1. A fun night out with my book club ladies. We went to a new-to-us restaurant (Cappy’s Pizza) where we shared a big Greek salad, cheesy bread, and pizza. The food was delicious and the conversation even better. I wasn’t able to make it to book club in October and had to decline a lot of events last month too, so it felt like I missed so much. After our dinner date, we drove over to a little ice cream place for dessert where I gave up on a peanut butter ice cream parfait a quarter of the way in. (My eyes were seriously bigger than my stomach!) All in all, a super fun night with my favorite ladies.
2. My first trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! My roommate organized this day for me to celebrate my birthday (she’ll be at home with her family in South Florida on my actual birthday). I am now the proud owner of an annual pass to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure, which means I get to go back and visit Harry Potter as many times as I want over the next year! YAY!
WWoHP was incredible. I will say I am not a rabid HP fan. I’ve only read the books once and have only seen the first movie. But I loved the books and I really wanted to visit this park. And I’m so glad I did! I felt overwhelmed with happiness just walking through this little world that was created for HP fans. I went into Ollivanders and Gringott’s Bank. I went through Platform 9 and 3/4ths and rode the Hogwarts Express. I drank Butterbeer in Hog’s Head. I explored Diagon Alley and rode all of the fun rides. It was the perfect day.
Roomie and I are planning to return sometime in late January and I’m already counting down the days.
3. Birthday love. Okay, so my birthday isn’t until next Saturday, but my Roomie got me a “It’s my birthday!” pin to wear around the park and it was ridiculously fun to get all the happy birthday wishes! I always thought those pins were cheesy – and they are – but I’m totally pro-wearing them now. Not only did I get a ton of well wishes throughout the day, but a worker on one of the roller coasters we rode told me to take the Express Lane because it was my birthday and, during the Men in Black ride, someone over the loudspeaker told everyone to “wish Stephany a happy birthday!” and I got an entire room full of cheers. Totes awesome and I might just wear it every time I’m at Universal. (Kidding.) (I think.)
4. A quiet Saturday evening. After our busy day at the theme park (we started our day at 8am, though I was up at 5am so I could get in my NaNoWriMo word count for the day!), Roomie and I decided to keep it low-key for the night. We heated up leftovers for dinner and both retired to our rooms around 8:30 to read. I like having a Roomie who enjoys early bedtimes like me!
(I’m laughing at the passage I chose to take a picture of… I didn’t realize it until just now when I added it to the post! Oh well. Nothing too provocative, I suppose!)
5. All of the Starbucks! This weekend included four visits to Starbucks, which has to be the most I’ve had Starbucks in one weekend. I went on Friday afternoon between getting off work and meeting my mom for lunch so I could a) get some caffeine in my system and b) work on my novel. I also went on Friday evening, after my hair appointment and before book club. I had about an hour and a half to kill, and since Roomie was taking care of Dutch, I decided to spend it at Starbucks to finish up my writing for the day. Then, Saturday morning, Roomie picked me up Starbucks (as a birthday treat – I am so spoiled by her, it’s insane) before our day at the park. And finally, Sunday morning was spent at Starbucks writing with my friend. Whew! And three cheers for the return of peppermint mochas. Yum, yum!
6. An afternoon with family. Sunday afternoon was spent in the best possible way: relaxing at my mom’s apartment to watch football with her, my brother, and oldest nephew. We ordered pizza, enjoyed the games, caught up on each other’s lives, and at the end, my nephew and I played the longest game of Uno ever (it took us over an hour to finish just ONE game!). My nephew loves playing games, but he still has a very short attention span and gets frustrated if he’s losing, so it takes a lot of patience. It’s worth it, though. 🙂
What was the best part of your weekend?