One of my main problems with wearing flats is finding socks that don't show. The "no show" socks I currently have always cause more trouble than they're worth, they slip off my foot or parts of them still show on some of my fancier shoes. Do you ever wish you had truly invisible socks for your flats too? I was recently introduced to Flat Socks which do just that! They are like insoles for your shoes but in sock material and they're washer/dryer safe. This keeps the inside of your shoes clean and you also have sock-like protection. Their website says it all: no slip, no stink, no show and no sacrifices!
I bought a few pairs to try out, even one made of faux fur when I want to wear flats in Winter. Flat Socks come in two sizes small and large. I bought the small and was able to cut them, using their handy trim guide, to my shoe size. If your insoles come out you can also remove those and use them as a guide to get a perfect match for any pair. Et voilà ! Invisible socks for any pair of shoes!
Depending on your shoes you may have to do a bit of extra fine tuning to get the invisible socks to fit in snuggly. I had to really finesse the cuts because the shoes are fairly skinny up front. So the socks I cut for them will probably be mostly for that exact pair. I cut another pair that fit into both my Chanel ballet flats and Joie animal print loafers. So depending on your shoes you can use a single pair of flat socks for multiple flats.
Initially, I was worried about not having something over my toes but it didn't bother me that the invisible sock was only on the bottom of my foot. This is also handy if your shoes are slightly too tight when you're wearing regular socks, as some of mine are. (Hey, if a pair of shoes is on sale I can deal with a tiny bit of discomfort.) I haven't tried them with heels yet, but I imagine it will be just as nice!
Here are a couple photos showing the difference between normal "no show" socks and Flat Socks. (The back photo is both no-show socks) I despise no-show socks that only have a little bit on the toe because they never stay on and always flop back and forth. So these are the only type of no-show I own, and they obviously don't work for shoes like this or ballet flats. That's where flat socks invisible socks come in!
Sweater: Abercrombie & Fitch
Jeans: FRAME 'Le Skinny de Jeanne' (Shopbop)
Animal Print Loafer: Burberry Prorsum (Net-a-Porter)
Bag: Purple Prada Cahier in Viola (Rebag via Vestiaire Collective)
Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Emma' (Marshalls)
Jewelry c/o Aurate
*This post was made in partnership with Responsival.*
I'm a month late in posting this, but better late than never! I wore this on a very spontaneous day trip to Rhode Island for Valentine's Day. Long story short, Christian had a last minute video shoot for work in Newport so I tagged along and worked from the car while he was on location. Then we got to enjoy a nice Valentine's dinner in Newport. Only the second time in our six Valentine's Days together that we went out on the actual day. We like to avoid the crowds and higher prices, haha! The other time was our first Valentine's Day when I visited him in Missouri.
The morning started off very windy but by the afternoon it was nice and not super cold. Perfect for walking along Thames Street. We ended up having a late lunch/early dinner at Brick Alley Pub & Restaurant when Christian was done with work. Both our meals were very tasty and the inside of the restaurant was really fun! We almost ate at The Red Parrot, but since that's one of our usual spots we decided to mix it up.
Coat: Burberry Brit Wool Minstead Duffle Coat In Military Red via Marijane Boutique
Sweater: Burberry beaded owl knit (eBay)
Jeans: J Brand Maria High Rise in Purple Velvet (The RealReal)
Boots: Vince Camuto 'Davilla' (Marshalls/eBay, I have 2 pairs)
Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika' c/o Shopbop
(Ignore the messed up bead on my sweater, I fixed it the next day, haha!)
Today we're featuring Christian's favorite hotel - Disney's Boardwalk Villas! If he had his choice we would always stay here on our trips, but I want to stay at (almost) all the hotels before we do that. We stayed here in May 2022 by renting Disney Vacation Club points. We would have paid around $3000 ($3064.50 to be exact) for our 4 nights directly through Disney but staying with points we paid $1075. Boardwalk Villas is the DVC portion of the resort and Boardwalk Inn is the normal guest rooms. The DVC rooms have a washer/dryer, sleeper sofa (hopefully a Murphy bed after renovations) and small kitchen whereas normal rooms have 2 beds and no kitchenette.
