Our Stay at the Disneyland Hotel!

This weekend, I did a thing that's been on my bucket list since I was a wee-Disneyland fan - I spent the weekend at the Disneyland Hotel with my amazing boyfriend!!

Like the rest of Disneyland, the hotel is meticulously detailed and themed. Even the lobby is beautiful. Check out these amazing teacups chairs!

The lobby also had gorgeous purple chairs to sit in while you watch some Disney cartoons.

The entire hotel had tons of Disney artwork literally everywhere. I wish they sold prints of some of these.

Our room was SO SO COOL!! Everything was Disney themed! I love the pillows on each bed that say "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes... When You're Fast Asleep."

Look at this amazing headboard! There's a button on the lamp on the nightstand that triggers an instrumental 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes' song, and causes little stars and fireworks on the headboard to light up. This is known, as I learned from the A Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour, as a Goodnight Kiss. 

 This is what it looks like lit up. IT IS AMAZING.

This picture is up on the wall next to the bed, as well as in the Main Street Opera House, right above the actual bench Walt Disney sat on when he thought up the concept of Disneyland.

There's a cute desk area with a lovely mirror above it, plus...

...when you look into the mirror from the other bed, the portrait is in the center of it! I know this can't be a coincidence.

Even the bathroom is themed! Check out Mickey's gloved hands holding the lights!

There's a Dumbo portrait hanging in the toilet room (what do you even call a room off the rest of the bathroom where the toilet resides?).

The sheets have almost hidden Mickey's on them! And they were sooo soft, probably some of the best sheets I've slept on.

It turns out there are a couple tours we actually haven't taken yet! The Happiest Hotel on Earth tour is available exclusively to people staying at the Disneyland Resort. The small tour group met by the giant map of Disneyland by the front doors. It had little light up animations popping up all over the map, pretty awesome.

The tour started out with a video on the history of the hotel, and all it's incarnations. The hotel once included a marina and a golf course! Those are long gone, but there are remnants that remain, if you know where to look. The hotel consists of 3 towers, Fantasy, Adventure, and Frontier, and each tower has similar theming to the corresponding lands in Disneyland, down to the trees and landscaping. The Fantasy Tower, where we stayed, is the main one, which has the lobby and Small World theming throughout. 

The Adventure Tower features some maquettes of animals found within the Jungle Cruise ride. 

I love that picture of the opening to Adventureland. It looks like it was taken in the early days of the park.

Next up, Frontier Tower! The walkway entrance to this tower is in the shape of a giant horseshoe!

The lobby in this tower has an incredibly detailed scale model of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride. It was a lot of fun to look around at every single part of it and see all the small details!

It even had the goat! Ever tried the Goat Trick? It's never worked for me...

I don't think I would have even seen this beautiful waterfall area if we hadn't taken the tour. Apparently there's a geyser there, but we never saw it go off.

Our room had a great view of the fireworks show at night. There was even a channel on the TV that played the accompanying soundtrack, so it was like you were right there! Speaking of the TV, it had every Disney-owned channel possible, as well as channels dedicated to Radio Disney, Star Wars commercials, and the soundtrack to the park itself!

Next up, all the restaurants we dined out during our Disneyland weekend!

Marvel Collector Corps - February Deadpool Box Unboxing!

I just got my latest Marvel Collector Corps subscription box! This month's theme was Deadpool, appropriately enough since the movie just came out! I saw it last week and really enjoyed it a lot! I wasn't really that familiar with Deadpool prior to the movie, aside from all the Deadpool cosplayers I've seen. Having seen the movie now, I think I'd like to read some Deadpool comics!

I love the shape of the box, and how when you first open it, you see comic panels and a flap with a patch and pin on it. It keeps the anticipation going!

There were a lot of Funko items in the box this month! I was very pleased. Check out this cute Deadpool Dorbz, dressed as a cowboy, complete with wooden stick pony.

