Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you're having a Disney Day! I'm starting my day with gingerbread Mickey waffles that I made.

Disney Parks Yule Log

Enjoy some Christmas music by a Disney fireplace with this video:

Disney Holiday Apron

I've been baking today in my new Disney holiday apron that I bought from the DisneyStore.com a little while ago when they had the Friends & Family discount. I love it!

Christmas Songs from Walt Disney World

I've found a few Christmas songs with a Disney twist that I wanted to share. Here are three Holiday songs from the Walt Disney World Resort for you to enjoy!

"Carol of the Bells" performed by Chakranadi at Animal Kingdom:

The Voices of Liberty singing "Joy to the World" at EPCOT:

Mariachi Cobre playing "Silent Night" at EPCOT:

My First Dooney & Bourke!

I posted recently about the offer on Disney Dooney & Bourke products at The Disney Store Online. I had had my eye on a couple of purses for a while but they're not exactly cheap. There had also been an offer a little while before for up to 25% off your Disney Parks purchase.

I decided I would use that opportunity to get myself a Dooney and had put some money aside. Well, I didn't realize until I tried to buy one that the offer excluded Dooney and Bourke products :( the good news was, when the Dooney offer was released shortly after I already had the money ready! Even better, I could combine that offer with my Disney Visa Rewards discount! (I think that was an oversight on Disney's part, so let's keep that a secret!)

Since my discount then totaled 20% and I received free shipping because my purchase was over $75, I decided to be indulgent and I bought two purses! (Before you assume I'm made of money, they were both small crossbody bags that ended up costing much less than one full size Dooney purse). Besides, how often do you see discount on Disney Dooneys? I didn't own any Dooney and Bourke purses before then, Disney or non-Disney. I am so thrilled to finally own some! Here are my new beauties:

This is the Mickey and Minnie Mouse Downtown Crossbody. It's so cute! The purse is white, the leather is a light beige/brown and the design is pink and black. The same design is also available in black and red.

Pattern on one side 

 

My other purse is the Walt Disney World Retro Mini Barrel bag. I have wanted this design for such a long time. Originally I thought I wanted the Letter Carrier because I love that style, but then I realized I'm starting to form a collection of the same style of purse. I then considered the Satchel, but decided against it because it was a lot more expensive, but also I use smaller purses like crossbodys, way more than I use full size purses. The barrel bag is perfect because it's just the right size, and it's a different shape to the crossbody purses I already have.

Pattern on the other side

I'm really pleased with the design I got too! Having Fantasyland wouldn't have been my first choice but I don't dislike it. I love that I have Liberty Square, the Liberty Belle Riverboat, the Haunted Mansion, Cinderella's Castle, Space Mountain, the Partners statue, a little of the Sorcerer Mickey hat and the Main Street Station, Spaceship Earth, and the Walt Disney World retro logo.

Black Friday Disney Haul

I didn't actually do any shopping on Black Friday (except online) but I did a lot of shopping that weekend in the "Black Friday" sales that had continued in a lot of stores. My best haul was in Hot Topic. I know that they often have Buy One Get One 50% Off pretty regularly in store, but I'd never found enough things that I wanted at any one time that were included in that promotion. It was my lucky day Thanksgiving weekend!

I worked out the best deal that I could get out of the many Disney items that I wanted.  I ended up buying the UP house necklace, Finding Nemo earrings, a Little Mermaid necklace and Toy Story socks. I saved over $10 which I was happy about! Good incentive to finally pick up some of the Disney things I wanted in Hot Topic. I had wanted the UP necklace, Toy Story socks and Nemo earrings for a long time, but they didn't have any of them in my local store during my recent visits. So happy to see them there that weekend! A very successful Black Friday!

My Haunted Mansion Sweater

Recently I purchased this Haunted Mansion flocked sweater just before it sold out online! I'm so happy that I got it just in time! I won't be back in Walt Disney World until October 2015. I'm also glad guests took the time to write reviews for this item because from reading them I learned that the sizing runs big. Usually I find Disney's sizes run small if not true to size. Thankfully because of the reviews, I got an XS in this sweater. The small would definitely have been too big and ordering a medium would've been huge. (Thanks y'all!)

Since it's now sold out online, I can't write my review up on The DisneyStore.com so I'll write a short review here :) it's true that this sweater does run true to size. I am rarely an XS, I'm usually a small in Disney tops and sometimes I take a medium in Disney t-shirts. The XS is the perfect size. The sweater is super comfy, pretty thick and also warm. The neck is a little wider than I thought, but it's not a big deal. I have short hair so I wore a white scarf with the sweater to keep my neck warm.

 A close up of the design

I like that the Haunted Mansion touches are subtle enough that you could wear this top for an occasion and non-Disney fans wouldn't realize. But at the same time, the Haunted Mansion design is clear enough that my Disney veteran parents took one look at my shirt and recognized the attraction.

Above is a close up of the repeating pattern on the shirt. It starts with the gargoyle holding candles from the stretching room, underneath is Madame Leota in her crystal ball from the seance scene, with one of the two heads that move to follow you during the Library seen above and below her. Surrounding that is a flower pattern that reminds me of the flowers on top of the coffin that a ghoul is trying to break out of. There's also ravens on either side of the gargoyle underneath his elbows.

The level of detail is fantastic and it's also a very pretty, comfy and warm sweater. I just love it! Although it's not currently available online, you can purchase this sweater at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Save 25% on Disney Parks Authentic

You can get 25% off Disney Parks items at The Disney Store Online from now until Sunday! Place an eligible Disney Parks item in your basket and use the code PARK25 at checkout. There's also free shipping included when you spend $75 or more! Ends at 11:59pm PST on Sunday, December 7

Cyber Monday at The Disney Store Online

Enjoy 25% off when you spend $100 or more, 20% off when you spend $75 or more, or 15% off when you spend $50 or more at The Disney Store Online today only for Cyber Monday. Use the code CYBER at checkout. If you order $75 or more, you will also receive free shipping with the same code. Offer expires at 11:59pm PST on Monday, December 1.