Makeup by Hawiza

We had a great time at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure Park this past Saturday thanks to Los Angelista, Disneyland and everyone that voted for us. We had an awesome time.

A few days before the “day”, we receive an email from Michele Himmelberg from the office of Disneyland Resort Public Relations with our itinerary. We knew then it was going to be a great day!

We arrived at the Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and were informed by parking attendant to go straight to the red carpet for our complimentary valet parking. From there we went to the registration desk so we can receive our park hopper passes. We also made reservation for free makeovers for the girls by Studio Disney 365.

We decided to start the day at the Disney’s California Adventure Park where my 7 seven year old discover her favorite ride, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Miss “scary cat” discovered that day that she loves thrills rides. Around 1:00pm, we went to Disneyland for more fun and to watch performance of “Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee”. The show was inspired by the new Walt Disney Pictures animated film “The Princess and the Frog”.

At 6pm, we went back to the Grand Californian Hotel for a dinner reception. When we arrived for dinner, we were greeted by Mickey, Minny and Mrs. Clause. The girls went straight to the Studio Disney 365 booth for their makeover and my husband and I went straight to an elegant buffet of turkey, prime rib, mashed potatoes (in a martini glass), salads, pastas and of course desserts. After their makeover, the girls were treated to their own buffet dinner of chicken strips and macaroni and cheese.

After dinner, we relaxed and watch a Disney fashion show while the girls played in the kids area complete with an airbrush tattoo artist, cookies decorating kit, Wii station, coloring books and crayons.

After the reception, we were guided back to Disneyland for a reserved viewing of “Believe in Holiday Magic” Fireworks show and snowfall. We left Disneyland around 10:15pm and the silence from the backseat told us that everyone had a great time!

As I lay in bed at 5:30 am, listening to my three year old breath and snores (she always managed to crawl in bed with us at 3 am), I realize that it is my favorite time of day.  I set my alarm for 5:30am for my morning workout and to wake my seven year old up to get ready for school.

This year I realize that if I send the seven year old to bed by 8:30pm and wake her up at 5:30am, our morning routine will go much smoothly.  She likes to take her time to get ready and giving her two whole hours to get ready in the morning makes it a pleasant morning.  No more yelling at her to hurry up and get in the shower, get dress and clean her room.  The two hours that she gets, gives her enough time to do all of that on her own terms.

After my workout and shower, I turn on the TV to VH1 or the Food Network while I get the three year old ready for daycare.  By this time, my husband will just be getting home from the gym (he gets up at 4:30am to go to the gym).  While we wait for him to get ready, the girls and I sit on the bed and talk about what we are going to do that day.

There is nothing better than morning like this….well, it would better if I don’t have to workout or go to work.  A girl can only wish….

My husband and I have been married for 13 years and we have two beautiful daughters. Once in awhile we need to get away from the daily routines and the “beautiful children”. One of the things that we do to get away from the daily routines is go out on a date. Sometimes we take a day off from work, take the girls to daycare/school and spend the whole day with each other. Sometimes we get a sitter on a Friday or Saturday night and have a night out.

What do we like to do on a date night/day? Here are 5 of our favorite things to do.

1) Go to a comedy show. We have been to a few comedy shows; our favorite was the Tracy Morgan’s comedy show. He was so funny. We also like to go to a comedy club. There are not a lot of comedy clubs in San Diego but the one that we like is the Mad House Comedy Club. They always have a variety of comedians and it is always a funny show.

2) Dinner and a movie. I know, what so special about that? But those with children know how special it is to get to go to dinner and a movie without your children. We might even go get desserts and cocktails after the movie. Depending how adventurous we feel.

3) Dancing. This is my favorite! I love to dance! We use to go to the Gaslamp Quarter to go dancing but it has gotten really expensive to go dancing there. Average cost to get in a club is $20.00 and drinks are around $9-$12. To some that might not be expensive but when you have two children and with this economy, that is very expensive. Our favorite spot is now North Park. I didn’t realize that there are so many things to do in North Park.

4) Brunch and a movie. We do this when we take a day off from work and drop the kids off at daycare/school. We usually go to brunch at our favorite spot, Family House of Pancakes. We LOVE this restaurant! The food is great and inexpensive. The best time to go is on a weekday. They get super busy during the weekends; especially on Sundays! It seems that everyone goes there after church. After brunch, we go to an early showing of the movie that we want to see. It’s great to go early since the tickets are cheaper.

5) Nothing! That’s right! Nothing! We drop the kids at daycare/school, go home and do nothing! Well, not literally nothing. I will cook brunch for the two of us and we eat it in front of the TV. We will indulge ourselves with whatever is on DVR. Usually it is Law & Order SVU or a sporting event that we missed. Sometimes we order a movie on Pay-Per-View and sometimes we will actually get in the car and go to Blockbuster.

My husband and I LIKE each other! We like to be together. We can surf the channels and sit next to each other on the couch and be happy. We can be out in a club dancing and feel like we are the only two people there. We can get a bag of chips and sit on a bench at the pier and feel like we are the luckiest people in the world. Most of all we LOVE each other and appreciate our time together!

This year, Halloween at the Sharpes were very exciting. The girls invited a few of their friends over and they had a small party. They decorated cupcakes, wrap their Daddy like a mummy, played dance freeze and do a makeover on each other. They had a blast! They also went trick or treating and got tons of candies.

Surprisingly, we got lot of trick or treaters this year. The door bell were ringing non stop and it made the evening even more exciting.

The girls and I decided that we are going to make this a tradition. We are going to have a party every year from now on.

Thank you Los Angelista!!!

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