And you got your obligatory Funko Pop, of course! This one is pretty cool looking because there's a clear thing at the bottom, making it look like Deadpool is midjump!

This is the first Mopeez I've gotten in a box yet! It's a super cute red on black Deadpool!

And here is a Deadpool Funko Pop comic book! Deadpool seems to be in top of a big pile of chimichangas!

And the t-shirt! Apparently this is the only item that had variations between boxes. There are also yellow and black, and gray shirts. I like the classic red and black one I got. I'm thinking about wearing this one to Wonder-Con this weekend! I'll be curious to see how many other people will be wearing it as well!

Here's the whole kit and kaboodle! This was a great box this month. I'm really pleased with what was in the box, and how many items there were!

Friday Faves - TurbieTwist, OJ, & Valentia!

Here's a few of my favorite things recently!

TurbieTwist!

My fellow thick-hair-havers know what it's like to try to wring out your hair after you wash it. You basically get a second shower with the amount of water that your mane still contains! And then it takes forever to dry, even if you're using a blowdryer! And don't even get me started on how frizzy it is until I straighten it. 

A year or so ago, I started using old cotton pillowcases to dry my hair, after reading that rubbing thick/coarse hair with a normal towel causes more frizz. It worked pretty okay, but then a couple months ago, I read a blog that recommended the TurbieTwist for thick-hair girls. All you have to do is flip your hair over, place the rounded section over the back of your head, gather your hair in the tail, twist, and put the end into the rubber band in the back. Voila! It's an easy way to let your hair dry out a bit while the TurbieTwist absorbs the excess moisture, so that your shirt or couch doesn't take the brunt of it. I usually end up changing it out after a while as it gets pretty soaked; luckily I bought a two-pack!

Every time I use the TurbieTwist, my hair is much less frizzy, and it's even less wavy, which means less time wielding a straightener against the madness that is my hair. 


The People vs OJ Simpson!

This probably dates me, but I remember the OJ Simpson trial fairly well. I think I was in 3rd or 4th grade, so I was old enough to sort of mostly know what was going on. The People vs OJ Simpson premiered a couple weeks ago, and it's giving me a whole new perspective on the saga. 

The show began with the murder of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, but it doesn't immediately leap into the trial. All the episodes thus far have been exploring the days after the murder, leading up to the trial. We see OJ learn about the murder, his friends reacting to his being named a suspect, and of course, that infamous Bronco chase. It's funny, I remembered that it ended up pre-empting the Houston Rockets NBA finals playoff, and they actually show that during in the show, with producers saying that the car chase was more important than the playoffs!

The casting on this show is great. David Schwimmer is perfect as Robert Kardashian, one of OJ's many attorneys and his close friend. I thought it would be hard to see him as anything but Ross from Friends, but he is killing it (oh god, poor choice of words, take it back) as the emotional center of the story. He and OJ were long-time friends, and we get to see the story from his perspective, as a guy who is blind-sided by the bewildering situation of his famous best friend being accused of murdering his ex-wife. 

John Travolta is another casting I was surprised by, but he is great in the role of Robert Shapiro, OJ's main attorney. He has a particular way of talking that really resembles the actual person, and helps immerse you in the story as you see him as more of Shapiro and less as Travolta with really thick eyebrows.

Sarah Paulson is a great actress, of course, and plays Marcia Clark, the head prosecutor (is that even the right word, I don't know legal jargon that well), rocking that that 90's hairstyle fierceness as she demands that justice be paid for Nicole Brown, a former battered wife turned murder victim in a crime that wouldn't have happened if OJ had gone to jail for domestic abuse much sooner.


Valentia!

I love getting skincare products to review! It's only been in recent years that I've really tried to actively take care of my skin, and I've been lucky enough to get some amazing products to try out that I might not have otherwise heard of. I recently got two of Valentia's products, True Glow Eye Cream and Ultra Plumping Hydration Mask

I love the True Glow Eye Cream! I'm super paranoid about lines around my eyes, because that's a sure sign that will make you look older than you are. This eye cream made my under-eyes feel plumper. At first I was just putting it on at night, but now I've also been putting it on in the morning, before makeup. It's perfect because it goes on so smooth, and feels silky when it dries, not flaky or tight or oily, and it keeps my makeup from collecting in those fine lines and making them look worse than they are!

