An Update

Hi friends,

Your friendly Peacock blogger here...I'm baaacck! I hope. I really never intended to take such a long break, but I guess one of the things I learned is that getting out of the habit of regular blogging means that I lose momentum quickly. I had written a million posts in my head, but none of them actually made it on to the screen. I still remember most of them, though, so hopefully I will be able to do a little catching up.

Anyway, here is a quick rundown of things that I've done in the past month:

1. Visited Kentucky for a business trip.

I did a lot of traveling for work this summer, and apparently the theme was "random states I've never visited" -- I hit Texas, West Virginia, and Kentucky. All were nice, if not a little warm. And now I'm three steps closer to achieving one of my Life List goals.

2. I prepared for a hurricane.



Hurricane Irene was all the rage in NYC last month, and I realized that I was woefully unprepared for any kind of natural disaster. Brooklyn did not seem too freaked out -- my neighborhood in particular was very calm. A trip to the grocery store revealed Perrier and fancy cheese to be running dangerously low, but all other staples very well-stocked. It reminded me a lot of this:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Gourmet Food Crisis
www.thedailyshow.com
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On a side note: aww, look how adorable young Jon looks :)

3. I slept through a hurricane.



Yes, so Irene turned out to be kind of a bust in NYC.  It all happened overnight while I was fast asleep. There was flooding in some areas, some power outages, a few idiots in a kayak, and some hilarious press conferences by Mayor Bloomberg, but it wasn't much of a disaster. Many places had it much worse.

4. I moved to Florida.


Whoa. WHOA! This one is going to take some more explanation, but let me just say that for the next 4-5 months, The Peacock Diaries will be coming to you from sunny Orlando! Celebration, to be specific. Do you know this town? It is fantastic -- I've always wanted to live in Stars Hollow, and I think that maybe I do. Much, much more to come here...stay tuned!

5. I rented a car and drove myself home from the airport.

Seriously! I still can't believe it, but I did it! My driving lessons are over and I am officially a driver now. In fact, I guess I kind of enjoy driving because I managed to put 450 miles on my rental car in a week. I think that's a lot, right?

I have missed you all and look forward to sharing more updates and also checking out what you've all been up to -- I haven't been doing a good job keeping up with blogs, but I am ready to spend some quality time with my blog reader!

More to come soon, but it feels good to get something posted. Tonight I have a date with the Magic Kingdom -- still pinching myself that Mickey is right in my backyard!

How I spent my summer vacation...

I've already shared the Give Kids the World parts (here and here) of my Orlando trip -- I wanted to recap the "vacation" part of my trip, too.

I think I have already mentioned this, but I am a bit of a Disney nerd. My family didn't get to take many vacations, but when I was in middle and high school we took an annual trip to Orlando for as much Disney fun as we could squeeze in, and we REALLY cherished these trips. I took a bit of a hiatus from Disney parks for quite a few years, but I've been making up for lost time -- last week was my 6th trip to the World in two years. Hooray for Annual Passes!

I like how at Disney you're not an adult, you're just "10 or older"

What this means is that I don't feel the need to see and do everything on my trips. Our trip was scheduled during a fairly hot and crowded time of year, and my traveling companions (mom and brother) don't really have the same kamikaze attitude I do about touring. In general I just tried to go with the flow.

So, the highlights....

Volunteering at the Village, part II

Friday was an early morning, and we all tried to stumble through the getting ready motions as quickly as possible. We were out of the room at 7am and stopped to grab a quick breakfast at the Marketplace, the quick-service restaurant/hotel gift shop (yeah, I don't understand it either) shared by the Yacht and Beach Club hotels.

Good morning, carbs!
Photo source: WDW Info

We were a teeny bit late pulling into Give Kids the World, but luckily the staff was beyond understanding and assured us we hadn't missed anything. Today's shift was at the Gingerbread House -- we were helping with breakfast!

Volunteering at the Village, part I

By far, my favorite part of last week's Orlando trip was volunteering at Give Kids the World. If you missed it the first time, make sure to check out my post on this amazing place.

The process of volunteering at Give Kids the World is pretty straightforward. Since I had volunteered there previously, all I had to do was let them know when I was available and I could be put on the schedule. My mom and brother were new Angels (GKTW code for volunteers), so they had to fill out the online application and go through a quick background check. Very easy!

S#*t my brother says

"The other day I felt like going for a run and ran 11.2 miles in 97 minutes."


"I'm not sure if I could run a half marathon...though I did run 13 miles once when I was lost. So I guess I could."


"I really love running this 1 mile loop around the Boardwalk...so I ran it 10 times. I had to stop because I was getting a little thirsty." (This run took place around 3pm in the brutal Orlando summer heat)


"I had a great 5-mile run. I wish we didn't have to go to the parks, I could have kept going for another hour."

Give Kids the World

New York City is home and will always be my favorite place on earth, but let me tell you about another place that is incredibly special to me...

Give Kids the World is a nonprofit resort in Florida that exists to fulfill the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. It is made of magic, pixie dust, and wishes. And ice cream!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, everyone! I hope all of the moms had a great day, and I hope all of the kids made sure to thank their moms. I know today can be an emotional day for people (maybe your mom isn't here anymore, or you're struggling to become a mom), but I think everyone has a special lady in their life that deserves to be honored -- and it feels great to make someone's day!

Source: Some ecards

Vacation planning

This spring is flying by so quickly that I was surprised to remember that I'm going on vacation next month! Woo-hoo!

Where am I headed? Only the Happiest Place on Earth (my #1 vacation destination)!

Photo credit: Disney

We'll be there for about a week, doing all my favorite things: touring the parks, volunteering at Give Kids the World (more on that in another post), and eating!

Now that I realize my trip is so soon, I have begun doing a bit of vacation planning. Not creating itineraries or planning activities -- I've been to Disney a lot, so I have my plans down. The kind of planning I'm talking about is making sure I'm continuing to take care of myself (with good food and exercise) while I'm away. I have some good momentum going and I want to keep that up, and I know when I'm doing the right things just feel better -- and I'm going to need tons of energy for my trip! A Disney vacation is amazing, but it can really kick your ass.

So here's the plan...