Marcia's Blog

The Celebration Farmer’s Market takes place in the Celebration Town Center every Sunday from 10 AM until 2 PM, and no this isn’t just another farmer’s market because it takes place in the heart of Celebration Florida. In case you didn’t know, Celebration Florida is a master-planned community originally developed by The Walt Disney Company so needless to say it is very unique and loved by many. I absolutely love Celebration and I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, the Celebration Farmer’s Market is a must go-to on my Sunday mornings. Here are the five things I love about it. It's a Celebration Town Center Event Yes, it’s a Celebration Town Center event, how cool is that? If you have been to the Celebration Town Center you know what I am talking about. If you haven’t been, the Celebration Farmer’s Market is a good reason for you to go. The Celebration Town Center is an outdoor area with award-winning restaurants and boutique style shopping. The market tents are setup right through the town center with its beautiful and peaceful surroundings with the best views of Lake Rianhard.  Everyone is Welcome It brings a small town feeling of belonging. If you live in Celebration or not, you will feel part of this amazing community. Friendly smiles saying good morning or have a great day are the normal at the Celebration Farmer’s Market so be prepared to smile back. Make sure to bring everyone, the farmer’s market is family-friendly as well as pet-friendly so no need to leave your fur babies at home.  The Most Unique Finds Most things you find at the Celebration Farmer’s Market are not found at the supermarket which is the beauty of it all. You will find handmade arts and crafts including Disney inspired art. Actually, Celebration having been originally developed by Disney, the Disney arts and crafts you find at the Celebration Farmer’s Market are always available and made with high quality materials by very passionate artists. There’s also books and handmade jewelry that looks so amazingly beautiful. Homemade non-toxic makeup. Fresh and colorful produce and even seafood. A variety of non-processed foods including the most delicious homemade breads. I am sure you will find something you love. It Supports Local Businesses This is very important if you are a local. By shopping at the Celebration Farmer’s Market, you are supporting local businesses from Celebration as well as the surrounding areas. Supporting local businesses is important because it helps our local economy by helping keep money in our community, it helps create jobs and it also helps give our town an even more unique character by allowing local businesses to stay in business. It Creates Happiness Last but not least, it supports romanticizing the little things in life which creates happiness. My favorite thing to do is walking through Celebration Town Center on Sunday mornings watching the interactions, the laughs and smiles. Blooming flowers with bees collecting nectar and pollen, tall palm trees all lined up with the most beautiful lakeside views and having live music playing in the background. And of course, getting my favorite homemade sourdough bread. If you live in Celebration and haven’t yet been to the farmer’s market, you are missing out on some Sunday fun and you may want to take this as a sign that you must go check it out. If you don’t live in Celebration, add the Celebration Farmer’s Market to your list of activities to do while you are in the area, I guarantee you will not regret it and might even want to move to Celebration. As a mouse once said, see ya real soon!   Watch our YouTube Video "A Stroll Through Celebration Farmer's Market on a Beautiful Sunday Morning"    

The town of Celebration in Florida is a place that attracts many people including celebrities due to its beautiful 20th-century architectural style and peaceful environment, but do you know who is the biggest celebrity that has ever lived in our town? I do understand that considering a person a celebrity can be subjective, however, when a country with a territory almost as big as the United States considers someone to be the greatest personality in the history of telecommunications, I would say that this person is indeed the biggest celebrity to ever live in our town. That country is Brazil and that name is Silvio Santos. The Man Behind the Name He was famous by his stage name of Silvio Santos but his real name was Senor Abravanel, the son of a father of Greek Jewish descent and a mother of Turkish Jewish heritage, who grew up in the neighborhood of Lapa in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He started as a street vendor in downtown Rio and went on to become the biggest TV host of all time. He was the owner of Grupo Silvio Santos that included his own TV channel called “SBT” which is the second largest television network in Brazil. His net worth was USD $2.3 billion in 2013. It is impossible to find a person in Brazil who does not know who Silvio Santos is. His Charisma He connected with the audience like no other TV host. He had an ear-to-ear smile. His laugh was something that can’t be explained in words other than if he was laughing, the entire room was laughing too as well as everyone watching him at home. He had a very charismatic personality, a very unique style and a voice like no other. He was considered one of the most influential and beloved people in Brazil. His famous catchphrase was “Who wants money?” and every Sunday the entire country would be watching him in his several shows and contests. He became part of Brazil history. Life in Brazil He lived in the prominent neighborhood of Morumbi in São Paulo which should be similar to the quality of life of the United States. However, he used his platform to criticize aspects of life in Brazil including poverty, inequality, lack of access to basic services, all which contributed to  higher crime rates in Brazil. In 2001, one of his daughters was kidnapped but thankfully returned unharmed. Once he was held hostage at gun point in his own house. He often expressed his dream for Brazilians to be able to enjoy a similar standard of living as people in the United States. His Love for Celebration He was a resident of Celebration and he found comfort and joy in being in our town. He spent months each year in his Celebration home with his wife and dogs enjoying the simple things in life. In Celebration, he was able to live a more “normal” life away from the big crowds of fans and most importantly away from the constant threat of crime. He was sometimes seen at the Publix on Blake Road while shopping in his pajamas or enjoying dinner at downtown Celebration with his family.  He would interact with the few Brazilian fans that were lucky to see him, he gave autographs and took pictures.  Many people in Brazil know about Celebration because of Silvio Santos because if he liked living here, then it must be a great place. He passed away in August of 2024 at the age of 93. Even though he’s no longer with us, his legacy lives on and the Abravanel family continues to be a big part of our Celebration community. He was a very smart man to have been able to build his empire from nothing but he was a smarter man for having discovered the beauty of Celebration. 

