Next month Christian and I will be taking a trip to California to visit Disneyland, Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park. Originally we had wanted to see Joshua Tree and the Redwoods too but, since we only have a week, we needed to prioritize. We'll do a dedicated Redwoods trip in the future since it's something we both really want to do (might squeeze in a visit to the town where Halloweentown was filmed in Oregon too if we go in October, ha ha.)
We're spending three weeks surrounding the California vacation working from Christian's Mom's house now that Christian is able to have a little more flexibility with his location. Instead of flying to Missouri we'll drive like we did last Thanksgiving so we won't need to pack light for that portion of the trip. We'll limit to carry-on luggage for the California trip. The plan is to fly from Missouri into Los Angeles, rent a car and fly back to Missouri from San Francisco. Everything is booked and we're ready to go!
The first essential to packing is obviously a bag, and this stylish minimalist backpack from Day Owl is the perfect option for me! I love how simple it is with no unnecessary frills but plenty of features. I always appreciate bags with a luggage strap so I can attach them easily to my suitcase. This backpack also has a neoprene lined side pocket to fit a water bottle and a few other hidden pockets to stow smaller items. Day Owl make their bags with sustainable materials including waxed canvas made from recycled plastic bottles! How cool is that?
Footwear
We will be doing a LOT of walking so the proper gear and accessories are key. My main problem is I don't go for utility, I go for fashion. Ball of foot cushions for sandals from Foot Petals will definitely be in my suitcase. At Disney I'll wear my Ancient Greek Sandals, and instead of hiking boots I'll probably wear sneakers for the national parks. I bought an assortment of ball of foot cushions and some blister healers so I'll have options for each pair of shoes I bring. I love that they have some foot cushions with built-in toe-post crests so you can use them on flip-flop style sandals, or other sandals that separate the big toe from the rest.
Disney Supplies
The Disney portion of the trip is a whole different animal but it's only two days so I won't need much. I'll obviously need some Disney tees to wear during the day and a Mickey sweatshirt for cooler evenings. I may bring a different one since this one says Disney World, but I love the color so I may rep the East Coast! My Remy's Ratatouille Adventure Dooney & Bourke bag will also be making the trip out West!
The most important thing is my walking sandals, which will be made even more comfortable with my new ball of foot cushions! My sandal of choice is Ancient Greek Sandals, not those other sandals that people claim are comfortable. One trip I tried to wear Tevas, that I thought I had broken in, and my feet were RIPPED APART after one day. For the rest of the trip I had to wear socks with them, in addition to band-aids, to protect my poor feet. Never again. I'll stick with my AGS that have been all over the world with me, literally!
Activewear
I don't own much activewear, but for the second half of our trip we'll be doing a lot of walking around the national parks so I'll be wearing Fabletics workout sets, Spanx leggings and sneakers. For warmer days (if any!) I'll have some Dona Jo biker shorts. In addition to workout clothes I'll also look like a proper tourist with a fanny pack and water bottle strapped around my waist.
Layers
While California will definitely be warmer than Connecticut and Missouri, I know that April could still be snowy up at Sequoia and Yosemite National Park. This means I'll need to pack some layers. Tank tops, short sleeves, long sleeves, sweaters and sweatshirts will all be necessary at one point or another. I also have some fleece lined leggings I can wear if it's supposed to be extra cold on one of our exploration days.
Miscellaneous
We'll have a couple days in LA and visiting Universal Hollywood too so I'll bring some "normal" clothes for our sightseeing on those days. Or maybe I'll go totally against my norm and wear my leggings and activewear on those days, the horror! I'm the type of person that will not wear workout clothes unless I'm actually trying to exercise. But, if I run out of room in my suitcase, that will probably be the move.
*This post was made in partnership with Responsival.*
Happy Throwback Thursday! Today we'll be traveling back to two separate Disney World trips to visit Port Orleans Resort - Riverside and Port Orleans Resort - French Quarter. Since they are sister resorts you can use the amenities at both as long as you're staying at one - aka the pools! It's also easy to walk between the resorts to enjoy different dining options. They are both "Moderate" resorts meaning they are slightly fancier than the cheapest options but still fairly affordable if you are able to use an offer or split the cost with a group (of up to 4 people for normal rooms)
Royal Guest Room |
Riverside was actually the first Walt Disney World resort I stayed at! Previously, my friends and I would stay at Universal and Uber over to Disney but for this trip my best friend, sister and I decided to "splurge" on a Royal Guest Room. We paid around $420 each, $1,326 total with Passholder discount, for 5 nights in December 2017. Christian and I stayed at French Quarter for two nights in May 2020 for $630 with Passholder discount.
