Life in the Lowcountry's 10 Ways to Save for Disney

The biggest question I get from friends and family members when we go on our Disney vacations is, "how do you afford it?" The answer is easy and I wanted to share...

Okay, so the first may sound silly but it is beyond true. One - Officially book your trip! Once you put down your $200 deposit the trip gets real. Sounds silly doesn't it? What I mean is, book your deposit, whether it be on a credit card, Disney gift card, or if you have an extra $200 in your bank account. 

We live paycheck to paycheck and the thought of $200 out of thin air isn't realistic. We have a mortgage, tuition, car payments, etc. What we do is put down our deposit by saving a little here and there or on a credit card. Once the trip is booked and you have an official date, the savings get real, and quick. You somehow realize that you don't need to eat out on the weekends as much as you did, because that $60 you would have spent on dinner can go towards your vacation. Eating lunch on a daily basis averages around $7.50 per day. That's $37.50 per week and $150 per month - that's one heck of a payment towards your vacation! Once we booked I've done nothing but bring meals from home. Leftovers from the dinner before and by doing that I've already paid $60 towards our trip this Fall. It's crazy how quickly it adds up!

Two - Disney has promotions and great discounts - use them! Last year we saved around $1000 by getting all of our food for free. It was such an amazing feeling saving that much money for my family by making one simple phone call. Free Dining is never guarantee'd, but they have offered it the past ten years so hopefully it will be back for 2015 *fingers crossed*. Even if Free Dining isn't a current promotion, they often have different discounts to offer, such as a percentage off your package or a room discount. These things add up to save you hundreds of dollars. The best advice I can give is to join a Disney Vacation FaceBook group or groups. There are tons to choose from. My family personally travels in the Fall, so I joined a few vacation pages that are focused towards that time of year. Just type in the search bar and you'll find hundreds of groups. I know it can seem a bit nerdy, but I would have never heard about free dining last year had I not joined. I'll be a nerd if it means saving money!

Ahh, the Disney Dining Plan - my favorite. You get one Quick Service, one Table Service and one Snack, per person, per night of your trip. It's a lot of food and it's all delicious. You also get free Disney Resort mugs when you check in and can get free refills throughout  your entire trip, as much as you want, at any Disney resort. 

See those mugs Tarl and Cadence are holding? This was at Animal Kingdom Lodge, which was not our resort. We wanted to venture out one day and see the different resorts and it was nice knowing we could fill up at any resort, not just our own. Drinks at Disney are not cheap, so having these mugs to refill at no cost and getting them as a souvenir was great, and such a great bonus to the dining plan.

We tallied up our total of what it would have cost us in drinks alone had we had to pay, and it was over $200, that's crazy! - but again, it was included in the dining plan and thus, free!

Which brings me to three - if you only eat enough to keep a bird alive, don't get the dining plan!

Eating is part of the experience for us. The character meals and fun ambiance is wonderful and something we look forward to every day. It's not only a fun thing to do, but it's also great to just sit down and relax after being in the parks. I cannot stress enough how essential the dining plan is for our family, but again, that is for our family. We used our snacks for breakfast, our quick service credits for lunch and our Table Service meals for dinner, but you can switch it up to suit you and your families needs. There are some days we have our Table Service as a breakfast. That's the great thing about the dining plan, it's up to you on how you want to use it. 

For our trip this Fall, since we're staying for 8 nights, we will get

8 Table Service meals per person 

8 Quick Service Meals per person

8 Snacks per Person 

However, if you are used to only eating a lite snack and then a dinner, the dining plan isn't for you. It's a lot of food and if you don't eat a lot and do not use all of your dining credits, it's pointless and a waste of money. My mother in law and sister in law went a week before we did last year. They hardly ate at sit down meals and would order a pizza that would last them two days. It's not for them and that's OK. Again, you need to do what fits your families needs. My family will not go without the dining plan.

We saved every receipt from our meals, including snacks. If we would have had to pay out of pocket for all the food we got it would have been $1,500+, again we got it for free! Love the dining plan!

