Day 1229: Just Be Nice

If there's one thing I've noticed as a part of the Once Upon A Time fandom, it's that people can be just downright rude. Aside from my personal experiences lately, I can't help but see the constant bullying, arguing, and honest to God wars that occur via social media. It's really terrible. Which leads me to my point today, and I'll try to keep it brief. 

Just. Be. Nice. 

We're all very different people, from all over the world, with different backgrounds. We have different favorite characters, different favorite episodes, lines, ships, and story arcs, but that doesn't mean we should be arguing about it. One of the most important lessons I've ever learned was the idea of agreeing to disagree, and I think that's what the OUAT fandom really needs these days. 

I think that's what we all need these days, to agree to disagree, and understand that just because we don't share every single opinion doesn't mean we should be rude. No one is worthless because of their opinion, and while I have my own ships and favorites, I'm not about to say that anyone else is wrong because they prefer someone else. That would be ridiculous. 

So don't do that. Be nice. That's not that hard to accomplish.

Have a magical day!

Day 1150: The GIF Button

GIFs, which we still apparently can't agree on the pronunciation of, are quickly taking over the internet, although if you're like me and you've been around for a number of years, you absolutely already know of our obsession with the moving pictures. And of course, for a very long time, we had to save the GIFs to our phones and computers and then organize them carefully so we'd be able to find the GIF we want to post as a reaction to something. 

And then the world woke up and realized that this was an incredibly slow process and wouldn't it just be great if we had pretty much every GIF imaginable at our fingertips?

Twitter, like Facebook, now has a GIF button, and it's actually the greatest thing ever. Want a Disney GIF of Sadness to express how much you miss Dole Whips (which, as you can see, also have a GIF)? No problem! Just search for it. And because we obviously all need to clap along to a song like Snow White does (she's flawless, isn't she?), there's a GIF of that to share too. There's GIFs of everything, and it's amazing. Why? Because we all know there's no better way to express happiness than through a GIF of Flash: 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1125: The Newest and Indyiest

Back in 2014, I blogged about a Facebook tradition I have: only changing my profile picture and cover photo after a Disney trip, and I'm happy to say that even now, the tradition continues! You can read the original blog post on Day 609, but since I've had four Disney trips since then, I figured it might be fun to do a bit of an update, especially since I just changed my profile picture and cover photo the other day!

This time we'll work backwards though, mostly since the combination you see above is the one currently on my Facebook page, and it'll stay there until whenever I next head to a Disney Park (most likely either July or October). As I went through pictures from my trip this January (more of which you'll see in a later blog post), I fell in love with the picture of me as an extra at Indiana Jones, so it wasn't even a competition for which picture would end up being my latest cover photo! As for the profile picture, I didn't think there was a picture that described happiness better than my picture with Chewbacca, so there wasn't really any competition there either.

Previous to this January's trip to Walt Disney World, I of course headed to Disneyland back in August, which means that for the past 5 months or so, Leo and I have graced my Facebook Profile Picture, and since World of Color is one of my absolute favorite things at Disneyland, I figured it would make a brilliant cover photo to go along with it! 

Before Disneyland there was a brief two month interlude of Disney World after my trip in June, which featured two of my favorite fandoms: Once Upon A Time and Star Wars! Seeing Mr. Gold's Pawnshop with all the props from OUAT was simply spectacular, and when I found that my Dad had taken a number of wonderful photographs of said props, it was an instant upload for my cover photo. Like my most recent encounter with Chewie, he made my cover photo as well, especially since meeting him in June was an absolute dream come true! 

And finally, after last January's trip to Walt Disney World I went with a pink and blue sort of color scheme that featured my new favorite hat (and one of the last pictures I took that trip) and Wishes, because who doesn't love Wishes! I will say that this trip took a long while to decide on though because there were simply so many amazing options for profile pictures and cover photos. Regardless, I narrowed it down and these pictures graced my profile from January until June! 

Which brings us back to June 2014, the last profile picture and cover photo set I shared with Everyday Disney! Updating my profile picture and cover photo after each trip has become a tradition, habit, and super exciting moment, although the thought and pressure of picking a combination I might keep for months on end is sometimes daunting. I will say, however, that I went back through my pictures and it occurred to me that I've been on seven Disney trips in the last three years. When I was a kid I went on, maybe, one a year (so three...or two) in that same time span. Gosh, if only 5 year old Lizzie could see the future. 

Have a magical day! 

1104: Travels

What do you mean I'm leaving on vacation this afternoon?

