Walt Disney World Day 2: Epcot!

My first full day in Florida was a scorcher! I headed for EPCOT - my favorite park - to explore and have fun! However, I do NOT do well in the heat so this day was a real slog for me. I had on a sundress, a GIANT hat, AND I was carrying a parasol. I looked ridiculous! The cherry on this outfit was the lace fan I was carrying to TRY to keep my self cool. I lugged my camera around but, it was just to hot (and I was carrying too much crap) to bust out.

My first stop was Paris for a breakfast pastry. It was very good. The coffee slushie was NOT.

Next up I took my bear, Berrie, to the 'cool zone' to sample the Beverly soda. Lemme' 'splain. I took Berrie to Disneyland with Jeff a bit ago and we had a blast. I snapped pics of the day and laughed and laughed. It was almost like seeing the park again for the first time. So, I thought it would be fun to take Berrie to WDW and take lots of pictures. Something to fill the time and keep me busy since I was going all by myself!


What's this?

It smells weird.

*slurp*

EEEWWWW!

Poor Berrie! I'm really the only person I know who likes that weird soda! Apparently, it's quite the game to take a newbie to the 'cool zone' and video their reactions to the very first sip. I witnessed a pretty epic one while I was there. A couple of teachers line their students up against the wall (like a soda firing squad) and gave each of the kids a little cup of the Beverly. The teacher got the camera set up and then instructed the kids to sip. The looks of horror on their little faces! (we'll never trust again!).

My other 'mission' for visiting EPCOT was to 'Race Around the World Showcase'. A "Cars 2" promo. You picked up a little passport and visited marked 'countries' for a sticker. When you get the whole set, you picked up a little prize.


Yeah, not really worth the hike around the world.

Hot and disappointed, I called it a day and began the trek to my afternoon ADR at Coral Reef. I'd never been there before and wanted to sample it to see if it would be a good stop for our nieces next year. I got a seat RIGHT next to the tank, which was lovely. The service was very good as well. I'm just not sure the gals would enjoy this place without that same seat by the tanks.



There ARE fish here, right?

It was so boiling hot that I just wasn't really hungry. I needed to EAT. I hadn't eaten a thing since that pastry in Paris. I ordered the appetizer sampler for two as my entree. It came with fried shrimp, crab cakes, and lobster bisque. The food was all very good. I especially liked the shrimp! I would not, however, recommend eating the sampler as an entree except on a occasion where you're not starving. It really was not a lot of food for the money.


If you're a Smurf, this food overload will cause your stomach to explode! If you're a normal person, this is a drop in the stomach bucket!

After nursing my iced tea and soaking up the arctic death blast from the A/C, I decided to begin my trek to the Contemporary Hotel to meet some friends for dinner. I had heard that the transportation could take quite some time.


Berrie rides the Monorail

I really liked that resort. I wandered the shops and grabbed a coffee. Then I headed over to the ballroom to pick up my Destination D packet for the weekend. I met my friends for dinner at the California Grill. It had a beautiful view of the Magic Kingdom



I ordered the filet with the mascarpone mashed potatoes.



One of my Disney vet pals suggested I sub the potatoes for the goat cheese polenta. I had a hard time with the thought of NO potatoes so, I ordered the polenta on the side.


Oh, goat cheese polenta, where have you been all my life!

My dessert was a latte!


Berrie is STUFFED ! Wokka-wokka!

After all the food, I was too tired to do anything but crawl back to my hotel. Which is exactly what I did.

Next: Destination D - Day one!

Destination D: Walt Disney World

So earlier this month, I jetted off to Walt Disney World for "Destination D: Walt Disney World". It was a solo trip - No Jeff this time and would last about 5 days (including travel). It was a whirlwind!


I hopped on a Virgin America DIRECT flight from SFO to Orlando (Oh, Virgin America. How I love you!) and snagged a upgrade to "Main Cabin Select" seating. Best way to fly! Free movies, free food, priority boarding...it's like a cheapie version of First Class. I like it! Pictured is my 'travel bear', Humphrey. He keeps me company on trips when the Mister can't come along. That would be him enjoying his free headphones and free entertainment aboard Virgin America. (end unpaid commercial).


