Chicago, Cupcakes, and The Call!

So these pictures are not great but Chris surprised me by taking me to Chicago at the Cobb Energy Center last weekend. We had a blast. It was something so different from other dates we have been on together. Sometimes it's nice to just get away from work and dress up for each other and go out.

Our Seats were Awesome! 

Pretty Theatre

Being Weird 

Couldn't get a really good picture 

The fact that he ordered us tickets the night before the performance on a whim is so funny/romantic to me. But anyway....work has been so freaking crazy for me lately. It is nice to finally be able to step back a little and enjoy being engaged again. I have booked/started planning 4 wedding at work right now. Which at the end of the day means I have no time to think about my own which is sad sometimes but I love working with my brides :) 

I feel like we are slowly starting to get down to business now. Tomorrow we will be exactly 8 months away from our wedding! And tomorrow is the big call. With Disney Weddings they do not let you officially book your wedding and get your official wedding date until exactly 8 months out and tomorrow we will find out our date and will finally be in the Disney Wedding system. After the call tomorrow our contract and planning kit will be sent to us and I am so looking forward to this! 

Did I mention we get 2 FREE annual passes with our wedding package! YES SIR! We are already planning a Christmas Trip after our Disney Wedding. But back to business...not only are we about to get our date but we are so very close to finishing our save the date postcards! 

Most couples order them online but for us our wedding is a very personal process and come on i'm marrying a graphic designer so why not design our own right? I can't post pictures yet but they go really well with our theme which I will mention later in another post. We have also created a personalized seal/label for all of our wedding stationary which is amazeballs! I will post pictures when they are sent out. 

Also we did our own at home cake tasting tonight. Chris liked this part. Quick tip- it is very important to let the groom make some decisions about the wedding since it is his day too. Brides that can't let their future husbands help with planning are not going to make great wives. So I let Chris...wait for it....decide what cake flavor and icing flavor we will be using. The food is a big deal to the guys!

He decided on double chocolate chip with vanilla buttercream icing. Not your typical wedding cake but I am supporting it hole heartedly. Oh and plus we only had 4 choices since our cake has to be gluten free for me :) so honestly he picked the best choice. Our other flavor choices were vanilla, red velvet, and lemon. We had my parents bring us cupcakes back from Disney since they were there this week since Disney does not do cake tastings for escape brides. HEY DISNEY...WE ARE SPENDING MONEY TOO! EVEN IF WE ARENT SPENDING $100,000 AND HIRING DAVID TUTERA! 

Sorry about the rant. We also bought our cake topper. I love it! Yes it features mickey and minnie.But not one of those cheesy bride and groom mickeys you see at every Disney Store. Oh and what is with that anyway. Mickey and Minnie never got married unless I am totally oblivious to something. 

Well that's all I can think of for now. Oh if you love Disney check out my next post!!!

Links I Love

Ok so my post tonight is all about the Disney Bridal community. Not only are these blogs I follow and websites I love about weddings but there are also a couple Disney Travel pages thrown in as well. You know...for honeymoon tips! Feel free to check them out and stalk them as much as I do :)

www.disneytouristblog.com

The Disney Tourist Blog is owned and operated by a really cute Disney Power Couple Tom and Sarah. Their posts include amazing trip reports as well as reviews and upcoming Disney news! They also have a Facebook page that everyone should follow!

www.disneytravelbabble.com

Ok so this site is run by another Dis Bride which includes a lot of info about Disney weddings like venue photos, as well as travel tips. Oh and this fun couple includes trip reports from Disney Overseas's parks. So interesting and inspiring! You should also check out their book Passporter's Guide to Disney Weddings and Honeymoons.

www.disneyfoodblog.com

So the Disney Food blog is for all you foodies out there who love the gourmet side to Disney. This site includes dining reviews, and new food info.

www.disneyweddingsblog.com

Ok so this is the official Disney Wedding Blog. I love wedding cake wednesday's featuring all the amazing pastry chef's at Disney and also the latest scoop on everything Disney Wedding!

www.magicaldayweddings.com

This site is great for upcoming Dis Brides! This includes tons of photos and updates about Disney Weddings like engagement photos, wedding photos, Etsy Spotlights, and DIY Ideas! This is one of my top sites!

www.disboards.com

Every Disney Bride should join the Dis Boards and create a planning journal to connect with other brides. It will give you an opportunity to share your story and even ask for advice. It is a great way to share information and feel a sense of community. If you go up to the forums tab then click on the Disney Weddings and Honeymoons section this will bring you to wedding information overload :)

Happy Stalking!

