Day 838: Mugs & Things

Creative title, I know, but due to a slow day in my world, it's time for Part 2 of...

A Quick Guide to Bringing Little Bits of Disney into Your Everyday Life! 

(Still a super long title...I know).

While things have been pretty slow thanks to a lot of going back and forth between college and home, schoolwork, scale practicing for juries that are coming up soon, concerts and who knows what else, there has been some little bits of Disney thrown in here and there, and that's what I'm here to share! This is sort of a combination post from a few other posts that just sort of fit together nicely. What inspired this post, you ask? My Tsum Tsums of course, which I'll discuss in just a moment, but the idea with this edition of A Quick Guide is fitting in Disney without over-doing things. It's usually very obvious in my dorm rooms which desk is mine, and I've included pictures of both my desk from last year and my current desk just as a refresher since not everything on my desk is included in the post, but the great part is that this one isn't just for desks! There are so many little ways to add Disney to your living space while still keeping it subtle! 

Tsum Tsums: 

Of course, because it inspired this post, it's got to be on here. I may or may not have recently gone to Target with the intention of leaving not just with my groceries, but also with new Tsum Tsums since they recently began selling the adorable little guys and they're just too cute to pass up. I'm absolutely addicted, and while right now I've only got nine (you just have to buy them in like groups of three so they stack!), I'm pretty sure that after June I'll have a few more. So far my favorites are definitely the Dumbo Tsum Tsum and the Donald one, but honestly I love them all so...

Mugs: 

Obviously I collect Disney Mugs, but these things are a great way to showcase your #DisneySide while also having your morning coffee (or tea)! While I collect them, that doesn't mean you have to, as one or two mugs can go a long way! At the moment, I'm in the moment of getting my hands on all of the Disney Parks You Are Here Starbucks Mugs, but I've definitely also got my sights set on that new Disneyland 60th Mug! Of course, not all of my mugs simply say Disney World either. Here I've got my "Hook's Crew" mug, which sits proudly next to my Emma Swan bug. CaptainSwan is well represented on my shelves! 

Towels, Plates & Things on Which You Ate:

I really wanted that to rhyme apparently. Regardless, Disney, in addition to a wide range of mugs, has a ever changing unique set of Disney Kitchen merchandise. Before my Freshman year of college I bought a set of bowls, a set of plates, a set of glasses and a couple of towels, and since then I've collected a few other things. The dishtowels, however, are my favorite of the collection. They're subtle Disney, but excellent towels if you ask me. The design is probably different now, but any of the merchandise for the home that's Disney themed is a great way to bring a little bit of Disney into your Everyday Life! 

Vinylmation: 

I've talked plenty of times about these guys too, but just like the Tsum Tsums, they're small enough to fit easily on your desk and there's one out there for everyone. I limit myself to one Vinylmation per trip, sometimes taking the safe route and buying one like the Princess Leia Minnie Mouse, which I knew what I was getting, and other times I'll take a risk, like I did with the Buzz Lightyear (as my first Vinylmation I have no clue how I got so lucky)! I actually get a lot of compliments on these guys though, mostly because they're different. Yeah, they scream Disney if you look at them, but they catch attention, and that makes them a great conversation starter every single time! 

Pillows: 

My roommates and I seem to have this love of pillows. We have them everywhere. Our beds are filled with them (alright, mostly mine and Ashley), we have some in the back room and some in the front room and they're all pretty classy. One of the greatest things I've gotten for my dorm room and my bedroom at home, however, are the pillows! They're expensive and often a real trick to get home because they take up some room if you're not shipping (we have to carry ours home in June on the band trip and that was rough!) but they're not screaming Disney. They're classy, simple and still Disney!

There's like a million other ways to bring little bits of Disney into your dorm room or home, and maybe I'll do another one someday, more focused on DIY or something because I've got that down too! Either way, what are some ways you bring little bits of Disney into your room or home? Let me know! 

Have a magical day!

