The Angel Forever

Dreaming of a Disney Wedding

Posted on April 3, 2011 8:29 am by TheAngelForever

The 2011 DisneySMMoms event began with the Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons Platinum Soiree. I already wrote about how we were greeted. Now, it’s time to share the event that was held inside the Grand Floridian Wedding Pavilion. We all walked down the aisle and took our seats. Imagine being a bride and having this view before your eyes:

The first speaker was Michael Shettell from Alfred Angelo. He came to talk about the new line of Disney Princess inspired dresses. We had seen some on our way into the pavilion.

Shettell shared how he came up with the designs. Here is a video that Alfred Angelo made about the new line.

We were then in for a surprise. Everyone at the event was going to be the first to view the Cinderella Gown. To say that this dress could take your breath away would be an understatement. Here are a few photos courtesy of DisneySMMoms:

Next, we were told about the new options for people from Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings and/or Honeymoons. The new Disney Ever After Blog has a wealth of information, stories, memories, and more. They recently wrote about the trend in candy buffets at weddings – like the one they had for us at the soiree.

We were also introduced to a couple that had been married at Disney World two years ago. That is about the time that I knew we were going to see a wedding take place before our eyes. Suddenly, Kristen and Greg were whisked away and an energetic Carley Roney from The Knot and The Bump talked to us. She told us about the start of The Knot and how it grew from the original days on AOL to where it is now. She reminded all of us that in order to be successful, we have to find a way to engage our audience and ignite their passion. She showed us just how they used this in their online community to grow, expand, and mature.

Next up was David Tutera. I have to admit something here. I had heard of him, but never seen My Fair Wedding before.

Tutera was so personable, even hugging one of the fans within the crowd. Then he told us about an upcoming episode where he goes to Topeka, Kansas to do a wedding that is part of a Make a Wish Foundation wish. I know I want to see this episode now that I know the background behind it and the passion to making a magical wedding that Tutera has.

Next thing we knew, we were thrust into a party – a wedding was taking place before our eyes. Yes, Kristen and Greg were renewing their vows during the DisneySMMoms event. There were dancers, amazing gowns, Cinderella coach, fireworks, champagne toast and more.

Then it was time to head over to the beach front at the Grand Floridian Resort where our families were waiting for a fun filled evening that included a delicious dinner.

Lots more from the 2011 DisneySMMoms coming soon.

Disclosure: Although we paid for our own trip to Disney World, we were given an incredible deal thanks to Disney. The sweet conference fee included 3 nights at the Grand Floridian, several meals for the entire family, 7 day park hoppers for everyone, conference/meals for me and some other items to take home. Also note that Disney never asked us to blog about this event. As a long time Disney fan it is my pleasure to share my experiences from the event. All photos used before the final collage were taken by Disney Fine Art Photography & Video.

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Blogging Conference Disney DisneySMMoms fun interesting photos

Our Splash Mountain Adventure

Posted on April 2, 2011 11:41 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL,

On our last day at Disney World, we decided to spend time at the Magic Kingdom. We knew that there were a lot of rides that you wanted to go on, but that JSL was still too small for according to Disney. One of these rides was Splash Mountain. After arriving at the park, we went to get some Fast Passes. When it was time to head back, we got a Child Swap pass so Daddy could go back on with you later.

The two of us immediately went through the quickly moving Fast Pass lanes. Before we got to the area to board our log, I sent Daddy a text message. I had goofed and left my prescription sunglasses on, which made it hard to see in the darker areas of Splash Mountain. Before we knew it, they were looking for a party of two to move even further up the line. Within minutes, we were on our way to the back of a log and starting our adventure.

This was not our first time on Slash Mountain together, so we knew what to expect. We just went around a corner and were heading up the giant mountain. Suddenly our log STOPPED. We were way up the incline and about 3/4 or more of the way in a pretty dark area. We sat there for a bit and then you wanted to know what was going on. I had no clue and could not get my cell phone out of my pocket. Turning around to look was next to impossible thanks to the steep incline that we were at.

After about five minutes, we heard them cut into the PA system asking all cast members to immediately go to Tower 3. I have a feeling we were stuck in that area. They never told us much at that point, just to stay seated and not attempt to get out of our logs. After another five minutes or so, our log started to move into the first animated section of the ride. As we left that area we were hopeful. Then we stopped again with a bunch of logs unable to move in front of us.

We were baking in the sun and crowds were forming below. There were no logs going down the mountain and people knew something was up. More messages on the PA system to stay still and know they were looking into the problem. By this time, I had pulled out my phone and the two of us worked on sending photo messages and Tweets.

Daddy knew that we were stuck and was trying to find out more. We could see him from where we were, but he did not realize that at the time. Here is a photo that I took with my cell phone:

We were both getting a bit worried because we had no clue what was going on. Plus we had another little issue with the other people in our log. I think this photo sums it up:

Then, a cast member appeared along the edge of the ride.

We thought perhaps that we were going to be rescued, but we were wrong. People asked what was going on, but little was said except that we would be moving soon and the ride was safe.

After what seemed like an eternity, our logs moved again. 30 minutes after we started the adventure, we were able to get off the Splash Mountain. NHL, thank goodness you were there. I was shaking quite a bit and my back hurt. You led me through the maze to find our golden fast pass ticket for our trouble, and then out to Daddy.

