my top five favorite: disney pins

I've been collecting Disney pins since 2011, when I started a (currently unbroken!) streak of visiting a Disney park every single year. I'm going back to Disney World with my mom in April and pin trading/shopping is at the top of the list of things I'm excited about! Normally I stalk all of the Disney news sites for pin updates and new releases (yes, I am THAT kind of pin collector, lol!) but I haven't even peeked since I booked my trip last fall. I want to be surprised and see what new pins await when I actually get to the resort.

Anyway, all that being said, I thought it would be fun to pick my top five favorite pins from my collection. This was SO MUCH HARDER than I thought it would be. I left out a lot that I really, really love... so I might need to do a Part II to this post ;)

First up (haha) is my UP house pin! This was a Christmas present from my mom a few years ago. The floating house with the balloons is, in my opinion, one of the most visually stunning and beautiful images that Disney has given us. I think this was a limited release pin which is actually sad because the image is so iconic and well-loved that it should really be more accessible.



I got this pin at the Disney soda fountain shop in Hollywood. I was so excited when I found it! 101 Dalmatians pins aren't easy to come by (well, at least non-Cruella pins are hard to come by. I can't for the life of me understand why most of the pins for this movie feature the puppy-killing villian?!) and Anita ones are SUPER hard to come by!



I got this pin in a Beauty and the Beast mystery box about five years ago while I was in Disney World. Most Belle merchandise features her in the yellow ballgown, but I've always preferred the casual independent bookworm iteration of her character, and I get super excited whenever I find something that shows her in her village attire. I was lucky enough to actually get two of these in the mystery boxes, so one has a permanent spot on the lanyard that I wear to the parks, and one lives comfortably at home in my collection.



Eating at Disney parks is up there with pin collecting as one of my favorite parts of visiting the parks. And eating pineapple dole whip is the best part of eating at the parks (and churros. and nutella waffles from Sleepy Hollow. oohh and hot pretzels!) I have stood in such long lines to get one little scoop of dole whip and it has ALWAYS been worth it. I love it when Disney immortalizes park food in pin form, and this just had to be in my top five.



Last but not least is this 50th anniversary Small World pin! This was a limited release cast member pin so I had to buy it on ebay. My favorite part of It's a Small World is the Mary Blair design, so pins that incorporate that are must haves for me. And my Grandmom actually saw the ride at the New York World's fair in 1964! This was a little more money than I'd normally pay for a Disney pin, but I couldn't pass it up. It's my most cherished pin in my collection.

tale as old as time

I saved my number one Disney princess for last -- Belle! It's actually one of my least favorite outfits that I put together, but maybe I just felt too much pressure trying to recreate my favorite and my brain couldn't handle it (at least that's the excuse I'm going to use.)

I can't believe tomorrow I'll be back home, back to the regular grind. This vacation was over much too quickly, but I'm looking forward to seeing my kitties again. I'm still having a really rough time missing Hypatia like crazy but my trip definitely helped lift my spirits a bit and reminded me that there are some things in life I can still enjoy and look forward to when everything else seems bleak. I love that Disney has that effect on me... I know some people outgrow its magic but I'm glad that it still cheers me up and comforts me so much when I'm blue :)

shirt - vintage | skirt - forever 21 | shoes - modcloth | belt - vintage

I did it!!

Well, my first airplane ride is officially behind me! Phew!! :D

I was a nervous wreck (and I may or may not have cried during take-off and also when I felt the plane touch back on earth) but I'm so glad I finally did it. It took 26 years, but I finally did it :) I think I'll need more practice before I'm able to do an international flight, but at least the more terrifying part is over.

Yesterday me and my mom went to the Magic Kingdom, and we had SO much fun!! We ate dinner at Cinderella's Castle! And the best part is that the new Fantasyland (which includes the Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid attractions) had a dress rehearsal while we were there! Those are my two favorite Disney princess movies (favorite Disney movie goes to 101 Dalmatians) so I was ridiculously elated. Again, I may or may not have cried. I was a little emotional yesterday lol :) The Little Mermaid ride is INCREDIBLE! We went on it three times and if it's open again today, I'm sure that tally will at least double. My mom and I ended up singing Under the Sea and Part of Your World as we wandered around the park for the rest of the night.

