Mary Poppins

{Photo Credit: Me} 

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that my dreams are actually becoming reality... 

I've started my countdown to when my dreams will start coming true and I have 168 days - which seems like a lot, but I'm sure that time will whittle away quickly in a matter of months! 

This blog-post really has nothing to do with the college program or what my preparation for moving to Orlando will be, it really just has to do with dreams and making the most of your life.

Mary Poppins is one of those characters that just makes me smile whenever I see her. She is dressed so elegantly and even though she's not a "princess", she is practically perfect in every way imaginable! 

When you start to think that you're going to fail or that you are never going to get there, listen to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and dance around your room because anything and everything you've ever wanted is attainable if you work hard enough! 

My favorite quote has always been, "Success is where preparation meets opportunity". This is especially true for those of you applying for the college program or chasing your dreams to work for your dream job... or maybe, you're just trying to be yourself in a world that tries to beat you down and spit you out looking and acting exactly like every other person out there. Do me a favor. Don't be that person. Instead, be your own person and chase your own passions! You only have once life, and I suggest you make the best of it. I wouldn't be where I am today if I wouldn't have prepared and planned and schemed. Okay, maybe not schemed, but lots of planning goes into your dreams! Do you think Mary Poppins just rolls out of bed looking perfectly quaffed? Nope. It takes preparation to look like our good friend Mary, and it takes preparation to get your dream job. 

I researched the Disney College Program since I was 15  (I believe… or maybe I was 13). I would go on the website and read up on the program, and then I'd go on YouTube and watch people's videos they posted about the program, and I hoped and waited until I could apply. That took a long time from the age of 15 until the age of 21 to make one of my dreams come true because sometimes things that you want TAKE TIME. But the things you want the most are worth waiting for… I guarantee it. 

Do the heavy leg work, and you'll be rewarded in the end. People often ask me: How did you get a job with Disney?! Well, a lot of time and effort! I was rejected and felt like Disney didn't want me, but I didn't let that get in the way. I researched some more, perfected my skills, and applied again. Life's a Journey, Learn from it! 

Don't wait around for things to be handed to you… Go out there and get what you want today!! Mary Poppins would approve of that. 

 

xoxo

Love and Pixie Dust

Housing

Now that we've talked about roommates… Let's talk about choosing which housing complex you want to live in! Specifically, I'll be talking about Walt Disney World housing. 

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Vista Way (or Vista Lay as some like to call it…) This is the oldest housing complex, but that also means that it costs less, so you can have more spending money. Vista Way has smaller rooms and a smaller living space, but it is closer to convenience stores and the bus stops nearby. Vista Way offers 2, 3, and 4 bedroom apartments. Also, the Disney Learning Center and Clubroom Thirteen501 is also located here. If you don't have a car, this might be a great option for you! 

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Chatham Square is a great choice as well! The rooms and living area are slightly larger than Vista Way as seen here:

The bus stops right outside the security gates, and Mickey's Retreat (a recreation center specifically for Cast Members) is right by Chatham Square as well. There's a computer lab and a gym on site (an amenity included in all the complexes). This is the BEST option if you are not bringing a car with you.

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Patterson Court is the newest complex (completed in 2008).  Patterson is located near Chatham Square so it does not have it's own bus stop, and you have to walk 10 minutes to get to the bus stop if you don't have a car. Patterson Court is a little more upscale than the other choices, and therefore costs the most. (But it's beautiful, and I am partial to it!)

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The Commons is mostly for International Disney Cast Members as well as people participating in the Cultural Representative Program. This complex covers several acres and is clustered around the clubhouse facility. There is a pool, weight room, and many other services available. 

Map of the area:

Basics:

You are paid weekly by the College Program and rent it deducted out of your paycheck. The amount you pay is based on the number of bedrooms each apartment has. Less rooms = More expensive and vice versa. 

Rent ranges from 80 to 100 dollars a week ($300 to $400/month) depending on which complex you choose, and how many roommates you have. This amount covers rent, electricity, and utilities.