The Boardwalk is currently undergoing renovations with the Disney website stating: "Disney’s BoardWalk Inn & Villas is being refurbished, with new offerings, plus updates coming to our Guest rooms, lobby and more." This means many of these photos, and my room tour video at the bottom, will need to be updated in the future. Oh no, guess that means we'll need to stay here again, ha ha!
These upgrades are definitely a welcome change as the guest rooms are a little old feeling. The main problem we had was the sofa bed in the room was not the comfiest (we gave Christian's Mom the real bed.) Assuming Disney updates them to Murphy beds, as they have done with past refurbishments, there will be no fighting over who gets the better bed. Murphy beds are also much easier to use, no need to make the bed! I don't have any photos of the room as it was pretty basic, but make sure to check out this room tour video I did!
One thing I'm sure many people are hoping Disney won't change is the creepy Nanny Chairs. They are somewhat of an inside joke with Boardwalk guests as they're said to be haunted! Nanny Chairs were found on carousels for adults, usually nannies, to sit on while children rode the carved wooden horses. While they're a little scary, it's a fun tradition to find them every trip - there are two by the fireplace in the lobby and two hidden else-wear.
Boardwalk has some great amenities which include pools, a mini beach, and of course the Boardwalk! The Boardwalk has shops, an arcade, dining, health club and even a dance hall. You're also able to rent surrey bikes to ride along the paths. They show Movies Under the Stars like the other resorts as well as roasting marshmallows! One of our favorite things to do was watch both the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT fireworks from the boardwalk. We sat on a bench and watched both shows for a relaxing last night.
By far the best thing about staying at Boardwalk Villas is it's location. You can walk to both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. The walk to Hollywood Studios is a bit longer but EPCOT's International Gateway is very close. I forgot to take photos of the walking paths so I'll be sure to do that next time and update this post. [Update: HAH! I was able to update the post before it went live because we went to Disney this past weekend] Christian and I walked to Hollywood Studios on May 4th, Star Wars Day, to avoid the hectic transportation options. If it wasn't such a popular day for HS we may have taken the super short walk to the Skyliner and ridden that over, but I enjoyed the morning walk. The Skyliner is right near the entrance of EPCOT and takes you to Hollywood Studios or the other resorts on the route. You can also take a Friendship Boat to both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios from the resort - but they take a looooong time, so don't use that if you're in a rush. Buses are available for Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.
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| Walking to Hollywood Studios from Boardwalk Resort |
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| Walking path from Disney's Boardwalk to EPCOT |
On to food! We haven't eaten everywhere at this hotel yet as we had a bunch of other places we really wanted to eat at within the parks on our last trip. We did make a visit to the Boardwalk Bakery for some breakfast on one morning. Since our stay the Boardwalk Bakery closed to make way for Boardwalk Deli. It has similar offerings but the interior and exterior have been updated. We enjoyed the NJ Crumb Cake and Doodle Muffin (not always available.) I went to Disney this past weekend and we used Boardwalk as our entry way to EPCOT (we stayed off-site for a work trip) so we got to check out the new Boardwalk Deli!
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| March 2023 |
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| May 2022 |
Other dining options include Trattoria al Forno for breakfast or dinner, Big River Grille & Brewing World or the Pizza Window for a quick service lunch or dinner and Flying Fish for dinner. We were going to have breakfast at Trattoria al Forno on this
trip but we changed plans. Maybe next time! Flying Fish is a Signature Dining restaurant meaning you'll need to dress appropriately and it will be pricier than other options. In need of a snack? Check out Leaping Horse Libations, Carousel Coffee, BoardWalk Ice Cream or the Funnel Cake Cart. If you're looking for an alcoholic beverage you'll want to visit AbracadaBar or BoardWalk Joe's Marvelous Margaritas.
And don't forget about Belle Vue Lounge, a 1930s-style sitting room where you can buy lemonade, hot chocolate, coffee and cocktails. They also have an outside sitting area you can enjoy as well. No reservations needed, just walk right up. It was never crowded when we walked by. There's even a TV for the kids to enjoy.
