Welcome to Cali, Brittnee... we've been waiting for you!

My sweet Goddaughter, Brittnee arrived in California today! She flew from Memphis to LAX on her first flight ever solo. She'll be hanging with me for the next two weeks. Join in on our southern California adventures ~ we have some fun times planned.

Our first stop was Nordstrom at Irvine Spectrum. I had to show her my favorite store!

Cupcakes for dinner were in order after some bargain shopping at Target. Brittnee "needed" some new Cali clothes and I was happy to play personal shopper.

Candy and do it yourself cupcake decorating. YUM-OH.

Red velvet and chocolate

Facials at L'Occitane

Welcome to CALI, Brittnee!

Singin' in the Rain and Fusion too... courtesy of APA

My friend Mickey is the daughter of my good friend, Rachel. She is a student at Huntington Beach, Academy of Performing Arts (APA). I warned her early on that I would be her stalker and would never miss a show. It's the stage mother in me wanting to come out combined with the love for any live theatre.

Singing in the Rain and Fusion have been my favorite shows so far.

Gypsie and Annie are on the line up next. Loving it all!

Dana and family visit!

My little sister Dana and husband Nick are going on a "babymoon" on a cruise to Mexico with Nick's parents and friends. We met for a Mexican dinner in Foothill Ranch before they set sail tomorrow.

Dana's sweet mother-in-law Julie and My mom. Julie (Julianne) is who my future niece, Elle Julianne is named after. She is going to be so spoiled by her Grammie Julie and Nana Oregon (my mom).

Mama

Big sister and little sister. (Oh, new flat iron, how I love how you flatten my fro-like locks!)

The three sisters

With our dad

Dana Lynne ~ due mid June 2010.

Showering Dana to welcome baby Elle Julianne ~ My first niece

Day 3 of Disneyworld Princess Half Marathon Girls Weekend

Our wake up call came bright and early this morning. We had to board the busses to Epcott at 3:15AM. We laid out our clothes the night before so once our alarm sounded all we had to do was get dressed and fight to see who got the first shower!

We grabbed breakfast at the hotel (which included coke, a bagel, peanut butter and a banana) so that we could have fuel for our big race.

The lobby was packed with other runners, many in their Disney outfits! I love how runners create a community. It's as though you never meet a stranger and you quickly bond as you are all taking part in something so challenging and rewarding.

So many of the runners had their own cheering section. Props to this husband and son for waking at the crack of dawn, making this adorable sign and cheering on their favorite princess. Can you say thoughtful and supportive?

It was fra-ha-eeeeezing outside. We waited in line to catch the bus. Thank God for adrenaline, giggly girls, and the excitement of knowing that we are about to complete the big race!

Lindsay (and her CrackBerry... I told you she is addicted!... I left mine in the room... I don't need any extra weight.) and I. I still can't believe that she's actually going to run today. I mean, seriously, the girl was in the Hospital with 10/10 pain last week. And real pain, not my kind of pain. And here she is, all dolled up, raring to go after a few hours of sleep! I want whatever she's on!

And Jennifer and I with our matching crowns (and outfits!) Jennifer came to my rescue with this hot pink sweatshirt. I wasn't planning on wearing one but once I heard the weather report, I knew I'd need some warmth at the start line. Jennifer found them for three bucks at Wal-mart. Disneyworld donates all of the clothes that are "shed" to a local homeless shelter. Smart!

The buses dropped us off outside of Epcott and we had a brisk 40 minute walk to the corrals. Who planned that????? It was a great warm up (even though we were freezing).

Tutus, tiaras and blankets. Classic.

I followed Snow White to the potties.

Lindsay has a tutu company, Frilly Frances. Next year I want her to represent and bring her talent! We skipped the tutus this year (a. because Lindsay was a little busy last week and b.) we thought that they would rub funny) but next year I'm going to for sure!

Love it.

Although this was a Princess marathon, there were a few brave princes too. When is the Disney Prince Marathon? LOL

Paul Frank Disney Princess mix. And the coordinating pink knee high socks really complete the look.

How cute!

Our brisk walk seemed to take forever. Shiver - brrr - shiver!

When we arrived at our Corral I did some stretching. Nice massive bruising huh? One happened falling into the bathtub, and the others are from running into non moving objects this weekend. Should I get my platelets checked????

I stretched and Lindsay watched.

My feelings exactly!

Aeriel and Snow White. I run to look like Aeriel. But that will be the day.

We're ready to go!

There were plenty of characters along our route.

Our path took us through Magic Kingdom. Sweet!

The multi-tasker ~ texting, running and talking!

Made it to the castle

You rock, Girls. For real!

Giving Chip and Dale a smooch...

I love my girls!

There were signs after Magic Kingdom to keep things interesting.

This photo is for Angel Zoie's family. Belle was her favorite princess!

One day my grand kids will be cheering me on!

I needed a drill sergeant right about here! Circa mile 10.

The balloon lady. I loathed her! She was the pace setter. If you got behind her for more than a heartbeat she would yell If you're not to the next mile marker in ___ seconds you will get on the bus and you will not earn your medal. How's that for encouraging!!! I wasn't running the race for a time, and wanted the opportunity to take photos, not panic and enjoy the day! But I guess Disneyworld had an agenda to follow and needed the roads cleared!

Towards the end we ran past the Ebcott ball. I knew we were getting close to the finish. My knees were feeling it. Poor Jennifer was hurting bad. Her foot was swelling and ouchie. I was so proud of her. She pushed forward. WANTING that medal!

Hallelujah! This praise band was belting out gospel music the last mile. I was already singing my Jesus music and appreciated their inspirational tunes!

We made it!

WAHHHOOOOO!

So PROUD OF YOU, Lindsay (Bama) and Jennifer (JC!!!)

Phone a friend.

JC and I headed to the massage tent for a deep tissue massage. HEAVENLY.

What a weekend. Uploading photos made me realize just how much we crammed into a weekend. I said good-bye to Bama and JC who headed back to Birmingham. I headed to an airport hotel where I proceded to sleep for 15 hours. Back to the real world now. And to training soon. Crazy as it sounds, we signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon this September.