Day 760: A Lucky Mug

I'm sure that at this point, many of you have heard about the beautiful new Disney "You Are Here" Starbucks mugs. These things are beautiful, and as a mug collector, specifically a Disney mug collector who drinks unbelievable amounts of Starbucks, these mugs were must-haves for me. Unfortunately, the way these things work is that you can only get them by going and basically buying them yourself from the parks. This isn't a problem for me when it comes to the Disneyland mugs, as I'll be headed out there in August, but for the Epcot collector in me, I have no opportunity to get my hands on the Disney World mugs until who knows when.

So I bought one online.

You know, there are tons of websites out there that will buy something from the parks and ship it to your house and while, on some level, this really isn't fair, I've never been happier that these things exist. I bought an Epcot Starbucks mug on Monday (or maybe it was Tuesday?), of which I paid $30. Everyone pretty much thought I was crazy for spending that much on a simple mug, but I'm pretty sure I'm the one laughing now.

If you know the story with these mugs right now you'll also know that the same Epcot mug I ordered has been pulled from the shelves because of the purple monorail on it, which no longer exists due to an accident a few years back. But by the time they pulled the mugs, only about a week after they first went on shelves, mine was already in the mail.

And now it sits on my own shelf at college:

Although, now looking at this picture, this isn't on my shelf at all. But that's where it sits now. It's an absolutely beautiful mug, far more beautiful than any picture could have told me, and I'm absolutely thrilled that I have one to call my own, which will hopefully hold me over until August when I get the Disneyland and California Adventure ones! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on January 31 due to a busy schedule).

Day 749: Disney Haul

I think I come home with more stuff every Disney trip I take, much to the dismay of my parents. But I rather like to think of it as "thinking ahead," since a lot of the stuff I buy is actually for my dorm room or apartment in the future. Because of course I'll need potholders in the future when I have a kitchen and of course they'd be better if they looked like Mickey Mouse's gloves.

But that's not all I got, so I figured I would stop and take a moment to share some of my favorite items I picked up on this last trip:

As always, here's the picture of everything I got, which actually looks like a lot of stuff now that I put it all in one spot, but I think it's probably because of how large the things are, rather than how much stuff there really is. As you can see, I've got some new attraction posters, which you can get in a set of 12 for like $20 at the moment. They're not like super high quality posters, but I'm definitely excited to have them. 

Then we have this little guy. Megan and I admired the Disney Pillow Pets for pretty much the entire trip and at some point decided that one needed to come home with each of us. I settled, eventually, on Stitch, and I am in love with him. I do not, whatsoever, regret buying a pillow pet. And to make it a Disney one yet too! Ha! Match made in heaven! And of course, I'm very excited about my Monsters University hat, which I'm seriously considering wearing for our first day of classes. But we'll see. 

I collect mugs. You know that, I know that, and when someone posted a picture of a resort mug exactly like this a couple of weeks ago, I knew that there was a significant possibility of me coming home with one. So I found the Contemporary mug and bought it on the spot, much to the dismay of my father. Also here you can see the soap I got from Downtown Disney. CaptainSwan much?

While at the World of Disney store, Megan was looking at a couple of different smaller stuffed characters and I remember picking Oswald up, putting him down, and repeating that about three times before finally putting him in my basket. I love Oswald, and since my parents generally collected the different characters over the years, it felt right for him to join the gang. I'm especially excited to meet Oswald at Disneyland. Like you have no idea. 

And finally, no trip would be complete without a new addition to my Spaceship Earth collection. This is another of those things I saw on Instagram a few weeks back and wanted and figured I wouldn't be able to find it. We walked in the Christmas Store at Magic Kingdom on like day two, Mom saw it and it was decided. I picked it up later in the week and now it hangs on my wall next to the rest of the collection. No Spaceship Earth ornament of mine goes into a box for the majority of the year! 

As you can see in that first picture, there's plenty more that I came home with, and I'm sure there will be more in the future. Just wait until Disneyland. I'm pretty sure I'll buy half the store. Thankfully I'm already saving money for that trip (and the D23 Expo! Pins here I come)! It's always so difficult to choose what to get and what to leave because, lets be honest, we pretty much want to buy all of it, right? 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on January 24 due to a busy schedule).

