In case you don't know, the Sun Princess is Princess Cruises' latest behemoth ship, carrying around 3,000 guests and 1,000 crew at full capacity. I just got back from a 2-week sailing and took meticulous notes on this epic new vessel. Here's my extremely detailed, no-BS review:

The Sheer Size is Nuts

When I say this ship is massive, I mean it's absolutely nuts how big this floating city is. Especially when you get off in ports and have to walk back down the dock to reboard - that's when the sheer scale of the Sun Princess really hits you. Even though it carries a ton of people, the only time it really felt crowded was during breakfast. The Eatery fills up quick and the International Cafe, which sits outside The Eatery doesn't lend itself well for crowds of people wiaint for their coffees. You kind of end up waiting in the middle of where the walking traffic moves.

The Medallion Life

Your entire cruise experience revolves around the new Medallion wearable device and app, for better or worse. I'll admit it has some creepy "Big Brother" vibes with how much it tracks your every movement and purchase. But the convenience it provides is undeniable.
The medallion is your modern day "cruise card" that you tap everywhere to make payments, order drinks, unlock your stateroom, get on/off the ship, and more. But what's crazy is the app can use the medallion to detect your location anywhere on board. Order a drink or meal through the app and the server will manage to find you anywhere on the ship to deliver it, usually within 15 minutes. Caveat: there were times when it took longer and other times when our order was marked "delivered" and it never arrived.
The medallion definitely feels like getting on/off the ship is way faster. The only time we ever waiting in line was for the few minutes it took people to run through security.
This made getting food/drinks almost too easy. On port days when we needed to get off the ship early for excursions, setting up a scheduled delivery of my Egg McMuffin, fruit plate in coffee was really convenient.
Fair warning though - if you're anti-tracking and value privacy over convenience, the ubiquitous Medallion system may not be for you.
Story: we were sitting by the Crooners bar having our nightly pre-dinner cocktail. The bar was packed on this night for some reason. A staff member in a suit started wandering the room, made eye contact with me from 40-feet away and then made a b-line for us. He wanted to sign us up for a wine/food pairing event they were having. I have to believe this is because of the tracking being done via the meddalion. They could see we drink our share of wine. It definitely felt like targeted marketing.

Premium Package Was Best for Us

We opted for the Premium beverage package at $80 per day and I'm glad we did for a few reasons:

1. If you need to have more than one device connected to the internet at a time, Premium makes sense just based on that (you can have four devices). The cheaper Plus package only allows one device, which was a non-starter for me needing both my phone and laptop to be online. I'm unfortunately not able to just live off the grid for almost three weeks and need to periodically check in with my clients.
2. The wine selection is way better with Premium vs Plus. As a wine drinker, the upgrade was 100% worth it.
3. Two free speciality dining meals are included, which was clutch on our 2-week cruise to break up the repetition of the main dining rotation.
4. Unlimited premium desserts and ice creams - a nice perk for those with a sweet tooth.

Basically, Premium removed almost any need to think about or worry over costs on board. For $80 per day, the premium drinks, speciality dining, better wines, desserts and internet made it an easy choice for our group's needs.
And for those wondering about the 15 drink per day limit (since there's almost a weekly post asking about it) - it was never an issue for me. I'm a scrotch drinker and to get a decent pour, you basically have to order a double. Even drinking doubles, I never got to 15 drinks/day. This even includes sea days where we'd typically have a mimosa or two with breakfast, a few cocktails/beers at the pool, an cocktail or two before dinner and then wine at dinner.

Staff & Service

I can't say enough about how incredible and friendly the service was across the board on the Sun Princess. Our room steward, waiters, bartenders - everyone went so above and beyond daily, it really elevated the experience. I'm always amazed how they remember everyone's names.
However, we did notice a clear slip in the quality of service in the second week compared to the first, likely due to a crew changeover partway through our sailing. Simple things like forgetting drink orders or getting meals wrong became more frequent from our new set of MDR servers.

Suites & Staterooms

We originally booked a balcony room. When the bid offer came in I followed some old advice and just placed bids on upgrades because "you don't have to take the offer if you don't like it." Well guess what, that's not the case anymore. My offer was accepted and we automatically became the proud recipients of a Reserve Mini-Suite for an additional $500. In hindsight, I'm glad it worked out. The room has noticably more space than a standard balcony room. These mini-suites are spacious, basically a separate living room and bedroom divided by a curtain you can close off. Having two TVs and an extra closet was great.
As mini-suite guests we also received a nice amenity of free premium wines in our room - on the second week they even topped us up with two more complementary bottles! I guess each week is looked at as a new sailing -- so you get two more bottles! Some older posts complained about the wine quality. It looks like it's been upgraded because we received a Pinot Noir and Chard from La Crema. Being California wine people, La Crema works great for us. If you can swing it, I'd highly recommend going for a mini-suite over a regular balcony.
That being said, I'd avoid the "Cabana" balcony suites. The layout is really bizarre and in my opinion a downgrade. When you walk out onto your balcony, it's not really a balcony. There's another area in front of your balcony that connects a few other cabana suites. The idea is that a few rooms share a private balcony with jacuzzi. However, it also means that walking out onto your balcony doesn't give you a private ocean view because there's this 20-30 feet of additional patio in front of you and everyone above you just looks down into your balcony area.

Dining Highs & Lows

Main Dining Rooms

It can be confusing because there are three floors (Decks 6, 7 and 8). We reserved dining in the MDR prior to the trip via the app for the first few days just so we knew there was a guaranteed place to eat. On night one, the dining room manager introduced himself to us and said he went ahead and booked our table for us every night of the trip. If we didn't show, it was fine.
Food quality in the main dining rooms (MDRs) was consistently good across breakfast and dinner. On port days, it's an "express breakfast" which just means a shorter list of options. Nothing mind-blowing, but solid and tasty. My biggest gripe here is the operating hours. On sea days, the MDR closes for breakfast at 9:00am. You basically have to choose between sleeping in a little, hitting the gym, or getting a decent breakfast.
Pro-Tip: Biggest breakfast tip is stay away from the scrammbled eggs -- they're gross. We figured out that the scrambled eggs come from a bag. If you want real, cracked eggs, either get an omelett or over easy/medium/hard/etc.

Reserve Suite Dining Access

The Reserve mini-suite gives you access to the Reserve Restaurant. It's a little bit more elevated of a dining experience and reservations aren't needed -- you just show up. We dined her a few times and it did feel more elevated. Unlike the MDR, the server in the Reserve Restaurant feels more personal because they're handling smaller groups.

Lido Deck

For more casual fare, the Lido deck had some surprises like an awesome made-to-order salad bar station that became my go-to for healthier meals between all the indulgent dining. The burger grill, taco station and pizza areas were pretty standard, but that salad bar slapped.

Lackluster Buffet

On the flip side, The Eatery buffet left a lot to be desired. Despite different themed stations, the quality was mid at best. We largely avoided eating at the buffet outside of quick breakfast grabs. The Eatery closes for breakfast around 10:00 AM. At which point if you move further into the ship, the restaurants that are normall Catch and Butcherblock become a buffet extension that's opened later -- it's kind of funky.
The layout of the buffet is weird and leaves people wondering if they're cutting in line especially when you go to the extended buffet at Catch/Butcherblock.
What's odd to me is you can go grab a million cheese plates, fruit plates or hummus/veggie plates at the buffet. But if you order those things through the Medallion app, it's not "complimentary." You have to pay like $4.99-$5.99 for those items. We still can't figure out why it costs $5 to order a tiny cheese plate but ordering a cheeseburger is free.

Specialty Dining Winners

We used our two speciality dining credits at Crown Grill and Butcher's Block. I was a little worried because I had read mixed reviews on here about both of these restaurants. However, both meals were really good and before you come at me, I'm a foodie guy -- I'd tell you if they sucked.
We chose Crown for my parent's anniversay dinner. The service was awesome and they made us all feel really special. The setup here is like a steakhouse, where you order your beef and then the sides are a la carte family style. We had a group of seven -- the manager just said "we'll bring you out all the sides, enough for your whole party" which was great.
The next week, we hit up Butcher's Block by Dario. I've never left a meal more full on a cruise ship than at this place. It's family style dining and they just bring out everything for you -- almost like a brazilian barbecue place. We started with a bread appetizer and a glass of wine while you wait for them to get the dining room setup. Then there's more bread on the table + veggies. Then the food starts coming out: beef tartar; beef carpaccio; etc. The main event is the massive tomahawks and porterhouse steaks they carve up tableside. They'll just keep putting beef on your plate until you beg them to stop. Finally, there's desert and a grappa digestif.
Both restaurants were great experiences and a very welcomed change from the MDR after a week of repetition. The food, service and overall vibe were a noticeable step up.

Spellbound

We also splurged one night for the Spellbound immersive magic/dinner experience and it was easily a cruise highlight despite the $150/pp price tag. After an elevated multi-course meal, you get ushered by a guy in a top hat into an exclusive hidden club. While waiting for the magic show, you hang out in their bar which is reminiscent of the Dinseyland Haunted Mansion. While enjoying your drink, there's a magician perorming more intement magic for everyone at the bar. Once they're ready for the show, you're brought into the room where the actual magic show takes place. Afterwards, you're welcome to hang out in the Spellbound bar and continue drinking.
If you're from LA, you probably know about the Magic Castle in Hollywood. Spellbound is an extension of the Magic Castle. Just like with the Magic Castle, you show up in formal wear. This means a coat and tie for the men and an evening gown/dress for the woman.
Overall, we really enjoyed it.

Room Service

This was hit or miss for us. You fill out the paper door hangar and place it on your doorknob before heading to bed. Then you hope and pray that it will actually arrive -- which in two of our instances, it never did. Your options are also super limited. You also may or may not receive what you actually ordered. With coffee for instance, you have a choice of ordering it to-go (paper cup) or stay (actual coffe cup). We always seemed to get the opposite of what we ordered to the point where it became a running joke for us.

International Cafe

This became our goto for a lot of things: coffee, snacks, quick breakfast food (pastries, coffee cake, avodcado toast, Egg McMuffins). Werid fact though: if you order the Egg McMuffin through the app, it comes as an egg patty just like McDonalds and with cheese. When you get the one at International Cafe, it's just an over easy egg and no cheese. Why they can't just be the same is odd.

Night Owl Needs

My main dining gripe was the lack of solid late night food options for us night owls. The Eatery buffet closed at an absurd 10:30pm, leaving only spotty room service or mobile ordering as the choices if you worked up an appetite after evening activities. More robust late-night casual dining would be appreciated.

Bars & Alcohol

Overall, great selection of cocktails. All of the bars have their own little theme and different menus. The ladies I was with were consitently impressed at the quality and thought of the cocktails at each bar. They were also super impressed with the quality of the glassware being used. I must admit, everything from the rocks glasses to the martini glasses really were beautiful.
If you just want straight spirits, you have to order a double to get a normal pour (they're actually measuring out the pours). That being said, with either Plus or Premium, you'll get a good selection of top quality booze.
You gotta try really hard to hit the 15-drink max. Some days I had drinks at breakfast, during the day, lunch, before dinner, during dinner and after dinner. I never hit my max.
One thing that impressed me was staff actually being concerned about drink quality. We were having drinks at one of the bars on the Lido deck. The supervisor was upset with the bartenders because they ran out of premium liquor and hadn't requested more. He made sure to remind them that when someone orders a premium drink they get a premium liquor -- no exceptions.
You also must checkout the Good Spirits bar. There's a few times throughout the night where you watch a live cocktail demonstration. The bartenders at GS are so fun and playful -- really makes for a great vibe.

Amenities - Hits & Misses

The gym facilities on board were a bit of a disappointment, especially for a new ship. While they had a nice assortment of cardio machines, the actual weight room was laughably small with only a few pieces of strength equipment that were always monopolized. Not a deal-breaker, but an area that could be improved.
The pool areas were nicely spread out across different sections of the Lido deck. On sailing days, there was typically a band, the DJ and then a random movie on the jumbotron. The random blasting of action movies at 3pm really ruined the pool vibe and it's typically when the deck would thin out. One minute you're relaxing in the jacuzzi, the next an action movie with explosions is shaking the pool area. It made no sense and seemed tailored for a much younger crowd despite this sailing's passengers being mostly older adults.

Technology & Support

In addition to the Medallion app, the overall internet speeds on board were fast and reliable enough for me to easily stay connected for basic work needs.
The technology support via the app's live chat feature, however, was utterly useless. Any time we had issues properly being charged for drink packages or had to modify reservations, the live chat was a time-wasting nightmare. You're clearly just talking to an outsourced rep with zero actual knowledge of Princess' systems or operations. Your best bet is to go in-person to the guest services desk.

Other Notes & Quibbles

• Dress codes weren't enforced at all. We did the whole suite/gown routine for formal nights only to see plenty of people still rocking jeans and t-shirts in the MDR. Same lack of enforcement for the "formal attire required" Spellbound event. Either lose the formal nights or enforce them.
• Our drink package tallies often had errors, with our group's drinks randomly getting combined onto one person's account. Always double check and ask for corrections.
• The "Cabana" balcony suite layout is bizarre - your balcony is just a shared landing in front of other suites, rather than a private space. We avoided these after hearing the lack of privacy.

My last day of work happens to be on a day the company is throwing a potluck with a Mexican theme. I decided to bring margaritas since what are they going to do, fire me? The problem I have no idea how to make a margarit, especially at scale. I'm not squeezing a bunch of limes, so I opted to go the limeade route. The issue I'm running into is how much of each do I put in? Instructionsi have found will say stuff like add an ounce of tequila and fill with limeade...what if I have a different container?
Do any of you have suggestions for something like 1 part this 3 parts that so I can scale for my container?
I bought simply limeade, Cointreau, 1800 Blanco, and limes
Thanks for any help you can offer.

