anniversary trip: part one

I got out of work early on Wednesday, and we got on the road as quickly as we could. We ran into construction, and we ended up not arriving at our hotel until after midnight. We went right to sleep because we had to get up early the next morning.

The decision to leave on Wednesday was semi-last minute, so I decided to stay at a cheap hotel that night. So in the morning, we drove over to the All-Star Music Resort, where we would be staying for the rest of our trip. We were surprised to find that our room was ready for us when we arrived at 8am.

The first things we saw upon arriving at our room were Mickey towels!

We were staying in the Broadway section, which is one of the ones I was hoping for! (Either that or rock n roll.)

So once we put our stuff down, we got on the bus to Epcot.

I learned after our last trip to Disney that you can ask their photographers to use your camera so that you don't have to pay $15 for the photo. I felt really awkward about it, but I did it anyway. I'm really happy that I did because we wouldn't have gotten this photo otherwise.

I'm not a big fan of Epcot, but Josh had never been, so I thought he should go at least once. Plus the International Food and Wine festival was going on, so I figured we'd enjoy that. Unfortunately, none of the food places opened until 10:30 or later, and by that time, we were already bored! So we headed over to Hollywood Studios. Normally I wouldn't spend the extra money on a park hopper pass, but I anticipated that Josh wouldn't like Epcot anymore than I do. I was right.

Sadly, Josh would not go on the Tower of Terror with me. He was truly worried that he was going to have a heart attack and die.

We got in line for the backlot tour, and we almost ended up skipping it because we wanted to get to the Fantasmic amphiteather pretty early. Just as we were about to get out of line, it was our turn to go in, so we stayed, and I'm glad we did. Even if it's basically (or exactly, I'm not sure) the same as it was when I did it 10 and 20 years ago, it's still cool.

Then it was finally time for Fantasmic! I have been looking forward to this for ten years since I only got to see the first few minutes on my senior trip due to technical difficulties.

Overall, we had a great day! Josh said he was glad he went once, but he wouldn't care if we never went to Epcot or Hollywood Studios again. I'd like to go on Tower of Terror at least one more time. I should have gone by myself, but I was scared to. And I lovvve Rock N Rollercoaster. But I definitely don't need to go to Epcot again. It's just so boring!

it's close to midnight, something evil's lurking in the dark

This time last week, I was hanging out at Downtown Disney. Now I'm sitting in my office. Bah!

I will try to make a post about my trip this weekend. As usual, it's a daunting task.

But for now, say hello to Cruella:

We are calling her Ella for short. (Our Disney trip definitely influenced her name. Haha.)

She is 13 weeks old and super rambunctious. She's perfect and I just want to squeeze her!

Product Review: Adovia Sulfur Soap for Acne, Blackheads and Oily Skin with Dead Sea Salt

Unfortunately, despite being 28 years old, my skin seems to want to pretend it's still a teenager. I don't have bad acne like I did when I was a teenager, but it is extremely rare that my skin is totally clear. I have tried everything under the sun, from bar soap to Proactiv. Some things help more than others, but I have yet to find something that makes it go away completely.

Unfortunately, this Adovia soap was no different for me. It's still a great product. My skin didn't get any worse, and the soap didn't dry it out or make it oily as I have experienced with some other products. I'd say if you have "normal" skin, this would be a great option.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

trip to PA part 2

I've been putting this post off because I hate having to choose photos for a blog post. It's so hard to narrow them down to a reasonable number! Plus now I'm kind of over this vacation because I'm way too excited about going to Disney World next week!! But anyway, here we go!

We are a good looking bunch of people, if I do say so myself. xD

The wind was blowing and his shirt kept flying up and I honestly have no idea what's happening in this picture, but I know that's what caused it. lol. There are probably 5 times as many stupid pictures of me and Josh in existence as there are good ones, and I love them all.

Everything was so cute and so Pinterest.

The happy couple. I can't say I agree with my dad's outfit choice, but hey, it wasn't my wedding!

