Off to Spring Break 2016!

Tuesday, 5 April 2016Tuesday, 5 April 2016 StarrLeave a comment

This time last year, I was able to see my friends Megan and Don get engaged and the whole time that was happening, Ben and I were both thinking, “How did the two of us bums get invited to this special moment in their lives? They literally found me/Starr at a festival and just welcomed me/her into their lives!” Their terrible lapse of judgment aside, I am really thrilled to be able to attend their wedding in Los Angeles in just a few short days!

This wedding trip is going to mark a lot of firsts for me:

First visit to LA ever
First visit to California since YouTube was invented (haha ohmygod)
First visit to Vegas without my parents (aka my second visit to Vegas ever)
First visit to Disneyland and California Adventure (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
First time using AirBnB (I am a latecomer to all sharing economy businesses because I am a stubborn granny, okay?)
First time meeting some really awesome people
First time seeing some friends in years and years

There will obviously be plenty of other firsts, but those are kind of the big, broad ones! Not only will we be in LA for a few days, we’ll be doing bachelor/bachelorette party merriment in Vegas before the wedding and a magical day at Disney after! It is really difficult to articulate how excited I am to experience all of these firsts AND to see these great friends get married solely because of the sheer power of their friendliness when I was working at a festival.

I am trying to make sure we do all the must-see/must-eat things on our trip without overwhelming myself with a checklist that I feel obligated to have complete before I head home. After all, I want to feel rested after a vacation. Or at the very least, not more stressed than when I left!

Do you have any recommendations for Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or Disney?
Conversely, what are some over-hyped attractions/restaurants that I definitely don’t need to spend time on?

Spring Break 2015: DISNEY WORLD (Day 4 part 2)

Friday, 25 March 2016Tuesday, 29 March 2016 StarrLeave a comment

Last time on Spring Break, I was traipsing around Disney World with my friends, having the time of my life dressed as Ariel, belly full from lunch at Be Our Guest, and ready for a jam-packed evening.

WARNING: This post can only be longer than the last post. If you skipped the last post to come straight here… that’s understandable. This post is both text-heavy and photo-heavy, you have been severely warned. If you think it’s painful to read then consider how much I delayed it because of how painful it was to write. You’re welcome. And also, I am terribly sorry. Looooooong post ahead!

Fresh off the high of finally being able to see the Festival of Fantasy parade, we skipped off to ride through a classic, Pirates of the Caribbean. I love the movies that drew inspiration from this ride and love thinking about how creatively the writers took a simple story ride and gave us the PotC movie franchise. (Sad that “We want the redhead!” doesn’t make it to the movies, though.)

After hearing about how Annie had 7 the last time she went to Disney World, we went to Aloha Isle for the famous Dole Whip! It was pretty hot that day, so the pineapple soft serve really hit the spot. Dole Whip used to only be sold at Disney properties (Disneyland, Disney World, Disney’s Polynesian) and at Dole’s Hawaii pineapple plant, but there are a handful of other spots you can snag this pineapple-y treat. Even if you don’t love pineapple, it’s definitely worth trying because it doesn’t have the super sharp acidity makes folks like me uncomfortable after more than a few small pieces.

There was no line and it’s kind of nostalgic, so we also took a quick tour of the Swiss Family Treehouse, which is based on the old movie Swiss Family Robinson. I never saw this movie but my parents did, so I remember them taking me through it and explaining the rooms and the cool engineering. It’s a swanky treehouse, folks. If I was stranded on an island and had to live in this treehouse, I’d be pretty ecstatic. I worry that one day, this treehouse will be gone or rebranded for a newer Disney franchise (like it was at Disneyland), so I try to enjoy it while I can. Of course, we also checked out Haunted Mansion, which is a fun and spoopy ride and an okay movie-based-on-a-ride. The creepy factor is definitely turned up for this classic Disney ride, so keep that in mind if you are bringing along smaller children.

