I literally stopped in for soap and toilet paper. But they were having a killer sale! Really!
See those pillows? They had a package of two feather pillows for $6!
See the display right behind the cart? Kids t-shirts for 75 cents and hoodies for $1.50! Colin is good for the summer!
Valentines Day stuff was 75% off, so we got some sweet stuff for the goodie bags for Ellie's birthday party.
Target carries groceries now and its about to snow, so like a good Philadelphian I needed to pick up a few things to help me ride out the storm. Because one can't possibly make it through a storm without necessities like Doritos and Coke Zero. (I'm the very embodiment of healthy eating, aren't I? I bought healthy things too!)
The dollar section had awesome stickers! We love stickers! And they're only $1!
Do you like how I can totally justify that overstuffed shopping cart? I'm not the only one this happens to, right? What store is your downfall?
Thursday morning, all of us moms were up bright and early to catch the bus to Epcot for breakfast. I met some fabulous 'Disney moms': JL, Jennifer, Jackie, and more delightful ladies than I can remember! While we were enjoying a yummy breakfast, we listened to a fabulous presentation by Guy Kawasaki. He was so real and funny as he gave us tons of tips on how to harness the power of Twitter for our sites… such great information that was especially appreciated by us busy moms who are always trying to make the most of our time!
Then came one of the highlights: Disney’s involvement in the conference was to share about Disney’s Give A Day, Get a Day program. Already, 600,000 volunteers have signed up and completed the program to date – but Disney's goal is to get to one million volunteers. The entire day's events focused on honoring those who have volunteered, spotlighting volunteer opportunities and encouraging people to continue to give. It was inspiring!
And, boy, was the audience surprised when Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition made an appearance and had the audience to shout with him “move those balloons!” to reveal the world’s largest canned food sculpture–more than 115,000 cans. (Later that day there was a volunteer event to pack all the canned food into boxes for distribution to food shelters.) Can you believe I forgot my camera for this morning? Of all mornings! Like I'm going to run into Ty Pennington again someday. UGH!!
After the presentation, my family and I headed over to the Princess Storybook Dining at Norway's Akershus. We've never been to any character meal at Disney and it was everything I'd heard! This was the highlight of the trip for Gracie, so for me it was worth every penny. We met Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, Belle and Cinderella:
I was worried the kids wouldn't really enjoy Epcot after our day at Magic Kingdom, but they had a blast. Disney has done a great job of providing fun activities throughout the park. They loved walking through World Showcase (where we saw tons of characters: Aladdin, Jasmine, Mulan, and Mary Poppins to name just a few). The girls were crazy about Test Track and rode it twice. But the highlight for the entire family was when Colin got to see Nemo! The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride is totally amazing… I was blown away. SUCH a cool ride! We rode it three times, I think. I wish it had been around when Ellie was 2 and totally obsessed with all things Nemo. Colin was squealing with excitement the entire time. I'll never forget it!
Later that evening, we were treated to yet another surprise: an amazing dinner prepared by Chef Robert Irvine and his crew from Food Network's Dinner Impossible. Thursday night’s event was held outside and it was cold, but Disney staff was handing out hand warmers and had outdoor heaters to help kept us warm. We parked ourselves next to a heater at a table with Mandy's adorable family and enjoyed the food that was inspired by the Disney Princesses! I loved the seafood shepherd’s pie while Gracie and Colin inhaled the chicken lo mein: I can’t wait to see the show when it airs on Food Network in the spring! After dinner we were treated to a concert by a new band, Allstar Weekend (winners of Disney’s Next Big Thing contest), then Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato took the stage. The night ended with a fabulous fireworks display. This was my girls first concert experience and they were totally into it! They were waving their glow sticks and dancing around with their arms in the air… they were so cute they even got up on the big screen 🙂 It was a fantastic night and a terrific party. I love how Disney pulled out all the stops to honor the volunteers!
Disclaimer: I paid a fee to attend this conference, but as an attendee I received complimentary items, special discounts, and other exciting benefits such as food and entertainment, so my family and I could experience the magic of Walt Disney World.
After seeing Julie and Julia, I’ve been dying to make Beef Bourguignon. And when my new Le Creuset French Oven arrived on my doorstep (in FLAME!) it was the first thing I wanted to make. I don’t have Julia’s cookbook, so I used Ina’s (since she’s my go-to girl!). It took forever, but it wasn’t hard and tasted totally amazing!! Please note the part in the recipe that calls for lighting the pan on fire. (My new pan! ON FIRE!!!) I was terrified, but I did it! My husband took a picture of my terrified face to prove it!
