#tbt 2017 D23 Expo Memories

The 2022 D23 Expo officially kicks off tomorrow in Anaheim and I couldn't be more excited!  I can't wait to see all of the booths, the costumes, the cosplays, the panels, the merchandise, the shows, and everything else there is to experience!

I'm sure it's going to be an amazing weekend.  And to get into the spirit, today I thought that I'd share some of my favorite moments from the 2017 D23 Expo.  

Before I dive in, I want to preface the rest of this post by letting you all know that I've never written much about the 2017 D23 Expo because I had a lot of mixed feelings about it.  Don't get me wrong, Eliot and I had an amazing time, but at the time, that was overshadowed by the amount of complete chaos and disorganization.  I left the expo completely in awe at everything I'd experienced, both the positive and the negative.

But now that five years have passed since our last expo experience, the bad parts aren't so fresh and raw... and I'd rather focus on all of the positive.  So these are all the positive memories that I have from the 2017 D23 Expo.

One of the coolest moments that Eliot and I had at the D23 Expo was something that almost didn't even happen.  I don't want to get into the disaster that was trying to get into the Descendants cast meet and greet, but somehow, a miracle happened.  Being kind matters, and Elissa was able to get in with a complete stranger's group, then she squeezed us in so Eliot and I got to meet and take a quick photo with the Descendants 2 cast.  (That's when Cameron Boyce gave me the biggest hug- which I'll never forget.)

Another cool celebrity moment was when I saw Colin O'Donoghue who played Captain Hook in Once Upon a Time.  I was trying to get a picture with him, but again, the talent lines were a hot mess at this event.  Eliot and I tried our best, but I couldn't get in the line.  I also didn't get a selfie with him, but I did see him and take a few pictures of him.

I did however get to take a picture with his costume at the Walt Disney Archives "A Pirate's Life For Me" exhibit at the expo.  (Read more about the exhibit here.)

The Pirates Exhibit was actually one of my favorite parts of the event.  Each year, they make a museum on the show floor that showcases Disney props and costumes.  Since it was the 50th anniversary of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, that was the chosen theme for this year's expo.  The exhibit had displays from anything related to pirates- from Once Upon A Time, Jake and the Neverland Pirates cartoon on Disney Junior, Descendants and props from both the the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and all of the movies.  It was really cool to see everything.

We saw Captain Jack Sparrow's iconic outfit, as well as Will and Elizabeth's wedding attire.  I love these types of exhibits because I'm always astounded by the costumes!

The theme for 2017's D23 Design Challenge was also Pirates of the Caribbean.  The top 23 pieces of artwork were selected to be displayed at the event.  I really enjoyed seeing all of the finalists creativity and artistic talents!

Another thing that I loved from this event was the display of costumes, specifically the princess gowns.  Ella's blue gown from the live action Cinderella and Belle's yellow gown from the live action Beauty and the Beast were my favorites!

Although it wasn't officially part of the D23 expo, another thing we stumbled across was the Pizza Planet truck parked outside of the expo at a hotel next door.  A Toy Story fan decorated an old Toyota truck to look like the iconic truck, and they had it parked for Disney fans to enjoy.  It even had a Buzz Lightyear toy sitting in the front seat!

One of the things that Eliot and I enjoyed most was all of the merchandise available at the event.  We lucked out and got let into the Mickey's of Glendale Imagineering store without waiting in the insane lines for it.  We also checked out the Disney Store and the D23 store.  We found a lot of cool things.  I was especially excited when Eliot was able to get me the Tsum Tsum Pixar Shorts set that I really wanted!

The only session that I went to at this D23 Expo was the The Power of the Princess Panel.  Elissa, Sara and I all went in early to stand in line because we really wanted to see this one.  Thankfully, we were able to get in.  It was pretty tight security and we weren't sure why at the time.  We even had to put our cell phones into a ziplock bag and then in our backpacks.  The princess panel had two female animators leading the discussion... with four actual Disney princesses on the panel!  Auli'i Cravalho (Moana), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana), Paige O'Hara (Belle) and Jodi Benson (Ariel) graced all of us with their presence and it was the coolest thing.  (Read more about it here.)

