I met Cinderella

Last night I met Cinderella. And Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, and Giselle (from the movie Enchanted). They were all the same person.

Lemme esplain.

I was at a BBQ, chattin' it up with some friends. My friend Jane introduced me to a girl standing next to her named Lisa. Lisa said she lived in San Francisco. And then when I asked her what she did, she smiled and said, "I'm a princess."

Whoa. Back up?

Yes, it turns out Lisa really is a princess. She works for "The Cinderella Company" and they do kids' parties. You can choose whatever Disney princess you'd like (besides the ones Lisa plays, there are: Mulan, Tinkerbell, Alice in Wonderland, Pocahontas, Jasmine, Belle, etc), and they will show up in costume and character and play with the kiddos for an hour and a half. Most of them are even classically trained singers so they can sing songs from their movies. Disney reps fly up every year to audition ladies and make sure they will represent the Disney name well.

I was fascinated. I had no idea this sort of thing existed. I started asking Lisa tons of questions. How did you get into this? What do you love most about it? Are you bombarded with kids the minute you show up? (yes) What songs do you sing? What activities do you do with them? (story-telling, face paint, singing, dancing, pictures, etc)

She was so sweet and I could tell she truly loves her job. So hey, if you have kids and you think they'd be into something like that on their birthday, I'm sure there is something like "The Cinderella Company" around your town. And if you have boys, they have guys who can come as a pirate, Prince Charming, a cowboy, Jedi Knight, Storm Trooper, Superman, Spiderman, or Batman. Sweet!