Cruising, Wining, and Disney Dining - Two 2012 PTRs in One! **TR LINK UP**

[jenny105]

We did a garage sale with friends today! Luckily, it was at our friend's house and they have a pool! Needless to say, the kids were swimming the whole time!

I would've dove head first into the pool!

I'm not too far south of you, and we're definitely getting the heat/humidity! I actually don't mind it so much.

I love summer but 108 degrees is a bit much for me! I'll take it over 2 feet of snow though. I'll miss it come winter.

 

[acf_1991]

I'm not sure what you consider hot, but here in southern california we're at 90-95 degree weather and I AM DYING!! I really don't know how I'm going to be able to handle Florida weather. I don't even know how to handle snow! I've never seen it. but someday I will, and I will love the california heat.

How did you like Harry Potter? I love the books but I need to catch up on the movies. Right now I'm reading the books for about the 8th time

You also reminded me, I need to get started on my disney fund once again!
I had 160 previously using my garage sale money and change found here and there. New Disney fund it is! BTW, if you can send me a referral for the Mysurvey, even if I don't surveys, atleast you get points.

 

[jenny105]

I'm not sure what you consider hot, but here in southern california we're at 90-95 degree weather and I AM DYING!! I really don't know how I'm going to be able to handle Florida weather. I don't even know how to handle snow! I've never seen it. but someday I will, and I will love the california heat.

How did you like Harry Potter? I love the books but I need to catch up on the movies. Right now I'm reading the books for about the 8th time

You also reminded me, I need to get started on my disney fund once again!
I had 160 previously using my garage sale money and change found here and there. New Disney fund it is! BTW, if you can send me a referral for the Mysurvey, even if I don't surveys, atleast you get points.

I'm ok with hot but when it's 108 degrees, it's a little oppressive! It makes me not want to go outside, it's so humid. Ugh. You can take all of our snow! It snowed every week last winter. I didn't see the ground for about 2 months straight!

I loved Harry Potter. I thought the last two movies were the best. They stuck pretty closely to the book and it had so much action. I'm so sad there are no more movies!

PM me you email address and I'll send you a referral. You have to take the welcome survey so I can get points. If you did that one at least, I'd really appreciate it!

 

[jenny105]

Hi all. Just checking in. I made a small deposit to my Disney Fund today, $6.98. I haven't mentioned that Kris and I are saving for an apartment. We're planning to move in together October 1, as long as we can find a place we both like (he's picky!). So the majority of my savings is going toward that. Once we're settled, more will go to the Disney fund. Still, every little bit helps. So that brings my grand total to $79.86. $1,670.14 to go!

I'm up to 1235 points on My Survey, enough for a $10 PayPal deposit. I'll see if I get any more surveys this weekend and cash the points in on Sunday. I also got two emails from E-Bates, one that they sent me a $10 Target gift card for signing up and another that my rebate check is in the mail. A big $1.55! Every little bit helps right? I'll probably be making another Disney Fund deposit in the next week or so.

Work has been super busy this month! Marriott and Best Western are both running contests this summer. If you are in the top 200 nationally for Marriott sales for June, July, and August, they will send you a $50 Visa gift card each month. I just got mine in the mail this week. I'm in the top 100 for the month of July so I'll be getting another one for that month too. Hopefully, I can also get one for August. I was thinking of putting them toward paying off my cruise/Disney World, but I think I'm going to hold on to them incase Kris and I need to buy things for the apartment. Or even use them for Christmas shopping. For Best Western's contest, the prize is a Target gift card. The minimum amount to qualify is 5 bookings. So far, I have 4. If I get another one, I get a $25 gift card from Target with an additional $5 for every booking after that. Needless to say all I've been pushing lately is Marriott and Best Western!

In general life news, I'm going to see Weezer tonight with Kris. I bought him the tickets for his birthday last month. They put on a good show, I'm looking forward to it but I'm REALLY excited for tomorrow night. Three day weekend plus I'm going to Atlantic City to see...

N-K-O-T-B-S-B! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Jen and I'm a New Kids on the Block-aholic. This will be my 11th NKOTB show. They were my very first concert back in 1990 (Magic Summer tour, what!) and this will be my 10th time seeing them since they reunited back in 2008. My sister is my NKOTB partner in crime and we have so much fun when we go. I'm really looking forward to it!

Hope everyone has a great weekend, thanks for reading!