The Ultra Plumping Hydration Mask was unlike most masks, with more of a jelly consistency than creamy or oily like most face masks. It smelled quite nice though, and had a great array of beneficial ingredients, like protein amino acids, hyaluronic acid, buckthorn oil, green tea, and aloe vera. My face felt so refreshed afterwards, it was like getting back from the spa! This mask is definitely going into my regular skincare rotation.

Disclaimer: I received Valentia products in exchange for my honest review.

New Stuff, Awesome Stuff, & Rain at Disneyland!

Last weekend, I went to Disneyland, which is not terribly unusual except this time, I went with my mom and my aunt, which made this trip particularly special. Plus, my mom had not been to Disneyland in many years. We went for 3 days straight, which is a feat I haven't even attempted in quite some time! 

I've written about Disneyland several times before, so here are just a few things I took note of this time:

*In the queue for Star Tours, the baggage handler droid makes a lot of references to Disney movies! You even seen some things, like Genie's lamp from Aladdin and a Goofy hat, in the x-ray machine.

*Speaking of Star Tours! They've added more new elements than just the new The Force Awakens scene. There are now different versions of each scenario! I rode twice in a row, and got the Naboo sequence each time. However, the end was slightly different. {SPOILER ALERT} When Star Tours crashes into the yellow ship, the tip of it either smashes through the window, or breaks and falls off. I can't wait to see what other differences there are!!

*You can find random live music or skits happening almost anywhere at any time. I love it because it adds even more magic to your day.

*There's a tiny mountain range in the Storybook Land ride, I believe around the Pinnochio area, above which you can see the Matterhorn, and it looks like it's actually part of it. Geez, those Imagineers think of everything!!!

* Also on the Storybook Land ride, we got stuck for a few minutes right outside the Frozen/Arendelle area. Well, a little way past it, outside Wandering Oaken's Trading Post. Once every 30 seconds or so, you could hear, 'Yoo hoo!' coming from it. It made us crack up!

*There are so many amazing ear hats these days. I remember when it was just the very basic black ones. Maybe a sorcerer hat or some Tigger ears. Now, there's ears for every movie, character, and occasion. Check out these Little Mermaid beauties:

*Another thing I noticed? This train going around one of the areas in the Disney Emporium store on Main Street. Has this always been here?! It reminded me of a certain room in the Disney Dream Suite...

*On to California Adventure! We saw this super cool duck just chilling in the cone fountain in Cars Land, taking a shower and living his best life. I took more pictures of this duck than of anything else ever.

*Who knew that there was an area of anything Disney-related that I hadn't experienced yet?! But apparently there's an area in the Animation Academy called Beast's Library that I somehow managed to never hear of until recently. Seems not many other people know about it either, because it wasn't very crowded when we checked it out. It looks like a gigantic library, with the enchanted rose from Beauty and the Beast above a fireplace. Also, there are magical books that will show you what Disney character you're most like.

*We also spent some time in Downtown Disney. I haven't been to the Lego Store there in quite some time, and it's really changed! I loved this display of a Lego guy made up of Lego figures!

*We took the Walk in Walt's Disneyland Footsteps tour, which of course I've already done, so I knew my mom and my aunt would love it. Most of it was pretty similar to the first time I took the tour, but it was cool to go on it again. Some of it was rerouted somewhat due to parts of Frontierland being closer, as well as it being a very crowded day that day.

*Our last day there, it rained! Disneyland in the rain is definitely something to experience. The rain came down pretty hard at times, and it was pretty windy. It was much less crowded than the previous day, which was nice, but my feet ended up being completely soaked through, and it's not like I had an umbrella on me or anything! It was cold and wet, but it was a new experience at least, so there's that.