Keep in mind that: One Bedroom = Two People, Two Bedrooms = Four People, Etc. There are two people per room - thus the need to find killer roommates (figuratively, not literally).

Wellness vs. Non Wellness

Non-Wellness means that you are 21 or over and you can consume alcohol in your apartment if you so choose.

Wellness means that you are UNDER 21 and you cannot consume or have alcohol in your apartment or else you and the rest of your roommates will be terminated.

Choosing Roommates

You may pick your own roommates but there are a few requirements:

• If you are 21 years old or older, your roommate must be 21 or over.
• If you are under 21, your roommate must be under 21. 
• You MUST have the same check-in day, and also checkout date is what I'm told, but check-in date is the most important. 

Other than that, you can use facebook, tumblr, etc to find your roommates. OR Disney can match you up. Basically, whoever you are standing in line with will be your roommates. Choose wisely :)

Leave Some Pixie Dust

I hope you all are having a magical week!

Leave your comments below…

xoxo

Love & Pixie Dust

Roommates: Love Hate Relationship

Today has been one of those days that roommates really get on my nerves, and I decided to turn that anger into a productive and informative blog post instead!

Do you ever have those days where you want to strangle your roomies?! If you're in the college program or not, it's important to learn how to live with different people because EVERYONE has weird quirks that don't jive with others. 

Here's a few real life situations for you folks to read who are dealing with stubborn, awkward, and weird roommates too. Along with the lessons I learned from each one: 

Roommate #1: SO freshman year of college I had this one roommate. We met on Facebook and became the best of friends quickly. Little did I know, she was a selfish only child (not all only children are, but this was a particular case of selfishness) and on top of that, the most hypocritical person I had ever met. She would pretend she got horrible migraines… whether she really did or not, I'll never know. My friends and I would be talking in the hallway, and she would open the door and scream at us. SCREAM. Telling us to whisper. I don't think I've ever been yelled at like that. Still to this day, when I think about it, I shake in my boots a little bit. It was scary, and that was the beginning to a long road of uncertainty which would make for the worst freshman college experience you could ever imagine. 

She would come in late at night and be as loud as possible - stumbling over everything, rocking in her chair, eating chips, turning on the tv, etc. Any and every kind of noise you could imagine came out of this girl. She would snore and grind her teeth at night to top it all off. Besides the noise came the strange necessity to stay cold.

We would sit at our desks, and she would open the window in the middle of winter when it was 30 degrees and raining out - saying that she was "burning up". I told her to take some layers off if she was so hot, and she went into the closet and took off almost all of her clothes and came out saying "I'm still hot and the window is staying open". Now, I'm the type of person who wants to please everyone and I avoid confrontation at all costs, but when it comes to feeling like I was living in Antarctica, or  like hell hath frozen over I didn't know how much more I could take.

Instead of listening to my concerns of being cold,  I would come home to our room (with nobody there) and both window wide open and rain soaking in the window sill :( Finally, this charming roommate would start watching tv without headphones every single night until 1am just to drive me nuts. It came to blows and we had an all out fight one night when I couldn't get any shut eye. 

I can't tell you how many times I cried or tried to have our RA fix our problems. Nothing worked, and this is when I finally decided to move out. I had had enough to say the least.

I look back on this experience and think of how horrible I felt. Even if I received good grades, I didn't feel like myself any more. I was sad and stressed out ALL the time. It wasn't until I moved out that I was actually happy again. 

