Tag Archives: rockabilly

Ciao Mi Amici, Luigi e Guido!

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While we were in Palm Springs, Disney California Adventure welcomed a new attraction to Cars Land, Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters. And I recently finished a parasol that was very fitting for the attraction, so we visited the other day to take a spin and debut my new parasol.

Luigi and his close pal Guido are my favorite Cars characters, and my favorite moment in the film is when Lighting decides to race Doc on dirt, and Luigi and Guido arrived festively dressed for the occasion. Seriously, Guido’s Italian flag wig gets me every time. Drawing cars has never been a favorite of mine, and this one was on the more difficult side, (especially with the tiny Ferrari stallions), but I’m still pleased with how it came out.

The attraction replaced Luigi’s Flying Tires, a “redo” of sorts of Tomorrowland’s failed Flying Saucer attraction of the 1960s, think bumper boats but with hovercrafts. When they announced Luigi’s Flying Tires during the development of Cars Land I knew history was going to repeat itself. The attraction was difficult to get the hang of, and often Guests lacked the time to really ace the experience. So, after just three and a half years, Luigi’s Flying Tires deflated, and in a little less than a year, Luigi returned, and brought along some of his cousins, so Guests now “dance” while seated in cars of Luigi’s cousins. I won’t lie, the attraction is fun, a odd mix of the Mad Tea Party and Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, another Cars Land attraction, but with varying songs and dances. Each little car is different, and some even had suitcases on their luggage racks, and they feature adorable luggage decals with cleaver puns.

I wrapped up a few more parasols, and can’t wait to share them! I also still have an ever growing list of ones I want to make!

Outfit
Top: Which is actually a child’s shirt. Disneyland
Skirt: Pin-Up Girl Clothing
Shoes: Re-Mix

Christmas on the Range

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As I mentioned back in September, Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue will be closing its fences in January as the Disneyland Resort prepares to make way for its new Star Wars themed land, and Patrick and I are attempting to visit quite a few times before that day rolls around. With the holidays in full swing, Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue has decorated for the Christmas season, and its talented performers, Miss Chris and Tex Tumbleweed are singing the songs of Christmas for Guests.

I can’t express how much I love Miss Chris’ outfit for the holidays. It’s so delightful, and I am so tempted to make my own.

In the meantime, I’ve been frantically shopping, and getting gifts ready for friends and family. Many gifts have to be mailed out, and Patrick and I still have yet to do our Christmas photo! Yikes! I hope your holiday season is going smoothly!

Outfit
Top & Black Tooled Leather Purse: Buffalo Exchange
Skirt: Deja Vu, Palm Springs, California
Nude Fishnets: Oroblu, Nordstorm
Black Tooled Leather Wedges: Olvera Street, Los Angeles
Pecos Bill & Slue Foot Sue Pin: Ebay

Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue

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Fall is officially in swing at the Disneyland Resort, and while Main Street USA may be lined with adorable pumpkins, one of my favorite areas of Disneyland during fall is Frontierland and the Big Thunder Ranch area. Sadly, this year will be the last autumn for Big Thunder Ranch, which includes the Big Thunder Ranch petting zoo, the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree, and best of all, Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue. More on that in a bit. And seeing as Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue will be closing up shop come January, Patrick and I are attempting to fill our bellies with as much barbecue as possible, and of course I couldn’t resist picking out some western duds for the evening.

Now, more on the Ranch closing. At D23, it was announced that the Disneyland Resort would be expanding to create a Star Wars themed land. Speculation of this has been going on since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, and soon after it was announced that Star Wars would be taking over the Big Thunder Ranch area, located just north of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Originally this expanse of land was home to the Mine Train, Pack Mules, Conestoga Wagons and Stagecoaches that made their way would Nature’s Wonderland and the small town of Rainbow Ridge. In 1979 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened up, giving folks the “wildest ride in the wilderness”. In the mid-1980s, the expanse north of Big Thunder saw a ranch open up, and various forms of entertainment and dining came and went through the area (including the awkwardly placed Hunchback of Notre Dame “Festival of Fools”), and in the later 90s, the dining area closed, until it re-opened in 2009 as an all-you-can-enjoy barbecue restaurant, and live entertainment with extremely talented western musicians. My feelings about the Star Wars themed land are mixed (I mean I love Star Wars), but one thing I am certain of is that I am crushed to see Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue go. It offers some of the best food in the park, including amazing seasonal dishes, like the above pictured sugar cookie bake with pumpkin ice cream and caramel, as well as incredible ambiance, and, as I mentioned before, very talented performers, and I am hell-bent on visiting as much as I can before it closes. And I encourage anyone visiting Disneyland before January to visit as well, that is if you aren’t vegetarian or vegan!

