Visiting Diagon Alley--Universal Florida

Walking into Diagon Alley is like walking into a different world, and I suppose that was the goal of its creators.  Hats off to JK Rowling and her imaginative mind!

 

To get to Diagon Alley one must go to "London".  You will know you are in London when you see the Knight Bus and the red, phone box.

If you step inside the red phone booth and dial a certain number, you will get the Ministry of Magic!  It's very cool!

 

Diagon Alley is inside "behind" that red building.

 

 

Oh look!  There's an opening in this brick wall.
And here we are in Diagon Alley!

When my daughter walked through the broken, brick wall she got tears in her eyes.  (And I say without shame, I think we all shed a tear on our last night, as we left Diagon Alley, for the last time.)

 

 

 

Now, you have to imagine the Harry Potter soundtrack is playing constantly, which is actually quite lovely. 

 

 

Autumn got "picked", out of a handful of kids, for the wand ceremony at Ollivander's Wand Shop.  She knew the spells Ollivander asked her to do and when her wand "chose her" a light shown down from above and dramatic music played.  It was quite cool, like she was in her own little Harry Potter movie!

 

Inside Ollivander's Wand Shop

A place that serves Butterbeer, which is quite possibly the best beverage on earth.  It's non-alcoholic, and tastes like cream soda with a dash of butterscotch.
 

 

Below, is the dragon that is escaping Gringots (Don't worry, he's a good dragon, just misunderstood). He breathes fire every 15 minutes and it's SO COOL!

 

 

We took Autumn into Madam Malkin's to buy her "school robes" since she will be attending Hogwarts.

 

This is where one goes to purchase Quidditch supplies.

And here is Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Store

Inside Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes (couldn't go up the cool staircase, it's just for show).

Fred (or George) Weasley (below) lifts his hat all day long.  His arms must get tired. 

Wiseacres is an amazing store with a celestial theme on the ceiling.  Scibbulus, the turquoise store next door, is an amazing stationery shop full of journals, stationery, quill pens, postcards, ink well, wax stamp sets and all kinds of wonderful goodies!

The inside of Wiseacres.

The only photo I took in Scribbulus was of this really cool stationery box.

Many of the store fronts and windows were just for show, but they looked so REAL!

The pet shop, The Magical Menagerie
. 

On our first night, they had a special Harry Potter welcoming event for those of us who bought the Harry Potter Celebration Package.  Diagon Alley was amazing at night!  They served food on little carts, things like chips-n-dip, fruit, a stew of some sort and a dessert cart.  I especially enjoyed the dessert cart with its apple crisp and vanilla tarts. There was also complimentary Butterbeer!  I had a frozen butter beer.  Many people were dressed in their robes and costumes.  It was magical!

The dragon is blowing fire again.

On our last night in the park we ate at the Leaky Cauldron.  We all had the fish-n-chips. The food was good and the ambiance was wonderful!

 

 

 

A family photo.

 

 

 

One last look before we say goodbye.

 

 

Whew!  That was a big batch of photos, and there were so many more I wish I could've included, but it's all quite overwhelming.  Soon, I will blog about Diagon Alley's sister park, Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express that runs back and forth between them.

 

Until another time, have a magical day!

 

 

Where We Stayed--Cabana Bay Resort Universal Studios Florida

I hadn't any time for blogging in January because WE TOOK A TRIP!  For Christmas this year, we gave our daughter a trip to the Harry Potter Celebration 2016 inside Universal Orlando.  She's a HP fan and she LOVED being a part of the celebration!

That means the next few blogs will be about our trip.

 

By the way, I am, in no way, getting paid to write about our stay at the Cabana Bay, I just love to share vintage stuff and I think this qualifies haha.

 

We stayed at the Cabana Bay Resort, on site at Universal.  But, the hotel was at least 4 or 5 miles from the actual amusement parks, so they use these really neat-o busses, that look like they are from the 60's, to take people back and forth.

 

 

 

 

The photo above was taken on our first night there, and it was a rainy, wet evening.  You can't really see it clearly but at the bottom the sign says "Color TV and Cold Air".

 

Above:  Many great souvenirs in the gift shop. 

 

Below:  Our "living room"

 

Casual seating near the lounge.

 

 

 

 

 The diner was very cool!  They played vintage commercials on the big screens and 50's-60's music.

 

There were also 2 cars sitting outside the diner.

 

 

A bowling alley upstairs!  But we didn't have time to play a game.

 

I took quite a few nighttime shots outside.  There are different sections, or wings, to the hotel, each with a different name:  Thunderbird, Continental, Americana, Starlight, and Castaway, which is where we stayed.

 

 

This place is HUGE! I scanned the little map they gave us at the front desk.

 

And one last thing that I thought was really a nice touch, these retro looking shampoo, conditioner, and soaps!  I kind of wish I had used one of the sets the maid left for us and then taken the bottles, but I forgot.

 

 

But, I did visit the gift shop and bought a keychain and small box of candies (I just want the box for souvenirs haha!)

 

The easiest way to show anyone how groovy this huge hotel is to show the movie I found on Youtube.  I didn't make this movie, but I give THANKS to those who did!  It's about 4 minutes long, but you see everything.  We were not able to see everything this hotel had to offer ourselves, because we were so busy running from park to park.

 

 

 

Well, that's all for today. But stay tuned because there is more to come.  I'll try to get some blogs written up ASAP while the trip is still fresh in my memory.  The next blogs will be about Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade.  Until then, have a happy, vintage day!

