REVIEW: Coraline

   Many years ago I watched for the very first time a dark and spooky film, advertised for children. Ever from that first moment until now, I still think calling this movie a "Children's Movie" is quite a stretch. Coraline is a fantastically creepy movie with humor, adventures, beautiful art, and a totally spooktacular soundtrack.

   Suzette loved the movie so much my niece was even named Coraline. Of course, she's a positively bright princess, so I guess she's not doing too well living up to the name; however, our very own little Coraline loves the movie she was named after just as much as we do.
   Many years after first discovering the movie, Coraline, I finally got my hands on the book! To anyone who hasn't read the book, be warned, it's just as dark and demented as the film..! Personally, I think the book was even more creepy. With the book you get more details on Coraline's creepy adventure. There's also not as much comedy relief. I didn't know before diving into the book, but the character Wybie from the movie, doesn't even exist. I also would have to say that the movie has a lot more colors and happier scenes compared to the dark and danky book format. There's just a lot more creepiness as a whole in the original...

   Now, don't get me wrong, I loved the book! It was definitely thrilling, and the art fantastically gruesome; however, the movie was still equally as fun. I finished the book in one day, that's how easy of a read it was, and I would totally purchase it for my collection someday.
   I also have to give a hand out to the director, Henry Selick, and writers of the Coraline film, though. With the little that the original book gave, they were able to create a whole new world of magic and wonder, surprisingly bigger than Neil Gaiman could have imagined.

Terrifying Threes... #tbt

My Cora turned 3years old this summer! 

 Although Coraline is my niece, not my child, I always think people on my Instagram assume she's my daughter. Just because I post a million photos of my Princess Coraline doesn't mean she's my kid! But, still, Cora is my absolute favorite model- she's always doing something weird/ funny/ cute & I just can't help myself! (>v<) 

It's kind of become tradition for Cora to have multiple birthday celebrations- 1 in California with my Dad and the rest of our Cali familia, 1 small little celebration on her actual birthday, and then a 3rd one with my Mom and all of us in San Antonio. Guess those are the benefits of being the first grandchild! 

Last year, while in California we celebrated at one of my favorite locations: Ariel's Grotto! Although it's super expensive and the selection is very limited, I still think the food is great and it's always fun to meet the princesses!  

The last time we were here Suzette picked out Cora's Belle dress (since she's her mother, I guess it was ok..!) But this year it was my turn! And the best part- Cora takes after her aunty with Ariel being her favorite Disney Princess! As soon as she saw her Ariel dress she started stripping down, and was so ready to transform into a Princess! 

The dress just happened to also match Suzette's hair, haha. 

And, as always, I was sure to take tons of pictures of my Cora's Princess Debut (again)! 

Every time we celebrate at Disneyland, I get super excited. I hope this can stay a tradition of ours! And it's funny because my dad is always saying that Suzette and I seem more excited to meet the princesses than Cora does... And, honestly, I wouldn't deny that, haha... I truly just love being able to share my passion for Disney with my Cora! She loves the Wonderful World of Disney almost as much as I do! 

And continuing with the Disney Theme! This was the cute little cake my mom got Cora for her actual birthday! Although we have parties on a different day, it's always nice to have a little sweet something in honor of our day of birth! 

Cora really is lucky, like me, and gets to celebrate her birthday several times over. Since my birthday is during the holidays, I usually get multiple celebrations, too, just so I can feel extra special, haha. (^-^)

For the San Antonio birthday party, Suzette and Billy wanted to celebrate in their new home! Since they had just moved into their duplex a couple months earlier, it was also their first party- what a nice way to break it in!

It was lots of fun, as always, and pretty laid back. Friends and other little ones were invited to come enjoy our home-made sweets and all the water games! I helped make a couple of our little snacks- there were so many, I wish I could put all the pictures on here! And not only were they super easy to make and really yummy, they were healthy too! These little clams were mine and everyone's favorite! They went out within the first hour! 

 

As a person who's not into big parties and such, I always love little celebrations like these. You can relax in your natural environment and enjoy the company of your friends and family. The Harkiewiczes were able to come too! I made sure to invite them- firstly because Sarah and Cora share the same birthday (7/11)! And secondly, since little Stevie is around the same age as Cora. I really hope they enjoyed the party, because I certainly loved having them and I really hope they'll be at our future parties! I can't wait to watch Cora and Stevie grow up!! <3 <3 

Birthday Princess...

This summer, our little Coraline turned 2years old!!

  HOWEVER, instead of the normal 1day celebration, this little girl got 4birthday parties! 1party was hosted by my father and celebrated with all of their friends; the second was hosted by Disneyland, the third was actually ON her birthday, and the fourth and final party was held for our immediate family.

