My Disney Pins

I have just realised today that I’ve never done a blog post on one of my biggest Disney collections; pins! So I think now is the time to change all that! 

My main pins that I collect are Sleeping Beauty, Disneyland Paris and Peter Pan, but I also have small collections of Rapunzel, Ariel, Star Wars and Alice in Wonderland. Additionally, I also have a Pocahontas and a Lion King one from the Disney Store 30th anniversary collections (I gave the Hunchback one away), and I also have two free badges from Disneyland Paris too. I’ll detail where I got each pin from below the pictures, but here they are in closer detail.

2016 Aurora and Phillip, Aurora pink dress, Phillip and Aurora- Disneyland Paris

Briar Rose, Prince Phillip, Princess Fantasy Faire, Christmas Aurora- MCM Expo

Carousel Peter Pan horse, Peter and Wendy- MCM Expo

Sitting Peter Pan- Disneyland Paris 

Bastille Day Peter Pan- Disneyland Paris via eBay

All Disneyland Paris, but the Dreams one is via eBay, and the Mary Poppins one I bought from Eleanor.

All Disneyland Paris.

Rapunzel, Ariel, Alice with Dinah and Star Wars pins- Disneyland Paris 

Alice ear hat pin- MCM Expo

Alice diamond pin- secret Santa gift

Pocahontas and Lion King- Disney Store

What pins do you all collect?

Nic

xx

What I Read: March

Is it just me or do the months just get quicker and quicker? I feel like I’ve done ok in terms of reading this month, I’ve read five books (though two of them were only 50 odd pages each) and started reading another, so I class that as good. So here are the books I’ve read this March.

Crown of Midnight 

The second book in the Throne of Glass series was, if it’s even possible, better than the first. I absolutely love the story that is developing in this series, and I’m counting down the days until payday so I can get the next one (or two).

Death in the Family

My graphic novel of this month was Batman: A Death in the Family, which I enjoyed. The character of Jason Todd took me on a journey. I started off by not really liking him, but by the end I was firmly on team Jason.

Notes on Nationalism

A Custard Heart

These are my two small books, they are part of the modern classics collection, and they were perfect for little reads.

Death of a Salesman 

I will admit now, I only read this because I knew Andrew Garfield had been in the play, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It is a perfectly written tale, I really felt what the characters were going through, and I would actually really like to see the play now that I’ve read it.

Nic

xx

On Catherine Powell

Yesterday, it was announced that Catherine Powell will be leaving Disneyland Paris this Summer, as she had had a huge promotion. Whilst this is very happy news, I think a collective tiny tear was shed amongst the Disneyland Paris community, as she has really turned the resort around, and made it an absolutely fantastic destination with the brightest future any of us could have ever hoped for.

I met Catherine Powell for the briefest moment last April, and she was the nicest. She really loved the resort and it showed in everything she did for the place, the 25th anniversary has been absolutely phenomenal and I’ve loved every single minute of the many trips I’ve taken during the anniversary celebrations. That, along with the takeover by the Walt Disney Company, the two projects that were spearheaded by Catherine, have made me absolutely certain that I will continue to love Disneyland Paris for a very long time to come.

So all that’s left to say from me is, thank you so much Catherine for your hard work and love you have poured in to Disneyland Paris, and the best of luck in your new job, where I have no doubt in my mind you’ll continue shining like the Star you are.

Nic

xx

Things I Love About Spring

I love Spring, it is without a doubt my favourite season. I just love everything about the season, so today I thought I’d talk about a couple of my absolute favourite things about the Spring season.

1. It’s not Winter anymore.

Ok, starting with the obvious here, but, other than Christmas, I really, really dislike the Winter. So, when it finally starts to go away, my mood starts to lift instantly. The weather may not exactly be boiling at the minute, but it does get nice in the UK in Spring (sometimes even nicer than Summer) so I look forward to that every March.

2. Spring clothes.

Florals for Spring may not impress Miranda Priestly, but I love them. Ditsy florals, floaty skirts and tea dresses are my favourite things to wear in all the world, and the fact that they’re everywhere (and in lovely pastel hues) in Spring is one of my favourite things.

3. Sakura/Cherry Blossom

Yep, a tree has made the list. If you know me, you’ll know that adorable pink flowers whose petals fall all over you is right up my street, so I get very excited for these beauties to pop up everywhere during Spring, and they fill my Instagram without fail every year.

4. Spring cleaning 

I have always believed that Spring cleaning is good for the soul, whether it’s actual physical cleaning/tidying, or clearing out your mind, Spring is a great time to do this. Especially when the April showers hit.

5. Creme Egg McFlurrys

This one is really about Easter chocolate in general, but Creme Egg McFlurrys are my actual favourite food, so they deserved their own space on my small list.

As I said at the start of this blog post, I absolutely adore Spring, so putting together this list wasn’t at all tricky, but there are plenty of other things that I love about Spring, it is my favourite season, hands down.

Nic

xx

My Character Meet List

Hello, I’ve been a tiny bit absent this week, as I’ve been ill, but I finally think I’m starting to get past it now, so I am returning with a Disney character themed blog post. I do want to do a dream character meets blog post, but I thought, I’d better blog about the characters I have met first, and so here we are. I think I’m going to do this year by year, and I’m not going to include the characters I met as a kid because, let’s face it, I can’t remember that far back anymore, so, here goes:

2015

2015 was the first year I went to Disney as an adult. I went twice, and the first time I didn’t meet any characters! We went back for the Halloween season though, where I met Maleficent, Gaston and Dr. Facilier (the photos with those two were horrendous though)

2016

2016 was my first big year with characters; it was also the first year I’d been with friends from online, and my first solo trip. In total I went on three trips, and managed to get a fair few characters in: Aurora, Ariel and Rapunzel in the Princess Pavilion, and then Peter Pan and Captain Hook, Thumper and Miss Bunny, Abu, Goofy, Eeyore and Mickey in Cafe Mickey, the Queen of Hearts, Frollo, Maleficent, Jack Skellington, Donald Duck, Minnie and Marie are the other characters I met that year.

2017

2017 was a huge character year for me. I went on four trips (!) and met loads of characters, so I’m just going to list them all: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Eric, Aladdin, Jasmine, Belle, Peter Pan, Wendy, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale, Max Goof, Duffy and Shellie May, Alice, Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat, Tigger and Eeyore, Spider-Man and Darth Vader. Phew. Oh, and Rapunzel.

2018...so far

Yes, it is only March, but I’ve already been to Disneyland Paris this year, so I thought I’d list the characters I’ve met this year so far: Ariel, Aurora, Cinderella, Rabbit, Marie, Gepetto, Mary Poppins (in her nanny outfit) and Darth Vader.

Nic

xx

Fly A Kite Creations/ Quackers and Co Collaboration

Great news! One of my favourite girlbosses Rachel, of Fly A Kite Creations, has teamed up with one of my other favourite girlbosses Sammy, of Quackers and Co, which means double the small business support.

They have collaborated on Rachel’s Etsy to sell these beautiful cosies, which match Sammy’s ‘team’ beanies perfectly, so everyone can have matching beanies and coffee cup cosies! I love love love the Neverland one, but I will probably also get the Corona one, and guess what? They are releasing more designs soon!

Make sure you don’t miss out on these absolute little gems, you won’t regret it.

Nic

xx

Spring Bucket List

I know technically Spring hasn’t arrived yet, but meteorological Spring has, and I like to box my seasons off on the 1st of the month, thus, Spring has started in my eyes. So, with that in mind, I thought I’d do a little list of things I want to do this Spring.

1. See the Festival of Pirates and Princesses at Disneyland Paris. At least once.

2. Discover a new author.

3. Do some reading/ writing outdoors.

4. Do some Easter baking.

5. Go somewhere new.

6. Try something new.

7. Get an entire novel draft written.

8. Get a picnic basket.

9. Make daisy chains.

10. Not freak out over the birthday I have coming up.

I’m keeping everything crossed that I actually do everything on my list this year, I am determined.

Nic

xx

Penguin Modern

Remember when Penguin bought out their little black classics to celebrate 80 years of Penguin Classics and I loved them? Well now they’ve bought out 50 Modern Classics, and, naturally, I’ve already started buying them.

Penguin have described the books, which cost £1 each, as “a concentrated hit of its author’s work” and some of the books available come from writers such as Orwell, Burroughs, Sagan, Andy Warhol, and Martin Luther King Jr. I’ve picked up two so far; George Orwell’s Notes on Nationalism, and Dorothy Parker’s A Custard Heart, and I loved them both, they were perfect for a quick dinner break read. I am very excited to collect as many of them as I can.

Nic

xx

Your Rainbow Will Come Smiling Through

Top- Topshop / Dress- Primark

Wow I feel like I’ve not done a good old outfit post in a while, so today whilst it wasn’t as cold as it has been lately (like snowmaggedon last week) I thought I’d get some quick snaps. I actually have three tops like this one from Topshop, but I love this rainbow one, it’s perfect to wear with plain skirts and dresses, like this white dress, and rainbows are just so pretty. It looks different in person than it does in photos, it’s far more colourful in person, and, to top it all off, the neck seam is sparkly, perfect.

Nic

xx

Paris Day Two

Our last day in Paris started with a very foggy morning in Montmartre, where we went to the Sacre-Coeur, we couldn’t even see the Eiffel Tower it was that foggy. We also went to the Moulin Rouge, and on the way we saw the Moulin de la Galette, and les Deux Moulins aka the cafe from Amelie!! Obviously we had to go for a boisson chaud in there, and it felt like we were in the actual film!

After our morning in Montmartre, we went to Montparnasse to go and see the cemetery (one of Lee’s favourite author/philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre is in there) before going for lunch. After lunch, we decided to head to Opera, as it is a sight that we both love that we’d not seen yet, and then we walked around Paris some more seeing the sights before heading to Gare du Nord to get back to the airport, reflecting on our great time but also vowing never to go when it’s that cold again.

Nic

xx

What I Read: February

Happy World Book Day! I couldn’t think of a better day to blog about what I’ve been reading in the last month. February wasn’t exactly my best month for reading, but I’m blaming that on the length of the month. Anyway, here is what I read in February.

The Animals of Farthing Wood

I started reading this at the end of January, so this had actually appeared in my last monthly reading round up too, but I actually finished it this month, and it was just as good as I remember the cartoon being as a child.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

I read this when I went on my short trip to Paris, as I like to read a book by an author from the country I’m going to whilst I’m on my travels. I loved this book and was fully immersed in the whole world of Captain Nemo and the Nautilus.

Batman: Knightfall 

This graphic novel was huge, easily the longest one I’ve read. I did enjoy the story of Bain though, and it was clear to see that it was the inspiration behind The Dark Knight Rises, which I love.

Throne of Glass

I asked for book recommendations on Twitter last week, and a few people said the Throne of Glass series, so I decided to go with that one. I bought the first book on Sunday, and I absolutely devoured it. I have since bought the second one, and am just about to start reading it.

Nic

xx