A Tale of 7 Bedrooms (+ photos of my current room, selcas, and sparkly poster boards)!

Before getting started, I want to share this awesomely beautiful song from The Sims 3 Supernatural (mapview) because it sounds all magical and Wintery!

(cr: iSims Sverige@youtube)

Now that your mind is being pelted with lovely music, I'm ready to continue! I'll be kicking this post off with a brief overview of past bedrooms with some short descriptions. I thought I might as well give some insight into why I've chosen my current decorating scheme, which is sure to horrify some.

Bedroom #1 (the shared room)

Was shared with my brother. It was a big house and located in the Texas countryside (where nightmares come true). It was the best set up for us because we were so young and that house was certainly haunted. Our grandmother, the owner of this house, was pretty strict about keeping it uncluttered so it was basically just bunk beds, a sitting area with a television, library corner, and a dresser that had a couple of our cherished items displayed. I know that sounds a little crowded but the room was like 16x20.

Bedroom #2 (the cute room)

This was a much smaller room which had cute toys, a hamster setup, and colorful old wallpaper that I believe was meant for a nursery. One night my brother, who wasn't big on the whole separate bedroom idea yet, snuck in late at night to talk. While we were sitting and talking, the bedroom door made a sound and slowly opened all the way. We knew then, that this room is surely haunted as well.

Bedroom #3 (the luxury apartment)

This bedroom was decorated to look like Heather Locklear's apartment on Melrose Place. It had two sitting areas, tidy bookshelves, a fancy desk, bed, entertainment center, and tasteful paintings, other artworks, and luxurious tablecloths. I was twelve, and big on entertaining my friends.. and obviously possessed by the middle aged ghost that used to live in that house.

Then we moved from Texas to California.

Bedroom #4 (the nightclub)

This bedroom had Christmas lights across the ceiling, glow-in-the dark stars on the walls, a fountain that changed colors, a leopard print rug, lava lamps, feather boas, tons of posters, a large stereo system, and a rotating disco light. This bedroom continued my dream of having a place to entertain friends. I loved the room. I still remember lying on my bed and talking on the phone with my BFF until my dad was furious every day! Of course, this house should have been haunted because the previous owner killed himself inside and his body wasn't discovered for some time (neighborhood welcome committee told us as soon as we moved in! Aren't they darling?!). However, no ghostly behavior ensued, which I feel proves my point that California ghosts are lazy.

After moving from this house, we briefly rented a place while our new house was being built. I had another shared bedroom, with my BFF, while there. :D

Bedroom #5 (the sensible princess room)

Canopy bed, white couch, pink, purple, periwinkle, light blues, white dresser, magical... but I feel like I hardly spent any time in there really. Maybe I preferred other locations in the house because my bedroom was unknowingly haunted...

An unremarkable transitional bedroom followed the sensible princess room, so I'm skipping over that one.

Bedroom #6 (the most remarkable unremarkable bedroom tower)

This bedroom was nothing exciting when viewing the floorplan of the house. It wasn't large, it wasn't full of luxurious fainting couches or set up like a Techno club. It was one of my favorites of all though. The room had two things that made it great, soaring high ceilings, and a large window with a view over the entire neighborhood. It was reminiscent of a tower in a castle and the room was even in it's own tiny wing away from the rest of the house. I was also the most happy here. Not all due to the bedroom of course... I opened a business with my mom immediately after highschool in this house, I also started flipping houses with her, making a lot of money and using it to travel across the globe, and I was getting along with my dad better than ever before. Unfortunately, that was the year he passed away and the next year we moved from that house T.T

More transitional bedrooms followed that were set up like business offices because I was still handling the clothing and accessory business I started with my mom. These transitional bedrooms included the one where I used to take really odd photos. Remember? That bedroom had a really nice workspace... and it was probably haunted.

Bedroom #7 (the 12 year old's room... I never had)

Since I finally have a bedroom that's entirely just for me (no business desks, nor shipping centers, nor the need to set up a personal living room in my bedroom for friends to hang out), I spent some time considering what I actually wanted to do with the place, keeping in mind that I no longer feel the need to have a room appropriate for ANYONE or ANYTHING but me... and this is what that resulted in: The twelve year old's bedroom I missed out on~

90's barbie!! I believe I received the dollhouse around 2002.

