Prepping for Disney – Part 1

I’m sure I only mentioned this about a billion times, but after a long 3 years my family and I are headed back to Disney World in December! To say I am excited is an understatement, I might even be more excited than the kids!

When we went to Disney last time in November of 2016, I was brand new to planning a trip with kids. The last time I went to Disney World was in my 20’s on the fly during a work trip. Back then, I was just giddy to be there and didn’t have any “must dos” with only me, myself and I to worry about. Fast forward to 2016, I had pretty tiny children (newly 3 years old and 10 months old) and not a clue what type of rides we could do with them, how many activities would be too much for them etc. I thought about booking through a travel agent and letting them tell me what’s best, but to me, part of the fun of a Disney trip is the planning! Being the researcher that I am, I got to work. I researched the Disney World website, moms forums, watched countless Youtube videos, and formulated a pretty solid plan by the end of it. Mind you at this time, I also only had 4 months to plan it (last minute decision – at least to me!) and kept in mind while I had all these expectations, we really just needed to go with the flow and keep the kids comfortable and happy. To help me through it all I made what Youtubers’ called a Disney Planning Binder. In this binder I put our reservation confirmations, park maps, fastpass reservations, and other miscellaneous reservations like for our double stroller and grocery order. Yes, you can have groceries delivered to your room. I’ll do a recap of our 2016 trip here in preparation for this one! Lots will change since my kids are older now, but I think some of my strategies will still be helpful!

Here it is in all it’s glory. Circa 2016.

So, to bide my time and keep the kids interested and excited, I’m doing another planning binder and utilizing a regular planner. I know, it seems like overkill, but I’m a list maker and a visual kind of girl. Paper makes me happy. The planner part is not what is so exciting for the kids. I do other things to get them involved like asking what rides they are most excited to go on, watching Youtube videos on said rides, etc. Then I’ll put the decisions we make into the binder! Once we get a bit closer, I’ll do a countdown calendar and other fun activities, which I know they will love!

Now, while we are a solid 9 months away, I do like to plan in stages, which is something I didn’t get to do last time. I booked our Disney resort back in December, got the park tickets, and am currently waiting a few more months to book our flight. In the meantime, I have been researching the rides at each park and putting them into our category of “Must dos”, what character dining we want to do this time around, and. The new binder for this trip is not quite ready for primetime yet since I haven’t been able to book much, but I’ll share how I organized the 2016 binder below!

Having things like an itinerary of the day’s events was really helpful!
  • I printed a map of each park and put stickers to note where rides and characters were with the help of my littles!
  • I then highlighted certain items. Yellow was for food, and pink was for rides and characters
Lastly, I had a packing checklist in the back to help me keep track of all the items I had left to buy!

June 4th is when I’ll be able to book our ADR’s (Advanced Dining Reservations) so I’ll definitely show you the updated binder at that time! How do you guys like to prepare for a Disney trip? Do you utilize a travel agent, rely on friends, or do you do it all yourself?

Bye for now!

P.S. I have a Youtube video to coincide with this if you want to check it out! https://youtu.be/nsQnRxlCC7s

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Our Week in Review – A Staycation During School Vacation Week

Oh, what fun!

First, yes I did change the site! What do you all think? I’m not 100% settled on it, but I think it fits my vibe more. Stay tuned to see if it sticks!

This is the first year both kids are in a real school with weeks off at a time for school vacation. Previously at their old daycare they would get a week off in-between Christmas and New Year, and the week of 4th of July off, but those are weeks we tend to take off anyway. I count this as the first real school vacation we are experiencing!

With a Disney trip on the horizon, we decided to stay home this time around. My kids like to chillax HARD on the weekends, so we decided to do a mix of chill time and active time. There was also a lot of play time. Does anyone else’s kids just like to play all. the. time. Like all the time? Cause that’s my kids. I just keep reminding myself they won’t always want to play, but man. Theres only so many times you can pretend a doll is taking a nap. OK, back to the topic.

Here’s a recap of what we did each day for vacation in case it’s helpful for you! I think a lot of it is typical stuff you would do with kids but we tried to entertain them while keeping ourselves sane as best we could. It’s a delicate balance.

MONDAY:

On Monday we woke up to a few inches of snow! It was perfect. Despite living in Boston, we haven’t experienced much snow this past winter and the times we did we were all at school or work. After breakfast, we bundled up and went out to play/shovel the snow.

  • Snow angels are always a favorite

After, we came in and had hot chocolate, as you do after playing in the snow, and relaxed with a family movie. We also made a faux Disney World in the playroom. We had to get our trip in somehow!

It really just consisted of all the Disney toys we had in the house representing different rides, and then Mr. Colored in pretty and I shaking them in their bean bag chairs to imitate said ride. The kids bought it.

