Monday, August 31, 2015

Day 973: Another Month Down

The last day of the month has quickly become a favorite of mine this year, mostly because it means I get like a get out of jail free card! The last day of the month, or the first day of the next month, depending on how my schedule works out, is always a celebration of another month of the Everyday Disney Challenge, that thing I started on Instagram to post a Disney picture every single day of 2015. It's been going well, as I'm sure you can see through the various posts on the topic, my Instagram, or the bar at the top of the blog, and it's been a ton of fun, even if I am sort of looking forward to getting to post absolutely any picture I want next year. Maybe I'll change the rules a bit for 2016, but that's a long way off yet and first we need to celebrate August! 


















September is Disneyland Month, so be sure to keep an eye on Instagram and back here on Everyday Disney for all the pictures from the Happiest Place on Earth!


Have a magical day!


(Note: This blog post was written on September 21 due to a tight schedule).

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Day 972: Finally Tagged

A while back I posted my answers to a giant Disney tag that consisted of Disney Tag questions from all over the internet, but I still hadn't gotten around to actually making one for YouTube. As something I'd been meaning to do for year, or more, probably more, the Disney Tag has always been on my radar, especially when it comes to my YouTube videos. Well, with the prospect of having videos go up even while I was in California, I needed a bunch of topics in a short amount of time, at least much shorter than I normally have, and the Disney Tag seemed like the perfect solution!

This time I returned to some of the original questions, but my goal with this new Disney Tag was to answer things that aren't usually asked. For instance, instead of asking about my favorite Disney movie, I would answer which was my least favorite. Actually, there were a lot of great questions on the list:

1. Which do you prefer: CGI or Hand Drawn Animation?
2. What's your favorite first meeting scene?
3. What character did/do you have a serious crush on?
4. A scene in any Disney movie you wish you could experience?
5. What's your least favorite Disney movie?
6. Name a scene in a Disney movie that always makes you cry.
7. Favorite "Iconic" moment?
8. How did you first discover the magic of Disney?
9. What "Non-Disney" song reminds you of Disney and/or the parks?
10. What's the first Disney movie you remember seeing?
11. When was the first time you went to the Disney Parks?
12. What character would be your best friend?
13. What's the most underrated Disney movie?
14. What's your favorite Disney movie soundtrack?
15. Mention one Disney related thing that can always cheer you up.

You can see what my answers were in the video:




To be honest, it's well into September by the time I'm actually writing this blog post (a trip to California immediately followed by moving into college will really get you behind), so I don't even remember all of my answers, but I'd love to see what your answers might be! Let me know a few (or all) of them in the comments below, make your own video, your own blog post, or something else! 

Have a magical day!


(Note: This blog post was written on September 21 due to a tight schedule).

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Day 971: Wayback Machine

I've recently started a second on-campus job, which means a couple of things. First and foremost, I have even less time to get everything done, although somehow I manage it all, but secondly, and more importantly for this blog post, I attended a training session for the website program we use on campus for our college website. In this training session, the instructor used Wayback Machine to show me what the website looked like before the integration to the new site that's been going on for about three years now, and it occurred to me that I honestly don't remember what Everyday Disney looked like even last year, much less in 2013. So I headed over to Wayback Machine to see what the history of my blog looked like, and I was sort of amazed at the similarities and differences between the versions!

As you may know if you're been a long time reader, I update the main design of Everyday Disney once a year, at the beginning of the year. But before we get into the changes, let's look back to what it looked like in 2013!


Because it's sort of difficult to get the entire blog in one shot, I only took pictures of the top, but you get the idea. This screenshot, from October of 2013, was right around the time of some of my all time favorite blog posts, and features the original header for the website. I can't even express to you how much time I've spent over the years arranging and rearranging that header for various projects. This Version 1 header was focused mainly on the blue, grey, and green theme that you can still find throughout the rest of the site. And over on the left side bar, you can find the Version 2 Social Media icons created for the blog. I updated them after creating the Everyday Disney Facebook page, but an earlier version was on the blog before that!


2014's theme was a lot more like what you see on the blog today, although it definitely is an inbetween version. The header featured the two years of the blog to celebrate two years of blogging, an element I ultimately took away in 2015 in favor of extended word use to fill up the space. This Version 2 header does, however, bring in the new color scheme that I've fallen into over the past couple of years. While still matching the color theme on the rest of the blog, this new header brought more life to the page! And of course, you can see another generation of the social media icons over on the side.


