10 Years Ago... I was a GraduWIT

Exactly ten years ago today, I graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology.  I can't believe it's been 10 years!  Happy Anniversary WIT Class of 2008!!!  

I have many wonderful memories from college.  I had so much fun with my yearbook friends, my student leadership friends and my interior design girlfriends.  I have memories of us exploring the city of Boston, laughing our heads off, spending late nights in studio, playing intense games of mafia at retreats, going to New York city for yearbook conferences, going out dancing and making waffles on the weekend in my apartment.  I wish I was able to see everyone more often.  However, I am excited that I'll be able to celebrate this milestone with my WIT interior design girlfriends this weekend during Stacy's bachelorette party.

Of course, Wentworth was also where I met my future husband, Eliot.  I actually gave Eliot his campus tour when he and his mother came out to look at schools.  (I must have given him a great tour because he was a student the next fall!)  It wasn't until after we had already been dating for about 2 weeks that we discovered it.  Eliot and I met a second time while training as tour guides and we became good friends.  We didn't start dating until my last two semesters at school, but we had a lot of fun in the time that we were both students there.  Then, I came back to Wentworth often to visit while he finished his degree!

Five years ago, I also wrote a post about my college graduation and how it related to my passion for Disney.  I went to school for interior design, and when I graduated I had big dreams of becoming an Interior Designer for Disney Imagineering.

Obviously, not much has changed in regards to my passion for all things Disney.  I decided becoming an Imagineer for Disney wasn't the right path for me.  Instead, I've been able to use the techniques I learned at WIT to create designs for Happily Ever Hatter.  It's opened the window for the two new businesses Eliot and I plan to launch soon!  And, our house is very Disney inspired, so I'm an Imagineer of my own life.

I looked through my photos earlier today, and the most meaningful one is still my photo of me and my dog Lucky.  He was 13 when he went to my graduation.  I wanted a photo with him and it wasn't until I put the pictures on my laptop that I noticed a familiar outline hidden in the sunlight.  (Can you find the Hidden Mickey?)

We lost Lucky a little over a year after this photo was taken.  It's still my absolute favorite picture of the two of us.  I've always believed that someone was trying to send me a message on my graduation day- I may not become an Imagineer for Disney, but the possibilities are endless, and that someday I'll find the right path for me.  

Now, 10 years later, I think I've finally found my path.  I think I've always known it.  I love creating things and making magic.  This milestone comes at a perfect time as the next chapter is about to begin.  After all "if you can dream it, you can do it."  °o°

Wedding Trip Recap- Introduction

One week from today is our one year wedding anniversary!  I still can't believe that it's been a year since we had our amazing Disney Wedding trip.  It was certainly a trip to remember and two of the most magical weeks of my life!  We worked really hard leading up to the wedding.  We spent countless hours planning, designing, crafting, emailing, etc.  But it was completely worth every minute.

I've decided to commemorate our Disney Wedding trip with a Trip Recap each day for the corresponding day from a year ago.  Get ready for about two weeks of Disney Wedding fun with some never before seen photos and tales of our adventures.  Before we begin our trip down memory lane, I'd like to share some backstory about why we decided to have a Disney Wedding:

We are both self proclaimed “Disney Geeks.” I've always loved the design of the parks and rides and take note of all of the small details.  Eliot loves to ride on the roller coasters and dreamed of designing them since he was little.  I've dreamed of getting married at Walt Disney World since my first trip at the age of 5.  Our love of Disney is what brought us together and we couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else!!!

We wanted to choose a wedding date that had special importance to us.  We also knew we wanted a fall wedding in September.  We thought that a Tuesday or Thursday would work best so our guests could enjoy a long weekend in Florida before or after the wedding.  After looking at a 2012 calendar, I realized that 9/20 was a Thursday and Eliot was born on June 9th and I was born on November 20th.  9/20 was the perfect date.  (A few months after the wedding date was finalized with Disney, I actually realized that 9/20 was also exactly in the middle of my parents wedding anniversary and Eliot’s parents wedding anniversary.  I guess it was destiny; I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!)

We obviously wanted to have a Disney theme for our wedding, and after selecting our venues, the themes basically formed themselves.  We had a “Cinderella” Ceremony and “Little Mermaid” themed Reception.  Eliot’s favorite color is lime and mine is hot pink; thus, those were our wedding colors.  We also wanted to add Hidden Mickeys throughout as a fun way to tie in the mouse that started it all. 

We chose Disney's Wedding Pavilion for our ceremony because we wanted a venue on property that was private and elegant.  The Wedding Pavilion also was designed so it has a window looking over to Cinderella Castle.  It was the perfect location to get married!  

We chose the Living Seas for our reception after our Wedding Coordinator suggested it.  We both love watching the animals in the tank swimming around and thought that it would make a great back drop for our reception.  

Finally, we wanted to end the day at a VIP viewing of “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.” IllumiNations is my favorite Disney show and it holds a special significance to us since the song “Promise,” played right after IllumiNations, was also the song we selected for our first dance.

