Welcome to Key West!

Ok, Let's face it, I haven't been very good about posting my last trip which was now almost four months ago. I was so good about doing the wedding report but this has become more of a chore and I couldn't seem to figure out why. I'm still thinking it has to do with the fact that we didn't do much, Adam had an awful cold the first few days which made us very dull vacationers.

However, I want to share my pictures and give some brief stories about the things we saw and did. I know I love reading trip reports and I know other people do too. So this is my best shot at doing one for our cruise. Prepare for picture overload!

Adam was pretty sick when we arrived in key west. He was sneezing and coughing all night. I woke up, got ready, and headed out to take some pictures.

 The lovely bar that we frequented

 The beautiful grand piano that filled the atrium with music every night

 Loved these elevators!!!

 Captain Mickey in the atrium

I went up to deck 10 to watch as we headed into Key West. It was very cool to watch as the captain and crew were able to pull it into port. I headed up to Topsiders to grab some breakfast and and found a little table right along the railing where I could eat breakfast and watch everything going on.

I went back to the stateroom and Adam was just getting up and getting ready. I brought him up to topsiders so he could grab some grub and waited for the major rush of people to get off of the boat before we made our way.

Key West was beautiful. We walked around the island, making a stop at a little convenience store to get Adam some dayquil. We didn't have an excursion planned so we walked to see the southern most point, We to the beginning of route one since we travel on route one every day where we live, had sloppy joe's at Sloppy Joe's, and made a stop much needed pit stop to get some key lime pie... because really how could you not??!!

 Absolutely delicious

 The little white house

 There were chickens everywhere!

 Ernest Hemingway's house

 Light house

 Southern most point

We met up with our cruising buddies on our walk back to the boat and we had some laughs at all the little stores that had some rather risque phrases written on tank tops and underwear. Definitely not Disney approved! 

Adam was fading on me fast so we headed back to the boat and the stateroom so he could take a quick nap and get out of the heat. Thank goodness there were a bunch of movies being played on loop on the stateroom TV's or i would've been really bored! I saw Rango about six times ;)

I'm leaving you with our snake, eel animal towel. I promise to keep up with these and get them done soon so I can start tell you all about our next cruise! 

My obsession with "The Princess and the Frog"

Hey guys!

Let me first start this post by saying the I whole heartedly believe that I was a southern belle in another life. I love southern food, culture, history,and my favorite golden girl is Blanche Deveroux. (hehehe) Lately I have become extremely interested in Louisiana, specifically New Orleans. Cajun cooking and the amazing music from that comes from New Orleans completely fascinate me! Enter... Disney's Princess and the Frog...

I am completely in love with this movie for so many reasons! If you've already seen it, tell me if you agree with me or not. If you've not yet seen it or are skeptical I hope I can change your mind! Here is a quick run down of why I love it!

This movie does not take place along time ago, or in a land far far away. It takes place in turn of the century New Orleans. To me, this makes the story different and appealing in a new way. The background animation in Princess and the Frog is nothing short of mini pieces of fine art. The images of Bourbon st. and the bayou are simply breathtaking and make me want to visit New Orleans so much! Don't get me wrong, imagining you can be in a castle with Cinderella is just as fun, but the idea of someday visiting New Orleans and being a part of the city that played a major role in the film is just awesome. Seriously I have no other word for it other than awesome!

Princess and the Frog is not so much of a fantasy. Although turning into a frog is totally fantasy, working as a waitress doing double shifts because you're trying to open your own restaurant can absolutely be somebody's reality. Princess Tiana doesn't become a princess until the very end of the movie. She is just a normal girl trying to do the best she can for herself. I think Disney does a good job of giving all of their princesses strong personalities, but Tiana has to be one of the strongest, with an incredible drive to achieve her dream. All Disney princesses have gone through struggles, but some how Tianna's struggle is different. She learns that working hard is very important but so is stopping to smell the roses and enjoying life! I feel like so many of us work hard and don't get to enjoy the little things enough. I thought it was a very appealing message for Disney to add to Princess and the Frog.

