The Hoppiest Place on Earth

April 6, 2015 Nina Penalosa2 Comments

My week long break from work came to an end today. BLURGH. Spring Break, why did you have to go by so fast? Anywho, I hope you all had a happy Easter Sunday yesterday! And if you didn’t celebrate, I hope your Sunday was awesome anyway. 🙂

A couple weeks ago when I was in SoCal, I got to go to Disneyland to celebrate my sister’s birthday before heading to the Geek Week Fashion show. It was a pretty relaxing visit as we just went around the park doing the Disney Egg-Stravaganza Easter egg hunt, and we also took some pictures with popular Disney bunnies at the Spring Time Round-Up that was set up in Frontierland. I’m still bummed that I didn’t get to meet the White Rabbit and Thumper, because deep down I’m still 5, y’know. I think we managed to complete the egg hunt within 2 or 3 hours (we stopped for lunch, so probably 2 hours), and decided to head to California Adventure and do the egg hunt there! We probably could’ve gotten it done a lot faster if we didn’t spend 10 minutes looking for the Goofy egg that was hidden at the Astro Orbiter in Tomorrowland. For the record, he wasn’t hidden anywhere near the actual ride! What sneaks.

It was fun, and we got a couple of cute Disney eggs in the end — I got the White Rabbit and Thumper which were the ones I really wanted! — but if I didn’t have an Annual Pass, I don’t think I’d partake in it again just because it takes up a good chunk of time.

Oh, can I talk about my dress for a minute because LOOK AT HOW EPIC IT IS! It has Sleeping Beauty castle all over it and was designed by Save the Panduhs. I had been lusting after it like something fierce for a long time, but it wasn’t available anymore. But in February I saw that they were ordering a few more for one last go, and I ordered one on my phone in the middle of dinner during Galentine’s Day (I do not mess). Luckily it arrived a few days before I left for LA!

The dress is a compliment factory too. I don’t think I’ve ever been stopped so many times by people to let me know they really dug my outfit! 😀

While taking pictures by the castle the Evil Queen walked by and said, “How about you take a picture of some real beauty?” and then she stood so my “good side” wasn’t facing the camera. It’s like she knew I’m not photogenic on my right side. What a wicked jerk! But I can’t wait to go back to Disneyland for their 24 hour event next month with my sister and her boyfriend!

dress: Save the Panduhs (no longer available)
shoes: Blowfish Shoes (no longer available) // cardigan: Gold Drama
necklace: Le Fancy Geek Boutique (buy here)
crinoline: Tatyana Boutique (buy here)
glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy similar here)

out & about

It’s a New Year Afterall

January 5, 2015 Nina Penalosa7 Comments

Happy New Year, my little ponies!

I know we’re five days into the new year, but I hope 2015 is treating you kindly. I think I may have gotten a little bug from traveling, but despite the fact that I’m having a hard time breathing through my nose and feel like I’m gonna collapse whenever I get up, I believe I’ve had a good start so far!

My family and I headed down to SoCal on New Year’s day and I ended up getting to go to Disneyland that evening with my sister, her boyfriend, and my cousin and his wife. Disneyland is one of the only places in the world where I don’t care if I’m a third wheel, let alone a 5th wheel. Plus I ended the first day of the year with a churro and hot chocolate. 😀

I’m super happy that I was able to go while all the Christmas decorations were still up. Disney during the holiday season is my absolute favorite! I also got to celebrate mine and my mom’s birthdays a bit early at Goofy’s Kitchen for breakfast. I’ve always wanted to do a character breakfast and it was THE BEST — despite the fact that they only sing “Happy Birthday” to kids and not adults. I mean, agist much? But that’s okay, two cast members at the park later called me “Princess Nina.” 😀

OH! And the bananas foster’s crepes at Goofy’s Kitchen… ERMERGERD. I had three because they were that deloycious. <– I should really be a food critique.

My sister told me Goofy’s Kitchen was a lot better than the character breakfast at Carnation Plaza inside the park, soooo if you’ve never had a character dining experience at Disneyland and plan to do so go to Goofy’s Kitchen! It’s so much fun because Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Minnie go around while you’re eating and you can take pictures with them. Sometimes they like to mess with you too; Dale stared at me for the longest time while I was digging into my waffle and Pluto kept putting Ryan’s (sister’s boyfriend) tiger hoodie up. And Minnie was dancing like she was up in ‘da club.

– le sigh –

Good times. Good times.

We also got to meet Baymax and Hiro from Big Hero 6 before they left the park for good (I think their last day was today). It was definitely worth the 1 hour wait to meet them because I got to hug Baymax AND do a fist bump with him. I wanted to cry tears of joy because he was so utterly adorable! Yes, I’m going to be 29 next week. Yes, these kind of things bring me to tears. 😛

Hopefully more Disney adventures await this year before my pass expires in August!

Cheers,
Nina

geek style · out & about

Tsum Tsum Day My Prince Will Come

November 4, 2014 Nina Penalosa7 Comments

When my sister and I went to Disneyland for a second round a couple weeks ago, I decided to do a little Snow White Disneybound since I packed this outfit (the dress was actually in an outfit post last year). It’s not a completely obvious bound, or maybe it’s more of an “inspired-by” outfit… but whatever. I like it! I borrowed my sister’s red bow headband (which she got for her Hipster Snow White costume last year), and brought my little Snow White Tsum Tsum (pictured below). Isn’t she darling?! I had been searching high and low for these damn little Tsum Tsums since they were released during the summer, and my mom surprised me with this cute Snow White one. Fun fact: She had no idea Snow White was my favorite. She just picked her on a whim. I started off with a medium sized Minnie that I got back in August, and then I got Daisy a few days after my mom gave me Snow White — after my trip I added 8 more Tsum Tsums to my collection, and I still want more!

In case you’re scratching your head and wondering what the hell a Tsum Tsum is, let me tell you! They’re these SUPER KAWAII stackable plushies that were first released in Japan (go figure, Japan is like the capital of all things adorable), and they come in three sizes: large, medium, and mini. And of course, there’s also a really fun and addicting Tsum Tsum game that you can download on your iPhone/iPad or Android by Line!

I’ve seen that some of my Instagram buddies are playing/collecting Tsum Tsums too! What about you ponies? Have you started a tiny army of adorbleness too?

Cheers,
Nina

PS: I feel like my Snow White game is on point in this selfie I took the day after my Disneyland trip…

dress: Fun & Flirt // cardigan: Gap // belt: Merona (thrifted)
headband: Claire’s (buy here) // shoes: Bass
necklace: Wonderground Gallery
glasses: Derek Cardigan (buy similar here)
Snow White Tsum Tsum: Disney Store (buy here)