Top five favorite things to do in Disney World's Magic Kingdom

I'm sure that many of you know that I am a Disney fanatic and if you don't know then where have you been?!

I took my first trip to the magical world of Disney in 2015 with my bestie Amber and I never looked back! I have been a total of 4 times now and I feel like I have developed my top 5 favorite things to do while in the Magic Kingdom and I wanted to share those with you today!

1. My absolute hands down number one favorite is watching Wishes. Wishes is the fireworks show that happens at Cinderella's castle every night. I cry and sing a long and any trip I go on to Disney I HAVE to see Wishes. There is just something so magical and Disney-esque about it and even when I'm not at Disney I will watch YouTube videos of the fireworks show because I just love it that much!

2. Ariel's Under the Sea ride. Even though Aurora is my favorite princess Ariel is my second favorite princess so I always have to find time to make it to this ride. I normally want to ride this one at least twice because the lines are usually never more than a 15 minute wait and being that Ariel is one of my favorite princesses I love being able to ride through the movie of The Little Mermaid!

3. Big Thunder Mountain. Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster is, according to me, the best roller coaster at Disney's Magic Kingdom. It has the best turns and drops of any of the other rides in this particular park and the best spot to ride is is the back. When Daniel and I went for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween (Which you can read about here) there was no wait time, which is unusual, for this ride and we rode it 3 times in a row and it was awesome. Any time I am going I always reserve a fastpass for this ride because it is a very popular one with long wait times.

4. Meeting characters. Since I didn't start going to Disney World until my adult life I have had an anxiety about meeting characters for the first time and for the first few trips I made I was always terrified and didn't know what to say when meeting them. It was only this last trip I took, less than a month ago, that I really became comfortable with meeting characters and I started to enjoy it. During my last trip to Disney it rained a little bit towards the end of the day and so lines to meet characters were super short and I met a total of 8 characters in Magic Kingdom 5 of which I had never met before!

5. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. This is the other roller coaster type ride in Disney's Magic Kingdom and I always use a fastpass for this ride because wait times are normally 60 plus minutes long. It is a fun ride but it is a more tame version of a roller coaster. I love being able to watch the dwarfs sing heigh-ho in the middle of the ride and see Snow White in the dwarves house at the end of the ride. It is a really quick ride but definitely one to do when at Magic Kingdom.

What are some of your favorite things to do in Disney's Magic Kingdom? Did I mention your favorite thing or ride? Let me know! Let's talk about all things Disney! Tweet me (@thejesslauren) or leave a comment!

xoxo Jess

How to rock Valentine's day when you're single

Hello lovely readers!

I know it has been a few months since my last post but I was suffering some major writers block! BUT I'm back now in 2016 and this year is the year for some amazing new content and posts on this page! So, let's get this party started!

So, for me, I don't think I have ever had a boyfriend/significant other for ANY Valentines Day but I can remember having some of the best times on V-Day without the need for that other person and I want to share with you a few different things to try this V-Day if you are someone who is #single.

I think that as someone who is single I am not looking around thinking "Woe is me I don't have someone and therefore I can't celebrate this day made for love" I'm thinking "This is a great day to give myself some self love and appreciation" so that is my mindset for every Valentine's Day!

I have a few great ideas for having some fun and showing yourself the love on a day where love is literally in the air (thanks to every retailer out there).

First, posse up all of your other single friends and have a "friend date night." You can choose to get glam and go out somewhere for this or have a cosy night in. Honestly some years I'm game for either it just depends on my mood!

If you want to get glam make sure you guys decide a week or so beforehand where you want to go so that you can reserve a table bc obviously you wanna be #fancy and also every other person in a relationship will most likely be dining out on V-Day too. Decide on an aesthetic, such as sparkle or think pink that way you all coordinate and look like a fierce group of hotties and go out and have some fun!

If you want to have a chill night in then decide who's place is going to get overtaken by the #singlearmy and group chat about who is going to bring what (drinks, drizzanks, pizza, chips, chocolate, etc). Then decide whether you want to have mushy romantic movies to watch or you want to watch the latest Zac Efron film and have a night that will remind you of those awesome sleepovers you used to have with your babes in middle school!

