Magical Merchandise: Valentine's Day 2023

Happy Monday and Happy Galentine's Day!!!  I can't believe that Valentine's Day is already tomorrow.  This year is flying right by.  Before the day passes though, I had to stop by with a merchandise post of some "sweet" finds.  I've been meaning to post these for a few weeks now, but I've been so busy.  Better late than never I guess!

I've actually seen a bunch of different Disney Valentine's Day finds- a few in store and a bunch online.  I haven't been taking photos of everything I've seen in the stores, but I thought that I'd share a few of my favorite online finds with you!  Let's check them out!

We're going to start with Torrid since they were probably the first place that I saw Valentine's Day items pop up a few weeks ago.  First, we have this button down Lady and the Tramp Shirt.  The pattern is more subtle but it's really cute!

They also have these Stitch Underwear if you want to dress from head to toe.

I think these Mickey and Minnie Cherry Underwear are really cute!  I love cherries!

If you're going more casual, these Mickey and Minnie Leggings are perfect.

I really love this Mickey and Minnie Mouse pajama set!  I might have to get them!

Finally, my favorite piece is this Minnie Mouse Floral Dress.  The floral pattern is really pretty, and the Minnie Mouses are hidden throughout the design.  I think it's a great subtle Disney outfit... plus, there's a heart cut out on the back!

BoxLunch had a bunch of couples items this year.  First, we have these Aladdin Disney Couples Shirts.  I love how they are in their wedding outfits!  You hardly ever see Aladdin and Jasmine wearing those.  Plus, they made a matching toddler Abu shirt!

Next, we have these Little Mermaid Shirts.  They are also in their wedding outfits, and there are a matching Sebastian and Flounder toddler shirt and a baby onesie.

Finally, there were a bunch of different Disney Couples Mugs!

Her Universe and Hot Topic collaborated on another holiday clothing collection.  First, they made this more casual Mickey and Minnie Shirt.

These Mickey and Minnie Jeans would match the shirt perfectly.

Next, we have this Stitch Sweater... 

and a matching Stitch Skirt!

Finally, we have a more dressy outfit featuring Mickey and Minnie.  There's a black blouse shirt and a red skirt with Mickey and Minnie heads on it.  I love the skirt!  I think it would be perfect for Valentine's Day as well as the holiday season!

Hot Topic also had a bunch of items including accessories, figures and clothing.  First, we have the Star Wars Funko Pops.  I love how they make different ones each year!  

Next, we have some Stitch and Angel Socks.

They also carried the Valentine's Day Her Universe Bags.

There's also a super adorable Baymax Mini Backpack.

I really love this Up Mini Loungefly Backpack with all of the heart shaped balloons!

Finally, my favorite thing was this Mickey and Friends Candy Heart Shirt.

Entertainment Earth had this Mickey Mouse Valentine's Day Candy Heart bag as an exclusive Loungefly that you could only purchase at their shop.

Baublebar also had a few new items that they added to their collection.  First up, we have the Mickey and Minnie XOXO Earrings.

Next, they also had these tiny Mickey and Minnie Better Half post earrings.

I'm a big fan of the Mickey Mouse Hand Drawn Hearts Bag Charm.  I love all of the colors and I'm notoriously a sucker for anything that looks hand drawn.

Finally, my favorite new item was this Mickey Mouse Candy Bag Charm.  I love sweets and candy and this little bag charm makes me happy just looking at it!

And there you have it... a quick compilation of my favorite Valentine's Day finds this year. There are definitely a lot more products out there, but I just wanted to show you a few.  If you're looking for last minute gifts or decorations, I've also seen or heard about items at Walmart, CVS, Walgreen's, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Homegoods, and Kohl's!

Happy shopping and I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day tomorrow!!!  °o°

Super Bowl Sunday 2023

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!!!

As you know, Eliot and I are big sports fans.  We love watching the Super Bowl each year.  I've been blessed to have my team in the big dance many times over the past 2+ decades.  The New England Patriots have been a Super Bowl staple for years.

