Wednesday’s stuff, but no nonsense
Congrats to fellow Irish blogger, K8 the GR8 and new hubby TAT on their big day - pop over to K8′s blog and have a look at the kids in their wedding outfits. Adorable.
Stuff to see and do:
Check out Disney 7 member Linda’s fabulous new blog, havealovelytime.com All about travelling with kids, there’s hotel reviews and day trips and a certain guest blogger might even have an Irish hotel review on there soon *cough*
The kids’ vitamin company, Haliborange, has launched a great new website. There’s tons of arty and cooking stuff to do over half term (remember, National Family Week is 25-31st May). I loved the video ’cook-along’ with celebrity chef, Lesley Waters. And for your budding High School Musical stars there’s going to be tutorials from performing arts guru, Sylvia Young! Log on to: www.shinyschool.com .
The All Ireland Food & Drinks Skills Conference is on in Cromleach Lodge, Sligo on Wednesday 20th May 2009, organised by Taste4Success – a day long event on facing challenges and opportunities, promoting products and where to cut costs and differentiate in the Food & Drinks business. If you would like more information click on www.taste4success.ie.
Disney stuff:
After your very own pair of Mickey ears? Don’t miss the My Mickey ears auction - celebrity ears up for grabs – organised by Disney and benefiting Great Ormond Street Hospital. Daisy Lowe’s ones are seriously cute.
Disney scoop: TOY STORY 3 is coming!!!! And it’s in 3D!!!
Recommended:
Thanks to Fairy Non Bio Gel for sending me stuff to test (I’ve had their website running in the background and found the sound of bubbles popping strangely addictive). It came top in my smell test, with Bold 2 in 1 Pomegranate and Orange Blossom a passable runner up, although sometimes I find the tablets don’t dissolve. I’m well on the way to using it up and have to stop myself from sniffing my children as they walk past – they smell gooooood. Oh and I’m loving all that squeezing gel into the lid too – muchos fun.
Other stuff I’m loving:
I’m still after a couple of these:
and one of these (thanks to lovely commenter, Hockeysticks, for the reminder. Thanks also to the very patient Diane at Crann Dair Chicken Rescue for her answers to my exhaustive questioning. In the UK, contact the Battery Hen Welfare Trust.
Elave Hand Wash for my seriously dry, itchy and very gnarly old hands (no wonder I suffered from ‘claw hand’ in all the Disney shots.
Benefit’s Hoola: fab bronzer without the ‘I’ve been tangoed’ effect, and their ‘fake’ foundation Some Kinda Gorgeous - a cream-to-powder type thingy. The lady at the airport put it on me with a brush and I’ve never looked so polished (I usually look like Aunt Sally off Worzel Gummidge).
Coming soon:
Step by step vanilla muffins, news of a brand new cookbook, Lego Duplo sets to giveaway and more stuff from our trip to Disney (altogether now… oooooooh!) x
EDIT: Ooh and just had to add: has anyone seen Peaches Geldof modelling the new ‘Miss Ultimo‘ range? I’m loving the underwear, but check out the serious tattoo action on that girl – she has more body art than the clientele of half Britain’s greasy spoon cafés!
Recycling: so much easier when you have a Bert.
It’s all me me me – again!
I’ve been tagged by two of my fellow Disney 7 girlies: Alice at Dulwich Divorcée and lovely Linda. And as usual, I can’t fight this compulsion to tell people random stuff about myself, sorry:
1. What are your current obsessions? Testing things. I have notebooks everywhere. I’m currently testing Elave handwash and Fairy Non Bio Gel, as well as about ten different moisturisers and five foundations. It’s all in the name of consumer research. Oh, and chickens! My lovely friend Toria has just adopted two ex-battery hens (shown here with Blueness, the greyhound) which has made me ten times worse. I’m driving Hubby absolutely mental with my constant badgering (he loves his lawn and thinks Tesco Free Range are a much cheaper option) but I’ll talk him round – watch this space! Oh,
2. Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often? Jeans, jeans and more jeans. My absolute faves, the Citizens of Humanity skinny jeans that I bought over in the UK last year (obviously shopping while on holiday doesn’t really count) barely get a chance to dry before they’re back on: turned up for (rare) sunny days and with wellies for the boat road and the garden. I heart them.
