I am so pleased to share with you something that I’ve been wanting to say for announce for some time now:

THE DISNEY STORE IS BACK!

And it’s right here, in Southwest Ohio at Kenwood Mall!

Yes, I cried. Yes, I was speechless. And yes, I totally took my kid out of school to experience it’s opening!

It’s the newest concept for the Disney Store, and a complete destination within itself. I was completely blown away with the level of detail and magic put into every corner. It truly goes above and beyond what I have come to normally expect from Disney.

And that says a lot.

It’s got it’s own castle, …Continue Reading…

One thing that I am very proud of, is that my daughter (5) is a GREAT traveler.

I think it’s because as a family, we’ve done quite a bit of traveling since she was 3 months old. Whether it be by air or car (we still haven’t hit that cruise yet) she’s always been very happy even in the 9 hour car rides or the 4 hour layovers.

Here I’m going to share with you some of my top tips, tricks and products that I absolutely don’t leave home without.

First up- the tips:

It’s all about keeping your child happy, and on their schedule if at all possible. If you’re leaving on a 7:00am flight (that means security check in at 5:00am), make sure they head to bed an hour or two earlier than normal. You can start this process by 2 weeks before departure, cutting your child’s bed-time back by 15 minutes every 3 days. Your child will adjust because their bodies cannot tell 15 …Continue Reading…

This morning, it was within my time frame to book my 180-day Disney Dining Reservations. After 3 months of planning, I finally got to book where I’m going to eat in 6 months. While I’m not a fan of this much of an early reservation system (I miss you, my 90 day system!), it’s a necessary evil if you want to book some good places. The booking system online opened at 6:00am, and the phone lines opened at 7:00am. I was on at 6:00am planning most of our reservations, and on at 7:00am with a cast member to book some of the special events (like Bippidy Boppidy Boutique and Hoop de Doo).

So here’s my plan: …Continue Reading…

Thank you to TurboTax for sponsoring my writing about household finances.Learn more about how TurboTax can help you find every tax deduction you deserve. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

In my end-of-year post, I mentioned that I took over our family finances in early 2010.

I also mentioned that it was a real eye-opener, and somewhat of a wake-up call.

That, was putting it lightly.

Every year, my family and I write a “wish-list” of big items we would like to purchase or do. 2011′s list has been made, and has grown (and grown, and grown…).Keep in mind, anything that makes this list MUST be paid with CASH ONLY. That’s right folks: COLD. HARD. CASH. Plastic need not apply. …Continue Reading…