U.N.I.V.E.R.S.A.L

We finally made it out of the Disney bubble.

Admittedly we did just visit another theme park... but baby steps friends.

Thursday was Struan's birthday and to celebrate Claire, Struan and myself went a visited Universal Studios, where we had one of the best days of my life!

The very first thing we did? The Wizarding World of Harry Potter of course!! Where else?

Childhood dream come true. Right here. I may or may not have cried like a baby as soon as I got inside the castle. And then proceeded to go on the ride three times. It was the best thing EVER!

My lovely friends decided to document my minor geek out... Pure happiness...

I loved Universal, the rides are amazing and so much fun, a lot more intense than the ones we have here at Disney. But apart from Harry Potter, where I'm pretty sure I left a piece of my soul, Disney has my heart! We pull off atmosphere and experience a lot better than Universal does. We just need some bigger rides to even that playing field!

I purchased my Annual Pass, so I can visit Harry Potter and geek out whenever my heart desires!

Now for photos... All of the photos!

Welcome to Islands of Adventure!

Be still my heart!

The wise old sorting hat. It talks to you as you pass

The Triwizard Cup!

Secret staircase to Dumbledore's office!

Hogwarts here we come!!

Lunch at the Three Broomsticks. And my first ever Butterbeer!!

For me this took up my mind for most of the day. I enjoyed the other rides, especially The Hulk, The Mummy, the Spiderman ride, and the Transformers one. But my one true love was the Wizarding World.
I did moentarily geek out over the car from The Walking Dead however! There is a lot more exploring to do at Universal, and I have a whole year to do it! Bring it on!

Eight Days a Week...

Work.

I said I would come back to the topic of work in my last post, and it has taken me a while to get around to it.

My main excuse?

Exhaustion.

There is so much to do and see here, and I am working all the time, so it barely leaves me any time for sleeping. Somehow I have been surviving off 4 or 5 hours sleep a night, with the occasional 6 hour sleep thrown in there. It hasn't been great sleeping that little, but I know that I would rather be out there having fun, and feeling tired, than not experiencing everything this program has to offer me.

Now work itself has been...interesting. 

I'm going to be honest and say I hated it at first. I'm whats known at Disney as a Vacation Planner, essentially we sell the tickets to the parks, and do about 500 other things along the same lines. It is stressful!! There is so much to remember, and guests are constantly coming up with different requests, or weird circumstances, and most of the time I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing.

But it has got better. Somewhat.

The main thing that is frustrating me, is I am only getting one day off a week. I am working 6 days every week, while my friends and roommates are getting 2 or sometimes even 3 days off. We are meant to be guaranteed at least 2 days off on our program, but apparently Vacation Planners do things differently. It is exhausting! I have been having these awesome days off, doing super fun things, and spending the entire day out adventuring, but obviously not catching up on sleep for the rest of the week. Its a vicious cycle my friends.  

This week it has taken its toll, and I am sick. Full blown coughing fit sick. But I'm still going to work. Its not fun.

But rant over. Work is work and it's going ok now. I'm still hoping for those illusive second days off, but I may just have to give away some shifts every now and again. Take a health day haha. 

More life posts to come... And trust me, a lot is happening, tiredness aside...

I Don't Care

I LOVE IT!

Struan's birthday drinks at our favourite Irish pub!

Finally met my boss! It all started with a mouse...

Um... Wow.

So I promised myself I wouldn't be one of those Disney bloggers who finally gets to Florida and stops posting...

Totally working out well...

I have been so much busier than I anticipated I would be. Whether it be with training for work, or playing in the parks, I have had no time or energy to sit down and write anything. Until right now.

So catch up, where to begin? I left of after our housing meetings, and our trips to Walmart. I'm far too behind to write everything down in order. So I think I will write a few posts themed around certain aspects of my time here.

First up we have fun... Because that's what it's all about...

My lovely flatmates getting our Princess on.

I hung out with my flatmates at Downtown Disney, Disney's free boardwalk type area. We browsed the stores, looked around in awe, and ate dinner at Raglan Road, a great Irish restaurant where a fantastic Irish band was playing. It was a fabulous bonding evening.

I have played in the parks. Oh how I've played!!

I had my first Magic Kingdom experience during Traditions (which I will talk about later) and it was magical. Such a strange feeling to be walking around in front on Cinderella's castle knowing I will be able to pop in whenever I want for a whole year! I've been back many times since!

We hung out with Pooh and Tigger at Animal Kingdom. They are too adorable! But its strange knowing you may know the person who is "friends" with them that day.

We partied at Hollywood Studios, which is now my favourite park!! The film buff in me gets excited around every corner! Plus the rides here are awesome! Rock 'n' Roller Coaster being my favourite so far!

I did also make it to Epcot, Disney World's fourth park, but was only there for dinner and the fireworks, so have no photos. I have plans to explore there next!

All in all I have having a fabulous time. I'm making great friends...

And I'm attempting to see and do as much as I possibly can!! 

It's so hard to put everything I have been up to down in words, but I am loving life.

Work on the other hand... Thats a story for another time.

World Famous in New Zealand...

A few weeks ago I became a stalker.

Albeit a semi-unsuccessful one, but still.

I got a txt in the morning from a guy who is here for a four week placement from England. The txt read "Apparently the All Blacks are at the Mount for training, want to stalk them with me?" 

For those of you who don't know(aka no one out of NZ or Australia), the All Blacks are our rugby team, and they are a pretty huge deal in NZ, we are obsessed. So naturally I said sure thing. We really did not plan out our stalking, in retrospect we should have done more research, maybe found out exactly where they were going to be. Instead we drove around aimlessly for a while, peering onto rugby fields at the of chance they were training there. We walked up and down the beach for a bit, you know, just in case. Then we gave up and grabbed a coffee instead. 

