Day 660: Home

One of my best friends is in the middle of one of the biggest decisions of her life: college. It's a tough decision, and personally I hate how much they push such a decision at a young age. Yes, it's very important, exceedingly so, but that doesn't mean you have to know the answer to every one of their questions in second grade or even sophomore year. Gosh, a lot of times you don't even know your senior year. I think Everyday Disney was a big part of figuring out what exactly I wanted to do after leaving High School, and I'm forever thankful for that, but that's not what we're here to talk about.

I was discussing with her the reasons to choose a specific college over another one. I had it pretty easy, since I only actually applied to two colleges and made my decision fairly quickly based on the programs I wanted to go into, the close-to-home location, the campus and specifically, the people and staff who work here. I knew a lot of them previous to coming to SNC, so it sort of just felt like home. It was familiar and comfortable, and that's what's really important with a college experience. Without it you'll start to go crazy. Yeah, it won't feel perfect, and when you step onto campus for your first day you obviously have a lot to learn about where things are and where you'll study, but that comes with time.

Regardless, I couldn't help but think of Disney during our conversation, since she was upset to the point that she didn't want to even go to Disney. Sorry Mate, but this made me laugh a little bit, although the laughter had nothing to do with you. I explained that I found that odd, since when I get really upset I don't want to go to my room and curl up in a ball or go back to my dorm room and hide in the closet or something weird. No, I actually want to go to Disney.

I can't even begin to think about the number of times when people asked if I get homesick at college. I think, to some point, I really do. I miss my family and my cat and my shower and the privacy that comes with a bedroom of your own, but I love my roommates dearly and I love campus and I love SNC. It's just an odd sentence to ask me since I get homesick more at "home" than I do here. In fact, I get homesick far more often than I probably should, simply because my home isn't a half hour away. It's a couple of hours away by plane.

I can recall this one time several years ago when I was really upset about something. I honestly don't remember specifically what I was upset about, but I suppose that doesn't matter now. The point is that I do remember sitting on the staircase in my house, long after everyone else had gone to bed and just crying in the dark. Like I said, I was probably stressed out or something like that, but it was overwhelming, and I think that in that moment, I'd never felt more homesick in my entire life, despite the fact that I was literally sitting directly in the middle of my house. At first I don't think it occurred to me what that feeling was, but eventually I realized that all I needed was to go to Disney. I needed to go home, but sadly that wasn't in the cards for quite some time.

That's the thing about us Disney fans who really do see Disney as home. We spend the majority of our time missing it, and on some level that makes it all the more special. But it also is incredibly frustrating. Yes, we have our own ways of calming down because we have to, but trips are few and far between for many of us, and therefore we must find a different way to capture that magic. Everyday Disney does that, spending nights watching movies with my brother and my cat does that, Once Upon A Time parties do that and my roommates sure help do that too.

In the end, that's kind of what I said to her though. I see SNC as a home. Maybe not my only home, but a home because I'm pretty sure that by 20 years from now, I'll have about 5 or 6 of those. It's crazy, it's frustrating, it's difficult, but it's completely worth it too. After all, they do say that home is where the heart is.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on October 23).

Day 659: A Look Back

Alright, time for a (not so) funny story.

This is about the third time I've tried to write this blog post, and here's the story as to why it hasn't actually been posted before, well, now.

The first time I tried to write the blog post I had every intention of doing so. In fact, the edit screen for blogger was open for about two days on my computer, but because of a French test and rereading half my blog, that sort of got pushed to the background. It was going to be about the free stuff we randomly get at Disney, since I had a discussion with a couple of my friends at dinner the other night about that very topic. But because I try really hard to make sure that I don't specifically write two blog posts on the same thing, I had to go check to see if I had, indeed, written a previous post about free stuff at Disney. Now, technically I didn't, but everything I would have talked about had already been mentioned at least once, so that idea kind of fell through.

Especially since that led to me rereading (or at least skimming) the first 100 blog posts or so. It's funny because so much has changed since those early posts. Megan and I were both discussing it. I was 17 then, 19 now. I was in High School and now I'm well into my second year of college. Some of those posts are barely 100 words and now if there's a blog post with 100 words...no, wait. There's never a blog post with under 100 words. Not even under 500. It just doesn't happen. And people think writing 800 word papers is difficult. HA!