Continuing on with our Throwback Thursday Disney hotel overviews! Today we've got another Disney Vacation Club stay. For our anniversary we finally stayed at one of my top bucket list hotels - Animal Kingdom Lodge! We rented DVC points and stayed in a Deluxe Studio Villa with a Savanna View at Jambo House (you can also stay at Kidani Village, a DVC section of the resort that's a short walk from the main building.)
Since it's Thursday, I decided to do a throwback to our stay at Disney's Riviera Resort. It is a goal of mine to stay at (almost) all of the Walt Disney World Resort hotels. So far I've stayed at eight of the twenty, not counting Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser or doubles of the same hotel (BoardWalk Inn vs BoardWalk Villas.) There are different levels of resorts - Value, Moderate, Deluxe, Deluxe Villas (DVC) and Campgrounds. My current list, in alphabetical order:
Continuing on with the Disney trip recaps, let's talk about FOOOOD! One of Christian and my favorite parts of a Disney trip is trying all the new treats and snacks. We had a quicker visit this time and focused mainly on Animal Kingdom Lodge restaurants and the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. Outside of that we did have a few snacks at Magic Kingdom, the Grand Floridian and Animal Kingdom.
Now that you've seen our couples Halloween costume and Wild Africa Trek tees it's time for the rest of the outfits we wore to Disney. Also sharing those two outfits again just so everything is all together. I packed light this trip with just 1 pair of shorts, a pair of jeans, 2 pairs of sandals, workout pants, my Halloween costume and tees for each day. I also had to bring sneakers for the first time on a trip so I wore those on the plane so they wouldn't take up valuable suitcase space.
EPCOT - Day 5
Most of our time not at the hotel was spent at EPCOT so we could snack on as many Food & Wine goodies as possible (and ride Guardians of the Galaxy a bunch)
Tee: EPCOT Food & Wine Passholder Tee 2018
Shorts: Madewell
Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals Alethea perforated sandal
Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika' c/o Shopbop
EPCOT Food & Wine Festival Outfits |
Magic Kingdom - Evening 1
Right after we arrived to the Riviera Resort on Wednesday (at 7pm) we headed to EPCOT via the Skyliner to make our way to Magic Kingdom for Extended Evening Hours for Deluxe Resort guests. Along the way we stopped at a gift shop to pick up Annual Passholder magnets. We opted to go through EPCOT so we didn't have to take any buses. Once at the front of EPCOT we took the Monorail over to Magic Kingdom to spend a few hours with less people in the park.
Sweatshirt Tee: Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Fireworks Pullover (was only available 10/1/2021)
Jeans: FRAME 'Le Skinny de Jeanne' (Shopbop)
Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals Alethea perforated sandal
One of the things I was most excited for on our recent trip to Disney World was FINALLY doing Wild Africa Trek. The moment I learned what it was it has been on my Disney Bucket List. I almost did it for my 30th birthday in 2018 but my friend and I decided to do character meals instead. Christian and I had booked it for our May 2020 trip that got cancelled. When we rescheduled the trip for the May 2022 we decided to skip it that trip and plan a special Disney World vacation for our wedding anniversary. Thus, our Animal Kingdom-centric trip was born!
We decided to do it up big and stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge with a Savannah View room, booked through David's Vacation Club Rentals to utilize Disney Vacation Club points to stay for lower than Disney rack rates. We paid $900 for 3 nights compared to $2381 if booked directly through Disney. We planned our meals just at the hotel and wanted to spend a bulk of our time there. Since we're Annual Passholders (well, were until September 30th) we were able to use our Passhoolder discount on Wild Africa Trek tickets and paid $360.28 vs $423.88.
This sign look familiar? See photos of our shirts below if not ;) |
I'll do my best to walk you through what happens during this amazing three hour tour. If you don't want details so you can be pleasantly surprised on your own Trek feel free to just look at the images. The short description of the tour from Disney is "Encounter exotic wildlife on a guided expedition with African-inspired snacks and photo keepsakes."
