Orange is the New Black

I recently finished reading Orange is the New Black (the book), as well as watching Orange is the New Black (the TV show). I really liked both, but they were surprisingly very different. The show definitely got some inspiration from the book, like a couple characters and some situations, but it’s not at all a direct adaptation.

The book, and show, follow Piper, a woman who got involved in a little drug trafficking by way of a woman she was dating many years ago, and now is sentenced to a year in women’s prison. She has to navigate her way through the unfamiliar world, figuring out how to act and who she can trust. Each episode of the show also follows a backstory of one of the characters, giving insights to their personality and how they ended up in prison.

One interesting sort of difference from the show is that the book talks about how communities are an important aspect of prison life. You become part of a family unit, there’ll be a ‘mother’ who’ll have ‘children’ who will be like siblings to each other. They are much more supportive of the other women in prison, giving them supplies they might need, and emotional support. In the show, it seems a bit more tricky, like one wrong move and you might get shanked. Of course, that adds a bit more drama to the show than having everyone sitting around hugging would.

Okay, maybe I’m just crazy, but I feel like spending a year in jail wouldn’t be like totally awful? I mean, sure, you don’t have total freedom, and the food sucks, and you can’t see your loved ones. But... I should as hell would enjoy spending a year and change to just read books, listen to music, do some yoga, maybe learn to knit. I’m just saying.

Crazy Eyes is one of my favorite characters in the show. She’s so weird and off putting at first, but she has so many great moments, like when teenagers come to the prison for a Scared Straight session, and while everyone else is yelling at the kids, she starts fervently reciting Shakespeare to one. And when her elderly white parents come to visitation, she exclaims “I like my hair like this, Mommy!” See her best moments here.

Halloween Craft Faire at Whimsic Alley

On Saturday, I went to the Halloween Craft Faire at Whimsic Alley. Whimsic Alley is this amazing store that is set up to look like Diagon Alley from Harry Potter. It’s designed to look like a series of smaller stores inside, each one selling a different theme, so there’s a clothing shop, a candy shop, a wand shop, etc. They have a lot of merchandise from the movies, as well as items just inspired by the series (for example, stuffed owls, jewelry, pins, stickers). It’s incredibly well done, and it’s a must for any Harry Potter fan living in or visiting Los Angeles.

This weekend, they had a Craft Faire. In the back room where they hold events, probably 20 tables were set up where vendors could sells their crafts. There was a lot of really cool stuff for sale, pins and soaps and candles and accessories and shirts and all kinds of creative and clever things. I'm always astounded by the creativity of people in fandom.

Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland

Left: Tower of Tower; Right: Space Mountain

A week or so ago, my boyfriend and I went to Disneyland for Mickey's Halloween Party. Disneyland at Halloween is almost as cool as Disneyland at Christmastime, with all the pretty decorations, pumpkins and candy corn everywhere.

For this event, they shut down the park after 6pm for party-goers only, and set up trick or treat areas. All the rides were still open, so with fewer people than normal in the park, we were able to get on a ton of them.

They also had special snacks for sale! Not pictured: the mediocre candy corn gummies. I've never been so disappointed by candy corn before. Sigh.




Let's get to the important part: the trick or treating! This is something you basically never get to do anymore as an adult, so it was fun and also kind of weird to go around to all these stations and have candy tossed in your bag. There were more stations set up than I thought there would be, plus, each station ended up having like 4 or 5 different carts that you'd walk by to get candy. Some of the setups were really cool - one went through Innovations, another around Rancho Del Zocalo in Frontierland. 



We were even able to see both a parade and fireworks show. During a typical Disneyland day, it would be virtually impossible to go on all these rides, AND see fireworks AND a parade.

Look at all this candy we got! And check out my cute pumpkin Mickey trick or treat 'bag' - it even lights up!!











Oh, and here's my outfit. I got a few compliments on my cute Pooh ears.

Craftiness

Check out the craft I made on my other blog, Challenges Accepted!, where my BFF Erin and I do fun challenges designed to try new things and get out of our comfort zones!

OMG OMG

OMG OMG 

I got Pokemon X!!

OMG OMG

A Very Disney Princess Halloween

I’m not a fan of the whole ‘take a thing and make it sexy’ for Halloween costumes... however, that being said, I really really like these sexy-ish Disney costumes! And they’re officially licensed by Disney, somewhat surprisingly!

They all look pretty accurate to the real princesses' costumes. I like that there’s different options for dress lengths, so you don’t HAVE to have a super short skirt. Also, there’s a couple men’s costumes! Literally, there’s just 2 - Prince Charming and Beast (with a supercute hat).

My faves are:

Ariel

Love the skirt with the fishtail-esque ruffles at the bottom and sequined on top!

Princess Aurora/Sleeping Beauty

Classic princess. And a little tiara!

Evil Queen

I think the Evil Queen is pretty badass looking. Look at that leg slit! Très Angelina Jolie.

URGENT

I need these ASAP:

I need them at least as much as, if not more than, I need these: