New Job | I'm Moving to Orlando, Florida, With The Walt Disney Company!

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I can't actually believe I'm about to embark on writing this post! It truly doesn't feel real to me yet, but I can assure you that what you've read from the title is no April Fool. In 204 days time I'll be flying out to Orlando. The Walt Disney Company have deemed me worthy enough to employ as a Merchandise Cast Member, and I am truly floating on cloud 9...!

Back in January, after much longing and dreaming I finally got the courage to send off my application to Yummy Jobs, the in-house UK recruitment team in charge of supplying Disney wish fresh talent to interview for employment on the International Cultural Representative Programme. I had actually penned the beginning of an application in 2013, however something told me to wait, to carry on up the career ladder with McDonald's (which paid off as I'm now an Assistant Store Manager), and see where my McJob could take me.

I'm a big believer in the notion that a person is exactly where they're supposed to be at that moment in time, and although I sent my finished application off on a whim in January 2015, I had every fibre in my body crossed to get through to the next stage (I'll write separate blog posts on the recruitment process soon). See, I don't think I was meant to apply in 2013. If I'm truly honest having my McJob has definitely helped me in a huge way to get my job at Disney, and the fact that I followed my niggling feeling back then has really paid off now - note to self, listen to gut feeling! I feel like the Disney magic has been sprinkled in my favour because I've now got a whole year in Orlando to look forward to, and believe me when I tell you that the planning has begun in earnest already!

My Congratulations Email / The Disney IP /
My ID For Visiting Disney HQ in London / Welcome To The Team!

So what will I be doing? Forgive me if you're familiar with EPCOT theme park, but to explain it simply, EPCOT is one of 4 theme parks located at the Walt DisneyWorld Resort in Orlando, Florida. Inside EPCOT is an area called World Showcase which houses pavilions from 11 countries around the world, including Mexico, France, Norway, Japan and UK to name but a few. Inside each pavilion you'll find an authentic representation of that country, from the architecture, food, and merchandise, to the very people that work there. Yes, Disney travel the world annually to scout out talented people who go through a recruitment process with the ultimate goal to become a Cultural Representative of their country and, for a whole year, live, earn and learn on Disney property in Orlando, central Florida. This is the programme I will be doing beginning in October 2015, where I will be earning my ears as I train in the Disney art of Merchantainment.

I am planning to blog as much as possible, and I definitely feel like I have so many fresh ideas to share with you about my journey. So far I've booked my flight, a hotel in Orlando for the night before Disney check-in, and paid my program fee to reserve my apartment, but there's still so much to do and plan! I'm in the middle of planning my bucket list, a Sephora shopping spree, a trip to WalMart and what American goodies to stock up in the pantry for my first week.

So if you're like me, and Disney is not only your 'thing' but also consumes all aspects of your life, then please join me on my journey to becoming a Walt Disney World Cast Member :)

 - Instagram: louisekwilliams

Where I Went | The Disney Cafe by Harrods

I recently went to London for what I'm going to call a 'work trip' - all to be revealed shortly. During my stay I met up with a friend I'd not seen for nearly 2 years (hi Hannah!) and combed through the drawers of Victoria's Secret at Westfield Stratford looking for pastel pink delights (which I found, check out my Instagram: louisekwilliams). I also treated myself to a fabulous larger Longchamp 'Le Pliage' from Selfridges, and drank a gorgeous peach flavoured cocktail in TGI Fridays. But were any of those activities the highlight of my trip? No, The Disney Cafe by Harrods was.

As you may be well aware I'm a out and proud Disnerd. Aside from just watching the films, Disney is a way of life for me. I use Disney character toiletries, select a morning banana from my Mickey fruit bowl, wear Minnie Mouse pjs to bed, and swoon over my Tsum Tsum collection as I get ready in front of my mirror for work every morning to go out into grown-up world. Yes I'm 24, and no I'm not planning to become a fully fledged adult any time soon.

