Shopaholic Goes Disney.... A Pre-Trip Report (Updated 12/26)

[BellaSoleil]

Warning: This entry is completely off-topic.

I am anxiously awaiting my magical Disney mail and plan on making my LGMH bag tags, but other than that I'm just planning on taking a break from all things Disney and enjoying the holidays for the next few weeks.

BIRTHDAY​

Our family kicked off the holiday season by throwing a birthday party for G. My uncle came over and made his award winning chilli. Let me just tell you that his chilli obsession could put even the most dedicatedly obsessed Disser to shame. He brought a Rubbermade tub (and by tub I mean a pack your winter sweaters away and store them in the attic kind of tub) full of chilli supplies. G loved the chilli and that made me happy!

Here are a few pictures from that afternoon:

The birthday boy.

My sister Audri and me. I was so excited that she made it!

G's fabulous guitar cake.

The best picture I could manage to get of Belle in her Tinkerbell dress.

After Belle downed a peice of birthday cake. She was asking for more.

THANKSGIVING​

Thanksgiving was very low key this year. The weather was terrible and half of our family was unable to make it. I didn't take near as many pictures as I should have.

I baked my first pie! (Please excuse the rauncy shirt. I needed a shirt to bake in and get messy. Evie had two choices in her closest... either this one or one that said 'Keepin em Real'. Don't ask...)

I proudly present, my Chocolate Pecan Pie. (Pecan pronounced Pah-Kahn. )

I also baked macaroni and cheese. YUM!!!!

Our sad excuse of a family picture. G had to work on Thanksgiving.

Redneck shot of my child. I was talking mid-photo. Way to capture the moment, mom!

So that's what I've been up to as I count down the days until our trip.

Not that I'm counting or anything.....

34 days! ​

 

[BellaSoleil]

We went out last night for a few hours. I had to get a crinoline for my dress, and the David's Bridal is right near the mall. We weren't going to head to the mall, but my baby sister actually wanted to go shopping!
She is NOT a shopper! I've been fighting with her for at least the past 2 years to no avail. She groaned at the mention of shopping more than my brothers, but last night she wanted to go find shoes for her bridesmaid dress! We found some - they're boots, not exactly formal, but neither are mine!
It was soo much fun to see her getting excited about trying on shoes. She even continued after she found her boots to look at other shoes!

Then, today I had to take back a pair of shoes I got. I tried them on in the store, but when we got to the register the box had one 9 and one 8 1/2 in it, so they switched the boxes. When I got home and put them on I found that they were defective. We took them back today, and my baby sister not only wanted to come with us, but she wore jeans! I was thrilled, she never wears jeans. My Mom commented on them being too big, but I'm satisfied with baby steps. I'll make her fashionably conscious yet!

Hooray for your sis! Can you PM me or post a picture of your wedding dress? I would love to see it!

 

[princess&her4princes]

I am anxiously awaiting my magical Disney mail and plan on making my LGMH bag tags, but other than that I'm just planning on taking a break from all things Disney and enjoying the holidays for the next few weeks.

BIRTHDAY​

Our family kicked off the holiday season by throwing a birthday party for G. My uncle came over and made his award winning chilli. Let me just tell you that his chilli obsession could put even the most dedicatedly obsessed Disser to shame. He brought a Rubbermade tub (and by tub I mean a pack your winter sweaters away and store them in the attic kind of tub) full of chilli upplies. G loved the chilli and that made me happy!

[/IMG]
I baked my first pie! (Please excuse the rauncy shirt. I needed a shirt to bake in and get messy. Evie had two choices in her closest... either this one or one that said 'Keepin em Real'. Don't ask...)


So that's what I've been up to as I count down the days until our trip.

Not that I'm counting or anything.....

34 days! ​

[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/QUOTE]

Hi Soleil,
Your family is just beautiful!! Belle is soo cute and you and G are the cutest couple!! I'm so happy for you to be celebrating your 2nd honeymoon in no time now!!!

Chocolate pecan pie?!!! Care to share the recipe? YUM!! Sounds to die for!! I successfully survived making my first Thanksgiving dinner for 13 all by myself!! It was easier than I excected and I'm not sure how I've been married 8 years and have never had to cook!! It was fun!!

The dress Belle is wearing, is this something you made? I forget....adorable though!! Thanks for sharing!!!

You are on countdown now girlfriend, aren't you? Enjoy the holidays and forget about the stresses of planning....you've made some great plans, it's just going to be the two of you..what else could you ask for??

7 more days here! I'm starting that whirlwind stage....cleaning the house from inlaws visit, decorating for Christmas (done today!! tree is up and everything!), packing, the baby is being admitted into the hospital on Tuesday until Wednesday, packing, cleaning, cat sitter.....and the usual stuff during the week...DH works late, kids and school......phew! I'm tired just thinking of it...but when it's all done...I"M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD THE END OF THIS WEEK!

Enjoy what's left of the weekend!!!!
Kristen

 

[BellaSoleil]

Kristen-

You have a week! I'm SO jealous! I know one behalf of all of the other girls who read my report, we want a trip report out of you! At least a short one. Where are you staying again? Give me the details about your trip. I am so excited for you!