 

[Cory's Gal]

Hi Jen! I'm joining in from the October 2012 thread!! Fun to hear about all the saving you are doing!! That's awesome! I use the same change bucket to save coins for our trips!! LOVE it!! I haven't even thought about starting my PTR yet but I will happily follow along on yours! Good luck in the apartment search too!! It's been really hot for the last 3 weeks here in Minnesota too! Extremely humid and hot, I agree that I would be lost without air conditioning! I follow along on the Couponing to Disney sight too, there are so many good tips and it's nice to pick and choose what works for you! I do Sunshine Rewards and My Points to get gift cards too, there are a lot of great sights!!! U2 was just here last weekend and I heard the show was awesome!! Thanks for sharing the pics!!
~Beth

 

[jenny105]

Hi Jen! I'm joining in from the October 2012 thread!! Fun to hear about all the saving you are doing!! That's awesome! I use the same change bucket to save coins for our trips!! LOVE it!! I haven't even thought about starting my PTR yet but I will happily follow along on yours! Good luck in the apartment search too!! It's been really hot for the last 3 weeks here in Minnesota too! Extremely humid and hot, I agree that I would be lost without air conditioning! I follow along on the Couponing to Disney sight too, there are so many good tips and it's nice to pick and choose what works for you! I do Sunshine Rewards and My Points to get gift cards too, there are a lot of great sights!!! U2 was just here last weekend and I heard the show was awesome!! Thanks for sharing the pics!!
~Beth

Hi Beth! Welcome! The change really adds up after awhile! Honestly, I don't know what people did before air conditioning LOL. It's supposed to be super hot this weekend too, ugh. All I want in the winter is for it to be summer and now I'm read for fall! I've heard of My Points but I haven't signed up yet. What is Sunshine Rewards? I'll have to look into that. And U2 is phenomenal! If you start a PTR, let me know!

 

[newmommy_2010]

can't wait to read more! I need to take your tips on saving!

 

[jenny105]

can't wait to read more! I need to take your tips on saving!

I've always tried to save up but I've never had this much time and usually I end up scrambling at the last minute for spending money. This time I'm taking the smart approach.

 

[jenny105]

Just a quick post to say I had a fantastic weekend. NKOTBSB was great! I'll be posting pictures and a mini-report of the concert soon.

Also wanted to say that I made another small deposit to my Disney Fund, $6.50. That brings my grand total to $86.36. Almost at my first $100! $1,663.64 to go.

I also paid my weekly $10 toward our cruise and currently only owe $80! Almost there! I can't wait to start chipping away at the Disney World vacation. That's the big one!

I cashed in My Survey points for the month of July for a $10 e-cash deposit to my PayPal account. I haven't decided if I'm going to transfer those deposits to my Disney Fund or use them to help pay off the trip. Maybe half and half. What to do, what to do. I also joined My Points because you can redeem the points for Pay Pal deposits and Rainforest Cafe gift cards. If I can get enough points for one of those gift cards, I'll save a dining credit and use it to go to a fancy schmancy two table service place. I have my heart set on Narcoosees for my birthday Plus, there aren't many places for TS in AK and Rainforest would be a fun option.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! As always, thanks for reading along!

 

[ZFamily5]

Yay for adding money to the Disney fund!! Can't wait to hear all about the concert!!

 

[CJDisneyMommy]

i'm in! I love how clever you are with saving, it's pretty awesome. I've been feeling the heat like crazy too, I'm in MD, and we've had a few 100+ degree days. I can't wait to see your pictures from NKOTBSB, I personally LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEE me some BSB. I might have skipped this on accident, but where are you cruising to? And where are you going to stay when you come back to disney?

 

[jenny105]

Yay for adding money to the Disney fund!! Can't wait to hear all about the concert!!

I always feel so accomplished when I add more to my fund! No matter how much the amount is.

i'm in! I love how clever you are with saving, it's pretty awesome. I've been feeling the heat like crazy too, I'm in MD, and we've had a few 100+ degree days. I can't wait to see your pictures from NKOTBSB, I personally LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEE me some BSB. I might have skipped this on accident, but where are you cruising to? And where are you going to stay when you come back to disney?