Imagine my delight, then, when I learned that I would have an ample amount of time to have lunch in the Disney Cafe located on the 4th Floor of Harrods in Knightsbridge, London! Truth be told this ample time extended to a 3 hour lunch affair, with both a main course and dessert being consumed whilst new friendships were made and sing alongs were sung to the new Cinderella film soundtrack. *Insert Disney Princess squeal here.*

Right from the entrance I just knew I was going to have the best time ever in this Cafe. The Disney details were everywhere, the walls painted a gorgeous royal blue colour with character murals and sparkles, TVs playing many Disney film clips and shows, a giant working Big Ben clock from Peter Pan in the centre of the room, and the tables had cute Mickey Ears affixed to the back of the chairs. Every where you look your eyes are filled with Disney magic! It was perfect.

The menus were already laid out on the tables, doubling up as placemats with fun colouring in and puzzles to keep *ahem* everyone entertained. The servers were busy bustling around the restaurant handing out Princess crowns to the younger guests and gifting them a Cinderella storybook to keep them entertained until the food was brought out. My new friends and I spent ages pouring over the 'spot the difference' puzzles (which, by the way, were incredibly difficult!) and choosing our lunch from the adult menu. I opted for a ham and cheese toastie with a side salad, and after becoming sad when told they had no Mickey waffles, I opted for a brownie for dessert. When both were presented I was so excited to find that they were Mickey shaped!

The food was absolutely delicious, and although it's not a cheap meal, (my main, dessert and two drinks came to £30) I believe it's worth it for the quality and fulfilled the Disney standard that I have come to know and love. Our servers were so friendly and even took the time to help us with our puzzles and answer any questions. We were actually the first visitors of the day as the cafe opens at 11am, and could have sat there well on into the afternoon if we hadn't had to go to our meeting!

If you're a Disney fan in any shape or form I'd fully recommend you paying a visit to the Disney Cafe  by Harrods, even if it's just for a coffee, or an afternoon tea, or a full meal like we did. You're guaranteed not to be disappointed! Children are more than welcomed, and adults too, because as Walt would say, '...adults are only kids grown up, anyway!'

Have you ever been to The Disney Cafe by Harrods?
What's your favourite Disney film?

My 24th - London & Birthday Haul

Oh hello blogosphere :')

What a hectic world we live in, eh? One minute I'm counting down the days until my birthday and the next it's the day after and it's all over for another year. Madness. I thought I'd share some pictures with you from my lovely little day out to London with my Mama and J, as well as the beautiful pressies I was incredibly lucky to unwrap and pick out in the shops for my 24th birthday. (Wow, I'm getting on!)

Cinderella / Laduree Stationary

We got the coach from Somerset (where I live) to Hammersmith bus station and waved to Disney HQ as we boarded the tube to take up to Knightsbridge for a run around Harrods. I adore visiting Harrods, if the outside window displays are anything to go by, this shop is heaven. I squealed with delight when I saw that the windows all along the main street were filled with beautiful Cinderella scenes from the forthcoming film, my inner Disney Princess was in awe!

Cake Face :P / Five Guys

Two hours later we meandered back on the tube to Covent Garden and went to Five Guys for lunch where I feasted on copious amounts of cherry vanilla Coke and strawberry lemonade (as well as my burger!) before making our way back to Covent Garden market via Cybercandy and The Disney Store. I purchased macarons at Laduree (naturally!) and my Mama treated us to some Godiva chocolate covered strawberries for dessert from lunch. Yum!

Birthday Breakfast / Presents / Cake / Light-up Disney Balloons

I'm fortunate to know London quite well, so the three of us then walked down to Trafalgar Square, before winding our way up to Picadilly Circus and then walking the whole length of Regent Street and Oxford Street right up to Selfridges. J has never really been to London before so it was really lovely to take him around and show him some of the sights. He particularly enjoyed the Harrods food hall, and ended up coming away from there with some sausages for his Mum for mother's day (don't ask!).

We caught the coach back to the West Country at around 6pm and while we waited we played 'spot the Disney / Pixar characters in the Disney HQ windows' and ate Pret a Manger baguettes (my new favourite spot for food on the go!).

