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Fun Find: the Olloclip

April 26, 2012 by Jaclyn

Anyone who knows me is aware that I LOVE taking pictures. I’m also pretty addicted to my iPhone, and love trying out new tech finds.

Well imagine my surprise when one of my fav YouTubers ijustine showcased a product that combined my love of all of the above! The Olloclip.

It’s basically a little 3-lens combo that clips (duh) onto your iPhone and enhances its camera. I decided to get it with some birthday money and I have been in LOVE. Probably to the point of overusing the fisheye lens JUST A BIT.

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(Fisheye examples #1, 2 and 1,375)

I like it bc of how supremely portable it is- this coming from someone who’s used to toting a giant dslr wherever she goes. Though I recently acquired a smaller Nikon J1 for Christmas (which I also love, despite it’s current malfunctioning 10-30mm lens…) I’ve found I like having something even more compact for spur of the moment pictures.

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(Taken with the wide-angle lens option while at our fabulous Easter Brunch in Malibu)

And while the iPhone takes very clear, pretty pictures on a normal basis, I feel SLIGHTLY more photography-y (not a word, I know) when I’m using it.

Does anyone else use the Olloclip or any other device with their phones camera? It’s not being overly ridiculous to use both this AND the Instagram app, right? Good. Because you can’t take either away from meeeeee!

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Playing Tourist: Disneyland Edition

April 23, 2012 by Jaclyn

A couple weeks ago, my sister and her friend came to California for their spring break. While I didn’t get to participate in their full week of LA festivities, we DID spend the first weekend of their visit at Disneyland in full-on tourist mode.

Jen’s friend had never been to California or any Disney parks, so for the first time in pretty much forever (and especially since my CP days when I learned how to run around the parks like a crazy person) we did Disney the super touristy way. And it was SO. MUCH. FUN.

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We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel (which has recently finished a huge remodel) on Saturday night so we could make the most of our two days at the parks- including the Extra Magic Hour you get when staying on property.

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This turned out to be a HUGE blessing, since not only is it a great hotel, but it down poured most of Saturday and it was really helpful to have a place to go dry off and recharge in the middle of the afternoon. (We seriously used the hair dryer on our clothes and filled to tub with hot water to warm our frozen feet.)

The rain chased most of the crowds away, so we actually ended up seeing most of both parks.

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Surprisingly, there weren’t long lines for Splash Mt on a rainy day

Sunday, we started off the day with some Fantasyland rides and then The Plaza Inn character breakfast with Minnie and friends! I love character meals and it had been way way too long since the last time I’d been to one. Nothing says breakfast like Mickey waffles!!

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Max loooooved us

Finally, since it was Jen’s birthday, and Jessa’s first visit, I took the opportunity to use a Disney service I’d never tried before- their gift basket service! I called a couple of days in advance of our arrival and they brought the (somewhat customizable) baskets right to our hotel room!

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We had a great weekend- it was so fun taking things a little slower and taking part in some of the things we tend to skip when we’re dashing around the park at light-speed :)

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Back with a (cheery) Vengence

December 22, 2011 by Jaclyn

It seems that wisdom teeth removal (ouch!) and a relaxing trip home for Christmas has been just what I needed to drive me back into the blogosphere.

Looking at my last post I am utterly mortified I dropped off for so long – in fact, I’ll be amazed if ANYONE is still here right now to see this!

I went from woefully bored with unemployment and completely uninspired, to getting a wonderful job that has kept me SO busy (along with an extended family visit) I barely had time to think about it.

But what better time to jump back in than the holidays?! That’s when all the best storied and picture taking takes place anyway.

To tide you over til I get together the photos from some recent events (Thanksgiving wasn’t THAT far away, right?) here’s a couple of pics from, well, WAY too long ago in Internet-time.

Midnight Screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

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Bug & I at Disney’s D23 Expo back in August (Wreck it Ralph is the next feature coming from Walt Disney Animation)

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The 4 chefs for Thanksgiving in LA this year (starting new traditions with good food and fabulous aprons)

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Snippets of Soundsational!

July 11, 2011 by Jaclyn

I LOVE parades, as I’ve mentioned here a few times. So I was incredibly excited that Disneyland was debuting a new parade as part of their Soundsational Summer — in fact, the Soundsational Parade is kind of the theme for the summer itself!

It’s a really fun and original parade, with GORGEOUS floats, and fun music. As you may have guessed from the name of the parade, this one is ALL about the Disney songs we know and love.

Suffice it to say, I took a LOT of pictures. Here’s a look at a lot of the characters you’ll see in the parade!

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Minnie, Mickey & the gang are on the 1st float

If you’ve seen the Disney Sing-a-Long Song videos you’ll recognize the detail on this float:

Sing Along Songbirds :)

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Arabian dancers announcing Prince Ali's arrival

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I love this guy. He is ba-na-nas (literally!)

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Ariel's Under the Sea float

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2/3 Caballeros

All of the other princesses share this Tangled inspired Princess Float.

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musical ladies-in-waiting

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Some snazzy jazz girls

Well, all the other princesses were on the Tangled float, except for Tiana, who gets this gorgeous boat float, and a whole section devoted to her jazzy New Orleans music

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...and KICK!

Peter Pan and Captain Hook, in sync for once

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Kiss for Peter

I think the last section of the parade is my favorite though — the incredibly detailed, dainty Mary Poppins section:

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Bert & Mary on carousel horses!

