Vegan at Disney

Eating well while traveling, it's hard. Being a vegan and traveling... Even harder! However, Disney accommodates all types of dietary needs and are very good for a vegan lifestyle! As a Disney Cast Member and avid park goer, I have found many nooks and crannies and tried many of the delicious vegan options, and want to share my knowledge with all those worried about being able to eat at the resort! Below are some of my favorite vegan Disney meals and some others listed I haven't tried or taken pictures of!

Sunshine Seasons (in the Land) at Epcot!

Vegan korma with Gardein Meatless Chik'n- with jasmine rice.

Highly recommend, so tasty!

Also pictured: veggie roll with avocado, cucumber and ginger!

My mom and I enjoying the 2015 International Food and Wine Festival! They only had two vegan options however, a vegan Korean BBQ in South Korea (using Gardein beefless tips, very good), and Vegan Moussaka in Greece.

My go to: Morocco's quick service- Vegetarian platter! Hummus, olives, salad, falafel, couscous, and lentils! Very filling, healthy, and delicious. 10/10

Craving ice cream on a hot day? The ice cream shop on Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom serves Tofutti and Rice Dream! Ask for flavors, they sometimes change. I believe the Electric Umbrella at Epcot sells as well.

Vegan Brownie Sunday at 50s Prime Time Cafe at Hollywood Studios, chef made for us on my 23rd birthday! Fantastic. They have recently changed their meat balls from vegan to vegetarian, containing egg now. Big disappointment their spaghetti and meatballs was a favorite in the fun environment.

Erin McKenna's Bakery NYC (formerly BabyCakes) is a vegan and gluten free bakery with all sorts of delicious treats at Disney Springs!

Also at Hollywood Studios, at Pizza Planet you can request dairy free Daiya cheese on your pizza! Very good.

Not Pictured Vegan Spots!

-Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco at Epcot

-Veggie Burger at Sci Fi Cafe at Hollywood Studios

-Lighthouse Sandwich (without the broccoli slaw) at Magic Kingdom

-Veggie Burger at Cosmic Rays Primetime Cafe at Magic Kingdom
-Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge is known to be very vegan friendly

Also, Disney is very accommodating! If you ask ahead, the chefs are more than happy to create a delicious meal for you! Feel free to email or comment with questions :)

Health and happiness!

Just Keep Running!

Hi friends! So as you have noticed I haven't blogged in awhile, due to some personal reasons, absent mindness, and also adjusting to my job that I recently went back to. However, I wanted to say that I am alive and well!

Some fun things I have been doing:

Trip to South Florida to see parents/ and some not so fun and sad events:

Amazing vegan restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale: Green Bar! I had the sweet potato burger

My best friend in the world, Allison came to visit me:

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom, I was the evil queen from Snow White:

Lots of running! I am in week 3 of my marathon program for my race January 31! More to come in my following post about my training schedule I am following. I have gotten bored of my go to running courses near my home, so I found some trails and Disney resorts to run around...

And best of all.... my new Garmin Forerunner 220!!! My old watch died so I upgraded. I love it, you can set interval timers, it actually shows current pace per mile (my old watch didn't), elapsed time, distance, and allows you to make a training plan that the watch can help you to follow. Two thumbs up!

Thank you friends for being patient with me, here is a little mantra I have been following in tough times:

Keep running friends :)

I Believe in Myself, and My Dreams.

As I close out a year long chapter of my life working a "career, big girl" oriented job I write this post in celebration, and understanding many things about life and dreams I did not fully understand or appreciate before. I am very thankful for the struggles of the last year, the job unhappiness, and overall new perspective that I have gained and needed from it:

Always believe in yourself, and always follow your heart. Not affirmations that I always believed in or allowed myself to think. In more recent times, through different life experiences and some recent drastic changes to my heart and mind I fully embrace these things every single day.

A year ago, I left my dream job. Yes, my ultimate dream job. I had dreamed of working at Walt Disney World as early as I can remember, singing Disney princess songs in the shower to the distaste of my family every day, planned our annual January Disney vacation to a T along with color coded itineraries, went on a behind the scenes tour of Magic Kingdom for my 18^th birthday where I cried, and even attended the University of Central Florida specifically so I could work at Disney in college. I began at Disney in May 2012 as a hostess at Cinderella’s Royal table (loved it), and 9 months later on my 21^st birthday after multiple heart breaking auditions and being turned down, I was celebrating in Disney at the time, I got the call that I would be transferring to Entertainment. My heart sang that day in a way I never believed was possible. I had the greatest job in the world where I could first hand feel the love and joy from guests, make parents cry in utter happiness, and live my greatest dreams every single day. As I walked across the stage at UCF in May 2014 I had even decorated my cap with Disney pictures and rhinestones because I was finally a full time cast member after 9 more months of waiting.