I miss my best friend!

Well Chris just left today for his PGA training in Florida. I am so proud of him for taking his training seriously and getting it done in record time but it is quite sad as well. For the three and a half years we've been together we have never been separated for a week. I know hard to believe. But we are literally joined at the hip :) So what am I going to be doing this week? STAYING BUSY!

Since starting a full time job after graduating I have not had a lot of time for myself, and although being engaged is amazing it does cause a lot of stress. Wedding planning can be stressful but I am one of those crazies who LOVE planning! So the actual wedding planning does not bother me at all. So you are probably wondering why I think it is stressful then? Well MONEY makes it stressful. 

When couples get engaged it really hits you that you will be together forever and you both need to start growing up. Yes the first step of this is graduating and finding full time jobs which we have both done but you also have other responsibilities like saving money, thinking about the future and what it means for you as a couple, and really putting your significant others needs before your own. 

Ok now I'm rambling. But my point is this week I am spending time on myself. A funny thing happens to women when stress kicks in. We let ourselves go, and as much as I hate to admit this I have done just this in the past couple of months. A lot of times I don't have time to straighten my hair, or do my eyebrows. Half the time I can't even remember to wash my face. HA! 

Part of being a wife to me is staying attractive since all men have a need for visually stimulating material. I have always believed that in order to keep your husband happy you need to look you best. So this week while Chris is out of town I am getting myself back to what I used to be for him. I am getting my hair cut, my eyebrows arched, and getting a facial. I am also performing a pinterest worthy hair conditioning treatment that hopefully doesn't turn into a pintrosity. I am also already planning a date night for us for the day after he gets back along with picking out a smoking hot outfit :)

I do think about Chris every second when he's away from me but I also think about things I can do for him while he's gone and this will def pay off when we see each other again! Can't wait till next saturday! 

Traditions

So this post is about traditions. Work schedules and other responsibilities can sometimes make you feel run down and stressed. It is really important to have at least a couple hours a day and or a day a week just to spend together and forget about work. Chris and I make sure to spend every sunday together unless we are really needed at work and this is a tradition we have formed together. We have noticed that this gives us motivation to work hard all week because we are looking forward to our sunday. Here are some tips to share with your spouse on finding this time together.

1. Sleep in together- This is the best way for you to kick off your day together. If you both wake up feeling well rested this will already put you in a good mood. It also doesn't hurt to cuddle a little :)

2. Find a local restaurant that offers brunch- this is part of our sunday tradition. We always go to our favorite place in sandy springs for brunch to help kick off our day.

3. Find something you will both enjoy doing together-you could choose something he wants to do one week and then something you would like to do the next week or you can just choose something together. Chris and I always opt for going to the movies since we have both become movie buffs together. One week one of us chooses the movie and then the next week the other gets to choose their pick.

4. Your allowed to do something productive- You are supposed to relax on your day off but you can spend an hour or two crossing something off your to-do list. For us some sunday's we choose to go furniture shopping or apartment hunting and even though we aren't ready to buy anything yet it gives us a better idea of what we want. We also like to go shopping for wedding items so we are buying them slowly instead of all at once. We have started quite a collection :)

5. Take this time to show your significant other how you feel about them- I always make sure to let Chris know especially during our day together how much I appreciate what he does for me during the week. This is important!

6. Dress down together- this goes with my relaxation theory. I know for me after dressing up for work all week and Chris dressing up as well this just makes us feel so much more comfortable on our day out.

7. Give each other a massage- this is a perfect ending to your day together and gets you revved up for your upcoming week. It will help you sleep as well. I hate to admit this though...Chris and I don't do this too often. Maybe we should start.

Tips for weeknight time together:

1. Pick shows you both love and TIVO them for time together- Chris and I have so many shows we love watching together and we always make sure we are ready to watch them when we get home from work.

