Helloooo everyone and happy Monday! As you guys know, I really enjoy cooking and once or twice a week I like to make dinner at home. This past weekend I made one of my all time favorite recipes that I just had to share – it’s that good. If you’re a fan of unique, bold, and slightly spicy dishes then you’re going to love my Peanut Noodles! This recipe is directly from the Quick Vegetarian Pleasures cookbook by Jeanne Lemlin and if you can get your hands on a copy then I urge you to do so! It’s an excellent cookbook for fast and healthy vegetarian eating. Here’s the step by step guide to making a Peanut Noodle dish of your own:
Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti
4 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
1/2 cup peanut butter (I use crunchy PB but creamy will do, too!)
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or sherry
1 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar or other vinegar
1 tablespoon firmly packed light brown sugar
3 garlic cloves, minced (I use 6)
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced
Note: The sauce is a bit too bitter for my liking so I add about 3 teaspoons of white sugar to balance it out
Directions:
To make the sauce, combine 2 tablespoons of sesame oil with all of the other ingredients except the cucumber and scallions. Beat until well mixed and refrigerate.
Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the noodles and toss with the remaining two tablespoons of sesame oil.
This dish can be served hot or cold so you could refrigerate the noodles if you choose or eat it hot after the spaghetti is cooked. I prefer it hot but it’s still very good cold as well!
My mom started making this recipe forever ago and it remains one of my favorites to this day. I made the Peanut Noodles this past Friday and was left with only a small dish of leftovers which I annihilated for lunch the next day. Almost everyone in my family is a big fan of this recipe and I hope you guys enjoy it too! It’s a quick and easy dish to whip together but it tastes like you spent hours cooking it. Peanut Noodles have been my go to dinner to make for a few boyfriends and many a night when there seems to be “nothing to eat” in the house. If you like trying out somewhat “different” recipes to change things up at home then this is the recipe for you!
So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Really Good Recipe Edition. Once again, if you can snag a copy of Quick Vegetarian Pleasures – DO IT!! Who is going to give the Peanut Noodles recipe a try? What is one of your go to dishes to make at home? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Helloooo everyone and happy late Halloween from lifewithlilred! I hope all of you guys had a fun time celebrating! My Halloween was awesome because I did absolutely nothing. These past few weeks I’ve been so busy every day with something or another. From college classes to running my siblings around to meeting with clients to write for and coaching figure skating for the Special Olympics, I’ve barely had time to breathe! It felt so good to finally have a day to myself to binge watch the Botched marathon on E! and lay in my jammies all day with no makeup and a big ol’ bowl of ice cream. Life was good yesterday, that’s for sure!
Despite my laid back Saturday, I had a busy friend-filled Friday which made up for it. I met up with my friend and client, Britta Michele, for breakfast (You can check her work out on my article “Daffodil Blue Photography”), I had some best friend time with Lea in the afternoon and then to top it off my boyfriend, Kyle, swooped me up for a Hallows Eve evening together! It was a typical but fantastic night of watching Dexter, playing The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and drinking my girly wine while Kyle drinks his nasty IPA beer.
Although I didn’t get to turn up this Halloween, my sister, Kristen, did enough of that for the both of us! Kristen traveled to New York via mega bus to celebrate Halloween with some of her friends and she looked so fabulous I just have to share a picture:
^^^ Wa wa woo we wa and hubba hubba! My sister is smokin!
