I'm a bad blogger...

Oh hey there... Sorry to have abandoned my blog.  I promise to do a better job!  I guess I'll do a brief recap of what we've been up to.

For anyone who doesn't know, I lost my job in January.  Womp womp, too bad, so sad.  In all honesty, it was a blessing in disguise.  I was in a position that wasn't really something I cared to be doing and I was super stressed.  By the end of February, I found a position that I think puts me in a better place - at least my state of mind!  In brief, I'm now doing a sort of sales and procurement mix.  I like it a lot.  I like the company, I like the people I work with - and yes, I go into an actual office everyday, which is great for my need of routine.  I've been there for about 10 weeks now and so far, it's going really well.  Hopefully that keeps up!  I also had a chance to visit with Betsy back in January, which I might not have gotten to otherwise.  Totally worth it!

I'll do my best to recap the past few months now.

Drinking Around the World: An Epcot Adventure

Whenever you have a group of adults who talk about Epcot, eventually drinking around the World comes up.  Clearly, we are no different and decided to give it a try.  So for some history on how it came about; last month, friends of ours, James & Crystal, suggested we give it a try - it was on James' Bucket List.  Since I really can't drink that much, I offered to be the Designated Driver.  We originally scheduled it for February 2, but since my parents have a timeshare at Orange Lake that was being used and had an extra bed the following weekend, we rescheduled to February 9.  This worked out well, because even if I was sober and able to drive all the way back home - it was still a long day and a 15 minute drive is better than an hour!

Mexico

We got to Epcot about 11:30 in the morning and headed straight for lunch.  We had discussed a strategy and decided Mexico should be first then double back to the UK, so I suggested Cantina de San Angel for lunch.  It's one of my favorite places to stop around the World Showcase for lunch, so I was a happy camper.  We finished up just after noon, so we had a good 9 hours to hit 11 countries. Once we had food in our bellies, our first stop was to Cava del Tequila.  Since this was our first stop, and I love their Blood Orange Margaritas, this was the only place I joined with a drink as well.  Crystal joined me with a Blood Orange Margarita.  As usual, it was delicious.

Blood Orange Margarita

James & Geoff both had Classic Margaritas, but Geoff's was made with Mezcal instead of tequila.  They both look the same, so I'll just include the one picture.

Classic Margarita

Disney Dining Review: Tutto Gusto

I think this is the first time I'm repeating a restaurant!  When my parents and I checked out the new Test Track, we also grabbed lunch at Epcot.  My Dad had never been to Tutto Gusto and I was certain he would love it - wine, cheese & meat? What's not to love?

The menu has also changed since the last time I was there.  The big thing is that they moved to pre-selected plates rather than a la carte.  I'd like to see it still be a la carte, if given a choice.  And the items I had last time are no longer on the menu. They gave us the menu for Tutto Italia, which we put aside.  I discovered after we got back that at least the polenta is a side you can order from Tutto Italia, so we could have gotten it at Tutto Gusto if we wanted.

I didn't take many pictures, so I'll apologize in advance.  We got there just before noon and there wasn't a problem getting a table (Tutto Gusto is first come, first serve - no reservations.)  It's fairly dark in there and I had trouble getting a cell phone signal inside, so if you're trying to get in contact with someone, be aware of that.

Who wants to hear my thoughts on the new Test Track?

A few weeks ago, I met my parents up at Epcot.  Our number one thing to do?  The new Test Track of course!

We got in line at 9:30am, the wait time said 60 minutes, so we waited it out.  Shouldn't be too bad.  Of course, that assumes that the wait time is accurate.  While we were in line (which went way out of the queue) the wait time went up to 80 minutes.  Still not bad.

Of course, since I'm telling you about the wait, it was clearly not accurate.  We wound up waiting close to 2 hours instead.

My parents had done Test Track back in December, but did it with a Fastpass.  They said with the FP, the options when you design your car are very limited, which is partly why we decided to wait it out in the normal line.

Dining Review: Be Our Guest

One of the things I have been anxious to do is to check out Be Our Guest.  My Mom and I finally were able to get that chance this past week.  Be Our Guest is located in New Fantasyland and when you enter, you're transported into the Beast's Castle (which you can see high above you as you cross the bridge.)

The line wasn't nearly as bad as when Geoff and I went in December.  We waited about 15-20 minutes to place our order.  As you walk in, you're split into two lines.

Dining Review: Contempo Cafe

Also prior to the Holidays (I know, I've been slacking) Geoff and I went up to the Magic Kingdom.  Our original plan was to eat at Be Our Guest in New Fantasyland, but when we arrived, we were told the wait would be over an hour.  And well, we didn't want to wait that long.

So we grabbed a LeFou's brew (I love Apple Juice and sweet things, so I like it) and walked over to the Contemporary for lunch instead.  We had eaten at Contempo Cafe a few years ago when we were down for Food & Wine Festival and enjoyed it, so we decided to try it again.

Contempo Cafe is located on the same level and right next door to Chef Mickey's.  So it's loud.  And the monorail runs right over your head (who can resist that?!)  You place your order on a touch-screen kiosk, pick up any desserts/chips/drinks you want, and then head to the cashier.  Once you pay, you'll receive a buzzer that will go off when your food is ready.  Of course, there's nothing telling you that this is the process, so you tend to get a lot of confused people waiting around the pick up window.

Dining Review: Grand Floridian Cafe

Probably one of the best things about Disney is that it is almost exactly half-way between us and my parents. Which means it's the perfect spot to meet my Mom for lunch.  Before the Holidays, we did just that.  We decided to meet at the Grand Floridian Cafe and check out the Holiday decorations at the Grand Floridian.

The Grand Floridian Cafe is tucked in the back left corner of the main building of the Resort.  Like the rest of the Resort, it has Victorian decor.  We stumbled over this particular dining location a number of years ago when we were looking for a late breakfast.  It's a good little find.  It's usually not too busy, so it's easy to get a reservation and it stays fairly low-key and quiet.

We checked in about 5 minutes early, and were given a buzzer.  Not too much later, it was going off and we were directed to our table.  We were seated fairly close to the front in the middle of the room.  Personally, I like the back of the restaurant and against a window, but we're not terribly picky.  Our waitress was very nice and attentive, no complaints there.