2. Make dinner together- this is cheaper than going out but is more work. If you do it together though it will be something fun and rewarding once your get to taste your creation.

3. Ask each other about your work day and then LISTEN-Let your significant other vent to you. This is what makes you their best friend. It doesn't mean anything if you ask them about their day and then tune them out. Make eye contact, give them advice. Help them through their stress like they would for you. But don't talk about this for more than 30 minutes, it's your time to wind down. Take advantage of it.

4. Do something fun together without leaving the house- Play a board game, dance together, read beside each other in bed.

5. Kiss each other- I know this sounds crazy but I know that our schedule gets so crazy sometimes we forget to do this and this type of affection is important to build your relationship.


Having a tradition together is so important for your relationship. It gives you something to look forward to together and if you don't have anything to look forward to your are not going to be very happy in life or in your relationship. Until next time....

In Sickness and in Sickness?

Well this weekend has been quite an event for Chris and I. Chris had off work on saturday and sunday which is unusual for him, and I opened saturday and had off sunday so for us this was an actual weekend off work which should have been exciting but was the complete opposite. The first thing you should know is I secretly bought Chris tickets to the Auburn game at the Georgia Dome for saturday night since we are both Auburn fans but have never been to a game together. Oh and these tickets had a hefty price tag of $300!

Well Friday Chris called on his way home from work  with the bad news. He had the stomach flu.  He had not been feeling quite right all day and right before coming home it all started. The poor guy was getting sick every 15 to 30 minutes. So he headed home to take a nap.

While he was sick I wasn't feeling really good either. My stomach had been bothering me for two days prior to his call but I just passed it off as being just another episode of mine. I didn't really want to even get out of bed but I made myself go over and take care of Chris since he was all alone. I picked up some gatorade and sprite and headed over to him.

He wasn't sick anymore while I was there and when he woke up the next day he felt good again. I was feeling worse when I woke up and called out of work to be told I had to come in for a meeting in the afternoon. Damn. So I headed into work and as soon as the meeting ended I headed back home feeling worse and worse as the time passed. I decided not to go to the game with Chris since I wanted him to enjoy it and not have to worry about me the whole time. So he decided to go with a friend while I rested all day.

He didn't get home from the game until around 11:30 and by that time we both just fell asleep. The next morning I woke up to my lymph nodes the size of golf balls. It was so uncomfortable and my throat was hurting now. Long story short after eating some lunch and watching a movie we decided to go to the doctor. Well I was told I had strep throat. YAY! seriously? What luck we have. So the weekend we looked forward to went to crap. HA.

Another thing that others may not understand is that Chris and I are ALWAYS sick. There is never really a time when one of us isn't sick. With his type 1 diabetes and my celiac disease and weakened immune system we are such a great pair. I am easily contaminated by things I eat if they contain any type of gluten which may sound easy to deal with but is NOT. When I say containing gluten I mean even a crumb of wheat would make me sick for a week. And his Diabetes is not easily controlled and he often feels exactly how I do. Nauseous with a side of migraine.

This isn't really a pity party because we get through this everyday together and some days are better than others. But our circumstances often have me thinking if at our wedding when we are supposed to say " in sickness and in health" if we should just go ahead and say " in sickness and in sickness." Marriage to us means accepting and understanding a person and loving them regardless. Well that's how we feel everyday. I'm sure Chris gets irritated having to drive 30-40 minutes every time we want to go out to eat so we can go somewhere that handles my allergy properly. Which are not a lot of places in the area. We only have a few options. But every time I ask him if he would be happier marrying someone who could eat anywhere and eat anything his response is always something along the lines of " hell no." And whenever I am feeling up to par and ready to go out and do something those are the days he feels sluggish and can't control his numbers. I think we have a mutual understanding that our diseases are easily understood and accepted by the other and neither of us would change that. I respect Chris for handling my disease the way he does. A lot of the times he handles it better than I do always thinking and responding to things that could make me ill. This is what makes Chris my best friend and soul mate. He has seen me at my best and worst and still loves me. And I feel the same about him.

People ask me if you know when you meet the man you are going to marry. My answer to them is yes and no. There were people before him that I thought I would marry or could see myself marrying. But by the time Chris and I went on our second date I knew that he was the one I was going to end up marrying.

