5 Fandom Friday: Magical Items I Would Love To Own

April 10, 2015 Nina Penalosa7 Comments

I haven’t done a 5 Fandom Friday post in a good while, so I’m back at it! This week’s prompt asked what 5 magical items I would love to own, and I immediately thought, “What are all the cool things from the world of Harry Potter that I want?” Because magic = Harry Potter. It also = pretty much anything related to Disney ~~and Tom Hiddleston’s bum~~. Hehe 😀

1. wand

This is self explanatory, right? ACCIO ALL THE THINGS. I would prefer to have a golden wand with a pretty crystal on top though, please and thank you.

2. a pretty unicorn

[photo credit:Diana Peterfreund]

I mean… DUH. Why wouldn’t I want a unicorn? And you know what would be especially awesome about having a unicorn? I won’t have to clean its poop because rainbows, fruity flavored gourmet marshmallows, and ice cream are what comes out of a unicorn’s bumhole. No dodo patrol! Just rainbows and an endless supply of marshmallows and ice cream.

Do you think French unicorns poop out macarons? Hmmm…

3. a remembrall

[photo credit: Magical Mendelian Genetics]

This might be useless because what if I pull a Neville and forget what it was that I’ve forgotten? Or maybe it’ll be useful for when I pack for trips because I’m always forgetting to pack something. Maybe seeing the red smoke appear will make me think harder about the things I’m supposed to pack. I’ll never know if it works unless I have one!

4. Nimbus 2000

516pruN2eDL._SL1500_

[photo credit: CineReplicas]

The ability to apparate would be super helpful, but I suppose a Nimbus 2000 would suffice to help me get around in case I want to take the scenic route with a bird’s eye view. Since I’m afraid of heights I figure I can just use the aforementioned wand to create a charm around myself so I won’t freak out. And yeah, I know that there are other broom models that are probably superior to the Nimbus 2000, but I think it just looks a lot nicer. 😛

5. Mary Poppins’ carpet bag

A bag that’s bigger on the inside? Yes please and thank you! I suppose I’d be able to use a wand like Hermione to make any bag bigger on the inside, but #lazy.

What are some magical items you would like to have? Let me know in the comments!

cheers

To find out the origins of 5 Fandom Friday, go here. And check out The Nerdy Girlie and SuperSpaceChick to catch up with the latest prompts!

Unicorn Crafts

August 18, 2014 Nina Penalosa2 Comments

Hey ponies! The Unicorn Crafts giveaway I’m hosting was supposed to end tonight at midnight, but I decided to extend it until this Saturday, the 23rd at midnight PST to give you all a bit more time to enter for a chance to win it. Yaaaay!

Be sure to go –> here <– in order to enter the giveaway.

Anywho, I want to showcase some of the other cute little trinkets that can be found at Unicorn Crafts as well so you can all get a sense of just how awesome Faheema’s shop is! Though it may be called Unicorn Crafts, there is certainly more to it than just adorable little unicorns — you can also find necklaces, rings, earrings, and pins with narwhals (technically the unicorn of the sea… oops), Totoro, Doctor Who, R2-D2, kawaii looking snacks like bacon, donuts, cookies, avocados, macarons, (etc) with little smiley faces, and many, many, MANY more things!

Besides the necklace I got at AnimeExpo, I also picked up a Game of Thrones pin with House Stark’s sigil of a dire wolf and motto “Winter is coming” for my sister since she’s a huge GoT fan. This was a few weeks before I started watching the show, so now I’m bummed that I didn’t watch it any sooner. * le sigh *

Your teeth are totally throbbing from all the sweetness that is Unicorn Crafts now, aren’t they? Sorry I’m not sorry about that. ☺

Be sure to check out Unicorn Craft’s online shop for more goodies, and, of course, don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Cheers,
Nina

geek style · giveaway

Unicorn Crafts Review & Giveaway!

August 9, 2014 Nina Penalosa7 Comments

{ Giveaway now closed }

Hey my little ponies!

