Christmas & My Happy Place Equals Perfection. - A Dec 2011 PTR

[cogero]

Disney is what I affectionately refer to as my happy Place and Last year we spent our first ever Christmas at Disney and it was perfect for us. We had a rough 2010 and needed to heal so we ran away from life for a whirlwind trip. 4 days in my happy place did wonders to heal my soul.

We had such a great time we decided to do it all again but this time we are leaving on Christmas Day and we are talking our best friends with us.

So in my opinion there is no better way to spend Christmas than at Disney. Yes it will be crowded but it will be fantastic too.

So a little about me:
My name is Chiara and I am an almost 40 year old Mom of 2. I work part time for my parents who have a general contracting and real estate company.

Then there is my dh Gerard, who works as a police officer and is a fabulous guy who fell in love with Disney since his first trip on our honeymoon. Oh and he loves all things Phineas and Ferb.

Next is our DD Chiara Michelle (Yes she is named for me) Long story there. She is my dancer and MMA fighter. Yes it is an interesting combination to say the least. Miss C as I call her is almost 10 and loves all things Disney. She refers to herself as a Disney Geek.

James is our miracle boy. He was a surprise to us. He is almost 4 and had PDD-NOS and in many ways Disney is a blessing to use because it allows us to vacation as a normally as possible. J is mostly nonverbal but can say Mickey very clearly so we have hope.

We are traveling with our friends Jenn, John and AJ and can you believe I do not have one picture of them on my computer.

We are going to be at Disney from 12/25 - 12/30 so it will be another whirlwind trip but we are going to have a very merry Christmas.

Thanks for following along and tomorrow I will post a little bit about where we will be staying.

 

[DMGeurts]

I can't believe I missed this in your siggy!

WaHoo!! I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip. And I love all the pics - so cute how ds is kissing Minnie.

D~

 

[mphalens]

Yay! Can't wait to read more! My Dad is also in the gen. Contracting/building business and I do part time work for him

 

[cogero]

Yeah I have followers LOL.

Later I will tell you about where we are staying and if I can find my list where we are eating. Maybe I should also share the things I plan on making. Even if I am reusing some of the items.

But first I have to take my fabric out of the dryer and hang it before leaving for work. It is for DD's halloween skirt and a Big Give. I love helping out with the Big Gives. IT is my way of de-stressing though sometimes I think I give myself more stress about it than I need too.

 

[VBAndrea]

I thought you were going before Christmas -- I didn't realize it was Christmas Day!!! I also had no clue that Miss C was named after you! See, I learned two new things just by popping over here!

 

[NiniMorris]

Yay...another pre-trip report...I love it when people I 'know' write pre trip reports....


Nini

 

[dianemom2]

I'll be following along too! I also didn't know that your daughter was named for you. We may head to Florida during our winter break too. I'm not sure if it will include a stop at Disney or not. My in-laws live about 90 minutes from Disney. We probably won't make up our minds for another month or so. I completely understand about Disney being your happy place. We headed there for a break when I was doing chemo. It is a place that you can feel happy even when the rest of your world is difficult!

 

[p00h4me]

Your family is going to DW during my favorite time to visit! Been there 3 different times during that season but never stayed on Christmas day but 2005 we left very early in the morning on that day. Can't wait to follow along your PTR and please share what you are making for your trip! Don't sew so I'll love seeing what you'll do with your sewing skills!

 

[cogero]

So a little more about our trip. We knew after last Christmas we wanted to go again. It really doesn't bother us how crowded it is. We are DVC Members so we always have another trip planned.

This time around we are staying at Bay Lake Towers. This is one of our home resorts, we also own at AKV at Kidani which I like better than BLT but you seriously can't beat BLT for location. HELLO you can walk to Magic Kingdom.

We are staying in a 2Bedroom Villa.

So we leave from Newark this trip and our flight is at 8:05 and we should land at 10:54 if all things go right I should be at Epcot no later than 2pm LOL and have my Grey Goose Slushie no later than 2:15 sounds good right. A girl can dream.