Another question we got was, "is the food good?"

 The answer is simple - yes! And these aren't even half of our meals. 

The great thing about Disney is they care a lot about what their clientele thinks so if something isn't up to par, let them know and not only will they resolve the issue, they will make it better. The mashed potatoes one night were on the colder side, not only did my waiter send it back, he brought me hot mashed potatoes and double the size - amazing!

Four - Disney Gift Cards, buy them, buy them, buy them!

Every time I have some extra cash and am standing in line at Target, I grab a $25 Disney Gift card, Tarl does the same. Granted, this is not every time we shop there, because like I said before we live paycheck to paycheck and some times $25 isn't available, but when it is, we buy them! The other day while standing in line at Target with a tutu in hand (for Cadence's dance class), I was skimming through the magazines, searching for a pack of gum, and there I saw the gift cards. I snatched up a $25 Disney card and bought it. It's now sitting in my wallet waiting to be spent in September. I told Tarl my idea and he said it wasn't bad. He walked into Home Depot on Saturday to grab some light bulbs for the house, came out to the car where I was waiting and handed me a $25 Disney Gift Card. 

See what I mean, we just booked our trip and already have $50 in spending money for when we get there. Whether the money be spent on souvenirs, the Halloween Party, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or whatever, it's paid for with gift cards and takes a weight off my shoulders without having to worry about how much money I have in my bank account when we go. 

Five - buy merchandise before your trip!

If you have a child anything like my daughter, then they want stuff, but again, what child doesn't? Disney merchandise isn't cheap, but it is double, sometimes triple the price in the parks. Cadence loves dressing up in Disney dresses and dresses in the park are beyond our budget. I've always purchased her dresses prior and we pack them on the trip. It seems trivial, but it's a great way to save. For Christmas 2013, she got her Belle dress which was $60 off the Disney website - I saw the same dress in the parks for $110! Disney t-shirts in the park start at $30, you can get similar tees at Target and Walmart starting at $4!

I knew Cadence would want some pajamas while there. That girl loves new PJs and mama and daddy didn't have money to spend every day for new PJs, so Tinkerbell left her new PJs every night of the trip. Tinkerbell found them at Walmart, on sale, for $5!

These are her favorite and she still wears this nightgown 3x a week!

Christmas 2014, Santa brought her a Little Mermaid dress for around $40. In the parks you're looking at around $80! Remember, every little bit adds up which brings me to six - don't spend beyond your means.

This is a tough one, because what parent doesn't want to get everything their child wants? Case in point - Cadence really wanted to do Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique last year and have a princess makeover with the works. That package starts at $200. wow!

We have taken Cadence to Disney twice before and we give her the option,  you can go to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or get a special prize each day. The last two times she has chose the daily prize. We financially cannot afford both. Honestly they both equal out to the same so it's one or the other. 

Last night we asked her again, and she said this time she's going to choose BBB instead of the daily prize. I figured as much. She's at that age where everything is princesses and makeup - who can blame the girl? Who doesn't want to be a princess?!

Some times you have to make choices like that. It doesn't mean that she won't get any souvenirs this trip, it just means she won't get one every single day. If you don't have the extra money, don't feel bad. You're in Disney, and you've taken your family to Disney, that in itself is more than enough. Any extras are just that. 

FYI - if you want to do BBB, there are several options that aren't nearly as costly as the entire package. Some packages start at around $40, and you can always bring your own dress in the parks if you cannot afford to buy one while there. 

Seven - it rains in Florida!

It rained three nights of our trip. Two of those nights it was a quick storm and we were eating dinner at the time, but on one night it just down-poured. Buy ponchos prior to your trip like I did, at my local CVS for $3 for the child size and $4 for the adult size. Disney knows it rains, and often, and their ponchos are around $10 a piece...no thank you!

Last year we stayed for 6 nights/6 days. This year we're staying for 8 nights/7 days. That's a lot of time on vacation, and quite frankly that's a lot of clothing to pack. Eight - don't splurge on new clothes for your trip. 