Last Day at Disney Till Next Time :(

Well today was our last full day at Disney and it wasn't very eventful. The boys snuck off again in the morning for some golf and left us girls to go to the pool. I made sure to sleep in today before a hectic week returning back to work. After waking I got my swim suit on and met Jean at the pool.

The bar opened shortly after we found our spots and after I had dumped a half a bottle of tanning lotion on myself. I decided to go with just a virgin strawberry smoothie since we were with his parents. I really enjoyed my day out in the sun since this was the ONLY day of sun we saw the entire trip! I am glad he could peak through the clouds on our last day at least.

From what I remember the boys got back to the hotel pretty early and we met them at the hotel room to go eat some lunch. Not sure where we ate since I am writing this two months after our vacation but we probably ate at the hotel again. I know so interesting.

Today Chris and I were planning on going to Epcot but we both agreed to skip it this time due to so many of the rides being under construction. We knew Test Track was closed for refurbishment and Soarin was closed as well. Two of the best rides!

I am sort of blanking out but I don't think we want into a park. If we did it was probably MK. But from what I remember we went back to Downtown to shop a little and then went to dinner early. We decided to use our last meal credit to try Kona for dinner since we liked their breakfast so much :) and boy was it delicious!

We both actually got the same thing which doesn't happen very often. We went for the Pineapple Teriyaki glazed New York Strip and that is literally the best steak I have had on property. Everyone should try it! It came with Rice and Stir Fry Broccoli that was to die for as well. I am starting to think that the Poly is a place to eat at Disney that cannot be beat!

I remember shopping a little before and after dinner here as well. We picked up our Grape Soda pins for the boys in the wedding from the movie up. I think this idea is so cute!

Then after dinner we took the monorail back to the hotel to finally visit the Top of the World Lounge before leaving since this is the main reason people stay at Bay Lake. This was a big deal too because only vacation club members can visit the Top of the World and it felt like a secret mission. You had to go to the front desk to be escorted up! HA!

The fireworks were great and they even had the music from the park playing over the speakers. It was a great view of the castle and a great last night.

Disney has the best drinks!

Seriously he makes me the happiest girl in the world!

Of course the rest of the night was spent packing and doing boring things. But I was excited leaving knowing the next time we would be back would be for our wedding and honeymoon! I seriously cannot wait to be married to my best friend :) I am counting down the days!

Planning Trip Day Six

Today was such a long and eventful day. I was reluctant to wake up at 6 but had to in order to get ready for our engagement pictures this morning. We were meeting Emily our Photographer over at Boardwalk at 8 am to follow this by heading over to the Poly for some more pictures with an outfit change and then ending with Breakfast at Kona.

So I got up and got ready and we drove over to the Yacht and Beach Club to meet her in the lobby. She made us feel comfortable from the start and we got some really great shots thank god. It wasn't easy due to the muggy humidity. But we pushed through and my hair got bigger and frizzier as each minute passed. I know a little dramatic.

I can't put any of our pics up because we are using them in our wedding stationary but they came out so good that I am just so excited for our wedding pictures.

So anyway after the session we headed to Kona right on schedule and this breakfast was the best I had all week. It was a little heavy but it was GOOD! It was actually so good that we had to make a reservation for tomorrow to try their dinner since we cancelled our reservations at Sci-Fi earlier in the week. We were not going to waste a sit down meal from the meal plan. Even if we had already gained 10 pounds this week.

Chris and Chuck tried the Tonga Toast and both loved it. I am glad some of us got to try this since it is their signature Dish for breakfast. For any Disney Foodies this is french toast stuffed with banana then rolled in cinnamon sugar and topped with a strawberry compote. Yum! Too bad they could not do this gluten free.

 We were so tired at this point :)

After breakfast we headed back to the room to change and get ready for AK not sure if we napped or not but knowing us we probably did. I was feeling worse and worse as the week went on due to stuffing myself with tons of food after a gluten flare up. Hey I wasn't going to skip any of that deliciousness. :) But I continued to keep myself off of the adult rides. We rode the Safari together where we were stopped due to some sexual content on the safari path :) But this was by far the best safari we had been on yet. People who want to see a lot of animals should wait until later on in the night. It is so much better. 

