A Harry Potter Birthday

I am now a mother of a six year old. Six? Geesh I was just pregnant with her! I just had her! I was just changed her diaper and wiping that little tushy! Oh they say time goes fast, it is the truth. It does.

I have shared my love for Doctor Who with my children but I also shared the story of Harry Potter with them as well. I don't shy away about talking about life or death with my children because both have been a part of my existence and I am sharing my whole self with them. I am also teaching them about my mother, not that I have much to go on but I teach them that she is their grandmother and she loves them and she is in heaven loving them still. Little things like that.

Although we haven't delved into the HP books just yet (I will be soon though), they all love the films. Especially my girl. She just loves Harry and she likes seeing the friendships on screen and the fight for good against evil. When she asked for an HP party, how could I say no?

For the first time ever we held a birthday party at a party place and so I brought in some HP things I wanted her to have. Since she is so little I didn't go too nuts with the decorations and such but oh boy if one of the boys ever wants an HP when they are older-watch out-I will go bonkers!

Her party was the day of her actual birthday (August 27th) and I decided to dress up for the event. She asked me to be Professor McGonagall. So of course I scored myself a witch's hat online and thought this dress would look great with it.

I wore a 1950's dress, it has this beautiful shade of blue interwoven throughout the entire dress. Blue is one of my favorite colors and I love it. It fit so comfortable and as most of you already know is like number one of my list of must have with an outfit. I purchased it on Etsy from dinalouiseSF and paired it with my trusty Moonglow. I like things to be simple especially when I am with my children. It makes for less things to be lost or broken or whatever could happen.

The birthday girl and her friends sat down and had the sorting hat tell them which house they were going to and they were pinned with a house pin afterwards. Of course bunny girl wanted Gryffindor because she adores Harry Potter. They were given wands that were lite up and made swooshing sounds from Amazon here.

Some other special touches were the awesome HP cutout I scored on Amazon here and cases of authentic Butter beer (Harry's drink of choice, non-alcoholic) here.

The Harry Potter themed cookies were purchased via Etsy from a lovely seller here and the favors were a put together but they are a HP pencil and notebook inside a muslin bag.

Her day was magical and that is what we wanted for her. I believe in magic and I want my children to believe in it too. I want them to know that nothing is really impossible and that as J.K. Rowling says, "It is important to remember that we all have magic inside us."

Bunny's Victory is an affiliate of Amazon.com

Greetings from Coney Island

A week ago today, my husband and I along with my friend Monica who was visiting from out of state, went on a little adventure to Brooklyn. Our first stop of course had to be Coney Island!

Coney Island has been a summertime hot spot for New Yorkers for many years. It's most popular time was pre-WWII, afterwards there was a decline but thanks to the many investments and renovations, it is slowly becoming what it once was.

Still, when you hear the words Coney Island, even non-New Yorkers know where and what it is. It is a place full of rides, food, and sideshows-as well as, a gorgeous boardwalk and beach. Just a perfect place to go to if you want to have some good ole fashion fun-in-the-sun.

For our day out in Coney Island, I decided to go with a colorful but classic dress. I wore a 1950's dress purchased on Etsy by littlestarsvintage. I wore some flowers in my hair purchased at Claire's, a brooch purchased while in Missouri, and some of my moonglow bracelets. Nothing fancy, but pretty and comfortable-which is the way I like to roll.

The most well known spots on Coney Island are the boardwalk, the beach, the Wonder Wheel, the Cyclone, and Nathan's.

Nathan's Famous opened in Coney Island in 1916 and quickly became a landmark. They started a hot dog eating contest in their first year and it is still a popular event today!

The Wonder Wheel is a sight to behold. It's visually bright and beautiful-it is a 150 feet tall and built in 1920 by the Eccentric Ferris Wheel Company. It has twenty-four fully enclosed passenger cars, each are able to carry six people, making its total capacity of 144 passengers.

I have never been on the Wonder Wheel but I did ride the Cyclone many moons ago. It was my attempt to rid myself of my fear of heights. Um, yeah...it just increased it. The Cyclone opened in 1927 and it is a wooden roller coaster. I promise you will know the difference between this roller coaster and the ones of today if you ever ride in it. Whoa. Let's just say that. In 1988 it was declared a landmark.

The last part of our adventures took us to a place I never thought I would go. I am fascinated by the history of sideshows and one of my favorite films is Freaks, but I never thought I would actually go to a modern version of a sideshow. I must admit the show was very entertaining.

Coney Island USA was established to continue the tradition of performance art, sideshow acts, vaudeville, etc. Although in the past people who performed in sideshows were born deformed or disabled-I would say the majority had no other choice but to perform in sideshows as the world wasn't as accepting of those who were "different". Of course, you also had many who were taught and trained in a specific act to perform.

In today's standards, these types of shows aren't seen as politically correct but like I said before, it really was an enjoyable show.

The best part of the show was the performance by Ray Valenz who was the MC as well as a performer in the show. We saw performers throwing fire, putting nails in their noses, and dancing with snakes.

