My Lifelong Love-A-Fair

Years before my first ever trip to Walt Disney World, I spent the day at the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY. And then we went back the next year. And the year after that.

Maybe. I can't say for sure that we went every year, but I know my grandparents and my dad loved it, so I'm sure we did. One year, we even ventured to Syracuse for the NY State Fair. I don't remember that, either. But I vividly remember the photo of me, holding my blankie, at the top of the giant slide before I went sliding down. And if I can easily dig it out, I will add it here. I know I have it somewhere.

I had the most incredible childhood. And the fair reminds me of that. When I'm at the fair, everything is right with the world.

My grandma would pack a picnic lunch and I would spend the morning begging to do the kid things while my dad and grandparents would want to walk through the buildings. We did it all. Riding rides. Playing games. I remember loving the rubber ducky game where you paid your quarter, and selected a ducky as it went swimming by. We would ride the tram. We would eat our picnic lunch and I would beg for one of the ice cream cones that had two sections for ice cream, was covered in chocolate, and dipped in peanuts. They called it a "walking sundae". I'm quite positive one year I won a goldfish. We would try to get on the local news station who had a booth set up. "We're (hold up four fingers) FOUR Buffalo!" And then we'd do it all over again until it was time to go home.

My memories from when I was younger are all jumbled together. I don't know what happened first, I don't remember all the food options (aside from those ice cream cones), and I don't even remember if we went to see the animals. But they were some of the best days of my life. When I didn't really want summer to end. When I didn't realize I was too hot. When the lazy, hazy days seemed to linger forever. When I didn't want to go home, but probably fell sound asleep on the drive home.

My grandma enjoyed the flowers (which was also a common them at Walt Disney World), and my grandpa loved the Indian Village. We would watch their dances and learn to love their culture, which for those who don't know is a big deal in Western New York.

Eventually, we moved away for a couple years. But we were still close enough to visit and one year, my dad took me and at least one of my brothers and a whole carful of the neighborhood kids to spend the day at the fair. We each had a couple dollars to play games or buy souvenirs. We were there all day and had a blast.

Every year, the fair had new things and I remember one year they introduced some type of ride that flipped you upside down. My grandma and I joked about riding it together, but I'm fairly certain no such event ever occurred!

Finally we moved back home, but not for long. My dad was transferred to a tiny little town in Pennsylvania in the middle of my sophomore year of high school. They had a county fair, but it was nothing like MY Erie County Fair (although that was probably the first place I ever had a blooming onion, so there's that.) Every year, we would come home for the fair. That was when Jim Kelly first started playing for the Bills and we started being really good. The local affiliated radio station gave out all kinds of Bills themed stuff, so I would travel back to Steelers country with Bills stickers, water bottles, and football cards. Thank goodness for the fair!

I was planning on going to college to be a teacher (which I did, although I don't currently teach.) Because of that, I loved the education building. It wasn't terribly popular with the kids though, as the fair pretty much marked the end of summer. So it's no surprise that the education building is no longer a thing at the Erie County Fair! But there are still lots of educational opportunities... they're just cleverly disguised as fun ;)

After finally coming back home one last time, I haven't missed the fair in at least fifteen years. The fair is the first place I ever had sweet potato fries, and for the longest time that was the ONLY place I could find them. These days, I avoid the rides like the plague, but I still enjoy seeing their bright colors spinning through the sky. I enjoy walking several miles a day. I spend an inordinate amount of time in the animal barns, wishing I had a goat. I eat food that's delicious, albeit not exactly healthy.

This year, I went four out of the twelve days. I saw a baby calf be born (finally!). I cried petting a horse. I almost cried when, for the fifth time, my number wasn't called to bottle feed a baby calf. I fed butterflies. I watched cooking demonstrations, I considered dropping six hundred dollars on a blender, I actively avoided talking to people about Direct TV. I spent a good twenty minutes chatting with a volunteer in the Heritage and History Center (which, for someone who doesn't like talking to people is pretty impressive). I saw my former neighbor's award-winning oil painting. I learned that Disney produced a WWII propaganda film to buy War Bonds, staring Donald Duck.

