I thought I’d start off with a little about me!
So, hello there! I’m Emily, but most people call me Emmie, or KP, which is what I’ll be calling myself on here! It’s a nick name I got in college and is one of my favorite stories. The short of it: I’ve always had the Kim Possible kimmunicator sound as my ringtone. When I met one of my now best friends she thought I looked like a Kim. She couldn’t remember my name was Emily, so would always call me Kim (which I didn’t care about). Once they heard my ringtone it turned into Kim Possible. Then one evening, on our college homecoming weekend, I had quite a few adult beverages and introduced myself as KP to everyone I met. Woke up the next morning to everyone calling me KP…and it stuck.
I’ve lived all over for the past few years. I went to college in Pennsylvania (IUP). Moved to LA post graduation and lived there for 5 years. From there I moved to St.Louis for a year, and then to Utah for 3 years. However, my husband, Nick, and I are both from the east coast. So, after being away from family for so long, missing out on moments and special occasions, and not being around for the hard times as well, we knew it was time to move back. Currently we reside in Frostburg, Maryland as we figure out where we would like to (hopefully) buy a house one day.
My husband and I met in college where we were friends for awhile first. Then, one evening, after a night out, he spilled his guts and told me he liked me, to which I responded with one word “ditto”. This sort of became “our word”. We did cross country long distance for a few years. Lived in LA, St. Louis, and Utah together. He proposed in a tree house with champagne, twinkle lights, a ring pop, and a photo album. We had a small ceremony just the two of us in Utah. Planned our big ceremony and ultimate party for two years just to have covid cancel it. Then finally got married in Disney World! We had our ceremony at the Italy Pavilion in Epcot. Seriously an amazing day and experience (more on this later!).
I have tried my hand at a variety of jobs and careers. I went to school for speech pathology (but haven’t done anything with it…whoops) and got a minor in deaf communications. I was a nanny for a long time. Worked at Starbucks (freakin loved it). Went back to school for surgical technology and ASL interpreting, but we moved mid program. Spent the last 3ish years in Utah teaching (taught third grade and those kiddos were the best). I currently sub at a local school helping the nursing program get their clinical hours. I have noooo idea what I want to do moving forward, there’s so many things I’m interested in and I sort of suck at decisions…but that’s the secret right? No one really knows what they’re doing.
I have three older brothers. I’m the youngest and only girl. I come from a large family, both on my moms side and dads side. So, I have a ton of aunts, uncles, and cousins. When we get together it is absolutely the best. It’s the reason why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (plus the abundance of mashed potatoes).
I have celiac disease and have lived a gluten free life for many years now. I love finding all the gluten free options in the park and plan on posting and reviewing them here for all my other gluten free peeps. When we travel I tend to base our plans around trying new restaurants that have gluten free menus. I love baking and cooking, and am trying new gluten free recipes all the time. Can’t wait to add more GF shirts to the Core Memories menu!
I am a huge advocate of mental health in every form. As someone who has been through a lot, has trauma, a mental health diagnosis and am miraculously still here, I put a lot of effort and time into mental health awareness. I also try and am constantly working on brining more love, support, understanding and empathy to the world, as I really think we need a lot more of it around here. I believe everyone is worthy, and deserves to heal and have access to the support they need. You will probably see a lot more about mental health on here moving forward!
I grew up going to Disney World with my family. One of my grandmas lived in Florida, so stops in Disney World were frequent. However, I found out that we didn’t always go into the park. Sometimes we would just stop at downtown Disney and hangout for a bit, back when (in my opinion) downtown Disney was a lot better (RIP Disney Quest). When I lived in LA I became an annual pass holder to Disneyland and completely fell in love with that park. Such a different vibe and magical experience. Now, being back on the east coast, I am an annual pass holder to Disney World! I could go on forever talking about all things Disney and everything I love about it, but we’ll keep it at I am a lover of all things Disney and Disney adjacent (Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel etc.) which is what really inspires this small shop. Also, a side note, I still call Disney Springs Downtown Disney and I still call Hollywood studios MGM. So if I call them that just know I haven’t confused them, it’s just what I still call them (MGM for life!).
I also grew up with Harry Potter. I say “grew up with” because each book and/or movie came out as I got older and was hitting the same milestones as the characters. I went to every midnight release of the books and movies. I’ve read, or listened, to the books and watched the movies way too many times to count. I am a books over movies gal, but am hoping one day someone makes a tv series out of it (I mean come on, one chapter=one episode with so much more depth=perfection). I went to the opening of Harry Potter land in LA. I’ve gone to both the LA and Orlando one a ton. I saw the Cursed Child play when it first came out with the original cast, bawled my eyes out and fell in love. I’ve see it twice since then. The last time being the “reimagined one” and man do I have feelings about all the changes. I will never turn down an opportunity to discuss anything HP related, but just know you asked for it, as I can get rather intense about it.
I love being outdoors and almost any activity that comes with it: camping, hiking, snowshoeing, rafting, cooking s’mores, etc. I love to travel and have been to many places across the US and Europe. Currently trying to cross visiting every national park and every state off my list, as well as plan out some form of a honeymoon that we’ll one day take when covid calms down a bit more.
I’ve always been a fan of autumn weather. I thrive in leggings and giant sweaters. I prefer leggings or dresses, you’ll rarely ever catch me in jeans. I love a good wine or cider, but always down for a mimosa..like always, morning, noon, night, anytime I love reading, movies, and dancing around like a spazz to good music. I like writing but am not the best with grammar and suck at spelling. So excuse any terrible grammar you see in these blogs and thank goodness for spell check. I’m a pretty active person and love to workout in a variety of ways. Mostly I’m a runner and have run many races, including multiple runDisney races, the most recent being the Dopey Challenge.
I’m an introvert and rather slow to warm up, but can extrovert with the best of them (maybe just not as long). I also know I come across mean or rude at times (especially when I first meet people) as ya girl has mad RBF (resting b*tch face). Just know that I don’t mean it, it’s literally just my face relaxed and I’m listening intently. When I’m at Disney I really come out of my shell and my inner kid has it’s time to shine.
There’s a lot to me and I’m still figuring it all out. I tend to be a fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl. I just turned 30, which most people seem to dread, but I’m very excited about it and have a feeling my 30s are going to be good. I’m excited to be here, to get to know you, and to see what the future holds. I love creating magic through this small shop and can only hope I help make your days core memory days.