Birthdays, Engagements and more Birthdays!

This week has been a week full of birthdays, and preparing for them - i.e SHOPPING!

As my days off are limited, I need to make the most of them and this week they were both dedicated to the above.
They were also two days of "growth" for me! I drove my dads car alone for the first time in Ireland on the highway... As I am used to driving in a country with large roads, wide lanes, no roundabouts and on the opposite side of the car and road, that driving in Dublin is no easy task. I don't know how but I survived it - twice - two days in a row! And since then, that same shopping centre has completely FLOODED with the rains of yesterday, so that may be my last trip there for a good long while.

Here's a pic!

This is pretty much the only place I enjoy going shopping here! It's indoors, so out of the cold and rain (ironic?!), it has AussieIce ; a yummy ice cream shop, Starbucks, and lots of nice shops. Hopefully they'll have good sales for water-logged items.


October 23rd was my mums birthday...we didn't do much for it unfortunately, but she did love her presents.
October 23rd was also one of my besties birthdays- Asia. And although we are far apart, we got to have a middle-of-the-night Skype date to catch up..She thought it would be funny to take a picture of me looking a wreck in my PJs while she is still nice and dolled up having just come home! Thanks!!

October 24th was my friend Tarin's birthday and we have yet to celebrate properly. Although today she was brought a mini cake in work, if that could be counted as a celebration (no).We will rectify that with a HUGE cake for dessert when we go for dinner! 

There was also another very special occassion which took place two weeks ago (but I couldn't write about it until now!) It has been the best news I have got in a long time. One of my best friends got engaged to her first boyfriend and first love!! Felicidades Belu!!!! I cannot wait to celebrate with you in Argentina next year and share your special day. Te quieroooooo

How nice it was to read the email with the subject reading: Es Oficial!! Nos casamos!

On this good news, I will leave you... and with my song of the week, LOVE IT:

Paradise, by Coldplay. I can't post the link for some reason, but Youtube it!

Goodnight!!

Magic Kingdom

On to our next adventure: Magic Kingdom... and that is what it was : MAGIC! This has to be one of my favorite places in the world. It really is a place where dreams come true. Everyone is always happy, children laughing, parents laughing, couples in love sharing the magic, and friends, like me and Maggie, living the dream!!

None of it could have been possible without the dreams and dedication of one man : Walter Elias Disney.
His legacy has allowed  billions of people from all over the world, experience immense happiness every single day. His dreams have allowed the dreams of SO MANY others come true. 

Walt Disney was a film producer, director, screen-writer, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist. Obviously a man unafraid to dream, to look into his imagination and create the impossible. He found ways for EVERYBODY to escape, to dream and to believe.

Thank you, Walt Disney, for the years of happiness you have given me and my family, my friends, and one day I hope my children. 

Here you leave today, and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy...

This is where I start to get REALLY excited...pitty we missed these signs on the way this time as we decided to pay Gainesville a visit. Ups. (This is an old pic)

YAY!!!

Magic Kingdom was decorated for Halloween, and already had a Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and although Maggie and I didn't stay for it, it would be much more suitable for me than Universal's Halloween Horror Nights!!! Seven Halloweens spent in the States, and I never made it to one!

The first picture everyone has to get

On the way to the magic...

Even they were going!

Main St.

Fantasyland

For me, this is the most magical place. It was where I went on my first ever ride from my favorite Disney movie - Peter Pan! I always wanted to fly like Peter -anything that resembled Pixie Dust I sprinkled on my head in the hopes that I took off......I'm still waiting.
For me, Fantasyland is the essence of the Magic Kingdom.

My FAVE!!!

Love is all around!

Frontierland

Here are two of my favorite rides ; Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain, as well as Liberty Square right next door with the Haunted Mansion- love it!!

Thunder Mountain and the Haunted Mansion

Splash Mountain

We were ready to get wet...and we got soaked!

Wohooo! Not long till one of my favorite times of the year! I wish I could spend it with ALL the people I love

I could have taken so many more photos but Maggie probably would have flung me off one of the rollercoasters. She put up with a lot as it was! But here are some other randoms...

And just as the day was drawing to a close, and we thought our purses were safe, we found this awesome candy shop on the way out!! Heaven! We decided to stock up on candyfloss (cotton candy for all you Americans;) and fudge! Yum...

What a wonderful two days!! Thank you Maggie for sharing it with me!!!

Animal Kingdom

This week I went back to Disney World with one of my best friends, Maggie, aka Maglet/Whale/Moo - the list really does go on. We had the best time!!! I hadn't been to Animal Kingdom in over ten years, and Maggie had never been to Disney World before (for shame!) so it was a super exciting 2 days in Orlando!
Disney World is a very special place for me, with A LOT of happy memories, and there are not many people I would want to share it with. Maggie has been one of my greatest friends since our first year of university together. We were room mates for 2 years, team mates for 3 years and friends for 5 years. She knows EVERYTHING about me..the good, the bad and the ugly. There's a saying that goes something like

" You'll always be my friend, you know way too much"

Welcome to Disney!!! 

Tree of life

I loved this land.. they had one of the best rides - Expedition Everest; a roller coaster that goes backwards into the dark and a huge drop. We shared a look of panic when we started to go backwards, remembering the huge climb we had just done - thinking we would plumit about 80 feet the wrong way!! Thankfully, that did not happen! Asia also had all these cool murals and at some parts, really made you feel as if you were walking through a small road in Thailand.

Another thing we really enjoyed in the park was the Lion King show. I remember loving it when I was a child; the music, the colors, the dancing and singing and it was still just as good to this day. Even though we were absolutely freezing in the giant and packed auditorium, we were loving every second of the performance.

These guys were amazing!!!

I am now left singing " I just can't wait to be king" ...

Another highlight of the trip was the safari into the "African Plains" It was unbelievable! We went out on a safari truck and drove right by every dangerous animal imaginable! At one point we were stopped next to a rhino who was about 30 feet away on my side of the truck and staring right at us! I was picturing him charging at us, horn first! I asked Maggie if she thinks they had guns (like you would in a regular safari) ... but we couldn't imagine the employees of  Walt Disney World would be carrying rifles around. Oh well. Here's hoping no one ever pisses one of these guys off!

Spot Dumbo!

We survived!!!!!

We had such a great day and we couldn't have been more excited for our next adventure: Magic Kingdom.

For now, I'll leave you with this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXs8OS6EdAE

Have a great day!!!