Disney Daze

by Brittany Geragotelis

Last weekend I took my whole family down to Disneyland. It was sort of my superbowl moment. You know, those old Disney ads where they'd ask athletes what they were going to do now that they'd accomplished some amazing feat, and they answered, "I'm going to Disneyland!!!" My book deal was my superbowl moment, and I couldn't think of a better way of celebrating than taking my family to the happiest place on earth.

So, me, Matty, my parents John and Diane, my youngest sister Jacey, and my middle sister Amy, along with her husband Cody and my nephew Cash, all headed from our respective cities to Anaheim for the weekend. Our family's always been huge Disney fans....I've gone to one park or another at least once a year since I was a little kid. My mom runs from one ride to the next and pumps everyone up. This was also my nephew's first time at Disney, so it was really special to be able to be with him.

In the end, though we certainly had our grumpy moments (lots of running around, heat and little sleep can do that), I think we all made some wonderful memories. Here are a few that I was able to catch on camera. Enjoy!

5x5,

B.

Amy at the character breakfast

From Top Left to Bottom Right: Cody, Matt and I. None of us were ready for the camera on Space Mountain

Most of the time Cash hid from the characters. He was not pleased.

There WAS a bit of mid-day napping for at least one of us....

Jacey was embarrassed that this character hadn't remembered to put pants on that morning.

Cashy!!!

Jacey giving us her best "pizza face" while eating at Naples Restaurant

Can you blame him for being scared?

The Haunted Mansion was decorated in Nightmare Before Christmas style. It was AWESOME!

Jacey likes big butts and she cannot lie....

Amy just told her a secret....guess what it was?!?!

What a flirt!

The happy family: Amy, Cash and Cody

We were dying when we saw this pic of us on Splash Mountain. And look at Jacey. She made this face on EVERY ride that took a photo. It was hilarious!

....See what I mean?...

And again...

You can even see her in the back left of this one...

So we tried it....though I'm not sure we pulled it off.

All in all, it was a really great vacation full of magic, fun and lots of laughs!

Conversations with Family Members...

by Brittany Geragotelis

I talked to two of my family members yesterday and both conversations were eye-opening and enjoyable. Let me clue you in to a typical Geragotelis phone call:

The first talk I had was with my mom, who caught me just when I was on my way out of the office for the day. It had been a week or so since we'd last talked (both of us have been super busy) and we took a few minutes to try and catch up. After chatting about boyfriend/relationship stuff, the conversation turned to my writing. That's when she said it:

"Life's a Witch is getting really good!"

Sounds simple enough, but if you knew my mom, you'd know she's not really a reader. Smartest person I know, but she just doesn't like reading the way I do and doesn't do it much for pleasure. In fact, even though she's my biggest fan, she's never read a book I've written. Not because she doesn't believe in me and/or think I write well, it's just not her thing.

Well, ever since I started publishing LAW on Wattpad.com, my mom's been logging on...and reading! It's been such a pleasant surprise and a joy to hear that she's reading my book (finally) and enjoying it! Because what she thinks matters to me (I mean, come on, she's awesome!), it's been really nice knowing that she's digging my work!

So, that was the first family convo I had. The second was with my little sister. She's 10 years younger than me and is working at a company that is owned by Microsoft, testing video games. Or at least that's what she wants me to believe. Here was our talk:

Me: How's work going?
Her: It's fine. Did I tell you I got put on another project?
Me: No! That's exciting! What kind of a game is it? A zombie game? A driving game?
Her: It's not a zombie game....
Me: Well, what is it?
Her: (silence)
Me: Can you not tell me about it or something? Matt said maybe you had to sign a confidentiality clause or an NDA or something.
Her: Yeah.
Me: Wait, so you're not allowed to talk about what you're doing at work?
Her: Nope.
Me: It's like, top secret information?
Her: Something like that. Everyone has different levels of clearance and we aren't allowed to go into certain labs...

photo credit: ABC/Alias

Me: Are you sure you're not a secret government agent? It sounds like you're a secret government agent.
Her: I'm sure. But if I were, I couldn't tell you anyway, so....
Me: I know this girl who works for the government and nobody knows where her work actually is. She's not even allowed to bring her cell phone to work with her or surf the internet while she's there.
Her: We're not allowed to have anything with a camera on it.
Me: So you could be a secret agent.
Her: (laughs nervously)
Me: Could they be tapping the phones right now?
Her: I test video games for Microsoft!
Me: Maybe Microsoft is really just a front for a secret government agency. Did you ever think of that?
Her: I'm going to go now.

It's amazing how much I learn every time I talk to my family members. One's reading regularly and the other is a secret government agent...errr, video game tester.

Gotta love family!

5x5,
B.

