Many Happy Days I Squandered

I've been saying a gradual goodbye to Florida and all that I love here over the past week or so. It's been sad, but at the same time, this week was one of the best weeks of my time here! About half of my bucket list got crossed off in this last week. So I'm feeling way more ready to leave now.

(BTW, the title of this post is a line from the Florida state song. And it's pretty much how I feel about my time here. My days were so happy and I squandered so many of them in a kind of blissful daze.)

Wanna know what I did for my last two weeks here?? Ok.....

Tuesday, 4/5. Met the Fairy Godmother at our 5-yr anniversary celebration at work. I had to wake up early, but it was worth it, because I got to take pictures with all my coworkers and I ate cake for breakfast.

This is the cake I ate for breakfast. (I didn't eat the whole thing, don't worry.)

This lady is my boss. Well, not anymore I guess. But she was.

After this lovely work party, I had to leave to go back home in the pouring rain. There was seriously a monsoon as we left. Here's what happened to me:

After the work party, I went back home for a few hours and hung out with my roommates. I ate Chick-fil-A for breakfast, which is delicious anytime but especially on a gloomy monsoon-y day, and then we made a "Remember When" list. I love making these at the end of every semester and Olivia left on the 7th, so we didn't have much time left together.

After this lovely bonding time, I worked for a few hours and then headed over to Hollywood Studios to watch Fantasmic. I can't believe I spent 3 months in Florida and only just barely made my way over to watch it. It was really cool and I think I looked like a little kid with how excited I got.

Once Fantasmic was over I traded in my flipflops for some heels and headed over to the House of Blues for Latin Night with my roommate Jackie and some other friends. Another item crossed off my bucket list :) It was fun and I realized that I forgot how much I love dancing. I think Jackie and I were the some of whitest girls in the place, and I'm pretty sure we were theonly blondes.

Wednesday, 4/6. Jackie, Dianne, and I went with Olivia and her friend Emily to Daytona Beach!! I love the beach and I love these girls, and Daytona is gorgeous.

Some things to remember if you are going to the beach:

1. Sand sticks to everything. You will be scraping it out of your phone and sunglasses for weeks after leaving the beach.

2. Swimsuits get bigger when they get wet. So you should always hold onto them when waves crash into you.

3. You can touch the tops of jellyfish, but don't touch their squiggly little legs. Don't even do it.

Sunday, 4/10. Have you ever celebrated your birthday by being rudely awaken at 6 in the morning to the sound of popping balloons and screams of "Happy Birthday!!!" ? If your answer is no, you need more friends like me, Dianne, Christine, Jackie, and Sean. Two of our friends, Cheyenne and Brad, turned a year older on this day. We pulled them out of bed at 6 in the morning and made crepes and sausages and cupcakes for their special day. Surprisingly, it was lots of fun!

Tuesday, 4/12. I worked a twelve-hour shift this day and was dead tired by the end of it, but I was able to muster up the strength to get dressed and drag myself to the Magic Kingdom for one last viewing of Wishes (the fireworks show) with my FGIT friends. We watched the fireworks and took pictures in front of the castle and got pineapple dole whip and watched the Electric Lights Parade and rode Space Mountain.

I'm going to miss this magical place :(

Wednesday, 4/13. The Saunders came to town! Amber Saunders was one of my leaders in Young Women's and Seth served with my dad in the bishopric. They are in Orlando right now with their youngest son Kellen for an acting and modeling competition so I got to meet up with them and take them to Disney World. On Wednesday morning I picked them up from their hotel and we went to Animal Kingdom. Right after saying hello, Kellen handed me an autographed photo collage. He is darling :) At DAK, we went on a safari and did some catching up, and then I had to go to work.

It was my last day of work, and I didn't have time to go from DAK to my apartment, so I had to go straight to Downtown Disney, which meant that I didn't have my name tag and I had to be Melanie from Reedings, England for my last day.

Everything was bittersweet. All day, my FGIT friends were coming up to me one at a time to wish me luck and express their sadness that I was leaving so soon after arriving. I am going to miss them all so much! Everyone I work with has been so kind to me. I'm a little surprised by how attached I've gotten after only a few months, but when I think about how included everyone has made me feel here, I'm not so surprised after all.

