title - <a href="http://erinmorgenstern.com/the-night-circus/">The Night Circus</a> by Erin Morgenstern.<br />
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Upon reading the synopsis, I knew this book was for me. I devoured it within a day. I'm not going to talk about it too much, there are reviews everywhere but I just suggest you pick it up for yourself. Perhaps it won't be for everyone, but it absolutely struck a cord with me, mainly for the imagery described throughout. I immediately wanted to draw or paint everything, it was all so fantastical and beautiful and just as if Erin had the same imagination as me, I loved it so very much.<br />
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So I began sketching out some elements of the book that I found particularly wonderful. The two main character, Celia and Marco, pictured above, obviously needed to be shown and I also wanted to illustrate their favourite parts of the circus - The Wishing Tree created by Celia, and The Ice Garden created by Marco. I wanted them to all be separate images that were linked together by colour and by the trees. <br />
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I have also, for many years followed in awe the illustrations and paper art of <a href="http://britsketch.blogspot.com.au/">Brittney Lee</a> and toyed with the idea of trying some paper art myself. I couldn't fathom how Brittney could create so much detail with some paper and a knife but I really wanted to give it a go. <br />
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Couple that wish with the mighty need for some Night Circus inspired art, the challenge of only using black and white paper, a new scalpel knife, a rather beaten up cutting board and some few months of working on and off and finally, I had a four part artwork that I am exceedingly happy with! </div>
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<br /></div>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-23460182797545869952012-06-07T03:37:00.001-07:002012-07-09T01:20:37.206-07:00Game of Pies!I've been crazy for pies recently...I just haven't updated my blog enough to show it! I'll do another post soon about all the other things I've been making but this one is to showcase a weekly event that's been going on for a while.<br />
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Every Monday night a small group of friends join forces to watch the latest Game of Thrones. It's always awesome, so a while back I decided to make it more awesome, by always making pie for dessert. And how could weekly pies be made even more awesome?<br />
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By making them Game of Thrones themed of course! I present to you - GAME OF PIES!<br />
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<u>'Fire Can Not Kill A Dragon' Pie</u> </div>
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(Lemon Meringue)</div>
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<u>'Melisandre' Pie</u></div>
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(Chocolate, Raspberry, Strawberry and Grenadine)</div>
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<u>'A Lannister Always Pays His Debts' Pie</u></div>
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(Cheese, Corn and Bacon Quiche)</div>
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<u>'Winter Is Coming' Pie</u></div>
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(Chocolate, Black Cherry and Meringue) </div>
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<u>'The Raven' Pie</u></div>
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(Black and Blueberry) </div>
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<u>'There's A King In Every (Circular) Corner Now' Pie</u></div>
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(Pumpkin with Cinnamon Glaze) </div>
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<u> 'Down With Joffrey' Pie (aka 'What We Wish Would Happen Every Episode' Pie)</u></div>
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(Raspberry, Meringue and Marshmallow with Toffee Sword)</div>
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<br />Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-22604711475694353742012-06-07T02:54:00.000-07:002012-06-07T03:07:23.961-07:0011 Days in the USA - Part 3Day 6<br />
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We arrived in marvellous New York at 11pm and even though the city never sleeps, we needed to! But not before we ordered food to be delivered to our hotel room (HUGE burgers mmmm)! And then, as everyone going to sleep around 1am would want to, we were up, decked out in all the warm clothes we could muster and waiting outside our hotel at 4am for the airport shuttle, so we could fly to Buffalo to start our tour of the Niagara Falls!!!
We were the only two people on the tour, so our lovely guide took us to a few places on the way, just suburban streets and malls, but it was great, as it's so different to home! Also we saw lots of squirrels, which I was REALLY excited about!! The Falls were amazing! We were able to see them first from the USA side...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsi01ejj2AkUDzbEMrqEofbxYcZ5ywb4d1ltLOVclxcgqcDf39RYxycWPWoLkuum9dYR-tvULpqHygTK5rJ8QHUGdYeQSkd_DWyrP2ZoTtPA7FlDWEiyFbNZRfmVSH-eBPoxdCi36IThTn/s1600/P1010189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsi01ejj2AkUDzbEMrqEofbxYcZ5ywb4d1ltLOVclxcgqcDf39RYxycWPWoLkuum9dYR-tvULpqHygTK5rJ8QHUGdYeQSkd_DWyrP2ZoTtPA7FlDWEiyFbNZRfmVSH-eBPoxdCi36IThTn/s400/P1010189.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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And then get a little stamp in our passport and head over to Canada to see them from their side!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AKcAzRClUSa1wR9ggwKwTzFhCjHFU8cdEQybI4g_D0lpEZmf9H73wrXOF_OP7YgThlIiUgKl6zTGMjkQiODglyHbdo8gUeTJ8VwClHC2_guSdhDzD3UigkRVzmfIdokAFmzHaDcOli0J/s1600/P1010213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7AKcAzRClUSa1wR9ggwKwTzFhCjHFU8cdEQybI4g_D0lpEZmf9H73wrXOF_OP7YgThlIiUgKl6zTGMjkQiODglyHbdo8gUeTJ8VwClHC2_guSdhDzD3UigkRVzmfIdokAFmzHaDcOli0J/s400/P1010213.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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We then had an amazing buffet lunch in a restaurant overlooking the falls - beautiful! It was unfortunately too cold for the boat tour, but we were able to go in to the tunnels which run behind the falls and open up right underneath the torrents! It was amazing, but alas all the photos just look white...
We travelled back through Buffalo, looked at beautiful big manor houses, bought cheap makeup at a local mall (and then nearly had to leave it at the airport because we didn't think about taking liquids on the plane! The lovely airport staff found us an old box and let us check it in though)By the time we got home we were so tired, that not even the night lights of New York could entice us out of our hotel, it was time for a good sleep so we could set off refreshed the next morning!<br />
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Day 7<br />
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We awoke to a cold, drizzly day, which wasn't ideal for walking around the city, but that wasn't going to stop us! First up was a trip to The Cathedral of Saint John The Divine (after much confusion as to how to get on the subway) in the now pouring rain. We were cold, tired and felt a bit ill, but none of that mattered when we saw this amazing building. It was huge and just so very beautiful and detailed. Inside was humbling and awe-inspiring. I feel like we could have stayed in there for hours without realising, it was so peaceful and warm yet somehow foreboding at the same time.<br />
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I knew that I wanted to see The Fountain of Peace out in the courtyard, but we found it to be heavily raining when we came out. Kirsty decided she'd stay in the shelter while I ran to see the statue, and run I did. It was sort of perfect really, I was nearly completely drenched in the minute it took to run to the statue but I spotted a tiny little sheltered alcove, all covered in ivy that I huddled in to so I could just stare at the Fountain of Peace. It's really beautiful...but weird...I was so confused to see giraffes for some reason haha. But the craftsmanship is extraordinary.<br />
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Next up was the American Museum of Natural History - which I was absolutely psyched about, because I knew they had HEAPS of dinosaur skeletons. It certainly didn't disappoint, in fact it exceeded expectations, as I would have been happy just with dinosaurs, but there was so much to see!
The animal exhibits were beautifully realistic...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZRs1aey0DT9KXU6td8Sqd7-SADA4PsHSfEw_wWFGK9-Gi2enCRw9aRcqXpWFJRoJjpf28tU9nIvGC0iCNBgbhbX442YfEaLzLBgKbmmWzSusJ3j7y1X7IC6GGJ8YG0T_9X0-h94w-trub/s1600/P1010222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZRs1aey0DT9KXU6td8Sqd7-SADA4PsHSfEw_wWFGK9-Gi2enCRw9aRcqXpWFJRoJjpf28tU9nIvGC0iCNBgbhbX442YfEaLzLBgKbmmWzSusJ3j7y1X7IC6GGJ8YG0T_9X0-h94w-trub/s400/P1010222.JPG" width="400" /></a>
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All the historical relics were amazing, the minerals and gems entranced me way more than I thought...but the dinosaurs were the greatest.<br />
I reverted back to being an overly excitable 8 year old, dragging Kirsty along to all the skeletons and continuously shrieking things like...<br />
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'Parasaurolophus *squeak*!!!'<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mN3vY_cTZmpY5Kl0hSIAd3aFNEgU3SHjsq7tOdbuUTMPrTjWs_Qm0lpNG-NrsyRO4jDpcuQddXhNgSJuPKlRt_p5Vt2-w1kdg2FlrRJX1OCXMU3p6BiAc6r9_9TQLcNVAfSCHHOArOz9/s1600/P1010251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mN3vY_cTZmpY5Kl0hSIAd3aFNEgU3SHjsq7tOdbuUTMPrTjWs_Qm0lpNG-NrsyRO4jDpcuQddXhNgSJuPKlRt_p5Vt2-w1kdg2FlrRJX1OCXMU3p6BiAc6r9_9TQLcNVAfSCHHOArOz9/s400/P1010251.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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'Kirsty it's a Pachycephalosaurus skull aaiiiieeee'<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh05Y9wazeP6MhMPHDiYX5AlqBaYyqQOEe2rlH3Tg7YwjQzQoyi3lUK3dP0pFtyRmSmaxAxLZ_U11gQNJgLRFAPlegAl1q2yeDT8WEq-yIQlS5_-n7ktXcLPekRENjMIiL2RLVwoKdYSKMs/s1600/P1010254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh05Y9wazeP6MhMPHDiYX5AlqBaYyqQOEe2rlH3Tg7YwjQzQoyi3lUK3dP0pFtyRmSmaxAxLZ_U11gQNJgLRFAPlegAl1q2yeDT8WEq-yIQlS5_-n7ktXcLPekRENjMIiL2RLVwoKdYSKMs/s400/P1010254.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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'Aaaaaaaargh Ceratosaurus!!!!'<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VVBTIx7YCtwMkzemi9ns0YiYYwGaGWRKPuZBiEK_W5fABVk8Gwqx8KQgH8hdPxzSbMgOck_9NnOGNRh_AOJ5AQTy6A1yiwfx02aSSf6-UAfThVc62og1R30O7DJ2LsFOpZaf7NTzkXl0/s1600/P1010257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VVBTIx7YCtwMkzemi9ns0YiYYwGaGWRKPuZBiEK_W5fABVk8Gwqx8KQgH8hdPxzSbMgOck_9NnOGNRh_AOJ5AQTy6A1yiwfx02aSSf6-UAfThVc62og1R30O7DJ2LsFOpZaf7NTzkXl0/s400/P1010257.JPG" width="300" /></a><br />
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And then I was rendered silent for a moment and just stared hopelessly like a toddler eyeing off a lollipop, because I'd found my love...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwLDDIsCRTazFu071YVBMAhu8X7Qx99twBoRhBUrlGw_PopRtujmyKF8edF_lrLaT1tFqcyFZCf4zpm5yO3-c3L6uurVGFdQHTaS9x8E5i9yCDSNXDe6dk2fveir1qrO9CDt2wtmyF_Y0/s1600/P1010259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwLDDIsCRTazFu071YVBMAhu8X7Qx99twBoRhBUrlGw_PopRtujmyKF8edF_lrLaT1tFqcyFZCf4zpm5yO3-c3L6uurVGFdQHTaS9x8E5i9yCDSNXDe6dk2fveir1qrO9CDt2wtmyF_Y0/s400/P1010259.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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After I'd gotten over my dinosaur hysteria and bought way too many things at the store, we made our way, finally, to Times Square. Oh how we love thee.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCX8dd2wGsNp5LrhF2s4Wkkqn6GTLlKFFsEGMh46w3ettt_z0AwkrnyORP6vhK-LLe86BMIShxClRfQU93oZkTqtp7gRxl2vMishA6kHF-e72_Py8c1wzPJq8dsOtfmr_xWjVf_BuddsFm/s1600/P1010384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCX8dd2wGsNp5LrhF2s4Wkkqn6GTLlKFFsEGMh46w3ettt_z0AwkrnyORP6vhK-LLe86BMIShxClRfQU93oZkTqtp7gRxl2vMishA6kHF-e72_Py8c1wzPJq8dsOtfmr_xWjVf_BuddsFm/s400/P1010384.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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It was time to start organising our tickets for musicals every night! After a bit of running around we decided to see The Lion King that night! I had a bit of a weird history with the musical, as when I first heard about it, I wanted nothing to do with it. The Lion King is my very favourite movie of all time ever and I thought they'd ruin it as a stage show. But after years of everyone saying how good it was, I was really excited to be seeing it!<br />