Whether you got white girl wasted or stayed home watching shitty reality TV all day, I hope you had a great Halloween doing whatever it is that you do! What did you dress up as? What was the craziest costume that you saw? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Hey everyone and happy Hump Day! Every Sunday I love making dinner for my family and I hate to brag but it turned out pretty darn good this past weekend! I made frittata with rosemary garlic home fries. I followed a tried and true recipe for the frittata but I freestyled the potatoes with lots of butter, herbs, fresh garlic, onions, and romano cheese and it turned out SO yummy. I posted a status on Facebook about my dinner and some of my friends expressed interest in getting their hands on the recipe for the frittata, so I thought I would post it for the world today! This recipe is from the Broccoli Forest cookbook and it’s excellent if you can find a copy of your own:
Ingredients:
2 tbs olive oil (you might need additional oil or butter when sauteing the veggies)
1 tbs melted butter
1 small onion, minced
1 small clove garlic, minced (I usually use 6 cloves in mine)
1/2 tsp salt, basil, oregano
1/4 tsp thyme, rosemary
freshly ground black pepper to taste
5-6 mushrooms, sliced
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 small bunch or spinach, swiss chard, or kale chopped
1 small green bell pepper
5 large eggs, well beaten
grated mozzarella cheese
grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
In a large cast-iron skillet, cook the onion and garlic with salt and herbs in combined olive oil and butter for 5-8 minutes
Add remaining vegetables and cook over medium high heat until the vegetables are tender for 8-10 minutes
Turn the heat way up and pour in the beaten eggs. Cook on the stove-top for several minutes, lifting the edges, and letting the uncooked egg flow underneath the cooked egg (as you would for an omelet). Turn the heat back to medium as you do this.
As soon as the egg appears set, sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top and then top it off with the parmesan. Place it in the oven at 350 for 12-15 minutes (until it’s firm and the cheese is melted and slightly brown).
This recipe is one of my family’s favorites and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! One again, it’s from the Broccoli Forest cookbook and it really is great, especially if there’s any vegetarians in your family. What is your favorite thing to cook for dinner? Do you have a primarily vegetarian cookbook that you would recommend? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
PS: Sorry for the lack of pictures of the frittata – it was completely devoured before I got around to snapping some pics!
Heyyy everyone and happy Monday! So this weekend was kind of a big deal because of October 17th which is both my boyfriend’s and my brother’s birthday! I had the best time celebrating with my man this weekend and enjoyed some mother daughter time when she helped me prep Kyle’s birthday dinner. Sorry that I was away without warning, BTW, because I like to give you guys notice when I’m not going to have a Saturday post of some kind! But I’m back from being birthday MIA so let’s discuss:
My oldest brother, Peter, celebrated his 28th birthday but unfortunately he lives in Atlanta, Georgia so I didn’t get to ring in his new year with him. So this weekend it was all about the boyfriend who turned the big 2-7. Besides from some awesome gifts (if I do say so myself), I wanted to cook him a special dinner too so before I headed to Canton for the weekend my mom helped me with something that I deemed a “must”: a fresh loaf of French bread to go with a Fettuccine Alfredo dish.
My mom is an incredible bread baker and has been doing it for forever. I can remember watching her bake and knead her loaves of bread when I was younger but could never do it quite like her. That was about to change this weekend though because my mama dearest walked me through how to bake my own French bread and it turned out amazing! My mom was an awesome teacher and I liked how she explained the process to me rather than doing it for me so I felt like I was still the one making the bread. She taught me how to knead the dough and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy I found it because I remember it being so hard when I was younger! According to mi madre, I’m a natural and here’s how my French bread turned out:
While my bread baked I whipped up a quick chocolate lava cake as well and left shortly after everything was baked to perfection. I loaded up my car with gifts, an overnight bag, dinner ingredients, my cake, and my bread on a cooling rack and headed to Canton. The thing about bread is that it can’t go into a bag until it’s completely cool and my mom refused to let my first time bread creation go soggy so she insisted that I drive with the naked loaf on a cooling rack. I was SO terrified to drive quickly or break heavily for the fear of the baguette flying off the rack. Lucky for me, my bread baby sat just fine and we made it to Kyle’s in one piece!
I had the pleasure of meeting Kyle’s brother, sister-in-law, and their two children on Friday night and then we went home for gift opening and Dexter watching. Unfortunately on Saturday Kyle had to work for half of his birthday but during that time I was able to finish some homework, get an article edited, and spend some quality time with Kyle’s mom. Once the evening rolled around I started cooking a surprisingly easy Fettuccine Alfredo recipe that I found online. It turned out nice and creamy and my bread was delicious, if I do say so myself!
After dinner, we were going to see Crimson Peak but we were both so full and sleepy after our Italian meal that we ended up just lounging around for the night. But seeing the movie is on our agenda for when I see Kyle next! I had such a lovely weekend with my beau and it was such a joy to meet his brother and his family!