*We didn't end up staying the whole day, because, hello, rain. On the way out, I saw Chip and Dale being adorable with a little kid. They even splashed around in some puddles! Adorable.

January Book Report!

I only managed to finish 2 books in January, kind of a low number for me! 

The first book I finished reading in January was The Creation of Anne Boleyn, by Susan Bordo. I've read quite a few books on the Tudors, but this was the first that focused only on Anne Boleyn. It was divided into three sections. The first section focused on the usual biographical information about Anne Boleyn's rise and fall, and details how Henry VIII courted her, made her queen, and then had her beheaded. The next section was more of a cultural history, and talked about how and why is she depicted the way she is (typically as a slutty homewrecker), and the cultural context for why that is. The third part is about how Anne Boleyn is depicted in pop culture, for example, in Anne of the Thousand Days, The Other Boleyn Girl, and The Tudors. It was a really interesting look that I haven't seen in any of the books I've read, so I found it really fascinating!

The next book I finished in January (even though I bought it when it was first released several months ago) was Life & Death: Twilight Reimagined. It was part of a special re-release of Twilight for its 10th anniversary (god, has it been that long?!). Essentially, most of the characters in the book switch genders. So Bella is now Beau, Edward is now Edythe, etc. Pretty much everyone but Bella's parents switch gender. Much of it is the same story, just with the names and pronouns switched out, but it definitely does change the characters' personalities, so the story is rewritten somewhat. The end, in particular, is completely different from the original Twilight ending. It's a pretty interesting concept, and one that was completely out of the blue. No one knew this was happening; if anything, people anticipated that perhaps Midnight Sun, the version of Twilight from Edward's point of view, would finally be released. Anyway, it was a pretty good read, and I really enjoyed it! I think another fun re-imaging of the story would be to switch Bella and Edward, so that Bella is the vampire and Edward is the human. Maybe for the 20th anniversary!

I'm in the middle of 3 more books, so I'll probably have more to report on next month!

January Accomplishments, February Goals!

Okay, wow, I can't believe it's February already!! I had so many plans for January, but ended up accomplishing... not as much as I had hoped.

Here's what I did manage to do:
**Worked out about 13 times. I was hoping for 20.
**I had a bit of a blogging slump and only blogged 4 times! Yikes!! 
**Unsubscribed from a bunch of Twitters, Facebook pages, Instagrams, blogs, email newsletters, etc.
**I did get a lot of stuff listed and ready to be listed on eBay. I even made a promotional sale for about 30 of my items for the first time.
**Konmari-ed my bathroom, and about half of my closet. I wanted to get through my closet entirely, but that just didn't happen.
**Read 2 books.

Here's what I'm going to do this month! 
**Hit that 20 workouts goal this month. I'm mostly sort of back into the habit of working out, just need to make sure to do it regularly.
**Blog 14 times. I've got some ideas for some posts, so I just need to get my momentum back. 
**Read before bed. I used to do this, and it felt so relaxing to read a real book for 30 minutes before sleeping. 
**Give a speech at Toastmasters this month. I've got a couple ideas, I just need to flesh them out and see which one I will go with first.
**Finish Konmari-ing my closet, and get to work on my dressers, and then rest of my bedroom.
**Continue to list, list, list eBay stuff. Get through my backlog of stuff that keeps growing the more I Konmari the apartment!
**Volunteer at a local animal shelter. 
**See all/most of the Oscar-nommed movies.

Friday Faves - Dog Ratings, Chomps Snack Sticks, Miniature Spaces!

Here are some cool things that I've been into recently!!


Dog Ratings

Dog Ratings is an amazing novelty Twitter account. They tweet pictures of dogs, say what kind of dog it is, and assign them ratings. Okay, that makes it sound really boring. Dog Ratings is so much more than that! Here's a couple examples:

(Sometimes they're weird looking dogs.)

Perfect. Now I just want to call all dog puppers and give them ratings. 



