I'm Moving to the Grand Floridian in Walt Disney World! Who's with me? ºoº

The Grand Floridian Hotel at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida is one of my most favorite places in the world.  Either sitting in a cabana enjoying a tropical drink on the beach or sitting on the ridiculously comfy couches in the cathedral lobby listening to a live orchestra play Glenn Miller's greatest hits.  It is one of the most gorgeous hotels ever and the perfect respite from a long day at the parks.

Confession - I have never actually stayed at this hotel.  YET!  I am a member of the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) and this has been one of the greatest things I have ever done for myself.  I love Disney - especially Walt Disney World and I know in my heart that will never change.  I vacation there about 3-5 times a year and never tire of it.  Every season has its own magic.  In January, the crowds are low and  you can spend a wonderful day in the parks in a hoodie and shorts.  In May, you have Star Wars weekends which are AMAZING.  I am a huge Star Wars geek!  In October you have Halloween and the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival which I cannot even begin to describe and then there is Christmas which is simply off the charts.  I still make a wish every time I say good-bye to Cinderella's Castle and I still get excited like a little girl when I see Belle and Beast.  I am a Disney Princess at heart and I wouldn't have it any other way!

There are 12 resorts in total including one in Hawaii, one on Hilton Head Island and an amazing oceanside property in Vero Beach, Florida.  So one doesn't have to spend every waking moment in the company of Mickey Mouse - but I can think of worse ways to spend a day!  I mean when is the last time you had breakfast on the balcony watching zebras and giraffes graze on the savannah?  :-)

Anyway, the Grand Floridian is currently selling DVC villas that are set to open in October 2013.  This past week, I was able to get a sneak peak of the villas before they are open to the public.  I must say I was completely blown away and yes, I am considering selling my house and relentlessly persuading The Walt Disney Company to let me live her permanently.  (I know it will never happen but a girl can dream, right?)

So please come along with me on a journey of gorgeousness!  Please excuse the quality of the photos as they were taken with my iPhone.  This was a last minute treat before getting in the car for the 20 hour drive home back to Chicago.  I hate going home - Post Disney Depression should be recognized by the AMA and insurance should cover treatment.  LOLz.

The mock up of the studio and one bedroom units was on Display at the DVC Preview Center - the hub of all things Disney Vacation Club - at Saratoga Springs Resort.  It is this building that is the inspiration for the color and design scheme of my STILL unfinished foyer.  The colors and molding are amazing -

I love the sunny yellow, the thick colonial molding and the stacked stone!  So pretty!

So here we go on the Grand Floridian Villas Tour ...

Here is the entrance to the studio.  A very calming, soothing color palette and I love the white moldings and hardwood flooring.

In the studio, which sleeps a maximum of five people, there are now TWO showers.  And they are gorgeous!  Done in a bevel subway tile with a pretty ceramic border - just beautiful!

The vanities are done in a deep dark mahogany with grey granite tops.  The sconces and fixtures are all done in a brushed chrome against a spa blue setting.  Simply stunning!

The TV cabinet is a pull down Murphy Bed - brilliant or what?  I love this!

Believe it or not - this is the REFRIGERATOR!  The middle drawer is an ice drawer if you have a party!  SWEET!

Are these cabinets simply divine?  I mean I want these in MY house - and they are in a hotel room!

This is the sitting area which includes a pull out couch which sleeps two more people.

The decor keeps in line with the Grand Floridian Resort Hotel Victorian design inspiration!  The Mickey Mouse touches here done with style is what Disney does best!

Look at the backsplash tile - it looks like a tufted chair.  Bright white with white mortar - stunning!

This is a decorative window that is simply put in the middle of a wall to allow light and interest in the kitchen!

The fretwork is so pretty above the dining banquette.  This mirrors the listello tile in the shower!

I LOVE the tufted headboard and the downlighting.  I am ready to crawl in!