Well we're going to go grab some breakfast and head over to The Animal Kingdom now! I hope everyone else is having a magical week too :)

seafoam dreams

I hope everyone had a pleasant weekend! Mine was spent mostly fiddling around with sewing patterns and watching an endless amount of Foyle's War. I haven't re-watched it since it aired on PBS and I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I watched the first season 10 years ago. 10 years ago?! Geez louise! It seems like yesterday.

Today I spent all morning calling Disney World to try to book a dinner reservation at Be Our Guest (the new Beauty & The Beast restaurant) which is opening on the second-to-last night of my vacation in November. Unfortunately I totally missed out. It was reported last week that you could make reservations starting at 12pm today, but it was updated to 7am and I never saw the update. So by the time I called they were already completed booked for the days I'm there. I'm going to call once a week to see if anyone has cancelled but at least it's open for counter service meals at lunchtime, so I'll still get to peek inside even if I can't get a reservation. It's disappointing but honestly I'm just glad I'll get to see it at all. If my vacation was just 2 days shorter, I would have been out of luck completely!

Dress - modcloth | Shoes - c/o Bait footwear | Necklace- handmade

song as old as rhyme

dress/cardigan - h&m

shoes - c/o blowfish

This is what I ended up wearing to see Beauty and the Beast last week -- much warmer than the outfit I originally picked out, but still a little yellow tribute to Belle's gown ;)

I'm switching up my blog schedule a little next week. Not too many huge changes, but I felt like I needed to shift things around since I've had this same schedule for about a year now and it was getting a bit stale. Most of my current features are sticking around, just changing format or moving to a different day, and I have some new ones as well! I'm really excited about it! :)

ps. I posted some cute valentine's day freebies yesterday if you missed it.

tale as old as time

dress - modcloth

cardigan - forever 21

shoes - modcloth

belt - h&m

I wore this on Saturday morning to go see Beauty and The Beast 3D, but as soon as I stepped outside I realized I had to wear something a lot warmer! So I went back in and changed into a longsleeve dress, sweater and tights* (darn you, January weather!) But I'm glad I took the photos of this outfit first because I had it planned for weeks before the movie -- it's my version of Belle's ball gown! :)

Saturday was one of my favorite days ever! Me, my mom and my grandmom had a girls day out. First we went to the movie (my first time at a movie theater in like 2 years -- whoa popcorn is expensive!!) which was absolutely amazing!! I was afraid the 3D would be too in-your-face and hokey, but it was so subtle and pretty! It was like there were a bunch of layers to the animation. The scenery was especially beautiful, sometimes it looked like there were vines and flowers inside the theater around the screen.

After the movie we wandered around the mall window-shopping for a couple hours (we played "guess the price" in Anthropologie ... it was so fun!) and then we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner and dessert (yum!!) It's rare that the three of us get to spend time together alone, so this was such a fun treat! Seeing one of my favorite movies on the big screen with two of my favorite people -- it doesn't get much better than that! :)

*I'll post the other outfit Thursday :)

no one's gloomy or complaining while the flatware's entertaining

dress worn as top - c/o Jojo's vintage

skirt - h&m

cardigan - TJ Maxx

belt - forever 21

shoes - modcloth

hair bow - hive & honey

Did you hear that Disney is going to be re-releasing some of their movies in 3D format? Me and my mom already have a date to go see Beauty and the Beast when it's released in January (if I can afford enough tickets, I can guarantee you I won't be seeing it any less than 10 times.) The "Be our guest" scene is probably going to be AMAZING in 3D!

The Little Mermaid is set to be released, too, but not for a while... I really can't wait for that one! I was obsessed as a kid. My mom used to read me the book that went with it at bedtime every single night. One night I started reading it back to her and she freaked out thinking I had learned how to read somehow, but it just turned out that I had memorized the story from hearing it so much. lol!

Oh! Completely off topic, but my sponsor Jojo's Vintage is now selling gift certificates in her shop. It's absolutely perfect timing with the holidays coming up! The awesome thing about a gift certificate for vintage is that you get to pick exactly what you want, and it's basically one of a kind! I know I'm definitely asking Santa for one this year! :)