5th Anniversary Plans

We are celebrating our 5th Wedding Anniversary this week. We are having a few "parties" for it.

Thursday is the actual anniversary day and KC is taking me out to dinner somewhere he secretly picked. I am excited to get dressed up and have him surprise me. I have an idea of where he may have picked but I don't want to ruin the surprise if I am right. It's so sweet that he is going out of his way to surprise me. The planner in me is having to take a back seat and thats not easy but it's still exciting.

Friday afternoon we are meeting a bunch of random friends at a cupcake shop in NYC called Crumbs (http://www.crumbs.com/) and going to Bryant Park In NYC (http://www.bryantpark.org/) to hang out and eat the cupcakes. The park is across the street from the cupcake place. They have the yummiest cupcakes! And since the park is a free place to hang out, it works for anyone's budget! And if worse comes to worse we can all hide inside the library, which is right there as well.

And finally, Saturday we are having a vow renewal ceremony and brunch with a few close friends. It's going to be intimate with just about 15 of us, just those who have been there for us the most through the good and bad stuff. The ceremony itself is at: Wisteria Pergola in Central Park. It's gonna be cold but it's a place that has meaning to us, so it'll be short and sweet and very bundled up. We used to go there to hang out when we were first dating. It's beautiful in the spring but still has ambiance in the winter. We are hoping the cold will hold off some, so we don't freeze too badly. Having it in a place that has meaning beats out some restaurant or some other indoor place.

Then we are having brunch at Chez Jacqueline in Downtown NYC with those that were at the renewal ceremony. It's a cute little French place and we LOVE French food. Plus the menu general enough that everyone can find something they will like. The great prices don't hurt either!

So the rest of my week will be prepping for this long weekend of events...and next week's drama is another story all on it's own, for next time.

New Look!

A new look for the blog, since I am hoping for a resurgence of my writing and blogging. This is for Valentine's day and for our 5th Anniversary, thats coming up in February (the 4th). We have plans for a weekend of festivities...more on that later. For now, enjoy the new look.

Blog Mess

Well I had some issues with trying to get the same blog name as my email...and it didn't work out as I planned. So I am coming back here, to this lovely blog. I plan to post more since I can also post from my phone too! Look for more entires soon.

Blog Neglect

It has been a very long month. Mostly because work has taken me quite a while to get used to again. My schedule varies from the shifts starting at 9am, 10am and sometimes 11am. There are also call in shifts- which for the record- are for the birds! I have to call 2 hours before my shift and see if they need me, if yes then I need to haul ass out of the house and go work. Kind of a pain. Esp. since I have 3 of those this week, 2 being a weekend. So much for going out because IF I have to work I will be screwed. So far I haven't had to go in for any call ins {knocking on wood} .

It's hard work thats for sure. I am busting my ass everyday. Some days I am more sore than others. I am definitely still in copious amounts of pain but am trying to deal with it the best i can. I work only about 15 hours a week. I'll get used to it, it's just been hard. I nap a lot and go to sleep really early to try and give my body enough healing time.

I took my traditions class, which you have to take to work for Disney. I loved it. History and trivia with the meat and potatoes of the company thrown in. I won a lot of the trivia things, naturally. LOL. I also mad a new friend that day, the only other person in the class who "got it" as far as my love for Disney. We actually ended up runnign into her and her BF @ The mdinght showing of Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince. We watched the movie with them and had a great time. We are all planning to see it in IMAX again. BTW- I LOVED the movie.

We went to Atlantic City this past weekend. It was supposed to be a few days but we ended up just staying over night. I met up with several friends from my favorite Disney message boards (disboards.com). We shopped and had lunch. We had a great time. We ate buffet food the night before, went to the beach for a while and wandered the boardwalk.

We made our trip shorter because we decided to book a trip to Disney!!!!! It was a roller coaster of drama to get to the decision to book the trip- but we are a go! I booked the hotel the day before we left for AC. We are staying 3 nights @ All Star Movies then switching for 2 nights to The Animal Kingdom lodge. It's one of my dream resorts and I am so excited to stay there! Andy is coming with us this time. Laura and Hannah will drive up as well, maybe with more of her family, maybe not, time will tell. It will be the only trip I am able to take as a Cast Member of Disney since my store will be closed after Christmas. I am really excited to be able to go and get all the perks of a CM.