Lantern centered over my bed~

Jana cat!

I'm going to be honest with you here and tell you that this shelf now has like twice the number of dolls that are pictured in this photo.

Draculaura, Spectra, Catrine!

2 Jades J'adores and a Cloetta Spelletta. The Jade J'Adore on the left is so Lady Gaga!

Dexter AKA Princess Peach AKA Hamster sleeping on the quiet shelf.

A tiny dollhouse even on my nightstand

More dolls on another shelf...

Hunter is the one and only to currently grace my desk ♥ I actually got him and Ashlynn for free with Ebates earnings and immediately regretted it, thinking I didn't really want them. Now I realize the fool I was.


So there it is... or some of it. I didn't take pictures of  the other doll shelf or the other dollhouses. I mean, I don't want to give anyone nightmares. Speaking of that, my brother came by the other day, and being so blunt about things he dislikes, I expected a "WTF!!" response to the endless doll eyes looking back at him... but no. The one and only thing that caught his attention:

Jana cat! Or Fat Cat as I've named the enormous kitty plush. Hysterical laughter was the response of my brother!

I got Jana for my birthday this year, also for free, with G-market bucks! Being a compulsive shopper does pay off! I almost got the giant Hello Kitty I've spoken of many times in the past, but my eyes dilated with joy when I saw the cat shaped like a mountain! I also got my Catrine Demew for my birthday. My mom, Jay, and myself did our birthdays differently this year. One example, instead of traditional cake, we had a cake pops performing a ritual around a candle bonfire!

Yay!

Jay didn't get any because he wasn't here. He got a Starbucks card to buy his own cakepops :b
We did end up with a proper cake from my brother and sister-in-law, but I failed to get pictures before it was destroyed. It was German chocolate cake ♥







SELCA (selfie) TIME!!

I haven't taken selcas in ages, however, one day I put on five hundred million pounds to go a concert and didn't want to waste the opportunity. Photoshoot time in the tiny area of my bed that gets morning sunshine!

I also tried to incorporate a sparkly poster board I bought a Walmart.

How do I incorporate a poster board in my selcas you ask?
A background you say?
No!
As something to roll around on?
Yes!

I took this photo in a similar pose to show the difference the post board makes. These were taken at the same time of day, same spot.

The one above came out more awkward, I think, because my arm was tired due to my ultra heavy camera. I eventually rolled around on the board enough to get a magical looking one:

So is it worth it to buy a poster board and ruin it by flailing about on it?... Yes....
it is.


New post coming up on Sunday.
~ Seriously, it's already finished and scheduled~ ;D

Iris Hamster Cage~ The Dome Tower~ Part II (Review) + some random stuff~

So I'm just going to come right out and say it... This cage didn't work for my hamster AT ALL! Honestly I hate giving negative reviews, and that is mostly the reason I put this post off for ages. On the other hand, it's not necessarily the cage that's at fault.. maybe it just didn't work out for Dexter (AKA Princess Peach). 

Meet my hamster!

^ Because a name could be completely agreed upon, we ended up with her given name: Princess Peach, her nickname: Dexter, and what we actually call her most of the time: "Hamster"

I brought her home in an adorable lil carrier that is also by Iris. It comes in a blue that matches the Dome Tower, but I went for the pink this time!

~

Meeting the cat!

Holding a seed!

Eating an apple wedge!

Running in her wheel!

Wait... this is where the problem started, the wheel. As you can see, the stick that connects the wheel to the stand hits her right in the middle of the back. I had anticipated this might happen because of the type of hamster I chose and had already bought a backup.

