Tag Archives: Disney at Home

Feeling Thankful Disney Style

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Castle-PictureThanksgiving is for counting blessings and I’m not sure I can count that high!  Of course I’m thankful for my family and friends, my work-family, and my home and health.  I’m also incredibly thankful for you.  Yes, YOU.  You regular visitors and those of you who stop by from time to time.  Most of you are fellow Disney fans, some are young parents, many are understanding empty-nesters (like me), others are co-mid-life-experiencing people who share in my confusion – how did we get here so quickly?  Where did the time go?

Why do I appreciate you?  That’s easy – Life’s full of ups and downs.  We don’t always know what’s going on with strangers we encounter, often we’re unaware of difficulties and challenges our own acquaintances and casual friends are dealing with.  I’m like you and my life is full of unexpected twists and turns.  Being able to share my little corner of the word and my love for all things Disney with you has been rewarding beyond measure.  Your comments, feedback, kind emails, good-natured debates, and constant support have kept me going during some stressful times over the past two years.  You get me in a way many people, who don’t share our Disney passion, can’t.  For that, and your friendship, I’m indescribably grateful.RM-Mickey-Heart-Ornament-Front

I appreciate the fellow Disney fan bloggers and podcasters who came to my rescue when I was saying goodbye to my mom in June – their support and guest post contributions kept me and this blog going – I’ve said it before and it’s absolutely the truth – the Disney fan community is a loving and caring place to be a part of.IMG_3869

I’m thankful for those of you who lend me your ears – The Disney Exchange Podcast as grown over the past year to encompass a humbling number of regular listeners, Twitter followers, and Facebook friends.  I’m so fortunate to have Nick and Dave to be my friends and co-host the show with me…we talk Disney and have a great time every single week.IMG_2293

Happy Thanksgiving, Disney Friends!  May your blessings be bountiful and your home be filled with love, laughter, and happily ever after…Lisa

Walt Disney’s Encyclopedia of Animated Characters

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The weekend has finally arrived!  That means it’s time to kick back with a cup of coffee and stroll through the fun and fantastic articles over at Disney Musings.  For this week’s Saturdays With Nick, I’m sharing another book from the amazing and seemingly endless collection (no, it’s not your imagination, you do detect a hint of jealousy) Nick and Barbie have amassed through the years.  This book is wonderful and would be an excellent addition to anyone’s Disney library.  I’m heading over to ebay now to see if I can pick up one for myself.  Enjoy!

Walt Disney’s Encyclopedia of Animated Characters

By Nick

Back when I was a kid, I had to walk to school, uphill, both ways. Television? We had 3 networks and PBS. That’s it. And we had to get information out of things called books. For instance, if I wanted to know something about a favorite animated Disney character, such as Humphrey, instead of Googling, I’d open up this wonderful tome.

The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney’s Animated Characters by John Grant was purchased at the Disney Store I was a Cast Member at back in 1993. There is a forward by Disney Archivist Dave Smith, as well as a special forward from Roy E. Disney for this Second Edition.

With the dust jacket off.

This book is a wealth of knowledge, starting way back with the Laugh-O-Grams, The Alice Comedies, and Oswald, and going through to Aladdin, with a description of every character from every short, animated feature, and television series in between.

Oh, and another thing about television, to change the channel, we had to get up, walk way over to the 13 inch TV screen and do it ourselves!

For more Disney awesomeness, be sure to follow Nick, his wife Barbie, and friends:  Disney Musings Blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, On Instagram, On Pinterest.

Halloween Party – Disney Style

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RM-Disney-Halloween-Decorations3I love Halloween!  – The decorations, the spooky vibe, the fall-ish-ness of pumpkins and falling leaves, the Disney touches…if you’ve been hanging out here with me for a while…heck! even if you’re new here, clearly “Living a Disney Life” hints at what you can expect from me!  Especially at Halloween!