This is another tough one. It doesn't matter if you're going to Disney or the Caribbean, when we think vacations, as women, we think new clothes and a wardrobe to match the occasion. Don't waste what could be valuable vacation money on clothes you don't need. 

The resorts have laundry rooms, and I know the thought of doing laundry on your vacation is not a fun one, but I promise you, it's not long at all. If you're going for a quick trip then this isn't necessary, but for us it's a must. Florida is hot and you sweat. Jeans are a no-go and shorts are a necessity. I don't have 8 pairs of shorts to wear those 8 nights and I'm not going to spend good vacation money on 8 pairs of shorts, when I can pack a few tide pods for the trip along with a few dollars worth in quarters for the laundry machines.

Nine - plan some non-park days! On our last trip we spent one entire day not at a park. Granted we did end up going to MK that night to watch the fireworks, but I digress...the resorts are beautiful and you can what I call "resort hop" which is basically where you go to each resort and look around. It's absolutely beautiful to see each resort and what they have to offer, and it took us half the day. We spent the second half at Downtown Disney, which is free and does not require a park ticket. It was great taking that time away from the parks and looking around. If your budget is tight when planning your trip, just remember, just because you're vacation is 7 days, doesn't mean you need to purchase 7 days of park tickets. Try purchasing only 6, and spend that one day venturing to other places. That one day can save you a lot when booking a trip!

My last piece of money saving advice is Ten - pick your resort wisely! Okay, who doesn't want to stay at the Grand Floridian or Contemporary Resort? They're huge and gorgeous and so close to Magic Kingdom you can almost touch it, but they're also around $600 per night, crazy right?! Just because you're going on a vacation doesn't mean you have to spend that kind of money on a room per night, especially when most of the time you're only in your room to shower and sleep. Disney offers three different resort options to fit every budget, Value, Moderate and Deluxe. We have always stayed at the Moderate resorts. They offer a bit more than the value resorts and it's within our price range. If you can't do the moderate resorts, by all means choose a value, they have some super cute value resorts that will go with whatever your families style may be. Every evening we like to go back to the resort to relax for an hour or so, and in my opinion the moderate resorts offer more of a quiet environment, along with bigger beds, so it fits our needs, however, that doesn't mean the value resorts aren't good, because they truly are great in their own right. 

Don't think you have to break the bank by booking a deluxe because it's a vacation. In fact, in most of the Disney groups I'm a member of, people who have stayed at all three of the resort options, have said that the moderate resorts are some of their favorites, that's including the deluxe category.

Don't get me wrong though, one day we'll stay in the Contemporary, one day...

Well, there you have it. A list of 10 ways to save and help budget for your Disney vacation. I know some seem trivial, but from personal experience they add up and quick! I like to think of it like this. Let's say you have an extra $2 per day (Monday - Friday). That's $40 per month. In a nine month span that's $360 - see how even $2 per day can add up? $360 is a lot of spending money for a trip, so don't take $2 and spend it on a pack of gum or energy drink, stash it in a piggy bank for your next trip to see the mouse!

Speaking of the mouse, in the words of Mickey...

See ya real soon!

Valentine's Recap / 50 Shades Movie Review / Monogrammed Goodness

Happy Monday folks.

I'm actually not dreading it today and that's because I'm well rested. I should be after going to bed last night at 7! I was exhausted as soon as 6:30 hit. It just came over me. We didn't do much this weekend or stay out late so I was worried I was getting sick since I was so tired. Well as soon as 7 hit I couldn't fight it anymore and just went to sleep. I didn't wake up until the alarm went off at 6:30 and even then I hit snooze and didn't get out of bed until 7. A full 12 hours sleep was glorious and much needed. I got up, energized and ready to start the day. Don't get me wrong, who wants to be at work, but it's good being at work and not being exhausted!