3. What was your favourite childhood meal? What, I have to name just one? My Mum’s party food at Christmas (that amazing cake made from ginger biscuits soaked in booze, then covered in cream – phwoar!), or my Mum’s jam roly poly, or my Mum’s rice pudding, or my Mum’s roast dinners, or my Mum’s anything really.
4. Last thing you bought? That would have to be 3 Hollister t-shirts, one for each of my fellas, something secret for my Mum, and some pretty pastel spatulas, a Mickey pancake ring and some rather lush Madagascar bourbon vanilla bean paste for me (and a pressie for Jen – don’t tell her). All in The Mall With No End in Florida.
5. What are you listening to? Two TVs competing with each other in an empty house at the moment, but I’m ashamed to say I have Katie Perry’s album in my car, and I like it ‘…the taste of her cherry chapstick…’.
6. If you were a god/goddess who would you be? Oh I don’t know. The goddess of puddings, probably. Her outfit would be a pink sparkly apron showing lots of cleavage, a chef’s hat, a pink whisk in one hand and a cupcake in the other.
7. Favourite holiday spots? Goa, St Lucia and Walt Disney World, obviously: The Grand Floridian is my spiritual home.
8. Reading right now? ‘Devil Bones’ by Kathy Reichs. I’m a sucker for some blood and guts.
9. Four words to describe yourself? Silly, smutty, optimistic and blonde.
10. Guilty pleasure? How long have you got? Pink champagne… a snooze in the afternoon… a cuddle… obsessive texting… a tootle down the boat road with Bert when I should be cleaning, oh and chocolate, obviously.
11. Who or what makes you laugh until you’re weak? The kids. Hubby when he’s being very silly. Jen – during our two hour ‘what did we actually talk about?’ phone chats, oh and the Disney 7.
12. Favourite thing to do? Lie in a huge bubble bath with a cup of tea and a fresh magazine. Bliss.
13. Planning to travel to next? I’d love to say back to Disney ‘en famille’ but my bank manager might say different. Home to visit the folks, probably.
14. Best thing you ate or drank lately? Pomegranate mojitos. And the amazing food at Citricos at the Grand Floridian (more of this later!)
15. When did you last get tipsy? Saturday night – red wine with Hubby, then moving on to Morgan’s Spiced Rum chasers. Ohhhhh dear.
16. Favourite ever film? Oh, I have loads. ‘An Affair to Remember’ is probably my all-time favourite, although you can’t beat Pretty Woman – I’ve seen it a gazillion times, oh and Dirty Dancing… or what about Top Gun? I’ll stop now.
17. Care to share some wisdom? ”Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city’, George Burns
18. Song you can’t get out of your head? A Whole New World (and not the Katie Price and Peter André version – the proper Disney one).
19. What one object would you save from a housefire? A child or two. And maybe a lanky greyhound. Sorry, I can’t choose.
20. What is your aim in life? Happiness. And occasional bouts of laughing until you cry.
Over to you, then: answer one, answer them all. Just tell me something I don’t know about you. Go on, then.