I went on my last parade and thought back to my first parade. It seems like it was only last week that I went on the carousel for the first time and thought, as we went round and round, how fun my job was. My time in Florida stretched out before me with no end in sight. When the carousel stopped this time, my FGIT friends called me over and we took a few pictures together with our flags and banners. Looking into the camera lens, I actually got tears in my eyes, because I'm going to miss this so much.

Rhonda, my favorite coordinator, left at 4. Rhonda was born and raised in Florida but has kind of a Southern accent. She is so funny and sassy and always lets me go on the parade when she's coordinating. She gave me her home, cell, and work number and told me that if I wanted to use her as a reference she would have nothing but good things to say.

I was doing a princess makeover and she came over and said, "Princess, can I say goodbye to your fairy godmother really quick?" My princess said yes and Rhonda came behind the chair and gave me a hug. That was the second time I started crying, but I held it in really well, since I was onstage. Rhonda wished me good luck in everything and then told my princess, "Thank you for letting me say goodbye. Your fairy godmother is going to the castle for a very long time, so I'm not sure when I'll get to see her again. So it's exciting, because she's going to get to live in the castle, but I'll miss her too." Ugh. The castle sounded soooo unappealing right then!

Nadira, my trainer, and Marjorie left at 5. I was helping Valerie with makeup and Nadira came over and asked to speak with me backstage. They both gave me big hugs and said they were sad to see me go. I loved these ladies so much so I started crying then too. Haha I was seriously like a fountain all day, it was ridiculous.

I didn't leave until 8:30, and at 8:00, a FGIT named Patty came over with all the other FGIT's that were still at work and said that they had something for me. She handed me a laminated sheet of paper that everyone had signed and a PhotoPass card with pictures on it that the photographers had taken of me throughout the day. Make that the fourth time that I cried....

Patty was so nice and said, "We don't usually do this for CP's, but you were such a pleasure to work with. You brought so much to this boutique and we all loved working with you. We just want to wish you luck with everything you do, and we hope you come back to visit us soon!"

Above: me with Nadira

Below: me with Marjorie

Thursday, 4/14. I finally started packing on this day. It really should have happened sooner, but what-er. After a few hours of packing, I went to Typhoon Lagoon with Sean. Sean is one of the first people I met here...in fact, we met on the bus ride from the airport! So it was nice to come full-circle.

We strapped on snorkels and swam with sharks for our first activity. I was retarded at first with the snorkel and it kept filling with water, so this Australian lifeguard swam over to me and was like, "Are you all right, love?" And I was like *cough cough hack deep breath* "sorry, my snorkel just keeps filling with salt water!" And he was like, "It's all right. Here, hold onto my arm." And I was like mmmm. Ok :) And he was like, "You just make a nice seal around that with your lips." And I was like, "what about my lips?" Just kidding, I didn't say that. I just thought it....and then I stopped hanging onto him and swam away and then Sean and I went through again.

This time I wasn't so preoccupied with trying to breathe, so I was actually able to see the sharks. There were some hammerheads and some tiger sharks, and then a bunch of other cool tropical fish. I felt so cool and didn't even get eaten.

After that adventure, we went on a few slides and played in the wave pool, and then it was time to go. I picked up the Saunders and we went to the Magic Kingdom! I've decided that Disney World is a lot more fun when you go with little kids. Kellen was so excited about everything and it was great hanging out with them.

Right after eating dinner, I met up with some of my friends who were also in Magic Kingdom. The Saunders were ready to go home, so I stayed with my friends to watch the fireworks and get one last pineapple dole whip and then we headed home, too. We got home at about midnight and then there were some more goodbyes as Jackie, Christine and I stayed up until 5 in the morning packing and talking and eating pizza (thanks, Anne!)

Friday, 4/15. Three hours after going to sleep, I woke up to take Jackie and Christine to the airport. I know I'll see them in about a month, but it was still sad saying goodbye! I love these girls!

I got back to Chatham at about 10 and learned that I had to be out by 11. Thus began an hour of panic as I ran around, gathering everything, trying to decide what to keep and what to leave behind. My only regret is that I didn't get to say goodbye to the pool :( I definitely squandered many happy days there!