Part of the way through the panel, we were shown a rough cut of the new Wreck-it-Ralph 2 movie.  Some of the cuts were actually animated, and some were still in the rough sketch stage. Now we knew why we couldn't video tape any of it.  It was so cool!

Finally, the iconic princesses were all asked their favorite lines from their movies.  They all ended up singing instead... and I swear Elissa and I were going to slap each others thighs off from excitement.  It was a truly magical experience!

Finally, the part that sticks out most in my mind was the thing Eliot and I loved so much that we did it twice Sunday afternoon... the Alan Menken Concert.  The concert was Alan Menken taking us through his own personal story through song.  It included fan favorites from the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Tangled, Hercules, Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame and Aladdin.  Some of the songs he wrote for Broadway and the live action movies even made an appearance.  It was absolutely incredible... like I said, it was so good we went back for the second showing of it.

As you can see, there were a lot of cool experiences that Eliot and I got to do at the 2017 D23 Expo that some Disney fans can only dream of.  The D23 Expos events are definitely the place to go for fans!  While there were a lot of things that weren't so great during this weekend, overall, it really was incredible!  Hopefully, all of us will get to experience more fun things at this year's event!

Happy 2022 D23 Expo Weekend Disney Fans!!!  °o°

Fun Find: "This Is Me" Sung by Disney on Broadway

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  Today, I'm back today with another quick fun find video from YouTube.  Earlier today, Disney released a video of some of the Disney on Broadway stars singing "This Is Me" from The Greatest Showman in honor of Pride Month.

I mentioned last month how much I loved The Greatest Showman when I shared a video of some of the Disney Broadway stars singing "A Million Dreams".  I love that this movie is technically part of Disney now that they own 21st Century Fox.  The movie already reminded me a lot of Walt Disney and I think this is the perfect match!

I think this is the perfect song with the perfect message to release during Pride!  I love how Disney is promoting everyone to be "authentically you" in it's message.

I have enjoyed this video so much!  I love how they used the Aladdin theater as the backdrop for the music video.  Eliot and I saw Aladdin on Broadway back in 2018 and it was so much fun!  The set is gorgeous and the theater is beautiful.  Plus, these Disney on Broadway stars completely nailed it!  They sound amazing.  I only wish the video had said which Disney musicals they were a part of!

Happy Pride!!!  Have a wonderful weekend!!!  °o°

Top Ten Disney Animated TV Show Theme Songs

Last Friday, Eliot and I joined many others in watching Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers over on Disney+.  I've been looking forward to this reboot movie for months now.  As soon as it was released, Eliot and I knew that we had to watch it.  Growing up, Rescue Rangers was one of my all time favorite shows.  Jeremy and I used to watch Disney Afternoon each day like it was our job.  We were obsessed with it.

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This movie was so nostalgic and I found myself recognizing a lot of the merchandise that they showed in the movie.  Jeremy and I had Chip and Dale plush and they were some of our favorite toys.  A few years ago, Disney released a shirt just like Dale's and I'm still kicking myself for not getting one!  (Thankfully, Eliot has one, so we can dress up together if we want to... I'll just have to go as Chip!)

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Eliot and I both loved the new Rescue Rangers movie.  We laughed so hard and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I couldn't wait for Jeremy to see it.  He wasn't able to watch it until Saturday, but as soon as he had watched it, he texted to let me know.

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Watching the movie brought back a lot of memories... especially about the time that the theme song was rolling.  It got me thinking about all of the other shows Jeremy and I used to watch daily.  Before I knew it, a list was forming in my head, and I decided to run with it.  So today, I thought that I would share with you some of my other favorite Disney animated television show theme songs!  Here's my latest Top Ten Tuesday!