Friday evening we stayed in town and went and spent some time with my brother and his lady. We enjoy their company and always have a good time spent with them. Saturday morning I woke up to two tickets to 50 Shades of Grey, along with a Japanese dinner planned and a lovely card. Tarl also got Cadence a pink plush bear holding a heart. I purchased Cadence a Disney princess valentine along with some heart shaped suckers and a card and got Tarl some heart shaped Reese's cups and a card. We kept it simple, but I was very surprised to see the movie tickets because from day one Tarl refused to go see the movie, he pleasantly surprised me :)

The movie and dinner wasn't until later that evening so we enjoyed the sunny day on Saturday. It was quite chilly and windy but Grandaddy bought Cadence her most favorite valentine present, her very own wheelbarrow. Long story short, she loves playing with his wheelbarrow on the farm.  She thinks she's something when she's pushing that thing around, so when he surprised her with her very own size wheelbarrow, she was just smitten.

///

I have been a 50 Shades fan ever since the books became a hit here in the US. I read the first book in one day cover to cover. The second book the second day and then Fifty Shades Freed on the third day. I couldn't get enough of the books and re-read them as soon as I finished them. They were that good in my opinion.

As  soon as I heard they were making a movie I was ecstatic. 

I followed the entire process, including interviews with the book writer and obviously, when they chose the cast. I had no qualms about Jamie Dornan playing Christian or Dakota Johnson playing Ana. I actually thought they fit the bill pretty well. I know a lot of people were upset by it, but I thought they portrayed the characters well. 

Again this is just my opinion of the movie...

I liked it. Did I love it? No, but I did like it. Let's face it, the book is always better then the movie. I cannot name one movie where the book wasn't better, not one, so going into the movie I kept that in mind. I did like the movie though, I thought they played the characters well and I thought the director kept pretty close to the story lines of the book, but I also read the book so it was easier for me to fill in the blanks and read between the lines. 

Tarl did not read the books, and if I put myself in someone's shoes who did not read the books I could see where there is a lot that didn't get explained or a lot that they wouldn't understand. 

I felt that there was a lot of information that was not included in the movie that is very relevant and important to someone who did not read the books, that they left out. So being a person who read the books, the movie was good. If I had not read the books, the movie wouldn't have been good. It probably would have even ranged on the verge of boring. 

After the movie Tarl had so many questions that I had to answer because the movie left out those important little details to where as the book did not. Tarl didn't care for the movie, but as soon as I answered his questions he said he would have thoroughly enjoyed the movie had they added that information. 

Ultimately, I preferred the books. However, if a second movie is made like it is supposed to, I will see it in theaters. I'm still a 50 Shades fan and I still love me some Christian Grey :)

///

Inspired Flair on Etsy is one of my favorite shops. Her monogrammed shirts, outfits and bubble necklaces have stolen my heart and I've been a fan of hers for quite some time, even ordering from her on more than once occasion. She reached out wanting some more exposure for her shop in return for some monogrammed goodness, so who could resist?! If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, over the next few weeks I'll be showcasing one of her items per day, so be sure to follow by clicking on the links to my accounts in the sidebar. 

I'll also be pinning some of her projects on Pinterest, so follow me there too :)

With Valentine's being over, it's onto Easter for our household. How amazingly cute are these monogrammed shirts?

link to purchase

Baby's first Easter? Look at this!

link to purchase

Swoon!

She made this shirt for me for our Disney trip last year.

Cadence still wears this shirt all the time and the quality is superb. I cannot wait to get her some more Disney shirts made for our upcoming trip this year.