The one ADR I can remember is for Christmas Day it is at Tutto Italia. For some reason we tend to do all our holiday dinners there (Easter 2009, Thanksgiving 2009, Christmas 2010) you get the idea.

Also thanks to everyone for following along. Time to drive my mother home from work.

 

[cogero]

and this is one of the reasons I love going for the Holidays. This is from 2009 when we took my parents for Thanksgiving.

 

[DMGeurts]

Oh Chiara - that picture is TDF!!! I love it... how magical!

Rats... now I want to go at Christmas...

D~ <---- doing the math, how many more outfits would that be???

 

[dianemom2]

and this is one of the reasons I love going for the Holidays. This is from 2009 when we took my parents for Thanksgiving.

What a super family picture! Such a great location for a portrait too!

 

[mphalens]

Great picture! I wish we were going closer to Christmas since this trip of ours is really our Christmas present... But once again, we have to travel when DH can

 

[cogero]

okay so dining this trip has taken many twists and turns. Thankfully our friends are just like us so that doesn't make it that hard to plan. The one thing I cut out that we always do is Akerhaus.

G and I had a long talk and we couldn't really see a 9 year old really wanting to sit through dinner with a bunch of princesses so we opted to add in Tusker House for lunch since they will have characters.

So here is our dining plans

12/25 Christmas Day - Tutto Italia
12/26 Breakfast at Crystal Palace
Dinner at Rose & Crown
12/27 Dinner at Les Chefs de France
12/28 Lunch at Tusker House
Dinner at Biergarten
12/29 Dinner at the Yachtsman

The only dinner new to us is Biergarten.

I will tell you though I have been known to check online during the day to see if other reservations are available and change them then in there.

In August that is how we got into France for dinner.

I still need to make that list of shirts and outfits, I should of done it yesterday when I was home waiting for my new dining room set but I did nothing instead. I was feeling a bit icky so figured doing nothing was better.

 

[VBAndrea]

I still need to make that list of shirts and outfits, I should of done it yesterday when I was home waiting for my new sewing table set but I did nothing instead. I was feeling a bit icky so figured doing nothing was better.

I had to correct your post -- sorry, I couldn't resist

Hope your ickiness is disappearing. Today is my icky day -- I cleaned downstairs -- mainly cleaned the kitchen very well including all the upholstery on the bar stools and chairs that get kid gunk on them. And the dogs got a bath too. Then I spend an hour or two on Pinterest

 

[cogero]

Thanks Andrea I am feeling better. Had my MIL and BIL over this afternoon.

Hopefully I can sew tomorrow.

 

[cogero]

Okay so I made a small list of some things I need to work on not all related to our trip but I figure if I post here, someone will hold me accountable.

Halloween Skirt - DONE & Shirt for Miss C.

Razorbacks skirt & shirt DONE
Razorbacks Easy fits and Shirt (this is a test outfit since my cousin wants to pay me for making her son 2 outfits and agreed to my price for the both outfits which I never thought was going to happen.)

Christmas Presents (I have never made these)
Crayon rolls for Daniel, Mark & Emma

December
J Bowling shirt (going to finally try this, I am extremely nervous about button holes)

Since C is reusing a few of her skirts I need to make short sleeved shirts that she can layer.
American Flag Mickey Shirt
Tink Shirt
Belle Shirt
Christmas Skirt & Shirt (I have fabric need to decide on the appliques for this)

I also have a big give to work on. I may actually iron fabric and cut the easy fits I need today. Since sewing doesn't take that long.

I am also trying to decide if Patterned (character) Fabric is okay for pants for J or if it would be better to do a solid and make the character fabric a cuff. Decisions decisions.

I sometimes think I make sewing harder than it needs to be.

I am also thinking I really want the vida pattern since Miss C said she liked the pattern.

 

[DMGeurts]

Okay so I made a small list of some things I need to work on not all related to our trip but I figure if I post here, someone will hold me accountable.

Halloween Skirt & Shirt for Miss C.

Razorbacks skirt & shirt
Razorbacks Easy fits and Shirt (this is a test outfit since my cousin wants to pay me for making her son 2 outfits and agreed to my price for the both outfits which I never thought was going to happen.)

