a Florida girl at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

Let me just first say, two of my absolute favorite things are Halloween and Disney, so finally getting to go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party was a dream.  

We decided to go this year to celebrate my friend Alexis and her birthday!

In line for Space Mountain. 

The Halloween decor at Disney is always my favorite!!

We decided to go with the theme "Villains" for our group costumes. Alexis, our birthday girl was Malificent, Kelly was Ursula, I was the Queen of Hearts (mainly so I could wear my heart shoes), and Daniel was Scar.

While I definitely do not want to ruin the experience, there were some amazing highlights of the event that I have to share!!!

At the entrance of Main Street begins a line of trick or treating for kids and adults alike. There are a bunch of other stops along the trick or treat route and trust me, we hit a majority of them. A week later and I still am giving away the candy I got.

Being a Hocus Pocus fan to the extreme, I was really excited about there being a show at the castle including the Sanderson Sisters.  I will say the rain was against us that night though and we only got to see 5 minutes of one of the shows.  We could have tried to catch another one, but there was just so much to do, there wasn't enough time.

I did however manage to snag an Amuck, Amuck, Amuck Cupcake. It was super sweet and I could not have eaten even half of it on my own, but it was worth it.  And Kelly got a kick out of the fact that they spelled my name wrong.

The rain also put a damper on the parade.  Granted there are two showings, but we decided to watch the last one since it would be later and therefore hopefully a smaller crowd. Mother Nature decided differently though and the lat parade was cancelled.

By the time we got back to our hotel though the rain had stopped and we were able to watch the fireworks.  I've been fortunate enough to stay at some amazing hotels on property, but absolutely nothing compares to the Contemporary.  Our room had a view facing the Park, so suffice to say the firework show was fantastic. And since we also had a view of the lake, I also (learned about) saw the illuminations show done by the boats after the fireworks showcase.

Until next time Mickey......

xoxox 

2 years of marriage

This past Sunday Austin and I celebrated two years of being married. Two Years. Time seems to have flown by, because I swear we just had our ceremony like a few months ago.....

Our wedding day is still, hands down, one of the best days of my life. I remember sitting at our dinner table, looking around thinking "So many people that I love all in one room together... my heart could burst!"

Flash forward two years and here we are.... one dog more, different jobs (well for me anyway), a new car (for him) and still living a good life.

Marriage isn't easy (they say).
The first year is the hardest (they say).
The second year is actually the hardest (they say).

And yea... if I'm honest I don't know who *they* are either. But I swear these are things people constantly tell you (right, I mean, you've heard them too, right?!?).

But if I'm being 100% honest, no, marriage isn't easy (good things never are). I've had to learn how to put someone else first. How to make my wants way below his needs. But even still, it hasn't been hard. I married my best friend
 and I feel that when things have gotten difficult, we've talked through it and worked on it together. And that's what makes this relationship of ours so great.

As for the first or the second year being the hardest... eh. They've both been great. I hope they all are. Although, I do find it fun to respond to the  "How's married life?" question with "Well, we haven't killed each other yet." Of course, Austin isn't a fan of me saying this, but I feel like it gets the point across. We're good. We're still alive. We still have our humor.

So where did we celebrate this year???? Disney of course (the same as our honeymoon). And if you know us, yes this is Disney trip #339392 for us, but really who is counting (not us!!!)!

Here's to many more my love!! (Oh, and I will forever love the above photo, because we had just gotten poured on in the Africa part of Animal Kingdom, so we danced and sang "Africa" and then headed to the bar fro drinks.) WIN!

xo, kel

currently....and disney

Currently .........



reading Memoirs of a Geisha. This is a book club pick and while I am not too terribly far into it, I am really enjoying it. It's sad though.

watching The Wire. Okay, I know it's been off the air for what, a decade? But Austin put it on the other night and I got addicted. Currently binge watching Season 2.

listening to everything. I keep trying to add songs to my spotify list. My goal is to make the most amazing list of songs that I love so that they rarely repeat. Right now I have only 140 songs. But I keep going back through old mixed cds from friends and trying to find new songs from artists. Currently, listening to Handsome Furs, The Raveonettes, Swell Season.
If you have any recommendations, please tell me!!!

thinking about the stupid hurricane- Irma. We here in Florida had a rough go of it, but luckily she left us quickly. (And even more luckily, our family didn't have any serious damage!!!)

dreaming of Disney! I want to go back asap.
(below photos from our Disney day a couple of weekends ago).

 new ears!! actually, first pair!!!

 the whole crew <3

 probably my favorite picture!

another favorite photo

xoxo, kel

orlando week (and pandora)

Last week I went down to Orlando for a training for work, so Austin and I took advantage of it and spent the weekend after in Disney. 

Spending a week away from each other may not be a lot, but when you're still in the "honeymoon" phase, it feels like it. So while I really enjoyed myself at the training, I was over the moon to see the husband on Friday!

 I finally stopped Disney Springs (besides just boating through it). It was awesome- especially the creamery!!!

Saturday we tried out the new part of the Animal Kingdom park, Pandora. During the day it was pretty amazing, but at night.....it's even more spectacular! I totally recommend it! I also loved the food.... 

 No stop to Disney Springs would be complete without a Sprinkles visit... even if I was full at the time (but eating it in bed was perfection). 

 Remember the Pandora food I was mentioning? Austin and I tried the dessert too (because duh). The above is the Pandora blueberry cheesecake (the inside was purple)! It was interesting....but still good.

Sea World day (with my coworkers!) Such fun- even if it was rainy the whole time!

xoxoxo, kel

all that disney fun

I'm extremely fortunate that I have girl friends, family, and a husband that love going to Disney. Whether it's a spur of the minute decision or a planned out break, I've enjoyed my multiple trips to Disney this past week. 

And while I shared some photos earlier that I took around Epcot and Hollywood Studios, these are some more personal ones (which you can also see on my instagram feed).