Florida Vacation

I love Florida.

I know some people probably think that a "big vacation"

to Florida isn't very exciting,

but I've missed the sunshine state since I left two years ago,

so I jumped at the opportunity

to go back to the resort I'd taken Bunni to in 2008

and take Joe to Disney World for the first time.

Though there was quite a bit of rain

at random times throughout the week

we definitely enjoyed pools&bars&amusmentparks.

We made friends with one of the resort bartenders

after spending three nights watching the Redwings playoffs

and drove the resort staff crazy

staying in the pool past closing, drunkenly riding the shuttles,

stealing range balls, and smuggling glass bottles.

Joe&Jan&Mar&I spent one day conquering Disney World

and Elise&I spent one day exploring Universal Studios.

(primarily Harry Potter World, which was all that I'd expected.)

Cateline&Elise&I got some good outlet mall shopping in

and Horv&Matt&Erin&Joe&I gorged on Cici's Pizza Buffet

after ditching the pool mid-rain-storm.

It ended up being an excellent vacation...

despite some minor&initial hiccups

with good straight-shot drives there&back.

With every vacation

I realize more&more how amazing my best friend is.

Candy&Costumes

This year was the first Halloween in a neighborhood with trick-or-treaters and I was overly excited to hand out candy all night. Mr.U stopped the night before and bought bags of goodies for the evening and I figured out a quick costume to wear for the kids to enjoy. I paced around the living room when 6pm rolled around.

– porch light on, front door open, bowl full of snickers&peanutM&Ms –

I didn’t realize how much I miss chit-chatting with children (like I got to do every day in Disney World) until the little mosters&fairies showed up with their pillowcases&buckets. I crowed down on the porch in my Minnie Mouse costume (complete with ears&slippers) and complimented all of their precious outfits.

I spotted a tiny zebra a few houses down and squeaked up the stairs to Mr.U in excitement of how adorable they all were. And a little toddler dressed as a monkey was too shy to say “thank you” but sneakily blew me a kiss as his mom carried him off.

It was such a fun&exciting evening ...and so different from drunken, scantily-clad Halloweens of the previous years. And, since I was never a trick-or-treater as a child, it was a great experience to finally have (even if it was from the other side of the doorstep.)

Seeds&Mickey

Carving pumpkins always seems like such a fun idea to me – then I get sick of it about 5 minutes in. The whole scraping&straining my arm muscles to ungroop the middle of a hard, orange shell just isn’t as great as I hope it will be. And there never seems to be as many seeds as I crave for roasting&snacking.

Every year… I get pumped.

And every year… I’m let down.

This year :was no exception.

I picked up my pumpkins from a cider mill a while ago and we finally decided to carve them this weekend. The plan was for me to clean 2 of them out while Mr.U cleaned the kitchen, then we’d carve them together. I went out and bought a $5 carving kit and sat down infront of the TV with newspaper spread out around me. First, I cut the hole too small for my hand to fit inside – luckily I’d cut the hole in the bottom, so it didn’t matter if I just made it wider cause it’s not like I had to fit the piece back in. Then I started pulling the guts out. There seemed to be tons of seeds for roasting and they were separating from the goop very easily, which was a nice surprise. But there were no more nice surprises after that. The other pumpkin was way too thick for me to cut through. Even with a steak knife, I couldn’t break its surface. And the 3rd one I’d bought was covered in warts, which I had planned to cut off, cut into, or carve. So we were down to one pumpkin to carve and one pile of seeds. Mr.U - not nearly as excited for the project as I had been - allowed me to do whatever carving I wanted. I had the bright idea to do Mickey Mouse’s face on the small pumpkin I was able to clean, but the details got all jumbled together and I ended up with Mickey Mouse’s head&ears shape, which was cute enough for a simple pumpkin.

Then I roasted the seeds – enough to thinly cover the bottom of a pie tin – with salt, pepper, and garlic. Those were gone by the end of the night …my little snack during the Tigers game.

Anywho

– long-story-short –

pumpkin carving was

– once again –

a letdown

but I’m glad I got one cute carving

...and some yumyums for all my work.

Kitchen Smells

My little basement office had a power issue when I got in today and I had to go to the bar above us for access to the breakers. Walking through the kitchen and store room, I couldn’t help but miss Disney World and my food&beverage service home at the Caribbean Beach Resort.
the smells – the lighting – the whole atmosphere
immediately took me back to days in my blue, floral shirt and high-waisted khakis.
I want to go back.
If Mr.U decided we should move to Florida, I’d be eternally happy&excited.