Arriving in Orlando, I caught a 'Magical Express' bus to my resort, Coronado Springs.


The room

From the closet area.

Where Humphrey spent his week. Lazy bear.

The room had some really nice touches, too:



I finished off my evening at Portobello at Downtown Disney for dinner. Meatball sliders and pistachio gelato are the perfect way to start a trip (and end a travel day).

More Crochet Madness!

I went on a baby project binge. First up, a couple of hats!



Many of my friends are new parents and I've been making a LOT of baby hats for their newborns. Now that the babies are bigger, it was time to start making a new selection of hats.

The next task is a baby blanket!

CHOCOLATE!!!

So, every year (for the last three), there has been a chocolate fair at Jeff's work. I have not missed one. How could I?! Some of the same folks and some excellent new ones were there!




Au Coeur des Chocolats - the most heavenly little hearts with a creamy center and a burst of refreshing fruit flavor (lychee I believe). Amazing. These were very quickly gone. I tried for seconds later and no dice.


Go To Chocolate - this table was a MAD HOUSE! I barely snagged a teensy piece of almond bark and then I had to flee for my life.


Barlovento Chocolates - I love these. They have such interesting flavors! Really fun and creative. Favorite? The very spicy chocolate and chile truffle.


Toffee Talk - not a HUGE toffee fan but, the red walnut? AMAZING! I totally stalked the gal passing out samples.


Coco Delice - Such great truffles. I'm still bummed I didn't buy the Cognac truffle. Instead, I took home two boxes of Peanut Butter Bunnies - just in time for Easter!


Chocolatier Blue - Oh, how I love them! Peanut Butter truffles, Honey Sage truffles, heavenly caramels. What's not to love about these guys? I visit the shop on 4th street for my chocolate fix so, I didn't buy anything from this table. I just kept dragging my friends over "Eat this!"


My haul of goods - A very decadent box from Vice Chocolates (they had this amazing butterfly with white chocolate ganache, lime and coconut milk. I couldn't walk away from that!!), Claire Square (WHERE have these been all my life?! Shortbread, caramel, and chocolate? Be still my barely beating heart) and a bag of Barbary Brix "The Distinguished Gentleman" caramels (They had the BEST names for their products! And the caramel was divine! Espresso and creamy caramel goodness. Distinguished, indeed!)



Of course, now I cannot even THINK about eating chocolate for a nice long while.

The OTHER Wedding of the Century:

My bestie got married last month. He found a beautiful, remarkable woman to share his life with and I couldn't be happier. They, of COURSE had a fantastic photographer but, here are a few snaps I managed to take.



Greatest seat markers or GREATEST seat markers?!



I did not do this fantastic centerpiece ANY kind of justice. They were beautiful and really helped fill the space. It was a enchanted wedding forest that lead to good food and CUPCAKES (no pics, please. I was cramming them into my mouth.

Mazel Tov to the happy couple!

Emerald City Comic-Con 2011

This March the Mister and I headed to Seattle for Emerald City Comic-Con. It was our very first showing there! Jeff had ventured to Seattle last year as a attendee and enjoyed it so much, he pre-paid for a booth for this year.

I drove all of our loot to Seattle. It took me two days of white-knuckled driving thru wicked weather. I arrived on thursday just in time for some food fun with the rest of the gang (Derek, Jamie Baker, and Ted. With assists from Julia Lundman, Sho Murase, Brian McDonald, and...well...let's just say we had a excellent posse of hungry folks)! First up: Zig Zag Cafe

Friday opened with breakfast at Lola. Greatest breakfast ever! Made to order donuts, amazing potatoes, & maple sausage. A place so nice, we ate there twice!



The booth set up was pretty smooth. The doors opened at 1:45p. It was the 1st Friday in the history of ECCC..and it was slooooow! The rest of the weekend was much better, sales wise. This convention was the 1st time we used Square for accepting payments via credit card. We actually used it to keep a record of all our sales for the weekend. I LOVE Square! I can't wait to use it again!



