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Top 10 Strategies to Beat the Post-Disney Blues
There is nothing more magical than a Walt Disney World vacation. As soon as you set foot on property, you feel your worries melt away. The only thing that matters anymore, is making lifelong memories with your family and having FUN! But there is one major downfall to enjoying such a carefree vacation – the POST-DISNEY BLUES. What are the Post-Disney Blues, you ask? Well, the Post-Disney Blues (or Disney Withdrawals) refers to the overwhelming feeling of sadness you experience at the conclusion of your Walt Disney World vacation. The carefree lifestyle you adopted while on vacation is suddenly thrust aside by your very real-life concerns and responsibilities. Gone are…
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Princess and the Frog Dinner Night
This week, we paid homage to the Mardi Gras season by enjoying a Princess and the Frog Dinner Night on Fat Tuesday, itself! Hailing from North Dakota, we see little recognition of the Southern holiday in our area. Admittedly, we unknowingly planned our last Walt Disney World trip (and wedding day) around the holiday and were shocked by how packed the parks were! Lesson learned – Mardi Gras is the REAL DEAL. Since we were married on Fat Tuesday last year and Princess and the Frog is a favorite Disney film in our household, I wanted to pay tribute to Mardi Gras with a Princess and the Frog Dinner Night. …
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Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day as a Family
Happy Valentine’s Day, readers! This week , I’m excited to share with you the different ways we celebrate Valentine’s Day as a family. Valentine’s Day has admittedly been my least favorite holiday I seldom looked forward to. I have always viewed the day as a mainly consumerist holiday, laced with expectations of flowers, chocolates, and obtaining busy restaurant reservations. It’s a lot of pressure! Not to mention EXPENSIVE as well! After working several years in the restaurant industry (and on VERY BUSY Valentine’s Days), I decided I wanted to celebrate this holiday a little differently – and that was at home with my family. Once we started to celebrate Valentine’s…
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Moana Themed Dinner Night
Hello, readers! This week’s Disney Themed Dinner is inspired by one of my MOST FAVORITE Disney movies…Moana! I absolutely adore this film because it features a brave heroine, exciting adventures, fun musical numbers, lots of laughs, and a few tear-jerking moments. These elements create movie success in my book, and I couldn’t wait to create a menu for our Moana Themed Dinner featuring nods to the film and flavors of the Pacific Islands. Download a printable version of our Moana Themed Dinner Menu here: “Mmmm That’s Good Pork!” Pork is a popular meat served in the Pacific Islands. This is referenced in the film as Moana enjoys pork prepared by…
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Lilo and Stitch Themed Dinner
Aloha, readers! While it may be snowy and gloomy here in the Midwest, we aren’t going to let that stop us from having our very own tropical luau for our Lilo and Stitch Themed Dinner! For this week’s Disney Themed Dinner, I am doing things a little differently. Rather than test out new recipes for our themed dinner, I will be using OFFICIAL DISNEY WORLD RECIPES!! These recipes hail from nonother than the Polynesian themed restaurant – ‘Ohana! For those who are unfamiliar with this popular dining spot, ‘Ohana can be found at the Polynesian Village Resort on Disney property. In the morning hours, visitors to the restaurant can enjoy…
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Pirates of the Caribbean Dinner Night
Today, we are taking a trip to the Caribbean to celebrate romanticized pirates and island flavors! During COVID-19 quarantine, we realized an epic parental fail of ours: Our 12-year-old hadn’t seen any of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies! Well, we had nothing but time to turn that around and expose her to all the exciting adventures of the swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow and his band of buccaneers. To celebrate the end of our movie marathon, I decided to create a themed Pirates of the Caribbean Dinner to enjoy while we watched the final film of the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Shipshape Pirate Décor…
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Lion King Dinner Night
Hello readers! Today I want to share with you our latest Themed Disney Dinner…Lion King! The kids have been saying it’s been far too long since we last watched this classic animated film from 1994. While I absolutely LOVE watching the Lion King, it’s always a struggle to hide my ugly crying from the ever-judging eyes of my offspring during *that one* scene. BUT I will suck it up for the sake of my children and this new menu that I’m really excited to try out! Read on to see how we took inspiration from The Lion King to create our very own Lion King Dinner Night! Lion King Dinner…
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Our Star Wars Themed Nursery
Baby Ezra arrived this week on Wednesday, January 13th, 2021. Our little boy decided to come a whole week early! You’d think this ‘experienced’ mom would have been ready, but we most certainly were not. Luckily, everything fell into place quickly, and we were able to add the finishing touches to his nursery in a matter of days after getting home from the hospital. We decided to go with a Star Wars themed nursery for this little Jedi, and I am thrilled with the way it turned out! Through a combination of crafting and DIYs, excellent Star Wars merchandise finds, and savvy shopping on Amazon for outer space-themed products, I’ll…
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Lady and the Tramp Dinner Night
Happy New Year, readers! We kicked off the New Year with another one of our Disney Themed Dinners. The time, we focused on Walt Disney’s beloved film, Lady and the Tramp. The inspiration for our Lady and the Tramp Dinner Night? National Spaghetti Day, of course! This national holiday takes place on January 4th and celebrates one of our favorite noodles and all its glorious sauces. What better way to start a New Year than with a big plate of noodles and sauce?! You can read more about this national holiday at National Day Calendar. Seeing as how Lady and the Tramp enjoy a delicious plate of spaghetti and meatballs…
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Celebrate New Year’s Eve at Home with the Kids
Happy New Year, readers! This past week, we celebrated New Year’s Eve at home with the kids. 2020 has been QUITE a year of ups and downs. While eager to usher in a New Year, I am also grateful for many things that have happened this past year. We were incredibly lucky to take a trip to Disney World before the pandemic hit. While there, I married my best friend in the company of our daughters and enjoyed the trip of a lifetime. Later this year, we also received the joyful news that we would be having our third child (and first boy!). Being quarantined together afforded us the opportunity…
