Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival

Have you ever been to Epcot at Walt Disney World during the Flower and Garden Festival?  The festival features beautiful topiaries (of Disney Characters!) that are unbelievable - how do they do that!?  The characters all look lifelike, and it's clear that they have very talented gardeners who are able to maintain the topiaries so exquisitely.

Also unique to Epcot is the food and drink choices.  During the Flower and Garden Festival, each country also has a "pop up shop" type of food stand where you can get unique dishes that are unavailable at other times of the year - I tried a maple bacon cupcake, which sounded interesting in theory, but didn't quite hit the mark like I was hoping.  Margaritas in Mexico, however, are always a good choice!

Plus, there's my favourite part of the festival - the Flower Power Concert Series.  Every weekend features a popular band from the 1960s-1980s.  I happened to attend when one of my absolute favourite bands - Herman's Hermits - were playing!  I've seen Herman's Hermits (featuring Peter Noone) before and they are always incredibly entertaining.

I couldn't believe that people would line up in the hot sun for two hours before the concert just to get a spot in the amphitheatre though.  Because of that, my photos aren't that great.  I didn't want to waste my day in the park standing in a line, so my friends and I ended up hanging out in the courtyard behind the amphitheatre, sipping our margaritas and listening to the show instead.  It was still an awesome experience!

He played all of his hits, including Silhouettes, I'm Henry The VIII, I'm Into Something Good, etc.  And he also mixed it up with some fun cover songs - like Ring of Fire!  That was definitely a treat.



Here's some more photos from my awesome day at Epcot:

 

Check out more photos at the Superflash Photography facebook page!

Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World

I recently spent some time at Animal Kingdom at Disney World - I spent several hours just observing and photographing animals.  Didn't go on any rides, cause I was too fascinated by the beautiful creatures in front of me that I wouldn't normally have the chance to observe.  Here's some of my favourite shots:

Click for bigger photos... and visit Flickr for even more photos! 

Orlando!

Orlando is a gold mine of photo opportunities.  Eye candy everywhere - especially in the Downtown Disney area, which is free to enter, unlike the other Disney parks.  Definitely recommend it if you want a photo adventure and you're on a budget.

 

 

 

More from Orlando, right here.

2008: In Pictures

Well, this blog was originally intended to be a photoblog... so I thought I'd blog some photos today as a recap of my year :)

January

1:

New Years Eve at the Pier in St. Petersberg, Florida

2:

MGM Studios (now Hollywood Studios) with Dan, Victor and Nicole

February

18:

Hanging out with Victoria, Charlene & Raphael in NYC :)

19:

Spent the day wandering NYC on my own... walked across the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time!

March

9:

Decided to road trip to Buffalo / Niagara Falls to hang out with Raphael (and Charlene & Fred for one night) ... little did we know that the worst snowstorm of the year at that point was going to happen on that weekend. It was insane. But beautiful!

22:

Miss Paris' 3rd birthday!

30:

Working on Test The Nation, I met TOMMY CHONG!!

April

10:

Drove out to Waterloo to hang with Lindsay, and see a Danny Michel concert. Here we are after the show.

22:

On a whim, decided to go to High Park for Earth Day. I got some great shots!

May

4:

Uncle Frank's surprise birthday party. Here's my Nonna with her brothers.

14:

Miami Beach! (Went to Florida for a week; spent time in Clearwater, Miami & Ft. Lauderdale. It was good times!)

June

1:

Spent the day baking with my Nonna. My first time making biscotti!

14:

Kels & Kristyn came to visit! Awesome!

22:

One of mine and Errol's famed trips to Honest Ed's

24:

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria: Team Awesome :)

July

1:

Spent Canada Day at the beach, playing "Frizz-Ball" with my friends (yes, we invented it) and watching fireworks.

21:

Maria Producer, David Rosen, speaking to Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber during a commercial break. I know David will read this, and he BETTER be pleased that his picture has finally made it to my blog!! haha.

28:

Maria wrap party! Here is team script in wrap party action. Elvira, Gavin, Pam, David & I.  Why am I the only lush with a wine glass in this pic? 

August

3:

Pete took me up to his cottage in Peterborough, and chauffeured me around on the boat for a wonderful day. I got great pictures this afternoon, too.

7:

Pete's 30th birthday party! I think we look smashing in this pic. I'm wearing the dress Marisa wore on week 1 of HDYSAPLM. After we wrapped, there was a wardrobe sale, and this dress was amazing, and just my size! Loooove.

16:

Road trip to Michigan! The lovely Rebecca hosted me for the weekend, and we met up with Jenny & then Lori & Kurt took us out for dinner. Awesome weekend.

20:

A lovely date in the park : picnic, photos, paper shops. Boys should take note of this.  This was my favourite shot from that day.  Actually, it's one of my favourites that I've taken all year.

25:

Errol, Krista and I in DISNEYLAND!!! Woohoo, California!!!

31:

Came home just in time for the CNE. I go every year. This time I brought Rae with me... he had no idea what he was getting himself into :) It was definitely good times.

September

19:

Back to NYC, for the second time this year! This time, with my parents. We gave him the trip for his 65th birthday present, because he'd never been before.

October

3:

This was a still from the indie short film I worked on, Scratched Out.

5:

Nuit Blanche! An all-night art festival thing that Toronto does every year. This was a shot that Rae took of me. Super cool.

10:

My 26th birthday party! Such a good time, almost all my friends came, and all the food I made tasted amazing :) LOL.

20:

The birth of my new niece, Olivia Violet! :)

29:

Random and spontaneous FUN with Rae in Niagara Falls

31:

Halloween Flapper Girl! The Mari(s)a dress makes a re-appearance, here with Ann-Marie and Amy

November

5:

Took my first dancing lesson! Unfortunately, I have yet to go back for my SECOND dance lesson. LOL. Hopefully I will have more time in the new year.

December

1:

I am the Sound Angel for Brainsgiving '08 :)

6:

Amy and I participated in our first craft sale as Kat and Toad! It didn't really go all that great for me, but I'm looking forward to doing more in the future :)

24:

Merry Christmas! This was my favourite holiday picture this year.

30:

The reunion of some of my favourite people in the world. I know, I just posted a blog about this yesterday, but it was necessary to go into my year recap :)

So Long, Farewell, 2008! You turned out to be a pretty good one. But I'm very much looking forward to whatever 2009 has in store. :)

Happy New Year, everyone!  Wishing nothing but the best for all of my blog friends & your families and loved ones.