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Travel Diary – May 20th-23rd 2016 – The Haul

June 8, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

As you’ll have seen, I wrote about Day One, Day Two and Day Three of our holiday. Technically there was a Day Four but it just involved getting up, packing and heading off on the drive home, through the tunnel and again driving home. So I skipped that day and instead I’m bringing you the final post from this holiday, The Haul.

My biggest purchase of the holiday, was my Disneyland Paris annual pass! I haven’t actually taken a picture of the pass itself, but here is the info booklet that comes with it. Sadly it’s all in French, so I don’t understand a whole bunch of it, but it was pretty awesome getting it all anyway.

Since we were visiting the park anyway, I knocked off the price of that day’s ticket (74 Euros) and paid just 150 on the day. I say just, but it’s not really just, however I knew I would be going again the next month and it would save money on that ticket and of course the reductions and discounts it offers anyway.

Other than that, there was just souvenirs from each day. Day One was obviously visiting the Eiffel Tower. I treated myself to a postcard, a mug and a fridge magnet.

The girls got themselves a postcard each and then Lily bought a pen while Megan bought it miniature version of the tower itself.

Chris did get himself an ornament too but I actually didn’t photo much of his stuff!

Next day, was Disney Village. It was supposed to be a day in Paris but due to feeling ill in the morning, that didn’t happen. Instead we spent the afternoon in Disney Village (at the Parks) but I didn’t buy much as I knew we were going back the next day. The one thing I did grab was the Tsum Tsums we’d missed the week before from The Disney Store.

Finally was our day in the Disneyland Parks. I was pretty good and tamed my spending but I did get a baby Pegasus and a new mug.

Chris bought a mug too so I actually photographed that with mine as well, both front and back!

The girls bought chocolate bars to take home for their friends.

They also bought one thing each – Megan, a scarf (I forgot to photograph) and Lily, some wellies. Megan’s scarf has Walt Disney quotes all over it and I have to admit I’d love to steal Lily’s wellies too!

This is our mini haul which isn’t too bad for a weekend away. I’m back to Disneyland Paris again this month though so watch this space for whatever I give in to!

Tsum Tsum Tag

May 12, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

1.How many Tsum Tsum’s have you got?

Lots, far too many to be honest! I think close to 200 though.

2. What was your first?

Our first official Tsum Tsum was bought in Florida. I’m pretty sure it was the Cinderella collection, though we bought so many during the holiday, that I can’t be sure (there were some Toy Story ones from Disney Store and a few from Target). However unofficially I bought Anna and Elsa from Ebay, not realising they were “fan made”, even before we went to Florida.

3. Do you have a full set?

Yes, lots actually. If I like a set, I tend to buy them all as it’s hard not to. However in some cases I will just grab the main characters.

4. What is your favourite set?

When it’s released, Beauty and the Beast will be I’m sure. However in the meantime it’s probably The Little Mermaid or Tangled sets.

5. Who is your most wanted Tsum Tsum?

Belle from BatB when it’s released, but otherwise Hiro and Honey Lemon as we missed them very early on and need them to collect our BH6 collection.

6. What set do you want them to make?

I think Sleeping Beauty would be pretty great, just to get the Fairies and of course Maleficent. Or maybe a Tinker Bell collection that featured her fairy friends. To be honest, once the Beauty and the Beast collection is released, I’ll be happy. (After thought – Hercules!!! I would love that)

7. Do you collect just Disney or do you collect the Star Wars and Marvel ones?

I’m not at all interested in the Star Wars ones and neither are the kids. However I did pick up a few for Chris. He has Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Darth Maul and a Storm Trooper. He also has Venom from the Marvel ones. We do have several of the Marvel ones, especially the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, but not all.

8. Do you have any ones from Clintons/Target/Other non Disney Store shops?

I prefer to get them from the Disney Store but our nearest one is over an hour away and postage online can be frustrating. We live 2 minutes away from a Clintons though so often we do grab them there, especially if we missed them at the Disney Store.

9. Do you dislike any Tsum Tsums?

I wouldn’t say I dislike any but I’m less fussed about several. I haven’t got any of the Jungle Book ones, I barely picked up any Nightmare Before Christmas ones and since I haven’t seen Zootropolis yet, I haven’t bought any of those yet either.

10. Who do you think they should have release with previous sets?

Not that I can think of! Thought honestly a part of me wishes there were 101 different dalmatians released. I might actually have been tempted to get them all (even though I definitely can’t afford that!) I do think it’s a shame we don’t always get the whole sets in the UK (King of Hearts from Alice being an example) and also the variants like Halloween versions or whatever else.

