#DisneySide Archives - Living a Disney LifeLiving a Disney Life

Disclaimer: I received free products in order to host the Disney Side @Home Celebration. The opinions expressed here are my own.

When last we left off (this post), my DisneySide @Home Celebration planning was in full swing. The party day finally arrived and it was a gorgeous warm and sunny Saturday! When I jumped out of bed at 6 am, I still had a million things to do – cooking, cleaning, and the finishing touches on the decorations were all on my list. The party was scheduled for 4 pm, so I knew I had plenty of time to pull it all together. Raymond was on hand to help and Megan would be over in the early afternoon to pitch in. Ah, the best laid plans…

Before I get to the challenging part of the story, let me go over the menu:

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Shrimp Etouffee
Sweet and Spicy Meatballs
Rice (for all of the above)
Shrimp Dip / potato chips
Tortilla Rollups (store bought) and Dip
Chicken Salad + mini croissants
Mickey-shaped King Cake
Mickey Cupcakes with cream cheese icing and white chocolate-dipped Nilla Wafers for “Ears” (with Mardi Gras colored sprinkles)
White Chocolate Dipped: Strawberries, pretzels, & chocolate Pirouette cookies
Mickey-shaped Rice Krispies Treats
Mixed Nuts
Cheese Straws

So, back to the getting ready part. Everything was going along swimmingly! Cooking – cupcakes: check, Rice Krispies treats: check, chocolate-covered everything: A-Okay!Raymond ran errands for ice and some gift-bag/prize package supplements, Megan arrived and was working on her assignments (bathroom cleaning and balcony decorating) – then…I was walking down the stairs, wearing my usual “at home” outfit of baggie lounge pants, tee-shirt, and fluffy socks…talking to Raymond, picking a bit of dried chocolate (from all the dipping) off of the inside of my left wrist and…as the stairs turn, with my warm and cozy socks…my feet just flew out from under me! I ended up really hurting my right forearm and lower back, but also, as I flung out my arms to save myself, I hit my left hand against the railing and ripped the fingernail loose on my middle finger. So, trying to recover my equilibrium, I’m clutching my left hand (bleeding a lot) and sitting on the stairs rocking back and forth in pain – feeling sorry for Raymond at the bottom of the stairs and Megan at the top, who witnessed the entire incident!

I was frustrated as I realized how much still needed to be done! Raymond and Megan looked so horrified – I got up (I may have sobbed for about 10 seconds) and decided it was time to shower and get ready for the party so I’d still have time to cook the gumbo and etouffee. It’s funny now, but as I was trying to get into the shower, I was fighting not to pass out – for a few minutes, I thought I might have broken my arm. Aside from a big bruise, I’m absolutely fine, I just wasted a ton of party prep time falling, stopping the bleeding, lying dizzily on the floor with my feet up…you get the idea.

Right on time, the guests started to arrive! Megan was on the balcony throwing Mardi Gras beads, the food, decorations, and prize bags were ready. The party was a huge success! We played Disney Trivia for entries into drawings for the 10 prize packages and that went really well. Guests (around 35 of us) ranged in age from a couple of months old to 60+! The food, decorations, and treats were a hit! I had a blast with my family and friends showing our DisneySide in true Louisiana Mardi Gras fashion!

I’d like to thank MomSelect and DisneyParks and everyone who worked on packing the #DisneySide @Home Celebration boxes!

A couple of common mottos or sayings apply to me. We might call them “Lisa’s words to live by”. They are: “Go big or go home” and “If you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch”. The latter being one I learned shortly after moving to Louisiana in 1988 – I love that one! I want to go big! With everything I do – I’m all in. I want to hang with the cool kids and I’m not watching from the porch! Now that you know those little quirks, lets go back to early last year when I saw a slew of posts on social media about something called a #DisneySide @Home Celebration. Those posts were everywhere! Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube even – tons of bloggers in general and fellow Disney fans in particular were talking about their #DisneySide parties – I confess I was a little envious and a lot curious. I felt left on the porch.

It didn’t take me long to figure out how to throw my hat in the ring – I registered at MomSelect (BSM Media) and indicated my interest in hosting a party at home. Then I got busy with an eventful rest of the year and didn’t think about the party again until December when I received an email inviting me to apply to become a host. I applied and was notified that I’d been selected as a party host a couple of weeks later. Why, you may be asking, would someone have to apply to host a party at their own expense? What’s the deal? What’s in it for the hosts? Good questions! If you are selected to host a #DisneySide @Home Celebration, you receive a big box of party supplies and other assorted goodies and samples based on information you provided on the application about what type of party you’d like to have. On my application, I indicated that I have grown children and would like to host a multi-generational party for extended family and friends. If you apply and are selected, you must agree to host your party in January or February…this is where, for me, this adventure gets a bit dicey.

As I type this, I’m checking my UPS delivery app to track my very own box of awesomeness (in transit). I’m sitting in a hotel room in Baton Rouge where I’m staying on business. I’ll be here again next week for a couple of days – and yet again the week after that. I also have that little trip to Walt Disney World coming up in four weeks to run the Glass Slipper Challenge. To pull of the most awesome party possible in the middle of all this craziness, I needed to jump the gun and choose a party theme, party date, and mail invitations – all before actually receiving the party supplies!

There’s no better time to have a #DisneySide party in Louisiana than during Mardi Gras season! Disney and New Orleans have been intertwined for many years and I’m having an absolute blast planning every detail of my own tribute to that old and established relationship. The date has been selected (February 7th). The invitations have been printed and mailed. The menu has been planned and the decorations have even been going up. Mardi Gras colors are green, purple and gold – they will play a big role in making this celebration a success. Stop back here and watch as events unfold. Also, I’ll be posting on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest if you want to follow along in any of those places. Laissez les Disney temps rouler!