Another reason I love Disney so much

Disney has outstanding customer service no matter where you go. They’re known for their skills in making the customer always feel like they’re right even though they’re probably wrong. And a total tool at that. At the parks they don’t refer to their customers as just that. They’re instead referred to as “VIPs” or “Very Individual People”. It’s true. I learned that little tidbit from my mandatory customer service training classes. It’s about the only thing I remember from sitting in that same room for 12 hours. Well, it was 4 hours a class but it still sucked big time.

Anyhoots, the reason I’m gushing about Disney’s customer service right now is because I have been blessed with it just recently. Remember when I vented about our Halloween costumes not getting here in time for Halloween?? Well, eventually we did get them. About two and a half months after I ordered them. That’s even too long by their standards. I know because I emailed them about a previous shipment that was taking longer than I had expected.

They emailed me back about 2 days later with a very nice, personal, message. I don’t know about you but I think it’s super duper that they have people there that personally respond to people’s complaints. It wasn’t just a generic email where all they have to do is fill in the blanks with your information and give you the same answer they give everyone else. They told me that it takes about 6-8 weeks for packages to arrive at APO addresses. That was the reason I only had one shipping option when I ordered. I have no idea why they take so long when Amazon can get some things to me within a week. They also told me that they tracked down the package and that it was definitely on its way and if it hadn’t gotten to me by November 11th (the end of 8 weeks) that I should get in touch with them again and they’ll work out a way to fix the problem. I totally appreciated that and I got my shipment on November 8th so I was pretty happy.

But when our costumes were taking even longer to get to us I started to get a bit disgruntled towards Disneystore.com. So I emailed them again. And this time I made my complaint really personal and threw some emotion in there as well. I told them that I was so heartbroken over our costumes not getting to us on time because we’re newlyweds and were gunna be Mickey and Minnie and it was gunna be sooooo cute. But then our costumes didn’t get here on time so we weren’t able to dress up and have the wonderful Halloween that we’d been planning. And I was just wondering if our costumes would be here in time for next year’s Halloween because we’d really like to be dressed up super cute and I just wanna know if you know where our costumes are???

So yea, I thought it was a pretty good email. I had fun writing it. It was kind of late though because the next day we got our costumes in the mail. On the same day too, which was weird because I ordered them about a week apart. Then I didn’t check my email for a few days because we were just really happy about how great our costumes were. See??


When I did check my email, Disneystore.com had indeed responded to my dramatic complaint. They didn’t know I had received the costumes yet, I guess, because they decided to fix the “problem” by crediting all the money (shipping excluded though) back onto my debit card!! It was totally unexpected and a FANTASTIC surprise. So sure, we’ll have to wait until Halloween 2010 to wear the costumes, but they were friggin’ free!!

And they were so worth it, dontcha think?? They fit us perfectly, are actually very nicely made, and they totally suit us! I can’t wait until next Halloween! Maybe by that time we’ll find a Pluto costume to force Apollo to wear.

Sometimes I love being a girl

Being a girl means I can decorate my nails for the holidays with Jack Skellingtons! I'm pretty much in love with these. I can't stop looking at them.

It's the little things

It's the little things that Dustin does that makes me the happiest bitch in the world. Like when I come home from work to find the floors swept or the dishwasher unloaded.

Or when I wake up in the morning on the first day of my period, doubled over in cramping pain to find this, on my bathroom sink. Just so you know, Snickers is the food of choice during that time of the month. Snickers and burritos actually.

Things like this make me overlook the farting and laziness. It makes me overlook the overwhelming, vomit inducing, morning breath that I get exposed to every single morning. If we had a song it would be this one that he had set up on the computer. Lost Without Each Other. Hanson. Of course. I named one of my stories for Dustin after this song also.

How many men deal with their ladies' period issues THIS well??

Missing my mini-me

I like food

Have you noticed that I take a lot of pictures of food?? Cause I just did recently. I'm slow sometimes. But I really like food. Especially pretty food. Here's some pictures of food from this last month in NY. I would've had a lot more if I didn't have a crappy camera and the lighting was better at certain places.

Burger at Max Brenner. Those waffle fries are actually sprinkled with cocoa powder. I'm convinced Jesus lives at this restaurant. More on it in a later post.

M&Ms!

Back up bitches! Hooray for NBC!

Chocolate rhubarb scone anyone? More on this wonderful place later as well.

A NY trip isn't complete without a trip to Nathan's for hot dogs (not pictured cause they're not exactly impressive to look at) and chili cheese fries.

