Day 577: Magical Disney Pics Challenge

As you guys well know, every so often I do a Disney Photo Challenge on Instagram. It's great fun, finding pictures to go along with all the prompts, and it's funny because I can never manage to do challenges unless they're Disney ones. Guess that says a lot, doesn't it? Maybe someday I'll have to do my own challenge. Now that would be an adventure.

But the last Disney challenge I did was the Magical Disney Pics Challenge, and here are the photos from that!

And those are the pictures from July's challenge. As always, I skip a month and then do another, just to break things up in my posting on Instagram. I try to include as much Disney as possible, but it doesn't always end up 100% that way. The thing is, with over 2000 pictures, I feel like creating an Everyday Disney Instagram would be pointless since I'd have to reuse all the pictures, and what good would that do!?! 

So I'll just stick with my personal account...and lots and lots of Disney pictures. 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on August 25).

Day 576: The Disney Bucket List

We're all familiar with Bucket Lists. I think that, aside from my lifetime one, I've had more bucket lists than I can count, although sometimes they're more of just to-do lists than anything else. But it helps me get stuff done, and keeps me motivated for the next project. Plus, Bucket Lists are fun. You just get to sit and imagine all the different things you could do and then say "alright, I'm going to do them."

You can have bucket lists for just about anything, although the general point is to have one with things you want to do before the end of your life. However, there are bucket lists for every season, for when you're in college, and most certainly for when you go to Walt Disney World.

Lately, the Disney Pinterest has had these Bucket Lists appearing, and while I've been to Disney so many times that I no longer need to know the things I "have" to do before I leave the parks, it IS fun to go through each list and see what I personally have and haven't done. It's a pretty good mix, and it just goes to show that even the most seasoned Disney veteran still hasn't done absolutely everything.

So I sort of knocked it out of the park on this Disney Dining Bucket List. I got 5 out of 5, which isn't surprising at all. I'm always dining in the different Disney restaurants, and I always try to pick one or two more off the list of places I haven't dined before, such as a fairly recent trip to the Rose and Crown, where I hadn't eaten previous to July 2013. 

But when it comes to Resorts, there are a lot of different places I haven't stayed, and on this one I only got 3/5. That's not bad at all, especially considering these resorts are all the super pricey ones and some people don't get to stay on Disney property period. However, I do hope that I'll check off new resorts soon, and I know for a fact that I'll be staying at Saratoga Springs for the first time this coming January. Just another thing to cross off the ultimate Disney Bucket List. 

I mean, seriously, my Disney bucket list has things like "See all the fireworks shows in the same night" and "stay at all the resorts." Not "Stay at one resort and call it good." I'm a bit more ambitious than that. 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on August 25).

Day 575: Bathsoaps

You know all the free stuff that hotels have and then you take home because "well, I payed for the room and this stuff is free?" The various soaps and shampoos and conditioners and lotions and the occasional bathrobe if the hotel is super awesome or you paid for some upgrade. Yep, those. Sometimes you ever find like a beach ball or lamp or stuffed animal that you can purchase if you really wanted to. I prefer to stick to the free stuff, but hey, go for it if you really want a stuffed frog.

My dad and I tend to be the people who go through the room last, with me personally savoring every last second I can in my home, and if we get through it and those soaps and shampoos aren't already collected, we pick them up (much to mom's chagrin) and throw them in one of the last suitcases.

It is because of this obsession with free bathsoaps that I now basically run a hotel out of my bathroom.

I have soaps from 15 years ago to be honest (actually maybe I got rid of those...they were from the Grand though and were sitting in my drawer), and soaps from just a trip ago. In fact, whenever I have a friend come over and ask to use my shower I ask if they want complimentary soap or shampoo, because I just have that much of the stuff. It lines over an entire shelf in the cabinet, all little bottles ready for use.

In June, my Dad brought me soaps from Disney simply because I didn't get to stay at Disney and therefore didn't have the little soaps and such to take home myself. They've been sitting on my table since then, mostly because I just haven't had a chance to put them away. But maybe it's because I like seeing them and thinking of Disney. It's a little hint of the real thing in my usually boring, mundane life. It makes me smile. ;)

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on August 28).

Day 574: ThinkGeek

As extremely dangerous as Etsy and Ebay probably are for me when it comes to Disney stuff, I have to say that ThinkGeek is probably just as dangerous. If I had money for such things I'd own just about the entire site, because for real, I am a part of more fandoms than I think I can handle, although at this point I'm not going to be caught up on Doctor Who (and I probably should work on that), I haven't watched Star Wars in over a year, Indy is somewhere in there, Once is full force, Big Bang Theory is about halfway done and once you throw in a few others things get pretty darn crazy.