Chomp Snack Sticks!

I'm not a huge fan of meat sticks; I think they often taste weird and not meat-like enough. It's like, what it's even in this thing I'm putting in my mouth? Chomps Snack Sticks sent me several of their meat sticks to try, and these ones are really quite good! There are 3 different flavors - Crankin Cran, Hopping Jalapeno, and Original. I liked the spicy one a lot since I like spicy stuff. They're individually wrapped so they're great to just throw in your purse for a delicious and filling snack during the day. Plus they're made of 100% grass-fed angus beef, and they're low carb and high protein, so you don't have to feel guilty about snacking!

DIsclaimer: I received free products from Chomp Snack Sticks in exchange for my unbiased review.

Miniature Space

Miniature Space is this great YouTube channel where they post videos of them making miniature foods using miniature ingredients and miniature utensils in a miniature kitchen. It's so freaking adorable! There's something oddly calming and soothing about the videos. And the creator is really incredibly skillful to make all this stuff in tiny form!

Stitch Fix: The Next Box!

It's time for another installment of What's In My Stitch Fix Box?! Lots of good stuff this time around! Here's what I found in mine this month! 

Laila Jayde Daney V-Neck Split Back Knit Top

This one was difficult to photograph due to the way it... is. I knew I'd need to actually wear this top in order to properly show how it actually looks, as opposed to laying it on the floor and taking a picture of it. Thus, my foray into a bout of low self-esteem began. I needed to photograph them asap because my return date was the next day, but it was after work and I was too tired to fix my hair and makeup, and it was too dark to take pictures outside. So my compromise was pictures without my head in them. Also I'm wearing pink sweatpants which I thought I could crop out, but they're still pretty visible in most of these pictures. I'm not a fashion blogger, okay?! This is hard for me.

Anyway, the top is really cute, and I love the v-shaped opening in the back. I'd wear a shirt under it (which I am not in these pictures because eff the rules) as the opening goes to the top of the upper back, so your bra strap will show, if you so choose to wear such a contraption. It's very soft and would be perfect for when you want to lounge around but don't want to look like a total slob. It's shorter in the front and long in the back, like a comfy t-shirt mullet. 7/10, would consider another redneck shirt in the future.


Loveappella Oliver Faux Leather Trim Striped Top

The lightning in my apartment is not great, and I need all the help I can get with my face, because the camera is not my friend. But I feel like I look thin in this picture, so that's nice. I really love this top because I like black and gray and stripes, so keeping this one was pretty much a no-brainer. It's kind of long too, which I like because it camouflages my butt which is too big for the rest of my body (but not in like a good way?) Also this means I can maybe get away with wearing leggings under them and it won't look as much like I'm doing the leggings-as-pants faux pas.

9/10, long stripy shirts are cool.

RD Style Ridge Zipper Detail Cowl Neck Sweater

This shirt is cool, but I don't really like turtle necks, even when they're masquerading as cowl necks (I see you, cowl neck, acting like a relaxed turtleneck. You don't fool me.) It was nice and cozy though. This was a very winter-y box this month which I did appreciate, since I like covering my body as much as possible because of the aforementioned low self-esteem, so winter-time is great for me. This shirt was hard to photograph because, like the first shirt, of the way it is. You know what I mean. Also using a flash somehow caused my bra to show through the top like a starlet that didn't mean to wear a completely sheer dress to a movie premiere but the flashes made it completely see-through and now she's on the cover of Us Weekly nearly naked. So I didn't use the flash on this one. Anyway, I didn't particularly love this top, but it was nice. Not for me, though. 6/10 lazy turtlenecks are still turtlenecks. Save the turtles. And their necks.


41Hawthorn Jordanne A-line Plaid Skirt

Okay, I wasn't even going to try to take a picture of myself in this skirt. The holiday season has not been kind to me, and I'm so lumpy right now, and this skirt pretty much just highlighted that. It's cute, and I can see making it work, but it reminds me of the plaid skirt I had to wear on dress uniform day when I was in Catholic school. I experienced a lot of uncomfortable flashbacks in this skirt. 2/10, would not Catholic-school again.