I would also love to do a shout out to Jackie, a reader here. She approached me when Patrick and I were shooting the outfit pictures, and, Jackie, you were a delight to talk to! This is also a heads up to anyone else who may see me in the park, I love meeting my readers, and hanging out in Disneyland has provided me with a lot of contact that I honestly hadn’t expected! It’s so much fun hearing from you all in person, so, please, if you do see me, don’t be afraid to say hi! Unfortunately I won’t be at Dapper Day tomorrow, as I have to work it, after all, someone has to be there to make magic! But I do plan on visiting the Dapper Day Expo after I get off work. I probably won’t be too dressed up, as I will be taking the bus into work, and will be going straight to the Expo after work, so maybe I’ll bump into some of you there!

Outfit
Cowboy Hat: Disneyland
Blouse: Buffalo Exchange
Skirt: Rock Steady via Roadkill Ranch, Fullerton, Ca.
Tooled Leather Wedges: Olvera Street, Los Angeles, Ca.
Brooch & Purse: Found by my dad!
Turquoise Bracelet: LA Vintage Expo
Turquoise Maize Ring: Capistrano Trading Post, San Juan Capistrano, Ca.

Will You Be My Valentine?

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In all honesty, I care little for Valentine’s Day. Patrick and I don’t even celebrate the holiday. But I find it a good excuse to wear as much pink and red clothing as I can and accessorize with my heart-shaped jewelry as much as possible throughout the month of February. Like Christmas, Patrick and I figured why not go to Disneyland and see what was brewing there. It also gave me a good excuse to wear a newly acquired, and very appropriate pin!

My day started out wonderfully when I spotted Chip and Dale shortly after walking through the gates, who attempted to make a heart around me for the holiday.

My pin is a recent Ebay purchase, when I felt the need for more Clarice pins in my life, and Ebay seemed the best place, as the Resort seems to rarely carry merchandise with her on it! (If you don’t know who Clarice is, check out my Halloween post from last year!) And Chip and Dale expressed great interest in my pin, Chip even pantomimed his heart pitter-pattering at the thought of her.

Near where we snapped these photos is one of my favorite “hidden in plain sight” gems of Disneyland, one of the last remaining ticket booths.

You can spy one of these ticket booths in action in a close up of one of my family’s pictures taken in the late 70s.

Before the days of the one ticket for everything at Disneyland, Guests purchased entry to the park and tickets of varying values for the various attractions. Park entry could be attached to a ticket book, and you could purchase additional ticket books in the park at these ticket booth locations, very similar to a carnival. Tickets were graded on a value of A through D, with the E ticket being introduced in 1959. A tickets represented the lower key attractions, such as the carousel, working their way toward more intense attractions. E represented the best of the best, such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the Matterhorn, and the phrase “E ticket” went on to represent how awesome something was. Astronaut Sally Ride described her first space shuttle launch as an “E ticket” experience. Ticket books disappeared entirely in 1982, introducing the system we now know today, and today ticket books have faded into obscurity, though hard-core Disneyland fans will always have a soft spot for them, including myself. After purchasing the iPhone 5S (which was larger than its predecessor) I needed a new phone case, and was ecstatic when I found a ticket book one on Ebay, which is what you see in the photo above.

Awhile back the old ticket booth was home to a small film and memory card kiosk, for Guests in the event they ran out of film, or space on their digital camera’s memory cards. But I guess the need for film, and additional memory cards (as current memory cards can hold thousands of photos now) has diminished enough that there is no longer a need to use this location. Currently film and memory cards are available at Disney’s Photo Pass Service along Main Street.

After spending some time in Disneyland we popped over to California Adventure for awhile where I spied Chip and Dale yet again and I couldn’t resist wishing them a Happy Valentine’s Day.

As you may have guessed, we’re home now, and are planning on running a few errands before needing to drive into LA to pick up my brother and his girlfriend who will be visiting for the next week, including several days in the park! So I’m very excited for that. I hope you all are having a lovely holiday and weekend!

Outfit
Vintage Sweater: Buffalo Exchange, Portland, Oregon
Dress: Stop Staring, by way of Buffalo Exchange, Portland, Oregon
Belt: Nordstorm
Shoes: Re-Mix, by way of a rummage sale
Pin: Ebay
Purse: My Christmas present from Patrick, though from Disneyland

The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness!

