Spotted: Target Run & Done

After being cooped up in our house since Wednesday evening -- thanks, Hurricane Florence -- my family and I ventured out to Target this morning. (Honestly, though, where else would we go?) We didn't really need anything, but Target is such a great place to wander around and somehow end up with a cartful of random things.

Plus there's coffee. Which, after four days in the house, was definitely, actually needed. (Starbucks + Target is my second favorite pairing behind Starbucks + Disney.)

Target's also a great place to do "field research," which is a fun way of saying I get to look at the Disney-related merchandise through an academic lens.

And Target didn't disappoint. First up:

📷: Me (and yes, that's my coffee in the background)

First, I tried searching Target for "mulan doll" and the only one that came up was the Hasbro doll. (At least she's wearing the outfit from the end of the movie and not the matchmaker outfit that she's usually in.) This one is marketed as an "Action Adventure Figure" so that's a solid plus. Also a plus -- this is the closest thing to Warrior Mulan I've seen in the Mulan merchandise. Normally, for whatever reason, she's marketed in a dress and definitely conforms to feminine conventions. So, another solid plus for a Mulan figure who's wielding a sword and is portrayed as a kick-ass woman. 

But...those legs!? 

Not exactly a win in the "realistic body image" column there, Hasbro. So, Con. 

On a less relevant note, I also saw this:

📷: Me

My daughter wanted to watch Tangled this weekend -- anything that wasn't Frozen! -- and I'm just really confused about why Maximus has such a glittery mane. I'm pretty sure he's not glittery in the movie and can't we market a male horse without adding glitter? My daughter loves Maximus just fine without the glittery mane, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't need to have one marketed towards her.

And we may or may not have left the store with this shirt:

Dream big, princess.

To Buy: New Disney Shirts from TeeTurtle

A short post, to ease back into blogging. There is, apparently, some plague remnant stomach bug going around and I caught it. (Which is a big deal, because I never catch those. I always get the colds. Which, fun fact, I got too. Back to back: the virus and a cold.) Basically, this has been me for the past few days:

via GIPHY

YAY ADULTING. 

But, this email from TeeTurtle popped up this morning helped a little bit. Two new Disney couple shirts available! 

I mean, on the one hand, I definitely don't need any more Disney graphic-tees, no matter how cute and nerdy they are.

But on the other hand...it's Rapunzel and Flynn! (I'm definitely "meh" about Aladdin and Jasmine -- love the movie, love that scene, but as characters...meh.) And it's the lantern scene! Which is one of the most gorgeous pieces of animation and also "I See The Light" was the First Dance song at my wedding. 💖 

Check them out and add to your collection here -- along with a bunch of other Disney shirts I definitely covet. 

Disney Princess Toms

Today, my first pairs of Toms arrived in the mail. I know they've been popular for awhile, and people swear they're super comfy, but...I'm always a little reluctant to join the bandwagon. But these had strawberries and oranges and carrots on them -- and they just seemed so summery.

Plus, I wanted to see if their sizing was accurate (it is) since I came across this news the other day:

I blogged about them a while ago -- and the big news was that they'd be featuring rarely seen concept art from the Disney Archives. 

Now we've got some close ups of the art -- and I have to say, the Snow White ones are my favorite, which is a surprise to me.

The Cinderella ones are actually pretty cool -- I have a friend who is probably eyeing the ones with the mice, since Gus is her favorite character -- and I really like the concept art of Cinderella's mom's dress that the mice fix for her. There's also a nice simplicity to the Glass Slipper ones, but I'm not sure they'll warrant the (inflated) price tag.

The Sleeping Beauty ones were the ones I was actually most excited for. Not because of Aurora (because let's face it -- the movie's named after her, but she's not the protagonist) but because of the Good Fairies, particularly Merrywether, who's always been a favorite of mine. But...meh.

On the plus side, at least Aurora's wearing the blue dress. The prevalence of her in the pink dress in the merchandise seriously annoys me. (I get that when Disney made Cinderella's dress blue instead of silver, they decided they couldn't have two princesses in blue dresses, but still.)

But the Snow White ones? I really like them! 

Maybe because she's the OG princess, or maybe because they're blue, but these are my favorite. Aaaand I'll probably be ordering a pair when they start selling them. 

And a Little Mermaid pair? I'll take those next please, Disney. 

Disney + Toms: Break Glass Ceilings, Not Glass Slippers

Confession: I'm not a "shoe girl."

As a swimmer, I basically spent my entire adolescence barefoot, and I was the girl who wore flip-flops unless there was snow on the ground. I've worn the same pairs of work shoes/heels for years because they're comfy and I dread the thought of breaking in a new pair of shoes and/or finding a new pair that fits. (Shout out to Man Mur Shoe Shop for saving my shoes and giving them new heels and soles.)

So I've never owned or even tried on a pair of Toms, even though I have several friends who swear by them.

Welp. That might change. Good little Disney consumer that I am, nothing tempts me to buy a new product more than a collaboration with Disney.

Apparently, the collection will feature the OG princesses -- Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora -- and will feature "rarely seen original artwork from the Disney archives." 

WHAT?!? I am all in. If the artwork above is any indication, these will be beautiful. And while the OG Princesses aren't my favorite, I'm more on board with Cinderella these days and the three fairies (especially Merrywether) have always been my favorites. 

*sigh*

Take all my moneys, Disney. 

Happy Birthday To Me

I don't usually go in for designer things -- I don't own, or feel the need to buy, an Hermes scarf, Louis Vuitton luggage, Tory Burch flats, a Chanel LBD, or a Coach bag -- but there are exceptions.

1. My wedding shoes are Kate Spade -- not the Jimmy Choos my Younger Self vowed to buy. Hey. That was like peak Sex and the City time. 
2. My glasses are Burberry -- and I buy their perfume. One day, I will own a Burberry trench, but that's in the distant future.
3. I'm a sucker for the Disney Dooney & Burke bags. Now, I'm super picky about the prints and the look -- a lot of the bags are bright and colorful and scream "Disney" in a way that I just can't get behind. But when the design is subtle or muted? I want to buy all. the. things. 

Well, maybe just one thing. 😊

Peter Pan Dooney & Burke released *on* my birthday. #happybirthdaytome #treatyoself #disneydooney #buyallthethings pic.twitter.com/wBLQB7yhZv

— Lisa Andres (@TheDisneyProf) November 17, 2017

I ❤️ Tee Turtle

Confession: I have a t-shirt obsession. I think it started back in my swimming days when we'd get shirts from the different meets we went to, but all the free-shirts-as-bribes in college definitely didn't help. And now, today, it continues in the form of geeky/nerdy shirts that I wear whenever we go to Disney and to class sometimes.

One of my favorite sites is Tee Turtle, and they've had a little bit of a Disney drought lately. But maybe they renewed their Disney license recently or something because they've had a spate of new Disney shirts lately. These two popped up in my Inbox this morning:



Y'all know how I feel about The Little Mermaid *and* "Poor Unfortunate Souls" so....yeah. Currently coveting both of these shirts.