Disney in 6 Hours

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to take a little side trip from work and got to spend 6 hours at Disney World! Yes, I know what you are thinking...only 6 hours? But let me tell you, so much can be accomplished at Disney World if you go at the right time of year and have a trusty sidekick: aka someone who is a season ticket holder and knows basically everything about the parks! So on my afternoon off, my sweet friend Sam and I traveled to Orlando and spent the late afternoon and night at Magic Kingdom. You would think after becoming an "adult" the magic of Disney would be lost, but in a sense I think its even more magical because for that one day you get to be a kid again. 
There was hardly anyone in the park and the longest time Sam and I had to wait for a ride was around 15 minutes. Several of the rides we just walked right on with no wait! At one point during the night we were just walking around and I literally filmed a video to show how much of a ghost town it was. So a word to the wise: if you ever want to take a trip to Disney go on February 27th! We entered the park around 4:45 and left at 10:45 but got to experience so much more than I could have imagined. Here is the break down of our adventure together. (Quick shout out to Sam for putting up with all my picture taking as I was just excited to use my new Cannon Rebel!) 
Walked down Main Street

Had our picture taken in front of the castle with none other than Mickey in the background 

Ate a cinnamon roll the size of our faces at Gaston's 

Experienced one of the newest additions to the Magic Kingdom: Storybook Circus

Rode "It's a Small World" plus 8 other rides!

Watched the evening show up on the castle

Another picture with the castle because you can never have too many right?

Saw a model of the Liberty Bell 

Ate popcorn while watching the electrical light parade

Said goodbye to quit possibly one of the best days on record at Disney!

Shout out to my favorite person in the world (aka Sam) for taking me on this little adventure and teaching me all the insider tricks to use in the future when I return!

Jacksonville Weekend

Do y'all ever have a weekend where you don't want it to end because you had so much fun? Well, that is how I felt about this past weekend. Let me start off by saying that over the past week I completely fell in love with the city of Jacksonville, Florida! Not sure what I had pictured in my head that it would be but after spending the past 7 days there, I would not mind if I called it home one day :-) So here is a little weekend review of what I got to experience.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to head down to the river front and shop for local produce at the Riverside Arts Market. Until this experience I had never been much of a "farmers market" type of girl. I was always the one that wanted to stay in the car when my parents went to one back home but I can safely say after experiencing how fresh the food is and not to mention cheap, I will be doing more local shopping like this when I get home. The girls and I were able to pick up lots of fresh produce and test taste some yummy barrel olives! 

After our shopping was complete, we headed down to the river front to soak up some sun and take in the beautiful views. These pictures do not do the area justice but oh my goodness, it made me want to hop on a boat and float on the river all day!

Upon our search for a local lunch place, we were referred to the Mossfire Grill and let me tell you, it did not disappoint! Our nachos were yummy to the tummy and with all the beautiful weather we were able to enjoy our food outside on the second story patio!

Even though Saturday was so much fun, Sunday my heart could not stop smiling. If you've been reading on here for a while, you all know that my mom is a breast cancer survivor so breast cancer awareness is very important to me. The ZTA chapter at University of North Florida and myself got up at 5am to head into Jacksonville for the 26.2 with Donna; Finish Breast Cancer marathon. Our job was to be cheerleaders on the bridge at the mile 25. We had the most beautiful view out over the bridge and got to spend 7 hours cheering on marathon runners from all over the country. Let me just say, if I ever get fit enough to run a marathon I'll be coming back to Jacksonville to run with Donna!

My Sunday finished with my last meal in Jacksonville before moving down the coast and getting the chance to see my sweet sorority sister and fellow TLC Julia who is from California. Our paths have not crossed since training in August and I'm so thankful I got to see her!

Winter Wonderland

By the time you read this I'll be on a plane headed out of New Jersey and into Pennsylvania  That was obviously written before my connection got canceled due to weather in Detroit so I'm staying here in New Jersey one more night (which I am super excited about)! If you've been following the weather, you're bound to have seen the winter weather the North has gotten over the past week. Not to mention if this new snow storm hits just right they might get 31 inches this weekend. Like what? Is that even possible? I do have to say though I have loved every single bit of living in this winter wonderland for the past ten days and yes, my 23 year old self had to go play in the front yard. Who can blame me? We never get snow like this in North Carolina!

