Are you ready for the most beautiful and happiest post you’ll ever see?? (What a lovely way to begin your weekend, right? :)) But first, music?! YES! (Because this really was a dream come true.)

Do you know what it means when you can’t go anywhere without your Mickey Mouse necklace, continue to have classic Disney short cartoons playing in the background, do not realize you’ve just painted 20 different Mickey’s on your paper, and begin to see everything saturated in sunshine and smiles??

IT MEANS YOU’VE BEEN TO DISNEY WORLD!!!

That’s right, good friends. We’ve just come back from the happiest, most magical and inspirational place on Earth, and I. Am. HOMESICK. I’ve been looking at photos and rereading my diary to remember the magic so I thought I would send some magic your way, too! After all, you deserve it – it’s nearly the weekend! And it looks like it’ll be “warm” out tomorrow! Win win. :)

I could really talk about this trip forever and ever and ever and ever…but I shall spare you and just tell you this:

It came at the most perfect time. I was inspired on an almost hourly basis, I was in awe with even the tiniest of things, I felt happiness radiating from every bone in my body, and I completely believed that dreams can come true.

Creating magic around every corner – what an amazing life. To create happiness for people, to make adults positively giddy to wear mouse ears or Monsters University hats, and to hear sniffles from any age at the end of a beautiful and inspiring show…I just can’t stop being grateful we went at this particular time in our life. I’m thrilled Paul enjoyed himself – probably not as much as I did (who could?!) – and I love that our favorite moments were the same. It made me so happy watching him hunt for the perfect souvenir for us to take home and hearing us laugh at the same parts of a show or ride. Besides footing the bill we really were just a couple of kids all week, racing through the parks to get the best spots, screaming at the top of Tower of Terror, watching with stars in our eyes as Mickey conducted Fantasmic surrounded by waterfalls and fireworks, eating Mickey Mouse ice-cream sandwiches while waiting in lines, pointing at Jack Sparrow popping out of a barrel, staying up way past our bedtime, and sleeping in way past breakfast. ‘Twas bliss.

Enough talking. Ready to jump into Disney World?! Me too. :)

PS. I didn’t want to spoil my time by bringing my big, bulky camera and attempt to take a million photos – these are all taken by my phone and I think the maximum I took was 25 photos in one day. (I couldn’t get over how many people were constantly recording things and taking millions of photos instead of just being present, especially here – but to each their own, I suppose. :))

Just sipping on Caribou, waiting anxiously to board our flight!! (Creepy smile, just for you.)

We stayed at All Star Music Resort in the Broadway building. We passed the Jazz building every day and at night, this beauty shone like the moon and old lampposts flickered as if real candles were inside. :)

Our first day was meant to just be a relaxation day, but we decided to jump right in and visit Hollywood Studios.

Watch out for Stormtroopers.

And then night fell and it turned into old Hollywood with Frank playing over the loudspeakers and cinema lights twinkling up and down the streets.

This was our favorite dinner by far. We ate at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, snuggled in the backseat of a turquoise convertible, sipped our Oreo milkshake drinks and beer, ate sandwiches and watched creepy black & white monsters destroy towns across America.

My spirit animal, Mary. And us at Epcot!!

We came at the most perfect time – last week was the Festival of the Arts so there were tons of kiosks with beautiful art, new food and drinks, and community art projects to contribute to. ‘Twas Heaven.

This was Paul’s favorite park, and I must admit, it won my heart over too. :)

Do you think this is night time? Oh no, just the inside of the Mayan ruins in Mexico.

Magic, people. Simply magic.

We strolled along the lake, walking through countries and sipping beer and wine, getting lost in no sense of time or responsibilities.

Did you know Paul is half-German? Now you do. :)

Are you in love yet?? More music? Of course. :)

Now to my roots! ITALY!

The streets of Britain…

And that lovely city, Paris.

Dinner at Les Chefs de France – table for deux?

Oh you two big, beautiful wonders.

If we ever go back, we’ll be going around the same time again. The crowds were so small (I barely had to wait in line in the bathrooms! Ladies, you understand the struggle.), the lines were tolerable (with the exception of the new Pandora rides, which at one point reached 235 minutes!!), and the weather was like fall in Minnesota. Plus, it was the cheapest week to go. :)

Giddiness galore!

I didn’t even plan that bird being there. More magic? I think so.

Dinner at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant – watch Lady & the Tramp while you wait? Why yes, I shall.

Believe in your happily ever after, they said. Keep dreaming. (Silent tears of joy.)

:) :) :)

The beautiful Tree of Life. :)

In awe of the plains during our safari ride.

(Silent tears again, especially when they sang Circle of Life.)

I’m telling you, it’s all magic.

We had a 5-day pass so we went to Epcot again (Paul chose since I could be happy changing out trash bins here), spent a day shopping in the Downtown area (Disney Springs), and had a wonderful relaxing night with room service, Disney movies, and hours of painting and dream-talking. I already can’t wait to go back – is it too soon to plan our next trip?! :)

I hope the magic reached you through your screen and you’re smiling a bit wider now. :) Enjoy your weekend and come back next week – I have BIG news!!!! :) :) xoxoxo