I know, right. Who the heck is Elle?
Any of you Kohl's shoppers? If you are, you know what I'm talking about. But there's much much more to discuss, so let's start at the beginning, savvy?
DH and I got out on a date yesterday! I was so excited, I was looking forward to it all morning while I was at work. We went to the movies, out to eat, and afterwards headed to our local
Disney store. I hadn't been in a Disney store in ages (there are so few of them now) so I was delighted to find some things!
First, all their mini beanies were B1G1. And the sign said $8.50. And all the little tags where the perforation is, were ripped off. I found this guy right on top and I knew I had to have him for DS.
Now, DS slept over my parent's last night, so this will be waiting for him on his bed when he gets home today. And for those of you who may not know, we have had some changes to the
MNSSHP costume ideas. DS is dead set on being Wall E for the party. I've found a costume on Ebay, basically I just need to buy it. It's actually from the UK Disney store. So far, it's the only Wall E costume I can find that I think he'd wear. So he's now convinced that he's going to be Wall E, and my mother is going to be Eve. I've already thought of a clever way to make her costume, but I'm waiting on that to make sure he doesn't change his mind. I don't think he will. He's been saying he wants to be Wall E for weeks now.
Which leaves us to revert to being pirates. Our true and natural state.
So for those of you who are going to MNSSHP on October 1st, yes, my husband will be dressed as Jack Sparrow. I hope we live up to your expectations. I'm still working on my costume, with plans to not wear my Elizabeth dress of past years. I've got a little something else in mind.
I also need to figure out a costume for my FIL, but that should be easy. I think if I get him to wear a white tee and navy shorts with his sandals I can get him a waist sash and call it a day.
Now you're probably wondering, what will we do with Nana? Well, I still have the bonnet. Which I thought, in my deluded musings that she could wear, and we'd pack a wooden rolling pin.
She, she'll be the one who's chasing us down. It's perfect.
Now, my mom's not thrilled because she wanted us all to match. I feel guilty that she's upset, but at the same time, I want DS to be happy, so there you go. We'll see how it all pans out.
Now, since we took that nice little segue, let's head back to the Disney store and the mini beanies shall we? B1G1. So I found Wall E sitting on top there and he was the only one they had. I thought well, let me see what else I can find.
And that's when I found this cute little guy.
I don't think I've mentioned it before, but Dumbo is one of my nana's favorite characters. Always has been. And I've been planning to put together little gift bags for my family for the trip. I know it's my birthday, but I kind of want to spoil everyone a little because it's fun.

So this little guy will be going in her bag. I'm also hoping to throw in some glow necklaces, and other fun things for the trip, and trying to individualize it to each person. Yes, this gift bag concept should definitely be interesting.
Want to hear the best part? He didn't have his perforated tag ripped off. And his price read $6.50. Remember, the sign read $8.50.
So guess what? When I got to ring out, I politely asked the girl if she would give me the two for $6.50. And she did.
I was pleased as punch.
And not just because of that.
Check these out.
Are they not the cutest ever? And given DS' current Wall E obsession, I thought they were perfect. They also happened to be on sale! $4.99 each. I was thrilled. I walked out of that store with four items, all of which I was thrilled about for a little under $18. I couldn't believe my good fortune. Talk about some pirate treasure, huh?
Now, I'm not sure when I'll give these to DS. Maybe one will go in his gift bag and the other will be for the night of the party....we'll see. I'm sure I'll figure something out.
Which finally brings me to our next topic.
Now as you all know, I've been coveting Veras and debating Baggalinis and going through all sorts of websites in an effort to determine what exactly is the perfect park bag for TK.
I know what the perfect park bag is and it's sadly defunct, having performed many, many years of service. R.I.P. green Weathervane bag. Thou hast served me well.
Well, the other day I was returning some items at Kohl's, and I came across this little number. It's the Elle brand.
Say it with me. Oooooooo....it's pre-tty.
Never mind that it was also on sale. And I had a 15% off coupon. It cost me $12.49. I love Kohl's.
- Here's a close up.
- And the interior.
The interior has two slip pockets and a zippered pocket as well. It's not as many pockets as my other bag, but I really think it'll do. I don't have a picture of myself wearing it yet, but it fits me just right. It's almost the exact same style as the other bag I had, and it feels only a little bit bigger.
I've done my research, checking out Veras at one of my local stores and honestly, the hipster might be too big for me. I'm not sure. This bag seems just right.
I feel like Goldilocks.
My only lament is that the interior is black. I really love when bag designers make the interior a lighter color or a print so that you can find your stuff. So what I'm debating now is ordered some Vera items (they currently have a free shipping when you spend $75 code) to fill my new bag.
For example, it would be nice to have everything separated out in bright and colorful little Veras so that it would be easy to see in there.
And it gives me an excuse to get some little Veras.
And some color. I love that this bag is black, because it will go with everything I wear, but I don't love that the interior is black. I'd love to be able to pull out a Bali Gold Euro Wallet and have people say hey, that girl likes her some yellow and pink.

Or whatever. I'm watching some auctions on Ebay and could possibly order from the actual Vera site, so we'll see how that goes.
Now, they actually had this bag in a green, which I also purchased but decided to return. It just wasn't me.
So DH and I were returning this last night after our exciting date at the movies, dinner out, a trip to the Disney store, and a trip to AC Moore (guess who needs more tie dye to fufill all your requests

).
So suffice it to say every time I walk into Kohl's to return something, I end up walking out with something else.

It's a curse.
I happened to find this.
It was on sale. It had some color! (Usually our backpacks are black.)
DH said, why green?
I feigned ignorance of the DIS' obsession with green. "Because I'm sick of getting black all the time. It's got some color, and it's the only one of this kind." It actually was the only one of its kind in the store.
And on sale. Check it out.
So we bought it. I just had a good feeling about it.
And I'll let you in on something. I'm having a really hard time right now finding a college that can accomodate my schedule. It looks more and more like I might have to quit my job and pay OOP for health insurance to go back to school, which scares the daylights out of me, but at the same time, what can you do? And although I know if I go to school, I'd probably want an LL Bean backpack for myself...I even know the color, style, and what I'd like to have embroidered on it...I can't bring myself to order one yet. I feel like I am jinxing myself. It's been rough, guys. Rough and frustrating. There are other options I have to explore as well, so all is not lost. Just frustrated. Anyway, that's heavy life stuff and I really don't want to focus on that right now because I think about it all the time.
So anyway, we bought this backpack. I'm hoping it's good quality, it's the Adidas brand, and it looked a bit tougher than what we've gotten previously. Now it was on sale and we got 15% off, so it was around $21. I came home, found it on their online website and got my 30% off coupon code and free shipping, and it comes to around $17. So to save four dollars, I ordered.
Yes, I am that cheap. I'll return the more expensive one. And before you worry about my wasting the gas to drive there, which DH kindly pointed out to me last night, thinking I was crazy, I actually have occasion to go to that town anyway. It's where my allergy shots are and wear I get my eyebrows done. I can easily combine it with one of those trips, and it's totally worth it to me.
I think we may have delved a little too much into my pysche right there.

But seriously, welcome to how we can afford to go to Disney every year. Frugal gets you somewhere, that's for sure.
So dear friends, there you have it. The purchase of possibly two park bags: a cute little black number for myself and the potential backpack. Another reason I like purchasing the backpack from Kohls is that their return policy is awesome, so if we find something better, or it just doesn't hold up, it'll be really easy to return it. Which is always a good thing.
Because the radar is always going, my friends. Always going.
