Wine Girl Mommy’s World

Category: Thing I Love

• Favorite Reads 5/2020

  Posted at 9:47 am by CS, on May 31, 2020

  Although it doesn’t feel like it because the year seems to be dragging, another month has flown by. This means another favorite reads of the month. Here are the few books Cameron gravitated to this month.

  Sweet dreams pout pout fish by Deborah Diesen– Because Cameron enjoyed their original pout pout fish book, we decided to get her more in the series. She likes this book because she likes to see pout pout fish getting ready for bed. I do wish it was a little longer, but it works perfectly for those nights where I’m not in the mood to read long stories.

  

  You’re here for a reason by Nancy Tillman– with everything going on in the world, I wanted to find a book that depicted how special Cameron is. I heard Jana Kramer reading this book to her son on Instagram and knew this was the book I wanted. It’s such a great and positive message which I think is something we all need right now.

  

  Potty superhero– Now this may not seem like a normal bedtime book, but we have started the process of getting Cameron ready to potty train. So I figured the best way to get that started was to start reading her books that talk about the subject. She is very interested in the books and seems very interested in learning how to use the potty. I’m not exactly sure who wrote this book, but I found it on amazon. They have a boy and girl version, to help them understand more about their body and what their body needs when it’s time to use the potty.

  

  Posted in Mom-ing, Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged books, favorites, reading

• Disney Favorites- Magic Kingdom

  Posted at 11:19 am by CS, on May 11, 2020

  I miss Disney. A lot. And since we are still social distancing and in quarantine as well as the parks not being open yet, I figured now was the perfect time to do some Disney favorite related blog posts. Because it’s my blog and I can do what I want. But also, who doesn’t love a good Disney post.

  Today’s blog we will visit my favorites of Magic Kingdom. I had to think pretty hard about my favorites, because it is hard for me to pick just one in every category. That’s just the Disney fan in me.

  

  Favorite Land– Fantasyland. This may be an odd favorite, since it tends to be one of the busiest lands due to all the kid-friendly rides. But I just love the nostalgia it holds, and the bright colors of all the attractions that you can find back there.

  Favorite Ride– This one was super hard. There are so many great rides at Magic Kingdom, but when it came down to it, the ride that I just have to do every time we go to Magic Kingdom (as long as it’s up and working) is the People Mover. It is a great ride that normally doesn’t have a very long wait due to the fact that it is always moving. It’s also a nice relaxing ride to just sit back and enjoy the ride around Tomorrowland. It’s also for every height, so everyone can ride it.

  Favorite Shop– When trying to pick my favorite shop, I was trying to decide if I wanted to go with a shop that you can get one specialty item, or one that housed all the kinds of Disney merchandise. This shop edged out it’s runner up by a very slim margin. But my favorite shop in Magic Kingdom is Big Top Souvenirs. It has a lot of the same items you can get at the Emporium, but it doesn’t have a lot of the crowds due to it being all the way back in Storybook Circus. And the air conditioning in the shop works wonders for those mid day breaks.

  Favorite Show/Parade– For this I’m only choosing my favorite based on the fact that I have not seen Happily Ever After in person, so I can’t judge and pick that until I do. With that being said, my favorite show/parade at Magic Kingdom is the Move It, Shake It, Mouseke-Dance It parade. I really love how lively and bright and fun the parade is. My daughter loves the music from it too, so that’s a plus.

  Favorite Snack– I may get some hate for this choice, but my favorite snack at Magic Kingdom is the Mickey Shaped pretzel. I know, it’s crazy that it’s not the dole whip, but I’m not a big fan of the dole whip in the first place. It’s good, yes, but it’s also pretty basic. I also really love the cheese sauce that comes with the mickey pretzel.

  Favorite Quick Service Restaurant- Who doesn’t love hot dogs, corn dog nuggets, and french fries?!?! Not me, that’s for sure, so my favorite quick service restaurant is Casey’s Corner. I just love that laid back feeling, and the menu options, while small, are some of the best in the park.

  Favorite Table Service Restaurant– I had to really sit and think about this because I personally feel that Magic Kingdom doesn’t have the best choices when it comes to table service restaurants. I based on my experiences of eating at all of them, so the winner of this category is Tony’s Town Square restaurant. I don’t even really love Italian food, but the way Tony’s does it makes it a good choice when looking for a sit down, table service while in the park. And they have been very accommodating every time we have been to this restaurant so that was also a plus.