Have you ever wondered why you cannot find any Airbnb options in Celebration, Florida when trying to book an Airbnb for your Disney World vacation? Some Airbnb posts include Celebration in the name but in fact those places are not located in Celebration but the surrounding areas. So why can’t you find any?     Honestly, from a visitor’s point of view it would be a dream come true to stay in one of the beautifully designed homes in the town Walt Disney dreamed of and waking up to see all the green areas around Celebration while enjoying a cup of coffee on a comfortable rocking chair on a front porch overseeing a pond. You might even be able to see a deer or two walking around!     However, the truth is that Celebration believes that only residents should be able to enjoy those precious moments. In fact, Celebration does not allow Airbnbs to operate within the town and it strictly prohibits short-term rentals in residential areas. This makes it a difficult environment for Airbnb hosts to operate legally and without the risk of penalties.     You can find Airbnbs in nearby neighborhoods around Disney World like Kissimmee, Davenport and Windermere but Celebration is kept out of reach for these types of rentals and this just adds to the uniqueness to the town. The message from the town is you can come by, eat at our restaurants, walk around, even enjoy some of our events but when the day is over only residents can enjoy these amazing houses, townhouses, condos and long-term apartment rentals.     The good news is that there are other options that will allow you to stay in Celebration and see how it feels to wake up in Walt Disney’s town. The top choices are hotels like the Celebration Hotel located downtown steps away from all the downtown fun or the Melia Orlando Celebration Hotel which a resort with lots of amenities that guarantee a great time.     Celebration really is a unique town and yes you will not find any Airbnbs here. If you have the love for the town like I do, you might want to consider buying a vacation property here. A house, a townhouse or a condo would be a perfect vacation home when visiting Disney World that could even become a stay-forever home. I am beyond lucky to call Celebration my home and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Are you ready to love Celebration?  

The town of Celebration in Florida is a beautiful place for sure, you can immediately see its beauty as soon as you step into this amazing town. Its green areas and trails, the beautifully designed homes and streets look so surreal. But besides all this, do you know why Celebration is so special? Some residents might have different reasons as to why Celebration is special to them but for most of us, it all started with a mouse.      Location, Location, Location!   Celebration is located just outside the Most Magical Place on Earth, a 5-minute drive to Disney World. This is a dream come true for any Disney fan or anyone who loves to have a good time. Disney World does not only consist of theme parks, there is also amazing dining options, shows, live music, entertainment, shopping, just anything you can imagine when you think of having a good time either as a family, as a couple or solo.      A Very Special History   Celebration is a town that was designed by Disney so it is not a surprise that its first name was Disney’s Town of Celebration. Disney was inspired by the charm of small-town America and had the dream of creating a community that combined both modern conveniences with a traditional look. The Disney Development Company (DDC) established the Celebration Company to oversee the development of the community. The DDC invested an estimated US$2.5 billion in the project. To decide who would be the first residents, Disney held a lottery type of selection process where 1,200 people submitted $1,000 deposits. The first family moved in on June 18, 1996, and the downtown area was completed on November 12, 1996.     Beautiful Design and Plan   Celebration is a master planned community (MPC) which is a large, custom built residential community. The community was designed in an early 20th-century architectural style, with homes featuring porches, picket fences, and different types of rooflines. Civic buildings were designed by world-famous architects like Philip Johnson, Cesar Pelli, and Robert A.M. Stern.      If You Get It, You Get It   Much like Disney, those who like Celebration are those who understand its magic so yes if you get it, you get it. The appreciation of the town from its residents come from within each person and you can see it while you walk around Celebration. Residents are always happy, smiling and greeting each other.       Celebration has a special place in my heart. Even though it is no longer owned by Disney, Celebration is located on land that used to be part of the Walt Disney World Resort which is now part of Kissimmee and Osceola County. Celebration is a fun place to live with lots of events and activities, not to mention the ongoing growth of restaurants and businesses as a result of a recent expansion projects of the town. While growth is inevitable, the Disney and Celebration fans hope that the special feeling that you get while you are in Celebration never goes away. Thanks to Walt Disney for making his dreams come true because they became our dreams.  

