Everyday Cosplay: Mabel Pines

September 22, 2014 Nina Penalosa6 Comments

pullover: Skip N’ Whistle // skirt: Old Navy // shoes: Blowfish Shoes
earrings: ModCloth // friendship bracelets: Icing // purse: LeSportsac

Hey my little ponies! I’ve recently become super obsessed with Gravity Falls — it’s a cartoon on Disney XD about a couple of 12-year old twins, Dipper and Mabel Pines, and the crazy super natural adventures they have while they stay with their great uncle in Gravity Falls, OR during their summer vacation. I’m not sure what took me so long to get on board with this show since it’s been out for a couple of years, but I’m so glad I randomly stumbled upon it. I recognized Kristen Schaal’s voice (Mel from Flight of the Conchords, Trixie from Toy Story 3, and of course Louise from Bob’s Burgers) on the show while I was flipping channels and pretty much became hooked from there. Her character Mabel is my new favorite! She’s so adorable, silly, and extremely confident for a kid who’s in junior high. But another thing I like about Mabel is her style. Her graphic pullover game is on point. With every episode I watched I wondered, “What’s gonna be on Mabel’s sweater this time?” So of course I had to put together an Everyday Cosplay outfit inspired by her!

Mabel’s always wearing a quirky pullover/skirt/ballet flat combo so I picked a few pieces that us ladies way over the age of 12 could get away with. 🙂 I paired the kitty sweater by Skip N’ Whistle with a polkadot bag by LeSportsac because it reminded me of this:

And can we note the llama she’s rocking? Mabel’s too cute.

Anyhow, I’m going to try and regularly start making little style collages with outfits inspired by my favorite fictional characters. I remember doing one for Lady Mary from Downton Abbey awhile ago, but that’s about it (I think). Do you have any requests for what character I should do next? Let me know in the comments!

Cheers,
Nina

PS: My Minnie Mouse LeSportsac giveaway is still going on! Click here to enter if you haven’t done so yet 🙂

Minnie Mouse x LeSportsac Giveaway!

September 18, 2014 Nina Penalosa4 Comments

{ GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. Thank you to everyone who entered! }

Hey my little ponies!

I’m all kinds of excited to announce this month’s giveaway: a Minnie Mouse x LeSportsac “Kasey” purse!!!

I actually have a Kasey purse with Fifi Lapin‘s bunny print from a few years ago — I find that it’s ideal if you’re a minimalist and don’t need to cary a whole lot on your person. It’s a lot smaller than the tote I reviewed yesterday, but it’s still very functional, just as cute, annnd it can be yours! Yep, YOURS!!!

Old and new followers are more than welcome to enter, and there are quite a few entry options which all involve following Le Fancy Geek on various social media platforms. But please don’t follow and then unfollow once the giveaway is over, that’s not very nice!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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The giveaway is open to all my readers no matter where you live (except for Italy because the postage is way too expensive, sorry) and ends on September 28 @ midnight, PST. The winner will be contacted the following day.

Thank you to LeSportsac for making this giveaway possible! Good luck, ponies!

Cheers,
Nina

FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored post as LeSportsac sent me this purse to review and give to one of my readers. I was compensated with another purse to review and keep. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.

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geek style · out & about

Minnie Mouse x LeSportsac Review

September 17, 2014 Nina Penalosa3 Comments

Once the last collection of LeSportsac and Disney’s It’s A Small World collaboration debuted last year, I was hoping they’d be teaming up for more collections featuring other characters or attractions from the wonderful world of Disney — the Haunted Mansion (Dooney & Bourke did that already though, but I don’t see why they couldn’t do it too), dogs and cats of Disney (OMG, can you just picture a pattern with Lady & the Tramp and 101 Dalmatians and the Aristocats and every other awesome dog and cat character all over it?!), Disney Princesses (Snow White bags with sparkly apple charms PLEASE!), Mary Poppins (I will pass out of excitement if that ever happens), etc. So when they announced a line of Minnie Mouse bags and accessories last Fall, I was more than happy! And they’ve also gone on with a Tinkerbell collection featuring art by Disney Legend Marc Davis, and most recently just released a Monsters Inc. line with Pixar production designer Harley Jessup’s artwork. Hooray!

While I was down in SoCal for RunDisney’s 5k Family Fun Run, I got to go to the Happiest Place on Earth! I packed a little outfit inspired by Minnie which wouldn’t have been complete without LeSportsac’s Ziptop Rollup tote! The tote is perfect for a day of park hopping at the Disneyland Resort because it’s roomy enough for all the essentials: wallet, water bottle, little snacks, and compact bag full of even more essentials (chapstick, bandaids, Aleve, lipstick, tiny spray on sunblock, etc), my bulky camera, and my Mary Poppins Funko Pop! toy with room to spare. I love using this tote for everyday use as well, and sometimes it’s perfect to take as an extra bag while shopping because it can easily be rolled up and it’s super lightweight.

