I Don't Even Know What A Ghost Flight Is..

So I figure the easiest way to get back into blogging is to finally recap what could have been called the most Bi-Polar Disney vacation of my entire life. 

This will be the last time I speak of this trip.

I will begin by using Pooh Bear to show you how I felt at 3am on January 6th, the morning of my flight....

10pm the night before I was to leave, my flight was scheduled and on time. Sometimes I get so excited that I can't sleep the night before I fly, well that and I can't sleep fully through the night. So I went to check my flight at 3am when I couldn't fall back asleep...just in case...

I saw the words CANCELED in red, bold and with no explanation.

Rather than vomit on Miguel and Ace I grabbed the phone and ran to the bathroom. I called Southwest and tried to figure out what I was going to do.

I was scheduled for the Magical Express and thought in my panic of cancellation that the M.E. stopped running at 10pm...yeah. I know. I'm a genius. So when the lady told me I could do a 6pm-11pm flight I nixed that real quick. I told her I'd just take the 7.10am flight out Tuesday, so I'd essentially be wasting a day.

In true MegMeg form I decided I would outsmart the airline and go and do standby, knowing I had the Tuesday flight in my back pocket. I made Miguel get up and drive me to the airport in some of the worse fog we have had here. I got to Bradley by 7pm and thought the outside bag check line seemed less life-sucking. 45 minutes later I got to the man taking bags. He informed me that because I was not leaving the airport THAT DAY I was unable to have my bag sent to Orlando.  (I know, again, I probably should have assumed this.) I said a couple un-ladylike words, actually some pretty bad ones and went inside to stand in the line that looked like the one I assume is outside Hell's Welcome Gates. 70 minutes later I was told I'd be on a 'ghost flight' to Baltimore at 1.40pm with a connection to MCO at 4.45pm where I would arrive roughly 7pm and be whisked off to the Happiest Place On Earth. I almost kissed the woman for getting me on a flight.

Lines. I love lines.

By now it was 9.05am. I couldn't check my bags till 9.40am so I went to call Disney and change our Teppan Edo reservations to a later time. As I was standing there I saw the man who I was unnecessarily rude to outside and apologized to him. We had a great chat and he told me he has been a 50 year employee of Bradley International. I am so happy I did the right thing by saying I was sorry, he absolutely made my morning. AND to my surprise decided to override the system so I didn't have to wait until 9.40am to check my bag. My mood was definitely improving.

(Source)

I was very excited to be picking up the pace on my vacation. After going through security I found a spot where I could charge my phone and relax. I didn't think it would be too bad to wait 3+ hours for my flight and truthfully in hind sight it wasn't. I was somewhat enjoying my time in the airport realizing it could have been much worse. It wasn't until the ghost plane was late of course that I started to lose it. I knew my connection from Baltimore to Orlando would be easy to make as long as I got on a plane before 3.15pm. At 2.30pm our plane pulled into Bradley and I boarded. I had rented The Internship from iTunes or the App Store or wherever you get movies to rent and relaxed.

Before I knew it, we landed in Baltimore. I had never been to this airport before so although I wanted to get to Orlando ASAP I was kind of excited to explore somewhere new. As I made my way to my gate I looked for somewhere to eat.

Name that movie: "Crabcakes and football, that's what Maryland does!" 

We landed in Baltimore about 4pm. I was so hungry and pumped to be early for my next flight (4.45pm) that I found a Chipotle and grabbed a spot in front of my gate. I relaxed and digested that delicious bowl of spice and goodness and waited for them to call my flight. 4.30 came.....4.45came......5 came.....5.30 came.... I started to panic big time. We didn't actually board the plan until 6.30pm. 

At 9.15am while waiting to check my bags at Bradley I called Disney Dining and changed Samantha's and my reservations from 7.50pm to 8.50pm thinking there was NO WAY I would be arriving after 8pm and miss that reservation. Welp. When we took off at 6.50pm I couldn't help but feel a little like Nana....

(Source)

I even paid for iMessaging on my Southwest flight so I could text Samantha...yeah. That didn't work either, I should have had that $2 go towards a cup of wine. So on my delayed and now late arrival flight I sat with a baby next to me trying to play with my hair, she was actually kinda cute but....still I don't want anyone touching my hair, and low battery on my phone. I knew I still had to get to the Magical Express and by now I was hungry again. 

My flight landed at MCO around 8.45pm and I called my father who was sweet enough to put up with my mood swings the entire day. From crying on the phone, to swearing about flights he kept me sane and actually helped me smile.

Side Note: O is for Ojciec, Ojciec is Polish for Father and Matka is Polish for Mother, eventhough my father is the only Polish one I still have my mother in my phone as Matka because it makes me smile.