Even with the band trip video finished and a recital played and a suitcase [mostly] packed, there's still a bit of work to be finished before I head off to Florida, including a bit of information here on Everyday Disney!

As you might know, because I'll be gone, Everyday Disney will be put on hold until January 18 or 19 (depending on my schedule). However, that doesn't mean I'll be gone completely! My social media hiatus I started at the beginning of the year has come to an end after a week, so you can follow any of those accounts listed on the side of the page to keep up with my adventures (especially Instagram!)

If you don't have an Instagram though, never fear! You can see all of my pictures right here on the blog at the top of the page, and I'll also be posting them on Twitter as often as possible. In addition, this trip I'm going to bring in some Snapchat! I tested it out while at Disneyland this past August and found that I really liked it, so you can follow my account there for daily updates from Walt Disney World! And of course, when I do return I'll be updating Everyday Disney to include a recap of the trip, and new videos will appear on my YouTube channel again starting the last week in January!

And if you get really bored and start to miss Everyday Disney I encourage you to go back and maybe read some older posts that you may have missed! If you need somewhere to start, you can find my lists of favorite blog posts from the past three years on the following posts:

2013 (Part 1 | Part 2)
2014 (Part 1 | Part 2)
2015 (Part 1 | Part 2)

Otherwise, I'll see you all in a couple of weeks!

Until then, have a magical day!

Day 1039: A Long, Long Time Ago

I was going through old blog posts in search of a Throwback Thursday and happened to go all the way back to Day 5, which feels more like a lifetime ago than anything else. Turns out, I had little to talk about that day too aside from Pinterest and social media, but I happened to find it humorous that I was apparently just as lost for topics on Day 5 as I am on Day 1039. 

The pinterest boards I talk about in that blog post are still going, and I'm sure many, many new pins have appeared, such as the following gems: 

You can still go and check out my Disney inspired Pinterest boards by following the link on the side of the page, and while I probably don't post distinctly Disney things all the time, as Everyday Disney proves, it doesn't really matter if it's Disney or not...because Disney's probably related anyways. 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on December 31).

Day 1022: What Happened in October?

Trying to make up blog posts when I get really far behind is certainly one of the more difficult things in life, especially when those blog posts are from months ago. To be fair, if I don't have time to blog on a specific day I try to at least write down a blog post topic that I can come back to later, but more often than not, I'm so caught up in schoolwork and such that I don't even think much about it. My life is relatively ordinary and simple, and while I'm able to find Disney in pretty much anything and everything, I also can't ever seem to remember what happened in October when it's November.

If I'm trying to come up with blog posts from a date that far past, the first place I turn to is my Twitter, as I'm more active there than any other social media, and usually I'll have tweeted about something that makes a connection. The problem is, Twitter only allows me to go so far back sometimes, and since I tweet so much (thanks Once Upon A Time), it's sometimes hard to figure out what in the world might have gone on.

Regardless, I think someday I should show you how boring my everyday life really is. It usually starts with me quickly getting ready for the day before heading to hours of class, maybe a bit of food, and then into an evening that is often filled with meetings. From there, I throw in some practice and homework time before hopefully blogging, working on a video, or catching an episode of something on Netflix before again going to sleep.

See, not that interesting at all? And J-Term is probably even more boring, with days on end of random work on things that I didn't have the time to finish during the semester. Maybe someday I'll snapchat my entire day and then share it here, but that's an idea for another day...although I do wonder how Disney might still fit into a little video like that, because I'm more than certain it would.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 30).

Day 985: 202 Smiles

It wasn't long ago that I was wondering if Jennifer Morrsion would do another year of 101 Smiles on social media. As part of a goal to increase positivity on the internet and in life in general, last year she began the #101Smiles challenge, in which you were to post a picture a day of something that made you smile. A lot of us joined in, and I talked a year ago about how the experience really impacted how I see positivity in my every day life. You can see a recap of 101 Smiles 2014 HERE.

I've thought a lot about 101 Smiles since it ended last December, so you can imagine how excited I was when Jennifer Morrison announced that we were about to start another round this fall. It started a bit later than the last one, about two weeks later, but that should put us really close to Christmas and the New Year by the time we finish! In general though, I'm really excited to see what kinds of things will make me smile this time around. Here's the collage of all of last year's pictures, just to give you an idea of what brought a grin to my face in 2014:

So far this year (it's currently September 25 when I'm writing this due to some scheduling issues), I've already had a lot of smiling moments:

As always, you can find my contributions to the 101 Smiles Challenge on all my social media! Links can be found on the sidebar! And if you haven't joined in on 101 Smiles, you're definitely welcome to! It's never too late to start smiling! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 25 due to a tight schedule).