Prince Naveen and Lottie are hysterical! This movie is not just for girls and this movie is not just for kids either. Prince Naveen is no prince charming when we first meet him and the jokes are very funny. I found myself laughing out loud every time he came on the screen. I can totally see little boys loving his character and really enjoying the whole movie. Lottie, who is one Tiana's only friends, is the mayor of New Orleans' daughter. She makes me laugh because I think Disney created her character with people like me in mind. She believes with all her heart that if she wishes on a star hard enough, all of her dreams will come true. She is extremely girly and is very funny! Her crazy Disney-ish lease on life seems insane to everyone but her and she doesn't care. She knows that deep down she will find her prince charming and live happily ever after, and she is a great friend to Tiana. This is why she is currently my avatar on Twitter! I think any girl in my age range, who grew up on Disney princess movies would really love her character.

They went back to good hand drawn animation!!! Don't get me wrong I love Pixar but I needed a good hand drawn Disney movie. I missed movies like Lion King and Aladdin and Little Mermaid. This movie was the answer to my Disney wishes!! I really hope Disney keeps this trend moving forward.

So there you have it, a quick run down of why I absolutely loved Princess and the Frog. I am lucky enough to have an amazing husband who bought me the blu-ray for Christmas this year. If you get the chance I highly recommend checking out the bonus features on the blu-ray. They were fantastic and I loved learning about the work that went into this movie. It gave me a totally new appreciation for it.

xoxo

Making progress!!

Good morning and happy Saturday everyone!! This weekend is Disney's marathon weekend in WDW!! Good luck to all the runners and I hope to see you there next year!
Just a quick post today since I have a major amount of cleaning and laundry to do. I got up this morning with every intention of going to the gym. I told Adam that I wasn't looking forward to the crowds and he suggested I just run around our neighborhood instead.
My issue with this is, how do I time myself? How do I know how far I went? Didn't know if that was the best idea... Then a light bulb went off..there must be an app for that!!! And sure enough there is! Lol
I downloaded the iMapMyRun app and hit the road! I found a perfect little circuit through my neighborhood that was exactly a mile from the end of my drive way and back. I am happy to report that I did a whole mile in 10 minutes and 46 seconds!! That's so much better than 12 minutes! Plus I ran most of if!
I am so happy with even that little bit of progress. If I keep it up I should be able to run a 5k sooner than I know it!
Have a great weekend everyone!

OOPA!

Brrrr!!!

It is so cold here today! I don't think I felt warm at all today, no matter how many layers I put on. I'm thinking as soon as I end this post my new electric heating blanket and I will spend some quality time together. I think that blanket was one of my best gifts from Adam this year!

When it gets this cold I like to cook dinners that will warm me up from the inside. I always have enjoyed a delicious soup, not that campbell's stuff in a can, but a nice home cooked, not full of sodium soup. When I was younger, and a poor college kid, I used to waitress. I made great fast cash and it fit with my class schedule quite nicely. One of the best places I worked was at a family owned and operated Greek restaurant. Being a foodie who loves to try new ethnic cuisine (remember I purposely picked my Disney wedding date to coincide with Epcot's food and wine festival) I developed a new love for all things Greek! My favorite quick snack before a shift on a cold night was a steamy hot bowl of Avgolemono soup. Avgolemono soup is a thick, lemon, chicken soup. It reminds me of American chicken noodle soup, just with more pizzaz! It is a favorite in my household and recently I brought some left overs into work and my coworker loved it.

Unfortunately I did not get the recipe from the restaurant that I worked at. But this recipe that I use from Closet Cooking is almost identical. If you're looking for a yummy, warm you from the inside out soup, this is definitely something I'd recommend trying out.  It's pretty simple and I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Ingredients:
8 cups chicken stock
1 cup chicken (cooked, shredded)
1 cup orzo
1 onion (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
2 stalks celery (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs
2 lemons (juice)
1 handful dill (chopped)

Directions:
1. Place the chicken stock, chicken, orzo, onion, carrots, celery, oregano, salt and pepper into a pot.
2. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are tender and the orzo is cooked, about 10-12 minutes.
3. Take the pot off the heat.
4. Whisk the eggs in a bowl until frothy.
5. Whisk in the lemon juice.
6. Slowly whisk in some of the liquid from the soup to temper the eggs.
7. Mix the avgolemono sauce into the soup.
8. Stir in the dill and serve.


