Whole New World

I decided to do my own version of the 30 days of Disney – rather than answer a question each day about favourite Disney princesses, movies, and castles, each month will be dedicated to a different movie. I thought it would be a nice way to warm up this frozen winter (and give you a couple of deals in the process!) The theme of the month will be the movie and my Etsy shop will be having a sale based upon that movie. For example, the first month coming up is March and since Frozen is coming out that month – its our first honoree! The sale will be one bracelet on sale for the entire week, each week, for the month (ie. Elsa, Anna, Elsa Coronation, Anna Coronation). Our tumblr and instagram will dedicate the entire month to Frozen themed fan art, bracelets, products and more. Be sure to head to our facebook to see a preview of the next month’s movie and let us know what you think!

The website is currently under construction, but it is the main hub for everything. There, you can find the links to the various social networking sites I have for the shop like twitter and pinterest where I create themed boards with a mix of Disney things and bracelets. There you can find the blog you're currently on, keep track of which movie this month is and maybe see sneak peeks of upcoming bracelets!

But just in case you were disappointed, I may just do a 30 days of Disney theme (though it may need to be altered slightly) for each movie!

Have a magical day, my loves!

Whistle While You Work

Decorating:

Want to get that magical Disney touch in your home? Here I will provide you with ideas and maybe even some authentic merchandise to decorate each room of your house.

You don't need to saturate every inch of space with Disney-themed merchandise, rather you should be inspired by a movie, character, or song and build your ideas from there. Be sure to print out or save any room colours, ideas, or furniture that inspire you - it could come in handy in the future! Many people find it helpful to create a collage or look book of styles they like or items they might wish to incorporate in their houses.

For example:

An Aladdin (or Princess Jasmine) themed bedroom might consist of billowy, draped curtains in rich purples or deep turquoises. Don't want your room to be too dark? Pick those colours in a sheer curtain. It will add the touch without making your room like an unlit cave. If you recall, Jasmine's room had a gorgeous vanity with mirror and of course, pillows! Pillows are extremely versatile because you can always cover them with a new case if you're ever redecorating. If you have room for it, a pouf or two add a cute touch and extra seating in the room!

You can even search online for inspiration or places where you can find pieces to decorate your room!

A Little Mermaid (or Princess Ariel) themed bathroom might consist of mostly ocean coloured items. But if you're on a budget, pick up a few statement pieces and try to incorporate what you already own into the theme.

A new teal hand towel, shell-shaped soap dish and Little Mermaid lithograph can be a great start in your blue coloured bathroom. The easiest items to find are teal or ocean coloured towels (though if yours go in a cabinet, the colour doesn't matter as much and you can save your money for something else!)

Personally, I like to hang two shower curtains, an inner plastic curtain and an outer fabric one which makes cleaning and keeping your bathroom dry easier. The fabric curtain could look like waves, be the colour of the ocean, or feature the Little Mermaid herself!

If you don't want to be overwhelmed by "theming" just try to buy one or two Ariel items that match your teal or turquoise shower curtain, hand towel, and bath mat. Its that simple! You can even use some of these pictures as inspiration!

But of course, those aren't the only rooms you can add the magical Disney touch to.

Sometimes doing the laundry is boring, so why not add a little Stitch to your life? He loved doing the laundry because it let him become a super hero for a few moments (and who does want to be a super hero for a few moments each day?)

If you love Rapunzel, adding lanterns as lighting or painting them on the walls add a cute touch to a room. Too much? Just the colour themes of the princess or her kingdom (purple, pink, and gold) would be perfect, plus your little princess would probably love it!

I took the picture below from the Disney Store in New York City in case anyone was wondering where it was from.

And if you love books as much as I do, you're going to want at least a bookcase in your house if not an entire room dedicated to your favourite novels. To do so, you're going to want to channel the quaint town shoppe that Belle frequents or the giant library that the Beast surprises Belle with during the movie.

Don't forget a plush armchair that you can sink into at the end of the end with your favourite novel so that you can be transported to Mars, travel to the centre of the Earth, or discover your prince. Books can transport you to your wildest dreams so make sure your room lets that happen.

