Theme Park Boudoir (part two)

To me, a boudoir is like a fantasy world. A place where you can relax and get away from the stress of everyday life. A place where your imagination can take you to another world.

The feeling of such a magical place does not have to be reserved for only the times when you are at home, because one can enjoy a boudoir while traveling, too. You will see this in some of my other posts, like Floating Boudoir, The Suite Life…a boudoir away from home and Theme Park Boudoir (part one) to name a few.

If you are a self-proclaimed Disney fanatic, then you’ll love this boudoir-away-from-home. Before you get too excited, please know that this experience is reserved for only a select few…the lucky ones who actually get the privilege of spending the night inside Disneyland Park.

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This, my friends, is The Dream Suite [please forgive the extremely poor photo quality…these were taken back in my BlackBerry days and it was the only camera I had with me while touring the suite]. It is where during the “Year of a Million Dreams” Disney made dreams come true by extending once-in-a-lifetime experiences, at random, to park guests. One of the top “dreams” was spending one night in The Dream Suite. They still use it for give-aways and the like, but this dream cannot be purchased.

The suite is located in New Orleans Square, above the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. With the addition of New Orleans Square to the park in 1966, this was built to serve as Walt’s personal apartment for he and his family. It was intended as an upgrade from the studio apartment over the Fire House, which I featured in a previous post. It allowed more room for his children and guests.

Though the apartment had a full interior design planned and sketched by Dorthea Holt Redmond, it unfortunately was never completed, nor used as Walt’s apartment, due to his untimely death in December of 1966, around seven months before the opening day of New Orleans Square.

In the mid 2000’s, using the original design sketches, Disney carefully redecorated the apartment’s skeleton into a the fabulous living quarter it was intended to be.

Please enjoy the tour…

Master boudoir:

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Some “magical” moments take place in this boudoir when you press the “Good Night Kiss” button. The wall above is one example, but there are many delightful surprises like this throughout the master boudoir, and the entire suite.

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Dressing room/closet (attached to master boudoir):

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The dressing room/closet transitions into the master bathroom:

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The bathtub makes you feel like it’s in the turret of a castle, with a cathedral-esque ceiling and stained glass window. Oh, but when the lights turn off, a galaxy of stars create a relaxing dreamworld.

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…and you know what happens when you wish upon a star…

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Living room:

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Here is one of Dorthea’s original sketches for comparison:

 

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…another kiss of magic…

 

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Children’s boudoir:

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The magical kiss in this room, causes the train to drive around the perimeter!

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Children’s bathroom:

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The view:

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Hallway looking out toward private courtyard:

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Private courtyard:

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

Good bye….

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Cosmetic Vending Machine

I was traveling on business to Las Vegas earlier this week. Whilst walking through the airport in LV this vending machine caught my eye and stopped me right in my tracks. A vending machine that sells cosmetics!!! Plus, it’s super adorable looking like a little pink caravan. Benefit Cosmetics should be real proud…job well done!

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Glamour Party: Fondant Make-up Cake

I had searched around Pinterest for the perfect birthday cake for my daughter’s 13th birthday “glamour” party. The cakes that appealed to us most were cakes with makeup made of fondant adorning the top, which is most certainly suitable for the theme.

We went to Mike’s Amazing Cakes for a quote and they were charging $30+ per piece of make-up (on top of the cake price). I decided to just order the cake from them and give the make-up a try on my own.

Here is the finished product (edible make-up by me, and cake by Mike’s Amazing Cakes).

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Would you be interested in seeing a video tutorial on how I made the make-up pieces?

Glamour Party: Sleep Mask Party Invitations

For my daughter’s 13th birthday, I wanted to do it up big for her party to celebrate her entrance to teenagehood.

The theme was Glamour (and it was a sleepover).

We started off with some fabulous invitations that resembled sleep masks. This will be followed by a post on the birthday cake that we adorned with edible cosmetics. The last post in the three part series will cover our make-over/photo shoot (remember, it was a glamour party).

This is how we made the invitations, which were oh so appropriate for a glamour party sleepover.

