Kingdom Hearts 3 | Disney, Kindness, Friendship, and Good Memories

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Back on January 29, Kingdom Hearts 3, the long-awaited sequel and trilogy-ender to the Kingdom Hearts game franchise, launched to Playstation 4 and XBOX One. Needless to say, as a longtime fan of this series, I was super excited, and I preordered it the moment I could.

Kingdom Hearts is a crossover between Final Fantasy, a long-running fantasy series, and Disney. Players traverse various Disney worlds (settings from various movies such as Alice in Wonderland, Toy Story, Frozen, and SO many more) as a happy-go-lucky hero named Sora and his sidekicks Donald and Goofy (yes, the Disney duck and dog). The story gets convoluted quickly due to alternate universes, merging timelines, time travel, and a massive cast of characters who somehow mesh perfectly with the Disney universes they inhabit, but it's worth the ride for sure.

When I launched Kingdom Hearts 3, I'm 99% sure that I squealed "THAT'S SO CUTE!!" at the screen at least ten times in the first 30 minutes. The game itself is so light-hearted and fun. I mean, what game lets you attack enemies with classic Disney rides? I got to blast away some of the monsters with Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and I got to smash a Greek Rock Titan with the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad train. As a Disney park fanatic as well, this was exciting.  Also, there's a portion of the game where you traverse Arendelle, the kingdom in the movie Frozen, and there's sing-along portions in that level. This little Disney nerd was happy.

I played this game growing up, and to say this game is a long time coming is an understatement. The first game came out in 2002. I was ten years old. The second game came out in 2004. I was thirteen then. I even remember asking my mom if we could go to Gamestop to pick up Kingdom Hearts 2 the day it came out. I remember loving all of those characters and exploring the Disney worlds even back then. I would make up my own characters that fit into the universe as well.

Little did I know that those games actually influenced parts of my life, like my writing and my overall love of bright and colorful things, as well as great storytelling.

Now, I'm 27. I'm an adult. I've experienced a lot in the past 13 years in the real world. I graduated college. I experienced heartbreak. I have a job. And still, I experience so much joy picking up a Kingdom Hearts game and picking up a keyblade, even after all this time. I'm still working on beating this game, but I can tell you that I've learned that there's no reason to apologize for being who you are, even though it may come across as childish or too weird for some. Kindness and encouragement always wins, no matter what form it takes, Disney magic included.

I guess there's something to be said about a game that brings so much happiness, and about a game whose story aims to emphasize the importance of kindness, friendship, and staying true to yourself, even when the world around you goes dark.

The Happiest Place on the West Coast | A Guide to Disneyland

During a recent trip to Palm Springs this past January, my family and I took a day trip to Anaheim, California, where we stayed...in Disneyland!

Y'all, Disney parks are awesome. I love them. I'm slightly biased because I've visited Disneyworld a ton in my childhood and beyond, but there's a certain type of magic that's in the Disney parks that I can't really describe. I've been to other theme parks before, but there's something about Disneyworld that keeps me wanting to come back. That's why I was excited to visit Disneyland for the first time.

In this post, I'm going to give y'all the run-down on the following: where we stayed, what we rode, and what we ate. Also, I want to give you my pros and cons/first impressions of Disneyland itself.

Before we get to the aforementioned run-down, please keep in mind that we only spent one day here. We did not come at park opening, nor did we leave at park close. We also didn't have time for California Adventure (Disneyland's answer to Hollywood Studios with more Pixar-themed attractions, including a Cars ride and an Incredibles-themed coaster called, aptly, the "Incredicoaster"), but I wouldn't mind coming back for it someday.

Anyways, on to the post!

Where We Stayed: The Californian

I'm just going to cut to the chase: this is a miniature Wilderness Lodge.

For those who have never been to Disneyworld before, the Wilderness Lodge is a sprawling resort inspired by Americana/Native American/Pacific Northwestern culture and architecture. The whole hotel is styled like a giant wood lodge. Hence, Wilderness Lodge.

The Californian has the exact same architecture and a lobby that's nearly identical to its Disneyworld sibling. However, that's kind of where the similarities end for me. The restaurants at the Californian, sadly, were not as big of a draw for me as the Wilderness Lodge counterparts. But, overall, I thought the hotel was cute.

Also, the best part was our view. We could look out directly onto California Adventure.