Those are all of the decorating tips that I have for now, but if there are any other rooms or movies that you want me to address, let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading.

The Wonderful World of Disney

I've decided that I would like to dedicate the majority of this blog to Disney - due to my knowledge and love of the topic. Some of the things that I plan to cover are party planning, recipes, decorating, cosplaying/costumes or dressing in an outfit that is inspired by a character, and vacations!

As a sample, I've written the following:

Soirees and Holidays

Walt put a lot of time and creativity into what he did - and that made Disney a huge success. Use his mentality and some of these ideas to make your next party a success!

Depending upon what you are celebrating, there's a way that Disney can inspire your party (without costing too much money).

With the growing popularity of Halloween, some people might be inspired to throw a get together for their fellow hauntingly fun guests! The Haunted Mansion ride and Nightmare Before Christmas movie are both great things to draw inspiration from. The Haunted Mansion is full of ghouls and ghosts, tombstones, dancing spirits, skeletons, a crystal ball and a Victorian theme. Bring your family out for a freakishly fun autumn adventure - hayrides, pumpkin picking, and corn mazes. There, you can collect some corn stalks, pumpkins and other natural items to decorate the outside of your house. Not spooky enough? Pick up a few packages of spider webs to adorn your porch, streetlight, or door. Don't forget to hide some creepy spiders to scare your guests. Next, you need to make your house look like its straight out of a horror story. Peeled grapes seem eerily like eyeballs and a baby carrot or two with an almond stuck in the end could pass for a severed finger! Colourfully frosted cupcakes with gummi-eyeballs will make your little ghouls jump with fright when they see they're eating a monster-cake. Don't forget to use food colouring to make your drinks run like blood for your favourite vampires. Plus set out crimson, black, grey, or orange plates and goblets for their consumption.

Birthday Parties

Have you ever considered cupcakes for your child's birthday rather than one big cake? You should, because with a little effort those tiny cakes could be the hit of the party!

And you don't need to purchase every princess or pirate themed item for the party, smart theming can turn a sparkle-overload into a perfect little party. For example, if your little princess wanted an Ariel-themed party you have lots of options. Ocean coloured plates and curtains will transform your dining room into her Under the Sea paradise. With mermaid or Sebastian cupcakes, Ariel plates, and some strategically draped netting - you can create the perfect birthday on a budget!

Please let me know what you would like to read about first!

Falling

I’ve woefully neglected these posts over the last month, despite the fact that I had told myself I was going to post at least once a week. It’s not that inspiration has not struck me in that time; I’ve written quite a lot. But, I’ve honestly just been busy.

My internship is interesting, time consuming, and definitely not what I want to do with the rest of my life. Granted I knew this when I started, but I thought that I should just put it out there. It’s a specialized area and I’m still not sure that I want to be a lawyer. You need to be a lawyer to do this. I love the law; I’ve studied it in various forms for the past six years, but law school? Probably not for me. I’m sure if I attended, I’d do well but there are too many factors that I must take into consideration that sway me away from it. Most importantly, the cost. Any school that I’ve contacted thus far considers a loan their only form of scholarship or financial aid. A loan is not a scholarship. It means that when I graduate, the law or graduate school that I just attended is even more expensive than I expected and I will be paying for it for the next thirty years. I don’t want that. I went to the University that I attended because I received a scholarship. I didn’t want to be the student that is saddled with debt for the rest of his or her life.

I want to help people, I love politics, history, and law, and I’d want to work either overseas or in an international capacity. It’s relatively broad and that’s my problem. I’m not exactly sure what I want to do. I’d love to be a mediator or arbitrator because I’d be able to help facilitate a solution to someone’s problem. There are no standards for a mediator, unlike with the field of law. My dog could call himself a mediator if he so chooses, and if he spoke English. That makes me hesitant to pursue that as a career, it seems unstructured.

My dream would be to work for a diplomatic embassy or the United Nations in that capacity, but I haven’t discovered how to find those jobs. The closest I’ve come to that is I applied to take the Foreign Service Exam. If I do well on that, I may be able to get into diplomatic service… which would be incredible.  I hope that I am able to take the test and do well on it, which would probably make my career dreams come true.