"Good evening, tributes, and welcome back to the stories of Panem. Before we begin, I would like to thank Christian Blanco, the original writer of "Tales of the Hunger Games," and Lauren from "Panem Reborn." Now, since I don't have too much else to say, let's go!
Game 114 (150):
District 1: Jacqueline and Facet
District 2: Malona and Crane
District 3: Darlene and Colt
District 4: Brook and Harbor
District 5: Unknown girl and Darian
District 6: Fifi and Atlas
District 7: Bloom and Amarylio
District 8: Scarlet and Carter
District 9: Zest and Mazin
District 10: Zulu and Mateo
District 11: Unknown girl and Lee
District 12: Dorothy and Hargree
District 14: Both unknown
A plethora of excitement crossed the capital over the past year, especially their beloved commentator Camilia Ravenstil's pregnancy, which resulted in her giving birth to twins named Amelia and Cyrus, to honor the past two Game Makers. Even Winnow's victory was still in high popularity.
As the reapings rolled around on July 4th, many of the capital citizens flew to their TVs and viewing parties. Winnow made her journey from district to district with her mother and entourage from the capital. When she landed in District 4 on the late morning of the third day of the reapings, she was greeted by Mayor Chigwell. After a rather long tour of the district's harbors and jewelry stores, they stopped at a nearby seaside diner for a brief lunch. Viewers in Snow Square laughed at Winnow's face of pure boredom as Mayor Chigwell ranted about the latest trends in the district's fashion. Winnow's face soon turned to relief as the mayor brought her back to the district's reaping square.
After a little bit of time, the light blue-catered youths were walked into the square by rather impatient Peacekeepers. Mayor Chigwell finished up his speech before welcoming Winnow to the stage. She gave out a rather tired smile at the district's population before talking about the joys of being a victor. She then asked if any of the girls wanted to volunteer. After hearing no response, she then took out the name of 17-year-old Brook Branachok.
Brook was found in the back of the 17-year-old section. Her platinum blonde hair made her quite noticeable to viewers in Snow Square. She sighed dramatically before flipping her blonde hair back in a dramatic manner as her piercing blue eyes even made some of her nearby peers shudder in fear as Brook arrived at the stage and shook Winnow's hand. "She was later described as a 'rich high school bully' by commentators. The girls in a mood," Winnow laughed before shaking Brook’s hand before walking to the male reaping bowl. After a brief silence, she thrusted her hand elbow-deep before taking out the name of 17-year-old Harbor Zanders. A brief pause soon followed by a discussion as a boy with dark brown curly hair with a smattering of light brown freckles on his face gave a guilt-ridden smile before walking up to the stage. However, as a group of teens his age giggled, Harbor turned back and glared at the giggling boys as they suddenly grew quiet. Harbor soon took out a flask of wine. Capital citizens laughed as Harbor found one of his friends and tossed it to him before walking back up to the stage. Back in the capital, both Camilia and Silca and even most of the audience had been surprised at the pair's striking attitudes.
Harbor then shook Brook and Winnow’s hand before they were announced as this year's tributes for District 4 before moderate applause followed. Winnow soon brought the two tributes to the drawing room before she made her journey to District 3 with her entourage.
Brook was visited by her mother, father, and four younger sisters clinging dearly onto their sister. After successfully removing her sobbing siblings, Brook’s mother calmed her daughter down as her father, Coral, gave the best advice he could offer. Peacekeepers soon came in to bring Brook to the waiting dock. She waved and said she’d "At least try to win."
As for Harbor, he was visited by his mother, father, and his younger and older brothers. As his siblings were saddened as well as his parents, Harbor embraced them all in a tight hug. Before he was needed at the dock, his girlfriend Melanie even joined in this hug causing Harbor to show some emotion.
After a few more minutes, peacekeepers soon brought Harbor out of the room to join Brook at the dock as the pair boarded the jet boat to the capital.
"Man, you've been through the ringer, haven't you?"
"Same goes to you, girl. Haven't seen you in a year."
The pair soon chatted with each other about their experiences at the academy and gossiping about old friends. Brook, in particular, laughed hysterically when Harbor mentioned how his ex-girlfriend got karma returned to her when she crashed a birthday party at Harbor’s dad's bar, resulting in the peacekeepers putting her in the district's jail for a month.
However, as the pair tried to dine upon the food provided, the boat hit a bump resulting in Brook, Harbor, four avoxes, the dining table, and nine peacekeepers to go flying up into the sky. Thankfully, no harm came between the fifteen as the peacekeepers then helped the two back up as a new lunch buffet was arrived. And so did their mentor, Sienna Shoreville, victor of the 105th Hunger Games, arrived in.
"I don't want you two to ally with the 2s, maybe the 1s, depends on how they are."
Brook looked curiously at Sienna before saying, "Didn't Anamaria get her neck snapped by the girl a year prior?"
Sienna groaned in annoyance at remembering this cringeworthy death before walking to the bar carriage before inviting the two to join. As Sienna asked the pair about their lives, she laughed while listening to Harbor telling some stories of working at his dad's bar and the customers who would frequent the place. However, when Sienna asked Brook about her life and possible skills, Brook sighed before saying, "I guess looking pretty’s a skill."
Sienna laughed before replying, "For getting sponsors, yes, but not when you're in a fight to the death."
As this reality check wiped the smile from Brook’s face, she and Harbor finished up their meals before listening more to Sienna’s lecture about the games. And as an act to see if her tributes were actually paying attention, she quizzed them on the dos and don'ts in the capital. As Harbor passed this quiz, Sienna laughed before allowing him some "Capital Goodies." However, as Brook blatantly failed the quiz, she laughed and called Harbor a "suck-up" before walking to her room.
Sienna looked at Harbor for a second before saying, "I guess she’s either related to the mayor or is a spoiled rotten brat."
"She usually brags about her rich family members, always thinks she's better than everyone."
"And trust me, the girl ain't pretty."
Sienna and Snow Square laughed as she then patted him on the back before""telling him to get a 'nap' in before they were to arrive in the capital."
He nodded before Brook returned. It is unknown what the two girls talked about for the remainder of the trip, but our historians have noted that Brook’s scowl from before had dissolved for the time being. As evening rolled around, the pair from District 4's boat landed at Mcaine dock as an excited crowd of capital citizens swarmed the pair from 4 and their very popular mentor, who had been giving out her new jewelry to some of her lucky fans.
Brook and Harbor performed rather well, with the capital citizens enjoying their "feisty sailor attitudes." Even some reporters from Golden 24 put up a most popular tribute poll with Harbor and Brook being in the top 3, narrowly beating Fifi from District 6.
Sienna then thanked the capital for their time before taking her tributes to the limousine. Once it arrived at the accommodation tower, they arrived at the 4th floor. After arriving, Sienna called their stylist, Orivile Cartwright.
Orivile embraced Sienna before showing his tributes his pre-made outfits, which were Sailor themed, which made Brook and Harbor smile. Due to them having a fair amount of time left, Sienna displayed the post-reaping commentaries before turning on the commentary for District 1 as Orivile worked away at the pairs' outfits.
Mayor Cassino greeted a very exhausted Winnow Fraiser. Also accompanying the mayor was Realm Jones, victor of the 101st Hunger Games, and Quintin Mahoney, victor of the 108th Hunger Games, joined Winnow on the initial tour. Winnow appeared to be star-struck sitting between both iconic victors. She even turned around to Quintin saying, "I can't believe I get to meet a legend like you."
Quintin laughed before giving Winnow some comic relief during the tour, telling her about his games and even asking a few questions about her own games. At the conclusion of the tour, Realm's eyes lit up in delight as he saw his own capital mentor, Narcissa Valentions, warmly embracing her mentee.
"So what're you doing here?"
"I had some time off. I figured I'd come by and see how you've been doing. Business at my shop has been bustling as ever, so I figured I’d take a break to see my first victor."
As Realm and Narcissa soon walked over to the talent demonstrations together, Quintin laughed as Mayor Cassino welcomed the scarlet youths. Winnow was then brought up to the stage. She asked if any of the youths wanted to volunteer, becoming surprised when 10 ladies and 8 gentlemen volunteered for the role of tribute for District 1. Silca joked with Camilia, saying, "It's normal for them, isn't it?"
With the ladies' many remarkable weapon displays and archery displays, 18-year-old Jacqueline Faywether had been announced as the final volunteer to try her luck. She smiled at many nearby cameras as even one enthralled boy in the audience fainted seeing the rather extractive career girl.
She shot 10 arrows blindfolded and threw 8 knives in the letter J form, causing even more ripples of laughter sounded in the square. The mayor announced the two passing tributes. As for the two tributes, Jacqueline’s only remaining opponent, Jewel, had almost won the title of female tribute but had a stroke leading to Jacqueline to win the title of female tributes.
As for the guys, 18-year-old Facet Elixithorn had made himself a crowd and capital favorite by his spear-throwing display and to ending in a handstand with wild applause following. Three guys made it to the debate round with Realm this time asking the questions. With poise and dignity, Lance’s strong mind and less nerves had won him the title of male tribute for District 1.
After the pair were bathed and stylized, they were then brought out to the square as they then shook Winnow’s hand before she announced Jacqueline and Facet were announced as the tributes for District 1.
And after a brief meeting with their families and friends with not too much emotion, Jacqueline and Facet were then brought to the train as the train began their journey to the capital.
Narcissa, Realm, and Quintin then greeted their tributes with Jacqueline and Facet being surprised seeing their district's first victor’s mentor. Quintin soon brought the four to the table having a brief dinner with Narcissa asking the two if they had any skills besides their ‘weapons of choice.’ Quintin was pleased to hear of Jacqueline's diverse skills of weaponry before bragging to her district partner about her achievements at the Kobayashi self-defense center. However, instead of being jealous, Facet asked his district partner about her accomplishments.
Realm and Quintin were pleased with their tributes getting along with each other before showing the past reapings in the districts. Facet and Jacqueline laughed hysterically at the District 2 reaping games even Narcissa let out a smile. Quintin then asked the pair if there had been “Other commendable allies besides the non-dazzling loonies from 2 besides Jade and Hermina, they are dazzling.” Realm also chimed in adding that they should “Look for others.”
However, as Jacqueline was going to ask why Realm shushed her and said, “The career pack has their on and off years.” Jacqueline nodded before Quintin continued talking to the pair about the past reapings. Facet and Jacqueline even suggested the girl from 3 and the pair from 4 as potential allies. Realm appeared to consider this before Quintin added in that “He would see what he could do.”
As the pair nodded, the pair from 1’s train arrived in the outskirts of the capital. Narcissa soon styled the pair up, quietly complaining to Realm of how Jacqueline's red hair and Facet's long blonde curls were impossible to tame. The train then arrived in the capital with the usual excited capital crowd marveling scarlet couture. Jacqueline and Facet were both outstanding hits with the capital citizens maintaining proper etiquette. However, two capital lights had to be removed from the audience after heckling Facet about his district partner. Narcissa then wished Jacqueline and Facet luck before kissing Realm and Quintin on the cheek. Realm and Quintin then thanked the capital citizens for their time before bringing the pair from 1 to the limousine as it brought them to their accommodation tower.
Once they arrived at their accommodation tower apartment, they were greeted by their stylist, Aurelia Heavensbee. She smiled at the four of them before whisking them to the dining table showing them her designs for the parade. Jacqueline in particular was marveling at her long ruby dress as Facet jokingly told Jacqueline that they looked like a “walking jewel.” However, Aurelia frowned as Realm glared at Facet as the smile was wiped from his face. The pair then groaned in annoyance at their stylist's bland outfits.
Before the pair were then brought to the parade moments later, Facet and Jacqueline were immediately approached by Malona and Crane, both from 2 introducing themselves. However, Facet cut the pair off from further words, saying, “the career pack is gonna be different this year.” As Malona protested, Jacqueline said, ‘thanks but no thanks.” Both Jade Heath and Herminia Gold looked at the District 1 mentors in bewilderment as they also reciprocated. However, the pair from 1 then came over to the pair from 4 chatting with their mentor.
“Darling, you look stunning.”
“Oh, thank you, you dazzling ruby.”
Brook and Jacqueline seemed to obtain an instant connection. As Facet complemented Harbor’s outfit. Harbor smiled good-naturedly back before chatting away with him about lives in their districts. Facet soon asked the pair if they would be interested in an alliance in the arena; however, Sienna leaned in this conversation asking “Where are the 2s?”
Jacqueline then replied that they were “trying something new this year” before pointing at the pair making fun of Mateo from 10’s cow-themed parade outfit. Sienna shrugged as Brook and Harbor warmly accepted the offer as Facet and Jacqueline smiled saying “splendid see you soon.” When the pair from 1 got back, Realm popped up asking “You with the 4s this year.” As the pair nodded, Realm smiled and nodded with Quintin and Aurelia doing their touch-ups to their tributes' outfits. Sienna commended the pair for “making friends already,” she still urged caution before re-adding in “The 2 mentors there are my ride or dies but still keep your eyes on them if needed.”
The pair then nodded as the parade then began. Regal applause and cheers sounded for the pair from 1, but Nico Anderson lead editor of Anderson Fashion applauded for their strong impression but said the dress was “So Basic.” The pair from 4 were given a large amount of applause as Harbor and Brook waved at the audience even performing an old dance known as a “Jig”. The pair were also given a boatload of flowers and chocolate resulting in both Brook and Harbor sneezing uncontrollably at the end of the parade during President Mcaine's speech. Best dressed was ultimately awarded to the pair from 4 with their sailor-themed couture.
When the pair from 1 arrived back in their district apartment, they were glaring daggers from afar at Aurelia,
“How did it go.”
“How did it feel getting harshly criticized on live TV.”
Quintin shot Jacqueline a disapproving look as Realm asked if there other worthy allies. Both mentors were pleased hearing their success with the pair from 4 before Realm reassured them that they still looked “dazzling” before sending his tributes to bed. However, with the pair from 4, Sienna warmly embraced the two of her tributes on a best-dressed win. As Orville also joined in the group hug has the 4 of them partied till around 11:30 pm until Sienna sent her tributes to bed as she and Orville stayed up a while longer.
Bright and early the following morning, the mentors ushered their tributes to the training center with a very frustrated Apollo Price. Unfortunately, during his speech about the rules of the training center, he tasered Mateo from 10 after he tried to make a break for the door after Price’s speech concluded. Mateo’s mentor Bianca Jr Ramon rolled her eyes before dropping her mentee at the knife station.
The newly made career alliance between the District 1 and 4 tributes conquered most of the training stations with Facet and Harbor bonding over dropping and throwing large weights causing Fifi from 6 to wet herself earning a smirk from the boys. When Mateo awoke from his unconscious slumber, he immediately ran to Mateo asking him to spare. Since Mateo was no older than 14 and he was the youngest tribute the careers laughed before Facet told him to “Buzz off”. However, as Mateo continued to pester the career boys, Harbor gave Facet a knowing look before accepting Mateo’s sparing request.
A short crowd of tributes went to the jousting stations as Mateo and Harbor were briefed on the rules before being allowed to go at it. It was no surprise that Harbor won all 4 rounds.
“Easy”.
Harbor smiled warmly before being tackled to the ground by the 14-year-old boy from 10.
“You think you're better than me HA you rotten career boy.”
As Price Facet Brook and even Sienna tried to step in Harbor held his hand up to stay back. Harbor then threw the boy off him before pinching the nerve on Mateo’s neck knocking him clean out. As training master Price and Sienna looked at him in bewilderment before Price smiled saying
“Good job kid”.
Harbor smiled before Facet and he returned to the weight station and survival, knife and axe stations even giving advice to Amarylio from 7 with starting fires.
As for the girls they mainly gossiped to themselves and having “Girl talk” at the aquatic station sword station and archery stations. When any tribute tried to use the archery station both Jacqueline and Brook would melodicaly but fiercely slam there weapons into the targtes.
At the end of the traing head master price brought the tributes to the asscors room. Due to the request of the new head game maker the tributes assesment scores were kept strictly confidential. However tabloid reporters manage to scoop out that Jacqueline Facet Harbor and Malona from to managed to score at the top of the pack with a 11. Brook and Amarylio scored a 9 and at the bottom of the pack was Mateo and Hargree from 12 scoring a 3 each.
Both Sienna Quintin and Realm were beyond impressed with there tributes scores before they’re stylist sketched up potential outfits with there mentors soon quizing the pairs on interview educate.
Camilia Ravenstil welcomed the excited capital audience modeling a rather gothic dress that made her look like a ghost tree by the audience. The audience even laughed good naturedly as Camilia shook for a second as leaves fell of her costume as if wind had hit her. She then exictedly welcomed Jacqueline from 1. She was adorned in a stunning pink and red dress with her hair put up in braids. The two had some gossip before reavling to the audience that she was a decdent of Emarld Rivelta victor of the 34th hunher games. Camilia slapped her knee and laughed saying “Thats who you resmbl I guessed right I knew it!”
As the girls chatted the audience loved her regal responses to Camilas questions as even mentoning the carrer alliance brought the crowd into rapsous cheers,even when she talked about her allies from 4 openly. She then kissed Camilia on the hand before bowing which caused even more cheers before she was dismissed back stage. Facet was welcomed in next marveling a sleeveless pink suit with ruby jeans making many of the capital audience to swoon over his physeigue. Even Camilia was taken aback by his charm and confidence as he spoke about his training experience and the strength of his alliance with Jacqueline. His witty remarks and easygoing demeanor captivated the audience, earning him loud applause and admiration.
Later on into the night brook was welcomed in next with wild cheers and wolf whistles sounding. With her hair being dyed a pure yellow with a light brown dress resembling sand following her. She proceeded to have the same amount of banter with Camilia as Jacqueline did however Camilia cut her off as she was finshing up talking about her dads money saying “Honey this is the hunger games.”
“Yeah and Ill live how I like before the games.”
As a few jeers sounded the rest of her interview was rather dull the only light being Camilia shooing the “Regina George” of the stage. As Camila then called Harbor loud cheers sounded again as Harbor walked on to the stage with his curly black hair and brown eyes making him quite attrauctive to many even his pirate themed coustume became an over night sensation with many fashion designers stating that they wanted this fashionable suit.
As Camilia asked Harbor about the games becoming pleased with his short but sweet responses. Even cracking some good jokes about the other competitors mainly about Bloom from 7 and Mateo from 10 . To conclude Harbor’s inteviwed he tossed his waist coat to teh crowd as an excited gagle of captial ladies clammered for this waist coat. As his interview ended on a high. Finaly after the interview of the boy from 14 the new head game maker Natellia Swan was welcomed to the stage. Head game maker swan was adorned in a regal black gown also sporting garish make up making her resmble more of ghost then human. After introducing herself to the excited capital audience Camila smiled before shaking her hand saying that “Game maker swan has alot to accept from.” She laughed before giving hint out to teh audience by pointing to both of the laides dresses. Curious osund sof inteirgue soon followed as game maker swan smiled and bowed as she then left the stage as Camilia then ended the interviews there. The next morning tributes were given a breif breakefst before being brought to the arena’s holding room.
This years outfits consisted of black coats with black jeans and snakers with there distristicts nymbers stickered on the back of there coats. Realm visited Facet before reminding him to stick with Jacqueline and Harbor and Brook. However before Realm finished Facet replied “That girl Brook might be problem.” Realm nodded and agreed before reminding him to keep an eye on her before shaking his hand as he went into his tube. Jacqueline was visited by Quintin the pair had a similar conversation as Realm did with Facet before Jacqueline embraced Quintin and thanked him joking “District 1 needs more ladys.” Quintin laughed before hugging her back before walking Jacqueline to her tube. As for Brook she was not visited by Sienna nor Orvilve a fact that suprised her the most but shrugged before patiently puting her hair up in a bun and waiting for the tribute call to sound. As for Harbor Sienna visted him. She embacred Harbor before reminding him to “ Keep an eye on all of them.”
Harbor smiled before thanking Sienna for her mentor ship before Sienna walked Harbor to his tube his tube and at mid day the podiums then arose into the arena.
Arena Ghosty lake Game 114

