anniversary trip: part two

You thought I forgot, didn't you?

I didn't forget. I've been thinking about this post since I made the last one. I've just been avoiding it. Not because I don't want to share it. It's just so hard to choose what to share! Agh.

But guess what. I'm not even doing Magic Kingdom right now. Ha!

So on Friday, we decided to have a day to relax, and we didn't go to any of the parks. We had a late breakfast reservation at the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian. The food was so good, omg. I got an omelet and it was so huge, I couldn't even eat half of it!

From there we headed to Downtown Disney to do some shopping. It started raining on our way there, but we figured it wouldn't last long.

We couldn't have been more wrong. It poured and poured. I had a rain jacket and Josh had a small umbrella. It helped, but we still ended up getting drenched. The main reason I had wanted to go to DD was because the last time we were there, I saw a Disney phone case that I really liked. It was at a little kiosk, and all of the kiosks were closed up due to the weather. But then we found the Co-op and the D-Tech store inside. We both had cases made with designs that you can't get anywhere else, so that was pretty cool. It wasn't a lot of fun walking around in wet clothes in the rain, so we headed back to the hotel. Of course, when we got back, it stopped raining!

We were staying at the All-Star Music resort, which is situated between the All-Star Sports Resort and the All-Star Movies resort. Somehow, I managed to take zero pictures of Music, but we decided to visit the other resorts, and I took a bunch of pictures of them. >.<

When we got back to our room, we found that housekeeping had added another Mickey towel, along with my Minnie ears to our window! They sure know how to put a smile on your face.

Right after we got back to the room, it started pouring again, so we ended up just watching a movie until it was time to get ready for dinner.

We had reservations at the Maya Grill at Coronado Springs. It turned out to be really different than we expected, but the food was amazing!!

We had reservations for just about every meal on this trip. It may have been a little over-planned, but our previous trip wasn't planned at all. It was cool to have researched all of the restaurants and to know where we were eating each meal. It was something to look forward to every few hours, and it was exciting! That said, we spent A LOT of money on food. I didn't mind; you only live once, and that sort of ended up being the focus on of our trip. Last time we spent a good bit on souvenirs; this time we spent it on experiencing the food of Disney instead. But next time we'll probably shift our focus again and do more budget-friendly food.

We headed back to the hotel after dinner and then got on the bus to go back to Downtown Disney. We needed to pick up our phone cases, and then we went to have drinks at Paradiso 37.

I have been wanting to go to Paradiso 37 since the last time we were in Disney because I like the name and it looked pretty cool. It was a pretty cool place, but it didn't really live up to my (super high) expectations. haha.

We each only had one drink because the bus had taken forever to get us there. We wanted to get back and get to bed because we knew we'd be getting up early the next morning!

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.