The other option, which would allow me to study politics and work in an international capacity, is journalism. My favourite news source is the BBC, as they have incredible coverage throughout the globe and I find them to be quite trustworthy. Unfortunately, I am not a strong enough writer for that to be a true option. I’d be fascinating, but I’m not sure that I would be qualified for the position.

There are certain museums that I would love to work in, like the Museum of Natural History in New York City but I also am unsure if I am qualified for a position such as that one. I’ve been told that I would become bored if I worked in a museum, but somehow I doubt that assertion. History is fascinating, the study of cultures, the past, people, and the artifacts that bring them all together. If taught properly, I think anyone can find history interesting.

Eventually, I would like to teach one of those subjects; history, political science or civics, or law. I’ve always felt that teachers who had real-world experiences in their fields were always the best teachers. They could bring a layer of discussion or knowledge to the table that even the best teacher (who had only ever been a teacher) lacked. But first, I need to figure out where I want to go with my career.

Don't You Worry

I'm going to lay this out right now, I am an xbox fan. I personally have an Xbox 360 and I prefer that system over the Playstation. But the system I'm going to talk about today is the Wii, the black sheep of the gaming family. Now don't get me wrong, I love nintendo, the gameboy (I got a gameboy colour in yellow at the age of seven), and the gamecube (my original multiplayer gaming device). But it's not exactly impressive, though perhaps with the addition of Wii U it is? I've never tried it so I wouldn't know personally. The only reason that I have access to a Wii is because my mom wanted to use it for exercise as she doesn't like playing video games. Personally, I love using the Kinect with Zumba: Fitness Rush or Dance Central for my video game exercise but I thought I'd give her Wii a shot. If you can't tell, I love to dance and those are games that make it entertaining. What does the Wii have? Wii Fitness or Wii Active, that already sounds less appealing than the Xbox's games. I plugged in her Wii and the controllers are dead because she hasn't used it in so long. I wasted some time getting myself a glass of water because its June and my house is really quite hot, plus obviously I assumed I'd get thirsty. Exciting stuff, right? Anyway, by the time I'm done with that the controller works, so I put the disk in and have to register my mii or something. Not sure how that works, I already have a girl in a yellow shirt that vaguely resembles me if you squint a lot. With a little animated cartoon person, its hard to get it to resemble you and frankly their pants are creepy. My avatar on Xbox looks just like me, except I can never find hair that's long enough to resemble mine. Do people on playstation have things like Avatars or Mii's? I honestly don't know.

I took the body test the first time and it told me that I have terrible balance, which I don't think I have but perhaps that test was just not my forte. Overall, my wii fit age was 20 which is two years less than I am so that's a positive right? The game is separated into four categories (not including your favourite games). The first day, yesterday, I tried the Yoga and Aerobic Exercise categories, though today I changed it up by trying the Balance Games and Muscle Workouts. My best activities were whatever ones involved lunges, but I don't recall their names. I'd get the full stars on those, whereas on the balance ones I'd get one or two stars. I clearly need to work on my crane style, but since it's a first try I know that I will get better as I work on it. I love the Aerobic Exercises category because it allows you to hula hoop and I'm kind of a pro at that.

When I was in elementary school, I was not able hula hoop but my cousins and I were going to have a birthday party together. The three of us all have March birthdays, so occasionally we did that. Our parents rented this hall, we had a bouncy house, and *drumroll please* a hula hooping contest. As my older cousin is the best at everything, including hula hooping, I knew that I had to learn. That was probably the most dedicated I've been to anything in my entire life, its quite ridiculous. I practiced until I was able to hula hoop indefinitely, or so I think, I have hula hooped for over an hour until I got bored and stopped. To my knowledge, I would only stop if I became tired or bored not because I couldn't sustain it any longer. The day of the birthday party, I proudly stepped up to the man hosting the hula hooping contest and joined in. The final two in it honestly ended up being my cousin and myself, and I won. The little six or seven year old me so was excited, though he wasn't.