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Eliot hasn't been so lucky... his Philadelphia Eagles have been three times, and only twice during our lifetimes.  They lost to my Patriots back in Super Bowl XXXIX (39) and then they came back to beat us during Super Bowl LII (52)... so at least we're dead even in Super Bowls against each other.  But I've had many more times to cheer for my team in the championship game.  That's why he's so excited to be able to watch the Eagles play in Super Bowl LVII (57) against the Kansas City Chiefs tonight!

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Disney has already announced that the winners of Super Bowl LVII will be heading a bit farther west to Disneyland for their traditional celebratory parade.  Walt Disney World locals are a bit disappointed that the parade is at Disneyland for the second year in a row.  But the parade seems to be going to whichever park is closer to the location of the Super Bowl... and Arizona is closer to Anaheim.  Next year, the Super Bowl is taking place in Las Vegas, so it is likely that the post game parade celebration will take place at Disneyland next year as well... regardless of who is in the game.

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Speaking of Disney, I do have one more thing that I have to share with you before I close my laptop and sign off for the evening.  Earlier today, Eliot and I both got emails from Bob Iger as part of our D23 membership.  The email spoke about celebrating 100 years of storytelling, and gave us a preview of a commercial that will premiere tonight during the Super Bowl.  I took a minute to watch it, and it definitely brought a few tears.  I'll have to watch it again to really grasp the entire thing, but I'll wait for the premiere during the big game.  If you want to see it, here it is!

I hope you enjoyed this commercial and that you have fun watching all of the ones that premier tonight!  Hopefully it will be a good game too!  For now, it's time for me to get ready for the game!  Eliot is currently on his way over to the supermarket to get stuff to make nachos and other game time snacks.  I've gotta go get the kitchen prepped!

I can't believe that I'm even saying this but... Go Eagles!!!  °o°

Fun Find: Disney Fairy Tale Weddings 2023 Fashion Show

Happy Fri-Yay!!!  And today is a big yay indeed.  This morning, Disney Fairy Tale Weddings had their annual Bridal Collection Fashion Show and it was live-streamed on YouTube.  I wasn't able to watch the live earlier, but I have watched the video and the collection is stunning.  As a Disney Bride who wore a licensed Disney wedding gown, seeing all of the new princess gown designs are always a highlight for me!

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Today, Disney Fairy Tale Weddings and Allure Bridals debuted 21 new wedding gowns inspired by Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Tiana and Rapunzel.  (I think that's also the order they had the girls walk down the runway if you want to skip ahead to see a particular princess.)

The backdrop of the fashion show was the iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle at the Disneyland Resort.  She looked extra spectacular as the castle is currently decorated for the Disney100 celebration.  The lights and florals at the end of the runway also made the show magical and added an elegant touch.

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I was excited to see a few familiar faces.  I've followed Courtney Quinn on Instagram for a while now.  She was also accompanied by fellow content creators Karlie Place, Toni Bravo, Allison Bickerstaff and Janette Ok to host and model some of the gowns.

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And for the first time ever, they debuted a bridesmaid collection!  At the end of the show, four girls came out in the new Aurora inspired gowns in pink and blue.  We only saw these, but they will be making bridesmaid gowns for all nine fo the princesses.

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My favorite part of the fashion show was that they showcased girls of all sizes, shapes and colors.  I've always thought that inclusion matters.  For me, it was nice to see some girls with more curves in the show.  I was never very hung up with my weight or appearance when I tried on wedding gowns, but I've heard horror stories from some brides about trying to fit into the few gown sizes bridal boutiques have.  It's good to know that they thought of women of all sizes when they designed this collection!

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I love all of the new gowns and I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite.  My gown didn't have lace details, but I'm totally loving those.  (The Snow White and Cinderella gowns stick out in my mind.)  I'm still a big fan of the poofy princess-y skirts too.  I don't need another wedding gown anytime soon.  But Eliot and I have talked about having a vow renewal someday... I'll definitely be keeping these gorgeous gowns in mind!  °o°

Upcoming Adventures

It's hard to believe that we're already about a 1/3 of the way into February.  2023 has felt like a bit of a mixed bag for Eliot and me so far.  We've had the highs of a Disney trip and all of the fun and magic that entails, to the deepest of lows with losing Nana, to the normal things that life throws at you like having problems with our water system as well as our snow blower- in the middle of three storms in one week.