Anyway, I spent a good amount of time over the past couple days just sort of looking back, and it's weird to think that in only a few short months (just over two really), I'll be ending the second year of Everyday Disney and starting what I hope will be the third, and best, year yet. There's a lot planned for 2015, and I'm excited to get there...if I can ever catch up with the fact that it's 2014 and there's still a few posts to be written from June. In all honesty, if someone comes along someday and reads this blog post from 1 to whatever, I wish you luck. The middle of 2014 probably makes no sense considering the fact that some where written in June, others in August and some in October. I can hardly keep it straight.

Still, things will always keep moving forward around here, at least with a little luck. Disney is still an every day fixture in my life, and I really don't see that changing any time soon. Thank goodness, right?

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about the second time I tried to write the blog post. In fact, the entire thing was finished, but something went wrong with my internet and I had to restart my computer...and then it didn't save anything. You'd think that with all the internet capability we have today blogger would be able to retain the information I typed in even after I clicked save, right? Oh well, that's alright. I'm pretty sure this post was way more entertaining than the last version anyway!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on October 23).

Day 658: Two Years of Hook

While I, surprisingly enough, have yet to rewatch last night's episode of Once Upon A Time, I felt like a blog post on it was necessary. After last season I decided to only blog about episodes when I could come up with a real, legitimate topic about them aside from my regularly scheduled freakouts over CaptainSwan and Colin O'Donoghue, but Colin did tweet something last night that kind of put things into this weird perspective.

Colin tweeted this near the end of the episode, and it instantly made me feel pretty sentimental. He's right, absolutely right. Two years ago (two years from tomorrow actually), Hook came onto our screens for the very first time and we were all probably a little bit astonished at the lack of waxed mustache and perm. I don't really remember much about my reaction to Once from back then, other than my usual freaking out (which was no where near what it is today), and when it comes to Hook, a lot of that lack of memory is due to the fact that he didn't become my favorite character until the second time I watched Season Two. Apparently I was blind the first time and was incapable of realizing the amazingness that is Colin O'Donoghue. Boy has my life changed. 

The reason this tweet made me so sentimental is due to a few reasons though. First, it's a connection to that first time we did see Hook. In fact, all of 4x04 was a connection to it. In 2x04, we saw Killian Jones the pirate, we saw Killian Jones in love and we saw Killian Jones loose his hand and become Captain Hook. In 4x04 we saw Killian Jones the pirate, we saw Killian Jones in love and we saw Killian Jones loose his hand and become, well, Captain Hook. And to top it all off, I loved the reprise of the Rumpelstiltskin/Hook rivalry, which I am also dreading at the same time. I love it because of the two brilliant actors. Robert Carlyle and Colin O'Donoghue play off of one another, each as characters that are villains, and as enemies, in a perfect combination of the story the began oh so long ago. I think of all the things I loved in last night's episode, that duo is one of my favorites. 

But even more so, that tweet becomes sentimental for me because I do actually care about these people. It became blatantly obvious this past week when there was an increase of hate in the fandom, especially on Twitter. I won't get into the entire thing, but there was hate send to Colin, and that was the final straw for me. These are real people, just as I am a real person, and I think on some level I probably care so much because I write this blog. I, sort of, know that there are people out there reading, and these a little bit of me that hopes someone out there cares as I go on and on about Disney and Once and Band and Spaceship Earth. This is what I love doing, just as Colin loves acting, and I can definitely relate to that. Plus, somewhere along the line, while none of us really ever truly know one another through the internet, there's still a bit of a connection there. It's the reason many fans, myself included, attempt to get tweets back from the actors. It's because they're just as much a part of the community as we are. And when you care enough about something, you become happy when things are going well and sad when things aren't. 

Once didn't mean as much to me two years ago as it means to me today, that's for sure. I hardly even knew who Colin was until a year ago, and as a matter of fact, I didn't follow most of the cast on twitter a year ago either. But just as Once is important to Colin, it's important to me. It gives me inspiration and hope and happiness, and he's a part of that. So of course that tweet is sentimental for me. The past two years have been a rollercoaster for all of us, and that's something every single one of us can understand, myself and the cast of OUAT included. 