Beef Bourguignon
Ingredients
1 tablespoon good olive oil
8 ounces dry cured center cut applewood smoked bacon, diced
2 1/2 pounds chuck beef cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound carrots, sliced diagonally into 1-inch chunks
2 yellow onions, sliced
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
1/2 cup Cognac
1 (750 ml.) bottle good dry red wine such as Cote du Rhone or Pinot Noir
Country bread or Sour Dough, toasted or grilled and rubbed with garlic clove
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, optional
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
Heat
the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium
heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly
browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate.
Dry
the beef cubes with paper towels and then sprinkle them with salt and
pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3
to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the seared cubes to
the plate with the bacon and continue searing until all the beef is
browned. Set aside.
Toss the carrots,
and onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the fat
in the pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until
the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more
minute. Add the Cognac, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off
the alcohol. Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices.
Add the bottle of wine plus enough beef broth to almost cover the meat.
Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a
tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours or
until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork.
Combine
2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the
stew. Add the frozen onions. Saute the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of
butter for 10 minutes until lightly browned and then add to the stew.
Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and
simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.
To
serve, toast the bread in the toaster or oven. Rub each slice on 1 side
with a cut clove of garlic. For each serving, spoon the stew over a
slice of bread and sprinkle with parsley.
… I became a Mama to the most beautiful little girl I'd ever seen.
And I've had the privilege of watching her grow…
…into the gorgeous little girl she is today. Happy 7th birthday, Ellie. You are a blessing beyond what we could have ever imagined. Not just to us, but to everyone you meet. We are so, so proud of you. And I am thankful every day that I get to be your Mommy.
Wednesday morning we were woken up bright and early at the Embassy Suites Orlando Airport by three extremely excited little people! We headed downstairs for breakfast, where we ran into Janine and her adorable twin girls who were so sweet. What a great way to start our Disney Mom experience! We hopped on the shuttle and transferred to the Magical Express at the airport and were on our way to the Walt Disney World Resort.
We were dropped off at the Polynesian Resort, checked in (and met Christy – such a sweetie!) and went to pick up my conference packet (and a sweet bag of goodies!) and immediately headed out to the Magic Kingdom! We spent a fabulous day at the Magic Kingdom, taking full advantage of the media fast pass that was in our packet! It would be hard to pick a single highlight, but a few included:
Colin's face when he saw Pooh for the first time. He was jumping up and down in pure joy, giggling and pointing yelling "POOOOHH!!" Disney Magic at its best.
The rides. Its a Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, Dumbo… I can't describe how fun it is to see my kids loving the rides I loved as a kid!
Ellie and Gracie are finally old enough to do some big rides! Their favorite ride was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Ellie even braved Pirates of the Caribbean!
Meeting Ariel. We never got to meet her on our last trip to Disneyland, so Gracie was in heaven!
We returned to our hotel around 4:30 get ready for night's festivities! At 5:00 we caught the bus to ESPN Wide World of Sports. The kids and families were whisked away for some hot chocolate and sports-themed fun while the bloggers were treated to a short briefing and presentation by Meg Crofton, President of the Walt Disney World Resort. We listened as she and several others spoke to us about what's next for Disney. And there are some amazing things on the horizon:
Fantasy Land Expansion – For me, the mom of two little princesses, this was the most exciting news of the night. Guests will be able to have even more magical encounters with Disney princesses, like hanging out with Cinderella and attending Princess Aurora's 16th birthday party – complete with helping the three good fairies with preparation! Each princess will have her own themed village within Fantasyland Forest. My girls will think they've died and gone to princess heaven!! Even Dumbo is getting a makeover, doubling the ride's capacity and riders can play carnival games while they wait in line. (And if you have kids, you KNOW how long the line for Dumbo usually is!)
Summer Nighttastic – The Mainstreet Electrical Parade we grew up with is coming back this summer!! Oh, what I would give to see this again! It was always my favorite parade growing up and I'd love to share it with this kidlets!
Disney Cruise Line – Not only is Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas, getting a huge makeover, but there will be two new ships in the Disney fleet. Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy are scheduled to set sail in 2011 and 2012. Disney Cruise Line will also be sailing beyond the Bahamas – ships will be sailing both to Alaska and Europe. It has been my dream for years to take an Alaskan cruise – totally on my 'bucket list'. And now I know what cruise line I want to go on!
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex – Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex has joined forces with ESPN to create a truly amazing sporting experience for athletes of all ages and levels. Every athletes will feel like professionals as they see themselves featured on ESPN and get the Disney touch on their sporting events.
After the presentations, we met up with our families and were treated to an amazing night of Disney entertainment – yummy food, dancing for the kids, characters visiting our tables, and schmoozing with other bloggers. This night was by far my kids favorite. Who knew my girls had inherited their Mama's love of dancing the night away? We practically had to drag them off the stage. It was a fabulous party and just a small taste of the amazing week that was to come!