Diarrhea Castle. Dustin never had it so he felt like we needed to go.

He was a little too happy I think.

I like tea in old timey grandma china teacups as well.

Hello gorgeous salad! You live in the same place as the tea and scones.

This is another gorgeous salad. But this one Brittany made on Mother's Day for our Nana and it was very yummy.

Oh Lordy. Mini cupcakes. Peanut butter & jelly, red velvet, and cookie dough. How could life get any better than this???

"Come to Max Brenner and I'll show you," says Jesus, King of the Jews.

That's all you get now. I hope you're hungry.

Chopsticks

I posted awhile back that we bought our own chopsticks but then didn't supply pictures because of my crappy camera. My camera is still a piece of poop but I figured out how to make it work a little bit better. How, you ask? I read the manual. I couldn't be bothered with it when I first got my camera from Dustin for my 21st birthday almost 2 years ago. I just didn't have the time or focus to sit down with it. I wish I did though.

First up, these are MY chopsticks. When I saw them I just knew we would have a beautiful future together. Because of course I needed chopsticks that looked like candy! They came in pretty much every colour combination you could think of but I needed pink.

Sometimes I think about bringing them everywhere with me so I can use them at restuarants instead of the disposable ones. But if I put them into my purse I'll probably never see them again and then I would be beyond depressed.

These are Dustin's chopsticks. Deffinetly not as cool as mine but decent. His came in many different colours too. The design that is. He doesn't use them as often because he doesn't eat as much sushi or noodles as me. Surprisingly, I'm braver as far as trying strange new foods. Most Okinawan foods Dustin won't even touch if he doesn't know what it is. And if it smells even the teeniest bit fishy, fugetaboutit.

For some reason Dustin was also allowed to get a cute little chopstick rest. Maybe I didn't want one. I really don't remember. But he hasn't used his at all so I don't think he really deserves it.

I'm weird when it comes to chopsticks. I know how to use them correctly but some days my fingers just don't wanna do it that way. They want to try a way that they think will be more comfortable but then causes me to drop everything and for my arthritis to act up. But only on some days. It's weird. I think it's because I also don't hold a fork the way everyone in the world does. I use far too many fingers because god forbid I drop the fork and my apple crumble doesn't make it to my mouth. I would die from shock, I think.

Goodness, we love Totoro

Ever since I first saw it, years and years ago, I've been completely obsessed with My Neighbor Totoro. It's one of my all time favourite movies EVER. I love pretty much all of the Studio Ghibli movies but Totoro was the first one I'd ever seen and it was one the first movies made by Studio Ghibli over 20 years ago. I was happy to learn that the people of Japan and Okinawa are still beyond obsessed with Totoro today. They act as if it just came out yesterday. Everywhere I go there's something Totoro or any of the other characters from the movie. They find an excuse to put his face on almost everything. And every time I walk into a store that has Totoro things that I've never seen before, I have a complete heart attack.


All I had to do was type "Totoro" into google images and was amazed by how many Totoro things I found. I spent about 30 minutes looking at crazy pictures and choosing the craziest ones to put up here. Mostly Brittany and Kelly will appreciate this. Above me is a Cat bus car. I would happily get over my fear of driving just to have this car.

Totoro snowman. Of course.

Some artist that likes to draw anime characters all Simpson like did this. I think it's the single most amazing thing I've ever seen. But that's just me. I especially love Totoro and Mei's faces.

This made me laugh foreverrrrrrr. I love that they decided to dress up as a cat bus and just made it into a mask. It reminds me of something Kelly would do.

I've seen these toys and lots of other statues like it in alot of stores here. It's one of my favourite scenes from the movie.

This isn't my picture but I've actually seen this clock here! It was in this random old clock store that also had Disney clocks from the 80s. It was the most amazing store ever. And I never exaggerate.

Lego Totoro!

Even Hello Kitty sometimes gets beaten out by Totoro merchandise.

This is the Studio Ghibli symbol tattooed on the arm of someone way more obsessed than I am.

I don't even know what's going on here. All I know is that it's a big Totoro.

Bento box Totoro! If you don't know what bento boxes are and why they're so special here, then look it up. I'm too lazy to explain it right now.

I'm jealous. But I know a place not far away that would probably be able to do this to my nails. And the idea of that makes my little heart go pitter patter.

Hooray for Totoro cupcakes! If I attempted this I would surely fail miserably.

This is actually my picture. I took it at the store where I bought Britt's bday present not too long ago.