Why is the baby going into the hospital? I hope it's not anything too serious.


Here is the recipe. It is Emeril's recipe and with that being said, it is surprisingly very simple.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
Caramel Sauce, for garnish, recipe follows
Confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Spread the pecan pieces and the chocolate chips evenly on the bottom of the pie shell.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together. Pour the filling over the pecans. Bake until the filling sets, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes before slicing. Cut into individual servings and serve with a drizzle of Caramel Sauce and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Caramel Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup whole milk

Combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a medium heavy saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Let boil without stirring until the mixture becomes a deep amber color, 2 to 3 minutes, watching closely so it doesn't burn. Add the cream (be careful; it will bubble up), whisk to combine, and remove from the heat.

Add 2 tablespoons of the milk, then add up to 2 more tablespoons, until the desired consistency is reached. Let cool until just warm before serving. (The sauce will thicken as it cools.)

I didn't make the Carmel Sauce and can't imagine if I had. The pie alone was VERY rich. I think I might have over done it with the chocolate chips.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Great pictures!! And--we say pecan the SAME way!! It's just a southern "thang"!!!

 

[BellaSoleil]

LOL on the pecan thing!

Evie and I had a hilarious conversation about it on Thanksgiving Day.

This was Evie in New York last year, having a conversation with the server at a coffee house.

E: May I please have a 'pah-kahn' scone?

Server: You mean a 'pee-can' scone?

E: I'm from the south. You know, where they grow 'pah-kahns'. We have a tree in our backyard. I think I know how to pronounce it.

​

I'm not sure if we are correct in our pronunciation, but it's still a funny story.

 

[Lady Lallie]

The tinkerbell dress is adorable!

My DH had to work Thanksgiving too, so we had a very low key dinner but it was nice still.

Your trip is so close!

 

[jenjolt]

Unless of course you are Paula Deen and then she grows PEE-CANS in her front yard.

I'm so glad you had a good start to your Holiday season....loved the photos. Tomorrow is cyber Monday so I'm going to be doing some online shopping so I'll have to show you my purchases when I'm done Soleil!!

Anyways hope you are having a great evening!

 

[Monny2AE]

What a cool cake! I'm glad G had a nice bday and y'all had a nice Thanksgiving! That pie does look yummy. I thought of you this morning- my pastor is a southerner! I'll have to ask him how he pronounces pecan!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Of course WE pronounce it right-c'mon!!!
Kim, my friend is transferring to Maryland as we speak! She and I have been friends since Kindergarten!! She met her husband in the Navy--she's out now-he's in forever I think!! They just had their first baby in August and I finally got to see them over the Holiday!!!!!! They were in route from California to Maryland. I am not sure what town they are going to, but they are house-hunting tomorrow. I guess it'll have to be pretty close to whatever base you have out there. Anyway, I am soooooo very excited she's out of Calif---she wasn't happy there. They have been on the East Coast before and they are more at home there. So.... when I find out I'll have to ask you what some good areas are for her.!!!!

 

[Dancegrl624]

I'm from NY and we say pah-kahn. At least everyone that I know says it that way! It's difficult living in Buffalo but being from Syracuse. People still make fun of what I say or how I say things. You see, the majority of NY state says soda, but Buffalo says pop. I can never say pop. It doesn't sound right to me! In Buffalo they say sucker and I always said lollipop. The list goes on and on!

I love the pictures. Glad to hear you had a nice holiday!

 

[BellaSoleil]

My family had this conversation at dinner tonight and laughed ourselves silly.

Where I live, any carbonated beverage is a Coke. I say 'soda'.

We do say 'suckers' here, too. Sorry, Meagan!

I used to say the-ate-er. (Like Tow-Mater.) After working at Disney, I learned that it is actually the-ah-tor. Hehe!

Today I got excited in a conversation and say "may-un", instead of man. I was very embarrassed.

Anyone have any other funny ones to add to the list?

After my family talked about words, we got on the subject of vampires (thanks to Twilight mania.) My dad swears that my grandmothers old hairdresser thought his wife was a vampire and killed her by stabbing her in the heart with a stake. We are all very close to my GM and none of us recall this story. So my dad calls my GM (via speaker phone) to prove it to us. My poor grandpa, who is not quite as sharp as he used to be, answered the phone (GM was in the bathtub) and dad started asking him about it. GP was so confused, bless his heart!!!! I can just imagine that he will be asking my GM about her vampire hairdresser for the next month.

 

[BellaSoleil]

Kristen- I forgot to tell you that I had that outfit made for Belle. I also got two really cute Mickey Mouse outfits and the Pooh outfit she wore to Disney Live.

The tinkerbell dress is adorable!

My DH had to work Thanksgiving too, so we had a very low key dinner but it was nice still.

Your trip is so close!

I'm sorry your DH had to work. That stinks! I'm glad Thanksgiving was still good, though.

It is getting so close! I'll be under the month mark in a few days. I can't believe it!

