Friends Archives - My Inner Shakti

Disney World 2022: Magic Kingdom + Animal Kingdom

I’ve been sitting on this Disney post for a while now! I thought I’d type it all out before I forget some of the important details.

Ok, first and foremost, some context about our group. We went with two other families, so there were 10 people total in our group – six adults and four kids (7 yo, 5 yo, 4 yo, and 3 yo).

Where we stayed

We rented a house in the Reunion Resort in Reunion, FL. We decided to stay off property because we 1. wanted to stay altogether and not in separate rooms 2. we inserted a ‘free’ day in between our two park days and figured a house would allow us to relax and have fun (we had a pool), and 3. we preferred having a kitchen and buying groceries to eating out the whole time (a big perk was being able to eat breakfast at home and then pack simple lunches for everyone to eat at the park).

The house we rented sleeps 16, so we had plenty of space. The kids slept in bunk beds (boys in one room, girls in another) and each of the couples got a spacious room to themselves. Everyone had their own bathrooms too.

Free day

Before I talk about Disney itself, I have to say that inserting a free day between park days was the best idea because it allowed us to rest, recuperate, and then go hard one more day. If we had done back to back park days, I think our group would’ve been exhausted and a littler miserable. Even though we went in early October, it was still hot, and I was definitely a sweaty mess at times! We spent our day by/in the pool (in our backyard), and it was so much fun!

Genie, Genie +, Lightening Lanes, and Rider Swap

Ok, so this whole Genie/Genie + thing brought up a lot of discussion as we were planning out our days. I didn’t truly get it until the middle of day 1, so don’t feel silly if you’re like, “What the heck is this?!”

I’m going to share a simple analogy that our group came up with…

Genie is a FREE app and it’s like a highway – everyone is allowed, anyone can access, and in fact, it’s sort of must download and use kind of thing. It tells you what the wait times are for certain rides, it has restaurant info on it, it has a map, etc. The Genie app is basically your one stop shop for all things Disney.

Now, Genie Plus is like the HOV lane. You have to pay to get this service. Essentially, you can reserve your arrival time in advance for one ride at a time using the Lightning Lane. Once you’re checked in for a ride, you can use Genie + to reserve your next ride. It’s not AS simple as that, but it’s a great resource to have when you’re trying to do lots of things in one day. Genie + is not free. I believe we paid $15 per person per day for it. I would highly recommend purchasing this for everyone in your party.

And just to add on another layer to this puzzle, there are rides at each park that have their own lightening lane pass. HOWEVER, if you are not staying at a Disney resort, you can only access this via the app at 8 am (not 7 am like with Genie +). At Magic Kingdom, the ride was Mine Train and at Animal Kingdom it was the Avatar ride/experience.

One little hack that helped us with getting everyone on Avatar was a rider swap. So we had six adults in our party. The three girls basically stood in the regular line for Avatar (about 1 hour and 45 minutes long). We rode the ride, came out, and the guys got to go through the lightening lane line (which was much shorter). While we were in line waiting, they took the kids on another ride. All we had to do was let the attendants at the front know that we wanted to do a rider swap. They did something in our app to get everything to register correctly, and we were good to go.

Pixie Travel

Truthfully, I wasn’t involved at all in booking the parks and all that came with, but my friend Samir (and my friend Monica who went in September) worked with Pixie Travel to build our itinerary. If you’re looking to make the planning process more efficient, I recommend checking them out.

Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom was the first park on our itinerary. While we were all exhausted after our day at the park, all of us also had a blast!

Here are the rides/experiences we did…

It’s a Small World
Pirates of the Carribbean
Mine Train*
Dumbo
Big Thunder Mountain*
The Barnstromer* (great beginner roller coaster)
Tomorrowland Speedway (would’ve been fun except I was leading our lane and got stuck behind a slow poke!)
Jungle Cruise (Kaiden and I didn’t go on this one)
Stage show (we happened across this at the castle on our way to a different part of the park)*
Parade (this was a fun break for the kids/adults!)*
Nighttime fireworks*

*The rides I highly recommend!

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom was an absolute blast! We had so much fun exploring and taking in all the different sights and sounds!

Here are the rides/experiences we did…

Lion King show*
Finding Nemo show*
It’s a Bug’s Life*
Safari*
Everest* (a roller coaster)
Gorilla walk*
Avatar* (an immersive roller coaster like experience)

Soooo as you can see, I recommend it ALL! The shows are a great way to be entertained and rest your body and/or cool off from the heat. The rides/experiences are just so well done and fun. Even the simple Gorilla Walk we went on while waiting for our lightening lane time was interesting for everyone!

