Day 1069: An Awfully Big Adventure

When I make my quote canvases, regardless of what they're for, I usually pick the quote on them for some sort of reason. When it comes to the canvas that's in my bedroom at college currently, I don't remember at all why I picked the quote I did, but I'm sort of glad I did. For some odd reason, this quote has become just as important to me as the original one that's in our basement, which holds my favorite quote:

The quote canvas that sits on the wall above my bed at home is as follows: 

I shared that photo as an addition to this year's #101Smiles, but I had no idea where it would take me from there. A few days later, Andrew Ducote was a special guest on Thingamavlogs and shared some of his favorite Peter Pan movies. I ended up sharing the above picture with him, and one thing led to another: 

I'm so absolutely honored to have created this canvas for Andrew and his family, and I realize now that this quote is absolutely another perfect example of my life, which is usually more crazy than I can keep up with. But that's all part of the fun, because living is an awfully big adventure! 

Have a magical day!

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

Day 1067: Finding Neverland

Not completely a Disney thing this time, but I still felt it was worth mentioning. A few weeks back one of my friends at school had me listening to the soundtrack for the Broadway Musical Finding Neverland, which I followed on Twitter some time beforehand because it sounded interesting. That was about it though, and I didn't think much else of it until I actually heard the soundtrack. Because I have Spotify now, it's more than easy to find just about any album I want. 

Honestly, there's several reasons that I'm probably in love with this soundtrack and musical. First, the fact that it's Peter Pan inspired really gets to me. That's just awesome (from a Disney perspective, but especially a fairy tale perspective), especially since it's about the creation of Peter Pan. I like all things Hook, so that helps too, and then you throw in a little Matthew Morrison and some inspirational music and you've got me, well, Hooked. 

Personally, I'm completely in love with the song "Stronger," but I regularly listen to the entire soundtrack. In fact, for a couple of weeks I ended up listening to "Stronger" just about every morning on my way to class as motivation for my day (considering the fact that I'm still alive, I assume it worked well). 

So now Finding Neverland is on my list of shows that I just really, really want to see, although I do wish Matthew Morrison wasn't leaving in the near future. It sort of puts a damper on things, but it's still a brilliant musical and maybe someday, just maybe, I'll be able to catch a performance of it. 

If you haven't listened to it, you can find the Album from the original Broadway cast HERE on Spotify! 

Have a magical day! 

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

Day 1055: The Pied Piper

For my Literary Theory and Writing class we worked on a New Historical Essay, which just happens to be my favorite theory to work with. I love history, and I've always loved history, so having the opportunity to go in depth with the history of a particular story is pretty amazing. This time around, I decided on the tale of The Pied Piper of Hameln, and I actually found a couple of really awesome Disney references!

First, let's head back to 1933, September 16 to be exact, when Walt Disney released "The Pied Piper" as a part of his Silly Symphonies. From 1929 to 1939, Walt Disney Productions created a series of animated short films. These 75 Silly Symphonies were used to experiment with different processes, techniques, and other technologies in the world of animation, which would eventually lead to the first feature length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was released in 1937. You can watch Disney's 1933 version of "The Pied Piper" right here!

As you can probably tell, the story of the Pied Piper is the tale of a man who comes to the town of Hameln to rid the residents of rats. He does so, but the town refuses to give him the debt he is owed, so he takes their children instead. When I first came across this story, I actually made the connection to Once Upon A Time right away, and that's how I came to connect the story with fairy tales long before I realized the many other connections it has. In Season 3 of OUAT, the creators mix and matched two stories to created their own version of "The Pied Piper." Robbie Kay portrays the series' Peter Pan, who collects boys to bring with him back to Neverland by playing a tune on musical pipes. However, the twist is that only boys who feel unloved are able to to hear and are drawn to the sound. Of course, Pan never helps the town in the first place, only arriving to steal the children, but regardless, he is indeed The Pied Piper of Once Upon A Time. 

This story, of course, has many different versions as well, and I'm certain that there are several other references out there in pop culture and maybe even in the Disney universe. Plus, who knows if the story actually had an influence on J.M. Barrie and Peter Pan! 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on December 26).

Day 979: Faith and Trust

As I'm sure you could tell if you went back and read many of my blog posts from the two and a half years of Everyday Disney, I've learned a lot about trust since January of 2013. I honestly believe that when I started this blog I was a lot more trusting of others than I am now. The events that occurred at the beginning of my Freshman Year of college...actually all my freshman year of college...deeply impacted me, and definitely affected my friends here at college. I was wary of so many people for so long, some of which I'm lucky to call great friends now.