Me, my husband and son (33F, 33M and 4M) just returned from our first trip to Disney World (also - our first vacation as a family!). We stayed from 4/30 - 5/6.
Before the breakdown, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to this sub. We had the trip of a lifetime and this community played a huge part in the details. I read through every post religiously for months leading up to the trip and as a result we picked an amazing week to go with low(er) numbers, mastered Genie+ and rode (almost) every ride with minimal wait times.
Here is a summary of our overall costs:

• Flight, Toronto to Orlando (paid using CC points) - $179.55 CAD ($131.06 USD)
• Hotel, 6 nights at Pop Century (friends + family rate) - $1,254.39 CAD ($915.61 USD)
• Park tickets, 5 days (20% Canadian resident discount) - $2,186.18 CAD ($1,595.75 USD)
• Airport Shuttle (Mears Connect) - $132.51 CAD ($96.72 USD)
• Airport Parking (Park N' Fly) - $103.90 CAD ($75.84 USD)
• Park Expenses (Food, Genie+, Souvenirs) - $2,429.08 CAD ($1,773.05 USD)
• Total Cost: $6,285.61 CAD ($4,604.56 USD)

Here is a breakdown of our daily expenses in USD:

	30 - Disney Springs	1 - Magic Kingdom	2 - Hollywood Studios	3 - Animal Kingdom	4 - Epcot	5 - Magic Kingdom	6 - Disney Springs
Dining
Breakfast				$35.32	$31.90	$27.12
Lunch	$31.71	$46.08	$38.94	$53.53	$30.64	$39.59	$45.11
Dinner	$67.06	$53.20	$105.10	$133.19	$30.30	$42.99	$39.69
Snacks		$35.42	$37.25	$16.48	$55.73	$16.47	$34.23
Extras
Genie+		$73.50	$70.29	$54.33	$67.11	$86.28
Souvenirs	$23.42	$26.60	$37.26		$126.19	$47.89	$23.40
Groceries	$89.73
Total Expenses (USD)	$211.92	$288.84	$288.84	$292.85	$341.87	$260.34	$142.43
Total Expenses (CAD)	$290.33	$395.71	$395.71	$401.20	$468.36	$356.67	$195.13

Best advice & things I'd do differently:

• If it's you're first time visiting, wear that "first visitor" badge everywhere. It was both my husband and son's first trip and my son in particular, recieved above and beyond treatment from almost every Cast Member he interacted with.
• Is having to pay for Genie+ annoying AF? Yes. However, I did feel it was worth the money given the fact that this is probably a once a decade trip for our family - it felt like a small sacrifice to be able to get on every single ride we wanted. Based on some of the commentary on this sub + YouTube, I thought it was going to be a nightmare to use but I got the hang of it pretty quickly!
• We had a character lunch booked at Tusker House which we ultimately cancelled, and I don't regret it at all. The price is outrageous and the meal was going to cost us over $200 CAD. We were able to meet almost every single character in the parks by either using Genie+ or waiting in a short queue. We put that money towards a nicer dining experience at Sebastians at Carribean Beach instead!
• I really, really, really wish we had accounted for a pool day somewhere in the middle because by the time day four came around, I was feeling ROUGH. I am in very good physical shape, I wore the best walking shoes money can by and I still felt like shit.
• Unless you have an annual pass or are planning multiple visits in the next year or two, I firmly believe that Magic Bands are completely useless and a huge waste of money. I had originally planned to buy one for my son but for over $50 CAD, I couldn't justify it.
• For the hotter months, buy a pack of cooling towels off of Amazon. You can get a pack of 4 for $15 CAD - whereas in the park, you're paying around $25 USD for one. My son gets overheated very easily and these were a lifesaver when the sun really hit us in the afternoon.
• If you can afford it, stay at a hotel with access to the Skyliner. It is SO much better than being crammed into an overcrowded shuttle bus.
• If you're planning to use the Virtual Queue for Guardians/Tron, log onto the app 2 minutes beforehand and just keep hitting refresh until it turns 7 am/1 pm. We used this tactic and were able to get on both rides no problem (we actually rode Tron twice and it is AMAZING)
• On the same theme as above, no ride is worth paying individual fast pass fees for IMO - especially Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I was thoroughly underwhelmed.
• If you go to Animal Kindgom, you MUST do the Wilderness Explorer Challenge. I'm not sure who enjoyed this more - my husband and I or our four year old. It was such a fun way to explore the park and my son was SO excited to get his Explorer badge at the end. This was truly one of the biggest highlights of the trip!
• ETA: We used InstaCart to order breakfast groceries to our hotel and it helped cut costs on food. Our room had a decent sized mini fridge so we stocked it with yogurt, cheese strings, deli meat, bagels, cream cheese and fruit. I regret not ordering more because we ran through everything pretty quickly. The breakfast at Pop Century leaves a lot to be desired so this was a great alternative!

I know this was long and I hope I didn't miss anything! Happy to answer any questions - and again, thank you to everyone who contributes to this sub and helped us have such an amazing trip.

I wanted to give back a bit after receiving some great information from folks on this sub before a (very short notice and sparsely planned) solo trip to Panama in late April/early May of 2024. I'm subtitling this post "I did a lot in Panama so you don't (necessarily) have to". Truth be told, I started the trip with 4 nights and one in-country flight booked and built the rest of my itinerary on the fly. I definitely could have used an extra week or so before the trip to do some itinerary planning, deeper research on where I chose to stay, etc. but I really enjoyed most of the trip and would absolutely recommend Panama as a solo trip destination.
Rough pre-departure itinerary:

• Panama City: Arrive at about 2 PM on a Thursday, stay three nights at Selina Casco Viejo, depart at 8 AM on Sunday via plane to David (Copa Airlines)
• Boquete: Arrive at about noon Sunday (after transit to town from airport), stay two nights at the Bambuda Castle
• Bocas for unknown amount of time/other stuff in the west off the country
• Return to Panama City from David via plane (Copa) Sunday Morning
• Return to USA on a redeye flight Tuesday night

