A California Adventure

Almost my entire immediate family went to California a few weeks ago. It was a fairly epic trip.

Since we visited Disneyland only a few days after my birthday, I HAD to get a "Happy Birthday" button. Growing up, my birthday was always during the one of the first few weeks of school, so I never got to do anything cool like this! I reveled in everyone saying "Happy Birthday" to me all day long; by the third day, my mom started calling it the "never-ending birthday." Ha!

It was also my four year-old nieces' first trip to California. My brother, their dad, did a great job making sure we didn't waste too much time at Disneyland, and that the girls got to do all of the stuff we'd been telling them about. Lucky for me, they asked my mom and me if we'd want to do a Princess Breakfast with the girls to get some of those photos out of the way. I LOVED it! The food was delicious, and the girls couldn't sit still because they were so excited. Sadly, the photos didn't turn out great, and they did not ever meet Princess Aurora. Guess we'll have to go back again sometime to take care of that ;)

We spent most of the first day together in a big group, and broke into smaller groups on the second and third days. I even had a few hours to myself at one point. I got to do and eat just about everything I wanted, the beignets and mint julep more than making up for missing a Dole Whip (I tend to think the Dole Whips are overrated anyway). I also met more characters than I have before, like Cruella de Vil, Snow White, Aladdin and Jasmine, and Tiana. I didn't waste any time!

Oh, and I bought an adorable new purse. Check it out the next time you see me.

A definite highlight of the Disney days was spending some time with Jillian, a friend who moved to California a few weeks ago to intern as a ride operator at the park. I sure do love her.

We spent our last day of the trip at a lovely beach in Huntington Beach, and saw a Dodgers game that night. I don't remember the last time I went to a baseball game; it was great being there with my dad and brothers and sisters-in-law and nephew. The Dodgers beat the Giants 3-2 in the 10th inning (hooray for overtime!), and we all ate Dodger dogs and sang and cheered and chewed Big League gum. Seriously, good times :-)

Now for a lot of photos (I'm pretty sure Aaron has all of the group shots on his camera. Can't wait to see them!):

Quite a few rides were closed to get ready for the Halloween celebration.
If only we'd gone just two days later. Next time!

Breezy's Chesire Cat grin when she got her Mickey ice cream was glorious.
This girl knows how to get what she wants!

Padawan G faces off with an impressive Darth Maul (while Aunt Meg spilled her
Diet Coke all over the viewing area floor. Whoops!)

We were pretty soaked after the second run on Splash Mountain :)

I'm pretty proud of this "Carouselfie!"

The G-child thought he would be so scared by the Tower of Terror, but we ALL laughed during the entire ride.

There's one in every family. It seems, this time, it's me!

Toy Story Midway Mania was one the G-child knew I was most looking foward to.
It ended up being one of his favorites as well. I'm glad he came with me for his first run!

Dream came true -- and none of my family there to bear witness :P

I need to look up what this is (in front of the Haunted Mansion).
All I know is it plays an important role in The Children of Hamelin.

Jillian and I on the Pirates of the Caribbean, with lady pirates
Anne Bonny and Mary Read in the background

Pier Plaza, shot by me from the nearby Pier

Now I know that Big League Chew yields the biggest bubbles.
Where was this information last year?!

On the drive home, we all agreed that we'd need another vacation to recover from our vacation. It was fun and tiring and surprising. Looking forward to whatever the next family trip is, and hope everyone can be there!

Comic Con ON my BIRTHDAY!!!!

My birthday this year just happened to coincide with Salt Lake's first ever Comic Con. My brother Aaron, upon learning how excited I was about this event, offered to buy my ticket and experience the crazy day with me. I'm so glad he did. It was seriously the coolest birthday I could ever have wished for!

A slice of the main showroom in the Salt Palace

What is a Comic Con, you ask? It's an event where people can celebrate pop culture, like television, movies, comic books, video games, and so forth. Celebrities come to do question-and-answer sessions and sign autographs, and there are booths for promotion and merchandise. The Salt Lake Con had a film festival and a couple of other events. It's an excuse for people of similar non-sporty interests to get together and celebrate our nerdiness for whatever we happen to love.