However, things changed. I put a lot of pressure on myself to “grow up”, to be serious, to not have fun if it meant not sticking to the schedules I had made for myself. Freaking out that future jobs and people wouldn't take me seriously because of my job, I furiously searched for other jobs and upon interviewing at a recruiting firm, took it with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. “You have to do this Kelsey, you need to be serious now its time to grow up.” So although I knew it was not time, I went seasonal at Disney.

One year later today I feel like I have some great experience in what not to do in life. Don’t take jobs you know you may not enjoy simply for the titles and where they can get you. Hate sitting? Don’t take a desk/office job. I have gained a wealth of experience in two professional environments and am very thankful for both of them and what they can do for my future one day.

As of August 16^th, after only two weeks of waiting (rather than my previous torturous nine months), I will be a full time cast member again doing what I am passionate about.  I can really thank the last year for teaching me that you don’t have to grow up if you don’t want to. Life is far too short to do something you don’t enjoy for 40 hours a week just to bring home a paycheck. You should be happy and feel fulfilled in your passions every single day, not just on the weekends or your time off. You should feel HAPPY every single day, including at work. We have so little in this life time wise, why waste what we have? Read below for another inspirational article about following your passions
www.cosmopolitan.com

I came to these conclusions through running. Both go hand in hand, on runs I would pray to the universe in my darkest days of feeling lost that I would find the path created for me and that I would fulfill it. Only WEEKS after, I was handed back my beloved and precious job. I cannot feel more blessed in my life that I for one have the opportunity to have this job, and two that I am being given my second chance at it. I will do my best at it daily, on hard days remember the amazing happiness and love I feel from it, and be a positive ray of light to those that can no longer feel that what they do matters.

All in all, follow your dreams. When no one else believes in you, believe in yourself always. Conforming to society's labels of success will not bring you success in your heart. Your dreams will.

Keep running and BELIEVING friends :)

**Thank you mom & dad for always supporting me, no matter what <3

Is anybody out there? I'm still here!

Hey friends! Sorry for the little break in posts, life has been very busy! In between being random, running, and work, I just moved! I am all moved into my adorable new place; closer to work and nature! I am very excited to hit the trails close by on foot and by bike. Previously my area was very congested in a touristy part of Central Florida, and now I can enjoy some peace and quiet and the sounds of nature on my runs.

A beautiful view from today’s morning run, my new little home :)

What's ahead? Insert link to runs and 5k etc.

Marine core 10k thoughts, etc?

I promise to post more and more often! Big post in the works to come, expect it out this week!

 Here's what I've been up to this past weekend:

My family came into town to help me move, and first and foremost to attend the Rolling Stones Zip Code Tour concert! My beautiful mother, and sister went along with me. We started off at our favorite... Dandelion Cafe. Amazing vegan food, all should try!

Then we hit the concert, it was amazing. My mom is a huge Stones fan (this was her 5th time seeing them) and my sister and my first! What an incredible experience, crazy to think that the classic rock era is coming to an end, these bands won't be around forever but I am SO blessed to be able to have had this experience!

Here is a silly picture of my little sister and I enjoying Epcot…. In matching dresses. Why? Because we can!

That's all for now, keep running friends!

Post Race Feels

The runners high is no joke. I felt on top of the world for the past week, like I could accomplish anything and everything. The first run however, didn’t feel quite so. I gave myself a day off and went out for a few quick miles and huffed and puffed my sore legs through them. Timing wise was on point, but my legs just felt like absolute lead. I wish I could be a runner that goes out for a quick “8 mile shakeout run.” You go people, are you even human? I can only hope to accomplish these kinds of feats one day. I probably will also need to have a lot more free time or a job that allows me to run on a treadmill while working (doubtful.)

Charlie always joins in on stretching time.

I gave myself a few good days off, went out to sushi and a movie and more my amazing new Oofos and race tee because I am really stylish. We saw Tomorrowland which was EXCELLENT, all should see! It was a long movie, but the premise and the overall message brought me to tears. I don’t want to spoil it for everyone, but it basically goes along with my mantra of peacefulness, positivity, simplicity, etc. Please go see it and tell me what you think too! The rest of the week consisted of pure laziness, packing to move in a few weeks, and seeing friends. If you are ever in the Orlando area hit up my favorite restaurant, Dandelion Café. Vegan wholesome goodness. The Buffalo 66 is my all time favorite in bowl form! (See below!)