Day 826: A Pop Of Color

I asked my roommates what I should blog about today, mostly due to the fact that my waking hours have been spent either doing laundry, cleaning, heading back to school, in rehearsals for one of two performances this week or doing homework. Suggestions this time included: Lord of the Rings, strawberry jam, Walt Disney's Mother, and, yes, a pop of color.

The saxophone quartet on campus that I'm a part of has our concert of the semester tomorrow night, which is our only regular performance in addition to recitals throughout the year. Regardless of whether we're playing on a chamber concert or on someone's recital, our general dress code is black with "a pop of color." The last performance, I wore my Bert Disneybound, which was all black with a red scarf, perfect for the recital and for the March Disneybound Challenge, but tomorrow I'm just going with all black and a bright coral blouse underneath my black blazer.

Regardless, this led to the suggestion of making the idea of "a pop of color" into an entire blog post. Generally, when I ask them to suggest something, they rattle off various ideas until one sticks, and this one just happened to work. In fact, as I've been writing this post, I've come up with various ways this all relates to Disney, and apparently "a pop of color" was the perfect suggestion for today!

First off, you may or may not have noticed the new social media icons in the side bar, depending on how you look at the blog and how long you've been reading. I know they don't show on mobile, so you'll have to put it in desktop mode to see them. I'm pretty proud of these new icons, partly because of the effort it took to create them and partly because they do add, you guessed it, a pop of color to the page...as if Everyday Disney needed more of that. When I think back to designing Everyday Disney, I knew I wanted it to be something that is easy to work with, and the blank white certainly makes my life easier. As long as any graphic for a sidebar or header has a white background, I'm good to go. But having an all white blog also means you need to bring in color somehow, and elements like the social media icons are the perfect solution.

In case you were wondering, the above is what the social media icons looked like before they made their way onto my computer. Since I don't have a scanner at home, I had to take a picture of them and then transfer that into my computer, remove the background so it was in PNG format, brighten them up at bit to make up for the low lighting I had and then add a white background and text so it would appear correctly online, all before setting them in HTML format. That sounds a lot harder than it actually was. It just took time, and I'm extremely proud of the outcome, especially since all the social media options are listed now, including both my personal social media and the official media for Everyday Disney.

But that's not the only way "a pop of color" fought its way into my mind today when forming this post. As you all know very well, the Flower and Garden Festival of Epcot continues, and I'm definitely still jealous I'm not there. I follow several people on Instagram who work down at Disney World and the flowers this year just look brilliant. It makes me wish I had taken more photos when I was at the festival last year, and it also enhances my want to go back in, hopefully, the near future. If you haven't already, check out some of the tags for the Festival on Instagram. It'll definitely be worth your while and brighten your day!

Other than that, I'd better hurry up and finish this post so I can get to bed. Those Fastpasses won't schedule themselves in the morning!

Have a magical day!

Day 764: Tumblr

Now that I'm back at SNC, it means that I can be logged into all my social media on all my devices all the time. It's actually a serious relief, because when I'm at home, I can't sit on Tumblr all day and then I feel distant from all of my tumblr friends. Plus...if you're not on Tumblr, why not? If you're a college student like me, it's a spectacular way to waste time and procrastinate on your homework (and blog writing).

But I have indeed hit a road block.

I actually have three different tumblr blogs. One is my personal, another is my Everyday Disney blog and the third is a secret. I can't tell you much more about that last one...but maybe sometime in the future (hint hint, wink wink, nod nod). Regardless, these three blogs are all about different things...sort of. Well, at least two of them are about different things, and my personal one just overlaps, which leaves me with a serious problem.

Where do I blog certain things to?

That's not the only question though. For instance, if it applies to more than one blog, do I reblog it twice...once to each? Do I tag things all the time or should I go the lazy route and not tag everything? And so on and so forth.

This really is a problem though, as I'm really trying to be better about updating all my social media (which is a solid half hour a day effort when you get down to it). I mean, I have my personal social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest; My Everyday Disney accounts: Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr; And then the conjoined ones: YouTube and Google+. This is all on top of keeping the blog itself updated, and after a while you just have to throw little bits and pieces of time in wherever you can find it.

For instance, I generally end up checking my twitter constantly, but Tumblr I might only go on if there's big news or if I've got a solid ten minutes between classes or right before bed. Facebook happens maybe once a day...and that's sometimes pushing it (sort of a paradox since I literally JUST checked my Facebook on my phone). Instagram I check regularly, probably just as much as twitter, and as you all know, I have at least one picture on there a day as part of the #EverydayDisneyChallenge.