  • Meeting Mickey, AKA Mr. Colored In pretty

Tuesday:

On Tuesday we ventured out to Ikea. We figured we could pick up a few things while the kids played in the play space they have. Apparently, we were not the only ones with this brilliant idea and it was full when we first got there (10 minutes past opening). We browsed a bit with the kids and came back in a half hour to let them play. Then we shopped for 45 glorious minutes all by ourselves. Once time was up we went and got their world renowned frozen yogurts and then headed to target and the mall.

At the mall, we grabbed lunch and then went to various toy stores, one in which was the American Girl store. The only one in the state of Massachusetts is closing in March, and though my little girl has a Wellie Wisher, she got it for Christmas a year ago and didn’t get to experience picking out her own doll. Safe to say $160 later, she got her doll.

Wednesday:

Wednesday was for sure our busiest day. We went to the Children’s Museum! Again, it was busy and there was a line out the door at opening with other likeminded parents desperate to provide their kids with entertainment. They rock climbed, made bubbles, and played in that germ infested water.

Mickey and Minnie greeted us at the Museum!

Since there aren’t many kid friendly places to eat lunch at by the museum, we decided to go to Panera for their favorite Mac and cheese. Then we headed to another mall, this time to the Disney store. I know. I know. Sadder part is, I didn’t even get anything for myself! The kids got figurines, that they have barely touched since that day. Once we were back home, it was baths, playtime, and bedtime. Dinner was given somewhere in between.

Thursday:

Thursday was another day of relaxing in the house, which was good since we had spent a ton of money over the last two days. We painted, played with play doh, watched movies. It was great, and one of the best parts of our vacation. Just being with the 4 of us as a family.

  • My favorite mug making another appearance

Friday:

Friday was a semi back to normal day. Dan had to go into work, and I worked half a day from home so there wasn’t much we could do. I had them play with play doh again and watch a movie and then later on we went to target. AGAIN! *said in my Monica Gellar voice*. I have an obsession. Besides Disney store, Target is my next love. I’m not sorry about it, though I’m sure Mr. Colored in pretty would rather I drop both habits.

Saturday and Sunday were pretty normal weekend days so that we could prepare ourselves for the return to school and work. Lots of laundry, food shopping and normal errands. The kids were sad just thinking about going back to school, and I admit, I was too. Even though it can be a lot to be with them all day, I truly enjoyed spending that time with them. One of my many goals is to try to work less so that I can be with the kids more and not have to rely on things like aftercare when that extra time could be spent with me. They’re only this young once and I don’t want to waste it. I’ll get there, but in the meantime, I reminded them that we have April vacation coming up and we can do all those fun things and more next time around! Maybe we’ll even do a short local trip somewhere!

How do you guys spend school vacations? Do you usually take a trip or do you stay home and hope for the best?

Bye for now!

Nicole

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My Disney Style

Summer, I miss you.

As some of you know, another one of my goals this year is to really step up my style game and incorporate more colorful clothing into my wardrobe. I consider myself an OK dresser, very classic and not too out there for the most part. I stay to basics I can wear with anything instead of following trends, mostly because I have two little humans to dress in addition to myself so I have to make my wardrobe count. This isn’t a bad thing, but it makes (for me) a more “safe” closet to pick from. In the summer I definitely tend to incorporate more colors into my clothes because I’m warm and happy. In the winter, I tend to dress for survival! (I’m being dramatic but I HATE the cold)

My layered Disney style.

Thus, I have a lot of gray, blue, and other muted colors in the winter with pops of red and plaid for Christmas time. I want my wardrobe to reflect my warm and happy self even when it’s cold out so I have slowly been incorporating some brighter pieces into my wardrobe, mostly be way of coats! You know what they say, dress for the job you want, and apparently I want to be a rainbow? I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m getting there.

Oh, hey date night! (Please excuse the damaged wall🙈)

I’ve been doing flat lays for my instagram and it’s giving me a lot of inspiration for incorporating some fun Disney pieces into my everyday style!

Those work more for weekend wear, but I have ordered some other things that aren’t Disney specific and still give off Disney vibes. I will share those soon! These pieces will work better with my full time job all while still giving off all the happy magic vibes that I crave!

One of my more work appropriate looks giving off all the Minnie vibes!

How do you incorporate Disney pieces into your everyday wardrobe without looking like you’re spending a day at the parks?

Bye for now!

Nicole

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A Disney Inspired DIY For Spring

I know. We’re still in the middle of winter, but I’m dreaming of warmth, sunshine, and flowers. I’ve been on the hunt for a good Mickey wreath for a while now, and either found that they were too expensive or not exactly what I was looking for. One day while I was shopping in Michael’s, I noticed they had some plain wreaths for spring on sale for 60% off. With that a plan was born to make my own wreath! I picked up 3 wreaths; one for the head, and the other two for the ears, some fake flowers, and I was off!