Also, don't forget you still have a few days to enter this wonderful $75 Sephora gift card giveaway!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nashville Weekend

Oh my goodness, where do I even begin? First off, if you read my post from Thursday you probably learned that my life until May is very come and go with each day filled with something new and exciting. Well, as I was sitting in my cozy bed on Thursday night preparing my post for Friday (note to self: I should do a better job of pre-scheduling post), I got a call from work saying I could go to Nashville on Friday morning to help out at Vanderbilt. Wait what? It was literally 10:37pm and I was jumping with joy! So I quickly delayed finishing that post and began packing for a 4 day weekend at Vanderbilt University for sorority recruitment work! I have been to Nashville twice before, but both trips were short 36 hour visits. So to spend 4 whole days literally living in the city's West End, it just made my heart happy. I did not get to do much exploring till yesterday right when I was about to leave but that didn't stop me from taking over 230 pictures this weekend. Here is a little picture recap of my play time in Music City! I traveled 3 hours from Martin, Tennessee to Nashville and got to cross over the Tennessee River

Loving these ceiling decorations! 

Cutest little table decorations ever! They made them to look like TV's

Tables all ready for recruitment

We bought Target out in their cranberry and ginger ale

Turned our two shopping carts from Target into the cutest mason jar drinks

Lots of cookie making happened this weekend

The Zeta Tau Alpha Chapter at Vanderbilt just got a whole lot bigger!

Climbed up hills and steps to see the Tennessee State Capitol 

Who knew President Polk's resting place was in Nashville?

State Capitol

Touring Vanderbilt University 

Visiting Nashville's Parthenon 

 

A Week In My Life

First off, congratulations to Sarah for winning my first giveaway! I've sent you a little e-mail to get all your contact information so I can send you the book. Thank you to everyone who entered and thank you for helping me spread the word about this wonderful giveaway. Stay tuned over the next few weeks to see what February's giveaway will be!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

One thing I love about this blogging community is the friendships I have formed over the past few months. Every day I smile opening up my e-mail to read what you all have to say and I love even more being able to respond back to each of you. As I've gotten to know some of you, you have asked more and more about this awesome job I have as a Traveling Leadership Consultant. With so many questions I thought it might be fun to let you into a little sneak peak of what a typical week is like in my life! (I'll apologize now for the possible overload of pictures that are about to happen.)

Monday (travel days):
6:00am- Wake up and get ready for the day
8:00am- Head to the airport dressed in casual business attire and ready to tackle a full day of people watching

10:30am- Board flight number one

12:30pm- Quick layover which usually involves grabbing Starbucks for lunch before boarding my second flight
3:00pm- I am greeted at baggage claim by the most welcoming signs and sisterly love in the world.

5:00pm-I arrive at my home away from home for the week and get settled into my room with other wonderful sisters!

Tuesday-Saturday (meeting days):
6:30am-Wake up and get ready for the day
7:30am-Hop a ride to the college campus (isn't this the cutest car?)

8:00am- Student Meeting #1
9:00am- Student Meeting #2
10:00am- Student Meeting #3
11:00am- Student Meeting #4
12:00pm- Lunch with a sweet sister
1:30pm- Faculty and Professor Meeting
3:00pm- Student Meeting #5
4:00pm- Student Meeting #6
5:00pm- Student Meeting #7
6:00pm- Dinner with lots of wonderful people

7:00pm- Fun Break (usually filled with intramural practice, attending an on-campus event, or watching movies with sisters)

9:00pm- Student Meeting #8 to wrap up the day
10:00pm- Answer e-mails
11:00pm- Relax, call home, blog, read, etc.
12:30am- Lights out

Sunday (Sightseeing Day)
95% of the time I will have meetings late Sunday afternoon/early night; but I love Sunday relaxation. I've been able to attend so many different styles of churches on the road and worship with people who just a few days ago were strangers. Sunday brunch has become one of my new life loves, and sightseeing on a Sunday afternoon will never get old. Here are a few of my favorite thing's I've been able to see while on the road:

Kansas City Race for the Cure 

Liberty Bell in Philadelphia 

Miss America Shoe Parade in Atlantic City 

Color Run in Augusta 

Cleaning Up Beaches in West Long Branch

Sightseeing in Pittsburgh

Meeting Miss Pennsylvania 

Visiting the home and elementary school my mom grew up in 

St. Louis Arch

To say I have the best job in the world would be a huge understatement! It is truly a 24/7 job but one that I wake up blessed to have every day. Now hopefully you all can see a little peak into my typical week :-)