Later in the week I'll have a specific post dedicated to some of my favorite Hook moments to celebrate these two years as well, but I'll explain that when we get to it! =)

Have a magical day!

Day 657: Yensid

Many of you know that I generally enjoy educating my friends about Disney. It's completely true too, and as we progress through life I think we find two things. 1. My knowledge of Disney seems to be incredibly random and seriously infinite and 2. There's a lot they still don't know.

Yensid is one of those things.

Those of us who are Disney fans are like "Oh yeah, Yensid! Who doesn't know that!" and all it takes is one trip through The Great Movie Ride to know this fact too. But as we watched Once Upon A Time tonight (SPOILER ALERT...KINDA) and the Sorcerer's Apprentice showed up we got around to talking about Yensid and I confused my roommates by talking about him.

Who is Yensid you may ask?

Well, in Fantasia, Mickey plays the part of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, and the Sorcerer he serves is named Yensid. It's a little hidden Disney fact that we like to tell people because it's pretty darn cool. Still haven't figured it out? Ok, let's put it in all caps: YENSID. There's a hidden word here, and that's what I'm getting at.

Alright...if you haven't gotten it yet I'm just going to have to give it to you. Spell Yensid backwards. What do you get? Disney! Yep, Yensid is actually just Disney spelled backwards, and like I said, it will take you one trip on the Great Movie Ride to learn that information since it's been a part of the script since...probably forever.

And that's what I educated my roommates on tonight. I taught them about Yensid. I can't say I blew their minds because they're still alive, but I do love sharing Disney facts with them as time goes on. It's just entertaining to watch other people learn what I've known for so long, especially when I get to see their reaction to it!

Did you know about Yensid? And if you watched OUAT tonight...how about that date, huh?

Have a magical day!

Day 656: Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off

Because I live in a Dorm Room, I don't get to cook very often. It's sort of nice because you just don't have to worry about actually making the food you're going to eat for dinner. You just go to the caf instead and hope that there's something that you like there (although it seems to me that this year we have hamburgers more than we would really want). Regardless, I don't spend a lot of my time cooking and baking, which really makes me sad.

So when I go home on the weekends, or at least when I have a rare completely free weekend at home, I actually get a chance to work in my kitchen. It doesn't really make my mom super happy though because I probably leave more dishes in the sink than she thought possible, but there are always great cupcakes that come out of it in the end!

This particular weekend I was in charge of making cupcakes for our church's annual Chili Dump, where everyone brings a pot of chili and they dump it all together. It ends up tasting really great, despite what you might think. So I set about making cupcakes, specifically brownie batter and dole whip cupcakes, but that's another blog post. I also made spaghetti and meatballs (Which was CaptainSwan inspired and absolutely delicious), meaning I literally spent the entire day in the kitchen.

A few hours into this day-long adventure I finally decided that since I couldn't technically leave the kitchen, I would find my laptop and pull up a movie I haven't seen in a really, really, long time: Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off. This is one of those old Disney Channel Original Movies, back when they were actually really really good and you wanted to rewatch them. Like the SmartHouse age, or The Luck of the Irish. Gosh I miss those films (and will probably end up rewatching a ton of them sooner than later now that I've started with Eddie's).

But Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off, of all the Disney Channel Original Movies, really holds a special place in my heart. If you don't remember the film or have never seen it, basically it's about a kid named Eddie who's father really wants him to play baseball but in reality he really loves cooking. Bobby Flay is in it and it's just a wonderful film, especially if you love cooking like I do. In fact, it occurred to me while watching it that this movie is probably one of the reasons I do love cooking and baking, and it's most certainly the reason I learned how to crack an egg with one hand.

There's more though. It turns out my life is basically one giant circle. I'm watching the movie and all of a sudden I come across a familiar face: Rose McIver! She plays Tinkerbell on Once Upon A Time, meaning that I was basically meant to love cooking and baking and OUAT. I mean, at least, I'm going to take it as a sign.

Have a magical day!

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

Day 655: Dole Whip Cupcakes

The space time continuum of my blog is seriously out of wack, but let's just pretend that these all fit in order and seem like they move along a sensible timeline. Why do I bring this up you may ask? Well you see, I'm blogging about cupcakes on October 17 (this blog post), when technically on October 17 those cupcakes weren't even made yet.

