Little Big Planet (and my Sackboy)

Over the last month or so I’ve been playing Little Big Planet (a extremely fun Playstation 3 game).

The game is incredible, you run around as a Sackboy (or girl) and collect points, stickers, costumes, vehicles and loads of other things for you to customize your world (and make your own levels). I’m not very good, I tend to take WAY WAY too long on the jumping puzzles. Let me put it this way, long enough for Chris to leave the room, make a snack, come back, and yep… still trying to get up to the third level… ::sigh:: I never claimed to be good at this kind of thing.

Never the less, really fun game, and with a very cute main character. You can change the fabric your Sackboy is made of and add clothing pieces (everything from capes to swim suits, top hats to wigs). The possibilities are endless. Even still, the Sackboy in his pure, un-altered form, is adorable. So adorable that I went on a hunt for a plush Sackboy. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything. Just this guy…..

But… He’s not for sale…

Why???

He was made by one of the developers Mom’s (what a cool Mom! Check it out on their blog -Click Me-). While that’s great for them… What am I to do?

How do I live without my own cute little Sackboy?

Luckily, Chris suggested I search Etsy.com, the place to buy all things handmade. I found someone who crochets Sackboys and sells them. But not only are the finished dolls for sale… So is the pattern. Only problem is that it’s a crochet pattern, and I don’t crochet.

Or….

At least I didn’t until Thanksgiving weekend… Thanks to the pattern, the internet, and a book from Pattie (thanks!). I am now the proud owner of my very own hand crocheted Sackboy (well, Chris is, I gave it to him).

Not as good as some… But pretty good for my first crocheted thing ever… And I’d say… Pretty cute.

Maybe over Christmas break I will make one that looks like my Sackboy (if it works out I’ll post pictures of both my character, and what I make).

One last trailer from the game… I LOVE SACKBOYS!

Too Excited

I am eating, sleeping, breathing Disney right now (okay, for those of you who don’t know, that’s not too far off from normal but… anyway). I’m really looking forward to seeing the differences in the Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror and the Jungle Cruise from the ones in Disney World. Unfortunately It’s a Small World will be closed, guess I’ll just have to sing the song on my own (iiit’s a small world af-ter all, iiit’s a small world af-ter all, iiit’s a small world af-ter all, it’s a small, small, world).

The plan is to go on every ride at least once and possibly more… ::eeek!:: I can’t wait, oh to be around Mickey and Minnie, see the princesses!

This video sums up all of my feelings for our upcoming Disneyland trip… It’s a commercial and It’s for Disney World but, you get the idea.

I hope the month goes quickly, I don’t know what I’m going to do if I can’t sleep for that long.

Coming Soon To a Blog Near You.

::voice of that Disney announcer guy:: They’ve been to Disney World twice together and multiple times before that, but they’ve never visited the place where it all started. The place where it’s Sleeping Beauty not Cinderella who rules and you not only watch Indiana Jones, you go on an adventure with him. Where King Triton has a garden and Mr. Toad still goes on his wild ride. But this Memorial Day weekend that all changes. Using their brains and the internet, one lucky couple scores big and lands a trip to California. On May 23, Chris and Melissa… Go to DISNEYLAND.

That’s right Disneyland! I can hardly contain my excitement. Chris and I have been talking about going to Disneyland since February (when I found out that my employer was not going to back pay me for the vacation I took in January even though I had cleared it with both my boss and HR and made sure that I would be able to have those days counted towards the vacation I hadn’t earned yet…. But anyway). Since I had some extra vacation time we thought, why not go to Disneyland? I’ll tell you why we almost didn’t.

California is way further away than Florida from Illinois, so airfare is more expensive. Tickets to get into the parks are just about as expensive as the tickets we buy for Disney World. And! Unless we stayed in a motel (not my idea of a magical Disney vacation) hotels near Disneyland are much less affordable.

Here’s the breakdown,

Through Disney’s Website 3 nights at the Hilton Anaheim (two blocks from Disneyland) and Park Hopper tickets to the parks were $864 (cheaper than reserving the room alone and buying the tickets, but still pricey). The cheapest airfare I was finding was about $250 round trip (without taxes, just for one of us!) with connecting flights and spending most of the day on a plane, or $400 without connecting flights. For two of us to go it was going to cost us between $1364 – $1664, too much. I can’t justify spending that much money on one weekend, especially when we spent about 1300 to go to Disney World.

I searched everywhere, Expedia, Orbitz, Southwest Airlines, Air Tran. I kept hoping that Southwest or Air Tran would send me a deal (I’m on their mailing lists) but no such luck. Then on a whim I checked priceline.com It was the best move I’ve ever made.

Airfare (American Airlines, no connections, for both of us) and reservations at the Hilton Anaheim (same hotel, through priceline), $735 (with taxes). Park Hopper tickets for the two of us, $280. Total cost $1015, a savings of $349-$649. Now that, I can justify.

So I booked it, and we’re going. I’m sure that priceline isn’t right for every vacation (I’ll still probably book Disney World through Disney because I love staying on property), but this time it worked out well. We were ready to give up on the trip and thanks to that site, we didn’t have to.

So if you’re trying to get away and find good deals check it out, it’s worth looking. And stay tuned, because as we get closer to Memorial Day, I’ll let you in on more of our plans.

Amazing Photo of Sleeping Beauty Castle (not taken by me)

Isn’t it funny how I just saw Princess Aurora dancing
and now I get to visit her castle?

Something to Think About

As the clock ticks over tonight I think of all the people who will be pranked on this the first day of April… I think about the fact that my co-workers just found out how deathly afraid I am of spiders (there was a giant one in the Art room trying to get away from a storm). My office is full of pranksters normally, and today, they can do it all in the name of April Fools Day.

When I was younger I thought it was great, though most of my pranks involved telling someone that I had a new bike or something and then shouting APRIL FOOLS!!! However, it seems to me that this holiday just invites people to be cruel and nasty. Do I really want to be like that? I’m hoping and hoping that I don’t find spiders on my desk, or worse, in my coffee. UGH.

Why do we delight in the frustration, confusion or just plain torment of others? Why is it that on April 1st, when the weather is finally getting warmer and the flowers will soon bloom, we have adopted a tradition that takes away from all these things? I don’t understand it, I will not be participating this year (at least not willingly).

So if you are reading this and you are going to see me soon, or talk to me, please be kind. I won’t April Fools you, I hope you’ll do the same (but just in case I’ll be taking my cup with me everywhere).

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

It’s spring time and that means that it’s time for the Easter Bunny to come and bring all of the good little children candy and toys. I just hope his little feet don’t freeze in the snow.

This Easter eve I spent some time participating in one of my favorite traditions, dyeing eggs. It’s always fun to take something from nature and improve on it. What better way than by making it multi colored???

We created some beautiful eggs.

And some inspiring messes…

I love getting to stretch my creative wings with something so simple. It’s great just to sit around, play with other people and create…. Memories.

Here’s hoping that you create some memories this weekend. Happy Easter!