Chronological Things

Israel Coke in EpcotCar Notes from my SistersChinese Buffet with Bunni’s DadBrown Trees in the FallAntique Furniture at Gma&Gpa’sHoliday Boxes piled upArtwork for my #BFFBright&Comfy CardigansFoam on top of my StarbucksMickey Mouse’s HeadBoxes packed to Move

Japanese Memories

I’ve been missing Disney like crazy lately. One of my girlfriends is down there doing the College Program and – after a quick look through her pictures – I want to be there so bad. Last year at this time, I was surrounded by wonderful Disney holiday decorations, running around Epcot looking at each country’s versions of Santa and the Christmas Tree. I never thought I’d miss it so badly. I can’t help but fearing that I won’t ever live there or truly “work for Disney” again and it honestly makes me incredibly sad. I love my life right now and I love the company of Mr.U, but he will never want to move to a Disney location for me… and for some reason that knowledge is bugging me this holiday season.
I was on the mall the other day and wandered into an International Imports store. I found these little asian treats I used to love to buy from Japan in Epcot. They didn’t have the flavor I wanted – strawberry – but simply finding them made me really happy. Japan’s mall is one of my favorites to wander through – probably because it has the most trinkets… I love all the colors and glassware. The thought alone makes me want to drive down the Florida right now.

OliviaMonster

My parents came to visit me when I was living in Florida and the little condo they stayed in was so cute.
2 bedrooms
– 1 for them, 1 for my brother&I –
lots of brown&tan
I had to go to work while they were there, but I stayed with them as much as I could – partially because my house was at the peak of disgustingness thanks to my nasty roommates but mostly just because I’d missed them so much. My favorite stuffed animal, Olivia, kept them company while I was gone, which made my dad happy cause he has a fun, little habit of documenting his time with her and sending it to me for laughs. One morning, while I shoveled scrambled eggs onto people’s plates, I got this picture of her eating breakfast with dad in her new Walt Disney World t-shit. Yeah, we’re a dorky family, I guess, but it was cute. Their entire visit was so therapeutic and made me realize just how much I really missed home – I could sacrifice the endless days of sunshine to giggle with my family again.

Beer Flights

Apparently, I’ve been harboring a love for chocolaty-coffee brews. Yesterday, a good friend texted me during lunch and asked if I wanted to grab a beer at the bar she works at – Shakespeares. Most definitely. I love middle-of-the-afternoon decisions. I love them even more when they involve booze. And I love them the most when the booze is something new I get to try. I started out with a Soft Parade – brewed by Shorts – a strong ale with raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries. It packs a high 9.5% abv and tastes like Kool-Aid. Dangerous. Next, I had a flight – 4 small beers – which reminded me of the flights of authenticGerman&SamAdams brews I served at Epcot’s Food&Wine Festival. Obviously, any Disney memories make me a happy girl. The 4 I chose for my flight were:
Edmond Fitzgerald – a Porter by Great Lakes with a 5.8% abv
Espresso Love – a Stout by Arbor Brewing with a 7.5% abv
Total Eclipse – a breakfast Stout by Maumee Bay with a 9.1% abv
Winter White – a winter Ale by Bell’s with a 5.0% abv
Now, I mostly chose them because of their names. I was enchanted by the story of the Edmond Fitzgerald growing up, I love espresso, I just saw Twilight, and its supposed to be winter out. It turned out that all 3 initial choices were chocolaty-coffee brews and the last a light clove&fruit brew. Funny how I did that. I liked them all, of course. I’ve only ever run across one beer I was entirely not fond of
–
a scotch ale served at room temperature.
Ew.

First Snow

After spending last winter in Disney World, I’ve kind of forgotten what it’s like to daily deal with snow. I can’t say that I’m excited for the reminder.
People driving
one-mile-an-hour while ten-whole-snowflakes fall
or
people driving
one-thousand-miles-an-hour with layers-of-black-ice covering the roads.
Oh, what fun, it is to drive in a winter wonderland.

It is pretty, though – I have to admit.
I missed snow while I was in Florida.
Guests would talk about being so happy to be away from the snowstorms of home
and my eyes would get a little dreamy
wishing I could be snuggled in watching snow fall
curled up with a good book
in front of the fireplace.
snowboarding
snowshoeing
ice-skating
The first snow always brings excitement for those beautiful aspects of winter.
There are definitely some things I could do without.
But I have to admit, part of me loves snow.

Disney Days

Some mornings I wake up and my bunni is everywhere. Today was one of those mornings. I didn’t feel sad or upset – I just woke up thinking about her. Then I turned on the TV and a Disney Vacation Club infomercial was playing.
Coincidence?
I think not.
The first time I ever went to Disney World was with her. She mentioned that she wanted to spend her 21st birthday – which happened to fall during Spring Break – in the Magic Kingdom. So I started planning. Her excitement was electrifying. As we wandered toward the castle down Main Street holding hands, I fell in love with Disney merely through her energy.
When she passed, she left a note. It told me to take my children to Disney World someday.
I plan to.
When I thought I’d never recover from my passing, my only solution was: Go to Disney World.
So I did. I took a group of sorority sisters down with me for our Senior Spring Break. While balling through the fireworks over the castle I realized: this place will save your life.
So I moved. And I really truly believe it did. At least once a day I wish I was still in Florida putting on my costume and going to work on stage.
Someday, I’ll be back, Disney. Don’t you worry.