But come on people. Look at some of this stuff:

These are light up coasters for your drink. They call them "Radioactive Glowing Element Coasters." Fancy, huh?

 And this is a Rubik's Cube...but it's also a fridge. It's not huge, and it's $150, but if you want a fridge that looks like a Rubik's Cube, go for it! You can find it HERE!

Nope, you're not seeing things. Those are R2-D2 Yoga Pants.

And that's an R2-D2 USB Car Charger, which provides Two USB charging ports. Ok, so I really want this one because my car is named the Millennium Falcon...

And that's a Giant Inflatable Beach Ball. It's on the best seller list.

About three of these little beauties will totally be on my office wall someday. I think they'll fit right in. Star Wars Remote Controlled Lightsaber Room Lights. Fancy.

And finally, what is probably the most productive of the things on this list, a Camera Lens Mug. Because it's so weird looking that no one will ever think to look for coffee in it. Plus I have a mug collection...so there's that. 

If you haven't been over to ThinkGeek in a while, you should probably go check it out. It's great for gifts for the fandom lover, since there's stuff from a whole bunch of them, especially Star Wars and Star Trek, etc. And even if you're a broke college student like me, it is fun to watch the heat changing mugs. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on August 28).

Day 573: The Difference

Disneybounding is a thing. I talk about it all the time, especially during Once Season or when I'm at Disney, but there's this interesting line between the art of Disneybounding and Cosplay. Leo here does a great job of defining the difference:

Now here's a few of my Disneybounds from my trip in June, when I tried really hard to Disneybound with each and every outfit. It actually worked, and I Disneybounded every day, posting them on Instagram as I went: 

The Genie one was definitely my favorite of all of them, and then I actually had a sixth for the final day at Animal Kingdom and Epcot, which was Snow White, but I never got around to posting pictures of that one. 

Either way, when I'm in the parks I love to Disneybound, and I am super excited for January when I can use my winter closet in addition to my summer closet to create some new Disneybounds that I haven't been able to do because of the hot weather. Cold means scarves! 

When I get into Once season however, the lines between the two blur for me a little bit. It's not really Disneybound or Cosplay, but rather somewhere in the middle. I often times do go out in public on the day of the episode in my full outfit or with the hair still in the style, but occasionally when you put it together things get a bit weird. You'll see in my first outfit for Season 4 that the points are more on the cosplay side than on the Disneybound side, but mostly because I don't generally go out wearing a floor length dress that someone probably initially bought for prom before bringing it to Goodwill where I picked it up. And it really depends on the character. 

For instance, as we look through the following six Disneybounds, you'll see two totally different edges of the spectrum. With Rumple, it was looser, and although my hair was done and the nails were done and I was wearing one of the strangest pairs of pants I own (although I love them!), I'd most certainly where this on an everyday basis. But with Killian Jones, you aren't going to see me walking around with white pants all the time. However, I do wear all the other elements of the outfit often. Not necessarily together, but I'm pretty sure I could throw together a Killian Jones Disneybound that's less Cosplay and most Disneybound.

Cora was one of my absolute favorites simply because I ADORE the dress. I think I had a "yes-no" argument with myself for ages about it because it was more than I wanted to spend on a dress, but it's absolutely beautiful and I wear it all the time now. But obviously it looks nothing like the real dress Cora is wearing in the episode. It's just inspired by her character. Emma Swan on the other hand was a full out one for me, although this is where it gets tricky because I DO wear this in everyday life. My red leather jacket is just about my favorite piece of clothing and I wear it as often as possible, and it turns out that my wardrobe is quite similar to Emma Swan's. Oops. 

And finally, we have Robin Hood and Henry. I don't actually know much about archery, other than the fact that I'm bloody terrible at it, and I certainly don't have a full Robin Hood costume, but this Disneybound certainly plays well to his character, with the ring and the scarf and so on and so forth. When I did Henry though, I had my mom make me a scarf to match his, used a plaid shirt I had, my black peacoat and the shoes that I have that basically match a pair he wears, giving off what amounts to be a cosplay vibe. It really looks like his outfit. But I wear this in public too. 

I do like to mix the lines between Cosplay and Disneybound, keeping as true to the character, especially with once, while still using what I have in my closet or what I can find at Goodwill and other reused clothing stores. It helps keep the price of everything down. Plus, I have to make an agreement with myself. If I know I'll wear the piece of clothing for at least two Disneybounds, or have one very specific one in mind that it's a key for, I'll get it. If not, it stays on the rack unless I come up with another use. Occasionally, things like the red dress do get bought even with just one Disneybound, but that's ok. I wear it all the time anyways. 

Am I excited for more Disneybounds? You bet I am. I can't wait to do new ones in a month for Once, and I'm quite excited for a few of the characters I have planed for this upcoming season! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on August 28).