^^^ This one’s for you, Kyle!!! Happy birthday to both of my favorite boys!!!! ❤
I have a lot of exciting posts coming up in the near future including an article for a dear friend’s Trades Of Hope store and a piece for a wonderful musician fresh out of Kent, Ohio – John Patrick Halling. Keep your eyes peeled for those as well as all of the usuals throughout the week like #WCW and my American Horror Story reviews! Until then, how was everyone’s weekend? Did anyone else have some events worth celebrating? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Howdy everyone and happy Monday! So as you may have noticed, I had an unannounced MIA hiatus this weekend that was purely unintentional. This Monday Update will shed some light on where Lil Red was hiding out at and inform you about all of the other exciting news that I have to share! Enjoy some tunes to hype you up this morning and then let’s discuss:
Last Friday rolled around and things were going just PEACHY. I was working on some homework, sippin on that Arizona green tea, and living my life like the baller I am. And then…something went wrong. I tried to print an assignment with the household wireless printer and unfortunately it didn’t work. I pressed the “print” button at least seventy-three more times only to find that my button clicking effort was made in vain. So I did what any normal twenty-one year old would do…I called my mom for help. #MOMMMMMMMM
Mother dearest entered the dining room on a “fix the printer” mission and that was when things took a turn for the worse. Good ol’ mom began to utilize the classic technique of pressing buttons and unplugging and replugging cords back into the sockets. With all of the powering off and on and pressing every button that looked helpful, the internet ended up shutting down entirely. Don’t ask me how, because I don’t know. And quite frankly, it probably wasn’t even my mom’s fault but everyone at home is enjoying telling her that she broke the internet so we’re just gonna go with it! 😉
Thanks to my mother breaking the internet, I was without the world wide web for the weekend. This prevented me from doing homework, answering to possible clients to write for on Facebook, and most importantly keeping in touch with all of you! But thanks to a handy helper from our chosen internet company, things are back in business at the Lil Red residence. So no, I didn’t make a spur of the moment road trip to Utah or have an unfortunate twenty-four hour flu that left me bedridden…I was just MIA because my internet was down. OH THE CALAMITY! #firstworldproblems
In other news:
Yesterday was my one month anniversary with my boyfriend, Kyle, so that’s nice! One month went by really quickly and things are going just swimmingly – so keep your fingers crossed for a bitch that they stay that way!
Everything at school is also going really well, too! My classes are swell, my grades are rockin, and I have no complaints!
I have a lot of really cool potential clients that might be featured on lifewithlilred, so keep your eyes peeled for more info on that!
So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Unintentional MIA Edition! I hope all of you had a great weekend and an even better start to your week! What was the craziest thing that happened to you this weekend? Who has a case of the Mondays today? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Howdy everyone and happy Thursday! I had such a fun filled busy day yesterday and I just had to tell you guys all about it! The day started out rocky but ended strong, so check out this track that will make sense to you by the end of the post and let’s discuss:
All of Tuesday, yesterday, and today I’ve had the unfortunate health issue of conjunctivitis in both of my eyes. It’s been a pain in the ass and it hurts like the dickens. On Tuesday night when I was with my boyfriend I finally decided to take my contacts out, which should have been done at the first signs of redness. I guess better late than never though, considering both of my eyes were blood red and I looked like the spawn of Satan once I realized it was time for the contacts to go. I was hesitant to take them out though because my plan was to drive from his home in Canton to school in Cleveland the following morning and my eyesight isn’t the best. #dangertomyself #andothers
I woke up Wednesday morning with my eyes crusted shut completely, which was a lot of fun! After getting myself ready for school, I deemed my vision safe enough to drive as long as I took it nice and slow. I left my man’s house early so I would have time for a leisurely drive as well as stop home to grab my back up glasses before school. I made my pit stop home, grabbed the dorkiest glasses ever, and headed to Tri-C for my French class. The worst part about wearing my glasses aside from how much I hate them is the fact that I wasn’t able to wear sunglasses during my drive. My face was crumpled into a permanent squinting position which I’m pretty sure gave me premature wrinkling. #SHAMEFUL
I rolled into my French class looking nerdy chic (I hope) but was then struck with the fear of “oh shit, I hope people don’t think I’m stoned”, compliments of my blood shot eyes. Throughout my class I was SO paranoid that I might as well have indulged in a pre-lecture hit of cannabis. “Does she think I’m high? Does he think I’m blitzed? DOES MY BELOVED PROFESSOR THINK I’M STONED?!” A gazillion thoughts of my classmate’s possible judgement were swarming through my head at a rapid speed BUT I still managed to kick major derriere in my class! #OUI 😉
After a semi stressful but nothing that I can’t handle afternoon, it was time for Sister Date Night!! Kristen and I had a sexy evening of dinner and a movie planned and it was so much fun!! I picked her up in the Little Red Love Machine for some fine dining at Taco Bell and a showing of Sinister 2. My sister and I were starving and were so happy to be in the comforting atmosphere of TBell for some binge eating. We shoveled burritos, chalupas, and tacos down our gullets until we fell into the “too full to move” food coma. It. Was. WONDERFUL!