I gained two new siblings, which I think is a really weird thing when you're 28. Karli lives there so she actually knows them, but that weekend was the most time I ever spent with them.

I told my dad if he didn't get cake in her hair he was doing it wrong. And then she turned around and tried to push me in the pool. (Jokingly.)

Josh and Karli doing the twist. (Actually, I don't know what Josh is doing.)

Lol at my dad. There are so many good pictures of him dancing at my wedding too.

At the end of the night, we all (my siblings and I plus Josh and Spencer) jumped in the pool in our clothes.

It honestly turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected. I got to see so many people that I haven't seen in 10+ years because I moved to South Carolina, and almost everything about the night was awesome. 

trip to PA: part 1

So over Labor Day weekend, Josh and I went up to Pennsylvania for my dad's wedding. I hardly ever get to go home anymore, so I wanted to squeeze in as much fun stuff as I could while I was there. It was exhausting, but it was definitely fun!

We decided to go to the Philadelphia Zoo on Friday. I love that zoo so much, and they have built this awesome thing called Zoo 360. What it is, is they built these mesh tunnels that go over the walkways, and the animals can walk right over you! They have been posting so many cool pictures of it (particularly the big cats) on Facebook, and I had been looking forward to it for months! What I didn't realize (because they obviously don't want you to know) is that the animals don't have access to it all the time. The only animals we saw using it were a couple of lemurs. Although I don't think it would have made any difference if the other animals had access while we were there because 90% of them were sleeping. I don't know if it was the time of day or the weather or what, but it was disappointing! Anyway, let's get to the pictures!

I don't know if all (or a lot of) colleges do this, but at Clemson, you're supposed to wear orange on Fridays. That day also happened to be National College Colors Day. We hoped if we tweeted the picture to Clemson Athletics, they might retweet us because sometimes they do if you tweet them showing your Clemson spirit somewhere else in the world, but they didn't.

Monkeys! I'm usually better at focusing out the fence than that, but my camera was just not having it that day.

Porcupine in a tree! Who knew? Not I!

I love that face. He kept looking at everyone like that, like we might steal his fruit.

This thing is so ugly but I love how her baby is on her back. It looked like it was just one animal.

One of the lemurs in the tunnel.

This guy is pretty much a dinosaur. I can never tell the difference between Galapagos and Aldabra tortoises. Which one is he?!

So majestic.

Come on, guys. Wake up!

This was my first time meeting my sister's boyfriend even though they've been best friends for five years. He's pretty awesome, and they are adorable.

I ended up getting soaked sitting there.

That one on the left is so ugly!!

More sleepy kitties.

The otters were asleep when we got there, but the keeper gave them some fish and that woke them up real quick. It was so cute but so gross at the same time.

Tiny sleepy black-footed cat. I want one!!

That dang fence...

Sleepy polar bear.

Sleepy Andean bear.

He stood there for so long and we were all waiting for him to slide down, but he ended up just walking down it. What a jerk! hahah.

Love this orangutan.

So that was our trip to the Philadelphia Zoo! I'll be back at some point with part two of our trip (the wedding).

product review: adovia mineral skin care

I'm really bad about using specific products for specific things. I very rarely use a facial moisturizer on my face; I grab the bottle of lotion that's nearest to me and on my face it goes. After using this moisturizer, I can honestly say I've learned my lesson. This stuff is great. I had started using a new foundation primer that was drying out my skin. It took me a few days to realize the primer was the cause, and by the time I realized it, my skin was really dry. Luckily, it was right around the time this Adovia cream came in the mail. It was pretty much a miracle.

I'm not really a fan of the way it smells. It smells like an old lady to me. Luckily, though, I can't smell it once it's on my face, and my husband says he can't either. Aside from the smell, I have no complaints. It goes on really nicely and doesn't leave your skin feeling greasy or wet. You can put on your makeup immediately after applying it. And it does an excellent job of moisturizing.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.