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Top Ten Disney Animated TV Show Theme Songs 

10.) Aladdin- This song isn't too much different from Arabian Nights in the Aladdin movie, so it's at the bottom of my list for that main reason.  Still, Jeremy and I loved Aladdin the movie and we were both completely enthralled with watching the animated cartoon and our favorite characters' new adventures!

9.) Little Mermaid- This is the only song in my top 10 line up that doesn't have any lyrics to it.  Still, I loved watching Ariel and all of her adventures as a mermaid.  This music brings back a lot of fond memories of watching this show when I was a child.

8.) Talespin- I dare you to not get up and start dancing when you hear this theme song!  Disney Afternoon was like a religion in our house, and this was a favorite!

7.) Winnie the Pooh- If most of these songs defined my weekday afternoons, this is the song that defined my Saturday mornings.  Jeremy and I loved watching Saturday morning cartoons and I have such fond memories of watching Winnie the Pooh and all of his friends during their adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood!

6.) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse- Every time I hear this, I have to sing along with it.  This is such a cute kids show and I love the fun theme song!  "M-I-C-K-E-Y.... M-O-U-S-E! It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Come inside, it's fun inside!"

5.) Sofia the First- To this day, every time I hear this song, I think of Elissa.  She and I used to watch the Disney Channel in the mornings when she came out to visit Eliot and me over the summers of 2014 and 2015 during what we dubbed as Camp Cady.  We would always sing the Sofia the First theme song together when the show came on.  I will always treasure this special little bond that we have!

4.) Call Me, Beep Me- I can't help but sing every time I hear this song!  Kim Possible was probably my favorite more recent animated show from the Disney Channel.  I watched The Proud Family, Phineas and Ferb, Recess and other animated shows, but this is the theme song that resonated with me the most! 

3.) Darkwing Duck- My brother and I used to sing this all the time and we probably drove our parents nuts.  It was probably Jeremy's and my go to theme song to sing.  I remember so many afternoons of us watching Disney Afternoon together after school and then running around the house singing all of the theme songs!

2.) Rescue Rangers- Not only is this song a classic, but it's incredibly catchy.  I love this theme song and still find myself humming it whenever I see Chip and Dale.  

1.) Ducktales- This is quite possibly the song that was playing when me and Eliot realized that we were meant to be together.  I was playing some music one day when we were hanging out in my apartment on campus, and the Ducktales theme song came on.  Eliot and I both totally geeked out about it, saying how much we loved the show.  This was such an important song that I requested they play it at our wedding reception!  For all of those reasons, it will always hold a very special place in my heart. 

And those are my favorite Disney animated TV show theme songs!!!  I have to admit, this blog post was so much fun to put together.  It brought back so many fun memories from my childhood.  I'll have to bookmark it for whenever I'm having a bad day.  These songs will always put a smile on my face!!!  °o°

Fun Find: Celebrating Pirates of the Caribbean Opening Day in 1967

Happy Friday!  Today, this Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean attraction turns 55, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to write a short fun find post to celebrate it!

Pirates of the Caribbean opened at Disneyland on this date back in 1967.  The ride has been through quite a few changes in it's 55 years, but it's still the classic ride we all know and love.  My favorite part of the Disneyland version is that it's longer than Walt Disney World's (this one is 15 minutes long) and it has more scenes.  There are two drops at the beginning.  There are also additional scenes of the Captain's Quarters, a room filled with treasure, an extended fire scene after the jail, a bayou and more!

If you've never been to Disneyland to experience the ride in person, I found this video that you can watch.  Please note, this video is a few years old and it's before the redhead scene changed to Redd being a pirate.  It's also missing the octopus scene.

I love how the video includes the queue!  At Disneyland, the boats pass right by the line; so guests standing in line can watch the parrot scene and the passing boats!

Another classic part of the ride is the song and soundtrack.  While looking for videos of the ride, I stumbled across this soundtrack video of the entire ride loop.  If you're in the mood for some pirate music to celebrate today, you might enjoy this as well!

