SSS: Lillian & Co.

For Small Shop Saturday, I'm sharing some of my bracelets from Lillian & Co.! The bracelets have Disney quotes, Star Wars quotes, movie/TV quotes, etc. on them and they are beautiful! They've even offered custom orders a few times, so you can add your own message!

The bracelets are beautiful, they come in gold, silver, or rose gold, and I've both given and received them as gifts. I have too many to include in this post, so I picked a few of my favorites, but I like choosing ones to wear each day depending on their messages! The shop's customer service is amazing, and they also have necklaces and rings, although I don't have any personally. If you're looking for a thoughtful gift, I highly recommend this shop!

even the packaging is lovely!

  

the first one I ever bought from the shop

you might remember these words
from my post the other day!

Peter Pan quote

Walt Disney quote

custom - my title :)

custom - our dogs' initials

custom - Mary Poppins Returns

custom - Journey Into Imagination

Newsies quote

custom - Wizard of Oz

custom - Coco

Happy Tails to you!

Names

When we said goodbye to Riley in March, I wanted something with all of our names on it. I'd seen several cool scrabble tile creations, and I found a shop on Etsy that makes prints. I love how it turned out!

family

Names are so important. They're part of our identity.

Of our eight dogs, we named three of them; for the other five, we kept the names that came with them from the rescue organization. When we visited the elephant sanctuary in Thailand, the volunteers told us that the elephants are given a new name when they are taken in at the sanctuary - "New name for a new life" - and so whether it was us, or the rescue organization, our dogs each got a new name when they started a new life.

Seeing our names arranged all together, intertwined, makes me so incredibly happy!

On another note, as a teacher, I am always keenly aware of how a student spells their name because I know how it feels when people don't bother learning the correct spelling! I've had people spell my name incorrectly my entire life, and while I'm "used to" it, I still dislike it greatly! In this day and age, where my name is printed in all emails I send, on my FB profile, on all school and university documentation, I do NOT understand how people can spell it wrong!

exactly!

Happy Tails to you!

Snow White

I've mentioned how much I've been enjoying the squirrels and birds on my deck. I've set up my "home office" in my dining room and I have a lovely view of them when I'm in there, which, to be honest, feels like ALL THE TIME.

Last Thursday, I was searching for a certain photo when I found the one of C and me from 1990 and decided to share that instead. Well, this is the photo I was searching for! I went camping a lot when I was a child because my grandparents owned an RV and apparently I was trying to become friends with little creatures even way back then.

Last August, a bird flew into the house, and as you might imagine, a lot of lunacy ensued as we tried to shoo it outside. C was being very methodical and coming up with practical suggestions for how to accomplish this; I just whistled and talked to the bird as it flew from room to room. Pretty accurately sums up how we each respond to crazy situations! LOL! 

Spoiler alert! C's approach resulted in the bird returning to the woods. My whistling and talking provided no assistance whatsoever. However, it did lead to a hilarious moment! At one point during the bird insanity, C said, "You're not Snow White!" and it still makes me laugh when I think about that!

That picture of me maybe indicates otherwise, though. :)

Here are a few pictures taken over the last couple of weeks:

adorable!

there are FOUR squirrels on the deck at once!

this one just hung out there for about 20 minutes

  

that tail!

this was taken right as the squirrel
chased the blue jay away!

  

two blue jays!

this pair of cardinals visits every single day!

Also, I found a few from WDW:

EVERY time I see a squirrel at WDW, I make the
same joke - "Is that you, King Arthur?" which
is a reference to The Sword in the Stone and
trust me, C never tires of it (wink, wink)

this one was very interested in my drink

and then he jumped up on me!

Happy Tails to you!

The Now

Today's Wisdom Wednesday comes from The Incredibles!

The way I interpret this is that while we want to learn from past mistakes, we should not dwell on things behind us that we cannot change. Life is too short for that! We need to seize every day and make the most of it!

Happy Tails to you!

Our Top Ten Disney Hotels

This week, it's our Top Ten Disney Hotels! Decided to include the four parks we've been to so far, and since there are so many at WDW, we decided to rank our choices for the three levels (deluxe, moderate, and value). These are the ones we've loved staying at and the ones we visit even when we're not staying at them! It was challenging to only choose ten, although it was very easy to identify our number one pick!