What We Rode

Here were all the attractions that we hit in Disneyland:

It's a Small World - It has an outdoor entrance! But for some reason, they still had their Christmas theme up. The tiny dolls were singing Jingle Bells. On January 20th. It was still cute, but Dad and I were both wondering aloud why this was the case. Keep this in mind if you plan a trip to the park.

Pirates of the Caribbean - This is also different from its Disneyworld counterpart, but in two neat ways: one, it's a little longer, and two, it floats by a cute restaurant called the Blue Bayou! We weren't able to book reservations there because of the demand (I mean, who doesn't want to eat inside the Pirates ride?), but it was still neat to see.

Matterhorn Bobsleds - I'd say this is a solid combination of Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. Of course, Disneyland has both of those rides, too, but I really wanted to try the Matterhorn since it's not in Orlando. It was SO fun.

What We Ate

We didn't dive too deep into the restaurants at Disneyland - and there's a ton of well-known food items here, from Dole Whips (just like Orlando) to bigger places (like the Blue Bayou I mentioned earlier). 

The first thing we had was in Downtown Disney, which is kind of acts central hub of sorts between the parks and the hotels in the Disneyland resort. We had pizza at an Italian restaurant called Naples Ristorante, and it was pretty good.

Then, the only other food I had in Disney proper was a churro. There's a reason why everybody eats churros at Disney parks, and I can't believe my first one was in California. They serve them warm, and they're at least a yard long.

I'd love to go back and try some of their other foods, like the Mickey beignets and the macaroons.

Final Thoughts/Pros & Cons

Overall, I really enjoyed Disneyland. I mean, it would be difficult not to, since I've always been a huge Disney fan. 

Do I wish Disneyland were a little bigger? Oh yeah. Sleeping Beauty Castle is actually pretty small in person, and we pretty much walked the whole park in a matter of a few hours. But Disneyland does have its charms, and what I got to experience, I loved.

But the biggest pro was getting to spend the day in Disneyland with my Dad. Growing up, he adored the parks as much as I did, and it's something we've gotten to share together, so I'm extremely thankful I got to spend that day with him.

That's a wrap on my Disneyland guide! Thanks for reading.

[Savannah] in Wonderland is FIVE.

Five.
Years.
Of.
This.
Blog.

Talk about things that grow with you.

On January 7, 2019, my blog turned five years old. FIVE. I remember the day I created this little internet space: I created a blog while we were in Disneyworld on my dad's birthday. I even did some graphic design, too. The very first color scheme I had was pink and blue. The blog has gone through quite a bit of style changes since then, but I'm always happy to try new things with this blog's layout.

For some fun, here are some of the header/logo of the past:

Peach (2017)

Neon pink and Holo (Early 2018)

Teal and Holo (Late 2018)

Teal, Holo, & Ombre (Present Day!)

These days, I'm rocking the blue and teal ombre with holographic glitter (because I'm Savannah and that's what I do). The colors are based on my favorite combination of hair colors I've ever had: the blue and teal ombre underlights I got last year. After wearing them in my hair for a few months, I grew to love this color scheme, so I figured I'd transition those colors from my hair to my corner of the internet.

My hair is fully blonde again, but I'm so glad I went on such a fun hair color adventure in 2018.

I wanted to write a quick little update to let you know that A) I'm still here, and 2) I've been super busy. But I mainly wanted to let y'all know that I'm still here.

This blog has seen me through SO much of my life, from college to writing my second novel (Oh, yeah, I partook in NaNoWriMo again...and won!) And I intend to keep this blog around, so don't you worry...plenty more adventures are coming. :)

Happy 2019! See you soon! And stay awesome.

A Quick Weekend in New York City

It's been awhile since I've been to New York. I know it was before I self-published my first short story - which takes place in New York - but if I recall right, the last time I visited was when I was about to be a sophomore in college. So...it was 2012. 6 years ago. Wow.

But anyway, it was good to be back in this city again, even it was for a little while.

So, cue the highlights.

The Burger Joint

It's become tradition for my family and I to go to this burger place whenever we come to the city, even when it's super late at night. That's exactly what we did; we got into New York very late, and within 30 minutes, we were at this super secretive, super cool, super delicious burger shop.

It's behind the check-in desk at the Parker New York. Just follow the burger sign, turn a corner, and you're there.

