Disney Dreams

This is going to be pretty picture heavy, just a fair warning!
     It's been over a month now since I went to Disney for Spring Break, and I'm dreaming about it more and more. Taylor and I bought Seasonal passes, so we're getting to go at least a couple times next month before our Blackout dates start in June. First with our good friends, and then with my Aunt and Uncle at the end of the month for Star Wars Weekends! We're super excited, but I figured I should probably give you all a better peek at the last trip before I go on the next trip!
     My Aunt Mer and Uncle Dan and I arrived on Sunday and checked into the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which if you've never been is absolutely wonderful -the animals are so cute! Taylor was going to drive down that night after his rugby game in Alabama and my brother was supposed to head over that afternoon. Or so I had been told.

Birthday pin! Celebrating 21.

     I was taken to the bar to get an Ecotini (best drink ever, btw) by my Uncle, which I found out later was just a ploy to keep me away from the front desk where my Aunt was getting our room keys. We got to the room, I unpacked and my brother, Cory, showed up. Him and Dan went back down to the lobby, or so I thought once again, and I started blabbing away to Mer about what outfits I was going to wear on what park days. And then, to my utter and complete shock and surprise:

My Mamma showed up!! I was seriously in shock, my family is a group of pretty terrible secret keepers, and somehow all of them kept from me that my mom had flown down from New York three days earlier and was surprising me for my birthday. It was absolutely perfect. Taylor arrived in late that night, and we had SO much fun all week. Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom were on our agenda. I'll stop gabbing away here and just show you pictures now...

I love this moment that Mer caught. He was in the middle of telling me how tired he was.

Wearing red, white, and blue for our Epcot day.

Taylor's favorite part of Disney- the Norway Pavilion.

A Skye-sized rugby ball!

I LOVE this picture, haha!

With our Seasonal passes! Too excited.

     I have tons more pictures, but they're mostly of shows and random street signs/buildings and food. Yeah, a lot of food, the food is probably one of my favorite parts. Hopefully you enjoyed these, because I definitely enjoyed being present in them and I'm extremely excited to be back. Disney is just such a magical place, don't you think? XO.

Avoidance is Not a Dance

     I'm sitting here with three large papers looming over my flower and glitter and sunshine filled head, with no urge to complete any of them and a deep need for summer to arrive. One is about pagans, the other about women on the American prairie, and a third is about Weetzie Bat.
     Which is how I got so distracted tonight and didn't end up writing about any of the three, though feeling quite inspired to write. You see, pagans made me think of "Shit New Age Girls Say", which brought me to Youtube, where I had to watch the new Florence + the Machine video. And then Weetzie Bat had me looking up the brilliant author, Francesca Lia Block, which led me to the Wildfox Couture-run blog featuring a wondrous story written by her -seriously, go read it right this very moment, stop reading my silly ramblings and read what I only dream my writing will sound like one day. And lastly, the prairie made me think of wildflowers and wide open spaces, and I was sucked from one imagery wonderland into the beautiful world of photography on this blog. So you see, I haven't been just avoiding my papers, I've been letting my paper topics inspire me. I've been in what you could call a rut lately, just going through the motions, not feeling inspired and feeling fairly overwhelmed. A lot to do, not a lot of time, and a sense that everything is moving too fast. Classes are ending and signing up for new classes has given me more than one headache these last couple weeks (which still haven't sorted themselves out, ugh). So spending an evening with magical images and enchanting songs and bewitching stories has calmed me, enlightened me, and lifted my spirits to where I think I can make it through until the warm summer days lingering in the distance.

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     So if you're in the same water-logged boat as I am, take a few minutes to explore something lovely. Except don't do what I did and go outside to take your puppy out and then almost run into the biggest spider web ever in existence complete with yuckiest looking spider in the entire world. That would be bad. Instead, sit on your bed and cuddle with said puppy and eat something delicious and drink some tea. Much better. Feel relaxed and inspired yet? XO.

The Ten Acre Woods

     A few weeks ago I had a super wonderful, dreamlike week, full of Spring Break adventures, Disney surprises, and some quaint celebrations with family. It was just what I needed and I'm finally able to share some of the outfit pictures Taylor took for me! My cord conundrum is fixed and the pictures are here, so look forward to more memories soon.
     These are all from the last day of our break, after my Uncle's birthday party as the sun was setting. My grandmother's Ten-Acre Woods are full of picture opportunities, so I made Taylor follow me with my phone camera and snap a few a million pictures. These are some of my favorites -that top one with Pip's little face peeking back? I swoon!

I love the look of complete joy on my face in this one. I love throwing leaves.

Hat, Dress- F21; Shoes- Ross; Key bracelet- Lucky Brand, old; Acai nut bracelet- came with my Eco-tini at Disney.

Barefoot is the best way to go. I lived most of my childhood like this.

     Taylor and I are taking it easy and not doing much, as these next couple weekends will be pretty busy. We're making lots of changes and getting prepared to move in a couple months, find jobs, and, for me at least, take summer classes. So this weekend, we're keeping calm. Friday the 13th was a truly great day, which is weird because most people are frightened by it. I, however, seem to always have good days on Friday the 13th, and yesterday was no exception. My military ID picture came out perfect, we bought hot dogs from the nicest gentleman, had lunch with friends, looked at houses for rent, and then ate Thai food for dinner. Today I'm catching up on TV shows I missed and running a couple errands once Taylor wakes up from his after-practice nap. Hope you have a dazzling (and stress-free, if you need it) weekend! XO.

Telegrams from... Thursday?

     This blogging thing has taken a back burner to this whole April-is-the-most-stressful-month-ever thing. And by ever, I really mean EVER. There is just so much happening and so quickly and so disorganized. I'm having trouble keeping my head above water through it all, but I'm making it work. So here's a little Telegram that I meant to post on Tuesday.

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The Drop, that wrestles in the Sea—

Forgets her own locality—

As I—toward Thee—

She knows herself an incense small—

Yet small—she sighs—if All—is All—

How larger—be?

The Ocean—smiles—at her Conceit—

But she, forgetting Amphitrite—

Pleads—"Me"?

Emily Dickinson

       Also, Pippa on the beach may well be the most adorable thing ever. She digs and digs and runs and then hates the sea water. It's pretty uplifting to watch her frolic. Now back to procrastinating working on writing papers. XO.

Oh, April

     Hello pretty month. Full of April Fool's and April Showers. Easter is here, Spring is in the air, and I'm ready to embrace the happiness that is April. Yes, you will stress me out with your many papers and exams that will arrive, but I will handle them with calmness and grace and the hope for summer to come as quickly and painlessly as possible. Taylor will practice on the beach for his Championship game in Colorado, we'll restart our weekend dates, I'll get back to blogging more often, and the Spring semester will slip away and lead us into a wonderful summer. April, you're a little difficult at times, but your blooms and sense of finality are just what I need right now. XO.

Drinks before I left for the weekend. I hope April is full of more afternoon dates like this.