Disneyland Christmas Vacation

Well last night I got back from an eventful trip to Disneyland. My family decided not to do a big Christmas this year. Instead we would go to Disneyland! My mom has been planning it for the better part of 2011.
The trip started at 3am Saturday morning for me. I had to sleep over at my parents. I slept horribly, mostly because I'm so not used to it anymore and I had to be in the front room. Anyways, we were off by 4ish. Travis and Dillon were woken only to be put straight in the cars. I was driving because I had to come back early. Starbucks wasn't even open yet so I had to suffer for a bit.
Our first break was in Castro Valley. I needed coffee by then and I knew they were open. My favorite part of the drive was the Altamont Pass because the sun was beginning to rise and my ipod had the perfect soundtrack.
We made a few stops more for gas and to let the kids stretch out. Rolling into Los Angeles was pretty exciting. I haven't been in years and I'm more familiar with the different areas now that I'm older and pay attention to where things happen & come from. The frustrating part was following my mom. I kept getting separated and didn't really know the way there.
When we finally got there it was so neat because we stayed at the Disney Hotel. All the talk and planning and now it was finally happening. Travis was so excited! We got pins and special keys and chocolates on the bed. The headboards would light up and play a song which Travis wanted to remind me of everyday. We had park hopper passes for Disneyland and California Adventure. We did pretty good and saw quite a bit of both parks. CA Adventure has improved since the last time I was there and by the looks of things they are still working at it. Two new major areas are due to open next year. We saw the World of Color show which is pretty amazing. Fantasmic wasn't playing until after I left but I think everyone else got to see it. We did see it snow on Main St. which was beautiful with all the Christmas decorations. Travis even got to meet Mickey Mouse and go on most of the rides.

It rained on Monday but it actually worked in my favor. A few days before we left for LA I heard about a free show in Hollywood with PAPA and Jonny Corndawg. How fun would it be to see these guys for free in LA! Well, I put in my RSVP just in case it worked out. Good thing I did because Dawes announced they would be Jonny's backing band for the night. I knew I had to try and go. We came back from Disneyland to the hotel early because we were all soaked and tired. I was a bit nervous about driving over there but it couldn't have been easier. We parked right across the street. It was this cool night club type place with a small little stage. Everyone sounded so good! I couldn't believe how many faces I recognized either. Besides the obvious (like all the Dawes guys, Jonny Corndawg, and Darren Weiss) there was Danny Fujikawa from Chief, Ethan Gruska of The Belle Brigade, Alex Casnoff, Jason Boesel, and Jackson Browne! Oh my god, I was star struck. So weird/awesome to see someone you've only seen in the media in the flesh&blood. Anyways, sooo awesome!
Like I said earlier I had to come home early to help with Christmas at the store. The ride home was not as fun as the way there but I really do enjoy driving by myself. It wasn't to hard to get back to normal but I'm so happy to have had a vacation. It was way overdue!

Long Overdue

I do apologize for the lack of updates. Things always get a little crazy this time of year! I warn you...this will be a long one :)

Alrighty, to start off, October was my music month and I kicked it off with a weekend in SF. The Friday (last day of September) my mom and I went and saw The Jayhawks at Slims. She has played their stuff since I was a kid so I'm fairly familiar. They just came out with a new album with all the original members, so this show was kind of a big deal. Carrie Rodriguez opened the show and was really entertaining. The Jayhawks played for over 2 hours and seemed to be enjoying it as much as the audience. Unfortunately, we ended the night by returning to the car to find the back window smashed and our bags missing. Now, I carry a purse about 2% of the time. I knew I was going to be out all weekend so I had some extras with me. My mom however has a "mom" purse with all kinds of important info. We covered everything up and the seat was pushed back slightly over the bags so someone had to be watching us get out of the car. I mostly lost my keys, Rx glasses, and camera. I felt worse for my mom who now had to replace a window, cell phone, ipod, and other key info in her purse like her RN license and Chemotherapy certification. Way to start the weekend :(
Well, the next day we decided to not let it ruin our weekend since there was nothing we could really do at that point. We took my car and headed back down to SF for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. That day could not have gone better! The weather was brilliant, we found reasonable parking, and someone called about finding my mom's purse. This girl found it thrown across a sidewalk about 2 blocks from Slims. She collected it and managed to find a phone number. We met up with her on our way home. The phone and ipod were gone but all her other essentials were there! After seeing Patty Griffin, The Belle Brigade and A.A. Bondy, (who all put on great sets!) we had really turned things around.

The rest of October was filled with some great shows. The most anticipated was the opening night of Dawes & Blitzen Trappers co-headlining tour. They played at the Mystic Theater in Petaluma. It was my first time there and I thought it was a pretty cool venue. Dawes closed the show but I have to say Blitzen Trapper was quite the act to follow. They put on an amazing set and rocked a lot harder than I expected. Another act that I was pleasantly surprised by was The Head and The Heart. They give off so much energy, it's just infectious! They played the Independent with Release the Sunbird.

The Fling rounded out the month with a small opening set at Bottom of The Hill. I saw them play a couple of songs at The Fillmore when they opened for Delta Spirit but this was much better. I love getting to see bands when they're still up-and-coming. After suffering through a local band opener (yikes) I got to hear them play almost, if not all, of their new EP What I've Seen. Needless to say I bought it right after and it has been on constant repeat at my house. They are coming back in a couple of weeks with Yukon Blonde...already have tickets!

The Fling "Dogpile" (Official Music Video) from Chad Huff on Vimeo.

Halloween came and went. I actually dressed up and went to Lindsey's so it wasn't too bad. Work at the store has been weird. The girl I work with keeps getting really sick and then takes off for days. It's been stressful but hopefully she is done with that for a while. Saw Dawes and Blitzen Trapper again at The Fillmore...just can't get enough! John came down for Thanksgiving. It has been sooo long since I've seen him so I was pretty happy.
Now December is here with some of the nicest weather. It's so weird. My family is headed to Disneyland for Christmas this year. Timing isn't great for my job but it is what it is at this point. I've got most of my X-mas shopping done, now it's just pack for LA. I'm so excited to be having any kind of vacation. I can't remember the last one. It's gong to be so fun seeing Disneyland with the first timers Dillon and Travis!
Thanks for hanging in there and I'll be updating more, sooner than later.