The only things on the Burger Joint's menu are hamburgers, cheeseburgers, grilled cheeses, and fries by the paper bag. And, yes, the burgers are delicious.

Norma's

Hey, Sav, you may be asking me, Haven't you talked about Norma's before? Isn't it in California? Well, yes. There is a Norma's in Palm Springs, and yes, I've raved about it. But there is a Norma's in New York with a slightly different menu, but guys. It's SO good. I got the nutella and fruit crepes.

Keep in mind that if you do visit New York and want to try Norma's, make sure you get an OpenTable reservation. They don't take anything else.

Ground Zero

Last, but certainly not least, we went to Ground Zero, also known as the September 11 memorial.

We had never been to this part of New York before. But this place holds even more significance for me because I remember where I was the day 9/11 happened.

I was 9 years old, and I was in a homeschool group at the YMCA. We had just finished our gym period, and were about to start arts and crafts. When we went into the arts and crafts room, they had the scene on TV: two towers burning. A plane had just crashed.

It was somber to visit the place where so much tragedy happened, but it was so nice to see how the city gave back to the families who lost loved ones that day. They place roses on the names of the victims around the fountain that marks where the old towers were on their birthdays. A whole entire mall was built (the white building shown below) to symbolize peace and tranquility in a place that must bring back hard memories.

And on top of that, they are rebuilding a second tower next to the new One World Trade Center. This shows how strong of a city New York is, and how they aren't letting the tragic actions of seventeen years ago keep them from being even more unified in the future.

Thanks for reading my recap of New York! Have you been to this city lately? What is your favorite part of NYC?

ATX Travel Guide || Packing, Food, Shopping

Austin, Texas.

This was a place that I'd wanted to visit for a long time. I finally got to go this past May with Mom for Wild for Planners' Go Wild conference. This was the same conference I attended in New Orleans, and I got to go to that same conference in my home state last year, so it was cool to finally get the chance to go to Texas.

In short: I love Austin. A lot.

In this post, I want to tell y'all how I packed for Texas (and what stuff worked), the food we tried, and the shops we loved.

How to Pack for ATX

First, before we start, I have to say I love writing out ATX. Tennessee really doesn't have any abbreviations like that, except for maybe Nashvegas.

But, anyway, let's talk packing. Texas weather is like Florida weather, meaning that it can change at the drop of a hat. If any of y'all have traveled to Florida and experienced their random, short pop-up showers, the exact same thing happens deep in the heart of Texas, too. (And that song reference was totally intentional.)

So, that being said, Texas this time of year was mostly what you'd expect: pretty hot. It got up to 89 degrees at one point, so I was thankful for sleeveless blouses and dresses. The only thing I would change is that I'd pack pairs of shorts next time.

Food!

It's true what they say about Austin being known for its food. Mom and I didn't find a restaurant that we didn't like.

Here are the two places we kept coming back to:

• Torchy's Tacos: We. Love. Torchy's. These tacos are easily the best I've ever had, and I wish that we had a location back home. This is a taco restaurant that has unique tacos, from fried avocado (my and Mom's favorite) to catfish (my other favorite), to jerk chicken (my mom's other favorite beside the fried avocado), and so much more. In fact, I got so good at ordering what I wanted that somebody asked me if I was a local. But, y'all, these are good tacos. Also, try the hillbilly queso (queso dip with chorizo and guacamole) and the street corn.

• South Congress Cafe: Just down the street from our hotel (and the Torchy's location we visited) was this awesome brunch spot. I got the Crab Benedict with chipotle hollandaise sauce (I love spicy stuff), and Mom got a shortrib hash that was awesome, too.

Shopping!

While we were busy with Go Wild, we did have some time to shop, too. 

Here are the shops we loved:

• MODCLOTH!: I finally, finally got to visit Modcloth's flagship Fit Shop. A Fit Shop basically means that while I could try on any of the clothes, I had to have them shipped since all they typically have in stock clothes-wise is the items to try on (i.e. they had each size to try on and that's it). But it was the coolest to actually try on clothes from and visit a store that I'd been buying clothes from for years.
• Erin Condren: I bought a planner from the Erin Condren flagship store! I'll be doing a full blog post on this soon, so please stay tuned.

And that wraps up my Austin, TX travel guide, guys! Thanks so much for reading, and have an awesome day!

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