I surprisingly found myself very emotional after the show because as a person with a disability and knowing the history of this type of performance, I suppose it hit me in a soft place. I was happy to be able to thank some of the performers even though they didn't understand why I would be emotional. I am still surprised I was....such a mushy girl I am.

It was a wonderful weekend spent with a sweet friend and an adventure to remember in Coney Island. If you are ever in New York, this is defiantly a special place you should go to. Lots of history, lots of fun things to do, and lots of colorful characters around.

Little Moments Captured

The past few days I have been sharing with you all our little trip to Philadelphia just before July 4th. I have to say it was amazing to get away even if it was a few days and if you can go anywhere with your family, I say do it!

This trip marks our first official trip as a family of five. The last trip we made was when I was a few months pregnant with my third bunny so this trip was a big deal for us.

I shared with you our patriotic viewing of the Liberty Bell, hopefully  inspired you with the life and times of Betsy Ross, and had fun with my vintage wardrobe after being inspired by tulips this summer.

For the last bit of my trip I would like to share just bits and bobs starting on our first day to our last. Our first day we ate at the infamous Pat's: King of the Steaks and devoured our philly cheesesteak sandwiches in a matter of minutes...yum! Our final day we devoted it entirely to taking our children to the Please Touch Museum. Omg! This museum was amazing. Everything is interactive and had so many things to play with, my children were truly in heaven.

After we left we started our drive home and went to eat in New Jersey at Cracker Barrel. My husband has been wanting to go for ages because they don't have one in New York. My guy loves his food hehe

I hope you enjoy the photos. They were a joy to take. I think Gidget faired well on her first trip and first few days of usage. I cannot wait to learn more on how to use her. So much fun! Okay, so I leave you to some visuals-enjoy!

Let Freedom Ring: Visiting The Liberty Bell 1960's Style

Last week my family and I drove to Philadelphia, PA for a mini family trip. This trip marks the first time we have traveled and stayed in a hotel as a family of five. We were there for just three days but we filled them up and enjoyed every moment.

Let me start with getting there. It is supposed to be a two hour drive but it turned into a six hour drive due to the rain and bummer to bummer traffic (gah!). I can say though that thank goodness we had a dvd player for the car ride and also that our babies were huge sports through it all. We didn't do much the first day besides relax. It was so joyful to see the kids go bonkers at the hotel. I think if I told them that staying at the hotel was the vacation they would have been pleased as punch, truly.

Our second day was massively jammed packed with activities, so much so that I split it into three posts. For the first part of our day, my hubby (with our children) drove me to see Celeste Giuliano for a extra special photo shoot. I had the pleasure of working with Celeste when I first began my vintage journey. You can see the photos here.

I should be getting my photos soon and I cannot wait to share them with you all. I did this shoot because of something I love dearly and find joy in and I needed to capture it. When you see the photos, you will know why. I can give you this teaser....no one else has ever done this theme in a pinup photo shoot...ever! Yikes! Lots of pressure...nah! It was so much fun to see Celeste and work with her Muah (Raina Clarke). The shoot was so creative and oodles of fun. I couldn't ask for a better morning spent with two such lovely women.

Since I already has some fabulous 1960's hair and makeup done, I decided to work it into the rest of my day. And boy did I! I paired up my look with this wonderful 1950's dress that I scored on Ebay. I just love the buttons, don't you?

Even my babies joined in the fun and all decided to pose and ham it up for the camera! hehe You should have seen them when they saw me dressed up with full 60's hair and makeup. They were so happy and they kept telling me how beautiful I looked. Oh my-I am blessed.

It was a HOT and I mean HOT day in Philly and even though I was practically melting away we decided to treat the kiddies to some old fashioned ice cream. And I truly mean old fashioned! Bassett's has been around since 1861 and is a fifth-generation family owned business. How neat is that!

The ice cream was creamy and delicious! From there, while the babies ate their ice cream (we had our double stroller with us) we walked over to see if we could see the Liberty Bell and other historical sites. And we did!

We found out that to view the Liberty Bell was free, which was neat to find out. The line moved rather swiftly also. What I liked about going inside (aside from the air conditioner) was that they had various exhibits of how the Liberty Bell inspired others to pursue freedom and equality. They had a section on slavery as well as a section on women, which you can see in the photo below.

It was such a moving exhibit and to see it in person was marvelous. Being that close to American History was just so neat. If you click on the link I attached above about the Liberty Bell you can find out how it cracked. It an interesting story. After we left we passed by the Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were debated and adopted.

We loved every minute being in Philly and decided we will defiantly return again. Its just like a small quaint city and to have so much history around you is just so lovely. Its one of the reasons why I adore Europe so much-the history. Being at these sites reminded me again how young our country really is and also how precious our history is. That all American should really know its  history and feel proud of it.

After we left the Liberty Bell, we walked over to visit the Betsy Ross House. Stay tuned tomorrow for a post about one heck of an inspirational woman!