Sunday, November 8, 2015

Dressing For Disney: Epcotiversary in Canada (and a bit more Food & Wine Festival)

John and I celebrated our fifth month of marriage with our Epcotiversary, this time in Canada. 

We chose Canada this month because the Food and Wine Festival is going on, and we could get some solid options from the Canada booth (many of which we would find at Le Cellier, just at a much more palatable price point.)

We entered Future World to this stunning sunset. 


First stop, the Wine Booth. 


We also got our second stamp towards our complimentary Annual Passholder port glass. 



Epcot was packed that evening, so we posted up with our Canadian grub on top of a trashcan. Filet, chicken sausage, and cheese soup were on the menu.


After Canada, we wandered around to Japan to check out the new Kawaii exhibit. A division of my workplace had a hand in the attraction. We designed and installed the apartment scene, below. 





After Japan, we went to the Craft Beer location inside the Odyssey Center for a beer flight. We also tried the Bloody Mary shrimp cocktail. 


Then it was back around the World Showcase Lagoon to go into the Chase cardholder firework viewing location, next to Italy. 

Lilly Pulitzer Worth Skinny Jeans // Lilly Pulitzer Michelle V-Neck Tee // J.Crew Linen Cardigan (old, similar here with 25% off until November 9th) // Rainbow Flip Flops




After Illuminations, we headed out. Spaceship Earth is always so beautiful. 



Thanks for reading; we'll have another Epcotiversary coming up on November 16th. 



Monday, November 2, 2015

Weekend Wear-abouts: Halloween Edition

Happy November, peeps!
It's been a while since I've done a Weekend Wear-about segment; I'm looking forward to narcissistically sharing my Friday through Sunday with y'all. 

Can I just say how much I LOVE Daylight Savings Time (well, the 'Fall Back' version at least). I lived in Connecticut for four years and HATED 'falling back,' what with it getting dark at 4:30 in the afternoon and all. But down south? It's great. It's light out when you get up, the day seems extra long, and it gets dark early which just feels so cozy and 'holiday-like' to me. 

Have I mentioned that I have the best hubby ever? He texted me during lunch on Friday to tell me he was taking me to Mizner's at the Grand Floridian for a cocktail that evening. I just adore this bar- the servers, the Orchestra, the cushy seats by the windows. 

I had the Grand Cosmo- my go-to is a Grey Goose martini with olives, but I was wanting something on the sweeter side. It didn't wow me, but was okay. 


We ordered a second round and went to sit outside on the covered balcony to chat and get some fresh air. Then John surprised me again by suggesting we go to the Magic Kingdom for a bit- his least favorite place ever! Of course I took him up on it.

We tried Pecos Bill's new menu, which was surprisingly good. The fajitas easily served two (ask for extra tortillas, per the suggestion of the CM who rang us up). But SKIP the 'chicken tortilla soup;' it was on the small-ish side (see it in my hand?) and thick-- almost like a gravy. Blech!


There was a beautiful moon over Liberty Square as we headed to ride the Haunted Mansion.

We finished with a ride on Pirates and headed out. 


Monogrammed Jack Roger Sandals


Saturday was Halloween, which for us consisted of lounging in our jammies and doing housework. We had made reservations for Morimoto Asia that night, so after getting kind of spiffed up, we headed out to celebrate. 





Overall, we really enjoyed it. The service was spotty, but friendly and accommodating. For instance, our oyster dish came out wrong, with two different kinds of oysters (we had ordered a dozen of the same kind), but our server rectified it by bringing another half dozen of what we ordered, gratis. 

We also ordered the Peking Duck, or Looking Bird, as John calls it. It was tasty, but not served as hot as I felt it could have been. 





On Sunday, we grocery shopped and did some stuff around the house. Then I headed out to DHS MGM to meet up with Thomas for a preview of the Osbourne Lights.

It was a beautiful night at MGM, and my first time back since the stage has been fully disassembled from in front of the Chinese Theater. 




Thomas had secured a spot right in front of where the lighting ceremony takes place. This is why we're friends. 