On our Disney trip last month I made sure we got tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! Tickets for the rest of the parties this month are sold out, but if you happen to be at Magic Kingdom on the night of a party you could always ask guest services if they have any day-of tickets (unlikely.)
Christian and I are at Disney World this weekend for our anniversary and I thought I would share outfits from our last two trips because somehow I never did blog posts after we got back... whoops! It's also because I was lazy and didn't have Christian take individual outfit photos of what I wore (although we did do videos for a Reel in May!) Shame on me! I guess that means you guys get Disney couples outfits in addition to Disney outfits for women. YAY!
Can you believe it's almost JUNE?! May just flew by. But maybe that's because I was away at Disney the first part of the month. I didn't buy any new clothes this month - apart from some Disney tees, but I count those as souvenirs since I won't really wear them outside of Disney. I bought a 50th anniversary tee and 2 Star Wars day shirts (both in kids sizes so they were a lot cheaper than adult shirts, haha!) I also got 20% off everything with my Annual Pass.
I still am considering a new pair of Ancient Greek Sandals from their 10th anniversary collection but they are EXPENSIVE, more than I've paid for any of my other pairs. On the one hand I want to support them and celebrate 10 years (I've been a fan pretty much all of those 10 years) but I don't usually buy new pairs unless they're on sale now. I'm deciding between a crazier pair and one that I would wear more often. Of course, the crazy pair is $20 cheaper. GAH!
I kind of took a break from posting in May just because I wasn't sure if I wanted to do any Disney related posts this time and Christian was away for a week after our trip so we haven't had time for any normal outfit photos. Hopefully I'll be back to at least posting once a week soon! But would anyone like some Disney trip posts in the meantime or are you all tired of me posting it on Instagram all last month, haha! I've been testing out Reels to see how they perform and the results have been so odd. Some posts go crazy and others NOTHING. Makes no sense.
THE (modified) RULES
- Be mindful of purchases
- Quality over quantity
- Basics are best
MY PROGRESS
Clothes:
- None yet
Basics:
- mīere the label "Frankie" knit sweater in Faded Black ($56.92, $32.15 if we omit shipping)
Shoes:
- None yet
Handbags:
- None yet
Accessories:
- None yet
Activewear/Swimwear:
- Ryka "Belong" Walking Shoe in Plum Red/Burgundy via DSW ($26.58, $79.99 retail)
Gifted from Brands:
- Pearl and Gold Bar Duo Stud Earring - Rose Gold c/o Aurate
- Gold Bar Stud Earrings - Rose Gold c/o Aurate
- Gold Bar Stud Earrings - Yellow Gold c/o Aurate
Spent in May: $0
Spent in 2022: $83.50
As those of you who follow my Instagram know, I was at Disney World last week (and beginning of this week) for the 50th anniversary of Magic Kingdom! While that was the main purpose of the trip I was also very excited for EPCOT's Food & Wine Festival, one of my favorite times of year to go! I'm going to reshare some tips I've posted in the past for those of you that will be going to Food & Wine for the first time.
This year I went equipped with an empty stomach and my wishlist full to the brim of tasty food options! Christian decided to go with the flow and picked up one of the Festival guides when we arrived to decide what he wanted as we went.
My Food & Wine Tips
1. Download the WDW - Food&Wine app to keep track of everything you want to try and have tried! Before our trip I wish-listed everything I wanted to try so I wouldn't have to think about it while in the park. As I tried things I marked them off as "Tasted." The app also gives you a running total of what you spent which is pretty fun (and can be scary!)
WDW Food&Wine (this is not an official Disney app) |
2. Buy a gift card.
I find it helpful to buy the special festival gift card on a wrist
coil. You have to load them with at least $15 but you'll spend that if you eat a few dishes (and you don't just have to use it on food!) They
always have a cute design. It's a great way to
control your spending because you can load it with whatever your budget
for the day and reload if needed. This year I didn't get the festival gift card and opted for the special 50th Anniversary gift cards. There are 5 in total but we only found 4 of them, darn!
3. Pace yourself. Spread Food & Wine eats out over a few days of your trip if you can! Park hop back to EPCOT once you're done at another park for a couple snacks. If you only have one, day don't try to eat too much or you'll only remember the stomach-ache you had. We spent one full day at EPCOT and visited again for two half days (plus a quick evening trip where we rode rides instead of trying food.)