I arrived in Panama City on time and took an Uber straight to Selina (cost $28). The Selina there is in a decent location, kind of on the edge of Casco Viejo but walkable to everything. I checked in and was told there was a welcome happy hour with a free drink and a free walking tour every day at 10. The 6-person dorm had a dedicated bathroom, but wasn't much for the price ($30/night) and I'm just now realizing I booked a 4-person dorm then was put in the wrong lodging... There is a bar and allegedly a pool on the roof of the property, but the pool was not open when I was there. The welcome drink was an underwhelming event, though I did meet a few cool people I ended up doing more with later. There really isn't much in the way of common space at Selina Casco Viejo and I found it to be overpriced, underwhelming, and not a great place to meet people. I ended up booking the canal tour ($60ish) with them (which was via the personal vehicle of the guide, a small sedan cramming 4 of us in plus the driver), but I did a different free walking tour after hearing poor reviews of the one provided by Selina. While Selina felt like a huge waste (would not recommend this location), I really liked Casco Viejo. The food was surprisingly good, especially ceviche at Marea https://maps.app.goo.gl/MdWBJ1uw4mWLB7r2A and a nice stop for middle eastern at Estambul Casco https://maps.app.goo.gl/qFq8wAm5NEzJw84F8 . I also made a quick stop with some people from the hostel at La Fabrica https://maps.app.goo.gl/WdAG1KAhwmkj1TbS8 which had a decent tap list and cool vibe and the Pedro Mandinga Rum bar (highly recommend) for some beers and a rum flight https://maps.app.goo.gl/seXCnetthN18BbUB9 . I also, as a cigar smoker, made a stop at the official La Casa del Habano store https://maps.app.goo.gl/uhswvnFPe1Y1Uzbu9 where the staff was chill and the cigarum selection was good. I finished out my cigar and partook in a bit of happy hour across the street at Finca del Mar which had a decent outdoor area for a drink https://maps.app.goo.gl/kPSiTHdd2mJmtakGA but the food was not recommended so I didn't try it.
I was up early to get to David on Sunday morning, so I figured I'd just grab food and coffee at the airport lounge (mistake). It turns out the Copa flight to David departs from the "domestic" gate, which is a standalone area on the ground floor of the airport. There are no amenities, just a single vending machine, and you get bussed to the plane. Do not go early for a David flight, security was very easy and I ended up waiting in the small seating area for way too long. The flight was fine, but don't expect to access a lounge or coffee shop after security.
I got to David pretty early and hadn't done my research on transit, but knew there was public bus service to Boquete. I was trying to figure out how to get to the bus terminal when a taxi offered to drive me all the way to Boquete for $40 which seemed like a decent deal so I went for it. Boquete is pretty small, a little mountain town with a relaxed vibe. I spent quite a bit of time at the brewery which, if you know craft beer pretty well, wasn't the best on beer quality but had good live music and a fun atmosphere https://maps.app.goo.gl/EJFiRiwQsbJ89UPa9 . I worked from here a little bit too, definitely where I spent the most time. I got a delicious dinner at RetroGusto which was really reasonable https://maps.app.goo.gl/8gcU1GHqXrfbTCoX9 and a good lunch at Donde Giselle which was a little more expensive, but also delicious https://maps.app.goo.gl/uNsz1EqCDfnSpYfk8 . I did a coffee finca tour through Bambuda ($35) at Don Pepe. It was pretty cool, not a lot of walking but the guide was knowledgeable and we got to see the full operation in a small footprint. I bought one bag and was happy I did, they were 3 times the price in the airport on the way home. The Tres Cascadas (three waterfall) trail was a must, it does have a steep section that has ropes affixed to help but was otherwise a pretty straightforward trail. It did cost a few dollars to hike as it's on private property. I took a taxi there ($20) but took the bus back ($2.25). The bus comes by every 30-40 minutes and they generally wait a bit at the entrance to the trail from the road to see if people come down. We did end up picking up a whole bunch of kids leaving school, but it was pretty funny and we managed to fit everyone. I did do the Volcan Baru hike, which cost $18 for a taxi to the trailhead but was otherwise free. It is a grueling hike, it took a little over 5 hours for me to get to the top and I was not having fun. I was very lucky to encounter a couple who was dropped off at the same time at the trailhead and, while we did not hike together, we did take a few breaks together and it was nice to be within sight of their headlamps. It was COLD at the top and I was happy I had a light down jacket and a fleece. I did a good job of timing up my climb with the sunrise, only needing to wait at the top for maybe 30 minutes before the sun came up. You can go up in a jeep, and I was very lucky to beat the offroad vehicles up as they were very loud coming up the mountain. It did get pretty crowded at the top by the time all of the jeeps had emptied out and their clients climbed the last bit to the summit. The view was phenomenal, you can see both the Caribbean and the Pacific on a clear day and the sunrise was beautiful. It was a little annoying that the 6 of us who climbed it had to share with the 25 or so who rode up in cars, but worth it. One spot I wish I had visited, but it just didn't work out, was a wood fire pizza spot that came recommended by our coffee guide and by several travelers https://maps.app.goo.gl/T93KKqHxXoQ7AFhf6 . I got lucky at the Bambuda Castle as I booked a 3 bed room but had it to myself. It had a nice restaurant and common space within the castle itself that was a good working space and had a fantastic view. The food was pretty good, with a few vegetarian options and smoothies. It's a pretty decent walk from the center of town, and about $4-5 taxi ride from the Boquete center. If I went again, I would probably look to stay somewhere in the center of town but I don't regret giving the Castle a shot.
I traveled out of Boquete to Bocas del Toro the same day I did the Baru hike, leaving via shuttle at 1 PM ($37) which I arranged through Bambuda. I ended up using a discount QR code at Bambuda Castle to book their Bocas town Hostel for three nights. The shuttle was fine, but it's a quick trip through winding mountain roads so be prepared if you get carsick. A big bonus, that I would recommend you ask about, was that this shuttle did not go all the way to Almirante, but instead stopped at Chiriqui Grande and proceeded via small boat (lancha) from there. The longer boat trip was fantastic, much better than the long/boring road which runs the rest of the way. I got stopped right off the boat in by several people trying to sell tours and got one person's number for a potential $35 Cayo Zapatilla tour but didn't commit, choosing to get to Bambuda Bocas Town first and settle in before making decisions. While I wish I had spent some more time at either red frog beach or another island, with only 3 nights and having booked late my options were limited. For Bocas Town, Bambuda was great. The front desk folks were pretty helpful and the restaurant was good for breakfast (the vegetarian burrito option is better than the sandwich). The hostel deck goes right out to the lagoon, and it's always busy with people hanging out in the sun or jumping into the lagoon. It was a great spot to do some work over coffee and, frankly, I wish I had spent more time here or at the Bambuda Lodge. I ended up doing the Caya Zapatilla tour (highly recommend, if only for the stop at Caya Zapatilla) for $35 with the operator I met right off the boat. This included pick up and drop off from Bambuda, and they had a cooler that I threw a few Balboas of my own in for the trip. We did stop mid-way for lunch which was not included and was a little expensive. This was the only actual tour I did during my time there, I spent my other full day just kind of hanging out and went to Starfish Beach (not as nice as Caya Zapatilla, but worth an afternoon) with a group from the hostel. I also did salsa night at Selina (fun, but a bad instructor) and karaoke at Aqua Lounge (get there in time to get a round of the happy hour special, the screen is behind the stage so not ideal for karaoke but it's easy to get on the list). I did not do Filthy Friday, I ended up departing Bocas that day but I would have been on the fence about it anyway. I guess it's a "when in Bocas" thing, so I probably would have gone for it. I really wish I had spent another night in Bocas, I regretted not having another day out there as soon as I left. It turned out to be the best place on my trip to meet people, it's definitely a general party vibe, and actually the best place to get work done of the hostels I stayed at. I did dinner at Pier 19 which was pretty nice, if not a little expensive and probably not a good solo traveler vibe https://maps.app.goo.gl/6vJG1rdUPCqEf9W3A . I did brunch one day away from Bambuda at Casa Papaya, their typical Panamanian breakfast and it was a great deal/meal https://maps.app.goo.gl/9CPFCxu6woWwKuwM7 . I did hear from some people that the bird island was a fun tour, and worth the day/cost. I did some bonus late night, unofficial stuff like swimming after midnight at Selina and an impromptu midnight trip out to see the bioluminescence and the stars with a random lancha taxi from the Selina dock. Not sure how I'd direct someone to arrange that, but say yes if it's an option.
I took off from Bocas via shuttle for the Lost and Found Hostel on Friday around noon ($20) which I arranged at the main lancha dock. This shuttle did not include a boat all the way to Chiriqui Grande, it was the short boat with the long road segment. A few people did get car sick during the first leg of the trip, the road is in pretty rough shape so lots of speeding up, slowing down, and swerving potholes. Lost and Found really caught my eye because of how much I enjoyed Secret Garden Cotopaxi in Ecuador. In the end, it didn't live up to that lofty expectation and I should not have squeezed it in. The allure is that it's isolated in the jungle, you have to walk about 15 minutes up the trail from the road to reach the hostel property. There are several buildings, with one primary common area with a few tables and hammocks. A big downside is that everything is outdoors, under cover of roofs but open still, which wasn't ideal in the evening during the season I went where it rained in the afternoons. There is a community kitchen if you bring your own food along, or there is an option to get breakfast/lunch/dinner from the hostel. I had a few meals there: the smoothie bowl was good, the lentil curry was a little on the salty side. The hiking is pretty cool and I ended up going up over the mountain to the big tree, the lookout, and the river. I didn't bring water, but definitely should have brought a liter along. In the end, with only about half a dozen other people staying there and 2/3 of the staff being pretty insular and not really socializing with the guests, it just wasn't a great addition to my trip. It might be a better option for a group or during a different season, but it provided a logistical challenge to make my flight back from David to Panama City and it wasn't really worth the risk of making it work, so I hired a car ($30) to take me to David and just ate the price of my second night at Lost and Found. It was beautiful, but it just wasn't on the same level as Secret Garden Cotopaxi which inspired me to give this a shot. I think, all in, my stop at Lost and Found cost me about $76.
The combination of having scheduled a flight on election day (oops) and the lack of help from lost and found staff meant that my best bet was a night in David. I used Hilton points to book a night at the Hampton and had myself a recovery night. I got a hot and ready pizza from the Little Caesar's next door and two Sam Adam's Boston Lagers from the bar. Fantastic recovery night, vey nice Hampton, and a pretty nice little breakfast. It refreshed me at a point where I was not really enjoying the trip and pushed me to go for one more stop rather than laying low in Panama City.
After my flight back to Panama City, I took the metro all the way to the Avenida Terminal (less than $1 total, it is very easy to purchase a card and load it at the station) to grab the bus to Valle de Anton. It was fairly easy to find the window to buy the bus ticket ($4.25). It's important to buy for El Valle and not just Anton, a town which is not where you want to end up. There was a confusing bit of business related to a transit card (not the same transit card as the metro. I couldn't seem to find a machine to buy one from, and eventually the guy at the turnstile took pity and just used his own to let me in. I paid him back, but it was very confusing that you needed to buy the ticket then a card with which to pay an additional 10 cents to get to the bus at Gate 53. I can't really offer advice other than you should try to figure out how to get this card, or if you can just pay with a dime, right when you buy your ticket. I let the bus (not a very big bus, somewhere between a van and a bus) driver know where I was headed on the way and they dropped me right at Bohdi in Valle de Anton. The whole trip is about 3 hours, with lots of local stops the whole way. Bohdi was a pretty cool spot, with a great yoga space with a guided lesson on a TV every morning. It has a kitchen if you want to cook for yourself and free coffee plus breakfast every day from 7:30-10:00. Both breakfasts were pancakes, but it was free and they were pretty good. There are some cool lounge spots out back, a few cafe tables out front, and a loft space as well. It was a decent, but not perfect spot, to do work if that's what you're looking for. The dorm does have 3 levels of beds, and they aren't all that comfy, but I'd recommend Bohdi. The first night I was in town I went to the Golden Frog Inn on a recommendation and it turned out to be a great spot to watch the sunset and have some pretty good (although a small) vegetarian tacos https://maps.app.goo.gl/pzRuyYuwHZvMVnAo8 . One afternoon I chose to do the India Dormida hike, I left and walked all the way back to Bohdi, it was a few hours total. It's a quick climb up to the top and you can walk the whole ridge that forms the edge of the caldera. It was a beautiful view and you can really see the old crater rim formations from the top. It's clear up there, no trees and wide open, and the breeze was very refreshing. I ended up coming down about halfway across the ridge, starting from the north. I grabbed a vegetarian dinner at El Rincon Colombiano which I'd recommend https://maps.app.goo.gl/tRcAAnAm9fYni7Nv8 and some guacamole and a beer at La Ranita which was pretty good https://maps.app.goo.gl/BcdB8uCqaSRv1RyE8 . Overall, I really liked Valle de Anton and I'm happy I made it happen. It's a little drier and warmer than Boquete, with a lot less coffee influence, but I liked the vibe and wish I had done more hiking around the area.
For my last evening in Panama, I grabbed a room just to have a place to put bags and clean up before my flight at Hotel Caracas, a recommendation from someone I met in my first stop in Casco Viejo. I did not plan to work from here, nor did I spend a night, but for $35 it was a perfect spot to leave things as I went to knock out a few more items before my flight home. I popped into Tantalo for a quick bite to eat https://maps.app.goo.gl/9pA9Dmw8AE9doabT7 which I don't know if I'd recommend for food, but the view was good. I think I meant to go to CasaCasco, which was recommended for ceviche and sushi, but ended up in the wrong spot. I then went over to Element to get some cocktails https://maps.app.goo.gl/mwYt2D7X43ua4jGu6 . Element has an interesting vibe, kind of a steampunk theme to the décor. The two guys behind the bar, who I believe own it, were fantastic. They don't have a set menu but instead try to match a drink to what you're feeling at the time. I had a classic daquiri and an old fashioned, which both came with a little bit of a twist on the classic recipe. They also pulled down a few different spirits which we tasted together, overall I'd highly recommend a stop and it was especially fun as the only patron there. After two cocktails, I cleaned up and called an Uber and headed to the airport. Just a heads up, the Copa Club is pretty nice, has limited food, but tragically closes at 9 PM. I had a flight that left at nearly 11 PM, so this was a little disappointing.
Overall, I loved Panama. The people were friendly, even if the service in many places was pretty lackluster. It's more expensive than Colombia or Ecuador, but several people told me it's slightly cheaper than Costa Rica. It's a good stop if you're not sure about central or south America as it's extremely safe, if you use common sense, and it's not too hard to get around using shuttles/taxis/ubers if you don't want to brave public transit. It offers very good food options in Panama City, and it's easy to find a Hampton Inn/Hooters/McDonald's/Little Caesar's/Wendy's if you need a break from being adventurous. The Spanish isn't difficult, and most people speak at least some English. I would have dropped lost and found hostel from my itinerary if I planned it again, but did not regret any of the other stops. I do kind of wish I had focused on Bocas and Boquete, saving Valle de Anton and maybe San Blas together for a future trip, but I had already painted myself into a bit of a corner with my David-Panama flights by the time I realized this. I hope this helps someone as they plan their Panama trip, or helps them decide Panama is a worthwhile visit! Please do not make as many changes as I did, I absolutely did at least one to many stops and wish I had spent more time in Bocas and probably Valle de Anton. Anyway, feel free to ask questions in the comments and I'll try to address them as they come in!
Final Itinerary:

• 3 nights at Selina Casco Viejo (meh, not recommended)
• 2 nights at Bambuda Castle Boquete
• 3 nights at Bambuda Bocas Town (recommend)
• 1 night at Lost & Found Hostel (not my jam, would not do again)
• 1 night at Hampton Inn David (saved my trip, loved it, would recommend)
• 2 nights at Bohdi Valle de Anton (solid, would recommend)
• 1 kind of night at Hotel Caracas (did exactly what I needed)

For context: we have two kids age 8 and 5.
Just back from 10 nights at POFQ, our first ever Disney trip. Overall really liked the hotel, it's a shame they had a pipe burst in their swimming pool and it was being repaired for most of our stay, but it was still a really nice place. Swimming pool at Riverside was only a 10 min walk away.
I had a good outline of our itinerary for the whole stay written up before we left with plenty of ADRs , however what we actually did was quite different.
Wrote up as much as I could remember, the exact order of events in particular is a bit muddy but I did my best.
Day 1: Arrive in the early evening, went to the pool, had inner in the food hall, went to bed.
Day 2: Genie + at Magic Kingdom. Totally screwed up EE that day because the park opened at 8am that day which caught me off guard, but aside from not rope-dropping Seven Dwarves as planned, we still got SO much done that day.
Arrived at 8am park opening.
Jungle Cruise
Big Thunder Mountain x 2
Pirates of the Carribbean
Ariel
Barnstormer x 2
Dumbo
Genie + Peter Pan
Laugh Floor
Genie + Buzz Lightyear
Peoplemover
Cosmic Rays for lunch, chosen for it's close proximity and indoor tables. Fine but extremely boring.
Genie + Space Mountain/Speedway (in two parts since my youngest didn't go on it, I took both my kids to speedway while my husband had his turn)
Big Thunder again
Small World (but son needed toilet in queue so we left and husband and daughter stayed)
Then we went back into Smallworld while daughter and husband did Barnstormer again.
Genie + Winnie the Pooh.
Dinner at Skipper Canteen - so good!
We also watched the parade that day but it was sooo hot, we opted for a poorer view from a main street shop in the shade. Was not worth sticking out the heat for the length of time you would need to get an optimal view. I think trying to go our very first day was a mistake because we weren't acclimatised at all yet.
The longest queue we had that day was probably for Smallworld. Everything moved really quickly! Was also happy with Genie+.
Day 2: Animal Kingdom
Had entry issues and needed cards re-assigned at entry so kinda messed up FOP EE rope drop but husband and daughter persevered anyway. Son and I did Na'vi River and explored Pandora and stared Wilderness Explorers. Spent a LOT of time in Pandora gift shop.
Gorilla Trek
Wildlife Express and Rafiki's Planet Watch.
Festival of the Lion King (so good!)
It's Tough to be a Bug
Triceratops Spin
Had really nice homey feeling cookie and gigantic ice cream in Dinoland
Dinosaur (3 of us loved this ride, my son thought it was a bit too scary also it seemed like they should increase the height requirement because he could barely reach the bar to brace himself. I know it's being discontinued though.)
Safari
Dinner at hotel.
Day 3: Hollywood Studios
Successful EE rope drop for Rise of the Resistance
Smuggler's Run
Met Donald Duck
Met Goofy and Max
Star Tours
Runaway Railway (queue was brutal in the sun but it was a great ride)
Indiana Jones Show
Star Tours again
Muppets 3d
Race Academy - did not know what to expect coming in. If we had known we would not have trekked all the way across the park in the heat for that. My son DID like it, but it really didn't feel like it was the same quality as any of the other shows or rides.
Went back to Galaxy's edge for Blue and Green milk + puffbread. All really good. We possibly did Star Tour again, I don't remember haha.
The wait times for everything else being very long + the heat had us going back to the hotel early.
Dinner at hotel.
Day 4: Magic Kingdom Day 2
Tried to EE rope drop 7 dwarves but it was down and we decided not to wait it out (rookie mistake)
Teacups
Thunder Mountain x 2
Split up and did Haunted Mansion/ Smallworld (and got stuck on Smallworld for like 15 minutes)
Haunted mansion crew did Carousel while waiting for us, then we did Carousel after.
Took Daughter to meet Pooh and Tigger while the others did Speedway + People Mover .
Pinocchio Haus for lunch somewhere in there, really good flatbread!
Back to hotel early for dinner.
Day 5: Genie + Epcot.
Failed to get Guardians Boarding at 7am.
EE Test Track
Mission Space (Green)
Genie + Remy
Genie + Soarin
Moana water walkthrough
Genie + Living with the Land
Got boarding for guardians for about 6pm. Cancelled ADR because of it.
Spaceship Earth
Met Moana
Genie + Nemo
Genie + Figment
Met Figment
Met Joy
Nemo again
Quick Dinner in Mexico
Gran Fiesta Tour (honestly had no idea this was here, really cool building, kids liked the boat ride)
Finally boarding group for guardians called at nearly 7pm.
Really great day! I seemed to be able to book really quickly back to back for Genie +. Kids really liked all the chill dark rides .
Wanted to do Frozen that day but the Genie+ was sold out even before lunch.
At this point we are really just trying to get things we missed
Day 6: Magic Kingdom Day 3
Successful EE rope drop of Seven Dwarves. Said 75 min wait when we entered but it really wasn't too bad, maybe 30-45. This ride had amazing theming, but was lacking as a coaster.
Teacups
Split up and 2 of us did astral orbiter that had a wait time of 25 minutes, and the other 2 did space mountain with a wait time of 35 minutes. Space mountain finished first!
Carousel
Swiss Family Treehouse
Enchanted Tiki Room
Magic Carpet - this seemed to be my son's favourite of this style ride. He's been talking about magic carpets evey day since.
We actually had a boarding time for Tron but the kids got fed up of the heat so we gave up and cancelled or place in the virtual queue.
Took the train back to the entrance. Very pleasant.
Dinner at hotel
Day 7
Epcot Day 2
We really wanted to do Cosmic Rewind again and do Frozen since we missed it the other day.
We failed to get a 7am boarding so bought an ILL for 11:30
EE rope drop at Frozen, which was down and they tried to get us to go elsewhere but it was open by about 8:45.
Gran Fiesta Tour
Met Asha
We were going to go do Soarin but we got distracted by a giant Joffrey's donut and a squirrel that was fun to watch, and then there was a minor child meltdown so we had a long break before heading to our ILL for Cosmic Rewind. Totally worth the cost.
I tried one last time to see if the kids would explore the World Showcase but they voted to go to the waterpark instead.
We went back to the hotel, then off to Typhoon Lagoon where 3/4 of us got minor scrapes in the wave pool, but kids loved it and would have gone back a second day.
Went back to Disney Springs and got dinner at Chicken Guy. Probably the best fast food I have ever had.
Day 8
Animal Kingdom Day 2
This was a lot of running around chasing short queues. Genie + would have been really good for us at this park.
EE rope drop Everest x 2. Was really good but going backwards made my stomach a bit iffy.
Na'vi River
Safari (finally saw an elephant!)
Nemo Show
Lion King Show again
Met Dug (first character my son was actually excited to meet)
Maharajah Jungle Trek
Back to Disney Springs for Dinner. Went to Pizza Ponte so we could all choose a different topping of pizza. Also walked around and heard live music before we left.
Took daughter to Happily Ever After fireworks that night. Stood above the railway station for a quick escape at the end.
Day 9
Last day :(
Genie + Hollywood Studios
Genie + didn't seem to work as well at this park, it seemed at Epcot I could always book after entering a ride and we used it a lot but at HS it seemed strictly 2 hours apart. Maybe I am just not seeing it clearly.
On reflection , next time I would probably do Slinky Dog at EE followed by Runaway Railway and buy an ILL for Rise and skip Genie + if I was looking to save some money. I would de-prioritise Toy Story Mania next time, but our first day we missed all of the Toy Story area.
EE rope drop Rise of the Resistance. Pretty sure we were on the ride before EE even officially started.
Smuggler's Run
Met The Mandalorian and Grogu (probably the best meet!)
Star Tours
Alien Flying Saucers
Droid Depot
Genie + Slinky dog
Beauty and the Beast show
Met Chewbacca
Met Pluto
Genie + Runaway Railway
Star Tours again
Genie + Toy Story Mania. Ride broke down while in queue. Waited for ages before the put us on the other side, almost missed our next booking.
Oga's Canteen. Tried 4 different non-alcoholic drinks and they were all good. It was super cool. Only downside is we had a high table (standing only) and my son couldn't see the top of the table/anything and he was pretty unimpressed by the whole situation. Flying Saucers Mama Melrose for dinner. Muppets 3d Fantasmic. I read 15 min early "at least" aimed for 30 minutes early, and the place was well more than half full by then. Took a really long time to leave. If there is a next time I would go much earlier and bring snacks just to make getting out easier. Overall I was hugely impressed with the level of detail in everything, and all the cast members were amazing. It was a really cool experience, and it's hard to imagine never going back. If there is a next time I really want to explore the world showcase and do more sit-down meals. We had a lot planned but the kids didn't have the stamina for being in the park all day so we cancelled almost all of them. We also ended up doing parks in a somewhat different order than I initially planned. Kids got really tired of travelling on buses, which is also why we didn't break in the middle of the day and then going back to the parks. Would look at skyliner options next time. Things we didn't get to do:
Try dole whip (never noticed a place to buy it, ice cream was often an urgent necessity so didn't seek it out specifically) Tron (too hot to wait for boarding group when it was already day 3 at magic Kingdom and basically felt done.) Explore World Showcase (too much walking for few rides, from kids' perspective) Eat for fun more (we ate more out of necessity but found fun snacks when convenient) Tower of Terror (queues too long and genie + bookings too late) Frozen Singalong (timing never seemed to work out) Luminous (son had no interest in late night shows so we only did a couple things at night.) Take ride on skyliner. Something that surprised me: queues for popular rides stayed long even at 9pm. Couldn't see a viable alternative to EE rope drop + genie plus to get all the big rides "done" except perhaps if you had extended evening hours, but that would not have worked with our kids. Number of beignets consumed during our stay: 12

Just something I was pondering the other day after having a discussion with a co-worker about minimalism. She had no idea that I consider myself a minimalist because I am always the most fashionable person in the office. I broke down my wardrobe to her and she was stunned at how it worked and how she had never noticed the "repetition" before. My co-worker had the stereotype of minimalists in her head: that we all strive to own as little as humanly possible and that we wear super plain things like jeans and black t-shirts as our daily uniform. So, just curious about other minimalists who love fashion of some form and how you do it! I'll outline my system below now for those curious! It's long to type out, but was actually pretty quick conversation over lunch in person!
_________________________________________________________
Basically, besides socks/bras/underwear here is what I own:

1. Leggings. I have about 12 pairs of leggings that are either capris or full-length and basic neutrals like black, grey, and brown. I have 2 pair of fleece-lined ones for winter and separate workout leggings. I buy these new and from two different brands I really like. Replace as needed.
   
2. Dresses. I have about 20-25 dresses at any given moment and they are all simple, classic cuts (t-shirt, a-line, sundress etc.) with a few sweater dresses and maxi dresses. I don't buy "themed" dresses, such as prints that are very obviously Christmas or Halloween. I stick to neutral solid colors and basic patterns like stripes and polka dots, as well as small non-flashy florals. Most of these dresses are thrifted and I enjoy the hunt for something. I do sometimes purchase new dresses but only if they are high quality, extremely versatile, look fantastic on me, and I can get them in several colors/patterns and just buy 4 versions of it in one go.
   
3. Cover-ups. This is where the "style" comes in. I have about 15-20 different coverups in different styles that are ALL thrifted. They consist of things like cardigans, blazers, vests, button-down shirts, and light jackets. These are all pretty neutral as well but I love finding pieces with a little flair to them. Like, I have 2 denim vests, one that is just a plain, simple vest and one that has fun embroidered daisy patches on it.
   
4. Shoes. I pretty much only ever have 9 pairs of shoes. 2 pair of sneakers, 2 pairs of sandals, 2 fashion boots (ankle/riding), 2 ballet flats, and 1 pair of work boots. These are all new and slightly higher quality and I rarely have to replace one, besides the pair or sneakers and boots that I work out/hike in and thus get worn down more quickly.
   
5. Accessories. I have a small collection of scarves, jewelry, purses, belts, and a few odds and ends like that.
   

The only pants I own are a pair of hiking pants and a pair of work overalls! I do have in one part of my sock drawer two hiking t-shirts, a swimsuit, and sleeping shorts/sweats. That's it.
ALL of this fits in one 4 drawer dresser and 1 standard size hanging clothes rack, taking up maybe one quarter of my walk-in closet. Yes, including the accessories. Most of the closet is just storage for the seasonal things like our small boxes of holiday décor, our snowshoes, and the cushions for our patio furniture. There are two whole shelves just empty in there.
Now, the fashionable part is that because all my clothes are mainly neutrals or very subtle little extras, they all mix and match, and I can throw an accessory on to completely change the feel of the outfit. The day my co-worker and I were talking about fashion and minimalism I was wearing a plain black sundress with a plain denim vest, plain blue sandals, and a summery scarf tied in my hair. I told her this was the same dress I wore to the big fancy fundraising dinner last November, but I paired it with a black blazer, my black riding boots, black leggings, and a simple pearl necklace/earring set. I also worse this dress/boot/legging combo to our Christmas party too, I just switched the blazer for a red cardigan and threw on a white scarf and snowflake earrings. She was flabbergasted and she swore she'd never seen this dress on me before. But I literally wear this dress all the time. I've repaired the straps on it twice and the hem once, it's that old and loved. I love taking the same core pieces and mixing & matching them in creative ways to create whole new looks. I've worn the same dress three times in one week and gotten compliments on my outfit from the same people telling me I always look so put together. People think I must own a whole closet full of clothes and spend tons of money, but I don't. It's just strategy! _________________________________________________________
WOW, that was long! But who else can I talk all this out with, lol! There's gotta be SOMEONE here that loves fashion as a minimalist too, or someone who thinks they have to give it up to be a minimalist. This post is for us!