Another great idea if you don't want to posse up would be to have a #partyofone. You can choose to spend the day/night treating yourself right because, if you don't then who will amiright?

Have a pamper night (see one of my previous posts about how to have the best pamper EVER cc: my post on de-stressing/relaxing) and just spend the night taking a relaxing bath, splurge on a really nice bath oil or bath bomb and go to town! Get an amazing exfoliating scrub and then moisturize and feel amazing. Pop on a face masque of your choice and pop some popcorn and watch whatever movies you want or cozy up with your favorite book (A review of a few of my fav books). Pick something that will relax you and make you super happy and feel appreciated #selflove.

Whether you choose to go it solo or get your girls involved I hope that you remember the wise words of Ru Paul "If you can't love yourself how in the hell are you gonna love someone else! Can I get an AMEN!"

Let me know what your plans are for V-day by tweeting me (@thejesslauren) or leaving a comment below!

xoxo Jess

Halloween Festivities

Hey guys! It is almost Halloween and if you are like me you are frantically thinking about how there are still so many festive things you want to do before this holiday is gone but you have no idea what to do or where to start. Well, this blog post is for you! Today I am going to share three fun and easy Halloween activities you can do either by yourself, with a significant other, or with all of your friends! The more the merrier!

Festive Halloween Baking

So, there are a few things that I always have on my Halloween festivities to-do list and the first one is festive baking! Now, if you are anything like me you LOVE the idea of baking from scratch but really... who has the time for that! So for this my bestie and I just used a festive boxed cake mix and spent our QT (quality time) on the decorating!

The first thing we did was spent an ungodly amount of time at Target trying to choose the best possible cake and frosting combination as well as decorations! I must say that they have a lot to choose from this year! Below is a picture of everything we chose.

We went for the Halloween funfetti cake mix and whipped frosting! We also got trick or treat cupcake cases, ghost shaped marshmallows, Halloween shaped sprinkles, and green glitter! You can choose whichever decorations you want but we wanted to keep it simple but cute.

With any festive baking extravaganza you also want to have something else planned during the duration of the baking and cooling of your cake mix so we chose to open a few adult cocktails and watching The Nightmare Before Christmas which is one of my favorite Halloween films!

After our movie was over and all of the cakes were out of the oven and cooled, we decorated! Here are some of our finished products!

It was super simple but also fun and a great way to have a fun and memorable night during the Halloween season!

Bonfire Night

Another fun and festive way to get yourself geared up into the Halloween spirit is to have a bonfire! All you need is an open space of dirt, preferably not around foliage, some logs, and a match or two!

This is a great idea because you can invite friends over to enjoy the delicious cupcakes you have already made (see previous) and gather around a warm fire on a chilly night and tell spooky stories! (Anyone else remember the show Are You Afraid of the Dark?) 

Some of my friends and I got together one night and decided to do just this and we had a blast!  You can bring your leftover ghost marshmallows and roast them on the fire and just enjoy each others company while also enjoying the outdoors! I know I need more time outside in some fresh air so this is a great way to accomplish that! Here are some of the pictures from the night we had our bonfire.

 Again, this is something that doesn't take a whole lot of effort but it is something that is very fun and a memory you will be able to laugh about for a long time to come! Just make sure someone puts out the fire at the end of the night!

Carving Pumpkins

Now possibly the most festive activity that I like to do during the Halloween season is carve pumpkins! I have already been able to enjoy it twice this year which has made this season the best! {The first pumpkin carving I did was with my bestie Daniel and we also filmed it for his YouTube channel so feel free to hop on over and watch us carve those pumpkins here: https://youtu.be/L-tDAX3dNi8}This is something that is even more enjoyable with friends! All you need to do it grab some pumpkins and get some carving tools and go to it! (side note: I would definitely also grab some pumpkin carving stencils from somewhere because then you can really impress people with your designs if you aren't as artistically inclined!)

When we all got together to carve pumpkins it was also to celebrate our friend MK's  24th birthday so her apartment was decked out in the cutest decorations which is something else you can do to add to the Halloween feeling! Here are a few pictures of the decorations.

All of our designs were different but I think that the fun is all in the time spent together creating pumpkin masterpieces! (Even if your pumpkin doesn't turn out quite the way you wanted!) Here are some of the pictures of the process as well as our finished pumpkins!

