The Cady Bunch

Whew, it's been insanely busy around here- in a good way of course.  Eliot and I have been going nonstop.  When I last left you, I was counting down to Disneyland and Pearls in the Park.  It's hard to believe that I leave for Disneyland a week from today!

I've been busy with preparations for my trip.  I've put together my Pearls in the Park and Dapper Day outfits, ordered supplies and worked on trip planning.  Most of my supplies have arrived, now I have to put together my accessories and ears!  After a few last minute pieces of my outfits arrive, I should be all set with those too!  Yay!!!

I'm also keeping myself very busy with Happily Ever Hatter.  I've had a lot of orders this past month.  In addition to Etsy orders, I've got a few ears I've been working on for my Key to the World travel agent friends for Pearls in the Park!  I'm busy, but I'm having tons of fun working on new designs!  I'll share them after the Pearls in the Park event!

This past weekend, Eliot's dad, Rick, and his sister, Elissa, visited us to look at a few colleges.  Elissa was accepted to University of New England and University of Maine Orono.  She had accepted student days at both schools.  Eliot and I joined them for the UNE tour since it's not far from us.  We had a great time touring the campus and getting more information about her program and the school.

After the UNE session, we went to see The Jungle Book.  The movie was a lot better than any of us expected it to be.  I really enjoyed it.  We arrived at the theater really early so we used the extra time to take photos with the Finding Dory photo spot.  I also had a good time looking at all of the new characters in the movie!

When Rick and Elissa weren't at college visits, we took them to some of our favorite local places.  Elissa got her fix of Longhorn Steakhouse, Amato's, Governor's and Cracker Barrel.  We also took Rick to Old Orchard Beach.  The ocean and sunshine were beautiful Sunday afternoon.  Afterwards, the three of us kids played in the arcade for a while before heading to the Portland mall.

Of course, no trip to the mall is complete without going to Hot Topic to check out the Disney items.  Eliot, Elissa and I all found quite a few goodies there.  (Yay Hot Cash coupons!)  I got a Captain Jack Sparrow Pop figure, two Once Upon a Time bows and a Hook sticker!  We also went to Newbury Comics and Hallmark.  I got a few Easter itty bitty's on sale for less than $2 each!  Rick also bought Eliot a BB-8 Pop figure!

Rick and Elissa headed back to California on Tuesday.  After a very busy Monday and Tuesday at work, I'm excited to have the rest of the week off.  I've got a ton of things to get done before the weekend is over, but I'm feeling really good about it!  I'm definitely going to be immersed in the world of Disney, crafting and ear making!  Needless to say, it's going to be a busy, but fun, few days!  °o°

Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year!!!  Welcome 2016!!!

Photo Source: Disney Parks Blog (modified by me)

I hope your new year has been wonderful so far!  2015 went out with a bang here in Maine.  My parents and Nana came down to visit us for a quick overnighter.  They arrived around dinner time and Eliot and I met up with them at their hotel.

Photo Source: Star Wars

We went to the movies to kill some time before the big countdown to 2016.  Mom and Nana went to see Daddy's Home and Dad, Eliot and I went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  None of us had seen it yet and we all wanted to.  The movie was awesome and I loved it!  I really need to re-watch all of the others sometime soon!

Before leaving the movie theater, Eliot and I stopped to take a quick picture with Santa Baymax!  (Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la!)  Then, we drove back to the hotel to ring in the new year.  We got settled in, watched New Year's Rockin' Eve, counted down as the ball dropped and toasted sparking cider to the new year!  Eliot and I stayed for a few more minutes to visit before driving home to our house.

This morning, we got up to get ready for another casual day walking around the Maine Mall. I decided to wear a sweater so I wouldn't have to wear a heavy jacket into the mall.  I decided on my red one with my black pants.  I went to find a scarf and my Minnie Mouse one was at the top of the pile.  I grabbed it and the next thing I knew, I had a Minnie inspired outfit for New Year's Day.  Starting 2016 off to a great start!

Jeremy drove up for the afternoon and met us at our house before we headed to the mall to meet up with everyone.  We walked around the various stores since we didn't really have a specific plan.  I went to the Hallmark store to see what they had for Itty Bittys. They only had one Yoda and R2-D2 left.  I also found one Minnie Mouse after a bit of searching.  There were still two Mickeys, but I decided to get him too.  Now I have a few more little Disney friends to add to my growing collection!