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Just something I'm vaguely thinking about, but I wonder if the 15th Doctor's overly-cheery and excited attitude is actually masking a more dark side.
Naturally, all characters have grey aspects to them, which RTD is all too aware of, and I think everyone is expecting the 15th Doctor to darken somewhat, or at least be put into a situation where he might be pushed a bit further (the trailer even had what looks like a clip from Boom of the Doctor threatening to 'shatter this silly little battlefield into dust').
I would argue that we've already seen the darker sides to this incarnation. One of which being his scanning of Ruby after she leaves the TARDIS in Space Babies, which seems to imply that, despite all of the fun besties energy he's expressing when with Ruby and explaining essentially his entire backstory to her, he's keeping some secrets and potentially even manipulating her for something (like with 7 and Ace). The other notable moment I'd bring up is when he killed the Goblin King - no 'last chance' speech, no warning, just straight up impales it like it was nothing. This is especially interesting when you remember that this is the only time we've seen the 15th Doctor defeat a villain with no one else around. He also describes his fight with the Toymaker as 'splitting his soul' in TDC, which could mean many things.
Not necessarily limited this era of the show, but I feel like they are emphasizing the point of how everyone has a capacity for good and evil - this is most explicitly shown with Carla in TCoRR (in the Ruby-less alternate timeline, Carla is shown as bitter and cynical, opposite to her usual characterisation), but it's a theme that comes up in Space Babies (Bogeyman not inherently evil, alternate lizard-Ruby gently threatening to kill the Doctor) and TDC (The Beatles, and to an extent the rest of the world, are colder and more callous in the alternate timeline without music).
Confirmation bias maybe, but the theory I've been sticking to is that the Doctor is/will be the One Who Waits; whether this is our Doctor, who will go through some trauma to get there, or an explicitly evil alternate timeline version, remains to be seen. Perhaps it's a darker side of the Doctor (maybe even The Valeyard) which has been 'waiting' to be fully realised? Maybe there's another timeline where the 15th Doctor never met Ruby and went on to become crueller and colder - which prompted some other future version of the Doctor to 'create' Ruby as the perfect companion (hence no parents, the various coincidences around her being used to draw the Doctor in etc). Maybe this evil-Doctor is also the Meep's boss, which would explain the interest in two-hearted creatures - could be that this is why the Meep landed in Donna's street, so that the Doctor would be drawn back into her life thus putting in motion the events leading to bigeneration etc.
Or maybe I'm reading too much into all of this lol, hastily writing this on my lunch break so I hope it all makes sense and it'd be cool to hear everyone's thoughts?

My best friend and I have been close since school so for around 10 years now, we’ve seen eachother through a couple of awful relationships, been in single girl phases and spent pretty much every weekend together. Until we both got into relationships again, we don’t see eachother as much anymore which is fine we’re both busy.
Unfortunately my friend was coerced to move in with her long term boyfriend, as his tenancy was coming to an end and he insisted she joined him on his next one, and if she didn’t he’d of been really upset. She exclusively told me that she’d love to live with a friend before a boy, but that she couldn’t do this because he’d be upset.
This is now a theme in their relationship, they live together and spend every weekend together, and eat dinner together every night. They don’t have friends over to their place, he has had a tantrum when she said I was coming over for lunch and he refused to let me come as it was ‘messy’. She can’t even go to the cinema or the gym alone, he insists that they have to do things together and she just goes along with it! She won’t see films in the cinema because HE doesn’t want to see them! He’s also said before that they can’t go to the gym seperately because they need to ‘support eachother’ and go on the journey together…every time I hear a story it’s piecing more things together in my brain and I don’t feel good about it. I can’t believe she’s actually happy and wanting to be with this person long term? He’s attended gathering at my house where I have warned her it’s just girls and no guys are attending, and then made her leave early because he was bored.
He also gets annoyed at her whenever she makes plans with me (maybe once every month) because HE wanted to have plans with her on that day too. I’ve noticed her become a shell of herself, she doesn’t take care in her appearance like she used to. She doesn’t seem happy when we meet up and he’s just smothered her entire life outside of work. I thought maybe the change was just because she’s settled down, but the stories she tells me of him getting annoyed at her for making plans with me just make me think differently…
So she fought her corner and said I don’t care if you’re annoyed at me, I want to see my friend and have a day out so I’m going to do that. We went on a road trip, I drove there and back probably around 100 miles round trip. I didn’t ask for fuel money, and I didn’t ask for money for the car park when we were there. But she didn’t even give me a ‘thank you’ or offer to contribute anything towards fuel or parking. This has left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I also hate the situation she’s in with her relationship. It’s making me not feel so loving towards her, the fact she was ungrateful and not helpful, and the fact she’s losing her personality, and not doing anything about the blood sucking man in her life. I have so much anger towards him and this situation and I want to go the fuck off on him but I can’t.

My best friend and I have been close since school so for around 10 years now, we’ve seen eachother through a couple of awful relationships, been in single girl phases and spent pretty much every weekend together. Until we both got into relationships again, we don’t see eachother as much anymore which is fine we’re both busy.
Unfortunately my friend was coerced to move in with her long term boyfriend, as his tenancy was coming to an end and he insisted she joined him on his next one, and if she didn’t he’d of been really upset. She exclusively told me that she’d love to live with a friend before a boy, but that she couldn’t do this because he’d be upset.
This is now a theme in their relationship, they live together and spend every weekend together, and eat dinner together every night. They don’t have friends over to their place, he has had a tantrum when she said I was coming over for lunch and he refused to let me come as it was ‘messy’. She can’t even go to the cinema or the gym alone, he insists that they have to do things together and she just goes along with it! She won’t see films in the cinema because HE doesn’t want to see them! He’s also said before that they can’t go to the gym seperately because they need to ‘support eachother’ and go on the journey together…every time I hear a story it’s piecing more things together in my brain and I don’t feel good about it. I can’t believe she’s actually happy and wanting to be with this person long term? He’s attended gathering at my house where I have warned her it’s just girls and no guys are attending, and then made her leave early because he was bored.
He also gets annoyed at her whenever she makes plans with me (maybe once every month) because HE wanted to have plans with her on that day too. I’ve noticed her become a shell of herself, she doesn’t take care in her appearance like she used to. She doesn’t seem happy when we meet up and he’s just smothered her entire life outside of work. I thought maybe the change was just because she’s settled down, but the stories she tells me of him getting annoyed at her for making plans with me just make me think differently…
So she fought her corner and said I don’t care if you’re annoyed at me, I want to see my friend and have a day out so I’m going to do that. We went on a road trip, I drove there and back probably around 100 miles round trip. I didn’t ask for fuel money, and I didn’t ask for money for the car park when we were there. But she didn’t even give me a ‘thank you’ or offer to contribute anything towards fuel or parking. This has left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I also hate the situation she’s in with her relationship. It’s making me not feel so loving towards her, the fact she was ungrateful and not helpful, and the fact she’s losing her personality, and not doing anything about the blood sucking man in her life. I have so much anger towards him and this situation and I want to go the fuck off on him but I can’t.

Hello Everyone. This is 100% a true story.
I thought this would be a good story to share here as it deals with getting petty revenge on someone who was being transphobic and a horrible person. This is a long story but the ending is worth it.
This story takes place back in 2020 and was just reminded of it by one of my best Friends lets call her "Hannah". Hannah and I had a mutual friend, lets call him Zack. I at the time was just starting to come out as trans. This plays a part later.
Zack and I were friends after I meet him throw an EX, the EX was a good man but I am the type of person that does not do well being friends with EXs but was trying because this EX was a good person. This in the end also I keep talking to Zack and at time thought he was a good guy.
Anyway it was late in fall when Zack brought up moving into together due to I was having a hard time with my family and only had a dorm to live in. During this time he also brought up that he had a friend, Hannah, that was also looking for a place to live as her home life was not great either. I said I would have to her first before I said yes to anything. Hannah was on the same page as me and wanted to meet me first too.
So one day Invited them both over to the dorm I was living in, as if anything went wrong the College I was at had great police (had meet many of them during the time I was at college) this made me feel safer meeting new people. Hannah and Zack came over and me and Hannah hit it off well to the point you would have thought we had been friends for years. There were many times her and I would hang out without Zack, which he never liked. Red flag right there. Due to this I started to see the cracks in Zack's shell.
He was very passive of Hannah to almost boyfriend level. Which got worries after I came out as Transgender. Red flag number 2. He would also try to one up me and say things underhanded about me being trans. Now I am a huge werewolf geek and the underhanded things would be like "I will never be an alpha" or shit like that. Now I never called myself an alpha or anything like that. He also said that I would never have a man's mindsight. I never told Hannah any of this because I wanted to stay her friend and do to my trust problems thought she would take his side so that is all my fault.
One night I was talking to Hannah not sharing everything but told her Zack was pissing me off. She had known him longer then I did. She said that it could be do to his religious background and that could be why he was being a ass. That is when she opened up to me about something.
Turned out they where Friends with benefits. Zack was always wanting to make things more then that but Hannah had been hurt bad by an EX, like almost killed. So she did not trust getting back into any relationship. But felt she was safe with him and thought of slowly building up to a relationship. However she also spilled all the tea on him in bed, and I mean all the TEA!
So lets jump forward a few months to Hannah's Birthday. Zack wanted to host it the first night and then she would spend the next night with me. Hannah was going a hard time with family during this time so we planned a Birthday weekend for her. Turns out Zack invited her over for night before so she would be over one night without me so they could be the Birthday *GIGGITYY*. Well as many people know there is something that happens to most women once a month. Yes, Hannah was on her period. To her defense she did not know what Zack was planning for the night she thought he was just being nice because she got into a fight with her family.
So the next day comes around and they pick me up as I did not have a car. Everything seemed off as Hannah's mood was not normal. I wanted to ask what was up but also thought it was because of the fight with her family so I just wanted to make her happy. The day goes on and we are playing her fav video game. She went to bed early which I thought was odd as the two of us are night owls. I asked Zack what was going on. He said nothing but I could tell he was lying but dropped it.
The next day we get to mail in our city as planned and well Zack was doing something and it was just Hannah and I alone. That is when she told me what was going on between them. Apparently Zack was mad because Hannah did not SLEEP with her the night before I showed up. I was pissed, but then she keep going and he keep pushing and begging for it. to the point that when she said she was on her period he just said "THEY COULD PUT A TOWEL DOWN".
That was it for me I was done playing nice to Zack and started to think of ways to tell him how much of a pig he was. I am the type of person where three stracks your out. Hannah and I are huge nerds and you could say she is some where between punk and goth. So we told Zack we where going to Spencer's. Zack said he was going to go to another store as he hated this store. You see in the frount of Spencer's is a nerd, punk and goth best dream, as for the back of the store is full of sex toys and other adult themed things. Knowing this I told Hannah to pick out something she wanted for her birthday anything, and I would get it for her.
Well Hannah was looking at new pricings and wallets I headed to the back of the store to get some goodies for Zack. I payed for the stuff all without Hannah knowing. Best part the store has black bags that you can't see throw due to the things they sell. After I walked up to Hannah and I bought the things she wanted all to her protest. So she told me she would by lunch witch I agreed too because as friends we hate to feel like we are using each other even on holidays.
We left the store and went to the food court and ordered food. Once we sat down Hannah texted Zack where we were. That is when she looked at the large bag I had gotten and she asked me what I had gotten. I handed the bag and told her it was for Zack. The grin on her face was the best thing that I have seen. You see Hannah is also a very petty person and she very much approved of what I had gotten for Zack.
Zack showed up some time later and we planned to go back to his house so she could her car and her stuff to come to my place for the night. That is when the "gift" was given to Zack. I was putting Hannah's stuff in her car for her and wish I could have seen his face when he first opened bag.
You see when I am hurt I get petty but if you upset someone close to me I get PETTY. In the bag he found a large bag of candy and a few lollypop DICKS. But it gets better, I also got him a female blow up doll. There was also two cards. the first said "Congrats on your new girlfriend" which I signed alone and the other said "suck a mountain of dicks" which we both signed.
The next thing I know Hannah is walking out with the biggest grin on her face. With him storming after her when he saw me he said I was just mad that I would never be a "true man". Hannah turned on her heels but before she could do anything I yelled back "he would never be bigger then my pinky finger". He looked so mad and red. Hannah got in her car, we drove off and never looked back.
This may have been to far but I regret nothing.
Hannah says it was the best birthday gift anyone has ever gotten her due to his face he made when he saw all his new goodies. Hannah and I are still great friends to this day and know we have each others backs on anything.

