happiness is...

special holiday treats i.e. chocolate peppermint swirl cookies and chocolate gingerbread 3-layer cake with fresh mint and cranberries. yum!

 

happiness is...

Christmas lights on a beautiful tree!

happiness is...

seeing Neil Patrick Harris live and in-person! he was a narrator at EPCOT's candlelight processional over the weekend and my mom and I got to see/hear him. it's always a beautiful event this time of year and saturday evening was no exception. and seeing NPH...bonus!

happiness is...(a day late)

enjoying another glorious day "in the land of the free, BECAUSE of the brave". thank you to all who have served, and are currently serving, our great country! 

happiness is...

a little bit of fall...even in the Sunshine State! 

happiness is...

stained glass.

simply.

stunning.

happiness is...

Happiness is...lovely, delicate flowers

Something Wicked This Way Comes...

so for the last few years my family has gathered at Disney for a weekend in October. we dress as Disney villains (because what's more fun than being a baddie?!) for the Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. as there are generally 9 of us who attend, we manage to make quite a statement walking around the park. not only do we compete to see who collects the most candy (my uncle, aka Syndrome from The Incredibles, won this year), but we also compete to see who gets the most picture requests (again, my uncle won this year...gack!). it rained on us this year but thankfully it was only for the first hour or so. 


the other big event we attend on this auspicious weekend is the Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT. now, this is perhaps my favorite special event that happens at Walt Disney World. who doesn't love to eat and drink their way around the "World"?! it rained on us. again. but we managed to enjoy ourselves in spite of the nasty weather. the only thing we really missed out on over the weekend was some pool time because yes, it rained all day Saturday too. though the young ones (6 of us) did hang out in the hot tub a little at night. in the rain. and that was kind of fun.

to recap the weekend: trick-or-treating in the rain Friday night. playing games and drinking in the room all day Saturday. eating and drinking around the "World" Sunday. yep, I'd say it made for one memorable weekend. and Monday when we left, that's right, bright blue skies and lots of sun. go figure. 


below are just a few interesting pictures from the weekend:

helping a friend...

so my friend Kate is starting a new business venture in the near future. while having breakfast one morning last week she mentioned that the pictures for her website were not pictures of her actual product (shortbread...yum!). I said I would be happy to take pictures of her shortbread for her to use. I believe it's important to show people the product they are actually buying! long story short: I spent almost two hours taking lots of pictures and here are some of my personal favorites! doesn't the shortbread look delicious?!

College Football Baby! *Go Clemson Tigers*

I love, love, love college football! Seriously, it's like one of my most favorite things in the whole world. Unfortunately, I have only ever experience two previous college games live and in-person. Thanks to this weekend, my total has now gone up to three! 

I flew up to Clemson, SC to spend the weekend with family and friends and attend the Clemson/Florida State game. Talk about picking the perfect game to make my Clemson debut! The weather was absolutely gorgeous (hello, being able to wear jeans and not sweat to death!) and the Tigers played a fantastic game. The sold-out stadium was a loud, orange-and-purple lovin' place of amazingness. Seriously, I so got goosebumps when the Tigers started running on the field and they released the massive amounts of orange balloons into the beautiful blue sky. Nothing can compare to seeing the action live. Every team and stadium has fantastic traditions that make them special, and I truly loved experiencing Clemson's for the first time with people who love their alma mater so deeply! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you family and friends for making the weekend so special! Love and hugs!