Anyways even though one of my nicknames is MegMeg because similar to the TomTom GPS system available for purchase I am able to find my way places. I was so exhausted that I went in the complete opposite direction to the Magical Express. I could not wait to get on that damn bus. Apparently my internal compass was was a little off...

(Source)

Once I got on the Magical Express I was so beat that all I wanted to do was sleep. After about 45 minutes I arrived at All Star Sports. I caught a little tiny baby second wind and was snapping photos while waiting for Samantha who was sweet enough to stay up and wait for me to arrive. <3 That's what a best friend is.

After the most delicious salad, fettuccine alfredo and bread stick that the EndZone could muster up we went back to the room and I laid down to put myself in a mini coma. 15 + hours of travel and all this girl wanted to do was close her eyes...

(Source)

"Bud, I might have to charge you with domestic abuse if you keep making her run." (Stay)cation Part 2

So after coming back from Niantic on Thursday and spending the night in my own bed with a cuddly puppy I knew I had to get up and complete my #WhereIRun themed post for 8/2. This was an idea from a fellow team mate of mine from #TeamFantastic with Girls Gone Sporty. (Here is my Ambassador link!!!) It was such a blast to do. Ace and I took our time and it ended up being a gorgeous morning. 3.24 miles done.

 After a quick breakfast and dropping Ace of at his grandparents we headed to the mall. I wanted to get an idea of what Miguel might want for his birthday but to my surprise he bought me a birthday gift! (Yes I still had 2 days.) I have been wanting this particular Alex and Ani bracelet since I learned about them. Now I have 2. Big Collector here hahaha!! I also have Cinderella's Castle that I bought before they were sold out. By now you know how crazy I am about dogs. I love that 20% of all proceeds are going towards the Mayors Alliance in NYC. Some of the saddest dogs I have ever seen are sitting in New York City Shelters and they are not No-Kill. Those dogs only have a limited amount of time to win someone's heart. It's devastating and to know I made a small difference made me feel good. I love this gift. <3

Afterwards we picked up our little beast and headed home to relax. Then for the first time. NOTHING. SIGNIFICANT. HAPPENED. We just were happy to be spending time the three of us.

Saturday (8/3) Ace and I did another morning run. 4.17 miles done and then, call the newspapers.... we just hung out again!! I spent some time with one of my girlfriends who just turned 21!! After I came home Miguel and I started talking about what we would do for my birthday. Originally we had planned on going to the Casino-Mohegan Sun but I didn't need money to be wasted so I said we could just hang out and maybe go to a restaurant around us. He asked what I wanted for breakfast. I didn't quite catch on, responding that I wasn't sure. He asked if I would want the egg sandwich from Guiliano's on Main Street in Niantic...I said yes.

Long story short. We decided to drive back to the beach house for breakfast. I did tell Miguel that I had made a promise to myself to run 10 miles on my birthday. Because I didn't end up registering for the soundRUNNER Sea Legs 10 Miler I was going to do the same mileage anyway and not give myself a reason to bow out. In all honestly I NEEDED to do it. For myself. To prove I still have it. I've been beating myself up about my low mileage and crappy preparations for the half's I have lined up. So we decided to go to bed and ended up with two crazy puppies jumping on and off the bed all night.

I can proudly say we woke up on August 4th and went into Downtown Niantic to run 9.03 miles. I do not even care about not making it 10 miles....Miguel ran with me. That means more to me than anything else. And for that, anything else that happened in the day doesn't matter. The man I love the most, did my favorite thing in the world with me. He didn't have to. I gave him plenty of outs. He even said he could have gone longer but he was over the fact it almost took us 2 hours. I was just starting to get PHM sore so I figured it would be best to call it quits. While we were running around Niantic the Niantic Bay Tri was going on. So we got to run beside the cycling part of the tri which was so motivational. The title of this post also had to do with our running...while going down one of the streets with the cyclists we happened to frequent a road being occupied by a Police Officer helping with traffic on the open course. Him and I had sporadic conversation in which he told me I was in first place after I thanked him for stopping traffic for me, someone not in the tri. Then after seeing me and Miguel a couple more times jokingly said to Miguel that he would charge him with domestic abuse if he kept making me run. I responded telling him "Officer, it was my idea!" (I hate to even have to write this but I am in no way making light of domestic violence or abuse to anyone who has been through it, I do hope no one takes offense to it.)

We then had breakfast, our favorite egg sandwiches, I showered, compression sleeved it up and KT Taped up and relaxed with my puppy until lunch time.

Miguel's mother took Miguel and I out for lunch at the Main Street Grille in Niantic. It wasn't impressive enough to waste time on so I will pass on explaining. Then we packed up the car and headed home with our son.

