moved

I have a new blog...

http://www.loveisforthebyrds.blogspot.com/

I moved over all of my old posts but will only be posting on the new page.

You should start following me over there.

:)

bridesmaid cards

I finally got around to designing my bridesmaid cards this week. Since asking your wedding party to be part of your special day by phone is "so 1985" I decided to send cute little cards to the girls...

I love little DIY projects :)

xoxo,

Natasha

one year

A year ago today, we didn't have Rocco. What did we ever do without him?

A year ago today, I wasn't engaged to my best friend. I definitely knew I wanted to be though :)

A year ago today, I wasn't an alumni of the Disney College Program. Little did I know I had some amazing people to meet and some wonderful memories to make.

A year ago today, I was eating Dominos and playing Mario Party. Thanks Facebook.

xoxo,

Natasha

go madre, its your birthday

Last week was my dear mommy's birthday!

On the actual day we went to dinner at Marmalade Cafe which was both delicious and adorable.

The day after, a few of us headed to Universal Studios for the day...so fun! The weather was perfect and the park wasn't very busy so it was awesome.

There isn't really much to say about either event so here are some pictures...

invitations

Sending out your wedding invitations is a process. A long, but fun and rewarding process! I am very excited to say that our wedding invitations have been sent and now I am patiently awaiting RSVP cards. (talk to me in September and patiently will most definitely be changed to not-so-patiently)

I am so happy with the way they turned out. We wanted a fun, casual feel to them that fit the relaxed vibe of our destination wedding.

What do you think?

(removed our last names obviously)

I also helped my mom design the invitations for my bridal shower...

(again, last names and phone numbers have been removed :D)

Need invites for anything? I would love to help you design them!

xoxo,

Natasha

phone

I have joined the smart-phone world!

I feel like no other words need to be written.

Me and my Nexus S are totally smitten.

It's almost as cute and cuddly as a kitten.

(not really)

By the phone love bug, I have definitely been bitten.

xoxo,

Natasha

things

Everything has a place. Or at least it should...

I've been bitten by the organization bug. I've actually had the itch for a while.Maybe it's because I'm spending too much time on Pinterest looking at the crazy beautiful, creative, enviable spaces that have been posted. Maybe because I am getting older I am learning to enjoy a more simplistic being.

Or maybe I'm looking too far into it and I just have too much stuff.

Yes, my organization obsession is most likely because of the last reason. Three people live in this apartment -- aged 23, 22 and 20. Add us all together and we have 65 years worth of stuff (potentially)! Obviously, we didn't bring everything we have ever owned into this apartment. And quite honestly, as the only female in apartment 90, I know that I am the biggest "stuff" contributor and that is why I have decided that I need to be the designated de-clutter-er.

I don't think our apartment is too small. I don't think it is hoarder-status. But I do think that when it comes to cleaning stuff out and getting rid of things, I am way too quick to think of reasons why we might need it in the future.

So right now I pledge to you dear bloggosphere... I promise to become a better organizer. To go through my belongings and donate what I no longer need. To keep my apartment clutter-free. And to make sure everything has a place.

xoxo,

Natasha

berry wedding

Last weekend we had the pleasure of attending a very merry berry wedding.

Everything about the day was beautiful... the weather, the venue (walnut grove), the emotions, and especially the bride (my dear friend Beth)

The lemon drops were beautiful too...and delicious ;)

The guests didn't look to shabby either. Here are some of my favorite pictures of the night:

I have too many favorites.

Beth, thank you for including us in such a special celebration of your love! We were honored to be there, had tons of fun, and can't wait for you to get back from Germany!

xoxo,

Natasha

movie time

In a few minutes I will be leaving for the midnight showing of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2". Even though I am exhausted after a long week of work, I'm excited to go see the show (and will get even more excited when I sneak in my coffee!)

The newest Winnie the Pooh movie comes out tomorrow too. Is it bad that I am more excited for that release? I vote no. You can never go wrong spending some time with your furry, stuffed friends in the hundred-acre woods :)

So which are you more excited to see?

or

?

xoxo,

Natasha

love

he's the best.

xoxo,

Natasha

treasure

Found these beauties at the farmer's market yesterday.