We slowly made our way back to my whip and collapsed into the seats. We unbuttoned our pants to ease the bloating, got ourselves together, and headed to the theater for some scary movie shenanigans. We arrived at the Regal Cinemas and purchased our tickets only to find out that we were eligible for a free popcorn thanks to my Regal Crown Club rewards card. “More food!!!” We got our popcorn from the concession stand and answered with an enthusiastic “YES” when we were asked if we wanted butter on our popcorn. Who doesn’t want butter on their popcorn? Seriously. If it were up to me, I would be able to go behind the concessions counter to pump my own butter just to make sure that each individual piece of popcorn was drenched in sweet, caloric, buttery goodness. #delish
Kristen and I entered our designated theater with our hands full of popcorn and purses full of pop brought from home. As we walked further into the room we saw that we were the only people there! It was so great! Throughout our showing of Sinister 2 we were able to swear, scream, and make off color comments to our hearts content. My personal favorite was when I dared my sister to go pee in a corner…I promise you she didn’t! #pinkieswear
ANYWAYS, the Sinister sequel was scary as fuckkk. I’m a big fan of the first movie, despite how scary I find it and the second one was just as good/terrifying! Kristen and I spent a significant amount of time with our hands covering our eyes and screaming “OH SHIT” at a hefty portion of the film. We had such a blast even though we were so scared! Kristen kept pestering me to spend the night at her apartment and I kept begging her to stay the night at home. We’re basically the two biggest twenty-something babies ever. #noshame #adultbabies
During our drive home, when we weren’t trying to bribe each other into staying the night, Kristen played DJ with my iPod. We jammed to TLC and Britney Spears but the most memorable song she played was “Epiphany” from Sweeney Todd, hence why I posted it at the beginning of the post. Kristen and I love that movie so much and “Epiphany” is our all time favorite song from it. We played it at full volume with our windows down all while singing very poorly. I couldn’t stop laughing for the duration of the song and was almost in tears by the time we were stopped at a red light with good ol’ Sweeney Todd blasting through my speakers. #howaboutashave?
We couldn’t decide where to stay the night at so we went our separate ways to sleep all by our lonesome. All night I was petrified about the evil Bagul lurking in my room or dreams, but I promised myself that if he made an appearance that I would deliver a swift punch right in his suck hole. KA POW! Lucky for me, Bagul must have heard my threats, so I was okay for the night – however, I woke up halfway through my slumber because I had to go to the bathroom and I REFUSED to leave the safety of my blanket fort. I am so thankful that I didn’t wet the bed once I fell back asleep and I woke up refreshed and ready to take on a day of homework! #blessed
^^^ I feel like I haven’t posted a pic of myself in a while, so there you go!
So there you have it, a long post about some Wednesday Fun! I had a fabulous Hump Day and I hope all of you are having a great week! What is everyone up to this upcoming weekend? Any big plans? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Helllooooo everyone and welcome to a very special article on lifewithlilred about a blossoming business in the Akron, Ohio area, Daffodil Blue Photography. Daffodil Blue is run by the lovely and talented Britta Michele and I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with her for some coffee and all of the details about her endeavors as a young businesswoman. Before Britta and I scheduled a time to meet up, I asked her to pick her all time favorite photos that she’s taken for a Photographer’s Choice segment. Put a face to the name with this pretty pic of Britta and then take a look at these sweet shots before reading the interview that I had such a blast conducting:
Lil Red: Alright! What made your Photographer’s Choice pictures your favorites? Let’s start with our little cupcake faced cutie!
