December 2013 Recap

{HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH}

Is Christmas really over? It has not sunk in that it is. I feel like Christmas snuck up on me and bulldozed right through. I feel like things have been crazy since November it seems. Our first wedding anniversary was 3 days after Thanksgiving and the festivities just continued from there. Me and my Hubs were out of town the last two weekends.

We had Hubby’s work Christmas party 2 hours from home one weekend. His generous boss aka my father-in-law put up all the employees in a beach front hotel. It was a nice way to kick off the Christmas holiday.

Last weekend, we headed up to Orlando to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We had the best time. I could not have asked for a better time. Saturday, we used our Disney park hopper passes to visit the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. I have been dreaming of going to Disney to see the parks decorated for Christmas and they did not disappoint. I am obsessed with Christmas lights and decorations. We started at Magic Kingdom. We road Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountains - all the mountains! We road the Peter Pan ride, Buzz Lightyear ride, Pirates of the Caribbean and of course, It’s A Small World aka Brian’s fave ride…or not! ;)

We headed over to Epcot for dinner and to ride Soarin’. If you find yourself at Epcot make sure you go on Soarin’. It stimulates your sense of sight, smell and hearing all at once. We ate at Chefs de France. It was so delicious. We had eaten at this same restaurant a few years ago for lunch. I would highly recommend it. We had the yummiest bacon & onion flatbread, french onion soup, beef short ribs and vanilla creme brûlée. We took pictures of some of the Christmas decorations on the park and then headed back to Magic Kingdom to finish out the night.

On our way back to the Magic Kingdom we stopped at The Grand Floridan Resort which is a Disney resort next to M.K. I had seen a Christmas special on how Disney decorates for the holidays. At the hotel they have a LIFESIZED gingerbread house. I was so excited to see it in person. The hotel also had a huge tree, 3 or 4 stories high in the lobby. It is worth it to see if you are in the area. The only bummer is on TV the people were able to walk through it and this year it was like a store. They were selling gingerbread houses out of a gingerbread house. Go figure?! 

We got lucky because the Magic Kingdom was open till 1 a.m. so we had plenty of time to get in everything we really wanted to. We ended up staying till midnight. We saw a parade which the floats were completely covered in lights. That is my kind of parade!

We also saw an amazing light show on Cinderella’s Castle. It was spectacular! My favorites are the gingerbread, candy land and when the castle is dripping in lights. So beautiful. Thinking back on this day, really this whole weekend puts a huge smile on my face and warms my heart. We had such a great time. We laughed and laughed and laughed. We made countless jokes and unforgettable memories. I am truly grateful for the relationship I have with my husband.

We got to Gaylord Palms Resort around 12:30 a.m. and crashed. On Sunday, we woke up, got coffee and a chocolate muffin. Breakfast of champions! We got dressed in jeans, long sleeves and sneakers in preparation for ICE! even though it was in the 80’s that day. Gotta love Florida in December. If you are not familiar with ICE! you can check it out here. The exhibit is made out of ice and this year’s theme was Frosty the Snowman complete with an ice slide. The space is kept at 9 degrees. NINE DEGREES! Note to self: Bring gloves, a hat and maybe even a scarf, too. Hubs and I had a blast! It was like being a kid again. The ice sculptures were incredible. This event is definitely worth going to and I hope we will be able to go again next year. It would be fun to bring a whole group. Gaylord Palms is a pretty amazing hotel. It is HUGE and has really amazing themes throughout like an Everglades section, Key West section and St. Augustine section with full on, life-sized structures like a ship, a boardwalk and fort. A-mazing! Add Christmas decor to that and I was in Interior Design Paradise.

Like I said before, the weekend was amazing. I still cannot believe we have celebrated our first anniversary already. Then again, it feels like it has been years since we got married. It is funny because I still don’t think much has changed since we got married. Maybe little things here or there but I do notice it more around the holidays. We had our first married Thanksgiving this year and it definitely feels more special now that we are married. I love, love, love celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and the rest of the holiday season with my HUSBAND! 

Can you believe how busy we have been? To think this isn't even all of it! More to come soon. This post is super long but I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our life. How have you been spending December? I would love to hear from you so leave a comment :)

xo

-{AMK}-