Universally Magical

A while back I asked Mira to join me for a Universal trip and I finally got her persuaded this weekend! I got a day un-blocked off my season pass and we got to go during the 4th of July weekend. Driving up there, we were getting so excited!! And my hair was still on point after the 40s party the night before.

 The park was busy for a Sunday, but not as crazy as I had though - wait times were really long when we got to the park around 4 though.

So we mostly just walked around -and then headed in to see Water World. We didn't know what to expect at all so it was pretty fun! A bit surprising that so much water was involved - we were lucky not to get soaked.

I met dear Bumblebee again (he always asks me what my name is, jeez how can he forget?).  And then we headed back to Hogwarts. It felt dreamy walking there, even though too many people crowded the place.

The frog+student singers were so funny - I know that their exaggerated expressions are part of the performance, but they are just so funny and house-accurate. The Ravenclaw felt too good to be there and the Slytherin was just so done. Hufflepuff (represent!) was all hyper and jazzed to be there.

The sunset was so pretty over the Valley.

 We walked right in before the special effects show and got basically front row seat yipeee. And before heading home....

 .... We tried Jurrasic Park twice (2nd time it malfunctioned right before the drop and I wanted to die), Transformers once (SO GOOD?!) and took one last trip down Hogsmeade. It was night time now, so the line was finally much less than 80 minutes to the Hogwarts ride. So we went on that too. And I found out I lost my hat (I cry, I made it before the last film, so nostalgic).

Wizarding World felt so much more magical in the dark. It was also less crowded, which helped. But the quiet and the fact that the stars were shimmering over the snow-covered roofs not being battered by sunlight.... aaah. I almost cried as we exited Hogwarts.

And we got some last-minute Butterbeer too before leaving! Mira wanted to taste it. I was very sad that they didn't serve Butterbeer ice cream as in the other locations - I had really wanted to try that.

Traditions and Changes

I got pretty badly sunburned on my birthday and went in a cold oatmeal and lavender bath to soothe my skin. It really worked! 

Wednesday I went by Laura's. We baked a pie and I got her to watch Kingsman for the first time while she got me to watch her play Overwatch.

Thursday was Sankt Hans. I stayed at home watching Gilmore Girls most of the day. Then we met up and went to Dockweiler Beach to have a bonfire! Someone else had mentioned it a week earlier or something, and I had pushed for the 23rd to have it on the actual Danish holiday. As always there were smores involved....

... But I had also made a witch for the occasion. She burned very fast while I was playing a video of the shrieking fireworks. We got to stay on the beach past closing time (so weird that the beaches close here), but also headed to the Midcity Animators' afterwards for more socializing, since the evening had had a late start. Me and Laura slept on the coach when we were too tired to go home.

I went back to Westwood with Will Friday morning. I hung out at Natasha's and we watched some Bo Burnam comedy before heading to mine for a night of British humour (exceedingly needed after stupid Brexit Brits).

In a more-empty-than-ever apartment with a makeshift "sofa" I continued to watch Gilmore Girls after the crew left.

Saturday we played Fiasco at Natasha's! And ate delicious watermelon. Sunday we did a cool and nice BBQ ate the Midcitys' followed by a football match with Chile (they won and Ibi+Nico were v happy).

Tuesday we had a Beach Day on the roof and on my empty sand-coloured carpet. And then I left for a great Gesture session. 

I then woke up to my last morning in the apartment. I spent all day packing up my things.

And then headed to Natasha's, my home for the week.

 I took advantage of the jacuzzi/pool one final time.

Got my baby back after a misunderstood journey to the Bay area... and hung up my keys to my home for the past six months. Surreal.  

 Thursday night we headed to Destiny's and Friday was spent at the mall and as Hollywood wives (Fiasco)...

But Saturday was spent all at Downtown! We went to the fashion/fabric district and I drooled over all the things. It's not just called the biggest fabric district in the country... 

And Natasha was very happy when we casually (so not) walked into the showroom building. It was all closed for the 4th of July weekend though.

 We then headed for Shareen's where we found a pile on the floor with 3 dollar items. So naturally we looked through that and we found some really cool items. This 80s number was cute, but didn't come home with me after all. Laura joined us and then we headed back towards Clifton's.

We grabbed food at Guisados which turned out so much better than we had thought. And then we fixed our hair before walking through The Last Bookstore and then reaching the bar and the 1940's themed USO party we were going to (reason for us being fancy).

 The event was pretty cool but there weren't really seats enough. We ended up at the VIP level (?? how ??) where we could enjoy some more quiet and a hidden door in the trunk of the tree. Also, to get to that level we had to go through a hidden-in-plain-sight door made out of a mirror. How cool is that.

Live music was pretty sweet, but in the end we just wanted it to stop so we could swing dance.

Food was pretty patriotic too.

The USO party finished up and the live band started up instead! We danced a lot together, a lot with random swing dancers, but I also enjoyed just watching Laura - she knew what she was doing.

It was such a great day. I was super impressed by the vigilance of my hair too. It kept awake for so long - even longer than me.