And, it was wonderful, it was beautiful to look at and the actors were amazing, but it didn't hook me in as much as I'd thought it would. Possibly because I hold the movie on such a pedestal, a different version of it was never going to have the same effect on me. However, it was a BROADWAY MUSICAL so it was AMAZING!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcUIJhw-JuP6bud2gV_s1MpWW6tZxt6KzCqKxz3U7n128JnZfPQuLZCcp_hj2cJvpAPLMdKQ5uN88MEoZWnQmbVuXO-KdL94wApGgm4Tdhep5NTfVGHjugbmLUg9gYQEEMT3dndzgzsu5/s1600/P1010266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcUIJhw-JuP6bud2gV_s1MpWW6tZxt6KzCqKxz3U7n128JnZfPQuLZCcp_hj2cJvpAPLMdKQ5uN88MEoZWnQmbVuXO-KdL94wApGgm4Tdhep5NTfVGHjugbmLUg9gYQEEMT3dndzgzsu5/s400/P1010266.JPG" width="300" /></a>
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Oh also, you should know, we'd already bought our tickets for How To Succeed, because as wonderful, amazing timing would have it, Darren Criss was the lead while we were there. And we sort of love him. Just a little. Just enough that whenever we saw a poster we were sort of like this....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtSWBnuhzKXnXWKwNQrsPAdvlwQQxbQCgLrXwwnUhQ0ua_jdB3vFxO96n02aw53MGr6TRp-HzmAloZolbtaysFyblPQo_z9QLiEyIx1TmXlRoigMHs_zMFwiAJp5PdaBEcMEfnlSkGSEP/s1600/P1010271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtSWBnuhzKXnXWKwNQrsPAdvlwQQxbQCgLrXwwnUhQ0ua_jdB3vFxO96n02aw53MGr6TRp-HzmAloZolbtaysFyblPQo_z9QLiEyIx1TmXlRoigMHs_zMFwiAJp5PdaBEcMEfnlSkGSEP/s400/P1010271.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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Day 8<br />
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I'm just going to start off with saying our hotel - The Comfort Inn Central Park West - was amazing. It was in the beautiful Upper West Side which made me feel like I was in You've Got Mail every time we stepped out the door, and it had continental breakfast. Now not just cereal and toast continental breakfast like we usually get at home. This hotel had a big ol' machine full of waffle batter and a waffle iron ready to make amazing fresh blueberry waffles every morning. It made me SO happy!<br />
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Now, on to the day - we jumped on to one of the all day tour buses and were on our way to see the Statue of Liberty. Neither of us were particularly desperate to see her, but it's a must do when in New York! It was another squally day, making the ferry ride fairly unpleasant, but we were in that 'holiday mode' of travellers so it wasn't all that much of a worry. The wind on Liberty Island however, was hilariously strong and cold. It made it impossible to get a normal photo haha.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdp4J7I1-sSnRAaZSjJ97CYZ1pzC4e1p5bJkai02q29nrcQYrZKzRMTJzrOMq8F9IFY0rckK2TTAphu_ZjT3c84SNji4uM8AnaiQsfnlRC31bplcBnlRILeO547ZTBBX99I-Uq_k4fgod5/s1600/P1010285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdp4J7I1-sSnRAaZSjJ97CYZ1pzC4e1p5bJkai02q29nrcQYrZKzRMTJzrOMq8F9IFY0rckK2TTAphu_ZjT3c84SNji4uM8AnaiQsfnlRC31bplcBnlRILeO547ZTBBX99I-Uq_k4fgod5/s400/P1010285.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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We then visited the Museum of Jewish Heritage, which I walked through close to tears the entire time. I don't think anyone could go there and not be heartbroken. It was a beautiful memorial and the walk through ended full of hope and a positive outlook on the future, but it was something that stayed with us for the rest of the trip.<br />
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Next the bus took us to the Rockefeller Centre so we could go to the Top of the Rock. It was an amazing view, but again was super cold and windy, so we didn't manage to stay out very long! Long enough for Kirsty to realise I was calling the Chrysler Building the Empire State....like a fool! I then made sure to get a photo with the ACTUAL Empire State Building....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-C0xsr52kZ8QR51TRMGfAk5ECVU5Wu5RwcoNoKuAX5M915G0CY08QnlEGoE_qGCd9DhGN2zykaPQthZ_k6lAgtULKRdvwmBVj3qzAYYACkqv0HoDknp3BLffInCQnelN1JSOQO0VlYWL/s1600/P1010295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-C0xsr52kZ8QR51TRMGfAk5ECVU5Wu5RwcoNoKuAX5M915G0CY08QnlEGoE_qGCd9DhGN2zykaPQthZ_k6lAgtULKRdvwmBVj3qzAYYACkqv0HoDknp3BLffInCQnelN1JSOQO0VlYWL/s400/P1010295.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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I was way ridiculously excited to go to the NBC Store, I needed to make up for all those years of trying to buy Office and Community paraphernalia online and it not being available internationally! I stocked up on a lot of stuff, plus bought loads of presents (Greendale Human Being Keyrings, Senor Chang Magnets, Office Desk Calendar, Office Board Game etc)<br />
Next was a visit to Madame Tussauds, which was soooooooooo much fun! I made googoo eyes at Leonardo, hugged Harrison Ford, glared at Angelina Jolie, tried to copy Britney's pose (I failed), sat with The Beatles and squealed over Iron Man. It was all fantastic and silly and grand!<br />
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And then dear people, after dinner, we sat ourselves down at the Al Hirschfield Theatre and soaked in the gloriousness of Darren Criss and the wonderful, fun musical that is How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. Argh, it was just SO. GOOD. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip, not just because we were a bit obsessed with him, but also because neither of us knew anything about the musical and it turned out to be so funny with great songs and a clever story and a fantastic ensemble cast and just all round awesome!<br />
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Day 9<br />
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We started the day (after amazing waffles of course) by going Behind The Emerald Curtain. It was a fantastic tour, hearing about all the behind the scenes happenings of Wicked and seeing some of the amazing props and costumes up close.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUm21GC6oUFv9pNORACHqbosI-IIOK7kfiyvHJ1ocM7JJFl9Po-KeWHrXmlemUsthgUCDtdJrMGiAeSs-DoDsGzSC6sJ8KE28EHh8mJyFKx1bmJwUdfLlNB4tGjv7QE_AliesoGckzQM5/s1600/P1010360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUm21GC6oUFv9pNORACHqbosI-IIOK7kfiyvHJ1ocM7JJFl9Po-KeWHrXmlemUsthgUCDtdJrMGiAeSs-DoDsGzSC6sJ8KE28EHh8mJyFKx1bmJwUdfLlNB4tGjv7QE_AliesoGckzQM5/s400/P1010360.JPG" width="300" /></a><br />
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The main event of today was doing a Cake Decorating Class at the Cake Boss' <a href="http://www.carlosbakery.com/">Carlos Bakery</a>Warehouse in New Jersey. But it was only going to take about 10 minutes to get a taxi there so after the Emerald Curtain we had a nice leisurely lunch of ribs at TGIF. Little did we know that because New Jersey is a different state, the taxi fare was going to be insanely high! But of course we'd left it too late to organise a bus or subway, so we had no choice but to pay $100 to get over there, and we were still a little late.<br />
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But as it seemed to be whenever something bad happened, within a few minutes it didn't matter at all.
Because we were making these babies! At the Carlos Bakery Factory!!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUeC20nfdncyS6q1v-0xHOxD2mIgONKGXzKfVwGh1agWA8u1kWvX_M5BOmgutCWGeMgZnhFLx24w1K-bl9-H0Q34e2iNcJ5VugPFSwJcqyBNqV6MJ2V367p5R9H67Hxfbng59DPA8Cjpfc/s1600/P1010362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUeC20nfdncyS6q1v-0xHOxD2mIgONKGXzKfVwGh1agWA8u1kWvX_M5BOmgutCWGeMgZnhFLx24w1K-bl9-H0Q34e2iNcJ5VugPFSwJcqyBNqV6MJ2V367p5R9H67Hxfbng59DPA8Cjpfc/s400/P1010362.JPG" width="400" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQBvqwLyDf1eUlSBfLUVAhF-XvYk5LG4iLpSroPK3fm0r7emC1K4AkOzobAnVMDOTreqvu8QbmXZIUEL2a5BzZt_tDYOf42uN_s7W6wYXT3-XHsn6TH-z2t-lwhsLrchg7BlXY4B3-jvGS/s1600/P1010364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQBvqwLyDf1eUlSBfLUVAhF-XvYk5LG4iLpSroPK3fm0r7emC1K4AkOzobAnVMDOTreqvu8QbmXZIUEL2a5BzZt_tDYOf42uN_s7W6wYXT3-XHsn6TH-z2t-lwhsLrchg7BlXY4B3-jvGS/s400/P1010364.JPG" width="300" /></a><br />
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Ahhhhhh! I was crazy excited....Kirsty was about four times so.
After the class we headed over to the bakery and stood in line for about an hour (again, it didn't matter because we were HERE!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZaed5GCP7JtbsohBuqOq6SujDL_uQlVzJ0SifjZ82M2U3I2n46u9JfWHGWdznUiDdxd_M-rXUeTjhtDR9qFFTItew8DFEE5Ja8yda3Vj36-S7RZ6VUyJBSOcsbq98EDmm5Wb9o4ES-5k/s1600/395232_10150634068914505_790944504_11024529_1768072825_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZaed5GCP7JtbsohBuqOq6SujDL_uQlVzJ0SifjZ82M2U3I2n46u9JfWHGWdznUiDdxd_M-rXUeTjhtDR9qFFTItew8DFEE5Ja8yda3Vj36-S7RZ6VUyJBSOcsbq98EDmm5Wb9o4ES-5k/s400/395232_10150634068914505_790944504_11024529_1768072825_n.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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We got some delicious goodies and headed back to NYC to drop our cakes off to the hotel before seeing Memphis - this time on the subway! We had to switch trains at one point, and as we were waiting at the station we befriended a lovely elderly couple...and this is when the night turned bad (though again, by the next day it was fine and had just become a good story)
I was sitting while Kirsty stood at the station, and the couple sat down next to me but kept insisting Kirsty take one of their sports. She was standing by choice and so insisted they sit, but the old man was such a gentleman and insisted he at least hold her bags for her (as we had cakes plus bags). Eventually our train came, we picked up our bags, double checked we had everything and bid them farewell. It was only two stops later that Kirsty realised she'd accidentally left the whole bag of Carlos' treats with the couple! She was devastated! (I was pretty upset too, but poor Kirsty felt so terrible that I wasn't about to make it worse for her!)
We raced on foot back to the station in hope that we would find them, but they'd obviously left by the time we got there.<br />
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We then had to high tail it to see Memphis with our cakes in tow. Luckily we were allowed to take them in, store them under the seats and eventually calm down and just let the musical soothe us - it was fantastic by the way!
Once we got home I did some research and moving around of our schedule so we could get back to Carlos' later on and get new treats!<br />
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Day 10<br />
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We went on a Gospel Tour of Harlem in the morning. Harlem was really pretty in parts, and going to a local church for their gospel service was AMAZING! So very different from church back home but all with the same heart, it was really fun and refreshing.<br />
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We got back at lunchtime, so we tried out the Hard Rock Cafe. I'd been to the Hard Rock on the Gold Coast, but of course NYC's one was soooooooooo much better! I had delicious fajitas and was so excited by all the awesome memorabilia around! I wish that my Dad could have been there, everything I saw made me want to take photos to show him.
After this we did some shopping, mainly for presents (and M&M's).<br />
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And then it was WICKED TIME WOOOOOO!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1fGayYns5QTjftn9-2Lpvv0UOxh0qb4ct2AN4Ryqcd5A_HCDlgeN0xBW51h3_f3g2p-g9hXaywmaDlD52eXq7uZ_HGPBy1xJm6_-qvIM1FV9ANlJN2h3oqQtforXm_G45aZ2woyVKUJO6/s1600/Wicked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1fGayYns5QTjftn9-2Lpvv0UOxh0qb4ct2AN4Ryqcd5A_HCDlgeN0xBW51h3_f3g2p-g9hXaywmaDlD52eXq7uZ_HGPBy1xJm6_-qvIM1FV9ANlJN2h3oqQtforXm_G45aZ2woyVKUJO6/s400/Wicked.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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We'd both seen it numerous times, but seeing it on Broadway in Gershwin Theatre was just.....so.......so.....excellent.<br />
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Day 11<br />
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Our final day was started early, we caught a bus to New Jersey for Carlos' and we realised just how much cheaper and easier it would have been to do that last time! It hardly took any time at all and only cost $4 compared to the $100 for our taxi trip! Oh well, it was fine, because once we got there we didn't have to line up and everything was super fresh.<br />
