A Grand ol' Time...

In July (yes I know it is September and I am just now updating about July), my Mom, Sister, and I went to the Marriott Grand in Point Clear, Alabama (close to Fairhope).  It is a gorgeous resort with a relaxing atmosphere.  Since I work at UAB Hospital I am part of the Teachers Retirement System of Alabama and one of the benefits is we get discounts at this hotel, as well as a few others in the state.

On the way down to the resort we stopped at a rest stop for a picnic lunch complete with food prepared by Mom and Sister.  Once we arrived at the Resort we had plenty of options of things to do.  The Resort is right on Mobile Bay with two side of the Resort being up against the water.  A sidewalk wraps around the Resort up against the water.

The trees are absolutely beautiful! And they have hammocks AND swings, two of my favorite things.

 

We enjoyed playing croquet (Mom dominated) and riding bikes.  There is a Country Club that is part of the Resort, and we went to the pool there.  The pool at the Resort is really nice to we just wanted to check out the one at the Country Club since last year we spent a lot of time at the one at the Resort.

One of our favorite parts of staying at the Grand is High Tea which occurs at 4 o'clock every afternoon.  This is a time for you to get in your best attire and act like a lady as you sip on your tea and eat your cookie.  

Ok, maybe that is what it originally was supposed to be.  In reality, it is a time for you to wait in a really long line in your swimsuit to get cookies and tea.  And when I say cookies, I mean an entire plate of cookies- we are talking at least five likely six or seven... and these cookies are large. You aren't really supposed to wear your swimsuit and those that did got scolded.  No worries, we wore appropriate attire and got 1-2 cookies.  Unfortunately I got no pictures of this event.

If you ever get a chance to check this place out, you should.  There is not doubt you will have yourself a Grand time!

A Grand Weekend

The last weekend in August, my Mom, sister, and I took a long weekend and went to Point Clear, AL to visit the Marriott Grand.  We had so much fun!

On the drive down, we stopped at a rest area to have a picnic.  Mom and Sarah worked hard the few days before preparing chicken salad, potato salad, and other yummy foods. 

When we arrived at The Grand, Sarah immediately said, "This is the nicest hotel I've ever been to."  I would have to agree!

The grounds of The Grand were beautiful!  We had so much fun walking around and taking pictures.  The trees were absolutely beautiful and very unique.

 

The Grand is located on Mobile Bay.  We enjoyed riding bikes on the trail along the bay, and we even got to kayak.

 

On the grounds of  The Grand, there are tons of activities!  We played horseshoes and croquet and rode bikes.  They also have High Tea every afternoon at 4pm.  When you pay for your room, you are charged a resort fee which is 10% of your room cost.  This resort fee allows you to take advantage of all the activities without having to pay.  It is really a good deal considering it covered three people in our case.

There is also an original Civil War cannon that they fire every night.

 

The pool at The Grand is definitely the coolest pool I have ever experienced.  Unfortunately, I was unable to get any pictures, so a photo from their website will have to suffice.

Notice the small rock formation in the middle of the pool.  On the other side of these, there is a jacuzzi that has two waterfalls.  It is definitely the fanciest jacuzzi I've ever seen!  There is also an adult only pool that is a salt water pool.

The workout facility is also incredibly nice.  I wish I had access to something that nice all the time!

Marriott has built a condo building about 1 mile from the resort so you can purchase one and "extend your stay"  They have built a country club type place to go with the condo.  As a resort guest you get access to the country club.  We ate dinner there one night, and it was really good!  We did not actually use the pool but we explored it.  The jacuzzi there is just as nice with two waterfalls.  They also have an adult only lap pool.

Overall, we were all very impressed with The Grand and would love to go back.  One of the benefits of working at UAB and being part of Alabama Teachers Retirement is you get discounts to several hotels across the state.  The Grand is included, and we paid over 50% less for the room that we  were in!  Hopefully we will be able to take advantage of this benefit again sometime soon!

Senior Year Part THIRTY: Disney World

The summer after I graduated from Samford (which I am still counting as Senior year obviously) my family and I went to Disney World!  I love Disney World!  My family has been many, many times.

Here I am with Minnie throughout the years:

And here are me, sister, and Dad on the tea cups.  Mom is always our photographer on this ride.