At first, you said you were never going on Splash Mountain again. Much to my surprise, after dinner at Chef Mickey – YOU asked Daddy to go back on Splash Mountain. I was so proud of you.

Thank you for being so good while we were stuck and not letting this experience ruin the magic of Splash Mountain. I love you my brave big kid.

Love,

Mommy

_______________________________________

If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.

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Dear Kid Saturday Disney DisneySMMoms interesting jsl looking back nhl photos TechyDad vacation

Figuring Out The Answers

Posted on April 1, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Yesterday, I wrote a post called Are You a Good Enough Mother? At the start, I asked:

Have you ever had one of those moments where you doubt yourself, wonder what is happening, and question whether you are a good enough mother/parent/adult/human?

I explained that I am working on taking the words of Rene Syler, aka the head GEM/Good Enough Mother to task.

Now, thanks to Rene and some Rene-isms (also listed in my post yesterday), I have a lot of things on my mind, planned for my blog, and more importantly ideas for my life. The first is to be able to accept that nobody is perfect and know that being a good enough mother is awesome. Oh and thanks to a comment from Rene, I have another Rene-ism to add:

“You may not have all the answers, but you’re smart enough to figure it out.”

I know this statement from Rene is true, it’s just hard to sit by, be patient, and get those answers figured out – especially when your children are involved.

Today, my Aloha Friday question continues along with my quest to bring you along on my journey as I embrace my inner GEM and work on reinventing myself. The reality is that most of us do reinvent ourselves at least once in our lives. So my question to you:

If you had the chance to reinvent yourself right now, what would you want to do and why?

_____________________________________________________________________________

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #145

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Are You a Good Enough Mother?

Posted on March 31, 2011 10:00 am by TheAngelForever

Have you ever had one of those moments where you doubt yourself, wonder what is happening, and question whether you are a good enough mother/parent/adult/human?

Welcome to my current world.

As I hinted at the other day, TechyDad and I are in the process of making some tough decisions for our family. I have shed a lot of tears since we got back home from the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Let’s just say that coming back from a week of magic, where you can forget about reality, is harsh.

Fortunately, I am trying to remember some wise words that I heard at the conference. I am working on embracing the philosophy of the The Good Enough Mother. This means accepting that nobody is perfect, being able to let go of things, allowing for me time, and realizing that I am not failing my children. We all make mistakes, learn from these mistakes (not failures), and grow thanks to them. Still being a TypeA personality, it is not easy to let go of my ways.

So who helped me to see the light? This beautiful, amazing, and truly inspirational woman that I am standing with below:

Meet Rene Syler – the head GEM. What is a GEM, read more about what it mean to be a Good Enough Mother on her website. Here is a little biography that was provided to us before the event at Disney:

Rene Syler has had the opportunity to interview famous faces, political personalities and countless authors during her four year position as one of the anchors of The Early Show at CBS. In March 2007, Rene’s first book Good Enough Mother: The Perfectly Imperfect Book of Parenting was published by Simon Spolight Entertainment. From that her website, www.goodenoughmother.com was born.

Rene came onto the stage at DisneySMMoms and stole my heart and many others in the audience. She spoke to me on so many levels. Almost two weeks after hearing her inspirational speech, my brain is still going a mile a minute – not a bad thing honestly. Rene’s words have helped me during the moments where I wanted to quit being an adult and return to my childhood. Seriously, recalling her words has brought a smile to my face when there were tears in my eyes.

My plan is to bring you along on my journey as I embrace my inner GEM and work on reinventing myself. I will continue to explore more lessons from Rene and channel her energy here on my blog.

For now, I would like to share some of my favorite Rene Syler-isms from her talk. I Tweeted about many of these during DisneySMMoms, but think they deserve to be seen again:

Being washed up is just another word for reinventing yourself. You can always reinvent yourself.
Just because you used your womb doesn’t mean that you don’t use your brain.
Real growth hurts. You cannot grow when you are comfortable, and you cannot be comfortable when you grow.
Follow your passion, because you can never go wrong.
It is okay to say to your kids, “Come here. Listen, Mommy need a break from you.” It’s good for you and for them.
When you spit fire the message is lost.
People who make you feel bad have no place in your life. Do not let people get you down about not being perfect.
You only have so much energy and do not need to waste your energy on negative people.
Anyone who says they are perfect is lying!

To read more about Rene’s talk, head over to Cutestkidever, where Christina live blogged.

One more thing, Rene is a big fan of Dancing With The Stars. She actually Tweets along with people using #dwts during the live shows. The other night, she mentioned that she would love to be on the show. Cindy, The Mom Maven, listened and started a Twitter campaign and wrote a blog post to let the powers that be know that Rene has our support. Please help us to get Rene Syler onto Dancing With The Stars – the world could learn so much while watching this amazing woman strut her stuff.

Rene is a one of a kind woman who can teach all of us so much. Thank you, Rene, for being you, for sharing with all of us your gift, and for Tweeting and supporting Social Media and Moms in general.

Disclosure: Although we paid for our own trip to Disney World, we were given an incredible deal thanks to Disney. The sweet conference fee included 3 nights at the Grand Floridian, several meals for the entire family, 7 day park hoppers for everyone, conference/meals for me and some other items to take home. Also note that Disney never asked us to blog about this event. As a long time Disney fan, it is my pleasure to share my experiences from the event.