Gotta Gotta Get Down… in Vegas| Spring Break 2016

Friday, 22 April 2016Friday, 22 April 2016 StarrLeave a comment

Last time on Spring Break 2016, I landed in Vegas for my friend, Megan’s, bachelorette party and we headed straight to the club to get our dance on. After 26 hours awake and a weird song choice by the DJ, we called it a night so we could have energy for the next day…

I was pretty surprised by how not-late I woke up, thanks in no small part to the sun streaming through our open window. It was my first full day in Las Vegas (and Paradise, if you want to pick bones about it) and I was excited to leave the frigid cold of the DC area behind. (The day before my flight, I endured a blustery 30°F walk to work.)

First order of business was brunch/lunch at Mon Ami Gabi! We actually do have locations in the DC metro region, but none of ours are below the Eiffel Tower with a gorgeous view of “Paris”. I have never been to the locations over here and I’m not sure I can ever go knowing that it won’t be as magical as it was over in Vegas. It’s a really cute restaurant, and the hyperrealism that Beaudrillard wrote about is in full force here as you sit in a “Parisian cafe” on the Strip. In anticipation of eating a lot of waistline-unfriendly food for this trip, I stuck with a really yummy salad and we all kicked off the day with yummy food in our bellies.

Ah, la vie en rose... — Sous le ciel de Paris, erm… Las Vegas

Salad with salmon! (Full disclosure: I thought this was going to be smoked salmon, but this was actually very well cooked.)

Meanwhile, the bachelor party crew was at Hash House a Go Go. While I had seen Christine mention going there before, I didn’t realize that the portions were hilariously humongous, as evidenced by the photos we were sent to incur jealousy. Warning: You may want to share food here, do not try to be a hero!Read More »

Club Going Up… in Vegas | Spring Break 2016

Tuesday, 19 April 2016Sunday, 31 July 2016 StarrLeave a comment

Let’s kick off recap season strong, shall we?

Although we had planned to get everything ready the Monday evening before our trip, Ben and I kind of zonked out and had to ready ourselves to wake up early Tuesday morning because there was just no way I was going to shower or finish packing Monday night. I was already too exhausted. We did, however, spend a decent bit of time bopping our heads to some get-hyped music:

SO. It’s 4AM Tuesday when I roll out of bed to finish packing and to shower and get myself ready to go! The work day flies by and the next thing I know, I am back at home and a miracle happens: my package is at my door! It has arrived at the latest possible moment, but I can bring my new sandals and swimsuit on my trip. (Which is great because I bought them for the trip, so.)

Ben and I head to the airport, park our car, and I proceed to be 100% passed out on the plane. Except for the one time than I was awakened because there was now a cup of water and a snack on my tray table. (Note: NEVER ever wake me up for things like this when I am flying, I will fly into a sleepy rage.) After my little nap, we arrive in Las Vegas! Almost an hour early, actually, thanks to a nice headwind.

SO, I got dropped off at Planet Hollywood while Ben went off to Don’s bachelor party suite at Stratosphere. While Ben was greeted with shots walking into his suite, I was greeted with a much tamer scene. Some cell phone chilling and fish tacos!!

It's Britney! On my hotel keycard! — It’s Britney! On my hotel keycard!

Anyhow, we arrived in Vegas at close to 11PM and my crew headed to Omnia at around midnight. At this point, I would like to remind you that I woke up at 4AM Eastern time. That translates to 1AM Pacific time. And now I am only leaving the hotel at 12AM Pacific time. And while I was not greeted with shots, being greeted with the NSFW bachelorette party goodies in the hotel room was a strange experience in and of itself… (Given that I am the vigilante who will herd children away from the bachelorette party section of Spencer’s. They get lured in by the Pikachu backpacks and start walking towards the lava lamps and they don’t need to see all the sex toys in between!)

I Saw the Light (2016) // [review + Q&A]

Friday, 1 April 2016Friday, 1 April 2016 Starr2 Comments

There was a screening of the new Hank Williams biopic, I Saw the Light, a few days ago, but I wasn’t too keen on going, as I wasn’t much of a country fan at all, much less know anything about Hank Williams. The extent of what I knew about the movie was that Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen were in it. (And people thought they were dating as a result.)