Unless of course you are Paula Deen and then she grows PEE-CANS in her front yard.

I'm so glad you had a good start to your Holiday season....loved the photos. Tomorrow is cyber Monday so I'm going to be doing some online shopping so I'll have to show you my purchases when I'm done Soleil!!

Anyways hope you are having a great evening!

I love Paula Deen!

Can't wait to see everything you bought! You are more than welcome to post them on this thread if you would like. I think we would all like to see your pretty, new things.

 

[Sarilas]

It drives me batty when people say pe-can... almost as batty as when they call me Lay-ra instead of Lah-ra!

Your pics are great! And you certainly got more than I did; we were supposed to drive to Tulsa but our transmission had other ideas. (Insert eyeroll here.) I ended up throwing together dinner in two days, and finally found my holiday spirit somewhere in between!

 

[princess&her4princes]

Kristen-

You have a week! I'm SO jealous! I know one behalf of all of the other girls who read my report, we want a trip report out of you! At least a short one. Where are you staying again? Give me the details about your trip. I am so excited for you!

Why is the baby going into the hospital? I hope it's not anything too serious.


Here is the recipe. It is Emeril's recipe and with that being said, it is surprisingly very simple.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
Caramel Sauce, for garnish, recipe follows
Confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Spread the pecan pieces and the chocolate chips evenly on the bottom of the pie shell.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together. Pour the filling over the pecans. Bake until the filling sets, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes before slicing. Cut into individual servings and serve with a drizzle of Caramel Sauce and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Caramel Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup whole milk

Combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a medium heavy saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Let boil without stirring until the mixture becomes a deep amber color, 2 to 3 minutes, watching closely so it doesn't burn. Add the cream (be careful; it will bubble up), whisk to combine, and remove from the heat.

Add 2 tablespoons of the milk, then add up to 2 more tablespoons, until the desired consistency is reached. Let cool until just warm before serving. (The sauce will thicken as it cools.)

I didn't make the Carmel Sauce and can't imagine if I had. The pie alone was VERY rich. I think I might have over done it with the chocolate chips.

Thanks, Soleil for the recipe..sounds wonderful!!! I'll give it a whirl for Christmastime, my family would love it!!

I know!! One more week..I just can't believe it's here already!!! One week from this moment, I"ll be having dinner at Raglan Road with my best friends and her family (who we haven't seen in over 6 months!!). Trip report....how do I start? How do I post pics? How do I get people to read?! Would love to do one......still willing to coach me? No pressure, at all, just seems like a lot to start and I would have to get the okay from my BFF to do one since her kids would be involved, too, you know?

Baby Cole is going in for a 24 hour EEG....should be pretty easy, in theory. He's been seeing a Pediatric neurologist for benign epilispy seizures since he was 7 mos. old and because we have refused to medicate (because he is not in pain, has deveoloped perfectly, we do not want him to be an experiment, and will outgrow this by 3) they asked if we would consider doing the EEG to track his episodes. I have noticed them less and less and know in my heart and soul he will be just fine...I wasn't so sure 6 months ago now, but feel good with this thought now. So, wish me luck and send prayers for me, I'm pretty sure that taking a 17 month old to have a million electrodes and wires coming from his head will be a nightmare since he will be trying to pull them off and try to run around....should be interesting and I'm not so sure I'll be getting any sleep that night since my DH will be home with the other two boys while I"m at Mass General with Cole. Thanks for asking, I appreciate it.

Okay...time to go and enjoy the fire with my DH and admire our tree! I hope that you have a nice night!!!

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

LOL on the pecan thing!

Evie and I had a hilarious conversation about it on Thanksgiving Day.

This was Evie in New York last year, having a conversation with the server at a coffee house.

E: May I please have a 'pah-kahn' scone?

Server: You mean a 'pee-can' scone?

E: I'm from the south. You know, where they grow 'pah-kahns'. We have a tree in our backyard. I think I know how to pronounce it.

​

I'm not sure if we are correct in our pronunciation, but it's still a funny story.

That is so Funny! I almost hate to admit it but way up in here in my neck of the woods, we say PEE-CAN! I don't think it matters much! It is the best pie in the world IMHO! We say "pop". "sucker", and EH?

 

[pamouselover]

Dont care how you say it, but send a piece up to this northern girl!
YUMMY! Love the tink dress, so cute. I predict you will get your magical mail this week

 

[BellaSoleil]

That is so Funny! I almost hate to admit it but way up in here in my neck of the woods, we say PEE-CAN! I don't think it matters much! It is the best pie in the world IMHO! We say "pop". "sucker", and EH?

I love the way Canadians say the word "sorry".

 

[jenjolt]

Okay the whole Southern thing where everything is cola...I just don't get that especially since I'm a Pepsi girl...I call it soda pop LOL!!!

Got to love all the different pronunciations out there!! Well I already have some Old Navy purchases picked out LOL!!

 

[trixiequilts]

I made Chocolate Pah-Kahn Pie this weekend, too! I had never even tasted pecan pie before, but man, this was goooo-oooood! (I had a different recipe.)