Last month I got to meet Faheema Chaudhury, the mastermind behind Unicorn Crafts, at AnimeExpo and picked up a couple of things — one being a purple resin necklace with an adorable little unicorn and bright colored sprinkles that I’m wearing in the picture above. I don’t exactly remember how I came across Unicorn Crafts… like, I don’t know if it was through another blogger’s post or a hashtag search on Instagram — all I know is that I fell in love with with all the accessories with cute unicorns and nerdy illustrations (R2D2, Doctor Who, Sailor Moon, macarons with smiley faces, etc) on them, so it was only natural for me to start ~~stalking~~ following Unicorn Crafts on Instagram to keep up with all the kawaiiness. You can’t imagine how excited I was to see that there’d be a Unicorn Crafts booth at AnimeExpo while I was there too! Or maybe you can imagine how excited I was. Who knows? 🙂

It doesn’t really seem like it needs to be said, but I’m completely smitten with my necklace! It combines everything I love: unicorns (duh), sprinkles, and the color purple. Oh, and I can’t forget to mention that it’s all on a super fancy frame. All things that look fancy with a geeky/cute element pretty much have my name written all over it. I kind of feel like this necklace was made just for me — obviously it wasn’t, but still. Faheema illustrated the unicorn herself (all the pieces for Unicorn Crafts feature her original artwork), but what’s so awesome about it is that it’s made from Shrinky Dinks (in case you’re too young to know what that is, it’s this)!

Would you like one too? Well, you’re in luck little ponies because Unicorn Crafts is graciously sponsoring a giveaway for one of you lucky ponies to win the same necklace that I have! HURRAY!!!

unicorn giveaway

There are several ways to enter, all of them are by following us on all our various social media accounts. Old readers and new are welcome to enter! US residents only, sorry international ponies. And please do not follow and then unfollow both Le Fancy Geek and Unicorn Crafts once the giveaway is over… that’s just mean.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js

The giveaway ends on 19 August @ 12 midnight PST and the winner will be contacted immediately afterwards. 🙂

Best of luck to you all!

Cheers,
Nina//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js

out & about

Back from Portlandia

March 26, 2014 Nina Penalosa5 Comments

I am completely and utterly head over heels in love with Portland. Maybe I had vacation goggles on throughout the entire trip, but that city is absolutely lovely — the people were so damn friendly, the streets were [fairly] clean, it was quiet and never sounded like it was bustling, there were trees all around, there was an abundance of beautiful men … it was just nice. SO. NICE. Even the sketchy looking places weren’t that sketchy looking when I compare it to San Francisco or my hometown of Stockton.

Caitlin and I went to Stumptown Coffee our first morning there and the barista offered to give me a free drink card since they were out of stock of both teas I wanted and said that they had them at another location. I said it was okay, but she offered me a free drink anyway since I was picking up a bag of coffee and a scone. She was sooo apologetic and kind about it. WHO DOES THAT?

I’m really excited to share more with you ponies about my time in Portland, but I’m still recovering from the ridiculously long road trip we embarked on yesterday (we had a late start and didn’t get back until a little past 1 am). Plus I think I left my camera in Jen’s car, so I can’t upload some of the pictures I took. Wah! But if you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw a lot of the stuff I was up to already! I swear, Portland made my Instagram look a billion times nicer too.

Ugh, can I just stay in Portland forever?

Cheers,
Nina

PS:

🙂

bloop · geek style

La Vie En Rose

March 10, 2014 Nina Penalosa7 Comments

outfit details – cardigan: H&M // dress: ModCloth (buy here) // belt: Xhileration // shoes: Bass (buy here) // unicorn necklace: Fuego // purse: thirfted // glasses: Brooks Brothers (buy here)

Oh my God, an outfit post? SAY WHAAAT?! I know. I knooow, I haven’t posted one of these things since January because I’ve been a bad [see: lazy] blogger. Also, I have no idea where my camera disappeared to. Go figure. But Jen and I went on a photo spree [with her camera, obviously] all over Lodi on Saturday, and we even turned her backseat into a makeshift changing station for me! It was awkward, but sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do for the sake of a blog so there will be material for multiple blog posts in the future. I mean… right? Oh, and what’s that on my left forearm? A TATTOO?!?!

