The Ultimate Christmas Playlist with Spotify

1:00 PM
Hello, December 1st!!
It's here!
I can listen to Christmas music without judgement!
I don't want to brag or anything, but Christmas is my thing.
I pride myself on a carefully curated Christmas playlist.
I know Christmas music, & one of the gifts God gave me is the ability to make the best darn Christmas playlist to be played for anyone & anywhere.

When you play this list I am about give you, there will be something for everyone.
The classics, the childhood faves, the modern songs. A mix of Bing Crosby, Mariah Carey, Kenny G,Jackson 5 Amy Grant as all good Christmas play lists should. And some
J Biebs because honestly..was his holiday happen absolute holiday gold or what?





Spotify is where my Playlist was created, & right now you can get premium membership for just .99 for 3 months. So if the off, rare chance you will need to skip a song on my amazing list ;) , your skips wont be make you listen to ads!

You can listen to the playlist HERE, & enjoy!


Top 5 Thanksgiving Leftovers Meals

5:10 AM
Thanksgiving is over, the shopping is ending.
The girls going back to school & I am counting down til Christmas Break.
The only thing that makes the holiday week being over better is..
LEFTOVERS!
Anyone elses fridge full?
The greatest thing about leftovers..besides it being Thanksgiving leftovers obvi, is the easy meals you can use with them!

I rounded up all my favorites & listed them below!


Let gets started:





1. Turkey Pesto Panini
A twist on the simple go-to turkey leftover, a turkey sandwich! And who doesn't like a panini. No one, the answer is no one. SO GOOD. Adding cranberry sauce really gives it a extra something too!
https://damndelicious.net/2012/11/21/leftover-thanksgiving-turkey-pesto-panini/


This is my personal, thanksgiving left over go-to meal. SO easy. I always just a buy a couple extra pie crusts dough's when I get them for pies before Thanksgiving! I use a can of cream of chicken as my sauce!
https://www.crazyforcrust.com/leftover-turkey-pot-pie/



This meal is super, easy peasy & it uses more than just turkey. So creamy, & a great chilly night dinner! 
https://www.bakedbyrachel.com/leftover-thanksgiving-turkey-shepherds-pie/
4.  Turkey Ranch Quesadilla
Here is a out of the box way to use turkey! Still yummy, super Easy & can be great to send to lunch to school as well!




Last but not least, this yummy casserole! I was apprehensive at first, but this is a winner! I am not a huge stuffing lover but really loved this!
http://www.thekitchenismyplayground.com/2017/11/turkey-dressing-casserole.html

& there they are! My top 5 Thanksgiving leftover meals!
Let me know which one you use!





Halloween 2017

10:49 PM
Halloween, I hate saying it's my favorite holiday because really, every holiday is my favorite, as we all know!
But i really have come to love this holiday! I grew up for the better part of my life not celebrating it. There was a few years we had "harvest" parties where once I dressed up as baby. But that's about as far as my Halloween traditions went. Because of that, I guess I never really even got into the decor of Halloween. I just decorated for fall. But, the past couple years the girls have really pushed for it so I have decorated & loved it! We don't go all gorey & scary but just a bit of spooky-ness!

Of course, our favorite is family costumes. Every year we sit down & pick out our theme. The girls come up with them, & then we narrow it down on who will be what & what I can make. I try always make/repurpose everything we wear. Be it dying clothes, cutting & sewing things on other garments ect. It keeps costs down & is alot of fun! Our favorite part is asking our friends & family what they think we will be. We never tell, & everyone waits til Halloween night to find out!

Here are some from years past:

I've been having some health issues lately & insanely busy that my costume this year, just got away from me. We couldn't come up with just the character for me; & when we did I Just didn't have enough time or energy to come up with something!

This year our theme is the terribly under-rated  Wreck It Ralph:



Kensley was Vanellope Von Schweetz:




From top to bottom: Candy buttons & Licorice are clay hair clips, sweatshirt was just a plain Hanes sweatshirt with fushia cord cut & sewn to mimic the cartoon, the skirt was from goodwill, it was originally lime green but I dyed it brown, the leggings: are footless tights that I hand-painted t mimic as well. Then we sprayed her hair black for overall look!


Kennedy was Fix-it Felix Jr.






Disney Vacation: Our Favorite Character Dining {in the Parks}

1:39 PM

Disney Vacation:
Our Favorite Character Dining {in the Parks}

If you know us, you know we don't just love Disney. We live for Disney. It's our absolute favorite of everything, movies, characters & of course Disney World.

