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The title of this blog post has more than one meaning. Immediately after going to Disneyland with my family, I ended up getting really sick. I believe this is the third time this year that I’ve fallen ill right after I get back from a trip. I’m usually quite prepared when it comes to my personal well-being & overall health, as well as maintaining a good & thorough hand-washing regimen. However, the allergy & cold game is especially strong this year. I can feel a disturbance in the force… (A cheesy & clichéd Star Wars reference from a very Non Star Wars person.) That’s a big reason why I’ve been MIA from my blog. Plus, I’ve been singlehandedly decorating my house for the upcoming Christmas holiday, & helping my mom prepare the house for incoming houseguests.
So, I had a very bad cold & slight fever when I got back from my Southern California vacation. I’m so lucky that I didn’t get any symptoms until my vacation ended. The last few times my family visited Disneyland for the Thanksgiving holiday, at least one person either threw out their back (…my brother…) or got severely ill (usually myself or my nephew). I’m very glad this trip went off with minimal glitches. Everyone had a fun time, & the best part was that my nephew & niece thoroughly enjoyed themselves, & they went home with so many incredible memories to treasure for years to come.
my niece
Both kids cried so hard at the end of our trip. One child didn’t want to go home at all, & the other child wanted to hurry up & get the hell out of Disneyland on our last night. My sister had invited a close friend & her two daughters to meet up with us on one of our days at Disneyland. The daughters of said friend are good friends with my niece & nephew (they are all close in age). Having girl friends hang out with my niece made her so happy. My nephew, who is incredibly sentimental, was over the moon to have all of his favorite people surrounding him & letting him decide what rides we should go on. All of the grown ups really spoiled the kids so much at Disneyland…lots of individual attention to each child, lots of leniency, lots of sweet treats (but not a lot of souvenirs or presents).
Left to Right: Jian, niece, brother
Throughout the entire weekend, we jumped between both theme parks (Disneyland & California Adventure). My nephew (who is usually too stubborn to try new things) tried a few new rides, & even went on a few of the more adventurous rides for older kids. My niece also tried out a few new rides, & got her hair done at the Frozen-themed hair salon complete with glitter hairspray & clip-on colored hair extensions. I’m usually very skeptical about buying souvenirs &/or toys for my nephew & niece. They have a tendency of not taking good care of their belongings, & either end up breaking their things or losing them. Last year, I got “burned” by a bad experience that left a sour memory. I had gone out of my way to buy my niece some memorable (& expensive) souvenirs, & then she lost all of it. Even though her lost gifts got replaced for free by our hotel, that whole experience left me wary of buying the kids any more presents. But of course, me being the doting aunt, I always cave in & end up buying more gifts for my nephew & niece. This year, I only bought them each one souvenir. I got them monogrammed Mickey & Minnie hats. They each got hats with their names stitched on them, & I was more than surprised, I was utterly shocked that they politely wore their hats for the entire day we were at Disneyland. They really appreciated their gifts, & that made it worthwhile for me.
niece, nephew
Overall, this trip to Disneyland was probably our family’s most memorable vacation to-date. None of the kids fussed, complained, cried (until late at night on our last day), or got sick. My brother’s back pain was not acting up, & my sister was not acting like “diva mom” very much. Even my mom had a great time with all of these hyperactive kids bouncing around her. Her feet got stepped on several times by a few inconsiderate tourists, but she was fine in the end. Jian & I got to spend quality time together as well, & we each bonded even more with my niece & nephew. I swear, my nephew & I are so in sync. We get sick together, we like the same things, eat the same foods, & we are similar in other ways. This is how we’ve been able to remain extremely close since he was born. I’m just now starting to understand my niece’s personality, & she can look up to me because we are both girls. She is really finding her own voice & is able to speak up, which helps us understand her better. My sister’s kids will forever be my little sweethearts, even when I have children of my own. We had a blast with Mickey & his friends, & have plans to go back next year. Cheers!
Left to Right: niece, Jian, me, nephew
Today’s song of the day:
The time is upon me. I am finally going to Mexico for that oh-so-special destination wedding I’ve been mentioning on this blog. My cousin is finally getting hitched, & the whole family clan is high tailing down to Sayulita (a.k.a. the Puerto Vallarta region) for a long weekend of partying, rain, scorching heat, & high humidity. It’s going to be a blast. I’m not very keen on attending weddings, so I’m anxious eager to get this show on the road & over with. One thing that I’ve never mentioned about myself is that I enjoy packing suitcases for vacations/trips. I’m not exactly sure why I enjoy this mundane task. Perhaps it’s the ‘extreme organizer’ side of my personality that can really shine in this area. Or it could just be that I like packing & stowing things away into little tiny compartments like a Japanese bento box. I get a special thrill when I’m able to pack a shitload (pardon my French) of toiletries, clothes, accessories & such into a small rolling suitcase without breaking the zipper or the scale at the check-in station. (There were TWO times when I was able to stow a full-size umbrella into my suitcase & not break the umbrella or the suitcase. Except, I did poke a small hole in one of the incidents.) Every time I pack for a trip, I like to stock up on little travel sized toiletries (i.e. toothpaste, hair products, drug store medicine, etc.) & make list upon list of things I need to pack & things I need to get squared away in preparation for my departure (i.e. place travel notices on credit cards, add International travel feature on mobile phone plan, place a vacation hold on mail & newspapers, etc.). No matter how much I try to scale down the amount of items in my suitcase, I always feel like my luggage is going to burst. Through my many travels over the years, I feel like I’ve somewhat learned how to streamline my suitcase packing, but I’m still somehow over-stuffing my suitcase. So, recently, I invested in a space saver garment bag (well, two to be exact…one for me and one for my companion). This space saver bag was not cheap, but it was well worth it. I only wish I had purchased one a long time ago, it would have made all of my trips to Asia so much easier! As per most of my travel-related products, I purchased this space saver garment bag (a.k.a. Spacepak) from the Flight 001 store.
I’m going to try this out & see if I like it. It’s just one more thing to help keep me on top of my organizational game. I’m so excited to finally celebrate my cousin’s wedding in Mexico! Cheers!
Today’s song of the day:
It seems as though the days blend together in a blur. It feels like just recently I was marveling in my cousin’s engagement, & now she’s getting married in nearly TWO WEEKS! So many birthdays of friends & families have passed. I can hardly remember how many parties I’ve attended in the last month or so. This upcoming week, my 5-year old niece will be performing in a children’s ballet recital. I was invited, but unable to attend. (I hope my sister captures everything on film!)
I’m so amazed at how quickly time passes these days. Like I said before, it’s all like one big blur. I can barely recognize day from night, especially since the Summer weather provides longer hours of sunlight & prolonged sunsets. Only in the pitch darkness of the night, when I lay my head to rest, I feel as though time has slowed down, allowed me to take a breath & relax.
This Monday starts a new week. I shall make the most of it as much as possible. Until then, cheers!
Today’s song of the day:
Rabbits & Foxes 
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