Overall impression

The last time I went to a Disney park, I was a teenager. Going back as an adult, I didn’t know if it would appeal to me as much as it would to Kaiden. But I was so wrong! They really do know what they’re doing. From the rides, to the customer service, to the cleanliness of the park, to just about everything. The magic that’s present and created throughout is so fun.

Misc. tips

Strollers – If you’re renting strollers at the park, which I highly recommend you do, even if you think your kid can walk the whole time, definitely figure out how the strollers work beforehand. And try to do all the adjustments beforehand as well. It’ll save you time when you get to the park.

Dole Whip – Dole Whip is as good as they make it sound! Unfortunately, they were out of the pineapple kind while we were there, but I tried the strawberry, and it was delicious. They also have alcoholic versions…just saying!

Magic Kingdom nighttime fireworks – While this was an amazing fireworks show, and super cool to see at a Disney park, my personal advice is to leave a little early and not stay for the whole thing. You could even position yourself near an exit and watch from there and then jet out. We got out semi-early, and the crowd behind us was insane. Not something I wanted to get stuck in with a tired kid.

Pack food and take coolers – There are plenty of restaurants and fast food type places in the parks, but you can bring your own food and I would highly recommend doing this. We packed PB&J sandwiches, snacks, fruit, and water/drinks for everyone. Hunger could hit while you’re waiting in a long line, and while that’s fine for adults (for the most part!), for kids it’s just not. I’m so glad we did this!

Freeze water bottles and/or any drinks the night before – This was a handy little tip someone shared with us. Freeze water bottles the night before so that when you’re ready to drink them at the park, they’re nice and cold and stay that way the whole time.

That about sums up our Disney trip! Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to help!

Naples, FL – Food, Pool, Fun

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A couple of weeks ago, Vishnu and I, along with 18 other people, headed down to Naples, FL to celebrate a bunch of people in the group turning 40 this year. This trip was like a year in the making and the celebration definitely exceeded any expectations any of us had.

Here’s a snapshot of where we stayed, what we did, and where we ate!

P.S. This may look like a really simple vacay, but that was by design. The goal was to spend time together and just have fun. Our good friend Naveen planned the entire thing…down to the beautiful personalized menus at every dinner. If you need a party planner, I know an amazing one!

Where we stayed

We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort. Everything about this property was on point. From the clean and spacious rooms, to the breakfast restaurant, to the accommodating staff. It was truly a luxurious three nights!

And if you’re a beach person, there’s a shuttle that departs every hour on the hour that takes people to the Ritz beach resort.

What we did

For two out of the three mornings we were there, my best friend Roshni and I got up and worked out. The gym was nice and included everything we needed to do a couple of sweaty workouts.

Then, after a leisurely breakfast the hotel restaurant with a larger group of people, we would all head to our rooms to get ready for the pool. We literally spent 5-6 hours at the pool on both Friday and Saturday. There are plenty of pool chairs for guests, but we had a couple of cabanas, so it worked out well.

Then, we would go back to relax, shower, and get ready for dinner.

On our second night (dinner was at the Beach resort), we had a dance party that lasted until 2 am! It was THE best. One of our friends was the DJ, and we danced to everything from pop, R&B, rap, hip hop to garba and Bollywood. IT WAS A BLAST!

And on our last night, we played Empire in the hotel lobby for a couple of hours. SO fun!

Where we ate

Ria – delicious Latin American food; restaurant located on property

Lemonia – where we started every morning…with a delicious breakfast. You can order a la carte or opt for the buffet.

We had dinner at the beach resort, but it was more of a special event than a restaurant. If you’re going with a large party, I highly recommend contacting the hotel to see if they can arrange a special meal just for your party. It was quite the dining experience with multiple courses and wine pairings too. And as delicious as everything was, the dessert was the MOST delicious. A small trio of chocolate desserts – right up my alley!

Sails – our last dinner was at Sails. Naveen organized the menu ahead of time, and all of the options were delicious. The food had a blended European vibe, and the ambiance was very elegant. A lovely way to end our trip

And that is our trip to Naples in a nutshell. An amazing celebration of turning 40 and lifelong friendships!

Girls Weekend in Asheville

written by Parita 2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Asheville with six of my girlfriends, and it was an absolute blast! We laughed, we talked, we ate, and we slept. Glorious!

In addition to it being a girls’ weekend, we were also celebrating two of our friends 40th birthdays! So this was an extra special trip!

We chose Asheville because it’s a short (ish) drive from Atlanta. There’s great food. And if you’re into it, the hikes and natural beauty of the city and surrounding area are majestic!