People still pack picnic lunches. They actually set them down on picnic tables and walk away for hours at a time! You can still get a walking sundae AND a walking taco. The Indian village is still there. Last year I bought a dreamcatcher that hangs on a bulletin board near my bed. You can still be "FOUR" Buffalo and get on TV. With the technology that has changed in the forty years (ish) that I've been going, you can now get a text message when a baby calf is about to be born. You can get your ketchup delivered to you by a robot.

The fair is still the same as it's always been, and it's still new every year. And, if you spend enough time in the Creative Arts Building, you'll even get a little bit of Disney!

"Your Dream Stinks... I Was Talking to Her."

You would expect that someone who idolizes Walt Disney, has Disney songs on her Ipod, kinda sorta has a Disney blog, and quotes Disney movies on the regular would have a dream list a mile long. The truth is... I'm annoyingly pragmatic. A dream may, in fact, be a wish your heart makes. But a steady job puts food on the table. I've never really been a dreamer regardless of how many cheery, inspirational quotes I post to social media that would suggest otherwise. If you asked me right now what my biggest dream is, I would stumble around and eventually mumble something highly unlikely such as my standard "I want to win the lottery and open my own animal sanctuary" (which might not be so bad if I ever actually BOUGHT a lottery ticket) or something that doesn't really involve me at all, such as the Buffalo Bills winning the Super Bowl.

You know what else I'm not? Athletic. Not even close. As a spectator, I'm a sports fanatic. But personally I'm about as graceful as Bambi on his new legs, trying to maneuver around on the ice. So what would prompt me to think that doing a 5K (for the first time ever) with a ton of people on a hot summer night would be fun? The official diagnosis? FOMO. Fear Of Missing Out. My friends were doing it, and I wanted to hang out with them.

It wouldn't be a fun blog post if everything went as planned! It wasn't the greatest time. Feelings were hurt. And I made the ridiculous decision that I would run the entire thing the next year and be really fast and then I would do a race at Disney! I downloaded Couch-to-5K. I bought magazines! I bought running shoes! And what I learned was that I'm a really lousy runner. My body hated it, so I gave up. Well, not entirely. I just did a LOT of walking. And I got better at it.

And I continued to get better at it. One winter I signed up for a 5K and walked the entire thing. I was thrilled that not only did I NOT come in last place, but I finished in under an hour. And then I kept signing up for more races. And every once in a while, on the treadmill, I would increase my pace and run. For like a minute. And then I would wonder if I was going to die. But I didn't. So I would throw in a couple more minutes. And then I would be SURE that I was going to die. And I didn't! I would start throwing in a little bit of running when I was outside. I would get really excited and post my times on Facebook and then the craziest thing happened.

One day, about a year and a half ago, my best friend from high school messaged me. She said we should sign up for a runDisney event together. We hadn't seen each other in over twenty years, but we are both huge Star Wars fans and she had been running and even doing triathlons. (I know, I'm tired just thinking about it too!) What could be a better way to finally see each other after all that time? And... here's the crazy thing. We actually DID sign up for it! I mean, come on. How often do we say to each other, "hey, we should do this?" and then get all happy about it... and then never actually DO it?!

So yeah. What actually started out as a silly thought after getting my feelings hurt (partly because people are mean, but also partly because I'm a baby) actually came to fruition! We went to Walt Disney World! We did the Dark Side 5K together! We actually RAN part of it. And I smiled. And I had a blast. We had so much fun getting out of Epcot as quickly as we could. We high-fived cast members. My friend spoke in German to the CMs at the Germany pavilion. We got our picture taken with Ewoks! And I cannot wait to do it again. My body still hates running. But I am getting better, just much slower than most people. But it's okay. Because I actually DO have a dream. I want to be a runner. Or at least, someone who doesn't just sit around doing nothing. And I'm kind of there.

So I guess now I need a new dream. Or do I? I mean, the Bills still haven't won the Super Bowl. But every year, I KNOW that THIS is the year!

(Disney Photopass photo)

America on Parade

If you're a Disney lover like me, you probably have some Disney books. History books, guidebooks, biographies of Walt Disney, cookbooks... I have all of these. Not a huge collection compared to what some people may have, but a nice mix of Disneyana. My most recent book purchase is a cookbook, Kitchen Magic with Mickey that I got when I was in the Most Magical Place on Earth in April. It's my second Disney cookbook... the first one I bought is called Mickey's Gourmet Cookbook and I bought it for a dollar at a garage sale!

