Honeymoon in My Hometown: Walt Disney World

I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to jump on the bandwagon with this Bee Series.  I live in Atlanta and I've spent a lot of time in Boston, but I wouldn't really consider either my hometown.  I grew up in South Florida, but I wouldn't know what to write about because I haven't lived there in years!  So, I decided to focus on a place where I've spent a lot of time in my life: Walt Disney World.  Here's the catch: we're not gonna set foot inside the parks!

Source

Obviously, I love the parks.  But one of the great things about Disney is that the magic doesn't end at Space Mountain and ice cream bars.  Resort-hopping is one of my favorite things to do at Disney because it allows you to be immersed in the magic without having to deal with the crowds.  Best of all, the resorts are all about the details falling into place under a broader theme...sound familiar? ;) Let's start with my personal favorite, shall we?

Disney's BoardWalk

Source

The moment you walk through the hotel's doors, you'll feel as though you've stepped back in time.  The Boardwalk is designed to look like something out of early 1900s Atlantic City or Coney Island.  The resort includes the main hotel and several small villas set on a lake.  And yes, there is an actual boardwalk!  Give into nostalgia as you play carnival games and take pictures in an old fashioned photo booth.  Grab some tasty hummus at Spoodles, or if you're looking for something a little more gourmet, try the Flying Fish Cafe.  One of the things that separates Boardwalk from other resorts is the nightlife.  Catch the game at ESPN, grab some beer at Big River Grille and Brewing Works or...

Source

...hit up the Atlantic Dance Hall for some clubbing!  If you do feel like going to the parks, EPCOT is within walking distance.

Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

Source

This is not your typical Disney resort.  Imagine waking up in a rustic, wood-framed bed.  You glance above at the African masks that line the walls.  You get up, walk over to the window to greet the day and OH HI GIRAFFE!  Yep, the Animal Kingdom Lodge sits on about 30 acres of savanna.  It depends on the time and the weather, but you're likely to see all sorts of beautiful animals just outside your window.  If you're looking for a better guarantee for wildlife sightings, you can cozy up with your fellow newlywed aboard the Sunset Safari.  This tour is pretty much the closest thing you can get to an actual safari without going to Africa.  You'll tour the savanna for 1.5 hours and learn all about the vegetation, the landscape, and animals like these guys:

 Source

The dining experience is also quite unique.  We have a pretty good mix of international cuisine in Atlanta, but even then, a good African restaurant is hard to come by!  For exotic and intimate dining, check out Jiko.  Or, if you're feeling adventurous and want to try a variety of smokey and spicy dishes, check out the buffet at Boma.  Even though it's a family-friendly place, even the tables for two fill up fast so recommendations are highly recommended!  Finish up your night with some live music at the Sunset Lounge.

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

Source

From unconventional Disney, to Disney at it's most traditional form.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  This place is just STUNNING.  If you're looking for a fancy, upscale, absolutely luxurious honeymoon, this is it.  The Grand comes with tennis courts, its own beach, monorail service to and from Magic Kingdom, and yes, there is a spa.  Bonus points if you're honeymooning during the holiday season because guess what?  There's a life-sized gingerbread house in the lobby:

Source

You can walk over to the Wedding Pavilion and reminisce about your recent nuptials, or relax in your Honeymoon Suite's jacuzzi.  For romantic dining at its finest, check out Victoria and Albert's.


Disney's Contemporary Resort

Source

This one isn't really my style, but I wanted to share it with you because of a few fabulous highlights.  First of all, the actual hotel rooms are among the largest of all the Disney resorts.  Secondly, you could not pick a better location.  The monorail will take you to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, but it also goes by the Polynesian Resort and The Grand.  Additionally, you can take a boat to Fort Wilderness Lodge.  With all of these hot spots at your fingertips, it's easy to participate in something my cousins call "The Monorail Pub Crawl!"  But that's another post for another day.

Since the Contemporary Resort sits on the lagoon, it offers lots of recreational options such as parasailing and fishing.  My favorite thing to do at The Contemporary is eat at the California Grille.  Why?  The view is unparalleled.

Source

Disney's Fort Wilderness

Source

Fort Wilderness just screams Classic Disney to me.  It's Disney at its roots...think Davey Crockett!  The lodge (shown above) is beautiful, but the resort doesn't stop there.  Fort Wilderness also offers cabins, tents, and sites for RV parking, making it perfect for honeymooners who are willing to rough it!

My favorite part of Fort Wilderness is Hoop Dee Doo, the musical revue held at Pioneer Hall.  Sure, it's a little touristy, but it makes for good people-watching and the show is fun!  Plus it's all you can eat...and all you can drink.  Mmm sangria...