A desk work station in the one bedroom villa.  A nice place to set your laptop or write post cards.  :-)

A balcony off the bedroom is a nice way to welcome the sunshine for another Disney Day!

Another beautiful mirror - this was our tour guide and she was just as excited as I was during the tour!

YES - your eyes do not deceive you - that is a TELEVISION in the mirror!  So you can check the weather on WESH-TV to see how you should dress for the parks as you get out of the shower!  :-)

And yes that is a claw foot tub behind me - this is a better picture of the TV!

LOVE the sconces and the mirror!  Now do you see why I never want to leave?  *sigh*

The dining area perfect for a home cooked meal as you have a fully stocked kitchen with pots and pans and cooking utensils.  This is wonderful after a long day in the parks or at the pool.  Or late night card games or board game wars.  Love the light - wish I had gotten one with better detail.

I love the molding header above the hotel room doors!  And the downlight which is the equivalent of a front porch light.  I couldn't take enough pictures and when I got in the car I wish I had taken about 100 more!

This cabinetry on the right hides the washer and dryer and more closet space.  There is also a full size walk-in closet in the one-bedroom - Walt Disney World truly is the happiest place on Earth!  LOL

I absolutely cannot wait for these villas to open.   Thank you for taking the tour with me.  I hope you found them to be as beautiful as I did.  There is also a Grand Villa which usually sleeps between 10 and 16 people - I CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE what that is like.  Even the DVC hosts have not seen one of those.  I am sure Walt Disney would simply tell me:

“Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.”

 Have a Disney Day!  ºoº

Summer Dress Shopping!

Yay!  It's Memorial Day!  To look outside you would never know it.  Here in Chicago, it is cloudy, gloomy and really cold!  I am literally in fleece and jeans but flip flops - it is after all the official start to summer!  I am thinking if I dress like it is summer, summer will notice and come for a nice LONG visit.

So, I have some weddings and events coming up and I really want a new summer dress.  I know we have bunches of them hanging in our closets but there is something about a new sun dress that just starts the summer off right!

This is my dream dress:

But I cannot afford the price tag on this one!  My new obsession is Mod Cloth!  Modcloth.com - I dare you to not sit on this website for hours just drooling over all their clothes!  I found this adorable navy and white broad stripe dress that is similar:

I love this so much!  I only hope it looks this cute once I try it on - usually it does not!  :-)

Then there is always Lilly Pulitzer - the quintessential summer uniform of the preppy at play.  

Here are some of her Summer 2013 offerings:

Whistler Dress in Resort White Gold Digger - I love the coastal colors on this dress - so pretty!

Ooops - gotta go - more later.  The rain stopped and I have to try and mow the lawn!

Random Shopping finds... J Crew and Thrift Shoppes!

I saw this in the J Crew Outlet in Michigan City, Indiana and instantly fell in love!  I love the citron cardi  (to me it will always be tennis ball yellow) and the navy shorts and crisp white shirt.  But what I am loving most of all is the polka-dot bow tie!  It is absolutely adorable!  I have been picking up bow ties at second hand stores lately because I so want to copy this trend.  I love this look so much.  Casual and yet so polished!

I also gushed over this lobster cotton sweater.  It just screams summer and reminds me of my time in Kennebunkport, Maine.  One of my most favorite places in the whole world.  This is on my J. Crew bucket list for sure!  Adorbs.

Since getting my iPhone, I love that fact that I have a camera with me at all times and I must admit the photo quality is pretty sweet.  I find myself taking pictures and videos of totally random stuff.  This post is simply a collection of some of these pictures!  :-)

I stopped in a Thrift Shoppe (I like to spell it that way to class it up a bit  :-) and found this vintage table!  I love this - the metal detailing, the decorative trim all make it adorable.  I don't know what I am going to do with it but I could not pass it up for $10!  White with silver metal accents?  Deep cherry with silver?  Mahogany with gold?  Seriously confused.  :-)

Then I walk five more feet and come across with this low side table.  It is SO cute and again it was only $10!  I think I am going to paint this and use it for flip-flop storage in my new navy and pink closet.  But the more I look at it, I think it would be a wonderful bedside night stand.  Storage for books and such.  And it also has a larger drawer for storage at the bottom.  I will have to think about this one.