Going to the chapel and we're....

by Brittany Geragotelis

Get your mind out of the wedded bliss gutter! No, I'm not announcing my engagement online....but I do have a bit of a wedding announcement.

I was talking with my mom the other day on the phone and our convo went a little something like this:

Mom: "Did you hear what they're going to start selling at Costco?"

(NOTE: My mom and I are both huge nerds when it comes to Costco. Going to the warehouse is an exciting event for us, and I have fond memories of going there as a kid and eating my Costco hotdog piled high with onions from the little cranking machine it popped out of. MMmmmm. If only they were gluten-free!)

Me: "No, what?"

Mom: "Wedding dresses!"

Me: "Who would EVER buy their wedding dress from Costco? I mean, yeah, it's pretty much the best store ever, but the last place I'd buy my wedding dress from would be Costco. What, are you supposed to buy a pack of five dresses, one for each of your future weddings? That doesn't seem like it would be a good omen for your marriage."

Mom: "They showed pictures of them on the news the other day and they were actually kind of pretty."

photo credit: Costco

Me: "Still, beautiful or not, what are you supposed to say when people ask you where you got your beautiful dress? Do you lie and tell them something completely different, but then do you really want anything about your wedding to be a lie (again with the bad mojo)? Or do you tell them the truth and wait for people to start whispering about how you bought your wedding dress and your gallon-sized jar of jalepeno's in the same trip to the store?"

Mom: "Well, you won't have to worry about buying your dress at Costco, because I'm still making your wedding dress, right?"

Me: "Yes, Mom. When I get engaged and am planning my wedding—not that it's in the near future—you will be making my wedding dress."

Mom: "You know, the women in our family hit menopause early. Your eggs might already be drying up."

Me: "Sure. Thanks, Mom. Good to know."

(NOTE: Okay, so the menopause/eggs comment was a whole other conversation, but you can see how some of our talks go. Love you, Mom!)

Anyway, how do you feel about the news that Costco might start selling wedding dresses? Would you ever buy your own wedding dress at a store like this?

5x5,
B.

Funny advertisements....

by Brittany Geragotelis

As you all know, this last month has been particularly difficult on me. So, I revel in any chance I happen upon something that makes me laugh (Trust me....they've been few and far between lately). When I got this e-mail the other day from my Aunt Denise (who as a kid I used to call Auntie Niece....I never realized her name was Denise and really thought it was Niece. I still actually call her Auntie Niece actually. Old habits die hard.), I just about died.

Let me give you a little background into the picture. My mom is a ballet teacher and owns her own studio. She's far more flexible than anyone I know and is always laying down with her legs behind her head or in some kind of stretching position. It doesn't matter where she is: in someone elses house, Wal-Mart, the car. She's bendy. So, with that in mind, take a look at the below.





















Happy St. Patrick's Day!

5x5,
B.

Greetings from Arizona

by Brittany Geragotelis

So sorry for the internet silence these past few days (five to be exact), but I was in Arizona and had no web access. Matt and I took off on Thursday afternoon for the west coast because my nephew was being baptized and our whole family was meeting up to celebrate the occasion.


The weekend itself was really nice. We stayed in a really nice hotel called the Conquistador. It was actually a resort with a golf course, spa and several pools...there was even a waterslide! In short, the place was gorgeous! And in between doing family stuff, we were all able to spend some time relaxing by the pool.

Besides the fact that this was the first time our whole family (I have two younger sisters) had been together since my 28-year-old sister, Amy, got married three years ago, I was meeting my nephew, Cash Ryan, for the first time. Now, I know everyone says that their nephew or niece is the cutest thing ever, but Cash really is. Cutest. Thing. Ever. When he smiles (which he does A LOT), it just melts your heart. He's six months old and a pretty easy-going baby. He rarely cries and laughs when you talk to him. Anyway, the baptism was nice (and also interesting, to be honest; I didn't realize churches still performed exorcisms...way to go organized religion) and we all had a chance to get dressed up and spend the day together.


While we were there, I also got the chance to meet my 21-year-old sister Jacey's boyfriend, Micah, who has one of the best senses of humor I've ever seen (can you see a sense of humor?). Really funny...and very sweet to my sis, which is what matters most to me.







But the baptism wasn't the only thing we were celebrating....it was also both my parent's birthdays! So all of us girls (along with our special man friends) took my parents out to dinner one of the nights and surprised them with a Nintendo Wii. They had no idea we were getting them one and I think they really enjoyed the night. We even had the waiters sing to them!


All in all, it was a great weekend, and I was exhausted by the time I got back home...thus the reason you didn't get a blog yesterday. Now, I'm home for three days before heading off to New Orleans for work (and play). But more on that in a future blog...

5x5,
B.