Mr. Lion hoop-dee-doo-ing after some serious sangria

That concludes the romantic and resort-y Disney tour!  Are any of you planning on honeymooning at Disney?

Then & Now: Lioness Edition

At first glance, it doesn't look like much has changed with me since high school.  I still like baseball, I still like to dance, and I am still physically unable to get a tan.  Oh and, of course, I was a Disney geek...even in 1999.

{I'm so sorry, Sister Lioness!}

Yikes.  Shall we move on to post-braces days?  Good.  Glad we're in agreement.

When you take a closer look, though, I have changed quite a bit.  Sure, I'm still the same goofy gal, but I like that gal a lot more now than I did back then.  It's the age-old cliche: I was an insecure and angst-ridden teen, then I found myself, now I'm a confident adult.  But it's true.  Over the years, I've learned to embrace my quirks.  Some of my oddest qualities are now among my favorite and because of this, I've learned to befriend people who feel the same way and move past those who don't.

My views on love have evolved as I have.  I've always known that I wanted to get married.  I've always known that I wanted to be a bride and to have a big wedding, but more importantly, I've always wanted to fall in love.  Papa Lioness always told me that the only man deserving of that love was someone who "treated me like a princess and as an intellectual equal."  One high school boyfriend treated me like a princess, though the equality department was lacking a bit.  My feminist side didn't put up with that too well, so when he moved away to college, I welcomed the opportunity to end the relationship and move on.  I started dating my second high school boyfriend, who met the other of my dad's criteria.  He respected my intelligence, but didn't exactly treat me like a princess.

But the thing about feeling insecure and growing into yourself is that you'd rather be in a sub-par relationship than be alone.  I stayed in each of these relationships for far longer than I should have.  I settled, because at least that meant I had a boyfriend.  In hindsight, now that I'm older and wiser, I needed to love myself independently before I could find someone who deserved me according to my dad's criteria.  So, I was single for a while, "found myself," and grew up.  Then, under the inspiration of The Great Carrie Bradshaw, I added a new criterion to my dad's list: to find someone who loved the me that I loved.  Once I loved myself, love found me.

Mr. Lion consistently treats me like a princess, and as an intellectual equal.  But most of all, he loves me for me.  He loves every one of my stupid quirks, good and bad.  I think the same holds true for friendships, too.  I keep in touch with very few people from high school, but it's definitely quality over quantity.  Three of my best friends from high school are in our wedding party.  We've all grown so much over the years, but our friendships have evolved along with us.

Lion Gman Dan then and now...he's still much taller than I am.

Lioness Bmaid Laura then (in costume for a school wrestling match)

and now (in costume as Ariel & Supergirl)

Lioness Bmaid Sara all glammed up for Homecoming then,

and still fabulous now.

And to bring things full circle (and to make it up to Sister Lioness), here's a more recent Disney shot...with some improved head gear:

{all personal photos}

How have you changed since high school? How have your outlooks on love and friendship changed?

Secret Life of Bees: Lioness Edition

I've loved reading all of the quirky and embarrassing and fabulous stories that other Bees have shared throughout this series.  When I decided to jump on the bandwagon, I had trouble deciding what to write about, and not because I couldn't think of a quirk...I've just kinda been sharing them all along!  I've been totally honest about my Disney obsession, I haven't hidden my Gators or Red Sox fanaticisms, I've even talked about how I wear nothing but JCrew but listen to nothing but reggae!  So, instead of talking about my abnormalities, I thought I'd talk about my normal side.  Let's discuss something I rarely talk about on here: my job.

I'm very passionate about being a physical therapist.  During my final year of school, I had the incredible opportunity to take that passion abroad.  My program sent 10 of us (along with 3 instructors) to Las Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro, a long-term acute care hospital in Antigua, Guatemala.  This hospital not only treats patients with acute illnesses and injuries, it serves as a home to many residents.  Many of these residents are children who have been abandoned or orphaned.

Guatemala has a very high incidence of cerebral palsy (and similar neurological conditions) due to poor prenatal and neonatal care.  We were able to bring down lots of donated equipment to give to this population.  We also worked with the local physical therapists to develop sustainable treatment programs.  For example, we taught the local PTs how to make hand splints to help open up clenched fists.

This hand used to be closed shut due to spasticity.

In addition to teaching, we also learned a lot working with this patient population.  And we had a lot of fun, too!

{photos cropped to protect patient privacy}

We were also fortunate enough to learn about the beautiful country of Guatemala.

We even had a little time to play tourist!