 I also found this vintage magazine holder.  This is definitely going to get painted and stenciled but there are so many possibilities that my head is spinning.  I am going to take my time until I come up with the perfect idea.

Then I found this adorable metal sign at Hobby Lobby!  I love the saying and think I may have to use this quote somewhere in my house!  SO cute.  

So those are just some random shopping finds I wanted to share.  I have lots of work to do with my thrifty finds.  Hopefully, I will be posting "AFTERs"  very soon.  Have a great week - enjoy the promise of Springtime!

Boston Inspired Master Closet Make Over!

Boston.  Such an amazing city.  Tonight, the world's attention is on this American treasure because of the awfulness that occurred at the Boston Marathon earlier today.  My heart is indeed heavy and I am sad, angry, frustrated and even a little bit scared.  I visited Boston for only my second time in November 2012 for the Notre Dame vs. Boston College football game and I fell in love with this historical city all over again.

While exploring Newbury Street, one of my most favorite shopping streets in the world, I was introduced to the world of Jack Wills.  It is a store imported from Great Britain and its signature colors are navy blue and pink stripes.  The store is amazing and I became an instant fan.  I chose to use that Jack Wills inspired color scheme in my master closet makeover.

There aren't a lot of great things about being single, but it is definitely a perk that I don't have share a remote control or a closet.  And even though I hold out hope for meeting and marrying the man of my dreams, for now I will seek solace in enjoying MY new closet which is mine... all mine.  LOL

I don't believe I am going to post these BEFORE pictures.  Yikes - this closet held a LOT of stuff.  Everything from clothes to Christmas decorations, lamps and even a big Santa Claus.  Do you have holiday decorations in your closet?  I don't have the luxury of a basement but I still don't know why we do this.  :-)

These lamps were here only temporary so they wouldn't get broken but then there are some Easter baskets and an Eddie Bauer Home Store (now defunct) teddy bear which was a gift from my Mom.

So here we have an empty closet and a hardwood underlayment from tearing up the carpeting.

I started with some basic white stripes and only used paint which I had in the house.  I then moved to a navy paint which I decided against for the dining room.  I knew I had a quart of "oops" paint which I picked up for a $1 last summer to have on hand in case I came up with an idea for it.  :-)

My favorite color combo - navy and white!  I was thrilled with the stripes!  

I then primed and painted the floor white an really liked the open feeling of the empty closet.  I decided not to put the back shelf and rod back the way it was.  I had this overcrowded bookcase in the laundry room downstairs and decided to use that in the closet for room for sweaters and folded shirts.

I washed it and covered the shelves in this adorable pink shelf liner from MacBeth.  I found three packs on clearance at Marshall's.  It was the perfect color!

I put the book case in place and placed the large shelf on top which worked out perfectly.  I then cut up the long pole into smaller sections and attached them to the wall and the bookcase.  I covered them as well in the pink shelf liner for a more polished look.  I then had extra wood shelves from the dining room hutch I broke apart and used a circular saw to make shelves which fit between the bookcase and the wall.  This created little cubbies which are perfect for shoes or smaller items.

This is probably my favorite part of the closet.  I hung this bar low to the ground so as not to waste space but to create a place just for my tennis skirts.  It worked out perfectly.

When it came to the floor, I wanted something a little kicky.  So I decided to do a monogram and an anchor just for fun.  I found the initial decals on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $1.  Sweet.

I started to move in some pieces to see how it is all going to work out.  I wish I didn't have a ton of stuff to fit in this space although, rest assured, Santa Claus is not coming back in.  :-)  Cheers!