I'll feature each of my books at some point, but today I'm sharing one of the two oldest books in my collection. Both The Art of Walt Disney (the book on the very bottom of my stack; not sure why the photo is so blurry) and America on Parade have a copyright date of 1975 and, if my mom's memory is correct, these books were purchased by her mom for me from the Jewel Tea Man.

Now, I'm fairly certain that anyone reading this will have zero idea what I'm talking about, so here's a quick history lesson. Jewel Tea was a national company that went door to door selling all kinds of household items. Ironically, my research indicates that it started out as a individual who went door to door selling... wait for it... coffee beans! If you know someone who has the "autumn leaf" pattern of dinnerware, this originated with Jewel Tea. My mom and grandma had a lot of these items, and my mom generally would just say she got them from "the tea man".

So, back to Disney. I've loved Disney all my life and apparently I respected the main man himself so much that I referred to him as "Mr. Walter Disney". Because why wouldn't a child say that?! But, that's why my grandma bought me these books. With it being Fourth of July weekend (sort of, anyway... I still have to work tomorrow!) I thought it would be fun to talk about the America on Parade book.

To celebrate the bicentennial in 1976, Disney came up with the idea of this spectacular parade that was a celebration of our history. The parade was called, obviously, "America on Parade" and ran in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. According to the book, the parade consisted "of fifty units depicting milestones and important institutions in American history...". During the summer, the parade was held twice a day. The second showing was at night and concluded with fireworks.

It took almost a year to gather all the research necessary to put on such a huge parade. It was three quarters of a mile in length and lasted almost half an hour from start to finish. The parade featured giant doll-like characters, representing the people of the US. Part of the research involved making sure the costumes the dolls wore were historically accurate.

The cool thing about this book is that it's basically a history book. It tells the history that is depicted in the parade and includes illustrations and photos made by Walt Disney Productions as part of the parade planning. It also includes several pullout sections of photos that were taken during the opening week of the parade in June 1975. The pullout sections show Main Street USA, lined with people, watching the parade.

I love that I have this book in my collection. More than forty years later it's not only a US history book, but it's now also part of Disney's history!

On a side note, as I was pulling all of my books together I also flipped open a couple of my old Disney magazines and came across this gem from 1998. Further proof that nobody throws a birthday party like Disney! I tried googling to see which hometowns were picked, and the only I'm able to find was Sheboygan, Wisconsin (who doesn't like saying "Sheboygan"?!)

I hope everyone in the US has a fantastic Independence Day and that my Canadian friends enjoyed celebrating Canada's Sesquicentennial! And, if by some miracle, someone is reading this outside of either of those countries, I hope you have a magical day!

It IS a Small World, After All

Welcome to my refurbished blog! I went back and forth between several different names and I think this is just about perfect. I love going places, doing things, talking about them. I would say I have wanderlust, which is partially true. For starters, I like to wander. Ha. And I crave new experiences and would much rather go to a museum than hang out on the beach. The only reason I'm not really a card-carrying member of the travel club is that I actually hate the process of traveling. Quite the conundrum. But I still have adventures. They just tend to be kind of close to home!

My first post on my updated blog was actually inspired by something that happened just last night that gave me an idea that I might run with. Or I might not. You never know... my mind likes to wander, too ;)

I actually DID travel this weekend. I took a little road tripe to Pittsburgh, which is a bit over three hours away from Buffalo. The reason for this particular trip was two-fold. I spent the majority of the day at the Pittsburgh Zoo and then headed to PNC Park to see my Chicago Cubs take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. I'm happy to say I wasn't the only Cubs fan there. I was actually surrounded by them. Sitting behind me was a dad and his two kids, all cheering for the Cubbies. After a foul ball wound up hitting the little boy (he was fine and quite happy about it), I discovered that in this crowd of close to 40,000 people these fans were also from Buffalo!

I pondered this on my way home and it reminded me of my recent trip to Disney. I encountered three different people during my trip who were from towns close to me:

I met up with some friends at the Grand Floridian for afternoon tea. Our waitress was from Latrobe, Pennsylvania which isn't too far from where we all met.

My first day in the parks, I went to Hollywood Studios. I got there before the park opened and the Cast Member who was preventing everyone from running toward Toy Story Mania was from Buffalo. (A suburb, actually, but his name tag said "Buffalo".) We chatted for a while about Buffalo foods before the park officially opened.