The print truly captures Minnie Mouse’s essence with the bold polkadots which mirror the ones on her iconic dress and bow. Plus each dot features Minnie’s fashions throughout her 90+ years in showbiz, clearly showing off just how much of a fashion icon she truly is.

LeSportsac was kind enough to send along a little Kasey bag for me to giveaway to one of my readers as well, so be sure to look out for a giveaway post tomorrow to find out how you can win it!

Cheers,
Nina

FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored post as LeSportsac sent me this tote to review. I was compensated with it along with another bag to giveaway to my readers. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.

purse: c/o LeSportsac (buy here) // dress: H&M (no longer available) // cardigan: Merona // glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy here) // shoes: Bass Shoes // Minnie ears: Disneyland (buy here)

curator's corner · out & about

Magic, Color, Flair

September 11, 2014 Nina Penalosa5 Comments

The Walt Disney Family Museum‘s Magic, Color, Flair: The World of Mary Blair art exhibit in San Francisco closed last weekend, but I was able to go 3 weeks before it made its grand exit! I had been dying to go to this exhibit since they first announced it last year, so I made sure my bum got down to the museum because I’m completely in love and in awe of Mary Blair’s art! I’m sure I’ve mentioned what a huge fan I am of her on numerous occasions here, but I digress.

If you’re not familiar with her, she’s very well known for her bright and cheery concept art for Disney movies (Saludos Amigos, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan), designing It’s a Small World (yes, that ride that you either love or hate at Disneyland. And I wore a Small World inspired outfit for the exhibit too which included my It’s a Small World bag by LeSportsac!), and illustrating children’s books (notably I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss).

Magic, Color, Flair was a retrospective of her work which was utterly fascinating because I’ve only really ever been exposed to the art she’s done for Disney and children’s books. Her earlier work was gorgeous and vibrant, and a bit more realistic than the whimsical art that I grew to adore (you’ll see down below).

I went snap-happy with my camera and took pictures of EVERYTHING. So hopefully people who would’ve love to have gone but couldn’t make it may stumble upon this post. And I hope you all enjoy it too, my little ponies! 🙂

In case you’re wondering what the small text by her photograph says:

Mary Blair (1911-1978) was one of Walt Disney’s most original, beloved, and influential art directors. A protean and prolific painter, designer, and colorist, she found artistic expression in a variety of media, including film production designs; fine art watercolors, print illustrations and advertisements: and large-scale, three-dimensional theme park attractions.

The aim of Magic Color Flair: the world of Mary Blair is to reveal and explore Blair’s artistic process and development. The most obvious aspect of her body of work is sparkling graphic inventiveness and a brilliant color sense that dazzles the eye. But there is also in her art an emotional component – an empathetic identification with characters and situations — that appeals directly to the heart. Disney animation features director Wilfred Jackson’s comment touches upon that a special element in Blair’s creations. The exhibition investigates the sources of her art’s visual and emotional qualities — which melded together, make Blair’s work uniquely appealing.

The nearly two hundred works shown here offer a full and balanced overview of Blair’s almost half century of achievements before, during, and after her Walt Disney tenure.

– John Canemaker
Exhibition Curator

I’m not able to show you the nearly two hundred works that I took pictures of, but I did my best to include the pieces that I enjoyed and to also make it feel as if you saw the exhibit yourself 🙂

The clipping next to this horse design says:

Miss Mary Robinson, second year student at Chouinard Art School experienced the thrill of a lifetime when she picked up a current issue of a national magazine to find on the back cover advertisement her winning design in the annual Art Alliance competition.

The competition, which is national in scope, is conducted in the spring but this is the first time that the design had been made public by the company for which it was made. Miss Robinson’s work is called the Trojan Horse design and was made for bath mat, bath towel, small towel, and face cloth for a towel company. She received a $100 award and she competed with thousands of art students and professional artists as well.

According to Mrs. Chouinard, director of the school, the purpose of the competition is to build up interest among artists in this country in types of commercial and industrial design which heretofore have been done during have been done mostly by Europeans. This is the fifth time that a student of this school had won first prize in this competition.

^ This is the cover of a music book and I actually found a beaten up copy of it in my parent’s garage last year! SQUEE!!!

In 1962, Blair created paper sculptures for department store Bonwit Teller’s display windows. Below is one of the sculptures she designed.