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See! Deliciousness!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZbA6FY3ZAIHS546tnrHI_4goNE2foKUjBVQwVfpZS6Tc9aJsy0gQ7AwZ4KhQJBiJlgHSyK8iYbhlUe_DhB3n8AmzaCRZDRZZy_BMH1lyDHwk1R8-1SbjOEmDOT9TkbivugSpccWRD8F0/s1600/P1010392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZbA6FY3ZAIHS546tnrHI_4goNE2foKUjBVQwVfpZS6Tc9aJsy0gQ7AwZ4KhQJBiJlgHSyK8iYbhlUe_DhB3n8AmzaCRZDRZZy_BMH1lyDHwk1R8-1SbjOEmDOT9TkbivugSpccWRD8F0/s400/P1010392.JPG" width="400" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34prDbY72Fcglu5UBpJqq5Ei5G03R1A4RHyng-sY74n89ZpLZc2qoZQg4TqVadYUrX8FGmBkHc32UDN9hw1zuCXP2G6Y7VF03c_aUUklvbvxiqnYXhxNNLw0EIO7bOaQcOAbORvS8fzZM/s1600/P1010394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34prDbY72Fcglu5UBpJqq5Ei5G03R1A4RHyng-sY74n89ZpLZc2qoZQg4TqVadYUrX8FGmBkHc32UDN9hw1zuCXP2G6Y7VF03c_aUUklvbvxiqnYXhxNNLw0EIO7bOaQcOAbORvS8fzZM/s400/P1010394.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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So we grabbed our bag, made our way to the subway, waited for our train and got on. And then I realised I was supposed to have a separate bag, though I thought everything had been put in Kirsty's! Our train hadn't left yet, and I really wanted my black and white cookie, so we jumped off the train and headed back. The ladies at the counter didn't really believe that I hadn't picked up my bag, but once i started just offering to pay again I think it was obvious I wasn't trying to rip them off. So finally, we both had delicious treats from Carlos' and we could be on our merry way!<br />
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Next stop was the Freedom Tower, (with a quick stop off at an awesome little diner where they were throwing bagels to each other....it was awesome) which is still under construction, but the Memorials of those killed on September 11 were beautiful, though obviously, heartbreaking.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmNVF56-8uRHjuF1R3BJvaSbmNwvDV9P0s0Dv2oA2TCFSVK0sWCp-HQBGTTk7N_96_eU5LAZCiBUQMFJzT1ShEJj5XTmdS7X7ieAgdmVThUv5cHENCle5QlznabdkuuUkUj42gO-NpCAJ/s1600/P1010396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmNVF56-8uRHjuF1R3BJvaSbmNwvDV9P0s0Dv2oA2TCFSVK0sWCp-HQBGTTk7N_96_eU5LAZCiBUQMFJzT1ShEJj5XTmdS7X7ieAgdmVThUv5cHENCle5QlznabdkuuUkUj42gO-NpCAJ/s400/P1010396.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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Afterwards we headed to Madison Square Garden, to watch a real live NBA game! I wasn't really that excited, but Kirsty sure was! I was mainly excited about eating this cookie...<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkW82Y-DuIUoZ3Hn3C0cvHmGa5-zWkdx3FPHMqUN_UnJA46ZyqgTN3hk9ndmrw-HdnKG7goG7dTXspPp_qHudyv7Y78q7vwrvjBgRh_LvELKT9kaImIwrQCDRZkUpDYSQPPhp8chfv8Ks/s1600/P1010405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkW82Y-DuIUoZ3Hn3C0cvHmGa5-zWkdx3FPHMqUN_UnJA46ZyqgTN3hk9ndmrw-HdnKG7goG7dTXspPp_qHudyv7Y78q7vwrvjBgRh_LvELKT9kaImIwrQCDRZkUpDYSQPPhp8chfv8Ks/s400/P1010405.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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However, the game ended up being awesome! And there was always something happening to keep me entertained - the best was when a totally rad hip hop/marching band group of kids performed!<br />
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We had a few hours before our final musical (Phantom of the Opera haaaaaaawwwwww) so we FINALLY wandered around Central Park. We'd wanted to make plenty of time for it but 1) It was sooooo cold and 2) We just ran out of time every day so we only got to see a small portion of it. But I know that when I eventually go back to the USA, I'm going to give myself at least an entire day to spend there!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdhL0Z9QoJt2fWw1FsRk5QwnBPM8daoHY-2vEGpTKjc3ek7W_0u4OitqMJmG-mEDkBGx7biYsv1GBWTKRbCngP_kmAzvqGTJFAC2BPYGkRZEAyTYmLlQ6oNi5xFK8Q-sz9yHWfALO2mTL/s1600/P1010409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdhL0Z9QoJt2fWw1FsRk5QwnBPM8daoHY-2vEGpTKjc3ek7W_0u4OitqMJmG-mEDkBGx7biYsv1GBWTKRbCngP_kmAzvqGTJFAC2BPYGkRZEAyTYmLlQ6oNi5xFK8Q-sz9yHWfALO2mTL/s400/P1010409.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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As we were walking we kept seeing horse and carriages, and we had no idea where they were coming from. So we did what any tourist would do...we followed one of the horses until we finally came to where they were all set up. It was pricey, but being driven around with blankets in Central Park seemed like the perfect thing to do on our last night! Our horse was beautiful - and no Kirsty is not punching it....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOs43BZU-loH0MFL1TjjP2aniBM7qjzblL4h5KebmzWbgTTMAVOfGKZkCmcB5aOvlNiupbvTLu3GcBOkT8GGu3IdXypIxhnFi5ZX8M-jpOCesJvi88Vcws6-87pl0pqC0fk3yv8ZQSpZhyphenhyphen/s1600/P1010431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOs43BZU-loH0MFL1TjjP2aniBM7qjzblL4h5KebmzWbgTTMAVOfGKZkCmcB5aOvlNiupbvTLu3GcBOkT8GGu3IdXypIxhnFi5ZX8M-jpOCesJvi88Vcws6-87pl0pqC0fk3yv8ZQSpZhyphenhyphen/s400/P1010431.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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Phantom of the Opera was SO AMAZING! There's a reason it's one of the longest running shows ever! I knew the soundtrack fairly well, but being in a theatre complete with the dropping chandelier and amazingly detailed stage was just breathtaking. And all the actors, phwoar......it was just so perfect and lavish and romantic and dark and powerful and just AMAZING! Definitely one of my favourite musicals ever (it's getting harder and harder to choose though!)<br />
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With the closing of the curtains, it was time to face cleaning up, packing (trying to fit everything wasn't as hard as trying to make sure our suitcases weren't too heavy. My carry on ended up being just full of candy pretty much) and leaving not only this amazing city, but this fantastic country. I was very apprehensive about the trip home, as the flight there had felt like torture, but coming home, though long was a lot more manageable.<br />
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It was nice to come home, but it didn't take long before we were missing it all terribly. I'm still constantly getting 'I miss Disneyland' pangs (nearly every week) and i want to be back in New York when it's warmer and Central Park is green! It was a fantastic holiday and there's no doubt in my mind that we'll be going back one day!Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-23870508054925405312012-03-18T16:39:00.018-07:002012-06-07T02:54:24.709-07:0011 Days in the USA - Part 2Finally continued!<br /><br />Day 4 <br /><br />After a lucky meeting with a lovely woman in the street next to our hotel in San Francisco, who kindly informed us that we were situated in the worst neighbourhood of the city - The Tenderloin - we quickly decided that any night time escapades should take place away from our hotel, and a taxi should always take us home, walking, buses and subway were out of the question. However, The Renoir Hotel, though situated badly was a lovely place, it was a very old building that had been re-furbished though not overly recently. I liked it...and playing 'Count the Police Sirens' at night always made us laugh.<br /><br />We were up bright and early in the morning to be picked up by our day tour bus. First stop - Alcatraz! <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPy765Wn0ewYH9-ejxV4yBc2Ce5Zbtg9y1GzZtQWkclRZ8S4vA4lg4tFD4HI68uK2MA3Rj1qLi0_YbzwJ9EmZcsuoRCqoG7Jr4_LeZzBOCAxBIc7NaKY9-pLQ9gus5G3EtA9r85NtcfG21/s1600/P1010042.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPy765Wn0ewYH9-ejxV4yBc2Ce5Zbtg9y1GzZtQWkclRZ8S4vA4lg4tFD4HI68uK2MA3Rj1qLi0_YbzwJ9EmZcsuoRCqoG7Jr4_LeZzBOCAxBIc7NaKY9-pLQ9gus5G3EtA9r85NtcfG21/s400/P1010042.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721388170765833922" /></a><br /><br />There's something surreal about seeing Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge with your own eyes after seeing pictures and films about them for so long. Also it was absolutely FREEZING on the way over, which for some reason made it more exciting...though I don't know if I thought about it that way at the time. <br /><br />The audio tour of Alcatraz was fantastic. It was all narrated by previous workers and inmates of the prison, with sound effects creating a real ambiance. There were a few times when they were explaining a riot or an escape and if you let yourself get really immersed, it felt like it could be before your eyes at any moment. <br /><br />Being a huge Prison Break fan (first 2 seasons only thank you) I could tell that the writers would have taken plenty of inspiration from the true stories of Alcatraz when doing their research. I couldn't help but think of Michael when seeing something like this haha. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CAOsOMedxET6Q1NXhv1tFimI9Avdgp7zMMKL2ZBJLsFbfY7LmmwXTLxRLSG8ZI_0nn2RClXKbc2TZO6LVTbv_FYAR4T4O-BKq6T2ju4cBy7H0P3lTC_zJ9ezcTQ1-onojj7f2r-TI4jH/s1600/P1010054.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CAOsOMedxET6Q1NXhv1tFimI9Avdgp7zMMKL2ZBJLsFbfY7LmmwXTLxRLSG8ZI_0nn2RClXKbc2TZO6LVTbv_FYAR4T4O-BKq6T2ju4cBy7H0P3lTC_zJ9ezcTQ1-onojj7f2r-TI4jH/s400/P1010054.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721390470588304130" /></a><br /><br />What stays in my mind the most however, is what the narrators said while I was looking out at this. That possibly the worst thing about Alcatraz was that the prisoners were faced everyday with the life they were missing out on, as they could see beautiful San Francisco, how it changed, how people over there were living. They were so close but had no hope of getting back there. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6C0s5NMuE-9hyphenhyphennTpUuvbZyVsslQh6Q3R_H2zm7Z_LckPDjoOwkj49rChzUereYN15DIKCTJTgZKGHw09nkAOfXjdbhDHIhNa8sJ06MDYhKSt9WwAzB7JlXxfNCdvYFsDFBOERtWGWT7XJ/s1600/P1010057.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6C0s5NMuE-9hyphenhyphennTpUuvbZyVsslQh6Q3R_H2zm7Z_LckPDjoOwkj49rChzUereYN15DIKCTJTgZKGHw09nkAOfXjdbhDHIhNa8sJ06MDYhKSt9WwAzB7JlXxfNCdvYFsDFBOERtWGWT7XJ/s400/P1010057.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721391125890668594" /></a><br /><br />Next on the agenda was a bus tour of all the main sights in San Francisco. We went past so many beautiful buildings, saw the most crooked street in the world (to which our tour guide quipped 'I think it's the second, the first being Wall Street' - harhaar)and without realising it, so many places seemed familiar because of movies I'd seen. We journeyed up Twin Peaks and came down with Scott McKenzie's 'San Francisco' playing through the bus...lovely. Then of course we came to the main event - The Golden Gate Bridge. It was pretty awesome, would have been lovely to walk the whole way across, but if we did, our bus would have left us behind.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FkjwFOG00GJvXp7-I2b9_dc_wzlxkUEVcUwUySnDyaxRF4QmW0rLtZk_IB2guM6CBXCgjCUX1ku4-d1hZbBuz4JXP46J0xIcmUOz3ILRjSqG_Gx2pbI3sKiM308JZnhvst4WHm_tdUqG/s1600/IMG_2553%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FkjwFOG00GJvXp7-I2b9_dc_wzlxkUEVcUwUySnDyaxRF4QmW0rLtZk_IB2guM6CBXCgjCUX1ku4-d1hZbBuz4JXP46J0xIcmUOz3ILRjSqG_Gx2pbI3sKiM308JZnhvst4WHm_tdUqG/s400/IMG_2553%255B1%255D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721395126221726450" /></a><br /><br />San Francisco has so many amazing houses, and we drove past one of the most famous - the Full House house! So pretty!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4q745dZmUDu2nFRp0jfUFb49icqc3rP3OCkdzqk3cTDpcIaIJHaJUCLRi4EQHP0Sp7r5rRlFRXA961McNYf-O2u2YyzoX5jW6lnzFYGgRpglVovY74Exp_OtPXOtkqFd2CAQo-o9d94z/s1600/IMG_2568%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4q745dZmUDu2nFRp0jfUFb49icqc3rP3OCkdzqk3cTDpcIaIJHaJUCLRi4EQHP0Sp7r5rRlFRXA961McNYf-O2u2YyzoX5jW6lnzFYGgRpglVovY74Exp_OtPXOtkqFd2CAQo-o9d94z/s400/IMG_2568%255B1%255D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721395129611150354" /></a><br /><br />Once the tour was over we opted to stay in the area and explore Pier 39 - my favourite place in San Fran! Everything was starting to close up when we got there, but we managed a quick explore, which included new hats... <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeG1JDUrr3XF8RMcs8QQ2WUQTthY77ZocXILkvlJJ5VZ3_zK_NZj76r2Cc1_cdK-4cA4csD7iizu24e7L0R-oF5QFZC6homXOFXLHaf1-TcKyfo3N5urOFtRwwRfX_EOySj-nc35SozA7r/s1600/IMG_2563%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeG1JDUrr3XF8RMcs8QQ2WUQTthY77ZocXILkvlJJ5VZ3_zK_NZj76r2Cc1_cdK-4cA4csD7iizu24e7L0R-oF5QFZC6homXOFXLHaf1-TcKyfo3N5urOFtRwwRfX_EOySj-nc35SozA7r/s400/IMG_2563%255B1%255D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721395141879052050" /></a><br /><br />....a left-handed store and the super delicious and fun Bubba Gump Shrimp. P.S. If you're ever there, get the Mahi Mahi with Bourbon Sauce....words can't describe the deliciousness. It was such a fun restaurant, with Forrest Gump memoribillia everywhere and waiters asking trivia about the film (we got them all correct!)