When we weren't all at our booths, we were stuffing our faces with the best food Seattle had to offer:

Palace Kitchen - Clear winner: Pork shank!
The Kingfish Cafe - clear winner: Bread pudding
Smith - clear winner: EVERYTHING!!
Bonus:
Hi-Lo Cafe - I stopped here on the looooong drive home. Great service & really tasty chicken fried steak (Hey! I'm driving for two days! Now is not the time for healthy eating.)

Thx Seattle! Looking forward to next year!

Hi-ho! It's off to Disneyland I go!

Oh, how I love going to Disneyland! My first usual stop is the Tiki Room. It just takes me to the happiest place! Luckily, the day we went was sunny and very bright. It was still chilly but, not enough to stop me from getting one of these:


Ambrosia! The nectar of the Gods! Mock me if you like - I just can't consider it a proper trip to Disneyland without one. The line was very long - not summer long - just long enough that if you. It didn't matter, I was happy to wait in line for my liquid gold!




New Orleans square was decked out for Mardi Gras!







While in New Orleans Square, we opted to wait for "Pirates" - a favorite ride. It was moving pretty quickly but, not quick enough for a wee chap behind us in line. I engaged the youngster in conversation. His being "What are you doing?" with my reply being variations of "Waiting in line with you!". He liked my Kermit bag - he said he was a 'moofet' fan. Adorable. By the time we got into the show building, we were fast friends. In fact, he wanted me to ride the ride with him! We opted to ride in the same boat but, didn't want to force ourselves onto his Mom. He griped my hand as we waited in adjoining lines and checked to make sure I was, in fact, right behind him. I cracked him up as we pulled away by whispering "Gee, I hope there aren't any pirates on this ride!" He turned to look me in the eyes and say "There are a LOT of pirates on this rde!" We shouted to Captain Jack to hide from the pirates looking for him and just generally enjoyed ourselves. After we finished and exited, he took me by the hand again, just assuming that we'd be following him to his next adventure. Aw! His Mom told him they were going in another direction and refused to let me go! I told him we'd be in the Pirate shop for a little bit and maybe we'd see him there.



I did, actually, wait in the pirate shop (Pieces of Eight) for a bit. We browsed it thoroughly! They didn't come back. We went off to "Haunted Mansion" and then dinner with our good pals Brian and Tricia at the Napa Rose. Very tasty! Once we waved them off, we headed back to the park for another two hours of rides. We concentrated on Fantastyland - my favorite time to hit that section of the park is after the fireworks!



Guess who I spotted climbing into a car on "Snow White"?! Of course, by the time we got off the ride, they were gone! Still, funny to see them again, right?! Well, we saw them again on "Peter Pan"! This time we walked right past them. I couldn't help myself, I tapped my little friend on the shoulder and waved as we walked past. His face lit up like a perfectly decorated Christmas tree! It was all that I could have asked for, His pushing his way back through the line to grab my hand was a surprise and his Mom graciously asking us to join them was a unexpected delight! He insisted he'd tried to find me (his mom told us they'd found Mickey and Minnie and delayed the trip back to the Pirate shop. He was very upset with Mickey for 'taking a nap' before his turn for photos. Especially since the wait meant he lost me! AW!) The two of us rode "Peter Pan" together followed by "Pinocchio". Dumbo was the follow up. As we we headed for "Mister Toad", his Mom laughingly told him he had to share me with my husband. His response? "But, I like her!" The kid was irresistible! After that ride, him Mom said it was time to go. We hugged and smooched all around and his little shoulders slumped as they walked away. I thanked Jeff for sharing our time with him and Jeff said "How could I not? You two were having such a wonderful time together!! He loved you instantly!" Such a sweetie.

I hope my little pal had as much fun in Fantasyland as I did!



The next day we were supposed to catch a early flight. Luckily the airline notified us that it had been cancelled before we left the hotel! We checked our bags and ran back to the park for a little bit more fun!


First stop - lunch!



We saw a ton of character out and about - Alice and the Mad Hatter, The Fairy Godmother, Snow White, Cinderella were all out - not to mention Goofy, Mickey, & Minnie! We saw the princesses all head out with the Fairy Godmother at the same time but, I was too slow to snap a picture. Instead, not two minutes later, I snapped Ariel heading out to join the others. Prime Princess viewing at the Plaza Inn, people - that's all I'm gonna' say!


The Happiest Face at the Happiest Place!