Florida Vacation 2013 Recap

To read some tips on how to pack for a theme-park vacation, you can check out my guest post today on Modly Chic! Here are the outfits I packed for Bridget and me for our Orlando vacation we just returned from:

All of Bridget's Outfits and My Dresses: Target; Green Slytherin Tank: Wizarding World of Harry Potter;
Printed Shorts and Black Tank: Old Navy; White Linen Pants: MICHAEL Michael Kors; Sandals: Aldo

Thursday, we began our Disney fun at Magic Kingdom! Let's see if I can remember everything we did...

1. Watched a parade
2. Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride
3. Daisy and Minnie meet n greet
4. Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid ride
5. It's a Small World ride
6. Dole Whip

My mom, Bridget, and Minnie

We were amused that one of the poodles was named Brigitte.

It's a small world after all...

Dole Whip!

The lines weren't too long, and we waited less than 25 minutes for every ride. Still, with a two-year-old, we had to be choosy with what we wanted to get on because we knew our time was limited. We made it about 4 - 5 hours that day. Bridget was a champ! She started to melt down while in line for a Dole Whip, but she was better once we got her some ice cream.

We grabbed lunch back in our room, swam in the pool a little bit, and ate dinner at the resort. My mom was excited to go back to Magic Kingdom that night if possible (my parents had already been there 3 days, so they were pretty well rested), but my husband, Bridget, and I were beat.

On Friday, we took a little bit longer to get out the door, but then we headed to Universal Islands of Adventure and put in a few hours there. I was super bummed the Jurassic Park water ride was down for maintenance, but we still found plenty of fun things to do, such as:

1. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ride
2. The Lorax and Cat in the Hat meet n greet
3. The Cat in the Hat ride
4. Caro-Seuss-el
5. The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train
6. Ate lunch at Three Broomsticks and drank butterbeer
7. The Forbidden Journey (single rider)
8. Flight of the Hippogriff
9. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride (single rider)

Meeting the Lorax - Hubs' shirt is wet from the One Fish Two Fish ride

On the Caro-Seuss-el

She loved having her face painted! Seriously, she did, despite her expression in this picture.

Hagrid's hut in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

My mom has a bunch more pictures, but she hasn't posted them yet. You can see the rest of mine here. There aren't that many others - I only took about 30 total.

That night for dinner, hubs and I met my friend from high school and her boyfriend at Giordano's for some Chicago style pizza! I didn't even know they had locations outside of Illinois, but apparently they have three of them in Florida.

On our last full day (also the day my parents flew home), we attempted a visit to Animal Kingdom. The day started off a little rocky after the It's Tough to be a Bug attraction scared Bridget, but we soldiered on to stand in line for The Festival of the Lion King show. The show was excellent, and Bridget loved it, but she was also getting hotter and more rundown by the minute. We had to call it a day and get her back to the hotel and into bed.

Later in the afternoon, I drove my parents to the airport and then met my friend and her boyfriend again for dinner while hubs offered to stay back with Bridget. The original plan was for them to come to our hotel to hang out, but we didn't want to keep Bridget awake. Instead, we went out to a restaurant called Brick House, which was right next to their hotel. The food was good, the atmosphere was cool and man cave-themed, but the service left a lot to be desired. I'm going to give the place the benefit of the doubt and assume it was just our waitress and not the establishment in general. (I'll have to steal my friend's picture she took of us when she posts it on Facebook.)

And Sunday, we flew home! Bridget was still feverish, and hubs had come down with some sort of stomach bug, so it wasn't the most pleasant traveling day for them, but we made it.

I Love Harry Potter Linkup Week 7

1. Which wizarding school - Hogwarts, Beauxbatons or Durmstrang? While I am somewhat of a Francophile, I don't think going to an all-girl school would be any fun, so I'll go with Hogwarts.

2. David Yates as director or Chris Columbus? Yates. The last four movies were just so good, minus some cheesiness and moodiness I could've done without in the Half-Blood Prince.

3. What is your favorite joke from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes? I will always love the scene where they released their Wildfire Whiz-bangs on Umbridge while the students were taking their O.W.L.s.