Now that you know more about our why we chose to have a Disney Wedding, stay tuned for our Disney Wedding trip recap over the next two weeks!  °o°

More Projects

This past week I've been busy with more projects.  I really seem to be getting in the groove.  But I also would like to have my dining room table functioning again at some point, so I guess I have ulterior motives?  Either way, I might as well finish the projects!  Here's what I accomplished:


Picture Frame- I sealed the frame and added the red Mickey Mouse rhinestone "bling" to the corners.  It is now hanging back up in the bathroom!  I just need to add a picture to it… 

Mickey Mouse picture frame.

Shelf for Bathroom- This week I put a few more coats on my shelf for the bathroom.  I just have to finish sealing it and then add one more detail to it and it will be done!  It's going to be awesome.  Yay!

Painting more layers on the shelf.  Almost finished!

Flowerpots- I've been working on my second batch of flowerpots this week.  I've been having such a good time with them, that I bought even more pots last weekend.  Home Depot got a fresh supply, so Eliot and I bought two small 4.25" pots and one 10" flowerpot.  And I plan to buy more.  My name is Melissa and I have a problem... ;-)  

I've finished painting my mini Mickey and Minnie pots as well as a second set of large ones.  I also worked on painting the details on my Sorcerer Mickey pot that I've been putting off.  The stars and the moon for the hat were a little bit tricky.  And his belt wasn't exactly a walk in the park either, but I finished it!  Now they all just have to get sealed.  My other works in progress still need their details painted.  I'll probably finish that next week!

My original flowerpots are displayed on our front steps.  Sadly, when we went to try to buy flowers for them, Home Depot had run out of the kinds we were looking for.  So, no flowers right now.  But we're planning to go back to try again!  (And I'll try not to buy more flowerpots... maybe?)

Flowerpots everywhere!

Sign- This week, I also wanted to start working on a sign for our front porch.  We have a random nail that's already inserted in the brick front of the house, so of course I saw it as a signal that we needed a sign to put on it!  I bought a wood sign from Michael's a few months ago.  I've painted it in our wedding colors since I thought that it would be a nice reminder of our wedding and because there are lime and pink accents all over our house anyways!

Working on our new address sign.

I used InDesign to create a template for the sign.  I used the "Minnie" font for the text.  I also wanted to add the Mickey Mouse heart hands detail because I thought it was a cute way to incorporate our love of all things Disney.  I think that it's going to look great on the porch next to all of my flowerpots!

Planning the approximate location of our new sign.

Tray for Living Room- My favorite project from this week was my tray for our living room.  I've also had a tray for our living room for months.  I found the perfect one at ACMoore and it's been sitting unfinished on our side table.  I've known what I wanted to do with it for a while now, but I was holding back because I needed to use a technique that I've never tried before!  After a few attempts of different methods, I got the hang of it and my paint splatter tray was created!  After I finished the splattering, I added three "hidden Mickeys" for fun.  (Can you find them?)  I absolutely LOVE how it came out!  So much so, that I'll probably do a tutorial on it!  

Paint Splatter Tray with Hidden Mickeys for our living room.

I'm sure next week will probably be another crafty one.  I still have that 10" flowerpot to paint!  °o°

Graduation 5 Years Ago Today

Five years ago today I graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology.  I can't believe that it's been 5 years already!

Wentworth Commencement August 17, 2008.

You're probably wondering how on earth this relates to Disney.  I went to school for interior design, and when I graduated I had big dreams of becoming an Interior Designer for Disney Imagineering.  Throughout the past five years, I've decided that I want to run my own business someday since I need a creative outlet with few boundaries.  Instead of becoming an actual Imagineer, my husband and I dream up our own designs for rides and attractions at Disney.  (It's more fun when the sky is the limit and there are absolutely no budgets involved right?)  Maybe I'll share some designs in the future!  ;-)

Wentworth Institute of Technology Interior Design Graduate!

Wentworth felt like home away from home, plus it's school colors are black, gold and red… sound familiar?  They're pretty much the same colors as my favorite Mouse!  So that worked out nicely for Eliot and me.  (I bought Eliot and myself Mickey Mouse colored tie dye shirts and it doubled as his WIT graduation present.)

Wentworth Commencement August 17, 2008.

I also have an amazing print that I ordered from SomethingPrintable on Etsy.  Victoria Ann makes beautiful prints and I had to have one to match my husband's (he got one as a gift from our friends BJ and Katie).  So I also have this awesome Mickey Graduation Print to proudly display on our wall!

My Mickey Graduation Print from Something Printable.

Finally, the most meaningful tie in to Disney was with a photo of me and my dog Lucky.  Lucky was 13 when he went to my graduation ceremony.  I wanted a photo with my puppy and it wasn't until after graduation when I put the pictures on my laptop that I noticed a familiar outline hidden in the sunlight behind our heads.  (Can you find the Hidden Mickey?)

Lucky and me after the ceremony.  Can you find the Hidden Mickey?

We lost Lucky a little over a year after this photo was taken.  But it's my absolute favorite picture of the two of us.  It's almost like someone was trying to send me a message on my graduation day.  I may not ever become a "real" Imagineer, but the possibilities are endless, and I'll find the right path for me.  After all "if you can dream it, you can do it."  °o°

My interior design classmates, friends and family.