THE CONNERS: "Famine and Floods"
Scene 1: Conner Kitchen
Dan is sitting at the kitchen table.
Louise walks in.
Dan: Louise, me and the kids are hungry on account of there ain’t no food.
Louise: Look Dan, there’s a can of beans right here in the pantry.
Dan: Me and the kids don’t want beans on account of we had beans last night.
Louise: Well, why don’t you send one of your kids down to the grocery store to pick something up.
Mark walks in.
Mark: Didn’t you hear? The grocery store shut down because of poverty.
Dan slams his fist on the table.
Dan: Damn’t! Lanford needed that grocery store! It’s where we common folk got our food!
Darlene enters.
Darlene: This is the problem with corporate America. They come in and shut down all the local mom and pop stores and then run out of town at the first sign of trouble.
Jackie enters, Mark exits (not seen again the entire episode).
Jackie: She’s right. They call it FOOD DESERTS (said in a very long exaggerated voice). Yeah, pretty soon we’re gonna be slithering around like snakes trying to get water from a cactus.
Dan: This just ain’t right.
Louise: Well, rather than complaining, maybe we can do something. What if we all pitched in and started selling groceries at the hardware store?
Darlene: That’s a great idea. It’ll be like the old days when people bought their groceries at the hardware store.
Ben: And I know a guy with a grocery warehouse who’ll probably sell me groceries at half off.
Dan: That’s it! The Conners are in the grocery business and saving Lanford from starving.
Jackie: Well, some of us would probably starve a little sooner than others. I’m just saying. And we could always eat MOM if we had to!
(Theme song.)
Scene 2: Olinsky's Hardware Store
Ben is standing at the hardware store counter.
Darlene enters.
Darlene: I just got a call from the villainous county grocery commissioner. He says we can’t sell groceries because we don’t have a permit. If we try to sell them anyway, he’ll shut down the entire hardware store and then you won’t be able to support us on my lunch lady salary, I’ll have to quit for another job, and Mark won’t be able to go to college!
Ben: That totally blows.
Dan walks in from the back room.
Dan: Well, how much is this grocery permit?
Darlene: It’s $500!
Dan: $500! Oh geez, that’s the amount of money I've saved up to pay off the mortgage. But Lanford needs groceries, so...
Darlene: Dad, we can’t ask you to give up your dream of paying off the mortgage.
Harris enters.
Harris: I’ll do it. I’ll go to Chicago to turn tricks to earn the $500 so you all can sell groceries and Lanford doesn’t starve and Mom doesn’t have to quit her job and Mark can keep going to college.
Darlene: Harris, you don’t have to do this. But you’re sure you want to?
Harris: I mean, yeah, I guess so. I’m not worth anything to the family anyway. I guess this is the only thing I can do to be any value in the world.
Darlene: You are such a good daughter.
Scene 3: Conner Family Room
Jackie: Has anyone noticed Harris acting a little differently lately?
Darlene: No, what do you mean?
Jackie: I don’t know. She seems just kind of down, you know. Not like her normal self.
Darlene: We’re Conners. Something would be wrong if we weren’t a little down.
Jackie: No, I’m serious this is different. Watch.
Jackie hits a catatonic Harris over the head with a football and she doesn’t move.
Darlene: Maybe you’re right. I’ll take her down to the Urgent Care just to be safe.
Scene 4: Conner Family Room
Dan is on the edge of his seat as Darlene and Harris walk back in the house.
Dan: Well what did they say?
Darlene: Apparently the doctor says Harris is suffering post-traumatic stress disorder from her sex work in Chicago.
Dan: Is it serious?
Harris (with flat, matter of fact affect): The doctor says I’ll be OK. He gave me a referral to a person who will help me with coping strategies for the irrational thoughts I have while I’m selling my body.
Dan: Oh, thank God.
Scene 5: Conner Family Room
Ben enters.
Ben: Guys, I just heard on the radio. The first ever hurricane to hit Illinois is here NOW and it’s headed straight for Lanford.
Darlene: What are we going to do?
Louise: Dan, your kids need to grow up and learn how to face this hurricane on their own. I’m going to be on the road for the next three weeks, and I wanted to watch Yellowstone with you tonight.
Dan: Kids, Louise is right. It’s time you all faced this hurricane by yourselves.
Darlene: But that’s not fair! We’ve always faced things as a family.
Dan (winking): Well, I’m putting my foot down. You all have to weather the storm by yourselves.
Louise: Oh, alright Dan. They can weather the hurricane with us.
Becky enters.
Becky: Sober life is so amazing. Colors are vibrant, I hear birds chirping in the morning, and I’m present for Beverly Rose!
Darlene: That’s great. Did you hear, a hurricane’s about to hit Lanford? Also I accidentally threw out that notebook you keep with your list of coping mechanisms for being an alcoholic. You didn’t need it right?
Beck: Umm, no, everything is OK. I’ll be fine. I’m just going to head to the basement.
Scene 6: Conner Basement
The Conners all walk down to the basement.
Dan: Becky, where are you? The hurricane’s passed. It’s all OK.
They find Becky lying face down next to a bottle of Vodka. Beverly Rose is teetering on the edge of a bookshelf.
Jackie: Oh, my god, this is bad.
Darlene: Becky, Becky, wake up. What are you doing?
Becky: It was just all too much. The hurricane and then I didn’t have my notebook of coping mechanisms.
Dan huffs in anger.
Dan: Don’t you get it Becky! It was never about that book of coping mechanisms! Can’t you see what Mark has done to you! Can’t you see he’s sending us these hurricanes and shutting down the grocery store from the beyond? Whenever there’s a problem, can’t you see it’s Mark? What do I have to do to get through to you that Mark was Satan’s spawn and is cursing the town of Lanford from the pits of Hell?
Becky breaks down crying.
Jackie: She’s having a breakthrough. Her alcoholism is going into remission again.
Becky: I’m cured everybody.
Everyone hugs Becky.
Dan: To celebrate, let’s go down to the Hardware Store to pick up some groceries for dinner! Brewskis are on me; I can punt on paying off the mortgage until next month.
Jackie: I don’t know, I was thinking about eating MOM!
END CREDITS

Hi Disneylanders! Back stateside, so as promised, here's a trip report from my three-day visit. This covers transport, staying at the Disneyland Hotel, several upscale meals, Premier Access, and my experiences with French vs English. (For Disneyland, CA fans, I'll make a separate posts with some comparisons and a different AMA.)
My stats, for reference: solo traveler (30sF) from California; fairly frequent visitor and amateur scholar of Disneyland, CA. Not a first timer but it had been 12 years. Competent in French.
Hang onto your hats and glasses, 'cause this here may get... detailed.
Transportation:
I took the TGV direct from CDG, so this was my first stop in the country, since I figured (correctly) that Disneyland energy would shake me out of jet lag. It's an easy trip and quick exit from Marne-la-Vallée, much smoother and faster than the RER. Baggage claimed to feet in the hotel lobby took less than an hour.
Disneyland Hotel and private entry:
The hotel was still guest-only while I was staying there. Beautiful premises and worth every penny. The whole place is full of charming details, and the views of the whole resort are unbeatable. It also offers the best food and drinks I had during my stay (will cover that next).
My room was an entry-level Superior near the far side of the West Wing. Very generously-sized, even by American standards, and well-appointed. Vaguely Little Mermaid-themed, and I had a small terrace (most rooms didn't seem to, but mine was rounding a corner).
Since you can only get in on the east (lobby) side, if you're staying in the West Wing, plan an extra couple of minutes of "commute" time to get from one end of the hotel to the other. The good news is that your walk takes you through the corridor with picture windows offering twin views of Disneyland Park and Disney Village, as well as past the bar and restaurants and shop. That said, it only took about 5 minutes total for me to get from the room to the park through the DLH guest-only entrance.
Speaking of said entrance: this might be one of the best perks. The guest-only entrance never had a wait, even three minutes before Extra Magic Hours opened. I was second through the turnstiles. There's an exit on that side as well, and save for my afternoon at Studios, it's the only entry and exit point I used.
Sit-down food and drink:
I'm from a very foodie/cocktail pioneering city in the US and have pretty high standards. I found the quick service food, on the few occasions I grabbed it, to be mediocre, but the sit-down meals were surprisingly good. Drink quality varied widely. I have rated them based on a combo of food quality and atmosphere.
My assessments:
Disneyland Hotel Breakfast: I was one of the last seated on both days, and they seated me right next to a window overlooking the park in the Lumière section of the restaurant. Viennoiserie and other things were good, but the highlights were the fresh smoothies and the eggs. I've never had such a silky scramble in my life. Food 5/5 for the eggs alone. Experience 5/5.
Captain Jack's (lunch): The Caribbean version of Blue Bayou, and as charmingly themed. Nothing like being greeted with "bonsoir" in the early afternoon. Food was not great, though, and my cocktail was sugary and weak. Food 2.5/5, experience 4/5.
L'Auberge de Cendrillon (dinner): Immersive Fantasyland space and pretty good 3 course dinner. I requested the characters not interact with me, since I'm there for atmosphere, and they complied. Food 4/5, experience 4/5.
Walt's (lunch): Great view of Main Street, fun story, decent but not great food/wine. Loved touring the different themed rooms, and they were happy to let me. Food 3/5, experience 4/5.
La Table de Lumière (dinner): Delightful experience, stunning interior, excellent food by Disney standards, enjoyed the champagne tasting and a beautiful cocktail to start (they froze a rose inside an ice spear). The royal couples did in fact all stop to talk to me, even when I made it clear I didn't need them to; it was easier to just comply than explain. I don't fault them for it. Food 5/5, experience 4.5/5.
Fleur de Lys (nightcap and one midday cocktail break): Charming and comfortable interior with royal crests, and pretty darn good cocktails (though they put soda water in their old fashioned, which is heresy). I sat at the bar and chatted a lot with the staff, and they kept putting nice little treats in front of me to snack on. The drinks are expensive, but it's a great adults-only refuge. Cocktails 4.5/5, experience 5/5.
Agrabah Café Restaurant (lunch): Moroccan/Mediterranean buffet, pretty good quality. The space is incredibly cool and meticulously detailed: best story design of the restaurants in my opinion. The carafe wine was decent and an amazing value. Food 4/5, experience 4.5/5.
Premier Access:
I'm allergic to lines longer than 15 minutes and, in California, am really good at circumventing them through planning. Paris has much lighter lines in general, at least during my visit, but when I saw 30m and up with no single rider line, I'd pay a few euros to skip. As a solo visitor, I was a walk-on for everything but the Avengers coaster (that queueing system is a nightmare) with the Premier pass.
I tried out both individual and daily passes. Would recommend the individual, but not the daily. Not sure how they price things dynamically, but the day pass cost like 160 euros for me. I was rushing to get my full value out of it all day, based on individual pass cost, and failed to break even. It was way more stress than fun.
French vs English (edited for clarity):
I often get clocked as not French before I even start speaking, so cast members addressed me in English unsolicited about a third of the time, but I did feel like I got treated better (and certainly got more interesting conversation, secrets, tips etc) when I answered their English with French. (For reference, I’m probably a borderline B2/C1 at the moment, with an accent most people don’t pin down as American but can tell is non-native.) Happy to share more in AMA.
I'll be back with some Paris/Anaheim comparisons. Thanks again to everyone who gave me tips beforehand; it was super helpful!

My best friend and I have been close since school so for around 10 years now, we’ve seen eachother through a couple of awful relationships, been in single girl phases and spent pretty much every weekend together. Until we both got into relationships again, we don’t see eachother as much anymore which is fine we’re both busy.
Unfortunately my friend was coerced to move in with her long term boyfriend, as his tenancy was coming to an end and he insisted she joined him on his next one, and if she didn’t he’d of been really upset. She exclusively told me that she’d love to live with a friend before a boy, but that she couldn’t do this because he’d be upset. This is now a theme in their relationship, they live together and spend every weekend together, and eat dinner together every night. They don’t have friends over to their place, he has had a tantrum when she said I was coming over for lunch and he refused to let me come as it was ‘messy’. She can’t even go to the cinema or the gym alone, he insists that they have to do things together and she just goes along with it! She won’t see films in the cinema because HE doesn’t want to see them!
He also gets annoyed at her whenever she makes plans with me (maybe once every month) because HE wanted to have plans with her on that day too. I’ve noticed her become a shell of herself, she doesn’t take care in her appearance like she used to. She doesn’t seem happy when we meet up and he’s just smothered her entire life outside of work. I thought maybe the change was just because she’s settled down, but the stories she tells me of him getting annoyed at her for making plans with me just make me think differently…
So she fought her corner and said I don’t care if you’re annoyed at me, I want to see my friend and have a day out so I’m going to do that. We went on a road trip, I drove there and back probably around 100 miles round trip. I didn’t ask for fuel money, and I didn’t ask for money for the car park when we were there. But she didn’t even give me a ‘thank you’ or offer to contribute anything towards fuel or parking. This has left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I also hate the situation she’s in with her relationship. It’s making me not feel so loving towards her, the fact she was ungrateful and not helpful, and the fact she’s losing her personality, and not doing anything about the blood sucking man in her life. I have so much anger towards him and this situation and I want to go the fuck off on him but I can’t.

