And Thus It Snows

“The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?” ~ J.B Priestley

We finally had our first snow.  This year it came earlier than last year, which fell on Christmas day.  This year the first snow fell the night before Thanksgiving, giving us a beautiful day of wonder on our national day of thanks.

Today we got hit by another snow storm.

This one long lasting with giant flakes.  It's only now just calming down, so much so that the dark night is no longer glowing white.

I love the snow when I'm indoors, safe, looking out the window in a warm place.

 A trip to Costco this afternoon wasn't so bad.

But tonight, when my Mom and I needed to make another run to the store, the weather took a whiteout turn for the worst as we drove passed 4 to 5 accidents.  Watching snow is peaceful, but driving in snow is something I'll never quite get use to.

Still, tomorrow morning will be beautiful.

I'm excited to see the fresh snow lit brightly by sunlight, sparkling like glitter.

J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World by LootCrate subscription box review

This is the first box in the new J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World by LootCrate, featuring 5-7 exclusive and officially licensed items in each box, delivering right to your front door the magic of the Wizarding World from Harry Potter to Fantastic Beasts and everything in between.

The subscription is bi-monthly, coming every other month, which means the next box will be delivered in January.  The cost is $34.99 per box, plus $5 in shipping.  You can save $3 with a six month subscription and $12 with a year subscription.

When you first sign up for the box you select your gender and shirt size, and then what Hogwarts house you sort yourself into in case there are house specific items (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin).  Unfortunately I didn't get any Gryffindor loot in this box--I'm looking at you January--as everything in this box ties into the new Fantastic Beasts movie which was released to theaters last Friday.

(BTW, the next box is open for new subscriptions.  This box pictured in this review sold out within the first week of going on sale.)

I opted for the box to box subscription, as I wasn't sure if I'd like it.  After receiving this box it's a huge winner!  The spoiler pictures I saw online over the weekend didn't do the box justice.

 Fantastic Beasts T-Shirt

Each LootCrate seems to always include an exclusive t-shirt, and this shirt shows the first page in The New York Ghost newspaper, which is featured in the movie.  Also, this shirt is unisex, so they didn't send a fitted women version.  It's a fun shirt, and I like being able to read all the headlines.  I wish I could read all the printed text!  That would be cool.

 Pop! Figure Assortment, Niffler.

Each box comes with a Pop! figure with a random chance of receiving either Newt Scamander, Tina Goldstein, the Niffler, Albus Dumbledore or Jacob Kowalski.  I got the Niffler!  A new creature who is a bit of a thief, not to give too much away.  He's an enduring beast.

 Pigwidgeon Plush

Ron Weasley's owl!  And he's super soft.  I'll be keeping him on my reading chair.

 Bowtruckle Pin

When I first saw the spoilers for this box I couldn't make this pin out.  At first I thought it was simply a green creature hanging out in a pot.  It's really a Bowtruckle Pickett hanging out in Newt's front pocket.  The creature itself, as seen in the movie, is cute.  I'm not sure what I think of the pin, and I'm obsessed with pin trading.  (I've got a nice Disney parks pin collection, not to mention all my Odyssey of the Mind pins.)

 Hedwig/Letter Keychain

This keychain has some serious weight and is quite sturdy!  It also has a faux leather tassel, which is apparently in fashion right now.  (tassels were on everything last Summer.)  I like this keychain, and I'll be hanging it off my backpack, ol' school style.

 MACUSA Notwbook

My favorite item in the box.

A notebook featuring the Magical Congress of the United States emblem.

 It's seriously nice, though I wish the pages were lined, but I'll still use it as a journal.

 And the scroll we received details each item in the box.

The January box is currently on sale, if you like what you see here and would like to give this LootCrate subscription a try.

Wresting With Daylight Savings Time

"One must work with time and not against it."

~ Ursula K. Le Guin

Am I the only one who doesn't like Daylight Savings Time?

When I was younger, aka anytime before reaching my 30s, I dreaded springing forward in the Spring and falling back in the Fall.  The thought of losing an hour of sleep saddened me!  I loathed it, honestly.  Falling back in Autumn, knowing that I was getting that hour back, was always my favorite.  Getting dark an hour sooner?  That's never appealing.

 My senior year of High School is probably the only time I liked the darker evenings.  In November 1999 I was in a photography class, and there were hardly enough developing booths (I've forgotten what they're called!!) to develop pictures, and I never got enough time in the dark room.  Thanks to my parents owning a photography business my Dad had the trays, chemicals, and photo developing machine (a big device that let me place the film, position the paper, and with a metronome I counted how many seconds to let the light through the aperture . . . okay, I've forgotten all the terminology.  This is sad.)  I put sheets over my parents bathroom window, set everything out, turned on the red light, and by 5:00 pm I could start developing the pictures for class.  That was fun.

But other than that I don't like it getting dark so soon.

But here's the sad thing, it's suppose to get dark this soon!  Daylight savings time in the Winter simply restores where we're suppose to be.  Once again Utah is aligned with Arizona.  This whole getting dark soon would be easier to take if we inched gradually towards it, instead of getting hit with a sledgehammer.  

And why do we need an extra hour of sunlight in the Summer when the days are naturally longer!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????  Seriously.  Fireworks at 9:30 instead of 10:30 would be nice.

Arizona was right in canceling Daylight Savings Time.

For some reason the time change last week has really affected me.  More so than normal.  My whole inner clock is thrown off not by one, but several hours.  Kinda driving me mad.

And now I'm dreaming of Spring, wishing we could skip Winter, minus Christmas, and just stay warm.  Though I always love a good excuse to drink Hot Chocolate.  Winter does have its perks.

An Uplifting Blog Post to Lighten the Day

Happy . . . late Halloween Day!

Today is Election Day, which is scarier than Halloween, so today I chose to remember happy times, those less than scary days, and write about a balloon.

This isn't about any ol' balloon.  It's a special balloon.  Purple in color.  Latex in material.  And it came into being October 20, 2016.  As of today it's still afloat, along with its Mallard cousins from the dollar store.

The latex balloon was a gift to my Mom on the day we were gathering party supplies for the Halloween festivities that night, and while we were at Partyland the salesperson accidentally made an extra balloon for another customers order, so, out of nowhere, he gave the balloon to my Mom exclaiming, "You've won a prize!"  And it just so happens that we earlier picked up three balloons from the dollar store needing a fourth to balance the look.  Happy timing.

And still today, 19 days old, all four balloons are standing tall.

And we're all quite baffled and amazed by it.

And I'm honestly curious how long they will last.

All the other balloons we got that day have given up the ghost.

What manner of wizardry went into the creation of these balloons?