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best friends
Hollywood Studios
May 20, 2019
Guess who's back! It's been a busy five months for sure, but my lack of posts really just means I have plenty of content to catch the internet up on!
This past weekend, my friend and I went to ~finally~ explore the Toy Story expansion at Hollywood Studios at WDW Orlando. I haven't been to Studios since they ruthlessly killed the Osborne Family Lights Spectacular, but I sacrificed my pain to explore the new area!
The highlights of the new Pixar area definitely include all of the detail they've worked into the park. From the little Jack-Jacks running around the Incredibles area (not forgetting to mention the "Num-Num cookies") to the detail of price stickers from Al's Toy Barn, Disney didn't skip out on the references baked into the area!
And of course, we had to stop by and visit Olaf for some warm hugs. Olaf asked if I could find a way for him to also be in stripes, I told him we'll work on that for the third movie.
Despite the heat and crowds, we had an epic Disney day! Here's to the next park day :)
Sweetfields Farm ~ Fall in Florida
November 18, 2018 Tampa, FL, USA
It's almost a running joke in Florida that our "fall" consists of the two nice days of cold weather we get every October. We try to pretend like our leaves are changing and that it's cold, but realistically we're still at the beach in the middle of November. Nonetheless, as someone who loves the fall all all fall-related activities, I've developed some traditions that I absolutely can't miss every time the weather drops below 80 degrees!
My absolute favorite has to be visiting Sweetfields Farm in Masarkytown, Florida. This farm features a pumpkin patch, corn maze, hay ride, and all of the farm animals you could ever hope to see. Just a 45 minute drive north of Tampa, this is definitely worth a morning trip just to get outside and spend some time together!
Though it's closed for the season, definitely consider visiting Sweetfields next fall, or in the Spring for sunflower season!
St. Pete Murals - #TampaLocal
October 3, 2018 St. Petersburg, FL, USA
Anybody who knows me knows I absolutely LOVE taking cute pictures with friends. Luckily for me, St. Pete and its multitude of fabulous murals is only a short 30 minute drive across the Howard Franklin. Recently, my best friend came to visit me in Tampa, and we did what we do best: take ALL of the pictures!
Since it's still warm here in sunny south Florida, we decided to go as early as possible to avoid sweating buckets. We made it to St. Pete around 7:30 in the morning, and set off in search of pretty walls!
The easiest way to find some of these is to just search in Maps for "iguana mural" or "shark mural," or to find their location via Instagram tags. Luckily for me, I have a wonderful friend (@Karina) who takes stunning photos in St. Pete all the time, so she helped me know where to look!
St. Pete has so much to offer, from visiting the flamingoes at Sunken Gardens to searching antique stores for some vintage finds, and it's definitely worth an all day visit. And if you're already going to be there, might as well take some cute pictures to remember your time in Florida's Sunshine City!
Bestie Disney Date! ~ July 2015
July 17, 2015 Lake Buena Vista Stolport (DWS), Orlando, FL 32836, USA
Long post alert! As an Orlando baby, I've grown up with frequent visits to Walt Disney World with family and friends, so visiting the parks has a very special place in my heart. WDW might be my favorite place on Earth (so far) and spending the day with my equally Disney-crazed bestie makes for unforgettable memories!
Last week, we got ready to go and headed out for a day of Princesses, yummy food, and fantastic rides. We arrived around 11, and headed to our favorite lunch spot, Columbia Harbour House near the Haunted Mansion. I opted for the fish and chips, while Bri picked a sandwich (for the fancy chips!) Nestled in our favorite spot in the walk over, we settled in for our meal and caught up on our stories from work that week!
After lunch, we headed to Haunted Mansion and Thunder Mountain. After these two rides, we were beginning to feel the heat just a tad, so we undertook a very important mission: locate some kind of cold drink! We wandered Fantasyland, stopping in Gaston's Tavern and the shop in Belle's village, as well as stopping by the outpost near Ariel's castle, before heading on over towards Tomorrowland. We finally found smoothies in Auntie Gravity's (haha get it, like anti-gravity) and found some air conditioning to hide out in for a break.
While we were waiting, we realized our fastpasses for Space Mountain weren't for another hour, and we were at quite a loss for what to do to avoid the heat while killing time. Naturally, we decided to shop! We went from shop to shop, exploring all the best things Main Street USA has to offer! After a few shops, the Festival of Fantasy parade began and we managed to watch a bit of it from inside the AC, and since it was my first time watching the parade, I was quite amazed!