We really wanted to take it easy in the afternoon, because we had dinner reservations at 11PM. Yeah, we had a long day ahead of us. A lot of people don’t like what I call the story rides, where you sit in a moving vehicle (arms and legs inside at all times!) and experience the story of the movie by passing through. The old Snow White ride was a story ride before it was decommissioned and replaced with the Mine Train. (Replaced as in Mine Train is the park’s Snow White ride now.) We did Under the Sea in the morning (because LITTLE MERMAID DUH) and did The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh before heading to the classic (ultimate classic) It’s a Small World and all its Mary Blair-style splendor. Confession: I used to get quite scared on this ride because there are so many animatronic dolls staring at you…

One of the highlights of the evening wound up being Enchanted Tales with Belle. The wait was one of the shorter ones by this point in the afternoon and there was an opportunity to meet a character so I mean. Maurice’s cottage is adorable and filled with a lot of cute details. There is even a portrait of Belle with her mother, which is a real treat because her mother is not shown or really mentioned in any of the movies. But what made our excursion to Belle’s library afterwards (“Take me to the moment Belle and Beast fell in love!”) was the interactive part of telling that story. Belle came out to greet all of us and chose audience members to help reenact her love story.

Guess what happened when she laid eyes on the Gaston in our group?

Big Apple Recap-ple 2015

Friday, 12 February 2016Thursday, 11 February 2016 StarrLeave a comment

Yup, the post title that was so good I had to use it twice. ~~(Not going to lie, pretty proud of that one.)~~

I’ve been meaning to return to my home city for a while now, but I hadn’t been able to get the timing right. Then, Ben’s company sent him to a conference in New York so away we went! I didn’t do a lot of planning this time around, which was giving me anxiety because I was waking up every day not really knowing what I was doing that day… But it was also pretty freeing. As a result, though, I wasn’t able to see as many people as I usually do when I’m up for a visit. Freeing, but I love seeing my old friends. I didn’t want to drag Ben around, though, so it was good that we were able to spend some just-us time and go with the flow. (You all know how much I struggle to do that.)

I’m going to include links to the businesses we visited and links to reviews so as to not bore you with details in this post here. If you’re interested, I do go fairly in-depth for most of the businesses in my reviews. I have lots of photos and we saw a fair bit, so strap yourself in!

What I Packed: Florida 2015

Saturday, 18 April 2015Friday, 17 April 2015 StarrLeave a comment

I had a few guidelines in mind when it came to packing for Florida that made it different from packing for other trips I’ve taken:

I was going to DisneyBound.
I was going to be wearing summer clothes quite a bit earlier than I thought I would.
(The average high in Fort Lauderdale for April is about 82°F/27.7°C.)
I needed to bring some things for camping.
Everything needed to fit in a backpack.

This was my first time booking with a budget airline rather than the one I frequently fly with, so fitting everything into a personal item is not something I’m used to. However, since it’s a short trip and warm-weather clothes don’t take up much room, this didn’t turn out to be too much of a problem. (We’ll see what I say as far as fitting souvenirs in on my return trip!)

Electronics

No real need to things like my laptop so we’re keeping things around primarily for documenting.

Phone + charger + portable power bank
Camera + extra battery + extra SD card + battery charger

One of my power banks also doubles as a flashlight, and I will be bringing a small keychain flashlight also.

Pirate cruise outfit

The theme of this cruise was pirates, but as I had inspired my friends to DisneyBound for this outing, it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t draw some inspiration from Disney myself! I was originally going to do Captain Hook to match my friends’ Smee and Rufio, but checking the weather forecast in Fort Lauderdale told me that long black pants, long black boots, and a red blazer weren’t going to fly. So, I decided to finally do a Pirates of the Caribbean outfit, as I have long wanted a little cursed Aztec gold necklace of my own. I decided to channel Elizabeth’s look in the red/burgundy dress Barbossa gives her in the first film, so here is what I pulled together for a more casual, summery take:

Lace burgundy dress
Black corset
Cursed Aztec gold necklace
Black flats

The corset is a tricky item but the look isn’t quite complete without it. So I made sure to repurpose it later in the trip, as it takes up a finite amount of space; I can’t compress it in my suitcase because of the boning along the sides, and I couldn’t wear it down because it would set off metal detectors. (Also it’s not the comfiest accessory I own.)