One of the highlights for any Comic Con is seeing the fans (and some professionals) dressed in costume. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of dressing up until about a week before, at which time I realized it was going to be my BIRTHDAY; why was I even considering not wearing a tiara that day? So, I posted the following status on Facebook:

I'm looking for ideas: I'm going to the Salt Lake Comicon on my birthday. I'm not completely sold on dressing up, but if I do, I want to wear a tiara (is anyone surprised? No? Moving on). What costume could I wear with a tiara that isn't slutty and wouldn't be out of place at comicon? Any suggestions?

My friends had a LOT of suggestions, several of which I quite liked, and would have tried if I had given myself sufficient time to put a costume together. I ended up as a modified version of Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time:

The pink hair sold me in the end.
I loved having pink hair all day!

When Aaron and I got to the Con, I looked at all of the elaborate costumes and felt dumb that I hadn't tried harder. I felt that way right up until I saw my first other Princess Bubblegum and she gave me a thumbs up. Pretty soon, I realized that fans of the show absolutely knew who I was! Hooraaaaay! People who didn't know the show wouldn't have known anyway... this was true for ALL of the costumes. It hit me just how nerdy I was based on how many of the characters I recognized. I might not have seen the shows or played the games or read the comic books, but I knew who a lot of people were trying to be! Aaron put together a terrific soldier costume -- no one specific, just someone doing his duty for his country. It was so good that several people, including the actual officer doing the weapons check, asked him if he really was a soldier. Props to Aaron!

Highlights of the day:

About the first thing we saw when we walked in was the crowd
making room for this velociraptor. The man inside it was camouflaged
by raptor-skin-colored tights.
This raptor would also show up at Larissa's wedding, but that's another story!

My friend Carrie spent most of the day with us.
Her costume -- Applejack from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic --
was a huge hit and a lot of people asked to take photos of her. 

My friend Karrie also spent a fun chunk of the day with us,
and we were thrilled to run in to Maida as Kirby from Pokemon

501st Legion: ultimate cosplaying Star Wars fans

The Heroes of Canton, two men they call Jayne
(Firefly) 

Doctor Who's TARDIS

Jareth, the Goblin King, from Labyrinth 

Finally got the courage to ask one of the Finns
(from Adventure Time) to join me in a photo

I also spent most of the day with dear friend Karrie, and we were
thrilled to run in to Maida as Kirby from Pokemon

Q&A with New Zealand actor Manu Bennett, who was witty and funny and charming
and made me want to rewatch The Hobbit, and start watching Arrow

Another friend I spent some of the day with, Kyle
(He almost couldn't get in because the building was maxed out.
Fortunately, a bunch of people left, so they let him in after all.) 

Aaron found his high school friend, and local up-and-coming personality, Deena Marie!

Saw a shortened and "family friendly" version of the Las Vegas show The Evil Dead: The Musical. No blood, just a lot of singing and zombies and laughing at "bleeped" swear words :D

Dean Cain was the only celebrity I met that day. When I told him it was my birthday, he gave me a huge hug, and then another when we said good-bye. Dean was so nice! Thanks, Aaron, for convincing me to meet him!
(Aaron joked while we watched the Manu Bennett Q&A that I should have asked whether he thought he could give me a better hug than Dean Cain, but I chickened out :P )
If I get another chance, I'd like to meet Henry Winkler, too -- his table was next to Dean's, and he was greeting the people who stood in line. He seemed like a favorite uncle -- a genuine, nice person. Yay!

I also saw four short films, two of which starred friends: Black Blood (a zombie western), and Steve in Accounting vs. The Shadow Dwellers. Both were entertaining, though Black Blood had a slightly more original premise and better production values. I'm glad I didn't miss them!

All I ate that day were an Egg McMuffin, a slice of pizza, and a couple of scoops of coffee ice cream with almonds and oreo. I generally eat a LOT more than that during the day, but I was too busy trying to see and do all I could in the nine short hours I was there! Plus, those sound like perfect birthday foods to me!

When we finally decided it was time to go (they'd turned off the lights and all of the shopkeepers were breaking down their booths), we drove to my mom's house so she could see our costumes, and so we could tell her all about the day. It was so hard to describe, except being so, so fun and cool!