Moral of this story: If you feel uncomfortable at ALL, or threatened by your roommate in any way - like not wanting to come back to your room (I sat in the library crying one day because I didn't wanna go back to my room) MOVE AS FAST AS YOU CAN. Don't wait it out. Don't say to yourself, "Hey I can make this work". No. Don't waste your time child. Don't be stubborn like me. Just MOVE. Girls can be downright mean, and no matter how many times you tell yourself that if you're just positive enough, or nice enough it will all work out, it won't and it's time to move on to happier and better things. Especially if you're working at the Happiest place on earth… It won't make a difference if you come home to negativity and icky-ness. You'll wanna come home to a safe haven so make sure you move in with happier more positive people :) 

Roommate #2: Freshman year, Spring Term. This girl, we'll call her Alaska, ended up getting super drunkie one night, got sick all over the rug, and peed on my clothes (in her drunken stupor). Don't believe me?! I know it sounds crazy, but it happened … She was a much nicer roommate though so I let it slide. 

Moral of the story: Sometimes your roommates do stupid things. If it's an easy (or gross) clean up, then talk about it and move on - unless of course crazy things like this happen all the time, then don't let it slide. 

Roommate #3: Sophomore year, living in my sorority. This girl was one of my most favorite people ever. She was hardly ever there, but when she was, she sometimes wore my clothes without asking. It drove me a little nuts, but she also let me wear her clothes too - so it wasn't so bad after all. She was the best roommate I ever had and now that I think about it, I wish we were still roommates. 

Moral of the story: Hold onto your favorite roommates - The ones that don't get on your nerves will be your saving grace.

Roommate #4: This girl broke up with her boyfriend halfway through one of the terms and moved ALL of her stuff back into my room. Lamps, side tables, cushions, etc. - leaving no room to walk. This roommate is still one of my really good friends, and this is because of the way I addressed the issue. I let her know that I needed more room to live stress free. Even though I understood her situation, it still wasn't necessary to bring her excess crap into my life as well. Since she respected our friendship, she cleaned up the room that night, and I woke up to a sparkling clean room. Me = Happy. 

Moral of this story: If there is something that is bothering you, tell your roommate! If they don't clean up after themselves, tell them that it bugs you (IN PERSON). Don't do it over text or an email or a fb message. Using your words is the best bet for it to come across as nice and not mean or angry sounding. 

Roommate #5, 6, 7, and 8: (I live in a big house this year) I lived in a sorority for two years and thought that living with four other people would be a breeze. WRONG. Very wrong. When you throw a roommate in there that has OCD then you're in for it. One roommate in particular likes to "organize" the refrigerator and moves all of my groceries to the back, and disperses it on different shelves - making it difficult to find things when I'm trying to cook. This drives me up a wall! I like to have all my groceries in the same place and she keeps moving them around when I'm not here. Even when I've asked her multiple times not to, she keeps moving them. She leaves rude messages on our whiteboard about not putting pots and pans in the dishwasher, and basically treats us all like we are children. This, my friends, is the roommate you don't want to deal with. Today, I took my destiny into my own hands which comes to the moral of this little story…

Moral of story: I bought my own Mini Fridge today… You might be asking yourself, What does that have to do with anything? and my response to that is EVERYTHING! Take your destiny into your own hands, people! I went and bought my own fridge to put my own food in so that my roommate (who doesn't feel like listening to me) can't say a word. When you can't go through the mountain, go around. Now, if you're dealing with something similar to this, then buying a fridge might not be the easiest solution for you, but be creative. Come up with ideas that will work for everybody and compensate when you can. It's everyone's house at the end of the day, and people don't want you touching their things without asking. Respect each other from the very beginning and you won't have many problems in the near future.

Remember these morals of my different roommate horror stories, and you too can be happy with your roommates or future roommates :) 

Since you'll be living with a bunch of people for 5 or more months it's important to get along and have a HAPPY space to come home to. 

Love you all!

Have a magical day.

xoxo

Love & Pixie Dust

Disney Look

All of the Disney Look Guidelines can be found here: DISNEY LOOK

You should definitely read through it thoroughly before you go shopping for a few different business outfits. You'll need these for Disney Traditions and for classes if you're taking any! 

At first, it's a little overwhelming reading through all the guidelines, but once you get the hang of it, shopping should be a breeze. You just can't wear anything too revealing, too short, or too casual. You'll want to make a good impression with everyone you meet and that starts with your outfits. Here are some ideas I came up with for traditions (or for class):

NOTE** All pieces for the outfits can be found HERE or by clicking on each outfit set.

