Wine Girl Mommy’s World

Category: Thing I Love

• What I Drank in December 2019

  Posted at 11:45 am by CS, on January 6, 2020

  Last month of the year, last post in this series I believe. Solely because now that I’m not living in CA and have wineries at my fingertips, and while I’m in my 30’s and have a toddler, I’m not as adventurous to always be trying new drinks. Therefore, while I may still have things to write about, it may not be on a month by month basis. But I know I have some fun things planned already in 2020, so I wouldn’t rule out never seeing a post like this again.

  Here are the two things I drank in December.

  Smirnoff Red, White, and Berry Vodka. Now, I know what you are thinking, this is a summer time flavor. And while yes it is, I had bought it for another event that it didn’t end up getting used much for, so I had plenty left over and decided I was going to treat myself to it. While I can’t handle straight shots anymore, I found this mixes very well with Sprite. I’m sure it would mix pretty well with some Ginger Ale as well, maybe some cranberry juice, or tonic or soda water. It truly tastes and reminds me of those bomb Popsicles that I used to eat as a kid. I was able to get this at my local Publix liquor store, but I’m not sure if it is around all year.

  

  Svedka Strawberry Lemonade vodka. Another summertime flavor that I didn’t get around to trying until much later in the year. I was on a strawberry lemonade kick earlier this year, and this flavor did not disappoint. I would say you can mix this with Sprite, Ginger ale, or actual lemonade to make a nice and refreshing drink. This I also got at my Publix liquor store, and while this may not be a limited edition flavor, it may still not be around all year long.

  

  Let me know if you’ve tried either of these and what you thought of them. Here’s to more fun drinks in 2020.

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged December, drinks, new, vodka

• Christmas tree trail

  Posted at 12:26 pm by CS, on January 2, 2020

  If you’re looking for something fun and free to do in the Orlando area, and are a lover of Disney, look no further than the Christmas Tree Trail they have at Disney springs.

  This is slowly becoming one of my favorite things to do around the holidays so I really hope Disney continues to put it on. Really would hate for them to take it away. I do believe it’s getting more and more hype, they’ve been doing it since 2016, so I’m taking that as a positive that it will stick around.

  It’s pretty simple in what it is, it’s a trail of beautifully decorated Christmas trees that are themed to the Disney movies, characters, attractions around the parks. Each tree is decorated with items and designs that showcase the theme of the tree. Throughout the trail as well you’ll see fun posters depicting play-ons from different movies. And if you catch it right, you’ll even see snow in Florida. (Side note, it’s really just snope, but still fun to see) This would make a great date night, or family outing, and because it’s at Disney springs, which is free to park, it won’t cost anything to go see.

  While they have the same trees each year, they really put effort into updating the tree so it’s just a bit different each year. They are also adding new trees each year which I always find wonderful.

  I personally think they should add a Tinkerbell/Pixie Hollow tree. And some sort of Pixar tree for other movies other than Toy story. So maybe next year Disney will surprise us.

  

  You can see below how they update the trees over the years. The left is from their first year 2016, and the right is from this year. Both of the tangled tree. My personal favorite.

  

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged characters, Christmas, Christmas trees, Disney, Movies, trail, tree

• Kid friendly holiday movies

  Posted at 4:03 pm by CS, on December 26, 2019

  There are a lot of great Christmas movies out there. And the joy if watching Christmas movies with your family is amazing. Trying to find kid friendly Christmas movies is not that difficult of a task because most if not all are family friendly (minus those rare holiday horror films) but here are our families favorite kid friendly movies. And keep in mind we have a 2 year old, so I’m sure these movies will change as she gets older. And these may not make everyone’s favorites list, they are just the ones we have found ourself opting for when we want to watch a Christmas movie.

  The Grinch– now while I love myself the classic “How the grinch stole Christmas” and even the Jim Carrey remake, the one that makes our list is the most recent cartoon grinch movie. Cameron loves the bright colors and the music. I love how while it’s still very similar to the original, there are some plot differences that still make the movie very good. And I’ll admit, this grinch doesn’t look as mean as the ones in the past, he’s actually pretty cute.

