I had a year where quoting OK GO, "Nothing ever doesn't change, but nothing changes much." I had a very unique opportunity to go to Orlando and intern at Disney World from January to May, which was pretty great. I met people that I will be friends with for life, skipped Winter in Michigan, and got to still hang out with family since my Aunt Stephanie, my little cousins Ben and Will, and my Grandparents were just a short drive away in Kissimmee for 3 of those months. I got to go on another vacation in October to Boston and Salem, two places I had never been before with a great group of women, one of whom I met while in Florida :) I also got to go to another place I'd never visited before. I went to Miami, Key West, Boca Raton, and Delray beach recently during my Winter Break. This was a year for new locations and old settings alike.
I've really been enjoying working at Spartan Signature Catering.
We did a lot of Christmas parties and recently worked a wedding at the Union as well. I get along with everyone there and it's really a fun, laid-back atmosphere. I'm very lucky. November was an extremely busy month school and work-wise, and it just flew by.
My Grandpa celebrated his 70th birthday and I made him a candy gram! My Aunts and mom surprised him with a great gift that was Harry Potter related. They put a letter in there from the owls explaining that his acceptance letter for Hogwarts got lost somehow and basically it said they were going to have a Harry Potter movie marathon throughout the upcoming weeks.
There he is wearing his Gryffindor scarf. Every week they have been watching a Harry Potter movie, complete with Bernie Botts, pumpkin juice, and other tasty treats.
I was extremely stressed for the last month and a half, so my Winter Break was much needed and I was grateful it came when it did. I left the day my finals ended, December 14th, for Miami. Two of my roommates from the Disney College Program live in Miami, and I had never been there before, so I didn't need another reason! Sofia and Linnette picked me up and we went right to Linnette's house for dinner. We had Miami's best pizza and the most delicious key lime pie for dessert! Linnette packed up her stuff and and we headed over to Sofia's to spend the night, because we were getting up early in the morning to set off for Orlando.
December 15th we left for Orlando and it was like we had never been gone. The weather was great, we knew where everything was, and our hotel was ready immediately so we were able to drop off our stuff and head right to the park! We went to Hollywood Studios first, because we wanted to be there for the Osborne's Spectacle of Lights. Every night, a special guest gets to flip the switch that makes all of New York City light up and syncs with the music for a light show. The little girl who flipped it that night was celebrating her birthday. We went on some rides,
Once we had our fill of that, we rode a few more rides, then went back to the hotel to get ready for the nightlife that Disney has to offer.
We really wanted to go to Splitsville, a chic bowling alley/restaurant that was being built while we were in the Disney College Program, but there was a company party going on, so we went to Paradiso 37, a bar in Pleasure Island, the adult side of Disney. We had mojitos that were made table-side by a handsome man named Andres. I had a strawberry mojito, and it even had a sugar cane in it. The presentation was magnificent.
The next day we went to Epcot. Epcot is by far my favorite park, and we got to do something that we weren't able to do the whole 5 months we lived there....Drink around the World. We started in Mexico with a Mango Margarita. That was gone before we could even take a picture.
It seemed every country we went to, something was going on, which is pretty rare. Canada had a band playing, China had a storyteller, Japan had a candy artist making a cat out of marzipan, and Italy had juggling artists. Everything seemed to work out for us the whole trip from catching the bus at the exact right time to not having to wait more than 10 minutes for any ride. We left Epcot because we had tickets to the Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom.
When we got to Magic Kingdom, I just felt happy immediately. I looked through my pictures later that night and saw that even the Christmas trees were smiling :)
We got to meet Captain Jack Sparrow which was really cool, and saw some other lesser known characters just walking on their own down the street. It was nice not having them guarded by the attendant. We also met Ariel in her new Grotto in Fantasyland. She likes it a lot.
The new ride is also very fun and colorful. We stayed for the fireworks,
a Christmas show on the castle stage, and of course the parade. Some of the floats even had scents!
When Goofy came by, it smelled like bubblegum. And when Clarabelle passed us, it smelled like gingerbread :) We were pooped out after the party got over at 2am but we headed back to the Magic Kingdom again the next day to see everything in the daytime. We ate lunch at Be Our Guest, the newest and greatest restaurant there is to date.
The lions protect the humongous wooden doors, and upon entering you are vaulted into the corridor of knights in shining armor who cough, murmur, and sneeze. Turning the corner into a room where your order is taken, you are given a red plastic rose that has a chip in it that holds both your whole order and your location in it. So no matter where you end up sitting in the huge restaurant, they can find you. We decided to sit in the West Wing, where the Beast tore up the whole room, and the rose is on the table.
When a petal falls, lightening strikes and a painting of Prince Adam turns into the Beast for a split second. We decided to all get something and split it all. Linnette got a steak sandwich, I got a croque monsieur, and Sofia got a turkey sandwich.
We also split a cup of french onion soup, and had a passionfruit cream puff and a chocolate cream puff for dessert.
Everything was delicious! After riding more rides, getting a picture with Gaston, and some shameless tourist picture-taking, we said good-bye to Magic Kingdom once again. But not before going back to Gaston's tavern and getting a huge cinnamon roll. While I was relaxing and Sofi went to the bathroom, Linnette decided to go into the Bonjour! gift shop. When we all met back up to leave, Linnette said she had to stop by City Hall to grab a package. When we got back to the hotel, she handed me and Sofia our Christmas presents, which were Be Our Guest wine glasses!
They are gorgeous.