4. Share bites with others so you can sample even more! If multiple people want to try the same thing why not split it so you have room for even more snacks? And, if you happen to really like it, go back to get a second if you're still hungry at the end of the day! Christian and I shared a lot so we were able to get more from our lists. Unfortunately he had to eat the cheesy items on his own!
What We Ate
Time for the fun part - talking about everything we ate! Let's go by country and in order of the Festival Guide.
Shimmering Sips
Shimmering Strawberry Soft-serve served in a Waffle Cone
This was one of our most instagrammable treats, look how fun and sparkly! I'm not usually a fan of plain strawberry ice cream (gelato, yes, ice cream, meh) but this was too fun to pass up! I really enjoyed it. Pro tip - make sure you have a water cup or bowl to dump your ice cream into and eat it with a spoon so you don't become a drippy mess.
Australia
Grilled Sweet and Spicy Bush Berry Shrimp served with Pineapple, Pepper, Onion, and Snap Peas and Deconstructed Pavlova served with Pastry Cream, Citrus-macerated Berries, and Lemon Myrtle Meringue
Australia usually has some sort of "bush berry" shrimp on the menu and it's always tasty. Also a good way to get a few veggies if you're mostly eating fried foods on your trip. Mine seemed to be mostly snap peas but was still delicious. I would definitely buy this again. The deconstructed pavlova was fun but I wasn't a fan of the meringue. The berries were so fresh and sweet so that made up for it.
Refreshment Port
Traditional Poutine - French Fries, Boursin Cracked Black Pepper Crumbles, and Cheese Curds
This was a Christian-only treat because I am not a fan of poutine. He said it was pretty good, although the poutine he had when we went to Montreal was obviously better.
Belguim
Belgian Waffle served with Warm Chocolate Ganache
Christian and I shared this after he scraped away the whipped cream (I know, I'm weird.) The waffle was fluffy and the ganache tasty but this was overall just okay. But for $4.50 it's one of the cheaper items we tried.
Tangerine Café: Flavors of the Medina
Grilled Kebabs with Couscous, Tomato-Onion Salad, and Garlic-Aioli (Lemon-Garlic Chicken)
There were 3 different kabob options and we went with the chicken, it was very tasty! I'm always a fan of couscous and the salad was nice and refreshing. If we had stayed longer I might have also tried the Harissa-marinated Beef Tenderloin tips. They also had a Moroccan Spiced Lamb option.
Greece
Lamb Moussaka
Ever since our honeymoon Christian has become enamored with moussaka. Any time we see it on a menu he has to try it to see how it compares to the amazing one he had in Santorini. He said this was good but seemed to be a bit more Americanized than other dishes we tried. It reminded him of lasagna.
Japan
Teriyaki Chicken Bun - Steamed Bun filled with Chicken, Vegetables, and Teriyaki
A great choice for the picky eater this has a very subtle flavor. We thought it could have used more of a kick but overall it was still tasty. I do think it was a little expensive at $6.50. I would much prefer one of my other bites for that price if we were to go back.
Spain
Spanish-style Paella with Rice, Chorizo, and Shrimp & Charcuterie with a selection of imported Spanish Meats, Cheeses, and Olives with an Herb Vinaigrette
I always have to stop in Spain at EPCOT Food & Wine for their delicious Paella! The festival has included it every year I've gone and I'll be very upset if they ever stop! The meats used are always slightly different but it never disappoints. It's so tasty and a great portion size. Christian and I also got the Charcuterie to share (he ate all the cheese, I had the olives.)
Germany
Roast Bratwurst in a Pretzel Roll
Another simple snack for the less adventurous eater. This comes with mustard but since I'm not a fan I asked for mine plain. Obviously without the mustard it's a little dry but I still found it very tasty.
The Alps
Blueberry and Almond Frangipane Tart with Crème Fraîche
This was probably the most disappointing item we got. It came out and looked totally different from the photo example and the texture was off. There wasn't really a tart crust, it seemed to have melted from the blueberries and frangipane. I only tried a tiny bite because Christian warned me it had a weird texture (I don't like things that are too creamy.) The flavor was good but overall it was just "meh" because it was a little too mushy.
Kenya
Piri Piri Skewered Shrimp with Citrus-scented Couscous
Apparently we had a shrimp theme this trip. I was super excited to try this and it was amazing! If we didn't get this on our last day I would have gotten it twice. We had some of the EPCOT birds eyeing the plate as we were eating this on a bench, they thought they were going to get some - wrong!