Lovely bargain bag from Primark for £10! / Laduree Macarons & Truffles
Disney Store Presents from J / Macaron kitchen timer, Frozen bubbles & £20 note tissues from my Mama, Bunny ring holder from J.

Allure, DHC makeup remover wipes and gorgeous makeup bag from J / Bumble & Bumble and Penhaligon's goodies from my Nana / Too Faced Palette from my Mama / Lulu Guinness for Tangle Teezer from J

It was such a lovely little day, although long, because we literally never stopped walking all day and London was really busy, as expected. I got some beautiful things too. J got paid on my birthday so he let me pick out some bits and pieces when were were walking around London, my Mama gave me some pennies to pay for my Disneyland Paris ticket in June, as well as some bits and bobs I've shared above, and I got various other money gifts and presents from my Nana.

What a perfect way to turn 24!

What's your favourite shopping spot in London?

Brand Spotlight | Yves Rocher

I always feel incredibly honoured when a brand or PR agency reaches out to me to see if I'd be interested in some of their products to try out, and was recently contacted by Baobella with the chance to try some Yves Rocher skincare products in exchange for a post about them. I'm not at all familiar with Yves Rocher, save for a lovely brown eyeshadow I recently received in a subscription box (it pairs well with my blue eyes!) and so I held out hope that their skincare products would be just as lovely. Yves Rocher has been voted the number one favourite beauty brand in France, and boasts a plethora of products from sun care, to haircare, makeup and fragrance to name just a few categories.

After a mishap with the postman, a little brown box finally appeared in my hand containing a body lotion, Silky Cream which contains organic oats (RRP £13.50), a leg and foot cream, Anti-Fatigue Iced Gel (RRP £5.00), a botanical hand cream (RRP £3.90) and also a gorgeously scented coconut bath fizzer (RRP £1.50). I've had a chance to try out all of the products (apart from the bath fizzer - more on that in a minute) and on first impressions they're all incredibly lovely to use.

My favourite product of the selection I was sent is the long-lasting moisturising botanical hand cream. As someone who works hands on with food day in day out keeping my hands in good condition is incredibly important to be or else they'd be very weathered from constant hand washing and food preparation. This hand creams applied very well, absorbed quickly and left my hands feeling pampered.

Silky Cream comes in a hefty 200ml jar so there's plenty of product for your money and I know that this will last me for a long time yet! It's an all over body moisturiser that's fragranced with organic oats, which are not strictly to my taste (I much prefer sweet and fruity scents) but it's not too powerful. The lotion absorbs quickly into the skin leaving your limbs feeling soft and pampered. I can definitely see myself buying one of these for my Mum for her birthday, she'd love the scent!

The final two products are particularly apt for my current life situation. At the beginning of this week I had to go into hospital to have surgery on my foot. I'm currently propped up on a pillow at home and feeling a bit sorry for myself, but mostly because I have to wear sandals and flip flops everywhere until my foot heals (summer shoes in January are not the one!). I've been using the Anti-Fatigue Iced Gel on my feet around my bandages to help, literally, take the weight off them and give my poor feet a bit of TLC following the anaesthetic and the procedure. It contains peppermint for a refreshing feeling, as well as lavender to promoted general foot comfort and well-being. That said, the coconut bath fizzer is something I desperately want to try (I love baths and coconut!) but I'm not actually allowed to get my foot wet for another 4-6 weeks, *sad face*. I therefore cannot give you an actual review on that, but I promise you it smells divine and the Yves Rocher site promises immense relaxation with its use so I'm excited for that!

Have you ever tried any Yves Rocher products?

5 Things I've Been Loving Lately

Hello :)

Just a quick little post to show case five little things I've been loving lately...and I've only just noticed that they're nearly all chocolate related!

