YesterEars June Collection Review

Back in May I posted a review of my first YesterEars tee purchase. I then posted about two new YesterEars offerings in June that I just couldn't live without! They have now arrived and I wanted to write another review on items I own from this collection.

The first item I bought from the June collection was a Typhoon Lagoon t-shirt. I said when I got the Blizzard Beach t-shirt that I really hoped a Typhoon Lagoon t-shirt would be released too - and my wish was granted! I didn't hesitate before purchasing and I'm so glad I got it!

These are advertised as either men's or unisex shirts, so again I ordered a size small like I did with my Blizzard Beach tee. Small is the smallest size available, no XS is offered. It fits pretty much the same as my Blizzard Beach tee, but I think the sleeves may be slightly longer, it's hard to tell for sure. The t-shirt is Hanes brand just like my first tee, but the style is different. My Blizzard Beach tee is a Nano T and the Typhoon Lagoon tee is a "Beefy-T". The Nano T is softer than the Beefy-T but both are extremely comfortable. The Beefy-T is also a little bit thicker. I absolutely adore the color of my Typhoon Lagoon shirt, it's so perfect!

The second item I bought was the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater baseball raglan. To be honest I've wanted a baseball style shirt for a while, and I've had my eye on the Nightmare Before Christmas/Haunted Mansion mashup tee at the Disney Parks. I liked the style and I don't own any shirts in that style so it made for something new in my wardrobe. I think this tee is incredibly well designed, it screams retro which I'm so into, and the colors have a fun Halloween feel which I think is appropriate. Also, I LOVE Sci-Fi! I know a lot of people hate on it but I can't say enough good things about it. But I'm not getting into that debate right now.

There's no brand name on the inside of this one, it just says Disney Parks. I ordered a small which was the perfect size. This tee does fit a little weird in places and I can't tell if that's because it's a men's shirt or it's just a weird style. The neckline is very high and tight, reminiscent of the rash guard I wear when I swim. It feels a little strange but I think I'll get used to it. I still love this shirt and it doesn't look so awful that I don't want to keep the shirt.

My only other complaint with this style of tee is that the shirt is not hemmed at the bottom. I feel like this is a trend right now because I'm seeing it a lot and I do have one or two other tees that aren't hemmed. However, with this shirt it seems to roll and curl a lot as a result. Again this isn't such a big deal that I don't want the shirt anymore, but I do wish it was hemmed. This wasn't a $10 tee so I feel like it wouldn't have been an issue to hem it. Since it's a little long on me, I just tuck it under to stop it rolling. I think this style actually fits women better than men. It's more fitted with less room than the two t-shirts I have. I think the neckline would be way too tight for a man. The only way in which this shirt shows it's designed for men is the length.

Overall I really love this tee and I'm glad I bought it. The best part is when you buy two items from the YesterEars collection, the second item is 40% off. That discount makes me feel a lot better about buying two items and helps me ignore the couple of minor issues I have with the Sci-Fi tee. I wish the collection overall had women's cuts too, this has happened only once so far. YesterEars clothing is all made to order so I don't see why they don't have women's cuts available too, I don't see how that would cost them any more when the shirts are made to order.

On that note, with them being made to order, they have a disclaimer saying delivery will take 3-5 weeks. These shirts took a lot longer to be delivered than my Blizzard Beach tee, shipping in the 5th week after I order them and arriving one day shy of being exactly 5 weeks after the day I ordered. It's not a huge problem, in fact it can be a nice surprise when a month and a half later you get a package you forgot about. But if you're wanting to order something for an upcoming Disney trip or a birthday gift, it might not arrive on time. In the same vein, you can't read accurate reviews before you purchase (one of the reasons I'm reviewing here) because anyone who leaves a review does not have the item in hand. The shirts are only available to order for about 10 days and won't arrive during that time frame for someone to write a review. The made to order nature of these items also means they are non-refundable.

I am really pleased with my purchases and I hope my review will help anyone who intends to order a YesterEars item in the future, especially women wanting to order from the collection.

Disney Havaianas Collection

Popular Brazilian flip flop brand Havaianas have collaborated with Disney to bring numerous Disney styles for men, women and kids.

Some of my favorites in the collection for women are:

Captain America

Snow White

The Force Awakens

Belle

The flip flops for women range in price from $26-$30, with the bridal range retailing at $98 a pair, men's flip flops retail at $26, and kids from $19-$20. The prices are on par with non-Disney Havaianas flip flops, which I find reasonable. I love my Havaianas, they're the most comfortable flip flops ever! Not to mention they're pretty durable.

This collection is available at the DisneyStore.com, the Shop Disney Parks App, and the Havaianas store at Disney Springs.

Good Morning!

(Photo Credit: Disney Parks Blog)

I am so excited to go back to Blizzard Beach on our next Disney trip!