I totally spaced out about taking a picture of the finished soup and at the moment its all gone...#bloggerfail!  I promise in the future I will remember to take pictures before we inhale whatever I've made. But if you want to see what the soup should look like all done click on the link to Closet Cooking :)


xoxo

Let's start at the very beginning

Waiting for my chocolate chip cookies to finish baking seems like the perfect time for me to start my trip report.... YAY! ::Applause applause!:: Ok who guessed where I was in that last picture???.... If you said we were on the Magic Kingdom Railroad train then you are right! :)

I'm going to start at the very beginning (like the title says) on Wednesday September the 28th. Technically I didn't get to WDW until the 29th but I feel that I should include the 28th too.

I woke up that morning totally amped! The entire time I was getting ready for work I was humming Disney songs, imagining seeing the Disney Magic for the first time, EPCOT! ect. It wasn't until I grabbed my keys that I realized I had to actually work ALL DAY before we would be starting our journey. During my hour commute into work I tried giving myself a pep talk, if I didn't bring my excitement level down a notch I wouldn't be able to handle working and my day would seem so much longer. Unfortunately no matter what I did I couldn't stop day dreaming! My ten and a half hour, 6:30am - 5pm shift felt like an eternity! The dentists would ask me questions and half the time I found myself responding with Disney jibberish. Finally after watching every painstaking second of the day go by it was quitting time! I grabbed my things and sprinted to my car. I squealed like a little girl the whole way home!

At the house Adam and his brother were there waiting for me. We decided to get a pizza and go over any last minute details. We gave my brother in law the vet information, instructions on the dogs eating schedule, the cruise and hotel information, the number to the local police and fire department, and made sure to emphasize NO PARTIES! After we ate dinner we loaded up my truck with all the luggage. Then it was time to say good-bye to my babies. For those of you who don't know I'm some what neurotic, especially when it comes to my puppies... they are my children and I worry about them like crazy. After a tearful fifteen minute "so-long" it was time to hit the road.

After another good hour in the car we arrived at the Holiday Inn in Manchester New Hampshire. By this time it was 8:30 at night and i'd been up since 4:50 in the morning. I was totally exhausted. We checked in and made our way to our room. It was a nice enough room for just a night... and we really liked that there was a diner located right down stairs. Adam thought it would be a good idea to go down and grab alittle dessert before we went to bed. The diner was themed like an old airport pilot bar. The food on the menu looked really good and had I known that I would've suggested we ate there instead of grabbing the pizza at home. I got the strawberry short cake and Adam got this insanely sized grasshopper pie. We chit chatted about our schedule for the following day and about how excited we were to be going back to the place we love and where we got married. It was really nice having that time to relax before all the traveling we'd have to do in the morning.

After we finished our yummy desserts we headed back up to the room to hit the hay. Our flight was leaving at 6:50 in the morning so we had to be in the lobby for the airport shuttle at 5:15. I set the alarm on my phone and got into bed. Adam was asleep in SECONDS! I swear that man can fall asleep anywhere! I however was too excited to sleep. I turned on the TV and watched the news, then I picked up my book and read, nothing would get me to sleep. I even went as far as trying to count sheep! (lame!) The last time I looked at the clock it said 1:14am (don't ask me why I remember that but I do) I know I fell asleep sometime after that... needless to say I didn't get the proper amount of sleep one needs for an early morning.

So that is how this crazy trip started. I will say that I am VERY glad we stayed at the hotel near the airport the night before. It was extremely convenient and if we ever do an early morning flight I will be sure to stay close by again. I am also glad that I went to work... even though it seemed like it was the longest day ever, I think if i took the day off to prepare and pack I would've gone stir crazy! Being at work made me focus on something else other than flying, and disney, and worrying about travel.... well most of the time.

My next post will be more exciting and will have many more pictures! But until then i'll leave you with this one...

Guess who was extremely tired and on a plane!

bad blogger! Bad, bad, blogger!