4. Would you put your name in for the Triwizard Tournament? Absolutely not. Please. I would die.

5. Least favorite book? I don't remember them well enough to say. I've only read them all once except for the last one.

6. Least favorite film? I think we've had this question before, but my answer would be Half-Blood Prince.

7. Which Quidditch position would you play? Probably Keeper since I always used to play defense in soccer. Possibly a Beater for the same reason, plus I like tennis, which I think would be something like batting a bludger around.

Harry Potter Linkup

I voted! And it only took 20 minutes! I was all ready to wait outside in the cold for awhile like I did the first time I voted in college. Except that year it ended up being close to 3 hours. But enough about that. It's done, and we'll see how that all pans out later tonight or tomorrow.

Now onto more lighthearted things:

1. What wizarding job would you most like to have after finishing Hogwarts? I had to consult the Harry Potter Wiki for this one. And then I got overwhelmed because clearly I took this question way too seriously.

2. Favorite member of the Weasley family? The twins probably. They're funny guys.

3. Least favorite DADA teacher? So many bad ones; how does one choose? Fake Moody was pretty bad, Quirrell was eh, but it probably has to be Umbridge. I didn't even mind Lockhart because for some reason, I always get one of his quotes from the movie in my head: "Can everybody see me? Can you all...hear me?" He's a big wimp, but he's kind of funny.

4. Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade? Diagon Alley for sure. The school supply shopping scenes are always fun.

5. Have you ever been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios? What was your favorite part? Twice!!! I think just the atmosphere and theming in general is my favorite part. All the details that went into everything. I love walking through Hogwarts probably the most, and the Forbidden Journey ride is entertaining although it makes me a little nauseous. Even the fact that you can hear Moaning Myrtle's voice in the bathroom is fun. I already can't wait to go back. It's my home away from home.

6. Favorite villain and why? Snape for the bulk of the story when he was a villain.

7. What character could you never get enough of? Luna. She's awesome. I would say Malfoy, but even to me, his "my father will hear about this" got old after the first couple (million) times he said it.

Source

Harry Potter Link-Up

This was so exciting to find. Thanks to Kim for introducing me to it and to Ashley for hosting it! I ended up doing the same thing Kim did and went back and answered the questions I missed, too. It's a Harry Potter Link-Up!

Week 1

1. Which is your favorite of the 7 books? Although Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix are my favorite movies, I'm going to go with Deathly Hallows for my favorite book. My only reason for saying that really is it's the only book of the series that I've read twice. Maybe if I read them again, I'd have a different opinion.

2. Which is your favorite of the 8 films? Oops, I answered that already. Either Prisoner of Azkaban or Order of the Phoenix. Or actually all the odd-numbered ones are great.

One of the only good parts of my least favorite film, Half Blood Prince.
(source)

3. Which, if any, of the films made you angry for not staying true to the books? The last one probably because that's the book I remembered best when I actually saw the movie. I thought it was a crock that Neville didn't get the attention he deserved for killing the snake in the end. Oh, and the fact that they sent all the Slytherin students to the dungeon? CHEESY.

4. Who is your least favorite female character and why? I guess I have to say Dolores Umbridge. She's just all evil and has no redeeming qualities.

5. Who is your favorite male character and why? Malfoy. Obviously. I'm a Snape fan as well. It's not that I like "evil" people, but I like Tom Felton and Alan Rickman, and I think their characters are more misunderstood than anything else. Well, Snape is misunderstood; Malfoy is really just a wimp most of the time.

6. What house would you like to be in? Now be realistic...where would the Sorting Hat put you? Touchy subject. The sorting hat in Pottermore put me in Hufflepuff, which I get, but I would've preferred Slytherin or Ravenclaw. Even Gryffindor would've been OK. Sorry Cedric, I <3 you, but yeah. That's part of the reason I haven't logged back in Pottermore since then. I haven't come to terms with my placement, haha.

7. Which subject would be your favorite at Hogwarts? Hmmm, tough one. I know I wouldn't be good at Herbology or History of Magic. Let's go with the Care of Magical Creatures. That would be a fun class. Charms could be cool, too, and Flitwick seems like a nice teacher.

Week 2

1. Who is your favorite female character and why? Luna! I adore her. Why? She's just so good and positive even when people make fun of her. She's great.

2. Who is your least favorite male character and why? I'll keep Kim's answer of Peter Pettigrew because like Umbridge, he has absolutely no redeeming qualities.