Do you know that app called Zillow that you can search for places to buy or rent? Yes, that one. What if I told you that it can be used as motivation for the life you want even if you are not thinking about buying a property or renting a new place in the near future. You can go from just browsing potential dream homes in areas you dream of, to turning it into a strategic tool for life inspiration and what it takes to get there. Here’s how to do it: Do you Dream about a Change in Life? If you live in the city and see yourself living in a farm with chickens, cows and horses, or if you live in a small town but would love to have the experience of living in a big city like New York City, or if you currently live in a big house but dream about getting rid of all your belongings and moving to a tiny house in the middle of the woods or are you tired of long winters and want to live in Florida? Then use Zillow to find the place or places that would make that life vision come true. Save your Vision Now that you have a vision in your mind of the life and place you want, make sure you keep it handy. Add the Zillow links to your list of favorites or send it to a person close to you like your significant other. I always send Zillow links to my husband and we love talking about our life dreams. Being able to see your life vision will help you stay motivated on the actions to get there. Always remember that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it and that everything starts with a vision. Create an Action Plan Now that you have a life vision, create an action plan for what it takes to get to that vision. Break it down into categories and by order of completion. For example, start with a timeframe, do you see yourself in a farm 3 years from now? Once you have a timeframe, you’ll be able to create an action plan based on that. For example, do you need to work on your credit score? In which case, get a copy of your official credit report and create a list of items to clean up. Another example, based on the prices you found on Zillow, how much money will you need to put aside each paycheck in order to have a good enough down payment for your farmhouse? Once you know that, then you can create a plan like opening a savings account and start saving money, always keeping your vision in mind. Allow Yourself to Change your Mind Once you are saving money for your life vision, allow yourself to change your mind. You are not locked to a vision you had a couple years ago. People change and so do life visions. It’s never too late to have a new life vision with a new timeframe and a new action plan. The important part is to always keep looking ahead while enjoying the present moment. Regardless of where you are in life right now, it is always a great thing to have life dreams, visions and aspirations as they keep us motivated to keep us pushing forward and working hard. I enjoy browsing through Zillow and dreaming away to different lives I want, some days I feel like a farmer, some I feel like a Disney adult and some days I feel like a New Yorker at heart and this is called living.  

