Outfit of The Day

Dapper Day Spring 2013

Dapper Day is an event that takes place at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World. It is inspired by the opening of the park in 1955 when attendees dressed in their best frocks. Although most who choose to participate in this event decide to go with vintage attire or vintage reproduction, it is not required. It is meant to be a "fashionable gathering", which basically means the only requirement is you dress up! Fun, right!? We think so anyway. Most who know us well can tell you we will look for any excuse to dress up. We take pride in putting together our outfits quite a bit of time in advance, with special attention to the details (i.e. the jewelry, the gloves, the hats, the sweater clips, the sunglasses, etc.). Michelle preps for this events a little differently, she packed and lugged around with her a total of 3 different cameras! Obviously documenting these events with photos is of top priority for her. She will tell you a bit more about this:

Yes, yes, three cameras may have been a bit excessive, but I don't regret it!
Each camera had a different purpose. In total I took one digital, one film and lastly a Polaroid camera.
Can't wait to develop the film!
Until then, enjoy these!

- Michelle

We decided to get a room the night before Dapper Day in Anaheim to reduce our travel time the day of the event, since otherwise we would be coming all the way from San Diego, and thus allowing our hair and make-up to stay in place for longer and our garments to be wrinkle free.

Our first stop before entering the park was Disney's Grand Californian Hotel for our complimentary 3rd annual Dapper Day pins! Eeek, so exciting! Oh, and good thing we did that first, as it was later announced they had ran out and sold out of all merchandise.

With our official pins adding the finishing touch, we were now ready to enter the park! Yipee!

Upon entering the park we were greeted by a Disneyland employee, "Happy Dapper Day guys!" This would be recurring through out the entire day amongst other Disneyland employees and fellow Dapper Day attendees. Everyone so very sweet!

Besides the suggested schedule given by the official Dapper Day website, which included a total of 4 meet-up locations, we did not really have a game plan as far as what we wanted to do and see once inside the park. For the sake of vanity and attempting to look as put together as possible for as long as possible, we decided to go on all the mellow, kiddy rides first: Mad Tea Party Teacups (which proved to be a bit more tumultuous than I had anticipated), Storybook Land Canal Boats, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Just so you know, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean are located in what happens to be my favorite area at Disneyland: New Orleans Square. Here's a fun fact about Lesli: I am obsessed with New Orleans, the French Quarter, the Bayou and Cajun culture! Since I currently am not financially in a position to travel there, I will take whatever little bit I can get. While in New Orleans Square, the hubby was such a gentleman and brought Michelle and I two Mint Juleps to quench our thirst while we waited in line for the Haunted Mansion. Mint is so refreshing! Yum, yum, yum!

This gave us just enough time to make it to the first meet up, which was at the Sailing Ship Columbia, which ironically was NOT sailing! It was nice to see so many dapper folk all dressed up in support of the event, however, a bit disappointed that the ship would not be sailing that day we saw no point of standing around and left to continue to explore the park.

Since the line for Indiana Jones is notorious for being one of the longest, we thought it would be a good idea to get a Fast Pass, jump on the Jungle Cruise then kill sometime over at California Adventure. This was Michelle's very first time ever to Disney California Adventure Park, so there were certain attractions that were an absolute MUST for her to experience. First on the list, of course: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror! I should add we got Fast Passes for Soarin' Over California before going on Tower of Terror to go on right after and before having to head back to Disneyland for our appointment with Indiana Jones.

Michelle loved Soarin'. Her feelings about Tower of Terror are similar to mine. It's a love/hate relationship. The whole free-fall thing is a bit excessive in my opinion but we adore everything else about the ride!

So we make it back to Indiana Jones, Fast Pass in hand, almost about to board when the ride shuts down! Noooooo! Literally, we were the next 3 people to board! How does this happen?! Everyone gets escorted out through the exit, where employees are handing out complimentary Fast Passes for any other attraction at the park (excluding Matterhorn) for up to 6 people... Next stop? Space Mountain, duh!

After Space Mountain it was time for the last meet up of the night, The Dapper Derby at the King Arthur Carousel! Such a wonderful way to end the night! I don't know what it is about carousels, they just seem to capture the spirit of eras past so perfectly! So whimsical, so majestic!

Oh, and if you are wondering what happened with the second and fourth meet up spots, one happened to be a "singles meet-up" at the Golden Vine Winery, which we decided to pass on, with me being married and all and obviously Michelle wouldn't be going alone. And the other was for after hours drinks at Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar, which also didn't work out, since we were driving back home that night. 

Last on our list was the Ferris wheel at California Adventure, so we raced over, however we were told it had already been closed for the World of Color and that it would not re-open after the show, so we took that as a sign that it was time to say good-bye.

Our Dapper Day finally came to a close around 9 PM. Unfortunately, before the fireworks show. Although we wore comfortable shoes, standing and walking around for as many hours as we did was far too much for us to handle. We were dead beat, need proof? Please reference picture below:

So, we bid farewell to the happiest place on earth! We came, we saw, we conquered Dapper Day! We were just blown away by the turnout for this event. See you again September 2013 for the next Dapper Day event! Stay tuned for that adventure!