Once I was all packed, I turned in my key and housing ID and left Chatham forever. I turned in my costume for the last time and then I went to hang out with the Saunders for a little bit while Kellen got ready for his competition. It was so exciting! I can't wait to hear how he did.

Later in the afternoon I brought all my stuff over to my friends' apartment. I'm staying with Sarah, Angelica, Amanda, and Abbie for the rest of my time here in Florida. They are being so nice to let me stay with them! It's kinda fun because every time I drive through, I have to hang out outside the gate until someone else wants to come in who has a gate key, and then I just follow them in real quick. Or I have to call the front office and say, "hi, I'm Sarah Stallings, I just left my gate key at home!" And then they open the gate for me. So it's always an adventure. Last night, Geli taught us how to make these cool bracelets so I made two. We are going to go to the beach in a few days and I'm going to surf again and I'm so excited.

Last night, I met up with some of my FGIT friends at the Rainforest Cafe for Kayla's birthday dinner. It was delicious and we had a really funny and nice waiter. Except he accidentally told my friend Shayna that she was sexy and then her boyfriend met up with us later and he was a meathead and got super mad about it and wanted to fight our waiter so that was awkward since our waiter was just being nice and in fact has a girlfriend who also works at the Rainforest Cafe and was standing right there when Shayna's boyfriend confronted him about it.....

Saturday, 4/16. Tonight I am going out for one final hurrah with my FGIT friends. Haruna is having her birthday party and we are going to give ourselves princess makeovers and then go out dancing. I'm going to be a Disney Diva with blonde hair. It's gonna be awesome.

WHEW. I'm sorry about how long this blog post is. I just had so much to talk about! I'll probably come back later and post some more pictures, but until then, I think this is more than enough material. If you don't read the whole thing, I won't even be offended.

Sticky Smile

I have some more Disney definitions I would like to share.

magical: some little girls who come in first thing in the morning and get to sit in the window seat but they refuse to talk to you at all and don't even smile when they get turned around to see themselves and you find yourself wondering why you like your job at all because of them.

morning meeting: the memory that you cling to when little girls like this are a sad reality in your morning. It was at this meeting which happens every day before the boutique opens that Rob announced that we would be getting a pizza party today!

pizza party: Heather doesn't have to eat the lunch she brought and instead gets fed. Hollllllerr, I love being fed!

cheesecake: apparently, something that Marjorie just had sitting around, so she brought it in to share with us. Aka, the most delicious thing ever. Aka, the thing that was moved from the office downstairs to the fridge in the breakroom without my knowledge, causing me to run up and down the stairs 5 times during my break, asking around as to its whereabouts, searching in freezers and cabinets and the refrigerator until I finally found it.

OSHA-reportable injury: something that would ruin everyone's life if it were to happen in World of Disney or the Boutique, but it does not ruin my life because it did not happen to me or any of the lovely people I work with. In fact, one hasn't happened in 60 days. Which is why we got a pizza party!

parade: this really wonderful thing that I haven't been on in like 2 weeks, but I went on it today, and the sun was shining, and I waved at some boy who waved back at me, and then I got nervous and went back to the Boutique without talking to him, and then he came to the World of Disney store during his lunch break to see me....

podium: where I am thrust by my FGIT friends when he comes into the World of Disney store and I spend a half-hour checking guests in and answering other miscellaneous questions while Prince Charming walks around the store, looking at merchandise and talking to the other managers.

smile: something really sticky and clingy, when your life is as happy as mine :)

Lions play hopscotch, too.

Here at Disney, if we do something especially awesome, or a kid says something especially cute, we call it a Magical Moment. I would like to take this time to share my Magical Moment of the day.

Ehm.

I was talking to a little girl about what else she had done today. She had gone to Animal Kingdom and I asked her what animals she had seen. I went through, asking about different animals until I got to the lions. She said she had seen lions, so I asked what the lions were doing.

She said, "I don't really know, but the daddy lion was like, on the mommy lion's back. Or something. Mom, what were they doing again?"

Her aunts immediately started giggling. Her mom said, "Oh. They were.....the lions were uh, playing hopscotch."

The little girl nodded. "Yeah, but I don't know why. I didn't know lions played hopscotch."

