Weekend at Disney, and a ROW80 Update

Only a little more than a week in, and I'm already failing at my goal of writing everyday. Last Thursday I left for a weekend in Orlando to take care of wedding business and spend some time at the Disney parks, and I didn't write anything during those four days. I did do a lot of thinking about my WIPs, though--seven hours in a car by yourself will do that to you. Awhile back I wrote about getting seduced by a Sexy New Idea (SNI) and temporarily abandoning the YA novel I was working on, but I'm pleased to say that thanks to those two ridiculously long car rides, the novel and I are back on very good terms. I was able to think through a couple of scenes I was stuck on, and it feels good to be working on it again. I did manage to write the past two days, so I'm not going to be too hard on myself for not writing over the weekend.

The weekend at Disney was a nice break from work, and I'm getting really excited about the wedding. I know a lot of people probably think T and I are crazy for getting married at Disney World, but I'm feeling really good about the decision after meeting with our wedding planner. Basically, we wanted a destination wedding that we could have in December and that wouldn't be too far for our family and friends to travel to, and we wanted someone else to do most of the work for us, and Disney is definitely meeting all of those objectives. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a "princessy" girl, so this isn't going to be some Cinderella's coach, fairy tale-styled wedding. We're aiming for simple and elegant, with lots of fun surprises for our guests, and after our planning session I'm finally feeling like we just might pull it off.

On Friday we spent the day with our wedding planner, Michelle, and meeting with the florists and chef, and we accomplished so much in just one day. I was a bit nervous about how the day would go, but everyone was so friendly, accommodating, and professional that I felt perfectly at ease. We got to sample cakes and build a custom cake from the bottom up, play with floral designs, and tour the Wedding Pavilion and Narcoossee's, where we are having the reception. They are both right on the Seven Seas Lagoon and surrounded by windows, so everywhere you look you see light and water. Airy, beautiful, and exactly what I wanted. We also got to go back into the kitchen at the Grand Floridian for a special menu tasting, which was fun and exciting. On the marquee that had "Welcome Lacy and Thomas," and they had a formal dining room table set up right in the middle of the kitchen with our custom menus lying on the plates. Chef Corey prepared each of our dishes and talked with us about different ways he could adjust them to our palates, but they were all so wonderful we didn't need anything changed. At the end as a thank you gift he gave us each a block of Himalayan sea salt, which I'm really excited about trying in recipes.

That evening we went to Epcot to look at some of the places we are getting photos taken (primarily in France, Italy, Morocco, and the UK), and to see the space where we are having our dessert party (UK Lochside). We watched Illuminations from there, and it truly is a spectacular spot. I can't wait to share it with our guests, especially the ones who haven't been to Epcot before (like my grandmother). On Saturday we went to Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom, and we got to end the day with Wishes, which is always the perfect end to a vacation. The whole weekend reminded me of why I love Disney and what fun it will be to experience it with my closest friends and family. Despite how overwhelmed I've been at work this week (and expect to be for the next two weeks), I'm feeling really good about life right now and really looking forward to the future.

The Wedding Pavilion, where we are having our ceremony

In the Grand Floridian kitchen, our names on the marquee