I have to find little ways to save. I want this to be the best trip yet! I'm so happy because today it's only 80 degrees outside! A nice break from the humidity, finally! I was really impressed with BSB. I was never a huge fan of them but they were pretty good! We're cruising to nowhere! It's only a weekend cruise out of NYC and it just sails around in a big loop through the Atlantic. As of right now, we're staying at POR for our Disney trip. If I can swing the cost of AKL, I'll be upgrading

 

[jenny105]

Hi people! Today was a crazy day at work. As I'm sure you all know, free dining was extended! I had quite a few reservations to switch over. Instead of us all calling and waiting on hold, one of the agents called and we passed the CM around the office until we were all finished. We're so smart lol.

I have some free time (and I'm trying to kill the last hour of the work day!) so I figured I'd post my mini-TR of NKOTBSB. They played at Boardwalk Hall down in Atlantic City. My sister and I went for the show and my mom tagged along because she loves to gamble!

My sister and I decked out in our NKOTB gear:

I wish I had a close up of my bag. I got compliments on it all night. My sister got it for me off EBay and it's made up of pictures of NKOTB. Love it!

We left around 2-2:30, stopped at the bank and for gas, and made it to Atlantic City by 4. Parking was $20 but my mom had her casino card which knocked it down to $5. Score! We parked at Trump Plaza and had lunch at the Beach Bar across the boardwalk. It was so hot out! No breeze at all and we were on the beach. Ugh. My mom got steamed clams, I got shrimp cocktail and a hotdog, and my sister got the same as me. We stayed there until about 5:30-6. Some pictures from the Beach Bar.

Got a little Captain in ya?

My mom got some fruity drink called Peach on the Beach.

My sister is always drinking Corona so she wanted a picture with the Corona bottle lol.

After the Beach Bar, we hung around the Trump Plaza casino for a bit. My sister wanted to play Sex and the City slot machines. My mom and I put $20 in each. No luck. But my sister won $50! Around 6:45, we split up. My mom stayed in the casino and my sister & I headed over to Boardwalk Hall next door. It was getting close to show time!

My sister's a smoker so before we found our seats, she wanted to have a cigarette. We were told the smoking area was on the second floor overlooking the Boardwalk. We chatted with a couple girls there from NY.

View from the smoking/balcony area. Mini-golf!

We heard music coming from inside and rushed down to our seats. Matt Morrison aka Mr. Schuster from Glee was the opening act!

The stage was set up as a main stage with a catwalk. We were right in front of where the catwalk ended. I got great pictures when people were there but unfortunately, Mr. Schu never came down the catwalk so the best I could do was take pictures of the screen! He was fantastic, BTW!

About 20 minutes after Mr. Schu's set ended, the lights went dark. An ear piercing roar went up from the crowd. It was time for NKOTBSB! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

BSB pulled girls on stage to sing 'I'll Never Break Your Heart' to

Personally, I like Donnie's brother Mark better...just sayin...

NKOTB came into the crowd to sing 'Tonight' Joey was very close to our section!

Then it was BSB's turn to come out in the crowd and sing 'Shape of My Heart'

I forgot to mention our seats were next to the confetti blaster so the end of the show? Looked like this

BSB had on Orlando Magic jerseys and NKOTB had Boston's Celtic's jerseys.

The ended the show with Hangin Tough/Backstreet's Back.

The concert was fantastic. I've been to a lot of NKOTB shows and this was the best one I've seen since the Full Service tour in 2009. I really didn't expet much from it. I wasn't too psyched about them touring with BSB. But both bands shut me up! Full of energy, sang for over 2 hours, great chemistry with each other as well as the crowd. Such a blast!

Now they just need to get NSYNC onboard. Justin Timberlake, I'm lookin at you!

The parking deck was a nightmare to get out of! It took over a half hour and we still had over an hour ride home. I didn't end up getting home until 2 am. Needless to say we all slept in the next day!

That's all for now!! Thanks for reading!

PS - While we were at the concert, my mom won $200! On a Sex and the City slot machine! Go Mom!Everybody had luck but me lol.

 

[klacey1]

Ohhh, I love BSB and NKOTB!! That concert looks like it was a lot of fun!
Definitely use those points for Rainforest Cafe GC's. Zach and I ate there for the first time this past weekend in CT and really liked it! It's kitchy, but the food was good!

 

[tinkgurl]

Joining in!

I was a BIG NSYNC and BSB fan back when they were singing their hits. I am very jealous you got to see BSB! I saw NSYNC a long time ago, but never made it to a BSB concert.

 

[jenny105]

Ohhh, I love BSB and NKOTB!! That concert looks like it was a lot of fun!
Definitely use those points for Rainforest Cafe GC's. Zach and I ate there for the first time this past weekend in CT and really liked it! It's kitchy, but the food was good!