I am such a slacking blogger. I can't believe my last blog post was August 4th... that makes me so sad! Let me explain whats been going on...

First the bad, In my last blog post we were putting our house on the market and then we were going to build our new house. As painful as it is for me to say, nothing worked out. I hate that I feel embarrassed about it. I guess I shouldn't start telling people things until I know for sure they are going to happen... lesson learned. As we stand now the house is off the market, we are slowly bringing all of our packed away things home from the storage unit, and putting the house back together so that it looks like we actually live here. It was kind of depressing and I was in a bit of a funk that our house got NO interest at all, but sadly this is the market we're in these days. We seem to have another game plan for the future but until I know its going to work i'm keeping my lips sealed!

Now the good! The other reason I haven't been blogging is because, well I wasn't here! We had the most amazing vacation to WDW and our first Disney Cruise. We were gone for nine days and had the the best time! It was exactly what we needed to get out of our terrible moods. Adam and I met some fabulous people both in WDW, and on the ship. We even booked our next cruise for 2012 with the other couple that we became friendly with. We now have cruising buddies! I've been emailing them and keeping in touch. Its like being a kid in elementary school when you had a pen pal.  I can't wait to share with you guys everything that we did and all that we are going to be doing next year. It has both Adam and I VERY excited!

My plan is that i'm going to be a better blogger. My goal is to post something at least 3 times a week. Even if it is just a small quick post. We're (mostly) settled in the house, we have power back on from that stupid snow storm we just had... seriously how does it snow in October?... and I have so much I want to share and so much Disney talk I need to let out. I find that I miss doing trip reports on message boards so I'm going to do one here! I hope you will all enjoy reading it. :)

Before I end this post i'll leave you with a teaser picture from the trip!

Can you guess where we are?? 

Top Ten Romantic Things to do in Disney World (1 of 10)

As a Disney fan, Disney bride, and Disney newlywed I get questions from people like, "How can you say Disney is romantic? There are kids everywhere!" or "What do you suggest I do to bring some romance into my vacation?" I have always thought of Disney as being romantic so it's nothing out of the ordinary for me. When I was little I saw movies like "The Little Mermaid" and "Sleeping Beauty" where the thought of Prince Eric or Philip rushing to their princess was the ultimate romantic fantasy. Now as an adult (and I use that term loosely) I see it as something so much more. I have found my prince charming and we always keep the romance going on our Disney trips. My next ten posts will be my top ten romantic things to do in Walt Disney World. I know that other blogs and podcasts have done similar segments but I feel they left a few of the good ones out. Plus it's always good to get other opinions right?

Top Ten Romantic Things to do in Disney World

1.) Carriage Rides through Fort Wilderness or Port Orleans Riverside

Where: You can do these private carriage rides at both Fort Wilderness and Port Orleans. We did ours at Fort Wilderness and we loved it. 

How: You can reserve a carriage ride by calling Disney's recreation line. It's basically the same as making an ADR. The going rate for a carriage ride is 45$ for 25mins.

Why: Imagine riding in a carriage on a dirt country road. Wildlife is all around you. You hear birds chirping and see bunnies hopping about. The woods are so lush and green, with Spanish moss hanging low off of the branches. You have a glass of wine in your hand, a cozy warm blanket over your lap, and you're all cuddled up with you honey.  All the while the sun is setting and twilight is falling. 

How romantic is THAT!? 

I guess I'm partial to the carriage rides because Adam proposed to me on one at Fort Wilderness on our November 2008 trip. Honestly if we didn't get engaged it still would be on my list! It was one of the most romantic things I've ever done. We went to Fort Wilderness a bit early and grabbed two glasses of wine at the Meadow Snacks Bar window. If it's just the two of you get a nice glass of wine for the ride, if you're going to be with the kiddos maybe get a hot chocolate (if its cold) or some lemonades (if its hot).  

I can't speak for the carriage ride through Port Orleans, but the one through Fort Wilderness was very private. You first go through the campgrounds and then on this trail through the woods. We saw a whole family of deer and a group of bunnies hopping around. Obviously the family of deer was an added bonus to our carriage ride and I can't guarantee that it'll happen for you. It was an awesome experience and extremely romantic. 

