Busy Weekend!

I'm still recovering from my busy, busy weekend.  Monday morning was painful.  I spent yesterday afternoon catching up on everyone else's blogs but had no energy to attempt this post.  Tuesday is a new day, and I'm feeling much more rested and ready to tackle this week.  Let's hope so, anyways.

Please excuse the poor picture quality...I never had the chance to whip out my DSLR. :(

I spent this past weekend in Orlando with my sweet family.  You're never too old for a little mini family vacay, right?  We actually head down that way pretty often.  My dad has conferences he has to attend every few months, so he and my mom always head down mid-week, and my brother, my sister, and I try to catch up on the weekends.  It doesn't always work out, but it did this past weekend -- and it was great.

It's no secret to those who know me best, but Orlando is not exactly MY version of the "happiest place on Earth."  I do love me some Disney but in moderation.  The city, as a whole, is just not my favorite.  It's crowded, it's a bit "tacky tourist-y," and I just don't like the impression it gives of my great state.  Lately, I have been themed parked out.  Thankfully, this weekend getaway did not involve theme parks.  Woohoo!

We started out shopping, and I have discovered the wonder that is Kate Spade -- on an outlet shopping budget, of course.

I'm planning to post later on what I actually got.  Such great deals!

For Christmas, my parents gave us "kiddos" tickets to see Cirque du Soleil "La Nouba" on Saturday night.  I've been counting down the days since I opened up that present, and it did not disappoint.  If you've never been, it's worth the trip.  It's a bit artsy fartsy, and I'm sure there's a good bit of artistry that I just didn't understand.  But, the acrobatic work was just fantastic and totally made up for the fact that I didn't always know what was going on.  

After the performance, we were all having serious sweet tooth cravings, so we ended up going to the Polynesian Resort at Disney for their famous Dole Whip ice cream.  Sooo good!  It was a bit of a hassle to find on site parking, but after a serious hike through the Magic Kingdom parking lot, we made it just in time to grab our desserts and head outside to the resort's "beach" to watch the fireworks over in Magic Kingdom.  

We ended our trip by doing a bit more shopping at a mall on Sunday morning, before heading back to the Panhandle.  Exhausting but great weekend!