Regardless, let's talk about Dole Whip Cupcakes. I've been meaning to make these for quite some time, but I haven't really had the opportunity to get around to actually making them. That's the thing about cupcakes. In my house dessert just kind of sits there, so you can't just make dessert all the time. There has to be a legitimate reason for making the cupcakes. Alright, so maybe not. I make cupcakes all the time, but I still haven't had time (or the energy) to try these. 

Dole Whip Cupcakes are sort of weird to be honest. I mean, the majority of the population does not understand the amazingness of the Dole Whip. I don't understand why, other than the fact that there are very few places in this world to find one, a real one, and therefore that same majority of the population probably has no clue what a dole whip even is and instead just looks at me like I'm crazy when I explain that it's a pineapple cupcake. 

Regardless, they were/are really delicious, although according to my resources, all my cupcakes are. Plus, they were pretty darn adorable with the little cherries on top. The frosting was ridiculous to make and I'll probably change the recipe if/when I make them again, just to make life easier. Because let's be honest, I'll be making Dole Whip cupcakes again. 

Have a magical day!

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

Day 654: Halloween Costumes?

Once and a great while, there's a blog post somewhere or a news article that I just can't not talk about, and this is most certainly one of those times. I happened to be going through my Facebook feed the other day, not at all intent on finding blog post topics, and I stumbled across not one, not even two, but THREE topics. It's great considering I'm behind once again and need to figure out how to fill the last few blog posts from earlier in the year, not to mention the last week.

This post, however, does indeed have to do with Once Upon A Time, and actually, it's more like two posts that inspired this one. First, ABC posted an article about "5 Easy Halloween Costumes from Once Upon A Time." Of course I clicked on it because really, why wouldn't I? It lists 5 different characters, including Snow White, Hook, Emma, Rumpelstiltskin, and Regina, but really, this article made me laugh, although we'll get to that in a second.

Then there was this article on Disney Style, "Emma Swan Just Became Your New Homecoming Inspiration," where they discuss the spectacular dress Emma wears on her date with Hook in Episode 4x04 (because yeah, although technically on October 16 it's not a thing yet, I'm writing it on the 19th and have already experienced the perfectness that was CaptainSwan Date Night.) They are right though, I would love to have Emma's dress if I had a homecoming dance to go to. I don't, but hey, that's alright because I do this weekly remember?

Yeah, that's exactly it. Why dress up as a Once character for one or two days a year when you can do it once a week!?!

I realized that I haven't blogged much about OUAT since the premiere and therefore haven't included the pictures from my most recent Disneybounds, including the double Disneybound that occurred on October 19 (in the future...ooooo).

I can't remember if I shared the Disneybound for episode 4x02: White Out, but we'll share it again anyway because gosh I just love Anna!

And then I played the bad guy for a week...Hans!

But when it came to CaptainSwan Date Night, I think I went a bit all-out. Katie, my next-door neighbor and friend as well as the person who inspired the OUAT Disneybound Challenge, once asked me if I could figure out how to do a CaptainSwan Disneybound, and therefore Disneybound as two characters at once. Well, this is as close as it's going to get, and I'm pretty happy about how they turned out! Officially, the Disneybound for 4x04: The Apprentice was Hook in his new outfit, one that I've been excited about since I found out about his costume change this summer. But when I saw Emma's dress and it's closeness to a dress I actually own (and bought for a previous Emma Disneybound), I couldn't resist throwing that in there too! 

See? I don't need to dress up as a OUAT Character for Halloween (Although I'll be reprising Elsa just as I did Hook last year!) because I literally get to do this every week. Honestly a lot of people probably think I'm crazy. I mean, there was a lot of outrage this last week about Emma dressing up for her date with Hook, but seriously? I dress up for a TV show. Why do I do it? Partly because I love a challenge, but I think the main reason is I just find it fun. My roommates and friends are always guessing about who I'll be next and finding outfits inspired by some of these characters is always an adventure. So yeah, maybe I'm a bit crazy, but I'm cool with that. 

Plus, I feel like stopping now would be awful. It's a thing, and I intend to keep it that way. 

Have a magical day!

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