Then I saw that the screening included a special Q&A with filmmakers. That is a little more interesting, but again, I didn’t really have a keen interest in the film at the time.

And then, I saw that a friend of mine had gone to a New York screening and I realized something then.

Tom Hiddleston was doing the Q&A after the screening.

Sorry the photos are so blurry! — Tom Hiddleston and Marc Abraham

That’s right, the star of the film, fan-favorite Tom Hiddleston, and the director, Marc Abraham, were touring with their new film.

Sorry for the grainy video but Tom Hiddleston really wanted to sing “I Saw the Light” with us. #isawthelight

A video posted by Starr (@sipofstarrshine) on Mar 29, 2016 at 7:43pm PDT

(Having trouble with the embedding here, so let me know if this video shows up!)

They were in New York and the day before they arrived in DC, Tom made a Colbert appearance. I’ll share some of the insights that Tom and Marc provided throughout my review so here we go!

March DisneyBound Challenge 2016

Thursday, 31 March 2016Friday, 22 April 2016 Starr4 Comments

You may have noticed it’s not Friday but a post is up! That’s because I have a surprise post here with the end of March but also a surprise review with a Q&A that I think you may be interested in hearing about coming atcha tomorrow! Who am I? I don’t even know…

Ah, March. You know what that means?

March DisneyBound Challenge month! (You did read the title of this post, right?)

DisneyBounding is a movement founded by fashion blogger Leslie Kay as a way for people to channel their love for Disney characters into every day outfits. This is especially popular in Disney parks because adults are not allowed to wear costumes (for fear of confusing guests). Usually this is done by incorporating a color scheme with some small details, rather than wearing a full-on costume. (As I mentioned last year, it’s the difference between wearing a mermaid tail with a purple shell bikini top and wearing a purple shirt and green pants to portray Ariel.)

I have been a big fan of DisneyBounding and put in a bigger effort to put bounds together for the March Disneybound Challenge, even though I never come close to doing the 31 days of outfits that many other folks in the community put together. (Those people are amazing! This year, a few of them are even doing #31bounds1movie, where all of their outfits for the month are inspired by one single movie.)

This year, I struggled at the beginning of the month because I wanted to put together some fresh outfits and not do any that I’ve done in the past. Of course, I picked easier characters in the past so I was reaching out of my comfort zone, so I’m glad that I was able to mix things up a bit!

I wore these throughout the month, but I didn’t photograph any of the outfits until the very end of the month OOPS here we go:

I rediscovered my love for Dumbo when I rewatched his movie last year with Ben (in my ever-present efforts to make him a Disnerd). It’s one of those older Disney films that makes not-that-much sense to me (“Pink Elephants on Parade” really freaked Ben out) and Dumbo doesn’t have any dialogue in hte movie at all. But if I ever watch “Baby Mine” without crying, you know that I’ve been replaced with a robot.Read More »

Spring Break 2015: Disney Springs (Day 5)

Tuesday, 29 March 2016Friday, 22 April 2016 Starr1 Comment

Last time on Spring Break 2015, we exhausted ourselves in the best way soaking up as much Disney magic as possible. On the day we prepared to head home, we spent some time in Disney Springs, formerly known as Downtown Disney. This is the finale for our spring break in Florida…

Waking up was so strange, because it meant our magical spring break vacation was over. I had to go home to accept a job offer; it didn’t get much more real world than that.

After Annie coerced me into wearing my Ariel outfit, hairbow and all (minus the corset, she’s not completely unreasonable), we set out for a relaxing browse-around of Disney Springs, which used to be called Downtown Disney until a recent renovation. 12513724_10208885015586329_5263508201923533641_o 12068731_10208885017386374_2313569300021160978_o

Didn’t blow all your money at Disney World? WELL YOU’RE IN LUCK! (But your wallet is not.) There are plenty of Disney stores at Disney Springs that are sure to worry your accountant and bank account.

The highlight of our short foray into Disney Springs was the T-Rex Café, aka one of the most magical dinosaur experiences I have ever had and likely ever will have.Read More »