Across the way, Eliot was exploring the toy store.  They were having a post-Christmas 50% off everything sale.  While exploring, I found some cute placemats for my cousin's kids that my Mom bought them for an upcoming birthday.  On the way in, the Disney Princess Style Me Up caught my eye.  Ironically, I first saw one exactly a year ago when we were exploring Hobby Lobby with our friends on New Year's Day 2015.  

It's a book with outfits inspired by the Disney princesses for girls to draw and then color in.  It's "supposed to be" for kids, but this adult was excited they had it.  I was going to pass on it, but at 50% off, it was only $6.  It ended up coming home with me!  Eliot found something he liked as well.  They had a Mickey Mouse Toontown House 3D puzzle.  He loves puzzles and this was cute.  Again, at 50% off, we couldn't go wrong.

On our way back to the other end of the mall where we parked, we lost Eliot.  (He wanted to explore the calendar shop for a minute.)  He eventually caught up with us while we were looking around JCPenney's.  He arrived with a few extra bags then when we had left him.  He got a few hand sanitizers that were on sale at Bath and Body Works.  Eliot also had stopped into Hot Topic.  Everything was buy one get one 50% off, and he purchased the Stitch hat he'd been eyeing earlier in the day.  He also bought me the stained glass Beauty and the Beast watch I'd spotted and bought it for me as a new year surprise!  It's so beautiful.  He's the best!!!

After the mall, we went to Red Robin for a mid-day lunch.  Then, we all said goodbye before heading our separate ways.  Eliot, Jeremy and I returned to our house so he could drive home from here.  It was a quick visit with my family, but we really enjoyed it.  I'd say that our 2016 is off to a great start so far!  °o°

Weekend Shopping

Last night, Eliot and I took an impromptu trip up to Portland to go shopping.  It doesn't take much for us to hop in the car to go for a quick shopping trip, especially when we both run crafty businesses and are always needing supplies.  In fact, I actually needed a few things from the craft stores and we also had some coupons.

On the drive up, my car's service light turned on.  We ended up going to Wal-Mart to check the oil just in case.  It needed some, so we went to Wal-Mart, which wasn't on our original to do list.  Of course, while there, we poked around a bit.  Eliot found Toy Story and Lion King pj pants for me and we decided to get them.  I don't have many pants in the thinner material.  These are so cute!  They'll be perfect this fall.

After Wal-Mart, we ran a few errands before heading over to the mall.  I wanted to see if Hot Topic had their new Dumbo bow.  I wanted to get one since Eliot's running the Dumbo Challenge next month!  Unfortunately, they didn't have it.  Instead, Eliot bought two of the Inside Out Mystery Minis by Funko.  I opened up Fear and he got Joy.

We walked through the mall over to the Hallmark store.  Before Eliot left for California, The Paper Source had all of the Inside Out itty bittys.  I was curious what they had in stock now.  Eliot went to another store while I looked around.  I realized they only had one Disgust left.  They also had two Rapunzel plush, but one looked a little wonky.  I decided to purchase those two since I was trying to behave myself.

I went to meet up with Eliot.  He saw my bag and asked what I got.  I showed him Disgust and Rapunzel.  He asked why I only got Disgust and I told him how there were plenty of the other Inside Out itty bittys left.  He then asked me how much each of them were.  Before I knew it, we were walking back across the mall to Hallmark!  Eliot had cash on him and he bought me Joy, Fear, Anger and Sadness!  He's the best husband ever!  My little itty bitty collection is slowly growing!

We had dinner at Chipotle before heading to JoAnn Fabrics.  I needed blue sparkly fabric for one of the Disneyland projects I'm working on.  I had a few great coupons to use so the timing was perfect.  After seeing the coupons, Eliot disappeared for a few minutes and came back with the Olaf fabric he's been admiring for a while.  He got four yards at 60% off and it was a great deal!  He's got a special project in mind for it that we'll try to work on sometime this winter.  I'll share photos once it's completed!

All in all, it was a great spur of the moment shopping trip!  Now I have a few more craft supplies to keep me busy with projects for our upcoming trips!!!  °o°