It's definitely worth checking out!

xo

Thursday Thoughts

Is it Friday yet? No, but it sure is close, I can feel it :) // My sweet girl had her very first school Valentine's party today. What a cutie she was in her monogrammed Valentine's shirt, no pictures this morning though. #momfail I remember so fondly back when I was in school, making our own Valentine's buckets or envelopes and having class mates put Valentine's in them. It was always so much fun. I'm sure she's having a blast today. Why don't we as adults have Valentine's festivities? #lame // If you read my blog yesterday then I shared our big news - we're going back to Disney this Fall. You can read all the details on yesterday's blog post, but I wanted to share that we officially booked today. 225 days to go - so much fun! // I saw this picture this morning on Pinterest. It's of New York in the winter and it's breathtaking. Central Park, those trees, the bridge in the corner of the picture. Forty days and counting...I cannot believe tomorrow we'll start counting down in the 30s. // I may get some heat for this, but that's okay. I have noticed more and more jumpers with Spring quickly approaching and I have to be honest, that's one fashion trend I don't ever see me wearing. They make your crotch look hungry, and that's wording it about as nicely as I could be. Sorry ladies, I just don't get that fad. // Tonight I'm cooking dinner for my parents. The pressure is truly on because I cannot remember, if ever, the last time I have ever cooked for them. I'm making a shrimp jambalaya with a side salad. *fingers crossed* // Tarl and I have zip planned for Valentine's Day. I will give him credit. He called my favorite restaurant (The Melting Pot) last weekend to make reservations for this weekend and they were already booked to capacity. So props to him for trying.  Our local Daffodil Farm opens on Valentine's Day though, so I think we may do that weather permitting. We had so much fun last year picking our own Daffodils. They were beautiful in our home and smelled wonderful. // I need this shirt in my life! Via Thug Life Shirts Seriously buying next paycheck! xo

I'm letting the cat out of the bag...

So remember the news I told y'all about on Monday that I was going to share within the next few weeks, well here it is...

I didn't want to announce it on my blog until it was officially booked with a deposit, but what the heck, we're going back to Disney this Fall y'all!

We originally had planned to go back next Fall, which would have been two years from our last trip. Yeah it sucks to wait but like I've said before a trip to see the mouse isn't cheap. Although we haven't put the deposit on the trip yet, Tarl and I discussed last night and both agree'd that we will be going back this year. Ahh! We are so excited and cannot wait to plan this trip. 

We're planning on staying two extra nights with an added park day this trip. Checking in on a Friday night and checking out the following Saturday, whereas this last trip we checked in on Saturday and checked out on Friday. We agree'd on the way home on our last trip that we could have easily stayed longer and when it came time to go again we would ensure that we did just that, so that's what we're going to do. I cannot wait to officially book, but now that we both settled on the dates we're going!

I've had a few family members ask me, since telling them in the last week that we are going back this year, how we financially do it because they want to do it and truth is, spare change, work bonus', tax money and getting other debt paid off. Tarl paid off a credit card just last month, he is on schedule to pay another one off in March, that's extra money right there. Include tax money in that and extra money from work bonuses or tucking $20 here and $10 there, it adds up, and quick!

Those payments he was making to the credit card companies now goes towards our Disney trip - holla!

I'm still fine tuning our trip details and if you're completely bored by my Disney posts, you won't hurt my feelings a bit if you quit reading this post, but I love to document what I have planned and look back after the trip is through to see how much was changed throughout the months of planning, thus far, here is what I have. 

Friday Night

Check In: Disney's Port Orleans - Riverside
Dinner @ Chef Mickey's (character) / Disney's Contemporary Resort

Each time we go to Disney we try a new resort. Our first was Caribbean Beach and we didn't like it, our second trip was Coronado Springs and we loved it. This year we're doing Port Orleans Riverside. 

It has a beautiful New Orleans feel to the resort with colonial southern manors as the resort rooms and a gorgeous landscape surrounding it.

images via

Check in day is a non park day for us. Cadence will still go to school this day and we still work half a day on this day. As soon as she gets out we head to Orlando. We check in the resort, walk around and take in the sites and then head to dinner at Chef Mickey's at Disney's Contemporary Resort. This is a great restaurant to get your vacation started. The atmosphere is wonderful and you get to meet Mickey and friends. Cadence adored this restaurant. It was one of her favorites!