It was a good day :)

xoxo,

Natasha

home improvements

Yesterday, Alex and I finished up a project that has been on our to-do list since January! I'm happy to say that it looks great and I am so glad that we finally got it done :)

cute yea? (ignore the missing pan on the bottom rack)

xoxo,

Natasha

today i dont feel like doin' anything..

...I just want to lay in my beeeddddd

That song has been on repeat in my head all weekend.And even though I was actually really productive, the weekend was super relaxing and just what I needed!

After work Friday Alex and I went and test drove some cars. I am in love with the Ford Flex -- but it is really too much car for me, especially because I don't have six kids haha

Bright and early Saturday morning Jesse and I had our first To Shin Do class (we are going to be niiiiinjas -- pronounced "neen jas". The first class is always a private lesson and it was entertaining to say the least. But I am really excited to continue on with the lessons and earn my yellow earth belt :)

After niiiiinja class we went to breakfast and then home. Alex and I took Rocco to the dog park, registered at Target (funnnn!!!), then went test driving again! After that we went out to dinner which was nice and then called it a night.

Sunday morning we went to church with Jesse and Ashely. It was great to be back at Reality -- I missed it while I was gone! We met Tyler at the beach afterwards and we had lunch at Eric Ericson's on the pier. Soooo yummy. The beach was wayyyy too windy to stay so we came back to our place and went to the pool. Later that night Alex and I just hung around the apartment -- very chill.

We had a BBQ at our place today -- super good carne asada from the Mexican Market down the road, Ralph's macaroni salad, and beer = happy Natasha belly.

I hope you all had a fun, safe Memorial Day weekend!!!

And because I hate leaving posts without any pictures...here is one of me and Alex today!

xoxo,

Natasha

truth

xoxo,

Natasha

101 in 1001

I'm back!

Everything about the Disney College Program was AMAZING...I don't have enough words to describe it but ohmygosh I loved it!

It is great to be home though!! I am having lots of fun with Alex, Rocco, friends and family. More posts about what has been going on in my life soon (think wedding, jobs, trips, etc) but today I am going to share with you my 101 in 1001 list. I'm not really sure where it started but I have been seeing these lists floating around on different blogs I read and decided I wanted to do one too. Basically, it's a bucket list of 101 things that you want to do in 1001 days...sounds fun right? I will be blogging about each of the items as I complete them or when they are in progress!

So here is my list...

Write a list of 100 things that make me happy

Go to three states that I have never been before

Spend a day at the beach

Splurge on five matching sets of bra/underwear

Floss every night for one month

Pay for the meal of a stranger (drive through counts!)

Send someone a care package

Run a 5k

Read 50 new books (at least 5 non-fiction)

Get a professional facial

Buy nightstands that are a good height for our bed

Keep a “today's high” journal for at least a month

Take a road trip to Michigan

Buy a motorized scooter

Save coin change for the duration of the project

Send someone a hand written note, postcard, card or letter each month

Take a spinning class

Make a kick-butt workout playlist

Go vegetarian for a week

Go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Buy a sewing machine

Make a quilt

Stay at a bed & breakfast

Go on a cruise

Make a new friend outside my normal circle

Volunteer for a good cause

Go on a picnic

Go horseback riding

Save three months salary for an emergency fund

Sleep under the stars

Buy 5 things off Etsy that I think are cute

Cook 25 new dinners

Make a cookbook of my own recipes

Have a movie marathon: three in one day at the theatre

Go to a shooting range and learn to shoot a gun

Make a loaf of bread

Go without the internet for an entire weekend (doesn't count if I'm out of town)

Only use my reusable shopping bags (no plastic!) for one month

Watch the sunrise

Have fruit for breakfast everyday for a week

Create a black and white photo album

Marry my best friend

Buy a DSLR camera

Drink 8 glasses of water every day for one month

Refinish three pieces of furniture

Create 5 blog posts about people I admire

Make sure that laundry is folded and put away within 24 hours for at least one month

Make sure dishes are washed before bed each day for one month

Take my brother out to lunch

Go on a hay ride

Go roller blading

Create an address book

Take a piano class

Go one month without eating fast food

Rent a houseboat with the family

Complete at 1000+ piece puzzle

Keep a book with all family and friend's important days listed

Go to a midnight movie screening

Make homemade pizza

Jump on the bed at a hotel, take a picture and send it to bedjump.com

Carve Alex & I's initials into a tree

Buy myself flowers once a month

Print and frame at least one photo a month

Go whitewater rafting

Go Christmas Caroling

Host a holiday dinner (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc)

