Florida Series - Epcot

Epcot is a park I have been to before with my family, many years ago, and after spending a couple of hours in there we decided it wasn’t for us and left.
This year we revisited, as it seemed like a good park for my boyfriend to visit as it is more educational (he is a chemistry graduate) and both him and my dad don’t like roller coasters. This visit completely changed our mind on Epcot, and we had a really lovely day.

The park is split into two parts, the bit at the front with all the rides, and the World Expo at the back which gives you a chance to look at different cultures and more importantly, different foods.

When we went there was also the Flower and Garden festival, which meant the park was covered with more topiarys than usual and specialty food and drink, it was lovely and has really inspired me to grow my own herb garden.

At the front of the park the main rides are: 

Soar, which simulates you flying through the sky over California. It is a nice gentle ride, but definitely not for anyone with a fear of heights, like my mum has and had to sit with her eyes closed the whole time...
Test Track, where you create your own car and go through a test track to see how well your design works. I really enjoyed this ride especially as my boyfriend I made a different car to the rest of my family and it was great seeing it perform better in the tests.
Mission Space simulates a real take off and flying to Mars. This was bit of a odd one as it simulates G Force, during the take off part you couldn’t even raise your hands, if I’m honest it made me feel a bit sick!
Spaceship Earth which is set in the iconic globe that you can see when you first enter epcot. This is a nice slow paced ride which takes you through history and how we developed technology. Despite being a bit old a rickety this is another ride I really enjoyed, and learnt quite a few new things.
The Seas with Nemo and Friends, a very young ride which takes you around the sea in a giant clam shell. Great for children.

There are a couple more rides there but we passed over them because of the long queue time and they didn’t really appeal to us.

The other part of the park, the World Expo part has many different sections, each section is based on a country, such as England or France, with buildings stylised after the country, shops that are relevant to the county and food from the country too. Going in the Werthers Originals shop in the German section was a treat!

It was also really interesting hearing so many different languages, it seems Disney has hired people from the country that they are trying to represent, so in the Norway section we actually heard people talking Norwegian!

We went for lunch in the Japanese section as I am a big lover of Japanese food and wanted something other than the American chips and burgers we always seemed to be eating. The food was not 100% authentic, but it was pretty close, and my boyfriend who has been learning Japanese got a chance to practise speaking, the cashier was very friendly and encouraging of him.

Epcot makes for a really lovely slower paced day out in Florida, with plenty to see and do. Be warned though, the park is huge so put on your most comfortable walking shoes and be prepared to spend the whole day here. If possible I would even suggest dedicating two days to the park, one to do all the rides in the front part, and one to spend in the World Expo.

I will leave you now with some more pictures of the flower and garden festival, because it is too pretty to not be seen.

Florida Series - Health and Fitness Haul

As you know if you read my blog, I have been trying hard to loose weight recently, and we all know what goes hand in hand with eating healthily right? Yep, you have it, exercise!
When I work out I am normally just in a pair of ratty leggings and a boyfriends old t shirt that makes me look like a sack of potatoes, but after watching a load of Cassey Ho’s Blogilates videos, I decided to get myself some cute work out clothes so I can look good. My theory if I have cute workout clothes it will help motivate me to want to work out more. 
Here are some of the things I picked up.

I got these cute leggings from Pink by Victoria Secret. The pink pair remind me of something out of Grease and are full length, the lilac pair come to just below the knee for when it finally gets a bit warmer in the UK.

It may be TMI to show you pictures of the sports bras I picked up, but I thought I would show them anyway to remind everyone if you are working out you need to appropriate support, no one wants to be saggy before their time!

Both of these bras are also from Pink. I picked up the mint green one because I am obsessed with mint and coral at the moment, and I also got the grey one because I love the contrast of the neon piping, and the lace detail on the back is so cute!

I have also been obsessed with pole dancing since starting my course a couple of months ago. My beginners course has since ended and I have done a couple of private lessons to keep me going until I start my level 2 course next week. 

One of the things you quickly learn is that short shorts are a necessity, you need the exposed flesh to help grip the pole, so I picked up a few cute pairs to wear to the lessons. These will also be great for working out in in the summer, only in the privacy of my bedroom though!

Keeping hydrated is very important, so I picked up this cute pineapple water bottle, once again from Pink. It holds a litre of water so it’s great for when I am working out.

I also picked up the Stitch cup to take to work because all we have is tiny glasses that need to be refilled constantly. My Stitch cup is a pint so it’s a lot easier for me to monitor my water intake level, plus I love Stitch.

I also got a couple of tops to work out into, as nice as my new bras are I don’t think I want to be working out in just them! 

They are nice and light and airy to try and keep me cool when I’m extremely hot and sweaty.

And last but not least, we have probably my favourite purchase of all which is my Nike Flex trainers.

I got these in the Nike outlet, so they were heavily discounted. I love that they are so bright and girly, they are also very light with breathable material making them perfect for when I go out running with the dog. Now all I need is to find a matching lead for my dog....

Florida Series - Disneys Magic Kingdom

Cinderella's Castle

Disney's Magic Kingdom is probably the most well known of the Disney parks, its the one with the big Cinderella castle!