Walt Disney World: Day three – pancake mountains and speechless bloggers
Okly dokly then. Back to Disney, where day 3 dawned bright and sparkly and found us tootling off to the Disney Boardwalk to have al-fresco breakfast at Spoodles. Rather lush Mediterranean fare can be found at this friendly establishment (hearing me chortling about hidden Mickeys, the staff very kindly presented me with my very own blue Mickey pin – I was choked, I can tell you). We were presented with loads of free taster plates, such as the lovely flatbreads (think thin pizza with lovely fresh toppings), and fruit platters, but eventually discounting the French toast and the full cooked breakfast, I gamely forced down a veritable MOUNTAIN of pancakes, with crispy bacon and maple syrup:
Off in the bloggerbus, then, to the amazingly beautiful Disney Grand Floridian. Modelled on the famous Chateau Marmont (Marilyn Monroe’s fave hangout, doncherknow). Driving up to this absolutely amazing resort, we were stunned into uncharacteristic silence (I wrote simply ‘wow’ in my notebook):
The Floridian is surrounded by a beautiful man-made lake, nestling across from the eye-watering white sand beach (guests can take out one of the resort speedboats if they feel the need for some privacy – no, really):
The spa is not only jaw-droppingly beautiful, but has a wide range of wondrous treatments as well as a gym if you absolutely insist on getting sweaty when you should be relaxing:
…where, having regaled (and slightly nauseated) each other with various motley spa stories (I shared the deeply in-depth double-boob-massage I experienced in Goa), and collapsed into snorty giggles again after a totally ridiculous ten minutes of complementary flip-flop swapping, we were swept away to various different treatment rooms where we oohed and ahhhed a happy hour away being pummeled into submission (or, in my case, being the only one that chose a facial, having my ‘congestion extracted’ – not pretty, I can tell you, but I glowed afterwards).
Stumbling blinking, and slightly greasily, into the dazzling sunshine once again, we stopped to cop a quick cheeky look at the wedding chapel (RANDOM DISNEY FACT: more than 2,600 couples get married at Walt Disney World every year) where Cinderella’s glass coach and powdery wigged footmen were in attendance:
And to have a good cackle when Laura pointed out that one of them had a rather-unDisney, porn-star bushy black moustache (sadly he was facing away from me). Oh, and we just had to grab a quick photo-op underneath the shady palms of the luscious white sandy beach:
Rather than ‘blogger down!’, this one was ‘blogger is running away and hiding so she never has to leave’. Tell you what, if I ever win the lottery, you’ll find me ensconced, counting my money, at the Grand Floridian and no mishtake. Off to the Grand Floridian Café for lunch, then, I was tempted by the pan-roasted Tilapia (sp?), just because I’d never heard of it, but settled in that ‘stomach thinks your throat’s been cut’ way that having something virtuous like a facial always makes me feel, for this little beauty:
…herb marinated chicken breast with cold smoked vine ripened tomatoes, cheddar, pesto mayonnaise and rocket, served on warm ciabatta. Oh and I had chips but Linda pinched them all.
The afternoon brought our first glimpse of The Magic Kingdom (more later!) where we caught our first jaw-dropping sight of Cinderella’s Castle, and sizzled, in a particularly white-skinned, European fashion, in the roasting sun :
(MORE RANDOM DISNEY FACTS: did you know that the Cinderella Castle is a whopping 189ft high and held together by 600 tons of steel? And did you also know that there are mice carved down the side of the castle? Thought not.) Oh and that’s Walt (brain not cryogenically frozen) Disney there in front of the castle.
Anyhoo, I defy even the most stone-hearted not to catch their breath. The thing is enormous. We amble past little shops, ice cream parlours and little bibbidi bobbidied princesses to whiz round some rides (nope – I’m not spilling – this is a food post – you’ll have to wait for the rides) and settled eventually at Tony’s at Toon Town Square (remember the little Italian restaurant from Lady and the Tramp?). Our waiter, the lovely Casey, makes us all feel like stars by taking the details of all our blogs (or alternatively, perhaps he was worried about what we’d write). Of course, I just had to order the spaghetti and meatballs, but Erica and Lulu completely spoiled it by refusing to do the spaghetti sharing thing with me. Party poopers.
How the hell is an atheist supposed to get blessed round here anyway?
*WARNING: The following is quite ranty in nature. If you’re allergic to any form of ranting, especially ranting that is a bit religious in nature, I suggest you run away screaming right now.*
So the blessing is hurtling towards us at frightening speed. Just yesterday it was a whole year away and now it’s a mere matter of months until a large proportion of Englishes stuff themselves into a plane and descend upon our little smelly cow-poo spattered corner of Cavan expecting to engage in the usual church/piss-up/dance/fall over type of wedding celebrations. And I don’t know if it’s the jet lag, or the post-Florida depression that seems to have set in amongst the entire gang of ‘Disney 7′ bloggers, but I’m not looking forward to it quite as much as I was before.