Happy 55th Birthday Pirates of the Caribbean!  Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirates life for me!!!  °o°

Fun Find: Encanto Lyric Videos

This entire week has been brought to you by Encanto.  Ever since Eliot and I first watched it on Sunday, I've had the soundtrack stuck in my head.  I've given into it and Alexa probably thinks that's the only music she's allowed to play in my presence.

Working on posts for my blog?  Encanto soundtrack.  Cleaning the house?  Also Encanto.  Working on orders for our businesses?  Still listening to Encanto.  Putting the dishes in the dishwasher... you guessed it!  Encanto.  It's all been Encanto.

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Like I said the other day, the music is so catchy.  It has a great rhythm and it's easy to dance to.  It makes me want to dance around the house all day while cleaning.  Of course, I wan't expecting anything less when I found out that Lin-Manuel Miranda was writing the music for the movie.  I knew it would be incredible, and that there would probably be some speedy lines that would be hard to memorize.

Luckily, Disney made some lyric videos of all the songs from Encanto.  I'm not going to share all of them with you today, but these are a few of my favorites from the movie!

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CAUTION: Major Spoiler Alert!!!  Spoilers are ahead if you haven't seen Encanto yet!  Most of these songs help tell the story, so you'll definitely spoil some plot points for yourself if you haven't watched it!  Proceed ahead with caution!

The first song of the movie introduces us to the "The Family Madrigal" through main character Mirabel's perspective.  I thought this was a genius way to tell the movie viewer about each member of the family and their special gift.

"We Don't Talk About Bruno" is my absolute favorite song from the movie.  It is just SO darn catchy... Trust me, you'll catch yourself humming it randomly throughout the day like I do.  I can't help myself... I can't stop singing it.  But we don't talk about it.  Hehe.

Another song that really resonated with me was "Surface Pressure".  All of us have been under intense pressure at one point, whether it's from family members, friends, co-workers, peers, or ourselves.  This is another one you won't get out of your head.  

"All of You" is the final song of the movie where the ending is coming together.  This song also really got to me on a personal level.  Each member of the family is realizing that they are more than just their special gift.  And I love how they make Mirabel her own doorknob and she sees her own reflection looking back at her.  I thought that moment was so beautiful and it really spoke to me.

So, what did you think?  If you haven't seen Encanto yet, do yourself a favor and go watch it!  Lin-Manuel Miranda is an absolute genius with his lyrics.  These songs are incredible!  Plus, they remind me a lot of Hamilton (which he also wrote).  I had to listen to that soundtrack over and over again until I learned all of the lyrics.

I'll definitely be watching these videos on repeat until I memorize every single line!  °o°

Hamilton and Disney Crossovers

It's been one month since Eliot and I first watched Hamilton to finish our at home 4th of July celebrations.  Since then, I've watched the movie again twice.  I've also listened to the entire soundtrack a bunch of times.  At this point, it's my go to music if I'm cleaning or organizing the house.  It's also perfect to crank up and lose myself while working on mouse ears.  I think it's safe to say that the musical is now a personal favorite of mine.

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I, like many others who love Hamilton, also love Disney.  With the addition of Hamilton to the Disney+ family, many people have also made Hamilton and Disney mash ups.  A search of "Hamilton Disney" on Etsy will produce a bunch of shirts, stickers, mouse ears, and more with quotes from the musical and our favorite characters.  I'm definitely going to be getting a few of them to rock the next time I'm at Walt Disney World!

Of course, the music itself also presents another fun way to mash up Disney and Hamilton.  I've come across a few things that I couldn't help but share.  The most ambitious project I've seen thus far are these two videos of the entire first and second acts of the Hamilton musical- but performed by the Muppets.  On Youtube, voice impressionist Ricky Downs III has re-created the entire musical, complete with commentary by our favorite Muppet critics: Statler and Waldorf.

