Eating our way around EPCOT

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I was in such a hurry to get the last post out that I neglected to mention that when we got back to the room, these cute washcloth puppies on our bed greeted us. We even saw in someone else's window that they had a whole range of animals...including a turkey. =)

BTW, I am feeling better now...thank you for the well-wishing comments. I was sick pretty much from the day I got off work until just before Christmas, so it was a real bummer. The day of our church's Festival of Lessons and Carols, I stayed in bed all day until it was time to go sing (and do a short solo). I made it through, somehow!!


Monday before Thanksgiving, we started off by heading to EPCOT. We weren't going to try and ride Soarin' or the new Finding Nemo additions to The Living Sea...we were just there to hang out. And eat. Here, Michael enjoys schoolbread, from the Norwegian bakery. What's schoolbread, you ask? Oh my...it's a sweet bread filled with custard and topped with coconut icing. Fantastic!! He's sporting a hat because direct sunlight completely drains him. It's like reverse solar energy!



For lunch, we ate at Tokyo Dining (and I actually liked the seaweed salad! I think it was nazhiki...don't ask me how it's supposed to be spelled.) They've just redone the restaurants in the Japan pavilion, and the food (and service, natch) was splendid. Take a look at that roll covered with unagi (eel)!! I've never seen eel so thick on a roll before. Our waitress suggested this one, since we couldn't decide. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Always trust your server, people. They know the food. My favorite part was watching all the cute Japanese girls' eyes grow wide as I thanked them with polite Japanese. ("Arigato gozaimasu!") They don't expect English speakers to learn Japanese and taking that extra step to learn the "proper" form of thanking a stranger always impresses.

While we were in the World Showcase, we did get to stop by and listen to a couple sets from one of my favorite a capella groups, The Voices of Liberty. They are absolutely amazing. I always get there early and plop down at the very front of the "red circle" on the floor of the American pavilion, ignoring the stares of people sitting on comfortable benches. The circle's directly under a dome, so the acoustics are phenomenal. We also wandered to the Mexico pavilion to ride the updated Rio del Tiempo, now Three Caballeros themed. It was very entertaining, but not as entertaining as the cast members loading the ride when they saw my Three Caballeros pins! "¡Los quiero!" they all exclaimed (I want them!) several times.

Two points if you know where the zeppelin below comes from (or if you remember any of the symbols on the banners in the background):
EPCOT has a cool retrospective stuffed away in a corner of Innoventions right now (near the Coke refreshment stop). They even had original uniforms.

In the afternoon, we headed to Disney-MGM Studios (soon to be "Disney's Hollywood Studios") to try and catch the High School Musical Pep Rally. I know...but what can I say? We're suckers for cheesy musicals. We didn't make it in time, but we did get to see it later in the week. Well..."see" is being kind. Michael was standing behind a 6'5" man with a child on his shoulders, who kept telling his other child (who was just in front of me, on my knees, beside the behemoth...I dove down to the ground in the only hole I could find), "Ryan! Get in there!" everytime crowd participation was called for. "Ryan" did not want to participate, and no amount of his dad's "Come on, Ryan! Sing!" whilst clapping his hands could move him. Michael told me later it was a good thing I dove in the hole, because the only chance the kids behind the jolly green giant had to see anything was over my head.

Ah, but the real reason to go to MGM is the Osbourne family Christmas lights.

Several of the streets are covered with them, and every few minutes there's a show where they are coordinated with music blared from speakers. The best is Christmas Eve/Sarajevo by TransSiberian Orchestra. HARK how the bells.... And, and appearance by Fabulous Cast Member #2...random security guy walked up to me and handed me a Disney pin! It was from the millennium celebration, but no matter! I could trade it for any pin on a cast member's lanyard!

When we arrived back at our hotel room, our terry puppies greeted us with a bound!

JiffNotes
Food, glorious food! Woefully late, I continue to slog forward with blogging about the Thanksgiving Disney trip....