We had been at the Mount about four hours now, so we decided to give up and go pick up my sister from work. As we were leaving, I suggested we do a quick drive by of the beach as one last attempt to stalk. So we did, and guess who was casually doing stretches on the beach. The All Blacks! So we awkwardly hovered until they had finished their training, then got some photos with our favourites...

Piri Weepu


Aaron Cruden


(I obviously took this photo. Which in retrospect I regret. It is Dan Carter after all, shoulda found a random)

And there it is. Our excitement over meeting some famous (in New Zealand) people.

It was pretty enjoyable, and if I do say so myself, I may have a career ahead of me as a professional stalker...

The Story of My Life...

So I have jumped on the bandwagon.

But I'm not going to kid myself, or lie to you.

 

We all know I'm not going to post every day of May as Jenni suggested. But I will participate in some of the challenges. I'm going to pick and choose. 

Cause I'm a rebel like that.

But here we go with Day One... The Story of My Life in 250 words or less. (It's less. I got bored...)

circa 2011

Born February 5th 1992 in Sydney, Australia. Sunshine, family, younger sister and brother. Then New Zealand from age 5 onwards. Growing up, 90's kid, great friends, fun times, movie nights, picnics, music, drama, theatre, parents divorce, late nights, soft toys, parties, beaches, sleepovers, road trips, pizza nights, insecurities, dress ups, warm beds, family, reading, learning guitar, kickboxing, netball, Zumba, flatting, braces at 21, alcohol, coffee, winter, chocolate, red lips, laughing, sleeping in,  and so much more. Moved cities, away from home. Grew up some (not too much). Graduated University with a Bachelor of Media and Creative Technologies. Dreams of acting in or making films, in the meantime watching way too much TV and too many movies. Big dreamer. Big heart. Shy persona. I have never been in love. I am a hopeless romantic. Leaving the security of my small country to live and work at Walt Disney World in Florida. Big excitement. Big fears. Feels like I'm waiting for my life to begin, though I know I have a lot I'm leaving behind. All in all... Happy.

That Time I Graduated...

I know, I know. It's been quite a while. My Laptop is still on the fritz and its harder to be blog motivated when you are constantly working from other peoples laptops. But I'm back for the moment, as I just had to brag about a pretty huge life event.

I Graduated from University!!! I now officially have a Bachelor of Media and Creative Technologies.

There I am, rocking that Cap and Gown like nobodies business. It was such a fun day, my family and friends were there, and I felt proud. Proud of what I have managed to accomplish, even though I'm not sure what to do next, or if my Bachelor will be used. I like to think it will, but either way, I made it through a 3 year Degree, with assignments, exams, creative projects and I did well!

So I am patting myself on the back. And to my friends who also graduated this week. 

Congrats kids, we did it!!

Oh Those Gowns & Glory

So I was working yesterday and unfortunately didn't get to watch the 2013 Oscars *sadface* and being the movie buff that I am, I am disappointed in myself that out of all the films involved in this years show, I have only seen Silver Linings Playbook (which I have been meaning to review) and Les Miserables. 

It may have something to do with the fact that most of the nominated films only just came out in New Zealand. We really need to step up our game.

HOWEVER the fact that I missed the show, obviously didn't stop me from stalking all of the glorious Red Carpet fashion and all the winners (and losers) of the night!

Without further ado... My favourite looks from The 85th Annual Academy Awards!

But my Best Dressed award goes to the lovely...

She seriously looked like a princess and if we are being serious, I want to be her best friend. Am I the only one? She is my favourite person in Hollywood right now, so down to earth and hilarious. And she handled that fall like an absolute pro. Congrats to her! 

22 and an Oscar winner? Obviously the rest of us are failing at life.

And of course, we love to point out the not-so-hot choices of the night. These dresses were a bit of a let down. Some not too bad but nothing special, some downright horrendous *erm Brandi Glanville* anyone else wondering why she was even there? If she can go, surely I can go?

Oh The Oscars... So much excitement. Maybe one day I will be there...

Ha, who are we kidding, only in my dreams...

*Images sourced from here and here

I Solemnly Swear I'm Up to Only Good...

I have received and sent away my Criminal Background check! I am officially not a crim, which should help with the whole getting a visa, and entering the States thing! It's not a huge step, but its something to cross off the ol' check list which makes me happy! One step closer. The next step will be receiving our Welcome Packets which have a bunch of info on our program and our visa applications. So much excite!! (Also, Harry Potter reference in the title? If you got that, we are officially friends!)

In the meantime I have been loving a whole lotta music recently, when I'm working in the jewellery store by myself, I get to play my music so I'm enjoying picking songs to be obsessed with! I thought I would share a few with you...

Carrie Underwood - Two Black Cadillacs

I love how badass this song is! So dark for Carrie but so so good. I have been playing this one on repeat for days! And the video is kickass!

Phillip Phillips - Gone Gone Gone

This song is just so darn catchy, Phillips voice is all gruff and smooth at the same time, an unbeatable combination for any girl!

Finlay Quaye & William Orbit - Dice

This one is an oldie but a goodie, I mean The O.C anyone? That scene where Ryan's sprinting to reach Marissa in time to save her from New Year's kissing Oliver? Swoon! LOVE LOVE LOVE this song!

What are your Music Loves at the moment?

Twenty-Thirteen...

I'm not usually one for New Years resolutions, but this year I have some aspects of my life I would like to spend more time working on. 2013 is going to be my year in more ways than one. This year brings my 21st, my graduation, my move to America... all BIG changes, but I also want to take time for the little things.