The cast includes Kermit as Alexander Hamilton, Miss Piggy as Eliza, Gonzo as Aaron Burr, Sam Eagle as George Washington, Fozzie Bear as "Marquis de LaFozette" and many more of our favorite Muppet friends.  Some of the characters even switch for the second act of the play, just like in the real version of Hamilton!  (You can read more about Act 1 here and Act 2 here.)  I haven't had a chance to listen to all of the videos yet, but it's definitely on my to do list!

My personal favorite crossover (so far) is this video parody brought to us by King George if he owned Disney.  It's the perfect Hamilton Disney crossover and I found myself laughing each time I've watched it.  Of course, we'll be back... even when you raise the ticket prices to remind us of your love.

If you love Disney, the Muppets, and Hamilton, you have to check these out.  I'm sure you'll get a big chuckle out of them- just like I did!  °o°

Hamilton Review

It's been 10 days since Eliot and I joined everyone in the phenomenon of the Hamilton musical.  Like many others, we flocked to Disney+ to experience the film version of the theatrical musical the weekend it was released.  Late in the evening on the 4th of July, we finally sat down to watch... and I was completely captivated for 2.5 hours.

Wow.  Brilliant.  Amazing.  Incredible.  Thought Provoking.  Ear-wormy.  Just... WOW.

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I can't believe that Eliot and I didn't see it sooner.  Now, I really wish that we'd seen it live on Broadway.  I know that someday we will be able to see it live... when the world is right side up again.  And I very much look forward to that day.

Going into watching Hamilton, I didn't know the music.  All I knew about the music was that it was a lot of rap and hip hop and that it might be hard to follow along and catch everything.  But everyone was obsessed with the soundtrack, so I knew it would be good.  I also knew the musical was about founding father Alexander Hamilton.  I knew everyone who had seen it live thought it was amazing... and that's all I had to go on.

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I specifically didn't listen to the soundtrack because I didn't want to ruin anything for myself.  I don't regret this decision.  While there were a few places that I didn't catch what was being said the first time, I quickly committed some of the more popular songs to memory after one viewing.  I listened to the soundtrack and watched the movie again on Monday the 6th while Eliot was at work.  The Hamilton soundtrack has been my go-to playlist since Eliot and I first watched it on July 4th.  Now, even more of the songs are stuck in my head on repeat.

I haven't watched it for a third time... yet.  Eliot's sister Elissa is here with us for the week, so if we have time, she and I might watch it one afternoon while he's at work.  If we don't watch it, I'll definitely be putting it on again next week after she leaves.

Ever since I watched Hamilton, I can't get enough of it.  At this point, Facebook knows about my obsession because it keeps suggesting articles and videos about the history, cast, and story behind the making of the hit musical.  Videos of the cast performing outside of their Broadway theater also keep popping up.  I'm not complaining.

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I knew when I settled into the couch and we first saw the stage that I was going to be hooked.  The seemingly simple stage design transported me back to revolutionary times.  They used simple, historically accurate props, keeping the viewers main focus on the cast, choreography and most importantly- the music.  The stage also had a rotating platform or turntable.  It was used to help move the story along and it brought so much life to the performance.  Finally, I was excited to see more staircases on wheels- much like I the ones in "Frozen Live at the Hyperion" at California Adventure.

The costumes were also historically appropriate.  At first glance, they didn't seem very important but you could easily tell the main cast members apart because of their costumes.  The simple costumes the ensemble members wore made it easy for them to change into different characters- like Revolutionary or British soldiers... depending on where you were in the story.  You could also see how Hamilton grew in importance (and presumably also in wealth) based on his clothing.  It seems so simple, and yet, the clothing choices were also subtly helping to move the story along.

Another aspect that I was impressed with was the choreography.  I had no idea what to expect but it blew me away.  I loved the way it brought the story to life.  The ensemble's dancing was flawless.  The dance style was mostly dictated by the music... and the two were seamless.  The stage turntable and choreography worked together harmoniously as well.  I was so impressed by how well it all came together visually.