Young Trendy Protestant Vicar came to visit Hubby and the kids while I was away. This is the vicar who oversees the services-once-a-month-if-you’re-lucky Church of Ireland church just the other side of the lane to us. It’s a teeny weeny pretty little stone church which has nestled in the same spot, squished in a field between our lane and the boat road since the famine, and is so teeny and so nestly that we’d lived here about 6 months before we even realised it existed. We thought it would make a lovely place to have our blessing thingy.
This visit was arranged after we’d already made arrangements to have our wedding blessed acknowledged at the Catholic church up on the hill. Stern Catholic Priest (who recognised us after we’d attended the gazillion ‘stand up, sit down, kneel down, now get up again’ funeral/laying to rest/interment/month’s mind masses after C died – and who I bump into at least once a week up at her grave but still never smiles at me) said he’d think about doing us a mass, BUT he couldn’t possibly do us a blessing (adopt face like sucking lemon) or renew our vows (look aghast and make eyes a little bulgy) as we were protestants (spit word out like vile tasting medicine) that were married in a registry office (change expression to one of extreme constipation). This did not bode well.
Bugger him, then, we said, having discovered the existence of the little Church of Ireland church over in the field, we’ll go there instead. I pass the congregation occasionally whilst walking the dog and they seem nice. Sadly, there’s a catch. It seems that in order to avail of its services, we actually have to go to church. Regularly. Apparently Hubby made noises to the effect that he might not actually be a regular church goer, and Young Trendy Vicar made noises back to the effect that if he didn’t see us in church we could wave goodbye to a pretty little stone-churched blessing. Shit.
Here’s the really ranty bit:
I mean, why is all this God stuff so complicated? Why can’t you just have a big pretty church-like place to celebrate happy family stuff in, headed by some guy who stands at the front and who everybody listens to, without actually having to say you believe in something that you don’t and that people don’t blame when stuff goes wrong (like 9/11 – apparently God can’t stop that sort of stuff happening) and praise when stuff goes right ‘I won the lottery! It was God’s will’ (no, it was 6 numbers and a bonus ball in the right order, you berk). I mean, I’m a good person. Okay I swear like a trooper, have a slightly smutty sense of humour and drink a bit too much Merlot, but I love my family and my friends (I’ve even got a Catholic best friend, for goodness sake – Jen, step forward and take a bow), I’ve never murdered anyone as far as I know, and I don’t think I covet anything (although I’m not exactly sure what that means).
So where does this leave us? I mean, blimey, we’ve got to do something remotely organised to recognise that we managed to actually stay together for fifteen whole years, for pity’s sake. Some sort of organised collection of people standing together and actually acknowledging this huge accomplishment.
Maybe we should all dress up in our glad rags, stand in the cow field and shout ‘THANK F*CK FOR THAT!’ and then all troop off to the pub. Or maybe we should go back to Walt Disney World. I bet you don’t have to be bloody religious to get married there.
DISCLAIMER: I’m really sorry if I have offended anyone that believes in God whilst writing this post. I’m very happy and delighted for you that you believe in God, it’s just that I don’t. Get over it.
The Thursday AND Friday Photos: Dining at Disney – foodie photo alert!!!