At Fort Wilderness

At Port Orleans

Moving forward...

I hope you all enjoyed the wedding recap! I have to confess that I'm kind of excited now that its over. I do get post-weding blues from time to time, but like every major life event once it's over it's time to move forward.

Moving forward with Making My Fairy Tale has been my ultimate goal. I didn't want my blog to just be about the wedding and then have it end. This blog gives me a reason to continue doing what I love (writing) and it is motivation to keep my life as positive (and Fairy Tale like) as possible.

I have ideas on a few things I'd like to try. It's going to be a work in process until I find my groove but I am completely motivated and dedicated to Making My Fairy Tale and it's success. My mind is racing with ideas and all I need to do now is write them down. So stay tuned for life updates, future travel plans, fun articles, and all things Disney Newlywed related!

I hope you all stick with me and will help me find my niche in the blogging world.  Thank you in advanced for all of your support and encouragement!

 :)

-Katie Z

Wish I did / Glad I didn't do

I feel it is my civic duty, as a "veteran" Disney Bride, to share with you my honest opinion on what I wish I did and what I was glad I didn't do. Sometimes we have this vision of what things should look like. We get it into our heads that without certain things the whole "look" will be thrown off or that it'll be missed. Adam and I were working on a strict budget and sometimes I would have "wedding envy". I would see pictures of centerpieces, or Cinderella 's coach, or Minnie and Mickey at a reception and I would be sad that I couldn't afford them. I started finding little ways to try and save extra money to include these "extras" into our wedding day.  In the end things needed to be cut and I had to decide what was most important to me.  Before I start with my list let me just say that I in no way regret the decisions I made. I loved me wedding day. This post is just to try and help future brides, whether Disney or not.

Wish I did :
- I wish I tried on more wedding gowns.
I say this because I bought my wedding gown online. (Ebay to be exact) Being on a strict budget I couldn't see spending thousands of dollars on a dress I'd be wearing once. I did love my dress but I stressed over my decision A LOT! I wish I'd tried on more to make sure I knew what type of dress looked best on me before I committed to the one I bought.

- I wish I'd started saving sooner.
Adam and I got engaged 1 year and 11 months before our wedding day. I didn't start saving until a year ahead of time. I should have started sooner not to spend more, but to make myself feel better. We really didn't have ANY wiggle room on our budget so it caused stress on us in the final months. My advice... start saving the day you get engaged!

- I wish I didn't sweat the small stuff and realized that "less is more"
I'm using this "I wish I..." to segway into my "Glad I didn't do" section. I really worried that because I didn't have a big budget that my Disney wedding wouldn't and couldn't compare with the big ones! I wish I had seen beyond all of the materialistic stuff and realized earlier that the simple weddings can be just as elegant.

Glad I didn't do :
- I'm glad I didn't spend the extra money on a custom wedding cake
With the Disney "escape" wedding package you get to pick one of 5 different cake designs. They were all pretty generic and I had it in my head that I wanted the Madd Hatter cake. It would be an extra 150$ to have a madd hatter cake. Adam decided it wasn't worth it and asked if we could cut it and I caved in. I told my wedding planner to just give us the "rose and drapes" cake and I could tell she knew i was bummed out. She told me that to make the cake alittle more unique I could customize the colors of the roses and drapes. I had the drapes changed to a navy blue to match the bridesmaid dresses and the roses were a bright pink to match our flowers. I LOVED our cake! I'm so glad we didn't waste the money to upgrade the cake.

- I'm glad I didn't splurge on decorations
Both of our locations were outdoors and both were filled with character. Originally I wanted big centerpieces on the reception table, and I wanted all kinds of crazy decorations at Sea Breeze pointe. I am so glad Adam talked me out of it!!! This is where the "Less is more" comes into play.  I look at our reception pictures and looking at the table and how we were seated I think a big centerpiece would have been distracting. All we had were some rose petals and a few tea candles. It was romantic and didn't take away from the location at all. The same goes for Sea Breeze Pointe. My personal opinion is to let the locations be the decorations.

