Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Weekend Wear-abouts: Memorial Day

Hope you all had a nice Memorial Day- I'm grateful to be an American, and for the men and women who sacrificed all so we can live in freedom so many take for granted. 

My weekend started out on a nice note, when a friend I met through Disney Twitter (Brian @BrianPMiles) came to visit me at work. He's part of the RetroWDW podcast team (one of my favorite Disney podcasts which I wrote about, here) and was down for the weekend. He's a Disney history buff like myself, so I knew he'd appreciate seeing some of our historical pictures and the 'brain center' of where WDW was built and is still maintained to this day.

That evening, John and I met up with Brian and Rob for dinner at Kona Cafe. We then headed to the Top of the World Lounge to watch Wishes, and to try the infamous Seven Layer Cake. (Why they don't call it the Seven Seas Lagoon Layer cake is a missed opportunity, as pointed out by my clever husband. Much as he may fight it, he's turning into quite the Disnerd-- he even made a joke about his lumbago acting up the other day when it was about to rain :) I'm so proud.)




Lilly Pulitzer Sparks Fly Glow Ears by PreppyEars

On Saturday, John and I ran errands. We ate at 4 Rivers for lunch (if you're local or have time to spare when visiting, it's worth the trip for awesome BBQ) and stopped by Trader Joe's, where I discovered Pickle Popcorn! If you're a pickle fan, you'll love this. Yum!




On Sunday, John took one for the team and rope dropped Epcot with me, so we could ride Soarin' one last time before it converts over to the new version, Soarin' Around the World, on June 17. If you go, be sure to admire the new queue area, which BVCC worked on. New carpet, paint, lighting, screens, etc. After our ride, some breakfast in the Land Pavilion, and a walk through the aquarium portion in The Living Seas The Seas with Nemo and Friends, John headed home and I took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom to meet up with Angie and Thomas, to celebrate Angie's birthday! We tried the new #PinkDrink at Starbucks (strawberry refresher made with coconut milk instead of water) and the barista gave Angie a free cupcake for her birthday- the cutest little Donald Duck butt! It was REALLY hot and I had done a lot of walking, so I headed home after lunch at the Skipper Canteen.


      











John and I had FastPasses for Animal Kingdom that night, but I was exhausted and thunderstorms moved in, so we passed and just had a relaxing evening at home. 

On Memorial Day, John smoked a brisket, and I ran to Sephora at Disney Springs and the grocery store. His sister Ally came by for a visit. It was pretty low key and relaxing. 


How about you? Did you have a nice long weekend? 

Thanks for reading. XO, Ashley

Monday, May 30, 2016

Beyond Disney- Our Trip to Charleston, Day 2 + 3

Hope you had a chance to read about our Charleston 1st Anniversary/Babymoon trip, Day 1, here. Let's take a look at what the rest of the weekend held. 

We'd pre-order breakfast in our room every morning (included with the cost of the room); this was such a nice treat. I'm a sucker for room service, but the cost is often prohibitive. I was in heaven!

We had plans to meet up with some of John's friends and go out on their boat-- a cool morning had me second guessing, but it ended up being warm and perfect on the water. 


We were on the boat all day, and later met up with the same friends at a street festival uptown. 
Asos Maternity Dress (20% off through Memorial Day with code HISUMMER)



 We grabbed an appetizer and drinks from The Warehouse with them before heading to our dinner reservation at The Macintosh

 We both REALLY enjoyed our meal here- everything we had was delicious. The Macintosh uses fresh ingredients and modifies it's menu daily to reflect whatever is in peak flavor. 

 On Sunday morning, we walked down to the Battery and through the Charleston Market before heading to King Street for more shopping. 

This dress was perfect for the occasion, and one that I can wear postnatal as well. The back is the real kicker. 








 Any Southern Charm fans out there? The office where JD and Craig work is really close to the Market. We also saw Cooper ride by on his bike, wearing a suit and bowtie, naturally. 

 Candlefish was on my list of 'must-do's' and it did not disappoint. I had also wanted to visit Candy Shop Vintage, but they were closed Sunday and Monday, so it looked like my beloved Rice Beads were going to have to be ordered rather than bought at the source. Imagine my excitement when we discovered that Candlefish also carries them! I got my gold pair and one of their signature blend candles, Number 59, which includes notes of pine, sandalwood, and leather. This shop reminds me of a more tailored curation of Anthropologie-- I just loved it. 



John's dad met up with us and bought Baby Will some little seersucker shorts. 

We rested back in the room before heading out to Sullivan's Island for an early dinner at The Obstinate Daughter. 
I love this picture of my sweetie; I hope Will gets his blue eyes. We took these two pictures to look at and try to figure which features he will have-- it'll be fun to look back once he's born and pick them out!


 Our dinner was fabulous- John had the Pappardelle Pasta dish and I had The Lieutenant Dan pizza- very unique and delicious. I'd highly recommend taking the trip out to check out this spot. 
 We drove around Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms for a bit before heading back to the room for a nap. We had every intention of taking a late-night ghost tour in town, but ultimately, jimmies and bed won out. We did find Kaminsky's Dessert Cafe, which was only a few blocks away, and brought back some treats to enjoy in our room. It was the perfect, relaxing end to our trip.