Day 748: Disney Desk Flair

It seems that with being back at school, I suddenly have found a wealth of new blog post topics, even if this one is more inspired by the Disney Style blog than my own dorm room.

Today, while in search of the last few blog posts to make up for the last week of nothingness since, really, all I did was edit video and that can only fit into one topic, I found one about Disney Desk Flair, showcasing some of the interesting desks at the Disney offices.

It's always been a dream for me to have a Disney office, and someday hopefully I'll get to that point. I can't even begin to express how many times I've seen something at Disney World and turned to my dad and said "For my office" as if I have one and know exactly where it's going to go.

Of course, not all of it is going to end up in the office in the end, as you really do have to keep things clean, but I loved this article, which you can read HERE, and couldn't help but think of my own desk here at school.

My desk has changed a little bit from last semester, largely due to the fact that I have almost twice the number of books now as I did then, and I still have bookshelves filled at home. Overflowing in fact. But overall, there's a lot of Disney influence in my desk without it constantly screaming Disney!

I think one of the things that really helps tie it all together is the nautical sort of theme I have going on. I found the jar at Hobby Lobby in the fall and instantly loved it, a plan forming in my mind. I picked up the sand that currently resides in it this past trip in January, right from the little beach on the walkway near the Magic Kingdom monorail station where my brick is! The little boat also came from Hobby Lobby and the Seagull (from Finding Nemo) is another of the things I picked up on my trip.

But that doesn't mean there's not a fair share of real Disney stuff. I may have a lot of books, but I feel like if there's two stereotypes of English majors, it's lots of books and lots of mugs. I definitely have both and ran into the issue of "where do I put all these mugs?" I solved my issue by working them into my desk decor. Here you can see my Fairy Tale collection next to my Mickey's Diner travel mug and my "I'm Inspired to have dreams as big as Walt Disney" quote frame!

Remember when I said there was a nautical theme? Yeah, more like Captain Hook. Somewhere along the line I got really into the whole pirate and Irish thing, and maybe, just maybe, it's got something to do with the guy in the middle in the frame here. 

And of course, I've got my Vinylmation. I've had numerous people compliment me on these little guys, and I really am in love with the custom designed shelf my Dad and Brother made me to help hold them. There's more at home, but these are my five favorites, and they look rather good together, don't you think?

But no post about my Disney Desk Flair could be complete without this little beauty. I've talked about it numerous times, but my Mickey Mouse wreath that Megan made me for our high school graduation is one of my absolute favorite things. It'll definitely be coming with me if I do get a Disney desk someday. 

This is just the beginning though. There's plenty of other little Disney hints on my desk, and it would probably take me a while to could them all up. Plus, I'll soon have a new desk to add just a little bit of flair to, even if I'll be the only one who ever really sees it down in the deep, dark, music library. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on January 24 due to a busy schedule).

Day 705: My Disney Collection V3.5

It's funny how sometimes you're on Pinterest or Tumblr or Twitter and you find a post or a meme that literally perfectly describes your life. For me, this is one of those times.

Over a year ago, back on Day 172 actually (which you can read HERE), I did one of my "Disney Collection" posts on my mug collection. It's true, I have quite the extensive mug collection, but what I didn't expect was to be doing an update on a collection post this soon in the game. Sure, some of my other collections have extended too, and while it's been a long time since the last Disney collection post, there's been a few in the works for a while that I just haven't gotten around to.

However, Christmas brought me a lot of new and interesting mugs. In fact, maybe I should admit defeat and accept that I might have too many. What do you think?

But, since this is an update post, let's talk about the Disney additions that have come in the last year and a half! We'll start with the trio of mugs that I've collected over the past few trips. I happened to have someone contact me about the Spaceship Earth mug even before they began selling them on Disney property, and of course the second I got to Florida, I bought it. I guess this counts for part of a Spaceship Earth collection post in that respect too, but it's not alone, although the Spaceship Earth mug is definitely the weirdest one I have. There's a matching Cinderella Castle and Tree of Life mug to go with Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, and my dad and I continue to wonder where Hollywood Studios is. 

