Bring Your Fairytale to Life

Dress: Forever 21, $24.80

Cardigan: Forever 21, $24.80

Shirt: Forever 21, $19.80

Shoes: Forever 21, $24.80

Belt: Forever 21, $5.50

Total: $99.70

That's A Lot of House

I have been to the Biltmore House two times before, but my mom and I decided to take a third trip to Asheville, NC to see it. We were very excited to spend the day there and be in the presense of this beautiful and historic home. It is actually the largest home in America!

For a little background on Biltmore, it was not open until 1895. George W. Vanderbilt had it built and he later met his wife and they had a daughter. When we went on the tour, we chose to get the headsets, which gave us additional information on each room. There are 250 rooms in this house, and no, we were not allowed to see them all. Some of the rooms we did see included: Billiard Room, Breakfast Room, Music Room, Library (wow!), Mr. Vanderbilt's Bedroom, Mrs. Vanderbilt's Bedroom, four guest rooms, Bathroom, Halloween Room, Bowling Alley, Swimming Pool, Gymnasium, Kitchens, Smoking Room, and that is just to name a few! I just have to say that the library was ridiculous! It reminded me of the library from "Beauty and the Beast," but real! Something else I noticed is that the house color scheme is basically a maroonish color. I got excited whenever I saw a room that was not that color.

I do have to point out that the woman of the house, Edith Vanderbilt, and I seem to have several similar qualities. She was 6'0", had long brown wavy hair that she wore up a lot, loved "out there" fashion and loved any type of cake and dessert. Anyway, I just thought that was funny!

Before we left on this journey, I looked up Biltmore on the computer and several movies and television shows were actually shot at this location. The most recent one in my mind is from one of my favorite shows, "One Tree Hill." Brooke and Julian went there to consider it as a place to hold their wedding. That episode was a few months ago, but oh well. They stood in the iconic spot with the house in the background. It really is beautiful to just stand there and look at it. The outside is just as detailed and exquisite as the inside.

I hope that I can go back a fourth time one day because there is so much to do there. Not only can you look at the house, but there are several trails to walk, a beautiful flower area, stable shops and restaurants, winery, carriage rides, special tours, an on-site hotel and more!

My mom and I had a wonderful time! And word to the wise, make sure to wear walking shoes. Much of the landmark is outside, so also dress according to the weather!

Photo caption: fanpop.com

Driving in the Fast Lane

Yesterday I went to a sort-of NASCAR convention called "Food City Race Night 2011." The Bristol Race is in two days, so this is a type of tradition since it is in the area. Plus, Trevor Bayne, winner of the 2011 Daytona 500, is from Knoxville, Tenn. People sure did give him a good hometown welcome!

It was a four hour event, but I did not get there until one hour and a half into it. My mom came with me, and my brother-in-law was already there. I grew up in a NASCAR house, so I felt right at home there. This convention had free food, race cars and free autographs!

The line to meet Trevor Bayne was closed before we even got there. His line filled up first. I would say he is probably one of the most popular guys in the country right now. I still got very close to him though, so I at least got to see him and get a picture. So it seemed like Trevor was by himself, but then I saw the curtain part behind him. Out walked Kerry Earnhardt! Yep, the son of Dale Earnhardt! I was so excited, but then I got sad that his line was closed. And I could not help but notice that he looked a ton like Brad Womack, the latest "Bachelor."

Since that line was closed, we hopped over to the line to meet Elliott Sadler. When I got up to him, I have to admit that I fell in love. He is a good-looking guy! As I walked up, he gave me an autograph on a picture of him and I was a cheesy fan and asked for a picture with him also. Surprisingly, no one else was asking for a picture with him (only with Trevor Bayne). He put on a big smile and I started to lean down across the table for my mom to take our picture, but he held out his hand and said, "No, you are already so tall, let me stand up next to you." Well, it was something like that. Anyway, he was a pure gentleman. And I love him.

As I was scooting down the line, I got an autograph from Sam Bass, who is the first official licensed artist of NASCAR. I also got an autograph and a picture with Chad Hackenbracht who drives in the ARCA Series. He was really young. I am not sure how old he is, but I would imagine even a few years younger than me. He was really nice though. When I asked for a picture with him, he invited me to come behind the table with him. Anyway, I got an autograph from Chocolate Myers who has worked crew for so many drivers, including the late Dale Earnhardt, Jr. And last but not least, I got a picture and an autograph of Eric McClure who drives the #14 car.

It was a pretty fun event, and I sure will never forget it. Oh the day I met my love Elliott Sadler. Oh my.

The Happiest Girl in the World

Attention ladies and gentleman: I AM GOING TO BE AN INTERN AT WALT DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!