When we went this time, we stayed at the All Star Music Resort.  Every other time we had stayed on Disney property we had stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, but the All Star resort was cheaper, and we enjoyed it just the same.

We always visit all four parks.  When I was a kid, my favorite was Magic Kingdom, and although I still love Magic Kingdom, I think my new favorite on this trip was MGM Studios.  Interesting fact: In 2008 the name of MGM Studios was changed to Disney Hollywood Studios.  Therefore, we were there the last year it was MGM Studios!

MAGIC KINGDOM

Oh, Peter Pan's Flight.  We will never forget this ride.

EPCOT

MGM STUDIOS

ANIMAL KINGDOM




During this trip, Disney's promotion was "The Year of a Million Dreams"  They were going to fulfill a million dreams that year.  One of the things they were doing was picking a select few visitors to receive special fast passes to rides at the park in which they were given out.

My family won these not once but TWICE.  We figure it is rare to win them once but definitely rare to win them twice considering they didn't hand many out and we were there during Fourth of July, one of the busiest times of the year.

The first one we won was while we were at Epcot.

 
The second time we won, we were at MGM.

 
This isn't the first time that something cool has happened to my family.  One year, we were picked to be part of the parade!  At the end of the parade, all of the characters went to this balcony and wave to everyone.  We were picked to go up there with them and wave.  Sister, however, got scared (she was probably only 8 or so) and thought they were going to take her away from my parents so she refused to do it.  So, it was just me and my Dad with the characters while my Mom sat with her.

My family always has fun when we go to Disney World.  The summer after I graduated was my last real summer since the following summer I would start working.  Spending time with my family at Disney World was a great way to spend it!




So that finally concludes the Senior Year Memory series.

On another note, sad to see the Disney World post end?  JP and I are headed to Disney World in August so look for more Disney updates later!

Girls Day of Fun

This Saturday my Mom came down to Birmingham for a fun girls day.

We ate here:

...which is located in SoHo.  We enjoyed our lunch.  I really liked the hummus/feta cheese dip.

We walked from lunch to here:

I want all of my furniture to come from here.

Then we made the short drive to here:

... where we used the Groupon I got my Mom for her birthday to obtain 4 yummy cupcakes.  Then we walked around the cute Homewood neighborhood.

Then we started shopping.  We went to Home Goods followed by Pottery Barn, Gap, Anthropologie, Francesca's, and Ann Taylor Loft.

I got this:

A have a small obsession with dresses and skirts with pockets.

And this:

...which I got for much less than the original price.

We had a wonderful, fun time, but we missed her:

We Are Blessed!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother Daughter Shopping Trip...

This weekend my Mom and I went shopping. We haven't been shopping just the two of us in a LONG time! We had SO much fun, especially at Anthropologie.

This is actually the only piece I came home with. I really like it a lot!

It is actually not gray but a deep red. I tried this one on and was feeling ok about it. The lady in the dressing room told me to try the smaller size. They didn't have the smaller size in the red but in the gray. Once I tried it on in the right size, I loved it! They called to see if they had the correct size in Birmingham. They didn't. But, they had it in Chicago... so they are sending it to me from Chicago. I should get it when we get back from Phoenix!


I tried this one on and loved it! The lady in dressing room insisted I try a smaller size. Since she was right on the previous shirt, I figured she would be right again. Well, they didn't have the smaller size in any color. They did have tons in Birmingham though, so I went to the one in Birmingham and they had it in the right size.

Genetic?

My mom and I share a love for all things plates, bowls, serving dishes, pitchers etc. Any piece for the kitchen we just love. Our love for these things is the reason for our love of TJ Maxx and HomeGoods. Here you can find tons of things for the kitchen at a reasonable price.

This Friday my mom came down to visit since we both had the day off. After hiking at Oak Mountain State Park we went to HomeGoods where we both found tons of things we loved and purchase a few of those things.

For our wedding we received a three tiered plate rack. I've been looking for the right plates and found them! Only $3 a plate!

I just loved this bowl. Although I must say I like it better in person than in this photograph. JP says he thinks it's lumpy.

But the best thing about the bowl...

...it matches this cute little piece my cousin gave as a wedding gift!