Epcot Food and Wine Festival!

Yesterday Tessa and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary of living and working in Florida with a little taste of the Epcot Food and Wine festival. It was opening night which was very exciting, and we were able to taste foods, desserts and wine from all around the world. We had so much fun! My favorite countries were Canada, Turkey and France.
We started off in Canada where we had Maple glazed salmon and Canadian Cheddar cheese soup (which we offer in Le Cellier). Next was Poland and Greece where we had Kolbasa and perogies and Greek salad and Spanakopita. SOoo good!

I was excited to go to Spain where we tried Papas Con Chorizo and Albondigas. We had sushi in Japan and Chaysson au Fromage de Chevre and Creme Brulee in France. It's great because each item is between $1 and $5 so it gives you the chance to try many little tastes of the world. Turkey had this amazing Circassian Chicken that both Tessa and I loved.
After trying Shrimp on the Barbie in Australia and Vegetable Curry in Thailand amoung many other things we became very full! Jo met up with us later in the UK and we walked around Epcot again to try all the fabulous little desserts. So much fun! We had Apple Strudle in Germany and Sweet mango Tapioca soup in Thailand (was not a big hit with the three of us!) I cant wait to do it again and also go to the Australian Wine garden where you walk thru and try all sorts of wines while you learn about them! We later watched Illuminations which was spectacular! Great way to celebrate 6 months of Disney Magic! (hehe)

Bennigans

Here I am with my new roomie Jo from England! We went to Bennigans the other night for some food and drinks. She is just great!

Year of A Million Dreams!

This is Disney's new theme for the next year! Disney "dream squad" people will be making dreams come true around the park by giving away cruises, trips, all day fast- passes, and stays in Cinderellas castle to unsuspecting guests! Check out the website for The Year of A Million Dreams! its very cool! You can create your own dreams and bring them to life. Also, watch this tv commercial which brings tears to my eyes. click here to watch it!

Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween

A group of us went to the Magic Kingdom for their annual Halloween party which goes til October. We got tons of candy from each ride, and watched the Halloween parade and fireworks. It was tons of fun!!!

Grand Floridian

Lisa, Laura and I had the day off so we went to lie by the pool at the Grand Floridian, it was wonderful and so relaxing! We also went to look around the wedding pavillion which was so pretty. There was a disney wedding happening that same day just a few hours later.


We got lei's at the Polynesian resort.

DISCOVERY COVE!

Today was one of the best days I've had here in Florida. Jessie, Steph and I went to snorkel, feel sting rays, float in tropical rivers and Swim with the dolphins. It was absolutely amazing! DC is all-inclusive so everything was included from towels, sunscreen and wet-suits, to gourmet lunch and cocktails! Kissing a bottlenose dolphin was my favorite part of an awesome day!

The Bird aviary

The bird aviary was beautiful, full of lush plants and and tropical flowers. As we walked in with our bird feed in hand, I was instantly attacked by birds of many colours. I was totally freaked out as you can tell from the photo! They landed on my head and Steph and Jessie were laughing! It was too funny!

Sting Rays

We were all assured that they no longer had their stingers! This was a good thing considering the recent fluke death of the Crocodile Hunter! They were really friendly and swam right up to us,we were also able to feed them which was very cool!

Coral Reef Snorkeling

So amazing was this snorkeling!!!! I couldn't believe the amount of fish they had down there! There were also sharks, luckily behind glass, although it was hard to tell. There were so many fish and rays to look at it was amazing! We had red marks on our faces from our masks after snorkeling for so long.

Memories!

Discovery Cove was fabulous, it was gorgeous out all day. We spent alot of the day also relaxing! After the dolphin swim we had a huge lunch with salmon, chicken, jambalaya, and cheesecake! We also floated down the lazy river and relaxed in the sun. I seriously did not want today to end...

St. Augustine

Tanis and I took a trip to America's oldest city! St. Augustine, which was first settled in by the Spanish. There was so much history and old buildings. It was beautiful! It's about a two hour drive from Orlando, so I thought it was definately something i needed to see this year.




We had lunch and then took a Horse drawn carriage tour around town. We learned about the historic houses and hotels, and ate ice cream. We walked around and then later went to the beach. The sand was like dust, it was some of the nicest, softest sand I had ever felt! What a great day it was!!!