  Christmas chronicles– the Netflix original movie where siblings Kate and Teddy Pierce hatch a scheme to capture Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. When the plan goes awry, the kids join forces with a somewhat jolly Saint Nick and his loyal elves to save the holiday before it’s too late. It’s cute, maybe cheesy at times, but I think the message about loving your brother/sister is a good one. And I mean Kurt Russel is great as Santa.

  Trolls holiday- Queen Poppy and the trolls try to help Bridget and the Bergen’s come up with a new holiday. It’s a short and sweet film, and when Cameron went through her trolls phase she loved this movie. Just like the trolls movie, there is plenty of music and singing and bright colors. And it’s not that long of a film so that helps the little one keep their attention.

  Olaf’s frozen adventure– Olaf tries to help Anna and Elsa find a new tradition. In true Olaf fashion nothing really goes right even though he’s trying to help. Add in some catchy music numbers and this is a winner in our book.

  The Santa clause– this has been a favorite of mine for years. I’m a big Tim Allen fan, and a movie where he becomes Santa is great. First having to convince himself that it’s true, and then having to convince others so he can stay out of trouble. It’s a good family classic.

  By all means this list isn’t even the tip of the iceberg, but we could be here for days if we listed all the great movies. These are just the ones that have made the top of our list, this year at least.

  Posted in Mom-ing, Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged Christmas, holiday, Movies

• What I drank November 2019

  Posted at 11:25 am by CS, on December 5, 2019

  There was a lot going on this last month. Between vacations and weddings and holidays, it’s not a shock that the month flew by. Luckily I did still find time to try some new and interesting drinks.

  Baileys espresso crème- Now I may have “cheated” just a little with this one as I have had this prior to November. But it was only once and it wasn’t a large amount so I’m not counting it. But I treated myself this month to a bottle of it to bring down to Tampa for a wedding. Figured it would be great in coffee or hit chocolate. I was right, and it was delicious. This is good by itself in a glass with ice as well.

  Key Lime Sparkling wine- this has been something I’ve wanted to try for years, every time I see it on a menu for the food and wine festival at Disney. I never had gotten around to actually trying it until this year. I was pleasantly surprised how not sweet it was. I was expecting it to be a lot sweeter than it was so I’m glad I was wrong. This is another drink that is good by itself, or made into a mimosa. We were able to find a bottle of it at a fruit stand in central Florida, and although it was a bit pricy, I’m happy to have finally been able to try it.

  Cider flight at the Epcot experience center at Epcot- this was a hidden gem found at the food and wine festival. People know about the new Epcot experience that shows all the updates coming to epcot, but there is also a counter where you can buy snacks and drinks inside. They offer a cider flight with 3 kinds of cider. The 3 daughters brewing spicy cinnamon hard cider, ciderboys strawberry magic hard cider, and Florida beer co caribé blood orange hard cider. All three were great, but I think the strawberry magic was my favorite. After I had drank enough of all three, I did pour them all together into a single cup so I could walk around the showcase a bit easier, and all of them mixed wasn’t terrible. I’m hoping this isn’t just a festival offering so I can order them again.

  

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged Disney, drinks, favorites, November

• Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival “Best of the Fest”

  Posted at 11:10 am by CS, on November 25, 2019

  Now that the Epcot food and wine festival has ended, I wanted to write about what I considered to be the “best of the fest.”

  This is all my opinion and what I thought was the best of all I tried at the festival. And with that, I did not try everything, I did not have the time or money, but I would like to think I tried a good bit.

  And yes I realize the festival is over so you can’t try anything on this list. But hopefully they will bring them all back in 2020 so that you have a chance.

  My best for the food would be the Lump Crab Cake with Napa Cabbage Slaw and Avocado-Lemongrass Cream from coastal eats. This crab cake was amazing, and the avocado-lemongrass cream just added something that I didn’t know needed to be added to a crab cake. This was the first thing I tried at the festival so I was sure I would find something better, but nothing ever seemed to top it. I will be getting this every year they bring it back.

