Disney Day

FRIDAY: I left work and sat in traffic for 45 minutes. It was miserable. I had to run a few errands (bank, Target) and after a long day, I was just done. When I finally got home, Dustin and I were right back out the door to do some serious grocery shopping. We had been putting it off for a week and I can't stand eating out multiple times in a row so we sucked it up and spent our Friday evening picking out food. Once we got home, we turned on the Pens game while we put everything away. During the last intermission, we went back out, this time to Jeremiah's for gelati. It wasn't a necessity but we both had FREE small item coupons (from entering their Halloween Costume Contest) and they were about to expire. I don't like to let something free just go to waste. So, we both got cafe latte/vanilla soft serve gelati and sat in my car in their parking lot to eat it. Dustin was even able to prop up his phone on my dash and we watched the rest of the game. It was like being at a very small drive-in.

SATURDAY: I woke up super early and was able to get a lot of laundry and cleaning done which I was excited about since I was going to be gone for the remainder of the day. The minute I left, I realized my right eye was infected. It had been bothering me all morning but I didn't think much of it. Low and behold it was all kinds of red and irritated. And then while getting gas, I spilled gasoline all over my hand. AHH! Thankfully, my bad luck ended there.

I swung by Erin's and picked up her and Tim and we were off to Disney. This was another thing Erin had on her list of things to do before she leaves. Her friend, Tim, works at Disney and was able to get us both in for FREE! We had plans to originally go to Magic Kingdom but unfortunately Saturday was one of it's black out days. Bummer! So we went to Epcot instead.

We got there just before 1PM. Erin couldn't remember the last time she had been so it was almost like watching her experience it for the first time. We went on Spaceship Earth first and walked right on. No wait at all! We cracked up at the end where they put your face on this little cartoon - much like the Elf Yourself. We went to try sodas from different countries. I always love doing it even though some of them are seriously disgusting. After that, we made our way around the lake while visiting each country. We enjoyed a boat ride, tried on giant sombreros, and Erin got a margarita while in Mexico. We got fast pass tickets for the ride in Norway but we never made it back in time. We tried to get an egg roll in China but there was a 10 minute wait so we moved on to America where we all got pretzels. We took photos in red telephone booths and with Minnie Mouse herself while in the United Kingdom. Then we all headed over to Test Track. I've been on it before but I wasn't feeling it this time around, so I waited in line with Erin and Tim and once they got on the ride I went around to the waiting area. After that, we went to The Land. We wanted to go on Soarin' which is personally one of my faves but it was a 60 minute wait so we decided to move on to MGM Hollywood Studios since it was already 5:30PM.The problem was that we were so excited to get into Epcot that none of us thought to look at which section we were parked in. We knew the general area but that was about it. We walked in and out of aisles looking for a needle in a haystack. During this search, we found an empty wheelchair that was just begging for a passenger. Erin got in first and I pushed her hard, running in between orange cones. Then it was my turn. It felt good to sit down and be wheeled around. We finally found my car and headed to the other park.

The minute we parked at Hollywood Studios it started to sprinkle. Groan. We all tried to look at the radar on the weather apps on our phone but service was shitty. I called Dustin and asked him to check the radar from home and he said there was nothing near where we were so we thought it would pass pretty quickly. The second after I hung up with him it started to POUR. We sat in my car to wait it out. Once it had gone back to only a sprinkle we decided to brave it with one umbrella and two ponchos shoved in my purse. I don't mind rain ever EXCEPT when I'm at a damn theme park or have plans doing something outside. This time we made sure to not only look at the section we were parked in BUT I also took a photo of it just in case. We waited a million years for the tram. It was crowded. We got to the gate. More crowds. UGH. Our plan was to go look at The Osborne Lights first and then do a couple rides and then leave. Well, things did not go as planned. On our way to the lights it started pouring AGAIN. We ran under an over hang. Tim used the umbrella and Erin and I put on the Steelers ponchos. I had purchased them for Dustin and I last October before we went to see a Steelers game. It was a cold cold game but it never did rain so they've been in my glove compartment ever since. They sure came in handy! We decided to change the plans and go ahead and wait in line for Star Tours to get out of the rain. What a fun ride! I mean, I totally screamed like I was being chased by a chainsaw the entire time but still fun. Erin and Tim got a good chuckle over it. Thankfully, once we left the rain had stopped. On our way to the lights, Tim and Erin were talking about the Osborne family and I seriously thought it was Ozzy's family. They laughed so hard over that that Tim messed up his knee while walking. Once we made it to the lights, the crowds were awful! The lights were beautiful though. It reminded me of being in Las Vegas. We all kept getting hit in the ankle from an over eager mother pushing a stroller. We tried to get away but the crowds were so awful that it was quite difficult to maneuver away from her. I hated all of the people. It was the absolute worst. I felt so cramped and panicky the whole time. Erin had wanted to go on Rock-N-Rollercoaster but we were all so annoyed with the crowd and just plain exhausted from the day we decided to just leave.

 

On our way home, we stopped at this Italian restaurant. We all hobbled in the restaurant with a different ailment each. Erin's little toe had a blister, the bottom of my heal had a blister, and Tim was still limping from his knee injury. We got a Chicago style pizza to share. It took them forever to make but it was so delicious that it was worth it.

We got back to Erin's and said goodbye to Tim. And more importantly thanked him for such a fun day.

I went into Erin's for a little bit so we could exchange Christmas presents. She opened Charlie's present first. I got him a dog version of an "ugly christmas sweater" and also a Santa outfit because DUH. She immediately put the Santa coat on him with the hood and everything. He didn't care at all. And when she put him back on the ground he just laid there at our feet. (Side Note: Cash (our dog nephew) also received a sweater this holiday season and Dustin's mom said that he's been wearing it for four days straight. When Miranda went to take it off him, he growled. HA!)



Then Erin opened her presents. I got her a dream book (the exact one that I have and love), a very sentimental print of Texas and Florida (she totally started sobbing over this!), and a couple other little things. I know the holidays shouldn't be ALL about gifts but I absolutely love watching someone open a present that I spent time picking out because I knew they would like it. I love the gasps of excitement and the OMGs and even the tears (when they are happy).

 

Etsy Shop

Then she gave me my presents. She got me a Scentsy (my first one!), some really cute socks with a fox wearing glasses, and an "A" necklace. I told her the necklace reminds me of a modern version of Carrie Bradshaw's precious "Carrie" necklace. So awesome!

I got home late and basically stumbled in the door holding all of my stuff; Disney memorabilia (Erin and I got matching magnets and then I also bought two postcards from 'France'. One is a baguette and the other is a Monet print), leftover pizza, and my presents from Erin. I changed into pajamas, had Dustin drop my infected eye, and I was out like a light.

SUNDAY: I made sure to NOT set my alarm clock. I wanted to wake up naturally which meant I slept until 8:20 - but it's better than nothing. I spent the day looking at our Disney photos, reading, napping, and watching Bonnie and Clyde (mini series that just aired on A&E). And then I spent hours reading everything I could about the B&C facts and about all the other people involved (like Blanche and Buck Barrow). It's such a fascinating story.