#tbt 2011 4th of July Decor

We're kicking off the 4th of July weekend a little bit early and with a surprise!!!  After thinking we were done with my Throwback Thursday posts of the holiday decorations in Eliot's and my Woburn apartment, I found a few more photos!  (I also found photos for Easter... but you'll have to wait until next year for those!)  If you missed out on the others, you can find my Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Winter and St. Patrick's Day decor blog posts at those corresponding links.

Today, we're going back in time to Summer of 2011.  This was the last holiday that I decorated our apartment.  I'm not sure why I stopped decorating, but I'm guessing it was because we got our wedding date from Disney that September.  After that, I was probably in full wedding planning mode on my days off instead of wanting to decorate.

Anyways, let's start our tour in the living room like we usually do.  For this holiday, I didn't have a ton of decorations, but I made do with what we did have!

I put a few plush on our chair and a half.

I love these little Mickey and Minnie plush that we bought at the theme parks!

My end table had some decorative storage boxes and my little Statue of Liberty bear that Eliot and I bought when we visited the Statue of Liberty together in 2008.

Meanwhile... Eliot's end table just had a placemat on it.

Our storage unit was home to a bunch of other plush.  The bears on the DVD storage are collectibles from Hard Rock Cafe that we collected.  Each location had a different exclusive bear and I put all of my patriotic ones on display for the holiday!

I added this little wooden decoration of the United States on top of Eliot's Vinylmation display.  I'll have to actually sit down and paint it one of these days!!!

Of course, we also have a bunch of Build-A-Bears in their festive little outfits!

I put this hanging floral up over our countertop between the living room and kitchen.

Our kitchen was definitely the most decorated and festive location in the apartment!

I added some pot holders to our dishwasher.

Our oven had a bunch of decorative towels on it.

I added more potholders and towels to our cupboards.

The kitchen window had a bunch of decorations.  I had patriotic plush, window clings and some fun red, white and blue star lights strung up.

Here's a closer look at the kitchen windowsill and the plush.

I also decorated the dining room table.

Here's a closer look at the centerpiece of the dining room table.

And here's a really close look at the floral display I put together.

I also added a few decorations to the bookcase in our entryway.

The Mickey and Minnie are more plush that Eliot and I bought from the parks.  Then, the Dalmatian and German Shepard beanie babies represent all of the first responders that helped out during 9/11.  The flag in the picture frame is a tribute that I made in memory of all the people we lost on that tragic day.

And finally, I scattered my large beanie baby plush on the stairs up to my loft.

I hope you enjoyed this look back at Eliot's and my 4th of July decor for 2011.

Happy 4th of July!!!  °o°

Happy 15 Years Ratatouille

Happy 15th Anniversary to Disney Pixar's Ratatouille!!! 

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Ratatouille is one of my favorite Pixar movies... although I love most of them.  When I first saw the movie, I was obsessed with it.  As you know, I am currently working to re-learn French and I also studied it in high school.  My junior year of high school, I went to France as part of a school trip, and I fell completely in love with Europe.  I've only been overseas once since then, and I'm dying to go back someday.

Ratatouille brought back a lot of memories of Paris and France for me.  I practically begged for the movie for my birthday that year.  (I was so happy when I got it!)  You probably also recall that Eliot and I have a few Remy Plushes for our kitchen.

And I'm so excited to see the new ride in Epcot at Walt Disney World.  Eliot and I haven't been to Walt Disney World since it opened.  Hopefully we can go on it this fall.

I also have the Disney Dress Shop Dress.  I'm hoping to wear it to Disney as some point to take some photos outside of the ride.  And I really can't wait to see all of the Remy and Ratatouille merchandise in the parks!  I'd love to get a Gusteau's "Anyone Can Cook" cookbook journal to display in our kitchen as if it was a real cookbook!

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I'm so happy that Ratatouille is getting a bit more love now.  I've always felt like it was hard to find stuff for it.  Now, between the ride and the Food and Wine Festival each fall, it's finally getting the recognition it deserves!  Hopefully, that continues!

Happy 15th Anniversary Little Chef!!!  °o°

Magical Merchandise: More Rainbow Pride

Happy Monday!  Today, we're taking a look at a few more fun rainbow items that I've discovered the past few weeks!  I've been waiting all month to post this hoping that I'd find more items... but I think I've found what I'm going to find for now!  But I still had to get one last rainbow merchandise post in before Pride Month is over!  

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Like last year, Disney licensed other companies to make Pride merchandise outside of their theme parks.  I am 100% on board with this, because that means there's so much more to choose from!  Plus, this year, some new companies got in on the action!  So let's dive in and check out the things I found this year!

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Tervis

The first thing that I discovered was the new Tervis mugs.  I saw a few similar designs last year, but I think this was the first year Tervis made them.  Eliot and I love Terivs mugs and how sturdy they are.  And I absolutely love these designs... especially the Mickey, Minnie and Think Happy Thoughts designs!  I'm super tempted to get one.  (Ok Mel, repeat after me... "I don't need another mug... I don't need another mug...")