On my Magic Kingdom day, I headed immediately for Peter Pan's Flight where I was greeted by a Cast Member who was literally from the suburb I live in! His name was Stan and he lived not too far from me when he still lived in the area. We took a selfie and I thought it was a great way to start the day.

I'm so glad I took that selfie and remembered Stan's name. And I will definitely include this information in the Disney photo book I'm working on. But then I thought it might be cool to take it a step further and I think my next trip to The World will include a new project! I'm going to make an autograph book titled "It's a Small World" and have the Cast Members who are from my town autograph my book! Maybe I'll even carry something with me from Buffalo to give to them. (My Hollywood Studios encounter DID ask me why I didn't bring him a pizza!) I think that would be a fun memento to look back on and see just how small our world really is!

An Ode to the Grey Stuff... It's Delicious!

July Fourth was not only Independence Day, but it also marked the one-year anniversary of deciding to go to Disney World! Best decision I've made in a really long time. To commemorate it, I wanted to bake something to take to work. So last weekend I spent some time looking through Disney recipes. My initial idea was to make Magic Cookie Bars. But, I've never actually eaten one of them at Disney World! My mom makes them for Christmas every year, but I wanted something Disney-related that I've actually had AT Disney.

Then I remembered seeing a bunch of recipes for the Grey Stuff. If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, you probably haven't been to Disney World in the last year or so! One of the highlights of the New Fantasyland expansion includes a restaurant called "Be Our Guest" and it is amazingly Beauty and the Beast themed. And one of the desserts they offer is called "The Grey Stuff"... as in Lumière's line from the song "Be Our Guest" -- Try the grey stuff, it's delicious! Don't believe me? Ask the dishes!

Now, I would never have expected the grey stuff to be a dessert. But I'm really glad it is! It's had several different incarnations since the restaurant opened and this is a picture of what I had when I was there in February:

The description was: Chocolate Shell, Cookie Crème topped with Lumiere’s special “Grey Stuff”.

The grey stuff itself is kind of a mousse-y type thing and I would describe the cookie crème as being sort of like the inside of a truffle? Maybe? All of the recipes I've found online are ONLY for the grey stuff. I didn't know how my coworkers would feel about just eating a bowl of that, although I highly recommend it! Haha.

So I decided to experiment a little bit. And while my version is NOT a replica of what I had at Be Our Guest in February, everyone loved it! I decided to make a cookie crust, bake brownies on top, and then frost them with the grey stuff! And I really wanted to include those edible pearls! Unfortunately, Target didn't HAVE edible pearls. But I actually LOVE what I was able to find instead!

Here's what I came up with. I used a brownie mix, but you can obviously be ambitious and make your own. I wasn't too concerned with that part of the experiment. I used almost the exact recipe for the grey stuff as the link above. But because I was using the Oreos for two different things, the measurements are probably a little off, so I'll include mine here. I also used skim milk and it turned out fine. I sort of used this recipe for Oreo Crusted Brownie Pie as the starting point for my cookie crust, but I was using a 9x13 pan and not a pie pan. (That recipe looks delicious as well, by the way!)

1 package of regular-stuff Oreos
6 tablespoons butter, melted
Packaged brownie mix (9 x 13 size pan)*
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 cups milk
1 (8 ounce) tub Cool Whip
6 tablespoons instant chocolate pudding mix (use the leftovers to sprinkle on ice cream!)
Edible pearl sprinkles

* You will also need whatever ingredients are listed on the brownie box

Preheat your oven to 350º.

Spray or grease the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan.

Crush the Oreos in a food processor until they are very fine, almost like sand. If you happen to eat a couple beforehand, it will still turn out fine. I think I ate three cookies and crushed the rest! Ha. Reserve two cups of the crushed cookies and mix the rest with the melted butter. Press into the bottom of the pan. Bake for five minutes. Remove from oven.

Prepare the brownies according to the package directions. Pour over the cookie crust and bake according to the package directions.

Mix the vanilla pudding and the milk together in a large bowl. Set in the refrigerator, about eight to ten minutes.

Remove from the refrigerator and mix in the reserved cookie crumbs. Fold in the Cool Whip. Mix in the chocolate pudding and stir well. Let chill in the refrigerator for about an hour or so.

