Basin --A Teensy Review

Last weekend I went to Magic Kingdom with my nephew. It was his first time and he is 5. He had tons of fun and professed his love for Uncle Chris and Aunt Jenny on the car ride home with his Mommy, my sister. After the park that night I was also able to pop into Basin, a bath and body store at Downtown Disney. I'd walked past it so many times, but lately I have been in too much of a rush to get somewhere that I don't have time to stop in. You see, I don't go to Downtown Disney to mosey around like most, as a park passholder, I only go there when I need something specific. For example, I went on Saturday night because I was getting Mickey ears embroidered for my nephew. We forgot to get them at the park earlier and he really wanted them. After getting his ears, I stopped in Basin for a look around.

Basin, like Lush is one of those stores you can smell half a mile away. Basin is much bigger than any of the Lush stores I've been in though, but it carries the same sort of items. Chemical and paraben-free and no animal testing. I'm in. They had mounds of bath bombs and cakes of soap. I was attracted to the shampoo bars, the pumpkin one to be exact. Their products are competitively priced with Lush, being a little cheaper.

I picked up a few bath bombs as well. I have already used the shampoo and it is wonderful. It lathers surprisingly well for a solid shampoo. I also used one of the bath bombs yesterday after my unsurprisingly shitty day at work. It was super fizzy and fragrant. As some may know, Trinket does not let me take baths in peace. She cries and whines until I put her in the water, too. Today Trinket's fur still smells like the Vanilla Oak bomb I used (teehee).

Twilight Woods BB by Basin

This post is by no means, a comparison between Lush and Basin. I'm simply using Lush as an example because most people are familiar with it.

I plan on sticking my head in this shop again! Also, Happy Independence Day!

Disney Magic

It's been a while since I've posted anything from our Disney trips, hasn't it? We haven't gone nearly as much because of school and work, but we still go at least once a month. I haven't had the time (still) to go through memory cards and look at real photos, so here are a few fun instagrams in the mean time!


I really like the instagram app, but I've been starting to play around with other apps, too. I ran the sorcerer Mickey photo through a different app first and then applied another filter to it in instagram. Have a great Sundae!

Leap Day: My Proposal Story

Leap Day was a very big day! I only let the cat out of the bag to a few people beforehand and literally only 1 person in the blogging community. What's the story? Well,

I had class on Wednesday, so I planned around it and it actually helped. I went to the party store before class and bought a dozen balloons, all different colors. Thankfully, they lasted in my car. I told him to meet me after class outside the bar where we first met, The Independent. On the way to class I felt excited, scared, nervous, nauseous, happy, and terrified....all at the same time.  

Chris looked a little confused when he saw me with a bunch of balloons. He asked what they were for and this is how it went:

Me: "I thought we could tie them to our house like the movie Up and go on adventures."

Him: (confused, but not surprised at my spontaneity) "Yeah?"

Me: (pulling the pin out of the pocket on my shirt) I asked him, "Will you go on adventures with me?"

Him: (confused)

Me: "Will you marry me and go on adventures with me?" (by now I'm starting to tear up a little)

Him: "Yes!"

Me: "Are you serious?!?!? Because I'm being serious right now! It's Leap day and girls can propose on Leap Day!"

Him: (taking off his sunglasses) he says, "Yes, I'm serious."

Me: (melted into a puddle on the sidewalk)

I didn't get down on one knee, I was wearing a skirt. Plus, I felt that the one knee thing was too masculine and what I was doing was masculine enough. I tried to make it 'me.' 

After that we had a drink at the Independent and then scooted off to Magic Kingdom. They were actually open 24 hours for Leap Day and my original plan was to propose there, but I really couldn't skip class. It also wouldn't have been as personal as I wanted and what if he said 'no'????

The ring? I didn't go that route. I bought him a pin instead. This pin, to be exact:

It's the pin Ellie gives to Carl in the movie Up. We love that movie and like everyone else, we both cry through the beginning. I had a light bulb moment on Valentine's day when he tweeted a picture of Ellie and Carl to me. (sigh)

Leap day is not Sadie Hakwins day. That day is actually sometime in November. It comes from a comic, but the general idea is that it's a day when a lady can ask a guy to go with her. I can see how the two would get mixed up and even merged, but to me Leap day sounds so much more romantic than a story line from Lil' Abner. Mental Floss actually has an article that explains the tradition and it's history a little better than wikipedia.

I feel like this was a huge leap (see what I just did there?) for me and it was pretty brave. Did anyone else propose today?

Under Construction

Hey gals (and guys) the blog is under construction today. "But you just gave it a makeover a month ago!" I know, and that helped motivate me to write. The last update did the job, but I've learned a few new tricks and I'm ready to climb to the next level. You see, this blog is an outlet for me. I write a lot for school, sometimes I want to write for school and other times I want to write for myself. I write for myself here. I also view this blog as practice for when I start my book. This blog will also become an escape for when I need a break from my book. So since the blog will be under construction for the day, here are some pictures to looks at!

