Beauty and the Beast

Everyone has their favorite Disney Princess and mine has always been Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I was kid when it came out and at the time I was a total book worm...so she spoke to me! The feeling hasn't change. So when I heard they were making a live action remake of the classic I was both skeptical and excited all at the same time. When you are a die-hard fan of something and it gets updated or change...you have a mini freak out but you hope they do it justice.

If you've followed my Instagram or Etsy shop you know I love to sew, even though I am pretty basic with it. I recently visited my mom and she had, along with many other childhood memories, a few of my bedsheets from when I was a kid, from Mickey to Dr. Seuss...but the cherry on top was my Beauty and the Beast bed sheets and tea cup curtains. Ideas just raced around in my head so I knew I had to take them home and whip up an outfit with them. And what perfect timing as well! I made a full circle skirt with the fabric and matched it up with a pink Lauren Top by Pinup Girl Clothing (pinupgirlclothing.com) for the opening night of the movie. It was a hit! 

The movie was beautifully made and the cast did an amazing job at bringing to life our favorite characters from the film we all fell in love with so many years ago. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it but I just want to say that I loved Emma Watson as Hermione in Harry Potter...not as Belle. Optimism is Belle's key trait and none of that was conveyed to me through Emma Watson. I felt as if she was holding back in her character...as if I knew she had it in her but it wasn't there for the movie. The support cast was quite phenomenon though...from Gaston to Lumiere. They all did an amazing job and the entire look of the film was beautiful. 

All in all, I highly recommend seeing this masterpiece. It will have you singing the lyrics to all those songs you can't deny knowing by heart. ;)

Museum Mice

The hubby and I had a weekend filled with local museums. We visited two local gems...the San Bernardino County Museum and The Lincoln Shrine Memorial, both in Redlands, California.
I was decked out in an awesome planet/outer-space print dress by Retrolicious. I was the lucky winner of their recent Instagram contests. I was so excited since I never win anything...especially not a dress I have been drooling over for some time now. (Review on this dress coming later!)

We first headed down to the San Bernardino County Museum. There was a Mid-Century Modern Architecture exhibit we wanted to see and it was well worth it. The museum is snuggled in Redlands, located next to the gorgeous Victorian home known as the Edwards Mansion. The museum features quaint exhibits ranging from local history to dinosaurs!

The second museum we ventured to was the Lincoln Shrine museum in Redlands. This museum was a true hidden gem for me. I must have driven past that museum numerous times and never gave it a second thought. There is also an adjacent library on the premises. Perfect for me, right? The Lincoln Shrine building gives the illusion of an observatory with it's distinctive dome at the front center of the museum. The location is small but packs in quite a bit of history pertaining all to the Civil War and Lincoln. Both the hubby and I are history buffs...so this detour in our day was a true treat. I recommend it to anyone in the area. You won't be sorry!