  

  Winner for the drink portion of the festival is the Ciderboys Lemon Cello Hard Cider from the Appleseed orchard booth. I don’t know if it was because this booth was indoors at the Canada pavilion or if it was just that good, but I got this cider a total of 4 times throughout the festival because I just kept thinking about it. I am now trying to find where I can buy it.

  

  Now some other favorites of mine both food and drink.

  Mimosa flight from the Shimmering Sips booth.

  Smoked Corned Beef with Crispy Potatoes, Cheese Curds, Pickled Onions and Beer-Cheese Fondue from the Flavors of fire booth.

  Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen Pomegranate Beer from the Brewer’s collection booth.

  The IMPOSSIBLE™ Burger Slider with Wasabi Cream and spicy Asian Slaw on a Sesame Seed Bun from the Active eats booth.

  Italian Margarita with Limoncello and Tequila and Ravioli Carbonara: Parmesan and Pecorino Ravioli, Egg Yolk, Cream, and Bacon from the Italy booth.

  

  Did you have any other favorites? What do you hope they bring back next year?

  Posted in Mom-ing, Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged Disney, drinks, Epcot, favorites, food, wine

• Kid friendly Food and Wine options

  Posted at 11:30 am by CS, on November 21, 2019

  While adults tend to flock to Epcot’s Food and Wine festival for the wine/drink aspect of it, when you have kiddos coming with you need to sort of take a look at what sort kid friendly food options you can find for them.

  We have been to the Food and Wine Festival on 3 occasions with Cameron. And every time it was around lunch or dinner time for Cameron so we knew whatever menu options we chose, they had to be approved by our picky little toddler. Luckily with so many food booth options, we had plenty to pick from. Here’s what we found were winners in Cameron’s book. Be on the look out for my best of the fest post for what I really enjoyed during the festival coming soon!

  Flavors of fire: Smoked Corned Beef with Crispy Potatoes, Cheese Curds, Pickled Onions and Beer-Cheese Fondue. Corned beef, love, crispy potatoes, double love, and then topped with beer cheese fondue!! Cameron was in heaven with this one. We originally bought it for ourselves and she ended up eating most of it. Although I can’t blame her because it was really good.

  

  Belgium:Beer-braised Beef served with Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes. Give this child some mashed potatoes and she’s in heaven. Carbs are her friend and this one was a winner. We didn’t even try to get a bite in because she probably would have take our hand off.

  

  Active eats: Loaded Macaroni & Cheese with Nueske’s® Pepper Bacon, Cheddar and Leeks. Once again, carbs are this child’s friend. If she could eat Mac and cheese all day every day I think she would be perfectly content. Sadly I don’t have a photo of her eating this, or even a picture of the food since by the time I tried, it was already gone.

  In Germany we got a bratwurst and she ended up eating most of the pretzel roll it came on, so while she liked it, it was only part of the menu item we ordered. She also stole bits of a cheesecake trio my father ordered, with the raspberry one being her favorite.

  It’s so nice to find things she really likes, especially because now that she is two we are really starting to see her pickiness of food come out. And we really don’t want her living off French fries and chicken tenders if we can help it.

  We still have one more trip to the festival, so hopefully we can find another couple kid friendly options she will enjoy!

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged cheese, Epcot, festival, food, food and wine, kid friendly, Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes

• Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort-kid friendly review

  Posted at 11:06 am by CS, on November 7, 2019

  I want to preface this with I’m not being paid or sponsored to make this post. Although I would love to be sponsored by Disney because I mean who wouldn’t. All opinions are my own.

  For Cameron’s second birthday, we had lots of different celebrations because family was in and out of town and we wanted to celebrate with everyone. One such celebration was that we treated myself, my mom, and Cameron to a weekend stay at a Disney resort when some out of town family was coming to visit Disney for the Columbus Day weekend.