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2TwyvjlZiwPYhW6EMnOLeG8YxViCDkd765yt9lQ6zxFsYVdDkzg2u_kGzItxmyMMU-IDfajoQ9hDEJQThEhs8BxjH7A8za9mIMJ-PQuvKafGOLtuPU_lGUlRHqDjNNrcZEhI-kfFXDI4K/s1600/408996_10150634027559505_790944504_11024204_1482873776_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2TwyvjlZiwPYhW6EMnOLeG8YxViCDkd765yt9lQ6zxFsYVdDkzg2u_kGzItxmyMMU-IDfajoQ9hDEJQThEhs8BxjH7A8za9mIMJ-PQuvKafGOLtuPU_lGUlRHqDjNNrcZEhI-kfFXDI4K/s400/408996_10150634027559505_790944504_11024204_1482873776_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721405597030396946" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJK5gIx6POv0JosI-Le-IW323k9T7MqXAzhg2e0lZZvCuFVvCrJn5BWsqJS8JimGPODfjARepwNd0fveAzXGhj12rKutzQPQMAiENU5rCC1ivAyTX7YUdu6Z43Ls6yeYob3fFGtIsP_OW9/s1600/400070_10150634027289505_790944504_11024197_576065560_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJK5gIx6POv0JosI-Le-IW323k9T7MqXAzhg2e0lZZvCuFVvCrJn5BWsqJS8JimGPODfjARepwNd0fveAzXGhj12rKutzQPQMAiENU5rCC1ivAyTX7YUdu6Z43Ls6yeYob3fFGtIsP_OW9/s400/400070_10150634027289505_790944504_11024197_576065560_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721405591802894434" /></a><br /><br />Day 5<br /><br />We were feeling super brave, so we stepped out to our scary street and caught a bus with our destination in view as the California Academy of Sciences. However, we didn't really know our way, and instead of just staying on the bus in hope that we would get to our destination I pulled us off the bus when I thought we were maybe possibly close. We weren't REALLY far off, but there was a bit of walking. This worked out well though, as we were in a lovely neighbourhood, ate breakfast at a retro little diner and even stumbled upon a beauty salon where we got super cheap (but super good) eyebrow waxes, hurrah! We also saw more beautiful houses and poor Kirsty had to keep stopping and take photos of me with them. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWvH7Mls7iSQVhjRLFP6PxBSQupOucMNc6MZhQidkqn0haWuOwROTfc0VUCaz3ik2G2bn9pLYtW8xiIeaOYAHLKKmQ7tDC3jEZllZEVhC4vSHI_YtOjiOm74ryVEBgVv3jRDY1dsruBcNA/s1600/P1010069.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWvH7Mls7iSQVhjRLFP6PxBSQupOucMNc6MZhQidkqn0haWuOwROTfc0VUCaz3ik2G2bn9pLYtW8xiIeaOYAHLKKmQ7tDC3jEZllZEVhC4vSHI_YtOjiOm74ryVEBgVv3jRDY1dsruBcNA/s400/P1010069.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721425863218673314" /></a><br /><br />We eventually got to beautiful Golden Gate Park and the Academy. We love love loved the Academy! I got to see my first Tyrannosaurus skeleton of the trip(doesn't it look like his arms are on backward?)... <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3I-dsxuVqbO8k7Oz38wSKQveDhu6t4uMOfduDFt1CD5YcT7pXGKHEjoAvT45aV-nYBaxjOP5oU4g3_fGI3ZelTOkF0-cIQXo2Cv1w_RkaPSZiRpOWfUZVfITu1rJd8Z4rty4g6fkzfHX/s1600/P1010077.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3I-dsxuVqbO8k7Oz38wSKQveDhu6t4uMOfduDFt1CD5YcT7pXGKHEjoAvT45aV-nYBaxjOP5oU4g3_fGI3ZelTOkF0-cIQXo2Cv1w_RkaPSZiRpOWfUZVfITu1rJd8Z4rty4g6fkzfHX/s400/P1010077.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721440186574219858" /></a><br /><br />Ooh'd and aah'd over the Sabre-Toothed Tiger skeleton...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkp0iAWb9jKcpTXkmhzMlGnRfidEHyVzSmlbdsDIfDG-0B9mLyGGcz3uPpm2gPsGz1CU0hvRzsBYRYk1mlHdW3RKTatVz9JqI0P-xB-mwMbByFJwLIUlFOncfPxFR0b3JvImD5SyKsAso/s1600/P1010081.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkp0iAWb9jKcpTXkmhzMlGnRfidEHyVzSmlbdsDIfDG-0B9mLyGGcz3uPpm2gPsGz1CU0hvRzsBYRYk1mlHdW3RKTatVz9JqI0P-xB-mwMbByFJwLIUlFOncfPxFR0b3JvImD5SyKsAso/s400/P1010081.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721440197313874674" /></a><br /><br />Wandered through an indoor rainforest (everyone around us complained it was too humid, for us it was like coming home)...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmH9xG4PULW3oOjptyz0XBS7saSPw3IOzfCM2aZOlls45XHSkOX61s4N2iD51jFZPSOmNojdOENOCTSz8U416dpyYpTRQdnewN7v_splqHpZxe4Y9xpcWerf-kqWOAahUpJG8eJmmWY9t/s1600/P1010083.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmH9xG4PULW3oOjptyz0XBS7saSPw3IOzfCM2aZOlls45XHSkOX61s4N2iD51jFZPSOmNojdOENOCTSz8U416dpyYpTRQdnewN7v_splqHpZxe4Y9xpcWerf-kqWOAahUpJG8eJmmWY9t/s400/P1010083.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721440211389954082" /></a><br /><br />Squealed when I saw a hummingbird, hoped for a huge butterfly to land on me (no such luck)...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfjRtjuUgbNkJN6cLx1kWZVnxYSqkv9QXsQ3eYkSfeTs6u1Dx7oMjYbcrZ8b1l_LFrikVhBneChlluYVrSPWuqsLSsGlxm-aCBujFxILXTxoVuqr59Jw90CRy-QHlZryymU_j3cykU0C2/s1600/P1010097.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfjRtjuUgbNkJN6cLx1kWZVnxYSqkv9QXsQ3eYkSfeTs6u1Dx7oMjYbcrZ8b1l_LFrikVhBneChlluYVrSPWuqsLSsGlxm-aCBujFxILXTxoVuqr59Jw90CRy-QHlZryymU_j3cykU0C2/s400/P1010097.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721441468831255010" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzYeLWSyixIJhGwI6oPl4ow2CDhSv7jB6mVb34vmN5VqlvO-6B_OJ64iK-MRAimwFaB74fJGFamgCWD8FdUz88IrxToct47CTqhp00J4vSJtzePsd2IlGAXbIHkDeANZlt6WKDwKEacGn/s1600/P1010093.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzYeLWSyixIJhGwI6oPl4ow2CDhSv7jB6mVb34vmN5VqlvO-6B_OJ64iK-MRAimwFaB74fJGFamgCWD8FdUz88IrxToct47CTqhp00J4vSJtzePsd2IlGAXbIHkDeANZlt6WKDwKEacGn/s400/P1010093.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721441460589530322" /></a><br /><br />Laughed more than was really appropriate at this Conger Eel...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEfb7E-vgTOOrjortvP-4hnXIjX1NrMo0-Ag983ULGGZhCk3oIIbavr4b_aifc5DOuJdFv7VbI3cx8r2IQmeq_Wxm6RbPIO_lox7_ONclGkFGAp9sVXBCA_v-GBdkwLxiwqUS1A9sf9Msh/s1600/P1010098.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEfb7E-vgTOOrjortvP-4hnXIjX1NrMo0-Ag983ULGGZhCk3oIIbavr4b_aifc5DOuJdFv7VbI3cx8r2IQmeq_Wxm6RbPIO_lox7_ONclGkFGAp9sVXBCA_v-GBdkwLxiwqUS1A9sf9Msh/s400/P1010098.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721441470611221522" /></a><br /><br />And pondered this for a while...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxE4OPIrvKq3Zn_pTcfG6Gr2hbN_XBlwSgHy6ch-qWeEi0xAC76YXhNPww8Y7j7OwfeRUcZQlBvzlD21ew3Gpt-b8k7F-P9Q52AgcBo_Z2RcOyAn3-YAPrm0AptWi_E0kgyOyK4mluLmq/s1600/P1010079.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxE4OPIrvKq3Zn_pTcfG6Gr2hbN_XBlwSgHy6ch-qWeEi0xAC76YXhNPww8Y7j7OwfeRUcZQlBvzlD21ew3Gpt-b8k7F-P9Q52AgcBo_Z2RcOyAn3-YAPrm0AptWi_E0kgyOyK4mluLmq/s400/P1010079.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721440205268760306" /></a><br /><br />After this we caught a bus (correctly this time) to the Ferry Building where I got to realise a dream in visiting the wonderful <a href="https://www.miette.com/main/">Miette</a>; a beautiful little pattiserie that Katherine introduced me to when she bought their cookbook a year or so earlier. I bought some cardamom chocolate and salted caramels for her, and a lemon meringue tart and gingersnaps for me. All were absolutely delicious!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqdM9HjfIfhoq_htxgtJGHonis9C_DTl02kvkzS2D5-7LPmyAztdrnUtA3EmTqWuXIdfKmOgWQuUIpLImlO7tuLiED_tqLV2IWJhMVhkdTHdUhsxMIy8t8_YRnKTLJ4M9d8q9WZJarQmE/s1600/IMG_2571%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqdM9HjfIfhoq_htxgtJGHonis9C_DTl02kvkzS2D5-7LPmyAztdrnUtA3EmTqWuXIdfKmOgWQuUIpLImlO7tuLiED_tqLV2IWJhMVhkdTHdUhsxMIy8t8_YRnKTLJ4M9d8q9WZJarQmE/s400/IMG_2571%255B1%255D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721445047001531794" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEfX0-M7VzfO2f_heZvUXi3o_X21zQyrMNI8tE3Fzpr7T7EWIpuOvOxM9gXWBksWVsRshZTPcoX4wBnEDXgNllXac9uloEy2GnXYJJMeHHcFF0nV6dp1ajhSjs3QtDRGblzQrqKd0Vb_s/s1600/IMG_2573%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEfX0-M7VzfO2f_heZvUXi3o_X21zQyrMNI8tE3Fzpr7T7EWIpuOvOxM9gXWBksWVsRshZTPcoX4wBnEDXgNllXac9uloEy2GnXYJJMeHHcFF0nV6dp1ajhSjs3QtDRGblzQrqKd0Vb_s/s400/IMG_2573%255B1%255D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721445051488057538" /></a><br /><br />From here we journeyed back to Pier 39 and saw the wild sea lions. Now we'd seen sea-lions before, but seeing them in the wild and in such a big group was wonderful. They were noisy, a little smelly and very entertaining.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5cNj9t_xEoGVdwoJZl7xhvoGiDhHMZeBEKN0doozWYrDR5CKyFBtw0AJSsOL24z1DhLYLa7k33o31dn0Jj8docu48fI7NtKj-6TnKBkoIZbGTdAP74yYbtitfv9tH93BPEa4f_FzFfHA/s1600/P1010110.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5cNj9t_xEoGVdwoJZl7xhvoGiDhHMZeBEKN0doozWYrDR5CKyFBtw0AJSsOL24z1DhLYLa7k33o31dn0Jj8docu48fI7NtKj-6TnKBkoIZbGTdAP74yYbtitfv9tH93BPEa4f_FzFfHA/s400/P1010110.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721450624057493890" /></a><br /><br />We stopped by the magnificent Boudin Bakery for delicious soup in a sourdough bowl. It was so filling that my efforts seemed quite minimal! The sourdough creations on display at the big factory were amazing. I also got a pumpkin latte from here while we watched the automated baskets drift along the ceiling full of bread from the factory landing in the shop to keep it stocked.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaU0O7SBK4V_6JyCwsbtyPVCiKVSJ1fV_b4V7upzRQjQPOcVSRLYD7KKvIB0RQ5JhLtgil0ANRRUvpj5Gy7pXr5O6ECrOxZUdEeYdXHqRXrxjhYzeYVr9lXrxghSlWD5iPsSoERWm1JsJ/s1600/P1010114.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaU0O7SBK4V_6JyCwsbtyPVCiKVSJ1fV_b4V7upzRQjQPOcVSRLYD7KKvIB0RQ5JhLtgil0ANRRUvpj5Gy7pXr5O6ECrOxZUdEeYdXHqRXrxjhYzeYVr9lXrxghSlWD5iPsSoERWm1JsJ/s400/P1010114.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721445071153045106" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3NtefqLRaeABaKoxPR4xzWxEdPFbFuO8lG5xztO5OnzvlpuEnmxZbLSugGWmPX2W_yCYLuLP7n7k_yAmdCWwGTrjAhi3WFnAKqfifnT5YQmNGlLijKCfg_Ys0z8oX2m8cWXxJ9bA9KrDi/s1600/P1010118.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3NtefqLRaeABaKoxPR4xzWxEdPFbFuO8lG5xztO5OnzvlpuEnmxZbLSugGWmPX2W_yCYLuLP7n7k_yAmdCWwGTrjAhi3WFnAKqfifnT5YQmNGlLijKCfg_Ys0z8oX2m8cWXxJ9bA9KrDi/s400/P1010118.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721445081650608050" /></a><br /><br />Our next and last stop in San Fransisco was not far from the Pier 39 - Musee Mecanique. I had been advised by a friend to go here and I'm so glad she did, as we probably would have missed one the funniest and entertaining parts of our trip if she had not. Musee Mechanique is a warehouse FULL of old penny arcade games, puppet shows, music boxes etc. There was a LOT of weird stuff here - from 'Grandmother Predictions' (I can't remember what she said would happen to me, but it was very good news?, to little puppet shows of an English Execution, a French execution, the goings-on at an Opium Den, to "'What Do Your Friends Call You Behind Your Back?' (mild, apparently) to 'How Strong Are You?' (Kirsty got 'Gentleman' though she was convinced it was 'Pensioner')<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilrC9XxK4R-jUFIkn3WBLB4j_T9Q70q7dvqJ3hOMmK7JvGMzri9FOOPVrR1i_CgxIOAe2ciEX4k1XTY2XGM_-hOSmWeaxhZEOC_xFKwD2xm-jTKwyh8J0-JZOzIL3uWBZrw9dj00cJJ1-/s1600/P1010129.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilrC9XxK4R-jUFIkn3WBLB4j_T9Q70q7dvqJ3hOMmK7JvGMzri9FOOPVrR1i_CgxIOAe2ciEX4k1XTY2XGM_-hOSmWeaxhZEOC_xFKwD2xm-jTKwyh8J0-JZOzIL3uWBZrw9dj00cJJ1-/s400/P1010129.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721452866398408722" /></a><br /><br />The scariest was 'Laughing Sal' who towered over us and cackled in a very terrifying way. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAaPxfkrIcYHurd-UZ_Uc7WySHQULALNrRxGIvlDfWjcgoGVk1etvW1acvJ28wVxK-BgOgROccjY8AmBlqYhxFBH5wkhlxb1lSkuQVI5n1LfrH1c1WER8wR8CptMey0qvnQO59zoo5TMb-/s1600/P1010121.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAaPxfkrIcYHurd-UZ_Uc7WySHQULALNrRxGIvlDfWjcgoGVk1etvW1acvJ28wVxK-BgOgROccjY8AmBlqYhxFBH5wkhlxb1lSkuQVI5n1LfrH1c1WER8wR8CptMey0qvnQO59zoo5TMb-/s400/P1010121.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721450627617097682" /></a><br /><br />They also had some more modern games, like Indiana Jones pinball...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ4USzFzOwmWQE5Vyyr6eJapoKhEpDwVsCrq-mWxhPVff7zvueoa5KDXlZ5_H9m22sKNEeMsDYjBAS14hQt0BI7xrCX8PfgqjDCVe5c-vqZDzrVr7_RhnL8eCaE5Xx3LZBE-Zv9hAJWB1B/s1600/P1010142.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ4USzFzOwmWQE5Vyyr6eJapoKhEpDwVsCrq-mWxhPVff7zvueoa5KDXlZ5_H9m22sKNEeMsDYjBAS14hQt0BI7xrCX8PfgqjDCVe5c-vqZDzrVr7_RhnL8eCaE5Xx3LZBE-Zv9hAJWB1B/s400/P1010142.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721450643782709986" /></a><br /><br />And Whack-A-Mole! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JsToQjg4aDKvHZY237utik0f_FJx99pSoVoLbGg8S_6ouirCBvVEZqMtwKQyraEwYntV6oMOFE_Pi5TNC2w-1feLmxyQkQviggPvMhs-3HeD1NBqburFZ35Z6gTWzOpX4G4cs82Si3Vx/s1600/P1010148.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JsToQjg4aDKvHZY237utik0f_FJx99pSoVoLbGg8S_6ouirCBvVEZqMtwKQyraEwYntV6oMOFE_Pi5TNC2w-1feLmxyQkQviggPvMhs-3HeD1NBqburFZ35Z6gTWzOpX4G4cs82Si3Vx/s400/P1010148.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721452874767828082" /></a><br /><br />This is the only place I could possibly beat anyone at sport...