Then we have this duo that I got on Black Friday from the Disney Store. I definitely love the old vintage feel of both of these, and the travel mug on the right is literally my favorite color (although the coloring is a bit off in this picture). Definitely good additions to my collection.

While I collect a pin for every year at Disney World, I don't really collect a mug for every year. That would get exhausting and I'd definitely run out of room faster than I already am with this mug collection. However, sometimes there's a mug that's just too good to pass up, and this definitely goes on that list. 2013 was a big year for me, and this mug is just about as big. It's a double size, meaning that I have plenty of space for lots of coffee or tea when I use it! Plus, that 3 as the handle is pretty awesome. 

Next up is another of my newest mugs from Black Friday, Chip! I've already gotten several compliments on this one and have actually been meaning to buy it for a while, only I never got around to it. Chip is seriously adorable though, and I have the distinct feeling that I know a few other people who might love one too.

And finally we have the Once addition to the bunch, my Hook's Crew mug. I've wanted this on a T-shirt for AGES, but while ordering a mug for a friend from RedBubble, I found this to be a cheaper option and jumped on the chance. I pull it out for watching Once Upon A Time, of course, as well as literally anything to do with Peter Pan or Colin O'Donoghue. So basically, it's out a lot. My roommates sure love it too, but we'll save that picture for another day.

Since last time I shared the Disney themed hot cocoas, I figured this time we'd look at the Disney tea I got a while back from Adagio Teas. You already have heard about the CaptainSwan tea, and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some OutlawQueen and Snowing tea when I head back to college for the spring semester, but the last time I ordered (to get more CaptainSwan tea, of course), I made sure to try some other ones too. There are a ton of fandom blends out there, but luckily I found a bunch specifically tailored to Walt Disney World, and that was the end of that conversation. The Echo Lake blend is a chocolate mint blend, definitely good for afternoon snack time, while the Fantasyland blend is a vanilla and berry combination. Plus, I added in the Captain Hook blend, which is a delicious blackberry tea that I've been really into as of late. All three are spectacular and you should definitely try them sometime if you order from Adagio! There's a whole selection of Disney blends! 

As for me, I have to deal with the fact that mom made me move my mugs out of her cabinet and into a cabinet of my own because I have too many to fit with the rest of the glasses now. I guess that's alright on my end, because I get my own cabinet, and I got a ton of new mugs, but I also have to somehow convince them that I do have a rotation schedule to make sure I use them all. They don't believe me, but I do. 

Today's mug, if I drink tea tonight, will be the castle mug, by the way. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 22 due to finals).

Day 603: Ursula Mugs

I have a friend here at college who loves Ursula, or rather, The Little Mermaid. Like, REALLY loves The Little Mermaid. Probably more than I love Tangled...and that's saying something because do you know how much I love Flynn Rider?

Anyways, a while back they started selling these Ursula mugs:

And it just screamed my friend's name. So I had to get it for his birthday present, despite the fact that his birthday was months ago and literally I just gave it to him today. But he loved it, and I mean seriously loved it. Watching him open it was priceless because the box and the tissue paper all ended up on the ground and stuff was thrown everywhere and he was jumping around. Seriously awesome. 

Because sometimes, there are just Disney products that remind me of my friends, and then they generally end up getting them as gifts because I can't imagine NOT giving them to them because it would just seem wrong. 

Have a magical day! 

Day 521: Prized Possessions

Day 24 of the Disney Photo Challenge: A picture of your favorite Disney-related possession or souvenir. 

Blast from the Past: 

I actually had to go get a picture of this one. My favorite Disney-related possession is my Spaceship Earth snowglobe. I got it a few years ago, and could only find it in one store. I got my Dad to buy it for me in the end, and I'm glad he did. It's honestly my favorite possession (other than my pillow) overall, and if I could save one thing from my Disney collection, this would be it...although I'd probably grab my pin collection too. 

Wow, another short one! 

Back to the Future: 

I'm just gonna go ahead and say all of it.