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Which brings me to the cast of Hamilton... the original Broadway cast of Hamilton was perfection.  Each of the cast members were perfect for their role.  I completely believed each of them was the character they were portraying and that I had magically gone back in time to witness the founding of our country firsthand.  The casts' voices, acting, dancing... everything just blew me away.  I was also impressed to see such a diverse cast.  I didn't know that Hamilton was known for how it cast African-Americans, Latinos and Asians in the roles of the white Founding Fathers and their female counterparts.  I thought this was brilliant, and it seemed especially relevant that Hamilton was released on Disney+ right now with everything happening in our country.

The story and writing was what impressed me most.  I've since read that it took 5 years for Lin-Manuel Miranda to write all of Hamilton.  It doesn't surprise me.  It was amazing and I'm sure it took a lot of time to get it perfect.  The storyline was pretty historically factual, with a few things added to help with the storyline, and a few things taken out because you can't fit everything from history into a 2.5 hour musical.  The craziest part of all of this is that almost the entire 2.5 hour musical is music.

The entire show is told through the music.  If you listen to the soundtrack, it's 2 hours and 23 minutes long- that's most of the show.  One song flows seamlessly into the next.  The music styles might be different, but they all fit together perfectly.  Some of the songs at the end echo parts of previous songs.  In the end, the entire soundtrack of 46 songs fits together in a gift wrapped box of perfection.

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Lin-Manuel Miranda is brilliant   I've always admired his work, but now I can fully attest to his absolute brilliance.  I should have known that he'd completely blow me away.  I was very impressed with the Moana soundtrack.  I can't wait to see what he does for the live action The Little Mermaid music.  (I hope he continues working with Disney!)

The Hamilton movie has found a perfect home on Disney+.  Disney and Pixar are known for their incredible storytelling- and this fits that model.  The amount of details that make the Hamilton story come alive make me feel like it's a live action Disney movie.  You can feel the love, time and care that was put into creating it.  Disney and Pixar are also known for hiding Easter eggs in their movies, and Hamilton has many little things to look for when you watch it over and over.  (I'm going to have to look into these each time I watch the movie to see if I can spot them!)

Long story short, Hamilton was incredible.  The easiest way to explain it is that, "it's the story of America then, told by America now," as stated by Thomas Kail, the director of Hamilton.  If you like American history, musical theater, amazing costuming, dynamic choreography and marvelous performers- you have to see it.  Even if you aren't sure if you'll like it, it's worth taking 2.5 hours of your life to watch it and find out.

If you haven't seen Hamilton yet, do yourself a favor and watch it.  If you don't have Disney+, go get the free trial.  You need to be in the room where it happened.  °o°

Fun Find: Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack

I promised I'd check back in with the release of the soundtrack!  (Unfortunately, I had a crazy busy Friday and I wasn't able to write this post for yesterday!)  We are less than a week away from the release of Beauty and the Beast!  I can't wait!!!  Eliot and I have been crazy busy the past few weeks... more on that later, but all good things!  It seems like this movie will be here before we know it.  (Not that I'm complaining!)

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I haven't had a chance to actually buy the soundtrack, even though I swore I would the day it was released.  In my scurry of errands yesterday, it didn't even don on me to buy it while I was in Walmart.  I could get it on iTunes, but I tend to buy the physical CD of soundtracks, especially when I know I'm going to be listening to them in the car.  

Instead, I've decided to wait a few more days to get my copy.  However, I only have so much restraint and I have checked it out on iTunes.  Here's what I think so far:

Belle- I love this.  The preview of this scene gave me chills with how perfect it was.

Belle (Reprise)- Gives me goosebumps every single time I hear it.  It makes me want to sing at the top of a grassy hill, "I was so much more than they've got planned..."

Gaston- I love this.  Josh Gad is my hero.  I can't wait to see him as LeFou!!!

