Unique Clothes from UNIQLO and more in Disney Springs!

I relocated this week for a teaching job that begins in a few weeks, which puts me an hour away from Disney!  It doesn't give me free admission of course, so I won't be there ALL the time.  But everyone gets into Disney Springs for free!  This is my first time visiting since the new Town Center was added.  I unfortunately didn't get into Sprinkles (it was packed and the line went outside where it was 95 degrees with no shade), but we did check out UNIQLO, which was pretty cool.

Actually I just realized that we were there on UNIQLO's first day open, July 15!  UNIQLO has 2 floors and loads of Disney merchandise--even some that is unique to the Disney Springs location!  My favorite find was the display of Disney patches that they could iron onto merchandise for you!

(photo from http://www.uniqlo.com/us/company/news/2016/disney-springs-store-opens.html)

I couldn't think of anything to patch at the time, but I was in LOVE with the Donald and Daisy mouse ears patches.  I'm definitely going back (the possibilities are endless--shorts, polo shirts, the sleeves on a t-shirt, hats, the waist band on a skirt)!  My brother and brother-in-law bought me a blue shirt I had my eye on with stripes by the chest and Daisy wearing heart-shaped sunglasses (my favorite kind of sunglasses)!  I can't wait to wear it (as soon as it's under 90 degrees so I don't sweat in it).  

They are also selling traditional Japanese Yukatas--less formal Kimonos is the only way I can think to describe them.  They're beautiful!

Our actual first stop was the new Coca-Cola experience (which I was calling "The Coca Cola Experience"), "World of Coke."  I follow Disney Food Blog on instagram (and you should, too!  @disneyfoodblog) and saw a picture of the Float Tray (I had been calling it the Float Flight--much more fun to say) which I had to try!

They are 8 different sodas with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in each cup.  Our favorites were orange soda, root beer (of course), coke, cherry coke, and cherry cream soda.  Our least favorites: grape and Sprite.  It brought me right back to one lazy summer day years ago when I decided to try making my own grape soda float.  It's still gross.

Have you seen the videos of people meeting Coke Bear (as I fondly call him)?  Coke Bear is meeting people in Las Vegas and is very energetic and silly!  He blinks his eyes, opens his mouth, bites your head, smiles at the camera... I really can't wait for this character meet and greet at Coke World in Orlando!!

During my last visit I had seen construction facades to two kiosks and I couldn't figure out if they were jokes or the real deal.  It turns out they were real!  AristoCrepes and B.B. Wolf's Sausage Co.  While the sausage co. was up and running, AristoCrepes was not open during our outing.  It didn't occur to me to look at the sausage menu, but I took a picture of the crepe menu!

remember, you can click on any photo to see it enlarged!

cute!

Though I did get a picture of the cute detail on the roof of the sausage kiosk:

The balloon was finally up and running (I say finally because it wasn't operating due to HIGH WINDS [always in caps on the scrolling marquee] during my last 2 visits) and it looked beautiful.  We were distracted by the new Town Center offerings and were exhausted from heat on our walk back to the parking lot, so we never had a chance to go up before the HIGH WINDS came back.

I can't wait to see what the view is like from up there!!

Meanwhile, at Planet Hollywood:

Not lookin' so good.  The last time I visited in April, they had cranes and construction paraphernalia surrounding the big star ball, and it seems like nothing has changed.  I appreciate that the construction workers have big beach umbrellas to provide shade, though!  I imagine they're still examining things... Or doing very discreet work.  They are adding an "observatory" which will have fun new menu additions, as reported again by Disney Food Blog, who must have been part of the "special event" at Town Center during my visit, closing a large part of Town Center after 4pm!  (One day... one day...)

The big yellow supports I had seen around the Lego serpent in the water are gone now, which looks just lovely!

And, something that was being worked on the last time I was there... The completion of the "Springs!"  The water is a beautiful, clear blue with lanterns scattered about on blown glass!

Just gorgeous!  This is on the bridge between Town Center and the Boathouse area.  An unexpected surprise!  

Finally, I had to stop by the Ganachery, even on this HOT day, to pick up one of these cute Mickey chocolate ganache bars (it was strawberry flavored ganache on the inside):

Absolutely adorable!!  I asked if they thought it would melt, and they gave me 2 options: 1. I could set my purchase aside and leave it behind their counter for pick-up when I was ready to leave the Springs, or 2. They could give me a complimentary ice pack in my bag, which should last about 4 hours!  Without an ice pack it would last about 1 hour.  I went for the ice pack, and it was the best option.  Mickey survived the hour drive home and he was delicious!

I was excited to premier the backpack I had ordered after seeing it in a DisneyStyle post (also on instagram, @disneystyle) from the website shein.com:

I highly recommend traveling with a backpack around Disney--it leaves your hands free in a way a purse would not!!  I just checked their website, and they have one in pink!!  Adorable.  I hope you enjoy your next trip to Disney Springs!!

More Disney Nails

I love doing my nails.  I've never had them done at a nail salon, mostly because I have too much fun trying out new styles and techniques and am often indecisive.  If I don't like what I've done, I can just take it off without feeling guilty about spending too much!  Anyway, in anticipation for this past Disney trip, I did my nails in quite a few Disney themes.  This first one was inspired by Aladdin on Broadway, which Jim took me to as a Christmas present (we saw it this past March).  They are Princess Jasmine-inspired (with my little Vinylmation Abu keychain)!

I tried some Up nails!  I'd seen this idea on many instragram accounts and finally attempted it myself, although I was out of white nail polish so I had to use White-Out, which didn't come out that well!  I've seen these done more recently with tons of balloons all over the top 4 nails, and the house a lot more detailed with pastels, but I didn't have any tools at the time besides dotters!  (Now I have a detail brush but I haven't quite figured out the best way to use it yet!)

