"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)

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!

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!

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?

Doing the Happy Dance

A Double Dose of Triple D

Have I mentioned that I love food?? And the Food Network?

When I visited my family in San Antonio back in October, one of the things I really wanted to do was go to a restaurant that had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I find this niftly little app/website called TV Food Maps that lets you search by foodie show, location, etc.

I found a barbecue place called Bun'n'Barrel and luckily my brother was able to figure out how to get there; driving aimlessly around a city I had just been robbed in didn't sound like fun to me*. We stopped for lunch on our way back from a visit to the San Antonio Zoo. I had a melt-in-your-mouth brisket sandwich and some deliciously crispy onion rings. We also tried their "Thai Spicy BBQ Sauce" which had a great flavor and packed quite a bit of heat. I was able to bring home one of their take-out menus as a souvenir, which made me happier than necessary. Although we didn't do this, you could park your car and have the waitress bring your food out to you like the old-fashioned car hops used to do. I'm happy to say that I'm too young to remember such things and that Happy Days is my only point of reference to this. Of course, that does make me old enough to actually remember Happy Days...

(*That's right... less than an hour after landing in San Antonio, our cars were broken into. I had almost $500 worth of stuff stolen. Welcome to Texas.)

Just last week, I got a nice surprise when some friends decided to go out to dinner after work. Now, Western New York is a fairly large area and I admittedly am only familiar with my little neck of the woods. So when the suggestion was made to go to a burger place in the opposite direction of where I live, I can honestly say that it wouldn't have been my first choice. I'm not generally a burger person and I couldn't pass for someone who enjoys driving if my life depended on it. The fact that I misunerstood the ridiculously easy directions didn't help.

Grovers Bar and Grill does not have it's own website, but it's received some pretty good reviews on yelp and it was named "Best Burger" in the Best of Buffalo Poll done by Artvoice. According to my internet research, the restaurant sits on Grover Cleveland's old hunting camp.

So, we're sitting in our little booth looking at the menu and the first thing I noticed was the words "cheeseburger soup". My friends had been here before, and one of them told me it was good so I immediately knew I'd be ordering that. It was SO good and reminded me of my sister's sausage dip recipe, which I will be sharing below. I decided to forego an actual burger and ordered a grilled ham and cheese on rye. Common, but delicious. And HUGE. I wound up taking half of it home with me.

It wasn't until we had already been served that one of my friends mentioned that it had been on DDD. And that's when I noticed that we were sitting directly under the "Guy Ate Here" sign! So, I guess the lesson is that driving half an hour out of the way can produce some delicious results.

And since we're on the subject, Food Network Star (Guy Fieri's launching pad!) starts tonight. And just this morning, less than ten hours before the new season starts, I found out that one of the contestants is a former Buffalonian! Her name is Nikki Dinki and you can check out her blog right here!

Super-Easy Sausage Dip

16 ounces Velveeta

Bulk pork sausage

jar of salsa

Cube the Velveeta and throw it in the crockpot on low to start melting. Brown the pork sausage. Drain. Add the sausage and salsa to the crockpot. Heat on low until melted. Serve with tortilla chips.

Unexpected Beauty

Living in Buffalo is a funny thing. There is a lot more to do here than most people realize and, contrary to popular opinion, it does NOT snow all the time; it was a stifling 85º today (much to my intense displeasure!) But the thing that always strikes me as so profound is that we are half an hour away from a foreign country. And for the longest time I balked at spending the extra money to get an enhanced driver's license, which would allow me to travel to said foreign country. I'm pretty sure only states that border Canada or Mexico offer them, although I could be wrong. But the impression I'm under is that if someone from North Carolina wanted to cross either border, he would need a passport.

My stubborness changed last year, and I don't have a good explanation for why. I just decided to fork over the extra cash so I could head north every now and then. Today, I hopped in the car and headed for the Canadian side of Niagara Falls for a healthy dose of Vitamin N. I skipped the actual Falls and journeyed over to the Botanical Gardens and the Butterfly Conservatory.

I've always been fascinated by the life circle of the butterfly. It's one of the most amazing things in God's vast arsenal of awesomeness. (Note to self: pick up a copy of Disney's newest nature documentary about butterflies.) I've been to several butterfly exhibits in the past, but this one is phenomenal!

As soon as I walked through the glass doors, I'd noticed these stunning blue butterflies flitting around. Trying to get a decent picture of one proved to be fairly difficult, though. I really wanted a picture of one perched on some flowers, but I was lucky enough to snap a picture of one that was just sitting on the ground. I had to be very careful of wear my feet landed the whole time I was there. I was terrified that I was going to step on one, which would have ruined me.

As I wandered through the greenery, I noticed some brown, drab-looking butterlfies that appeared to have eyes all over their wings sitting on the trays that are placed throughout the exhibit. These trays contain rotting fruit that the butterflies eat. As they spread their wings, I was shocked to realize that these brownish, eyeball creatures and my elusive blue beauties were one and the same! They're called Blue Morpho butterflies and are one of the largest butterflies in the world. The shimmery, iridescent blue color comes from their scales; the spotted brown color acts as camouflage.

If I hadn't been paying attention, I would have completely overlooked this unique example of hidden beauty. And I think to myself... what a wonderful world!

Mini Road Trip

All I want is to see some Christmas decorations... which means I'm dreaming of going to New York City. A place, I'd like to point out, that I've never visited. Disney World would work as well. I've never been there at Christmas time and it's something I'd really like to do.

So... I hopped in the car this morning and took a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake. It's only about an hour from here, depending on how long you have to wait at the border crossing. My trip into Canada was quick, but the border agent was cranky. The trip back had a lovely long line, but the agent was a lot friendlier!

This was my third trip to this charming little town. I went several years ago with some friends and then I just went back this summer. I would have gone more often, but I dragged my feet on the concept of an enhanced license. I finally got one this year, so I figure I should get my money's worth!

Several of the shops had decorated Christmas trees which were on display in the Court House. They were really creative!

I had lunch at Taste, the same place I went in the summer. It's a colorful little bistro with sandwiches, soups, bakery items, and general yumminess. It was wicked crowded when I was there in July, but I guess I was the only hungry person today. I had a bowl of chicken and wild rice soup (no comparison to Panera, but still good) and a delicious half sandwich (which reminds of Sheldon asking Penny what happens to the other half of the sandwich on BBT). They have several standard sandwiches, or you can create your own. I made my own creation... turkey and smoked gouda with cranberry salsa on pumpernickel bread. Yummy.

I was also able to pick up some Christmas gifts. There are some really cute shops and I was glad I made it back to be able to get some awesome presents that weren't your run-of-the-mill candle and gift card option. Can't wait to give them!!

I'll admit that I was hoping for a huge Christmas tree... but most of the shops and restaurants had decorations and some of the window displays were beautiful. It was a quick little trip but it enhanced my Christmas spirit immensely.