These photos were taken with a Canon Xsi and a Diana+ 20mm fisheye lens. The fisheye effect isn't prevalent, but the soft toy lens feel is still there. All of these awesome photo layouts and tape bits are from the talented Katrina from Pugly Pixel. I just finished downloading Photoshop yesterday and let's just say I'm a fast learner. Hope you all are having a great weekend (I'm battling the sniffles as I type).

Animal Kingdom

Last weekend Chris and I made a trip over to Orlando. On Friday, we spent 2 hours at Animal Kingdom before heading over to Oblivion Taproom for a few drinks. We were at Animal Kingdom long enough to snap some photos and for me to go love on/pets the goats. I love goats. Here are some of the photos I posted on instagram:

I didn't bring my camera with me into the park, but Chris did. I'll direct everyone to his post when he's gone through the photos he took. 

We went to Magic Kingdom on Saturday and I ran around with my Diana+ 20mm Fisheye. I don't have a full frame camera but in some photos the effect is present. I'll post some of those in a day or 2. I rode Space Mountain and we went on Haunted Mansion. Big Thunder Mountain was down for refurbishing so we couldn't go on it. The Swiss Family Robinson tree house has re-opened and it looks amazing. You'll see, I took some photos (so keep and eye out!)

Fat Cat Lady

I always thought I was my biggest critic, but after seeing pictures from a few months ago (before losing a few pounds) I learned that cats are my biggest critic. My cats judge me all the time, I can see it in their fuzzy, judgmental faces. Marie's face definitely doesn't make me feel any better.

I'm pretty sure she's laughing at my belly. I was going to say mid-section, but let's face it.... that's a belly. Well, I'll see that hooker this weekend and we'll see how much progress I've made.

Really, the point of this post is to say that-- look at my belly! But really, I've cut back on all the food I put in my mouth lately and I look (and feel) much better. I haven't been riding, but at least I have been eating better. Water. I've been drinking my weight in water and if nothing else, it's helped my complexion. Pictures like this motivate me to work harder at taking better care of myself, but what motivates you?

Fat cats and wombats,

Happy New Year!

It's been quite some time since I've been around here! Let's play catch-up:

Last semester was quite hectic as was the beginning of winter break. I worked a ton and crocheted my fingers off trying to finish a christmas present for Chris's brother. I decided over the summer that I was going to crochet a 1-up mushroom blanket for him.

I made a friend over the summer and then parted ways with her a few weeks ago. I'm not going to go into too many details but we basically had different priorities and ways of treating others. She is a terribly needy person and to be frank, she stressed me out.

I start my last semester in a week! I'm only taking 9 credits because that's all I need to graduate!!!!!!!

Chris and I welcomed a baby girl into our family in early October.... Her name is Trinket and she is a short-hair Chihuahua. She was given to us by one of Chris's co-workers. She is smaller than the cats but they get on famously.

Anything else??? Oh, Chris and I did a bit (a lot) of rearranging around the house. Maybe when it's settled down I might post a mini tour of our little house.

Chris and I spent New Year's Eve at Epcot. We had way too much fun dancing and not so much fun trying to squeeze through the hoards of other people from one country to the next.

I don't plan on taking such a big break from blogging in the future, but I almost didn't come back. I feel like a lot of bloggers are just fluff. It's hard to figure out who's in it for the creative release and who's just in it for the money. Yep, I said it. Sure, it would be great to have a ton of sponsors and blog full time but I would rather my little bit of the internet be more than just fluff so from here on out I don't wanna read someone else's fluff and you won't find the fluff here. If I like something I will share it, but I will not write about something because I want others to think I'm cool.

Speaking of cool, Who likes Shabby Apple? I received an email today about a sale for 20% off. I forgot I was an affiliate! It's clearly been awhile... Check out the side bar for the button.

Anyhoo, the blog is getting a much needed makeover, so bear with me. How was everyone's holiday? I'll try to post some real photos next time. I hate having to post IG ones because I really do know how to work a real camera!

Animal Kingdom: part 2

Here are some of the animal photos from last week's trip to Animal Kingdom, enjoy!

Hippos!

The tigers were so lazy, but it was hot outside.

The poor guy on the left was antler-ing (like teething, but when you grow antlers instead. There's probably an actual name for it.) It looks really painful.

I love otters.

I love this mural. It's giant! Maybe sometime I'll video it.

How cute are these faces? BFForLife.

Looks like Chris spotted the Meerkats! (RIP Flower)

Be sure to check out part 1 and the instagram post!

Animal Kingdom: part 1 (photo heavy)

Alright! These are some of the pictures I took at Animal Kingdom on Wednesday. I am definitely splitting these up into a few posts. I have another post coming of just animals. Real live animals! 

Pretty, huh? I just realized that I always take more pictures in India than I do in Africa. I will try to do the opposite next time! I guess Disney makes up for a lack of Africa and India at Epcot by devoting a whole park to them at Animal Kingdom. Epcot has a very small outpost for Africa and no India! Anyhoo, stay tuned for part 2!