So I thought rather than bore you to death with one big huge enormous Walt Disney World post, I’d break it down for you into more manageable bits (I’m good like that). Today, then, is part one of the reason that I came back from Disney looking 6 months pregnant (no, don’t get excited, Mum). I suppose a common preconception about visiting Disney (maybe even America in general) is that you’re going to have to survive on a fast food diet of chips, burger and pizza. But seriously, nothing is further from the truth. In fact, when our happy band of bloggers did happen to pass a rather enormous McDonalds in the bloggerbus, we were all begging Sarah (our very own Disney Mary Poppins) to let us stop. Happily, she had far nicer stuff in store for us:
First night, then, saw us wandering along Disney’s beautiful Boardwalk area, still dazed from our amazing upgraded flight (never EVER been upstairs in a plane before) and the fact that it was now 1am back home. The Boardwalk is a beautiful recreation of a 1940s seaside resort, where we walked, further dazzled by the beautiful lights twinklingly reflected in the water, into the stunning and very classy Flying Fish Café. We were even more gobsmacked when we found that Disney had created a restaurant menu just for us:
We started with cocktails (I had a Bay Breeze) and the chef brought us a little ‘amuse bouche’ of spiced seared tuna with a ‘carrot-coconut infusion’ (me neither but it was lubly) topped with sturgeon caviar (yellow and green – how do the Sturgeon do that?). I adored the caviar – I love the way it pops on your tongue. I tell you, thoughts of burgers were now seriously melting away:
We moved onto our appetisers. I chose beautifully tender crispy sesame and togarashi scented calamari, served with spiced green papaya (amazing) and an Asian dipping sauce. For entrées (no mains here, baby) the choice was vast – from fresh yellowfin tuna… scallops… red snapper… I went for a beautiful piece of oak-grilled North Atlantic salmon with puy lentils and American Sturgeon caviar which was fabulous, and in my eagerness to stuff it into my face, I actually forgot to take a picture of it. I did, though take a pic (and a couple of generously proffered forkfuls – I think it was the fact that I was drooling on her shoulder that did it) of Jane‘s beautiful hand harvested Maine scallops with a pea, Pecorino, basil and mascarpone laced risotto and weird triffid things. It tasted even better than it looked:
Too stuffed for desserts, we staggered back to our beautiful Beach Club Resort for a well earned rest.
Up bright and early to breakfast with Minnie, Goofy and Donald (more of this later). I actually still feel stuffed from the night before so settle for a reasonably ‘light’ breakfast of Mickey waffles with fruit, ignoring the vast array of bacon, sausages, fried potatoes, grits, yoghurts, and even desserts such as cobblers and crumbles:
Quick DISNEY FACT here: all around Walt Disney World there are what’s known as ‘hidden Mickeys’. There are even proper ‘hidden Mickey’ nerds that make it their life’s work to know where they all are. We spotted a couple, including a Mickey-shaped rivet in a manhole cover and a Mickey-shaped electricity pylon (no, honestly). This, obviously caused me to collapse in a heap laughing every time somebody mentioned it. Why? Because in Ireland a Mickey is another name for a man’s erm… oh, you know. And ‘hidden Mickey’ has all sorts of connotations to my filthy brain which prompted the snorting. Sorry…
Off in the bloggerbus (or ovenbus as it became known) to Typhoon Lagoon (more of this later too), then to Downtown Disney (you guessed it – more later), where we have an absolutely amazing cob salad in the Earl of Sandwich. I’ve never had one before, but it’s a rather delicious combination of chicken, cranberries, chunks of cheddar and masses of mixed leaves, all doused in a lovely dressing. See, even the takeouts are scrummy.
The evening found us hurling ourself upside down on various rides at Walt Disney’s Hollywood Studios Resort (sorry, but I’m going to have to keep saying ‘more of this later’) where we dined at the spectacular Hollywood Brown Derby, a pretty good approximation of the original Brown Derby, frequented by the stars and decorated with signed caricatures (I spotted Bette Davis’s and Fred Astaire’s).
The service, as usual, was impeccable: friendly, helpful, discreet and informative. The steaks were absolutely amazing (I think most of us ordered one):
Again, no room for dessert, but obviously we squeezed in a quick cocktail (made by the crappest cocktail waiter in the world, the lovely Craig, who took so long making our cocktails (checking his recipe every ten seconds), that we missed our showing of Fantasmic. In fact, as one of my fellow bloggers pointed out, this photo looks misleadingly like he was moving at speed. He wasn’t.
Instead, we retired back to our resort, Walt Disney’s Beach Club, to down more mojitos and get all sillly and giggly. Poor Sarah started to look vaguely scared, especially when a competition to see who could say motherf*cker the fastest got into full swing. We retire to bed a little tired and emotional (it’s the jet lag you see).
So that’s my first two days, then. But brace yourself, you’ve got the other five to come, plus roundups of the main resorts, plus the parks, Disney’s Dining Plan, prices, packages, some amazing Disney facts and some rather wondrous exclusive Disney scoops.