I'm really avoiding answering some of these questions, aren't I? But for real, all of my Disney possessions are my favorite. I've really gotten into collecting vintage items in the past few years, as well as expanding my Spaceship Earth collection, which means that every single thing I buy has a special place in my heart. From my movie collection to my Empire Strikes Back Poster to my Larry Dotson prints and my mugs, they all mean something. Some were gifts, others I bought myself, but each of them holds a memory of some sort, on how the collection got started or why I have the things I do.

I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on August 21).

Day 206: Mail Call!

You know what's the most exciting thing to happen after you get back from Walt Disney World?

Come on, think about it.

That's right! Getting your package with all the stuff you bought in the World of Disney Store that you had to ship home because you knew it wouldn't fit in your suitcase!!!!

Similarly to how I was acting before my bows came a number of weeks ago, I asked my dad pretty much every day if there was a package from Disney. Of course, finally, he said yes, and I ran out to the truck to get it. Honestly, it was pretty darn heavy. And it should be, for all the stuff that I bought from Disney World!!!

So here's a basic rundown of everything I bought:

This picture here shows everything I got (other than the chopsticks that I apparently forgot to put in the picture!). I have a wide variety of stuff, and a lot of it will be coming with me to college this fall too! Of course, there are a few new additions to my collections as well! Things that I already covered in my Disney Collection series that you're just going to have to see now!

Here you can see some of my favorite items that I bought. On the top left is the newest addition to my mug collection, a 2013 mug! I loved how the handle was the three, plus it's the year I graduate, so it just has to happen! Next to it is one of the two newest additions to my Larry Dotson Print Collection that Hangs proudly on my wall. There will be a Disney Collection post specifically on it in the future, but I did get two new ones this trip that you can see in that giant picture, one of the Haunted Mansion and one of Hollywood Studios. Oh, and did I mention I got to meet him a second time!?! In the middle we have my new magnets, both ticket magnets and attraction poster magnets to satisfy the Vintage Disney Lover in me! And on the bottom we have my new shirt that I absolutely love! It describes my life perfectly! And then I got some stuff for my dorm room in the kitchen supplies area of the World of Disney, meaning a set of cups, bowls, plates and a tray, as well as some dish towels!

But that's not all I bought!! In this one on the top left you can see my new Han Solo in Carbonate bank. I saw in the in the Tatooine Traders store and was just like "MINE" and then I bought it. Like seriously, I love it a lot. In the middle you can see the four new pins I got. You can kind of sense a theme going on (Epcot 30), and then I got the Happy Birthday pin because I spent my birthday there so obviously I needed that too. And on the top right is the newest addition to my Vinylmation collection! Mr. Lincoln from Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is a member of the Park Stars Series, which I thought was adorable, so it just had to happen. It turned out great too because Lincoln is one of my role models in life! And down below you can see some of the other things I got, including two Disney board games (Candyland and Haunted Mansion Life), a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious pillow for my dorm, one of those Old Key West bags that are pretty new, a new phone cover and, luckily for me, Chip and Dale as Ewoks and a New Jedi Mickey leftover from Star Wars Weekends! And if you look closely you might be able to spot the Graduation 2013 Mickey Ears I managed to snag too!

Overall, I'm SUPER Happy with everything I got! One can never have TOO much Disney! You'll actually see a lot of this in my dorm room when I move in too, because you know there will be plenty of Disney taking place in that room, and a lot of this stuff will be heading there with me! 

Here's today's Disney History: 2003: The Disney Institute, a resort located at Walt Disney World, officially closes after 7 years in operation. A vacation and learning center open since 1996, it was a pet project of Disney CEO Michael Eisner who saw it as a way for families to learn and play together. Although the Disney Institute as a program still exists today, the actual resort was later developed into a Disney Vacation Club property named the Saratoga Springs Resort. 

Have a magical day!

Day 172: My Disney Collection V3

It's been a while since I discussed my Disney Collection, but the last time I did a post, it was on what's Disney on my bookshelves. Well, today we take a trip outside of my bedroom to visit a totally difference portion of my collection: My Mug Collection!