Cheers,
Nina

geek style · out & about

Strolling Through the Happiest Place on Earth

September 4, 2014 Nina Penalosa3 Comments

Over Labor Day Weekend I participated in Run Disney’s Family Fun Run 5k with my mom and seester! And fun it was… well, not the whole waking up at 3:45ish am to be ready for the 5:30 am start time (UGH! SO EARLY!), but getting to [power] walk through California Adventure and Disneyland was pretty magical. I even got to high five Goofy and Mickey at the finish line, and we took a picture with Stitch along the way!

Oh, oh, annnnd I passed by Sean Astin while walking through Downtown Disney. He already finished the 5k and was walking away with a medal around his neck. I wanted to yell “GOONIES NEVER SAY DIE,” but I had a 5k to finish. Priorities. I haz them. Plus I was too starstruck to say anything anyways.

A few months ago we saw that the medals for the 5k had Lilo and Stitch on them, so we decided to Disneybound accordingly — my mom was Lilo and she used our old grass skirts from when we were little, my sister was Lilo’s doll Scrump (she made the headband she’s wearing, isn’t it adorable?), and I was Stitch! I found an old Stitch doll at a thrift store and took his ears off and stitched (ha!) them onto a headband and made it look like a little flower crown. I’m quite pleased with how it turned out 🙂

I would totally love to participate in one of Disneyland’s other 5k races, but the upcoming ones are already sold out, which is a shame because they seem like they’re going to be so epic: Avengers and Star Wars! Oh well. Hopefully I can do another one some other year. In the meantime, I need to save monies (these things are so expensive) and train a bit more until the next one!

Cheers,
Nina

bloop

Liebster Award

September 2, 2014 Nina Penalosa2 Comments

Victoria Barnett kindly nominated me for the Liebster Award! She has a cute little fashion and lifestyle blog that you can find here. I’ve actually been nominated for a Liebster Award before, but I’m flattered to be given the honor once again. 🙂

The Rules:

Thank the person who nominated you by linking to their blog.
Answer the 11 questions the blogger who nominated you asked.
Nominate 11 other bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
Make 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
Let your nominees know you nominated them!

Victoria’s Questions:

1) Where’s somewhere you’d like to travel to?

AH! That is a loaded question! I want to go everywhere, but for the sake of having a simple answer I will say I’d love to explore the UK.

2) What’s a movie you could watch over and over?

“That Thing You Do!” has been one of my favorite movies since I was in 5th grade and I most definitely could watch it over and over. The music is infectious and the cast is perfect — and it was written and directed (and stars) Tom Hanks who is one of my all-time favorite actors. It’s just a WONDERful film (pun fully intended)!

3) What’s one makeup product you can’t live without?

Lipstick because it helps make me look more lively. Without it, I think I look kind of like a zombie. My favorite is Revlon’s Red Velvet.

4) What’s your favorite thing to do on a lazy day?

Marathon TV shows on Netflix, of course!

5) How many pets do you have, and if you don’t have any, what’s one you’d get?

I have one little doggy named Rory and he is the love of my life.

6) If you could live in the city, suburb, or countryside, where would you live?

I like the city, but only to visit. So I’d probably have to go with suburb because I can’t function without a Target nearby.

7) Name someone who had helped shape you into a better person.

There are so many people in my life who have! I won’t answer the obvious and say someone in my family has, but I’m going to go with Chaundra who is the security guard at the job I just quit a few months ago. She’s been my rock throughout the year and kept me strong in moments of weakness and always gives me words of encouragement and tells me how proud she is of me. I love that woman, she’s the best.

8) What’s your favorite restaurant to go to?

It really depends on my mood, but I’m going to say Cheesecake Factory because cheesecake.

9) Are you planning to purchase anything soon?

I’m most likely going to be pre-ordering Lang Leav’s next book of poems called “Lullabies” which is coming out later this month.

10) What’s your best trait?

I’m loyal to my loved ones like a true Hufflepuff.

11) What’s something that makes you smile?

Handsome British and Scottish actors. Or just actors from the UK. Examples: Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ewan McGregor, Richard Madden, Kit Harrington, Gary Oldman (hell yeah, Gary Oldman!), etc. * le sigh *

My Nominees:

Gwen of A Geek and Her Oven
Kelsey of April Sprinkles

I don’t know of nine other bloggers to nominate… * shrugs shoulders apologetically *

My Questions:

You’re throwing a fancy tea party – who are the 5 fictional characters you would invite?
If you went to Hogwarts what house would you be sorted into?
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
What is the first fandom you ever became a part of?
The Doctor lands his TARDIS in your room – all of time and space, where do you ask him to take you?
What is one super power you wish you possessed?
Do you have a celebrity crush? If so, who is it? Spill it, girl!
What three items must you have with you whenever you head out the door?
Which iconic Harrison Ford character do you like better: Indiana Jones or Han Solo?
What’s your favorite song at the moment?
What’s the first concert you ever went to?