  Party #1: Dad, Jennifer, and a host of their friends celebrated with us. It was a sort-of block party, and because it was on the 4th of July, the military base had a ton of celebratory events happening. The same day, Suzette, Billy and I had also attended Anime Expo, so by the time the party had begun we were already exhausted. Even so, we had to be good party guests! At some point, I escaped the craziness and hid in an upstairs bedroom where I killed a few hours watching tv. Haha, I'm such a party animal!

The theme was Monster's University, since Cora's favorite movie is Monster's Inc. How funny that the prequel was released just before her birthday! I have yet to see it, but I've heard great reviews; besides, if Cora likes it, I'll most likely love it!

Party #1 was a crazy success! The kids and adults all had fun, && we got to watch fireworks at its conclusion! What a lucky little birthday girl! 

MY favorite birthday celebration was party #2!! Dad and Jenny took us to 3days of Disneyland!!! ((No matter how old I get, Disney parks will always make me happy!)) Sadly, because we had a fussy Cora who needed nap times, we only did 3half-days, but it's better than none.

On the first day of Disney we spent most of our time in the kids area riding teacups and every little storybook ride we could find! We also did Build-a-Bear, and ate at the Rainforest Cafe' which has become a sort of tradition for our family. On the second day we ate at Ariel's Grotto for lunch, which was pretty exciting since we had never been before. They gave us a cute Belle birthday cake and  on the last day, we met a bunch of the princesses!! I'm pretty sure I was the most excited out of everyone there!! 

Me & Princess Coraline!
She looked so freaking cute in her dress!!

This year's Belle,
I'm thinking Ariel for the next one??
(>w<)

Yes, I'm an Ariel fangirl!!

Princess Cora with Princess Ariel!!

She was pretty fascinated with all of the princesses

And she kept mimicking them!

Cora got to meet her Favorite Princess, Tiana!

And then Belle, Suzette's favorite!

&&&& yes, I got to meet Ariel!!! I was sooo excited!! As I said, I was the most excited!! 

Coraline's 3rd birthday party was nice and little. And guess what- it was actually on her birthday! Mom just got a cupcake and a candle for Cora, she blew it out, and the end! She was officially 2!!

Cora's 4th, and final birthday, was planned by Suzette and Billy and held at their new house. This one was nice and little too: Our family came over and some of their friends. The theme was Dr. Seuss, and it was so cute! 

Suzette got super excited since she was planning the party! She made green deviled eggs, and decorated the whole house in Dr. Seuss. I had fun, and it was cute watching Cora opening her gifts.

It's funny to see her reactions to everything, since she's still learning everything. And I'm excited to see her grow in the years to come! 

Sincerely Yours,

Lisette Diaz

ৎ꒰ ¯ิ̑﹃ ¯ิ̑๑꒱ુ ୭ ~Sweet Dreams~ ৎ꒰ ¯ิ̑﹃ ¯ิ̑๑꒱ુ ୭ 

Christmas Traditions 2012

HiHi!!

And Happy Belated Christmas!!

These past few days have been so hectic,

with preparing for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,

And getting everything ready for the New Year!

So, this is going to be another 

picture heavy post

because it's just so much easier to show 

everything that happened 

that just talk about it!

Christmas Traditions Start on Christmas Eve for my family,

but this year was going to be a littler different. 

I usually dress up, well sort of,

but I really wanted to wear my Mickey shirt, 

since I had yet to.

And then I "helped" Mom bake brownies!!

Haha, eating the mix is my favorite part about baking!!

I may technically be an "adult,"

but I act like such a child!

This is the first time Mom has had a boyfriend (Jerry) during this time of year,

so we spent most of the day with their family.

He got her a new kitchenware set!

The funny thing was how excited we got over this!!

Seriously though, our kitchenware has like no lids 

and some are missing handles,

so this was the most perfect gift he could have given her!

Their traditions included opening presents and doing White Elephant,

so we had a lot of fun while having a bunch of sweets!

Jerry's daughter, Demi, made these!

Brownies with Strawberries on top decorated as Christmas Trees!

They were so cute, and looked so good!

Then we all piled into the car 

and headed out to start our next Christmas Traditions!

Usually, we pick up Burger King and look at the lights; however,

Burger King had a really long line, 

and we were already late to the show,

so we just went without... ( ; ; )

((DJ didn't actually ride in the trunk))

This subdivision always goes all-out for Christmas!

It's always a lot of fun driving around,

trying to find the houses that won prizes!

But it's also really cool 

because most of these people actually make their own decorations!

And there are also those people that put the same things out every year,

and it's really cool to say,

"Oh, hey! I remember that one!"

The benefits of having a sister working at Starbucks:

FREE SAMPLES!!