  Now due to pricing and timing, we knew deluxe resorts were way out of the question. A few moderate resorts were reasonably priced, but knowing we wouldn’t be spending a lot of time in the room we weren’t completely sold on them. Then a Florida resident/annual pass holder offer popped up for our dates and a value resort opened up and I knew that was probably the best route to take. Granted the resort was still close to 200 a night, with it being a holiday weekend and all, we still made it out pretty well for a 3 night stay on property. We ended up staying at all-star movies, in a preferred room in the 101 Dalmatians section. Here are some pros and cons and findings from our stay.

  Let’s start with the room. Now as a value resort we knew the room wasn’t going to be huge or super fancy. But I was delightfully surprised that ever since they refurbished the value resorts the rooms were nicer than expected. Laminate floors, better lighting, and a Murphy bed to get more space within the room were really nice. It helped in the morning when we were trying to get ready. I also enjoyed the space of the room as a whole because we brought Cameron’s pack n play and we had plenty of room to set it up and have space to walk around. The beds were comfy, pillows great, AC worked wonderfully, so all in all a good room to be in. My two biggest issues with the room were the coffee maker and the bathtub. The coffee maker was a small single cup maker which just for me being spoiled with a full pot grinding beans coffee maker didn’t exactly cut it. The coffee just wasn’t as strong as I would have hoped. But we made due, and just grabbed more coffee inside the parks. The bathtub situation wasn’t completely horrible either. It’s just that it had a sliding door instead of a shower curtain. And while it looks nicer, probably easier to clean, and sleeker it just was harder to bathe Cameron because the door only stops halfway so you’re either stuck between the toilet and the bathtub or you’re far away from the faucet. But once again we made due for our short stay.

  Amenities, while the value resort may not have as many as some deluxe and moderate resorts, for our length of stay we had just what we needed. We never really ate in the food court, but they seemed to have some decent options. I did try mobile ordering for the first time at the food court, and my experience with that wasn’t terrible but I think it could have been better. I don’t know if they were overly busy, or if the person working mobile order wasn’t paying attention, but I feel like we waited a lot longer than we probably should have from the time I clicked the “I’m here” button on my app to when the food was actually ready for us to pick up. We weren’t in any rush as we were just going back to the room to eat, but it still was a bit of a let down to still have to wait around at the window. The only other amenity we really experienced was the kiddie pool/interactive splash pad area. Cameron had the best time playing there and meeting some other kiddos. Luckily we had no issues getting her away when it was time to go.

  It was so great to take Disney transportation while we were there. So nice to park the car at the resort and then not have to drive again until we left. The biggest con I found was that we had to share a bus with some of the other all-star resorts. This wasn’t every occasion, like early in the morning, or to certain parks, but in the middle of the day, or to places like Disney springs, we did find ourselves sharing a bus with the all-star music resort which made for busier busses in the middle of the day and more stops before being dropped off or picked up.

  All in all I think it was a great resort stay. Being a value resort I knew we wouldn’t be getting a super fancy stay, but having a kiddo and only being there for a few nights and mostly using it for sleeping it definitely did the job. I would definitely stay there again if it came to it!

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged all star, Disney, hotel, Movies, resort, review

• Fun new drinks in October 2019

  Posted at 11:22 am by CS, on October 31, 2019

  My favorite monthly post is once upon us again. I think about what new and fun drinks I tried throughout the month. This month saw more trips to Epcot’s Food and Wine festival, which never disappoints with new varieties of drink options to try.

  First, I got the blood orange margarita from inside the Mexico pavilion. You can get it from La Cava de Tequila. So while not exactly part of the food and wine festival, they make amazing margaritas. Now I will admit I have tried this margarita before, but it was 5 years ago and so I’m pretending it’s brand new to me. Now this margarita is made with Tequila, orange liqueur, earthy sweet-tart mix of blood orange juice, wild berry foam. On the rocks with a Tajín chili powder on the rim. I’m not one for stuff on the rim of my margaritas, but this wasn’t so bad. Now they are a little pricy, but that’s Disney for you. I think these are worth the 13-15 price tag though because it is a full sized drink. Make sure if you are wanting one from here to get their early before a big line forms.