20 Facts About My Disney Life Tag

May 5, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

Amy over at Cocktails in Teacups tagged me in something called 20 Facts About My Disney Life and although its taken me a week or so to get around to it, I didn’t want to forget altogether! The idea is really simple – no questions, just list 20 facts about your life that are connected to Disney! Here are mine…

1. Every single room in my house has something Disney in it. Some rooms have more than others but there is at least one Disney item in each. Even my car has some Disney on its aerial.

2. I have collected Disney Traditions for the last 7 years and I have almost 30.

3. I have collected Disney Pop Funkos for the last 3 years and I have 14.

4. Amy is the cause of me starting both the Traditions and Pop Funko collections, as she bought me the firsts.

5. To be honest, I would collect pretty much anything if its related to Disney. We have so many Tsum Tsums, both plush and vinyl, I went through a phase of buying Disney t-shirts, I find it hard to resist Disney at Primark and most recently I started collecting Disney Lego Minifigures.

6. Tinker Bell and Belle have always been my favourite Disney characters. I don’t think it’s because of being called Bel (or “Bel”inda) myself, because I only shortened my name during my 20’s.

7. I started Closet Geek, largely to sell Disney inspired dresses. Though I’m happy to make anything, the inspiration for Disney related ones comes the easiest. 98% of my store is Disney.

8. I absolutely love making adult cosplay, especially Disney. All the people I would love to dress as are Disney characters but sadly once I’ve made them and put them on, I don’t really feel that great about myself in them.

9. I’m sad to say that I’ve tried hardly any Disney Park food. Despite visiting DLP a few times and Florida for 2 weeks, we hardly eat in the parks. I’ve never had Dole Whip, Mickey shaped ice cream, turkey legs or whatever else that Disney Parks are famous for serving!

10. Beauty and the Beast is my favourite Disney movie of all time. Not only is Belle my favourite princess, I love the Beast, I cry every time I watch the movie and I really love all the characters. I even have a BATB tattoo.

11. I own nearly all the animated Disney movies on DVD but I pretty much never watch them. I’m sad about this really but I just hardly ever but dvds on.

12. Over the last two years I’ve started to buy a lot of Disney artwork. I think it started with the Disney Kinkade pictures being released (and I bought one at LFCC) and ever since then I’ve noticed artists at cons and online a lot more. This year I have discovered lots of new favourites and I made a post called Artist Spotlight.

13. I love this new movement that is “Disney blogging”. I honestly wish I could be a full time Disney blogger, but I don’t think I have enough interesting to say about Disney to do it all the time! Not that my life is any more interesting or anything, but I think I would run out of Disney stuff to say.

14. The only songs I know all the words to are Disney songs. When we were younger my brother and I would listen to VHS tapes over and over to write down the words and then learn the songs. We would even break them up into individual parts and we had a folder each with our own parts in it. I should probably be embarrassed about this but I’m not.

15. I’ve always worn scarves a lot but mostly it was just winter ones that I continued to wear once I walked back in the house. Over the last 2-3 years I’ve started buying lots of sheer scarves (I blame Hot Topic) and all but one are Disney!

16. I’ve been married (and divorce/separated) twice so I’m not especially keen to do it again. If I did though, it would have to be a really unusual or extravagant wedding. Ideally I’d like it to be either in WDW or Disney themed (where people dress as Disney characters).

17. Nearly all my mugs are Disney themed. At times they have got a bit out of control and Chris has now put a ban on any more mugs! However I recently moved a few to my display cabinet and tossed a few non-Disney ones out so hopefully I’m free to add a few more now!

18. For the first time ever, I’m seriously considering an annual pass to Disneyland Paris. This year I’ll have been at least three times and getting a pass might be a great excuse to go more. I would love to go during Halloween.

19. I can hand on heart say I have never wished to be a Disney Princess. To be honest, if I had a choice, I would be a sassy Villain or a character like Megara.

20. Before I started sewing, I had a couple of years where I made cakes for all my friends and family. Each person had at least one spectacular cake during that time. My all time favourite was the Tsum Tsum one that I made (with Megan’s help) for Lily.

I very rarely tag anyone in these things but if you’d like to do it then please let me know you have!

Week 42 – Monday Round-up

October 19, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Another round up post, but again not much going on. The girls were off school Monday-Wednesday as they’d been ill, but were back at school Thursday and Friday (though Lily wasn’t 100%). There was parent’s evening on Wednesday night, whereby the girls both did great, and Thursday evening Megan and I filled in her Secondary School applications. Chris was at work all week but off at the weekend, he’s on regular shifts for four weeks so that’s really nice.

The rest of the week, was just normal to be honest. I felt pretty rough myself still on Monday and yet I still had loads of orders to complete and finish. In fact they still flooded in all week. I worked out today that since the beginning of September I’ve had 56 orders through Closet Geek and 35 of those have been handmade dresses. Majority of those have been in the last two weeks as well so it’s been really busy. Anyway I got the orders all completed, along with two adult dresses I had to do as well.