A Carol for Boxing Day

Please don't try to sing along...the words totally don't go with the meter...

In the days before Christmas, the season gave to me...

12 days Sudafed taking
11 dozen cookies baking
10 boxes ornaments hanging
9 phone wires dangling
8 hours jury serving
7 components for beading

there were earrings, too...

6 Christmas parties
5 more days of Sudafed!!
4 choir rehearsals
3 scarves for knitting

2 crates for office moving
...and a gross of ornaments on the tree.

Maybe I'll make more time to post next year...

Disney Arrival

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I'm desperately trying to find time to write about our fabulous Thanksgiving trip to Disney. At the rate I'm going, I'll be blogging about putting up our first ever outdoor Christmas lights (last night) sometime in February.

I was a little worried about crowds in the parks, but we actually went to WDW last year for our anniversary...which is in June. (Impending house purchase and expired passport nixed the trip to Italy or Spain I wanted.) It was really crowded, but because we are smart and DH is a walking map, we never waited in line over 25 minutes that I remember. And we only waited that long for a couple rides. Anyway, crowds were larger than when we usually go (September or February), but they were less than in June. And we got to see all the awesome holiday decorations. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We decided to listen to the DJs preaching impending airport doom and actually get there early (which, for us, means arriving an hour and a half before our departure time, rather than leaving the house an hour beforehand as we are wont to do). It turned out that it only took us a whopping 20 minutes to get through security, although the line was backed out to the Atrium. In fact, I think it took us less time in Atlanta than it took us in Orlando on the way back! The flight was uneventful (except we were taken by surprise by Spirit Airlines' policy of making you pay for snacks...even water!) In Orlando, we boarded the "Magical Express", which meant we did not have to touch our luggage from the time we checked it until it arrived at our hotel room (that, and we got to watch "Aladdin" as we traveled =). We stayed at Coronado Springs, which is the nicest of the Moderate resorts.

After grabbing some lunch, the Florida sun had already soaked into our brains, because against my better judgment, we went to a water park. See, we buy our Disney tickets in 10-day, non-expiring increments, and those passes always come with about six days of water park admissions, which we rarely use. So even though Blizzard Beach was closing at 5:00, and it was about 2:30, we headed over. It was actually not that cold, except the concrete. By the end of the day, I wasn't sure I could feel my toes anymore. It was a lot of fun, though, and we got to ride as many rides as we wanted due to the complete lack of lines. (Yeah, NOVEMBER at a water park will do that.) I did remember why I like Typhoon Lagoon better, though: less hills to climb and more waves in the wave pool.

I have no pictures of this expedition because DH said he wanted no photographic evidence that he drug me to a water park in 65 degree weather. Did I mention that we were both nursing colds as well? I even skipped choir practice the week before, I was feeling so much under the weather. (This is all foreshadowing, in case you don't recognize it...remember: Your Key to Quality Blogging.)

The next day, we got up and headed to The Magic Kingdom. Here we are on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (or, "The People Mover", as I am inclined to call it). We had a grand time. We wandered around, we did stuff we love, like watch the Dapper Dans perform.
We got to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean a la Jack Sparrow, and the updated Haunted Mansion (spiffy!) Here's a terrible picture of Captain Jack, who shows up thrice in the ride (along with cameos from Davy Jones--tasteful, I promise, and the coolest of effects--and Captain Barbosa):

We also rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, which is like being inside a giant shooting gallery (but with lasers!!) I did slightly better than DH:


Oh, yeah. That's an order of magnitude difference, for those playing along at home. =)