Britta: Well, I’m pretty sure that that was her first cupcake, which was an awesome moment to photograph! This was taken at her second birthday party and I just think that this photo captures her personality so well. She looks so sweet but she definitely has some sass to her! I also like how the cupcake is all over her face, it’s so stinkin’ adorable!
LR: What about the second photo? They both look so happy!
B: They were! Baby Jameson loved the camera! I had so much fun photographing him and his mom, Ashley. I’m really glad that I was able to capture such sweet moments for her and her little one.
LR: Too cute! And now for the third and final Photographer’s Choice picture! What made you choose this photo as one of your faves?
B: These siblings were a blast to work with. I had a lot of props for them to play with, like bubbles and balloons, so they weren’t always paying attention to the camera – but it still made for some amazing shots! I really like this portrait because it shows how much love all three siblings have for each other and I’m happy to have been the one to capture it!
LR: So when I knew you, we were high schoolers in French class and you went by Brittany. How did we get to be called Britta and a photographer a few years later?
B: I decided to go by Britta because it’s a very rare name! I’ve never heard of it before and I think that it’s memorable. I want people to think of my name and go “Oh, Britta? She’s a photographer!” Photography has always been a passion of mine from a very young age. My cousin was a photographer who taught me everything that I know and she has been the inspiration for my work ever since.
LR: When did you take your first “real” photograph?
B: Oh gosh! When I was thirteen or so?
LR: Speaking of unique names, Daffodil Blue Photography is another one! What’s the story behind that?
B: Similar to my name, I wanted something that was different. I had seen “Moments By” and “Photographs By” countless times and that type of name could be run by anyone. I had played around with names and searched for different word pairings and then I started to think more in terms of things that I like. I love daffodils and blue is one of my favorite colors.
LR: So the name wasn’t something that came out of the blue? 😉
B: Nope! But I definitely wasn’t dead set on it. I kept going back and forth – I wanted it to have more meaning. It wasn’t until people began telling me how much they love the name Daffodil Blue that I began to love it too!
LR: As I browsed through your websites, I noticed that you do a lot of family shoots. Is that your favorite kind of shoot to do?
B: Yes! I love children and I can’t wait to have my own some day to photograph! When kids are involved, I always try to make it as fun as possible for them. I bring stuffed animals and just let them play. I always prefer to have action shots of children because they just can’t sit still! And the best thing is, even if there are photographs of them not looking at the camera, I have some tricks up my sleeve to edit them to make it appear that they are.
LR: From all of the shoots that you’ve done has there been a most memorable moment?
B: All of them are! There really isn’t just one. I do like to continue photographing beyond the session time my clients have signed up for because you can’t get everything that you want in the allotted time. The post session photos are usually of the kids just playing around – and that’s when you get the real smiles!
LR: As a photographer, it’s your job to create memories. Is there a specific shoot that you’re dying to do?
B: Wedding shoots! Weddings are just so magical. I love taking pictures of someone who looks so beautiful and happy. I want the couple to look at the photos twenty years from now and think, “Wow, look how amazing we look. Look how happy we look. We still are happy”.
LR: And now for the cliche interview question…Where do you see Daffodil Blue Photography one year from now?
B: Hopefully with a lot more people photographed – particularly some wedding shoots! I would love to travel and make Daffodil Blue a full time business rather than a part time hobby.
I had the absolute best time catching up with Britta and hearing all about Daffodil Blue Photography. With so many aspiring photographers out there, I asked her to grace us with some advice on how to make the best of a young business. Here’s what she had to say:
Don’t ever give up. Believe me, I wanted to so many times, especially because I was comparing myself to others so often. You have to learn from the people who have more experience than you, not compare yourself to them.
Have patience. I started Daffodil Blue at the beginning of last year and I’m just now gaining more and more clients.
Don’t charge what professionals are charging right away. Get a steady client base before you raise your prices but never go too cheap!!
Believe in yourself and don’t be afraid to reach out to people who might be interested in your business.