  

  Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen Pomegranate Beer from the Brewer’s collection booth. This beer had a nice and fruity taste, without being to sweet or fruity. It was a good choice, after a not so great margarita from the Mexico booth. (It was just not my flavor, not that it was horrible all around) it’s time like this I wish I could get full size beers and not just sample sizes at the booths. I think Disney should allow for that, of course for an up charge.

  

  Mimosa flight from the shimmering sips mimosa bar booth. This is the one booth I was so excited for since they introduced it in previous years that I couldn’t make it to the festival. Luckily it did not disappoint. I chose the mimosa flight because I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to try. The flight came with a key lime mimosa, tropical mimosa, and a blood orange mimosa. It’s hard to pick a favorite out of the three because they were all good. I think if I had to choose it would go key lime, tropical, blood orange. But it’s all super close in my vote. This is something I could see myself ordering again once more before the festival ends.

  Super excited to see what new things I can try in November. The holidays are my favorite time of year, so hoping some holiday drinks will make my list the next few months.

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged drinks, fab orites, margarita, mimosa, October, pomegranate beer

• Let’s party beaches!!

  Posted at 12:19 pm by CS, on October 3, 2019

  A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of helping to throw one of my best friends a bachelorette party in Folly Beach/Charleston SC. We had the best time and it was so much, but as I was trying to plan and get ideas I was having the hardest time finding information on the location and things to do so I figured I can write out all the fun things we did to maybe help someone else in the future. Plus, now I get to reminisce about the great weekend we had all over again.

  We had gone back and forth on different locations where we wanted to throw the bachelorette party and after many talks and searching we decided on SC. So a group of 10 of us descended on SC to throw our bride to be the best weekend we could.

  Getting to Folly Beach wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be. Now flights into Charleston were a bit pricier than some other destinations but everyone was able to find some good deals, we also had some girls, myself included, drive into town which helped a lot because we were able to bring some stuff and save a little bit of money.

  Where we stayed: we knew we wanted to all make sure we stayed together. We did not want to be in multiple hotel rooms because that’s just not as fun when trying to get ready and spend time together. We were able to find a great house rental that was steps away from everything in Folly beach. Our bride to be wanted to be as close to the beach as possible and the MOH made that happen with this rental. It was a great penthouse that had plenty of room and amazing views. https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p1268253vb

  

  What we did: Obviously being down at the beach we had to spend some time on the actual beach. We hung out and laid out and played in the ocean on Friday morning, as well as some girls returned on Saturday.

  We were also there during the Sea and Sand festival weekend, so on Saturday they shut down the Main Street and had a big festival downtown folly beach. We had a lot of fun checking out local booths, having some food and some drinks.

  We also spent an evening in Charleston doing a pub crawl. We took an Uber to and from Charleston and had no issue what so ever with getting one to pick up and drop off. Now the wait was a bit longer than just a normal few minutes but still wasn’t terrible. That was one thing I was worried about was getting to and from and not being stranded. The pub crawl ended up being a lot of fun. We weren’t totally sure of it because going into it we were a bit wary of the negative reviews we had read on it, but after meeting up with the guide and beginning to drink we realized it was going to be a lot of fun. We went to 3 bars, and the guide led us to a 4th where he ended the tour and that’s where we ended up spending the rest of the evening. Our favorite bar of the night was of course that one which is called Henry’s. It’s multi leveled and had plenty of amazing music, dance floors, and drinks. https://pubtourcharleston.com

  

  We also spent a night out in Folly, in which we went to Snapper Jacks to get their fish bowl drinks, and to St. James Gate pub, where we went upstairs to dance our little hearts out.

  What we ate: When you are near the ocean, you definitely need to try some seafood. The day we arrived, the small group that was there early went to the local crab shack where I had some amazing oysters and a great crab cake.