Here’s a final DISNEY FACT to keep you on your toes: Walt Disney’s brain is widely held to be kept in a secret location, cryogenically frozen. This is a load of horse poo. He was just buried like everybody else. See, you’re gagging for more now, I can tell….
Oh Mickey you’re so fine….
So there we were. Fresh from the V-lounge at Gatwick where we drank complementary Innocent smoothies and nibbled free pastries. Child-free for an entire week. Sipping champagne. Nestled in our comfy seats with the pull-out footrest and the flip-out video screen. Our seats on the top deck of the Virgin Atlantic plane. In premium economy (oh yes, dahling, Disney upgraded us). Well, dear reader, we completely lost the plot. There was giggling. And quite a lot of ‘oh my God’, some snorty laughter, but mostly giggling.
So you know the story – bunch of ordinary extraordinary Mummy bloggers get invited on trip-of-a-lifetime to Walt Disney World where they stay in Deluxe Disney Resorts, visit all the others, get VIP tours round all the parks, sample all the best Disney restaurants and hobnob with the likes of Mickey and Daisy…
It happened. It really did. But it was actually better than that. My fellow bloggers were kind, sweet, ridiculously funny and raving alcoholics to boot. We had the time of our lives. I will bore you to death with this in more intricate nauseatingly mind-numbing detail, but I’ll leave you, for now, with my Disney top-ten moments:
- Finding out that just because you go to Disney you don’t have to eat burgers and fries. I didn’t eat a burger the whole time. I ate meltingly tender steaks… the sweetest scallops… the crispest, spiciest calamari… the freshest red snapper… the most sumptuous desserts… oh I could go on. Well, I actually will go on. Just give me time.
- Rediscovering the ability to actually be a bit of a kid again: I danced. I ate until I felt sick. I screamed on roller coasters. I ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhhed’ at lions and giraffes. I nearly wet my pants laughing when Laura fell over in the bus (‘blogger down!’). I got completely involved in American Idol and screeched like a lunatic when my favourite won. I got kissed by Chip ‘n’ Dale. I swam in azure waters. I laughed until I cried (in fact, I snorted uncontrollably, but that was because Linda was present).
- My first glimpse of the Grand Floridian Hotel. There are no superlatives. They have speedboats on the lake for the guests. No, really.
- Bursting into spontaneous tears watching the ‘Wishes’ firework display at The Magic Kingdom. And I wasn’t the only one.
- Rushing up to a couple of newlyweds wearing ‘Groom’ and ‘Bride’ Mickey ears and asking to take their photos (I have no shame). Evidence to follow.
- Visiting the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique where little girls can get a full Disney princess makeover (and later stumbling upon miniature princesses resplendent in full princess regalia tootling around the parks with their parents).
- Sitting in total wonderment as a roomful of little kids sit in front of an aquarium and have a real conversation with Crush from ‘Finding Nemo’ – he answers their questions and everything!!! Awesome, Dude.
- Resisting the urge to dive fully clothed into the enormous Melt-Away Bay – one whole acre of turquoise loveliness, complete with a rockin’ wave machine.
- Taking part in some really extreme hotel testing: this involved cutting myself shaving (it was a bit of a gusher) and not knowing what to do with my bloody towels (blood’s just not really that Disney is it?) and leaving them piled in the bath like some sort of serial killer; Laura exploding a bottle of coke, sending sticky fountains of spray over our fellow Beach Club guests; Alice causing the coffee machine to sponaneously combust and coating her entire room in a fine layer of coffee and Linda nearly killing an entire family of chino-clad American guests with her toppling suitcase (they went over like dominos which was, of course, not in the remotest bit amusing).
- Finding ourselves so totally and utterly dependent on the wondrous Sarah (or Mary Poppins as she became known) to the extent that whenever we found ourselves without her we were unable to function. Once, she stopped in the middle of the road to take a call and we all immediately ground to a halt next to her – risking life and limb like a band of happy lemmings. What will we do now we no longer have Sarah to shuffle along behind in a tight arrowhead formation?
Ah, happy memories. And much more to come. No, come back, I’ve only just started…