Limited Release Farewell Tees Now Available

The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios and the Universe of Energy over at EPCOT will both be closing this Sunday, August 13th, 2017. Limited Release t-shirts saying goodbye to these beloved attractions have been released today at the DisneyStore.com and are already available to purchase at the Walt Disney World Resort. They are available to order online until August 17th and retail at $22.99 for a kids tee and $27.99 for an adult tee. If you buy two, the second tee is 40% off.

Virtual Running Shorts - July 5k

If you've been following along with my posts on runDisney's Virtual Running Shorts, you'll know that these are three 5k races taking place this summer where you can run whenever you want, where ever you want. I have signed up for the series, which means running three 5k races: one in June, one in July and the final race in August. You can read about my June 5k here. 

At the end of the series I plan to write a review of the Virtual Running Shorts, including things like the nature of a virtual race, what I thought about the cost and registration process, the medals and how they were delivered, etc., but as I go along I will also be blogging about each individual race and talking about that specific experience. This blog post covers my July 5k.

I ran my July 5k on Saturday, July 29, which meant I had a month between races and a total of 10 weeks training for this race. I ran at the same park I used for my June 5k, because it features two trails: one is 1 mile long and the other is 1.1 miles, which means it's super easy to track 3.1 miles for my 5k. Not to mention it's close to where I live and very pretty. I used the 1 mile trail for my first lap, the 1.1 mile trail for my second lap, then back to the 1 mile trail to complete my race. I started my race at 8:20am and it was 73 degrees and sunny. That's a little warmer and sunnier than my last race but not super hot, although the temperature had increased 9 degrees by the time I got done.

For my June 5k I ran for 1 minute, then walked for 2 minutes so that I wouldn't burn out and would actually make it to the finish line. This worked but in hindsight I felt like I didn't need to talk that much and therefore slowed myself down much more than I needed to. For this 5k I decided to run to failure (which basically means when you literally can't anymore) then walk until I had recovered which in training was 1 minute, and repeat.

I started the race with 2 minutes of brisk walking to warm up, then got right into running. I felt like my first mile was strong, I was pleased with how much I was running, although I didn't time how long or for what distance, and I felt like my walk breaks were short. I was aiming for 16 minute miles or less, which would mean if this were a real Disney race, I wouldn't get swept. I completed the first mile in 15:02 and I was really happy with that!

Well my second lap was tougher for some reason. I got a pain in my ribs at once point, then that went away and later on I got a pain in my thigh. It was very distracting. I felt like my walk breaks were more frequent this lap and my running time/distance was shorter. I don't know why it was so tough. I wanted to get done with this lap in under 17 minutes (allowing an extra minute for the extra 0.1 mile) but this lap took 19 minutes even. I was very disappointed and couldn't really evaluate what went wrong or why it took so long.

On to my final mile and I didn't think I was going to make it. I wonder if I accidentally went too fast and didn't pace my running very well. That's hard for me to do because I'm not aiming for speed but I was a sprinter in high school so I was trained for speed not distance. If I go slow, I don't feel like I'm moving or going anywhere. On the third mile I felt like I was running through molasses, super slow and going nowhere. I was getting out of breath more quickly, and I was feeling like I was simultaneously going to throw up and pass out. I wondered if I'd have to walk the entire last mile just to finish and why I'm the only human who finds this so hard. I've been training for 10 weeks for goodness sake!

I kept at it and just tried to keep running even if just for 45 seconds to a minute before taking walk breaks and keeping them as short as I could. As awful as I felt my final mile went, it wasn't actually as bad as I thought because I finished in 16:05, just 5 seconds over my goal. So I was happy with my final mile, really happy with my first mile, and really disappointed by my 1.1 mile. My overall time was 50:07, which was 3:03 minutes off of my last 5k time, for 1:01 minutes off of my mile pace. 

I was even more happy to unwrap my medal for this race because this one was harder than the last! I'm disappointed by time time because although my average pace was 15:45, once again I would have gotten swept if this were a real Disney race. (And again, thank the maker for the virtual races!) I would have been much happier if I could have stuck to 15 minute miles and completed the race around the 45 minute mark. Maybe next race.

I also hope there are less people about because there were so many people this time! The dogs were distracting, some people wouldn't move despite me telling them and it was awkward to get around people, especially when I knew I would start walking soon after passing them. I'm not attributing any of that to my time or making excuses, just noting a difference between this race and June's 5k.

Most of my disappointment stems from the fact that I can't pinpoint why my 1.1 mile lap took so long. For my August 5k I plan to do the same intervals of running to failure and then taking a walk break. I'll try to make sure I'm pacing myself well and not going too fast, and maybe I'll even time my walk breaks to ensure they're not too long. I may also get out there an hour earlier to see if that helps with the heat and number of people.