Thankfully, this week seems to be going more in our favor so far.  In fact, yesterday I was pretty giddy with excitement about everything that we have coming up on our calendar.  It's been a while since I sat down and looked at it... I'm usually popping in long enough to add something or to make a quick adjustment.  But sitting down and actually looking at it... it's shaping up to be an exciting few months ahead of us!

Just within the past week or so, Eliot and I finalized our plans for our upcoming trip out to San Jose.  We've had Patrick Marleau's Jersey Retirement ceremony marked on our calendar ever since we found out the date: February 25th, before the Shark's home game against Chicago.  We leave Thursday, February 23rd and fly from Boston to San Francisco.  Then, we're not flying home from San Francisco until late Monday night and we land in Boston on Tuesday the 28th at 7:30 in the morning.

Both Eliot and I are so excited to spend an extended weekend out there.  Not only will we be going to the retirement ceremony and the game, but there's also going to be a Sharks Legends Game on Friday.  We're pumped to see that as well as the new Tech CU arena, where the San Jose Barracuda now play.  There are rumblings about a Teal Carpet event before the ceremony and game... so we'll see what happens.  Eliot and I are also hoping to go to a few Shark's practices while out there.  

We're also excited to see his family!  All six of us haven't been together since last March during our trip to Disneyland.  So it will be good to visit with everyone!

This morning, my mother called to talk about her and Dad potentially coming down over the first weekend of March.  We've been talking about Dad and Jeremy going to a Celtics game that weekend ever since Christmas.  Of course, we didn't know that we'd lose Nana before then.  But as of right now, the plan still remains that they'll go to the game- while Mom, Eliot and I will hang out in Portland until they get back.  Then, we will probably all have breakfast together before everyone heads back home.  It isn't much, but it will be a nice break for Mom and Dad.  Plus, it would be nice to spend the weekend with them.  We don't usually see them much during tax season!

Looking even further ahead on the calendar, I've blocked off Thursday, April 6th through the Sunday the 9th.  Back when we lost Nana, Eliot and I were already on vacation, so he didn't take a day off from work for bereavement.  All along, I've been planning to have him take Nana's birthday on April 6th off to be with me instead.  We aren't having a memorial service or anything for her since it was against her wishes... so instead, I wanted to do something special on her birthday in her memory.

I've been tossing ideas around, but the perfect thing fell in my lap the other day.  I've been wanting to go see traveling Broadway show, and I checked the schedule the other day to see when it was in Boston.  I didn't love the seats still available at the Boston show, so I happened to check where else is was going in New England.  It's coming to Nashua.  And it's going to be there on Nana's birthday!

The entire thing could not have worked out any better.  Eliot always gets Good Friday off from work, and Good Friday is that Friday the 7th.  So now, I've got a weekend getaway in Boston and Nashua loosely planned out.  The Disney Animation Immersive Experience that I told you about is going to be in Boston then too... so we'll be going to that at some point over the weekend.  I'm planning to get Eliot, Jeremy and me tickets to the show in Nashua.  I'm not 100% sure what else Eliot and I will be doing and on what day, but we're going to get that scheduled soon.  Then, on Sunday the 9th- which is Easter- the Maine Mariners have an afternoon home game that Eliot and I are planning to attend.  So it will be a great weekend- we'll get to spend time with Jeremy over Easter weekend, and we'll get to honor Nana on her birthday.

And that's not all... yesterday, Eliot emailed me mid-afternoon to let me know when his EASTEC conference was going to be this spring... May 16th-18th.  I immediately blocked it off on my calendar.  He's planning to have me go down with him like he did last time.  I'm tickled pink because he wants to go with me instead of his co-workers, but I also get it.  He feels like he can be at the Expo as long or as short as he wants to be, since he knows that I'm perfectly fine hanging out at the hotel.  We also had a great time together having dinner and swimming in the pool at the hotel after his work day was over.  I'm really looking forward to it, because it also means that we'll be able to go to a few of our favorite places in Western MA... including the Yankee Candle Village!

