Weekend Wear-abouts: Stella &Dot + Disneyana + More

Hi friends, and happy Monday to you. We had a great weekend here. On Friday I noticed some snails on my plants, as well as some chewed leaves. I made a 'snail away' spray using my doTERRA patchouli and cedarwood oils, castile soap and water. I'll let you know how it works!

Will and I went to lunch with my friend and previous co-worker, Annastasia. She snapped this pic of Will; he loves listening to her crazy life stories, and she's infatuated with him. We went back to the Buena Vista Construction office after lunch and I saw these two awesome signs they had acquired from recent refrubs in the parks. The Safety sign used to hang in my office when I worked there. 

That night I made BBQ chicken flatbread pizzas. I started Weight Watchers a few months ago, basically just the app version where I track my points each day (except for weekends, lol) and found this recipe that is only 7 SmartPoints! John loves it too. 

Later that night I went to my friend's house for a Stella & Dot trunk show. I used to be a Stylist for Stell & Dot, so I was eager to see the products again after a few years. I ordered a few pieces and took advantage of a promo they are running- for every $50 you spend, you get $25 to spend later (ends June 19, so act fast if you're interested). See my picks below. It was such a fun night out with fellow moms. 

Off-Shoulder Lilly Pulitzer Top

 Tassel Earrings

Soho Charm

Delicate Gold Chain

Pave Ear Climbers

On Saturday evening I joined up with the local chapter of the Disneyana fan club to hear Disney historian Jim Korkis speak about Walt Disney and World War II. I've hear Jim on numerous Disney podcasts over the years, and read his articles on MousePlanet, so it was really neat to meet him in person. He just released a new book which I bought that night, and he was kind enough to sign it along with the other four books I own of his. 

He showed some propaganda and training films Disney created which haven't been seen in seventy years. He spoke about how the studios reused a lot of animation to save money, hence The Three Little Pigs remake, below. The characters in the picture after this represent Emotion and Reason, with the former being modeled after Disney animator Ward Kimbal. 

Did you know that the Walt Disney Studios were used by the US Military during the war? In addition to propaganda and training films, the studios soundstages were used to house and repair military vehicles. Their lack of windows enabled them to be used during blackouts. Walt even 'saved' several of his animators from being drafted by claiming that they were imperative to the war efforts of animating the commissioned films. 

Disneyana club members can bring memorabilia and Disney goods to the meetings to auction off at meetings; I bid on and WON this copy of National Geographic magazine from 1963, featuring among other things the first photo of Walt's Disneyland apartment, and artwork drawn by Disney animator Bill Justice. I'll share it's contents in an Instastory one day soon. It's so cool. 

There were some other neat items on display too, relating to WWII and Disney. 

With my friend, Kari. Laughing it up with ol' Jimmy boy. 

John's sister and her friend stopped by on Sunday afternoon, and we all went to brunch at Dixie Cream Cafe in downtown Windermere. If you're ever visiting the parks and want to take a little side trip, consider popping into the little town that is a ten minute drive from property. It's so quaint; you'd never guess the Main Mouse was less than ten miles away. 

That's the face of one well-fed, happy, sleepy little boy. 

Hope you had a great weekend too! Thanks for reading. 

XO, Ashley

Weekend Wear-abouts: Will's First Epcot Visit + Hurricane Matthew Update

We had our first taste of 'fall' here in central Florida on Monday, with the highs reaching the upper 70's! It coincided with a vacation day for John, so we decided to make our first visit with the babe to Epcot and sample some food and wine goodies from around the world(showcase). 

I assured John that it wouldn't be crowded- how could it be, the Monday after a hurricane weekend, and a Monday in October at that, when kids are back in school, etc? So you can imagine our surprise when we arrived around noon and it was PACKED! Turns out, it was Columbus Day weekend, and lots of kids had off school. My bad!

We made the best of it and were grateful for the constant breeze and overcast weather. Will was a trooper and slept most of the time in his stroller. 

