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  • On art today…
    #FreshEpcot - Flower & Garden Festival | Disney | Photography

    On art today…

    ByLisa March 1, 2024March 1, 2024

    Why mass appeal is dwindling and your own art will find its audience.

    Read More On art today…Continue

  • #FreshEPCOT Menu Boards: Every Menu at the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival 2022 (with prices!)
    #FreshEpcot - Flower & Garden Festival | Disney

    #FreshEPCOT Menu Boards: Every Menu at the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival 2022 (with prices!)

    ByLisa March 7, 2022March 7, 2022

    I blinked and spring was around the corner!! Which means one thing around here: The Most Beautiful Time of the Year, aka Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival.  It’s the time of year that EPCOT is decked out in all of her glory with carpets of flowers and clever character-inspired topiaries. But with the Festival also…

    Read More #FreshEPCOT Menu Boards: Every Menu at the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival 2022 (with prices!)Continue

  • Eat This: Florida Fresh at Flower & Garden
    #FreshEpcot - Flower & Garden Festival | Disney

    Eat This: Florida Fresh at Flower & Garden

    ByLisa March 7, 2019March 7, 2019

    Fresh Epcot: Review of Florida Fresh at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival.

    Read More Eat This: Florida Fresh at Flower & GardenContinue

  • #FreshEpcot: The Topiaries of Flower & Garden Festival
    #FreshEpcot - Flower & Garden Festival | Disney

    #FreshEpcot: The Topiaries of Flower & Garden Festival

    ByLisa February 27, 2019March 6, 2019

    On Monday, we said goodbye to our beloved Festival of the Arts – but not to worry, because as has become the custom at Epcot, another festival will soon be arriving on its heels. And it happens to be my most favorite of the year: The Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival. Flower & Garden…

    Read More #FreshEpcot: The Topiaries of Flower & Garden FestivalContinue

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thecastlerunner

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Sunday morning run + after. Sunday morning run + after.
My watch lied to me this morning. The first mile My watch lied to me this morning.

The first mile buzzed early. So did the next two. My Garmin had decided that I’d run farther than I had. And if you know Garmin, you know it doesn’t just throw around kindnesses.

For half a second, if I’m being totally honest, I almost took it.

But then I took a beat and thought—why? I’m not doing this run for anybody but myself. Why cut it short for a tech error?

So I ran the full five miles anyway. Tacked the “extra” on at the end, in the heat, to make up the gifted distance I hadn’t actually covered.

I know I’m probably overthinking this, but this little act stayed with me. I’m coming back to a strict running schedule after many months of downtime with my head buried in writing and publishing my book. And it’s amazing how fast I’ve switched back to this version of myself that would finish the actual mileage without a second thought.

No one was auditing my tracking data. The only person who would ever know whether those miles were real was me—and I ran them anyway. My legs decided before my brain had the chance to weigh in. My inner negotiator didn’t even get to start talking.

I should be clear that this wasn’t willpower. Willpower is exhausting and sometimes I don’t have that much of it. It’s something quieter that training builds in you over time: the habit of keeping a promise that you made only to yourself.

You practice it in small, almost silly ways—four-tenths of a mile in the Florida heat. Doing laps in front of your house because it has to end at an even 3.1 or 6.2 or 10 or 20. And then one day you notice it’s followed you home. You stand up a little taller because you’re somebody worth keeping promises to. And you start doing the other, non-running things. The work you kept saying you’d do. The version of your life you kept promising yourself you’d build. It’s sort of my original story, I guess—harnessing running like this—but it’s very much still happening now and it’s hardly unique to me.

If any of this sounds familiar, or appealing, it’s the thread running through Chapter 17 of The runDisney Companion. That chapter was always the seed of something big
Scrapbook from the first day of Food & Wine: 1. Scrapbook from the first day of Food & Wine: 

1. Entrance

#TasteEpcot

2. Seoul, South Korea Bo Ssam Pork Poutine (La Poutinerie)

3. Cinnamon Pretzel Cold Brew (Sommerfest 🇩🇪)

4. Cute new train set details 🇩🇪

5. Spicy Temaki Hand Roll - This and the Wagyu were both excellent. 🇯🇵

6. Wasabi-Soy Sauce-flavored Potato Chips 🇯🇵

7. Before it rained.

8. Katsura

9. Dumplings Trio 🇨🇳

10. Exit

11. Almost home
Update: This contest is closed. 🐊 GIVEAWAY: I’m Update: This contest is closed. 

🐊 GIVEAWAY: I’m teaming up with Wild Florida to give one of you 4 passes, valued at a total of $980, to their Ultimate Wild Florida Experience—a full day exploring a completely different side of Central Florida.

TO ENTER:

✨ Follow @thecastlerunner and @wildfloridairboats
✨ Tag a friend you’d bring
✨ Tell me: which animals are you most excited to meet—the sloths, porcupines, lemurs or capybaras?

Enter up to 3 times with separate comments.

You’ll arrive at 8:30 a.m. and spend the morning getting up close with sloths, porcupines, lemurs AND capybaras with their trainers. Then you’ll break for lunch, followed by a one-hour airboat tour through the headwaters of the Everglades.

After that, you’ll have the rest of the day to explore Wild Florida’s Drive-thru Safari Park and Gator Park, including exhibits, shows, an aviary, and more.

The boys and I did it a few weeks ago and had the best day. My favorites were the airboat tour and hand-feeding a lemur. The boys were huge fans of feeding the birds in the aviary.

Giveaway closes Monday, August 24 at 6pm ET. One winner will be selected at random and contacted first by DM from @thecastlerunner. Once confirmed, the winner will be announced in a pinned comment here. Watch for impersonator accounts. I will never ask you for payment or CC info.

Details: Prize includes 4 Ultimate Wild Florida Experience passes ($980 value). Participants in the Ultimate Experience must be at least 12. All 4 guests must redeem their passes together. Reservations required. Transportation not included. Experiences subject to weather & animal availability. Passes are valid for 12 months.

Open to residents of the 50 United States and D.C., age 18+. Entrants must be following both @thecastlerunner and @wildfloridairboats when the winner is selected. Void where prohibited.

By entering, entrants release Instagram from responsibility relating to this promotion. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Instagram.
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