Disney Haunted Mansion cosplay in Retro Lovely’s Mousequerade

I love pinup, I like cosplay, and Disney theme parks have been my jam since I was a lazy-eyed baby in an eye patch singing “A Pirates Life for Me” like a drunken sailor. So it isn’t a stretch (haha, just wait for this pun payoff!) to assume I’d want to submit something to Retro Lovely‘s Disney-themed Mousequerade special edition.

Catherine Morland's Sally Slater Haunted Mansion Cosplay
Catherine Morland’s Sally Slater Haunted Mansion cosplay, photographed by Marilee Caruso.

Since the Haunted Mansion is my favorite Disneyland/Magic Kingdom attraction, I decided to go with a Sally Slater-themed cosplay. In case you didn’t know, that’s the “new” official name used for the slackrope-walking girl perched above the hungry crocodile in one of the stretching room portraits (see? I got PUNS).

More after the jump… Continue reading “Disney Haunted Mansion cosplay in Retro Lovely’s Mousequerade”

Happy Halloween: A Northanger Abbey/Haunted Mansion Fanfic

For Halloween, I give you a Disney Haunted Mansion-dusted Jane Austen Northanger Abbey fanfic. Maybe it’s crackfic, I don’t know.

Either way, it’s called The Terrors of Expectation and it deals with some of Catherine Morland Tilney’s favorite gothic fiction tropes, nightmares, and some other more mundane family stuff, too.

Leave me feedback and kudos and I’ll love you forever…

I have other fics, too, including an ongoing series based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, more Northanger Abbey, and my Emma allusion from way back.

This is Haunted Halloween Part 4

Happy Halloween from me and Jason! The fourth installment in our Halloween playlist series is available! Use it for your Halloween party soundtrack! Listen for fun! Do all the good things!

For our previous collections: https://www.strangegirl.com/2011/10/01/audio-collections-this-is-haunted-halloween-is-back-with-more/

I’m back with midcentury home furnishings: Oceanic Arts lamps, Joybird, and my grandmother’s Heywood Wakefield

2017 was the year I finally replaced my old Ikea sofa with some midcentury fabulous Joybird reproduction furniture (I loved that Ikea sofa – it just wasn’t me anymore) and realized my dream of some SWEET OCEANIC ARTS LAMPS! In bittersweet news, our beloved family realtor and friend Florence Trelford passed away, leaving me the Heywood Wakefield bookcase and  round coffee table that had previously belonged to my grandmother.

Yiayia's Heywood Wakefield bookcase and table
Yiayia’s Heywood Wakefield bookcase and table. Thank you to Mrs. Trelford and Linda for bringing me back together with these beauties!

Continue reading “I’m back with midcentury home furnishings: Oceanic Arts lamps, Joybird, and my grandmother’s Heywood Wakefield”

Disney Bound? NerdBound!

I don’t consider myself much of a “Disney bounder,” but I do love me some Disney theme park and I especially love 1. the Haunted Mansion attraction at both American Disney resorts and 2. Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. I plan to attend my second “MNSSHP” this coming September, and will be wearing NerdBound’s Haunted Mansion Ghost-ess skirt when I go!

Haunted Mansion skirt
Haunted Mansion skirt

NerdBound is a unique Etsy shop run by my friend Gretchen Burneko, offering “bounding” basics for any fandom in virtually all sizes. While Disney-inspired gathered skirts are Gretchen’s bread-and-butter, she can custom make just about anything in any size. Her prices are more than reasonable and her pieces are well-made, comfortable, and look great! My favorite piece is this Ghost-ess skirt, inspired by the dark green costumes worn by female Haunted Mansion cast member, but I own and love her Tarzan’s Jane Porter-inspired skirt, as well. Continue reading “Disney Bound? NerdBound!”

Spooky audio, video, and reads for your All Hallows’ Eve!

This is Haunted Halloween Collection CD art...
This is Haunted Halloween Collection CD art…

I know it’s still early September, but Halloween’s definitely already in the air. For those of you itching to get into the holiday spirit, here is a curated collection of audio (mostly music, with some sound effects) and video to enjoy while you stay home to serve the trick-or-treaters!

Continue reading “Spooky audio, video, and reads for your All Hallows’ Eve!”

The WPIX Yule Log and classic Christmas music

Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!

I’m a Christmas nut. I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but I freaking love everything about the season – the lights, the food, the festive mood, and maybe most of all, the amazing holiday music. My favorite Christmas tracks are nostalgic, particularly the ones from the 1950s through the early 1970s that remind me of my early childhood. This is why I love the original WPIX Yule Log, a Christmas Eve television tradition since 1966. Originally conceived by WPIX General Manager Fred Thrower to bring old-fashioned holiday hearth experiences to New Yorkers, the “classic” WPIX playlist – like the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom Main Street Christmas loops compiled by “voice of Disneyland” Jack Wagner – brings many of my absolute favorite Christmas recordings together in a single, quirky package.

Being a West Coaster and a child of the 1980s, my first TV Yule Log experience happened care of KOFY TV-20, the legendary independent station in the San Francisco Bay Area known for its crazy dog bumpers. I remember hours of Philadelphia Brass, but I’m fairly sure the playlist was similar to the following WPIX playlist, which features everyone from Percy Faith to David Rose:

Continue reading “The WPIX Yule Log and classic Christmas music”

Music Collection: A Christmas Music Box is BACK!

A Christmas Music Box "cover" art
A Christmas Music Box “cover” art.

As of Christmas, 2018, this collection’s moved to the YOOTUBEZ! Full info in this UPDATED POST.

Continue reading “Music Collection: A Christmas Music Box is BACK!”