I would've liked a blue one but they were all sold out. Sadly, fixing the wheel wasn't enough, because this was also happening:

^ Every night she was filling her tube with bedding and whatever else she could fit in in an attempt to seal herself off from the other levels. The main trouble being that she would then be trapped in the lowest level and be completely separated from her food and water. I assumed she would dig through eventually and find her food, but it became apparent that once the tube was sealed off, I had to move her up to her food level myself or she would starve. Eventually I realized it was futile to unstop her tube and left it stopped after putting her on the upper level. She just never went down there again.

In addition to everything else, Princess Peach was also freaking out all the time and I think it may have had something to do with the cage being round and not having corners (something I read about online). The problems finally led me to buy a new cage, but I'm still hesitant to say the Dome Tower is not a good habitat. 

For one, I think the Dome Tower may have been more appropriate for dwarf hamsters (hence the tiny wheel). I believe they are the type pictured on the box the cage arrived in. The reason I decided on getting a larger breed is because the one and only review I was able to find about the cage said that the tubes were too big for her hamster and the hamster couldn't get to the food. As for the round cage issues, I've had other hamsters in round cages before that never had a problem.

I'm planning to keep the Dome Tower for a future hamster and maybe I'll have better luck. In the meantime, Princess Peach loves her totes basic Crittertrail for now! Not as much as she enjoys being allowed to run about of course~

Waiting at the door!

On the run!

Scaling Mount PresentPile!

I did my best to contain my endless supply of hamster photo cuteness to a minimum. 

*random* Here are another couple shots of the winter sky from a few weeks ago (sorry but it's beautiful, and the pictures came out all magical)!

Admit it! That is gorgeous!

I'd even say it rivals the sunset over the beach when I was in SE Asia! And those beach sunsets are pretty hard to compete with! I'm impressed, California, this is the nicest thing you've shown me thus far.

By the way, if anyone enjoyed the doll post, here's a taste of some of my crazy Black Friday scores!

~

I still haven't deboxed the others yet. Most of the wrapped gifts pictured are for the nephews. Did I forget to mention that I got a new nephew right before Christmas?! :O

Ever After High Cerise Hood Doll Review!

Hey there! I just got settled in my new place after a ridiculously hectic post-holiday move! While I have not posted a doll review since... well, ever on Blogger, I wanted to because I just bought Cerise Hood and I wanted a fresh post for the start of a new year, in a new place, with new things. Over the years here, I've gone over my hobbies of collecting fancy formal wear and handbags. Although recently, I've matured and realized that toy collecting is more rewarding and fun :P

^ Beholding her own reflection! Cerise Hood is the 3rd Ever After High doll I've purchased. The other two being Madeline Hatter and Raven Queen, both of which have yet to arrive in the mail. I made it a point to get Cerise in person so I could make sure her bangs weren't a complete nightmare like my Twyla's were. Anyway, here she is in the box~

I had to choose between five at my local Target and brought home the one with the most even bangs, best makeup, and her hands seemed molded more carefully than the others, as her nails and fingers seemed more detailed.

I absolutely love the design of her box!

~

^Some info on Cerise.

Out of the box. I have to say that getting her out was kind of a nightmare -_-

I adore how detailed her entire outfit is, it seems to be made really well also. I don't like to leave the plastic staples or clear bands on dolls when I de-box them. Her hood was sticking up a little awkwardly at first but after I leaned her against the above vase for about 10 mins, it was pushed back into place and stayed that way. So yay~

~

Isn't she cute?! I'm really glad that I got back into doll collecting this past year. I went a little crazy on Black Friday and bought my first Monster High doll. I wanted to get them when they first came out, but just didn't have the resources at the time to buy things that weren't a necessity. Luckly I worked the sales and ended up with more than 10 MH dolls. LOL. Thanks to the excellent sales online, I bought a bunch that usually sell for $20-$25 for about $5 a piece with free shipping. I might have an addiction to bargain hunting now but it's worth it!  ;P

^(cr: Ever After High @youtube)

P.S. My new header is an actual picture of the sky from my back porch taken around mid December. It's by far the prettiest Winter sunset/sky I've ever seen in California! (Some people on FB thought it was photoshoped and it absolutely is not, only resized and such. It's not my fault they were probably all playing Candy Crush on their phones and missed it!)