Tuesday, December 18th was our last day in Orlando so we decided to have breakfast at Kona Cafe, my old stomping grounds :) We had Kona coffee, got a big kahuna to split, and then they also brought out some Tonga Toast for us for free! Then we got on the monorail to check out the gingerbread houses at the Grand Floridian and Contemporary. The Grand Floridian even has a working shop inside their gingerbread house!
We sadly headed back for Miami but it was ok because we then had Key West to look forward to! We rested at Sofia's for the night. I got to try some scrumptious egg nog with Puerto Rican rum, and Sofia's mom made Picadillo for dinner.
This is rice and beans with seasoned beef and a fried egg on top, with fried plantains on the side. It is amazing and I don't know how anyone is skinny down there with such amazing food.
We left the next morning for Key West, another area I had never been to. We were able to stay at Sofia's aunt's vacation home in Pine Key, which is on a key deer reserve. The house was so nice, and we got to interact with some of the key deer :)
Key West reminds me a lot of New Orleans from the houses to the laid-back attitude of the whole city. We had lunch at a raw bar and I ate more seafood at this one meal than I have in my entire life combined. I tried Oysters Rockefeller, steamed clam shells, crab cake, and even conch fritters! I figured, when in Rome...
We went on a haunted night tour,
saw Ernest Hemingway's home (Sofia thought he looked familiar and asked what movies he's been in...)
and drank at the Smallest Bar.
We also went to Fat Tuesday, Sloppy Joes, and Captain Tony's. We went to Margaritaville and saw Kenny Chesney playing an impromptu concert, and had dinner at Fogarty's, a beautiful spot on Duval st. I also got to see a great sunset,
and was at the Southernmost Point in the continental USA. I also went to the southernmost point while I was in Hawaii, so I've been to both spots!
I also saw a fellow Spartan!
The next day, we drove back to Miami and had lunch at Sergio's, a cuban restaurant.
I ordered a cuban steak sandwich and it was amazing!
We had sangria and it was even better :) Just looking at these pictures is making me hungry.
Later that day, my Uncle Ed's partner Bobby picked me up after work to take me back to their place in Boca Raton to visit for a day. They decided to have a little shin-dig in my honor that night with hor d'oerves and drinks at 7pm. We got to the house right at 7 due to traffic and hurried to get everything ready. The evening was very fun and I got to mingle with a lot of their friends. The next day, Uncle Ed and I went to Delray beach to check out the scene.
We had brunch at Caffe Luna Rosa and we both got delicious bloody marys,
and for brunch I had a marscapone french toast with coconut, almonds, bananas, and strawberries. Lunch right across from Delray beach was so beautiful, relaxing and I felt so posh. When Bobby and Uncle Ed took me back to Miami, Sofi and I got ready to go out in South Beach with Linnette and her friends. We met her at one of her friend's houses because they were all exchanging gifts and then we left for Purdy Lounge. We danced the night away and I had more energy than I did the last two months! I didn't have a care in the world and was frankly just giddy I was so happy :)
On the 23rd, before church, Sofia's family took me to the best Cuban buffet called Versailles, for breakfast.
I fell in love with cuban bread and they had it there by the basket. They served you cafe con leche, and mimosas as well! This restaurant is on the famed calle ocho. That evening, me, Linnette and Sofia went to Lincoln rd, the Miami beach counterpart to Fifth ave. in New York. Shopping was so fun and I grabbed a cute pair of heels and some earrings, so it was a success!
We had dinner at The Van Dyke Cafe where I had the best Greek salad of my life. Linnette's family has a tradition called las Posadas, where the families get together and they reflect on traditions and memories together for Christmas and other events. A candle is lit and there is praying, then the food is brought out. I had some delicious rum cake and chili. It was nice feeling a part of something that has a strong tradition. I also enjoyed meeting Linnette's friends again. After that we stopped at La Palma, a cuban cafeteria that is open 24 hours so you can drink cuban coffee at the window and eat churros. We grabbed some churros and hot chocolate that was more like hot pudding. The hot chocolate coated the churros perfectly and didn't drip so you got the perfect bite. We took it back to Linnette's house and when we got there, Linnette's mom gave me and Sofia really pretty bracelets from Forever 21. Then we went back to Sofia's and watched Pitch Perfect and finished our churros. It couldn't have been a better last night.
The next morning was Christmas Eve, and since we went to sleep around 2am, I set my alarm for 4 and 4:30am since my flight was at 7:15...well, I woke up at 4:30, grabbed my phone from it's charger, and climbed back into bed....and didn't wake up again until 6. You can imagine my panic when I woke up for some reason and it was 5:55. I jumped up, grabbed Linnette and Sofia, and we were out the door in a record 4 minutes. Linnette got us to Fort Lauderdale in record time and it was almost good because I didn't have time to dwell on leaving and being sad. I was getting a full body x-ray when I heard on the overhead speakers "Last call for Detroit." I freaked out and grabbed my stuff and set out at a full-on RUN for my gate. I made it and the woman at the desk asked, "Detroit?" and I said yes, and walked calmly onto the plane as if I hadn't just ran a marathon to the gate. I got the whole row to myself, texted Linnette that I made it, got a text back from her saying she had been praying in silence, and I turned my phone off. The plane pulled away from the tarmac and I thought, "Nope, never a dull moment." I thought I might get bored since 10 days is a lot of time to be somewhere, but it FLEW by. I had such an amazing time and hope that when they visit me, it'll be the same way.
No comments:
Post a Comment