My Simba

“Oh yes, the past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it.” – Rafiki

What I have been hurt by and have learned from in my past is that loving a pet as much as I loved mine is one of the best experiences a person can have. I will always love my little meow and what having him in my life meant to me.

My Simba came into my life and barreled into my heart in June 2015. He rescued me from a lonely single gal life in my small apartment. The day he arrived he was small, pure white with teeny pink ears that seemed too small for his rather rotund head. He also had a tiny pink button nose that I just adored. For a whole month it was just the two of us, he had a friend in me and even though he would hop on me, scratch at my ankles and always always want to rough house, I knew I had a friend in him. Then my boyfriend came into my life and love found a way to bond the 3 of us together. For the first year of Simba's life, he caused havoc everywhere he went (not that he went any farther than the apartment and in the general vicinity, no elephant graveyards for this guy.) Despite this, I continued to love him, attempt to cuddle and pet him as much as possible and fed him like a little chubby king. Then all of a sudden, one summer's evening, he was gone. Panic set in and after almost a week of social media posts, signs/posters on trees and in shop windows, he was discovered. He was discovered 15 minutes away at the back of the shopping centre, which meant he would have had to cross a river bridge amongst half the town in broad day light to get there. So I guess he did have some of the adventurous instinct of his namesake. After scaling two walls, entertaining the good natured curiosity of an old lady passerby and ripping a pair of trousers, Simba's Dad rescued him. I'd never been so happy to see the little white nightmare, he looked a little less white and a little less pudgy, but he soon fixed the pudgy part at least. 

I always thought Simba would stay with us for years, I thought in 10 years when we have a bunch of pets and maybe a kid or two, he would be laying about, fat as a fool and just wanting a pat on the head and a nap. I think I more than just thought this, I really hoped for it. In spite of all his flaws and madness, I knew every time he lay beside me in the early morning, when his Dad headed off to work and he curiously looked up to see what I was watching, reading, listening to and purred like a tiny tractor....that he needed me, his Mama, and I really needed him. Yesterday evening, we did the same old routine, joked with our little chubby boy about how mad and fat he was, told him we loved him and put him out with a bowl full of grub. Just one hour later my Simba was dead. I miss him so much, I wish I had his bellyhouse to rub with the sweeping brush while cleaning the kitchen, I wish I could laugh about how chubby he is while feeding him leftover cheese, I wish I could watch him sit on his Dad's chest at the most inopportune moments and watch his Dad let him sit there forever just so he wasn't disturbed. Most of all I wish I could walk home from work or the cinema and hear that shrill little "meeooow" and look up and see my little King of the Pride lands looking at me, I love you Simba and I'll always remember who you were. 

Book Review: Poor Unfortunate Soul by Serena Valentino

Disney press is something that every single Disney ebthusiast should look into and seriously consider getting books from. If even out of curiosity, the varions series of books that they have on offer can open up nostalgic and enchanting new takes on our favourite Disney tales. 

With all that being said, The Serena Valentino Villain series is mostly not oneven such take on  these tales. I have previously reads and written about both The Beast Within  (Beauty and the Beast) and Fairest of All (Snow White and Seven Dwarfs) and even though I didn't particularly enjoy either one, I decided I may as well round it off by getting the last of the series. This being the back story behind one of Disneys most dynamic female charavtets/despicable villains, Ursula the Sea Witch. I purchased the book on amazon.co.uk for €7.50 including delivery and although it was second hand it was in great condition. 

The back story behind this book is probably the most muddled up and silly of the whole series and unfortunately (no pun intended ) this story is the worst of the all 3 of them. It centres on the time after The Beast Within ends or thereabouts which I suppose is a good marketing plot as it means you would have to get the other 2 books before reading this one. It's actually quite a tough plot to explain and invalves the 3 worst Disney characters ever created, the 3 witch sisters thar have heavily featured in the whole series, however they are the most prominent in this book. The beginning focuses on them and their relationship with Ursula and how they came to bensure acquaintances with her which is all very dull to read about. The middle of the book then goes on to illustrate how Ursula ended up being so full of the need for revenge on King Triton and why she wanted to become the ruler of all the ocean. While there is a plot point of her childhood that is successful as it makes her the most sympathetic Villain in these stories, it is still very far fetched and not well written for a published author which takes away from it a touch. The book finishes with some convoluted plot that yet again involves those 3 witch sisters way too often and could have been executed so much more imaginatively. 