3. Pick one: Horcruxes or Hallows? Hallows.

4. Which character do you relate to most? Moaning Myrtle? Haha, just kidding. I don't know. It's a cop-out answer, but that's what I'm going with.

5. Your favorite pairing of characters? The Weasley twins maybe? They're funny guys. If you mean romantically, Luna and Neville (I think they were a thing in the movies but not the books, right?), Hagrid and the lady from the French school (too lazy to look it up), and Fleur and Bill Weasley. I don't know why.

(source)

6. Your favorite professor? Lupin seemed like he would've been a cool professor for the short time he was. Overall, McGonagall of course.

 7. Bring one character back to life. Who and why? I kind of want to steal Kim's answers again. Fred and Hedwig. And Dobby! Oh my gosh, so sad every time. And I know Sirius dying was a big thing, but I do wish he and Harry could just be a happy family, too. I forgot about Cedric! I guess I didn't want anyone to die.

Week 3

1. Do you prefer the books or the films? Both, but I've watched the films WAAAAYYYY more than I have read the books, so ultimately, I'm going to go with the movies.

 2. If you could meet one member of the cast who would it be and why? I've already met the cast member I wanted to meet. Tom Felton!!! That was such a fun experience. If I had to pick another one, probably Alan Rickman. Or Rupert Grint...or Emma Watson. I guess Daniel Radcliffe would be cool of course, too.

My face looks giddier every time I see this picture.

3. If you could punish one of the characters and not get in trouble, who would it be and why? Ya know what, I'm not too happy with James, Remus, and Sirius for being mean to Snape as a kid. Although all that bullying had to happen for the rest of the stories to happen, I would just give them all one swift kick in the junk, and then they could carry on.

 4. What parts of the films and books made you cry if any? All the sad or touching parts from the movies. I cry at just about anything.

 5. Scene from a book you wished was in the movie? This is an excellent question, but I really can't remember. I guess I'll go with my answer from Week One of Neville killing the snake in public.

6. Were you satisfied with the epilogue? In the movie? I don't remember the book one. Was it the same? Anyway, sure, but I was not satisfied with Hermione's makeup job. All of them looked like they were 40 (OK, Ginny could've passed for 50), but Hermione still looked 17.

7. If you could do ONE spell, without a wand..what would it be? The one where you can teleport. Oh it's the same one Kim put - apparition.

Week 4

1. If you could ask Harry one question, what would it be? Why was he so dang moody all the time, and why couldn't he just accept help from his friends?

2. Who is your favorite marauder? : Lupin or Sirius. I'm not a James fan.

3. Least favorite house? Hufflepuff. Again, sorry Cedric!

4. Do you think it was important for Dobby to die? What about his funeral in the film? Did you love it or hate it? It was probably important for Dobby to die, but I didn't want it to happen. I noticed that the funeral was different at the time, but now I don't know exactly how.

5. Would you have chosen a rat, a cat, or an owl as your companion? A cat.

6. If you could have one of the Hallows, what would you choose? The invisibility cloak for sure. The resurrection stone is no good as the people don't really resurrect. And the elder wand is probably only useful in the right hands. The invisibility cloak is foolproof.

7. Time turner or pensieve? Why? I gotta say Time Turner. It seems like it takes a lot of planning, but it would be tempting to be able to redo things.

Gryffindor Colors

Cardigan: Rodarte for Target; Skirt and Watch: NY&Co; Shoes: MICHAEL Michael Kors

At first I thought I was probably wearing some sort of sports team colors, but I don't really have any knowledge of sports team colors outside of Wisconsin teams and rivals. It took me until I got home from work and Googled maroon and gold for it hit me that they're Gryffindor colors. Duh.

Source

Orlando Vacation Recap 2012

Before we left, my friends and I (mostly them because I hadn't been to Disney since I was like 7) created an itinerary for all four days to make sure we hit everything that everyone wanted to see and do. I think I'm going to post the itinerary for each day, then do a summary of the highlights after each park, in case you want to skip the list and move right to the paragraphs, or vice versa.

OK, here we go.