  Favorite Character Meet– Again, I had a few options when trying to decide my favorite character meet. But this character is my absolute favorite Disney character and her meet and greet is always great. That’s why my top spot at Magic Kingdom goes to Tinkerbell. She is just so sassy, but yet friendly, and the queue waiting to meet her is magical too. It is just a great time all around.

  Now I may have rubbed some people the wrong way with my choices, but that’s why they are my choices and not anyone else’s. That’s the best part about Disney, they have so many great things that it is hard to pick just one or two favorites, therefore you are bound to have different opinions than other people. I’m looking forward to getting back to the parks and experiencing my favorites as soon as it is safe and I’m able to head back to Orlando.

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged Disney, favorites, magic kingdom

• Favorite Reads 4/2020

  Posted at 12:16 pm by CS, on May 4, 2020

  Time for another month of, what my toddler insists on wanting to read. We’ve been trying to introduce some new and fun books each month. These are the ones she really took to in the month of April. Also, how is April already over? I guess with the whole Covid pandemic, months are flying by while at the same time feeling like they are taking a million years to finish.

  The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen– This book kept popping up on my searches for great books for toddlers, so I finally decided to purchase it. I’m so glad I did. Cameron really took to it, and she loves following along with Mr. Fish, as well as helping me read through parts of the book, and tracing words on the pages. It’s not a crazy long book, which is always a plus for us, since we know toddler attention spans are not crazy long. Especially at bed time. We loved this book so much, I’ve started looking into more from the series.

  Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boyton– This book makes it on our list this month because this is the first book that Cameron really can repeat because of how often we read it. I also love it because it’s helping her learn her animal noises, and say more words. Not to mention, Sandra Boyton books are great for this age, they are short, they rhyme, and have great themes that are easy to follow along with.

  The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boyton– Another Sandra book makes our favorites list this month. I’m a big fan of this book because as you know, I really enjoy having a book that explains and talks about going to bed, so that we can get Cameron calmed and understanding that when we read stories in bed, that means it’s bedtime and we are getting ready for sleep. And as I stated above, Sandra Boyton books do a great job and catching toddler’s attention, and keeping them engaged.  We love this book so much, we somehow have ended up with three copies of it.

  I got all these books on Amazon, but I’m sure that places like Target and Walmart will have them as well. These are our top picks for April. We are already a few days in May and I can tell we are going to have some fun picks this month.

  Posted in Mom-ing, Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged animal noises, bedtime, books, reading

• Why I love Disney

  Posted at 11:16 am by CS, on February 3, 2020

  I get the question a lot of “why do you love Disney so much?”, “why do you go to Disney so often?” especially because I’m an adult and so a lot of people think that liking Disney as an adult is weird. And not that I feel that I HAVE to explain myself, but I thought I would share a bit of why I do love Disney so much, and why I’m forever wanting to go back to the parks, and introduce Cameron to it all.

  Nostalgia/Memories– For as long as I can remember, I just have memories of going to Disney World, and watching Disney movies, and loving all of the characters. Now, I may have not gone to Disney as often as I remember going as a kid, but it seemed like once a month we were going to Orlando and going to the parks. I also remember watching all the Disney movies on VHS, and seeing The Lion King (the animated original) in theaters. So when I think of Disney, I think back to my childhood and how in awe of everything I seemed to be. These were happy times, so it’s always nice to have those memories to look back on.

  Never the same visit- “Why do you keep going back to Disney?” I think most Disney fans probably get that question over and over again from people that don’t really understand the magic of Disney. For me it’s simple, it is never the same visit or never the same trip. Because there is so much to see and do for all ages at Disney, it’s so easy to go again and again and be able to experience something new each time. And even if you are riding the same rides, seeing the same characters, or watching the same parades, the people you are with and the specific situation may be just the littlest different that it makes the trip as a whole different. We have taken Cameron to Disney more than a handful of times while we were staying in the Orlando area, but not one trip was exactly like the one before. That to me makes every trip special. And now with Cameron getting older, and taller, she is starting to be able to ride more, and she is understanding more about the trips and starting to have favorites, and things she wants to be able to do when we go.

