D23: I must confess I'm a total Disney geek...

...well let me rephrase, as my mom would discribes it I have a love affair with "the" Mouse.   I'm not exactly sure when I began to love Disney so much but somewhere along the line it happened.  I bet what you're thinking now this girl must be one of those annual pass holders that goes into the park and spends all her day pin trading or an all around Disney freak but I'm far from that.

What I am is a Disney fan who used to be a cast member that devoted almost 10 years of her life to the Mouse (I quit to focus on my education).  I visit Disneyland about twice a year, I've been to Disney World once in 2006, and I'm planning on visiting Disneyland Paris next month since I'll be in Europe.  My apartment is not decorated with Disney stuff and the only clothing I have that has a Disney logo on it are my old Disney VoluntEARS t-shirts.  As a matter of fact unless I tell people directly about my love for the Mouse they don't have a clue.  Maybe later on I'll share with you some of the magic that I got to create when I worked there.  Yes, you heard me right MAGIC!

So, why exactly am I telling you this?  I'm doing it because I want to be more transparent and because I wanted to share with you some photos of our visit to the D23 expo.

The hubby surprised me back in April with tickets to the event and you bet I was extremely excited.  We only got tickets for one day and after being there all day I realized why people get the weekend ones.  It really was so much fun even for non Disney fans.  There was a lot of painting, exhibits, and things to do.

Isn't Tow Mater adorable? He's so darn cute I couldn't help but take a picture of him.

This was very creative.  I wonder if he's going to be walking around with Jack on Halloween. 

How cool would it be to go on a Cruise on board the new Disney Fantasy?  I'm hoping to convince the hubby to take me on one sometime soon. 

They had a section of the expo dedicated to Disney parties and cakes.  The cakes they had came from their officially licensed partner Cakes.com.  

Isn't this Mickey and Minnie cake adorable?

I love this Woody and Buzz cake. 

If you would like to see more of my photos from the D23 expo please visit me at Flickr!

Blogging for Jennie (#afundforjennie)

I know I've been out of the blogging world for a few months now (as a matter of fact my husband just gave me a puzzled look as I left the living room and I told him I was going to write this post) but I've still kept up with my favorite blogs.  Last week I noticed that a lot of the food bloggers that I follow were baking peanut butter pies and I knew it couldn't be a coincidence especially since I kept seeing #piesformikey attached to the recipes.  It turns out that a beloved food blogger named Jennifer Perrillo from In Jennie's Kitchen suddenly became a widow and a single mom to two adorable little girls.  I cried as I read this post and was touched by how the blogging community reacted.  I said a little prayer for her and her family and kept them in my mind for the remainder of the day.  Her tragedy had an affect on many bloggers out there and a list quickly grew for Pies for Mikey.  The blogging community has taken this a tad further than simply baking pies and desserts in Mikey's honor. Bloggers without Borders has set up a donation site where one can donate or bid on different items that are being auctioned.  I urge you to read her story and try to donate as much as you can by clicking on the banner below.

Thanks in advance!!