  Some other memorable meals were at Rita’s seaside grill where we had some great pulled pork nachos and a Key Lime Colada drink that was just absolutely phenomenal. We went here on a tip and so glad we did because we were not disappointed. The chips and dip, margaritas, and street corn at Taco Boy were a win too.

  

  All in all it was a fantastic weekend. Folly beach was a great beach town, it had plenty to do but was small enough that we had no issues walking from place to place so we didn’t need a car at all which was awesome. I had the best time and I hope the bride did too. I want to go back to Folly beach and Charleston just for another trip now.

  Here’s our itinerary just to show what we did:

  Thursday: The girls all arrived at different times. A small group went and got lunch and then drinks while waiting for others. As the others came they joined us at the bar for more food and drinks. Then a group of us went back and decorated the house. We stayed in that night, ordered pizza, played drinking games, and had lots of laughs.

  Friday: After a lazy morning, a grocery store run, and breakfast we headed to the beach for a little bit. Then back to the house to be lazy, nap, and get ready for dinner. Dinner was at Taco Boy in Folly Beach then we took an Uber into Charleston for the pub crawl. Ended the night at Henry’s bar and took an Uber back to the house where all us ate some drunken food.

  Saturday: Another lazy morning and breakfast at the house. We then split off into groups and half went to the beach and the other half went to the festival in town. We had lunch at Rita’s then back to the house to drink and get ready for the last night in Folly. We had dinner at Wiki Wiki sandbar, then went to Snapper Jacks for drinks and ended the night at the pubs upstairs dance floor.

  Sunday: Sadly everyone got up and went our own separate ways as the weekend came to an end. Next stop is the wedding!!

  

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged bachelorette, beach, Charleston, folly beach, ocean, pub crawls, Rita’s, Taco Boy

• What I drank September 2019

  Posted at 11:27 am by CS, on September 30, 2019

  So yet another month has passed us by very quickly. This month was filled with fun and friends and some very good drink choices. I’m very sad that some of the drinks I had this month aren’t easily found which means I will only be able to think about how good they were in the future.

  Ciderboys Lemon Cello Hard Cider: So I’m a cider girl, as I’ve grown older it’s just what I seem to gravitate more towards. It’s crisp and fruity, and depending on what you get not overly sweet or overly filling. I think this cider is hands down my new favorite cider and I’m sad that I’ve looked around to see if I could find it anywhere to buy it and I have had no luck. It’s hint of lemon in the apple cider and it was amazing. I had it at Disney at the Food and Wine Festival so the plus is that since the festival is going on for a little while longer I can at least go back and get some in the near future.

  

  Strawberry Basil Lemonade: Oh, my, goodness. I’ve had a non alcoholic version of this years ago in Tennessee and I remember being slightly obsessed and not happy that I couldn’t make it or find a decent recipe for it. Well in Charleston this past weekend we went to “The Rooftop bar at Vendue” and they had a strawberry basil lemonade cocktail. I was immediately sold, (as were most of the girls I was with). It did not disappoint. It’s made with Cathead Honeysuckle Vodka, House Made Basil Strawberry Lemonade, Fresh Basil Leaves. Once again I find myself wanting to find this recipe for the lemonade and making it at home. Sadly I didn’t take a photo of it because it was gone before I realized it would be making an appearance in the blog.

  Key lime colada: This is basically a key lime pie in a glass. At least to me that’s what I gathered from it. It’s lime juice, a piña colada and a graham cracker rim. We got it at Rita’s Surfside Grill in Folly Beach, South Carolina. I can’t say enough good things about this. It was a tad on the sweet side so I was only able to drink one, but if my stomach could have handled more I would have gotten more. It’s that perfect cold drink on a hot day sort of drink. And that dash of lime juice to give it the tartness was unbelievably good.

  

  By far I think this month has been my favorite month so far for new drinks. October has some big shoes to fill.

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged cider, ciderboys, drinks, favorites, key lime colada, lemon cello, monthly, September, strawberry basil lemonade, vendue

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