During our talk, I was shocked to learn that Britta had not named her Nikon camera! We decided on the very original “Nicki the Nikon” and here’s the facts about what makes her D3200 camera baby the perfect one for her:
Through extensive research, Britta came to the conclusion that Nikon was a bit better than Canon, which made her Nikon purchase a no brainer. “Canon is still a good brand but I would pick Nikon any day!”
Nicki the Nikon boasts 24 megapixels while the D3100 only has 12. However, I learned from my self taught photographer friend that it’s not the megapixels that matter, it’s what lens you use.
Britta is currently using the kit lens and is very happy with it. She told me that not many professional photographers would use that lens but that’s okay with her! Throughout our afternoon together, Britta mentioned frequently that just because she may not have the best equipment yet, it doesn’t mean that she can’t take an amazing picture! (However, Britta will be treating herself to a 50 mm. 1.8 G lens for her upcoming birthday!)
Shoot her an email: brittamichele@daffodilblue.net
Or a text: 330-209-0501
Guys, I’m not gonna lie, this was my favorite write up I’ve done yet. Britta is the real deal. She’s intelligent, creative, and has such evident talent that it’s palpable. We both thought that it would be fun if my readers took a look at her websites and chose their favorite photo to share with us! Until then, do you have any advice for Britta as she continues her work at Daffodil Blue? What is one of your favorite pictures that you’ve ever taken? We wanna hear from all of you, so leave us a comment and let’s chat! And please make sure to leave us a Reader’s Choice picture in the comments! Much love. -Sarah
Heyyy there and a happy Tuesday evening to all of you! So yesterday my sister, Kristen, texted me with an ominous picture of a cardboard box saying that she got me a present. I was so curious about what she gifted me with and as soon as she was home I ripped the box open to find this gorgeous new mirror:
Kristen told me that when she saw this while out shopping she just “had to” get it for me…She knows me all too well! I have a deep love for all things Egyptian – if you’re familiar with my site then you’ll know I have a big Isis tattoo piece on my side. So needless to say, I was simply thrilled when I saw this unique home decor piece! I decided to hang my mirror above my jewelry department in my closet boutique so I have a perfect view of what necklace and earrings to wear with each outfit. You can see the new home for my mirror in my featured image photo.
I am so thankful for all of the amazing treats and gifts that Kristen surprises me with. I’m thankful for the times when we lay in bed snuggling or are going out and about to run errands. I’m thankful for any time that we spend together because I know that it’s time spent with my best friend. I hate to brag, but I really do have the best sister ever! ❤
I hope all of you are having a wonderful rest of your day and make sure you tune in for Woman Crush Wednesday: Anne Hathaway Edition tomorrow! Who else has a sibling that’s your best friend? Does anyone else have a love for Egyptian everything? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Hi there everyone and happy Sunday! I hope all of you are having a great weekend! I thought we could take today to wrap up my posts about my vacation to Orlando, Florida with some more fun stories and cool pics! Take a look and let’s discuss:
Lil Red Vacation Pro Tips:
To go mugs of wine for the journey to your destination is always a must! To go further with that, it’s also a wise decision to eat a ton of Taco Bell in the car, take a sleeping pill, and snooze the drive away. Our excursion to Florida was made completely tolerable thanks to sleeping for thirteen of the eighteen hours! Best. Decision. EVER!
If you’re nice enough to the Hogwarts Express conductor, he’ll show you his pocket watch with “Hogsmeade” and “Diagon Alley” instead of numbers so he knows when the train is departing from each station.
Make sure you spend some extra time after the Minion Mayhem ride to get your picture taken with one of the silly little Despicable Me goofballs! I love them so much, so this was absolutely necessary.
Take a boat ride to the Portafino hotel resort and enjoy some pizza at Sal’s! My family and I did this one evening after a day at Universal Studios and it was so awesome. We ate our pizza and drank wine on their patio and we had a perfect view of the nightly fireworks show at the park.
When you get your nails done, know that it’s going to be extra money to get rhinestone decorations! WHOOPS. So worth it though! It was really nice to take an hour to get out of the heat and get some pampering done in a cute little salon in Orlando.