So of course, when I see a game that lets me hula hoop I'm going to do that at least four times before I try some other activities. I mean, I hula hooped in my school cafeteria one day with my friends because they were hosting a carnival - and hey what else do you do during a carnival in your cafeteria? It strange because I had to swing my hips first to the left, then to the right. Right feels unnatural to me when I actually hula hoop, but its not weird when its fake. Then the little miis throw more hoops at you until you're doing over 400 revolutions per direction in a minute and a half. I'm not sure how they calculate it, though I expect each hoop it one revolution by the five or six hoops you're balancing, it can add up fairly quickly. According to this wii record site, the record is 346 revolutions (obviously not nintendo posting these, just people so I'm sure it's higher.) If that's close to the record, perhaps I should register to keep track and challenge myself.

I feel like I've talking about hula hoops for an excessive amount of time, so back to the other games. I tried the running and it was cute but awkward with the wii remote on my person. The skiing was absolutely embarrassing, I missed about six of the maybe twenty flags I had to get between. If I focus, I'm good at doing something, but once I make a mistake I get flustered and take a couple of seconds to recover. The soccer was confusing because I'd hit most of them, then the players would throw shoes and pandas at me. Who wants a round squishy panda thrown at them? I'm sure a lot of people do, but that's besides the point. I'd lean into things (and as we've established, my balance is not my best feature) and either lean too far or not enough. I was hit by cleats quite a few times and though its not real, its confusing.

So the moral of my story is that you should give Wii Fitness a chance, its actually pretty fun. I think I'm going to make a goal to get on it everyday for however long I can maintain it. If I still enjoy it after a few weeks, maybe I'll invest in something else if Wii even makes anything else. Do they make Wii Fitness 2 or one with extra games? I'm woefully uneducated about the Wii Nintendo-verse.

Release You

Just started watching the HBO series: Girls and I'm surprised by the fact that I actually enjoy it. The storyline centres around four very different girls: Marnie, Shoshanna, Jessa, and Hanna. The focus is generally on Hanna, the girl with aspirations who had been living off her parent's money until they cut her off. Suddenly she's forced to survive on her own, find a paying job, and continue writing. Her dating history is far from impressive, as she has fallen for any guy that likes her even if they don't treat her as she deserves. Hanna's best friend is the oh-so-put-together Marnie, who isn't quite as she seems. She is like the mother of the group, the responsible one, who pays her bills and has had the same boyfriend for four years. Except, he doesn't make her happy anymore so though she loves him, she is no longer in love. As the series progresses, we see that her persona is not always who she is as she struggles to find where she fits in the world and what she wants to do with her life. Shoshanna is a very energetic girl who is still in school unlike the other girls. She is very nervous and does not know how to act around guys, mainly because she is insecure about her virginity. Her cousin is Jessa, the typical embodiment of the world-traveling, unique, free spirit. She is very open with guys, experimenting, and has a take on life that is all her own. The four girls are all close but very different from one another, allowing the audience to see themselves a little bit in each of the characters, or completely empathize with one in particular. The supporting cast range from current boyfriends, exes, family, to roles played by faces you might recognize from SNL (Saturday Night Live). Now I'm not going to divulge who I feel is most like me, but I also see my best friend in one girl and my cousin in another. I've yet to find someone in my life that embodies the final girl.

Hanna is twenty-four years of age, yet she acts like any nineteen year old you might meet in college. She lives in her own world, a world that lacks responsibility or consequences. As much as she might think she's an adult who can support herself, throughout the series she leans on guys or Marnie for the help she needs. She wants to be a writer, but finds herself working as a barista, in an office job in which the boss is very touchy, or an unpaid internship. None of them further her career or help her achieve her goals, rather they are solely to pay the bills.

As her best friend, Marnie is always there for her no matter what but has her own problems to deal with. During the second season, she loses her job and is forced to come to the realization that being a curator is not a career. This makes her wonder what she is going to do with her life, the once perfect environment is now full of doubt. She moves out of her apartment, is no longer with her boyfriend of four years, and gets a job as hostess because its good money - not because its what she wants to do.  After breaking up with her boyfriend, she still thinks about him constantly despite the fact that she was not happy when they were together. Sometimes people want what they can't have or stay in a relationship that they're not happy in, just because its comfortable. As much as you worry that you will never find someone like them again, you will find someone that will treat you the way that you deserve to be treated and you won't even realize that they have flaws. That's what love is, you fight, you make up, and you're stronger for it.