Saturday - First Magic Kingdom Day

Quick Service Lunch @ Pecos Bills

Dinner @ Be Our Guest

Be Our Guest is located in Belle's Castle. Which is in Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland. It was amazing when we ate their for lunch on our last trip but when you eat their for dinner not only does the food change, but you also get to meet the Beast, who is someone we truly wanted to meet on our last trip but never had the opportunity to. Eating in Belle's Castle was one of Cadence's most favorite meals. She loved walking inside, as it was just like being in the movie, "The Beauty and the Beast".

Sunday - Epcot

Quick Service Lunch

Dinner @ Garden Grill (character)

We have never ate at Garden Grill but it's a restaurant in Epcot that slowly spins while you eat which gives you a 360 degree view of their "Living with the Land" attraction. Think gardens, boat rides, flowers, plus it's character dining with Chip and Dale and friends, plus the food is served family style which means lots of food served on huge platters directly on your table.

Monday - Open Day

Quick Service Lunch

Dinner @ California Grille (fireworks dinner) / Disney's Contemporary Resort

We use these days to do whatever our little hearts desire. Whether it be trekking around in Animal Kingdom, going to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping, water parks, or any of the other parks. We leave these days open to do whatever we like. We only had one open day on our last trip, and this trip we're getting two. On our last trip we spent the first half of our day at Epcot and the second part of our open day at Magic Kingdom finishing it off with fireworks and the castle show.

California Grill is another new restaurant we're trying. This one is on top of Disney's Contemporary Resort and everyone always boasts about how delicious it is. We're going to eat dinner during Magic Kingdom's Fireworks show so we get dinner with a view.

Tuesday - Animal Kingdom

Quick Service Lunch

Dinner @ Whispering Canyon Cafe / Disney's Wilderness Lodge

Whispering Canyon Cafe is another newbie we're adding to our agenda. It's not a character dining experience but a fun one. Friends of ours went to Disney the same time that we did last year. They ate here their first night and loved it. Ask for ketchup, the wait staff will bring every bottle in the restaurant. They 'pick on you', if you will, and I hear it's a blast!

Wednesday - Hollywood Studios

Supercalifragilistic Breakfast (character) @ 1900 Park Fare / Disney's Grand Floridian
Quick Service Lunch @ Pizza Planet (Toy Story)
Quick Service Dinner

The breakfast at 1900 Park Fare is another new venture for us. We ate at Cinderella's Happily Ever After dinner on our last trip where we met her, the prince, her step mother and two step sisters. This time we're skipping out on the dinner and going for breakfast to meet Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter and more. That evening we're going to stay at Hollywood Studios to catch their Fantasmic Show which I hear is wonderful. We never got the chance to do that last time. (see what I mean, you can't do everything in one trip) Of course, we will eat at Pizza Planet again - the ambiance was incredible!

Thursday - Open Day

Quick Service Lunch

Dinner @ Ohana's / Disney's Polynesian Resort

Friday - Magic Kingdom 

Quick Service Lunch

Dinner @ Cinderella's Royal Table (character) / Cinderella's Castle

This will be our last day in Disney but a super special one. We will make reservations at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for Cadence to have a princess makeover before eating dinner with all the princesses in Cinderella's Castle. After dinner she will be all dressed up to enjoy Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Last year we had a blast at the Halloween Party and will surely be going again this year. 

I am so happy that we are going again. It truly is such a blessing to be able to go on two wonderful vacations this year. New York which has been on my bucket list for years, and now Disney again, which is just a dream vacation for any family.

So tell me, do you and your family have any fun vacations planned? I'd love to hear all about them!

I'm here, I'm here!

No I haven't forgot about my blog.

My boss was away on vacation and in turn I was very busy.

He got back from his vacation today and even more busy so although this post may not be long, it sure will be sweet. 

We officially signed this sweet girl up for dance last week. Her practice uniform is the above with a pink tutu (not shown). I can't wait to see her with her tutu in tow come this next practice. She was a natural and absolutely loves it. 

My folks treated us to dinner on Friday night. Outback Steakhouse for their delicious Wallaby Darned's and the best company anyone could ask for. Seriously, how cute are they?!