Happy Birthday Renata

Today was Renata's Birthday! I worked a lunch shift at the restaurant, and then met up with Renata, Joe and Angela. We went to Mexico and got Margaritas! Yum! they are so good!. Renata and I bought Chinese parasols and the girl wrote our names in Chinese. They helped shield us from the sun... sort of... We then met up with the others and had dinner at Le Cellier. I got the Mushroom filet which I always get! After we went to France to drink Champagne and then watched the Fireworks Illuminations! It was a really fun night! I got home feeling incredibly full and tired, so I didn't go out with everyone downtown:( ...

LULULEMON MANIFESTO

Okay I love this... I'm posting it on my wall in FLorida!!

* Drink FRESH water and as much water as you can. Water flushes unwanted toxins and keeps your brain sharp.
* Observe a plant before and after watering and relate the benefits to your body and brain.
* Coke, Pepsi and all other pops will be known as the cigarettes of the future. Colas are NOT a substitute for water. Colas are just another cheap drug made to look great by advertising.
* Be yoga. Breathing has you live in the moment and stretching releases toxins from your muscles.
* Do yoga so you can remain active in physical sports as you age.
* Listen, listen, listen, and then ask strategic questions.
* SWEAT once a day to regenerate your skin.
* Compliments from the heart elevate another person’s spirit and will often result in an encouraging word for someone else ... a domino effect.
* Your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself.
* Life is full of setbacks. Success is determined by how you handle setbacks.
* Write down your short and long term GOALS four times a year. 2 personal, 2 business and one health goal. A university found only 3 percent of the students had written goals. 20 years later, the same 3 percent were wealthier than the other 97% combined.
* You ALWAYS have choice and the conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time. Choose a positive thought.
* Communication is COMPLICATED. Each person is raised in a different family with a different definition of each word.
* Love.
* Jealousy works the opposite way you want it to.
* Nature wants us to be mediocre because we have a greater chance to survive and reproduce. Mediocre is as close to the bottom as it is to the top. Be creative. Do one thing a day that scares you.
* Take various vitamins. You never know what small mineral can eliminate the bottleneck to everlasting health.
* Dance, sing, floss and travel.
* Do not use cleaning chemicals on your kitchen counters. Try vinegar and lemon. Someone will inevitably make a sandwich on your counter.
* Just like you did not know what an orgasm was before you had one, nature does not let you know how great children are until you have them. Children are the orgasm of life.
* Friends are more important than money. Don’t trust that an old age pension will be sufficient.
* Live near the ocean and inhale the pure salt air that flows over the water. Vancouver will do nicely. Stress is related to 99% of all illnesses.
* One hour of aerobic exercise will release endorphins to regenerate cells and offset stress.
* A daily hit of athletic induced endorphins will give you the power to make better decisions and help you be at peace with yourself.
* Wake up and realize you are surrounded by amazing friends.
* lululemon athletica was formed to provide people with components to live a longer, healthier and more fun life. If we can produce products to keep people active and stress free, we believe the world will be a better place.
* Do it now. The world is changing AT SUCH A RAPID rate that waiting to implement changes will leave you two steps behind. DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW!

I LOVE VANCOUVER!

WOW! I am so proud to be Canadian, Living in Florida has been great but I have really come to appreciate home. Stepping off that plane was so wonderful to smell that fresh mountain air. The weather has been beautiful and I have seen so many friends. Tommorrow I go back and to be honest it will be very very hard. What a wonderful trip it has been!!!

Tracy Liz and I went for lunch at Milestones on Robson street. We had a great time, although it felt very strange the three of us being in Vancouver, after just being together in Florida a week ago. We got Starbucks and went shopping at Lululemon. A very good day!
Chris had a party for me being home! SO many of my friends came and it was such a surprise to see alot of people. We barbequed and had lots of fun! White Rock is so beautiful!
So many friends have came by to see me. Shannon and Sabrine, Ola (of course!) who slept over last night, Lacey and Melanie and I had lunch at Earls. Today I went to Tim Hortons and got an Iced Cappucino and Tim bits. Its funny the things you appreciate when you are away for so long! Tonight all my family is coming over for a bbq. Yay!