“You don’t spell love, you feel it.” – Pooh
We hope that you feel surrounded by love this Valentine’s Day and every day.
Love,
Amanda, Joshua, Julia, and Adam
Tag Archives: Holiday
Welcome 2020!
I can’t believe that we’re starting another decade! As I was looking back on everything 2019 has brought, I feel immensely blessed. If you would like to see our highlights for this year, you can read my full post on my personal, lifestyle blog; A Thing or Two. I hope your year was just as wonderful and I hope that the next will be just as, if not more, fantastic. Happy New Year!
Have a magical day,
Amanda
Happy Christmas Eve!
I know that I’ve been absent from here the past couple of weeks but I want you to know that all of us here at the Howard house wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Photo by Kristina Paukshtite on Pexels.com
Merry Christmas Eve everyone!
Have a magical Disney day,
Amanda, Joshua, Julia, and Adam
Our Trip to Florida
It’s been quite some time since I’ve done a post on this blog. I’ve been busy with the holiday season, preparing my book for publication, marketing, vacation, and more! But, I’m not here to tell you how busy I’ve been. I’m here to share a little bit about our Florida trip. We took a not-so-Disney trip toward the middle of November and it was wonderful to enjoy warm weather again.
Since our annual passes expired last September, we haven’t had any Disney experiences in our lives since our last trip. To fix this dilemma, we spent our time enjoying the simplest Disney experiences. This included visiting the resorts, lots of Disney Springs, and wearing Mickey ears.
It wasn’t a super glamorous vacation, but it was relaxing and filled that Disney void perfectly. My favorite part? Seeing the Christmas decorations at the resorts, of course! I’m like a little child every time I see the beautiful trees, garland, and gingerbread sculptures in each of the resorts. I think my favorite trees are a tie between the Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo House), Wilderness Lodge, Yacht Club, and Grand Floridian. I just can’t decide.
Which resort tree is your favorite?
Of course, the resorts were just putting up their trees for the season, so a lot of them weren’t up yet. But, we did get to experience some of them. Don’t you just love the lobby of the Boardwalk during Christmas-time? Their garland is probably the best! Plus, the resort always smells wonderful but add the chocolate and gingerbread…oh, my! It’s magical!
Disney Springs was all decked out as well and their iconic Christmas music was playing throughout the area. We enjoyed lots of great food (which will be in a post very soon!) that we’ve never tried before, I got my favorite bath bombs from Basin, and just strolled around looking at everything.
We found this amazing smoothie place near where we were staying that we would visit pretty much every morning for breakfast. We rode the Skyliner for the first time with our cousins…it was awesome! We also went through the Christmas Tree Lot in DS and saw all the character trees.
Anyway, I’ll give you more details as I continue to write new posts. I’m excited for Christmas and our vacation only enhanced that excitement! I honestly think that (other than Hallmark, of course) Disney does Christmas the BEST!
What do you think?
I hope you all have a magical, Disney day!
Amanda
BEST Fall Treats
Disney always has delicious snacks, but each season comes with many new specialized snacks and desserts. I love seeing, and tasting these seasonal goodies, and since it’s Autumn it is the perfect time to share what’s available until the end of October.
Pumpkin Spice Beignets – Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter, Sassagoula Floatworks and Float Factory
Rather than plain powdered sugar on these amazing fried desserts, they add pumpkin spice. I highly recommend that you try these.
Halloween Cinnamon Roll – Magic Kingdom, Main Street Bakery
If you like cinnamon rolls, and lots of frosting, these beautiful desserts are for you.
Zero Waffle Sundae – Magic Kingdom, Sleepy Hollow
This ice cream sundae has two pumpkin waffles and caramel syrup which is the perfect combination of Autumn flavors.
The Maleficent Dessert – Magic Kingdom, Storybook Treats
This beautiful dessert has lime soft-serve in a black waffle cone with purple sugar and chocolate horns.
Candy Corn Milkshakes – Magic Kingdom, Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies
Though this dessert would probably be my first take (because of its super sweetness), there are a lot of people that look forward to this milkshake every year. It basically tastes like liquid candy corn. Good or bad?
Not-So-Poison Apple Cupcake – Magic Kingdom, Main Street Bakery
This spiced, apple cupcake is topped with buttercream and pecan crunch and sounds so delectable. Even Snow White would like this cupcake…maybe.
Pumpkin Cheesecake – Magic Kingdom, Main Street Bakery
Vanilla pecan cake with caramel glaze is one of the most perfect Autumn desserts.
What is your favorite Autumn Disney snack/dessert?
Have a magical Disney day,
Amanda
“Darling it wouldn’t be a party without you!” – Basic Invite Sponsored
You all know how much I adore throwing parties! Having my friends over to celebrate together the simplest things in life. Whether it’s a birthday, Valentine’s day, everyday get-together, or best of all…a Christmas party, parties always bring me joy to plan!
With that said, I have been working on some great parties, including an exciting party to celebrate my book launch in November. It will be the perfect time to welcome the Christmas season and welcome my new novel, The First Gift of Christmas! We will be hosting a 12-course, 12 Days of Christmas high tea with an art show of local artists and a dance performance.
However, if you are the type of person who likes to celebrate Christmas a little earlier, hosting a Christmas in July party can be quite fun! It’s also about that time when families start thinking of their annual Christmas cards. Whatever you decide, you probably need Christmas party invites or some of the cutest holiday cards to go along with it.
