Sparkles & Tiaras & Running Skirts, Oh My!

You may be surprised to hear that I've been thinking about running and my next trip to Disney. I'm running in the 2012 Disney Princess Half Marathon, baby!!!!

This will be a solo trip to the 407 for me. I'm meeting a big group of super cool mamas. We're gonna earn our tiaras one mile at a time. 

My hotel, dining, park tickets and airfare are all taken care of. BUT...I still have a problem. WHAT EVER WILL I WEAR!?

There are so many magical options, I'll never be able to choose. Here are two of my favorites from Team-Sparkle.

Yes, please...I'll take both. I'll stop at mile 6.5 to change outfits. I can't possibly finish the race in the same outfit I started in.

Those aren't my only options though. Once you take a look at these, you'll see why picking out the perfect costume is going to take me a long time. 

I do want to wear my black capri tights and they don't really scream princess...but they do scream kick ass (pardon my not-so-princessy language) like the Incredibles costume below.

My colors will be black and green and there will be a tutu. 

The rest is currently unknown. Send me your ideas!

- S

A Rawring Dino Birthday

The dinosaur birthday party was a blast!

Thanks to all who helped us celebrate, Mason had such a good time!

A special big thanks to Grammie who, yet again, made another fantastic cake.

Come see all of the pictures from Mason's dinoriffic day!

- S

Snaggletooth

Mason lost his first tooth! 

Nick did the honors of yanking the pearly white out last night, still gives me the shivers! Mase was beyond thrilled and danced around the house for several minutes. 

A little tooth-under-the-pillow action.

His loot!

Another tooth isn't far behind, our baby is growing up!

- S

We LOVE cakes!

My mom and I have always shared traditions. It's one of the things I love the most about our relationship.

During our shopping excursions we eat bean nachos for lunch and stop mid-afternoon for cookies. We have a special way of ending our emails. And we bake cakes!

We have made every single one of Mason's birthday cakes ourselves. We spend countless hours researching, brainstorming and building before his birthday. We sweat, get nervous and make a few mistakes. But, in the end we always come up with fun ideas and cake designs that Mason adores.

We both share the trait of perfectionism. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's a bad thing. Either way, our perfectionism has enabled us to grow/learn/improve every year. For that, I'm pleased!

First Birthday - Beach Theme

Cake - Sand Castle

Second Birthday - Color Theme

Cake - Random Assortment of Randomness
(Mase begged for green cookies, purple cupcakes and blue ice cream. We do not claim this to be a masterpiece.)

Third Birthday - Jungle Theme

Cake - Snake

Fourth Birthday - Camping Theme

Cake - Campfire

Fifth Birthday - Space Theme

Cake - Rocket

A cake is currently being constructed for the birthday boy's upcoming party. I think you'll really dig it!

- S

Canine Besties: Hambone and Cephus

(First, let it be known that I've never actually used the word 'besties' before today. Now on to the post.)

Pets have a crazy way of tugging at your heart strings - some more than others.

I've had two best dog friends in my life, Hamlet Terrell and Baylee Anne. I know some of you may be wondering why a country bumpkin white girl like me had a dog with the middle name Tur-rell. It's a long story that has to do with boy. A boy who, like my dog, had the middle name Terrell.

Hamlet was a darling black and white cocker spaniel. He was a good buddy. His paws always smelled like Fritos. I called him Hambone. My pet's names evolve quite a bit over time:
Hamlet
Ham
Ham Boy
Hammy
Hambone

We were great friends. I sang to him, he followed me everywhere. He listened when I cried about stupid boys  and mean girls in high school. My heart broke when I left him to go to college. I also had to endure him dying...twice. Gah! My dad called me one day after Hamlet (who, by that time, had gone blind) ran away one night during a storm. "Hamlet's dead. He ran away during the storm and we haven't seen him since. I'm sorry." Wow...poor Hammy. I felt so bad for him. He was probably scared. *wipes tear* (Death Part 1)

A few weeks later I got another call from my dad. "Well, we found Hamlet. He's doing good." Uh what? Huh? HE'S ALIVE!!!!! HAMBONE IS ALIVE! He had wandered down the road and a nice neighbor had taken care of him until he and my dad were reunited.

Then a little bit after that Hamlet really died of old age. (Death Part 2) I still can't help but wonder if he's living on an island with Elvis and Tupac right now. It could happen.

Today my best dog is Baylee Anne. Lovingly known as Ceph. Her name evolved like so:
Baylee
Bay
Baylee Bo Jangles
Bo Jangles
Fatty Bo Jangles
Fatty Bo
Bo
Bo Cephus
Ceph

Nick and I have called her Ceph for years and we always wonder why no one ever asks us why we call her Ceph. Ceph is a great dog. I've known her longer than I've known Nick. She was my best, best bud through college. She's been through a lot with me. We've shared tears (me more than her) and stories (again, me more than her), she's a good listener. She gets a little wild eyed, has been known to bite random people on the butt and occasionally gets her tail feathers ruffled over short people. But, the thing she hates the most in the whole wide world is Wheel of Fortune.

We found out last week that poor Ceph has malignant melanoma. She won't be with us much longer. I'm sad. She's my best dog. I love her so much. I've tried to pretend that it's not *that* big of a deal. She's old, it's bound to happen. We've grown apart since I had Mase...I'll be fine. Truth is, she's my pup. She's my friend. She's my girl. I love her. She's white and sometimes smelly. She smiles and has a long fluffy tail. I'm gonna miss her something terrible.

She had surgery last week to remove a tumor from her mouth. When Mason and I were going to pick her up I said "OK, come on Mase, let's go get our friend." He said, "Mom, she's not our friend. She's a dog." This made me so sad for him. I hope one day we have a dog he connects with in the same way I connected with Hambone and Ceph. I hope one day he has a best dog.

I'm gonna really miss Fatty Bo Jangles when she's gone.

- S

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.

"Don't take yourself too seriously. And don't be too serious about not taking yourself too seriously." -Howard Ogden

You got it, Howard.

Nick and I love to host parties. And, we like to be silly. Luckily, we have a group of friends and family who (after some moaning and groaning) will go along with our outrageous plans.

I may have mentioned how crazy our neighborhood gets during the Independence Day holiday season. It gets crazy, for reals. And, thankfully, the craziness makes it a great time to host a patriotic party with our pals. This year, we decided to spice things up a bit and add in a few traditional childhood games.

We had a water balloon toss.
It was a soaking good time.  <----- ha!

Pillowcase races can really get competitive...and sometimes you throw out your back.

The most epic pie eating contest. Which is good, because how many times in your life do you get this opportunity?

-----> Click here to see all of the photos from our festivites. <-----

Don't miss our video!

- S

Something on Our Lips?

- S

A Video of Our Trip

Here is the final video from our Walt Disney World trip. It blends some of our photos with some of our videos. Enjoy!

- S

He Calls Me Picky...

A few nights ago Mr. Trougakos and I had a discussion about our personalities. It was brought up that I "like things a particular way." This is true. I do like things a certain way. However, I'm flexible. To a point. Sometimes. But, I do like things a certain way. Mainly because my way makes sense to me. And I'm a Leo.

I find that I'm more flexible with other people than I am with Mr. Trougakos. Is it because I expect more of him? Is it because I want him to always do his best? Is it because he's my best friend and I feel comfortable enough to speak my mind around him? 

Maybe. 

Or...maybe it's because he's always pulling antics like this.

Who leaves the tongs in spaghetti when they are putting it away for the night? Mr. Trougakos does.

So am I really being "particular"? Or am I just requesting what any normal person would request?

I think we all know the correct answer...even Mr. Trougakos.

- S

Disney Road Trip 2011 - Magic Kingdom and Ohana (Day Six)

We like the save the best parts (in our opinion) of Magic Kingdom for last. So, on sixth and last day, we hit up Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. Good. Times. And, even though it's in a different land, we had to hit up Big Thunder again. 

We had the best game plan this day. We made it there by rope drop and rode everything in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland in record speed! Mase rode the Speedway for the first time, he was impressed.

After our day of fun, we went back to rest and swim again. Instead of swimming at our normal pool, we headed over to the pool at Kidani Village. Oh my goodness, why did we wait until the last minute to check out this pool!? It was fantastic! The slide was so long/tall and the whole pool area was tons of fun. We'll definitely add this to our normal pool lineup.

We had yet to take a ride on the Monorail, so we decided to meet the McGowen family in front of Magic Kingdom before our Ohana reservations. We hopped the Monorail and headed toward the Polynesian. Ohana was amazing. They made Nick and I the MOST delicious vegetarian dish! The kids enjoyed hula dancing, collecting leis and being silly in the Congo line.

After dinner, we hopped the Monorail back to Magic Kingdom and decided to stay and play even though it was raining. Magic Kingdom on a rainy night was a totally new experience for us. We decided to hit up Big Thunder again for a thrilling ride in the rain. FUN!

After a bit we headed back to the hotel - our last night at Disney was over.

The next morning was sad. Mason cried. I felt like crying. Nick was sad. Luckily, we decided to stretch out the magic a little bit more. Mason and I booked a surprise Father's Day breakfast for Nick at Boma. After filling our bellies with good eats, we slowly walked to the car and looked back longingly as we hit the Florida Turnpike.

For more photos from day six of our trip, check out our Day Six photo album.

Until next time....

- S

Disney Road Trip 2011 - Epcot (Day Five)

We visited Epcot on day five. We got there for rope drop and raced over to score a Fast Pass for Soarin'. Nick and I were determined to find the hidden Mickey on the golf ball in Soarin', we both saw it! We tackled Future World at Epcot that morning. Test Track was a big hit for Mason. He said "Oh yeah, baby, that's my kind of ride!"

After more pool time/naps mid-day, we headed back to Epcot to check out the countries. Nick got a little silly in Canada. Mase was excited to find that the Canadian store carried Smarties, his favorite candy from the North.

We met up with the whole gang for dinner in Italy at Via Napoli. We ate and ate and ate...then ate some more. Seriously, so good. Dinner ended just in time to catch Illuminations.

After we got back to Animal Kingdom Lodge, Nick decided to go on a late-night photo excursion. The hotel at night is beautiful!!

For more photos from day five of our trip, visit the Day Five photo album!

- S

Disney Road Trip 2011 - Animal Kingdom Pt. 2 and Downtown Disney (Day Four)

We headed back to Animal Kingdom on day four. Extra Magic Hours allowed us to hit the Killamanjaro Safari before our breakfast reservations at the Tusker House with Donald and friends. 

We met up with the McGowen and Lang families for breakfast. Mason was being a sour puss so I tattled on him to Goofy. Thanks to Goofy, who started tickling Mason, we were able to coax Mason out of his sour mood. 

After a long morning at Animal Kingdom, we split ways and headed back to our hotels to rest/swim. 

Later that night Nick, Mason and I headed to Downtown Disney to hit up a few of our traditional stops. Each year we pick out our family Christmas ornaments, so we hit up the Christmas store first. I LOVE this part of our trip!!! It's become my favorite Disney trip tradition. Our tree is starting to have quite the Disney ornament collection. Nick and I also indulged in our favorite sandwich from Earl of Sandwich. Mason got to stand in front of the spitting Stitch at World of Disney and we ended the night with Mason's favorite treat - make-your-own-pretzel-sticks at Goofy's Candy Co. On top of our family traditions, we got to see the new Lego sculptures. A-may-zing.

For more photos from day four of our trip, visit our Day Four photo album!

- S

Disney Road Trip 2011 - Animal Kingdom Pt. 1 (Day Three)

Day three took us to Animal Kingdom. This year, in order to spend more time at Animal Kingdom, we decided to skip Hollywood Studios. (Mase was really mad when he realized that meant no Toy Story Mania.)

We had another first today - rope drop at Animal Kingdom. While it's not as involved as the rope drop at Magic Kingdom, it was still cute and fun. As soon as were able to, we made a beeline for Expedition Everest and the Kali River Rapids. Considering the heat, I'm surprised at how long it took for my shorts to dry after getting drenched on the rapids. Mase loves the rapids and especially loves when Nick gets soaked!!! After a big splash hit us he said, "Are you kidding me? Give me a break!" He was brave and tried Expedition Everest for the first time. I would classify him as a semi-fan of Everest. He claimed to like one tiny two-second part of the ride and nothing else.

We made sure to hit Dinoland next because it's a killer in the heat of the day. Mase pressed his first coin of the trip (and his first ever) in Dinoland! He quickly because a big fan of collecting pressed coins.

