ChelsReads: Outlander

Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ! Alright guys, I have a confession to make, I have officially jumped on the Outlander Bandwagon. One of my good friends, Jill, has been reading the books since she was 13 and told me about the TV series months  ago but I didn't pay a ton of attention because I don't have Starz and I'd never heard of the books, much less read them. 

All these months later, after binging on all 7 seasons of 30 Rock, I was in desperate need of something else to watch. That something turned out to be Outlander. The first episode is still available on Starz for free if you want to check it out. I can't even pretend that I behaved like a normal person in regards to this show. I watched the first eight episodes in one day and then watched them all again the next day because I had fallen asleep during one of the episodes and missed everything.

The show just won a 2015 People's Choice Award for favorite Cable Sci-Fi show, beating out Game of Thrones (another favorite of mine) and Walking Dead for the title. If that isn't evidence enough that they're doing something great, I don't know what else to tell you, really. It's a great group of actors who I think have done a tremendous job bringing this amazing story to life. Plus, Sam Heughan is no slouch to look at either. 

After watching it twice though, I couldn't possibly wait until April to find out what was coming next, could I? No, I couldn't. So, I bought it in the Kindle store on Amazon and started in. The book is sooooooo good! I read it the entire time I was on the plane down to Southern California, every spare minute that we weren't doing anything, and all the way back up the state in the car. Needless to say I was addicted. So addicted in fact that when we got home, the first thing I did was buy the second book to download on my Kindle immediately after walking through the door. It's that good.

For those of you who were also living under a rock for the last 15 years or so, Outlander follows main character Claire Randall as she goes on a second honeymoon to Scotland with her husband, Frank after they both come home from World War II. After spending most of the 8 years of their marriage apart, they're trying to get things back on track while Frank, a historian, also tries to trace his family tree. Without giving too much away, Claire is magically transported from 1945 Inverness, Scotland into the wilds of 1743 Highland Scotland, complete with kilted men and English redcoats. 

It's a must-read if you're someone like me who enjoys historical fiction. I'll warn you there are romance-y bits, but it isn't annoying or over graphic like some romance novels have a tendency to be. Definitely worth the $1.99 on the Kindle store if you have one, and if not, check out your local used bookstore. They should have the whole series for relatively cheap. Or hit Barnes and Noble for your set if you're so inclined.

If you enjoy these posts, you're in luck. Jill also started me on the PopSugar 2015 Reading Challenge,  which encompasses 50 different books with different requirements, such as, "a book set in another land" or "a book that was published the year you were born". It'll definitely be fun to expand my literary horizons a bit...once I've figured out how to incorporate the entire Outlander series onto the list ;) 

That Time I Found My Twin

Greetings, friends! Welcome to 2015 on this blog. Did you miss me? I know, I know, I'm really not good at the whole regular blogging thing still. Consider it a New Years resolution. In the meantime, why don't I tell you a bit about what I've been up to since my last post, shall I? 

The new year so far has started out brilliantly. I was offered my first grown up last job on New Year's Eve, which I enthusiastically accepted. I started this week, in case you were wondering. But before I started life as a real, contributing member of society, I thought I'd have a bit of fun first. 

Which brings me to my trip to Southern California. 

I can't remember if I've told you or not, but my sister is starting the Disney College Program down in Anaheim. She'll be there for the next 8 months or so, working in the parks. And someone had to take her down there and move her in, right? 

We live in Northern California so to get down there it's either take a plane (which isn't really feasible if you're moving your life down there for 8 months) or drive. And it's a loooooong drive. Rather than drive down with my mom and sister and spend 8 plus hours in the car bored out of my head, I thought I would fly down a couple days early to visit some friends I have down here. That way, I could have even more fun before helping to move her in on Sunday and going to Disneyland the next day. 

My visit was really fun, and definitely a recharge opportunity for me after all the stress at my old retail job. Unfortunately though, I definitely was having too much fun to take any pictures, so I have nothing to show for it. However, I did take a picture of my Peanut Butter Stout at the Stadium Tavern when we went for lunch. 

Disneyland on the other hand is a place all about pictures. And I had some very specific goals that day which means I have little more to show for my efforts on that front.

We got to the park when it opened and managed to get into a relatively short, really fast line. Once we were in the park, we booked it to Peter Pan's Magic Flight. Even though it's been around for 60 years, that is consistently the longest line we ever stand in. I have always loved the ride, I mean, there's mermaids for crying out loud! I managed to snap a shot of the mermaid mural at the end of the ride on our way out. 