I’ve been up to a few things since I last updated Le Fancy Geek, but if you follow me on Instagram you would’ve seen a super puffy picture of it in the middle of my session that took place a few weeks ago. The last time I wrote about getting a tattoo on here I said I was going to have it done in April. I got extremely anxious and called up the shop and asked if the appointment in February I was originally offered was still open, and it was so I booked it. I’m super pleased with the design Jen Lee came up with for my carousel horse. It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be [insert that’s-what-she-said joke], but I’m completely and utterly 10000000000000% in love with it, and I can’t wait to go back and get the rest of it colored in! I’m still adjusting to the fact that this thing of beauty is going to be on my forearm for the rest of my life, but its itchy presence constantly reminds me that it is, in fact, there. Getting the tattoo itself wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. It felt a lot like using an epilator on my arm — a really, really, intense epilator that sometimes felt like it was slicing into my arm. I’m pretty proud of myself for not crying or screaming profanities while getting it done. Do I get some XP badass points seeing that this is my first tattoo and it’s big with an insane amount of intricate details?

I keep getting asked what the significance behind it is by people who see it, and I just want to say, “Go read my blog” (this one in particular) because I think it’s packed with a lot of meaning and I covered it all a few posts ago. Most of the time I just say, “I just really love carousel horses” because I feel weird saying it represents the part of me that always celebrates my inner child or to keep staying curious or that the first piece of writing I ever had published was a personal essay where I compared life to a carousel ride. Saying those things feels too personal to say to an actual person asking a simple question. Writing it on my blog should be no different — I don’t know who’s reading it, or if you even care about the meaning, but you’re getting my complete and honest reason. It’s so easy to be honest on the internet, and that’s kind of a scary thing. Anyhow, I think I’ve gotten to the point where I’m starting to ramble soo, I shall end it here before my brain sends signals to my fingertips to keep typing more nonsense.

Until next time, my little ponies. 🙂

Cheers,
Nina

bloop

11 Facts of Randomness

December 7, 2012 Nina Penalosa10 Comments

Sweater: Skip ‘N Whistle // Glasses: Derek Cardigan // Rory’s Sweater: Martha Stewart for Petsmart

‘ello there!

Sooo… a few days ago I had a post that said I was nominated for the Liebster Award, and there are certain things that nominees are supposed to do when… er, nominated. One thing is to state 11 random facts about yourself. I totally forgot to do that in my little Liebster Award post, so I’m gonna list them here!

But before I get into that, check out my unicorn holiday pullover! Isn’t it all kinds of adorbz?! My mom got herself, my dad, and my sister matching sweaters too from Fab.com (they’re by this company based in New Orleans called Skip N’ Whistle) so we could wear them on Christmas. My sister and I will be wearing unicorns while my parents will rock snowmen. Our Christmas pictures are gonna be HELLA EPIC.

Okay, back to bidness. Random facts about moi in 3…2…1…

I don’t wear pink on my birthday. Nothing on me can be pink. NOTHING. Even the tags of my clothes or my chonies (TMI?) can be pink. It’s a superstitious thing that started when I was 17.
I’m obsessed with Disney. ALL THINGS DISNEY!
I was in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers official fan club when I was in 3rd grade. SABERTOOTH TIGER!
Hanson stole my concert virginity at the tender age of 11.
I don’t like odd numbers unless they’re divisible by 5. I only make exceptions for 1 and 21 because 21 is 12 the other way around (12 is my lucky number) and 1 equates to my birthday month.
I’m not crazy about my last name, so I tend to use my middle name (Penalosa) in its place.
I have an affinity for carousel horses. Or I guess I have an affinity for anything horse-related (thank you, My Little Pony!), but I love carousels. And the first piece of writing I ever had published was an essay in which I compared life to a carousel ride. In case you’re curious, it can be read here.
If I don’t like the way a store display looks I will change it until I am satisfied. O.C.D. much?
I originally wanted to study and major in graphic design because I wanted to start my own line of tees and accessories with characters I used to doodle — kind of like Paul Frank or Gama-Go.
My parents thought I would become a dentist because I loved yanking my loose teeth out when I was little. I think I was just anxious to get my monies from ~~my mom~~ the tooth fairy.
I hate horror movies not just because I’m chicken poop, but when something scary happens my automatic reaction is to cover my face, but I do it so fast that I end up bitch slapping myself.

Oh, Rory. He was not having any of this picture taking bull sh!t.

And in case you’re wondering: yes, that is a Yoda tree topper. And yes, that is a Nagel print hanging in the back. SO 80s! Don’tcha just love how random our decor is?

Cheers,
Nina