I said, "Don't you like hopscotch? Well then, don't you think lions like hopscotch too?"

Her mom then told me that on the safari, the tour guide had directed their attention to the lions before realizing what was going on. One of the other ladies on the safari gasped and cried out, "Oh my gosh, the children!" very dramatically. The tour guide quickly said, "OH! Yes, the lions are....playing hopscotch again. Look at those antelopes!"

So that was my magical moment today :)

I'm in Love.

With Florida.

I am in love with palm trees. I love their rustly palm leaves and their jaggedy trunks. I love that they are everywhere here.

I am in love with the sunshine. I love that it follows me. I love that it tans me. I love that I can feel it on my bare skin in the middle of winter. I love how it dries my hair in just a few minutes.

I am in love with the ocean. I love the stripes of color, the green that fades to blue that suddenly becomes light sandy brown. I love the shells that get tossed around all day by the foamy waves. I love how the salty water tastes.

I am in love with the sand. I love how it is so soft, but so easy to pack. I love how it feels on my feet. I love pushing my hands into the sand and feeling how cool it is where the sun isn't touching it. I love drawing in it. I love doing cartwheels on the sand.

I am in love with my job. I love that I can do hair. I love that I can make people believe that I am magical. I love that I can talk to little girls from everywhere, from Mexico, or Brazil, or France, or the United States. I love that I can feel these little girls' spirits as I talk to them about whatever while I do their makeover. I love that I work with people who are so fun and nice.

I am in love with flipflops. I love the way they slide on my feet without any hassle. I love when I get a flipflop tanline. I love seeing my toes and wiggling them around.

I am in love with motorcycles. I have said it a million times, but I just think they're the hottest thing ever. I love wearing heels and a dress and climbing on the back of a motorcycle. I love holding on tight and shooting down the road. I love putting my hands up and feeling like I'm flying. I love the way the wind pulls on my hair.

I am in love with Cici's Pizza. I love how nice the workers are. I love the macaroni pizza. I love how small the slices are. I love the desserts. I love paying hardly anything for a whole meal. I love not being hungry for a whole day after eating there.

I can't ever leave this place. Why did I think I could be here for 4 months and then leave? I'm so in love with everything about Florida.

I was Enchanted to Meet You

Sometimes, you do a makeover for a really cute little girl and she tells you you are pretty and she screams in excitement when you finish her makeover, and that makes your day.

And sometimes, you get to take home two bottles of nail polish from the boutique, and that also makes your day.

And sometimes, you find someone to take one of your shifts when your family comes to town, and that really makes your day!

And sommmmetimes, your coordinator delivers a message to you from a certain Prince Charming that you thought for sure you would never ever hear from, thanks to some pesky but well-meaning fairy godmothers, and it is a positive message, and not anything like, "Why are you a psycho?" and your coordinator says that he is smitten with you, and that confuses you a little, but really just makes your day the very most of all :)

Why My Life is Awesome #461-476

Hullo and Happy Valentines Day! Slash, Singles Awareness Day. Slash, Forced Affection Day. Slash, Heather-goes-to-work-and-is-immediately-handed-a-homemade-truffle,-a-cherry-lollipop,-and-a-bag-of-conversation-hearts-before-being-assigned-to-give-the-most-adorable-girl-ever-a-makeover.....Day!

And then, after having a string of awesome and sweet little girls, I went to my castle (aka my break) and do you want to know what was in the breakroom? It was a slushie machine! In honor of Valentines Day!

And thennn, do you want to know what happened after that? I went outside to Pixie Dust, and there was a dance party going on by the waterfront. And I got to dance along to music other than the 1o songs I listen to nonstop all day when I am in the Boutique.

And after that, I clocked out, changed into real people clothes, and got picked up in a car (not the bus) and taken to this country dancing activity. Where I danced with some cuties and we did some steps called things like the cuddle. And someone gave me cake and a cookie. Also, a loaf of bread and a bag of toffee.

And THEN! As if my day wasn't already awesome enough, I got home from that activity and me and my roommates went over to these boys apartment, and they had made us a Valentines Day dinner of really delicious spaghetti and homemade sauce and French bread. And by the time that was over, I was pretty much stuffed and the happiest girl ever.