- I'm glad I didn't spend money on a videographer
Adam and I couldn't afford a videographer and we talked ourselves into thinking that we'd be fine with just the professional pictures. A week before we left for Disney I started panicking and decided we needed video. I did some research and decided that we should get an IFlip. If you can't afford a videographer I fully recommend this! It cost us 150$ and we use it all the time. We asked Adams dad if he minded videoing the ceremony and he was excited to do it for us! It is great quality for a little video camera and we have awesome footage of the ceremony, reception, and the honeymoon. So glad we have it.

This is just my opinion. I hope it helps anyone second guessing their decisions about where to spend their money on their wedding day. One more piece of advice that I want to extend is this... It's not about how much money was spent, or how much decoration you had, or even how big your guest list is. Its about the couple and their commitment to each other.

<3

Reception : The Grand Finale!

Alright everyone! Ready for the Grand Finale???

The main reason we wanted our reception at the Grand Floridian Marina was for the prime fireworks view.  I was so excited to end our wedding day with a bang!

Randy got us set up in the perfect spot with Cinderella Castle behind us. He warned us that we wouldn't be watching the fireworks due to all the posing, but our guests could!

We had so much fun! We could hear the music from across the lake and our guests were loving the fireworks. It was such an amazing few moments. Even though there were people all around us, it felt like it was just Adam and I.







This is where I really started getting emotional. I don't know if it was the "wishes" music, the fact that the wedding was coming to a close, or what. I couldn't help shedding a few tears. The day went off without any problems and it was better than I ever could have dreamed it would be. I felt one hundred percent loved and blessed in that moment. If I could go back in time to any moment during our wedding day, it would be for the fireworks.



Adam could see I was getting emotional so to lighten the mood (and get a good picture) he decided to resurrect the "dip" again.





This made me and everyone else start laughing! It ended up becoming an endurance test for Adam. Randy kept telling him to stay in the "dip" for a few more seconds, which turned into minuets. In that last picture i'm holding on for dear life!

As a special treat I have a video for you! Please ignore the ridiculous commentary in the background... MD and Adam's brothers were having alittle too much fun!



This concludes our very magical wedding day at WDW.  Hope you all enjoyed it! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask!

I thought about ending this post with "And they lived happily ever after..." But I am in no way finished. Ever wonder what happens to Cinderella after she married Prince Charming? I always did!

Coming up next... "The Wish I did, Glad I didn't" post and the "Where are we now" post.

Reception Cont. That's Candy... Right?

After dinner, it was time for the cake to make its return.  We all got little dessert plates with a slice, and a scoop of ice cream.  Everyone was commenting on how good it taste.  The bottom tier was Almond flavored with Amaretto filling and the top tier was red velvet with butter cream filling.  Oh, just describing it is making my mouth water all over again!

Once we were finished with our cake Randy approached Adam and I.  He told us we had time before the "Big Finale".  He wanted to take us around the Grand Floridian for more pictures.



We took some pictures on the large staircase in the lobby. I could hear the noises of the monorail in the distance.......


After some begging we made our way to the monorail station.  Randy snapped some pictures while monorail powder blue was stationary, and then a few as it was leaving.  We could only get so close before a cast member alerted us about the safety hazard, oops :) Being the awesome cast member that he was, he gave us two fast passes. SCORE!


This was absolutely a highlight for me!

We headed back in and Randy snapped these pictures of us in front of that amazing chandelier


This is one of my favorites!

After the chandelier pictures I saw this store across the way. I could see these glass jars filled with what I thought was candy inside of them. Randy thought it would be a great spot to get some pictures of us eating the candy. So we walked in and took these pictures...


In this picture here Adam is saying (with teeth clenched) "Ummm this candy smells like soap" I began to laugh and in between a couple pictures looked around.... We were in BASIN Co. Which is a soap store. What we were pretending to eat in these pictures are not jelly beans, but bath beads.
Oh well we continued anyway....


Hey, what do you want? I'd never been to the Grand Floridian I had no idea! hahahahaaa

We had a good laugh with Randy about the soapy candy. On the way back to the Marina, Randy took these pictures. I love the angle and the look of the staircase.




Up next... The grand finale!