I'm not a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland but I do love the art!  I have a lot of pinks so I decided to make Cheshire Cat nails.  This was my first time using gold striping tape (it is difficult to work with!!) and I had a thin brush for the painted stripes.  It reminds me of the Pop Vinyl collectibles, since I gave the cat 2 small round eyes!

When we'd officially booked our trip, I celebrated by giving myself the Minnie Manicure they seem to offer at the Saratoga Springs spa.  I thought Disney would offer crazy-awesome themed manicures, but this was the only one I could find!  I used french manicure nail strips which I still need practice with!  I'm holding my Minnie Mouse phone handset here :)

My friend Katherine and I love Winnie the Pooh so I made a classic Pooh on my thumb holding onto that big red balloon!  I used nail beads for the bees that surround him.  I was very happy with this!  My summer campers were thoroughly impressed!  (The beads fell off overnight because I was reluctant to use a topcoat.  Whenever I use a topcoat it makes my nail art smudge in the direction of the brush.  Any tips?)

My piece de resistance, Lady and the Tramp nails!  I am most proud of these!!  I think they are the best nails I've done yet!  Jim & I love this movie, and I challenged myself by attempting an homage.  Lady is wearing a yellow rhinestone as her ID tag (which also fell off by morning haha!  But I had a gold paint dot underneath anyway).  

The "cement" on my thumbnail was really fun (in the movie they add their paw prints to an already-drawn heart in the cement)!  I coated it thickly with gray (essie's "chinchilly"), then drew on it with a dotting tool.  You could see the blue underneath so when it dried a little, I blotted on more gray.  It came out better than I had hoped!  Here's a little step-by-step I put on my instagram (you can follow me at @elysebuckley):

And finally I bought a set of mini nail polishes at Sir Mickey's in Fantasyland while we were at Magic Kingdom.  They are villain-themed (aaah!!) but I bought them anyway!  I painted these last night (large circles are really hard to do!!  I used the brush from the bottle, but there has to be a better way.  Anyone have ideas?  I wonder if there is a tiny sponge they make for that..).  The gold is nice and opaque, and the silver pops on dark colors.  I had to use about 4 coats of the blue to make it this dark--it's not as clean as the other colors.  I didn't try the purple yet, and the black was my own.

Do you love Disney nail art?  Send me a link to your blog or instagram account in the message area below!

Disney Nails 2

These are the latest Disney nails I've tried:  Minnie Mouse!  I saw these on multiple instagram posts and couldn't wait to try them myself!!

They look great on my Minnie phone handset!  I used ORLY french manicure strips for the red, and a dotting tool for the dots & Mickey!  (Unfortunately they chipped off immediately the next day--I think I need to find a new topcoat polish!)

I was in a pink mood before that, so I made these Cheshire Cat nails.  I'm not the biggest Alice in Wonderland fan, but I do love the art!  I had a lot of time on my hands for these (Spring Break from my TA job--also, no pun intended!!) so I made each nail different.  The cat's face is on my thumb, then stripes, dots, and 2-tone with a gold tape stripe in the middle!  I just bought 2 rolls of nail tape in silver & gold and I just love them!  (Also need a top coat for that, otherwise it pops right off!)

Then I ran into this dude in the Times Square Disney Store!

Before my cat nails I'd watched Up for the zillionth time and man I just love that movie.  I'd also seen these nails on Instagram before, and wanted to try them for myself:

I did the house with a regular polish brush, and the details with a dotting tool.  I used the dotting tool for the balloons & clouds, too!  (The white is Wite-Out because I'd thrown out the other white polish I had--it'd started to get goopy and gross.)

And I'll leave you with these nails I did for that wonderful gift my boyfriend got me for Christmas--tickets to Aladdin on Broadway!!   It was a fanTAStic show which I cannot recommend highly enough!!  I chose a Jasmine-y teal and dotted on some gold glitter for the tips!  I loved these nails!  And I was lucky enough to get this adorable Abu vinylmation keychain on my first try!  (You never know with those vinyls!  Sometimes you win the lotto, sometimes you get the only one you didn't want!)

Can't wait to do some more Disney nails!!  Any suggestions?

Disney Trip Planning 2014!!!

Hey.  Haven't seen you in a while.  I just booked a trip to Walt Disney World for this August!!!  Let the planning begin!!

First of all, I'm sure you've all seen that the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is open (or at least had opened in previews and was all instagram'd out on May 1)!  I'm not one for roller coasters, but I do want to try this one!  (But it looks scary!!  The rocking seats??  Yeesh!)

Second, and what reminded me to post again in this blog already, is that Hot Topic is carrying a TON of Disney merchandise!  So get on it!!  Today I bought a Buzz Lightyear bow (and wore it today with my spaceship earrings and green sweater, Disneybounding at the mall):

and Minnie Mouse stockings (her image is on the front of the legs, split between the right and left legs, so it looks like it's tattoo'd almost):

They also had stockings of the Disney princesses and Alice, a Woody-inspired hair bow,  jewelry with sayings on them ("To Infinity and Beyond," "Kiss the Girl"), necklaces and earrings of various characters, bundles of socks with Disney AND Pixar characters (Nemo, Toy Story, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Villains!!), T-shirts, dresses, underwear, even RECORDS.  Records each with a big colorful scene from its movie on it, like The Little Mermaid and The Lion King.  I had to leave before I spent more than I had come in with!  Definitely check it out!!

I'll be updating the blog as I make plans for August!  See ya real soon!!