Christmas Presents (I have never made these)
Crayon rolls for Daniel, Mark & Emma

December
J Bowling shirt (going to finally try this, I am extremely nervous about button holes)

Since C is reusing a few of her skirts I need to make short sleeved shirts that she can layer.
American Flag Mickey Shirt
Tink Shirt
Belle Shirt
Christmas Skirt & Shirt (I have fabric need to decide on the appliques for this)

I also have a big give to work on. I may actually iron fabric and cut the easy fits I need today. Since sewing doesn't take that long.

I am also trying to decide if Patterned (character) Fabric is okay for pants for J or if it would be better to do a solid and make the character fabric a cuff. Decisions decisions.

I sometimes think I make sewing harder than it needs to be.

I am also thinking I really want the vida pattern since Miss C said she liked the pattern.

WOW!!! You still amaze me with how much you take on... One thing at a time, it will get done.

I'd get to work on the Halloween stuff though... it's comin' quick!

D~

 

[mommy2mrb]

Hi Chiara! joining in on your fun!

love your holiday photo! and your DS kissing minnie is just so sweet
we are planning on going Thanksgiving 2013 and can't wait to experience WDW during the holidays!

looks like you will be plenty busy with all your sewing before you go!

your dining plans look like a bunch of fun!

looking forward to reading more about your plans!

 

[dianemom2]

okay so dining this trip has taken many twists and turns. Thankfully our friends are just like us so that doesn't make it that hard to plan. The one thing I cut out that we always do is Akerhaus.

G and I had a long talk and we couldn't really see a 9 year old really wanting to sit through dinner with a bunch of princesses so we opted to add in Tusker House for lunch since they will have characters.

So here is our dining plans

12/25 Christmas Day - Tutto Italia
12/26 Breakfast at Crystal Palace
Dinner at Rose & Crown
12/27 Dinner at Les Chefs de France
12/28 Lunch at Tusker House
Dinner at Biergarten
12/29 Dinner at the Yachtsman

The only dinner new to us is Biergarten.

I will tell you though I have been known to check online during the day to see if other reservations are available and change them then in there.

In August that is how we got into France for dinner.

I still need to make that list of shirts and outfits, I should of done it yesterday when I was home waiting for my new dining room set but I did nothing instead. I was feeling a bit icky so figured doing nothing was better.

I am also not feeling great today so I can totally sympathize with you! Your dining plans look awesome. We took our girls to Akershus when my older one was 9. She had a great time but both of my girls didn't care much for Cinderella's Royal Table on that same trip. You never know when they are that age. I remember when they were 4 and 5, they were beyond thrilled to meet Cinderella! We liked Tusker House when we were there before but it has been a while.

Okay so I made a small list of some things I need to work on not all related to our trip but I figure if I post here, someone will hold me accountable.

Halloween Skirt & Shirt for Miss C.

Razorbacks skirt & shirt
Razorbacks Easy fits and Shirt (this is a test outfit since my cousin wants to pay me for making her son 2 outfits and agreed to my price for the both outfits which I never thought was going to happen.)

Christmas Presents (I have never made these)
Crayon rolls for Daniel, Mark & Emma

December
J Bowling shirt (going to finally try this, I am extremely nervous about button holes)

Since C is reusing a few of her skirts I need to make short sleeved shirts that she can layer.
American Flag Mickey Shirt
Tink Shirt
Belle Shirt
Christmas Skirt & Shirt (I have fabric need to decide on the appliques for this)

I also have a big give to work on. I may actually iron fabric and cut the easy fits I need today. Since sewing doesn't take that long.

I am also trying to decide if Patterned (character) Fabric is okay for pants for J or if it would be better to do a solid and make the character fabric a cuff. Decisions decisions.

I sometimes think I make sewing harder than it needs to be.

I am also thinking I really want the vida pattern since Miss C said she liked the pattern.

You have quite a long list of things to sew. But I am sure you will get it all done. Don't be nervous about button holes. Just do a bit of practicing. They are much easier than they seem. And with the bowling shirt, if you totally mess up (which is extremely unlikely) you can always take off that section of the shirt and re-do it.