And finally we hae the blog as it appears today. Like I said, the header became more block like as I got rid of the years in favor of the extended words, and underneath I incorporated a live feed that links up with my Instagram to help celebrate as I work on my #EverydayDisneyChallenge! 2015 is all about sharing our love of Disney through pictures, so in addition to that I've incorporated two new pages, both of which you can access from the side bar. Not visable, but obviously right there if you're looking to the side of this post, you can find the new social media icons as well, which match up in the watercolor style with the page links.

Ultimately, however, I did find it interesting to see that the fonts and post headers have stayed the same throughout. As often as I'm on here working on a blog post, I rarely change or update the design itself, largely leaving that to the end of the year updates. I do, on occasion, recreate the social media links or pages, but otherwise I try to keep it consistant. After all, what really matters here is our love of Disney!

Have a magical day!


(Note: This blog post was written on September 19 due to a tight schedule).

Friday, August 28, 2015

Day 970: A House for the Town

I can still remember a time when I was freaking about moving into my first college dorm. Having never moved in my entire life, it was a huge step, and the terrifying number of boxes and crates sitting in my dining room prior to move-in day absolutely caused some shock. Granted, the transformation my bedroom at home went through as I moved in this year was none the less terrifying, but at this point I've gotten pretty good at this whole moving thing.

I also remember my debates prior to college about how I was going to bring Disney into my dorm room, and it was something I thought long and hard about. The internet doesn't have much on the subject, but over time I've come to find my own classy collection of Disney memorbelia, knick knacks, and real actual textbooks, and as usual, I snapped a few pictures to give you an idea of where in the world I'm living now and how you might be able to bring a bit of Disney into your dorm or apartment too!


First up is my desk, which you can see is definitely the most condensed area for Disney. However, it's a pretty equal balance between actual Disney stuff, Once Upon A Time, family items and school necessities. You probably recognize a bunch of it from my previous desk setups, but I have to say that I spent a lot more time at this desk than I think I did the last two years. Alright, maybe about the same as last year, but the lack of shelf space definitely threw us all for a loop after having multiple giant shelves last year! 


I did manage to find spaces for a couple little pieces though, including my new Jaq and Gus figurine and the little yellow bug that one of my roommates got for me. It's a little bit of Emma Swan to go with my strange amount of pirate stuff. 


The walls in our room are also covered in Disney, although maybe not as obviously. On the wall above my own bed and next to my desk we have a quote canvas from Peter Pan and attraction posters from the Disney Parks (there's four total, although one is cut off in the picture). Then, on the other side of the room, above Megan's bed, is a new multi-canvas work I put together inspired by Mary Poppins. It certainly brighten things up! 


Of course Cardboard Colin finally got to come with to college, and he now watches over us from a spot right next to my bed. Charming keeps him company on the wall! Meanwhile, on the side of my desk, you can find the awesome Mickey wreath Megan made me for our high school graduation. It's been a key feature in all of my desk setups so far, so a spot where we both could see it felt like the right choice! 


As an English major, an extra bookshelf was absolutely necessary, and I keep my books up with these awesome new Haunted Mansion bookends I got while at Disneyland! Also on the shelf, but not pictured, are a few of my Starbucks You Are Here Mugs and the oil cans from Cars Land! 


Down in our kitchen, because yes we have a kitchen now, we have what I realized could be called our own little Kitchen Kabaret! This setup sits right on top of our stove/oven and keeps things lively in an otherwise pretty boring kitchen. We spent a lot of time figuring out how to bring color and excitement into a room we spend a lot of time in!


Finally, in our basement, you can find our ever popular quote canvas and Christmas light combination! You probably remember this set from our room last year, and after a few repairs, it's officially made it's new home in the basement of our townhouse. Thankfully the lights didn't take as long to put up this year, but I'll let you know if Jennifer Morrison likes them again as a part of #101Smiles!


Finally, also in our basement living area, you can find a couple of the Disney decorative pillows. Of all the things I've bought for my dorm rooms, these have to be one of my favorites. They're the perfect way to add a little bit of Disney without being too obvious!

And that's about it! To give you a general idea of where I live otherwise, I'm in a townhouse I share with five other girls (three of which I lived with last year). We're situated right along the river, which makes for a great view, and our only big downside is super thin walls. Our neighbors tend to get a bit loud, but we're quietly planning an attack that involves Let It Go and it's a small world.

Hopefully, if you're just joining us, this gives you a few ideas of how you might be able to decorate your dorm room or apartment! That's definitely my goal with these yearly posts on my new campus living, because I definitely continue to refine and develop a new style based on where I'm living next!

Have a magical day!


(Note: This blog post was written on September 18 due to a tight schedule).