Madewell T-shirt // J.Crew Factory Cut-Off Jean Shorts // J.Crew Bubble Necklace (similar here)

After cheering and hugging the start of the Christmas season, we headed to Pizza Planet because I was craving that crummy pizza. What, I really like the sauce, ok?? 


It was back to the lights to explore. 

SAMTSIRHC YRREM, everyone! 




Do you see Roger Rabbit in the bike basket, below? A lovely little nod to MGM's roots. 


Of course, a Disney 'special event' wouldn't be complete without a themed cupcake. Thomas and I shared a gingerbread flavored Thanksgiving cupcake. Yum. 

See ya soon for the latest installment of Epcotiversary

Cheers!














Saturday, October 10, 2015

Dressing for Disney: Epcotiversary in America (and a bit of Food & Wine Festival)

Welcome to the third installment  of Epcotiversary. Not sure what that is? Click here to read more and catch up on months past.

Speaking of months past, for those of you keeping score, John and I married in May, making this our fourth monthly Epcotiversary. But there's only two previous posts, you say? 

We celebrate our Epcotiversary on the 16th of every month. June was celebrated in Morocco. July in Mexico. August in... well, I was in California for the D23 Expo. So we skipped that month but plan to double up in the future. In fact, we planned to double up for this month, but we decided to add in some Food & Wine booths to our monthly country and figured trying to cram in two countries AND Food & Wine booths would be a bit much. So, long story short, three installments of 'Epcotiversary,' four months of marriage. Ya still with me? Ok...


When John picked 'America' out of the mug, I was a bit bummed. I mean, America is probably the least inspired in regards to food stuffs in the World Showcase. Turkey legs, burgers, a quick service steak, and funnel cakes pretty much sum up the offerings. But, the whole point of Epcotiversary is to hit every country, so carry on we must. (It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.) What did we do/eat/drink? Read on to find out. 


We parked in the front entrance of Epcot in order to hit up a few of the booths new to Food & Wine this year. (All of which I've been involved with through my new position at Buena Vista Construction Company!)  Our first stop was the Chew Lab booth, which is situated in the area where the Butterfly Garden usually resides during the Flower & Garden Festival.  Here we tried the N.Y. Strip and a glass of cabernet. The steak was cooked perfectly and all the components made it really yummy. I liked the wine, but John didn't care for it. It was served chilled, which turned him off.  Carrying on, we stopped at the Cheese Studio for some cheese fondu and sourdough bread dipper. Do I even have to tell you that this was delicious? It was. 




We had made it all the way back to Japan when the skies opened up and one of those notorious Florida rain showers kicked up. We took shelter under the pagoda next to the entrance to Mitsukoshi for what we thought would be a passing shower. Thirty minutes later, it was still sprinkling, but the park was closing within the hour, so we decided to brave the elements and head on. 

We made it to America and decided to check this one off the list by sampling a food item from the Food & Wine booth in America. Cheating? Maybe. But hell, we made up the rules for Epcotiversary, and we say it's fine. We shared the pimento cheese slider. It was tasty, but not a great value for the price. ($5 or so, two to three bites). 


It was still sprinkling so we ate quickly and continued around the World Showcase lagoon. As we circled back into Future World, Spaceship Earth and the Fountain of Nations were illuminated against a stormy sky and lookin' mighty fine. 



We slid back by the Sustainable Chew booth (right next to the Chew Lab, where we began our journey) and split the zucchini ravioli (a *great* value for the money, at $4 and change it was HUGE and was plenty to split) and the vanilla panna cotta (a *terrible* value, smaller than a shot glass at $4+ and tasted like flavorless jello. Yuck!)



Last but certainly not least was the liquid nitrogen chocolate truffle from the Chew Lab. *This* was tasty and very unique. I'd get it again; it'd be perfect on one of our hot 'autumn' days here in central Florida. 


It wouldn't be an Epcotiversary if we didn't get a couples selfie (an 'us-ie'?); here's a soggy selfie for ya. 



Thanks for reading along!