Less than 1 week to go until this year's Econet LAN party! Bring your machine along and plug in. Last year we got 57 machines and several remote connections - how many can we do this year?
Book here.
If you have any BBC or Archimedes machines with an Econet interface, please bring them along. We’d be very interested to see any other machines too, so if you have a rare System rack or an Atom, you’ll definitely attract our attention.
Can't be there in-person? Follow this thread for more information on joining our network remotely!
We're also hosting an auction on the day of Econet/Acorn/BBC-related items. More info here.
As part of the event, we’re going to have some short talks with an Econet theme, exploring the past and present of Econet, as well as some TNMOC exhibits.
Details
Doors open 9:30am on both days. Clear up by 5pm on Sunday. The room will be locked overnight, so your equipment will be secure. We will provide chairs and tables, a nearby mains socket and an Econet point(s). Please bring your own Econet cable and mains leads. To avoid confusion, we recommend you label your kit.
Admission
Admission is £15/day or £25 for both days. The museum will be open to normal visitors too, and you are welcome to look around. Lunch is included in the ticket price.
Getting there
Sat-Nav postcode is MK3 6DS. Parking is available very close to the room. There is an electric car charging point on site, although this is a short walk from TNMOC’s building. Bletchley train station is a 5-10 minute walk away with two direct trains per hour to London and Birmingham.
We'd love to see you there! 🖥️

Less than 1 week to go until this year's Econet LAN party! Bring your machine along and plug in. Last year we got 57 machines and several remote connections - how many can we do this year?
Book here.
If you have any BBC or Archimedes machines with an Econet interface, please bring them along. We’d be very interested to see any other machines too, so if you have a rare System rack or an Atom, you’ll definitely attract our attention.
Can't be there in-person? Follow this thread for more information on joining our network remotely!
We're also hosting an auction on the day of Econet/Acorn/BBC-related items. More info here.
As part of the event, we’re going to have some short talks with an Econet theme, exploring the past and present of Econet, as well as some TNMOC exhibits.
Details
Doors open 9:30am on both days. Clear up by 5pm on Sunday. The room will be locked overnight, so your equipment will be secure. We will provide chairs and tables, a nearby mains socket and an Econet point(s). Please bring your own Econet cable and mains leads. To avoid confusion, we recommend you label your kit.
Admission
Admission is £15/day or £25 for both days. The museum will be open to normal visitors too, and you are welcome to look around. Lunch is included in the ticket price.
Getting there
Sat-Nav postcode is MK3 6DS. Parking is available very close to the room. There is an electric car charging point on site, although this is a short walk from TNMOC’s building. Bletchley train station is a 5-10 minute walk away with two direct trains per hour to London and Birmingham.
We'd love to see you there! 🖥️

AIW for being annoyed at my best friend for acting ungrateful even though I think she’s in a bad place?
My best friend and I have been close since school so for around 10 years now, we’ve seen eachother through a couple of awful relationships, been in single girl phases and spent pretty much every weekend together. Until we both got into relationships again, we don’t see eachother as much anymore which is fine we’re both busy.
Unfortunately my friend was coerced to move in with her long term boyfriend, as his tenancy was coming to an end and he insisted she joined him on his next one, and if she didn’t he’d of been really upset. She exclusively told me that she’d love to live with a friend before a boy, but that she couldn’t do this because he’d be upset. This is now a theme in their relationship, they live together and spend every weekend together, and eat dinner together every night. They don’t have friends over to their place, he has had a tantrum when she said I was coming over for lunch and he refused to let me come as it was ‘messy’. She can’t even go to the cinema or the gym alone, he insists that they have to do things together and she just goes along with it! She won’t see films in the cinema because HE doesn’t want to see them!
He also gets annoyed at her whenever she makes plans with me (maybe once every month) because HE wanted to have plans with her on that day too. I’ve noticed her become a shell of herself, she doesn’t take care in her appearance like she used to. She doesn’t seem happy when we meet up and he’s just smothered her entire life outside of work. I thought maybe the change was just because she’s settled down, but the stories she tells me of him getting annoyed at her for making plans with me just make me think differently…
So she fought her corner and said I don’t care if you’re annoyed at me, I want to see my friend and have a day out so I’m going to do that. We went on a road trip, I drove there and back probably around 100 miles round trip. I didn’t ask for fuel money, and I didn’t ask for money for the car park when we were there. But she didn’t even give me a ‘thank you’ or offer to contribute anything towards fuel or parking. This has left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I also hate the situation she’s in with her relationship. It’s making me not feel so loving towards her, the fact she was ungrateful and not helpful, and the fact she’s losing her personality, and not doing anything about the blood sucking man in her life. I have so much anger towards him and this situation and I want to go the fuck off on him but I can’t.

Hello! I just had a birthday, the kind that ends with a 0. I was at my partners place days in advance just to prepare everything. All I wanted was a cake that I made, us eating at least one slice each and be told "happy birthday". The day before my partner decided to bring me to their mothers place (it was Eurovision on tv, I get it, no worries) and we ended up staying the night. I woke up late, like 10 am, as we spent most of the night watching Netflix. I took a shower and washed my hair, so I was ready for the day at 11am. I got the "why did you have to shower today?" that happens when ever my partner has made plans and me doing anything else is a bother. I just said that I needed to shower as I didn't get to take one the day before (we did some trial runs with makeup). Then we headed out. Their mother told me where we where going, one of the malls, and once there we bought some proper makeup. For my partner. I got myself some candles for the cake and some fun candy with birthday themes. We finally got home to my partners place around 2pm, I needed lunch and told my partner to grab something too. My partner was fast asleep within 5 minutes. I made my lunch, cleaned up the kitchen, made my cake and cleaned the kitchen again. My partner woke up, was grumpy and made lunch. They ate lunch at the computer, watching youtube and chatting with friends on Discord. At 3.30 om I asked if we could sit in the kitchen and have cake. My partner opted for sleep again. At 6pm I found a box, put most of my cake in it, packed my stuff and left with most of the cake.
I could have met up with a friend. Or been alone at my place. Both of these options would have felt better. And I would not be sad and shut out by my partner.
AITAH for wanting 15-30 minutes and a "happy birthday" from my partner on my birthday?

This is just a story of different things my ex did during our relationship.
In my freshman year of highschool, I was friends with a girl I knew from 5th grade. We weren't as close as we were then but we still talked every so often. Closer to my birthday I noticed her change in attitude around me. She would often ask me to step out of class to walk around and try and sit next to me during lunch. It was pretty obvious she was into me. She asked to meet during my birthday and I agreed because I had done something with my friends the night before. Things went well and nothing really happened.
Closer to Christmas we met up again and this time she made it clear she wanted to be more than friends. I never had a gf before and I thought she was cool so I agreed and we started dating. Things were going well in the first few months like always and I was pretty happy. Like I said this was my first relationship so I wanted to always make her happy and always put her first.
That's the backstory to how we met so here are the bad things that started happening.
Around two months in we had our first fight. We were on the track team together. I take track way more serious then she did. I learned I wouldn't be invited to a national meet down by a beach so I was pretty demotivated. She was talking with a friend of ours and they were playing around. He played kicked her and accidentally hit her butt. She took it as harassment and came to me for protection I guess. I heard my friends story and told her it was just an accident. She was not having it and stormed off.
Shortly after this she started calling me all the time. I could never have a night at home to myself without her calling me. On the days I didn't pick up she would text me to call her and I would just ignore it (I wanted her to think I wasn't on my phone). She would text me again angry that she could tell I was on my phone. She knew because she was stalking my activity on instagram. I didn't want her to be mad at me so I started answering her calls every night. If I didn't she would start a fight. She would make us sleep on facetime which would over heat my phone. If I hung up she would start a fight the next day.
She forced me to turn on location and even made me download an app for it. She would always stalk where I was and would ask who I was with. She would make herself believe I was cheating and would argue later that night during her nightly calls. I would end up begging for her to trust me the whole night.
When we fought, it was always me being in the wrong and she would wait for my apology. One day during summer break, I brought it up how I felt like she never apologized during our arguments and it was always me who had to apologize. She of course got mad at this and we had an argument. I didn't know any better and ended up apologizing to her.
That was just the beginning of our relationship. It only gets worse further into summer. I honestly should have left her by now, but I couldn't bring myself to do so probably because I had never been in a relationship before and I was scared of the feeling of break up.
Mid summer, I was bored and decided to see where she was. I rarely used the app she made me get and so I wasn't to used to how it worked. I saw she was at chick fil a and left it at that. I checked again later that day and she was still there. That was weird because she didn't work there. I asked how her day was and she said she was at home with her mom. That was a straight lie. I thought the worst and thought she was with this guy friend she lived near. I didn't like him too much because it was obvious he liked her. I even talked to her about this. The next day I went over to hang out with her and she left to get water. Gentlemen, DO NOT SNOOP THROUGH YOUR GIRLS PHONE! I know this now but then I didn't. I checked her phone and sure enough she had texted him to hang. When I confronted her she immediately flipped the blame on me and it was turned into my fault.
We had planned a picnic for many days. Early she had yelled at me over the phone for not planning good dates so I had planned this picnic. Day of the picnic she texted me to say that she would be going to an amusement park instead of our picnic. Every other date we ever had in the summer always ended in a fight because she was un-satisfied.
There are so many more things from summer but this post would be so long. Just know she started drinking and called me just to start something. She degraded me and made me felt worthless. Just constant fights and controlling behavior.
When sophmore year started, nothing changed. She did her best to keep me from my friends. She would just take my homework answers from me. If I didn't help with her homework she would fight with me. If I wasn't walking with her during the break period she would argue with me. She would hang with her friends even if we had plans, but would argue with me if I wanted to hang with mine. If I didn't wit with her during lunch it apparently showed I didnt care for her. She made arguments for everything.
I started to finally realize I truly hated her when she told me to stop being friends with a special ed girl. She claimed this girl wanted to steal me from her. I called her that night to say how that was ridiculous and that I am not going to stop being friends with this girl. Not only did she do her usually blaming me and yelling me, but she cursed out my whole family and my sweet grandma over the phone. That night I felt that she was a scum who deserved nothing good.
Homecoming was a week away during that call. I was still too oblivious to see how much better I would be without her so I still decided to ask her to go. I planned this whole medieval theme asking with my friends and everyone loved it, but her. She told me it was ridiculous and pathetic. I told her to leave and broke up with her that night. That night she left all my privious gifts on my front door step which was found by my mom. We both laughed.
I really wish this story ended here but she is that bad of a person. We broke up an week before homecoming, but when I went with my friends, I saw that she already had a new date, and he was a boy from my extended friend group. That really hurt to see. After homecoming I honestly broke down with my closest friend. Even the the boy she was with new of me, it was not his fault. We weren't as close as we are now, but we still new each other. I feel like she did that to hurt me. Thankfully, my amazing friends know she is a horrible person, and told this guy that he needed to leave her. And he did. A few weeks after she got with another friends who I was even closer to. Still not my closest friend but definitely close. She would bring him with her around me everywhere I went. After about three days her realized who she was and left her. He apologized right away to me and we became super close.
Finally she backed off and started to leave me alone. Eventually she met someone who I was not close with. It was creepy because he looks like me a lot. This didn't really affect me though. Not too long ago I met a beautiful, kind, lovely girl who is a grade ahead of me. I asked her out and we hit it off. She is so kind and we both agreed to keep our relationship casual. Her mom is so awesome and our parents both like each other. It took a while but I'm so much better then I was with my ex. I'm over that aweful experience and have learned so much. Honestly, writing this just made me laugh.
Sorry for the long post, there was just too much to include.
TL;DR: My ex sucked

My best friend and I have been close since school so for around 10 years now, we’ve seen eachother through a couple of awful relationships, been in single girl phases and spent pretty much every weekend together. Until we both got into relationships again, we don’t see eachother as much anymore which is fine we’re both busy.
Unfortunately my friend was coerced to move in with her long term boyfriend, as his tenancy was coming to an end and he insisted she joined him on his next one, and if she didn’t he’d of been really upset. This is now a theme in their relationship, they live together and spend every weekend together, and eat dinner together every night. They don’t have friends over to their place, he has had a tantrum when she said I was coming over for lunch and he refused to let me come as it was ‘messy’.
He also gets annoyed at her whenever she makes plans with me (maybe once every month) because HE wanted to have plans with her on that day too. I’ve noticed her become a shell of herself, she doesn’t take care in her appearance like she used to. She doesn’t seem happy when we meet up and he’s just smothered her entire life outside of work. I thought maybe the change was just because she’s settled down, but the stories she tells me of him getting annoyed at her for making plans with me just make me think differently…
So she fought her corner and said I don’t care if you’re annoyed at me, I want to see my friend and have a day out so I’m going to do that. We went on a road trip, I drove there and back probably around 100 miles round trip. I didn’t ask for fuel money, and I didn’t ask for money for the car park when we were there. But she didn’t even give me a ‘thank you’ or offer to contribute anything towards fuel or parking. This has left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I also hate the situation she’s in with her relationship. It’s making me not feel so loving towards her, the fact she was ungrateful and not helpful, and the fact she’s losing her personality, and not doing anything about the blood sucking man in her life.
Help!

Activities and Exercises for Further Research and Analysis:

1. Holiday Symbols Collage:
   
   • Ask students to create a visual collage incorporating symbols from different holidays studied. Encourage them to include brief descriptions of the symbols and their significance.
2. Comparative Essay:
   
   • Have students choose two holidays and write a comparative essay exploring similarities and differences in their cultural and religious practices. Emphasize critical analysis and the exploration of shared themes.
3. Interview Project:
   
   • Assign students to interview someone from their community who celebrates one of the holidays studied. Have them inquire about personal experiences, traditions, and the role of the holiday in their cultural identity.
4. Cultural Artifact Analysis:
   
   • Ask students to bring in or research cultural artifacts associated with a specific holiday. This could include traditional clothing, decorations, or items used in rituals. Have them present their findings to the class.
5. Historical Timeline:
   
   • Instruct students to create a timeline highlighting key historical events associated with a chosen holiday. Emphasize the historical context that shaped the celebration's development.
6. Geographical Exploration:
   
   • Assign each student or group a holiday and have them research the geographical spread and variations of the celebration. Explore how the holiday is observed in different regions and cultural contexts.
7. Culinary Exploration:
   
   • Organize a holiday-themed potluck where students bring in traditional foods associated with the holidays studied. Encourage them to research the cultural significance of the dishes they bring.
8. Creative Art Project:
   
   • Invite students to express the essence of a holiday through art. This could include painting, drawing, or crafting. Encourage them to incorporate symbolic elements from their research.
9. Guest Speaker Series:
   
   • Invite guest speakers from diverse cultural backgrounds to share their experiences and insights about the holidays studied. This can provide firsthand perspectives and foster a deeper understanding.
10. Reflection Journals:
    
    • Have students keep reflection journals throughout the lesson plan. Encourage them to record personal insights, challenges faced, and any shifts in their understanding of cultural celebrations.
11. Virtual Cultural Exchange:
    
    • Connect with classrooms or individuals from regions that celebrate the holidays studied. Arrange virtual discussions or collaborative projects to facilitate a cross-cultural exchange of ideas and experiences.
12. Community Engagement Project:
    
    • Encourage students to organize a small community event or presentation about one of the holidays studied. This could involve sharing cultural insights, traditional performances, or interactive displays.

These activities aim to deepen students' research skills, critical thinking, and creative expression while fostering a greater appreciation for cultural diversity.