Life can be crazy sometimes and it can take a toll on your mental and physical health. Since most of us are not ready to drop everything and move to a farm then what if I told you that something you already do every second of your day can make you feel healthier if you do it a little bit different and it can be done in seconds while you are busy conquering the world. It’s breathing, yes breathing but I am referring to deep breathing. Deep breathing brings more oxygen into your brain and body which can give you some great benefits and it is something so simple to do. Let’s explore some of those benefits.   Helps Beat Headaches I came across deep breathing by accident. I was suffering from persistent headaches that just wouldn’t go away. At the moment of my worst pain, I closed my eyes and started to breathe deeply while working hard to clear my mind, almost like meditating. The deep breathing gave me an immediate peaceful feeling but what happened a few minutes later was the amazing part, my persistent headache was better. Then a little later while I kept doing the deep breathing, my persistent headache was gone. Deep and slow breaths can help relax tense muscles specially in the neck and shoulder areas potentially helping get rid of headaches.     It's a Stress Reducer When someone is stressed, their breathing pattern changes. A stressed person takes small, shallow breaths, using their shoulders instead of their diaphragm. This style of breathing deprives your body of the much-needed oxygen to function properly. Without enough oxygen our bodies and our minds become weak, so take a deep breath in then let it all out. You might notice a big difference in how you feel in a matter of seconds. Your breathing pattern is a powerful tool to control stress and anxiety making you ready to face any challenge in your day.     Improves Sleep Nothing better than a good night sleep to get you ready for a hectic day ahead, but what if you just can’t get enough sleep? And did you notice the more you worry about not being able to sleep the longer it takes to actually fall asleep? I am here to tell you that deep breathing techniques can be very effective in helping you fall asleep and stay asleep by promoting body and mind relaxation. The diaphragmatic breathing technique has become my favorite. You focus on breathing deeply into your abdomen, feeling your hand on your belly rise as you inhale and fall as you exhale, while you try not to move your chest.   It Helps you Focus Deep breathing techniques can also help you increase focus and improve cognitive function. By including deep breathing in your daily routine, you can calm your nervous system, reduce stress, and increase oxygen flow to your brain, making your mind sharp which promotes improved concentration. It will help train your brain to stay present and focused on the task at hand.   So let’s not forget to breathe but breathe right! If I knew about all these benefits, I would have started deep breathing a long time ago. Find the deep breathing technique that works best for you and consider including it in your daily routine. Some of the techniques out there are the diaphragmatic breathing, the 4-7-8 breathing, the box breathing, the alternate nostril breathing and the counting while breathing. If techniques are not your thing, just close your eyes and take a deep breath. Happy breathing everyone!  

  Feeling stressed or overwhelmed like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? Own less things! This is exactly how I started my new year, doing a detachment of material things by reviewing every single item in my closet and other areas of my house. The feeling of freedom with each full bag that left my house was kind of shocking. Getting rid of the unnecessary things in your home might just give you a fresh start and help you reduce stress, it gives you a sense of freedom, it supports better focus and it might even give you more confidence, let’s expand on these benefits. Reduced Stress and Improved Focus An overfilled or disorganized home can trigger your body to produce the stress hormone cortisol making you feel overwhelmed making it difficult for you to concentrate and get things done. Eliminating the excessive number of things on surfaces, clothes on closets, decorations and even furniture can reduce stress by creating a sense of control and order in your environment. It clears your mind allowing you to relax and a calm and relaxed mind is able to think at its full capacity, focus and concentrate to analyze situations and find solutions.     Feeling Free Are you a slave to your own possessions? Do you feel emotionally attached to material things or have the need to constantly buy more material things? The hardest part is getting started but once you find the power to let go, the feeling of freedom is just amazing. You will find yourself free from the expense of unnecessary spending, free from having a huge number of things to clean, free from the fear of unexpected visitors and free from the lack of space in your house. You will feel like a weight came off your shoulders, a feeling of unexplainable happiness. This is something that most of us don’t realize that by buying unnecessary material things aka clutter you are actually making your life worse.    More Confidence By reducing stress, feeling free and more focused, you could find yourself feeling more confident in many aspects of your life. Owning less can provide a sense of accomplishment and control over your environment, positively impacting your self-esteem. Now you will be able to easily find clothes in your closet which will make getting ready in the morning a piece of cake. You will feel confident feeling like your brain is working at full capacity at work due to your newly found focus. Problems become something easy to solve, just throw me another one! It’s exactly like they say, confidence is everything!     I couldn’t believe these benefits myself and I plan to continue working on my new semi-minimalist self throughout the year. In addition to improving your life, this lifestyle supports cutting back on spending, reducing waste and focusing on what’s really important in life. It’s all about owning less and living more and I am all in for that. Would you dare to try it?  