The park is definitely geared towards younger visits, with tamer rides such as Pooh's Honey Pot and It's a Small World (one of my personal favourites).

There are a couple of roller coasters in the park, such as Space Mountain and The Runaway Train, however both of them do not go upside down and don't reach the speeds of more thrilling roller coasters, making them a good introduction to thrill rides for children, or a great ride for people who don't like 'scary roller coasters' like my boyfriend.

Space Mountain

One of my favourite rides there was the Buzz Lightyear one, where you go around shooting targets with a laser to defeat Zurg. 

It's great fun but can get a little competitive! 

There is also Pirates of the Caribbean as well, which is a must see.

The film was originally based on the ride but they have recently updated the ride to feature parts from the film, including a very realistic Jack Sparrow. 

Vanilla Dole Whip and a Dole Whip Float

Whilst you are by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride you have to try Dole Whip, as this is one of the only places you can get it.

Dole Whip is a frozen soft serve that comes in vanilla and pineapple flavours. It isn't ice cream and actually contains very little dairy which is great for me because my body doesn't always react well to dairy.

I went for the Dole Whip Float, which was vanilla Dole Whip and pineapple juice. It was delicious and thirst quenching, definitely helped me to survive the blistering heat.

At the end of every day at Magic Kingdom they do their Wishes firework display. It lasts for about 15 minutes and takes place in the park above Cinderella's castle.

These are fantastic to watch, I have never seen fireworks like it.

We decided to watch them from the car park to try and avoid the rush to get out of the park afterwards. I wouldn't really recommend this because you don't see them as well and miss out on some of the lower ones, although the bangs aren't as loud so this option could be better for children who are afraid of the loud noises that go with fireworks. 

As much as I enjoyed Magic Kingdom, I don't think I would go again next time we visit Florida.

It is fantastic for younger children, but I am much more of a thrill ride person.

If you are thinking of taking your children, be warned that the queues for rides like the Peter Pan one and the Winnie the Pooh one where 45 minutes when we went, and that was out of season, so be prepared to wait up to 2 hours in peak season.

The park is also starting to feel a little bit dated. Disney is doing it's best to remedy this by adding new rides and refurbishing a lot of existing ones. There is a major redevelopment going on in the Fantasyland part of the park (the bit that will most appeal to younger children), which means a lot of the rides are shut down and there is a big construction site smack bang in the middle of things, which is not the prettiest of things to look at. 

I also think it's bit of a cheek to charge full price for tickets when this much work is going on.

Despite all this we did have a great time, but as I said, I'm in no hurry to go back to Magic Kingdom.

Florida Series - CVS Haul

Like most beauty addicts, the first thing I thought of when I knew I was going to Florida is what make up should I get in the drugstore!

We visited CVS on the first day which obviously made me very happy.







I picked up the Revlon Nearly Naked foundation in Ivory, something that we have at home and that I've wanted for a while but I put myself on a spending ban before going away, it was also the same price out here in dollars as it is in pounds at home, yay for savings! It was also buy one get another product half price so I picked up the matching Revlon Nearly Naked powder in fair because I don't actually own any face powders.



I also picked up one of my favourite mascaras, CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume in black. I would've picked up a couple because it is such a cheap and amazing mascara, but they only had one black mascara left in stock.







I was also on the hunt for the new Revlon Lip Butter shades, so when I couldn't find them I opted for trying out the Maybelline Vivids line. These are lovely velvety lipsticks that are very opaque in colour.

I got Shocking Coral, a bright pink coral, and Hot Plum, a gorgeous purple orchid shade. I have already worn Shocking Coral out and was very impressed with the formula and wear time.



The last item I picked up was the L'Oreal Caresse Aqua Lacquer Lipgloss, which I think is the equivalent to our Glam Shine Stains (if that is what they are called, I can't remember the exact name!). I got the shade Lilac Ever After, a great daytime colour that is different to other colours I own.

It's a pretty nude with a slight lilac tone, but when switched it looks more brown than in the bottle.





From top to bottom, Shocking Coral, Hot Plum and Lilac Ever After.



So that is everything I picked up at CVS. I'm still on the hunt for the new Revlon lip butter colours so you should be warned, expect a few more hauls soon as I have all the outlets and Sephora to visit too!

Greetings from Florida!

If the titles isn't a complete give away, I'm currently on holiday in Florida!

I'm with my parents, brother and boyfriend and we are here for two weeks, it's so exciting!

I'm going to try and blog a little bit whIlst I'm here, but I can't promise anything because I might be too busy getting my picture taken with Mickey Mouse, but whilst I have a little bit of time I will share with you what we did on our first day.

Because I anticipated we will be up early because of the jet lag I decided we should go to Universal Islands of Adventure first thing in the morning so we can get Harry potter land done before the crowds start to build up.

The Forbidden Journey Ride is the one that gets very busy, with good reason, it's fantastic. 

Even the waiting area is brilliant. The queue takes you through Hogwarts castle and the detail is amazing, from the house points display to the talking portraits, it all adds to the charm of the ride and is a great replica of the settings in the film.

