Disney Fantasy Day 3: Playa Mia Cozumel!

Day 3 was our first day in a port, and my first time ever out of the country! The last time I took a cruise we docked in Nassau, but my family and I didn't get off, so I guess technically I had been in international waters, but that's not the same.

We met our excursion group and disembarked the ship. Disney is very organized with how they group people and get them off for their excursions, the whole process went through without a hitch.

When we got off we walked to an area where tour busses were parked and got on one headed to Playa Mia Water Park. Here's some pictures of the journey from ship to park:

The fee we played for our excursion included access to the water park (which was more toward little kids, but had a big water slide that I went down!), an open bar, an international buffet, access to watercraft such as paddleboats and catamarans, pool access, use of the beach, and use of a giant inflatable obstacle course thing that was floating in the ocean. The resort itself is beautiful!

The water was really clear, calm, and warm! I have a lifeproof case on my phone so Zach and I took turns filming things underwater (which gave us better pictures).

The videos are long and awkward because we spent half the time at the end trying to get the camera to turn off because it wouldn't recognize that our fingers were touching it since they were wet! But here are some of the shots we got:

We actually found a stingray!

All too soon it was time to go back to the ship. Cozumel was beautiful and the people were very friendly and helpful. I would highly recommend Playa Mia to anyone visiting.

When we got back to the ship I had my daily shower and nap, and I went alone to the show. Zach wanted to stay in the room and watch a movie. The show was okay, but I don't even remember what it was called so it obviously wasn't that spectacular.

Dinner was at Animator's Palate, my favorite of the restaurants. 

It's themed around Disney animation, and actually features a dinner show. Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo comes around on the screens and talks to the humans in the "human tank". The show is completely interactive and adorable. There were a ton of kids celebrating birthdays so Crush had them all form a birthday club. Our table was in the middle and full of adults so we didn't get talked to, but it was fun to watch.

Now, for the food! 

Appetizer: Sliced Serrano Ham. I didn't really like this. It was super thin and dry and taste more like weird bacon than ham. Also I don't like olives so those stayed on the plate.

Soup/salad: Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup. Again, it was good but it didn't have any potato chunks in it. It was one of my favorite soups, though.

Main course: Pan Seared Red Snapper. It wasn't all that exciting, but it was a decently good piece of fish. The scallop on top was also really good.

Dessert: White Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake. Delicious! Also, beautiful. 

When we got back to the stateroom we had a wonderful surprise waiting for us! Props to our housekeeper, Gilbert for the surprise!

Next installment: Grand Cayman and Our Lack of Adventure

Disney Fantasy Day 2: A Day at Sea

I loved our itinerary for the cruise because we had the first full day at sea. This gave us a chance to relax and just enjoy the ship and everything it had to enjoy (such as unlimited soft serve ice cream!)

Breakfast had bananas bigger than my hand!

For the most part, though, the day was pretty uneventful (which means this will be a short post! :)

After breakfast, we took some time to lay in the sun until after lunch. While we were laying out we got an announcement from the cruise directors saying they were about to play the Mickey horns, and to please turn on any cell phones if we wanted to record. They sound like this: (Blogger won't let me embed my video for some reason).

 They play 8 different tunes, and I'm pretty sure Disney is the only line with musical horns.

After lunch I made Zach wait in line with me to meet Stitch. He wasn't super excited about that, but at least he waited.

After lunch I accidentally took a 2 hour nap (I guess all the wedding excitement had caught up with me!)

The show that night was Aladdin: The Musical. It was probably my favorite show from the whole week. The magic carpet was played by a gymnast/acrobat in a carpet costume and was absolutely amazing!

Dinner was at Royal Court, my least favorite of the 3 restaurants on the ship. It's my least favorite because the food is primarily French cuisine and the atmosphere isn't all that welcoming. Don't get me wrong, the decor is beautiful, it's it's just not my style.

Appetizer: Iced Lobster & Shrimp. This wasn't the best dish but it also wasn't the worst. It was plated beautifully, though!

Soup/Salad: Potato and lentil soup. This was delicious, but the soup was really thin. There wasn't a single potato chunk in the soup. 

Main Course: Lobster macaroni. I did not like this at all, and I think that it was the truffle oil that was in the sauce. The noodles were also barely covered in liquid and were weird to eat. Another girl at the table also ordered it, and 

Dessert: This was probably one of my top dessert nights. I got the Sweet Temptations, which was a sampler of the three most popular desserts from the menu. Left to right are mango cheesecake, creme brulee, and peanut butter mousse. The creme brulee was amazing, and those of us who got it wished we had just gotten the big one! The cheesecake was also amazing.