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Chimney sweeps!

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Great end to a wonderful parade!!

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A Galaxy Far, Far Away

June 28, 2011 by Jaclyn

…is where the new Star Tours attraction is located! Well, technically it is in Disneyland (and Disney World) but, well, I was being witty and Star Wars-y so bear with me here.

That’s right — for the past couple of weeks the updated and much improved (not that the old one was BAD, since I loved it) Star Tours has been offering flights.

I’m hoping that the lines have subsided some since I went to Disneyland with my friends a few weeks ago. We showed up EXACTLY at park opening (hello 8 AM!) so that we could get a Fastpass — which we were luckily able to get because the wait was already 75 minutes long! When we came back at our designated time (11:10 AM) Fastpasses were already gone and the wait was roughly two hours. Eek!

We checked out the new merchandise in the store nearby…

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…and then headed to the boarding gates!

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The R2D2 and C3PO scene in the line is pretty similar to the original waiting area.

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The biggest change is all of the new videos promoting the locations you might visit on your flight — and that’s because you really CAN visit different locations in the updated ride.

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Each flight makes 3 stops, and there are (I believe) 5 different options at each stop. So every time you go on Star Tours you’re in for a different experience.

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Another different experience? These super snazzy 3D glasses. I’ll let Alex & Rachel model them for you (the pic of the 3 of us is blurry…):

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The 3D technology in the new attraction is REALLY cool. It’s so immersive you barely even notice the 3D, if that makes any sense.

And while Rex has been relegated to the storage bins…

It was really dark, but there's ol' Rex!

C3PO makes for a really entertaining pilot! I definitely miss a few of the old parts, like George Lucas appearing on the landing deck (someone let me know if I just didn’t see this??) and the crazy lady with the weird side buns in the safety video, but the new Star Tours is a DEFINITE must see.

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Under The Sea

June 18, 2011 by Jaclyn

The Little Mermaid was the very first movie that I saw in theaters. My mom said that I spent the entire movie literally sitting on the edge of my seat, not saying a peep, eyes glued to the screen.

To this day I love that movie – Prince Eric is totally dreamy (for an animated character) and Ursula is one of my favorite baddies of all time.

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Suffice it to say I’ve been excited about Ariel: The Undersea Adventure at Disney’s California Adventure ever since I heard they were going to start building it…and it’s FINALLY OPEN!

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I love the King Triton statue on the front of the building

I would describe the attraction as a mix of a Fantasyland dark ride (taking you through a condensed version of the story) and Haunted Mansion (continuously moving Shell vehicles).

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It takes you through all the best songs — including a HUGE Under the Sea area. It really does a great job of immersing you in the scenes.

Ariel "Under the Sea" (Image via Instagram)

Kiss the Girl - my fav movie scene (image via Instagram)

King Triton, in the final scene (image via Instagram)

The most amazing part of the attraction is the animatronic characters. I’ve never seen any look so lifelike before! It’s like they’ve literally plunked you into the movie with these characters — Ursula is especially impressive in her movements.

Ursula, larger than life (image via Instagram)

We luckily got the chance to ride it back when they were still doing previews and had no wait, but I’ve ridden it once since then as well now that it’s officially open, and I definitely foresee myself dragging everyone I’m with on it regardless of the ridiculous wait times throughout the summer. Luckily even a long line feels like it’s moving pretty quick with the continuously loading vehicles. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of the film!

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Super 8 & Summer Movies

June 10, 2011 by Jaclyn

It’s the start of summer, and that means time for the Summer Blockbusters to start pouring into theaters.

The Stars of Super 8

Movies like Super 8, which I just saw last night. A couple of the Arclight theaters out here had Sneak Previews yesterday so Jeremy, Sam & I went to the still-late-but-not-quite-as-bad-as-midnight-showings screening at 11:30 (where we had a MUCH better pick of seats, to boot).

I LOVED Super 8. If you’re into classic Spielberg films (think Close Encounters or ET or Jaws) mixed with a slightly more modern blow-it-up style (but not in an offensive detract-from-the-story way) I think you’d really enjoy it too. It focuses really heavily on the group of kids, but they all really held their own, and I was cracking up at how true-to-life their interactions were. I’m sure my written explanation won’t do it justice, but there are some great moments where the kids are all talking at/over each other interspersed with an ever-deafeaning chorus of “SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP”s that had me particularly dying. My parents literally told me that I should go into politics this morning because I got so excited ranting about the movie that I wasn’t taking breaths between sentences and I don’t think they got a word in for a solid 5 minutes.

I won’t do that to you poor readers though. Just be sure to stay through the credits if you end up seeing it too — there’s a really good payoff about the film the kids are making in the movie.

Super 8 isn’t the only movie I am or have been excited about this season though. Below, check out the movies that are on my List to See (if I’ve crossed through it, I’ve already seen it!)

Something Borrowed

Bridesmaids

Pirates of the Caribbean 4

Super 8

Green Lantern (Undecided…)

X-Men: First Class

Cars 2

Transformers 3

Harry Potter 7 Part 2 (!!)

Monte Carlo

One Day

Winnie the Pooh

Friends With Benefits

Have you already seen any of these? Excited about these or other films coming out this summer? Let me know!

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