You also have easy access to the dining options at Disney's Beach Club Resort. We have yet to stay there but walked around and enjoyed some ice cream at Beaches & Cream Soda Shop. Both resorts are connected by the same walkway that goes around Crescent Lake. You can get a beautiful view of Boardwalk from the Beach Club.
Enjoy some more photos of the hotel and lobby.
This year is all about simple lifestyle changes for me. Adding more veggie only meals, trying to regularly eat vitamins and moving my body more. Even though I grew up doing gymnastics for 13 years I've never been the best at exercising. Grueling practice, definitely, but running, lifting weights, etc. was not for me. This super portable under desk elliptical from Cubii is going to help me achieve that goal! Last Spring into Summer I was doing indoor and outdoor bike rides and would occasionally go on walks but I definitely need to move more during the work week.
I've been using my Cubii for about a month and am already noticing changes. Parents or commuters don't hate me, but I have always had trouble getting out of bed before 8:30/9. I used to roll out of bed, go downstairs and start working at 9am. Now I find myself getting up before 8am so I can have my Goli vitamins and get a quick 30 minute "workout" in. I'm not into intense training yet, but will build up to it. For now my goals are at least 2000 strides a day and 30 minutes of pedaling. Some days I'll do more, some days I'll do a higher speed and intensity, but usually I'm at a leisurely bike riding pace at a high resistance.
My friend convinced me and Christian to run the Wine & Dine 5K at Walt Disney World later this year (he's doing the half marathon) so having an under desk elliptical will be great to keep my training going during the day. Disney's training program for a 5K is 13 weeks, slowly building up your stamina. I feel like I shouldn't need too much training as it's only 3 miles, but if I run the whole way I'll definitely need more endurance. I'm more of a sprinter than a long distance runner.
I've been easily able to transport my Cubii under desk elliptical to various rooms in the house. If I work in the dining room it fits under the table and if I'm in the living room watching TV I can place it right in front of the couch. It's also quiet so it doesn't disrupt Christian or clients if I'm using it on a work call. It has the option for different users too, so when Christian is in the mood for an under desk elliptical workout he can bring it into his office. I even brought it over to my parent's house once and my family members tried it out on the Guest user. It was quite the hit, ha ha! Even my brother's puppy was curious what all the hype was about.
I have the Cubii JR+ with Bluetooth so I'm able to track my progress in the Cubii app automatically as well as viewing the data in my Health app. It also has an LCD display for immediate info. Having measurable data is always helpful in keeping you to your goals, in my opinion. Christian is trying to get me to buy an Apple Watch now so I can really keep track of all my vitals and exercise - I've been resisting for years because I like small watches, ha ha. Another thing I really enjoy about the Cubii under desk elliptical is you don't have to wear sneakers, most of the time I'm just wearing socks.
Update: After I wrote this post Christian broke me down and I got an Apple Watch 8, haha! I've only had it for a week and a half but it's already motivating me even more. Gotta close those rings every day! I was going to remove the previous paragraph but I think it's funny that I went from "I don't need it" to "Okay, it will keep me more accountable" fairly quickly.
The mobile app has Cubii Studio+ classes so you can follow along different workouts. There are over 300 free classes to choose from for all abilities, needs, and body types. I particularly enjoyed the Mind & Stride and Stretch videos. You can watch them on your phone or computer. If I did my sessions before work I would airplay to the TV so I could watch on the bigger screen right in front of me.
You can also find monthly Wellness Journii's - each month a pdf calendar with daily activities will be available for download. The app will also show you each day's tasks so you don't forget and will check them off for you if you manually or automatically put your data in the app. My Cubii arrived on February 1st so I was able to participate in (almost) the full month. The activities were such a fun way to get me to keep with my routine.
February's activities included burning 120 calories, plan & prep 3 meals for the week, pedal for 20 minutes while listening to music and much more! These little changes in activity, and lifestyle reminders, kept workouts from getting boring. I'm optimistic I will continue to use my Cubii for years to come.
The under desk elliptical came almost fully assembled, we just had to add the foot petals and charge it up with the handy USB-C charging cord. The charge lasts quite a while, after my initial charge when it arrived I haven't had to charge it yet (it's been about four and a half weeks.)
*This post was made in partnership with Responsival. Thank you for supporting brands I feature*