  The Magic– There is just something about the magic about being at Disney. It’s hard to stay mad, or get mad, or be mad at Disney. And if you are mad at Disney, you are doing it wrong. Seeing your child’s face light up as they ride it’s a small world for the millionth time, or when they see their favorite character and run in for the hug, it just melts your heart. Yes, there is a potential to have a less than spectacular day, especially when going with children, but that can happen anywhere.

  Bonding with your child– Believe me, I know there are plenty of ways that you can bond with your child outside of spending the money at Disney. And I do bond with Cameron in those other ways. But taking her Disney, or watching Disney movies is one additional way that her and I can get closer and bond as mother and daughter. It thrills me that some of her favorite characters are some of the ones I grew up loving as well. So I think just having this one extra level that we can have together is great to experience.

  Family time- Additionally we love Disney because our family loves Disney too. A lot of full family vacations have been taken to Disney. Extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins, the whole crew, and these visits and vacations become super magical because we are spending them with the ones we love, and may not get to see so often due to distance.

  These are just a few reasons as to why I love Disney so much, why I’m hoping Cameron will have a bit of that love in her growing up, and why I’m always wanting to go back even though I’ve been time and time again.

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged Disney, Disney world, family, love

• January Favorites

  Posted at 11:35 am by CS, on January 30, 2020

  Decided to try another new series and see how it goes. I’m not one that uses a whole heck of a lot of products every day, or week, or month. So not sure how many favorites each month I will have, but figured I could at least give it a shot. Plus, I know I’m always looking for new things to try out and I can’t be the only one. So maybe this series will help someone else too.

  First up, the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Berry. I got this for Christmas (gift to myself) and I am loving it. I put it on at night and when I wake up my lips feel super soft and smooth. Which with the crazy weather Florida is throwing at us this year it is definitely wonderful to have. I got it from Sephora and it comes in other varieties as well. It only cost $20 dollars, which to me is a great price.

  

  Next up, the bareMinerals Blemish Remedy serum. I do suffer from stress related and hormonal acne, so whatever I can do to try and help that I like to try. I have tried lots of different washes and treatments, some work, some didn’t, but I’m always on the lookout for something new too. When I saw this at TJMaxx I figured, what the heck. It’s a treatment serum and it’s very light on my skin, not as harsh as some of the other treatments I’ve used so it’s definitely a plus. So far I can tell that it seems to be helping. And it was only $6.99.

  

  Next, the newest Rachel Hollis book. I loved her first book that I read, it’s actually the read I decided to start writing the blog, so as an early birthday gift to myself I decided to buy this from Target. It does not disappoint, so I’m so glad I got it. And it was on sale at Target and who doesn’t love a good target sale.

  

  The year of 2020, is the year that I’m trying to be more grateful. I figured the best way to do that was with a gratitude journal. Each day, I write down 3 things that I’m grateful for, they can be as little or as big as I want them to be, and it’s really been helping put things into perspective. It’s a great journal, and I got it from amazon as a Christmas gift to myself.

  

  Another Target fund has made this months list. I had been searching and searching for a smaller type “park/diaper bag” to bring to Disney because we have been going more, and Cameron hasn’t been needing AS much so I was trying to find a bag that I could still fit enough in but that wasn’t so chunky. I was having the hardest time all last year finding one, but on my 6th trip to target in 2020 I finally found this beauty. It’s exactly what I had been looking for. Not to big, not to small, will hold all my park essentials and what I need for Cameron. And it’s black which is the color I wanted. I was beyond happy to find this, it was in my basket before I knew it. Only $25 dollars too.

  

  These five things have made the month of January exciting and fun. It’s always great to try new things and love them. Hopefully February will bring some interesting things as well.

  Posted in Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged amazon, backpack, blemish remedy, favorite things, favorites, gratitude, January, lip mask, monthly, Rachel Hollis, Sephora, target

• 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

• Search for:

• Recent Posts

  • Favorite Reads 5/2020
  • Disney Favorites- Hollywood Studios
  • Disney Favorites- Epcot
  • Disney Favorites- Magic Kingdom
  • Favorite Reads 4/2020

• Categories

  • Mom-ing (87)
  • Thing I Love (36)
  • If I had known (9)
  • W(h)ine-ing (3)
  • Blast from the Past (1)