And then: my long run for the week. I like to do my long runs on the weekend because I have more time, can take my time, and have time after to stretch and recover. Key word: time. I headed out at 6:30am for a hopeful 8 miles. Did not work out so well. Central Florida is in full force of the summer, it was at least 85 degrees and so humid I could see mist in the air. After 2.5 miles I turned around and ended with a solid 5 miles; good enough for me less than a week after my amazing half! I took the rest of the day laying around watching Netflix, packing, and going to Disney World!

My next post is going to be a long and very passionate one: all about my views and beliefs on nutrition and exercise, and how I came to form these ideals and what resources I recommend.

Keep running friends!

Weekend Recap: Long Run!

Hi friends! This weekend absolutely FLEW by, and I have been so busy that I have barely had any time to put up a blog post.

Since I am in half-marathon training for Boston's "Run to Remember" on May 24, 2015 in Boston I planned to do my long run (also my longest run in training) on Saturday.  Some may choose in training to run longer than 10, or even than 13.1 but since I have already run three half's and since it is May and Central Florida, I thought 10 would be sufficient. So Friday night consisted of me laying on the couch, eating an Annie's pasta and meatball dinner, ice cream, and going to bed at 9:30. I know I know, I am so exciting.

My alarm went off at 6:00am on Saturday morning and I was PUMPED. I got my running clothes on (laid out the night before), filled my fuel belt with water, put some Honey Stinger's chews for when I started to hit a wall, and pressed play on my podcast for the day. (Shout-out to "The Running Lifestyle" podcast! Seriously you make my runs so enjoyable!) I set out and did a mostly flat point to point 10 mile run. I felt great, ate my chews at mile 5 during a .10 mile walk and flew on home. By 9am I was back on the couch eating breakfast before a shift at my "fun" weekend job. I worked that afternoon/evening on my fantastic runner's high that lasted until my head hit the pillow that evening.

My cat, Charlie. Always helping me stretch :)

(Post run breakfast! Smoothie not pictured.)

Sunday, I met my boyfriend and co-worker and her son at Disney's Hollywood Studios for.... STAR WARS WEEKEND. Yes, I am geeky. With my boys t-shirt from Target and Yoda backpack in tow we hit the park to watch the parade, ride on Star Tours, and stalk characters. It was a very fun day, I would recommend to all to try to go for only a few hours if possible, it is very busy and hot in Orlando in May. I will definitely be going back for the night-time fireworks and show!

Now, on to the week long taper. Not a fan. Will post a little about it soon!

Keep on running, friends!

A Little About Me

I admit, I am not your average 23 year old. I like to go to bed by 9:30PM, I enjoy waking up before the sun to run and start my day, I like salads over a big burger, and a kombucha is my cocktail of choice. So yeah.... you won't find me posted up at happy hour too oftern, I call "happy hour" a nice hour long run!

Anywhoo my running story began in college at the University of Central Florida running to keep off the freshman 15, to feel better after a late night out, and philanthropy 5ks. Not all too inspiring. However one day I was feeling very motivated and decided to sign up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February of 2013. I used my dad who is a seasoned marathon runner, and my younger sister who ran cross country in High School and college for advice and tips to develop a "plan" and began to train. The day came, and thanks to my sweetheart of a mother who created my costume, I ran as "Cinderella," tutu and all. I loved every mile of it and after I crossed the finish line in tears and hardly breathing from the absolute rush it gave me, I decided I was hooked and I could finally call myself a runner.

Running down Mainstreet USA towards the castle!

VERY proud of my medal. *Note I ran in horrible shoes not right for my feet, and bruised all my toes and lost a few toenails. Get fit for the correct shoes people!

Since then I have been a pretty regular runner, (except in the summer in Central Florida LOL yeah right.) I ran the 2013 Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon, the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February 2014, the 2014 Disney Tower of Terror 10 Miler, the Lake Minneola 12k in April 2015, and next weekend in Boston I will be running the Run to Remember Half with my dad and sister! Very stoked for that.

I pinky promise most posts will not be as wordy as this but wanted to share my experiences to date. 

To fellow runners, and those thinking of starting, get out there and do it for yourselves, you will not regret it!

View from the start of Lake Minneola 12k