Hello again, everyone! Just thought I’d pop in today to update you all about what’s been going on in my life recently, INCLUDING an ABSOLUTELY MAGICAL trip to Disney last Saturday, February 1, 2020!
The Saturday after my last post (which would have been January 25), I went to get a manicure and pedicure, as well as get my brows waxed in preparation for my Disney trip. It had been SUCH A LONG TIME since I had treated myself to something relaxing and therapeutic, so it was definitely nice to be pampered for a few hours and FINALLY get rid of that busted up pedicure from God knows how long ago. I wound up going with a bright pink nail polish on my toenails, and more of a hot pink gel nail polish on my fingernails. After I left the salon, I was SO IN LOVE with my nails, and was absolutely READY for Disney the next weekend! Funny anecdote: I went to a pretty cheap nail salon near my apartment (I will NOT disclose the name of the salon here for privacy purposes), and it was kind of dirty, but I can absolutely, 100% confirm with you all that I got NO INFECTIONS and the gel manicure is still holding up pretty nicely. Overall service and quality, 3.5/5 stars, but I will probably NOT be returning to this salon anytime soon.
Moving on to the Disney trip… My friend Mallory used to work at Disney World and still has Fast Passes to most of the attractions within the parks. She also has a few friends who still work for Disney, so I wound up getting a Guest Pass from one of her friends. Mallory and I spoke on the phone the night I went bowling with my coworkers and we confirmed that we were going to take the trip (that we have been talking about for at least a few months now) on February 1. We were debating going that Sunday, January 19; however, with having MLK Jr. Day on Monday the 20th and having to run School’s Out Camp, we decided it’d be best to forgo the trip until she had time to plan it out so we could “do Disney right.” In anxious anticipation, I got my nails done and tried SO HARD to wait patiently for my first trip to Disney as an adult with one of my best friends. It was not easy, let me tell you!
I also had a parent of a few students from my After School program volunteer to make me a shirt for our trip, which was ABSOLUTELY unexpected, but it turned out so amazingly! She actually made me a jacket and a long sleeved sweatshirt, as it was supposed to be cold on Saturday. I offered to pay her for the jacket, the shirt, and her services, but she politely declined and said it was on her, which was a nice surprise! The photos that will accompany this post showcase the jacket that she made, and I am absolutely in LOVE with how it turned out! She was upset about the fact that the princesses were somewhat faded at the top, but I thought the fading looked intentional and gave off a very ’90’s vibe, and I enjoyed wearing it a lot! It gave me JUST the right amount of warmth to make it through a somewhat chilly day at Disney!
After work on Friday, January 31, I went to get my jacket from the parent and drove to Mallory’s apartment to spend the night. We made sandwiches to pack for lunch at Disney the next day, and Mallory’s husband had a home improvement project that I assisted with, because Mallory is pregnant and the project involved getting on and off the floor a few different times. I picked out my outfit (including borrowing a pair of Mallory’s ears), showered and Mallory and I watched a makeup show on Netflix called “Glow Up,” (btw – SUCH a good show) before we both went to bed. We finally got in bed on Friday night at about midnight or a little after. We had originally anticipated getting up at 5a.m. on Saturday so that we could make it to the park by the time it opened; however, Mallory and I BOTH opted for more sleep Saturday morning and we didn’t wind up leaving her apartment until 8:30a.m.
We got to Animal Kingdom at around 11:15am to get my guest pass from Mallory’s friend, and then went straight to Magic Kingdom. We met Mickey Mouse first and took some photos, got in line to take a photo on the bench with Walt Disney and Minnie Mouse, stopped in at Starbucks to get a quick energy boost, saw the parade, and got in line in front of Cinderella’s castle to take a few photos before getting into the lines to ride rides at Magic Kingdom!
We rode the PeopleMover first, which was super cool because we got to go underneath Space Mountain. After riding the PeopleMover, we got a few cups of water to fill up our water bottles and went to a kiosk to figure out which rides we were going to Fast Pass. From here, I honestly cant remember in which order we rode everything, but we rode all but about 3-4 rides in Magic Kingdom throughout our entire day! The rides that I most enjoyed were the Tea Cups (obviously), The Seven Dwarves Ride, The Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Pirates of the Caribbean (my first time going through the extended version of the ride)! I also got sprinkled with Pixie Dust and had my FIRST EVER EXPERIENCE eating Dole Whip ice cream. It was SO GOOD!
We wound up packing our own lunches (PB and PB&J sandwiches, granola bars, and Rice Krispies treats), so we stopped to eat a late lunch/early dinner at around 4pm. Mallory wound up getting a kid’s meal of fish and chips with chicken nuggets, and, since she just wanted the fish, I ate her chicken nuggets and french fries with my second PB sandwich, one of my granola bars, and a Rice Krispies Treat. The chicken nuggets and french fries were actually pretty good, and they were made fresh and hot to warm us up on the overcast day.
After we rode Pirates (at 6:45pm), we got my Dole Whip with pineapple upside-down cake, got Mallory a Mickey Bar, and headed back towards Cinderella’s castle to watch the fireworks at 8pm. I want to say the last time I saw Disney’s fireworks, they were not doing the projections on Cinderella’s castle, but they MIGHT have been and I just don’t remember it very well. Either way, I was IN AWE with all of the castle projections and how well the projections, fireworks, and music all flowed together. It was a truly MAGICAL way to end an awesome day at Disney World!
The Sunday AFTER Disney was the most LAZY DAY I have had in quite some time. I slept until 4pm (YIKES!), Mallory and I went to eat Chinese food, and I came home, showered, and prepared for work last week. Did I watch Super Bowl 54? No, I did not. Did I particularly care, though? Not one bit! Congratulations are in order to the Kansas City Chiefs, though! Everyone has an opinion on the halftime show, which featured Shakira and Jennifer Lopez; however, since I didn’t watch the Super Bowl, and I have yet to watch their performance, I can’t comment on which side of that debate I agree with.
Aside from going to Disney and missing Super Bowl 54, things have been pretty smooth sailing with work recently. Last Thursday (Feb. 6), the southeast United States got some pretty bad thunderstorms which caused lots of After School programs around Jacksonville to get canceled, including the YMCA After School Program in my county, which I never thought could/would happen. With that being said though, I hope that everyone who was affected by the thunderstorms made it through to the other side happy and healthy with minimal damage!
We had a training to attend yesterday (Feb. 8) from 8am-12pm, which kind of stinks because they are always held SO EARLY on Saturday mornings, but these trainings only happen a few times a year, and I always treat these as opportunities to learn something new about my job. A lot of our friend group went out to lunch after training (myself included), and we all had such a great time talking, laughing with each other, and just being together outside of our normal working environment!
I got invited to go bowling again tonight, so I’ll be hopping back on sometime within the next week or so to update you all on that experience and others as they happen within the coming weeks. I also have to go get two tires replaced sometime early this coming week, because I found a nail in one of the older ones (and thank goodness it was one of the older ones that already needed replacing anyways). Other than that, I’m just doing a little laundry now to get ready for a brand new work week!
I hope you have all been doing well since my last post, and I really appreciate you reading with me today! ‘Til next time… Ciao for now!
XoXo’s,
>->—> Kristin <—<-<
Adventures of a 20-something 