After unpacking and relaxing I decided I wanted to go to Red Robin. Miguel and I had very very good meals there, probably the best so far, AND the little sneakster went and told the waitress it was my birthday so we shared a little of a sundae after the famous restaurant birthday singing commenced. (He also got me a Nike Sportwatch, it should be here Friday eeee!)

I apologize for the lack of pictures. It's funny how that happens though, the less I try to make the day special the more it is. This was probably one of the best birthdays I have ever had, minus the ones at Disney.

QOTD: What was your best birthday? Why?

Glass Slipper Challenge. Disney's Princess Half Marathon 2.0

FINALLY we get to see the pricing for next years PHM! There had been talk of a 10k being added and the Glass Slipper Challenge being announced.....

I AM SO EXCITED!

(from Petite Tiaras)

Okay, let's get down to business...

Cash money talk....
Princess Half Marathon Price: $160 (pretty sure I paid $135 last year, significant hike)
Enchanted 10k Price: $95
Cinderella Royal Family 5k Price: $60

GLASS SLIPPER CHALLENGE PRICE
Half Marathon & 10k: $270
19.3 Miles of sparkle...
You'll get 3 Medals: 1 for the Half, 1 for the 10k and 1 for the GSC
You'll get 3 shirts: 1 for the Half, 1 for the 10k and 1 for the GSC (LOVE THIS IDEA)
Either Men's OR Women's cut shirts.


Directly from the runDisney website....

Race participants in the Glass Slipper Challenge will receive:

• Champion Short-Sleeved Tech Shirts for the Half Marathon, 10K and Glass Slipper Challenge in Women’s or Men’s Cut*
• Special Glass Slipper Challenge Finisher Medal, along with Disney Princess Half Marathon and Disney Princess Enchanted 10K Finisher Medals for completing the Half Marathon and 10K*
• Official Race Program Guide*
• iGiftBag
• Personalized bib (Must register by December 1, 2013 for name to appear on bib)*
• On-course and post-race refreshments
• ChronoTrack B-tag timed races, with live runner tracking signup for friends and family for both events
• Personalized results website

To receive the Glass Slipper Challenge Finisher Medal, you must register for the Glass Slipper Challenge. Registering for the 10K and Half Marathon individually will not make you eligible to receive the Glass Slipper Challenge Finisher Medal.

Glass Slipper Challenge 2-Princess Team

Don't want to go on your magical journey alone? Grab a partner, register and run the Half Marathon portion of the Glass Slipper Challenge together as a 2-person team! Team registration is a fun way to compete in the Princess Half Marathon with added perks for each princess on your team.

Team Registration Fee: $15 per Team

Runners participating in the Half Marathon or Glass Slipper Challenge can sign up to be a Team to run in the Half Marathon.  There is no Team division for the Disney Enchanted 10K.

Each team that participates in Disney Princess Half Marathon will receive:

• All of the Individual registration inclusions plus…
• Commemorative Team Bib (Must register by December 1, 2013 for team name to appear on bib)*
• Commemorative Sash
• Team Photo area at Packet Pick-Up
• Eligibility for Team awards
• 2-person team registration includes added perks for each princess on the team**

Dates, times, prices and inclusions subject to change. All races are subject to capacity limits and may close at any time.

*Participants must attend Packet Pick-up at the Disney Fit For a Princess Expo to receive their race packet, bib, and tech shirt. Finisher medals will be distributed to finishers during the race. None of these items will be mailed to registrants.

**Note: Not a relay – both participants run the entire Half Marathon race.

Sammy and I have already confirmed we will be doing the TEAM thing!!!! I feel slightly insane....but SO excited! We will be thinking about costuming and such soon!

Petite Tiaras

Will you be there!?

Bizarre Foods with $MikePlat$: Cape Cod Edition

Travel Bug Tuesday

Cape Cod!

This place is a gem. Obviously if you live in New England you know how much of a must visit this place is, but outside of New England I feel like it could possibly be seen as another typical beach vacation spot.

Miguel and I have spent time both in Dennisport and Hyannis. Both locations each with it's pro's and con's.

This post I will talk about Dennisport, I'll save Hyannis for another week.

In Dennisport, we spent time at the Cutty Sark. Which was categorized as a motor lodge, aka Mom and Pop run. I will say as far as a feel for really being on vacation this motor lodge hit the spot. I am in LOVE with it.

Entrance Sign

View from our part of the balcony. We had an 'ocean' view.'

Another view from our room.

Our 5-year anniversary vacation. This is where we could sit and have coffee the windows behind are our room.

Last view of our room. I loved it.

Pro's of the room: our location. 2nd floor, corner room, ocean view, small motel style

Con's of the room: vhs enabled tv....... Communal balcony, can hear kids running no matter which level.

The beach was within walking distance less than 100 feet away. I love this so much, because there is nothing as calming as the smell of the ocean.