We (unintentionally) timed it perfectly and ended up back by the American pavilion right as Will started to stir for his 2:30 feeding, so we went up into the Chase Lounge for air conditioning while he ate. 

We shared and sampled many dishes, but I only photographed a few. Hubby gets grumpy when he has to wait for me to snap a pic before he can dig in. This was a beef skewer from the Chew booth-- really yummy! 

Also, if you can't tell, most of these pics are from my Snapchat story. I need to get back in the habit of using my good cameras to take pictures; I miss it! At this point though, it's just one more thing to juggle along with baby. 

Speaking of grumpy, John was not too pleased when this woman stopped him to take a picture of his shirt-- he had just picked up our food from the Mexico booth and was ready to eat! She wanted to know where he had gotten it, so she followed him over to our table for details. 

If you want your OWN Electrical Water Pageant shirt, visit RetroWDW and check out their Redbubble shop. Will has a EWP pillow in his nursery, and will be sporting a Stol Port onesie during the Destination D- D23 weekend! 

We had a great visit and can't wait to take Will to the other parks. 

Thanks for reading! 

XO, Ashley

Weekend Wear-abouts: Baby Classes + The Boardwalk + More

Hello there. Hope you had a nice weekend. Our was full but fun! 

We started off our Saturday with an all-day Baby Class, all about Labor and Delivery. It was really interesting. 

After the class, we went to Target and got an early dinner in downtown Celebration. We then headed over to the Boardwalk area in WDW to meet up with a couple of friends. 

My friend Amanda (aka Tink) was staying at the Yacht Club and said she had a 'little' gift for Baby Will. She totally undersold herself, because the 'little' gift was a beautiful handmade Haunted Mansion blanket! She created the pattern herself and made the whole thing from scratch. 

John and I have joked that we want to use the creepy 'glowing eyes' wallpaper from the Mansion in our baby nursery, so this was Tink's nod to the idea. We LOVE that it doesn't scream 'Disney,' but is subtle and those 'in the know' will totally get it.  Thanks again, Tink. 

A Pea In The Pod Blouse // Jessica Simpson Maternity Jeans // Rainbow Sandals // Charleston Rice Beads (worn as a bracelet) // Roberta Roller Rabbit Tassel Necklace

From there, we all walked around to the Boardwalk area to try the new Ample Hills Creamery ice cream parlor. 

PRO TIP: This luscious sundae was $8.50 or so, and comes with three scoops of your choice of ice cream over a piece of butter cake or brownie, and unlimited toppings. John elected to get a milkshake, and while it was yummy, it too was $8.50 and just a standard size. NOT worth the money, in our opinion. Get the sundae instead.

 My sweet friend Amanda from Dixie Delights was staying with her family at the Boardwalk Resort, and she came down to hang and chat for a bit. 

After ice cream and socializing, John and I headed up the road to Fantasia Gardens for some putt putt golf. However, there was a 40 minute wait to start!! Crazy! The CM's informed us that WinterSummerland (just down the road near Blizzard Beach) had a 5 minute wait, so we headed there instead and walked right on to the summer course. 

 We had a really good time, and if you like Christmas music like I do, you'll love hearing it the whole time you're playing. The course was really cute. And I'm not gonna SAY who won, I'm just gonna leave this next picture right here...

Sunday was spent putzing around the house, making a Publix run, lounging by the pool and cozying up on the couch. I mean, I have to break the new blanket in before Will arrives, right? 

That's it for our little weekend. We have a Breastfeeding class this evening, so yay! More baby learnin'! 

I'll be posting a Blog Sale of Lilly Pulitzer items on Wednesday, and a post about our Baby Shower after that, so stay tuned. 

Thanks for reading. 

XO, Ashley

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.

Lilly Pulitzer Linen Beach Short // Michele V-Neck Tee // Wristlet // Retro Epcot Ears by We'veGotEars

      

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