All of these activities can be done in one night or each on their own! Whatever you choose to do to celebrate just remember to have fun! I hope this inspires you to grab a bunch of friends and make the most of the last days of October and Halloween!

If you do choose to do any of these activities let me know in the comments below! I hope you all have a spooky and fun Halloween!

xoxo Jess 

My first Disney World experience

At the beginning of January my best friend and I decided to take a trip to the magical world of Disney. The first thing you should know about me is that I LOVE Disney. The princesses, the movies... when I was little I would always have on a Disney shirt, or shoes, I had every Disney character in a stuffed form (yes of course they all slept in my bed), my first bike was Lion King... you get the point. For some reason my parents never took me there when I was younger and as I got older I just never really thought about it so this trip was something I was very much looking forward to.

We only spent two days in Disney parks but two days was enough to seal the deal. I was hooked and my life would never be the same. Today, I wanted to share my top 3 experiences while in Disney!

1 The characters. This was probably my favorite part honestly. Getting to meet various Disney characters and having them interact with me made my inner 6 year old squeal with glee. Growing up my favorite princess was Aurora (or Sleeping Beauty) so getting to meet her was so much fun. We also met various other characters as well. Every time we would be close to the front of the line I would get SO nervous and it made my best friend giggle because she thought I was being silly but I was so overwhelmed by everything it just made me want to pass out from excitement! Getting to interact with characters for the first time that had become a part of your life is a BIG DEAL!
Below are some pictures of us meeting various characters!

 

 

2 The shows. By this I mean the night time light and fireworks shows. They were so emotional for me. I literally cried watching Celebrate the Magic and Wishes for the first time (both times lets be honest). They were truly something to see. You can watch tons of videos of them on YouTube but nothing beats being there in person and watching Tinkerbell fly from the castle and having the music surrounding you and just being in the moment. It was truly amazing. This again made me feel like I was 6 again and I honestly could have watched it a million times over and still not have gotten sick of it. 

I took a few shots during Wishes and goodness Cinderella's castle is gorgeous! 

Celebrate the magic video (Here is a little link  to a video someone made if you want to watch the Celebrate the Magic shows that we watched while there)

We also got to see Fantasmic, which was honestly SO cool. This show followed the plot line of Mickey having a dream and showing you how your dreams can come to life. Watching it just gave me chills because of how they bring everything to life in such an amazing way. They had lights displayed on water shooting out of the ground and fire works and it was just something to experience. Seeing so many of my favorite characters in one show just added to the emotions I had (Yes okay I cried during this one too).

3 The atmosphere. This is definitely a big part of the Disney magic and the experience that you get when you are there. The people who work in the parks are all so friendly and wonderful and it makes the trip so nice when you have workers who actually look like they love their jobs. They were all so happy and would greet you with warm smiles and a cheery hello and it just added to the enjoyment. 

The parks themselves also added to the atmosphere. Everything you see such as the artistry that goes into even the smallest things makes it so magical as well. I remember we were walking through Cinderella's castle and the walls on the inside had little marble murals of the story of Cinderella and other princesses. It just made that such a memorable moment, just walking through somewhere. 

Having settings and places come to life that you have only seen in Disney movies is such an amazing thing to experience! You see things like Rapunzel's tower, Ariel's grotto, the Beast's castle... it is all just so amazing how they bring all of those magical places to life! 

These are a few pictures I took of various areas in the park. The first is when you are walking through Cinderella's castle, the second is inside the Beast's castle, and the last one is Rapunzel's tower.

There were so many things to see and do and we obviously only got to do a few of them but I will forever remember this trip because it made me fall in love with Disney even more than I already did and okay yes I watch videos of the shows almost weekly because I get a little sad that I'm not there at that moment. We spent most of our time in Magic Kingdom (because why wouldn't you) but we also ventured into Epcot and Hollywood Studios as well! 

This experience has made me only want to continue to go back again and again and create even more memories in the most magical place on earth!

If you have ever been to Disney what was one of your favorite parts? Who was your favorite character to meet? Do you have any funny stories? I would love to hear about your experiences!

xoxo Jess