glitter is the new pink.: March 2013

disney world. 2013. magic kingdom (round one).

After the Expo, Mom and I dropped our goods off at the hotel and then hopped the bus to the Magic Kingdom!! MY FAVORITE!!

Seriously, something about this place just makes me happy! I didn't know how it would be without having any kids with us. Mom and I don't typically ride rides. But we had a BLAST just walking around and going in and out of all the shops. We even managed to have really aewsome seats on Main Street USA for the afternoon parade. It was a perfect day just walking around this magical kingdom. Ahhhh.

(insert fairy princess music here)

Of course, we had to hit up the Christmas shop in Liberty Square. If there is anything the Hicks girls love more than the Mouse...it's Christmas!!

New Fantasyland was so awesome! I wish we would have taken the time to eat in the Be Our Guest restaurant....but the line was OUTRAGEOUS! I'm seriously in awe of this empire that Walt Disney created. Mom and I seriously had the best time! Who says you need kids to go to Disney World??

disney world. 2013. princess half-marathon expo.

Saturday, Mom and I woke up super early...had our coffee on the veranda overlooking the "bayou" and got ready for the race expo.

Side note. Mom and I love expos. We love shopping. When I ran my marathon, Mom and I did some serious shopping at the Expo. Welllllllll, this was no different. And of course, I knew Disney would put on the best expo in the history of expos. I was right.

Where else, but at the Disney PRINCESS Half-Marathon, do you have a castle and these guys waiting to greet you?!?!?

Getting my bib! I was in Corral A....I've never ever ever ever been at the front of a race before. I don't know what Disney was thinking, but thank you!

Princess Kelby! Loved it!!

disney world. 2013. the spirit of the aloha dinner.

Mom and I arrived at Disney World on Friday, February 22nd. We arrived at our resort around 1pm, changed and got cleaned up, and then headed over to Downtown Disney for a bit. (You know Mom and I....shopping is always the top priority!)

After we walked around Downtown Disney for a few hours, we took the bus over to the Polynesian Resort for dinner! I had gotten us reservations for the Spirit of the Aloha Dinner.

Side note...can I just tell you how hungry Mom and I were? Due to an ice storm that hit Indy on Thursday night, Mom and I were on one of the only flights to leave Indy on Friday. We sat on the tarmac for an hour as they de-iced our plane! We then had to run through the Atlanta airport to catch our connecting flight. Once we arrived in Orlando, we hit up Burger King in the airport for some french fries...and that was all the food we had a chance to devour. We left Mom and Dad's house at 3:45am in the morning so we were so tired and so hungry.

By the time we arrived at the Polynesian, we were famished and tired and famished and tired and famished. So it was pretty much the perfect time to have an all-you-can eat dinner!

Holy mother of the aloha. The food was fantastic!

Why wouldn't it be? It was Disney World after all.

We devoured the salad and the coleslaw. Mom made sure to eat the honey-buttered rolls in front of me and tell me how delicious they were. (Sometimes I really hate being allergic to gluten. This was one of those nights.)

We were so hungry that we didn't even dish this out on our plates. We just ate straight from the buffet dish. And the salad was sososo good!

The Spirit of the Aloha show was fantastic! They performed tribal dances from all the islands! We really enjoyed it! The closing act was a fire dancer from Samoa! He was fantastic!!

Always keeping it classy...picking the nose of the giant head statue.

After the Spirit of the Aloha show, Mom and I were ready to curl up on the beach at the Polynesian and fall fast asleep into a dream-like state. But I think Disney would have frowned on it. So we hopped the boat over to the Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks show "Wishes". Ahhhh, this is one of the reasons I lovelovelove Disney so much! Everything is such a production. And the fireworks show is no different. Oh my holy goodness, it was so good. Mom and I loved it...despite how tired we were.

It was the PERFECT way to spend our first night at Disney!

disney vacay. 2013. port orleans riverside.

So last April, my fabulous and awesome parents took my entire family to Disney World for Wyatt's 5th birthday.

Seriously. It was life-changing.

None of us had ever been before (except for Adam when he was a little tyke), and we were completely awed by how awesome it is. It is MAGICAL!

I decided then that I wanted to run the Disney Princess Half-Marathon in February 2013. So I registered the day registration opened in July. And two weeks ago, my momma and I headed down to Disney World so I could do just that!

Honestly, we had the BEST time! Mom and I haven't been on a vacation with just the two of us since Cancun in 2004. We had a blast! I love spending time with my mom!

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside in one of the Princess Magical Guest Suites (my idea....of course)! Lovelovelove it! We all know how much I freaking love New Orleans and Port Orleans totally reminded me of the Garden District in NOLA.

We stayed at Oak Manor and loved walking along the grounds, along the river and riding the Ferry over to Downtown Disney.

Doesn't it look so peaceful here? We were totally relaxed at Port Orleans!