Trust, you see, is a difficult thing. It changes over time, and some of us just become more trusting than others. It's a delicate balance between trusting too little and trusting too much, but there are times that one just sort of needs to let go and let things be. Megan and Ashley did a great job of letting go and trusting me in our two Disney trips. It was always busy, and I pretty much had everything planned, but they knew that I knew what I was doing. I was going to get them where they wanted (and needed) to be even if they didn't know it until after it happened. Even more amazing? In June I managed to do it for five other people, and we turned out just fine. Ashley will be doing it again in a few months, although she's going to have a lot more say in our Operation Dole Whip Trip, but you'll find out more about that later.

However, I do have a few things coming up that require others to trust in me. Now feels like a great time for a song from The Jungle Book, even if they really just need to watch Peter Pan, but that's beside the point. I'm planning a trip with several of my friends, or at least I hope I am, and I think there's a good portion of many of us that already feels the tension. Several of them have never been to Disney World before, just as Megan and Ashley hadn't before the band trip last June, and that means that they have blank slates. Whatever we do will make a huge impact on them, and that means I want to do things right.

The problem? There's five of us, and we all have very different interests. The even bigger problem? I'm not so sure they're going to just put their trust in me and my ability to get us around at Disney. It's a huge worry of mine that we'll get there and they'll all be so focused on what they want to do that things won't work out so everyone can do something that interests them. Disney is filled with so many spectacular things, and I know each of them like the back of my hand. Unfortunately, as much as they may want to disagree, they don't. Disney is my turf, at least in comparison to them, and when we go, I'm the Mama Swan that leads the little Ducklings (yes, I know baby Swans aren't called Ducklings but I just like The Ugly Duckling ok?). If they can find the ability to put their faith and trust in me, I completely trust myself to make the trip magical for them, and that's what I hope the end result will be.

Have a magical day!

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

Day 936: An Awfully Big Adventure

Some of you may remember when I introduced a new piece of artwork to my dorm room last fall, in the shape of some canvas art with one of my all time favorite quotes on it:

Well, as much as we loved our little room 309 in VMC, all dorm room stunts must come to an end, and this fall we'll all be moving into a new townhouse for our Junior Year. Of course, a new, bigger home means there's more decorating to be done, and since I have a busy schedule this fall, I'm trying to get ahead of the game by finishing as much of the decorating as possible before I actually head back to SNC, and there's no better place to start than the bedroom I share with Megan.

You'll see more of how Disney made it's way into this new dorm room later in August, but you had better believe that I made a brand new quote canvas just for us, and this time, it's Hook themed...see? 

Actually, I'm not joking. It really is Hook themed, or Peter Pan themed rather. Well..sort of. It's a combination of some of the versions of Peter Pan out there. Below I've included the original mock ups of the canvas as well, just so you can sort of see what went into creating it. 

Which leads us to the finished product...

I'm absolutely in love with this new one, but then again, I also am in love with the first quote canvas I did. It'll make the perfect centerpiece on the big wall in our dorm room, and I can't wait to hang it alongside the other decorations we have. Oh...and of course, it'll go perfectly with Cardboard Colin! 

Have a magical day!

Day 924: Why the Watch?

I got a new watch not that long ago and realized just the other day that I don't think I ever actually blogged about this particular topic...despite the fact that the watch on my wrist really should remind me of it every single day, and you'll see why in just a minute.

Sometime this last semester, not long after our January trip, I found myself with a watch on my wrist. Previously I wasn't really the watch type, instead just checking my phone or computer or clock on the wall to indicate the time. Did I really need a watch? No, not technically. But did the watch remind me a little bit of Disney? It definitely did.

You see, while at Walt Disney World, you spend your time with a Magicband on your wrist, and eventually you just get used to it being there, right up to the point where when you finally return home, your wrist just feels like it's missing something. The easiest solution because the rest of the world has yet to understand the power of Magicbands? A watch!

Does it give you the ability to access a Disney park? No. Does it allow you to pay for your Starbucks with a simple tap and a PIN? Also no. But can it be Disney themed and make you feel a little bit better about life? Absolutely! This new watch, which I just got the other day, is from Hot Topic and features the characters of Peter Pan, which as I previously blogged about, seems to be making more appearances in my life every single day. My favorite part about this one though? It says "Never Grow Up" along the outside edges, always reminding me of the magic in our everyday lives and that sometimes it's alright to leave the Adult life behind...if only for just a few minutes. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on July 20 due to technical difficulties).