Basic Invite offers almost unlimited color options (180!), making your invitations exactly the way you want them, down to the tiniest detail. They also offer custom samples to ensure that the invitation of choice is exactly what you want before you place your final order. You can see the quality of the paper and colors which I think is awesome!
Not only does Basic Invite offer completely customized invitations, but they also offer over 40 different colors of envelopes. Talk about making your invitation pop before it’s even opened! And, best of all, their envelopes are peel and seal for extra security and no licking 😊.
Share a link on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other form of social media to request your friends and family’s addresses (in case you’re like me and forget) which will then be stored in your account for later. You can even have Basic Invite print the addresses on the envelopes at no extra cost. Aren’t those fonts gorgeous?
Going fancy? Foil cards are available in gold, silver, and rose gold. You can choose between flat or raised foil on all foil designs.
If you are planning a party, Basic Invite is now offering 15% off with the coupon code: 15FF51
Of all the invitations I’ve ever purchased, these are the most beautiful, intricate, and easy to design! I highly recommend this company for all your party invitation needs.
I’m very excited about all the parties we have planned for the next few months! I can’t wait to share all of the highlights with you very soon. I hope that whatever you plan is absolutely wonderful! Don’t forget to check out some of the best Christmas cards on Basic Invite! And, be sure to check them out on social media (all linked below).
Have a very, beautiful day my friends!
Until next time,
Amanda
This post is sponsored by Basic Invite.
Independence Day in Disney
This week is going to be packed in Disney World. However, if you are willing to brave the crowds to celebrate Independence day in the parks, here are some tips you might need to consider before taking that trip.
Keep a look out for special PhotoPass opportunities throughout the parks. These begin on July 3rd. Cinderella’s royal coach will be available for pictures near Prince Charming’s Regal Carousel. Behind Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe in Liberty Square, there is a red, white, and blue light display that is a great photo opportunity.
In the Magic Kingdom, you will find “Disney’s Celebrate America! A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky.” This fireworks show is orchestrated to patriotic music and takes place at 8 p.m. on both July 3rd and July 4th.
The Magic Kingdom is also offering a Hoedown Throwdown in Frontierland or an awesome Galactic Gathering in Tomorrowland where you can dance the night away. Also, don’t forget to check out “The Muppets Present…Great Moments in History” near the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square.
If you are more of an Epcot fan, this will be your last chance to see “The Heartbeat of Freedom” which is the patriotic finale to “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.”
If that’s not enough for you, you can visit Voices of Liberty for their 4th of July performance at the America Gardens Theatre stage. They will also be performing in the rotunda inside the Adventure pavilion at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Your favorite Disney characters will don their “Spirit of ’76” patriotic costumes at the American Adventure throughout the day. And, don’t forget the food! Indulge in patriotic treats throughout the park.
I wish we could visit Disney on this incredible holiday, but for now, I hope that these tips help you with yours.
What is your favorite way to spend the 4th of July?
Happy Independence Day!
Amanda
Have a Magical New Year!
Happy New Year everybody! We wish you much health, happiness, joy, friendship, and lots of love this 2019. Thank you for following along with us as we traveled in 2018. We look forward to sharing many more adventures with you in the coming year.
Much love,
The Howards
Thoughts on The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
In honor of the anniversary of The Nutcracker debut on this day back in 1892, I decided to write my review of the new movie, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. Julia and I decided to go with a friend a couple weeks ago. Here’s what my thoughts are…
First of all, I’m a dancer. I have a deep love for The Nutcracker ballet. I’m also a traditionalist. I don’t like it when people mess with my favorite plays/ballets/original movies/etc. Going into this movie, I sort of knew that I would have mixed feelings. I won’t lie, it was a weird movie.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Let’s start with the bad news…I wasn’t happy with the fact that they killed off Clara’s mother. I get that it made the story work better, but the story itself was strange. It really (drastically) deviated from the original plot of the Nutcracker story.
Side note-does anyone notice that Matthew Macfadyen tends to play melancholy characters? (Mr. Darcy, Athos, Sheriff of Nottingham) He does it so well!
Anyway, the storyline was just odd.
Now for the good…I loved Misty Copeland! She was beautiful and I was very excited that they put actual ballet into the movie. Clara was very entertaining and I believe that Mackenzie Foy did a great job. I loved that they put some of the Nutcracker music in the movie (but not enough in my opinion) ;).
I loved the costumes! They were amazing! The characters themselves were pretty entertaining and there was a good amount of humor throughout the movie.
I liked that they didn’t make Mother Ginger a bad guy, but I was disappointed that the Sugar Plum Fairy was bad. What happened to the Mouse King being the villain? Again, I get that it worked with the storyline they wrote, but why?
Finally, I loved that the movie was totally unpredictable! That makes a good movie.
All in all, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms was an interesting take on a classic tale, however, I probably would’ve rather waited for it to come out on Amazon or Netflix.
What are your thoughts on the movie?
Have a magical Disney day,
Amanda
National Hot Cocoa Day
For this unofficial, official national holiday, I wanted to share something fun. I found this amazing Mickey hot cocoa recipe on a fellow Disney blog: Disney Family. Enjoy!
You can find the full recipe here.
Have a magical Disney day,
Amanda
Lights, Camera, Disney! 