The difficult part of this season for me is that we live pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  In the 10 years we’ve lived in our house, we’ve had literally a total of three trick-or-treaters.  RM-Halloween-Front-DoorIf you want candy from my house, you have to drive here specifically.  While I grew up walking door to door on Halloween in our huge subdivision, gathering up ridiculous amounts of sweets, we had to drive our children trick-or-treating over about 10 square miles to hit the homes of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and best friends.RM-Disney-Halloween-Mickey-O-LanternRM-Halloween-Decorations-Foyer

I love holiday decorating – doesn’t matter much what holiday, you can bet I’m going all out with the decorations.  It might be an obsession, but that’s the way it is.  This year I decided to throw a small costume party for The Fam and a few of our friends.  Maybe I wanted an excuse to dress up, maybe I wanted an excuse to see my children, maybe I just wanted to show off my super-awesome-amazing decorations (no room went unadorned).  Who cares?  Party!!!RM-Halloween-Party-Invitation

Halloween Party – Disney Style

We picked a date, ordered the invitations, assembled the guest list and got busy with the party prep!  RM-Halloween-Decorations-Spider-Web RM-Halloween-Decorations-Powder-Room RM-Halloween-Decorations-Piano RM-Halloween-Decorations-Library RM-Halloween-Decorations-Greeters RM-Halloween-Decorations-Dining-Room2 RM-Halloween-Decorations-Dining-Room RM-Halloween-Decorations-Bowl-of-SkullsRaymond and I decided we’d go as Cruella (I had fun with the makeup!) and Jasper while Junior chose Captain America.  Joseph and I cooked all afternoon & by 7:00 pm, we were all set (He and his girlfriend, Lyndsey are the cute Jurassic World couple in the party pics, Megan’s the adorable Princess Leia).RM-CruellaRM-Halloween-Costumes-Cruella-and-Jasper RM-Halloween-Costume-Captain-America

What a great time we had!  Rain prevented us from making the party indoor/outdoor, but there was plenty of food, music, and games.  I love it when people embrace the spirit of a gathering and there was no shortage of creative, creepy, and elaborate costumes!  I can only hope that everyone had as much fun as we did!

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I’ll leave you with some party highlights – SO many great costumes!!!  It was like having a house full of celebrities and deranged monsters!  Happy Halloween, Everyone! RM-Halloween-Costumes-Steampunk RM-Halloween-Costumes-ScaryRM-Halloween-Costumes-Jurassic-World2 RM-Halloween-Costumes-Katy-and-Left-Shark RM-Halloween-Costumes-Jack&Coke RM-Halloween-Costume-Princess-Leia RM-Halloween-Costume-Pope RM-Halloween-Costume-Horror RM-Halloween-Costume-Fred-Flintstone

Disney Women of a Certain Age

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RM-Halloween-Jack-O-LanternHalloween is right around the corner.  I love this time of the year so much and I go all out with the spooky decorations.  We’re having a little get together to celebrate the season and, as expected, I’m adding Disney touches here and there.  We’ve invited our friends to a costume party and, me being me, I want to wear a Disney costume to this shindig.  Therein lies my problem.  I’m past the princess age and too mature for the cute stuff.  What’s the deal?  Think about it – most of the women my age in Disney movies are either evil or dead.  How depressing!  And challenging

Disney Women of a Certain Age

Mulan’s mom was alive and so were Andy’s mom in the Toy Stories, Helen Parr in the Incredibles and Mrs. Darling in Peter Pan.  Would anyone know who I was if I tried to dress up as one of them? Yes, Elastigirl!  Absolutely NO to the spandex.  I don’t think so.  Who do you remember the most?  I’ll tell you – Evil middle-aged women!  Be it queen, step-mother, magical-baby-stealing-hag, or fur-obsessed dog-napper – those are the stand-outs.RM-Disney-Halloween-Decorations

Alas, my options are limited.(No, I can never pass up the opportunity to say, “alas”.)  Think about Bambi, Snow White, Tarzan, Cinderella, and Anna & Elsa – their moms are all gone (a.k.a. deceased).  Dumbo’s mom!  Yeah…No.  WHO?  Who can I be?  I am running out of time to decide.  I guess I’ll have to go with “mature” and evil.  Check back this weekend over on the Facebook page and see who I end up as.  Any suggestions?RM-Disney-Halloween-Mickey-O-Lantern

I’m pretty secure with being the age I am – I’m all about being age-appropriate (yet trendy and stylish) – Honestly, this costume thing is quite a challenge!

Are you dressing up in a Disney-themed costume?  I’d love to hear all about it.  Maybe I can live vicariously through your fancy Belle or Rapunzel costume.  Or Jessie or Bo Peep or Snow White…

Happy Halloween!!!RM-Disney-Halloween-Decorations2