Music Monday

Once again, I've gathered inspiration from my weekend to decide on my pick for Music Monday. I feel my pick is pretty self explanatory and needs no introduction, however I will say this: this came as a result of being stuck in someone else's vehicle for over an hour while we played round robin (everyone in the car takes turns picking one song off the iPod and it gets passed around until you reach your destination). Needless to say, this is a fantastic way to get to know your friends better, but I must warn you, sometimes you run the risk of knowing too much and being disappointed, shocked and maybe even appalled at some of the songs you may find. Use caution! ;)

Alas, I give you "The Poopsmith Song" by Over the Rhine

So, there it is. Just in case anyone needed clarification.

Happy Monday guys!

Lesli


My choice for today is my favorite driving song, Crystal Castles' Vanished!
This song just reminds me of driving at night and seeing all the lights whirled around you.
Aside from that, the song needs no further introduction.

Amazing band, amazing song.

Hope you all enjoy your Monday!
Michelle

Music Monday

My pick for today's Music Monday is Bruno Mars "When I Was Your Man". Reason being, it served as the background music while prepping for Dapper Day at Disneyland yesterday morning (full post dedicated to our Dapper Day adventure coming soon) and we had so much fun, I still can't accept it's over. Hilarious moment: while the song is playing in the background "I should have bought your flowers and held your hand...", Michelle randomly goes "Damn right, you should have!" Good times, good times!

Happy Monday and Post Dapper Day Everyone!

-Lesli

As Lesli mentioned, yesterday was Dapper Day and all throughout the day I had one song in mind:
Sweet Nothing from Calvin  Harris ft. Florence Welch. I love both of these artist so much that the combination of the two almost makes me want to explode with excitement! There isn't a particular reason why the song was in my mind other than hearing it on the radio on our way to Anaheim.
Anywho, hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

Happy Monday!

-Michelle

Music Monday

Continuing with  the fun and exciting vibe of the weekend; today's pick is Class Actress!

Elizabeth Harper of Class Actress.

With songs drenched in synth and and laced with catchy beats, it's hard to ignore Class Actress. Elizabeth's music has the power to make you feel like you've been transported back in to the 80's,  and makes you want to just get up and dance... 

or at least it makes me want to do so.

I seriously love her whole album Reproacher, therefore, I find it difficult to pick just one favorite song. I suppose though, if I had to, it would be Bienvenue (meaning  'Welcome' in French).

Watch and Enjoy!

Btw, this video is visually amazing!

-Michelle

Holiday! Well, for me anyway, don't know about everyone else. 

So, I'm out and about enjoying this gorgeous sunny day and the song that is serving as the soundtrack for this is "Something Good Can Work" by Two Door Cinema Club. Love this band, love Alex Trimble (GINGER!) love this song and although I know what the correct lyrics are, I still always choose to sing it this way: "Let's make this happen girl, we gonna showtheworldthatsomethinggoodc

­aniruhgfisdgerkwvbkaurfhvksdhv­bs for youuuuuuu, and you know that it will..."  Ha!

P.S. My cat looks like the kitty on the cover of Tourist History. :)

Happy Monday all!

-Lesli

Music Monday

My pick for this Monday is Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago album.

Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.

I've been  absolutely swamped with school work, chores, and things to do for What's Bippin'  that I've been a bit stressed. This album, however, has been my go-to album to help me wind down after a long day. I simply pop in my earphones, sip on some tea, and relax.

I haven't been familiar with Bon Iver for very long, and honestly, this is the only album of theirs I own, but I'm definitely going to give their other work a try.

So far, I have three favorite songs off this album: Skinny Love, For Emma, and Re: Stacks.

Happy Monday!

-Michelle

Monday, bloody Monday! Today was honestly quite dreadful. The epitome of a "Manic Monday". We have   all had these days I'm sure, where you just can't wait for the day to be over and you just want to scream "to hell with it all!". Who better to help me channel my frustrations than The Clash? Hooray for old skool punk!

RAAAAAWR!
-Lesli

Re-purposed Vintage Earring Bracelet

So, if you are like us and collect vintage clothing and accessories, you well know that over the years, either because of age or carelessness, some items become damaged or lost. We have several incomplete sets of vintage earrings that have either been stranded somehow, possibly when moving or cleaning and others that are in just bad shape. Even if I no longer have the pairs, I just feel bad tossing them out because of how pretty they are. Needless to say, we were so excited when we discovered you don't have to get rid of them and you can actually give them a new life by turning them into bracelets! How sweet is that?

We just love recycling items and giving them a new life, even if it is not how they were originally intended to be used. 

Here is what is needed:

 Adhesive - (Make certain it is one that can be used for metals!)

Bracelet Blanks - (We had to look this up and suggest you do the same if you are not very jewelry savvy. They are not easy to find in stores, so our suggestion is you order online.)

Vintage Earrings - (Depending on how many blanks are on the bracelet, that is how many earrings you will need. Ours had 5 blanks, so we used 5 earrings. Also important to make sure the size of the earrings you are planning to use are similar to each other and depending on the shape of the blanks, that will be the same type of shape you will want to have in the earrings you are using. For example, for round blanks, use round earrings.) 

Next step is removing the back of the earrings, so you are left with a smooth, flat surface. We did this simply by bending the metal back and forth and pulling off with jewelry pliers. Now, simply assemble the pieces and glue on to your bracelet blanks. Allow enough dry time. Over night should be more than sufficient. Once the glue has dried, your bracelet is ready to be worn and enjoyed!