A Story Worth Telling.

a song to set the scene // go the distance by roger bart

A piece of advice: when booking dining reservations at Disneyland, good luck.

Okay so that’s not really advice.

I guess what I’m really trying to tell you is again: good luck.

And: be prepared.

Prepared for what?

Oh I don’t know, to wake up at 2am refreshing your Disney app begging for a table to have opened up.

To obsessively check the website morning, noon, and night. Oh, and all that time in between.

Oh, and if you are lucky enough to get notified of a table opening up, act fast.

And be prepared that even if you do act fast, you may have already been too late and the table is gone.

Sounds like I might’ve gone through this experience or something, doesn’t it?

That’s because I have.

Very recently too.

Sounds like a story worth telling, yes?

We’ll start at the beginning then, and in very Disney fashion.

Once u-pun a time…

There lived a Bride and a Maid of Honor.

(hi! I’m the Maid of Honor)

The Bride happened to be the Maid of Honor’s sister and in celebration of her upcoming nuptials, the Maid of Honor decided to surprise her sister with a trip to Disneyland, only the happiest place on earth.

What the Maid of Honor neglected to realize was that planning the trip to Disney would take some work.

Tickets, park reservations, hotel booking, and dinner reservations were proving to be rather difficult dragons to slay.

So she took each obstacle one by one.

Tickets: check.

Park reservations: check.

Hotel booking: check.

Genie +: check.

Dining reservations? No check.

During her research, the Maid of Honor came to discover that snagging a coveted table at their favorite restaurant, Blue Bayou, was apparently near impossible.

But, the Maid of Honor was up for a challenge. After all, she would do anything for her sister, especially for this particular occasion.

And so, as the weeks narrowed down for their trip, the Maid of Honor persevered.

She was indeed up at 2am every night, refreshing the reservations.

She acted fast when she did get notified of a table opening up, only to be not quite quick enough.

She researched, and read countless articles about the subject.

She called Disney and she had her brother call, only to be told the same thing: nothing we can do about it.

She had a few minor meltdowns, the trip causing anxiety inducing worry. She was frustrated at how difficult it was to reserve a table, and she wanted so badly to treat her sister at this favorite restaurant of theirs.

But the Maid of Honor held on to hope.

She struggled, absolutely, but she still had hope. She felt that every missed opportunity was only bringing her closer to what she truly believed would magically appear: a dinner reservation at Blue Bayou.

And that’s the thing about Disney she loved so much: always believe that something magical is about to happen.

And then one evening, as the Maid of Honor was watching a movie with the Bride, she got a notification.

Blue Bayou Resturant

(Dinner - Party of 2):

Mar 7 - 8:30pm

Click to confirm

Like Dash from the Incredibles, The Maid of Honor bolted upright and frantically clicked the link.

Within seconds, the table was already gone.

She was too late.

Again.

No!

Crushed, she went to her Disneyland app and scrolled all the way to 8:30 just in case the website was wrong.

And there, right in front of her: a table for 2 at Blue Bayou.

Adrenaline pumping, the Maid of Honor devoted every ounce of energy into securing this rare reservation, typing away as fast as her fingers could take her.

The Bride looked on, confused.

“It’ll make sense soon!” The Maid of Honor gleefully replied. “I need your credit card! Credit card, I need it now!”

The Bride, amused at what was happening, obliged, and within a minute, the Maid of Honor had her dream come true.

Fast forward five nights.

The Maid of Honor and the Bride checked into their 8:30 reservation. Having had a marvelous day packed full of riding, screaming, shopping, and memory making, the two were happily exhausted and very much looking forward to this meal at Blue Bayou.

Following the hostess, they were led to the perfect table by the water. Sitting down, they looked on as fellow Disney goers were enjoying the boat ride on Pirates of the Caribbean.

How had they been so lucky.

The perfect table!

The meal, of course, was fantastic, as they knew it would be. And the satisfaction of finally being able to enjoy what the Maid of Honor had worked so hard to secure was tremendous.

And in very Disney fashion, the Maid of Honor and the Bride ate happily ever after..

My funny Valentine.

a song to set the scene // my funny valentine by stories, bruno major

This year marked my first official celebration of Valentine’s Day.

*claps for self

It’s only taken me twenty-six years.

Better late than never.

Well, unfortunately, I spent most of the day working.

Which, to be honest, I wasn’t too upset about.

I’ve never really been a fan of Valentine’s Day, as many of past posts can tell you.

I’d always struggled with my persistent state of singledom and when this particular holiday rolled around in the already depressing dead of winter, it just made things feel inherently worse.

Getting blasted with commericizled superficial “love” wasn’t something that really rocked my boat, especially because it only seemed to suit those who were in actual relationships.

And I guess a relationship with my cat didn’t count.

Yet.

But this year, this year was different.

Because for the fist time ever, I wasn’t single on Valentine’s Day.

And because for the first time ever, I had been lucky enough to stumble across this incredible gem who had been in front of me this whole time. Waiting, ever so patiently, until the time was right.

Skipping the incredibly painful stages of early dating and the “getting to know you” phase, things for us just… fell into place with ease.

There was no pressure, no over-thinking, and no doubts on my end that whatever was happening was something genuine and special.

He had seen me at my best and he had seen me at my worst; and yet still, he accepted and adored me for who I was.

Man. I’m a lucky lady.

So this year, I wanted to do something a little special.

I mean, how could I not? We deserved it.

(after work though, cause remember I worked the whole day)

(*eye roll)

And so: I decided to surprise him with a little post-work scene.

Come on: it’s Valentine’s Day.

Getting home from my shift, I quickly drew a bath. While the water was running, I made up a candle-lit path leading to the bathroom, then slipped out of my clothes and settled under the bubbles, ever so seductively.

And then I waited for him.

I figured: well, I have some time, let’s shave the old legs.

Shaved my legs and thought: mind as well watch some Netflix while I’m waiting.

Time ticked by, and still no gem. Two episodes later, and still no gem.

Frustrated, and skin very quickly starting to prune, I finally got out.

Decided next: I’ll slip into one of my penoir sets and lay luxuriously across my bed.

Laid there for a bit, bored.

Still no gem.

Finally, I got a call from him.

“Hey, I’m outside your house but I can’t make it up your driveway.”

What do you mean you can’t make it up the driveway. You’re in a truck. It wasn’t like I lived on a cliff.

Curious, I paddled out to the living room nonetheless. In my sheer nightgown, I cozied up to the window and saw his truck indeed out in the driveway.

Unfortunately, he was in an apparent faceoff with a very stubborn moose. And this moose made no move to let him pass.

Well I'll be.

It’s Valentine’s Day and my gem is being co** blocked by a damn moose.

For the next ten minutes or so, I watched, entertained, as my gem back and forthed up and down the driveway trying to get to me.

Oh my funny Valentine.

The moose, not interested in letting him interrupt his consumption of crab apples, finally let him through and I was at long last reunited with my lover.

This would be how my first ever V-Day celebration would go.

I’ll spare you the details of the rest of the evening (some things are better left to the imagination), but I end this holiday with a smile on my face, happy knowing that there’s no other Valentine I’d rather watch facing off with a moose trying to get to me.

I “moose’d” have picked a good one..