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Yesterday was another theme-day at Disneyland, Rock Around the Park, a day for those who have a mutual love of rockabilly and Disneyland to get together, meet and have a rockin’ good time at the Happiest Place on Earth. In the days leading up to Sunday I had a growing concern I wasn’t going to make it, as I was in the beginning stages of a cold, and today I am most certainly paying for the Day-Quil fueled fun I had, despite leaving the park early after only a little bit of fun and socializing. Cutting the day short also meant cutting the photos short. So there are really just a handful of my outfit.

I wanted to play up the “billy” aspect of rockabilly, while also wanting to incorporated Disney themes into my outfit. While I initially wanted to make another felt circle skirt, the predicted 82 degree and sunny weather thwarted those plans and I instead made a brooch. Though my skirt plans are still on the table. Inspired by one of my favorite attractions, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a roller coaster runaway mine train through gold rush country, I settled upon my gold rush skirt and made a brooch of the attraction’s beloved dynamite chewing goat.

I also swung by to say hi to Disneyland’s resident donkeys and goats over at the Big Thunder Ranch, where you can also visit with goats and horses, and sometimes meet Woody and Jessie. Big Thunder Ranch often gets overlooked by the average Disneyland guest, but it is a nice place to stop by if you have the time and love animals.

Like most group events at Disneyland, a group shot in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is a must, but we hit an unexpected snag, Disney Park’s Frozen Christmas Celebration was being filmed (though to air Christmas day) right smack dab in front of the castle!

And I was amused when I caught sight of the teleprompter. The Christmas spirit was indeed in full swing, and it was very warm with the sunshine beating down on guests. We watched “television magic” happen for awhile, though not new to either of us, having dealt with Heroes of Cosplay filming at Wizard World Portland. But entertaining never the less to witness, and I look forward to catching the special on ABC when it airs Christmas day.

Due to the filming, our group shot was relocated to the Mickey flowers, sadly it doesn’t look like a group shot has been uploaded yet. Right now the next theme day we’re slated to attend is Dapper Day (FINALLY!) which will happen in March, but who knows what will crop up between now and then!

Meanwhile I’m going to crawl back onto the sofa with my Jamba Juice, cough drops and continue my binge watching of Zorro. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Outfit
Blouse: Living Threads, Portland, Ore.
Skirt: Cheshire Vintage
Cowboy Hat: Disneyland
Brooch: Made by me!
Shoes: Re-Mix via a rummage sale

“I Ain’t Nobody, Dork.”

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Last night Patrick and I went to the 99W drive-in (yet again! Seriously, it’s the best part of having a car!) to see How to Train Your Dragon 2 and, the biggest reason, American Graffiti. I was super excited that we were first in line too, so we were for sure able to snag my favorite spot.

The drive-in skirt was a rare new purchase for me at Buffalo Exchange . While Buffalo likes to boast itself as a buy-sell-trade joint made up of recycled goods, it does sell new items, you can tell as usually there is more than one of the item, but also these new items bare yellow tags, while all used goods have white tags. While it’s made of jersey, and features an elastic waistband, I just couldn’t resist (and thankful to uncover it was made in the USA by the company Mezzanine). I’ll openly admit that I am a sucker for anything that features drive-in imagery…comic books, magazines, signs, etc. In high school I had a had a purse with a drive-in on it. Hmm…I wonder whatever became of that purse…?

Outfit
Blouse: Buffalo Exchange, Eugene, Oregon
Drive-In Skirt: Buffalo Exchange, Portland, Oregon
String Tie: Magpie, Portland, Oregon
Shoes: Re-Mix, via a local rummage sale!
Earrings: Don’t recall…

Go for Launch

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Last night Patrick and I got a pleasant mid-week treat, one of our favorite bands, The Phenomenauts, who I’ve blogged about before, rolled into town for an evening of space themed rockabilly. I never get tired of seeing these guys. They always put on a great show, complete with lasers, fire extinguishers and a toilet paper gun…blower…thing…Oh just scroll, you’ll see it.

I seriously can’t recommend them enough if you dig rock n roll. They’re still touring, currently with The Creepshow, who also put on a fantastic show. Check their Facebook pages for tour dates!

While last time I saw The Phenomenauts I wore my own take on their uniform, I opted for a more casual rockabilly look, mainly because that uniform was also uncomfortable. It’s time for a re-do soon. But here’s a quick snap after the show and rockin’ out.

Hope your week is treating you well!

Outfit
Phenomoeauts Jacket: Phenomenauts concert, circa 2009
Brian Setzer Rockabilly Riot Tee: Brian Setzer concert, circa 2011
Switchblade Stiletto Skirt: Naked City, Portland, Oregon
Hair Tie (which has little neon green bats on it!): Tini’s Ties
Belt: Nordstorm
Boots: Buffalo Exchange, Portland, Oregon