Disneyland Diva

I'm debating....do I change this blog (is that even possible?) or start a new one. I'm addicted. I admit it. I'm so addicted, my friends call me the 'Disneyland Diva'. Ha. When you've stopped counting after you've spent more than 365 days in the parks, it's time to admit your addiction. Or write a 'Tips and Tricks' piece for your friends. I did the latter. I've updated this document everytime I go to Disneyland and am about to update it again. So....I think I'll just sprinkle my blog with Disneyland tips and my life and see how that goes. Are you ready? Tip #1 - Lordy! Which tip to share first? I'm going to go with my favorite hotels. I have a few for different reasons. I would get into details about them but I think it would be better if you read my Trip Advisor Reviews. My favorites are: Desert Inn & Suites on Katella. It's close, great rooms, and a wonderful breakfast with fabulous views of the park. Anaheim Plaza Hotel on Harbor Blvd, kiddie corner from the entrance to Disneyland Park. No frills, has a fridge and some come with microwaves, inexpensive, huge pool but you can't beat the location! Candy Cane Inn this hotel is soooo cute! It's close, has it's own bus,nice breakfast, rooms are small but very very cute. How's that? Any questions?? Man, I've missed writing in this blog. I have to revisit it more often.

Ian graduates!

I'm so proud of him! He decided what high school he wanted to go to because they had a fantastic arts program. He made it! Four years away from the kids he grew up with, making new friends at Santa Rosa High School. A tough pill for me to swallow since we were so close to Rancho for him to graduate with my old alma mater, I was hoping he'd graduate a COUGAR. Well, he was close....SRHS mascot is the Panther.



He chose to continue his education in Southern California at Fullerton College. Three days after this picture was taken, he moved to So Cal. *sigh*

Safari West

I SWEAR there were birds in that tree!

I'm combining two posts into one. I got to go to Safari West for the first time this year and lucky me, I got to go twice! The first time was a trip for work after we had completed a major project. It was an awesome 'Thank You' and I had a great time. The second time in the fall was for an event called "Twiga at Twilight". It was a benefit for the animals and Twiga is one of their giraffes. Yes, that's me holding the snake (just to give Vicky the willies!!)

And also seated near me is former San Francisco Mayor, Frank Jordan. He was kind enough to take a picture with me....

Yes, girls can do ANYTHING!!

I get a lot of flack sometimes because I ride a bike. I don't mean a bicycle, I mean a MOTORcycle. . The crap I get is usually surrounding taking care of my bike not just riding it!! I've always been great at letting someone else make sure the oil was changed, a tune up was done but this time I really needed it fixed. I rode the bike to Spancky's to see my favorite band and when I went outside at midnight, the battery was dead. Had to get it towed home. Then it sat. For months. So, I did what any respectful biker would do, I drove my car down to my local bike shop and bought a new battery. AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, I replaced it! Woo hoo! Girl Power!! lol

Starting over again...

Busy Bren describes me to a T! My last post was at conference in 2010 so I figured I'd add a bit too it.

When I was done speaking at HDI 2010, I got to 'play' for a day at Walt Disney World. Davy Jones from the Monkees was in town for the Flower Power Concert and I just HAD TO!!

My friends and I were selected to play in one of the game shows and we WON of course! Ha! I had to put the most PURSES on him! Well, duh. That was a no brainer. The poor other woman didn't have a chance. ha.

Just be prepared. I'm on vacation and have 25 blog posts to update with! I'm on a ROLLLLLLL baby!

HDI Conference 2010

This pic is of me in front of the conference session I spoke at. MY name is on the list there.

Something you should know about me...I set a goal and work very hard to achieve it. Sometimes it's more of a dream (like my voice over work) and sometimes it can be a reality if I work hard enough. Once I've achieved a goal, I look towards my next one. Ever since I realized I am not as shy as I think I am (I know some of you are laughing out loud right now) I've wanted to speak in public. I've learned that speaking from the heart is easiest and that's what I wanted to do. I wrote a proposal to speak at the HDI 2010 Conference in Orlando FL earlier this year and was accepted! My topic: Martians & Venusians, Managing Diversity in the Workplace. I was a co-presenter with a friend of mine, Jeff Brooks. We had a LOT of fun putting together this presentation and our audience either loved us (because they knew us and/or loved the topic) or hated us (because we had a subject that was rather 'touchy'). Either way, I learned a lot and had a great time doing this! I was very honored to be in such great company. Jeff Brooks, Frank Oz and me. You might know Frank Oz if you're a Star Wars or Sesame Street fan!

Biggest Loser hometown style!

Me with Sunshine & Koli, Biggest Loser

I FINALLY get to post a few pics! I've been watching the Biggest Loser since Season 1. It's been my inspiration (I've had many) to keep my weight off and keep exercising. For those of you outside of Sonoma County, we had two contestants this year from Rohnert Park: Sam & Koli. The fun part is that every Tuesday night we (the RP Community) would go to either our local hotel or restaurant and watch the show together. (The venue changed a couple of times). It was a ton of fun to watch the show with the Poueu & Palu families. My connection: Sam's Aunt & family went to school with me and Koli's two Aunts: Mele & Lele worked with me at Burger King back in the day...the show is over now but I'm so happy for Koli that he won the 'at home' prize. He worked so hard and looks wonderful.


This is Koli & Sunshine speaking at one of the Tuesday night viewing parties. I thought they were an item! :)