Saving Time & Money l SamiCone.com
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Did you hear? You can get a $10 Starbucks Gift Card for only $5 from Living Social
!
It is the National Featured deal when you click through above. I’m not sure if you can buy more than one and I have a feeling these won’t last long!
We just got back in town tonight, but as soon as I saw this deal, I knew I had to let you know (and get one for myself!)
Today we our on our way to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration 2012! We were fortunate to be invited back to this amazing event this year, and I can’t wait to share all that Walt Disney World is planning for its guests in the coming year!
I’m told that over the course of the four days, we’ll be learning more about all the Disney properties, including Disney Cruise Lines and the new resort in Hawaii, but what I’m most excited to hear about is the Art of Animation Hotel opening up in May 2012 (with many new family suites) and, of course, the new Fantasyland expansion in the Magic Kingdom!
I’ll do my best to keep you updated through Facebook, Twitter & Instagram along the way. Though we had to wake up before 4am, we still managed to have some fun along the way:
Special thanks to the Bible Bee for helping to sponsor this trip for me. I’m so excited for their Family Discipleship Program this summer! You can ask me for more details or read about how you can participate at FamilyDiscipleship.com!
Yes, the Disney Social Media Moms Conference ended about two weeks ago and I’m just getting my Day 1 post up to share with you all…so we’re going with the theme “Better late than never!”
But I didn’t want any more time to pass before I shared at least a piece of this incredible experience with you all. The road was a long one getting to this event (literally and figuratively) and throughout my time there, I kept thinking how blessed I was to have been chosen to be among such gracious, talented and influential women.
I was also thankful for a blog event that finally not only allowed my family to take part with me, but actually encouraged them to do so and included them in the activities!
Rather than talk too much about Day 1, I thought I’d give you the story in pictures:
I told you it was a long road...
We finally made it out of the car and checked in at the Grand Floridian. Being from Florida, it’s always been my husband’s dream to be able to stay at the Grand Floridian and embrace the old-world Florida charm the resort truly embodies. (Plus, it’s just fun to be able to hop over to the Magic Kingdom on the monorail!)
If you look hard, you can see Cinderella's castle above their heads in the background!
The kids loved the “magic” touches in the hotel room
A Mickey made out of towels on their bed
And Ricky and I loved the view from our terrace
It doesn't get prettier than this!
But I didn’t have much time to enjoy our view before I had to head over to the Grand Floridian Wedding Pavilion for our opening events. We were greeted with Minnie Bride Ear headbands and tables filled with brightly colored candy centerpieces.
Good enough to eat!
We were then welcomed by the Disney team and treated to insights from Carly Roney (founder of The Knot) and David Tutera (wedding planner extraordinaire). While I’ve been happily married for over seven years and didn’t need too much advice on upcoming wedding trends and colors, I was delighted to hear about the new line of Disney Princess inspired Wedding Dresses by Alfred Angelo (which only further fueled my desire to renew our vows at Disney World for our 10 year anniversary!)
The Cinderella Wedding Dress
After hearing about how Disney is letting the “memories begin” in 2011 and learning about their new Disney Vacation Club property in Hawaii opening in the coming year, I reconnected with my handsome husband and kiddos for a fabulous lawn party and carnival Disney style!
See the beautiful wedding pavilion behind my handsome men?
There was games, AMAZING food, and even a sand sculptor!
The sand sculpture of our Disney SM Moms logo was amazing!
And of course it wouldn’t be a true Disney event without a visit from our hosts, Mickey & Minnie themselves, dressed in their finest for the fair!
Cute as a mouse!
They even provided pails and shovels for the kids to play with on the Grand Floridian Beach!
Who knew there was a beach in Disney World?
But perhaps one of the sweetest treats on Day 1 of Disney Social Media Moms was getting to re-connect with my friends! (You’ll also notice my affinity for self-portraits!):
The fun and fabulous Amy from Moms Toolbox
Amy & me
The always fashionable and friendly Audrey from Mom Generations
Audrey & me
And of course the fantastic ladies of the Savvy Blogging team! Including my long lost sister Andrea of Savings Lifestyle, my Relevant bud Toni from The Happy Housewife, and new friend Crystal from The Thrifty Mama
Sami, Amy & (most of) the Savvy Blogging girls!
For the past year, everyone’s been telling me how similar Andrea and I are and after meeting her in person, I’m truly flattered! People continued to mistake me for her all weekend, with the one exception, she won a night in the castle suite and I didn’t (remember, I’m 99% excited for you and only 1% jealous 
Can you tell who's who?
All in all, it was truly a good time had by all on Day 1. I’ve always wondered what it would take to see one of these special events from the inside, and now I know. I’m so grateful to all the planning and hard work that went in to putting this event on and can’t wait to share more memories from the rest of my time at Disney Social Media Moms 2011!
P.S. A fellow Disney Social Media Mom just let me know that Amy and I made it into the Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings Platinum Soiree video! (Look for us about 33 seconds into it with our royal applause!)
The Cone family is on the road again…this time to the Disney Social Media Moms Conference in Orlando (obviously) from March 17-20. If you know me, this should come as no surprise since our family loves all things Disney.
We love the excitement before going, the way we’re treated when we’re there and then memories we take with us once we leave.
It’s for this reason that our family has always chosen memories over “stuff” – sacrificing in other areas so we could make trips like these possible (read more on this in my Tennessean article).
So when I learned last year they were starting a conference at Disney World for mom bloggers, I was beside myself! The only problem was that I learned about it around a week before it began, so I was out of luck.
However, I was not about to let that happen this year. What I didn’t know was that this wasn’t just something you signed up for – we had to apply. And not only did we have to apply, we had to compete with thousands of other equally excited hopefuls just to log on to the registration site at the appointed time on the appointed day! While I originally I thought my attempts were unsuccessful because I never received a magical email, I later learned it was just my spam blockers that were hiding my magic ticket! (How dare they block Mickey!)
Needless to say, it wasn’t tough to convince my family to join me for this conference. In fact, we surprised the kids on Christmas morning with a big wrapped box with two balloons inside, one Mickey and one Minnie, that popped out when opened with a sign attached saying “We’re going to Disney World!”
Kariss with her new Ariel doll on Christmas morning watching the Disney Christmas Parade on TV
It’s seemed like forever since that day but now the Disney Social Media Moms conference is finally upon us. I can’t wait to share our adventure with you, but forgive me if it may be a little slower than usual…
After all, I am here in the happiest place on earth to make memories with my family 
Check out my Disney page for great deal, tips & tricks
P.S. Disney’s theme this year is “Let the Memories Begin!” We shared our video from our surprise day trip on New Year’s to Disney World – check it out and share your own memories!
Would you like some free Cold Stone Ice Cream? Cold Stone Creamery is inviting everyone to try a Free Sample of their new Eight Layer Cake on Tuesday, November 16th from 5-8pm.
That means that right after you enjoy your two free tacos from Jack in the Box, you can enjoy a free dessert too!
Click HERE to find a store near you.
Are you ready for more FREE ice cream tonight? In addition to the FREE Oreo Lil’ Rounders at Carvel tonight, Cold Stone Creamery is also having their 8th Annual World’s Largest Ice Cream Social this evening, 9/24, from 5-8 pm.
Click HERE to find a store near you.