Mickey's Peace

Fall is still holding on for dear life, even though November in the Midwest tends to quickly give way to snow. The frost of November 1st melted into a sunny, hoodie-weather day and I am definitely not complaining, cause fall activities are the best activities and my friends & I have been taking full advantage of all the good stuff to be done. Pumpkin carving while sippin’ on rum&cider made for an excellent Saturday afternoon.

In honor of my heart’s yearning for Disney, I went for a Mickey Peace Sign.
My favorite symbol fits my favorite mouse pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Boxed Memories

"Though that sadness had subsided, the darkness remained.
Though our emotions were irrational, our conversations were very literal.
We talked about everything. My take-it-as-it-comes objective surrounded us and, though my belief in the success of “first love” spun inside her head, we talked about the world like it was just something we were doing, some place we were passing through –our souls had greater universes to conquer together.
We talked about suicide&death so often, I became numb to the idea of dying. “I’d never overdose. I’m not a pussy. I’d have balls and shoot myself.” “If one of us dies, the other has to come back to Disney World and buy two tickets for both of us.” She’d joke about walking through the Magic Kingdom, holding my hand made of air, buying us a soft pretzel to share, & spinning on the tea cups till she threw up.
We’d write down every memory, so that we could “open boxes” when we missed each other –boxes full of smiles and interlocking fingers. She knew that I’d be surviving on those boxes that Sunday night when I talked to her.
“If I don’t see you, there’s a box in the closet.”
“Well good. You should think about those boxes next time you’re upset with me.” I irritated blurted in retaliation to her recent text insults sent through one of her drug-induced stupors.
“I know. There’s a box for you, though. I love you.”
Numbed.
Had I not been numbed, I would have realized that particular box was different –a box that I’d find without her being there... when I wouldn’t
“see her.” " - excerpt from the novel I plan to finish someday


Boxed Memory: Roller Skating on Valentine's Day - she was too afraid to roll around the rink, but I held her hand and loved every moment anyway.

Adventures in JLo

Sundays have become "Veg Out with Movies" day for my friend and I. Today it's Adventures in Wonderland (twice since we didn't pay attention the first time around) then El Cantante & Gili with confetti cake & vanilla frosting.
Can't complain.

Instant Gratification

I don’t think I could ever work in customer service – mostly because of people like myself. I’m an immediate gratification kind of person, so when something isn’t going well and I have to call customer service, I’m not always in the nicest mood.
I’m a member of a movie club – the Disney Movie Club, to be precise – and, though I’d never ever want to knock the Disney Company, I must admit to having so much trouble with their online service. I swear, every single time I attempt to sign-on I have to re-set my password. That wouldn’t be so annoying if the re-set e-mail didn’t take 24-hours to send. I want to order Halloween movies right now, not tomorrow.
Even more irritating: the “call 1-800-blablabla for quicker service” note on the re-set page.
When I called, the nice, ethnically-diverse cast-member “re-set my password” and informed me that I’d receive an e-mail within 24-hours.
Don’t tell me something will be faster when it won’t be, people. Thus, I got a little snippy with him when he tried to rattle off the current movie deals. If I can’t log-in then I’m not going movie shopping. DUH.
I would hate to deal with myself.

Breakfast Magic

I truly miss serving breakfast in Disney World. Watching excited guests (ready to conquer the day) wander into the resort food court in search of eggs and MickeyMouse waffles was worth the early morning wake up.
(not that I'd ever complain - I'm definitely a morning person)

But, even while I explained the breakfast options over&over, I smiled, because I sincerely loved my job and felt happy everyday.

Honestly, though, I probably miss breakfast in the bakery more. All I did was stand&relax - make sure the bagels&cupcakes were in order - answer questions for sleepy guests. People in the "Grab&Go" area don't want to be obsessed over... they just want a smiling face, a potentially helpful hand, and -mostly- somethin' to munch on.

I can't wait to go back - both for work&play.

Guilt Trip

Something that drives me crazy: when people make me feel guilty for not “hanging out.” Yeah, I’m kind of an old lady and sometimes I like to go to bed early. But in general – when it's waking hours – I bend over backwards and go out of my way to make sure I spend time with my friends… honestly, whether I want to or not. So, when people make me feel guilty, I just want to say: screw you. I’m not in the mood. You know I will be soon enough. Just let me be. Making me feel guilty just makes me want to try less, cause clearly all the efforts I’ve put forth already haven’t been worth it.
Rar. I just want to snuggle down and watch the Nightmare Before Christmas.