Having a grateful mindset all-year-round and not just on Thanksgiving Day is a positive trait to have. It is a trait that can help you be resilient and strong regardless of what life situation you might be in. What I mean by having a grateful mindset is appreciating what you do have in your life regardless of how small you might originally think they are and seeing them as big things. Here are three questions to help you reflect and feel grateful:   Do You Have Air in Your Lungs? I have air in my lungs. I can smell the flowers. I can hear birds singing. I can taste food. I can walk. I can feel the sun and the breeze of the ocean on my skin. I can talk. I can write. I can earn a living. I might need glasses sometimes but I have eyesight to see this beautiful world. I am grateful and feel strong because I know how lucky I am to be able to do all these things. Even though none of us know what tomorrow brings, I do know that having a grateful view of our current health status contributes to more health.     Have You Ever Overcome a Difficult Situation? I am proud of myself for everything I have been able to accomplish in my life regardless of the difficulties. Moving often as a child due to having parents from different countries. Learning English as a third language after moving to the United States as a teenager, going to college with a somewhat broken English, building a successful career in a highly competitive industry. Looking back, I am grateful for all these experiences because they made me the strong person I am today. Whatever your life situation was or is, make it a lesson of strength and have the confidence that once you overcome it, you will be stronger and nothing life throws at you can bring you down.     Do You Have Food and a Roof Over Your Head? I am grateful that I have food and a roof over my head. Some might think this is a silly thing to say but that is because some of us take these things for granted. Stop and think that about 1 billion of the world population does not have food to eat on a daily basis with as many as 1.6 billion people are lacking adequate housing and these are statistics that do not include the average struggling families. I feel extremely grateful to have a life where these immediate needs are always met. How this gives me strength? Even when lunch and dinner are not perfect, I am happy to have something to eat.  Even if we end up living in a tiny house (which we do contemplate sometimes) it is a roof and it will always be a happy place.     I do have a grateful mindset and I strive to always keep this mindset even when situations are challenging. And yes, one can say that things could be better, do not forget though that things could also be worse. Focus on the things that you do have in your life. Consequently, having the wisdom to see things that you might not currently have in your life as motivation points, positive life goals and dreams to be chased.

Do we ever overcome grief? My father passed away in February of 2024 at the age of 76. We were very close so this was the hardest thing I’ve had to go through in my life. I had to learn about grief and its stages in order to understand what I was going through and be able to know there was a light at the end of the tunnel and allow myself to go through the process. From the grief stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, this is what I’ve learned:    It's Okay to Feel Mixed Emotions For me all stages expect for one came together in full force, depression and denial followed by anger and bargaining and more depression. The feeling of deep sorrow took over me immediately after my father’s passing mixed with the feeling of not believing what had just happened. How can my father be gone? He seemed completely fine and making jokes before he went to the hospital earlier that week. Then, mixed with the deep sorrow and denial came the feeling of anger and bargaining when I found myself angrily playing the sequence of events of that week over and over in my head trying to find the areas where things could’ve been handled differently. These emotions are strong and seem to take over our lives but it is important to let these emotions happen in order to be able to start letting go and accepting.     Letting Go was the Most Difficult Part Since going back in time was not an option, I had to learn to be kind to myself and let go of the thoughts of the situations I didn’t have control over. Letting go of those thoughts was very difficult because it means to start creating the path for the acceptance process and to this day is something I work on a daily basis. We have to remember that although we might not have control over situations specially in situations of loss, we do have control over our thoughts and how we let them affect us. Letting go also means to let go of the sad memories that hurt us surrounding the passing of a loved one and choosing to remember the happy days with that person. In my case, I love remembering my father’s jokes and laugh.     Accepting Does Not Mean Forgetting your Loved One I miss my father and I know I always will. As part of the acceptance stage of grief, I have created ways that connect me with him. My father loved planting, nature in general and birds singing, so naturally I enjoy being in green areas and I find myself looking for birds that might be singing. In these settings, I allow myself to feel his presence and I allow myself to say a word or two to him in my mind. For me, creating a setting to connect with my father helped me with accepting the fact that he is no longer physically part of my life, however, knowing that I can feel his presence gives me the assurance that his soul lives on and that he’s still part of my life spiritually.     Time and Talking Do Help Allowing time to go through each of the stages of grief is extremely important and sometimes the different stages might come, go away, then come back again. Be patient with yourself and don’t be afraid to ask for help when needed. Talking things over and then over again definitely helps. In my case, my family was my support system through the roller coaster of emotions and I also was their support when they needed it. Now we can talk and mention my father without crying, most of the time.      (Older brother, mother, myself and younger brother in my father's hometown in Brazil where we brought his ashes in March of 2024)   I don’t think we overcome grief; I think that we learn to live with it. Understanding the stages of grief helped me understand myself. At this point, I can say that I have accepted the passing of my father, I know he’s in a better place now, not suffering and happily watching over us. Besides, like I told him on the moment he passed away in that hospital room while I was holding his hand, it was not a “good bye” just a “see you later”.