Be Our Guest- Still just as upbeat and catchy as the original.  I can't wait to see the visual of this.  It's one of my favorite scenes in the animated movie!

Days in the Sun- I'm excited to hear the rest of this original and to see it in the movie!

Something There- I love this scene in the animated movie and I'm really excited to see this. I still think Emma Watson is the perfect Belle.

How Does a Moment Last Forever (Montmartre)- This snippet is so short!  I want to hear more of it.  I can't wait to see it in the film too!

Beauty and the Beast- I think I'm going to love Mrs. Potts.  I loved this song in the original and I sang it all the time.  And this scene, it will be perfection.  I can feel it!

Evermore- I'm so excited to hear from the Beast!  I wish that he sang more in the original.  I'm so glad that they included this in the movie and soundtrack!

The Mob Song- So upbeat and catchy like the original.  I know it's the villain's song, but this is always the one that I end up singing after watching Beauty and the Beast at Hollywood Studios.  It's just so catchy!

Beauty and the Beast- I love this updated version from Ariana Grande and John Legend and I've been listening to it for weeks now.  Perfection!!!

Have you bought the soundtrack yet?  What do you think?  I can't wait to get my hands on my copy!  I'm sure I'm going to be singing this all. the. time. in my car.  Move over Moana, I've got another playlist to add to the collection!!!  °o°

Snow, Sickness and Songs

Since February started, I haven't been on here as much as I would have liked.  Eliot and I have been busy around here, as usual.  Not to mention that in the past two weeks, we've gone from 55 degree days, to the frigid teens, to below zero... from having no snow to gaining another 8 or so inches.  Thankfully, some of it melted down before the frigid temperatures arrived.

Unfortunately, in addition to the cold temperatures and snow, I've also been fighting off a cold for the past week and a half.  I can't seem to shake it.  I'm not completely miserable, but I don't feel 100% and the headaches are annoying.  I also keep waking up in the wee hours of the morning.  What I wouldn't give for a solid night of sleep!

I've kept myself busy though.  Staying busy seems to take my mind off it anyways!  I've been working on some more ear orders for Happily Ever Hatter, including a special pair of ears for one of my Key to the World travel friends.  I also really enjoyed making last weekend's tsum tsum Valentine's Day wreath for the Disney Pixar blog hop.

I've puttered around the house cleaning and organizing things here and there.  We're making a lot more progress on our master bedroom and that's really encouraging.  I'm hoping to move a few more things around in my office this weekend!  

I've had one miserable night at work when I was burning up with a fever, but other than that it's been good.  In fact, we got so much snow this past Monday that we ended up canceling all of our appointments and rescheduling our patients.  It's probably a good thing because the roads were treacherous on my ride home!

I have tried to make time to rest and relax.  I've spent more time on the couch than I care to admit.  Luckily, I've had some work I could do from home.  Eliot and I had a relaxing movie night last Saturday.  We watched Tangled.  Then, I didn't feel inclined to do anything else (other than sit on the couch) so I watched our new copy of Aladdin.  I caught the Disney Channel airing of Mulan early in the week and then I watched Teen Beach 2 on Thursday.  Finally, I watched Descendants last night when I got home.

Lately, I've been enjoying getting back into my Disney Music.  I hadn't had much of it on my newer computer.  Now that I do, it's basically all I've been listening to.  The Disneyland 60th show songs are my newest favorites!  In addition to that, I've also been listening to Eliot's "We Love Disney" cd in the car.  When I'm working on blog entries, I've been listening to Kyle Landry's Disney piano music in the background.  It's beautiful and he has a Disney playlist already made on his Youtube channel.

Hopefully, in the next few days I'll finally be rid of this cold.  It's so chilly outside that I've already planned to stay inside all weekend.  This morning, I helped Eliot package a soap order for an Etsy customer.  Now, I'm going to rest up, work on some things around the house, enjoy my time on the couch watching more Disney movies, add more Disney music to my computer and sketch out more of my hat designs!  Yay!!!  °o°

Fun Find: Disney Medley

Hello friends!  Today, I wanted to share a Fun Find Friday that I stumbled across the other day while browsing Facebook.  You might have seen it already, but if you haven't- stop what you're doing and take five minutes to watch this video!  You won't regret it!