Then we went on Dinosaur...one of my favorite rides at WDW! Chris and I love reciting the lines to this one as well. I cannot help but feel like a scary TREX is chasing me every time I ride this. It isn't a rollercoaster but I feel crazy for always getting off feeling winded from all the intensity. 

Chris and I separated so he could ride Everest. I walked around taking so engagement ring shots with Instagram since this was our first time in the parks being engaged I thought I should soak it up for all that it is worth. 

Cool Indian style Dancing 

The park closed at 7 and it was about 6 so we decided to grab some dinner only to realize that every place to eat in AK closed at 5. Chris was starting to not feel good because of his number going low and needing to eat quick! It's kinda funny because a couple of trips back his insulin pump broke at AK. Maybe there is a hoax against diabetics here or something. Just Kidding. Well anyway my adrenaline started to kick in so we grabbed him a cookie to eat on the way out of the park since it was the only thing edible within our reach which ended up making him feel worse.

We decided to get on any bus that was already here no matter what hotel it was going to. Well we were headed to Saratoga Springs for dinner.

We got on the bus which was about a 40 minute trip and half way through Chris was feeling very sick. We were near Saratoga Springs but there are so many stops that we needed to wait until the stop for the quick service at the resort. I had our backpack open ready for Chris to get sick in praying that we get off before he gets sick in front of all of those people.

So we finally get off the bus and Chris paces around trying not to get sick while I let him sit a while and then coax him into eating. He had to even though he felt ill. I knew this was why he was sick. So I ordered our meal and brought it to him outside and it was like magic. As soon as he ate he was back to normal again. We actually got to eat with his parents as well since they had happened to be walking around Saratoga as well. Weird. But after all of us sitting around for a while Chris decided he was feeling completely better and we were off to Downtown Disney. We decided to walk despite the rain that still had me freezing. I think I actually froze to death this entire trip.

This was the best moment of our trip. We walked hand in hand up and down the sidewalks to Downtown talking about our wedding and our future family coming to Disney together. We decided to go on a hunt for Disney kitchen stuff since we decided to have a Disney Kitchen in our new place together. This is honestly what we did our entire trip. Hunted down Disney home goods. We became experts at it. After downtown we headed straight back to the hotel for some sleep. We were exhausted!

Planning Trip Day Five

Today we went off property for a tour we had scheduled at the golf channel which we were all beyond excited for! Not many people get this opportunity so of course us being the golfing family we are were thrilled about the experience.

We ate breakfast at the hotel again today just because of the convenience. But really the food is pretty good too and there is normally a short line for breakfast at this quick service location. Disney quick service breakfast items are about the same at all the resorts with the exception of a few items here and there so when we are ready for food in the morning we choose where to eat based on either the convenience of the location or the atmosphere.

But anyway after breakfast we drove over to the Golf Channel Studio which took us about 10 minutes to get to. It must be nice for those Employees to be so close to all those pretty golf courses.When we got there we got all checked in and we felt so official with our picture badges on. I am going to just let the pictures do the talking from here....

The boys waiting in the lobby for our tour 

one of the many control rooms 

on the Morning Drive set!

The tour was just so cool! After this we decided to hit the outlets and I had my debit card ready to swipe! :) I bought my first ever Coach Purse and Chris got a couple of pairs of shoes from Nike that he still hasn't stopped talking about. He loves those shoes. I also hit up JCrew of course. But after a couple hours of shopping we were all beat and ready for a nap.

I don't have any pictures from MGM but we AGAIN pushed on through the rain for another night in the park. I promised to enjoy this night instead of snapping pictures every five minutes so I did not take any. But Chris got to ride Tower of Terror and Rock and Roll Rollercoaster again. I was still being lame and not wanting to ride anything like that.

But we also had dinner reservations at 8:20 at 50's PrimeTime. This meal was just ok but the gluten free fried chicken was pretty good. And it was fried so I wasn't going to complain too much since I don't ever really get fried food at home.