So thats what has been going on with me the last month. Not a whole lot of creative cooking going on. Lots of things in the crock pot that last a few days so I have less cooking to do after long hard days at work. Not too much baking either. I need to remedy that because it is my favorite form of therapy. I need a new flavor to get obsessed with, I have about exhausted the peanut butter ideas already. Maybe something fruity.

Work Second.

I started work at World of Disney this past Tuesday. I worked 3 mornings in a row. It's been about 5 years since I went to work that many days in a row. It was tough but in the end I was a lot better of phyically that I ever thought I'd be. Everyone there is perfectly nice. I work in what the call "heart of house" or in other words- the stock room. I unpack the boxes and organize the stuff that comes in- in a nutshell. It's easy enough. A bit more physical than i ever intended but so far I am ok.

I am wrestling with whether to explain about my back and how to do that. I am pretty sure I need to tell them because there are a few aspects of the job I can not do. The only reason I am not "On Stage" or in sales in the main store, id because the person whose name I put down as a referral works that position and they consider it a conflict of interest for me to be doing the same job. As I am glad to be working for Disney (obviously) I am a bit taken aback by just how NON Disney HoH (Heart of House) is. I have yet to find any Disney enthusiasts like myself and I have worked with probably over 20 people already this week. Secretly I am gushing at everything and have no one to express it to while I am there. It just seems odd.

I did, as you can see above, get my cast member badge the first day! I was so excited I ran home and took pics of it and made it my icon on the DIS Boards ( dot com)! At least there I can be a true Disney Dork and they understand. This Tuesday I take my "Traditions" class, which is a history of the company and Walt himself. Everyone tells me its fun and theres trivia and prizes and it's an all around good time. I am excited to do this, being the dork that I am. I am almost honored that I get to take this class that all the Cast Members in Florida have to take before working there. I figure I will be in a room full of people who don't give a fuck, and that makes me a bit sad. Although winning prizes for my ridiculous amount of Disney knowledge could be good. LOL.

I work 3 days next week not including the day for Traditions. I should be bringing about $100, give or take, home a week. That will def help us in getting some more money put aside for moving in march and just to have.

So here's to Disney and my Non-Disney caring co workers. OPA!

Food First.

I baked last weekend. I have been so super busy and extremely tired this week I haven't been able to blog it. So better late than never, esp. because they came out yummy.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars

• 3/4 cup baking mix
• 2 cups quick oats
  
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray an 11 by 7-inch or 9 by 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, stir together baking mix and oats until well blended. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.

Press dough into prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Sorry I forgot to take a pic of them cut up. The only changes I made were that I doubled the recipe! I figured if I was gonna make 'em I mine as well make enough for the week.

KC & I both took them as breakfast bars for work during the week. They are very dense but moist as well and really yummy.

Food Glorious Food.

So since we have been trying to menu plan ahead of time and trying to come up with new things to do cheaper...this is what we ate this weekend.

We picked up pizza dough at the pizza shop nearby ($3.50 per round) and made the filling for these homemade calzones.

Calzone Filling
(makes 4 calzones which requires 2 dough rounds)

1/4 lb deli ham, sliced
1 box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
3 or 4 spoonfuls of ricotta cheese
a handful of mozzarella cheese

1 egg (mix with water to make egg wash for over top.

Roll the dough out and put the filling on half of it and roll it over. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. I served mine with some jar sauce for dipping.


We had them 2 nights in a row because we had so much stuff leftover to make the filling.

Now on to dessert!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies.

I got this recipe from watching Giada De Laurentis on Food TV. They sounded strange but I had to try 'em. This is the 2nd time I've made them. Yum. Really refreshing. I didn't tell KC what was in them till he tried them first because I kinda had a feeling he wouldn't be into a cookie with ricotta cheese in it, but he loves them now!

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  
• 1 lemon, zested

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Add cheese, lemon juice & zest. Then stir in dry ingredients. I sifted my dry ingredients (I always do). Line baking sheets with parchment(these are some sticky suckers) and place them about an inch apart. Use 2 spoons to get them into the best circles you can on the sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 14-15 minutes a batch. Cool on cooling racks.


Mix the glaze ingredients together after the first batch is in the oven. it makes a ton of glaze. When the cookies have come out of the oven and have cooled some (about 20 min) then spoon a little of the glaze on them, it will spread out and drip off. I put mine on the cooling racks with paper towels underneath. Then refrigerate them for a bit to set the glaze.
It makes a ton of cookies! They are really good tho, like a cake almost.