Day 880: Tinkerbell

When one of my friends realized that I've never seen the Tinkerbell movies, that needed to be immediately changed, and it was once she informed me that most of the films are actually on Netflix. I tell you...Netflix is the greatest thing in the world. And so the other day I set out to watch the original Tinkerbell movie and start on my journey to watching these films. My friends here in Wisconsin kind of thought I was crazy, but that's alright, because I actually really enjoyed the first one, and I can't wait to watch the next one in the lineup tonight!

I figured that this occasion warranted a few of my favorite parts of the movie as seen through another edition of Lizzie Live Tweets Something!

Apparently my love of Pirates and Captain Hook has grown and gone further than intended...I now love all Pirate things. This is a problem.

I think this one and it's adorableness speaks for itself.

Do you know how many tries a bun like Tink's would take me? Lots. She must have the same hair powers as Jennifer Morrison and Elsa and Colin O'Donoghue. Also, my standards for hair are apparently set really high. 

Cheese is actually my favorite character. 

I'm honestly not really sure what my Talent would be, but music seems like a pretty good possibility. I do have this sad feeling that I'd be in Tink's boat though. The music fairies probably don't get to go to the main land...hence my next tweet: 

It's just not fair!

I don't think I appreciated Jesse McCartney until he was on Young and Hungry. Now I can't wait to see more of Terence!

I was so confused by this one. Like is it Neverland, yes, no? This was eventually clarified for me though, as apparently everything takes place canonically before Peter Pan. However...I'm still kind of uncertain as to whether or not it's actually Neverland. Anyone have an explanation?

I had a lot of feels about Wendy being in the movig. 

Overall I actually really loved the movie, and I'm looking forward to watching the next one tonight. So if you happen to read this before my Live Tweet Tonight (June 4), join me when I watch Tinkerbell and then share my thoughts on Twitter! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 4 due to computer issues).

Day 845: Never Grow Up

Believe it or not, I wasn't always as crazy about Captain Hook as I am today. In fact, the number of ways my life has changed to involve everything pirates and Peter Pan in the past few years still astonishes me. And yet, it seems that, in some ways, Peter Pan has always been there without me really knowing it, long before Captain Hook and long before Once Upon A Time. 

Growing Up (Ha!), Peter Pan just wasn't my favorite movie. I'd watch it every once and a while, and there was certainly a period where I really loved the sequel "Return to Neverland," but I much preferred Lady and the Tramp or The Lion King or even Hercules or The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Even in the parks, the elements of Peter Pan just kind of escaped me. I wasn't a huge fan of the attraction, and up until the past few trips, I rarely visited it. Now though? A "slight" obsession with Captain Hook has turned my life inside out, in more ways than one. I realized not long ago that I've actually been a Oncer longer than I've been a Star Wars fan, as OUAT would have premiere in October of 2011, only two months after my trip to Disneyland. It wouldn't be until later that year (sometime in November) that I would watch Episodes 5 and 6 for the first time and become completely addicted to the series. Regardless, Captain Hook wouldn't appear in my life for another year, sometime in the fall of 2012, before Everyday Disney, before my graduation from High School and long before today, where, prior to this blog post, I took a "Hook break," watching a couple of scenes from OUAT on my laptop as motivation to continue working. Obviously, it worked. 

But let's go back to a strange element of Peter Pan in my life that's been present since before Hook waltzed in. It didn't occur to me until recently that Pan has been a part of my social media presence longer than I thought. On social media sites, descriptions can be taken seriously or the exact opposite, but at some point a couple of years ago, I set my description on both Twitter and Pinterest to a quote; one from Peter Pan: 

"Think of all the Joy you'll find when you leave the world behind and bid your cares goodbye."

To be completely honest, I can't recall what made me pick this particular quote for my description, but I haven't changed it in years, and now it's just a staple. Changing it now feels wrong and silly. So I won't change it...not as long as it's still relevant to my life. 

Little did I know, however, that the quote was just the beginning. With the appearance of Colin O'Donoghue in my life, things were about to flip upside down, and now I live in a world partially filled by pirates. There's pirate stuff on my desk, on my shelves, I have pirate inspired clothing and jewelry, not to mention my Hook pants. And did I mention that something as simple as wearing eyeliner came from this whole obsession? Because here's the first time I wore it: 

Why was I wearing eyeliner? If you remember correctly, it was to DisneyBound a very particular character on Once Upon A Time. Good times. Good times indeed. 