Since we were in fancy clothes for formal night we had friends snap this picture as we left: 

Zach doesn't really do formal. Oh well, we are still cute.

Next installment: Cozumel!

Disney Fantasy Day 1: Embarkation Day

The day after the wedding, Friday, Zach and I flew down to Orlando and stayed in the Hyatt that is actually IN the airport. We made the decision to fly down a day early so that we wouldn't be so pressured for time the day we set sail. It was a very smart decision, and if you ever want to sail Disney, I recommend you do the same.

After a 45 minute bus ride, we arrived at the terminal. I have sailed once before and remembered the terminal as being one of the worst parts because we had to wait for so long. We had caught an early enough bus that it wasn't very crowded. Since I was a Castway Club member (meaning I had sailed before) Zach and I got to go through an express check-in line and board almost immediately. We tried to go to our stateroom to ditch the backpack I had been carrying around, but they weren't available until 1. (The best part about staying at the hotel the day before was that Disney picked up all our luggage and would deliver it to our room later in the day!)

I remembered reading in an article that you need to sign up for the Castaway Cay 5K as soon as possible, so we headed to Port Adventures and registered ourselves. When we turned around, Jasmine was behind us!

We then decided to eat lunch in Cabanas, the ship's buffet restaurant, which is Finding Nemo themed and adorable.

We were a little overwhelmed with all the food choices, but we found a pile of shrimp and other seafood, so that made the decision easy.

After lunch we went on a tour of the ship so that we would know where everything was. It was then time to go visit our stateroom. My parents had called ahead and ordered us bath robes, a rose, and a week's supply of water bottles that were waiting for us!

After parting with our things, picking up our Just Married buttons, and attending a life jacket drill, it was time to set sail!

There was a sail away party on the deck, but Zach isn't crazy about the Disney character scene, so we went to the adults only area at the front of the ship to watch as the ship sailed away. The port itself really isn't that pretty, but we saw dolphins, sea turtles, and stingrays playing in the wakes as we pulled out!

The rest of the day until dinner was rather uneventful. We did discover that our stateroom had free on-demand movies and Zach watched The Legend of Hercules. We went to our scheduled show viewing at 6:15 and saw the embarkation show. It was a musical but I found it more informative than entertaining. Then we went to our first dinner on the ship.

Disney does something different with their dinner experience, something called rotational dining. They assign you a table, a server, and an assistant server, and all of you rotate through the ship's 3 restaurants each night. This gives guests the chance to get to know their dinner mates, and the servers to get to know what you like. Each dinner is also a four course meal with appetizer, soup/salad, main course, and a dessert.

Our first night was at Enchanted Garden. The decor is inspired by the Garden of Versailles, and starts out as a daytime garden when you first sit down. By the dessert course, it's nighttime and the flower lamps have opened up. It's a really cool experience and my second favorite of the 3 restaurants.

For some reason I had thought we would be sitting alone but forgot that Disney doesn't offer 2 person tables to save on space. We were seated at a 6 person table where another couple our age was already seated. Zach and I looked at each other and quietly said "I hope the last couple isn't old." (Because that would have made dinner awkward). The last couple sat down and they were also our age, which was a big relief. The first course or two we made awkward conversation, but then something clicked and the 6 of us really hit it off and had a lot of great conversations!

Now, on to the food. I tried to take a picture of everything I ate each night but there were one or two I forgot. Since the food is so impressive, I'm going to share them all with you each day.

Appetizer: Lobster ravioli. Absolutely amazing. I remember saying after I finished, "If I could just have one of these for the rest of the courses, I'd be okay."

Soup/Salad: Romaine wedge. I forgot to take a picture but it was beautifully presented with sliced tomatoes on top, fresh Parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of what tasted like a tomato Caesar dressing. It was really good, and the only time the whole week I ate salad instead of soup.

Main Course: Caramelized scallops. By this point in the meal I was really full, but these were so delicious I made myself eat all but one of them. The asparagus were gross because they were barely cooked (I like them mushy, not crunchy), and I didn't even try the couscous because I was so full. This was still one of my favorite meals of the week.

Dessert: Cinnamon Apple Crunch Sundae. The chocolate Mickey on it was gross, but the rest of it was delicious. It was kind of like apple cobbler mixed with ice cream.

Overall it was a perfect first day that set the stage for a wonderfully magical cruise.

Next installment: Day at Sea #1

I Got Married!

I've been missing in action for the last two weeks because of a little thing that kept me super busy... MY WEDDING!

On May 22, I became Mrs. Leah Jones and it was perfect! I'll write up a full blog post later once I get my pictures back, and look out for a honeymoon recap series (we went on a Disney Cruise so there's a ton to write about).