Outfits:

To achieve an outfit like this, you'll need a lace dress (or a dress made of fabric that is Disney appropriate - Nothing cheap and easily wrinkled). These wedges are easy to walk in and the color really adds style to the outfit.  I added a cardigan in case it gets a little chilly in the classroom, and I accessorized with a simple necklace and a mickey watch. An outfit like this is easy to re-create and you can even achieve multiple different outfits while you're at it. 

This outfit is utilizing trousers - in case you're the type of person who prefers pants, this look is for you! Add a flowy, fitted top and layer it with a lace blazer, a big leather purse, and some patterned flats. Keep your accessories to a minimum, but this star necklace is dainty and adds a little personality.

This outfit is SO easy to achieve, and it's usually my go-to look! Buy a nice, longer pencil skirt. It should be a few inches about the knee, but no shorter. Then find some nice blouses or tops - I chose a lace top, layer that with a colored blazer which adds personality and color to any outfit! Flat shoes are always a lifesaver if you hate heels or if you have a lot of walking to do. Add some pearl earrings and a nice, simple necklace and you're set!! 

***Don't be afraid to experiment when it comes to "The Disney Look". Yes, there are guidelines, and yes, you might not be accustomed to dressing like this, but it will serve you well for any of your future endeavors so figure it out now, and you'll be set for life.

Key Pieces to Invest In:

1) Blazers: Buy at least one colored blazer, a lace one, and a basic black or navy colored one. Make sure it's made of nice fabric and fits you well. This is one of those things that can last in your closet forever if it's good quality and you take care of it.

2) Pencil Skirt: Most girls have a few pencil skirts, but if you don't GO BUY ONE NOW. You will not regret it… and before I forget, NO a bodycon skirt does not count as a "pencil skirt". If you don't know what that is, then google "bodycon skirt". Go get 2 or 3 black skirts (and one grey one if you'd like). Again, make sure they are long enough. Do the sit test on a chair - does it ride up when you sit down? Can you see your undies? Also, bend over in front of a mirror and see what other people would see if you bent over. I know it sounds funny but it's a must!

3) Shoes: Get a few pairs of flats (2 or 3) usually black is the best bet, but don't be afraid to go bold and get colored or patterned flats. Also, feel free to get heels if you like to walk in them or wedges. Wedges are always a comfier version of heels… one of my favorites! 

4) Dress Pants: Get 2 or 3 pairs of dress trousers. Make sure they are long enough and not high waters. If you're going to be wearing heels with them, make sure you buy them a little bit longer and try them out with your shoes. You don't want to be stepping on the hem but you also don't want them to be too short. Most stores offer a tailor to bring up your dress pants a little at little or no extra cost. 

5) Tops: Find a bunch of blouses to mix and match with things. These will be a lifesaver for throwing together easy, professional outfits. I get my tops at TJ Maxx usually, but most dressy tops can be found at stores everywhere - even Forever 21 has some tops that will pass as Disney appropriate! 

6) Dresses: I LOVE dresses. They are SO easy to wear, and you can throw them on with some flats and you have a whole outfit! I have some lace dresses, some black dresses, and lots of tailored dresses in my own closet, but if you don't, then don't be afraid to go try some on and find some business savvy ones that work for you. 

Stores to Shop and Get Inspired at:

• Ann Taylor
• J. Crew
• Nordstrom
• Macy's 
• Anthropologie
• TJ Maxx
• Dress Barn

** Go online and order some free catalogs from your favorite stores, and get inspired! Then go to TJ Maxx or any of your local stores and find outfits that are similar. If not, ordering online is always your friend.

Questions? Comments? Let me know below!

Fashion is my passion, baby! If you ever need help picking out an outfit let me know. In the mean time, happy shopping and have a magical day.

xoxo

Love and Pixie Dust