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYalVa6we0FlgoThB_9Y8pSpTtJnkR5CzrNHVt-IaNm-Is7Cj5sQzKLfnGNkcicR6SgFEWo7ZHDNX9GSb35uontpfKZikXJhSmK1ilkJ8t53BMbXozTPNhIXe3PZybvZGsNvwqRMz0QOFT/s1600/P1010133.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYalVa6we0FlgoThB_9Y8pSpTtJnkR5CzrNHVt-IaNm-Is7Cj5sQzKLfnGNkcicR6SgFEWo7ZHDNX9GSb35uontpfKZikXJhSmK1ilkJ8t53BMbXozTPNhIXe3PZybvZGsNvwqRMz0QOFT/s400/P1010133.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721450635612779810" /></a><br /><br />With our pockets enlightened from all the coins we'd used up, we taxi'd back to the Renoir, in prepartion for our long flight to New York in the morning...Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-64078291462456688752012-01-28T22:52:00.000-08:002012-06-07T02:54:32.919-07:0011 Days in the USA - Part 1I recently returned from a fantastically delightful holiday in the United States of America with my bestie Kirsty. I wanted to document a little of what we did every day, for others, but mainly for myself - we fit so much in to the holiday that I'm bound to forget if I don't write it all down while it's still alive in my mind. <br /><br />So, away we go! (P.S. I've skipped out all the days we were flying...I'm quite happy to forget all that)<br /><br /><br />Day 1<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWIgs4M_lp7sOqiQf5Q7gg3T0Vx8dF3Dd8V2wKJFGmgfenwXY-7PQJAK81ZvBQqaR2-u2wvm_PbmuZvhyY-H5ezrrBbE_aXdh1o_oZxp5nv7F7MBXW4SoIokz7gwUDCMRs0Mpg7B76_sK/s1600/P1000982.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWIgs4M_lp7sOqiQf5Q7gg3T0Vx8dF3Dd8V2wKJFGmgfenwXY-7PQJAK81ZvBQqaR2-u2wvm_PbmuZvhyY-H5ezrrBbE_aXdh1o_oZxp5nv7F7MBXW4SoIokz7gwUDCMRs0Mpg7B76_sK/s400/P1000982.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702948319889531554" /></a><br /><br />People aren't exaggerating when they say Disneyland is the most magical place on Earth. I'd recently been to Tokyo Disneyland, so I was prepped for all the wonder that the original had to offer, but that still didn't change the fact that this place is just so......AMAZING MAGICAL WONDERFUL HAPPY FANTASTICAL BEAUTIFUL FUN etc<br /><br />I feel as if every theme park ever is just ruined for me now, I've been to Disneyland, I've seen how a theme park should be, and I don't know if anything else will compare. Everything is SO well thought out, everything looks perfect, the people are all lovely and the rides are SO FUN! Here in Australia most of the rides our theme parks are known for a thrill rides - quick, super fast jumps to get the adrenaline going that are over within a minute. Disneyland's are worth the line up's, the rides have substance and are created in a way that you can forget that you're at a theme park and just let your imagination go. <br /><br />Take Space Mountain for instance. In theory, it's just a rollercoaster in the dark. But to that, add that the lineup takes you through a space station where a large ship is deploying small capsules. Once inside one of these capsules, you're zipped through that space station, onto a belt surrounded my lasers and lights, ready to deploy you out into the galaxy. As you slowly gain power, you see glimpses of the outside universe, millions of stars sparkling in the vast black. And then, you're out there! There are no visible rails, you can't see what's making all these stars shine, all you know is that some awesome music is playing, you're moving fast, the space wind on your face is cold and most of all - you're having so much fun you can not stop laughing.<br /><br />My face was sore afterwards from smiling so much. That right there is one reason why Disneyland is so fantastic. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtDEir745D-gjLGbF7oof2tvanwA7UB9ny-PYD16tof_CgZtoY3KqWK8SNzVVa8WbGBVrcet4EHKuSR4NEIMHraHmgrp4uQhIQui0YWrQGfGgtQNPbSWs1hfspx-6oHx_w4UCAPsu5evpI/s1600/P1000923.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtDEir745D-gjLGbF7oof2tvanwA7UB9ny-PYD16tof_CgZtoY3KqWK8SNzVVa8WbGBVrcet4EHKuSR4NEIMHraHmgrp4uQhIQui0YWrQGfGgtQNPbSWs1hfspx-6oHx_w4UCAPsu5evpI/s400/P1000923.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702944308505188658" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ao42BYR8Qs2UTSM8frC3TpumPWAwaSjIN3i0Y4U8V0euUg97_OUzrqcTHSBCTljBA1yzxRn3IIqbG_1-7iNBE_nPjqk7R1SDHlvgtRUPAwpUNSRJ5PePZ-Ah0gv5LN7YuvvGBIJ42Mtq/s1600/P1000927.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ao42BYR8Qs2UTSM8frC3TpumPWAwaSjIN3i0Y4U8V0euUg97_OUzrqcTHSBCTljBA1yzxRn3IIqbG_1-7iNBE_nPjqk7R1SDHlvgtRUPAwpUNSRJ5PePZ-Ah0gv5LN7YuvvGBIJ42Mtq/s400/P1000927.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702944307807204274" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEKxyEJK2OjHl8WDWz6TW4f7IbRYeoMWoPf-NfO52qcYVVzYBrDtdh4QWwhtG5g1DJQfrrgQj1W5t3YBDdXozJu8W9xLLwzErLPCRNTvbb3zVF1ziKiDT5J6zfn3LnzeDnpaA4Fu7MpQhh/s1600/P1000997.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEKxyEJK2OjHl8WDWz6TW4f7IbRYeoMWoPf-NfO52qcYVVzYBrDtdh4QWwhtG5g1DJQfrrgQj1W5t3YBDdXozJu8W9xLLwzErLPCRNTvbb3zVF1ziKiDT5J6zfn3LnzeDnpaA4Fu7MpQhh/s400/P1000997.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702952451773034002" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXhDe3s2RCyiUUvzuoA2zg6r9CfQBwJX0AvCyKqj4615h6GnSu8QZ0IAhLwDaA5A4cKC0IJMOjbU7C2Z-P5ZwTvl7HMoEYjYcmRsmEr-_oOOOA1kQp4nQOkqCiV9aAuP9snI9o708h3w3/s1600/P1000978.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXhDe3s2RCyiUUvzuoA2zg6r9CfQBwJX0AvCyKqj4615h6GnSu8QZ0IAhLwDaA5A4cKC0IJMOjbU7C2Z-P5ZwTvl7HMoEYjYcmRsmEr-_oOOOA1kQp4nQOkqCiV9aAuP9snI9o708h3w3/s400/P1000978.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702952446716225202" /></a><br /><br />I could also go on and on about the Indiana Jones ride. But I won't. Just know it is all underground, there's a giant snake, the rolling boulder, lots of fire, poisoned darts and about 3 million funs. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqTJkF6zEJ-zRxM_IYgVWAyopjkUk4RYn1yPcPBaLXa__XfK4khE4CV_H9i3NkNBTJww1gswT4cDp4qhcYE4yDzxlk2MKoVbl_PPXGH7MdodzNvx-TD55jES21Od2qv5ucKZXPIv4_3uI7/s1600/P1000911.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqTJkF6zEJ-zRxM_IYgVWAyopjkUk4RYn1yPcPBaLXa__XfK4khE4CV_H9i3NkNBTJww1gswT4cDp4qhcYE4yDzxlk2MKoVbl_PPXGH7MdodzNvx-TD55jES21Od2qv5ucKZXPIv4_3uI7/s400/P1000911.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702962341955080482" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCGVxNrF7zkVS1sIdJfXc0ZlsR5TMP15kqtvpsPRw-KRk9ePVxmjte1pHsdDYBGZUBWb3fbGlMbpk1BdKJYp3xoINjEdFPKYRzeps5-42wkxIU7hAhzIhzQJth4KC4rwce0jqSfpxXpbm/s1600/P1000910.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCGVxNrF7zkVS1sIdJfXc0ZlsR5TMP15kqtvpsPRw-KRk9ePVxmjte1pHsdDYBGZUBWb3fbGlMbpk1BdKJYp3xoINjEdFPKYRzeps5-42wkxIU7hAhzIhzQJth4KC4rwce0jqSfpxXpbm/s400/P1000910.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702962331344655170" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Day 2<br /><br />I love everything about Disneyland. But if I had to pick one highlight, it would be World of Colour. It's hard to explain how much it affected me...there was a lot of sobbing....as an example, this was my face afterwards. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyCufAdb0719fPF1XDLglaEcZKhb6m9IIM0m2o2o3lG7PlBu9JDQvmlMQilpJS3aQBxmRwMoKrYcrrqvIks8bGCdXTZQHPoo3_2M9z69g63sGFphadSOKTetmynVMnW6o9pYSZyJvq4Mp/s1600/P1000965.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyCufAdb0719fPF1XDLglaEcZKhb6m9IIM0m2o2o3lG7PlBu9JDQvmlMQilpJS3aQBxmRwMoKrYcrrqvIks8bGCdXTZQHPoo3_2M9z69g63sGFphadSOKTetmynVMnW6o9pYSZyJvq4Mp/s400/P1000965.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702957433652499314" /></a><br />Super pretty huh?<br /><br /><br />Lights and hundreds of water fountains choreographed perfectly to Disney songs while images from all the best films are projected on to fans of water might not sound like it should have caused that face, but it was just so....perfect. We saw this all three nights we were there, and it never failed to make my heart break and have it burst with happiness simultaneously. It was most definitely one of the most beautiful man-made things I have ever seen.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOeVonWrdotK1__Q7aB_1YXqdcj43piLKJw686yf8QFosrCJnSBQt1mwkDDdFt002JzpVEYD1IMUAvRG7tM18eEtrhZa5l9j2Gx6EUd5MAi80_tdRKXEAXvokkkrnBO-Nc7vjL6Afs-s_/s1600/P1000960.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOeVonWrdotK1__Q7aB_1YXqdcj43piLKJw686yf8QFosrCJnSBQt1mwkDDdFt002JzpVEYD1IMUAvRG7tM18eEtrhZa5l9j2Gx6EUd5MAi80_tdRKXEAXvokkkrnBO-Nc7vjL6Afs-s_/s400/P1000960.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702957430081041538" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVi583ZO7gn64nCSsLK0rVpT57LlMen98aRWRFwkHPnwJrUH5z2UwAKYYMl5J2sXDhadH7aQNjbTL0GGMA0T6HlIv1RiMei6y-Zua9pXbibYWDPxjtADmtSae9XwpYdHhNi6fzNwftYCCS/s1600/P1000961.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVi583ZO7gn64nCSsLK0rVpT57LlMen98aRWRFwkHPnwJrUH5z2UwAKYYMl5J2sXDhadH7aQNjbTL0GGMA0T6HlIv1RiMei6y-Zua9pXbibYWDPxjtADmtSae9XwpYdHhNi6fzNwftYCCS/s400/P1000961.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702957423241016706" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitqMvinItEtD6XK-ow66zSN9E2FPjdrGjtLvJz6WXaeRgsI0j8uoHr0Ufc0FaRCg2cYI_-wfYHmSnaRGC3eZ1OCV-Am2ioYxpIXVIKrDvTX9a8zciKynA5VIYHmPmKlsbnz8vvvBttTMx/s1600/P1000964.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitqMvinItEtD6XK-ow66zSN9E2FPjdrGjtLvJz6WXaeRgsI0j8uoHr0Ufc0FaRCg2cYI_-wfYHmSnaRGC3eZ1OCV-Am2ioYxpIXVIKrDvTX9a8zciKynA5VIYHmPmKlsbnz8vvvBttTMx/s400/P1000964.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702956176385442818" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXEfC0HYHyPsRpWFdf_h6PWUx5Kl3In27imke0C9-A6IgWHB7bWroaTdAHxVrFAtfK-x-DzdYlL2-UT_hyphenhyphen4KvLVaYJtEGnk6IrLGhSaeK34t2J8wiWNQc_IDZifITpXpiqxQb0Oh-ZVSU/s1600/P1000963.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXEfC0HYHyPsRpWFdf_h6PWUx5Kl3In27imke0C9-A6IgWHB7bWroaTdAHxVrFAtfK-x-DzdYlL2-UT_hyphenhyphen4KvLVaYJtEGnk6IrLGhSaeK34t2J8wiWNQc_IDZifITpXpiqxQb0Oh-ZVSU/s400/P1000963.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702956174647815746" /></a><br /><br />Day 3<br /><br />You can't be a cynical person if you really want to enjoy Disneyland properly. Yes, I know that none of the princesses are real, I know they're just very lucky performers in beautiful dresses.....but if you just let that go, it makes it pretty exciting when you get to have breakfast with them all hehe. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9UxpxZ2itK_oA2iViicDjVuSyylsE_cMLCX2Wh9yL-kgPnXKiKyyraKKAIDaA1vrz2JxWftkKfinIQT7W4SnzqE0Dq_SBKbyXSoUuFdIaToKyIZ08rkol6C2PjqSsJi5kcs7WPoM-8xsx/s1600/P1000989.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9UxpxZ2itK_oA2iViicDjVuSyylsE_cMLCX2Wh9yL-kgPnXKiKyyraKKAIDaA1vrz2JxWftkKfinIQT7W4SnzqE0Dq_SBKbyXSoUuFdIaToKyIZ08rkol6C2PjqSsJi5kcs7WPoM-8xsx/s400/P1000989.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702964658363965426" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrpkS3d-OtvTan5nAp8Q2nQp_eqJSsQ8fjIr0-IoP_6mKSvA7CCblVuZUzbyolr__isLz14NO2WfEpqVTK2LDGumtmPZ4HiThbyRItuhMdTQPLJP-dA4OLQAqwKuqJIvxFXsyDTvTBKBS/s1600/P1000991.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrpkS3d-OtvTan5nAp8Q2nQp_eqJSsQ8fjIr0-IoP_6mKSvA7CCblVuZUzbyolr__isLz14NO2WfEpqVTK2LDGumtmPZ4HiThbyRItuhMdTQPLJP-dA4OLQAqwKuqJIvxFXsyDTvTBKBS/s400/P1000991.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702960908451180338" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3gDk7ZCfHcFeTOBmoondKD2OYyS2Kaf2Qtgbf2bnnKgh0v_7JYvjTBOuGepqkA5ePoCFZ2heeBK9StRYWztEoqJpZMdwcSbPUE2qkmvgidSdnV2-G6K9G4g5Fua5SFEvc5DyfZhqB4GVg/s1600/P1000992.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3gDk7ZCfHcFeTOBmoondKD2OYyS2Kaf2Qtgbf2bnnKgh0v_7JYvjTBOuGepqkA5ePoCFZ2heeBK9StRYWztEoqJpZMdwcSbPUE2qkmvgidSdnV2-G6K9G4g5Fua5SFEvc5DyfZhqB4GVg/s400/P1000992.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702960897917155410" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8msIILNIB8Iac0gAIu8Bne-FM-TqpAbhhLp3SJ-AySi-zpqBYnK4RAphUe2AOLG6QiFwlzwLGe3oj3HUJywPYhgb8qq0lCe7plthxp6lqzjUcMn98LwAOQR3JJOGEwymhtt-kaxOQZYTd/s1600/P1000993.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8msIILNIB8Iac0gAIu8Bne-FM-TqpAbhhLp3SJ-AySi-zpqBYnK4RAphUe2AOLG6QiFwlzwLGe3oj3HUJywPYhgb8qq0lCe7plthxp6lqzjUcMn98LwAOQR3JJOGEwymhtt-kaxOQZYTd/s400/P1000993.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702960890760775490" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtrd_QRuMSx6068mZ-2dJ-R_MGIOGzxgO_SMult8I-o-h6OeP7bOhSPad7ljylAE7zUAXPD_EYcKdYNfMEckeh6s9flgOuVk0jyO3tz3GzKX2aZro8_6vJ5d5DtEl4TV37pScjOhL5Wsi2/s1600/P1000990.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtrd_QRuMSx6068mZ-2dJ-R_MGIOGzxgO_SMult8I-o-h6OeP7bOhSPad7ljylAE7zUAXPD_EYcKdYNfMEckeh6s9flgOuVk0jyO3tz3GzKX2aZro8_6vJ5d5DtEl4TV37pScjOhL5Wsi2/s400/P1000990.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702964668603839570" /></a><br /><br />Where else but Disneyland could a girl go straight from eating breakfast with princesses, to building her very own lightsaber? <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4SSUZSIjAnBqmQDroX9avbtsQlbtN8jbaNm_wTraRhIsby0iPzbxfOcGPVMvdi_9ZClTR_IiQj8fgXg7S8PcEiCv_ypdUIQVYqDq9Ss0n99OdGybdXG3dmGICbYTkv3ImYCGdde6mPG4/s1600/P1010014.