(Long) Weekend Adventure: Los Angeles

Buncha balloons at California Adventure, Disneyland.

 Hey, kids! Ready for an obnoxious amount of vacation photos from our lil trip to Los Angeles? I can tell you are by that glazed-over, thinking-about-what's-for-dinner and did-I-unplug-my-flatiron? look in your eye. Well, buckle up and get yerself ready for a plethora of pictures!

Hubs and I had a nice routine on this trip to LA: a little bit of vintage shopping, day hiking and evenings at Disneyland. Having done this trip before, we are pros at navigating that infamous LA traffic (avoid the 5, always!), hitting the best vintage shops and doin' Disney right. I thought I'd share a bit of that with you in this here post. Along with endless photos, of course. Enjoy and I'll chat with you soon!

Taking selfies while waiting for the fireworks. The fireworks in Disneyland were completely different than those at Disney World, Orlando. At Disneyland, they've created a tribute to the history of the park and the rides featured there. My favorite firework set was that of the Haunted Mansion, complete with audio from the ride. The best viewing spot is most definitely on Main Street. And, for your viewing pleasure...

Mad T Party. So not too long ago, California Adventure was kinda like the forgettable kid sister to Disneyland (with the exception of Tower of Terror, of course). However, within the last year, it's become a packed-out mega park. They've added Cars Land which is this awesome tribute to the Disney/Pixar movie Cars. But our new fave addition is the Mad T Party. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb, as seen in the matching striped shirts in the above photo, are the opening act that lead people under the neon arches to the Mad T Party show.

 Hatter and Alice. Okay, we so totally loved this show. So much so that we made a point to go to just about every one of their sets. The shows began at the top of every hour beginning at 7pm and ran for about 25 minutes.

The Mad Hatter. Is totally awesome. Did you see that belt made out of spools of thread? AND the glitterly tea kettle buckle? Yeah, I'll be totally copying that, thank you very much.

The Band. Is amazing. Seriously. I believe hubs snapped this photo when they were playing Guns and Roses' Welcome to the Jungle. And if you know me even a little, you know I've got a big ole unfortunate soft spot for some G'n'R. Don't hate. Appreciate.

Go Ask Alice. When she's ten feet tall. Or wearin' lace up stockings, a corset and harlequin shoes. I want this outfit. And that voice. Each night the band played, they might have had a different set of band members. Having gotten attached to the band from the first night, this threw me a bit but after one song, I was all about Band B.

Chino Hills State Park. Because we've got this terribly tasty habit of eating the waffle sandwiches at Bruxie everyday, we decided to take in a hike along the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. And while I loved the landscape, one thing that really threw me was how stinkin' polite all of our fellow walkers, runners, bikers and horseback riders were. I do believe each one spoke to us with an "enjoy your day!" "beautiful walk, isn't it?" "hello, how are you?!" I loved that.

Jurassic Park Plants. Seriously, this thing was a monster.

Leapin' Lizards. And this bold guy thought he was a monster.

Elvis! We didn't spend all of our time at California Adventure. We did hit Disneyland and took in the bands that they host in Tomorrowland Terrace. This Elvis cover band was pretty stinkin' awesome. So much so that they even had a following of blue haired ladies (complete with TCB shirts!) and a large group of swing dancers dressed in their finest vintage garb. My favorite dance couple was this woman who looked to be in her seventies dancing with her fella. They out be-bopped 'em all!

Vintage Shopping. This image is pulled from Gala Darling. Go to her blog and check out her top three vintage shops in LA. The one on her list that I've visited is called Playclothes in Burbank and it's featured in the photo above. I chatted pretty extensively on my favorite vintage shops in Burbank here. However, my secret to scoring vintage for cheap in LA? Hitting the resale shops of Buffalo Exchange. Granted, you have to do a bit of digging because the majority of their clothing is current. However, when you find that 1950's novelty print sundress in mint condition for $9, it's just pure joy.

Malibu Creek State Park. Hubs discovered this amazing park and it's now one of our faves. If you are in the area, you have to go. The views were absolutely stunning. And don't worry, I quickly ditched my lil look for my sneakers and jeans.

MASH Set. One of the coolest things about this park, aside from the amazing views, is that it's the set for the 1970s show MASH. They still have parts from the set out which was really fun to explore.

The cast on set.

And what it looks like now.

One Last Look. Before leaving the park, that is. Out of our hikes, Malibu Creek State Park was our favorite. It's definitely one we'll be returning to.