Curated By Shelley

A beginner roadmap from your first lesson to your first game night I love a beautiful Mahjong setup. My original starter haul, the tile sets that followed, and the room I have been putting together probably make that fairly obvious. But if you are looking at all of it and wondering what you need before you can even begin, let me make this easier: start with a lesson. The collection can wait. This is the path I would suggest to a friend who wants to learn American Mahjong. Take it one stage at a time, and use the linked guides when you reach the point where they will actually help. The pretty setup can come later. Start with someone who can teach you the game. Your starting point Never played? Find a beginner American Mahjong lesson and ask what it provides. Taken a lesson but still feel lost? Focus on identifying tiles, reading the card, and playing slow practice games. Ready to join a group? Ask whether it welcomes beginners and which rules it uses. Ready for your own setup? ...

Disney Cruise Line made a change to the Platinum and Pearl Castaway Club Palo benefit this week and, readers, when I tell you the internet lost its collective mind... I am not exaggerating. People are furious. People are threatening to cancel cruises. You would think Mickey personally boarded the ship and took the soufflé off their table. And here comes my apparently very unpopular opinion: I could not care LESS about this change. In fact, part of it might actually work better for the way I already eat at Palo. So What Exactly Is Changing at Palo? For many years, one of the published benefits of reaching Platinum Castaway Club status, and now Pearl, has been a complimentary dinner at Palo. And yes, the important word there is dinner . Disney's current Castaway Club information describes the benefit as one complimentary dinner experience at Palo, Palo Steakhouse or Palo Trattoria per stateroom, per sailing for eligible Platinum and Pearl members. Over the years, though, Di...

My travel Mahjong set had already passed the Mexico test: I could pack it easily and play a couple of SoloMahj games in my room. But that still left one question. Would those little tiles work when there were other people around the table? On our Disney Dream transatlantic, they got their chance. And then some. We played with family, played with friends, and taught new friends in the concierge lounge. My bestie’s dad even played for the first time. By the end of the trip, my answer was easy: I would 100% bring this set again. Our travel setup in action: little tiles, mini racks, and cards around the table. This post contains an affiliate link. If you make a purchase through my link, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. One little set, a whole variety of players I brought my My Fair Mahjong Mini Anywhere set —the same compact setup I wrote about in How I Pack a Mahjong Set for a Trip Without Regretting It . This time, it got much more than a couple of solo...

I've sailed Disney Cruise Line 22 times, spent 148 days onboard, and have now experienced concierge service on five Disney ships across all three ship classes. My first concierge sailing was on the Disney Fantasy in the early 2010s, so at this point I've had plenty of time to figure out which perks genuinely change the cruise experience and which ones are mostly just nice little bonuses. And let's get one thing out of the way immediately: Disney Cruise Line concierge is expensive. Very expensive. I am not going to pretend otherwise. So if you're staring at that price difference trying to decide whether concierge is actually worth it, I don't think the most useful question is, “What do you get?” Disney will happily give you that list. If you're looking for the broader decision guide, start with who should pay for Disney Cruise Line concierge—and who should skip it . You can also browse my complete Disney Cruise Line hub for planning guides, ship reviews and ...

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Over Labor Day weekend, I finally tackled a project that had been living in my head for a while: turning my office into a room made for two of my favorite hobbies—mahjong and LEGO. Before the Makeover The first step was clearing out the office. Once the room was empty, I taped everything off and got to work painting. I chose Dried Thyme by Sherwin-Williams for the walls, and it turned out to be exactly the rich, cozy green I wanted. The Makeover in Progress Making Room for LEGO and Mahjong My mom brought down Billy bookcases from Illinois, and I added an IKEA KALLAX on legs. It is exactly the right width for my Disney LEGO Castle, with extra cubbies for storage and display. For now, I am using this folding card table from Amazon . My Garden Party Clare chairs from Rifle Paper Co. add the perfect dose of color and pattern. These clear display boxes with ...

There are some London experiences that feel almost mandatory, and afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason was high on my list when I planned our two days in London before the Disney Dream . I had planned our Sunday reservation for 1:00 p.m. in the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon, followed by enough time to explore the store before heading back to our hotel. That last part of the plan turned out to be important. Afternoon tea was lovely, but the shopping afterward became an experience of its own—and resulted in a box of Fortnum & Mason goodies being shipped all the way home to Texas.