I am so unbelievably happy when people are feeding me, I can't even express it.

In other news....I still haven't heard back about Cinderella, but I heard that another girl already heard that she got Aurora, so I don't think I got it or else I would have known by now. Which okay I think I accidentally lied when I said I didn't care what happened, because in real life, I really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really reallyy REALLY would love to be Cinderella :/

Tomorrow I am going to Universal Studios! I cannot waitt. I'm going with my roommates Jackie and Christine and we are going to meet up with some other friends while there.

Then on Thursday, my family is coming to visit me! I am so so excited to see them. They are bringing our Sabie car, who I also have missed terribly. I just can't wait to show them where I work and share the beautiful weather with them, and give them hugs and talk to them in 3D....it is going to be so wonderful :) Now I just have to get off of work!

PS: If you want a more Valentines-appropriate blog post, you can go here :) or here. Or just look at this picture.

"And for you I wish for.....you, I wish for....you find your love, and for you......I wish happiness...."

A Disappointing Fairytale

Once upon a time, in the land of Orlando, there lived a princess who was one of the happiest girls in all the land. She spent much of her time at the Bibbidi-Bobbidi Boutique, doing hair for younger princesses, visiting the castle, and dreaming of the day that she would meet her Prince Charming. So you see, she was very much like other princesses, except for one thing: her fairy godmother.

Most princesses just have one fairy godmother, but this princess had several. She always had at least two, and sometimes, she had as many as eight or nine. You might think that this made her eight or nine times luckier than the other princesses, but it did not. And you'll see why when you've finished the story.

Every day at the Bibbidi-Bobbidi Boutique, there was a parade for all the princesses in the land. The princess in our story loved the parade, and went whenever she had the opportunity. She loved walking down the sparkly road, waving to and blowing kisses at all the people who came to see her.

One day, while walking with the other princesses in the parade, she saw him: Prince Charming. He was incredibly tall and handsome, with dark blonde hair, blue eyes and dimples. The princess was quite pleased to see him, and blew a kiss in his direction. She hoped that one day, they would meet and fall in love.

After the parade, she told her fairy godmothers all about the handsome prince. They insisted that she go on the parade again the following day so that she could point him out to them. The princess agreed. Perhaps her fairy godmothers could help her figure out how to meet the prince!

The next day, the princess went outside for the parade with all nine of her fairy godmothers, just as they had planned. As they passed the prince, her fairy godmothers knew who he was before she could even say a word. (He was the most handsome prince in the audience.) The princess finished up the parade, confident that afterwards, her fairy godmothers would be full of advice on how to talk to the prince.

However, that is not what happened, because after the parade, as they were getting ready to walk back to the Boutique, all of her fairy godmothers gathered around and insisted that she go up and introduce herself. The princess sighed and shook her head, having nothing to say to the prince and not wanting to meet him until she felt more ready. They walked past the prince without saying a word.

"Ohhh, princess!" her fairy godmothers lamented. "You should have said something. Here. We'll introduce you!"

"Oh, no!" cried the princess. "I'll talk to him another day."

But there were two fairy godmothers who would have none of this, named Gail and Marjorie. They left the group and marched right up to the prince.

"Please, no!" the princess exclaimed. When she saw that they would not be stopped, she turned to walk back to the Boutique, hoping that they wouldn't say anything too embarrassing. (She would find out later that they couldn't have possibly said anything more embarrassing than what they chose to say, which was:

Gail: Are you married?

Prince Charming: No....

Gail: Ok, gooood.

Marjorie: We have a [princess] who really wants to meet you!

Prince Charming: Are you sure you don't mean Brad?

Marjorie: What? No.

Gail: She really wants to meet you!)

As the princess was walking away, she heard her name being called. She had no choice but to turn around.

The prince was standing right next to her fairy godmothers, smiling over at her. "He wants to meet you!" Marjorie shouted.

And with that, the princess' life was over. She died on the spot.

(Almost the end. But it gets worse.)

Struggling to regain her composure, she walked over to the prince and said, "Hi," not knowing what else to say.

He extended his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Dan." As they shook hands and the princess introduced herself, trying to speak normally even though her face was as red as a poisoned apple, all the fairy godmothers suddenly left. And ran away and left. And left her and the prince all alone.