So that was my weekend in food. tomorrow we are eating something much easier than all this homemade stuff, everyone needs a day off sometime.

PS. I start work officially on Tuesday!!!!! Full details once I return!

The Waiting Game

Now I wait for my call from Disney. 10 days to 2 weeks is a lifetime when you realize that you are really ready to not be home all day every day. By 4 pm everyday I am seriously BORED. There's only so much going on tho, esp. when KC works all day. Tonight we have dinner plans (Hi Pants!) at the new French spot we found near the house. I'm really excited for it. The brunch we had last week was amazing and I can't wait to try some more of their food. It's one of those cute places with real charm and food to match. Maybe I'll review the dinner here. hmmmm...

The weekend isn't looking too exciting either. Tomorrow we need to do the grocery shopping. We have been menu planning every 2 weeks and only shopping for what we need. It has definitely saved us some serious money over the last few months we have been doing it. It's a little work, but its worth it. Once I start working it'll be more in the crock pot and making double dinners some days, so we have leftovers on late nights. I am a planner, if nothing else, so it should work out fine.

Sunday KC is off. He switched with someone for today's shift. Thats a rare occurrence but in the interest of saving some money we aren't planning on doing much. My birthday is Tuesday and we are saving for that above going to brunch. We are also trying to be on a more strict budget. It's sort of working out. It will be really nice to have some more money coming in from me working. It's going to go towards the occasional dinner out and to make a dent in the credit cards.

That's this year's main focus. Paying off some of the credit card debt we have. It's not so bad, it could be MUCH worse, but we are trying to nip it in the bud, before it got really out of hand. The goal is to not go on a real vacation again until at least one card is paid off. Of course a trip to WDW might be the exception because of my Cast Member discount (which I am hoping I get even tho I am only considered "seasonal").

BTW getting old is starting to wear on me. I don't even wanna say the age out loud, esp. being married to a 24 year old. LOL.

Employed, At last.

I work for Disney. I can’t get used to it. I am so excited about it it’s silly. Working there is going to kill my chances at disability but I honestly don’t care. I have needed to find work for a long time, for me, for KC , for us and for my sanity. I can’t spend forever waiting on disability when I keep getting denied. I need medical more than anything, that’s why I was seeking disability. I know working will be hard on me but I have to give it a real try.

Yesterday was my day for “new hire” paperwork. I was with my “class” of new hires. I was the oldest one. I was also the only married one. I was also the only vocal one in the bunch. I’m pretty sure I was the most excited to be there too.

The paperwork was meh. The typical stuff. We got all kinds of papers to read at home too. When they asked who has been to any Disney Park me and 2 other people raised their hands....there were 9 of us in the "class"!! So stupid me says "I have been there enough for all of you don't worry". I couldn’t get over it. All college age kids who just need a job, and me who was happier than a pig in shit to receive Disney folders. I digress. I’m sure not everyone in the store is that way, I hope.(no clue why the pic wont load straight?!)

Then we had to get our lovely "costumes" (note sarcasm). Polyester at its finest. Needless to say the pants run 4 sizes smaller than you actually wear so the size I need was astronomical and they have to order them for me from Florida. I was a tad embarrassed but at least they will fit. The shirts are stretchy mock neck spandex shirts. Not sexy. Clingy is a good word. The girls are showcased, not by choice. Plus a belt, which means tucking the stretchy shirt into the pleated pants. Great times. I’m glad I am going to be mainly “back stage”. Maybe I will be forced to lose weight so I don’t have to avoid mirrors while in my work clothes. Only for Disney I’ll wear this crap.

So I just have to wait until my paperwork is processed and then I can start. 10 days to 2 weeks, they said. Then I take “Traditions”. The kids I was with don’t get it. There is a separate sheet that explains dress code for it, they make a big deal of it. It’s 8 hours of Disney College basically. How to be a Disney employee. To me, this is almost an honor because only real park employees usually do this course. Since we are considered a part of Florida, we take it too. I’m excited. I absorb Disney like a sponge. I really just don’t want to be the biggest dork in the room. I probably will be. But if there is anything I know about, it’s Disney.

Dreams

Just a quickie blog to say I am alive and happier than I have been in a while.

Today I interviewed and got offered the best possible job for me- Cast Member at the World of Disney store in NYC!!!!!

I am beyond excited about this! It's truly is my dream job. I go next week for paperwork then in a few weeks after that I start!

what this means for me in terms of everything else in my life, we'll get to that. For now I am HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!!!!!!!