Dinoland was dinoriffic. All of the kids were sad to leave. Josh cried because he was so heartbroken. He was diggin' the kiddie slide. Mase and Livee had fun running around wild hyenas and I sat down on a nice comfy rock to watch the craziness unfold.

After the park, the McGowen family came over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for some family swim time. Mickey ice creams were had and the pool was enjoyed. 

Then it was time for dinner at Boma! The Lang and Lemley families joined us for dinner. I know big groups of people go to Disney every. single. day. But, for some reason our rowdy group sent the waitress into a tailspin. We finally were able to leave and our bellies were full of African fare. Ahhhhh......

For more pics from day three of our trip, visit the Day Three photo album! Look back on past posts for day one and two. 

- S

Disney Road Trip 2011 - Magic Kingdom (Day Two)

We started this day like we start every day at Disney...by eating Mickey waffles.

After breakfast we hopped a bus to Magic Kingdom in time to catch the rope drop ceremony. If you haven't been there for rope drop, make it happen. Fireworks, characters on a train and music that makes you so darn happy you cry. Need I say more?

Rope drop brings out the silliness in me.

Today we met up with my brother and his family. Mason was beyond excited to hang out at Disney with his cousin, Livee. They were inseparable the entire trip. Watching them experience Disney together was touching. The best part about it was that they never once...not one single time...got into a fight or got mad at each other. What a joy! They played, twirled, shared, danced, sang, laughed, giggled and had the time of their lives.

We started the morning out on a mission. There are a lot of ways to 'do' Disney. But, if you know anything about me or my family, you know that we like to plan. So, plan we did. We buzzed through Frontierland and Adventureland at record speed and stockpiled Fast Passes along the way. Mason braved the Haunted Mansion for the first time. A ghost at the end of the ride swapped heads with Nick, and I thought Mase would never stop laughing. Nick makes a cute ghost. Splash Mountain was one of Livee's favorites. I'm lucky to have been able to sit next to her on the ride. I looked over at her at one point and her eyes twinkled and she said, "I'm REALLY enjoying this!" After lunch we parted ways and went back to our hotels to let the kids rest and to swim. 

One of our favorite parts about going back to the hotel in the afternoon (aside from the awesome pool) is seeing what kind of towel animals Mousekeeping left for us! Mouskeepers rock. This day we got a fun elephant and towels folded to look like a shirt/tie.

That afternoon we all headed back to Magic Kingdom. Since we hit the pavement running in the morning, we decided to leave our afternoon/night up to whatever magic happened our way.

Before our dinner reservations at the Crystal Palace we hit a few attractions in Tomorrowland. "Paging Mr. Morrow... Mr. Tom Morrow..." 

We were excited about our dinner at Crystal Palace. It is a character dinner spot with Pooh and friends. Josh really liked Pooh a lot! I think Josh likes everything. He said "I like dat bear!" The food was OK, nothing to write home about. Although we didn't hate it, I'm not sure we'll go back. Either way, after dinner we headed to Big Thunder Mountain because we had a few Fast Passes burning a hole in our pockets. 

Then it was time for the Electrical Parade! We met up with the Lang family and watched in awe at the amazing floats. After the parade we headed to Fantasyland to see the fireworks from behind the castle. Not the best place to see the spectacular, but less crowded. By this point the Lemley family had joined us and the kids were waving glo-sticks as we watched the fireworks.

Seeing the castle at night makes me jealous of Cinderella.

For more photos from day two of our Disney excursion, visit our Day Two photo album!

In case you missed it, I also blogged about our drive there and day one.

-S

Disney Road Trip 2011 - Typhoon Lagoon and Magic Kingdom (Day One)

The first day of our trip was filled with firsts. Our first time at Typhoon Lagoon as a family, our first Dole Whips and our first time to eat at Sanaa (Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village). What better way to start the trip!?  

Typhoon Lagoon was a BLAST! I last visited Typhoon Lagoon as a child. As soon as I walked in, a flood of memories came back and I couldn't help but smile. Disney is great for things like that. After getting a locker and lathering up with sunscreen, we hit the lazy river. Mase thought it was amazing. We floated through a cave, under waterfalls and through the jungle. Good times. The wave pool was a big hit too. Mason showed no fear of drowning when it came to giant waves crashing down on him. Thank goodness Nick was strong enough to hold him in the deeper-than-I-would-like parts. Mason kept laughing and screaming "I'm charging at it, I'm charging at it!"