I took this yesterday at the Jusco bakery. I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be Totoro. What else could they be?? I didn't buy these because they looked kinda weird and I already had my tray full of lots of other tasties.

Now, when I say everyone is in love with the magic of Totoro here, I do mean EVERYONE. In January we went to the Nago Cherry Blossom Festival and a school marching band were playing the theme from the movie. You can watch it here:

And here we have a Japanese orchestra playing a medley of music from the movie:




And I'm convinced that every elementry school does this:

Smile today!

Update on Pugzy Malone Part 2

You guys remember dear sweet Pugzy, right? He's our friends, the Zimmerly's, little doggy and Ariel's best friend. He recently ran into some trouble with his body and had to have surgery. He came through successfully and is now in recovery. I am very happy for him and the Zims. He's my all time favourite pug, after all.

These are what were in his belly and bladder. Except there were 16 of them! Doesn't that just make you wanna cry?? It makes me want to. But then I remember that they are now out of him! That makes me a happy Tara.

Here he is with his battle scar. He also has no balls. He leads a very tough life.

Hahahahaha! I can't help but laugh at this. It's soooo cute and his eyes are on the sides of his head so he can't really see.

They put glow-in-the-dark Tranformers tighty whities on him to keep him from messing with his stitches. I LOVE this picture! Could he possibly look any more upset?? I would totally wear those panties.

Check him out!

He's on drugs and I'm sure he's getting plenty of loving from the peeps back home. :)

Princess Brianna Rose

If you know only one thing about me it should be that I am completely in love with my younger siblings. It's almost a tie between them and Dustin as to who I love more. If I could live with them AND Dustin I would be the happiest chick in all the world! My younger siblings are probably the most amazing and unique people I have ever met in my life. I love them so much it's ridiculous. When I look at pictures of the 3 youngest I start crying. EVERY SINGLE TIME. I miss them so much and haven't seen them in almost 2 and a half years. I feel like I'm missing out on so much in their lives. I'm afraid that one day they'll totally forget about me.

But this isn't a sad post. It's supposed to be a happy and cute post. Filled with love and pictures of the baby of the Calimano clan, Brianna Rose.

She's kinda important. She's my flower girl and I would not have it any other way. She's my mini me also. The 3 oldest kids have the 3 youngest as mini-mes. The brothers have brown hair. Brittany and Jadzia are the dreaded gingers. And then there's me and Brianna. The cute ones. She's been growing outta her baby face lately and has started to copy my features.

And my sense of humor. She'll be 9 in May and I can hardly believe that it's been 7 years since she moved away to England. I've seen her only a handful of times since then but have never lost touch. They are my babies after all.
Brianna's was the first name I got tattooed on me. My first tattoo actually. It was the most significant thing I could think of to get. And I'm glad I got her name first. I think she was kinda proud as well. Since then, I've gotten my Gingers' names on my wrists and a few other pieces of artwork. I need money to get my brothers' names still. Sorry guys!

Since she moved to England at such a young age her voice totally changed. In my book, if you have a British accent then you are British. Case closed. I love listening to her on the phone even if I don't totally understand what she's jabbering about.

I love that she's growing up so beautifully. And I love that she looks like me. I was done with sisters that didn't look like me after Jadzia. Enough is enough with the red hair. I mean...come on.

I feel somewhat bad for her because she's starting to look like me. Hopefully she won't grow a nose like mine. And maybe she'll be the only one who actually grows some boobs. She probably hasn't started thinking about that yet though.

She's content just being the fun-loving princess that she is. She loves dogs, Hannah Montana, chocolate desserts, and dressing up. She thinks she loves coffee but actually only loves coffee flavoured desserts. Apparently she tried a sip of Mom's espresso and was less than pleased.

I cannot express to you how flippin' excited I am to see these freaks! And when Calimano kids get together something magically weird happens. Parents cover their ears and shush us for some reason. I think we just get really excited and have to talk over one another. Then it just turns into screaming and laughing. We all have pretty much the same sense of humor so there will be alot of laughing and also some fighting. Those things will never die.

And then I'll cry like the biggest baby ever when they have to leave. I will cry for weeks on end like I tend to do. I also cry whenever I talk to Brandon on the phone. But only Brandon for some reason. He doesn't know I'm trying to hold back my sobbing as we chat about dogs and what type of car Dustin drives but it always happens.

I'm just trying to focus on seeing them and spending as much time as I can with them while we're in New York. And the ridiculous amount of pictures we'll have to take together at the wedding and just in general. Because we don't know the next time we'll all be together again.