The SL Comic Con was hugely successful, and the people in charge are already planning on the next one. Next year, I'm going every day, and I'm taking as my of my friends with me as will go.

Anyone interested? Anyone interested in planning a group costume as characters from Muppet Babies? Or The Princess Bride? Or all of the My Little Ponies... I'm open to suggestions!

The Darlene Sunshine Show

I borrowed Stranger Than Fiction from Netflix this week. It had been awhile since I'd seen this movie and I remembered liking it. I had to watch it twice before sending it back! It's just so smart and funny and poignant and sad, and the performances and production values make me want to cheer.

I watched all of the DVD Extras and found the gem I'm posting below. This "interview" was improv-ed, which makes me like it even more. Emma Thompson and Kristen Chenoweth? Yes, please! They are great together. I couldn't breathe because I laughed so hard at the discussion about Karen Eiffel's previous books.

Darlene (Kristen): *laughing* I feel so silly!
Karen (Emma): *under her breath* You should.

Watch it. Laugh.


You're welcome for bringing this in to your life!

August and the end of the summer

As predicted, August was a crazy, full month. I saw a TON of plays, including my Shakespeare Saturdays, and had my first mini-vacation of the year. Here's a snapshot of the month:

A showing of the '80s classic movie Ghostbusters

Sandy Arts Council's Thoroughly Modern Millie

My besty, Kate, the best Muzzy I've ever enjoyed.
Never stop singing, Dearest!

Taylor as Millie

Gorgeous Nichole

Ashley and Jacob as Miss Dorothy and Trevor Graydon

Sugar Factory Playhouse's South Pacific

Sweet, innocent Larissa with the Murens ;)

David's White Coat Ceremony

In several short years, we'll have a doctor in the family. We're so proud!

My mom's birthday (the honored lady is not pictured, per her wishes)

Neither David nor I have aged in the last 10 years.

Gunner's favorite place at Grammy's house :P

White cake with raspberry filling, made by David -- yummy!

Midvale Main Street Theater's Legally Blonde

Possibly my favorite play of the summer, next to Peter and the Starcatcher

Amelia and Leah as Elle and Paulette

Megan W. as Brooke, Aaron's friend Stacey, and Aaron

CenterPoint Legacy's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

I was surprised by how many people I knew in this show!

Kiss Me Kate reunion photo! I miss these kids!

The premier of Austenland

Nichole and I even got to hear a Q&A by director/screenwriter
Jerusha Hess and creator/co-screenwriter Shannon Hale!

My final Shakespeare Saturday

A reading of As You Like It with a group from Robin Hood, where I got to read Audrey

Finally received this adorable little friend in the mail:

I'm Harry Potter, Harry, Harry Potter...

And now the summer is technically over, though it still lives in my heart. September will be busy, and happy. Too much going on to linger over the past for too long. It was a wonderful summer, though!

A letter to September

Dear September,

The last two of you were pretty awful to me. I've gotten sick during Labor Day weekend both years, and was sick for my birthday... and the whole rest of the month. Two years ago, I had whooping cough, which was not diagnosed until the end of the month. Last year, it may have just been a sinus infection, but it lasted forever, and the coughing and irritated throat ruined closing night of my show.

I realize it's not your fault that I'm allergic to trees and weeds and grass, and otherwise I would totally look forward to Autumn and the changing of trees and crunching leaves and cooling of weather. But, since I AM allergic, please go easy on me. I've been doing my part and getting allergy shots and taking other medication to help ease the process, but anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated. Can't the continuing physical therapy on my ankle be enough of the physical trouble for now?

I must say, it's hard enough accepting that I'm in my thirties, but to spend the first month of the new year ill is adding insult to injury. Uncool September. The birthday coming up could be especially difficult emotionally. Don't make it worse.

This September, in particular, I really, really want to be healthy. I have a LOT of awesome stuff planned and I do NOT want to be sick for all of it. Please? Pretty, pretty please?

Looking forward to a terrific month free of illness and full of family, friends, and fun. Let's work together to make this a truly epic birthday month. We're making up for the last two, after all!

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Miss Megan