Restaurants for both Dennisport and Hyannis that we visited were pretty much the same, there is only about a 30 minute drive between the two. Hyannis does have most of the restaurants right in town though.

A couple of my favorites are:

Go for breakfast...NOTHING ELSE, trust me.

I would drive to Cape Cod for this breakfast alone. Pancakes, with raspberry butter, fresh blueberries and raspberries and a raspberry syrup drizzle. OhEmGee! Please promise me you will try it.

I adore Sam Diego's then again I am pretty sure in one of my past lives I was Mexican....

My meal, chicken enchiladas. OUT OF THIS WORLD

Miguel's meal was enjoyable

We also visited the Black Cat

Only had drinks but I was so excited that I got to go here. Worth it for the cute bar.

Lastly one of the best meals we had was at this place, on Main Street in Hyannis.

Little cards each person gets. Each side means something.

Red means "i'm taking a break"

Green means "bring it on!"

I love him.

A couple videos of our time at this delicious restaurant. This is a must try!

I am so completely head over heels in love with him....

And yes, he did say buon giorno instead of buon appetito... 

WARNING! WHAT EVER YOU DO, DO NOT EAT AT CHAPIN'S

Not only was the meal below average, our service was so horrible that I spoke to the manager and when we left no tip, we were confronted rudely and disrespectfully buy our waitress who was non-existent during our entire experience. Management is poor, food is nasty and the attitudes are something I wouldn't revisit if I was paid to. I doubt unless Robert Irvine visited this place it has changed... I have never had a more displeasureable restaurant experience.

Are you MO' ROCKIN!?!?

WALT DISNEY WORLD WEDNESDAY

*a little late*

If you love EPCOT as much as I do then you are just as excited about the news coming from Morocco! Although I will admit Morocco is my least favorite of all the countries it is slowly impressing me as I grow older. This last October I actually spent more time walking around Morocco with my cousin than in previous years.

If you didn't know, Morocco's construction in World Showcase is the only pavilion that had help from its countries government. From the layout to the actual architecture the Moroccan government created a small replica of it's most celebrated and famous attributes in Walt Disney World.

The tile work and attention to detail is what has really peaked my interest.

The outfits are what got my fathers attention.....

So apparently what is happening is that a new restaurant is being added to Morocco. They are calling it the Spice Road Table. I am excited about this because they are saying it will consist of small plates of food and I can hardly wait for the beverages they will have as well. Now to be completely honest, I have never ingested food or drink from Morocco as of this moment. But within the last couple months I have been attempting lots of 'firsts' when it comes to food consumption. I feel my next trip to EPCOT will consist of a real effort put into trying the food and drink in Morocco.

If the phone's for me, you can tell 'em I just sailed away!

TRAVEL BUG TUESDAY
* a little late*


Ever since I was very young my parents have spoiled me with yearly (if not more than that) trips to Walt Disney World. Florida holds a soft spot in my heart. But it isn't just visiting the Mouse that draws me to Florida.

Jupiter, Florida is one of my favorite spots on earth.

Jupiter is (in my opinion) one of the hidden gems of the Florida Coastline. It has everything: gorgeous beaches, amazing restaurants and is both dog friendly and turtle friendly.

Jupiter, FL is famous for its nesting grounds for Loggerhead Turtles. These gorgeous beasts come ashore in the dead of night and bury their eggs.  When I was in sixth grade my family waiting quietly and patiently for a momma loggerhead to dig a very deep hole in the sand and lay her eggs, it is one of the most amazing experiences I have ever been a part of. The town of Jupiter along the shore has light and sound laws to make it the best surroundings for these mothers to be. After the mother lays her eggs a group of volunteers from (possibly, just a guess) the Loggerhead MarineLife Center ropes off the areas.

Once I turned 21 my family was able to go during our week in June (now that both my brother and I were in college). I was able to adopt a loggerhead named Carlisle. 

I'm sorry if the pictures are bad quality. It was before I was graced with the iPhone.

Yes it is located in Juno, not Jupiter but the two are so close I don't bother to separate them.

They take their turtles seriously.

Manatee sightings are normal.  

Even the sunrises are better!

The last little bit of awesomeness I will give you is the Square Grouper. 

 

Alan Jackson is notorious for playing here. Oh and if you didn't think you have ever seen or heard of Juipter, FL before just take a gander at this little 'somewhat popular' country video. His boat is off the shore of Jupiter in front of our time share Jupiter Reef Club and the rest of the video at a bar is the Square Grouper. Actually, the owner Jimmy Burg is seen in the video talking to Alan. Jimmy is absolutely one of the coolest guys. If you have a chance to meet him do it. Make your way to 1111 Love Street in Jupiter and trust me you will fall in love with his place.