Crocs

I was pleasantly surprised to come across some new rainbow designs by Crocs.  This year, they made an adult shoe which has sold out.

They also made sandals which are also sold out.  Hopefully they'll restock them!!!

They made a shoe for kids as well!

Finally, they made some Jibbitz decorations to put in your shoes!

Buckle-Down

I was also surprised to come across so many new Disney Pride items on Buckle-Down's website.  I was looking at belts for Eliot, and I happened to see their new collection!  They made belts for a bunch of the different pride flags, as well as some fun rainbow designs!  I really think I need a Mickey rainbow belt for my collection!

They also made the Intersectional Pride Flag.

There's an Inclusion Pride Flag belt as well.

I'm a huge fan of this belt with all of the Mickey Pride Flags on it!  I love the white background and it also would match a dress I want to get.  (More on that below...)

Finally, I was really surprised and very impressed that they also made belts for many of the different individual Pride Flags!!!  I think this is a really great step forward to make people feel seen and represented!  (More of this please merchandise creators!)

Fanatics Sports Merchandise

Although, it's not Disney, I had to include the fun sports merchandise that I found on Fanatics.  It might not excite the rest of you, but I was pretty pumped to add on to my sports Pride items!  I had to get a few things to represent my two favorite sports teams!

My absolute favorite item from this year is my new Sharks Rainbow Baseball Hat.

I'm also a big fan of my new Sharks San Jose Rainbow Shirt.

Of course, I also had to get this more practical black Rainbow Sharks Logo Shirt.

Finally, this year I also grabbed some rainbow Pats gear with my new Rainbow Patriots Shirt!  I really loved the gradient rainbow logo on this one!!!

Hot Topic 

This year, Hot Topic and BoxLunch didn't have the fun accessories and home decor items that they did last year.  But they did have a few new things.  I love these socks!

They also had rainbow keychains.  These would be so cute on a Loungefly bag!

They added a few more shirts to their selection this year.  I really love this one.

Finally, I also thought this Ursula shirt was fun!

BoxLunch

BoxLunch also added new shirts.  I love this one with this year's Disney Pride theme.

I like how simple this design is.

Finally, I'm a huge fan of these Pride Flag shirts!!!  Not only do they have the rainbow Mickey version, but they also made shirts for six of the different Pride Flags!!!

Kohl's

I also stumbled across this Disney Pride Blanket from Kohl's.  It looks so soft!

Walmart

I decided to check out Walmart on a whim and I'm so glad that I did.  First, I discovered this fun women's PJ set with a tank top and coordinating shorts!

I checked another time and I found a bunch of other things including this Ohana Flag.

I also came across this Mickey Love Flag.

I really love this One Disney Family Shirt.

I might have to get this Disney Pride Tribe shirt!

This Proud To Be Me Sweatshirt also stood out to me.

Finally, I also came across these Disney and Pixar Pride Wall Posters!

TJ Maxx, Marshall's and Home Goods 

I haven't been into TJ Maxx, Marshall's or Home Goods lately, but apparently they had a bunch of Disney Rainbow Pride Kitchen items!  If I had known that... I would have been in so much sooner!  Hopefully our local stores still have something... but if not, I'll have to check out eBay and Mercari (where I grabbed this photo from)!

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Torrid

This year, Torrid had another Pride Collection with lots of colorful clothing.  I won't lie... I was legit stalking their website for weeks.  My favorite pieces from this year are the rainbow skirt, rainbow dress, rainbow denim jacket, the Pride flag dress and the Pride flag shirt.  Unfortunately, the skirt sold out first which is a bummer because I didn't buy it in time.  (It would have gone perfect with all of the rainbow shirts I have!)

I am planning to get the other items still though!  I really want this gorgeous striped dress that has a bunch of the Pride flags on it.  It's so subtle that you might not even realize what it actually represents... but I think it's a perfect piece to wear as a proud ally.  It's also fun, bright and perfect for summer!

Amazon

A few days ago, I had my biggest surprise when I stumbled across a bunch of Disney Pride plush on Amazon!  (Honestly, I had almost had all of this blog post sorted out, when I randomly found these last Friday.)  These are so cute!!!  I'm already going through all of the places that I could put them in our house to celebrate Pride Month!

These small blue plush are the first plush I came across.

There are also large versions of the Mickey, Minnie and Stitch plushes.

I'm also a fan of these larger plush faces.  I'd use them as pillows for our couch!

My favorite find was this Mickey and Friends plush set!  Look at all of the fun colors!!!

While there weren't as many new items as I had hoped for this year, I enjoyed what I did find!  Plus, I'm excited other retailers are still carrying Disney Pride items.  I hope this is only the beginning and each year we'll get more magical rainbow merchandise!!!

Happy Pride Month!!!  °o°