The ride itself starts off by Hermione charming the benches that you are sat on so that you can fly. You are then taken through all different parts of the hogwarts castle meeting lots of characters and creatures like dragons and dementors (which can get a tiny bit scary). 

The ride is a simulator so can make you feel a tad queasy  but technically it is very impressive.

If you are a Harry Potter fan then this is a must see, it really brings the books and films to life.

We then had breakfast in the Leaky Cauldron, another amazing themed restaurant, complete with pumpkin juice! 

The breakfast was a tad on the expensive side, but that is to be expected with eating food in the parks. I had the continental breakfast and the fruit was so fresh and juicy and it came with a lovely buttery croissant.

After breakfast explored the rest of the park, going on the Dragon Challenge roller coaster and Hippogriff roller coaster in Harry potter land, Dr Dooms Fear Fall ride, Spiderman simulator and The Hulk roller coaster in the marvel area finishing off by getting soaked on the Popeyes Bilge-Rat Barges ride in toonland.

By this point the jet lag had well and truly caught up with us so we went to Walmart to get some supplies then back to the house we are renting for a relaxing evening by the pool before heading to Chilli's for dinner and I discovered I quite like margaritas  especially if they are frozen and strawberry.

Hopefully I can update you on our time at the rest of the theme parks soon. Hope you are all having a great time too.

Where has the knitting gone?

You may have noticed a severe lack of knitting posts recently, well chances are you haven't but I wanted to discuss it anyway.

Do you ever find that you have all these things you want to do, but either life gets in the way or something else just crops up? I have been getting a lot of that recently.

I started reading The Mortal Instruments, which is a absolutely amazing series, but where I was so into reading that and wanting to read it all the time I ended up having no time for anything else, either that or I come home from work and flop myself down in front of the TV with my laptop which achieves nothing.

Something I am trying to do now though is give myself enough time to do everything I want to do, without over doing it on one particular hobby. At the moment I read on my commute to and from work because I have a kindle which is small so it's easy to do on the packed tube, I knit on my lunch break because it allows me to put in my headphones, ignore everyone and detach myself from work (it's also very relaxing after a stressful morning) and in the evenings I do exercise 3 times a week and on the other 2 evenings I make sure I am actually doing something, normally taking photos for the blog and writing posts. I'm all about being productive with my time at the moment, although weekends are a completely different matter!

It's only this past week that I have got back into knitting so here is what I have been up to.

Nothing fancy, just another plain vanilla sock to go with the first one I knitted, despite the fact that they are completely different colours, I'm sure they will still make a lovely pair.

It feels good to get back into knitting, I forgot how relaxing it is.

I know this post was a bit all over the place, but I hope it makes sense.

I'm very happy with my new mini schedule and I find that I am being a lot more productive, lets just hope I stick to it.

Fitness Wish List

I'm not sure why I have never done a wish list before, they are so much fun to make! I live in bit of a dream world as it is, and I love fantasising about all the pretty things I wish I could afford, although to be honest I will probably pick up quite a few of these items up when I am in Florida! 

Seeing as I am getting more into my health and fitness I thought I would make a list of work out clothes and accessories that I think would be useful because.

1. A pair of booty shorts from Pink by Victoria's Secret. One of the first things you learn in pole dancing is that the more flesh the better. This is not to be sexy but you need skin to grip to the pole or you just end up sliding down. I particularly like these ones because of the cute polka dot pattern.

2. A pink protein shaker. I think this one is pretty self explanatory. You need the special shaker bottles or the protein powder and water won't mix properly and you will end up with icky lumps.

3. This low back tank top, once again from Pink by Victoria's Secret. I'm quite fed up of working out in my boyfriends old t shirt and think this tank is the right mix of cute and practical.

4. The Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno. Eating clean is cutting as many processed foods out as possible and trying to live on things our body can process easily, i.e fruit and veg. I have been introducing this into my diet slowly but think the book is definitely worth picking up to educate myself more.

5. A pair of Yurbuds, pink of course! I have quite large ears (thanks dad) so must ear buds fall out of my ears, but Yurbuds actually measure your ears and have different sizes. They are also sweat resistant so great for working out!

6. A pink iPod shuffle.  I mainly work out at home either early in the morning or late in the evening so it's not fair to my family to have my music blaring out. I'm not keen on wearing a arm band to keep my phone in so the shuffle would be perfect as it already has a clip.

7. A pair of Mint Green Nike Free Runs. I hear great things about these trainers, and they will look great in the spring!

8. Some protein powder. I have started doing enough strength training to warrant needing some extra protein. I'm currently looking for a good one, although muscle milk has cookie dough flavour which sounds tempting. If you have any recommendations let me know!

9. A gym bag from oGorgeous. Not only are these designed by Cassey Ho (my total girl crush), they are very feminine and practical bags with plenty of pockets for organisation and you can even put your yoga mat through the front pocket, perfect! The style I like is currently sold out so when I see it back in stock I will be sure to snap it up.

Looking at this list makes me happy, but I'm annoyed I forgot to add that I am after a new Black Milk swimming costume too. What's currently on your wish list?