After we got back to the hotel room (yeah for Animal Kingdom Lodge!), we rested, changed and headed for Magic Kingdom. Until the day I die, I will say that there is nothing quite as magical (and emotional) as walking down Main Street with my two favorite buddies. I love, love, love visiting Magic Kingdom with them. Our first stop was to the Dole Whip counter to get our first taste of the good stuff. Love. 

We had plans to spend lots of time at Magic Kingdom with family and friends in the upcoming days, so we only planned to hit a few Trougakos Family Favorites this night. We couldn't help but ride Big Thunder Mountain five times that day. We also hit up our most favorite show, Mickey's PhilharMagic. If you haven't seen it, go now! (Don't forget your opera glasses.) 

For the record, the Tea Cups aren't our favorite, but the line was short so we said "Why not!?" 

After a day at Typhoon Lagoon and Magic Kingdom we met up with the Lang family for dinner at Sanna. The food was amazing!

For more pictures from our first day at Disney, visit our Day One photo album.

- S

Disney Road Trip 2011 - Drive There

We're back from a most exciting week at the Walt Disney Resort! It's hard (and fun) to organize over 600 pictures. This one is my favorite.

Luckily, our drive there seemed to fly by, but we did run into a few snags along the way. The day we left a storm blew our backyard fence down. Buster escaped, but not far enough. My mom found him in the front yard. Darn.

I'm kidding! (sort of)

After finding other arrangements for the pups, we decided to try boiled peanuts for the first time. That didn't work out so well. We were not fans and Mason started crying from the smell. So, I dumped them out of the window of our moving vehicle and we spent the rest of the trip with boiled peanut juiced splattered on the passenger side of the car. That's how we roll.

For giggles, we stopped to take repeat pictures of a few of our fun stops from last year.

Pic from 2010 trip.

Pic from 2010.

Cheesy pics, huh? We like to keep the nerd level pretty high on our road trips. For more on our drive there, visit our "Drive There" photo album.

That's all for now. I'll be back to post pics and a report from our first day at Disney (Typhoon Lagoon and Magic Kingdom).

- S

I Heart Makeup

(This is mine, all mine!)

Hi, my name is Stephanie. I'm addicted to makeup. I am a crazed lunatic...someone stop me!

I don't know how I went from an all-natural-no-makeup-wearin' mama to a makeup collector (hoarder?). I'm not sure I care how I got here. I'm in LOVE! The colors, the textures, oh my! Some of the products even smell nice! Who knew? As a graphic artist, the shadow colors draw me in like a moth to a flame. Have you seen the clever packaging Benefit uses? They have products called Girl Meets Pearl and Some Kind-a Gorgeous. Oh my word, it's too cute! To all of the makeup companies out there, if you name it something cute and package it in something pretty, I'll buy it.

You makeup mavens may think that I'm coming to the game a little late. You are absolutely right, I am. I have no defense other than the fact that I was stuck in Hippieland and had no idea all of this fun stuff was going on. Have no fear, I'll catch up and pretty soon I'll be on YouTube trying to convince you of the proper way to apply highlighter to your brow bone. (j/k...maybe)

I can't get enough. I need more. In fact, I need to go buy the Naked Palette by Urban Decay right now.

- S

A Look Back to Disney 2010

While we're busy getting ready for our next Disney trip, let's have a look back on how much fun we had in 2010!

- S

Little Camper

Nick and Mason recently went on a manly camping adventure in a state park not too far from here.

Although I was worried about my two city boys, they came back with lots of fun stories and had a great time!

Mase coloring at the campsite.

 Just a swingin'.

Fun in the sand.

Check out my cool hiking stick!

If I was camping and saw this little guy out on the trail my heart would melt. He. Is. Precious.

Mason's classic "I don't want to take this picture." face.

I would not have allowed this type of behavior. It's a good thing I didn't go. I see this picture and I have visions of busted chins and broken arms dancing through my head.

Look, Pa, dried mud!

Until next time... 

- S