Street Level Addison Studded Reversible Tote

Okay, I may or may not have squealed when I saw this bag! How in the world did my stylist, Christa, know that I was literally just scouring the internet for a new big tote! BTW shout-out to my stylist Christa! She said she read my blog in her little note that's included in my box! You're awesome, Christa! You get me!

It's a super cute bag, soft and buttery, with little studs all along the edges. It's going to be perfect to carry my laptop to work, and then after work I can toss the laptop out and be on my way. OMG and it's reversible?! It's like having two bags in one!! Oh also, not to mention it was less expensive than most of the bags I'd had my eye on anyway!

10/10 big black totes are best totes.


Something I've realized with StitchFix is how important your stylist is. I didn't really like several of my first boxes, until I got Christa, and now my boxes have been pretty great. I do admit that may have been more than partly my fault, however, as I said initially that I was looking for clothing that I could wear to my new job, which is business formal. So of course I didn't really like most of the pieces they sent to me, because I hate wearing office clothes. If I could just wear pajamas everywhere, that would be ideal. Christa saw through my nonsense, and understood that what I needed was comfy clothes that I could just as easily wear out in public as at home. And every box since then has been amazing.

Things I Love Thursday - El Nino Edition

*Rainstorms! You may have heard El Nino is hitting Los Angeles right now. I'm totally fine with this, because I love the rain! Not just the light, mist of rain we normally get every several months, but huge downpours, the kind you can hear indoors and against your window. I want thunderstorms with flashes of lightning after rolling roars of thunder. So that's one thing I'm enjoying this fine Thursday.

*And on that note, rainbows! I saw the rainbow in the picture above, and then the very next day, saw yet another rainbow! It's a different kind of double rainbow!

This is not my bed.

*Comfy cozy beds, fluffy pillows, and soft blankets. Sooo cozy.

*Eyeshadow palletes! No brand in particular, just a lovely pallette with rows and rows of pretty colors. I've had a different color eyeshadow on every day this week. Plus, with all those colors, it's easier to look all fancy with your dark color on the outside, light color on the inside eyelids.

2015 Look Back, 2016 Goals!

I've always said I'm not really one for New Year's resolutions. That being said, I think that a year is a great span of time by which to measure your accomplishments, and I also really like the idea of setting an intention to keep with you the whole year.

2015 was a pretty good year for me. My main goal was to get outside my comfort zone, and I did just that, by joining Toastmasters, Geek Girl Brunch, and just generally trying to make more friends at work. (Getting a new job was also one of my goals, and I ended up accomplishing that right before 2015 even started!)  I'm also really proud of the work I did on my blog and with my eBay business.

For 2016, I'd like to pretty much continue trying to be a better me, etc.

eBay: I want to continue to expand my eBay business, and get more into the flipping side of it. I have a ton of inventory still to list, though, which is great, but I definitely want to branch out further.

Blog: I'd like to make sure to post regularly, expand my readership, and maybe get my own domain.

Working out: Pretty much a stereotype at this point, but of course, as usual, I'd like to get into the habit (and STAY in the habit) of working out regularly. 

Volunteering: I'm going to start volunteering at a local animal shelter. They need help with their weekend adoptions, and with socializing their animals. It's really more like this for me, though:

Cleaning: I'd like to really sort through all my stuff, and downsize as much as possible. I recently read about this book called The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and it really sparked something in me. Minimalism isn't really a thing I can do, but I want to get rid of things that I'm hanging onto 'just in case' so I can have room for the things I actually need and want.

I'm keeping track of these goals by using a Trello board. I have a card for each of these goals, and under each card, I have actions to do towards achieving those goals. And then I further list them out to what I want to get accomplished each month, so I also give myself a timetable for getting these things done.

So those are my goals for the next calendar year! What are some of your goals for 2016?