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4SSUZSIjAnBqmQDroX9avbtsQlbtN8jbaNm_wTraRhIsby0iPzbxfOcGPVMvdi_9ZClTR_IiQj8fgXg7S8PcEiCv_ypdUIQVYqDq9Ss0n99OdGybdXG3dmGICbYTkv3ImYCGdde6mPG4/s400/P1010014.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702970161567485474" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIUkTF4uJ7hf3G1gGKNOe5-f1pjb1ygjym8HJnp5ZTxYguSCpKv5zgld5CERCxQlYYLVWd_DQ6w9CAbQxoL9HrtIEM-yL2-QlobgySXcdozcj2XGP2JPm3h-2WTJijthUt0sBkXThJ2G2R/s1600/P1010015.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIUkTF4uJ7hf3G1gGKNOe5-f1pjb1ygjym8HJnp5ZTxYguSCpKv5zgld5CERCxQlYYLVWd_DQ6w9CAbQxoL9HrtIEM-yL2-QlobgySXcdozcj2XGP2JPm3h-2WTJijthUt0sBkXThJ2G2R/s400/P1010015.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702970147636029970" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgvdRyFMC4b5_78I4tdkMHqKxHMNWPsosEfWhs1FbHbaZMNylTZ1iejYlgobPyoxI_kignQD0yLcWkyPPSfGGHodGQBEDhNwvdi8nlPgYxLI4ouMua2r3ak10Btjwv__1EV0zCsq1wICA/s1600/P1010016.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgvdRyFMC4b5_78I4tdkMHqKxHMNWPsosEfWhs1FbHbaZMNylTZ1iejYlgobPyoxI_kignQD0yLcWkyPPSfGGHodGQBEDhNwvdi8nlPgYxLI4ouMua2r3ak10Btjwv__1EV0zCsq1wICA/s400/P1010016.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702970143127761202" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUamMDvaBc0VjeKxFTGq9CddxFKdd0e9NvogCqGxbW9u4w2-q-5xjit5KfV0BQgREdDmp6YdTU2aC6dfR7aNN3wefk24HbfIZaPGTdkb-JplB_Ukiim90BjKexYnKoM8ZIIvqbMhyh6SiE/s1600/P1010022.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUamMDvaBc0VjeKxFTGq9CddxFKdd0e9NvogCqGxbW9u4w2-q-5xjit5KfV0BQgREdDmp6YdTU2aC6dfR7aNN3wefk24HbfIZaPGTdkb-JplB_Ukiim90BjKexYnKoM8ZIIvqbMhyh6SiE/s400/P1010022.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702968620573920930" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyCkXS7JAUT5tr7U8lL3z6RqtvgPWobH5RxB8zi2qpn5mXHWwqA3EZ-HZSHfVIfBHMENrfUxJ8fPuhaV5rara5aXonWsrALVxwamhC4CRxNLZaBJj9J_dENpg7zVCnBbCn3AcUm6EnNo6N/s1600/P1010023.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyCkXS7JAUT5tr7U8lL3z6RqtvgPWobH5RxB8zi2qpn5mXHWwqA3EZ-HZSHfVIfBHMENrfUxJ8fPuhaV5rara5aXonWsrALVxwamhC4CRxNLZaBJj9J_dENpg7zVCnBbCn3AcUm6EnNo6N/s400/P1010023.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702968609749711778" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGpjTDTYxheBsQnlJgjg8q_mB6pVejVNr5Y9ys4LxdEugHRN5tRhODpjLCT1x0bVRAbqFuuyyXUCWfRFgydJZLcdOI-U1KoD97B2WaRrKdmxKsV5W7FLc45FmhIdYJ9gmUxjrrYC2iA7OQ/s1600/P1010026.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGpjTDTYxheBsQnlJgjg8q_mB6pVejVNr5Y9ys4LxdEugHRN5tRhODpjLCT1x0bVRAbqFuuyyXUCWfRFgydJZLcdOI-U1KoD97B2WaRrKdmxKsV5W7FLc45FmhIdYJ9gmUxjrrYC2iA7OQ/s400/P1010026.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702968605062895650" /></a><br /><br />Finally, it wouldn't be a very Lauren-ish post without some mention of food. We ate an assortment of food stuffs in Disneyland - pizza, pasta, churros, waffles, chicken nuggets, salad....Mickey Mouse Pretzels. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU5PnbSJ4vnaRWW0sBffPbqoCC_Sud4iaAWTyivlHw5D0HwnnoTM1hbhWn9ns2GZLVDVHAMuDtdnD6VhWgY6IU-28cV9TqZTtisDxVCvX2Kowg8JTz3JGo_zmTHoSTSOx_CHPyaaHoygSV/s1600/P1010007.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU5PnbSJ4vnaRWW0sBffPbqoCC_Sud4iaAWTyivlHw5D0HwnnoTM1hbhWn9ns2GZLVDVHAMuDtdnD6VhWgY6IU-28cV9TqZTtisDxVCvX2Kowg8JTz3JGo_zmTHoSTSOx_CHPyaaHoygSV/s400/P1010007.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702973156155216114" /></a><br /><br />But my very favourite meal was at the Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue. We waited nearly an hour as we didn't make a reservation, but it was absolutely worth it. Once we got seated our lovely waitress brought out a bucket of ribs and bbq chicken, followed by grilled corn, coleslaw, baked beans (the BEST baked beans I've ever eaten)and delicious buttery corn bread. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQ-McaoBxjfQmkFHvr36xP5YsATviHhroeoj3X6QD2HpgIwZWt-7FqIqpKFzAgqut4cJQrWcv3645g1KAJB_Evj2NPkY8BOYpkCUGlhyphenhyphenMGkGTTmhUi2W24qAoMO2oCNtarm7fDymEmvUe/s1600/P1010032.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQ-McaoBxjfQmkFHvr36xP5YsATviHhroeoj3X6QD2HpgIwZWt-7FqIqpKFzAgqut4cJQrWcv3645g1KAJB_Evj2NPkY8BOYpkCUGlhyphenhyphenMGkGTTmhUi2W24qAoMO2oCNtarm7fDymEmvUe/s400/P1010032.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702973138673644706" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFF10XDBNvWlG6b2NocaEo00z-um_hHrr7B5mFtHYO_ZuLAtle300NAwP0jlzTVNUq4LFe-wxxXNcoPVXNWBaroDL8oXcpBqX8t3fPlI76TNmw7_ljCdplbQBnnLFqCQv6p6nmsqmoD1tI/s1600/P1010033.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFF10XDBNvWlG6b2NocaEo00z-um_hHrr7B5mFtHYO_ZuLAtle300NAwP0jlzTVNUq4LFe-wxxXNcoPVXNWBaroDL8oXcpBqX8t3fPlI76TNmw7_ljCdplbQBnnLFqCQv6p6nmsqmoD1tI/s400/P1010033.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702973132676045154" /></a><br /><br />So. Good.<br /><br />Coming soon - Part 2! San Francisco!Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-30630609744818396242011-12-01T23:58:00.000-08:002011-12-02T00:41:15.140-08:00No Good DeedA commission for my friend Jess, who is utterly obsessed with Wicked: The Musical.<br /><br />As a fellow Wicked lover, she gave me free reign to illustrate whatever I wished, as long as it included Elphaba - The not so wicked Witch of the West. 'No Good Deed' is one of my favourite songs in the musical, and is a very dramatic and powerful scene. <br /><br />True, in the musical, she doesn't spurt green glowy magic from her fingertips, nor is she crying...but I couldn't resist making it that extra bit dramatic!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgaTkymiepo62aMhKawZfpa5d91qlY69Ct84VC0W6mSvbVKsty8mYKw0wFeFLkUdSmjWk7fwQWiPQO2U8lEaUiBtJRn_obv0ThiYCs17QzHuyFwBWa8wtRp746mw6Z2mKiPGzlVhI4le2/s1600/Elphy3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgaTkymiepo62aMhKawZfpa5d91qlY69Ct84VC0W6mSvbVKsty8mYKw0wFeFLkUdSmjWk7fwQWiPQO2U8lEaUiBtJRn_obv0ThiYCs17QzHuyFwBWa8wtRp746mw6Z2mKiPGzlVhI4le2/s400/Elphy3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681448234786350818" /></a>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-2932277427554573342011-11-24T02:38:00.000-08:002011-11-24T03:07:18.679-08:00Bake Bake BakeThis week has been incredibly bake-heavy. I was asked to make a few little Christmas treats for a church function, but as usual with food, I went a bit overboard. I decided we'd have Black Forest Parfaits, Christmas Tree Cupcakes, Pecan-Pretzel-Caramel Treats and Gingerbread Snowflakes.<br /><br />Monday was making cherry jelly, dark chocolate mousse and vanilla macaron shells for the parfaits (note: baking at midday in QLD very close to summer is NOT conducive to perfect macarons) and then baking hordes of litle gingerbread snowflakes and once cool, dipping them each individually in royal icing. Time consuming, but v. delicious. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFOcHTA5AIE9NDurAv0oEY7iIzX6mvoc8prYpKFbgW2-dXphVzxgCXYBlCwPJhc6_ORL72Vuaxd-kFtMlBGBA_cq-jlwyRAHUZqghwfN5Y2wYKpRHyqThVedSC13nR2UYYBEsRWkGppVo/s1600/IMG_2392.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvFOcHTA5AIE9NDurAv0oEY7iIzX6mvoc8prYpKFbgW2-dXphVzxgCXYBlCwPJhc6_ORL72Vuaxd-kFtMlBGBA_cq-jlwyRAHUZqghwfN5Y2wYKpRHyqThVedSC13nR2UYYBEsRWkGppVo/s400/IMG_2392.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678515749723527362" /></a><br /><br />Tuesday night was for cupcake baking. Wednesday morning was for icing said cupcakes.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSClPG0nAI8G9yCnslz0yvcyBWRvQJ1m1sDkyYfmyvvSJ5ak4H3-mnkQIw_J1QSLwYZy3ZT8bj4ivycDJ7g0qk1WYCVWgi60efqrdXMa70xYz7bmhoYh6hWSvKlk-NJ9XfsbFgM46f_42/s1600/IMG_2386%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSClPG0nAI8G9yCnslz0yvcyBWRvQJ1m1sDkyYfmyvvSJ5ak4H3-mnkQIw_J1QSLwYZy3ZT8bj4ivycDJ7g0qk1WYCVWgi60efqrdXMa70xYz7bmhoYh6hWSvKlk-NJ9XfsbFgM46f_42/s400/IMG_2386%255B1%255D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678516740865977922" /></a><br /><br />Wednesday evening, with one hour between getting home from work and getting to the church was for making a batch of delicious Pecan Pretzel snacks.We're going to call them Christmas Yertles, as they were made with the same recipe as Katherine used <a href="http://saffronthreads.blogspot.com/2011/08/you-do-not-like-them-so-you-say-try.html">here</a> but with a red or green M&M stuck on with chocolate to make them festive.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRNeA70CVC1yLOv0srx7M29QmTBdWKr92pf1QV8sGhKsctfMtumiy2e0H0qXgKVbIIat6HU_Uh8-3bBO3SqvDfWerNA0yrQPy9Q95m7i9IKVhqzDoC2ultk0oRzxnZzgMmzrfONAKJeLZ/s1600/IMG_2391%255B1%255D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRNeA70CVC1yLOv0srx7M29QmTBdWKr92pf1QV8sGhKsctfMtumiy2e0H0qXgKVbIIat6HU_Uh8-3bBO3SqvDfWerNA0yrQPy9Q95m7i9IKVhqzDoC2ultk0oRzxnZzgMmzrfONAKJeLZ/s400/IMG_2391%255B1%255D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678516737653475122" /></a><br /><br />You'd think that after all that I'd use my Thursday off work for something not realted to baking, however, you would be wrong. As it was my wonderful friend Rachel's birthday the next day, I decided a cake should be made. Now, years ago Rach and I had glorious plans for a rainbow cake, but if I recall, it sort of ended up as a delicious but distinctly greyish mess. I also had some problems with a layer cake last year (note: it slid around everywhere and became a cakey puddle) and I never really got over it. This was my chance to fight again, regain my honour and emerge victorious. And I have to say, I was very happy with the result, if I was using battles as a metaphor, I was totally Legolas, coming out of the great war victorious and feeling sassy and stylish while I did it. To top it all off I coated this bad boy in icing made from melted down musk sticks (Rach ADORES musk sticks). It looked impressive (if not slightly off balance) when it was just pink and tall, but the suprise rainbow was pretty great, and it was a lot of fun to make.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-M8cpEhx6CwFUVCAJDHmDSdhyphenhyphenuaFudp_CsqLiIOyQWBAGv8mihPR5OeKHG_fOXknVX-2eP_pQbhTiieE7kIVm60BaDr1NiMnvJNYwH4DC0r32T1qjuEqDnuj0G7kiIEL1UM-BpcYa39i/s1600/IMG_2394.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-M8cpEhx6CwFUVCAJDHmDSdhyphenhyphenuaFudp_CsqLiIOyQWBAGv8mihPR5OeKHG_fOXknVX-2eP_pQbhTiieE7kIVm60BaDr1NiMnvJNYwH4DC0r32T1qjuEqDnuj0G7kiIEL1UM-BpcYa39i/s400/IMG_2394.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678515748251812258" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNqw1WYFbP_bzU_1IJrG76DEJFskuDdboiRhwGVXFKmEzCkIC2_VMIppnYqHwy4j_v5nC4v8uBraCSvnsjX1EZdIBB6qtOgHUgLqVJdhkSxXCjAnE4WTsH4QSc6HH5F296OR4fZSMj8sMJ/s1600/IMG_2398.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNqw1WYFbP_bzU_1IJrG76DEJFskuDdboiRhwGVXFKmEzCkIC2_VMIppnYqHwy4j_v5nC4v8uBraCSvnsjX1EZdIBB6qtOgHUgLqVJdhkSxXCjAnE4WTsH4QSc6HH5F296OR4fZSMj8sMJ/s400/IMG_2398.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678515745355237154" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyptj3n034WC2AfyUx_DjPEweqqUV3sl4ZVb_pvj5xs3E8MUapb9od8_SePC1nFYd-TFrgux59tFuC4eWdfQFfX3v8IfwBp6kOxhAn7e8jbfdmmQiTeOZxdP3ueL8QBI6t1ugokQPQ-pWv/s1600/IMG_2400.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyptj3n034WC2AfyUx_DjPEweqqUV3sl4ZVb_pvj5xs3E8MUapb9od8_SePC1nFYd-TFrgux59tFuC4eWdfQFfX3v8IfwBp6kOxhAn7e8jbfdmmQiTeOZxdP3ueL8QBI6t1ugokQPQ-pWv/s400/IMG_2400.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678515740592092322" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCApvyrHID_iXvkaw4ST1DCrG2PTFm6-cH8oFLoVEiSdoNqYWFkO3Yb5fgTVy_pL9-7PYorWUJBCS7W3762Phqtv49FKO9TtBaxTf4vZ62tpai-Eg7NoRRUbc2g1XiQAMstTN4IysIEyij/s1600/IMG_2404.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCApvyrHID_iXvkaw4ST1DCrG2PTFm6-cH8oFLoVEiSdoNqYWFkO3Yb5fgTVy_pL9-7PYorWUJBCS7W3762Phqtv49FKO9TtBaxTf4vZ62tpai-Eg7NoRRUbc2g1XiQAMstTN4IysIEyij/s400/IMG_2404.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678515733207088754" /></a><br /><br />P.S. I've rediscovered my love of the Hipstamatic App for my iPhone camera..could you tell?Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-74664196417933348592011-08-28T03:41:00.000-07:002011-08-28T04:30:59.630-07:00For those left behind...It feels like I never have time to draw anymore. This isn't true, as I am still getting some done, and compared to most, I'm drawing A LOT. But it still feels like I'll never have enough time. Time to finish commissions (sorry Jess, I'll get there eventually!)Time to finish my watercolour and ink series inspired by Panic! that I absolutely adore and yet never get round to. Time to draw new and wonderful things, or draw more mermaids because I now have a fabulous fish book. And in with all those projects, there's all the half finished, hardly started pictures, or other that only need the smallest amount of effort to be complete and yet they are forgotten or pushed aside.
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<br />This post is to have them on display in an effort to remind myself for when all that drawing time I'm hoping for becomes readily available....here's hoping
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhK9AD6p3lP7IxTw_3IsXuvqxn9VvBhqkgPljS600UK8s6pBPiit8EhHXrPleUm-F_082KG8mp1IbQJRrQ4xLgbPXvR5Xh4t7uKHQExwc22-dBOhLnK632lkEhGfY5i5UHtVnOvWqEEHsE/s1600/ocelots.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 302px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhK9AD6p3lP7IxTw_3IsXuvqxn9VvBhqkgPljS600UK8s6pBPiit8EhHXrPleUm-F_082KG8mp1IbQJRrQ4xLgbPXvR5Xh4t7uKHQExwc22-dBOhLnK632lkEhGfY5i5UHtVnOvWqEEHsE/s400/ocelots.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645865868547740594" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgfrITs7V0IW8uImnfxBGywFmGFO8hrg9fyNLGOq8X1jOFJGHBahKzCZl5Qa9ceTA8agRPQrUdjBFtRFqU9XG6YE6izz_yncJb19wi0yZubvHY7HBXSqsh2SlbrwX1WMx3V-oDKj1k0vwu/s1600/moth.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 281px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgfrITs7V0IW8uImnfxBGywFmGFO8hrg9fyNLGOq8X1jOFJGHBahKzCZl5Qa9ceTA8agRPQrUdjBFtRFqU9XG6YE6izz_yncJb19wi0yZubvHY7HBXSqsh2SlbrwX1WMx3V-oDKj1k0vwu/s400/moth.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645864512978597794" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguREnijdIpglnDaHacJluflYPVE0iiD8gKBanud1YqXeMrT-tvGR7y0SbKRRzme-xfEL6T1EFjuJCPajiLVdybLrVJQaPamMNL2BdOvNjdLNynKgv3U8c9tNHQL98STXE7NWMDEIQCNqXA/s1600/IMG_0041.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 309px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguREnijdIpglnDaHacJluflYPVE0iiD8gKBanud1YqXeMrT-tvGR7y0SbKRRzme-xfEL6T1EFjuJCPajiLVdybLrVJQaPamMNL2BdOvNjdLNynKgv3U8c9tNHQL98STXE7NWMDEIQCNqXA/s400/IMG_0041.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645859106263036370" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2_fKNbHdjOc30mjoQYSDe4pszUqDEh1iKrAdidZUd4LyEgW5sdmcif15EcbDYf82wxaNsKsSxfKqqopB514ya6D_WDh9gYT8ig-jpZJ4RGPxeeOH6XLVVz11hhJJskJSdxo2G5_B1z9t/s1600/guardians.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2_fKNbHdjOc30mjoQYSDe4pszUqDEh1iKrAdidZUd4LyEgW5sdmcif15EcbDYf82wxaNsKsSxfKqqopB514ya6D_WDh9gYT8ig-jpZJ4RGPxeeOH6XLVVz11hhJJskJSdxo2G5_B1z9t/s400/guardians.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645859099904914690" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmT85NuqF9pPzARqyH3Py6XBhFk9pXr5WRlK_PrzbuUAJPmy3oyPdpvlQgBLWX9Ha4BAK2EjxFGupoNyNgspIsCtX5gpG9ITFos9vXUB3_3UCr1b6XkmNYgAYHoThgHP5mJ3DdCDBXBgHL/s1600/flower.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 340px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmT85NuqF9pPzARqyH3Py6XBhFk9pXr5WRlK_PrzbuUAJPmy3oyPdpvlQgBLWX9Ha4BAK2EjxFGupoNyNgspIsCtX5gpG9ITFos9vXUB3_3UCr1b6XkmNYgAYHoThgHP5mJ3DdCDBXBgHL/s400/flower.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645859094182424034" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06ZCru29MJkSDep4UhLBDhB-MXADlQT5PgHmXzoerEv80RocjA-JbH1_C0VDwCq0-dwcUT-HjC9vVSwtqG6IkCNCyGF-e7byzaG1TKzm5OQKpFmZg02lZXF96VP4eHmDSeDHM7iNp8EFN/s1600/Epaulette.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06ZCru29MJkSDep4UhLBDhB-MXADlQT5PgHmXzoerEv80RocjA-JbH1_C0VDwCq0-dwcUT-HjC9vVSwtqG6IkCNCyGF-e7byzaG1TKzm5OQKpFmZg02lZXF96VP4eHmDSeDHM7iNp8EFN/s400/Epaulette.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645859086937143762" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVPMuWq57bHdFlKzqv9YfwEq8i40KQR9zU00O-4f_sIDQ0JIk_s2Jof11QbOZilR-82P0lc9Wjvx7uNPO6XRjTc4y9JTnbPbaUu5KfS7k43MHtz1mOwxnrssI6o3BnF_y_LkE_kwaM70l/s1600/dragon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVPMuWq57bHdFlKzqv9YfwEq8i40KQR9zU00O-4f_sIDQ0JIk_s2Jof11QbOZilR-82P0lc9Wjvx7uNPO6XRjTc4y9JTnbPbaUu5KfS7k43MHtz1mOwxnrssI6o3BnF_y_LkE_kwaM70l/s400/dragon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645859086065233058" /></a>
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<br />The cool thing about doing this was I actually found one that WAS finished! Ha!
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVof2z1tZj7_89zrhVzPKBHxlKexNSWFK1hhoqX1Q6GaWaXG7fRC6eu1jTM9HH7AaNmRydzYvQQ4LBj6G8Zsi6Ek5x2CKmV01um4j4gFKH8juvA6P7YegtJF4-DJR06ZuO80eHoolJuD9/s1600/pheasant.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 288px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVof2z1tZj7_89zrhVzPKBHxlKexNSWFK1hhoqX1Q6GaWaXG7fRC6eu1jTM9HH7AaNmRydzYvQQ4LBj6G8Zsi6Ek5x2CKmV01um4j4gFKH8juvA6P7YegtJF4-DJR06ZuO80eHoolJuD9/s400/pheasant.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645866941946742514" /></a>
<br />Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-62636408210791606852011-07-14T20:23:00.000-07:002011-07-15T00:06:47.695-07:00Ye Olde (and totally awesome) Medieval TournamentLast Saturday was the <a href="http://abbeytournament.com/">Abbey Museum Medieval Tournament</a> and like last year, it was absolutely fantastic!<br /><br />My lovely friend Stacie and I spent many many many hours making our dresses (at least three full days, I'm talking 9am-11pm sewing...with food breaks of course!). It made us think how much work it would have been in Medieval times....weaving your own fabric, hand stitching everything...gah! But I think our efforts paid off, we felt like very pretty ladies in waiting (next year we're going to try and climb the class system and be queens!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit_7q81CL59CrNRybu3fccVxbvYtoUiQzNeW2ZV5uFkoobNLgTewzlcAscoEi-KY-GTLdIpHmMBbZNGR5kfx9KZEC6iXJ3mWckGINLcmTNqqLs_wCQzpwsE428ST9pGMhKBGeZZ281i_J8/s1600/264289_230182913679654_100000638411713_722150_3298464_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit_7q81CL59CrNRybu3fccVxbvYtoUiQzNeW2ZV5uFkoobNLgTewzlcAscoEi-KY-GTLdIpHmMBbZNGR5kfx9KZEC6iXJ3mWckGINLcmTNqqLs_wCQzpwsE428ST9pGMhKBGeZZ281i_J8/s400/264289_230182913679654_100000638411713_722150_3298464_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629416081605761218" /></a><br /><br />It was a beautiful day, and everyone looked so good! Observe, the Tregenza clan of Cornwall. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQwnipNPJb0gO8jAjZWjtQgqIDj5wQOY9E7axvYIX9Pu9vhlavU2wVd7pQkI46utDt2Gq8r0DbznzcH9qdfXz18elJrc3NRhl-n-RmFJrOd564wrT4y8BGweik6aTqLR446c7mrXVVOfB/s1600/263529_230184277012851_100000638411713_722155_6980123_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQwnipNPJb0gO8jAjZWjtQgqIDj5wQOY9E7axvYIX9Pu9vhlavU2wVd7pQkI46utDt2Gq8r0DbznzcH9qdfXz18elJrc3NRhl-n-RmFJrOd564wrT4y8BGweik6aTqLR446c7mrXVVOfB/s400/263529_230184277012851_100000638411713_722155_6980123_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629416464205886322" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Jh28ce9VSb-gV9n_XaTowX0nuqfrZf6_JhjmHlYROJh6bFRj5iQYddUVlec18Uki74sHpBqnyyjWQYviORtznoSs97RzmcwzH-9Kx9bYAbfRMX1HcFhMHuuYAf1WkhHzrk2iXZ82NHIh/s1600/267869_230184437012835_100000638411713_722156_190476_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Jh28ce9VSb-gV9n_XaTowX0nuqfrZf6_JhjmHlYROJh6bFRj5iQYddUVlec18Uki74sHpBqnyyjWQYviORtznoSs97RzmcwzH-9Kx9bYAbfRMX1HcFhMHuuYAf1WkhHzrk2iXZ82NHIh/s400/267869_230184437012835_100000638411713_722156_190476_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629471953153668642" /></a><br /><br />Things I learnt? <br /><br />1) Keeping up with my nieces is far more difficult than usual when wearing a 3kg dress<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglVX2vdMWcHpTTit5-h8Jx_wLHtGuGVdeRtRQInVhDXP3-lthyphenhyphen2yDWkUEwWAQ4yFxEvrpV9fBAfzbcWKLSpuer8TvzISqSuzvQWsNQh_PVnXO3lybP4jynzEqwCRvt_nVa8fyYpSlmst53/s1600/263659_10150237106118511_600093510_7413912_1759612_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglVX2vdMWcHpTTit5-h8Jx_wLHtGuGVdeRtRQInVhDXP3-lthyphenhyphen2yDWkUEwWAQ4yFxEvrpV9fBAfzbcWKLSpuer8TvzISqSuzvQWsNQh_PVnXO3lybP4jynzEqwCRvt_nVa8fyYpSlmst53/s400/263659_10150237106118511_600093510_7413912_1759612_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629416918339775106" /></a><br /><br />2) A pig on a spit takes almost all day to cook through, and makes me hungry<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGyT2Fl7V1KgbzurAsRUa7Q6y6w3xXQq1-qpp2clbGq7YLdxccI1T8nrq86fFDFNcY7w9Jwgtez7XqRLAqE8uPyLzVJQlRgFAXsY7l1O_RiTJLac5YiVAfvOLu414gqaJ6ae5IKSflEaO/s1600/268678_10150249204059663_503074662_7016203_6694945_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGyT2Fl7V1KgbzurAsRUa7Q6y6w3xXQq1-qpp2clbGq7YLdxccI1T8nrq86fFDFNcY7w9Jwgtez7XqRLAqE8uPyLzVJQlRgFAXsY7l1O_RiTJLac5YiVAfvOLu414gqaJ6ae5IKSflEaO/s400/268678_10150249204059663_503074662_7016203_6694945_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629417323771985026" /></a><br /><br />3) Medieval food is amazing<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3V9ysW1bJ9X12uO-7PdQv1cS9dtJOIfVWZBDwMCxV-TW77GJdHcjZqZ3zMvvVBaBMGcMVYb6GpK0zd_M5o6RBoh3BRbz1s4RYe_78MwSrOCUHKNXDGmezxMoQ22cko-2yQQ_U0nR0mYMs/s1600/268103_10150249207189663_503074662_7016246_1187730_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3V9ysW1bJ9X12uO-7PdQv1cS9dtJOIfVWZBDwMCxV-TW77GJdHcjZqZ3zMvvVBaBMGcMVYb6GpK0zd_M5o6RBoh3BRbz1s4RYe_78MwSrOCUHKNXDGmezxMoQ22cko-2yQQ_U0nR0mYMs/s400/268103_10150249207189663_503074662_7016246_1187730_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629418376719797730" /></a><br /><br />4) Dancing with big sleeves is a lot of fun<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyL5ao8B6CYs9McZz5tLEp8sXcgGHVPaiLJpvJ__X1LTarcBASPVnT6_L3JNmM0YvtVllnxZIslxirENNsu07DVfDWi7zFGxBZHqvOeuMna7d-CBLIW7vrMDyuYffVcfUUm2iG63MUY3Mx/s1600/dancing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyL5ao8B6CYs9McZz5tLEp8sXcgGHVPaiLJpvJ__X1LTarcBASPVnT6_L3JNmM0YvtVllnxZIslxirENNsu07DVfDWi7zFGxBZHqvOeuMna7d-CBLIW7vrMDyuYffVcfUUm2iG63MUY3Mx/s400/dancing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629418383526853378" /></a>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-65323037749807303562011-05-09T04:27:00.001-07:002011-05-09T04:31:23.896-07:00Oh if only dreams came true...I had the most wonderful dream the other night....<br /><br />As I stepped in to a local art gallery, I saw some beautiful white marble stairs leading down around a corner. I saw in wonder that they led down in to a pool of glowing aqua water, where people were just walking around, no need for air apparently. Just as I was about to walk in, some scientists pulled me over and asked if I would be a volunteer for the new wetsuit they'd created. I'm so glad Dream Me accepted, because the wetsuit turned out to be an amazing full body mermaid tail. I could breathe underwater like all the others but no walking for me, no sir, I was living the dream (inside a dream - oooo Inception!)<br /><br />I woke up needing to draw it. Unfortunately I didn't spend much time on it, but I wanted to show you anyway. And though the hair and eye colour match my own, the similiarities really end there...call it artistic license...or maybe Dream Me really did have that tiny a waist. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTmOsOE_EJZ7F8XyW9vKLc28asKjp7xqgH1mTOafsGXxiaGtX8xZ9V1NQaXKKGJX95GS5tudK66vXJzbV4kSs73ikJNIAccIhPkuKTnkpx-OsVFkCAe9nJx3J2cXjXSLwnJwO48deniz4/s1600/MerDream.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTmOsOE_EJZ7F8XyW9vKLc28asKjp7xqgH1mTOafsGXxiaGtX8xZ9V1NQaXKKGJX95GS5tudK66vXJzbV4kSs73ikJNIAccIhPkuKTnkpx-OsVFkCAe9nJx3J2cXjXSLwnJwO48deniz4/s400/MerDream.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604676998837310978" /></a><br /><br />Oh and that green light to the right? That was the room where the green air was able to be swum in and <a href="http://emmyc.tumblr.com">Emmy Cicierega</a> showed me these little silver globs that inflated in to giant metallic pillows on impact with the wall.Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-15502090992477807262011-04-24T23:37:00.001-07:002011-04-24T23:39:30.178-07:00For Amy...The last picture of my commission for Alicia, hooray! What fun I've had with all of these! Horses are most definitely not my forte, thusi left them till last....I like this little green foal more than Rainbow Horse I think....<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pAleLvSUS-i14KH8-VJN5Mbmbad4IsfxPg2003-fKNLhgO41Y3zTpb_OBd21HTeYtT0w3cYSDc3exAcKApOdMkz49LQCcbL3W3Ut9ap8b4QW8-hwZP9V0EEo2q7PILkQMSDg_wfU_2KL/s1600/horsewings.