Frost the brownies with the grey stuff and sprinkle with the edible pearls.

This is what I found at Target instead of the edible pearls!!!

Tell me those don't look like snowflakes?! As in... Frozen! So yay! My Beauty and the Beast inspired dessert also has a touch of Elsa in it. What more could anyone ask for?!

In Which I Attempt to Write a Book Review Just So I Can Gush About Disney and Get All Philosophical

It's 86º in Buffalo as I type this, and I have chills.

Don't get me wrong. It's still miserably hot and I'm still hating summer. I even posted a picture on Facebook this morning of Anna and Elsa with Anna's quote, "Do the magic!" in an attempt to make it start snowing. Yeah. That didn't work so well. I have no desire to venture outside and I am almost 7000 steps short of my daily 10,000 goal. So I hung out on the internet for a while. And I watched two episodes of season two of 24. Yes, I'm a little behind the times, but courtesy of Amazon Prime and Roku, I can get annoyed by a TV show whenever I want!! Ha.

Then I decided to finish the book I was reading. I started it last week, and made it through about 70% of it. That's where the chills come in.

This is the book I just finished reading, and my eyes are all puffy. It's a very easy read and it's almost like reading one of my beloved Disney trip reports... with the minor difference being that this family totally uprooted their lives so their autistic child could be closer to Disney World.

The author, Ron Miles, is very quick to point out that this isn't a story of a miracle happening. His child, Ben, still has autism. Ron and Ben's mom get divorced. But they, along with Ron's new wife, get to watch their child transform because of Disney. And not only do we get to read about that, but we also get to read about the part the Disney company's employees play in Ben's life. And in some ways, we also get some unexpected closure in relation to a ride many of us have been on that is no longer a part of the Magic Kingdom.

I picked this book because I wanted to hear Ben's story and wanted a dose of Disney and because I think it was cheap on Amazon. (Hey, I'm nothing if not honest!) But what I came away with was not just a touching story. It was more validation that My Happy Place is truly magical and that people who don't see that aren't looking hard enough. Not everyone needs to be a Disney fan. I get that. But honestly, it's more than that. It's about being the kind of person who wants to make the world a better place.

And we can never have too much of that.

Teacup Tuesdays #2

Christmas at Disney

Six months from today is CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!! I love doing the Christmas countdown on the 24th and 25th of every month, much to the annoyance of just about everyone I know. I love Christmas and I can't even imagine what it would be like to spend some quality time in Disney over the Christmas holiday. So in honor of the countdown, today's Teacup Tuesday will focus on Christmas at Disney!

I've seen so many trip reports where fellow Disney enthusiasts share pictures of the Osborne lights at Disney's Hollywood Studios and numerous character photos of the gang all decked out in their Christmas finery. And Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. And the decorations. And the decorations. And did I mention the decorations?? *grin* People decorate their resort rooms for Christmas and I think I've seen pictures of little Christmas trees in the rooms.

I think the #1 thing on this list however would be the amazing gingerbread house that is created in the Grand Floridian hotel. I so desperately want to be able to see that!

How incredibly amazing would it be to spend part of Christmas in the most magical place on earth??? I need to find a way to make this happen!

Kill, Refurb, Marry: Disney Princesses

I've been following the Disney in Your Day blog for a while now and it's my favorite Disney blog. Becky has a great mix of fun Disney stuff and one of the things she does regularly is the "Kill, Refurb, Marry" game. I never quite paid attention to the fact that it's a blog hop, but after reading the latest incarnation I was terribly intrigued, so I actually hopped over to the main page for the game and checked out other people's answers as well.

The theme for this month is Disney Princesses. And I actually gasped at the idea of killing a Disney princess! Blasphemy. But I decided to put my creative thinking cap on and play along! So here we go!

Kill: Merida
Okay. I know. But here's the thing... I thought long and hard about this, and while I don't dislike her per se it was the Princess movie that I liked the least. And I wanted to LOVE it. The Irish accent, the I-don't-need-a-man thing, etc. But I thought the movie was mediocre at best. The whole bear thing was bizarre to me and as Disney fans, we all know that sometimes we have to suspend belief sometimes. But it still has to make sense, and I think it failed. Plus, I think there have been other Princesses who did the "I can do it myself" thing much better. And since Merida was the one Princess I didn't make any attempt to meet on my last trip, unfortunately she's the weakest link for me. And since I had to pick someone, well, there ya go.