Disney World outfit

photo ariel_kissthegirl_3-1.jpg

I finally pulled together a blue dress Ariel outfit, after years of trying:

Pale blue T-shirt
Black corset
Blue skirt
Black flats
Blue hair bow

This feels like a lazy Disneybound, but I like that I’m able to repurpose the corset and finally attempt this look.

Other clothes

So I guess I can’t run around looking like Elizabeth Swann or Ariel all day during my trip, can I? (… or can I?) Also, it’ll probably be good for me to wear shorts at some point rather than be running around in a dress/skirt the whole trip. But I’m going to be rewearing some things because, you know what, it’s a vacation and I have limited space in my bag. If I could, I’d just wear the same thing the whole weekend through, if not for how smelly everything will be by then.

Swimsuit (bringing 2 bottoms because I don’t know how I feel about my newer one yet)
Denim shorts
Faux knee-high stockings (in case I am not comfortable baring my legs and it’s not too hot that I’m forced to)
Cardigan
Mickey Mouse T-shirt (as a cover-up/PJs/if I need another shirt)
Fleece-lined leggings (in case it gets cold when camping)
Scarf/cover-up
Wide-brimmed straw hat?
Underwear

Toiletries

Keeping my toiletries TSA compliant comes pretty naturally to me, at this point. I am not terribly high maintenance (…right?) and having a lot of samples of items makes packing for trips a super breeze. Always keep your samples, folks! And any gifts with purchase! Those are so great when it comes to travel:

Toothbrush + toothpaste
Cleanser + moisturizer + konjac sponge (for face washing)
Facial sunscreen +
Shampoo + conditioner + sea salt spray (travel sizes courtesy of Influenster)
Shampoo + body wash

Items that I will need to buy when I land — due to them not being TSA-friendly — are:

Big bottle of sunscreen for body (minimum SPF 50, I don’t play games with my sun protection)
Insect repellent (I am a renowned mozzie magnet)

Everything else

This includes gear for camping (our friend, Tim, has graciously taken the burden of bringing almost all the camping stuff like tents and sleeping bags down himself), miscellaneous accessories, and other travel necessities I like to have:

Beach towels
Sunglasses
Hairbrush
Umbrella
First aid items (painkillers, bandaids)
Lady trouble items
Hand sanitizer

And of course, I’ll have things like my wallet, my keys, cash, lip balm, for carrying about on a regular basis in a clutch and a larger bag, probably a small backpack as I couldn’t find a good crossbody.

Onto the plane, I’ll be wearing the pirate cruise dress, safety shorts, scarf, leggings, and a hoodie so that I can stay warm on the plane and at night when camping if I need to.

Everything fits, and I have room for souvenirs! Let’s hope I can say the same coming back.

Off to Spring Break!

Friday, 17 April 2015 StarrLeave a comment

Surprise! This is the first year I’m doing a more conventional spring break in that I’m going to a warm location. Yelp is having their annual spring break in Fort Lauderdale this year, and while I was originally not that interested in going, that changed when my friends dangled Disney World in front of me.

WALT. DISNEY. WORLD.

I am leaving tonight and, as a result, will not have posts for BEDA while I am away. (Unless I prepared some in advance…?) BUT you will have some spring break recap posts to look forward to. ~~(They’ll come before those Europe posts that I keep putting off…)~~

Even though it feels like an odd time to take a break like this, I think I need it. Like I said in an earlier post, it’s important to give myself things to work for. Also, something something fitness motivation something swimsuit body? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll exercise more before I have to hit the beach and maybe I won’t or maybe I won’t go the beach at all.

I haven’t been to Disney World since 2009 and my Disney obsession has since bloomed into something that makes me worry I will spend my day there just crying because feelz.

Let me know what is new or what are the must-see attractions at Disney, Fort Lauderdale, and Key West! I definitely want to know what are some must-eat treats while I’m down there!