Disney Day #1 - Friday, August 31




MAGIC KINGDOM
8:15 AM - arrive at Magic Kingdom
9 am - rope drop!!
-get FastPass for Splash Mountain
-meet back at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and ride
-Peter Pan
-Haunted Mansion
-Pirates
-Jungle Cruise
-meet Peter Pan and Tiana
-get a Dole Whip
-use Splash Mountain FastPass
-grab Space Mtn FastPass
-Buzz Lightyear
-Monsters Inc.
-Carousel of Progress
-Dumbo
-Winnie the Pooh
-Philharmagic
-use Space Mountain FastPass
-Columbia Harbour House for lunch
-Hall of Presidents

Thanks to Disney's FastPass system, we accomplished a lot right away the first morning. We were able to get on all the rides we wanted without much of a wait except for Winnie the Pooh. That wait was one of our longer waits, and it was only 20 minutes although it felt like longer. While the rides were run extremely efficiently, the food service was consistently slow throughout the trip. Can't win 'em all, I guess!

I love animatronics or any attraction that makes you feel like you're actually there, which means I loved pretty much everything. The highlight was probably eating/drinking the pineapple Dole Whip float. This link describes them perfectly. These are not over hyped. They are amazingly delicious and refreshing on a hot day. Not only that, but they're also a pretty yellow color that I now want to match paint to and paint a bathroom in my house that color.

Space Mountain was probably the thing I was least looking forward to. The last time I had gone on this ride I was 7 or 8, and I HATED it. But I wanted to avenge my 7-year-old self, and I did! It wasn't so bad now, but I could see how it would be really scary for a kid.

I didn't know what I'd think about meeting the characters, but it was actually kind of fun. Peter Pan was just eh, but Tiana was really sweet.

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
-grab Tower of Terror FastPass
-ride Rock n Roller Coaster
-Great Movie Ride
-Little Mermaid
-Animation Building for characters
-Tower of Terror
-eat Mac and cheese hot dog
-Star Tours
-Muppetvision
-Beauty and the Beast?
-Toy Story Mania?
-Fantasmic?
-Head to Epcot?
-do Whatever

After I was brave enough to conquer Space Mountain, I felt like I could take on the world, which is why I finally agreed to try Tower of Terror. The girls had been trying to convince me for MONTHS to do this ride, but I had refused stubbornly the whole time. Finally, I figured, how bad could it be? And I actually had fun!

The other highlight was when a group of people leaving the park offered us their Toy Story Mania FastPasses. That ride is super popular, and the FastPasses tend to run out right away, so this was some awesome luck we had. As for the low point, I pretty much hated Star Tours. It was a Star Wars themed simulator ride, and it made me nauseous, even after taking anti-nausea pills.

Oh, and I personally wouldn't recommend the mac and cheese hot dog. It's fine; it's just a little much. OK, it's a lot much.

Disney Day #2 - Saturday, September 1  

ANIMAL KINGDOM
-arrive at 8:30-9 am
-Kilimanjaro Safari
-get Expedition Everest FastPass
-ride Expedition Everest
-ride Dinosaur
-see Finding Nemo: The Musical
-Expedition Everest
-Flame Tree BBQ for lunch
-meet Carl and Dug
-It's Tough to be a Bug
-Camp Minnie Mickey for characters (and lion king show if time)
-Kali River Rapids?

This was super hot day #1. I don't like zoos (which Animal Kingdom is not but close enough), so I was kind of dragging my feet through Animal Kingdom. Expedition Everest and Dinosaur were a lot of fun, though, and It's Tough to Be a Bug made me jump a couple times.

Talking to Prince Naveen and Dr. Facilier
from The Princess and the Frog

EPCOT
Move to Epcot NO LATER THAN 3 PM
-Soarin (FP or ride)
-Spaceship Earth
-Dinner Reservation at Coral Reef at 4:40 PM
-Finding Nemo The Ride
-Captain EO
-Mission: Space
-Club Cool
-drink lots and dick around world showcase/future world/whatever
-Illuminations prob at 9:30

Epcot is just huge. Since it was such a hot day, it wore us out pretty quickly, but we did get to meet a couple characters like Naveen and Dr. Facilier and Mary Poppins. We also saw a lot of Finding Nemo that day between the musical at Animal Kingdom and the ride at Epcot.

Dinner at Coral Reef was definitely the highlight. Everything was so good - the drinks, the cheesy lobster pasta, and the chocolate wave dessert.

As you can see, we skipped a few things at Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Although our plan was to hang out in the countries and enjoy some adult beverages and gorge on food, we ended up calling it an early night instead and got some much-needed sleep.