Refurb: Aurora
The only reason I'm picking her is because it's been SO long since I've seen Sleeping Beauty that I honestly don't remember a whole lot about it. And as others have pointed out, her character has the least amount of storyline. I actually think Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are the stars of this movie. So I would love some additional backstory. I'm guessing we might get that soon with Maleficent, so maybe we'll all start to appreciate her a bit more. (On a side note, I'm not really looking forward to Maleficent; I'm not a huge Angelina Jolie fan and my gut reaction is that the movie is going to make us all feel bad for the poor, misunderstood evil queen. I'm hoping I'm wrong! And of course, I'm still going to go see it!)I've met Princess Aurora several times and she's always been perfectly lovely! And my favorite color is pink, so that's another vote in her favor.

Marry: Tiana
I went back and forth on this one, because there are so many that I love. My gut reaction was to choose Elsa, because anyone who can make it cold with a flick of the wrist would get my undying love. But she didn't stay a princess for very long, so I disqualified her.

Ultimately, I picked Tiana. She was a hard worker, who didn't give up on her dream. She loved her family, and she didn't put finding a man to complete her as a top priority. SHE was her top priority and the love fell into place when she wasn't expecting it. She loved to cook and when I took one of the Facebook quizzes on "which Princess are you", I came back as... drum roll... Tiana! My meet and greet with her was pretty cool, too... even if she wasn't willing to part with her gumbo recipe. Hehe.

Teacup Tuesdays #1

Welcome to the very first Teacup Tuesday!! I hope everyone is having a great day. It's very hot and humid here today, which unfortunately makes me a bit crabby! But I'm excited to start my perpetual list of things I want to see, do, taste, and experience at the most magical place on earth!

I'm going to include things that will be easy to cross off the list and other things that may take a while to accomplish. So with that in mind, I decided to start things off with something that should be REALLY easy, assuming it doesn't go away any time soon and I do better at remembering to do it.

Drum roll, please!!

Walk Around the Art of Animation Resort and Try the Nutella Gelato

Sounds simple enough, right? Yeah. It was actually on my list of things to do on my last trip but I had a complete brain freeze and never actually made it there. *sigh*

I actually looked into staying at AoA, but it was a little pricier than the All-Star resorts and since I don't spend a whole lot of time in the room, I couldn't justify it. Taking a little trip over there should have been easy, though... but no. As for the gelato, I only learned of this deliciousness from reading someone else's trip report over on the Dis. It's amazing what you discover reading about other people's adventures!! It was immediately added to my list, and just as quickly ignored when I was there.

So hopefully, I can cross this one off the list on my next trip. Which I hopefully won't have to wait another five years for!

If you've stayed at the Art of Animation resort and/or tried the gelato, please share your thoughts!!!! Have a great day!!

My Disney Tea Cup List

Everyone knows what a bucket list is. A list of things you want to do before you "kick the bucket". A quick Google search on the words "bucket list" will turn up 16 billion entries. I know, because I Googled it. Places to go, books to read, foods to try... the possibilities are endless. But I think the term "bucket list" is kinda morbid. I mean, I suppose the idea is that you just keep adding to the list but if you're adventurous and cross off all 800 things and can't think of anything else, do you then just say "okay, I'm done?"

Yeah... I don't like thinking that way. I do, however, like to overthink which I'm sure is what I'm doing in the above scenario! Hey, at least I'm honest.

I wanted to start a Disney list... things that I really want to experience at Walt Disney World. But because of my aforementioned overthinking, I wanted to call it something else. So I came up with "My Disney Tea Cup List". (At no point in time will the teacup ride actually be added to this list. Spinning. Dizzy. Nausea. No thank you!)

Look, I even made a logo and everything!!

I'm going to see if I can figure out how to create a page just for the tea cup list items! I want to be able to look back on my list when I'm planning on my future trips and know right away what I want to do. I've always been a planner, so this will be a fun little project for me.

In an attempt to update it regularly, I'm planning on doing Tea Cup Tuesdays. Every Tuesday I will post a new item to the list!

So, whatcha think?? Do you keep a ongoing "must do" list for Disney or anything else?