So they had no choice but to have an awkward conversation about where each other was from, where they went to school, and how much they enjoyed the parade and the pleasant Florida weather. And the princess, being completely unprepared and thoroughly embarrassed, had nothing witty or remotely interesting to say. And the prince did not fall in love with her.

And they never saw each other again, from that day forward, because the princess was too humiliated to ever walk in the parade again. And the prince was probably studiously avoiding the parade anyway.

And the princess never ever told her fairy godmothers any more of her hopes and dreams, except her dream of learning Portuguese. Which they were actually quite helpful with.

Oh my gosh

I talked to him. The boy from the parade who's really tall and has dimples.

It was possibly the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me, but I now know that the fairy godmothers who work in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique with me are real live honest-to-goodness legit fairy godmothers. (Fada madrinha, in Portuguese. Which I'm trying to learn, for the benefit of 80% of the princesses who come in for makeovers.)

Pumbas, Parades, and my Prince Charming(s)

I am no longer "earning my ears," as they say, at the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique. As of Thursday, I have completed my training and am now a real live member of the cast at the Boutique. And I love it.

At the Boutique, we have some words that we use to keep up our Disney demeanor and perpetuate the delusions that everyone comes to Disney World armed with. Here are a few:

castle: break, as in lunch break. "I have to go to the castle now."

dungeon: bathroom. "I need to go to the dungeon, I'll be right back."

fairy godmother in training: me! also known as FGITs (pronounced "fidgets").

guest: customer. But everyone uses this term, all over Disney.

magical: annoying or difficult, as in a customer. "We had some magical parents this morning who were just not happy with anything. Even the grandmother was magical!"

pumbas: lice. Before putting up the girls' hair, we are supposed to casually comb through, checking for "pumbas." If we find them, we are supposed to leave their hair alone, do their makeup and nails, and ask a coworker to go get the "Lion King," or one of the managers. They will come, make sure it's lice, and then talk to the parents and get it all worked out. We don't have to do their hair after finding pumbas. Thank gooooodness.

That's all for the vocabulary lesson today.

Now for the perks of my job!

1. Great coworkers! I don't know all of them but they seem really nice, for the most part. Especially my trainer, Nadira. She has been so good to me this whole week and helped me through everything.

2. The hours. Are really not that bad, especially compared to other jobs. I will never get off later than 10, and most of the time, I won't even have to work past 7 or 8. And never earlier than 8:30.

3. Treasure! If the guests want to, they can put a tip in the wishing well. From there it gets all divided up and we collect our treasure every Thursday. Most of the other jobs here don't get that so I am super excited.

4. The hot chocolate machine. In the break room, there is a hot chocolate slash coffee machine that is freeeeeee! I had 4 hot chocolates during my breaks on my first two days of training. It was heavenly. But, I'm not really sure if this belongs on my list of perks, because on my third day of training, one of the FGIT's told me that they found a cockroach in the machine a few months ago. I haven't been able to swallow any more hot chocolate since hearing this horrible news.

5. The cute costumes. I hated them at first, but now I actually think they are really cute! I'll put up a picture soon.

6. The princess parade! Every day at 2, we gather up all the little princesses around Downtown Disney, where the Boutique is, and walk with them up to the carousel. We wave like princesses and blow kisses at all the shopkeepers, who come out to wave and blow bubbles at us. It is my favorite part of every work day. Especially because of perk #7.

7. Prince Charming. I do not know his real name, but he works at Downtown Disney and waves at us with a Mickey glove on his right hand, so I know he is single. He wears real people clothes, not a costume, so I know he is a manager, which means he is intelligent and a good worker and a leader. I see him talking and joking with the custodians, so I also know he is approachable, not stuck-up, and easy-going. He is tall and has dimples and one day, I will talk to him. Or he will talk to me. All I'm saying is, I am in love with him.

The title of this post says "Prince Charming(s)" because I am not really trying to limit myself to the mysterious man I see when I walk in the parade. One of my friends is a character attendant and has kindly offered to arrange a backstage makeout with Aladdin for me. I really am in no position to refuse.

Unless he is gay, which, sadly, is quite possible. Then I think it will be best if I just leave him to Jasmine.