First, I traced around a real sleeping mask and cut it out to create the template,

20130413-105233.jpgThen, I traced the template and cut out the exterior patterned card stock. The exterior was blue with silver glittered swirls. This is the part that would face outward, if you were actually wearing it. I then repeated these steps, with pink paper for the interior. This really is designed to serve as a border to the white paper with the party details.

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20130413-105756.jpgOnce all the paper was cut out, I glued the pink paper to the back side of the blue paper and placed a ribbon on each side to serve as the head tie (this made it more realistic looking). This is also another reason why it was important to line it with the pink paper. It made the edges look more finished, and covers the ends of the ribbon that  are behind the paper.

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My husband is a graphic designer, so he whipped up the text portion of the invitation to my specifications and it turned out fabulous. I am grateful for his help.

Here is the finished product (with our personal information “pinked” out for privacy reasons)!!!

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Chevron Drawers

I recently found this Chevron print drawer liner for my daughter’s boudoir. It was only about $4 per roll at Marshall’s. It took two rolls to finish it off.

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Insta-boudoir

I finally got with the times and upgraded from the BlackBerry to the iPhone 5. I held out for a really long time because I hated typing on screens and I use it for work a lot, which means that I need to be able to quickly type a professional email without spelling or grammatical errors. I’m not going to lie, the typing on a screen takes some getting use to, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. I also like the voice record feature that puts my spoken words into text (so Jetson’s).

With that being said, MLB is now on Instagram. Please follow me…

http://Instagram.com/MyLittleBoudoir

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Theme Park Boudoir (part one)

I work in the travel industry. My position allows me the opportunity to travel quite often. I happen to oversee most of the Disney product that my company sells. This has allowed me some really special opportunities. For example, I attended the grand opening of Cars Land at Disney’s California Adventure Park last summer and most recently the grand opening of the New Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

Two of the most exciting things I’ve done though, is visit Walt Disney’s apartment and the Dream Suite at Disneyland.

First, please allow me apologize for the poor quality of these pictures. I never remember to take a camera with me when I travel for business, so they were taken with my less than desirable BlackBerry camera.

Walt’s original apartment was built over the Fire Station at the entrance of Main Street U.S.A. It is on your left side as you enter the park, just after City Hall.

 

 

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pinterest.com

 

To enter the apartment, you must go “backstage” (to the right of the building in the above image). Here is a picture of entrance door, which actually enters from the back (when you walk in, you’re facing the window on the right in the above image).

 

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My Little Boudoir

It is a studio apartment, with a wet bar, bathroom and large veranda.

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

Here are a few photos of Walt and his family enjoying these private quarters.

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Disney

 

Getty Images

Getty Images

 

When you walk into the door of this apartment, it opens up to the right of you. In the above image, the entrance is at the end of the hallway near the woman wearing the white dress.

The window and two chairs in the below photo are in the center of the room, in the front of the building. On each side of these chairs is two daybeds. One for Walt and one for his wife, Lillian.

In the center window, that you can see from outside the Fire Station, there is a gas lamp (shown in the below photo) that was always lit when Walt was in the apartment. It now is lit eternally in his memory. I guess that means that he is there in spirit.

I thought for sure this was going to be a “no-touch” experience, but they actually let us sit in the chairs and on the bed. Yep, I’ve sat on Walt’s bed. Crazy!

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

There is a music box cabinet and phonograph in the apartment. I believe one, if not both, were gifts to his wife. The tour guide took out some of the wax cylinders from their box. These were basically cylinder shaped records made of wax (I didn’t get a photo of them, but I found a photo online that I’ve posted below so that you can see what they look like). This was like looking at Walt’s “play-list” of his day. Since they’re made of wax, they can actually melt, so it’s amazing to think that they’ve survived this long.

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

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cylinder.de

While Walt had the main living area of the apartment decorated in Victorian style (matching Main Street U.S.A.), the wet bar and bathroom had more of a mid-century look to them. I felt really fortunate, because our tour guide was very thorough and showed us a lot of behind the scene areas, like opening the cabinets in the kitchen, for example. The baby bottles from his grandchildren were even still in place on the top shelf of the cupboard. On top of the counter was a beverage set that says, “Tom and Jerry” on the front. I was thinking in my mind, “hmmm…Tom and Jerry weren’t Disney characters…I wonder why he had this?” That’s when the guide shared that a “Tom and Jerry” was a popular hot mixed drink, usually enjoyed around the holidays. It usually includes egg nog, rum and brandy.