After dinner we ducked into a few stores and then headed straight to Toy Story Mania to end our night.
Here's the trick for Disney Fans. If you want to go to Toy Story Mania but don't get to the Fastpass machines in time and don't want to stand in a ridiculously long line just wait until the park is about to close and go ride it a few times before you leave. The wait always says about 60 minutes for this ride but we found out that this is not accurate when we decided to wait it out and it only ended up being about 10 minutes :)

Planning Trip Day Three

Our third day of vaca was a little jam packed so when I woke up at 10 I let myself relax for a while by myself. The boys were of course headed off early to play golf again and Jean was already at the pool. So I wanted to take in the view of the pool from the balcony. I sat outside for about 30 minutes just soaking in the sun and good thing I did because this was about the only amount of sun I saw all week!

Today is the day the weather started going downhill and I was in a hoodie for the rest of the week freezing. Yes...I said Freezing in Florida....in June!

But anyway at 11 I met Crystal who is a preferred makeup artist I got off the list Disney gave me and she stopped by our hotel for my makeup and hair trial. It turned out to be a fun experience but it was not what I was looking for at all so I am not posting pictures.

Around 12 Jean and I headed off to lunch at the Contempo Cafe at the hotel for some gluten free chicken tenders and fries! Yum! We decided to check out some of the shops at the hotel where we gathered tons of ideas for our guests welcome bags for the wedding. I loved all the little Disney themed snacks! They are expensive so we decided to get chips or pretzels from costco and then maybe add cookies or something from one of the bakeries to keep with the Disney theming to save some money.

Then of course the guys did not eat at the golf course so we went back to the cafe for lunch round 2! Yay!

After this Chris and I headed back to the hotel room to relax since it started raining and to possibly fit in a nap which by the way we both fit in quite perfectly. It seems like it is so easy to nap when it rains even when at Disney.

But as soon as we woke up we were headed to MGM for our dinner reservation and to hopefully ride something.

Pretty View of Pool

In my Rain Jacket!

Freezing!

Picture I took while waiting on Chris!

We got some great photopass pictures of us huddled together in our rain jackets trying to stay warm! YAY!

Can't remember what we rode in order but I remember the park was not that crowded! I know we watched Muppets 3D while reciting every word and laughing through the whole thing.

I still wasn't feeling great so I didn't want to ride anything fun :) and we decided to cancel our reservations at Sci-Fi and settled on Pizza Planet instead which was yummy. I'm not a big Sci-Fi fan anyway. I love the atmosphere of this place but there gluten free options aren't great and either is the regular menu. I would assume that most people agree with me here.

But anyway after eating we checked out One Man's Dream which was a first for me. Then we watched The Little Mermaid for me :) And we wrangled in to the Animation Building to learn how to draw Woody as well. This would not be our last night at MGM so we decided to just head back to the hotel. Again....we are old!

Planning Trip Day Two

Well we woke up bright an early for a morning of family golf at Highlands Reserve near Disney. Since I have not played in such a long time it was more of a fun thing for me instead of really concentrating on how my game was going. We all had a lot of giggles at Chris’s mom Jean who is just picking up the game. But she had some great shots during the day and we were all proud at how far she has come.

We did have reservations at Captain’s Grille at the Yacht Club to check out our possible reception venue. So we headed back to the hotel after golf so Chris could nap and Jean and I could check out the pool before dinner. 

I was not really thrilled with the Bay Lake Tower pool. I liked the bar area off to the right side. I also liked the slide and the view of the pool from our room was great. But the actual pool itself was very small and felt a little too kid friendly. It was very shallow and not suited well for adults. But the games they had going on near the pool kept us laughing and we had a fun dip before dinner.

We all got ready a little early so we decided to park near the Boardwalk and walk over to the Yacht and Beach Club so we could walk near our future wedding site and take some pictures that I can look over in the future when thinking about floral options for the wedding. 

After we got our pictures…we headed to dinner Starved! 

We had a really fun night at the Grille. We had our cake tester sent over from BabyCakes and boy was it good! We also got to try some of the food we may have at our mini reception after the wedding. The boys LOVED the bacon and cheddar mashed potatoes and we literally heard about these all week long. They said they would take them over dessert easily. This has to be one of those foods people crave while at Disney.

We met with the Food & Beverage Manager of the Yacht & Beach Club, Ashley. She was so nice and really accommodating. The dinner and service we received from her and our server let us know that that was the best location for the reception for sure! 