Usually we do a gift exchange with the family,

but because of financial issues,

everyone decided to just do a White Elephant.

....But I was informed of this decision a little too late...

So I had already gotten everyone their gifts!

But I didn't care

because I just love getting gifts for everyone else.

After all, this season is all about the giving, right?

Although I won't turn away any gift given to me,

I have a lot more fun seeing people's reactions when they open their gifts!

Another very important tradition:

getting new Christmas Pajamas from Mom!

This was the first year I already knew what my pajamas were,

but that was only because I was with Mom went she bought them. 

Haha, but she picked out the shirt

and I love it!

((For some reason, I've been wearing a LOT of pink this year!))

This was my Christmas present for Mom.

Mom loves and collects Precious Moments items,

and when I saw this collection on the Disney Store last year,

I knew exactly what I was going to get her!!

Ariel is, of course, my favorite Disney Princess,

so she was the first one from last year.

This year, we added Mulan to the train

since she's Mom's favorite!

even though Mulan isn't a technical Disney Princess, but whatever

By the way, the numbers are supposed to represent birthdays!

Haha, the collection is actually a birthday train;

nevertheless, we love them, so it doesn't matter!

Waking Coraline up early to open presents!

Haha, she doesn't look too happy!

Christmas Morning!!

The tree is being bombarded with presents!

And most of them are for Coraline!

(^w^)

Cora found her BABY and she looks so HAPPY!!!

Apparently, Brave is one of her current favorites!

We also had to get her a stroller

because she was always trying to move the chairs around the house!

The Best Present of theYear Award goes to:

Mom!!

She got Cora her jungle gym,

and she just wouldn't stop climbing all over it!

Cora left the jungle gym long enough

to open a few other gifts.

I picked out this ADORABLE Monster hat and slippers set from Old Navy!

Her baby room theme is Dinosaurs/Monsters,

and she's always going around growling,

so it was too perfect!

Suzette got a flute for Christmas so she can start learning,

and apparently Cora wants to learn too!

Coraline Figuring out New Ways of getting In

Without having to go through the door...

I think she's having too much fun!

She was eventually able to grab her Mommy inside with her!

They're so cute together!!

Christmas morning is always a lot of fun,

that is, until you have to clean up everything...

(-u-)

One of my Christmas Gifts:

Miku Hatsune Hobo Bag from Hot Topic!!!

I didn't even know this EXISTED,

so when I opened it,

I got so excited!!!

I'm not really big into Vocaloid,

but I love the characters and I have been trying to get more into it!

Mom said while she was shopping, 

she saw the bag and thought of me!

Haha, she said the Chibi Hatsune looked just like me!!

minus the blueish hair!

(>w<)

These are the most AMAZING socks EVER!

Super comfy and cozy Eeyore knitted socks!! 

I've been wearing them everyday!

Here's everything I got this year!

The annual- stuffed animal, slippers, scarfs, jewelry, and Bath & Body Works.

But this year also included:

Rice Cooker, How To Train Your Dragon special edition DVD, LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7, the newest Victorious soundtrack, The Titan's Curse

and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

It was a really good haul, I'm so happy with everything!

I love my mom, she's just so amazing!!!

Nicky wearing his freaking awesome 

reversible Jack hat from Hot Topic! 

Jerry and his family over to open their presents.

((They're actually all younger than me, even though they're really tall!)

Aaw, cute!

I'm so happy for my mom,

I really hope this works out!

That night we had dinner at Mimi's house.

((Mom's best friend))

So, we all got dressed up for the party!!

She was looking so adorable I wanted to take a million photos,

BUT SHE KEPT MOVING AND TRYING TO ATTACK ME!

(( ; >o< ))

Even though I didn't know anyone at the party,

I was having too much fun stalking Cora

and her adorable little self

in her new Christmas Dress!

\(^o^)/

The next day,

I finally got to meet the newest edition to the Harkiewicz Clan!!

Stephanie's little Stevie is such an adorable baby!

It was so great to see Sarah and Sam after so long!

I've missed all my Harkiewiczeseessssessss!!

(ToT)

I love just being at their house and catching up on current events!!

Teehee,

Stevie is so cute!!

Steph's going to make a great Mommy!

I'm so proud of her!

I got Cora to watch 

How To Train Your Dragon!

....haha, banana...

I think she's tired of my playing paparazzi,

haha....

And then we ended the night with my

victory in an intense game of Chinese Checkers!

Well, I'm glad to have been able to squeeze this update in!

Family gets here tomorrow, 

so I don't really know when I'll next be able to post.

But before I go:

No matter how you celebrate this Holiday season,

I hope you were all able to spend time making memories

with all of your friends and family!!!!

Till Next Time: 

Remember to KEEP IT GENKI!!

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