Our monthly delivery of Tsum Tsums

As well as all those things, I’ve been watching a series called Switched at Birth, which I’ve now watched up to date (almost 4 series). I also caught up on all my British TV on my iPad via various apps, OUAT as well. I’m looking forward to a calmer week this coming week so I can catch up with TV with Chris – including Arrow, The Flash and The Walking Dead.

Week 28 – Monday Round-up

July 13, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

For the most part, this week has been great. It’s been busy in parts but not to the point of feeling like you don’t have a moment to breathe! Monday started off with Chris heading out to work, taking Lily to school and then Megan and I attending an Open Morning at one of the schools she is considering for next year. It was between 10am and 12.15 but it was nearer to half past by the time we left. Megan ate her lunch in the car, we called in briefly at mum’s and then I dropped her back at school before heading home. The girls were going with their dad after school so I knew I didn’t have to turn out and get them again, meaning I got on with some work when I got home. That said I started to feel a bit rough and curled up on the sofa to watch TV and chill. When Chris got home we had takeaway and didn’t do an awful lot else!

On Tuesday I took both the kids to school (and Lily’s tardis that we made over the weekend!) and then came home again. It ended up as a busy morning, picking up parcels, doing some shopping, calling to see Chris’ Gran and getting my sewing machine serviced. We managed to grab lunch and a few hours to ourselves before heading out to get the girls from school and going out for dinner. After that we dropped Lily off with her Grandma and headed back to school as Megan was in her school play. Chris and I watched and thoroughly enjoyed it, before picking Megan up, collecting Lily and then heading home and putting the girls to bed. By that point I was exhausted and yet again, didn’t get an awful lot done that evening! I took a bath and read some of my latest book.

Wednesday was Sports Day and so I headed out to school with the girls. Lily went first in the morning, participating in 4 races, though as every KS1 group took part, it took all morning. The weather was dull and it even rained a few times, but it turned out okay, despite being cold. Lily and I then had lunch together (along with my mum) and eventually Megan joined us too. In the afternoon it was Megan’s turn and there was a Kingball Tournament for all the KS2 kids. This took all afternoon too and though my mum bailed on us, Grandma turned up to support and keep me company as well. We managed to leave school about 10 minutes early but it did make a difference when we came home and collapsed! We had takeaway for dinner and then Nat came around in the evening.

On Thursday I decided to really try hard with my diet. On Wednesday I’d had a nasty shock when getting on the scales and it was just the kick I needed to make me try again. After taking the girls to school and then popping to mum’s to drop off their stuff (they were staying the night), I came home and emerged myself in wrapping parcels and going to the post office, all just to keep busy. I was good for lunch and good for dinner and I felt so much better for it. I also remembered how much I love jacket potatoes! In the evening Amy and I collaborated to book our Inside Out cinema tickets for when she comes down to visit in a few weeks time. We booked with Vue which means we get Disney Store vouchers each and since we’re buying Tsum Tsums on a monthly basis at the moment, it all comes in handy!

The girls had stayed at mum’s on Thursday night as it was school disco and her having them saved me a lot of hassle, however I still needed to get up on Friday morning and head to school as Lily was in shine assembly. This was the last one of the year and I was so proud of her for being in twice (she was originally in it at the beginning of the year). No surprise but I cried when she was up at the front – I’m such an emotional mess when it comes to the kids! Afterwards I came home and set myself to sewing. I challenged myself to three dresses over three days and I’m happy to say I managed it! I made a dress for Amy’s daughter Liv on Friday, which took majority of the afternoon and a little into the evening. Once that was finished I started on Lily’s, cutting out the pieces that evening. I obviously picked the girls up from school at the right time, had dinner etc. but the majority of the day was spent sewing!

On Saturday I got up and began to sew again. I started on Lily’s dress and worked on till after lunch. At that point the girls and I headed into town as we needed a few bits of food and also some material/elastic/zips from Boyes. When we came back I continued to sew but I did take a break here and there – especially when Megan wanted to make brownies. However I got Lily’s dress finished by the evening and even started to cut out Megan’s pattern pieces. Megan made her brownies into Minecraft Blocks as she’s a nerd like that, but they tasted amazing and looked pretty cool too.

Finally on Sunday I got up and had to take Chris to work, so the girls had to come too. We packed our swimming stuff as I promised we’d go swimming over the weekend and so once Chris was dropped off, we went to the leisure centre. We spent an hour or so there, had showers and got changed. We then had to pop into Tesco again on the way home, where the girls decided they wanted to make their own version of Subway subs. We then came home, made lunch and did some bits around the house, before I settled down to sew. I sewed all afternoon and into the evening, stopping to make food for the kids, help with homework etc. and of course feed myself and Chris. However by about 10pm Megan’s dress was finished too and I was really pleased with them all!