All in all, this story was not great at all and for a relatively short book it was quite hard to get through as I found myself losing concentration. I would only recommend this and the other 2 books to a true Disney fan or say a young teenager, I feel that I may have enjoyed it slightly more if I was 13 or 14 years old. So, if you are neither of those things I'd give this one a miss and stick to the Twisted Tales series by Liz Braswell. However, I am a real hypocrite here and I will most likely purchase and read the new Maleficent back story that is due to come out at winter time this year. I guess I'll always be wishing upon a star for these stories to be better. 

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My Monthly Disney buys, wouldn't you think my collection's complete

Since joining instagram I have become very fond of following fellow Disney people and their accounts so that I can see all of their cool items and merchandise. It's not only really fun as a Disney enthusiast, it also gives you lots of ideas for gifts, decor, places to buy these things, examples of prices etc... That's why I love sharing on this blog some of my monthly Disney finds, in the hope that some readers will come across some cool stuff they'd like to seek out and own. So with that in mind, here they are, I'm really happy with what I've came across these past few weeks Disney wise, I hope you like them too!

The very first thing I bought this month was a Disney water flask. I happened upon it one day while buying sweets in Mr. Price which is kind of like Target only I'm guessing with a lot less stock. What I like about this flask so much is that it is very subtle and people might not immediately see that it is Disney as it just has the little Mickey Mouse silhouette on it, so it would be an ideal flask for a Disney lover who's not too into the flashy stuff but still wants to show their a fan. It came in different colours but of course me being me I went for the girliest one, it cost €2.95 so it's not going to be as fancy as some of this filtering flasks and whatnot, but if you're just looking to hold some water or juice on the go, it's perfect.

There's a charity shop called Jack and Jill in my town which is in aid of children with brain injuries and it is probably the best charity shop in my town. Nine times out of ten it will always have something Disney to discover. One particular day that I went in to the shop they had a lot of Disney themed toys and luckily a beautiful Winnie the Pooh clock. It's such a unique find and I just had to have it for my nephew's pooh bear bedroom. It only cost €1! and works perfectly fine with a new battery. As I've said before in some of my blogs, charity/thrift stores/markets can be just filled with little Disney gems and definitely not for turning your nose up at.

I love my plushies, and Disney plushies I love even more. They're an extremely popular collector's item for fans and you can get them in almost all toy shops, online and of course at the Disney Stores. I have quite a few Disney store plushies but I came across a small Shere Khan Jungle Book plushie in my "this might interest you" section of Amazon. At only €10 including delivery it was a great little purchase as The Jungle Book is one of my all time favourite movies and Shere Khan is one of the best villains.

My amazing boyfriend is not only okay with my Disney addiction, he can also be a bit of an enabler, and I am more than delighted about that! Recently I had mentioned that I needed a new travel mug for coffee at work, and so he surprised me with this gorgeous Ariel travel mug. It's absolutely perfect for somebody who doesn't mind being flamboyant about their love for all things Disney (aka me!). It was a really sweet and thoughtful gift from him and it is extra cute because its got my favourite Princess on it. I believe he purchased it on Amazon and the price all depends on the sellers, I'm sure they feature the other princesses also.

Anybody from the UK and Ireland will recognize this next item. It was the collectible de jour for all us Disney fans in the past few months and it was like gold dust to come across at one point due to it's popularity. Just yesterday my sister, her partner, me nephew and I all made a trip to Dundrum shopping centre in Dublin which has one of the largest Penney's in the country, which is the retailer of the Chip Purse. Although I was hoping that I would see some Disney stuff there, I didn't expect to come across the one and only Chip Purse the second I walked in! It is just so darn adorable and such a cute little item, it's no wonder so many people wanted it. At only €5 it was a complete bargain and will be a great first Beauty and the Beast item for my collection.

The final thing I got this month Disney wise was also purchased in Penney's yesterday. It is this super cool The Little Mermaid night shirt that is in a man's pajamas style. It has a very 80s retro style logo and print on it and it seems super cosy. I probably won't get much wear out of it until winter but I cannot wait to rock it on a cold wintery night while sipping a hot chocolate and watching a Disney flick.

So there you have it, all in all I must say I am elated with my finds this month. I hope it helped with some suggestions/inspiration for people looking for places that sell Disney themed bits and bobs and if not I at least hope you enjoyed looking at my cute collection treasures.

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