Disney's Animal Kingdom Top Five

My second day of vacation was spent at Disney's Animal Kingdom. This was only my third time ever in DAK. The last time I was here was 2009, and on that morning I took The Backstage Safari Tour, which is one of the coolest things I've EVER done. I was looking forward to making some new memories on this trip, so here are my DAK Top Five Moments from 2014!!!

#5: Getting My Picture Taken in Front of the Tree of Life
I really wanted to be in a lot of the pictures from this trip, and I got several character pictures on my Epcot day. But I think I walked past the Photopass photographer who was taking pictures by the Tree of Life AT LEAST four times before working up the nerve to get my picture taken! I am really self-conscious, but once I started there was no stopping me!

#4: Meeting Dug and Russell
This was probably the meet and greet I was most excited about! And I almost missed it due to poor planning. But I got it all I figured out eventually! Squirrel!!

#3: Misbehaving Addax
The first thing I did after walking through the gates was head to Kilimanjaro Safari. I love this with every fiber of my being!! At one point, our driver had to stop for a good long time because the Addax (the animal in the photo below) were chasing each other around, and kept running in front of our ride vehicle! I had no idea they would get that close and it was so fun to watch!

#2: Character Breakfast at Tusker House
I booked this reservation on the spur of the moment after reading multiple positive reviews over on the Dis. And I was not disappointed! The food was yummy and the character interaction was top notch! I got to meet Mickey, Goofy, Daisy, and Donald!

#1: Finding Nemo -- The Musical
On my two previous trips to DAK, I wasn't able to fit this show in. I bypassed it both times in favor of "Legend of the Lion King". I was determined to see it this time, which was made easier by the fact that FotL was being moved/refurbished and wasn't open. The music was a LOT of fun and it was made even more special after the fact when the composing team, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, won the Oscar that weekend for Let it Go!

EPCOT Top Five

I can't believe it's been six weeks already since I left for my amazing solo trip to Walt Disney World! Oh my gosh, I miss it SO MUCH!!!! I had such an amazing trip in such a short time!

I'm going to do a four-part best-of series of posts about my trip... one post for each park. My plan is to list my top five favorite things from this trip that happened in each park. I have an ongoing, in-depth trip report that I'm writing over on the Dis boards. If you're interested in reading that, you can check it out by clicking right here!!.

Here is what my schedule looked like:
Sunday, Feb 23 -- EPCOT
Monday, Feb 24 -- Disney's Animal Kingdom
Tuesday, Feb 25 -- Disney's Hollywood Studios
Wednesday, Feb 26 -- Magic Kingdom

No, it was not nearly enough time to do everything I wanted. But I had SO MUCH FUN. I'm hoping to be able to go for Christmas in 2015. We'll see what happens. I'm still in full-on Disney mode and I never want to lose this feeling. So without further ado, I present my EPCOT Top Five!

#5: Lunch at Sunshine Seasons
This could be because it was my first experience on the Disney Dining Plan. It could just be that I was really hungry. Who knows?! But I had a delicious turkey and Monterey Jack sandwich on focaccia bread with strawberry shortcake for dessert. That dessert was ah-mazing!

#4: My First Pin Trade. Ever!
When my sister and her family went to WDW last year, she said my niece really got into the pin trading thing and she thought I would enjoy it as well. So she got me a pin set with the instructions that I could keep some of them, but I had to trade some too. So my first pin trade was actually also at Sunshine Seasons. They had a board out, and I picked a cute Princess Tiana pin. Now I am totally addicted!

#3: The American Adventure
This was my first experience with the show inside the United States pavilion and I'm glad I didn't skip it! I'm not a huge history buff, but I do enjoy it. And I'm definitely an American patriot! So this was really awesome for me.

#2: Soarin'
I got to experience the new FP+ system on this trip, and I liked it a lot. I never would have been able to show up at Epcot in the early afternoon and go on Soarin' without it. So YAY!!! This is one of my favorite rides and it didn't disappoint! I love the orange grove scent and the feeling of... well... soaring!

#1: Duffy the Disney Bear
I wanted to meet a lot of characters on this trip, and the first one I met was Duffy. I had no clue who he was, but the line was short so I popped into it. Before you actually get to see Duffy, there are storyboards explaining who he is. I totally fell in love!

What is your favorite thing about EPCOT?