Doodle Art

It's been awhile since I've sat down to draw.  There have been many other hobbies occupying my time.  BUT NOT ANYMORE!!  For about a month, I've been drawing and coloring again!

 

Unless you've been living in a cave this past year, you've probably noticed the wide array of coloring books for adults popping up in local bookstores, discount stores and even at the supermarket checkout, full of highly detailed drawings of mandalas, nature settings, geometric patterns and many other subjects.  They are so cool!  Years ago, my dream was to create a "coloring book" of sorts for grownups who LOVE to color, using my own mandalas and geometric patterns.

This is one of the drawings I did back in 2007, that I wanted to include in a coloring book.

 

I never did.  Mostly because I had no idea how to go about it...Do I self publish?  Do I sell them at the flea?  Are my drawings good enough?  How would I copyright my work?

 

Another drawing from 2007 that I actually started coloring myself.

 

At least now I know the idea wasn't totally crazy...people ARE buying adult coloring books.  Not just the books, but the colored pencils, and pens as well!  Why didn't I invest in Copic, Sanford or Crayola?

 

I bought this Secret Garden coloring book, by Johanna Basford, a couple years ago.  I decided to finally go ahead and color inside of it. 

It's crazy how relaxing it is to sit and color!  I put some Waltons on the TV and colored for almost an hour!

That's all for today, until another time, have a happy, colorful day!



 

 

 

 

 

 

Stringing Beans...I had no idea

Last night, as I was reading a 1930s diary online, I came across an entry where the woman in the diary said she "helped string and cut green beans".  What???  I've heard of "string beans" but what does it mean to string a bean.  I looked it up and learned something NEW!

 

Check it out!

 

I've never "de-stringed" my beans.  Might have to start.

That's all for today.  I've been reading and reading this January, mostly old diaries online and historical stuff.  It's always fun to learn a bit of history and to learn new things. 

2015 Caldecott Predictions (or is it 2016?)

So, it dawned on me this evening that I have not written about my Caldecott favorites!  I thought I had plenty of time, but found out earlier this week that the ALA conference was THIS WEEKEND!  The Youth Award winners will be awarded very early tomorrow morning!  So, as I sit here typing it is 9:45 pm and I'm going to quickly share my "picks" for Caldecott with you.

 

First, I would LOVE to see Kevin Henkes win for his beautiful book, Waiting.

 

 

Or...I'd like to see FLOAT by Daniel Miyares win.  When I first saw this book, I LOVED IT!

I wish I could go into more detail here, but it's past my bedtime.  There are some really nice two page spreads in this book and some nifty reflection drawings.

 

My favorite book of the year was Mama Seaton's Whistle by Jerry Spinelli Ill by LeUyen Pham, which I received for Christmas.  I don't think this book has gotten much attention, and I don't think it will beat the two books above, but I like it.

 

 

Two other books I quite enjoyed looking at (pouring over is more like it) are Finding Winnie: The True Story of the Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick Ill by Sophie Blackall,

 

and

 

Water is Water by Miranda Paul Ill by Jason Chin, which is beautiful! (I may actually have to buy this book, it's so well done.)

 

 

 But I honestly think the medal will go to either Waiting by Henkes, or Float by

 Daniel Miyares.  They are both so wonderful!

 

I would like to go into more detail but I am tired.  It is 10:18 and I will be getting up early to watch the awards live on my computer.

 

Good Night Ya'll!  Have a happy day tomorrow!

 

Update: 

There were four HONOR BOOKS announced!

 

Trombone Shorty Written by: Troy Andrews  Illustrated by: Bryan Collier

 

Waiting Written and Illustrated by: Kevin Henkes

 

Voice of Freedom By: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement Written by: Carole Boston Weatherford  Illustrated by: Ekua Holmes

 

Last Stop On Market Street  Written by: Matt De La Pena Illustrated by: Christian Robinson

 

The CALDECOTT MEDAL went to

 

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear  Written by: Lindsay Mattick Illustrated by: Sophie Blackall

All excellent winners!!

Glass Wax for Christmas

What did my vintage-loving Uncle Stan give me for Christmas this year?  One of the gifts was GLASS WAX! 

 

 

Not just any glass wax, Gold Seal Company glass wax, which was a company born and raised in good ole' North Dakota!

See, it says right on the can, it's from Bismarck, ND!

 

 

I just love the graphics and the color of this can.

 

 

 

Here is a vintage television commercial for Glass Wax and the nifty stencils that you could buy to decorate your windows.  How fun! 

 

There is quite a bit of history about Harold Schafer his Gold Seal Company on the internet, but here are a few brief notes.

 

He started out by making his own floor wax.

The Gold Seal Company was the original manufactures of Mr. Bubble. (I always wondered why there was a "Mr. Bubble" mini golf course in Medora, ND)

Mr. Schafer used personal funds to restore parts of Medora ND helped it to become the ND tourist attraction it is today.

The Gold Seal Building, in Bismarck, has windows that have a golden tint to them in the sunlight.

 

Here is the Wikipedia entry about Herold Schafer 

 

And just for kicks here is one of my favorite vintage television commercials...Mr. Bubble!

 

 

I'm tickled pink over my new can of Glass Wax!
That's all for today, until another time have a happy, bubbly kind of day!

 

 

 

 



Christmas Tree Cookies

The month of December was so busy, I forgot to post about the Christmas Tree Cookies I made for my daughter's teachers, and for some of our family.

 

These were pretty simple to do, as there wasn't much detail to them.

That's all for today, just a quick post.  Until another time, have a happy, yummy day!