At a market with my PT School BFFs (who are now readers in our wedding ceremony), and...

...climbing an active volcano!

{all personal photos}

It was such an amazing trip.  It was so incredibly rewarding, and I learned things that I take to my practice every day.  If any of you have an interest in doing some kind of a service trip, whether abroad or in your own country, I strongly encourage you to go for it!  You'll end up with a life-changing experience.

A Bee's Life: Lioness Edition

How did I find Weddingbee?
Mr. Lion and I had been engaged for about, um, two days when I got a phone call from some random company telling me that I had won a FULL SET OF COOKINGWARE AND THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO OBLIGATION TO BUY OMG SO EXCITING!  Naturally, I was skeptical.  If you have to say "no obligation to buy," there's usually an obligation to buy!  Just sayin'.  However, I do have a soft spot for kitchen toys cooking, so I decided to Google this company before writing it off completely.

The Weddingbee Boards were the first hit.  According to a post on this message board, this company was part of some kind of bridal scam.  I read through and found all sorts of unbiased opinions about this and other scams.  I appreciated the honesty, but what really drew me in was the sass.  One post on this board topic said something along the lines of, "No!  They're definitely not a scam!  I went to the meeting at that hotel by the airport and I got a free set of cookware AND THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO OBLIGATION TO BUY OMG SO EXCITING!"  As you can imagine, the posts following this one exposed the fraud.  "Clearly, you work for them sooo take your nonsense somewhere else," and responses like this caught my attention.  These gals had moxie.  They had spunk.  They had...personality.

But, I moved to Boston for my three-month clinical affiliation, Mr. Lion and I did the long-distance thing for a little bit, and wedding planning was put on the back burner.  I put those sassy girls and their fun wedding-related comments out of my mind and moved on to other things...like teaching people how to walk after they get a liver transplant!  Okay, okay, so I didn't put wedding planning out of my mind completely.  There was still some brainstorming going on.  The first true wedding-related idea I had was that I wanted a DIY photobooth, a fauxtobooth if you will.  One day, I was on the phone with Mama Lioness and I was trying to explain the concept to her.  She's such a visual learner, I thought it would be easier if I had a visual aid to convey my vision.  So, I Googled it.  Mrs. Avocado's post just so happened to pop up!  I saw that little bee logo and instantly recognized the site.  Well hello again, old friend!  Weddingbee was bookmarked and brainstorming officially turned into planning.

My Application Story:
I've always loved to write, and I'd had a cooking blog for a little while, so I felt like I was at least on my way to "finding my voice."  At first, I didn't think I would be able to smoothly transition from food blogger to wedding blogger because I was afraid I would run out of things to talk about.  As we got deeper into our engagement, however, I found that all I talked about were weddings!  I knew I just had to be a part of this community so that I could share my ideas and give back for all they had given me.  I counted down the days until I was eight months away from our wedding, started up a wedding blog for the sole purpose of applying, and decided to close my eyes and leap.

Sister Lioness started to read Weddingbee recently, too (probably because I talk about it so much).  She's not wedding planning (though she is MOH in the Lioness wedding!), but she appreciates the DIY projects, the witty writing, and the sense of community throughout the Hive.  She'll text me things like "Did you see what Stripes posted today?!  Her DIY projects are amazing!" and "Haha!  Starfish and Sister Starfish remind me of us!"  I didn't want to tell her when I applied to blog because I didn't want to have to tell her that I got rejected.  Well, I didn't have to!  I got that beautiful email from Pengy and just texted Sister Lioness with "Mrs. Penguin thinks I would be a great addition to Weddingbee."  Squealing ensued.

On Being a Weddingbee Blogger:
I'm not gonna lie, it's hard work!  I write as often as I can, though not as often as I'd like to.  You know what though?  It's so worth it.  I love every second of it.  Every comment I get just makes my day!  I really appreciate all of the feedback and all of the ideas.  I feel so ridiculously lucky that I became a Bee as early on as possible; it's like I get to go into overtime with you guys!  You, Hive, are shaping my wedding journey so much and I am so appreciative for that.

The best advice I can offer for those thinking of applying to blog is to "bee yourself."

Source

The posts that I write while I'm in a goofy mood are the posts that receive the most comments.  Y'all seem to like me for who I am, and I'm sure this community would be no different for any of you!  So write in a way that reflects who you are and be proud of it.  Even if it's a little quirky at times.

Whew!  Did you read that whole thing?!  Did it put you to sleep?!?!  I know Lion Corgi's wiped out...

{personal photo...please excuse Mr. Lion's 5:00 shadow}