My Golfer

Not my most flattering shot after being in that hot Florida Sun all day

Our cake sent over from BabyCakes

We look like tourists lol

Chris in the Comedy Show

After dinner on the way to the car we checked out the shops at the boardwalk, which I think are some of the best on property. If you are vacationing at Disney do yourself a favor and visit the Boardwalk area at night. The dining is great and the entertainment on the Boardwalk is even better. Chris and I even got pulled into participating in a skit which was pretty cool! 

Planning Trip Day One Part Two

Oh how pretty...getting ready to leave for MK

We got to check out the new Barnstormer

and of course the new Dumbo Ride

Oh look how short I am

We found Captain Jack 

Really cool pic I took! So Proud :)

I even got Chris on It's a Small World because we both agreed we had not been on this ride since we were like 10!

Well our plan kinda worked…See Chris and I realized something after a measly two hours into our night at the park…we are getting OLD! At first I thought oh it’s ok we are just both tired from the car ride but honestly we felt like this all week after a couple hours into our day! ha! 

But we still had a good time and got in all the rides we wanted to. I missed riding thunder mountain and space mountain but my weak stomach keeps me from ruining my day by riding these bad boys now. 

From what I remember I wasn’t feeling too great anyway so Chris decided to eat at Pecos Bills. Which took FOREVER by the way but that was ok with me. He tried the pulled pork which is to my understanding new to this location and of course he loved it. You can always win him over with BBQ even when he has to stand in a 30 minute line for it while listening to the crappy Spectromagic parade music. Just Kidding...well actually it is kinda crappy.

We enjoyed just sitting and talking and listening to all the parents yell at their kids around 10 at night when they should instead be taken back to the hotel to sleep. :) But of course while sitting there watching chris eat I started feeling hungry myself. I know I know…why would you stand in a 30 minute line for food to just go somewhere else and stand in another line for 30 minutes to get even more food. Why can’t you eat at the same place you ask? Well I had a hankering for Cosmic Ray’s. So we headed over to Cosmic Ray’s and this is where I came across a great idea I continued to use our entire trip to save me money. I wasn’t that hungry and did not feel up to eating much so I ordered a kids meal.

I ordered a gluten free turkey sandwich off the kids menu. Apparently the kids meals at Disney come with two sides. This time I got a side of fries and a gluten free brownie. But I discovered that if you use both of your side options for fries it is the same portion as an adult meal! Actually it might be a bit bigger. So all of you Disney Foodies who like saving money keep that in mind for your trips. It comes in handy when a regular adult meal totals between $9-14 and a kids meal at dinner averages at $6!!!! Score!

We stopped at the Main Street Bakery for Chris to have his second dessert of the night after a mediocre chocolate cake at Pecos, and then we walked back to Bay Lake hand in hand. Great end to the night! 

Except….it was only 12…We still had two more hours of EMH…that’s what I meant by the plan kinda working

Disney Wedding Planning Trip Report June 2012

I know this took a while but here is our trip report from our engagement trip in June to plan our Disney Wedding! Enjoy!

Day One Part One...

Well we of course decided to leave at midnight on Saturday and got to Disney around 9. And of course I almost slept the entire way which drives Chris crazy. We did stop at Cracker Barrel on the way like every other Cartwright family vacation but this time I refused to eat anything besides Bacon to save room for that Mickey Waffle I had been craving for the past year. As soon as we entered through the infamous WELCOME signage we all agreed to check out the newly built Art of Animation Hotel. This meant that I could try out the cafeteria and get my Waffle which was fine with me. 

The New Art of Animation Hotel was Awesome!

Featuring my favorite character of course!

Really cool light included in all of the great details 

I was instantly amazed at the immense detail that Disney put into this new addition. The sparkling pool was beautiful, the store is huge and full of great merchandise, the cafeteria is amazing, and you even notice little details here and there that are so different from anything else on property. 

After this we decided to head to Bay Lake Tower to try and check in…which of course took a while and in the end we were told to go play and that they would text us as soon as our hotel was ready. 

So we headed to the outlets so that Chris and I could get a head start on shopping for home goods. You know we became surprisingly obsessed with shopping on this trip. Between shopping for our future place together, and shopping for some things for the wedding it got a little insane. Every time we turned around whether in the parks or traveling to different hotels,you could find us in some sort of gift shop :) I’m not complaining though I'm glad Chris and I finally see eye to eye with my hobby of shopping.