Disclaimer: I paid a fee to attend this conference, but as an attendee I received complimentary items, special discounts, and other exciting benefits such as food and entertainment, so my family and I could experience the magic of Walt Disney World.
Its been the craziest week here! It took two days just to get through the huge pile of laundry… and there are still suitcases all over. Plus we've all gotten sick since we got back. And what's the best cure for all that?? SHOPPING!! So here are a couple things I've run across this week…
Perfect Khakis in pastels I have never owned a pair of khakis in pastels… but that my need to change soon. How summer-y rolled up with some flip-flops!!
Ribbon Placket Trim Cardigan So versatile – could go casual with capris or boyfriend jeans and flip-flops or dressed up with a skirt or trouser jeans. The ballet pink is adorable.
We pulled up to the Polynesian after getting off the Magical Express, walked over a waterfall-lined, tropical walkway lined with flaming tiki-torches and into the amazing lobby. We were all given leis and my kids were literally squealing in delight – it was just so beautiful. The main building – the Ceremonial House – hosts the hotel main desk, several shops and restaurants and the walkway to the monorail. Seeing as its Disney, the staff was absolutely delightful.
Our room was a standard garden view room. It had two queen beds, a day bed, gorgeous Polynesian-style decor and a huge marble bathroom with private toilet. The rooms also have coffeemakers, refrigerators and microwaves (on request), hair dryers, irons and ironing boards and an in-room safe. We also had a crib in our room (also complimentary on request). There was more than enough room for our family of 5, the huge double stroller, our four suitcases and our piles of other stuff. Our room was quiet, comfortable and gorgeous!
As I’ve said before the two non-negotiables of a hotel are 1) comfy beds and 2) a great shower. The beds at the Polynesian were very comfy. I loved the bedside lamps on a dimmer – they made perfect nightlights for the kids. (The hotel also will provide bedrails if you need for little ones). The shower was literally my only disappointment with this hotel. Our shower was weak – only one setting worked and not very well. I couldn’t even get my hair clean.
The hotel offers so much right on site (which we learned during a rainy day!). There are four restaurants on site – one of which is Ohana, which offers a popular character breakfast. (Get there early, even with a reservation. Its really popular!!) Captain Cook’s is a quick service restaurant that offers kids meals for around $5 as well as bottles of milk and juice that we stocked our fridge with to pacify the toddler until we could get him real breakfast. The Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show is very popular as well. They even had craft activities every afternoon for the kidlets.
As for location, I cannot imagine a better location within the Disney Resort – its located directly across the Seven Seas Lagoon from the Magic Kingdom. You can even watch the fireworks from the sandy beach at the resort! The monorail comes right outside the lobby and within minutes you can be at the Magic Kingdom. Buses to Epcot, Downtown Disney, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom pull up right outside, or you can walk one block to the Transportation Center and get the monorail to Epcot.
This hotel was FABULOUS! Our next trip to Disney, I will look into staying here first before any other Disney hotel. The location is just too perfect!! And my kids, who have stayed at lots of hotels in their young lives, said this was their most favorite hotel ever!
disclosure: i stayed at the polynesian as part of the disney social media moms conference. while i did pay to attend the conference, we were given a terrific deal by disney!
I could list a bunch of excuses for you: I'm tired, I'm sick, I'm PMS-ing, the kids were being especially disobedient and whiny and not listening…
But excuses don't matter. What matters is that I totally lost it with my kids yesterday afternoon. I was annoyed and frustrated and hormonal and tired and instead of handling it, I took it all out on them. And I felt terrible for it.
Of course, despite feeling terrible, I spent most of the afternoon justifying my outburst to myself. "They needed a talking to," I told myself. "They know better. They shouldn't be acting like this" blahblah blah Excuses, excuses.
It took several hours to get me to the point where I recognized that I was the one who handled things wrong – not them. And I was the one who was responsible – not them. And I was the one who needed to apologize – not them.
Few things in life are more humbling than needing to apologize to your kids. But I needed to do that. I needed the reminder of how I am supposed to deal with them, of what my responsibilities are, of how I am to conduct myself as a daughter of the King.
arrived on my doorstep (in FLAME!) it was the first thing I wanted to make. I don’t have Julia’s cookbook, so I used Ina’s (since she’s my go-to girl!). It took forever, but it wasn’t hard and tasted totally amazing!! Please note the part in the recipe that calls for lighting the pan on fire. (My new pan! ON FIRE!!!) I was terrified, but I did it! My husband took a picture of my terrified face to prove it!