I love Disney medleys; I also love a cappella.  This video is extra special because it features the a cappella group, Voctave.  You might recognize some of the singers as performers from "Voices of Liberty" in Epcot!  It also features Kristin Maldonado from Pentatonix and Jeremy Michael Lewis from AcoUskiKats.  

The medley is absolutely beautiful.  I love the combination of "See the Light" (Tangled), "You'll Be in my Heart" (Tarzan) and "Go the Distance" (Hercules).  These are three of my favorite Disney songs and it seems like Hercules is always overlooked.  I'm so glad they included it in this medley!  The entire song is also available to download in iTunes!  (I've already added it to my Disney music collection.)  I hope you enjoy it!!!  °o°

Fun Find: Kyle Landry- Pianist

Hey Guys!  I'm sorry I haven't dropped by lately.  It has been another busy week at the Cady house.  Eliot's grandfather has been very ill and he passed away Wednesday night. Understandably, I've taken a break from my blogging to spend time with my husband.  Pa Joe was a wonderful man and I'm glad to have known him.  He will be greatly missed.

Eliot will be in California with his family for the next week and I'm hoping to get a few Halloween projects completed while he's away.  (I've had them planned for a while now.) In the meantime, I wanted to share another Fun Find Friday with you!  Before I left for my trip to Walt Disney World, I stumbled across some videos on YouTube.

I was looking for piano versions of "Let It Go" when I came across pianist Kyle Landry.  I immediately stopped everything and watched at least five of his Disney videos.  He's very talented and he composes his own versions of the songs!

I absolutely love his version of "Part of Your World" from the Little Mermaid.  I've listened to it at least 10 times since I discovered his Youtube channel.

His version of "I Can Go the Distance" gives me chills every time I hear it.  

Kyle even has a whole playlist of his Disney songs!

These compositions are not only beautiful, but there's something relaxing about listening to the piano versions of my favorite Disney songs.  They're perfect to listen to in the background while I'm working on some of my projects!

Enjoy!!!  °o°

Fun Find: Disney Medley & Disney Classics CD

Hey Everyone!  Here I am trying to get caught up with those 2014 goals.  I've been pretty busy today, and I didn't have time to finish a tutorial.  I thought that I'd post another fun find tonight instead!

I stumbled across this video back in October when it was released to promote the new Disney Classics boxed CD set.  I love Disney music, so I had to check this video out!  I absolutely loved this medley of songs.  It includes songs from The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas!  Check it out!

Alex G & Peter Hollens have great voices.  I also love how they changed outfits and scenery for each of the different songs.  I think my favorite part is when they're singing in the bubbles during "Under the Sea."  It's had over 3.5 million views on Youtube, so I'd say that a lot of other people like the video and song as well!

Photo Credit: Disney Parks Blog

The song is included on the boxed CD set.  If you really love it, you can also purchase it individually on iTunes.  I haven't yet... I'm still holding out to buy the whole set.  I love me some Disney Park music and I'm also dying to get my hands on the Darkwing Duck theme song!  I was so excited- I even commented on the Disney Parks blog post about it!

Photo Credit: Disney Parks Blog

The CD set is separated into four CDs: Modern Classics, Timeless Classics, Theme Park Classics, and Television Classics!  I already have a ton of the Disney Theme Park CDs.  What I love about it is that it has a lot of music I don't have!  With 94 tracks included in the set, there's definitely something there for every Disney fan!

I guess you guys lucked out tonight!  This is kind of a two-for-one fun find special:  

• Fun Find #1- the music video.  
• Fun Find #2- the Disney Classics boxed CD set.

Enjoy!!!   °o°