Also, and maybe most importantly, the spa at The Omni Grove Park Inn is quite spectacular. We thoroughly enjoyed our half day of hanging out and getting massages.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at The Omni Grove Park Inn because that’s the only way to access the spa right now. The property itself was beautiful and definitely had a lodge feel to it. The grounds are also well kept and really pretty. The rooms were just ok in my opinion. They felt a little outdated, but they were clean and sometimes that’s all you can ask for! I will also say that this hotel has quite a lot of original features – paintings, memorabilia, and even elevators that are manned by someone. It was a fun experience overall!

What We Did

Biltmore Estate – As soon as we arrived in Asheville we had lunch and then. headed straight to the Biltmore Estate for a wine tasting. Priorities! We then drove over to the Biltmore House and walked around the gardens before dinner.

A quick note – if you want to see more of the Estate, plan to spend 6-8 hours on the property. We didn’t have that kind of time, so we chose a couple of things and stuck to those.

A hike – There are so many beautiful hikes of all levels in and around Asheville. We wanted something low key and chill that got us out of the hotel and moving. We hiked Richmond Hill Park and enjoyed it. It’s not the most scenic hike but it was enjoyable. Definitely do your research and get out there if you can.

The Omni Grove Park Inn Spa – This spa experience is what our whole trip revolved around. We checked in around noon on Saturday and left at 5:30-6pm. It was just the medicine each of us need to feel pampered and relaxed. We indulged in most of the spa’s pools and rooms (re: sauna, etc.). We also each got an amazing massage, that if I do say so myself, was the highlight of the trip (well, the whole spa experience)! If you’re staying at the OGPI, definitely don’t skip the spa!

Elaine’s Piano Bar – Elaine’s is located in the OGPI, so it was an easy after dinner activity…and fun too! There was plenty of space, and the two pianists were a blast to watch as they dueled their way through different songs. And while you can put in requests, I will say that most of the music fell on the country side of the spectrum, so don’t expect anything too wild and crazy!

Where We Ate

White Duck Taco Shop – Tacos of all kinds (vegetarian options were plentiful), delicious and refreshing drinks, and lots of fun sides to indulge in too. I especially liked the low-key, fun vibe of this place. 100% felt like we were in Austin (one of my favorite foodie cities!). Definitely time your visit right because the lines can get long at peak times.

Plant – This was one of my favorite meals of the trip. Plant is a vegan restaurant that serves delicious, fresh, and unique dishes that anyone and everyone will love. HIGHLY recommend checking this place out. Oh and don’t skimp on the dessert – it was DELICIOUS!

Curate – I wanted to love Curate but honestly found it mediocre. The menu includes a good number of vegetarian tapas, however, the food was nothing to write home about. It was good but not great. One positive thing – you can’t beat the location – right in the heart of DT Asheville.

RosaBees – Rosa Bees was one of my favorite brunch experiences EVER! It’s a Polynesian restaurant so definitely didn’t know what to expect, but everything we ordered was scrumptious! The egg dishes were perfectly balanced, the biscuits were buttery and so soft, the banana French toast was sweet, dense and dessert like, and the drinks were super refreshing. HIGHLY recommend making a reservation here.

And now I miss my friends and our fun weekend in Asheville! I hope this is helpful if you ever visit the city and need help planning.

Home for the 2019 Holidays

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It’s not too late to talk about our time in Atlanta, right? I hope not because I’m doing it!

So, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, we spent the days leading up to Christmas and a few days after in Atlanta. And if I’m being honest, this was one of my favorite trips home since Kaiden was born. HE was just the best – fun, playful, and just so damn cute! Even my mom agreed that this trip was fun because he was in a good mood 99% of the time.

So K and I flew down to Atlanta the Friday before Christmas. The flight was ok, as in Kaiden didn’t nap but he was fine (just a little seat kicking, but I’ll take that over a meltdown/tantrum). My parents picked us up from the airport. It took us almost 2 hours to get home! Atlanta traffic is no joke!

Our days at my parents’ house were filled with no real schedule but lots of good food, lots of playtime, and lots of fun! I was also able to squeeze in a couple of friend dates – dinner with some of my close college girlfriends and coffee with one of my besties!

We also squeezed in a visit with Santa at the mall. Get this, it was the same Santa as last year! Also, when asked what he wanted for Christmas this year, Kaiden said ‘yogurt.’ HAHA! Where do they come up with this stuff?!

We left my parents’ house on Christmas Eve and made our way over to Vishnu’s parents’ house. He actually arrived late in the evening that day, so Kaiden and I got a few hours with his parents until then.