Universal/Disney Day #3 - Sunday, September 2

ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE
Begin at Islands of Adventure at Rope Drop
-head to Harry Potter right away
-Forbidden Journey
-Dueling Dragons
-Hippogriff
-Butterbeer when we feel like it
-eat at some point
-Jurassic Park
-Spiderman
-both water rides
-Hulk

We were all nice and well rested for our longest day. I began the day by excitedly speed-walking to Katie's and my home - The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! (Katie lives in Hagrid's hut, and I live in the bedroom in the Dragon Challenge theming. By the way, does anyone know why there's a bed there? Because I don't.) It was good to be back.

The water rides here are some of my favorites. The two in Toon Lagoon get you so drenched that they would be more appropriate at a water park instead. I loved it, but my friends donned ponchos for both of those. Had it been either the day before or the day after, I would've dried right away, but Sunday ended up being the coolest day out of the four I believe.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
-Rip Ride Rockit
-Twister
-Shrek
-Despicable Me
-Mummy
-Disaster
-Simpsons
-Makeup show
-ET
-MIB
-Terminator II
-Movie/Cinema show???
-back to ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE for wand show/anything else we need to do again

After Islands, we walked next door to Universal Studios and started off with Rip Ride Rockit. That roller coaster is probably one of my favorites since you get to pick your own song to listen to while you ride. Even cooler than that, I spotted Kaley Cuoco (Penny from Big Bang Theory) getting on the ride! I couldn't tell if it was her at first, and I didn't have my phone with me, so I researched it afterwards and then told my friends about it. It was definitely her, though. Unfortunately, that was the only time I saw her; and from her Twitter, it looked like she left shortly after that.

Even though we didn't have fast passes for Universal, none of the waits were too terribly long, and I got to try the ET ride for the first time, which was cute. Erin decided that would be her home. The only one I skipped was Simpsons, which is another simulator ride that makes me want to ralph.

When we had hit all the Universal Studios attractions, we went back to the Harry Potter part of Islands to do a little shopping before heading back to Disney to finish off the night.

MAGIC KINGDOM
Head over to Magic Kingdom for Wishes/whatever else (MK now open until 11 PM...or 2 AM extra magic hours)

We were soooooo tired at this point, and I kept vacillating between having a good time and wanting to get out of there, go to bed, and never hear the phrase "it's a thing" again. ("It's a thing" was the theme of the trip.) But we saw the Wishes show from the side of the castle and also got on Splash Mountain (Theresa's home) after waiting nearly an hour in line (worth it!).

Disney Day #4 - Monday, September 3   

There's us four in the back row on the left (I'm in yellow)!

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
ARRIVE AT HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS AT 8:30 AM
- STAMPEDE FOR TOY STORY MANIA
-grab fp first
-ride standby
-Tower of Terror
-Tower of Terror
-Tower of Terror
-Rock n Roller Coaster x 3 (haha jk....whatever we feel like doing really...)
-once Katie and Erin leave for their flight, Bek and I will head to MK (We did Animal Kingdom instead.)
-Eat dole whip
-Pirates
-Haunted Mansion
-BTMRR
-Splash

The original plan was to stampede for Toy Story Mania FastPasses first thing in the morning. Luckily, we didn't have to do that anymore since we got on the ride on Saturday. We ended up arriving at 11ish and started off the day with Tower of Terror, followed by Rock n Roller Coaster.

Then we grabbed a snack, said goodbye to Katie and Erin, and Theresa and I headed to Animal Kingdom to hit up Everest and Dinosaur again.

EPCOT
-buy Bek some drinks
-Soarin
-America Pavilion
-France
-Airport
-Rebekah for death.
(also...DIE DIE DIE.....I can't) (quote from Forgetting Sarah Marshall)

For our third and final park of the day, we went back to Epcot to walk around and chill. Except we didn't chill because it was the hottest day of the trip, so we tried to stay cool by walking into air-conditioned buildings and staying hydrated. We did some souvenir shopping, ate in America and France, and got to meet Belle and the Beast together. All throughout this, I was surprisingly chipper and not wanting to die, as we suspected might happen and documented in the itinerary.

All in all, it was a really fun but exhausting trip. The only thing I can really complain about is my luggage getting lost on the way home. Apparently, it's in Atlanta and will be back here shortly, but that made for a bummer end of the trip at 1 AM on Tuesday. Somewhere along the way, I also lost my keys (that was probably my fault), and Nate and Bridget ended up picking me up at the airport. I felt bad for waking them up, but at least I got to see them sooner. Gotta look on the bright side, right? Sure.