In the mean time have some pictures of the wedding:

#SargentoUltraThin

A few months ago, I joined Influenster in hopes of scoring some cool stuff to test and review. I waited patiently to be included in a VoxBox program, taking surveys and writing reviews. I was finally selected as a semi-finalist and sent a survey about cheese. I guess I answered the way they wanted me too, because I was selected to take part in the Sargento Ultra Thin Vox Box!

It arrived on my doorstep in this box:

Being an advertising major, I love the branding on the box!

The email they had sent me said I would be getting a voucher for cheese (since obviously they couldn't mail it) along with some "other goodies". In it was a super awesome lunchbox, a voucher, and a coupon for a later pack of cheese:

Again, I like the consistent branding theme here!

Influenster has badges, and in order to earn points towards the badges, they give you a few tasks such as taking a picture of the item in the store and posting it on their Facebook wall, tweeting about it, or posting picture on Instagram. During all of these posts, I was asked to use the hashtag #SargentoUltraThin and submit my posts.

I cashed in my voucher for a package of sharp cheddar and snapped my picture when I got to the car. 

I actually started snacking on a slice on the drive home since I was super hungry. They're very yummy and they only have 45 calories a slice! Most of mine were eaten by themselves (I really like sharp cheddar cheese) but I did manage to be somewhat creative once and made some super delicious grilled cheese sandwiches:

I used two slices of cheese on each since they were so thin (and I was eating these after a run so I was starving!) It melted really well and was super yummy!

I would definitely buy these slices and recommend them to anyone who reads this to go try it for themselves. They're lighter than most cheeses and offer a cheese taste on sandwiches and the like without being too heavy. Sargento Ultra Thin slices, you get a thumbs up from me!

P.S. The lunchbox is also great and I use it all the time! It's really well insulated and keeps my food nice and cold!

Throwback Thursday: The Virginia Ten Miler

(Part of my Throwback Thursday series to cover the races I ran before I blogged)

I remember when I was in about third grade (my pre-runner days) I used to see our local news cover The Virginia Ten Miler. I told my mom that those people were crazy. I hated doing the mile test in school, much less ten miles back to back. Oh, third grade self, if only you could see yourself now. You've become one of the crazies.

September 2013 was the 40th anniversary of The Virginia Ten Miler, and I couldn't have picked a better year to run it. There was so much hype about it leading up to race day, that I knew that even if I hated the race, the atmosphere would be good.

Oh, yeah. Before I get too far let me just show you the elevation profile:

It's basically a bunch of hills one after the other. But, that's what you get in Lynchburg.

Going into the race, I was petrified. I had never run a race that long, but I knew that if I could do a hilly 10 miler then my relatively flat half marathon in November would be a piece of cake. I just had to get through it.

Packet pickup was super fun, mainly because the Brooks Run Happy Island was there giving away prizes. I won a free t-shirt (that I now wear all the time). I really hope they come back this year.

The shirts were nice and fit with the anniversary theme, and the bibs were customized for what I think was the first time!

Race morning came all too early, but the perk of running a race in your hometown is that it only takes 15 minutes to get to the start. I lined up with my pace group (which I severely overestimated. I could have moved up 2 groups) and waited for the start. I found my friend Drew who was running the 4 miler and decided to stick with him until he finished.

The race itself was probably my favorite race of last year. It wasn't my fastest, or my best performance, but it made me fall more in love with my town. All 5 miles of the (out and back) course were lined with strangers cheering for me. They made the hills bearable. They gave us water. They held encouraging signs.

I got to run through areas I had been through tons of times, but there's something about running on a road that you normally drive on that's special.

I actually finished faster than I thought (2:22) but my goal is to beat that this year.

And of course, there's the favorite part of every race: the bling!

Here's a review breakdown:
Course: This course is HILLY! I personally love hills because they are impossible to avoid around here, but if you don't like them, stay away.

Atmosphere: It's basically one big party. There are live bands, cheering fans, an announcer that says your name as you cross the finish (even though he pronounced mine wrong). The whole thing is very encouraging and supportive.

Medal: Big, gorgeous, sparkly, and commemorative of the anniversary. Love it and can't wait for more.

Packet pickup: Smooth, organized, and unproblematic.

Post-race food and entertainment: Excellent! Lots of options to choose from for food, and the awards ceremony is enough entertainment for the whole day! (There is a live band after but I left before it was over)

I'm looking forward to doing the race again this year. I should probably go ahead and sign up soon before the price increases. One of my long term running goals is actually to do the race for the next 10 years to get every medal from the 40th to 50th anniversary.