 

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

 

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

Before you enter the bathroom,  there is a small dressing area with a closet and chest of drawers that you must pass through. I bet you can guess my favorite part of this area. If you guessed the mother-of-pearl vanity set, you got it! The bathroom sink is pink (in all its mid-century glory).

 

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

My Little Boudoir

My Little Boudoir

 

As you approach the door to the veranda, you pass over the area of the floor that was once open with a fire pole to the fire station below. Walt would actually slide down the pole. They eventually closed the opening through when a crazy park guest tried to shimmy her way up the pole into Walt’s apartment.

This experience was SOOO amazing. I feel very priveliged to have had the opportunity. If you, too, would like to visit the apartment, it is included on the Adventures by Disney itinerary for their “Southern California” escorted vacation.

A Cure for Cotton

In a quest to try to organize my boudoir (I say “quest” because I share the boudoir with my husband and my desk doubles as my vanity…ugh…this is why you’ve yet to see photos of the “boudoir”), I was in need of one place to store all of my cotton. Cotton balls, Q-tips and my Chanel Le Coton, that is.

Previously, I had my Q-tips in this little pink glass votive holder (that I picked up at the dollar store or something).

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I had my cotton balls in this green faux alligator skin container.

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And, my Le Coton was in it’s original packaging.

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Then, one day on a shopping trip to Ulta, I saw this perfect little container that looked like it was made specifically for my three of my “cottons”. Clearly it was made for Q-tips and cotton balls, but it was really special because of the perfect space for the Chanel Le Coton (which I guarantee the manufacturers didn’t have in mind).

 

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Cotton Crop

This container is made by Caboodles. Yep, that’s right. It’s the mature version of that one you probably had years ago. I think I was in 6th grade when I got my first Caboodle. It was the same pink/mint green/peach one as shown in the below photos. Although mine was decorated extra special with some sweet New Kids on the Block stickers. If I’m not mistaken, I believe this fine antique still lives in my mum’s attic.

pinterest.com

pinterest.com

pinterest.com

pinterest.com

 

 

The Carrie Diaries

Ladies…are you ready? Ready for what, you ask?

Tonight is the premiere of the new show The Carrie Diaries. It is the prequel to Sex and the CIty and is based on Candace Bushnell’s book, The Carrie Diaries, which was released in 2010.

The show appears to revolve around Carrie Bradshaw, pre-NYC and pre-Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha. Carrie’s father then offers her the opportunity of an internship in New Your City…and that is when the fun begins.

The first episode premieres tonight at 8/7c. on the CW (check your local listings).

Here is a trailer for your viewing pleasure. After you watch tonight, please visit this post and leave a comment letting me know what you thought of it. This new cast has some big Manolo’s to fill. 🙂

 

Give-Away: Mermaid Talcum Powder & Jordi Labanda Notebook

I know it’s been a while since I’ve done a give-away on My Little Boudoir, so let’s get this party started!

This Friday (January 18th) I will be selecting one boudoir beauty to win both of these ladylike gifts to use in their boudoir. The lucky winner could be you!

Gift #1 – Vintage inspired Mermaid Talcum Powder.

The fragrance smells like baby powder with a hint of Chanel N°5. The powder is in the bottom of the tin, wrapped in paper, and the puff sits on top.

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Gift #2 – Jordi Labanda spiral notebook.

This notebook is about 3/4″ thick and has lined paper inside. I love Jordi Labana office supplies! I bought this at FedEx Kinkos, but I often find Jordi Labana products at Target. They always have fashionable illustrations of women on them. I have a few accordion files and they are super fabulous. I’ll share a picture of those later, as they’re lodged in by closet. I use them for storing old 8×10 photos.

 JLB

How to enter:

Do both of the following by 11:00 p.m. PST on Friday, January 18, 2013.

1. Leave a comment on this post or on the My Little Boudoir Facebook page stating your favorite My Little Boudoir post of all time.

2. Follow My Little Boudoir on Facebook (if you already do, then you’re half way there).

 

The winner will be notified via Facebook or by email and there will be a post on MLB announcing the winner by first name only.

Bonne Chance!