Photos: Some are mine, and some I grabbed from my friends' facebook albums.

Harry Potter Themed Manicure and Pedicure

A couple of the girls I'm going to Orlando with and I decided to get themed pedicures for our trip. One of the girls did Minnie Mouse (red polish with white polka dots and a Minnie head silhouette on her big toes), one did princess (glittery pale pink with rhinestones on her big toes), and I did Harry Potter.

I knew I wanted to represented Slytherin mostly, but I also wanted it to be more obvious that these were Harry Potter nails. I ended up having my friend do green with gray tips on the small toes and red with a yellow lightning bolt on the big toes. They looked pretty Christmas-y until the yellow and gray details were added, but I really like how they turned out.

Eventually, I decided to do my nails, too. I wanted to try putting the Hufflepuff (apparently my house according to Pottermore, ugh) and Ravenclaw colors on my fingernails and adding a stripe.

Tuesday night, I did Phase 1 of my manicure and painted my nails yellow and blue.

Since I wanted to make sure they were completely dry before I continued, I waited until Wednesday night to do the hard part - Phase 2: The Stripes.

To create the desired stripe, I used two small pieces of Scotch tape on each nail to cover the parts I didn't want to paint.

That's about all there is to tell you from a step-by-step process besides my lessons learned below, but here's how they turned out:

They turned out too messy to justify a closeup picture, but they look kind of neat from far away.

Lessons Learned

• Remove the tape very shortly after painting. Don't wait until the polish is at the tacky stage or some of the tape will stay painted on.
• It's probably best to do one hand at a time. It was harder to navigate the brush with ten taped fingers, and I didn't get the tape off in time.
• I used jewelry pliers to remove the tape so that I didn't mess up my nails. I wanted to use Tweezers, but the tiny pliers were closer. Either way, they were essential to this process since I did all ten stripes at once.
• I might try painter's tape next time. The Scotch tape was stickier than I anticipated.
• I used a top coat for the first time pretty much ever, so that should help my messy manicure stay in place for awhile.
• Not surprisingly, my left hand turned out a lot better than my right hand, but that's unavoidable unless I have someone else do my nails.
• On a few of my nails, the polish ended up bubbly after it dried. I have no idea what this means, but if anyone does, I'd love to know how to prevent that next time.

Packing for Florida

Off to Orlando!! Here's some of the stuff I packed for my vacay:

Clothes:

Day 1: Pink patterned Target shorts with coral H&M tank 
Why? This is the most form-fitting tank top I'm packing. I figure I'll get the potentially most uncomfortable outfit out of the way the first day.

Day 2: Purple Target dress with black Walmart spandex shorts
Why? No reason except this was the leftover day.

Day 3: Tan patterned shorts with green cotton racerback tank, both from Old Navy
Why? I wanted to wear something green on the Universal day since we're visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I guess a couple of the other girls are packing green, too, so I may have to switch a couple days around to avoid being too matchy.

Day 4: Yellow Kohl's dress with gray Walmart spandex shorts
Why? This dress is on the sheer side, so I'm saving for a day when we probably will not go on a water ride since it's also the day we fly home.

Comfortable Sandals:

Last year, I wore some Reebok active-type sandals that ripped up the top of my foot from the strap (I exaggerate slightly). I've tested these Crocs and Keens on longer outings with much better results, so I'm hoping to have relatively painless feet this time around.

Watch:

I wanted something practical but still fun, and something that I didn't have to worry about on water rides. This was another cheap Target purchase.

Sunglasses:

Just some cheapies from Target. We'll see how they do.

Bag:

I specifically bought this bag (Tyler Rodan via Boston Store) for this trip although I've used it a handful of times before. The leather strap is going to be the bane of my existence, I already know. On the other hand, it's a decent size bag without being too big, and it's yellow.

Entertainment:

All magazines and a crossword book. At first, I had Modelland packed, but I didn't really think I was going to read a book on the plane. I'm generally too nervous to concentrate on a novel, but the crossword puzzles usually distract me just enough.

And finally, I got a Harry Potter themed pedicure and painted my fingernails myself for the trip. I have another post scheduled for tomorrow to tell you more about that process.