That afternoon we took a break from the park and headed over to The Grand Floridian for tea...after all, the park was going to be open, with Magic Hours, 'til THREE AM!!! I sadly have no pictures of the tea, which I suspect is because I was too busy snarfing the yummy treats, but it was just as lovely as last time we went. We got unexpected benefits by being the last seating, as our server let us have as much of the dessert course as we wanted (Awesome Cast Member Example #1). I even got to try the famous trifle, which is normally not part of the "standard" tea (usually you have your choice of strawberries and cream or two mini-tarts). Unfortunately, DH started to feel really bad during tea, so we were going to head home after ogling the decorations at The Grand Floridian. However, by the time we got back on the monorail, he was starting to feel a little better and suggested we go into the park "just" to see what the castle looked like lit up:

After that, we rode Pirates again, Haunted Mansion again, and Small World multiple times again. That hubby of mine: He loves him some Small World. Check out the new Pirates sign in the moonlight:

By that time, my all-time favorite Disney parade was starting...

I really can't watch this parade too many times. I even love the parade music. And look at the beautiful floats!

Some of them change color!



My favorite part is trying to get the little fish to wink at me (I was successful, but due to the jumping up and down and waving required, I have no photographic evidence =)

JiffNotes
If you, like me, cannot get enough Disney...you're in luck. This was just the first day and a half!!

Hop Deux

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I'm back from a wonderful week at Walt Disney World, but there are far fewer pictures to sort through from the last bit of the shop hop, so let's start there. I had grand and crazy plans for the week before leaving on vacation. Since I wouldn't be here for the final Saturday of the shop hop, I was going to try and hit the remaining 6 stores during the week. My plan was to hit the two in Roswell and Alpharetta during lunch breaks, hit the one in Woodstock on Tuesday night on the way to stitch group, and hit the remaining three on Thursday. Unfortunately, I did not anticipate my coworker being out of town that week on a business trip. Lunchtime jaunts were out. Then, there was apocalyptic traffic on Tuesday for some strange reason, so no shop visit before group. This left me with 6 shops to visit in two days, not to mention packing and running errands!!

Thursday morning I drove DH to work and then on to the shop in Roswell, Cast-on Cottage. This is one of the shops that made me very glad there was a hop. I'd never been, and it's just lovely...and it's only a few miles from where I work!! I think that if I take back roads, it's doable for a lunch break run. It's also set in the cutest little area; there's a book store/coffee shop just down the street, as well as several restaurants that look interesting. All the shops are in charming little clapboard houses, some even complete with white picket fences. With the colorful leaves on the ground, it was a pretty picture. I tried very hard to stick to my plan of only getting yarns on my list, but I was blindsided by this beautiful Jasper from Berocco:

I mean, really, what could I do? I had no idea what I'd do with it. When I got home, though, I realized I had already downloaded a freebie pattern that called for this exact yarn! (Perfect for me 'cause my arms are always cold.) I made a mental note that this shop had a lot of Rowan yarns, also much Debbie Bliss, lots for felting, and just a great variety. There's also needlepoint stuff there, in case I need something in a pinch. I couldn't make it back to that room, though...it seemed like there was always someone in the doorway.

From Cast-on Cottage, I headed to Only Ewe and Cotton Too (great store; unwieldy name). This shop seemed to have a lot of alpaca and cashmere yarns. They also had a large amount of Tofutsies that were calling to me, and I got to fondle some ShibuiKnits yarn in person (I've been ogling it on The Loopy Ewe for a while). I managed to find some yarn on my list that I've been hunting forever: Rowan Cashsoft DK, for Odessa. The most dangerous thing about this place is the accompanying bead shop. It's not in the proximity of, not next to, but right inside. You merely have to tear your glance away from the seriously beautiful yarns (I got to see Elizabeth Lavold Silky Wool in person, too!) and they are instantly assaulted by all manner of sparkly. I showed the most amazing restraint in only purchasing two strands of beads, which accidentally managed to be perfect for Odessa (I didn't even remember the pattern called for beads!) w00t!

Oh, yeah, and I had another "slight" falling-off-the-list moment when that pesky skein of hand-painted alpaca leaped out of a basket and wrapped itself around my ankles and wouldn't let go 'til I promised it I'd take it home and had the nice man wind it. He suggested a scarf with a pattern of yo, k1, k2tog. Or was it k1, yo, k2tog?? Yikes, I can't remember. Has anyone ever done that? I may have to try both.