Jessa surprises everyone when she plans a spontaneous marriage to a man she had only spent the last two weeks with. Though she is now "tied down" she still seems to be herself, ignoring societal rules, and acting however she pleases. Shoshanna loses her virginity, but is faced with the hard truth that not waiting for the right person might give her regrets. Many people speak about regretting their first time because they didn't care about the person or didn't even know them. Luckily for Shoshanna, the guy comes to his senses and begins treating her well again.

I'm glad I took a chance on this series (as entertainment while I clean, get rid of clothes, shoes, and just stuff I've accumulated over the years) because I really think its an honest portrayal of life. Though I may only have 22 years of experience in that department, it resonates with me so I guess that's all that matters even if others don't understand it.

Plato spoke to Aristophanes about this theory, "According to Greek mythology humans were originally created with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate beings, condemning them to spend their lives in search for their other halves..." (The Symposium). That is the concept of soulmates, someone perfectly matched for you as long as you give yourself the chance to find them. And if you try, I believe that you will succeed. 

Trepidation

Today begins the rest of my life, sort of. The job search is on and though this won't be the job I have for the entirety of my adult career, it helps me further my educational goals. I need a job because education is expensive, there are very few schools that I've looked into that offer any type of financial aid other than a Stafford Loan. And guess what? A loan is not financial aid, its a financial drain on my future. If I took out loans, I'd probably spend a good portion of that illustrious adult career paying them back. And I have no intention of being one of those students who take out over $100,000 in loans just to go to a school with a prestigious name. For my undergraduate degree, I chose to attend the school that offered me a full academic scholarship and I've never regretted that decision. I loved my school and plan to be an active alumnus if possible, despite the fact that it is two hundred miles from my current residence.

A few days ago, I went to an informational interview with the campaign manager of on of my state's congressmen. It was an incredible experience as I've never been to an informational interview before. He suggested that I apply for an internship program in the state government, which was paid and over the summer. As soon as I arrived home, I sent my resume to the individual in charge of the program and the next morning they called to schedule an interview. Today is that interview and I'm excited, a little nervous but its not as dramatic as my title alluded to it being. I'm dressed in business attire: dark blue shirt, grey slacks (yes, I said slacks), black flats and my hair is up. Apparently, hair up is professional and my hair down is not. Go figure. I have a bag with a fancy pen in it, my leather padfolio, and multiple copies of my resume.

I just returned from the interview which it was less of an interview, more of a... "Hmm where should I send your information for a job" conversation. Well that was fast, not that I'm complaining. Here I was prepared for standard interview questions, my strengths, my weaknesses, and had queries for them. Instead, he asked me what I wanted to do and immediately began to sift through his file of internship opportunities. Since the state government cannot help me pursue my ultimate career goals of working in an international setting like in a diplomatic embassy or for the United Nations, he concentrated upon my interests in conflict negotiation, dispute resolution, and peace studies.  He kindly forwarded my information/resume to Health and Human Services, where I may see conflict under the tutelage of a seasoned attorney. That's if I get the internship there, and my interview is next week so we'll see.

I've also received news that a city near me is looking for a Town Planner. The Universities in my state have either stopped their planner programs or are just not educating as many planners these day. Planners help to develop and potentially implement various things in the state, including growth plans, historical conservation, and regeneration plans. I barely know what a town planner does in their day-to-day jobs as the research I've done does not give enough details to give me a clear idea. Research also does not equate to talking to the town planner, being taught how to be one, or learning through coursework.  I've also noticed that it can be a very political job, which is why I should not be surprised that the Town is looking for a smart, energetic, political science student to do the job. It's an incredible opportunity, but it also requires not only a thirst knowledge but desire to learn new things. And honestly, though I never considered a job like that I think I would really enjoy it. I may be asking for an interview there at some point in the near future. Who knows what could happen from that?