Well after we went to a couple of the stores we got the infamous text….”rooms ready” which translated to NAP TIME! 

So we headed back to Bay Lake to check out our home for a week and to nap and get prepared for our visit to Magic Kingdom that night for 2am Extra Magic Hours. See we had this brilliant plan that we would not head over to the park until around 8 or 9 so that the big crowds with their screaming kids would leave and we would hit all the rides we wanted to in a matter of a couple of hours. Feel free to read on to see if this plan worked….

Wedding Registry 101

So wedding shows, and movies make registering for gifts look glamorous but Chris and I found it quite the opposite. At first entering the store you feel so excited looking at things that will possibly end up in your new establishment together but it is a very draining process. I have included some tips for couples on how to get through this without wanting to scan each other to death with that dreaded scanner gun. :)

1. My first tip is that you should both be going into this with a positive attitude. Don't decide to swing by the store of your choosing after a long day at work try to do this on a day off and make a date out of it by going out to eat after.

2. Women, please realize that your men are not going to be really into this process of scanning things for future use. They don't really understand the importance of this like we do. And those three different colors of towels that you can't decide between will drive him a little nuts. So do yourself a favor, have a talk with him beforehand about how important this is to you and to your future life together. Also talk things over together while looking around and make sure to add things he has picked as well even though you might return it later if it shows up in a big wrapped box at the wedding :). Also know that after a while of being in the store they will start to think of this as a game an example of this is seen above which is actually kinda cute.

3. Go into this knowing it will take you a while, and even maybe a couple of trips. Our first trip to register took us about 4 hours and by the time we were done I was ready to call it a day and go to sleep. The second trip we packed two stores into one and I am still adding things onto our registry using the stores website little by little.

4. Don't be so concerned with what item you are scanning but how much these items cost. A great employee who helped us at one of the stores we chose pointed out that you can always return things for credit or gift cards and can use these to purchase new items. I was not too thrilled with this idea at first but after 3 or 4 hours in a store this concept starts to make more sense.

5. Follow your own guidelines, do not add things just because people tell you that you might need them.  If you are moving into a town home or apartment together you may not need all the essentials people who are moving into a house would need. There would be no where to store all of that stuff and plus when you do move into a house that's what housewarming parties are for. The opposite also applies, you can add things to the registry that people may not tell you to add because you like it. Which brings me to my next point...

6. Even if you think people will not buy you an item that you want to add...add it anyway. There is no harm in this and stores offer incentives for registering with them which include coupons to finish buying products you added to your registry after the big day. So adding that lamp you can't live without  is a must!

7. Use the packet the store gives you as a guide. If you are anything like Chris and I we had no idea where to start and were a little overwhelmed. Take the store one section at a time without jumping over to a different idea to avoid confusion and use the guide you were given. Make sure you are checking items off the list and this will help with organization and help you follow the store layout.

Now...based on my experience I would recommend Target for it's convenience to your guests especially if you have a lot of out of town folks, Bed Bath and Beyond because of their brands that include Vera Wang, Kate Spade, Waterford, and Lenox. I would also recommend using PotteryBarn's registry if you tend to gravitate towards personalized items that include monogramming. A lot of their bedding and glassware can be monogrammed and not to mention the style and quality of their products cannot be beat.

I know a lot of people use Kohl's registry but they were awful for us. It took us an hour just to start scanning items due to a printer malfunction that not even the manager could fix. Also we have noticed a little secret i'm sure Kohl's would love to keep private but i'll let you in on it. NOTHING IN THE STORE IS ONSALE! They put those lovely red signs everywhere claiming to mark items down 40%, 50% etc which makes customers feel like they are getting a great deal but honestly compared to other stores they are normal priced after the sale which means they mark them up just to be able to set sale signs out which seems shady to us. Kohl's lovers will argue with me on this but it is the truth hands down. Also the brands they have like food network Top Chef products are not as good quality as other products for cheaper at other stores like Target. I would rather take my money to a store who is upfront with me.

Hope this helps you all! Happy Hunting!