As you can see, social media really is an extra part of the job...then again, maybe that's why companies literally employ people to work their social media accounts. I'm pretty sure I would rock that job...

You can, of course, follow my social media whenever you like! I'm working on getting links to the Everyday Disney official accounts up, but my personal ones are all listed at the side. You can find the official Everyday Disney twitter @everydaydis and on Tumblr at everydaydisneyblog.tumblr.com!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on February 19).

Day 746: Buzzfeed

This will be a day long remembered.

There have been a few great social media moments in my life. Actually, no, there's been a lot of them, but there are a few I'm especially proud of. In fact, you can tell when it's really important when there's a blog post dedicated to that specific moment. For instance, there was the time Colin O'Donoghue tweeted me for my birthday, found HERE, or the time Jennifer Morrison liked my #101Smiles post so much she reposted it on her Instagram, found HERE, or the time when Walt Disney World used my picture on their official Instagram, which you can read about HERE.

But today? Today I marked off another milestone in the social media book: Buzzfeed.

A Disney friend of mine tweeted me something and, curious as to what it could be since the notification doesn't show the picture on my phone without me actually going onto Twitter, I checked it out immediately, only to find a picture of me..ON BUZZFEED.

Quickly, Megan and I searched it out and found THIS ARTICLE!

I'm a bit shaky after such a huge milestone, but this is basically the biggest thing since Jennifer Morrison's retweet of mine, so we're gonna continue with the celebrations I guess. It's awesome, especially since I Disneybound so often, to be recognized with 24 other great Disneybounders, and when people ask me why I Disneybound so often, or why I spend a significant amount of my time at thrift stores and Plato's Closet, it's because of stuff like this.

And the funniest part? This is one of the only Disneybounds I actually got to do this trip because of the too hot and then too cold temperatures. I'm glad I got it and I'm super happy we stopped to meet Peter Pan!

And you know, I hate to brag, but sometimes I really can't believe my life.

Have a magical day!

Day 742: A Better Person

While at Disney, in line for the Jungle Cruise specifically, a blog post occurred to me. Sometimes that happens, where I'll be somewhere doing something and a perfect topic will just pop into my head, and this time it happened to be about Social Media.

I tweeted once this summer that social media is a funny thing, and really, it kind of is. That tweet started out actually as a subtweet, mostly because at that point I was dealing with a lot of weird stuff on Facebook and Twitter. There was a lot of drama that somehow included me for no particular reason other than people, at that point, wanted to make my life a living hell, but now, only months later, I find that I've changed.

It occurred to me while in Florida that I type, delete, retype, delete and repeat that same process over and over again these days. I'll write out a tweet or a Facebook post and then delete it. On my Timehop you can sense a different version of myself than in my Facebook posts these days. And you know why? It's because of my blog and the way I want to hold myself on social media.

I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by great role models when it comes to internet usage. The entire cast of OUAT does a great job of dealing with hate and crazed fans such as myself, and I realize that as weird as my tweets sometimes are to the cast members, I never tweet or post something on the internet these days that I would be ashamed for one of those cast members to see. I keep myself in a professional manner these days, far more often than I used to, and I think it's because now I see Everyday Disney and social media as a part of my own little job than I ever did before.

It's no secret that I gain absolutely nothing from this blog, as least money wise. I'm not paid for the time I spend writing here, or for the time it takes for me to go through the thousands of pictures that will eventually end up on my Instagram, or for the days of work I put into things like the Band Trip Video, but it's still my job. This is what I spend my time doing, and while I, currently, have been sitting in my college library for almost 8 hours, working continuously, in the end it's all kind of worth it.

And you know what? I think that might just be a secret to the tweets I get back from the cast members and other famous people. It's because I hold myself with a sense of respect, sort of like I'm combining multiple sayings into one, such as "Dress everyday as though you'd meet your favorite actor," "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," and "The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life."

All three of these quotes have really meant more and more to me over the past year, and now that I can look back and see myself come from one solidified point to another, it means all the more. So my advice to you is to be unique, be kind and make every single post, tweet or status something you'd want your favorite actor to hit "like" on.

Have a magical day!

Day 699: The Grass Is Greener...

This is one of those blog posts where the title is really longer than I can fit in the actual title line, so here's the full one:

The Grass Is Greener...On The Marching Field

Tumblr is one of those great places where you can find lots of things. It's a place filled with humor and angst and the people that are parts of fandoms that casually tend to remind you that, of course, your favorite ship actually has this super tragic backstory that they decide to tell you through GIFs and then you just end up crying. (Not that this happens to me...often). 