Saturday we headed to Savannah to eat lunch and enjoy the day together. Love her smile and her 'big girl' purse that she now totes everywhere with her. I cannot believe how big she is getting, both physically and mentally. Where does the time go?!

Saturday afternoon my dad needed Tarls help with some hay he was purchasing. He needed Tarl to ride along to help load it in the truck so I hitched a ride as well. I'm so glad I did because it was pure love upon arrival to this farm. Stocked with tons of pigs and horses. I could have spent the day there. 

On Sunday we did some grocery shopping and kept getting smiles from this sweet girl. I mean - how lucky am I to be her mom! That face melts my heart!

I hope to have some really exciting news to share coming up in the next month or so. I don't want to blast it on my blog without it being 100% certain, but no friends, before you ask, I am not pregnant.

xo 

Show & Tell Tuesday

I'm linking up with Momfessionals to join in on today's Show and Tell Tuesday.

Look at all the fun posts she has lined up for this year!

Groundhog Day (as in the movie, not the actual day itself) - a day you would choose to repeat over and over...hmm...this truly is a tough choice, but if you know me, you know what I would choose.

Hands down the first day of our Disney trip. It was Fall weather (my favorite time of year). We were all so very excited and pumped because it was the very first day of vacation with five days to follow. I spent this time with two of the most important people in my life having pure magical fun.

We enjoyed the first part of our day at Hollywood Studios, which was beyond exciting because it was the first time any of us had ever been to that Disney park.

Cadence's smile is one of just pure joy and happiness and to see your child so genuinely happy, well it just doesn't get much better than that!

We ate lunch with Sophia the First, Jake, Handy Manny and Doc McStuffins, then afterwards we headed to Magic Kingdom to see Cinderella's Castle up close and personal.

Hands down, this day would be my groundhog day. 

Weekend

Happy Monday folks - as happy as a Monday can be anyways.

I hear the groundhog said it's going to be six more weeks of winter - well screw him...moving on!

 My dads best friend and cousin and my cousin and dear friend as well moved to West Virginia this week so we hosted a party for him this past weekend to say our goodbyes.

On Friday evening we sat around the house and did a whole lotta nothing. I am currently in the process of re-reading the 50 Shades of Grey series that way when the movie comes out (in 12 days!) I will be all caught up once again. It was nice to relax and read on Friday. 

On Saturday my mother-in-law offered to watch Cadence for us so we had a wonderful date night. 

American Sniper was amazing for any of you who had thoughts about seeing it. I'm not much into manly war movies but it was for sure a must see! Plus it has Bradley Cooper in it so how bad can it be?! After the movie we headed to downtown Savannah and ate at Outback. Those Wallaby Darned's are delicious and for someone who rarely has a cocktail, it only took two to get me feeling tipsy. 

The service was actually really good but the kitchen messed up our order a little so the manager gave us a free dessert of our choice, we chose the cheesecake. (sorry for the grainy pictures!)

For dessert #2 we opted for our favorite - donuts! Their packaging for Valentine's Day was just precious and Krispy Kreme donuts never disappoint!

We weren't ready to head home yet so we drove around downtown Savannah and then drove out to Tybee. It was unusually warm on Saturday evening so we had the heat up a little with the windows rolled down and just enjoyed the quiet drive to Tybee with the marsh view the entire way. It was bliss just talking to Tarl without any interruptions. The date night was much needed so thank you mom-in-law for watching her :)

By Sunday morning we were ready to see our girl. We were also craving some Japanese but at 11:30 in the morning hibachi isn't open, so we did the quick service Japanese which is equally as good at less than half the price! Cadence adores it too!

After lunch we opted to drive downtown a little more since it was a beautiful 70 degrees and sunny. 

There truly is nothing like beautiful Savannah. I'm so blessed to live here. The mossy oaks, beautiful parks, and old colonial mansions that have been modernized. Can I live in this house?!

Picture perfect! Minus the dirty windshield of course :)

All in all our weekend was great but Monday came to soon, but doesn't it always?

xo