As you can see, Eliot and I have got a lot of fun things to look forward to.  It's just working out perfectly that each event is in a different month.  We've got February, March, April and May all covered with something exciting to look forward to.  These upcoming adventures will certainly be a bright shiny spot on the horizon during some of these long winter days that feel never-ending.  °o°

California Adventure's Birthday

Hi friends!  Eliot and I have been super busy this week but I wanted to pop in really quickly to wish California Adventure a very happy 22nd birthday! 

It's hard to believe the park is already 22 years old since opening up in 2001.  My first visit was back in 2009 when I went with Eliot, his sisters and his father while out in California for Sara's high school graduation.  (That was my first trip to the Disneyland Resort, and my first time in California as well.)

The park has changed so much since then!  One of these days, I'll have to do a #tbt post about the park when we first went.  I have so many pictures from that first trip!

One of my favorite things back then, that still is one of my favorites to this day is the Fun Wheel.  I love Mickey's Fun Wheel... not riding it necessarily, but I love the look of it.  To me, it's distinctly a Disneyland thing.  And I'm 100% obsessed with it lit up at night... especially when it looks like a rainbow!!!  (We've even made ears of it!)

Of course, World of Color goes hand in hand with my rainbow Fun Wheel.  It's also distinctly a Disneyland thing... although I keep hoping they'll bring something similar to the east coast!  World of Color is a spectacular nighttime show!

Cars Land is another highlight   Walking down the street feels like you're really inside of the movie.  And Radiator Springs Racers is definitely one of our favorite rides!

My other favorite at California Adventure is the Animation Building.  I love going inside for a break.  It's the perfect place to sit and rest in the air conditioning.  Plus, the music and Disney films that are projected all around you is the coolest thing.  I could sit there watching it for hours... and I have spent quite a bit of time doing just that!  I love it!

Anyways, I've got to get back to work, but I had to stop by for this quick post!  Happy 22nd Birthday California Adventure!!!  May you have many more magical years!!!  °o°

Magical Merchandise: New Baublebar Hair Clips

Happy Monday!  I hope your week is going well so far!

Today is a happy day indeed, as I was pleasantly surprised by an email that I received earlier.  I had planned on writing another post for today's merchandise find... until I got a text and email from Baublebar about their new Disney hair accessories!

As soon as I saw it, I dropped what I was doing and went to check the website out.  I was really surprised to find totally new hair claw designs!  I've seen their original Disney hair claw design, and I'd have recently seen glimpses of that same design in new colors.  (More about that below.)  I had assumed that they'd finally released those online.  What I wasn't prepared for were completely new designs! 

It seems only fitting that we start off with the Red Minnie Mouse Hair Claw Clip.  Minnie Mouse and her Red Polka Dot bow are fashion icons after all.

I love this White Minnie Mouse Hair Claw Clip.  It would be perfect for a Disney bride!

The Black and White Minnie Mouse Hair Claw Clip is my favorite of the Minnie Mouse designs.  I love how Minnie is black with a fun white sparkly bow!

This Minnie Mouse Hair Claw Clip only has one Minnie Mouse on it.

Of course, there's also a Mickey Mouse design to accompany the Minnie design.  This Red Mickey Mouse Hair Claw Clip would be fun to wear with a Mickey Disneybound.

I really love the White Mickey Mouse Hair Claw Clip too.  It's also great for a bride!

Just like the Minnie design, I'm a big fan of the Black and White Mickey Mouse Hair Claw Clip.  I love the look of the black and white together!

The Black Mickey Mouse Hair Claw Clip is my favorite of the black and white Mickey designs.  I love how it's mostly black but still has the pop of the white outline.

My overall favorite Mickey design is definitely the Rainbow Mickey Mouse Hair Claw Clip.  What can I say, I'm a total sucker for rainbows and anything colorful!