But Tumblr's also a really inspiring place, and by far one of the most inspiring stories didn't originate on Tumblr at all, but rather with Jennifer Morrison. I've talked about this wonderful role model more than a few times on my blog, but this is one of those times where I just had to share. I have this really weird list of reasons as to why JMo and I are alike, and it's getting weirdly long, but this article she wrote, "The Legacy of Positivity" is something that just got me. 

You can read the full article HERE, and I really do suggest you read it before the rest of this post. If you don't want to read the whole thing, the important parts I'm hitting will be summarized in my spiel about it and so on and so forth.

Jennifer's parents, as I already knew before this article, are music teachers, meaning that music has had an important influence on her life, just as it has mine. The article goes one to talk about the things that she learned from her parents. I, of course, am not an alum of the Prospect Marching Knights, and I've never met the Morrisons, but I do know exactly what she's talking about, and I agree with every single word. 

We live in world so filled with negativity that I'm all for every chance we have to make things more positive. It's one the biggest reasons I'd love to just sit down and have coffee with Jennifer Morrison. Not to talk about Once Upon A Time or anything else, but simply talk about how she keeps things positive. As my own social media presence increases, it has occurred to me time and time again that I have to do the same thing she does, and keep things positive. Arguments don't help anyone, and negativity only works against us. But as JMo points out, it's all about your mindset. 

Over the past few days I've actually been debating this whole thing. The idea of happiness and positivity. For the last several nights, just as I'm about to go to bed, I find that I can't. Not because I'm not tired, and not because I don't have to go to bed yet or because I'm in the middle of a super angsty episode on Gilmore Girls, but rather because I'm happy. I'm excited about life. Sometimes it's excitement about things that will happen in the new future, such as my trip to Disney World that's coming up faster than any of us could possibly imagine. Once and a while I'll think about my Disneyland trip in August, and the fact that on that trip I'll have the incredible chance to meet some of the friends I've made through Disney and Once Upon A Time. And then there are the moments when I'm excited about things that are so far in the future I don't even know when they'll happen, like the simple fact that someday, somehow, I'll meet Colin O'Donoghue and yes, Jennifer Morrison. These are the things that make me excited, and you know what? I can't remember a time in the last two years when I've been so completely, truly happy. 

These past two years have been a trial for me. Tests have come in every shape and size and around every single bend, but somehow I've made it through all of it, and if there's one thing I would remind my past self if I had to do it all over again, it would be to stay positive. It's a mindset, and now that I'm in that mindset, I no longer am angry constantly, I'm not disappointed in the work I've done or the moments I've missed out on. I've grown, and my positivity has grown with it. 

After all, as Jennifer Morrison mentioned: "...'The grass isn't greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it.' And it's also green where you march, my mom and dad would say. So put one foot in front of the other, even if they're baby steps and let's all walk towards the light, lean into it, and grow green together." 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 19 due to finals!)

Day 556: The Dangers of Tumblr

Social Media can be really helpful, and I really honestly love it. One of my favorite things about Tumblr is how completely honest everyone is. There's like this wall built up around a lot of people...a wall of no judgement because a large portion of the accounts there aren't necessarily seen by the people we share our lives with. That's a nice relief, especially when you spend a good portion of your time reblogging GIFs of Hook and Emma.

But Tumblr can also be an incredibly dangerous place. There are a lot of things on Tumblr, yes, and that includes spoilers. Believe it or not, since OUAT returned (yeah, I'm writing this WAYYYY after the post date), I've been pretty good about spoilers. I know some here and there, and I still read the official press release for every episode, but at the same time, I don't generally go searching out spoilers. The problem is they seem to find me anyways.

It's just like how I honestly can't go anywhere without finding pirate references. It was in an episode of Hart of Dixie, I found a Captain Hook reference in a 230 page magazine...it was in the fine print people, and I was skimming, and don't even get me started about trying to go out in public now that Halloween is so close. I just can't go anywhere.

And apparently I can't go on Tumblr either. Why these things seem to find me instead of me finding them (or avoiding such a scenario), I have no idea. Granted, yes, I was searching for specifically Captain Hook because I was writing a post about...you guessed it...Captain Hook.

BUT I DID NOT NEED TO KNOW THAT SPOILER THANKS VERY MUCH.

I guess it's really all my own fault though, isn't it? I really need to be a better person and try to avoid them.

But Tumblr...it's just so great...

Have a magical day!

(Note; This blog post was written on October 29).