India
Warm Indian Bread with Pickled Garlic, Mango Salsa, and Coriander Pesto Dips & Korma Chicken with Basmati Rice, Crispy Chickpeas, and Spiced Yogury Sauce & Madras Red Curry with Roasted Cauliflower, Baby Carrots, Chickpeas and Ben's Original Basmati Rice
We tried all the food at the India booth and everything was great! I think our favorite may have been the curry but everything was good. I loved the coriander pesto dip that came with the warm bread while Christian thought the mango salsa was best. All of these were great for sharing and we would get them all again.
China
Pan-fried Chicken Dumplings served with House-made Sweet-and-Spicy Sauce & Crispy-fried Pepper Shrimp served with Spicy Sichuan Noodles
China always comes through with delicious dumplings and some sort of noodle dish. Both of these were great, although Christian balked at the $5 price-tag for 2 dumplings. But who cares, they're so yummy!
The Donut Box
Sriracha-glazed Donut & Strawberry Smoothie
One of the most anticipated things at the Food & Wine Festival was this sriracha-glazed donut. It comes with a piece of fried chicken inside and a slaw with some aioli and who knows what else. This was a Christian-only treat but I did try a bite of just chicken and donut. He looooved it and we almost went back for a second one on our last day. The smoothie was delicious and very refreshing.
Mac & Eats
Cowboy Macaroni and Cheese with Smoked Pork Belly, Brisket Burnt Endss, Pickled Peppers, and Onion Straws
This might have been in Christian's top 5 favorite items. The portion was great for $6.25 and he said it was very tasty!
There were a lot more things we would have tried (and eaten again) if we had more days at the park but sadly we had to come home. I'd consider living at Disney during the Food & Wine festival just so I could pop into EPCOT every day for a random treat.
I hope you enjoyed coming along with us on this culinary tour of the world!
Can you believe it's already September tomorrow? CRAZY! This month was another well behaved month thanks to June being a slow work month. I budget based on what I make 2 months ahead. So what I make in June I use in August. Everything has a job so it's easy for me to stay on target with my budgets.
However, I do have a sponsored post with Aurate coming up next month so I was able to choose some items. I bought my Mom some earrings and then one earring for myself (as well as a pair that I got for free with the order.) So far my Mom's piece is the only thing that has arrived, the two for me will arrive mid-September.
I also made a pre-vacation purchase for Disney using some blog money. I randomly saw a cute pair of vintage-style Disney shorts on Instagram and decided to do my own search and found these adorable Disneyland mickey embroidered pocket shorts. I ended up with 2 pairs because I originally bought a size 12 brand new with tags and they were too big so I had to size down to a used 10. Unfortunate the new ones didn't work, but at least I still got a pair! If you are interested in a pair I am normally a 2/4 or 26/27 in denim and bought the size 10.
THE (modified) RULES
- Be mindful of purchases
- Quality over quantity
- Basics are best
MY PROGRESS
Clothes:
- mīere the label Women’s Cotton Knit Sweater in Terracotta ($68.87 including shipping)
- *NEW!* Vintage Disneyland shorts with embroidered Mickey pockets ($20 via Poshmark, used ad money)
Basics:
- FRAME Denim Le Skinny de Jeanne Crop in Sunnyside ($30 via Poshmark, retail $189, $18.67 after ad money)
Shoes:
- Splendid Harvest Mules in Tiger/Cheetah Print - also here ($25.80 via eBay, retail $118, used ad money)
- Teva Original Universal Sandals in Boomerang Pink Lemonade ($42.50 via Shopbop, used partnership money)
Handbags:
- Prada Cahier in 'Viola' purple via Vestiaire Collective ($1488, used bag savings account)
- None yet
Activewear/Swimwear:
Gifted from Brands:
- Vintage Emerald Cut Ring - London Blue Topaz c/o Aurate ($50 after gifted amount)
- *NEW!* Infinity Hoop Earrings - Yellow Gold c/o Aurate
- *NEW!* Pearl and Gold Bar Duo Stud Earring - Rose Gold c/o Aurate
Spent in August: $0
Spent in 2021: $209.66
Spent in 2021 Counting Prada bag: $1,697.66