1. St Ives. I fell in love with St Ives in Cornwall when I went for Christmas down to my Mum's house. It's the cutest little seaside town I've ever been too, full of pokey shops, cobbled streets and adorable fishermen's cottages all sitting atop one another. I went to all 5 beaches, saw the Tate St Ives, played on the amusements arcade and did a small bit of shopping. If you ever have the chance to holiday in Cornwall then St Ives is a must see. 
2. I popped into town to do a bit of last minute sales shopping the other day and decided to stop in Starbucks. I played my 3DS while I sipped on a caramel hot chocolate and munched a delightful slice of chocolate cake. Oh so indulgent, but oh so naughty!
3. When I was in St Ives we ate in a bar / restaurant on the seafront called Hub. It's going down as my favourite place to eat in St Ives, as we went there twice and I had the same thing both times, pulled pork nachos - yummy! On both occasions I also got an American style chocolate milkshake made with Cornish ice-cream which was both huge and incredibly tasty. My brother and J also got themselves a beer flight each, which went down rather well I'm told!
4. Continuing on the milkshake theme, I've been loving chocolate almond milk in my cutesy little milk bottle couple with some pineapple and mango for breakfast - yummy. 
5. Finally, my beloved Chocomania Body Shop range has been discontinued! Queue the tiny violins! I first posted about this range back in 2012 here and instantly fell in love with it. I went into the Body Shop just before Christmas to see if I could find any of the range and it'd all gone. It's back in the sale to shift the last stock, so if you love this range then get stockpiling just like I've recently done! 

What have you been loving lately?

On The Bookshelf - January

It's only right, as I start writing my chapter 2015, that I carry on into the year reading somebody else's words. There are too many unread books on my shelves and so my literary resolution to myself is to stop buying more books until the ones on my bookshelf have been read.My four books for January are a mixture of girlie glamour, science / dystopian fiction, crime, drama and history...can you tell that I'd read just about anything?

Beneath The Glitter - Elle & Blair Fowler
There's such a massive hype at the moment surrounding YouTube personalities having their own books in print, and despite any controversy I enjoyed Zoella's book for a light read when it was published last month. I decided to pick up Beneath The Glitter because it's loosely based around the lives of the Fowler sisters, the protagonists are sisters who make online videos who then move to L.A and find themselves in a world of glitz, glamour, betrayal and vicious gossip. It sounds like a nice fluffy, easy read. One for the bath!

Dangerous Boys - Abigail Haas
Has anyone read Dangerous Girls by the same author? I honestly don't want to spoil that for you but the book both enraged and completely amazed me. It was unlike anything I'd ever read before, full of passion, crime, betrayal and the biggest plot twist I didn't see coming. I was completely emotionally invested in that book and so I am hoping that Ms Haas has pulled it out of the bag again with Dangerous Boys. The blurb notes that this is about three teenagers who venture into an abandoned lake house one night but a couple of hours later only two emerge from the burning wreckage, one boy and one girl. Another boy was left in the flames but was his death murder, or a tragic accident? I'm incredibly excited for this one.

The Infinite Sea - Rick Yancey
This is the sequel to The Fifth Wave, a book I picked up a while ago, but was only half curious about the story because it contained aliens, and ended up being hooked on the dystopian element of the novel. I'm currently part way through this book and once again am enjoying picking up the story where the first novel left off. The main gist of the trilogy is that aliens have been watching Earth for some time, and have successfully managed to exterminate humans in five different waves of destruction, in order to claim Earth as their own. Cassie Sullivan is a human girl trying to survive and the story follows her and a number of other characters trying to fight for the last of humanity.

The Wolf Princess - Cathryn Constable
I picked this up in the Waterstones 3 for 2 offer just before Christmas. It's a children's book so will be another easy read, but I wanted to buy it because it's set in Russia, and I used to live in Moscow as a child. The main story centres around three school friends who are on a school trip to Russia when they find themselves abandoned on a train. They are rescued by a glamorous Princess who takes them away to her palace where she tells of her tragic past.  The friends discover more that just a Princess in the castle walls when night falls and wolves begin to prowl. I'm definitely eager to read this one!

So, those are my literary picks for January. What's on your reading list?