HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY DISNEYLAND!

Today, instead of a Tennessee post, I decided to take this time to talk about Disneyland and post pictures of my last trip there in honor of the 60th anniversary of when Disneyland first opened July 17, 1955. 

Growing up, my family and I would go to Disneyland almost every day because we had season passes and we only lived 15 minutes away. A typical day would literally be: wake up, go to school, drive to Disneyland, watch my brother do homework in the parking lot, spend the day at Disneyland, repeat. Sometimes we wouldn't even ride rides, we would just go to take pictures and say hi to the characters, or maybe eat dinner there just for fun. We could even see the Disneyland fireworks from our house, so we had the Disney magic everywhere we went and for that I've always considered Disneyland another home for me and a huge part of my life.

Now, living two hours away from Disneyland, and all grown up and have so many other things to do, we rarely get to go, so I was so happy when my sister Kuyuki and our two friends, Missy and Cherise, were able to go on a Disneyland adventure by ourselves last January. It was exciting for me and Kuyuki because we were able to go somewhere on our own without the supervision of our parents - just us and our friends. I was so excited to see the new features of Disneyland. What was different this time was that they added the Frozen characters and Fantasy Faire. When the moon is out and the night comes to life, Fantasy Faire has this 1950's feel to it. People are dressed in poodle skirts and 50's swing dresses, and a band onstage playing and just having a ball. Two guys offered me a dance; this was the first time I ever swing danced, which is also memorable about this specific trip. Overall it was just an enjoyable day, but so is any day spent at Disneyland. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

EVENING IN KNOXVILLE

Back with another post from Tennessee! I love it here so much! It's so nice to get out of California to visit my home state and all my family and places to see out here. Earlier this month, my mother, sisters, and I had an evening out in one of my favorite cities in Tennessee: Knoxville.

The day went like this: woke up, watched the Forks Over Knives documentary, went downstairs and ate oatmeal with my grandma while watching Judge Judy and the Divorce Court (her faves), went back upstairs after a while and watched Earthlings online while eating a bag of banana chips, went outside to watch my sisters swim and to get some vitamin D from the sun while eating a bowl of cherries, went back inside and watched Reba with my grandmother, then when my mother and sisters were ready, we went to Knoxville.

First stop was to eat an early dinner at Ruby Tuesday. There, I got the veggie trio, in which you order three sides. I got a plain baked potato, grilled zucchini without butter, and roasted spaghetti squash. I tried some of my sisters' sweet potato fries and I must say that they are the best I have ever had in my life! None of us have ever been there before, except for our mother, and we were all very pleased. Also, when you get the veggie trio, the salad bar comes with it, which I did not know until right before we left! So our waitress took off half the price of my meal, something she said she doesn't normally do because it isn't really allowed, so I am thankful for that. 

One of my most favorite things to do in Knoxville is to visit the University of Tennessee, where I hope to one day attend! Ayer's Hall is my favorite part to look at of the whole school. I just think it's so beautiful. Also, I spotted some vegan friendly restaurants and a WholeFoods near the campus, so that's a plus!

After visiting UT, we went to the West Town Mall. We went to the mall so my sister Kuyuki can pick out school clothes since she is moving to Tennessee with our mother. The dress code is more strict here and the clothes she has now won't be allowed, so that had to be fixed. After walking around the mall for a few hours, and drinking massive amounts of Teavana's sample teas across from Victoria's Secret, we were ready to head back to Louisville after a long day.

I'm pretty sad that we have less than two weeks here in Tennessee. Two weeks sounds like a long time, but I know it'll definitely go by quick! For now, I have a strong fruit craving, so after I go take care of that I am ready to go to bed because it is past midnight here! Good night.

ROAD TRIP COMPLETED!

Okay, so, I lied...but I didn't mean to! Back a few weeks ago in June, my sisters, mother, and I went on a road trip driving all the way from California to East Tennessee, and I was posting each night at the hotels we were staying at along the way documenting all our adventures during each day. Well, I never talked about our last two days on the road like I said I would (and here it is already over two weeks later!), so here they are now!

June 22, our fourth day on the road, we left our hotel in Oklahoma City around midnight and made it to Arkansas by 6am. Around 9am, we stopped for breakfast at a Waffle House off the freeway. Normally we would wait to eat out once we were settled in a hotel and could leave our cat, Whiskers, and snake, Kaito, in a cool room, but we were hungry for something other than snacks and it wasn't hot out yet, so, as bad as it sounds, we left them in the car with the windows cracked and made a quick stop for food. I ordered their hashbrowns with onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes which was tasty (and quite frankly the only vegan option there anyway!). 

After breakfast, we were back on the road again and around noon were were in Tennessee! We stayed at a Motel 6 in Memphis and relaxed, and you can bet we cranked up the AC to the highest it could go! The humidity in Tennessee is terrible! It could be in the 70's but feel like it's over 100 degrees. After resting a while, we ate dinner at a nearby Olive Garden. I ordered the gluten-free rotini with tomato sauce, which was simple, yet delicious.

After a filling meal, we slept at the hotel (I kicked Kuyuki out of the bed I heard later from everyone) and we left the hotel around 1 am and was on the road again for the last time. We made it to our destination in Maryville, TN around 8am and had breakfast at Shoney's. The one we went to is across the street from where my sister and mom are moving to, and where I will be moving to next year. I ordered the no-meat buffet, and there I got a salad plate with spring mix lettuce topped with grape tomatoes, garbanzo beans, cucumber, radishes, and lemon juice, and another plate with orange slices, red grapes, green bell peppers, onions, green beans, and potato hash.

Though my mom and Kuyuki are moving to Maryville, we decided to stay in Louisville with our grandmother while my other sister Brianna and I are here until late July. And since two weeks has gone by since my last post, we have done plenty of things in between that I need to talk about in more posts! And I promise I won't let another two weeks go by. Talk again soon!