I am going to be joining other college students on the Disney College Program for the Fall Advantage 2011. I am so beyond excited!

My plans for after graduation were set before I found out about this, but really, who does not want to work and live at Disney World?! Honestly, I am counting down the days until I get there. I am excited that I will get to live with others my age and there are going to be interns from 60 different countries! I am not sure who I will be living with yet. I put in a request to find out prior to going, so I am just anxiously awaiting my e-mail at this point.

I will be living in Orlando from May until January, which is a while to be on this program, but I will be there during the fun celebrations such as July 4th, Halllween, Christmas and New Year's Eve.

My role as a cast member will be in Attractions. That was one of my top choices, so I am very pleased that I was chosen for that. I am not sure where at within the parks I will be working yet though. I will find that out when I get there.

I have only ever been to Disney World once, which was two years ago, but it made a good enough impression on me that I want to work and live there. I am so excited that I get the opportunity to do this!

Only two more months until I am at the happiest place in the world! And I will even get to go into the parks for free on my days off!

As I have been scanning the Internet trying to find information on past cast members who have participated in this program, I came across a ton of YouTube vlogs. Apparently, it is a very common thing for interns to make vlogs about their experiences, which are all great! So I made my very first one and posted it. I plan on making more talking about my experience!

P.S. This picture is me at Disney World two years ago inside Minnie Mouse's house. Is it not the cutest house ever?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY6txriNxrc

Batter Batter Swing!

I never just "flip through the channels" on my television. I already have so many shows that I am faithfully committed to through my DVR, that I do not invest time into any other TV time. So it was very unlike me to go flipping, but it must have been fate or something because I found this wonderful show on TLC: "DC Cupcakes." Oh my goodness, I cannot begin to explain to you how wonderful it is! The store is in Washington, D.C., but DC to me stands for Delicous Cupcakes!

You may all know that I am obsessed with 1) Eating cakes and 2) Baking cakes. When I came across this television show, I saw pretty desserts with fabulous flavors and I could not take my eyes off of it. It was basically love at first sight. They have flavors like S'mores, Cinnamon and Banana Split! You cannot beat that!

The store is run by two sisters, Katherine and Sophie, who look nothing alike. They are fun to watch. Because they are sisters, they bicker back and forth, but it is in a pleasant way. They are always holding competitions between each other to see who can make the best cupcake or the best new flavor. They have new flavors coming out all the time! I really want to make a trip to DC just to get a cupcake. Sad sad. You can actually order cupcakes and have them shipped also.

It is a really cute store! It's got a black and pink theme. I'm not a huge pink person, but with cupcakes, it works! The sisters also wear pink aprons and pink rainboots, which I find odd but fascinating. They do not make cakes, but huge masterpieces out of cupcakes. They will make 6'0" tall statues and cover it with cupcakes in a grid sort of way. I am just fascinated. I have only watched about six or seven total episodes, but I am keeping an eye out for them to come on TV!

Photo caption: tlc.discovery.com

Happy Birthday Morelli!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Joe, Happy Birthday to you! Now everybody, let's eat tasty cakes!

Joe Morelli is indeed a book character, but for those of you who are like me and have several parasocial relationships (thinking characters from television shows, movies or books are real), then join with me in celebrating Joe's birthday!

The book series that he graces the pages of is the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. The book series is based out of New Jersey and involves a girl who decides to become a bounty hunter. She finds herself in the strangest positions and happens to blow up way too many cars to count. Joe is one of the guys who pulls on Stephanie's heart strings, but there's another guy by the name of Ranger that pulls another set. He is your typical bad boy in black. But Joe is no good boy either. Joe is bad gone kinda good. You see, he's now a cop, but still knows how to enjoy life.

One for the Money is the name of the first book in the series and it is actually going to be a movie starring Katherine Heigl. The movie will be hitting the big screen in the summer of 2011, that's what I hear anyway!

My mom is the one who got me hooked. She had asked me for years to read it and I finally gave in and zipped through the books in about one month. You see, there are 16 published and another one on the way. That does not even include the in-between novels, which of course I read also.

I found that Janet Evanovich has a website, so of course I joined it and I ran across bookplates. I honestly did not even know what they were. She does signings sometimes, but never around me. For those fans that cannot get to her signings, she is nice enough that if you send her a self addressed and stamped envelope, then she will send you a signed bookplate! I did that and I was so happy when I got mine!

Here is her website: http://www.evanovich.com/

I highly recommend that you READ THESE BOOKS! They are funny, romantic, adventurous, scary and any other genre that you can think of! You will not be disappointed!

I have to rate this book series as my second favorite ever. Harry Potter can never be replaced, but this one sure does come close!