Again, these are just our opinions, based on our experiences – there are definitely ones we love that did not make the list because there are so many good ones! I tried to choose a variety of photos so that they weren't all just exterior shots of the main building!

Worth noting is the honorable mention / sentimental favorite...

Yacht Club

Walt Disney World

we got married at the Yacht Club Gazebo!

L & C's Top Ten Disney Hotels

Disneyland Hotel

Tokyo Disneyland

the no-contest WINNER - absolutely spectacular!

Disneyland Hotel

Disneyland Paris

beautiful and unbelievable proximity to the parks!

Disneyland Hotel

Disneyland Resort

historic and gorgeous!

Grand Californian

Disneyland Resort

the lobby alone is incredible!

Beach Club

Walt Disney World

best pool in all of WDW!
Beaches and Cream!

Polynesian

Walt Disney World

on the monorail loop with a tropical island feel!
Dole Whip!

Port Orleans French Quarter

Walt Disney World

always serene and lovely!

Coronado Springs

Walt Disney World

a new favorite that is absolutely phenomenal!

Pop Century

Walt Disney World

definite step up from the All Stars!
access to SkyLiner!
great food court!

Art of Animation

Walt Disney World

theming is amazing throughout the entire resort!

Happy Tails to you!

Lovely Lyrics: Almost There

I finally watched the second Disney singalong, and while it wasn't as terrible as the first one a few weeks ago, I still didn't love it. However, one of the bright spots was when Anika Noni Rose sang "Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog." It is such an under-appreciated movie and its soundtrack is spectacular! I had this song on my list of ones to write about, and when I heard it on the singalong, I remembered why! I love it so much!

It applies to anyone who has a dream and is putting in the hard work to make that dream a reality! I also think it's a timely choice because to my fellow educators, I say, we're almost there! And by "there," I mean summer break!

Almost There

from The Princess and the Frog

I don't have time for dancin'

That's just gonna have to wait a while

Ain't got time for messin' around

And it's not my style

This whole town can slow you down

People takin' the easy way

But I know exactly where I am going

Gettin' closer 'n closer every day

And I am almost there

I'm almost there

People down here think I'm crazy

But I don't care

Trials and tribulations

I've had my share

There ain't nothin' gonna stop me now

'Cause I'm almost there

I remember Daddy told me

Fairy tales can come true

You gotta make 'em happen

It all depends on you

So I work real hard each and every day

Now things for sure are going my way

Just doing what I do

Look out boys, I'm coming through

And I'm almost there

I'm almost there

People gonna come here from everywhere

And I'm almost there

I'm almost there

There's been trials and tribulations

You know I've had my share

But I've climbed a mountain

I've crossed a river

And I'm almost there

I'm almost there

I'm almost there

Music and Lyrics by

Randy Newman

So whatever you're working toward, keep going! You're almost there!

Happy Tails to you!

Quarantine: Week 9

Overall, it was a quiet week!

The boring stuff: zoom meetings and end-of-semester grading.

The fun stuff: baking, my growing obsession with the squirrels and birds on my deck, another puzzle, and a couple of things to try a new hobby!

The not-so-fun stuff: we cancelled a 10-day trip to California we had planned for the summer - although our AirBnB host kindly refunded our deposit in light of the pandemic - because there are just too many unknowns for our liking and we are continuing to prioritize my mom's health!

The best stuff: anything involving C and Ginny, like long drives and watching movies!

I thought I'd ordered a small Cheer Bear
to sit on my desk, but as you can see,
I clearly didn't look at the dimensions before buying it!

It's rare that she gets out of her bed beside my laptop,
but one day, she decided to wander around
the table and smell things during my zoom meeting!

It was a beautiful day and I thought Ginny would like
to be out on the deck while sat outside to grade,
but she just stood at the door like this the whole time,
wanting to go back inside!

She rolled in something gross outside,
so she got a bath and you can tell she's thrilled!

This squirrel just hung out on the deck like this!

In addition to this, I ordered an enormous bag of birdseed...
I'm starting to be able to tell the different squirrels apart,
so I may need an intervention at some point!

Obviously won't be focusing on
anything else for a few days!

I'm going to give this a try!

Steven Page concert from home #4!

Happy Tails to you!