I love planning our Disney Vacations. It gets me so excited & I take a lot of time going into detail planning our trips, even with a travel agent.

One of the biggest part of planning for us as a family, is dining. Since our girls our young, getting in character dining really helps seeing the characters so you aren't standing in long lines & gets us some great interaction. With your reservation you can book your dining 180 days out from arrival date.
I always have a list of what I want to aim for ahead of time so I am not scrambling in the morning hurrying on line to get them.

To help ya'll I have put together a list of some of our absolute favorite dining options at Walt Disney World IN the parks.
I will round up resort character dining in another post!
Please remember all character are subject to change at all restaurants.


Please remember all character are subject to change at all restaurants.

EPCOT:

Garden Grill

Garden Grill is right above Living with the Land. I mention this because I always suggest going on the ride prior to eating at the Garden Grill. Our side salad was made of all veggie & fruit grown right below on the land ride! It is so neat & the girls really got a kick out of that. Another neat part of the garden grill is it is moves in circular motion. I know that sounds crazy, & mostly because it is; but it is AMAZING. It goes super slow that you really don't even notice you are moving it is going so slow. So you don't need to worry about motion sickness. The next thing you know you are half way turned around!
This meal is family style.
Characters: Mickey {in a super cute farmer get up}, Pluto, Chip & Dale








Akershus
If you have a princess lover your family this is one of the top options for your family, that is only 1 dining credit! As opposed to 2 for Cinderellas Royal Table. We always go for breakfast. You get a family skillet with basic sausage, bacon, eggs, hash browns ect then there is a buffet of other random breakfast items. The food here isn't my personal favorite. But it is for Brandon & girls! You only meet Belle at the very beginning waiting to be seated where you get a photopass photo with her. The rest of the princesses go table to table. They also do a little "royal parade" that children can participate in where they walk around the dining room.
This meal is family style & buffet.
Characters: Belle, Snow White, Aurora, Ariel & Cinderella







Magic Kingdom:

Crystal Palace
This is one of our ALL time favorites. & always a must. We always go for breakfast & it is one of favorite breakfast spots! The whole place makes you feel nostalgic & we love getting sat over by the "river" The food is buffet style, with traditional breakfast foods & of course mickey waffles. The girls love that they have a small, & shorter buffet bar that is their size so they can get their own food.
Characters: Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, Tiger










Cinderellas Royal Table:
This is the holy grail of dining reservations. It s 2 dining credit meal, which mean it is pricey. Which is why I only recommend this one to do once. The food is good, small servings. But very good. But not worth the 2 dining credit in my opinion. Going up the spiral staircase is enough to get even the non-disney addicts heart pounding.I mean hello, your IN Cinderellas Castle! It's so beautiful. You only see Cinderella at the bottom of the stairs for a quick photo. All princesses come around like other character dining. You get a wishing star, & a wand {swords for boys} they do a wishing ceremony that is so neat & will make your kids really believe in the magic! I recommend dinner, Its delicious & a 4 course meal.

Characters: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jasmine, Snow White & Aurora









Hollywood Studios:

Hollywood & Vine
This is the only character dining available in HS, currently. {as of 2017} Breakfast is Disney Junior Characters , & dinner is Hollywood glam. We love this restaurant. Service is always amazing & it does feel very diner-ish! It is buffet! You start coming in getting a quick picture with Mickey in his fancy Hollywood get up. Hes so handsome! The buffet is american food & has the best desserts! The girls even were awarded best dressed awards from the staff. So fun! During holidays, it turns seasonal to the holiday for Minnie Holiday Dine. For dinner, there is a photopass option.
Characters: 
Breakfast - Disney Junior Play & Diner:
UPDATED: Doc McStuffins, Vamprina, Sofia the First, Goofy from Mickey Roadster Racers
{previous to 2018} Handy Manny , Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, & Jake

Lunch & Dinner - Minnie's Seasonal Dine:
 Mickey, Daisy, Minnie, Goofy

Disney Junior Play & Dine: 
These Disney Jr pics are circa 2015, look how sweet & tiny they are!!







Dinner Minnie Silver Screen Dine:








 UPDATED 2018 Minnie Christmas Dine:








Animal Kingdom
Tusker House:
Again, this is the only character dining in this park. It isn't one of our favorite food choices. This is a buffet as well. But we love seeing the fab five in there safari get up! Character are there for all meals!








& there you have it! Our favorite character dining experiences in the parks! Next up I will break down our favorite Character Dining experiences in the Resorts!

IG @MRSMUMAW