And so, as you can see, Peter Pan has actually played a pretty crucial role on my life, whether I like to admit it or not. I still don't really watch Peter Pan very often, nor am I a huge fan of the original novel, but I am quite the fan of a villain-turned-hero that graces my screen every Sunday evening, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Have a magical day!

Day 835: Addicted

Once and a while I get lost in whether or not I've actually had a real blog post on something before, as I try to keep them all as different as possible, and this is certainly one of those times. But as I studied for my French test, among other things, over the past few days, one song has been present more than ever...or should I say a melody of songs? 

If you remember back to when I talked about Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (found HERE) and it's presence in the Festival of Fantasy Parade, you'll know that part of the melody that makes up the spectacular soundtrack is indeed Mozart. For our music theory class, we are required to do a music analysis of a piece of music from that same era, so of course I picked the Rondo of Nachtmusik because, really, listen to something that reminds me of Festival of Fantasy all day? Yes please. It also gives me license to listen to Festival of Fantasy over and over again, right? 

To tell you the truth, I'm absolutely IN LOVE with this parade. I've mentioned it here and there, but I honestly don't think I've expressed my pure adoration of Festival of Fantasy. I've never really been a parade kind of person, but I know that it's on my schedule for June already at least once, and we'll see if I can sneak in a second showing. That's how much I love Festival of Fantasy. Also, I'm not joking when I say I have Festival of Fantasy on repeat...I really do. 

So I figured I'd go through and share some of my favorite Festival of Fantasy photos from my family! They're taken over several trips and you can click on them to enlarge them to their normal size! 

My personal favorite section of the parade? Peter Pan of course! There's just something about the "Yo-ho!" that's thrown in there that I just love. In fact, every time that portion comes on in the recording, I end up stopping my work so I can sing along and do this little dance. Let's be hones though, it's probably because of the Lost Boys. Their Newsies style is one of the best parts, in my opinion, at least...next to the real fire breathing dragon. You can't beat that! 

If you've seen Festival of Fantasy, what's your favorite part of the parade? Is it the Peter Pan section like me? Do you prefer the fire of the dragon? Or is there another part that jumps out at you with beauty and majesty, shining magically? Let me know in the comments below or on social media!

Have a magical day!

Day 806: Sláinte

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYONE!!!!

A couple of years ago, I'm pretty sure I couldn't have cared less about this day, but thanks to one Colin O'Donoghue and a little band called The Enemies, my love of everything Irish has really brought a new meaning to the holiday. Now, I'm pretty sure I can't get enough of everything Irish, and lucky for me I have little Buckley Liam Jones to help me celebrate! So, thanks to Megan's fine suggestion, I figured I'd tell you a bit about how I'm celebrating the holiday, as well as how I often wish I were celebrating it in a much more Disney fashion!

My day began with a trip to the local bakery, where I picked up a loaf of Irish Soda Bread. Now, I normally am not a raisin fan, but of all the things on this planet, there's one baked item I'll condone the use of them in, and that's Irish Soda Bread. After all, since I can't yet legally drink, I need to fill up on Irish foods to solve the lack of Irish in my life!

And of course, I figure I'll throw this in right in the middle, my Disneybound of the day for the March Disneybound Challenge is one of my all time favorites, most likely because of the fact that it got me on Buzzfeed, but it's also all green, and that made it the only option for this holiday! Plus, Peter Pan on St. Patrick's Day when the cause of my obsession with Irish everything also happens to portray Captain Hook? I do believe the connections are strong here!

But the Irish doesn't stop there! I actually still have a slice of Bailey's Irish Cream Cake in my mini-fridge ready to eat once I finish blogging for the day, and as I write this I'm eagerly listening to the St. Patrick's Day Station on Pandora. Best Decision of my day!

Of course, one of my favorite ways to celebrate everything Irish is a trip to Raglan Road at Downtown Disney! A few years back I went to dinner at the Pub, sadly with a headache, and the experience was less than desirable. We did go back this past January and I had a great time though, loving every moment of the Irish surrounding me. Gosh, I think a trip to Ireland is definitely in my future, right?

Also, who's up for putting in an Ireland pavilion at Epcot? I vote yes. No? Just me. Well I can dream.

But before we go, I'll mention a bit about some Irish I've learned! The title of this blog post, Sláinte, is a word I recently learned when watching Rick Steve's Europe, and it's a toast that basically means "good health" in Irish, as it's often accompanied by mhaith.

So sláinte mhaith everyone! And I hope you've had (or are having) a wonderful, safe, and magical St. Patrick's Day!