I have always loved hair claws and I used to wear clips and claws in my hair all the time.  I've had them away in storage for a few years now, but I've recently gotten a few of them out so I can start adding them back into my hair accessory rotation.  As you know, I have super thick, curly hair so these will be perfect to help hold it up!

They also still have the original Disney hair claws available.  This design was the one that I first discovered a few months ago.  It has little Mickeys scattered all over it.  The design originally came in two color combinations.  The first one was Tortoise.

The other original color was pearl- which is a white with pastel Mickeys.

Baublebar did finally release the original hair clip in the new colors that I'd seen sneaks of in advertisements.  A few of the new colors even glow in the dark!

One of the new designs I was most excited about was the purple clip.  I love purple and this is perfect for Rapunzel and Figment themed outfits... and I have a lot of Tangled stuff!  The purple design is also one of the ones that glows in the dark.

I like this green but it's a bit light for my wardrobe.  But it glows in the dark!

I like pink and this soft shade is pretty and perfect for spring.  It also glows in the dark.

This light yellow also works perfectly for spring.  I don't have many yellow clothes, but I'm thinking it would go with a few of my Belle outfits.  The yellow glows in the dark too.

Finally, the last new color is blue.  Unlike it's lighter counterparts, this one does not glow in the dark.  This is my favorite of the new colors.  I have so much blue in my wardrobe, and I love how bright and bold it is!  I hope they make more bright colors!

They've also had a smaller oval clip for a while.  It's available in Tortoise and Black with multi colored crystals.  I wish they'd make a larger black one.  I love the colors!

And I've saved the best for last.  This one wasn't featured in the email or text that I received, but when I was online I stumbled across it.  This small white rainbow Minnie Clip is my favorite of all the new ones.  I love that it's a tiny clip.  I'm tempted to get two of them so I can separate my hair with them.  Ok, so someone was a giant fan of those butterfly clips back in the 90's... and I could totally get behind Mickey and Minnie clips!

I hope you enjoyed seeing all of the new Baublebar Disney hair claws and clips!  I hope this means that there will be many more fun designs and colors to come.  Oooh, and maybe holiday clips!  I would go crazy for some special Disney themed Halloween and Christmas hair clips... Please Baublebar!!!  A girl can dream right?  °o°

New Beginnings

Hello February and hello to another new chapter in the adventure of life.

This morning, I woke up feeling refreshed, motivated, and ready... something that I've been struggling with the past few weeks since we returned from Florida.  New Years is always a time of fresh beginnings and setting goals.  However, due to our trip to Walt Disney World and everything leading up to it, I've found myself feeling behind in the whole "new year fresh start" schedule.  It wasn't even until Jeremy's birthday back on January 23rd that I actually finalized my 2023 goals.

But, all that is behind us now.  My goals are set, and now I feel motivated to dive in...

I'll still be posting my 2023 goals back in January when I have a minute.  I still need to finish a ton of blog posts from November, December and January.  I'm still very much behind, but I'm being kind to myself instead of freaking out over it like I used to.  

Grief is a hard thing to navigate.  Looking back at when we lost Papa, I was in a funk for months.  I don't think I felt like myself again until June.  This time with losing Nana is similar, but at the same time totally different.  I have moments of complete focus and motivation and I want to dive in head first.  Other days, I just want to sit on the couch and watch tv.  Above all, I'm just trying to be kind to myself in each moment.

And I think it's paying off.  I'm still very easily distracted, but I've found some of my lost focus the past few days.  I've been more productive this week than I have been since Eliot and I got from Florida.  I've been working on a lot this week: orders for Happily Ever Hatter and Snowblade Creations, unpacking, getting caught up on cleaning, and trying to make headway on some house organizing.

I'm getting back in my groove and that feels really good.  Plus, flipping the calendar to another month feels like a good thing.  While I'm sad to see our Walt Disney World trip disappear from my calendar white board (front and center on the fridge), I'm excited to put January 2023 behind me and to try to move forward.

Welcome February... may you hold wonderful new beginnings in your future.  °o°