It was a blast!
I need a lot more points for a Rainforest GC. I currently have 485 and I need about 6,000 for a $50 GC. I think I can do that in a year though.

Joining in!

I was a BIG NSYNC and BSB fan back when they were singing their hits. I am very jealous you got to see BSB! I saw NSYNC a long time ago, but never made it to a BSB concert.

Hi! Welcome!

I looooved NSYNC. I was all about NSYNC. I still listen to their cds in my car. I liked BSB but was never a huge fan. Back then it seemed like you had to choose! I saw NSYNC way back when but never BSB until last week. They were great!

 

[princess_momma]

I've been SUCH a bad Dis'er! I'm so sorry! But yay for all the progress you are making in your Disney funds!! I want to do a cruise so bad but I think Ian just wants to go to WDW so it looks like that will have to wait.

And OMG on the concert pics...man I wish I could've been there so bad. I need Nick Carter to serenade me. Next time, they WILL pull me up on stage and after they tell me they'll never break my heart, I'll tell them that they did when they skipped CO in 2011. One of my co-workers in our Canadian office went to see them...but apparently they weren't even scheduled to do that but they got like 20,000 people to sign a petition so they went! I was so jealous....didn't even know you could do that or I would've tried!!!

 

[acf_1991]

Great updates so far, I hope to see pictures of your new apartment once you find one.

 

[jenny105]

I've been SUCH a bad Dis'er! I'm so sorry! But yay for all the progress you are making in your Disney funds!! I want to do a cruise so bad but I think Ian just wants to go to WDW so it looks like that will have to wait.

And OMG on the concert pics...man I wish I could've been there so bad. I need Nick Carter to serenade me. Next time, they WILL pull me up on stage and after they tell me they'll never break my heart, I'll tell them that they did when they skipped CO in 2011. One of my co-workers in our Canadian office went to see them...but apparently they weren't even scheduled to do that but they got like 20,000 people to sign a petition so they went! I was so jealous....didn't even know you could do that or I would've tried!!!

No worries! I know you're a busy girl!

Can you talk Ian into a Land/Sea vacation? Preferably in October 2012?

Anytime I saw Nick Carter or snapped a picture of him, I kept thinking of you! I tried to get him to pull me up on stage. He walked in our direction and I was waving my arms and screaming pick me but then he walked off. Howie came in our direction too but...it's Howie.

That is a bummer that they skipped CO. It seems like NKOTB is always touring so maybe they'll do more NKOTBSB dates next spring/summer.

Great updates so far, I hope to see pictures of your new apartment once you find one.

I will definitely post some! We've looked at a few places and I've liked a couple but Kris is super picky.

 

[jenny105]

Hi everyone!

It's been a busy week. Kris and I looked at two apartments yesterday. They were both nice but one was really far from work and a little out of our price range. The other I thought was absolutely adorable and they were re-doing the kitchen and bathroom & it was a great deal. But Kris didn't like it. He's very picky and finds something wrong immediately with almost every place we look at. At this rate, I'm beginning to think we'll never find a place! We're going to look at another apartment tomorrow but again, this place will only add to my commute because it's further from work. I'd have to really love it.

We went to PA last weekend to go to Musikfest. Musikfest is in Bethlehem and there are stages and different bands playing all throughout the town. The headlining band that night was Maroon 5. Kris got me tickets as a surprise a couple months ago. We had a great time and the next day we went to Lost River Caverns and Dorney Park, a theme park/waterpark in that area. This weekend is more laidback. BBQ with the family which I am really looking forward to because I haven't seen my nephews since June! Next weekend, we're going to Lake Compounce in CT. Kris's parents had free passes and gave them to us. I've never been but it looks like fun!

I've added a little bit to my Disney fund. I got a small check from Ebates, paypal reward from My Survey, and had some leftover cash from my paycheck. About 90% of that went to the apartment fund but I put a small amount toward Disney.

Ebates check - $1.55

PayPal Reward - $5.00 (it was for $10 but the other $5 will go toward a cruise payment, only $59.14 left to pay!)

Cash - $8.47

Total Deposit - $15.02 plus 4 cents interest from ING brings the grand total to $101.42. I'm at my first $100! $1,648.58 to go.

Work has been slowing down quite a bit lately. I can't believe summer is drawing to a close. It flew by. Pretty soon I'll be surfing the DIS all day long from work. That's my usualy winter work activity.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for reading!