So that was pretty much my week, I don’t think I missed anything! It’s been a good week but I have to admit things are always so busy at the end of term – I look forward to the holidays. As of today, the girls have a week and a half left of school and I have at least 5 things penciled into my diary that I still need to do with regards to school. That said, it’s nothing too hectic so it should be a good coming week! Hope you’re all having good weeks too, I’m off to sew again!

Week 26 – Monday Round-up

June 29, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Another busy week but I’m actually getting around to doing this post early (it’s Sunday night!). Monday to Friday the kids were at school but Chris was off from Monday to Wednesday. After taking the kids to school on Monday, I settled down to finish of the Murder Mystery I’d been working tirelessly. It took me all day but I finally managed it by about midnight! Obviously I picked up the kids, had dinner etc. but for the most part my day was solely spent doing this.

On Tuesday Chris and I took the girls to school and then headed to the storage unit. We needed to grab a few things, including the futon, which meant taking furniture to pieces and packing it into the car. After that we headed back home but we needed to go to Tesco and visit Chris’ nan too. We decided to go to Chris’ nan first and stayed for about an hour, we then went shopping and did a good weeks shop. Finally we got back home and Chris offered to put the futon back together while I took a bath. For a change it was a really long bath, because I got quite into the book I was reading. When the girls got home from school, via their few hours with their dad, I managed to catch him about Megan getting her ears pierced. He agreed and she was thrilled!

On Wednesday I took the girls to school and Chris was out on his driving test (sadly he failed). When I got home, he arrived shortly after me and while we wallowed for a little while, he soon headed up on his computer and I got sewing for the day. I picked out a pattern to do, traced it and cut it out. I then stopped for lunch with Chris before heading out to Boyes and buying some material. I got back and cut out my pattern pieces but then it was time to pick the girls up from school. Megan was having her friend Elizabeth back for dinner and so that pretty much took up the rest of my evening.

Thursday Chris was back at work but my mum was coming around for the day so I still didn’t get an awful lot done. She read through my murder mystery completely though (noting the odd mistake) and she liked it, so that made me feel positively about the party on Friday. She stopped for lunch and didn’t leave till I went to get the girls from school. After school we went into town and made an appointment for Megan’s ear piercing. We also picked up the Snow White Tsum Tsums which had just been released from Clintons. In the evening I had my nephew (or sort of at least) overnight as my brother and his girlfriend were working the next day when he was off school and they had no one for the early part of Friday. The kids didn’t get that long together but they were no trouble. Once they were in bed I baked some cakes, trying to bake them flat for the first time ever. It was definitely an interesting experience.

On Friday morning I had three kids to get up and ready but again they were no trouble. I took all three to school with me, met up with mum and sat with her and Charlie to watch Megan’s assembly. After the assembly finished, Charlie and I headed off so I could take him home, via McDonalds for breakfast of course. By the time I got home, I had ten minutes to grab my breath before heading out to meet Amy and Liv. I walked down to the train station to meet them and then we all headed back to my house. Since the girls were going to my mum’s that night, we didn’t need to go out and get them from school. In the end we all just chilled out together, headed in to town for a little while, played with some Tsum Tsums and watched Walle. After Olivia went to bed, Amy and I got ready for the murder mystery and finished the cake.

The evening went really well and it was nice to hang with friends. The murder mystery worked fine too so that was a relief, though not having rounds of food to break it up with, meant that it all went pretty fast (we were naughty and ordered Dominos!). Even once we finished though, we all sat around chatting and since we were a small group, that was nice too. In the end we headed to bed around midnight.

In the morning, I managed a lie-in till 10.30am but I still felt tired! The kids arrived home around midday and since they all pretty much occupied themselves in the afternoon, Amy and I spent time together in the dining room – researching everything from Paris accommodation to cosplay ideas. We were still in the dining room when Chris came home from work at 10pm, though obviously we’d got the kids dinner and fed ourselves too. We headed to bed a little earlier than usual as we were pretty tired. However I managed to lie-in till 9am again the following morning!

This time the girls got up and occupied themselves quietly until we were all up. Then we all just sat together, had cups of tea and chatted. I took Amy and Liv to catch their train at 1pm, then came home and helped Megan with her homework. Chris and I spent the afternoon strimming and trimming the front garden and it took ages! Finally I came inside, hoovered around and then ended up sorting all my jewellery supplies out. After getting everyone (and myself) dinner, it wasn’t long before the girls headed to bed. I spent the evening cutting Chris’ hair and then when he went for a bath I watched Holby City while writing this blog post! We’re now settling down to watch Humans and I’m scheduling this post and turning off my computer. I imagine we’ll head to bed after one episode as I have to be up early in the morning!

Hope you all had a good week. See you again this time next week!