A Tangled Inspired Birthday

Natalie has always been a fan of the Disney movie Tangled. It's the story about Rapunzel. When she turns 18, she goes on an adventure. 

This is why Natalie wanted the theme of her birthday to be Tangled when she turned 18.

I am not crafty in the least, so it was Etsy to the rescue.

I found these light up lanterns and confetti:

I also found this banner:

I ordered a Tangled themed cookie cake from Great American Cookies. They weren't sure if they could do it, but I thought it turned out cute:

After school Natalie picked Hu Hot as her birthday dinner and we brought her boyfriend as well. 

Then we came home for cookie cake and presents. She loved her Ocean book:

Some other gifts she got was a vintage coat from her Nona, the newest Billie Eilish perfume called Your Turn, and this Tangled vinyl:

She's going to have friends over to celebrate this weekend. And yes, it'll still be a Tangled theme.

I'm glad she still loves the movie as she did when she was a little girl, twirling around in her Rapunzel dress and wig:

Hey, It's Okay

I got this idea from Glamour magazine. You can link up any day of the week. All you have to do is make a list of what you're okay about. Simple! Please do not link up a post that has nothing to do with Hey, It's Okay. It's rude and I'll delete the link.

HEY, IT'S OKAY....

.....to finally be finished unpacking from the trip to Paris. 

....to be disappointed that Southwest Airlines is going to start charging for luggage. The main reason we fly with them is because of that free luggage. My daughter packs A LOT so she always needs her own suitcase. 

.....to be excited to rget the new Hunger Games book Sunrise on the Reaping. It's about Haymitch Abernathy when he played the games. 

......to can't believe Natalie will be 18 on Wednesday! She still has school, but after we're taking her out to dinner to celebrate. 

.....to love this fabulous refillable deodorant from Wild. You can choose from a bunch of beautiful cases--I went with rose gold--and find the perfect scent for the deodorant. The beauty of this is, it's not wasteful! We got Ocean Mist and it smells incredible. It is aluminum & paraben free, plus no animal cruelty is involved. Shop here to instantly save 20%! If you don't need deodorant, there's also body wash, lip balm, & hand wash. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Airplane Food Is Still Disgusting

 I am back from Paris!

I went with my daughter. We booked a trip with EF Tours through a school. This means that we always had transportation and an expert guide so I didn't get us lost. And trust me, I would have. 

How EF Tours works is, you fly and are supposed to sleep on the plane. This is because as soon as you touch down, your tour begins. There's no rest. If you didn't get enough sleep on the plane, oh well. I rarely get sleep on the plane because, well, ECONOMY. I try but it just does not happen. I can never get comfortable. So yes, I was tired. Natalie didn't sleep much either. But. When we saw this magnificent view on the top of the Galeries Lafayette, we perked up. (The Coke sans sucre helped as well. They did not have Diet Coke there.) 

Anyhow, back to the plane. We were served a meal, and holy crap, ew.

That was supposed to be chicken and rice. The rice had a weird texture. The middle thing was a quinoa salad. Quinoa terrifies me to begin with. The roll was stale. And the cheesecake brownie had a strange aftertaste. Plus, I'm pretty sure I got a splinter from the fork.

But back to the trip. We landed and went to the Galeries Lafayette, which is basically a mall. Only beautiful. Not dirty and dank. I mean, look:

The French know how to shop. 

Was I half asleep when we were there. Yes. But I was still able to appreciate the area. 

They had a FAO Schwartz inside with a JELLYCAT FACTORY. Natalie went crazy but the thing about Jellycats are that they are expensive. So we did not get one? No. Did we coo over many of them? Yes.

Natalie did stumble across the giant piano and I told her to be like Tom Hanks in Big. She was like, "What?" and I realized, crap, I need to show her that movie. 

On the bus we drove past the stores I will never be able to afford. Like Louis Vuitton. There was even a line to get in so I guess a lot of people are doing better than I am, financially. Mind you, I did contemplate splurging and getting a passport cover because surely something so small could be, what? $150 at the most? Plus they personalize it for free. I checked the site and it was THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY DOLLARS! 

Our guide took us to the Latin Quarter, and I was reminded of one of my fave resorts in Walt Disney World: Port Orleans French Quarter. 

Natalie freaked out because she saw a jazz club and a La La Land sign. Like seriously, the French people were staring at this American squealing and jumping up and down in front of a jazz club. I think I caught one saying something like "Americans are crazy." I mean, yes. 

We also went inside the famous Shakespeare And Company bookstore. I got the Madeline book and they stamped it with their official store stamp. It smelled AMAZING inside. I love the smell of books. Sadly, there is no pictures or filming inside. And there are workers making sure you do not. Another lady was trying and suddenly this worker was at her side going, "No, no, no." Complete with a finger wag.

We were led to some other fabulous spots. At this point my eyes were burning due to lack of sleep, but I told my body to keep moving. THIS WAS PARIS!

We did get to bed early. I think we crashed around 9. 

But Paris is absolutely gorgeous. Natalie loved the stylish Parisians. 

Have you ever made it to Paris?