December Books

 

I did it! More than 50 books this year!

58. I'm Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

59. Refugee, Alan Gratz

60. All the Missing Girls

Time to get started on the next year!

A Disney World Christmas

 It's no secret that I love Disney - the magic of the movies and the parks. I love that my kids and I have been able to go as often as we have. I also know that I'm quickly getting to the age where they will be "too big". I think Em may grow up to be a Disney Adult but for family trips, we might be done soon.

Seeing Halloween and Christmas decorations at Disney have been bucket list items for me. We were lucky last year and went to the Halloween party at the end of August, but Nick and I decided to go to during the long weekend in November and see Christmas decorations this year. We found relatively inexpensive flights and booked one night at the Polynesian (a dream resort of mine) and two nights at a less expensive hotel room off property. However, Hurricane Nicole had different plans and our trip was scrapped.

Fast forward and as we're trying to get our money back, we realized there's still Christmas Party tickets available the weekend before Christmas break. It would require I miss two days of work but I had expiring PTO days so we looked at flights -they were even cheaper! - and decided not only should we go, but we should bring the kids! Emmalee and Tyler had been asking to go to Disney again and while I had hoped to go Summer 2023, it made sense to do a quick trip with them now. 

I was able to spend the same amount of money on the hotel but opted to stay on property at Art of Animation since the kids had been asking for that. We booked them seats on the flight and grabbed Christmas Party tickets for them.

Our trip was quick - Wednesday night to Saturday night -- just enough time to go to the Christmas party on Thursday night, a park on Friday and fly home Saturday. I still had my 5 free tickets I had won from last year's raffle so if we only did one park day, we'd save money there!

Our flight got in way later than planned but we started Thursday morning bright and early at Disney Springs. Emmalee is obsessed with the Orange Bird and Tyler loved checking out Gideon's Cookies! Since it was such a quick trip we focused on doing new things and gettingw arm cookies at 9 am was definitely something new! We took the Minnie Vans over to try them out and while adorable, we're not sure we'd do it again.

  

From Disney Springs we made our way over to the Polynesian resort. Nick and I had planned on staying there originally for one night of our trip, but we were able to snag a late Ohana reservation and still got to see the resort. Breakfast was so good!

  

Emma being obsessed with Stitch was the main reason we went but the food was delicious... THe server even brought out a bowl of bacon for the kids! It's also the only place to get Stitch waffles! 

From there we made our way to the Grand Floridian to see the gingerbread house and it was magical, but I'm glad it was just a pit stop. The line was crazy and I honestly don't even really like gingerbread...

Then it was off to Magic Kingdom for the party. We didn't get park tickets so we were able to get into Magic Kingdom at 4 pm. The party went until midnight and with the shortened lines we were able to get on every ride we wanted.

 

After a late night visit to see family at Disney Springs, we went to bed, prepared to get to Epcot first thing so we could check out Remy's Ride in France. We got right on and then walked around Epcot, getting Turning Red boba, finding golden statues and eating lunch at Space 220!

 

  

The plan had only been to go to Epcot and the Hollywood Studios but after learning Nick loves Avatar, we knew we had to stop at Animal Kingdom to see Pandora. 

Nick rode Flight of Passage and then we all went on the Navi River Rise before packing up and heading to Hollywood Studios! 3 parks in 3 days!

 

It was a crazy day of walking, but we got on all the rides we wanted, saw new rides and tried out new restaurants and food stands and had the best trip. It was just enough to get our Disney fill without it being a huge expense.

Thanks to our free tickets, we spent $263 per person on flights, $610 total on the hotel room, and $170 per person for the Christmas party tickets, which in my eyes is a ridiculously affordable Disney trip.

Being so frugal on our trips is how we're able to continue taking more trips. Can't wait to see where we end up next!

xo, Heather

October Books and November Books

 

Yikes --

I completely forgot to post my October books so now you get one list with them!

53. The Inheritance Games

54. The It Girl, Ruth Ware

55. The Hawthorne Legacy

56. As Good as Dead

57. The Final Gambit

I've more than read 50 books and with another month left, I can't wait to see how many more I read before the end of the year!

September Books

 

Oh man, I got caught up in the new school year and BARELY read.

I did hit my 50th book though so let's see how high I can go!

50. Blancaflor, Nadja Spiegelman & Sergio Garcia Sanchez

51. Family of Liars, E. Lockhart

52. You'll Be the Death of Me, Karen McManus

I love all of McManus' books so this was quick and easy and I love We Were Liars - the prequel was a great read! This month was light but I really enjoyed all three books.

Be sure to check out my Good Reads to see what I'm reading!

King Richard's Faire

 We love going to King Richard's Faire every year - it's like the kick off of Fall and this year was no different!

Be sure to try out all our favorites:

1. Eating a turkey leg.

2. Checking out the Accidental Acrobats.

3. Make a wish in the Fairy Garden.

4. Get Peasant Bread (Fried Dough)

5. Watch the Royal Joust!

We spent extra time this year exploring the shops to help build Em's Fairy Elf costume for this year's Halloween costume!

Be sure to check out King Richard's Faire before it closes October 23rd. The Faire is open every Saturday and Sunday. You can check out what the great themes every weekend are here!

August 2022 Books

 

The last month of summer and I hoped to get all 50 in! Looks like I need a bit longer though...