Bake an apple pie from scratch

Make homemade ice cream

Create a secret handshake

Feed the homeless

Memorize the US Presidents in order

Take mommy to the Rose Parade

Participate in benefit run/walk

Post a “what's in my bag” blog

Wash a car by hand

Whiten teeth

Make bed every day for a month

Make an apron

Sew a pillow

Have a water balloon fight

Plan a surprise birthday party

Take a picture of everything I eat for 30 days

Take a weekend trip with Alex

See a show at the Hollywood Bowl

Go to a movie alone

Make new jewelry organizer

Have dinner date with Alex once a month for a year (somewhere different each time)

Take a girls trip to Vegas

Visit the Disney Family Museum

Visit the Redwood Trees

Go paddle boarding

Stay at the Disneyland Hotel

Go apple picking

Go whale watching

Go snorkeling

Go fishing

Spend Christmas at DisneyWorld

Give a balloon to a stranger

Take a picture for each letter of the alphabet

Learn to change a tire

Put $5 in savings account for each goal I complete...do something fun with the money at the end

My goal date to have these done is February 18, 2014

Let's do this.

xoxo,

Natasha

dream a dream

"Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever."

-Walt Disney

bittersweet

I have been absent from this blog for quite some time now. You may be thinking...

"Gosh, Natasha really should update more" (ahem, Lisa)

or

"Yay! I haven't been getting a million updates from that weirdo blog in my google reader"

orrrrrrr

maybe you didn't even notice!

I'm not going to apologize for my lack of blogging nor am I going to promise more updates in the near future. (doesn't mean I'm done forever people!!) There are only 20 short days left of my college program and I intend to live every single one of them to the fullest.

20 days.

480 hours.

28,800 minutes.

1,728,000 seconds.

It's very bittersweet.

xoxo,

Natasha

kitchen sink

Last Wednesday was fun.

My morning started off at Downtown Disney with Annie and Samantha (two lovely girls from CRT). We had a delicious lunch at Earl of Sandwich and then went to see the Justin Bieber movie! (Don't judge....it was AMAZING)

After the movie we had plans to meet up with Abby and Brent (two more lovelies from CRT) and Lisa (honorary CRT lovely <3)

For those of you who don't know, the Kitchen Sink is a massively delicious ice cream creation that you definitely need to share. Eight scoops of ice cream, every topping possible, and an entire can of whipped cream is served to you in a kitchen sink (how fitting). The six of us were able to finish it but were SO full afterwards!!!

Unfortunately, we missed Fantasmic because we were too busy stuffing our faces with ice cream but that is ok because Lisa and I are going to go watch it tomorrow night!!

xoxo,

Natasha

typical day in the castle

A few days ago, my wonderful roommate Lisa asked me to do a guest post on her blog about a typical work day for me while here on the college program. As I have mentioned before, we are both in the Full Service Food & Beverage role but our work experiences have been very different so far. Here, I will share what a typical day is like (for me) working in Cinderella's castle and then I will ask if I can borrow Lisa's post too :)

My restaurant is located inside the Magic Kingdom... arguably the most popular park here at the Walt Disney World Resort. Because I don't have a car here, I am one of the (un)lucky that get to ride the "A" bus to work. This bus is always full and, until another bus was added to the schedule, was a nightmare to get on. To ensure that I get to work on time I need to get on the bus approximately an hour and a half before the start of my shift.

As a seater at my location, there are two main shifts that I could work: breakfast/lunch or dinner. I almost always get scheduled dinners, but some CP's at my location get almost all breakfast/lunch shifts so it can vary. My shifts usually start at 2:45PM and end anywhere between 10:15PM and 12:15AM.

After getting off the CP bus, I usually run inside the costuming building to pick up my costume, then catch another bus that takes me backstage. When I am changed into my costume, I go clock in. One of the things that was hard to get used to was that when working the dinner shift, you are assigned to go on your lunch break right away...I have now learned to love that and enjoy the time spent with my coworkers before we all go start in our positions :)

When my break is over, I clock back in and get an assignment. As a seater there are quite a few assignments that I can receive: seater, seater/setter, updater, set-ups, greeter, greeter assist, or podium (I won't go into detail about each of these because I think this post is already getting pretty long!)