After Peter Pan, Alice was closed down so we hit It's a Small World. The cool thing was that it was still decorated for Christmas. I love Christmas so a little carryover was definitely appreciated. Plus they sang Christmas carols rather than the It's a Small World song which I appreciated even more.

In case you were wondering where Santa spends his off season, it's right here ;)

Scotland! I swear this lady was like moving on purpose to get into my pictures. 

It was so irritating that I started shooting pictures from the back of the boat instead. 

I think that my taking pictures of Ireland every time I'm on this ride goes without saying.

This picture I had to take because it's a family joke. When I was little, I wasn't 

as adept at Spanish as I am now and I thought the song was saying, "Felice Naughty Dog"

which is how I would sing it. Once my family noticed, that was how we all

started to sing it and that's how it's been ever since.

I took this one for my mom because she wanted it as her phone background

and she still isn't that quick with her phone camera. It turned out surprisingly good.

Right after, I tried to get on Thunder Mountain only to have both tracks shut down right as I was getting to the front of the line. 

After that, we started to head through Fantasyland because I wanted to go to the Fantasy Fun Faire to see if Merida was in the Hall of Princesses...or whatever they call it. She wasn't but she was right outside and we got in line immediately. 

And, one of the girls in front of us in line gave me her "I'm Celebrating" button! I mentioned in passing to my mom that I still wanted to go to City Hall to get one because I was, in fact, celebrating my new job but hadn't wanted to stand in the massive line first thing in the morning. We had been talking on and off with the girls in front of us in line because it was one's birthday, one's first visit, and one of the girls is a diehard Disney lover and was telling us that this Merida was a lot better than most of them. When she heard me mention that I still needed the button, one of the girls reached into her bag and handed hers to me. It was so sweet. 

My mom snapped a bunch of pictures with me and Merida. For some reason, I got really starstruck and was nervous but she was really sweet. I walked up and she immediately said, "Has anyone ever told you that you look like me?" and I said, "No, but thank you for thinking so." She proceeded to tell me that we could be twins and that we should find a third lookalike and dress up to play tricks on her three brothers. I was literally thrilled by the whole thing and got some pretty cute pictures with her as well. 

This was during the "twins" exchange. 

"Say Angus!"

Ignore the size of my hair. It was oddly misty there that day and I actually ended up being freezing. My sister actually brought me a jacket when she picked us up in Downtown Disney because I couldn't take it anymore. 

After leaving Merida, we hopped on Pirates and had one of the bumpiest rides we've ever experienced, even getting stuck for a solid 5 minutes in the treasure trove section. We had lunch at Cafe Orleans which is by far my favorite restaurant in the parks. As usual, I had to have a Mint Julep, so here's the obligatory photo of that. 

Lunch was delicious. I had the gumbo with a side of hot sauce (this is the only way to eat. They make it for kid's pallets and if you don't add some spice to it, it's really boring), and my mom had some salad or other. Obviously you don't go to Cafe Orleans without getting Mickey Mouse Beignets. We were stuffed. However, I thought it was an excellent idea to try my luck on Thunder Mountain right after eating lunch and have to report that the redo on the ride is fantastic. It's so much better than it was! 

At that point, we were due to use our fast passes for Indiana Jones and pretty much walked on which was awesome because that line is nothing to mess around with. After eating a huge lunch and going on two bumpy rides right after, I decided it was time to tone it down a bit and we did a little shopping on Main Street. 

After accidentally discovering the flag retirement ceremony a few years ago, we always make sure that we're at the Main Street Train Station in time to see it. On our way there, I finally was able to get my picture with Minnie who was maybe 5 feet tall, ears and all. 

 By that time, it was time for the Soundsational Parade, and the flag retirement ceremony. Both of which I'd seen before so I wasn't as interested, but my mom loved it. 

Our last ride of the day was Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters and I have to say, I outdid myself, as evidenced by the picture. At that point, we were cold and tired and decided to get some treats from the Confectionary on Main Street and meet my sister in Downtown Disney. 

I mean...I don't want to toot my own horn but toot toot, beep beep.

Overall, it was a really fun day. No pressure and no people so that was fantastic. We'll be back in June, but I can honestly say after that, I'm ok with holding off for a while.