The only thing that kept me from browsing beads longer was my steely constitution the desire to make it to one more store!! I managed to find my way to The Whole Nine Yarns in Woodstock. It was actually a beautiful drive with the leaves changing (well, except when I was behind the dump truck). This is a very dangerous store. Lots and lots of lovely, lovely yarn...and lots of sock yarn. As I was walking into the store, I was thinking to myself, I wonder if I should call Jean? She lives so close, but I have no idea what she's doing today... I walked in the store, and lo and behold, there was Jean!!! What a fabulous surprise! After going 'round the store twice, and seeing many, many yummy yarns, I stuck to my guns and virtuously only purchased one skein of Koigu to make some sachets for my nieces for Christmas (since the cuffs didn't work out).
I am seriously in love with this yarn. If it wouldn't cause some kind of sick fiber-based adultery, I might marry it. After Jean gave me a tutorial on using a ball winder (even though her DH won't let her touch the swift at home, nay, nor even look at it), she took me to lunch, which was just great. Yarn and a good friend, what more could you ask for?? A fabulous day indeed!

Unfortunately, when I got home, I was very tired. I had skipped choir practice the night before to get some rest, but my lack of energy continued, so no packing got done Thursday afternoon. That night, it was time for a reality check. For reference, here's the shop hop map I created:

OK, so do you see the martini glass? I'm fairly close to that. See that cluster of shops? And then a few to the North? You know, Atlanta area. OK, now see that one WAY OVER AT THE RIGHT EDGE??? It's SEVENTY MILES from Atlanta. It should NOT, in my opinion, be part of an ATLANTA shop hop. But, alas, it was. When I realized that it would be about a three-hour round trip (it takes about an hour and twenty minutes to get there; nevermind stopping at the one in Snellville (an hour from the one in West Bumble to Snellville, then 45 minutes to the last shop, then 20 minutes home)), I decided to act like a grownup and give up my pipe dream of winning the $1000 worth of yarn grand prize.

I headed out to Nease's because I needed to turn in my passport, and also because I thought I remembered seeing in their newsletter that they had some locally hand-dyed yarn called Toasty. Well, it turns out I boogered that one; it was actually Needle Nook's newsletter where I read that. Nease's is kind of small, and it looked like their stock was seriously wiped out from the shop hop, so it took me a while to find something I liked. I was really looking for a sport weight yarn in a Christmas-y color, because I just got Cat Bordhi's fabulous sock book and wanted to knit her teeny practice socks in colors that would look good on my sisters' Christmas trees. I ended up buying this really beautiful Mountain Colors yarn, but I left feeling a little unhappy because it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, the shop hop was over, I hadn't filled my passport, and the staff was slightly...unsympathetic. Plus, I was feeling really ticked about that Watkinsville shop being in the hop. I'm sure it's a perfectly lovely shop, but it is by no stretch of the imagination in Atlanta. *sigh* Let's look at some wool...

Ah. That is better. All in all, though, I had a lot of fun hopping, and it could only have been improved by getting to hop with friends and getting to hop everywhere...at least without packing a lunch.

JiffNotes
Stinkin' Watkinsville. But oh, the consolation of beautiful yarn....

All hopped out

I'd like to post about yesterday's (and to a vastly lesser extent, today's) shop hopping, but I have about 45 minutes to pack to go to The House of Mouse for a week. It's been a somewhat rough week: the other programmer at work was gone to a client site, DH was sick, and I am fighting off whatever he has. I'll feel OK in the morning, but by evening...ugh. Add to that general tiredness compounded by my usual quota of slack, and there you have it. I'm in a pickle. But I'm going to concentrate on the fact that I'll be on vacation for a week rather than stressing about all I didn't get done. Yeah, that's it.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!