Supplies:

  • One medium wreath
  • Two small wreaths
  • Fake flowers
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun

My vision was pretty simple. A subtle pink arrangement that would work for now with my Valentine’s Day decor and transition into spring.

I started off by cutting the fake flowers off at the stem, sticking one end into the wreath, and then wrapping it around, sealing that end with hot glue. I repeated this until I was satisfied with the look.

  • In progress

I repeated those steps on the other wreaths, and voila! My very own Mickey wreath! I debated adding a bow to make it a Minnie wreath, but I really love the simplicity of this for the Spring. I plan on making a much more vibrant version in the summer with bigger flowers and perhaps I’ll do my Minnie then!

Here it is in all of its glory right from my living room (with Audrey photobombing).

I hope this gets you through the dark days of winter!

Bye for now!

Nicole

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Birthday’s Past

Isaac’s 2nd birthday

Today is my youngest 4th birthday. FOUR! How did this happen?! I hated hearing it in the throughs of the newborn stage, but it’s true. These years really do go by so unbelievably fast. If your a mom of littles, then you know!

I love planning a party, and since I don’t get to do it too often, I tend to go all out for my kids birthday’s. I love the planning, the decorating, the shopping. Most importantly, I love going with a theme my kids want and running with it. With that comes scouring Pinterest boards and Instagram to ultimately DIY some of the decor since a lot of times my vision can’t be store bought (not that that’s a bad thing).

This year for my son’s birthday, we took a different direction and decided to go to a bounce house place where him and all of his other 3-4 year-old friends could bounce all their winter energy out. Thus, I did not get to have the decorative party that I’m used to. So instead I’m taking a trip down memory lane to show you the parties I have planned for my kids in the past, along with so,e of my DIY projects!

The next party I get to plan is my big girls 7th birthday! I will likely do something smallish at home for that one since we do plan to go to Disney in December! Stay tuned for both of those posts! Enjoy the trip down memory lane!

Bye for now!

Nicole

Isaac’s Star War’s Birthday

Audrey’s Tangled Birthday

This tower was a labor of love

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Incorporating Disney When You Are Far From The Parks

Living in Boston, I don’t have the pleasure of enjoying the parks quite as often as some of the instagramers and youtubers I follow. Until I can go back to Disney World (T-minus 322 days *long sigh*), I like to do activities that satisfy my Disney itch that are close to home.

One thing my family and I do every year is attend Disney on Ice. It’s not anywhere close to the being in the actual parks, but seeing Mickey and the gang gliding across that ice still gets me all giddy and excited. We’ve made it a tradition to go on or around New Year’s Eve since 2016 and the kids really look forward to it every year!

Another thing we do maybe a bit too often is go to our local Disney Store! We have two regular Disney Stores and an outlet all near us. They do tons of fun events every month that we need to partake in more, but lets face it, the kids are really just there for the toys. I am going to make it a point this year though to do more of the in store events. The kids know we aren’t going to Disney for a long time, and I think doing the events will get them excited and help them (and me) be a bit more patient!

Besides those things, we try to go to different events at parks and Zoos that are princess themed, watch Disney movies, and do Disney crafts. I’ll put up another posts on the crafts we have done soon! If you live far from the parks, what are some ways you like to incorporate Disney into your life?

Bye for now!

Nicole

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Allow Me to Introduce Myself

00BF48E6-CCED-422B-9A7B-8829CC711974Hi and welcome to my very first post! My name is Nicole and I am a wife, mother, and budding blogger, and I am so excited to share a little corner of my world with you! I have wanted to start a blog for a few years now but never felt the timing was quite right (as with most things). I had read for years how blogging was going to be obsolete, no one reads them anymore, etc and I felt a bit discouraged. Add on top of that my fear and just overall anxiety to start a blog, I pushed it off thinking I’d wait until the market got hot again.

I finally decided a couple of months ago that I just had to try. It was something that was nagging at me, and even if blogging wasn’t a thing anymore, it would feel good for me to know I tried something I had wanted to for a long time. I would rather try then wonder “what if” for another few years like I have been. If this little blog of mine never gains traction, I’d have no regrets, but I know I would regret never trying!

So here I am, trying my hand at this blogger thing. I’m not the best photographer (I have a pretty good instagram husband though), and I’m still very new to this world of content to put out and such. What I am pretty good at is DIY, color coordinating, planning, and Disney knowledge (to name a few things)! With that said, I hope you’ll stick around for some fun projects, mom tips, trip planning, style & beauty all with a little Disney in between!

Happy New Year to you all, and I can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store for this little blog!

Bye for now!

Nicole

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