Tuesday, November 6, 2012

We all have Guilty Pleasures

Now that it's November I have decided to work my way up to Thanksgiving by being a little more introspective about not only what I am thankful for but things I wish to change, or re-evaluating exactly what I think it means to be me and what I want to continue to hold important. It's probably just a part of that 'quarter-life crisis' I seems to have come down with.

Anywho, in this post I thought I'd share my top 5 'guilty pleasures'. I wouldn't say I actually feel 'guilty' about them, it's more along the lines that I think of them as 'time killers' The activities that I find myself spending much longer then I had intended on and wondering where my day has gone.

5. Saved eBay Searches
As I'm sure most of us do on our search for those one-of-a-kind vintage items I can blow quite a the many hours just re-searching through my top saved searches. Some of my go-to's are: vintage 30's dress, vintage charm bracelet and Howard Keel. :)


4. Old Disneyland/Disney World photos.


Now This is a pretty obvious one. Of course I would love this because it's two of my greatest interests put together! But it's amazing how many hours can vanish when I really get to digging through the online archives of strangers and their old Disney memories. And when I say old I mean from it's inception up to the mid 90's, I can get sucked into all of it. Throw Aladdin or Snow White in there and I could be gone for days. Although I love the old professional shots and concept art my favorites are peoples' personal snapshots. It's funny how we can pose the same places in nearly the same fashion now and it can look exactly the same and entirely different at the same time.

3. Podcasts

Since I spend a lot of time at home or near an iphone or ipad and I happen to harbor quite a fear of a thing called silence I have really grown attached to listening to podcasts. Since there are now so many different genres you can find a podcast for nearly anything under the sky. It all started for me with This American Life & Uhh Yeah Dude, but I've become quite the fan of giving just about anything a shot.

My current most listened to shows are: (A countdown within a countdown!)
5. The Smartest Man in the World
4. Dead Authors
3. Inside the Magic
2. Big Band Serenade
1. Comedy Bang Bang

2. Instagram

Enough said. Even with all the spam now I just can't keep myself off it. It's a problem.

1. Wedding Videos.


yeah, I know. I can't not love it. & I am talking all of them.

My first stop is always to check for new Disney related proposals first and foremost, but I genuinely watch them ALL. I love the moment when the girl knows it's real and something clicks and you can see that she knows what's happening and it's so magnetic.

I've spent so many hours on vimeo because it's chock-full of wedding related films and I'm obsessed with the HD quality. For a girl who's never even had a real relationship, and basically never had the slightest interest in marriage at all at some point I just became obsessed with them. I can be a real critic about them too and I end up giggling to myself about the ridiculousness of me and what I would change or what I thought was best.

A beautiful wedding trailer can bring me to tears in the very best of ways. See, I'm not so cynical after all.


What do you find yourself wasting time on & feeling a bit guilty about?

A very snowy Halloween

Halloween is my favorite holiday. 

Well that's what I always say, and I think I mean it. 

But what I've finally come to realize is what I truly love is the month of October, the month long 'celebration' and build up to the thirty-first. 
I love dressing up in a costume, that should be obvious, I love an excuse to eat candy, I love my little annual Halloween traditions like watching Thriller & The Lost Boys, carving my pumpkin and making carmel corn with my mother. 

When it comes to my costumes for the past 8 years or so I've tried to either find something vintage that is spectacular or make something myself. My first thought this year was a robot, I tend to gravitate towards costumes that allow me to do make-up I can't get away with on the average day. However, the outfit I had just didn't look the way I planned it out in my head and I had to come up with something new.

So, being the Snow White enthusiast I am and not wanting to repeat or look like everyone else in the traditional red, blue and yellow gown I decided to put together my own version of Snow's rags dress in the beginning of the film.



Now, since I had already bought items for a first costume I had to keep to a pretty small budget. I made the top in one night from a vintage brown top & an old pillowcase. 
I however did have to whip out ye olde credit card to buy the fabric and supplies to make the skirt, bow and poison apple. 

For the poison apple I found an amazingly easy blog post (that I will link right here when I find it again!) which was a very fun one night project. The skirt and bow took a few hours, mostly because my sewing machine's tension got all messed up and I had to resort to no-sew methods for a few bits and pieces. 

Anywho, it's not perfect but considering I completed the whole bit in a few days and only spent $19 I'm rather pleased.

what do ya' think?



I won't even start with the lack of costume cooperation from the pups this year. WHY can't they love dressing up as much as I do?! such disappointments ;)



Until next year Halloween. I'll start planning my costume now.