I'm Not a Doctor...

... but I play one on the intranet.

When I signed up for the Holly Jolly 5K, my registration fee entitled me to a three-month subscription to three different magazines. I'm a huge magazine junkie, so I jumped on it... knowing that I would need to cancel said subscriptions in three months to avoid being charged for the actual subscription.

I was excited to be able to choose People as one of my options. Last week's issue focused on people who had lost a significant amount of weight through natural methods (in other words, no surgery). I love reading these stories and I was thrilled to see that one of the individuals features on the cover was Sharee Hansen from Funeral for My Fat. I pop onto tumblr every now and then and I love her site, although I prefer following her through her Facebook page. I just find tumblr to be off-putting for some reason. Anyway, her story is incredibly motivating. If you have any interest in a healthy lifestyle I encourage you to check her out.

The entire issue was excellent. Until I came across the article about celebrity chef Rocco Dispirito. He's lost some weight recently and has a new diet book out. This is the blurb that accompanied a picture of the book. Like I said in my post title... I am NOT a doctor. Nor am I an expert on anything health related (with the possible exception of side effects of MS medication :p) But this disturbs me so badly. 850 calories a day? Your body burns more than that just by being alive. If you ask me (which I realize nobody did), this is an eating disorder waiting to happen. It's only for a month, but I have a really hard time accepting that this is healthy and an even harder time knowing that people are making money off this "plan".

Okay, rant over. Time for some HAPPY news! Which I desperately needed, as it's been a rough couple weeks for me and for SO many people I know. My favorite Disney-related blog, Disney in Your Day, teamed up with an Etsy shop called Enchanted Bridal for a giveaway/contest. The shop owner was looking for some new design ideas and I'm sooo excited to tell you that I got an email earlier that I won second place in the contest! I'm going to be receiving my idea as a rhinestone design to put on a tshirt!!! Check out Becky's blog to see what design I suggested. It shouldn't really come as a shock. Hehe.

In 42 days, I will be strolling through Epcot! I cannot wait.

The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway

Happy Thanksgiving, blogosphere!

I've been doing the "attitude of gratitude" challenge on Facebook.... every day I post something I'm thankful for. Some days it was profound, other days it was goofy (yes, I AM thankful for the entertainment industry, thankyouverymuch)... and on the days I had to get needles stuck in me, it was a struggle. Not because I wasn't thankful for anything, but because typing it out just felt so fake. But yes, I am incredibly blessed. My favorite day was the one where I said I was thankful that I had a family that I missed instead of one I didn't want to be around. And I've said that many times since they moved away, and it keeps me going when I'm feeling down!

Right now, I'm just sitting here... reading trip reports on the Disney message board and watching it snow. It's a very light, beautiful snow. Most of what we got yesterday is melted, which makes me sad. Because LOOK at this:

How do you not look at that and just see beauty?

Speaking of snow, I just got back from seeing Frozen. I am so completely mesmerized by it! I wanted to stay and watch it again. I've been looking forward to it for some time now and it was well worth the wait. I just feel all warm and fuzzy, which is pretty impressive considering the name of the movie. *grin*

Next Saturday, I'm signed up for a 5K called the "Holly Jolly 5K". We all get to wear Santa hats! Hooray! Of course, I will once again be walking... not running. And who knows what the weather will be like. But I'm excited for it. Should be a good time, mainly because I needed the push from myself to just go out and LIVE.

I've had my moments since the diagnosis where I feel like I'm just spinning in circles, afraid to do anything. I feel like such a fraud when my friends call me strong. I definitely don't feel strong. I feel like I want to close my eyes, sleep really well, and then when I wake up it will all have been a dream nightmare. I mean, seriously. An entire season of Dallas was able to be wiped out that way! Is it really too much to ask? I'm really good at sleeping!

The title of this post is from the song "Let it Go", which is from my new second-favorite Disney movie. Hmm... I wonder what that could be? *giggle* Idina Menzel sang it beautifully in the movie, and I really like Demi Lovato's version as well. I don't necessarily agree with all the lyrics, but I try very hard to just embrace the "let it go" mentality. I can't change what I can't change. And that applies to more than just a chronic illness. It applies to life in general.

And to quote my favorite marketing slogan ever...

{Life is a special occasion}

Doing the Happy Dance