42. The Therapist, B A Paris

43. What Happened to the Bennetts, Lisa Scottoline

44. The Glass Hotel, Emily St John Mandel

45. The Paris Apartment, Lucy Foley

46. The Overnight Guest, Heather Gudenkauf

47. Reminders of Him, Colleen Hoover

48. Insomnia, Sarah Pinborough

49. Never Tell, Lisa Gardner

July Books 2022

 

Happy July! I love summer -- I get so much reading done!

34. Happy and You Know It, Laura Hankin

35. The Book of Cold Cases, Simone St James

36. Survive the Night Riley Sager

37. I Am Watching You, Teresa Driscoll

38. The Good Sister, Sally Hepwroth

39. 56 Days, Catherine Ryan Howard

40. Letters to a Young Athlete, Chris Bosh

41. The Woods Are Always Watching, Stephanie Perkins

Be sure to follow me on Good Reads to see what I'm reading next!

More 40 by 40 Check Marks!

I had the most amazing week filled with relaxation and pool time and I realized that I wanted to write and share more in the influencer world so here I am again, back with another post. 

I have new check marks on this big list!

2. Masters + 30 or a CAGS - officially submitted for Masters + 30 (and honestly I'm eyeing that +45 mark now!

2. Get another tattoo - the most beautiful flowers on my tricep were done in May and I love them, but I'm obviously still looking for more....

7. Try diamond painting or another new craft with Em - I made such a gorgeous beach painting using diamond painting. I was so nervous it would drive me insane but it ended up being so calming...

I'm making more check marks and can't wait to see what I do next!

- Heather

40 by 40

TRAVEL

1. Disney World or Disney Land with the kids (again) - August 2021

2. Lego Land in New York - check! So much fun!

3. Travel internationally - Europe ideally Iceland in February 2022!

4. Harry Potter World - Another we checked off on our trip!

5. Go to a Tropical Island

6. Go on a cruise.

7. Go on a road trip that's at least a week long a different place every night or two. - this was unreal! Check out the post all about it!

8. Fly 1st class.  - this was a surprise! On our way to Nashville, we got a free upgrade!

9. Go Glamping/ Stay in a Tree house

10. Camp at least 10 days in the five years

       - We did 3 nights to celebrate my sister's graduation - June 2021

11. Go to Ohana at Disney or real Luau in Hawaii.

12. See 5 National Parks

13. Go to an all-inclusive resort

14. Make a bucket list of travel locations  - done and done - check out my list here.

15. Get a new passport 

16. Visit 5 new states

    - California to see my brother and North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee this summer!

FITNESS

1. Try Barre or a new type of fitness class

2. Bench a full plate on each side

3. Run an in person 5k or 10k.

4. Run a half marathon.

5. Do a pull up

6. Try a pole fit class

FOOD

1. Try a juice cleanse

2. Eat vegetarian or vegan for a week

3. Go to a fancy dinner and splurge without looking at menu prices - Nick and I went to a deliciously amazing steak house.  We ordered amazing steaks and sides and drinks and didn't pay attention to the bill.  It helped that it was even less than we expected, but it was such a fun experience since it's so out of the ordinary for us!

4. One month take out/fast food free

5. Try barbeque in the south - so many times on our road trip. It. Was. Amazing.

6. Tip 100% on a bill /$20 on a small bill

FOR WORK

1. Take a spanish or ASL class - I signed up for DuoLingo Spanish! I'm a couple weeks in and I'm relearning so much.

2. Masters + 30 or a CAGS

FOR ME

1. Be comfortable in my body

2. Get another tattoo

3. Buy a piece of art -- real art, not a print from Marshalls/Home Goods  I was beyond excited to support my former co-worker at SAPedrosa.com. I bought the most gorgeous print, but hope to buy this one day when I own my own house again and can decorate.

4. Do the AFSP Overnight walk NOT in Massachusetts or New York

    - I just signed up for New York in the Summer of 2022 since they just announced it but crossing my fingers for 2023!

5. Unplug completely for 24 hours

6. A spa day  I originally meant this as a massage and facial and all that, but we ended up at Sky Lagoon in Reykjavik and it was the most amazing, relaxing spa experience.

7. Try diamond painting or another new craft with Em

8. Cross stitch something

9. Take a baking class -- cookies or cake decorating.

10. Pay off the car

June Books

 

28. You Betrayed Me, Lisa Jackson

29. The Turnout, Megan Abbott

30. The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave

31. The Long Weekend, Gilly Macmillan 

32. A Slow Fire Burning, Paula Hawkins

33. When the Stars Go Dark, Paula McLain

Halfway through the year and more than halfway to my goal of 50 books!

Stone Zoo, Stoneham Ma - Zoo New England

We celebrated the first day of summer with a trip to a new to us Zoo - Zoo New England's Stone Zoo in Stoneham, Ma!
Stone Zoo is a great small-medium sized Zoo, taking roughly 1-2 hours to go through all the exhibits. My kids loved the flamingos right at the very beginning in the aviary. The amazing Lego displays out right now, were amazing. Literally, jaw-dropping. 

 

 



 

 

We loved how close we were able to get to the animals and the zoo had the perfect amount of shade pockets so we weren't overheating (even though it was 87*!)

  

Emma mostly loved the great photograph background walls!





Tyler's favorite part was petting the goat!



Stone Zoo is a great zoo to visit!


Be sure to stop by the playground and carousel on your visit!