In between rounds of seating, I will go down into the break room and fold napkins. In addition to the side work you are assigned at the end of the night (cleaning high chairs/boosters, lost and found, etc.) there needs to be 22 bins of napkins folded and ready for the next day. After that number is reached, you can either clock out or stay and do task work until your scheduled out time.

After clocking out, I go change out of my costume and say a little prayer that I wont have to wait too long for the "A" bus...and that I will get an actual seat :)

Oh! And because I hate doing posts with no pictures....here is a picture of me in front of my work location with a yummy treat :D hahahaha

xoxo,

Natasha

nom nom nom

About two weeks ago my mom flew out for a couple of days and we took advantage of an awesome cast-only promotion going on with resorts/the Disney Dining Plan. For 2 days we had the regular dining plan which consists of 1 Quick Service meal (QS), 1 Table Service meal (TS), and 1 snack per person, per day. Then, for another 2 days we tried out the Quick Service dining plan which consists of 2 QS meals and 1 snack per day plus a refillable resort mug for each person :)

I was really excited for this trip because: (a) I missed my mom and (b) I had never done the dining plan before and had been wanting to try it forever!

For the first part of our stay we were at the All Star Music resort (since our favorite, Pop Century, was unavailable) and the second half of the stay we were at Pop Century...yayyy!

I'm not going to go into crazy detail about all the delicious food we ate but the highlights were definitely Cape May and Boma! We already knew that we loved Boma but Cape May was a new experience for both of us and we were very pleased!

Here are some pictures from her trip....

Love and miss you madre!

xoxo,

Natasha

still alive

I promise I am still alive. Life has been crazy lately and I haven't had much time to update. I will work on getting some posts up this week but in the meantime here is a preview of what is to come:

• New Friends
• Madre visits and we have our first experience with the DDP :)
• ESPN the Weekend
• Trip Home
• Disney Magic

xoxo,

Natasha

tale as old as time

Disclaimer: This really isn't a tale as old as time.

This past week has been a lot of fun here in DisneyWorld. Since I wrote my last post, Lisa and I worked a PAC shift together (sort of), I picked up my first QSFB shift at Pinocchios Village Hause, Lisa had family in town, and I made some new friends!

The shift at Pinocchios was a lot of fun...I definitely wouldn't want to be in quick service permanently but I enjoyed my experiences as a food/drink filler :) The best part about picking up that shift was that I got to wear a new, CUTE costume! The pictures I took of myself are really awkward soooooo don't judge them k?

After class on Monday I went to Magic Kingdom with Lisa, her sister Jessie, and Katie. It was such a fun day!!! I am so glad that Lisa, Katie and I have so much fun together and it was great to meet Jessie and get to hang out with her too - she is so much fun! (Jessie, if you read this -- COME BACK!!!!)

In other news, I really miss everybody at home. Especially these 2...

xoxo,

Natasha

PS... if ANYBODY knows where you can find a kids XL grey sweatshirt like the one I am wearing in the picture above, LET ME KNOW! Jessie wanted one and they looked everrrryyywwwhhhheeerrreeee.

voluntEAR

Since my first day here I have really been looking forward to being able to volunteer at the Give Kids the World Village, a retreat area for families of children with life threatening illnesses. For DCP participants, there are scheduled volunteer opportunities every Sunday and Wednesday nights. I usually work nights but last Wednesday I worked in the morning so I was finally able to go!

Lisa and I signed up together and were both really excited to go! We met at the Commons and after a little bit of a mix up (the housing team thought we wanted to sign up for the next Wednesday) we were in the van and on our way in our snazzy new t-shirts.

Like our Mickey "gang" sign?!

Wednesday nights at the Village are "Kid's Night Out", a night where parents and children can get a break from each other and the children are paired with mentors to play and eat all night :) At first, there were more volunteers than there were children so Lisa and I helped set up dinner in the Gingerbread House. On our way back to meet with the rest of the group, we found another family who had children interested in joining us so we were paired with some children and officially had buddies!!

The night was amazing. The services that they provide at Give Kids the World are wonderful and I was so happy to be a part of that team for the night. Unfortunately, for the next two weeks I work at night on Sundays and Wednesdays but I am planning on going through their orientation program so that I can volunteer on a more regular basis on days that I have off.

