Hi friends! Happy Friday! How was the week? I hope it was amazing. Ours started off in Orlando and ended up back in the TUS with a sick Pilot, and me scrambling around lol. This weekend, I’m looking forward to the symphony, time with friends, a hike, and a trip to Phoenix for Liv’s first dance competition of the season.

(Soup season! I just throw a ton of veggie, broth, herbs and beans into the Instant Pot then top with lemon juice and avocado)

I hope you have a lovely weekend ahead, too!

Disney World adventures:

Disney was perfection, as usual. We got in late Friday night and slept in a bit before heading to Magic Kingdom on Saturday. We spent the day doing all of the rides and had lunch at Be Our Guest. This is one of our staples, but the food was especially amazing during this trip.

(I also had gf rolls, and a French onion soup that they made without the crouton)

I mentioned to the server that I was gf – she asked if there were allergies at the table and I said I wasn’t allergic but I avoid it for health reasons – and she brought so many gluten-free treats!!

I have to admit that we were underwhelmed by the food on our last Disney cruise, and the food at the parks this time was wayyyy better. Everything was fresh and delicious, and it was super easy to find gluten-free options, protein, and vegetables amongst the usual cascade of Disney popcorn and sweet treats. 😉

We rolled into the park at 11 and had a long leisurely lunch, but we were still able to do 15

Sharing a recap of our Disney cruise #5 on the Wish! Sadly this post is not sponsored or comped in any way; just sharing my thoughts!

Hi friends! How’s the day going? I hope you’re having an amazing afternoon. I’m here in between client appointments and getting ready for part two of the day. Picking up the kids and heading into after school activities and homework feels like an entire day on its own.

So let’s switch to vacation mode! Today, I’m sharing a recap of our recent Disney cruise. It was P’s birthday and the timing ended up corresponding perfectly with my RHS trip to Orlando, so we figured we’d turn it in to a birthday celebration with some Disney World fun (on the Pilot’s birthday!) and cruise time.

We’re so happy that the Pilot’s sis and our niece were able to join us, in addition to some of our closest friends and travel buddies. We’re officially Disney cruise obsessed. It’s the perfect mix of family time, adult time, delicious food, shows, variety for ports of call, and the Disney cleanliness and service that sets it apart. It was our 5th Disney cruise and as of now, we have no desire to try another cruis

Sharing a recap of our stay at Aulani, the Disney resort in Hawaii and if I think it’s worth it!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How was the weekend? I hope you had a great one! Ours was pretty busy but good. We’re definitely still adjusting to being back in school and back in the routine after two epic trips this summer. We went to Spain, and to Hawaii, and also spent some time at Aulani while we were there.

My story with Aulani is an interesting one, because I was supposed to visit the property for a press trip years ago. Our plane had to make an emergency landing – it was pretty traumatizing – and our neice was born the same day! I ended up missing the trip, and have wanted to go this entire time. Last time we were in Waikiki, we did a luau in the neighborhood (Paradise Cove Luau – the food was meh but the entertainment was excellent) and knew when we returned, we’d have to stay at Aulani.

Leading up to the trip, I was slammed with work stuff because I was trying to batch content, record podcast interviews, and do client call check-ins so I could mostly unplug. I reached out to Laura to see if she’d help booking our trip, and she made it SO easy. She also took care of our Aulani luau reservations. I highly recommend reaching out to her if you’re looking for a travel agent, and she specializes in family and international travel.

(my dress is sold out at Anthro here // P’s is here // Liv is wearing an older Madewell dress)

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Sharing a recap of the best places to eat in Waikiki and why we love them so much!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! I hope you’re having a wonderful morning so far and that you enjoyed the weekend! It was a good one over here. Liv and I got to work on a voluteenr project together, I met up with a friend for brunch and took hoy yoga.

This is the first week that I feel like we’re finally back in the swing of things after our glorious trip to Hawaii straight into school starting. This week. the kids have a full week at school, I actually meal-prepped and grocery shopped, and my schedule is packed with podcast interviews and coaching calls.

For today’s post, I wanted to share a recap of our favorite places in Waikiki and why we love them so much! We also visited Waikiki a couple of years ago, so we were pumped to return to some favorites and also explore some new spots. I’ll have a post up next week with a recap of our time at Aulani, too!

The best restaurants in Waikiki

Best poke bowl: Poke Fix

We had SO much sushi and poke bowls while we were there, but our very favorite is Poke Fix. The menu changes based on what’s caught fresh each day, and the seasoned selections are marinated to perfection. They truly treat poke like a work of art; it’s by far the best poke bowl of my life.

Best Acai bowl: ALO Cafe

Everything is made fresh in house, including their peanut butter. I love these acai bowls because the base isn’t too sweet, they have gluten-free granola, and the ratio of acai to toppings is ideal. They also have wonderful smoothies!

Best date night or fancier dinner spot: A House Without a Key

This is probably in my top 10 resturants ever, including all of the places we’ve traveled. Everything is fresh, vibrant, and you can’t beat the scenery. You’re outdoors, facing the ocean and an exquisite sprawling tree, which provides a bit of shade for the live music and hula dancers.

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Sharing some questions that I received about our Spain trip!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How was the weekend? We spent some time in Aulani, which was an absolute DREAM. P and I are huge fans of lazy rivers, and we pretty much love Disney anything.

For today’s post, I’m sharing one last Spain recap. I’m sorry I’ve dragged this out so much, but I’ve had a lot to say! I can already tell you that we’ll definitely back and I’m scheming to see how much time we’ll be able to spend out there. The Pilot will be retired from the Air Force in January (!) so that opens up a lot of options. Fitnessista in Sevilla has a nice ring to it, just sayin.

Here are the questions you sent in on IG!

(dress on sale here!)

Spain Q&A post

Any issues with language barriers? I’d love to visit but nervous about it!

So my family speaks Spanish, and I minored in Spanish, so I understand it pretty much perfectly. However, I don’t have a ton of experience or confidence speaking Spanish. Growing up, I’d always respond to family members in English, and in college, we spent so much time studying Spanish (reading novels, analyzing poems, writing essays) but very little time actually practicing. Getting more comfortable speaking Spanish has been a huge goal of mine, so I started taking weekly Itaki private lessons in January. It’s made a huge difference and I don’t freeze up like I used to!

It was pretty amazing to get to practice in Spain, and I also found that they’re extremely patient and I think they appreciate the fact that you’re trying to speak their language.

If you don’t speak Spanish but would like to, I highly recommend Italki. You can also download this audiobook for phrases to know while traveling.

What made you pick Sevilla to visit over other cities in Spain?

We have good friends there, so that was the main focus of our trip! They have lived in Sevilla for the past year and absolutely love it, and we knew we wanted to make a visit (and also give P the chance to see her best buddy in the whole world). Next time, we’d absolutely love to see Madrid, Barcelona, and head over the Portugal.

How/why you picked the area you went to and how the food was?? I’m half Spanish

We stayed close to our friends in Alfalfa Plaza. It was a great location, close to tons of restaurants, cafes, and shopping.

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