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pAleLvSUS-i14KH8-VJN5Mbmbad4IsfxPg2003-fKNLhgO41Y3zTpb_OBd21HTeYtT0w3cYSDc3exAcKApOdMkz49LQCcbL3W3Ut9ap8b4QW8-hwZP9V0EEo2q7PILkQMSDg_wfU_2KL/s400/horsewings.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599407076936699458" /></a>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-41693517710314743082011-04-23T23:57:00.000-07:002011-04-24T00:01:17.841-07:00Did someone say sparkles?My second last picture for Alicia's daughters, this one if for Amy. I don't really like it...but I imagine a little girl will enjoy it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxQK92NL0n_vTQ3HkMri2xu_O-u5aAWrnYkj4lRBbfXiLoLoheW_WfwIVW5jPv5MaYzWQTwYxtN0qLo8qvZs6bTisx7KjXT4gnZkxZoZ9i_6UmwSrL7ozFau6qyt-nGHC2TzngVh_Gb-W/s1600/rainbowhorse.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxQK92NL0n_vTQ3HkMri2xu_O-u5aAWrnYkj4lRBbfXiLoLoheW_WfwIVW5jPv5MaYzWQTwYxtN0qLo8qvZs6bTisx7KjXT4gnZkxZoZ9i_6UmwSrL7ozFau6qyt-nGHC2TzngVh_Gb-W/s400/rainbowhorse.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599041298643168002" /></a>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-35511574189789061272011-04-19T03:38:00.000-07:002011-04-19T03:52:22.711-07:00For Nikki...For her youngest daughter, Alicia requested a flower, and let me know that the room was black and gold. I went on a bit of a glow overload with all of Nikki's pictures, this one is no exception. The three pictures will be framed separately but displayed as seen here.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Tm-Ynl47Ahb0Ae5jM4QhaRsAIyR4mJbrd3ep8WvGrQuA3IfM7yyZfe5cut665ymwKCO3UFGu-owZwkWEqse1ktQDmNK-qRz7QNpGO9oHzW-gF1eSL69E3ChC0HTgdVsi1bDOqU_8_pWV/s1600/Hummingbirds.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Tm-Ynl47Ahb0Ae5jM4QhaRsAIyR4mJbrd3ep8WvGrQuA3IfM7yyZfe5cut665ymwKCO3UFGu-owZwkWEqse1ktQDmNK-qRz7QNpGO9oHzW-gF1eSL69E3ChC0HTgdVsi1bDOqU_8_pWV/s400/Hummingbirds.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597243303578357938" /></a><br /><br />When I thought of 'glowing flower' I immediately thought of Tangled, and then had a minor freak out that everyone would think I'd just copied it. So even though a lily (the flower they used in Tangled) is my favourite and would have been my choice, I made a conscious effort to not use one, and instead used inspiration from the iris, tulip and calla lily. I'm actually happy with how it came out!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmdpbNTwBtk-Ou1xl_E5XI66Rln0nzpxQBF7O_H5a3fdY9xqjqORkOawYgUgTkzIEG6u8pqpVgBpnsk20Ovuyit98vtJ1E6__H4PQostkD0VpZ8u-1OnAUdKgx7_e-6gWoUol5MMaO5hNo/s1600/flower.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmdpbNTwBtk-Ou1xl_E5XI66Rln0nzpxQBF7O_H5a3fdY9xqjqORkOawYgUgTkzIEG6u8pqpVgBpnsk20Ovuyit98vtJ1E6__H4PQostkD0VpZ8u-1OnAUdKgx7_e-6gWoUol5MMaO5hNo/s400/flower.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597245581133537810" /></a>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-54411308766643650652011-04-11T22:32:00.001-07:002011-04-11T22:36:19.994-07:00Want to draw!I really want to be drawing right now...but I can not...as I am just on a quick break at work. Blergh. I constantly have new ideas and forget about finishing old ones....like all these below from two years ago....one day little sketchings, I'll revisit you. One day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMD-jy9VstNGT_l_eHWC6oheU_jLcoPK2FDc9v4Fd9kRpMGPNo9IFQ4ndWwdTJ5uJLIc0eJ7JPyS4ENjiEB5lw1NvAr8_OGQpg97cgY7j4pJdx4RG4uU4-ZuLd51t4iWWpdkI9VwTIdJq2/s1600/Sketch_Dump_June_by_zepheenia.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMD-jy9VstNGT_l_eHWC6oheU_jLcoPK2FDc9v4Fd9kRpMGPNo9IFQ4ndWwdTJ5uJLIc0eJ7JPyS4ENjiEB5lw1NvAr8_OGQpg97cgY7j4pJdx4RG4uU4-ZuLd51t4iWWpdkI9VwTIdJq2/s400/Sketch_Dump_June_by_zepheenia.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594566315814523394" /></a>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-42549061921917572512011-04-04T03:56:00.000-07:002011-04-04T04:08:35.492-07:00Productive MondayI've stopped working at the office on Mondays. I stopped on the condition that I would get art work/costumes/crafty things done on the day instead. Sometimes I use them for other chores that I haven't had a chance to get to. Today was a success I believe.<br /><br />My filthy car was cleansed of all rubbish, clothes, shoes and Up'n'Go containers (there were 5 in the door), vacuumed, scrubbed, pressure rinsed and sprayed with pina colada air freshener from the car wash mmm.<br /><br />My very messy and dusty room was purged of all it's rubbish, clothes, dirt, cat food (my kitten is a messy eater it seems) and tissues...soo many tissues. I even pulled my bed out and cleaned underneath, huzzah!<br /><br />Finally I got another picture for Alicia completed. I drew this the other night while watching tv with my sister, but all colouring was done in the last 3 hours :D <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrov3Qxpb5evI7UJXzC6u37rIOOy5LM7Oz51HNsUNENMoJXrcO-hvoIWhBD0fAuCTI21hJP59E9KyONzkwwjI25Ai7-awMtp41jS6E4b4IlFp33MQqVhAaymqFmwKhPB97M7A78Qxk7AoG/s1600/Mermaid.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 292px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrov3Qxpb5evI7UJXzC6u37rIOOy5LM7Oz51HNsUNENMoJXrcO-hvoIWhBD0fAuCTI21hJP59E9KyONzkwwjI25Ai7-awMtp41jS6E4b4IlFp33MQqVhAaymqFmwKhPB97M7A78Qxk7AoG/s400/Mermaid.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591682552685330562" /></a><br /><br />Now, I think an early night is an order!Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-25329852955603642122011-03-29T17:04:00.000-07:002011-03-29T17:13:05.482-07:00A whole new worldMy friend Kirsty LOVES Aladdin (movie AND character)<br /><br />She also LOVES lasagne<br /><br />So, I put it in a picture for her :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwB0FFBOuxuxuCt_r24OWuzmU2TstxXwfg0nivUH5brnEuKIAjt762g_AVX2aqFE5f6PWhYsAxyWte_FhHRtKXr4y5JFmkVr9btSHAgm2dnhwmvmkwxmE91dK4W900BpvwfdbSyEATWTR/s1600/aladdincomplete.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 303px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwB0FFBOuxuxuCt_r24OWuzmU2TstxXwfg0nivUH5brnEuKIAjt762g_AVX2aqFE5f6PWhYsAxyWte_FhHRtKXr4y5JFmkVr9btSHAgm2dnhwmvmkwxmE91dK4W900BpvwfdbSyEATWTR/s400/aladdincomplete.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589659161005597890" /></a><br /><br />And so you can see her in real life, here's us with the cupcakes from the earlier post<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmRR5ayShZMvORqsyPE2Y0LM4x_w0e5qNNcgHdlU0qgrAvWcFVu7l62V_nx9fIDDZVSnsG7IR0FUcI-b_UbA3Kom17_e_qla9_zxJclnu5-lR72mIGx8zb8rZGQWIBMeWOavciFOIYM9D/s1600/207166_10150224047744167_660079166_9053237_4786108_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmRR5ayShZMvORqsyPE2Y0LM4x_w0e5qNNcgHdlU0qgrAvWcFVu7l62V_nx9fIDDZVSnsG7IR0FUcI-b_UbA3Kom17_e_qla9_zxJclnu5-lR72mIGx8zb8rZGQWIBMeWOavciFOIYM9D/s400/207166_10150224047744167_660079166_9053237_4786108_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589659160350512146" /></a>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-44231778141032902702011-03-27T00:35:00.000-07:002011-03-27T00:49:39.764-07:00Lanterns or roses?I made cupcakes for my best friend Kirsty's birthday, and was quite impressed with how they looked in this photo. Afterwards I realised they reminded me of the beautiful floating lanterns in Tangled...*love love love love love*<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAW1ptodZHaw3_A2WZBKZoDgaCGzeP1Ou6Z9gfpMnXvIfhdhYGp_ipDDg1JP5U0kc-HvBFw5SH1P6jGUyi6rY9LLZAJn4MohfkNsajzcZDGhrM1AfutmRY_AAnzA2DZ-DZRQulOtTmHjg/s1600/tangled_flynn_rapunzel_lanterns.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAW1ptodZHaw3_A2WZBKZoDgaCGzeP1Ou6Z9gfpMnXvIfhdhYGp_ipDDg1JP5U0kc-HvBFw5SH1P6jGUyi6rY9LLZAJn4MohfkNsajzcZDGhrM1AfutmRY_AAnzA2DZ-DZRQulOtTmHjg/s400/tangled_flynn_rapunzel_lanterns.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588662862674792402" /></a><br />Others said they looked like a rose...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjO27iKi6J7VxDRhUtwtNzrA2mLc1_Rdpz_TwWJXC3yF7d97joY6mBh2wLxrrNmbxdGEveZ_9ao49BvcFdqv2mx6JLsNEVhSIP0YJU2ctuWwGyXM8P09olrcAArBk-PqjJjDTnizbkEprx/s1600/yellow-and-pink-rose.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjO27iKi6J7VxDRhUtwtNzrA2mLc1_Rdpz_TwWJXC3yF7d97joY6mBh2wLxrrNmbxdGEveZ_9ao49BvcFdqv2mx6JLsNEVhSIP0YJU2ctuWwGyXM8P09olrcAArBk-PqjJjDTnizbkEprx/s400/yellow-and-pink-rose.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588662808534082514" /></a><br />Kirsty just thought they looked delicious...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgti4o9gnrNxbljVKGU6M6BKQUDwrbX1gzV3K63uMJuVr1yLVQ4c5i0LGOz73J0LmJu9BXkEP8pGJm0w8IKy_RWtY5oK4bluKVEM4GSbBMaZakGVjXhnkggPWjW27_r1GtyiBmVgHpeYcGj/s1600/Cupcakes+003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgti4o9gnrNxbljVKGU6M6BKQUDwrbX1gzV3K63uMJuVr1yLVQ4c5i0LGOz73J0LmJu9BXkEP8pGJm0w8IKy_RWtY5oK4bluKVEM4GSbBMaZakGVjXhnkggPWjW27_r1GtyiBmVgHpeYcGj/s400/Cupcakes+003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588663065815401074" /></a><br />She was right.Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-80273236105437827912011-03-16T19:29:00.000-07:002011-03-16T19:33:19.125-07:00Productive?This last week I've got two complete pictures done for Alicia AND a 3 page illustrated card...thing...for my friend's birthday. I might put that up later but for now, here's a little moon girl for Alicia's newest arrival - Dominik.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXpb2vMoyULMT3TRpLupWZoqAarmh-_CGSTQPYzTXNe40IdGkyS_hgAjNYUqNhml4_wwfZfvioGuhGmqq253T11qG0zu2jN89hoKBRXxz11MWt_d1FupphIREI4CauduZdM3ZIXe0Jq5o/s1600/moon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 292px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXpb2vMoyULMT3TRpLupWZoqAarmh-_CGSTQPYzTXNe40IdGkyS_hgAjNYUqNhml4_wwfZfvioGuhGmqq253T11qG0zu2jN89hoKBRXxz11MWt_d1FupphIREI4CauduZdM3ZIXe0Jq5o/s400/moon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584870931782543810" /></a><br /><br />I wasn't sure if it was too simple, but the opinion of the four people I asked all said that it was good just like this :) Let me know if you think differently....<br /><br />I like the lilac line work...there's just something super pretty about it I thinkLaurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-53484925700634600072011-03-15T04:57:00.000-07:002011-03-15T05:00:49.576-07:00For Alicia - BlueBlue fairy! Glowing things are fun.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvuvUkUdZZDkXhpfjL47kwsI_JK1JrJwiZf2JlCHxkf0rrxxjRwmALAY59FPEa2Q4wKFOwJQcQY0onAPqKZd2Ka-S8_3MwtYalIqbESfNDjAhAshwMK4cZzyGyPPWwJxuTokduzAOQSJ8/s1600/bluefae.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvuvUkUdZZDkXhpfjL47kwsI_JK1JrJwiZf2JlCHxkf0rrxxjRwmALAY59FPEa2Q4wKFOwJQcQY0onAPqKZd2Ka-S8_3MwtYalIqbESfNDjAhAshwMK4cZzyGyPPWwJxuTokduzAOQSJ8/s400/bluefae.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584275268805566274" /></a>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-21913021590573432902011-03-01T16:29:00.001-08:002011-03-01T16:31:45.775-08:00For Imogen...I completed the last picture Alicia commissioned for her eldest daughter, Imogen. Another princess hooray! I was so tempted to give her red hair to match that green dress, but she looked a bit too Ariel....or a bit too me haha.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ARWE0mCk6LgSISWa6W0HKCOcLrgq_DdZKTpVPJSH4o5MjPGI_wWRiYrMnmQcrARyPBGcZlxSiV7H1lwXB5FtYX0L_5nqgNRd13VMAmG7FAquIXkH3J8WtL5E-_My-YuKMB3vUw7rMY2g/s1600/princess.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ARWE0mCk6LgSISWa6W0HKCOcLrgq_DdZKTpVPJSH4o5MjPGI_wWRiYrMnmQcrARyPBGcZlxSiV7H1lwXB5FtYX0L_5nqgNRd13VMAmG7FAquIXkH3J8WtL5E-_My-YuKMB3vUw7rMY2g/s400/princess.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579273626403240802" /></a>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2356064137778034713.post-18154350782820288412011-02-23T17:33:00.000-08:002011-02-23T17:35:20.973-08:00Totally famous....They Draw And Cook have a new site, and look who made it on! <a href="http://www.theydrawandcook.com/recipes/choc-mint-mermaid-brownies-by-lauren-tregenza">Yay Brownies!!</a>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14725871260104423004noreply@blogger.com0