If you’re like me and don’t like getting your hair wet, it’s a good idea to wear a plastic poncho during the afternoon rain and water rides. My mom found a poncho from The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter crumpled up on the ground near the park lockers and stealthily snagged it. I’m so glad she did because this kept me and my beloved red locks totally dry! Score!
Always photograph your parents doing cute things. (See picture above!)
Park souvenirs are not always the way to go! My mom and I found minion socks, keychains, and magnets at Marc’s all for under a dollar and they looked exactly like the ones at Universal. Such a steal!
There’s nothing wrong with drinking a twenty-four ounce can of Redd’s Apple Ale on the car ride back to good ol’ Akron, Ohio.
There’s also nothing wrong with spooning with your mom during said car right. Uhhh…..
Most importantly, savor every moment of your vaca and relish in the things that you can’t normally do in your hometown. Last time I checked, Akron doesn’t have anything close to Universal Studios! 😉
So there you have it, some Lil Red Pro Tips to wrap up my Orlando vacation!! I seriously had the most amazing time during my Florida getaway but it sure feels great to be home! Did any of you guys go on vacation this summer? What was the best vaca you’ve ever been on? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Whatuppp everyone! So I’ve already shared a lot of really cool stories and pics from my vacation to Orlando, Florida…But wait, there’s more!! Take a look at some more photos from The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, which is obviously the only thing I took pictures of and let’s discuss some more vacation fun!
^^^ I LOVE YOU, HARRY POTTER!!!!
Despite my lack of pics from any other part of Universal Studios and the Islands Of Adventure, I can assure you that there’s a lot more to both of the parks besides The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter (even though it’s hard to believe!)! One of my favorite Universal Studio memories occurred around closing time, when a show commemorating one hundred years of movie making was played on a curtain of water. Yes, a curtain of water!
Around nine forty-five every night at Universal Studios, you can watch a video filled with clips from horror, romance, comedy, and action films going all the way from black and white to vivid color. The video can be seen projected on a water curtain and on the surface of the surrounding water itself. The film is narrated by the soothing voice of Morgan Freeman and all the while there are amazing lights, fire, and fireworks showing off on land, water, and sky. All of these components put together made for an awesome show! I recommend that you find a spot to watch the movie magic at least twenty minutes prior so you get a good view because believe me, people start crowding around very quickly!!
Aside from the Harry Potter rides, one of my other favorite rides was the Spiderman 3D roller coaster located on the Islands Of Adventure. I’ll be honest with you guys, I’m not a big superhero fan…In fact, I’ve never even seen any of the Spiderman movies BUT that doesn’t take away from how freaking cool the ride is! The Spiderman 3D roller coaster is similar to the ones in Harry Potter-land, except now you’re in a city setting flinging webs and protecting the world from baddies! Your cart follows Spidey through traffic congested streets and a starry night sky to keep the civilians from harm but you never know what super villain you’ll encounter at every turn! Keep your eyes peeled and hold on tight because you are definitely in for a bumpy and high flying ride.
During our vaca, we stayed in an apartment style room at the Westgate Reserves. Our living quarters were gorgeous and the best part about it is that we had a kitchenette, so we were able to do a lot of eating at “home”. But let me tell you, on the days that we treated ourselves to some meals out we sure did some good eating! My favorite restaurant that we ate at was called Mythos, which is located on the Islands Of Adventure. I had the pesto gnocchi and it was seriously incredible. The pesto was really creamy and it was garnished with sun dried tomatoes which is one of my favorite things in the world!
My only complaint about the restaurant is their unclear marking on the menu in regards to what food is vegetarian or not. For example, I was originally going to order their pad thai because it said on the menu that it could be prepared vegetarian style. However, when I went to order it, our waitress informed me that the dish was made with fish oil. I was so thankful that she informed me because if she didn’t tell me and I somehow found out on my own, I don’t think that I could live with myself. My second choice was delicious, but it was definitely unsettling to know that I almost unknowingly ate a meal with a fish based product in it. If you are a vegetarian and you eat at Mythos, make sure you ask for clarifications on the ingredients of what you order to prevent an unfortunate incident of meat eating!
So there you have it, some More Orlando Vacation Fun! Did any of you go on vaca this summer? Where was your vacation destination location? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
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