If being here on the program has taught me anything so far it is that my career needs to be in a field that allows me to provide experiences and services to families that will make a difference in their lives and create long-lasting memories that they will cherish.

xoxo,

Natasha

park day

So obviously a big perk of working at Walt Disney World is getting into the parks for free and since I have been here I have definitely been taking advantage of it :)

I didn't realize until now that I haven't really blogged about my park excursions. So I'm going to change that now!! Today I went to Magic Kingdom with Lisa and Katie. It is very rare that so many of us are home at the same time so it was great to hang out together!!

The three of us are on a mission to do every attraction, show, etc while we are down here so we did some of the things that we haven't crossed off our list yet liiiikeeeeee Hall of Presidents, Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, and Snow White's Scary Adventure.

We also got to go inside the castle and then took a picture with Peter Pan!

After we were done at the Magic Kingdom we went to the Polynesian for dole whips and they were OUT! nooooo bueno.

Unfortunately, our adventure had to come to an end....Lisa went to work and Katie and I went home.

It was a fun night in the apartment too :)

xoxo,

Natasha

be my valentine

Happy Valentine's Day!

I started the morning off by going to my first Advanced Studies in Hospitality Management class. It was pretty interesting. I'm really glad that my roommate Lisa is in that class with me :)

There was a big box of flowers on our doorstep when we got home and I was very pleased to see that they were for me! The bouquet is very pretty and has some of my favorite flowers in it (thanks Alex!!)

aren't they pretty? :)

After class we just lounged in the apartment, had some lunch and watched Toy Story. I checked the HUB to see if there were any PAC shifts to pick up tonight and there were! So I picked one of them up and rode to work with Lisa this afternoon.

The PAC shift was awesome! I seriously love the costume. Plus, what could be better than getting paid to stand in front of the castle and watch the electrical parade, the new castle show AND wishes?! That's right, nothing :)

Doing the "Disney point"...not my new favorite pose :-P

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day.

xoxo,

Natasha

alex's visit

Alex flew to Florida to hang out with me last week! We had such a good time and it was great to be reunited!! I had to work on 2 of the days -- but only in the morning so it wasn't too bad.

On his first full day we hit up Animal Kingdom and Epcot. The highlights of the day were the safari (DUH), naked mole rats, German beer, and Ellen's Energy Adventure! Ok, maybe not the last one...

When I got off of work on Saturday we enjoyed each other's company, had some dinner, and watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks from a hammock on the beach of the Polynesian :)

I worked the morning of Superbowl Sunday but was back at the hotel in time for the game! We decided to stay in our room and watch the game so we could be comfy and we had a nice tv :) For dinner we ordered some Domino's and Alex got some beer from the pool bar. There was a raffle at the bar during halftime so we went downstairs and Alex won a shirt!

Monday it was supposed to rain all day....we never really saw too much of that but we did see some ominous clouds in the distance! We had a few errands to do (like returning my over-priced computer case to Best Buy) so we took the city bus and got them done :) That night we had dinner reservations at 'Ohana. The meal was SO good and we had a wonderful time. At one point we were invited up with a few other couples who were celebrating anniversaries and got to slow dance to an Elvis song :D Our server was awesome and at the end of the meal brought us an engagement cupcake!

Tuesday was Alex's last full day...we spent it in Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. We had a lot of fun at both of the parks even though it was pretty cold!

Unfortunately, our vacation had to come to a close on Wednesday and Alex flew home. It was so great to have a visitor (especially Alex!! :P) and I can't wait for the next one to come!!! (hint, hint!)

xoxo,

Natasha

gross

I didn't bring a car with me to Florida. Sometimes taking the bus can be a pain but most of the time I really don't mind it (and my roomies with cars have been more than generous with giving me rides if I need them :D) but tonight was definitely a night that I hope to never re-live!

There were TONS of CM's at westclock waiting to go home and I wasn't sure if I was going to make it on the first bus buuutttt the driver was pretty cool and made sure people made space and we all made it on the bus! We were packed like sardines (which I don't really mind...as long as I'm on the bus its good!). Here comes the awful part: the guy next to me had the worst BO so I turned around and the girl that I was facing was eating a warm tuna sandwich with soggy, mushy bread. (and she was making a DISGUSTING smacking noise with it)I wanted to vomit right then and there. I still feel sick and I've been off the bus for almost an hour.

Gross.

xoxo,

Natasha