We celebrated Christmas at Vishnu’s brother’s and fiance’s place, Niel and Neelam, with my parents, my in laws, and the majority of Neelam’s family. We ate some delicious home cooked food and sang karaoke. It was a blast!

The rest of our days were spent hanging out around the house and eating more yummy food!

I attended a cookie exchange party at my best friend Roshni’s house one night. So much fun! I made The Table of Spice’s eggless chocolate chip cookies. This is what dreams are made out of, people!

The next morning, we headed back out with K in tow to visit with Alina, Roshni’s baby girl! She was born back in September, but I hadn’t had the chance to hang with her yet! She’s just THE cutest!

And that pretty much wraps up our trip home at a high level! I’m so glad I had another week before work started back up because I definitely needed a vacation from our vacation!

And now we’re days into 2020! How did that happen? Let’s make it a great one!

How did you spend your holidays?

The 6 Words I Whisper to My Baby Every Day

written by Parita 2 Comments

Before I divulge the 6 words I whisper to my baby every day (a little cliffhanger…!), I have to share a little bit about my friend Sweeti’s baby shower I attended in Fort Lauderdale this past weekend.

I flew down to Florida on Saturday morning and flew back to Chicago on Sunday morning, so it was a super short trip. But I’m so glad I was able to be there to celebrate Sweeti and her husband Sunay’s baby girl. Everything about the shower exuded love and fun. My favorite parts involved sitting back and relaxing with friends and the game night Sunay planned. If you follow me on Instagram Stories, you probably saw a few clips of the shenanigans. So. Much. Fun.

Also of great significance (to me at least) was the fact that this was my very first night away from Kaiden. My strategy for how to deal? Lots of FaceTiming and reminding myself that my being away is good bonding time for Vishnu and Kaiden. And guess what…I was right. They had a blast! In fact, when I got back, K was constantly looking out for Vishnu, and every time he would appear so would a huge smile on K’s face.

The 6 words I whisper to my baby every day

After reading Brene Brown’s parenting manifesto, my views on motherhood/parenthood shifted in a big way. Above all else, my ultimate goal is to raise a kind, compassionate, well-adjusted, courageous child. A pretty tall order, I know!

For one, something Vishnu and I talk about all the time is how we need to lead by example now that we’re parents. Even now, Kaiden watches our every move. If we want him to be kind, we have to be kind. If we want him to be courageous, we have to be courageous. I think a lot of people attribute their success as parents to their kids achievements, when in fact, it’s all about our own behaviors. Are we leading the way? Do our words align with our actions?

Leading by example becomes more and more critical as kids get older. So what about the baby era? Well, I truly believe babies are intuitive beings. They know more than they let on! Even in the early days/months/years, our words carry significant weight. And that is why I whisper the following 6 words to Kaiden every day…

See, I believe in order to embody everything I mentioned earlier, one of your core beliefs has to be that you are loved, lovably and worthy. This should be your foundation. I want Kaiden to feel love and worthiness in his bones. And more than anything else, I want him to love himself deeply. I’m confident he’ll be ok if this rings true.

This is precisely why I’m working on my own feelings of love and worthiness. I need to lead by example when it comes to this notion. Like I said before, words will only go so far. This topic is probably worthy (see what I did there!) of its own post.

But until Kaiden is a tad bit older, my words will have to do…

Kaiden, my beautiful boy, you are loved, lovable and oh so worthy!

St. Patty’s Day/Weekend in Chicago

written by Parita 3 Comments

This past weekend was an absolute blast – our besties, Roshni and Samir, were here, we celebrated our first St. Patty’s Day in Chicago, and this preggo partied with the best of them!

I’m honestly not sure why Chicago celebrates this holiday a week early (if you know, please leave a comment!), but either way, this city sure knows what it’s doing. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it out to watch the river turn green (maybe next year), but everyone (but me) enjoyed lots of green beers!

But let’s back up for a second…

We started the weekend with some DELICIOUS pizza at Coalfire with Aek/Adarsh and Roshni/Samir. You guys, alongside Piece, this stuff is among my favorite when it comes to Chicago pizza. I love the thin, crispy crust and fresh toppings. At Coalfire, the whipped ricotta takes an already delicious pie and puts it over the top. So much yum and so much fun conversation. Who knew that Samir, Vishnu, and Adarsh were such fans of the Bachelor?! Ha!

The next day started bright and early with the hopes that we would make it to the river, but instead, we drank breakfast shakes and talked. Oops!

After breakfast shakes came the breakfast beers…green beers at 10 am at that. Again, I obviously didn’t partake, but it was still fun to watch everyone else enjoy themselves!