Now, something that not everyone knows about me is that I do indeed collect mugs! I mean, everyone has their own collection, right, and it makes sense for me to have a Disney collection, but over the year's I've just had this fondness for mugs. Almost all of mine are Disney, although I do have some singular holiday ones and so on and so forth. But here's the Disney ones, in the order that I remember getting them:

The very first Disney mug I got was this one. I have no clue when exactly I got it, other than I got it a really long time ago. I'm pretty sure the main reason I initially bought it, or had my parents buy it rather, was because Spaceship Earth was the key figure here. I guess it's possible that it dates back almost to the Millennium Celebration because of that, but who knows really.

My second mug is pretty similar to the first one, but it's one from a later date. While I don't remember exactly when I got this one either, it was probably the one that really started my collection off, like to the point where I would end up having as many as I do now. I love it because it's actually a bit 3D. You can't see it in the picture, but the Monorail with the characters juts out of the mug a little bit, which is probably the reason I bought it, if I remember correctly. 

Next up is my mug from the other side of the U.S. When I went to Disneyland, I kind of knew I wanted a mug, so when I saw this one, I ended up going into California Adventure special the last day I had a ticket just to buy this one. I think it's like the most adorable little mug ever, with it's little handle and everything. It's a bit 3D, similar to the last mug too. 

By far my absolute favorite mug in my entire collection, I got my E Ticket mug in January of 2012. I kind of skirted around buying it for a while, but then when my parents were shipping stuff home from the Art of Disney store at Epcot, I jumped at the chance and bought it. Little did I know then that it would indeed become my absolute favorite mug. I use it for everything from coffee to orange juice just because I love it that much. It's going to be difficult at college deciding whether I want to leave it at home so it will be safe or bring it with me because then I can use it every day. 

While it wasn't originally Disney when I bought it, it is now, and I guess I've always considered it Disney. When I went with my band to New York in 2012, I was in this huge store that sold like everything. It was an amazing store, and the location I got most of my NYC Souvenirs. But that's beside the point. I was in the downstairs area of the store when I spotted a Star Wars and Star Trek area and I just instantly decided that I had to have this mug. An original Empire Strikes Back Poster Mug? YES PLEASE!

The newest of my mugs is my Monorail mug, which I got on my last trip to Disney in November 2012. I had seen it several times before, but I finally just decided that I needed to have it. I mean, please stand clear of my coffee? Obviously I need that. 

Now, there are a few honorable mentions to my collection as well. While it's technically my dad's mug, it still sits next to mine and it's still Disney, so I figured I would still share it. It's my dad's Walt Disney mug, which I do use from time to time (although I really shouldn't have to because I mean...do you see how many I have?). I think it's a great mug, and it's bigger than some too, so it's great for mornings when you're like "COFFEE...."

And a post about mugs wouldn't be complete without my goblet from Gaston's Tavern that we got on my last trip to Disney. I mean, it is a pretty cool cup, even if you can't put hot chocolate or coffee in it! 

And speaking of Hot Chocolate...no post about my Disney mugs would be complete without my hot chocolate from Disney, which I swear is the best Hot Chocolate in the world (ok, maybe not, but I certainly love it). Sometimes I even drink it in the summer...maybe I'll have to do that tonight. 

And so there is it, my mug collection. I'm pretty sure I'm going to just go ahead and get another new one when I go in a few weeks because, well, WHY NOT? But you'll see that in an upcoming post. I probably won't add it here, although it's still a possibility. There's actually one mug missing from this collection, as my friend got it for me after I took the pictures, and I just haven't had the time to go and take a picture of it. But either way, it's a little mug that's like a carousel theme. It's pretty old too, and I really love it! =)

Next time we'll look into another collection of mine...my personal obsession...Spaceship Earth! Yeah, I have enough Spaceship Earth stuff to make an entire post about it! And after that there's my pins! Gosh I have a lot of those.

Here's today's Disney History: 2012: Disney welcomes a new okapi calf to the Disney's Animal Kingdom family. First-time mother Zawadi gives birth to a 35-pound female calf named Nafuna. Often thought to be related to the Zebra because of its stripes, the okapi is the only living relative of the giraffe. 

Have a magical day!