We finished our shop run and headed back to Space Mountain for some excitement and thrill! After, we had a full on selfie shoot in front of Cinderella's Castle and browsed everything the shops behind it had to offer.
To finish off our time at MK, we headed to Princess Fairy Tale Hall for a royal visit with Cinderella and Rapunzel! We chatted about our favorite colors, princes, and if we'd seen Tinker Bell or the Fairy Godmother around anywhere. Cinderella had stunning elegance, and Punzie's enthusiasm and spirit is always a treat:)
Last week, we got ready to go and headed out for a day of Princesses, yummy food, and fantastic rides. We arrived around 11, and headed to our favorite lunch spot, Columbia Harbour House near the Haunted Mansion. I opted for the fish and chips, while Bri picked a sandwich (for the fancy chips!) Nestled in our favorite spot in the walk over, we settled in for our meal and caught up on our stories from work that week!
After lunch, we headed to Haunted Mansion and Thunder Mountain. After these two rides, we were beginning to feel the heat just a tad, so we undertook a very important mission: locate some kind of cold drink! We wandered Fantasyland, stopping in Gaston's Tavern and the shop in Belle's village, as well as stopping by the outpost near Ariel's castle, before heading on over towards Tomorrowland. We finally found smoothies in Auntie Gravity's (haha get it, like anti-gravity) and found some air conditioning to hide out in for a break.
While we were waiting, we realized our fastpasses for Space Mountain weren't for another hour, and we were at quite a loss for what to do to avoid the heat while killing time. Naturally, we decided to shop! We went from shop to shop, exploring all the best things Main Street USA has to offer! After a few shops, the Festival of Fantasy parade began and we managed to watch a bit of it from inside the AC, and since it was my first time watching the parade, I was quite amazed!
We finished our shop run and headed back to Space Mountain for some excitement and thrill! After, we had a full on selfie shoot in front of Cinderella's Castle and browsed everything the shops behind it had to offer.
To finish off our time at MK, we headed to Princess Fairy Tale Hall for a royal visit with Cinderella and Rapunzel! We chatted about our favorite colors, princes, and if we'd seen Tinker Bell or the Fairy Godmother around anywhere. Cinderella had stunning elegance, and Punzie's enthusiasm and spirit is always a treat:)
We said our goodbyes to the Castle and headed off (by the oh-so wonderful Highway in the Sky) to EPCOT for the rest of the day! A quick and refreshing stop by the Fountainview Starbucks left us prepared for the heat of the afternoon as we began our trip around the World Showcase. We stopped off in Mexico, traveling the river on the Gran Fiesta Tour with Los Tres Caballeros before continuing on in the showcase.
Passing the Norway construction sparked our issues with the development of the new Frozen aspects of Epcot, as even though we do love the movie, EPCOT just isn't the place for Arendelle for us (which also sparked our concern for the future of Avatar in AK, but that's another story!) We lasted in the heat until Japan, where we flocked inside for a break from the evening heat and explored the cute items inside the store.
We took a moment in Italy for some pictures on the bridge and then headed on to drool over the gorgeous makeup and fragrances in the shops of the France pavilion and drag ourselves over to the UK pavilion and debated finding a soccer team to support!
Now came the most important debate of the evening: where to eat for dinner! It came down to a coin toss between the Rose and Crown and the Chefs de France, and France it was! I had never eaten there, but oh my lord have I found my new favorite place to dine at WDW! The inside was gorgeous, and I felt like I was in a real Parisian restaurant. Our waiter was an adorable man named Harold, and he kindly gave us all the water in the world (he could probably tell we were parched from the heat!) We both decided on the Macaroni, which was THE BEST in the world. I think gruyere is my new favorite thing in the world.
To finish the day, we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to dessert! We picked Macaron Ice Cream sandwiches and ate along the canal, laughing and planning our dream trip to Paris, before heading into Impressions de France for our final activity of the day. On our way out, we picked up matching Paris keychains to celebrate how much fun the day had been and to promise ourselves we'll end up in Paris together eventually!
Overall, I think this was one of my most favorite times at WDW. I spent the day laughing, chatting, and having adventures with my bestie, and there's nothing better in life than friendship, food, and Walt Disney World!
x Jessie x
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