A couple of hours later, we took our party of six to a local bar. And that’s where this preggo thrived. The music was so good even I had to get up and shake my bump! We then met up with my sister and her friends and headed to another bar where we danced and ate some more before calling it a night…at 6:30 pm. #soold Of course, there was more good food involved at this point. We stopped at Magnolia Bakery for some banana pudding before heading home and eating Opart Thai and Bombay Wraps (the things that appear when Rosh is in charge of dinner!) for dinner.

Sunday came a little quicker than I would’ve liked. We had until about 4:00 with Rosh and Samir, so we got up, chatted over more breakfast shakes (sans alcohol), got ready, and eventually headed to brunch at Hutch. By the time we got home, it was almost time for them to leave for the airport. Luckily, our next reunion is only two short months away!

And that, my friends, was our first St. Patty’s day/weekend in Chicago!

*I clearly failed at taking fun pics this weekend. Oops!

Your turn – do you celebrate St. Patty’s Day? Green beers galore?!

The Halloweekend That Wasn’t

written by Parita 5 Comments

Halloweekend 2016 wasn’t very Halloweeny, but it sure was fun!

Roshni and Samir’s flight was delayed by about an hour on Friday night, so Vishnu and I watched the Cubs game until it was time to head to the airport. After picking them up and dropping their bags off at home, the four of us headed to Duck Duck Goat for a very late dinner that was worth every delicious bite. We shared six different things between the four of us, including green beans topped with crispy shallot and cashews, gyozas, veggie fried rice, spicy tofu, a pineapple dessert, and a few other things. In my opinion, the fried rice and pineapple cake stole the show!

Our friend Rohit, who also stayed with us this weekend (his brother rented out their place on Airbnb for the Cubs games this weekend), met us at the restaurant. The five of us sat around and chatted for a while before heading home to talk some more and finally fall asleep around 2 am.

Needless to say, the next morning started much later than any of us anticipated. By the time we left the house, it was 3:00 pm! Our first stop was Oven Grinder for a late lunch. A late lunch that turned into dinner because of a 3.5 hour wait.

We didn’t wait around the restaurant for 3.5 hours though. We grabbed a bit at Del Seoul and then walked around Lincoln Park for a bit. Our main objective was to find Halloween costumes for me, Rosh, and Samir. Vishnu figured his out late last week. We finally settled on a Dr. Seuss theme for the three of us (Dr. Seuss himself + two cats). Not too shabby for a very last minute costume search.

So after all that, we headed back to Oven Grinder for dinner. *A word of caution to those who haven’t eaten here yet – try to go at an odd time (apparently the best time is 9 pm on a Sunday). The wait is ridiculous. Not always over 3 hours, but you’ll almost never walk in and be seated immediately. Be ready for that!

Dinner was awesome. I’m not a huge deep dish pizza fan, but I love the saucy Oven Grinder pie. With the exception of Vishnu who went for the meat sauce, the rest of us got 1/2 pounders with light cheese, veggie sauce, and a white crust. YUM!

So this is where our plans veer off track. We were supposed to go home, get ready, and meet Rohit and a few of our other friends for a fun Halloween night out. Instead, we got home, sat down [for a supposed minute], turned on the Cubs game, and passed out! OOPS!!! In a roundabout way, it all worked out because Roshni had a cold that took a turn for the worse, and it probably wasn’t a great idea for her to be out until the wee hours of the morning. In all honesty, it worked out for me too. Due to some lingering stomach cramps, I wasn’t feeling too hot either. Such is life!

The next morning started fairly early since we all got 13200948730 hours of sleep! We ate breakfast and watched football until everyone was hungry again for some Seoul Taco (not to be confused with Del Seoul!). So good!

Then, before we knew it, it was time to drop Samir and Roshni off at the airport. 🙁 But not before we took a picture (the only non-food pic of the weekend)…

Even though this Halloweekend turned out a bit differently than planned, I think we would all agree that it was pretty delicious and lots of fun!

Can’t wait until R+S come back to visit (hopefully sooner rather than later!).

Your turn – did you dress up for Halloween?

Disney World 2022: Magic Kingdom + Animal Kingdom

Where we stayed

Free day

Genie, Genie +, Lightening Lanes, and Rider Swap

Pixie Travel

Magic Kingdom

Animal Kingdom

Overall impression

Misc. tips

Naples, FL – Food, Pool, Fun

Where we stayed

What we did

Where we ate

Girls Weekend in Asheville

Where We Stayed

What We Did

Where We Ate

Home for the 2019 Holidays

The 6 Words I Whisper to My Baby Every Day

St. Patty’s Day/Weekend in Chicago

The Halloweekend That Wasn’t

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